System Change

Chapter 117: Race Against Time

Derek dropped Silvi off at the carriage containing Malorie and Brandi and kept going. He could only hope that the mother/daughter duo were safe. He didn’t have enough time to stay and check on them, and he knew that there wasn’t much that Silvi wouldn’t be able to handle. Right now, he was in a race against time to save Rayna.

Derek could vaguely feel the pull from the communication crystal in his storage going off, but he ignored it. It wasn’t the first time he’d ignored it, and it wouldn’t be the last.

Minutes after dropping Silvi off at the carriage, a couple of notifications flashed in his vision. Since the notification at the side of his screen was mildly annoying and reading them wouldn’t affect his speed, Derek viewed them while running.

Your Bonded Companion Has Killed level 83 Warrior.

Your Bonded Companion Has Killed level 91 Warrior.

214,000 Experience Gained

579,118/590,000 Experience to Next Level

They were higher level than I expected. Derek thought. It seemed like he was correct in assuming that Silvi wouldn’t have any problems taking care of them. He could only wonder how they met their fate. Did she use her Void Lightning skill on them? Did she just overpower them? Had they seen it coming?

Derek couldn’t help but distract himself with these thoughts. He hadn’t gotten Rayna’s exact countdown time before he left, so for all he knew, she could already be gone. He hated that he couldn’t travel any faster.

He tried to put the thoughts out of his head. Rayna was one of the few people he would call friends. In the whole of the Earth’s Apocalypse, he had never gotten too close to anyone. Even Silvi and her team could only be considered acquaintances who fought together from time to time.

Getting stuck in the void had made him feel the need for connection. Traveling together with Thomas had further changed his attitude towards people, and the conversations with Walter, Stella, and Alanah had made him accept the reality that he no longer wanted to be left alone.

Before long, Derek was at the village. Instead of going around to the gate, he jumped over the side of the wall. There was no time for manners.

Quickly, he found himself on the main street of the village, by the old inn. The village was lively, and many people could be seen running around. These people were not those of the village. It was to be expected after the dungeon was discovered.

Derek grabbed the first person he found. A rough looking man with brown hair and leather armor. “Where’s Rayna?”

The man tried to shrug Derek’s hand off of his shoulder, but was surprised when he found that he could move it. “W-who?” He asked.

“Rayna. The former chief of this village. Where is she?” Derek asked again.

“I-I don’t know.”

Derek tossed the man to the side and ran towards Richard and Delilah’s house. If anybody knew what happened, it would be Richard.

Derek burst through the door, not bothering to knock. Instantly, his eyes fell on Richard. “Where is sh…” He started, but saw Delilah sitting on the floor with her back against their bed, holding Rayna in her arms, the old woman’s tears running down her face and dropping onto Rayna’s.

Human Female

Level 53

State: Dying

Time Remaining: 13 Minutes

Derek let out a breath. He’d made it. She only had 13 minutes left, but that was plenty. As long as she could still be saved, he would do it.

He pulled one of his two remaining Recovery Potions. He could only hope that the potions from his old system would work the same here as they did there.

Derek walked forward, potion in hand. He crouched down in front of Delilah and reached for Rayna’s head.

“Open her mouth.” He said to Delilah.

Not asking any questions, Thomas's grandmother did as Derek told. While Rayna’s head was cradled in her left arm, she reached up to her mouth with her right hand and forced open Rayna’s mouth.

Derek slowly poured the small vial into Rayna’s mouth, not allowing any to spill. Once the potion was in, he forced her mouth back shut and waited, checking her status constantly. Finally, her status changed, and Derek released the tension in his body.

Human Female

Level 53

State: Unconscious

Derek used the hand he had placed on her head and cast Rejuvenation on her. He also pulled out a couple Lesser Health Potions and fed her one, setting the other beside Delilah.

“She’ll be fine.” Derek said, then went back over to Richard. He leaned against the wall and slid down into a sitting position. “So, what exactly happened?” He asked.

“I’m happy you made it in time.” Richard said as he sat beside Derek. “How did you find out?”

“A friend of mine has someone watching the village, so when that person saw what happened, he sent a message to my friend, who told me.” Derek answered as there was nothing to hide.

“You were at Torith when you got the message? How… how did you get here so fast?” Richard asked.

“I’m fast when I travel alone.” Was all that Derek said. With his Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity, Derek’s speed was multiple times faster than the average person’s. A caravan would travel at 3-4 miles per hour because not everyone would have unlocked the system, and most of the time, there wouldn’t be enough carriages to go around.

It would also have to take breaks for meals and rest while traveling. And without proper guard, they wouldn’t travel at night. So, with around 10 hours of travel time, a caravan would average around 35 miles a day. Which is why it can take weeks to make it from the village to the city.

Derek was able to ignore all of that and make it within a few hours. First, he was able to sprint the entire way without rest. Also, with his stats, his running speed was much faster than the average system user. Of course, he wasn’t able to gauge how fast he could run, but he figured he could compete with a sports car back on Earth.

Richard received Derek’s answer and didn’t ask anymore questions. “I’m just glad you made it in time.” All of a sudden, Richard seemed to remember something. “Brandi, Malorie…” He muttered, but was cut off before he finished.

“Safe.” Derek said. “I left Silvi with them. They should be making their way back to the village as we speak.”

Richard nodded and let out a sigh. “That’s good… that’s good.”

“So, are you going to tell me what happened?” Derek asked again.

“I’m not entirely sure, as I didn’t see the whole thing.” Richard replied. “When I heard about the commotion, I rushed over to Malorie’s courtyard. Her and Brandi were already locked in cages, and Rayna was doing everything she could to rescue them. There were two men, and they were both more powerful than she was, so it didn’t take long before they overpowered her.”

“What about the Overseer?” Derek asked.

“She showed up at the end, but Rayna was already in that state.”

“But she just let them take Brandi and Mal?” Derek’s rage still hadn’t subsided. Now he was starting to get an idea about whom to point it at next.

Richard shook his head and sneered. “They don’t care about us. One of the men whispered something in her ear and handed her two of the storage rings they stole off of the girls.”

Derek scoffed. “She was sent here to keep the peace, but was bought off just like that. I guess the village is going to need a new Overseer.” Derek said.

“What?” Richard was flabbergasted. “But the Overseer is sent by the King’s men. Going against them is like going against the King.”

Derek shook his head. “From what I know, the King is a decent person. He just surrounds himself with greedy idiots. I’m sure the dungeon and a village like this were only a blip on his radar that he passed off to one of his advisors. Besides, I know someone who has a good relationship with him. I’ll let her know that the King’s going to need to send a new Overseer.”

Richard looked at Derek like he was a monster. Of course, Richard had given Derek the same gaze many times since they met, so it was no longer odd.

“Do you know the name of the Overseer?” Derek asked.

“Katrisha Collins.” Richard answered. “She made sure that we all knew the name of the person in charge once she arrived.”

Derek nodded and took out his communication crystal. “Give me a minute, I need to contact someone.” He told Richard. Both Alanah and Walter had been trying to open communications with him while he was running to the village. It was time to let them know what happened.

Derek first contacted Alanah.

‘Derek? Finally… What happened? Is everything alright? Were you able to get to your friend in time?’ Alanah hit him with question after question. Obviously, Stella had found out what happened from Walter, and passed the information to Alanah.

Derek smiled at her concern. ‘Only just. I got here with only a few minutes to spare. I was lucky.’

‘That’s good.’ Alanah said in relief.

‘Yeah, it is.’ Derek replied. ‘Now, what do you know about the Overseer here? Katrisha Collins. I’m about to go pay my respects.’