System Change

Seeing that Thomas wasn’t in any immediate danger from his crush, Derek decided to head back to the inn and spend the rest of the day relaxing. He had been pretty busy lately, so it was a good idea to rest and recharge for a day.

After arriving back at the end, he spent the rest of the day drinking. Unfortunately, nothing was strong enough for even the smallest of buzzes. He chatted with some of the guests, but spent most of his time listening to the rowdy bunch of patrons. After a while, Derek retired back to his room and watched the bunny train. That ended up being much more entertaining than listening to the stories downstairs.

Finally, he ignored the sound of the occasional clatter of a spoon hitting the floor and fell asleep. He woke up once to let Thomas in at some point, but went directly back to sleep.

***

The next morning, Derek’s eyes shot open as a cannonball flew into him. He sat up fast and sucked in a giant breath after the wind was knocked out of him. Then he looked at the bunny who had tumbled to his lap. “Why?” He half yelled.

‘Time to go. Up. Up. Up. It’s morning. No more sleep. Stop being lazy.’ Silvi’s excited voice chimed in his head.

Derek looked into her glimmering eyes and couldn’t bring himself to scold the excited bunny. I feel like I’m a father about to take his kid to her first day of kindergarten. Derek sighed. ‘Fine, but be quiet.’ He said as he looked at Thomas sleeping on a cot in the corner of the room. He had stirred a bit when Derek half screamed, but didn’t wake up. Apparently, the boy had requested the cot the day they got the room.

Derek walked out of the room, the bunny hopping behind him. He made it down to the first floor and was met by a mostly empty room. Walking over to the bar with staff behind it, he pulled out a stool and sat. “You got any breakfast yet?” He asked the man.

The man nodded. “First round will be ready in five minutes. Want something to drink?”

“A few teas, some juices, and…” The man eyed Derek. “Some ale if you’re one who likes to start the day that way.”

“No.” Derek shook his head. “Not much for tea. Just give me some juice.”

The man nodded. “We have iper, apple, and abola juice.”

Derek stared at the man. “Did you say Ebola?”

The man nodded. “Abola juice is one of my favorites.”

Derek caught the distinction that time and let out a breath. I really don’t think I could bring myself to drink Ebola Juice, no matter how good it is. I wonder if apple is the same? He’d noticed that there were some fruits and vegetables that were basically the same as on Earth, but had different names. One staple that had stayed the same was potatoes.

He really wasn’t a big fan of apple juice, but he had to give it a try. “Just give me some apple juice.”

The man nodded and walked to the back.

‘No time to eat.’ Silvi said as she hopped onto the bar. ‘Must go.’

‘Not before I get some food in me.’

Silvi released a mental sigh and planted herself off to the side.

The man came back from getting him something to drink, carrying a glass and a plate. “Enough was done for a couple plates, here you go.” He sat what looked like bacon, eggs, and toast in front of Derek.

“Thanks.” Derek muttered, then dug in. The apple juice was definitely apple juice. It wasn’t as sweet as what he was used to, but it was practically the same.

‘Hurry. Eat. Then go.’ Silvi rushed.

Because of her rush, Derek savored every bite and took small sips. The bunny’s constant demands made him dine that much slower.

The sun had barely risen when Derek walked out of the inn with a full belly and a very angry bunny trailing behind him. He couldn’t believe that she didn’t even ask for food while he was eating. It was the first time that had happened. Eventually, Silvi stopped talking and glared at him until he finished.

Now she quietly hopped behind him, sullen. He had offered to carry her, but she refused. Finally, halfway to the gate, Silvi tried to hop onto his shoulder. Derek’s shoulder was just big enough for her to fit there if she balanced herself. Unlike Thomas, he refused to let her ride on his head. Derek swatted her down and said, ‘No. You said you didn’t need my help. So, I’m not carrying you until you fix your attitude.’ He communicated in his best parent voice.

‘Hmph.’ Silvi’s snort came through. ‘Your fault. Taking so long.’

‘There’s no rush. We don’t even know if Stella is in yet. If she’s not, we’ll have to wait.’

The walk was quiet after that. ‘Sorry.’ Silvi’s voice finally came through.

‘I know, you’re just excited.’ Derek smiled and patted his shoulder. ‘Come on.’ She was already perched there before he finished his sentence. The two walked to the Crown Restaurant, Silvi talking nonstop about everything she was going to do the whole way. And she used complete sentences the entire time.

Arriving at the Crown, Derek opened the door and walked in. Surprisingly, the staff was already there working. They were wiping down tables and setting the chairs. Two guests were already sitting at a table, eating.

Derek walked over to the hostess he met yesterday. “Is Stella in yet?”

“Hello Mr. Hunt.” The woman nodded. “She’s in her office. I was told to send you up when you arrived. You’re free to go on up.” She motioned to the stairs.

Looks like I don’t have to be escorted there anymore. He thought. “Thanks.” He replied to the hostess.

With Silvi still on his shoulder, he walked up the stairs and to Stella’s office. Once there, he knocked on her door and waited.

“Come in.” Stella’s voice rang from inside the room.

Derek walked in and closed the door behind him. He sat across from Stella. With just the two of them, and Silvi, they no longer needed to act so formally after the previous day.

“You got here early.” Stella said.

“Yeah. Silvi couldn’t wait, so she woke me up as soon as she could. It was unpleasant.” He rubbed below his chest, where she had crashed into him that morning.

“So.” Stella looked at Silvi. “This is your companion? Did you figure out the communication problem with her?”

“Not yet, but it’s something I want to talk to you about. I was thinking that you may know of a way to get a skill scroll for Telepathy, and maybe one for Telekinesis. With those, we’d be able to solve both her communication issue, and the whole, ‘not having thumbs’ thing that she keeps complaining about.” He answered.

Stella nodded. “That would definitely take care of the issue. Are you sure she’d be able to learn the skills from a scroll?”

“I don’t think there would be a problem. She can learn general skills easily enough.” He looked at Silvi. “Show her your Mage Hand.”

Silvi did as directed, and the ripple of mana popped out above her. This time, it transformed from a paw to a hand, and it was quite accurate.

“Not bad.” Derek said to Silvi. When he had gone to sleep, she was still having problems making a hand. She must have practiced hard. “Good job. I didn’t think you would have advanced that far.”

The hand reached out in front of Derek and grabbed at a pen. It gripped it and raised it off the desk a few centimeters before the pen fell back to the desk. ‘I’m getting better.’ Silvi chimed, and Derek nodded.

“That is interesting indeed.” Stella said, watching the Mage Hand evaporate. “I think it’s worth a shot. Telekinesis won’t be hard for me to get. The Crown actually buys them up as they appear, so we have a good amount in stock. Our chefs are all required to learn the skill… makes it easier for them to multitask. Unfortunately, I don’t have any on me at this time, so I will need to request one from Alanah. Speaking of which…” Stella pulled out a red crystal. “If you don’t mind, I would like to link our private crystals.”

“Uh… Okay…” Derek pulled out the crystal he received yesterday. “How do we do it?”

“Oh, it’s simple.” She held her communications crystal out. “We just touch them together and send mana into them at the same time. If you have a free space, the link will form. Then, you only have to focus on which rune you want to contact afterwards.”

Derek did as she said, and the link was formed seamlessly. “I didn’t think you had another private communications crystal.” He said, remembering his previous conversation.

“I didn’t. Mine was the one Alanah gave you. She sent the new one over last night.” She replied. Derek frowned, but before he could ask a question, Stella continued speaking. “Teleportation. We are able to teleport small objects, but it is quite costly and very mana intensive. And no, this form of teleportation cannot send live things through… unless you want it turned into dead matter. That is also how I plan on getting you the Telekinesis scroll, if you want it.”

Derek nodded. “How much would that cost?”

“Well, the base cost is 1,100 gold plus teleportation fees, so that would be about 1,400 gold. That is, however, with no markup on the scroll. But, we like you, and I’m sure that Alanah would insist, so we can waive the teleportation fee and sell you the scroll at base value. If you would like, we can take the gold out of whatever profit you would receive our contracts.”

“That would be fine.” He replied. He wasn’t hurting for money anymore, and he knew that non-general skill scrolls were going to be expensive.

“As for the Telepathy scroll… that will be a bit harder to obtain. We don’t require the skill, so we don’t have any in stock.” Stella frowned. “But, I was thinking about the communication issue, and if your companion is as advanced as you say she is, I would like to try something.”

Stella pulled open one of her desk drawers and a pile of green crystals shined. “These are cheap versions of the communication crystal. They can only hold one rune and will shatter after one use. Their distance is also not great. We use these for reservations when the restaurant is full. They are extremely cheap to make.”

Stella took two of the crystals and touched them to each other. Soon, a rune appeared on each one. She slid it across the table. “Let’s see if your companion can use one.”

Derek explained to Silvi how the crystals worked. The bunny hopped off of his shoulder and onto the desk. Then she placed a paw onto the crystal and it lit up. Soon, the one still in Stella’s hand began to glow. The woman channeled mana into the crystal and sat it in front of her.

“Well.” Stella said. “Does it work?”