System Change Revision - Prologue-Chapter 5 (Patreon)

For anyone interested, I thought I would show you on what I've been spending a lot of my time on lately. Working on getting it ready for a book release. Whether that ends up being through a publisher or self published, I'm not sure. Here are the first five chapters, and a new prologue. 

I've changed... a lot.

This is still before it gets sent to a professional editor.

Prologue: Three Years Ago

Darvin took in the sights of yet another planet being inducted into the system. As the only System Overseer at this time, it was his job to make sure nothing out of the ordinary happened when inducting a new planet.

The Malaxi Overseer swiped his hand and pulled up the information of the planetary member.

Planet: C-186

Local Planetary Name: Earth

Exterior Planetary Makeup: 71% Water, 21% Land

Main Species: Human

Population: 8 Billion

System Acceptance Rating: B-

The floating overseer sighed. “Planets with human species always have higher acceptance ratings than those of other species… except for my Malaxi. Humans could be much higher in the system hierarchy if they weren’t so impulsive.”

Darvin turned to his assistant. “Prepare for tutorial phase.”

“Y-yes sir!”

The System Overseer stared at the holographic image of C-186. “Full planetary coverage in 3… 2… 1… system coverage is in full. Preparing induction…”

Darvin swiped through his overseer menu until he arrived on a certain screen. With a small purple hand, he reached out and touched a prompt. “System induction initiated. Tutorial phase, 5 years.”

The Malaxi floated back to his seat. Another human planet inducted. They have five years to prepare themselves for full integration. I wonder if this planet will give us any surprises.

Chapter 1: Into the Portal

“Derek, get ready! Five minutes until the portal is up.” Silvi was exhausting all her mana to provide one chance for Derek. One chance for him to make it to the others, and just maybe, save them from death or capture.

A squad of invaders had ambushed Silvi’s team while she was in the city. While rushing out, thinking of a way to save her wayward group, she ran into Derek. Derek had completed a couple of missions with Silvi and her team before, but mostly, he preferred being alone.

“Once you’re through the portal, you’re only going to have a few minutes to find them. I don’t have the mana to hold it open for long. I’m using my Mana Sense to lock on to Ali. When the portal opens, it should be close to her location.” Sweat dripped from Silvi’s brow as she put all her concentration into opening a portal to her friends.

Derek rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. How did I end up in this mess? I’ve barely even met these people. Why did I agree to risk my life to save this group? Derek shook his head. He had gotten caught up in the heat of the moment. When Silvi saw him, she had rushed over, frantically explaining what was happening. Before he knew it, he was following her out of the city to save her friends.

Derek struggled with the decision he was about to make. When the system arrived, he was alone, and by relying on nobody but himself, he had become one of the strongest individuals in this new world.

The system had even offered leadership roles to him on multiple occasions. Whether it was to establish a city or create a fighting force to defend other cities from alien invaders, he had refused. On his last refusal to establish his own base, the system had even rewarded him with a title. But, somehow, he ended up in a situation where he was going to risk his life to save a group of people he barely knew.

“Hey! Are you even listening to me?” Silvi yelled at Derek. “Stop daydreaming and get ready!”

Derek jumped. Why is she so commanding? I’m the one risking everything to help her. He shook his head. Whatever… “Yeah, yeah. I’m ready whenever you are.” And he was ready. He just didn’t want to do it. Thinking about what was about to happen. He went over his stats one more time. Status. He thought, and a box of text displaying his information appeared before his eyes.

Status

Name: Derek Hunt

Level: 79

Class: Bronze Tank

Race: Human

HP: 4750

MP: 2380

Stamina: 5790

Stats

STR: 275 (343) [412 Solo]

DEX: 210 (241) [294 Solo]

END: 351 (491) [579 Solo]

VIT: 297 (400) [475 Solo]

INT: 177 (203) [247 Solo]

WIS: 170 (195) [238 Solo]

Free Stat Points: 0

Titles

First of Many: Not only have you obtained your first kill, but you were also among the first on your planet to obtain a kill. +10% to all stats.

I Have Class II: You survived to level 75 and upgraded your class. +35 to all stats.

Lone Wolf III: You feel free when you are alone. You have spent so much time alone that you are better when not in a pack. +10% to all stats when alone.

Meat Shield III: You have taken an incredible amount of damage and yet continue to look for more. You have taken over 100,000 damage and lived. +15% END and +10% VIT.

Monster Bane III: You are not scared to fight the strong. Single-handedly slayed a monster 50 levels or more above your own. +10% STR, +10% END, +10% VIT.

Not Dead Yet: You have taken a fatal wound, yet you are still alive. +25 VIT +15 END.

Rare: You have obtained a Rare class. Now you can live like a one percenter. +25 to all stats.

Slayer III: You have slain more monsters than you can count. +15 STR +10 END.

Solo King IV: You enjoy the feeling of fighting alone. You stand one versus many. +25 to all stats. +15% to all stats when fighting alone.

Stat Collector: You have acquired over 1000 total stat points. Here, have some more. +25 to all stats.

Unacceptable: You have been asked to build a safe haven for those of your kind, but have refused on multiple occasions. +25 to all stats.

Uncommon: Your class is a step above most classes. +15 to all stats.

Upgraded: Somehow, you were able to upgrade an Uncommon class into a Rare class, though not unheard of, it is still a feat. +5% to all stats.

Skills

Glaive Mastery (3): You feel more comfortable with glaives and other polearms. Efficiency increased when using Glaives.

Heavy Armor (4): Slow but steady. The armor you wear is like yourself. Heavy armor scales based on your END stat. END stat increased when wearing Heavy Armor.

Heavy Blow (7): You put all of your might into a single blow. Attack deals 70% more damage.

Heavy Weapon (5): You choose to wield weapons that most cannot even lift. Efficiency with Heavy Weapons increases by level.

Identify (8): You have looked beyond the surface of many things. You can identify targets at increasingly higher levels.

Impenetrable Skin (7): You have been battered and bruised by all sorts of weapons. Defense increased by 35% when active.

Iron Stomach: There is not much that can harm you when it comes to food. Decreased chance of food borne illness.

Meditation (10): Become one with yourself. Recovery of HP, MP, and Stamina increased by 100% while meditating.

Wide Sweep (11): You project a sharp edge half a circle, up to 15 feet in front of you.

I’ve always wondered how my stats compare to others at my level. I’d like to have a look at Jace’s status one day. Derek sighed as he examined his stats, making sure he was as prepared as possible to go on this poorly planned rescue mission. Which gave him a thought.

“This portal you’re making… it’s safe, right?” He asked. “I mean, I’m pretty durable and have survived my fair share of bad situations, but I would rather not be done in by a faulty portal.” Derek realized what he’d just asked. I didn’t just give myself a death flag, did I? Oh, God, I hope not. Maybe I should just leave.

“Yes, Derek. My portals are perfectly safe. You jump in and it takes a couple of seconds to travel from the opening to the exit. While you’re inside, you’re in something like a tunnel made of space. Nothing will harm you while you’re traveling. We’ve used my portals dozens of times, and nothing has ever gone wrong.” Silvi explained to Derek through gritted teeth while channeling mana into her spell.

“All you have to worry about is the portal closing before you come back. If that happens, you’ll be stranded with the invaders and will have to make your way back alone. This is why you need to get everyone through the portal before I run out of mana. Remember, I can only hold it open for a few minutes at best.” She explained.

Derek watched and waited for her spell to be ready. He nervously shifted from one foot to the other. Finally, with a flash, the portal fully formed. The portal was inky black in the middle, with purple wisps of visible mana emanating from the edges.

“That’s it! It’s open!” Silvi shouted. “Remember, you have to be quick. We only get one shot at this.”

“I’m going in.” Derek flicked his wrist and a shiny black, full-faced helmet appeared in his hand. He placed the helmed on his head and took a step forward. Derek may have been hesitant about the plan, but when it was time to do something, he gave it his all.

Derek kicked off the ground and leaped into the portal. Inside was pitch black nothingness, only the rapidly increasing light at the end of the tunnel was visible in the darkness. Within seconds, he was next to the light. Then the tunnel disappeared, and Derek was through.

The first thing Derek saw when he stepped out of the portal was a broken Allison on her knees, tears running down her face. Derek took a step in her direction and lifted her off the ground. He would have preferred to be gentle, but his time was limited, so without so much as a word, he threw her over his shoulder.

“N-no! Stop! W-what are you doing? Who are you?” Ali’s fists fell on Derek’s back as he moved back to the portal. “No… no, no, no, no… please don’t take me. Kill me.” Obviously, she thought Derek was there to capture her. Who knew what her fate would be if that happened? Her fists pounded harder into Derek’s back armor.

“Shit! Stop hitting me. It’s Derek… Derek Hunt. I’m here to get you back to Silvi.” Derek sighed. I can’t blame her… She must be terrified… Stepping next to the portal, Derek tossed Ali in and turned back around. One down, three… erm… one to go…

As Derek scanned the battlefield, he was John’s head lying separately on the ground from his body. He could make out Andrea’s lifeless body sprawled out in a pool of her own blood. A dagger had penetrated her chest and pierced her heart. Without proper Endurance and Vitality stats, there was no surviving that.

Finally, he saw Gerard. The older warrior was being toyed with by a handful of invaders with swords and shields. Derek gritted his teeth and shot towards the group. The warriors saw Derek approaching and prepared for battle.

Without warning, an arrow landed on Derek’s chest, bouncing off his armor. With support from their archer, two men moved away from Gerard and rushed head-on at Derek.

With his arm held out, Derek summoned his glaive from his storage bracelet and thrust forward. The first warrior never stood a chance as the gleaming black blade on the end of the staff pierced the man’s chest and continued all the way through his back.

The blade brought with it a pulse of blood as Derek ripped it from the heart of the warrior. Another arrow landed on Derek as the other warrior made his attack. Derek deflected the arrow with his armored bracer before trapping the warrior’s blade between his steel-covered body and arm.

Before the invader could retreat, Derek kneed him in the gut, causing liquid to spew from his mouth. With the warrior staggered, Derek released the man’s weapon, choked up on his glaive like a javelin, and drove the tip through the back of the invader’s skull.

With both opponents down, Derek scanned the area, looking for the archer. Finally, he saw the glint of an arrow coming his way, along with the female archer standing behind, reaching for another arrow. Derek sidestepped the arrow and picked up a now ownerless sword with his dominant hand.

Derek took aim with his newly acquired shortsword. The archer’s eyes went wide as he recognized what Derek had planned, but it was too late. Derek hurled the shortsword towards the archer, and before the woman could evade, the hand of the sword crashed into her skull, causing an eruption of flesh and blood.

Derek winced at the gory scene but continued forward towards Gerard. Before any of the invaders could kill or injure Gerard any worse, Derek made it to his side. “Gerard! The portal.” Derek pointed at flickering portal. “Run, there’s not much time left. I’ll be right behind you.”

As Gerard broke away from the melee, Derek blocked a sword meant for him. Gerard hobbled towards the portal as fast as his injured leg would let him, occasionally glancing back at the fight.

Derek was chopping enemies down one by one. He split one man at the waist, while another laid legless to his side. The problem with a glaive was that it was a weapon with a long reach and, as such, it was harder to use in a close melee, such as the one Derek was in.

As Gerard approached the portal, an increasing number of attacks landed on Derek’s armor. Occasionally, a blade would make it through a weak point and leave a cut. Derek continued fighting, but for each invader he cut down, two more appeared.

Derek glanced back to see Gerard taking his first step into the portal. Finally. He thought. The two people who could be rescued were safe, and he could finally leave. Derek looked past his enemies, only to see more people flooding over the hills. Is this an encampment? He wondered, but there was no time.

Kicking one last invader, Derek turned and fled.

The portal shimmered, and a rugged body fell out.

“It’s Gerard!” Ali screamed. “I thought you were dead… like Andrea and…” she trailed off mid-sentence. Ali and John had been together since before the system appeared, so Gerard could only imagine the grief the woman was feeling.

“Where’s… Derek?” Silvi muttered between ragged breaths. “I’m… almost… out… of mana.” Sweat dripped from how bow and her face was pale. She was using everything she had to keep the portal open as long as possible.

“He’s not too far behind me.” Gerard answered. “Hold on for a little longer.” The last thing he wanted was for his savior to be stranded in an army of invaders.

“Can’t… keep…” Silvi mumbled, then fell to her knees. “I’m out.” The portal in front remained open but was shrinking at a rapid pace.

As Derek hurried to the portal, he could see it shrinking and turning translucent. The damage to him was miniscule and didn’t affect his movement, but he was quickly running out of mana and stamina. Finally, he arrived at the rapidly closing portal and dived in.

As he flew through the tunnel, the light at the end grew dimmer and dimmer. Just as he reached the light, it disappeared, leaving him surrounded by nothing but darkness.

“Son of a bitch!”

Chapter 2: Darkness

Derek’s words echoed throughout the darkness. He knew he shouldn’t have doubted the portal back then. He knew what flags were, and he created one by voicing his doubts. It’s just like when someone says, ‘at least it can’t get any worse.’ He shook his head. It always gets worse.

Looking around at what used to be the portal between the camp and the battleground, there was nothing but darkness. It wasn’t the type of darkness that takes some time for your eyes to adjust before being able to make out figures. No, it was darkness in its purest form.

There was no light, no way of finding out which way went where. Maybe I’m only going to be stuck here until Silvi opens another portal. I mean, it is her portal that I got stuck in. It has to connect to her… right? For the usually pessimistic man, it was hard to be optimistic about his situation.

With no directions or clues as to where he was, Derek sat. I might as well make myself comfortable. There’s no telling when she will make another portal. With a shake of his hand, he summoned some meat and beer from his storage bracelet. Not know what his future looked like, he pushed the thoughts out of his head and tried to stay positive.

And with this mindset, time passed…

***

A glaive sliced through the darkness at such a speed that it created a whistle as it moved. A sudden change in trajectory interrupted the whistling before the weapon stopped high in the air. Then, the whistling resurfaced as the blade fell sharply towards the ground.

Suddenly, all movement in the area stopped.

‘ding’ Glaive Mastery has reached level 8.

Finally! I’ve been swinging this thing nonstop for days now… I think. Hell, I don’t even know how long I’ve been in this godforsaken hellhole. Derek reached for his chin to caress the stubble that had appeared… no, not stubble, a full-blown bear. Damn, a beard. I can’t believe I’ve been stuck inside the portal long enough to grow a beard. It’s not even one of those little ones either.

Even during the worst days of the so called ‘apocalypse’, Derek managed to shave his face once or twice a week. He may have been… less than social, but he still had to make some appearances, and he enjoyed the occasionally outing to a bar.

Now, however, none of that mattered. For what he could tell, he was alone in the darkness. He had a certain understanding of how fast his facial hair grew, so at least with the length of his new beard, he had some idea of how long he had been stuck.

I’m not saying I ain’t already a little crazy, but if it wasn’t for my meditation skill, my psyche would be in a much worse state. Derek fumbled around with his now shoulder length hair, wondering if it was still the same coal black that it used to be, or if the stress of being stuck alone in the darkness with nothing more than himself to keep him occupied had introduced some gray.

With nothing else to do, Derek checked out his meditation skill.

Meditation (18): Become one with yourself. Recovery of HP, MP, and Stamina increased my 180% while meditating.

If nothing else, the meditation skill allows me to swing my glaive more. Derek thought as he checked out the new skill and title his time trapped in the portal had brought him.

Enhanced Perception (6): By not using your sight, your other senses become stronger. Your ability to use other senses while choosing not to use another enhances those senses by 30%.

A lot of good that does me. 30% of no sound is still no sound. He longed for the days of cell phones with as much music as he could handle at the touch of a button. He would never make fun of disco or country music again. Sighing to himself, Derek looked at his new title.

Pacifist II: After countless days of slaughter and pools of blood spilled, you have remained passive for an extraordinary amount of time. +25 WIS.

“Heh, heh, heh!” Derek chuckled uncontrollably. This title gets me every time. Nothing increases Wisdom like sitting in the dark with your thumb up your ass for months on end. Eventually, Derek calmed down. He may have been losing it, but at least interacting with the system gave him some comfort. It had been months since he lost hope in Silvi being able to bring him back, so the system interactions were his only real attachments he had left.

But all good things had to come to an end.

While meditating one day, Derek’s eyes shot open with a start at a new system message.

Error… System detected host moving out of system range.

Error… Host losing connection with system controlled area.

Error… System connection lost.

Please move into system range as soon as possible.

“What the hell is going on?!” Derek was frantic. Moving out of system range? Have I been traveling the entire time I’ve been stuck? How fast am I moving? Am I moving at the same speed as I was when going between Silvi’s camp and the battlefield? How far were the portal openings from one another? It had to of been at least 75 miles. If I was moving that speed, and I remained at that speed when the portals closed, how far have I traveled?

Question after question flooded Derek’s brain. But, as he thought about it, he doubted himself. That can’t be right. Even being generous, I couldn’t have traveled more than a couple billion miles, at best. I would still be in our solar system at that distance, and I know it should be entirely covered by the system.

Then Derek had a terrifying thought. What if the traveling speed actually slowed down while the portal was open? How much faster would the tunnel be when closed? Derek clutched his head in his hands and screamed, “This sucks!”

He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Okay… think… with my Endurance and Vitality stats being so high, I don’t think I have to worry about eating anymore, so I won’t starve. Let’s see… Status.

Status

Error…

Please move into system range as soon as possible.

Does this mean that I’ve lost the system too? Derek slumped over with his face in his hands. He closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief. At least I can still meditate. That means I should be able to use my other skills as well.

He once again slipped into his meditation and waited…

***

“God dammit!” Derek threw the dagger in his hand to the ground. “I can’t even kill myself.” With no chance of being rescued, he had given up. Before, he could estimate how long he had been trapped in the darkness, but now, time completely escaped him. He was 27 years old when he was originally trapped. Now, he was unsure if he was 30, 40, even 50. He could have been trapped in the darkness for decades. He just didn’t know anymore.

Even though the system left him, he still had all his skills and stats intact. This was both fortunate and unfortunate. His high Endurance and Vitality meant that neither his Strength nor weapons were strong enough to cause lasting damage to him. His high Endurance meant that he struggled to inflict any wounds, and his high Vitality meant that any wounds he caused healed before the damage was serious.

Starving himself was also out of the question. He theorized it would be hard to starve with stats like his, but he tested it anyway. The results? He was miserable. Once his body entered a state of starvation, it drew its sustenance from him. Derek was able to feel his body eating itself, then his Vitality healed any part that was malnourished. It was a vicious cycle that he didn’t want to experience again.

He tried different things, but in the end, he always slipped back into meditation and simply let time go on. While meditating, years could pass in a blink of an eye. So, that’s what he did. If he couldn’t physically end it all, he would leave it to time. Nobody could escape time.

Of course, in the back of his mind, he wondered how crazy all the failed attempts at his own life made him. But he comforted himself with the thought that any rational person in the same situation would have done the same thing.

“Yep, I’m not crazy at all.” He spoke to the glaive laying across his legs. “You go ahead and keep watch. I’m going to go meditate for a while. Wake me up if something happens.” He ran his hand over the bladed end before slowly closing his eyes and slipping back into meditation.

***

“Huh? What was that?” Derek’s eyes shot open as he stared into the infinite darkness. He seemed to notice something… odd. However, he soon calmed down. It’s nothing… just my eyes playing tricks on me… again. Still, he stared into the distant darkness, with a vain hope that his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. Then a loud pounding sounded off in the distance.

He shook his head. Hallucinations were commonplace for him. Though he usually didn’t have multiple at the same time. Still, with a small amount of hope, he closed his eyes and focused his enhanced hearing on the drum-like noise in the distance. Either my hallucinations are getting worse, or there’s actually something out there. For the first time in ages, he felt excited.

The crashing sound once again thundered throughout the darkness. No longer did he have to focus to hear it. The noise bellowed again, even louder. This time, however, something in the darkness changed. A small line seemed to appear.

As Derek stared at the line, it soon formed into a crack. Then the crack spider webbed and grew with each crash. Behind the fissures in the darkness seemed to be a light. As the cracks increased, so too did the illumination behind them.

This is it! Derek grabbed his glaive and jumped up. Finally, a chance to escape or die… or both! Either option was fine to him. There was finally a change in the darkness after countless years… decades, and he wasn’t about to miss it.

Derek summoned his armor from his storage bracelet… well, everything but his helmet. His unruly facial hair dashed all hopes of fitting his head inside. He took off towards the cracks in the darkness, prepared for any outcome, from death to freedom.

He finally arrived at the fissures. With no better idea, he jabbed the blade end of his glaive into a crack and began to pry. Something… happened. Holy shit! It’s moving. The crack grew wider as the blade entered. Then, using the shaft as a lever, Derek pushed.

His glaive had turned into a crowbar, but Derek didn’t mind. He was making headway. Slowly, pieces of darkness fell from the wall and disappeared. Hours passed as the banging continued and the pieces fell.

Derek finally removed enough pieces of darkness to see through to the other side, to see what was causing the crashing sound. What he saw was a gigantic black fist. I giant fist with claws and all kinds of other kill me bits… awesome! If he couldn’t escape, then maybe his new friend could do him a solid and kill him. Derek tried to use the Identify skill on the creature.

Please move back to a system designated area to use this skill.

I should have expected that. Still, he didn’t care. He was going to have company soon. This gentlemanly creature was his ticket out of this hellhole, and by god, he wouldn’t look a gift… beast in its mouth.

Finally, the clawed hand pushed through one of the openings and reached into the darkness. When it pulled back, it grabbed at the edge of the crack, ripping the darkness out with its hand. It reached in again, this time with both hands, and began removing piece after piece of the darkness.

Before long, it stuck its head inside and started hauling the rest of its body in. Soon, a nine-foot-tall creature with a pitch-black body and fiery red eyes stood before Derek.

“Hey man… or woman! Thanks for making me a door. It was really starting to get boring in here.” Derek walked up to the creature and patted it on the shoulder.

Suddenly, the back of the monster’s hand hit Derek in the center of his breastplate, leaving a fist sized dent in the armor. Derek coughed. “That wasn’t very nice.” He viciously slashed his glaive down onto the creature’s arm with Heavy Blow.

The blade bounced off the creature’s skin with a loud ringing sound. It didn’t even break the skin. The monster glared at Derek with its fiery eyes and opened its maw, revealing a row of sharp, fanglike teeth. “Woah, woah, woah.” Derek pleaded with his hands up. “That was just a greeting where I’m from. I was only saying hello. I mean, you hit me, I hit you, now we’re besties.”

Unfortunately, Derek didn’t have time to chat with his new best friend. In his peripheral, the cracks in the darkness were slowly repairing themselves, shutting out the light once again.

“Anyway, it was nice to meet you. My name is… Silvi… yes, Silvi… with an I. Make sure you look me up if you ever visit Earth. Sorry I couldn’t stay longer to chat, but I have to get going. Bye, Bye!” Derek dashed towards the opening, feeling the wind streak across his hair as he ducked under a blow from the monster. He dove through what was left of the opening and into the light. He was finally out.

“Freedom!” He shouted as he fell.

Chapter 3: Out

“Oomph!”

Derek landed hard and tumbled end over end down a vast hill until finally coming to an abrupt stop when his face smashed into an immovable boulder.

After moving his body upright, he surveyed his surroundings, noticing the deathly pale aura emanating from the land. Even the air blown in from the wind was stale. Derek took a deep breath of the stale air. “It’s beautiful.” He said aloud as a tear rolled down his cheek.

Standing up and brushing his armor off in the process, Derek checked his system once again. Since he was finally out of the darkness and void, there was a chance the system would work.

Stat… ERROR… Pleas… Err…

“Ah!” Derek clutched his head in pain. It felt as if something had exploded in his brain. A massive headache threatened to overtake his consciousness. He focused on remaining awake as the pain slowly receded.

What is this? I haven’t had so much as a sniffle since the damn system took over Earth. Now I feel like I’m having an aneurysm. Why now? Derek groaned inwardly. His absurdly high Endurance and Vitality stats should have been enough to keep that from happening. I’ll just have to deal with it. If I can survive being stabbed in the heart, a little aneurysm shouldn’t cause me too many problems… hopefully.

Derek rubbed the back of his head. I do not miss headaches and migraines… He shook his head. What I would give for some painkillers right now. His body’s Endurance had kept pain to a minimum since the system took over. It had been years since he experienced such pain for such a length of time.

The pain continued to lessen, and Derek could finally focus on his surrounding again. First things first. He studied the sky, which he had broken out of. Sure enough, there were still signs of what had happened. The sky was slowly healing itself. Soon, there would be no visible signs of anything out of the ordinary.

As the final break in the sky vanished, an unexpected wave of gratitude washed over him. Not gratitude for being trapped, or even surviving. No, gratitude to the monster that saved him, that freed him of the endless darkness. More tears pooled in the corners of his eyes until they flowed down his cheek, following the path of his previous tears. Still staring at the ordinary sky, he inaudibly mouthed two words. Thank you.

Finally, Derek moved his attention away from the space above him and scanned his surroundings. His eyes squinted as he noticed problems with the terrain. Though there were trees and every sign pointed that he was in a forest, something seemed wrong. Everything looks… ill.

The temperature was fine, perfect even. The sun was out, illuminating everything. All things considered, this should have been an ideal place for a forest. However, the trees and greenery were at the cusp of dying, or already dead, but it didn’t look like the cause could be from extreme hot or cold temperatures.

Suddenly, Derek heard a rustling from some nearby shrubbery. He didn’t bother turning around to confront whatever was behind him. Everything indicated that, although he couldn’t access the system, all his stats and skills were still working. If whatever was behind him was fast and strong enough to approach him without allowing him to react, he was already as good as dead, whether he turned around or not.

Derek looked down and traced his hand over the dent in his chest armor. I still have my armor on. That beast could dent it without even trying… if I have to fight something like it… He shook his head.

Finally, the rustling in the bush quieted. Light, cautious footsteps approached him, getting closer and closer. Derek turned his head, slowly as to not startle whatever, or whomever, was approaching. Eyes finally landing on the figure behind him, he grinned. People! I missed people…

It was a little boy, or girl, Derek couldn’t tell because of the caked on dirt and raggedy clothes the child was wearing. Trails had formed where tears had run down the kid’s face. The child’s eyes were bloodshot and either the kid had brown hair, or that was just actual dirt, dying it. Derek considered the hair and went with dirty blonde. He chuckled at his own joke.

The chuckle must have scared the child, because the child’s eyes widened and he, if Derek could count on the shriek that came out of the kid’s mouth, turned to escape.

Damn it! Derek cursed to himself. I don’t even know what I look like after all this time. Of course I’m scary as hell. He pulled on the beard that was long enough to make a rope out of. Not to mention my armor. I had it made to look menacing in the first place.

“Boy! Stop, I’ll help you! And you can help me find out where I am.” He yelled at the boy. The boy slowed for a second, just long enough to turn his head and see Derek’s demonic looking figure again. He yelped and ran even faster than before.

What the hell? I even said I’d help. Kids these days. Derek shook his head. Too good to trust menacing looking strangers. He sighed and walked after the boy. It didn’t matter how fast the boy ran. It wasn’t fast enough. At any time, Derek could catch him.

Tripping over a dead tree branch, the boy fell, making his already tattered clothing even dirtier. He reached for his knee and grabbed it with both hands. Derek could hear sobs coming from the boy. Derek was ashamed of himself. The first person I’ve seen in literal ages, and I’ve gone and made him hurt himself. He continued his walk towards the boy. He tried to approach gently, but with the way he looked, he knew it wasn’t possible.

Soon, the boy seemed to realize his mistake. If he wasn’t moving, then the giant, menacing figure was getting closer. The boy turned, only to see Derek now lumbering over his injured body. The boy shrieked, rolled onto his back, and began a feverish crawl backwards on his hands and feet.

Derek fought back laughter. I feel like I’m some villain in a b-grade horror film. All I need now is a mask and a machete. Finally, with the thoughts he was having, he couldn’t hold the laughter back any longer. He let out a deep belly laugh.

The boy stared at Derek in shock and horror. A puddle of liquid soon formed underneath the boy and his eyes rolled back in his head. He went limp.

“Uhh…” Feeling ashamed, Derek didn’t know what to do. Maybe that was a little too much. He looked down again. Damn… he pissed himself. Good job Derek, the first person you see in… well, in forever, and not only do you scare him, you make him soil his clothing and pass out. What if those trousers were the last pair of pants that his grandma sewed him before she passed? Now, you’ve gone and made the kid ruin them. Real nice.

Derek bent down to pick up the boy, careful not to get any bodily fluids on his armor. He lifted the boy by the neck of his tunic with one and strolled back to the boulder he had previously smashed into. The two cut a striking image as they moved together through the dying forest. The image was not a good one. It could be described as a crazed demon bringing his prey back to camp to be eaten.

They don’t pay me enough for this shit. Derek complained as he sat the boy against the boulder.

Once he checked and made sure the boy was okay, Derek wondered off to gather wood to build a fire. Who knows how cold it gets here at night? He looked up at the sky. Or if there is even a night. He pondered while looking towards the sun.

Derek wasn’t subtle. Instead of gathering branches and twigs from the ground, he found a decently sized tree that looked dead enough and summoned his glaive out of his bracelet. He launched a Heavy Blow onto the tree. It was overkill, but the blade sliced right through and the tree fell.

While watching the tree fall, the headache that had almost disappeared came back with a vengeance. It felt like someone had picked up a pair of scissors and jabbed them into his brain, then started snipping. It was worse than the previous pain by far. He couldn’t help but wonder about the cause of his new ailment.

These headaches never happened with the system before, and they didn’t happen while I was stuck in the darkness. No, wait, I did have one headache similar to this one on Earth. The day the system came. I was driving my knife into a fish when I felt it, and it lasted for a few minutes. He thought back to his previous interactions with the system.

The first headache happened when I tried to view my status after arriving on this world. The second happened after I used a system skill to fell the tree. Is the system a taboo in this world? Or maybe the system is trying to integrate with this new world. The second option sounds safer. I’ll go with that. But, if that’s the case, what do I do?

Derek returned to his makeshift camp with the tree and dropped it on the ground. Summoning a dagger from his storage bracelet, he went to work shaving off some kindling he could use to start a fire. After obtaining enough shavings, he stored the dagger and summoned his glaive. This time, instead of using any system skills, he chopped the tree with normal strikes.

After chopping the tree into eight separate logs, he split them in two. Then, he really examined the wood. Yep, it’s pretty much dead. Great for firewood, bod for forest. After arranging the firewood neatly on the ground, he continued towards the shavings, placing them down in a cleared area close to the boulder.

Next, Derek gathered stones from the area, breaking stones that were too big in two. Finally, he had enough to make a pit for the fire. He then formed the firepit and placed the kindling inside before lighting it, slowly placing the firewood onto it until a fire was blazing. Derek arranged some of the remaining firewood into a seat, sat down, and closed his eyes.

Not long after starting the fire, Derek heard a whimpering coming from across from him. He opened his eyes and glanced in the boy’s direction. The boy’s face was tear-stained, and he had a runny nose. Derek spoke as gently as he could. “It’s alright, boy. I’m not gonna hurt you. Sorry for scaring you earlier.”

The crying stopped, and the boy observed Derek, curiously. He was still frowning, but at least he wasn’t running. If anything, he seemed confused. He opened his mouth and spoke.

Unfortunately, the language was foreign, and Derek couldn’t understand it. This is going to… He began to think, but a system message cut his thoughts off.

New Language Detected

Transla…

“What!” Derek screamed, as everything went black.

Chapter 4: Thomas

“What just happened?” Thomas was just talking to the scary man, who he just realized wasn’t a monster, when the man screamed loudly and fell, tossing up dust as his well armored figure hit the ground.

More curious than brave, Thomas warily ambled toward the man to check on him. Before drawing close, he scrambled back to where he was. What am I doing? He was chasing me earlier. Who knows what he planned to do to me?

Thomas made it back to the boulder and slid down into a sitting position. Realizing his situation, he frowned. Why are my pants wet? He thought back to before, when he was running for his life from the demon-like man and his menacing smile, and blushed. I can’t believe I wet myself. Embarrassed, and not just a little scared, he pondered on the situation he had gotten himself into.

Why didn’t I stay with the group? Pa told me not to leave their sight. How long ago was that, two, three days? A rumble sounded from his stomach and he looked down with a sad smile. I don’t think I’ve ever been this hungry before… I’m starving. It was the first time in days that Thomas could calm down and think about his situation.

My pants are drenched, shirt ruined, belly empty, and my mouth is so dry that I can’t stand it. Thomas sobbed again for the umpteenth time since getting lost. He was wondering if he would have any tears left if he managed to make it home.

What am I going to do? I’m alone. Thomas looked at the pile of armor and hair lying face down across the fire from him.Well, I’m not alone, but being with him may be worse than being by myself.

I don’t even know how I managed to stay alive for as long as I have. He thought about the events that led him up to this point.

***

Thomas was traveling with his grandfather and some residents from a neighboring village, back to his own. He wandered away from his group because he thought he recognized a medicinal herb his grandma had told him to always look out for.

When he arrived at the location of the plant, he realized it was nothing more than a common weed. Deciding to go back to his group empty handed, he realized that he was lost. He thought he went back the way he came, but the group was nowhere to be found.

After calming down, he wanted to walk back to the weed so he could get his bearings. Unfortunately, that proved to be an impossible task, as there were countless weeds that all looked the same. Thomas chided himself. He was only gone for a dozen or so minutes, yet managed to get himself completely lost.

For the next series of minutes, he walked around aimlessly, shouting for his grandpa or other members of their party. This proved fruitless. After an unknown amount of time, he heard rustling from behind. Elated that someone had found him, he turned, only to become stalk still. What stared back at him was a pair of scarlet red eyes with murderous intent.

Thomas slowly shrank away, making himself as little as possible, before turning on his heel and fleeing for his life. As he darted through the forest, crunching leaves and warping tree branches caught his attention, along with the light pattering of an agile beast. The sounds drew closer and closer. At this point, Thomas had lost all hope. His small stamina pool was almost drained.

His heart pounded in his ears, as if on the cusp of exploding. His legs were weak and no longer able to keep up with his current pace. Like that, it finally hit him. He was dead and there was nothing he could do about it. There was no hope for survival.

As he made this realization, he calmed down and accepted his fate. He made peace that he would never meet his family or friends again. They’ll be better off without me. It’s one less unproductive mouth for the village to feed.

As his sprint slowed to a jog, he turned his head to get a good look at his would be murderer. It was a wolf, a beautiful wolf with jet black fur that glistened in whatever sunlight was able to hit it through the broken and diseased forest. Saliva flew from its gaping maw as it crashed towards him through the forest. Its jaw could likely shatter his bones in one quick bite. However, if the strength of its jaw didn’t snap the bone, its razer-like teeth would have no problem stripping him of his flesh.

As visions of being eaten alive plagued him, his foot caught on a vine and he lost his balance, soon tumbling end over end. After his momentum halted, he looked around. He was on the edge of a very steep hill. If he continued on, he would likely break his neck in the fall. That thought didn’t seem so bad to Thomas. At least then, his end would be quick and relatively painless.

Gathering his courage, he glanced at the predator one last time, then hurled himself down the hill. Thomas descended down the hill, barbs from bushes ripping through his clothing, dirt and mud staining his hair and body. The fall felt like it took ages, but was over in a near instant.

Thomas lay on the flat of his back, staring up at the sky, wondering how he made it all the way down without dying. Glancing to where he fell from, he saw two glaring red eyes staring back at him. Luckily, the wolf chose not to follow him down the hill.

He shifted his aching body, struggling to right himself up on two legs. After wobbling and stumbling, he was finally able to stand straight. His eyes never left the top of the hill. Please, just leave. Go find something easier to hunt. He silently prayed to himself over and over.

It seemed like his prayers were answered. Shockingly, the head staring over the hill slowly backed away until it disappeared out of sight. It left… I can’t believe it. After shaking off the trauma from his narrow escape from death, Thomas assessed his situation. Miraculously, his body was mostly uninjured. Other than some cuts and future bruises, he was fine. Somehow, he made it down the steep hill without breaking anything.

He didn’t know what was more insane, that he fell such a distance down an almost cliff-like hill and survived almost unharmed, or the wolf choosing to leave him alone. Either way, he chose not to question it. He was alive… alone, but alive.

That said, he was still lost, with no clue how far away he had wandered from his grandpa and the rest of the group. Would they still be looking for me? He looked back up the hill. They’ll never find me here. He fought back a sob.

All sense of direction left Thomas when he was being chased by the wolf. He didn’t know which way would lead him out of the forest, or which way would take him deeper, into the more dangerous part.

Scanning his surroundings, he found himself with the unclimbable hill to his right, and diseased trees and shrubbery to his left. Surprisingly, both in front of him and behind was clear. Only the occasional stone stood in his path.

Not knowing the best option, he went with his gut. He decided to follow the path forward, staying within the tree line to keep himself from being out in the open.

Thomas crept forward, making as little noise as possible. He moved along sluggishly as hours passed. Eventually, the sun fell and darkness overwhelmed his vision. He found a bush big enough to hide his body and crawled into it for the night. He knew better than to move through the forest alone at night.

Sleep never came to the boy. All the night brought him was creepy noises from the forest and a frigid chill. His eyes darted and heart races at every sound. He could survive like this for a few nights, but because of the cold and lack of food and water, he knew he wouldn’t make it more than a few.

The next day, the boy pushed himself forward, hoping to find something, anything, that could increase his chance of survival. He didn’t. The only thing he found was night once again. Again, he fought to keep himself awake in the freezing night air, knowing that if he fell asleep, there was a good chance he would never open his eyes again.

The next morning, he moved faster, uncaring of the noise he made. He wouldn’t make it much longer like this. The boy silenced his emotions and trudged on. Finally, he saw it.

In the distance was a humanoid figure, hopefully human. Tears and sweat blurred his vision, keeping him from being able to see the figure clearly.

As Thomas moved closer, he was able to make out the humanoid more clearly. The figured was wearing some kind of full plate, black armor and had his head tilted back, staring at the sky above.

It has to be a human. He’s wearing armor and has hair all over his head. And he’s big. That rules many humanoid beasts and goblins. Overjoyed, Thomas crept closer to the figure, trying to be silent, but too tired to car about making noise.

He got closer, close enough to see the figure clearly. It is a man. It has to be. He moved out of the bushes and towards the towering figure. Hope reignited within him.

As he approached, the man turned, glaring at Thomas. The boy stopped, appraising the man. Then, the man laughed, it was the evilest laugh Thomas had ever heard.

He felt it again, the same fear he felt when the wolf stared at him with predatory eyes. Demon, he’s a demon! Thomas couldn’t run away fast enough. At least with the wolf, I would have just died. If I get caught by a demon, he’ll skin me and eat me slowly while I’m still alive. All kinds of errant thoughts flashed through the boy’s mind.

He ran. Body bruised, tired, and hungry, Thomas ran faster than he ever had in his life. He heard the demon scream something in its devil tongue. He couldn’t understand it, so he ran even faster.

Why did he have to be so young? Why did the Great System not allow humans to level until they were 13? At this time, Thomas would have given anything to have been born a year earlier. At least then, he would have some levels and perhaps some extra stamina. But he was only 12, and he was small, even for a 12-year-old boy. And now, he had a demon chasing after him.

The demon yelled again. Thomas turned, shocked that the demon was so close without even running. No longer looking ahead, he tripped. I’m dead. He thought. He rolled over, only to see the demon towering over him. The demon let out a thundering laugh. It was all Thomas could handle after the last few days he’d had. His eyes rolled back, and he passed out.

***

Thomas broke out of his daydream after recounting the events from the last few days. He looked over at the unconscious body again, wondering what to do. Eventually, the choice was made for him.

A screeching howl came from the forest. The same crimson eyes that haunted him for days appeared. The wolf had come. Panic-stricken, the boy looked for a way out, a way to survive once again. His gaze landed on the strange man’s body, specifically his armor. With no more hesitation, he ran to the body, and, with all he had left in him, rolled the body over enough so that he could hide underneath. With what vision he had left of his surroundings, he saw the wolf pounce.

Chapter 5: The Great System

“Ugh.” Derek groaned as a something heavy landed on his armor encased body. Derek was groggy, still in the process of waking. It had never taken him so long to get his bearings after waking. Something was wrong. His head was fuzzy, and though he could make out some noise in the distance, he couldn’t figure out what was happening because of his current state.

“Ugh, stop it. Just give me a few more minutes.” He muttered. There was a tugging on his hand that he didn’t understand. “Let go of me.” He shooed whoever was trying to pull him from his sleep, but the tugging continued, becoming even fiercer.

“I said stop!” This time, he slapped at the person messing with him. Not entirely aware, he was unable to control his strength.

A loud yelp broke through the foggy barrier of his mind.

Derek’s eyes shot open. He shifted his head around, taking in everything in sight. What the hell happened? He wondered. Moving his gaze to the beast in front of him, he got excited.

“A puppy! Come here, boy.” He exclaimed after studying the snarling creature. Derek sat up and frowned. He shifted his body and noticed the boy lying underneath him, shaking.

“It’s not that cold yet. Why are you shivering? Did you use me as a blanket?” He asked.

“N-no… I didn’t.” The boy said.

Wait! I can understand him now. What the hell? Derek was really confused now. He couldn’t figure out how one minute the boy was speaking gibberish, then the next minute, he was speaking perfect English.

“Boy! Why can I understand you now? Were you toying with me earlier?” Derek asked. His memory was still fuzzy, and all he could remember was that the boy was staring at him from across the fire before he passed out.

“I… uh… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The boy muttered.

“You were speaking a different language earlier, now you’re speaking the same language as me.” Derek explained.

Suddenly, the wolf pounced on Derek again. He let the wolf latch on to his bracer while still staring at the boy. “Well?”

“I… we… we’re speaking the language of the Great System. It’s the only language we use because everyone has the Great System.” The boy stared at Derek incredulously. Derek was now rubbing the top of the wolf’s head with his gloved hand, treating it like a pet.

Great System language? Derek couldn’t wrap his head around it. There’s no universal language from the system. If you want to understand other language, you need to spend an ungodly amount of time leveling up the Linguistics skill, and I certainly didn’t waste time to do that. While he was processing this information, the wolf charged at his face. He quickly grabbed it from the bottom of its mouth.

Noticing that the teeth on the right side of its mouth were missing, Derek asked, “Awe, what happened to you? Was somebody mean to you?” He cooed quietly to the wolf.

“I th… think you knocked some of its teeth out when you slapped it away earlier.” The boy spoke.

“Awe… I so sowwy. Did I hurt it?” Derek baby talked the monstrous beast as the boy stared on in shock.

“Anyway.” Derek grabbed the boy’s attention from the beast. “What is this Great System Language?”

“It’s the language of the Great System.” The boy answered as if it was the most common knowledge a person could know.

“No shit.” Derek said. “I’m asking what it is. Why is there a system language?” The way the kid looked at him like he was a moron didn’t escape him.

“I… I’m not sure what you mean.” The boy said. “The language has been around as long as the Great System has, and nobody I know knows how long that is. I’ve heard of people talking about ancient languages, but I don’t know anything about them other than that we used them before the Great System arrived. But that’s all fairy tales and myths that every kid hears when they are little.”

Derek didn’t expect much information from a boy as young as this one, but was surprised by his answer. At least the boy seemed more mature than boys of his age back on Earth. He expected an ‘I dunno,’ but got a little information.

“Hey, kid. What level are you, anyway? Why are you so scared of this little guy? He can’t be too high of a level.” He couldn’t understand why the boy, even as young as he was, was so terrified of the wolf in front of them. Back on Earth, with the system, there were 10-year-olds who were as powerful as the wolf.

“Level? I’m level zero. I’m not old enough to use the Great System yet. I’m not 13 yet, so I haven’t unlocked the features. Even then, leveling isn’t exactly easy, you know?” The boy answered.

“Oh, so you can’t use the system until your 13thbirthday?” Derek was interested in these new system rules. They were completely different from the system he knew.

“Yes… basically.”

“So, when you turn 13, the system just says what? ‘Congratulations, you survived 13 years without becoming monster chow, have some levels.’” Derek didn’t understand why the system would keep its people from leveling for 13 whole years, basically being defenseless the whole time.

“Kind of…” the boy answered. “When you are 13, you are given the chance to access and use the Great System. How well you use it depends on yourself. Some people never even choose a class. Some never even unlock the ability to use the system. Unlocking the Great System can be easy or impossible.”

“Oh? How does one access the system?”

“Well, everyone can pull up the interface by thinking about their ‘Status,’ even those under 13. To do more than that, you have to be over 13 years old.” The boy explained.

Listening to the kid, Derek thought about his status, just as he had done thousands of times before. Once again, after years, decades even, he was able to see his status.

“What!” Derek screamed aloud as he did a double take at his status sheet. “How in the hell am I 19 years old? Is this a joke to you? I was in there for decades, if not centuries. Yet, you say I was only stuck inside for two years? You can’t be serious!” He lost it when he saw his age. It meant that he had only physically aged two years while trapped in the darkness.

Of course, after his outburst, the boy was staring at him like he was a crazy person. Well… like he was an even crazier person. Derek had a long way to go in order to earn the trust of his new companion.

After a lengthy amount of time, Derek finally calmed down. Okay… just think rationally. How could I have only aged two years? Surely I didn’t hallucinate everything. Now, that’s not possible. Everything was too real. Maybe time flowed differently in there? No… if that was the case, I still would have aged… right? Ahh! I’m going to go crazy thinking about this. I’ll just move it to the back of my mind and circle back to it later.

After calming down, Derek checked his status again just to see what had changed.

No level yet, since I’m apparently using a new system. That’s to be expected. Why is my race ‘modified?’ Maybe it’s because my body was changed by my old system previously. At least now I know that the system affects you on a physical level. If not, I would have lost my stats along with the system. Derek frowned as thoughts raced through his head.

Derek studied his stats for a period of time. It seems like my base stats are my overall stats, including all my titles other than Solo King. It makes sense, since I’m not alone right now. Suddenly, he had a thought. “Hey, kid, stay right there and don’t move.”

“Huh? Why…” the boy began, but Derek was already kicking up dust, wolf cradled in his arms. “Wh… where are you going?” The boy yelled, but Derek kept running. “So fast…” the boy muttered.

After running some distance away, Derek checked his stats again.

Damn! It’s the same. He had hoped that once he put some distance between him and the boy, his Solo King title would kick in and all his stats would rise by 15%. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen. Dammit! So this means that I don’t actually have the titles anymore, and whatever buffs I had when I went unconscious is what my permanent base stats became. Still, for base stats, at level 0, it’s pretty awesome. Derek turned to head back to camp. He still had so many questions for the boy. Like what his name was.

The boy was still staring at Derek with his mouth agape when he got back. He sat a few feet away from the boy and snorted in his direction, causing the boy to become confused. Derek was still a little mad that he lost out on a 15 percent stat increase, but he would deal with it.

“What’s your name?” He asked the boy.

The boy let out a long breath and answered, “Thomas.”

“Alright Tommy, I’m Derek. It’s good to meet you.”

“Thomas… not Tommy.” The boy muttered, seemingly upset.

“That’s what I said. Anyway, Tommy, you were talking about the requirements that a person has to unlock the system.” Derek didn’t care if the boy didn’t like his nickname. He was going to be called Tommy until Derek got over losing those precious stats from his title.

“It’s Thomas.” The boy quipped, but after receiving a deadpan stare from Derek, he continued. “You’re able to see your level and stats?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I don’t know what level you are, but those that haven’t unlocked the ability to use the Great System are level 0.” Thomas explained.

Derek motioned for the boy to continue.

“Like I said, it can be easy or hard to unlock the Great System. It depends on the person.” Thomas lectured. “In order to unlock it, you have to kill something. It can be anything, as long as it is above level 0, gives experience, and you are the only person to damage it.”

“All nobles have it easy when it comes to unlocking the Great System. They will have their guards capture a beast, then kill it while it’s caged.” The boy spoke with disgust. Obviously, he was not fond of nobles.

Thomas continued. “There are many adult level 0s because not all people have the courage or ability to hunt a monster by themselves, and there is no one to provide them with the same treatment as a noble. Unless there is a strong person in their circle of family or friends.”

Thomas then became excited. “My grandpa said he would find a monster that’s level ten for me to kill to unlock the Great System. That will allow me to get awarded a skill point before I choose a class. Then…”

“Hold on.” Derek cut him off. “What do you mean ‘get awarded a skill point?’” Derek had seen the ‘Achievements’ row when studying his status and was curious.

“Oh, if you kill an enemy ten levels above your own, you get an achievement called Lesser Giant Slayer that grants you a free skill point. There’s one for killing an enemy 25 levels above your own, as well. That’s the one that most nobles try to get. I’ve heard that there’s one for 50 levels, too, but it’s just hearsay. I’ve never met anyone who has actually done it.” Thomas explained.

“Really?” Derek was excited to try it out. So, the only reason I haven’t unlocked system use is because I haven’t earned any experience from a kill yet. The achievements seem to be like titles, but they give awards like skill points instead of stat bonuses. Or, maybe just this one gives skill points.

“Hey, kid.” Derek said. “Can you earn achievements that give things other than skill points?”

“Of course. Though, I don’t know specifics. That information isn’t really shared among people. I heard you can earn skill, skill points, stat points… anything really. I just don’t know what to do to get them.” Thomas answered.

Derek went silent, deep in thought. So, achievements are like titles, but with more diversity. I wonder… Derek tightened his grip on the wolf in his grasp and squeezed until a loud crack was heard and the beast went limp.

Thomas jumped up and backed away, falling over a log. “What?” He stared at Derek in confusion. “Why did you kill it? You were just playing with it.”

Derek found it amusing that he was standing up for the beast he was terrified of just moments ago. He looked at the boy like he was an idiot. “Kid, I thought you were smart for your age. Turns out you’re still naïve.” He shook his head. “Do you have a Beast Master class, or a class with a taming skill? I sure as hell don’t. This guy was still trying its hardest to rip me apart. What do you think would have happened if I would have let it go?”

“Th… then why were you treating it so nice earlier? I thought you were going to tame it.” Thomas asked.

“No.” Derek shook his head. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been around people… or beasts. I was playing with it while gauging its strength. It was fun to play for a bit, but it would have ripped you apart the second it got a chance. A beast is a beast, and if it’s a threat to someone in your party, it’s best to take care of it.” He smiled at the boy. “Now, give me a second.”

Derek noticed that there were new notifications in his vision. With a thought, he pulled them to the front.

The first message that greeted him was a basic message introducing him to the system.

From a single kill, Derek leveled up four times, increasing his level to 5. He checked the next notification.

Obviously, he received 10 stat points for unlocking the system and getting to level 1, giving a total of 50 points after the kill. It will be nice getting stats from level 1 again. He moved on to the next notification.

Derek was excited to see what he could use these skill points on, but he noticed that there were more notifications to be viewed.

Oh shit. It wasn’t able to eliminate the other system. I wonder what would have happened if it would have. He was glad that the other system was still there, only dormant. He couldn’t imagine what the system would have taken with it if it were eradicated.

He let out a sigh and checked his new achievement.

“Hey, kid. What’s the name of the achievement for killing something 25 levels above you? You said that it was called ‘Lesser’ for 10 levels, right?” He asked Thomas.

“I think they call it Minor Giant Slayer.” The boy answered.

So, there’s lesser, then minor, and I got one without any modifier. If I’m guessing correctly, there should be a major and greater above the one I received, if it doesn’t just stop at the third tier. He pondered the new system’s achievements.

After perusing his status again, he noticed that new tabs for experience, skill points, and stat points appeared. I don’t know enough about the system yet, so I’ll save the stat points for now. I need to see if the kid knows anything about skill points. In the old system, I could just buy skills from the System Shop, then level them by using them.

Derek was going to ask the kid about skills, but was cut off by the rumbling of the boy’s stomach. He smiled. “You hungry?

“Starving!” The boy was ecstatic at his question.

Derek didn’t know how long the defenseless boy had been alone in the wilderness. “Alright, I’ll throw the wolf on the fire and let it cook while we chat. I doubt it tastes great, but food’s food.” Derek summoned his dagger, sliding it up the bell of the deceased beast, careful not to puncture any organs and taint the meat. After, he removed the innards and put them in a pile, out of the way. Soon, the wolf was ready. He made a spit to hold the wolf and started roasting it over the campfire.

Derek flicked his hand, and a bottle appeared. He rinsed his hands with the water inside, then tossed it to the boy. “Drink.”

Not holding back, Thomas turned the bottle up and drank, not stopping until it was dry. He looked up at Derek sheepishly, as if he had done something wrong.

“Don’t worry about it. I have plenty if I need it, but you probably shouldn’t’ drink so much at one like that, especially if you’re dehydrated. You’ll get sick.” He held his hand out and received the bottle from the boy. “Now, while the meat’s cooking, tell me what you know about skill points.

Thomas tilted his head in thought. “Skill points are used to buy skills from the Great System. One skill point can usually buy one skill, but some cost more. If you focus on the skill points, a list of available skills should show up.

“Some achievements give points, and you usually get five points every time you upgrade your class. Five points for getting your class at level 10, five for level 25, and 5 for level 50. After that, I’m not sure. I’ve never even met anyone at level 50.” The boy came to another realization. “Oh, there are two kinds of skills. General Skills and Class Skills.”

“What are the difference?” Derek asked.

“Any class can learn General Skills. Those are skills like Identify or Meditation.” Thomas replied.

“Meditation.”  Derek muttered. It’s probably one of, if not, the most useful skills I used to have. It won’t be a wasted skill point if I buy it. If it’s anywhere as good as the previous one, it will be well worth it.