System Change

Minutes earlier…

Crown Restaurant—Savannah

Alanah stored her communications crystal in her storage ring and sighed. “That was Avery.” She looked pointedly at the King. “Edward has been ambushed and lost all of his men. He avoided the attack, but is currently tied up with another enemy and unable to restrain Gerald.”

“What?” The King stood. “But how? Did he know we were coming for him?”

“I doubt that. Gerald is one to have preparations upon preparations.” Alanah said. “I have asked Avery to step in to keep Gerald from escaping, but the enemies are a handful.”

“Who?” The King asked.

“Edward is being contained by what looks like the Shadow Witch from the Assassin’s Guild. Clifford Aarden has made an appearance and is protecting Gerald, and there is an unidentified person by their side as well. You know the strength of the Shadow Witch and Clifford Aarden, so it would be for the best if we stop chatting and send help. I believe in Avery, but the deck is stacked against him right now.” Alanah answered.

Edgar stood. “I’ll go.” He turned to leave, but a hand grabbed his shoulder as he took a step.

“I’m coming too.” Derek said. “I shouldn’t have left it up to the Royal Family, anyway.” He snorted.

Edgar nodded, and the two left the dining room.

“Will the two of them be enough?” The King asked, now unsure about the entire situation.

Natalie took her glasses off and began cleaning the lenses with a cloth. “They should be more than enough.” She spoke. “Your boy there is much stronger than you think he is. He puts the Crown Prince to shame. And Mr. Hunt…” Natalie shook her head. “They will be fine.”

“No doubt about it.” Alanah smiled. “I have a couple of Deathsworn on their way, as well. They should get there a bit after Derek and Edgar. And I trust Avery more than enough to stall that group for some time.”

Natalie looked at Alanah and nodded. “It has been some time since I’ve seen Avery. Is he still as fast as he was before?”

Alanah smiled. “Faster.”

***

Edgar and Derek were out of the restaurant and running toward the teleportation building in seconds.

“Anyone I need to know about?” Derek asked as he kept stride with Edgar. He could tell that the man wasn’t moving at his top speed, so Derek could keep up.

“The Shadow Witch, Vanessa Hodges. She’s the Vice Leader of the Assassin’s Guild. Level 250, and fierce. Uses shadows… obviously. A lot of controlling effects and offensive power. Probably has great defensive or life saving skills as well.” Edgar said.

Derek nodded. “And this Clifford?”

“Comes from House Aarden.” He looked at Derek, but saw that the name didn’t register. “The third strongest noble house in the Kingdom. Cliff is considered the heir to the house, and one of the strongest to come out of House Aarden in decades, if not centuries.

“He is an earth user. From what I know, he has mixed skills using stone, sand, and other types of earth. Very defensive in nature, but don’t underestimate his attack power.”

“And Gerald?” Derek asked.

Edgar shrugged as they arrived at the building. “Meat shield.” He said. “Just one of those guys you can pound on while they keep healing. Makes for a great punching bag.”

Derek smiled. “Good to know.”

They soon stepped inside and moved past a small line of people. Tavors was manning the building once again, as they came to the counter.

“We’re going to the capital teleportation circle. The private one.” Edgar said, as he showed the clerk some kind of badge.

Tavors nodded gravely. “Follow me.” He said. “What’s going on that first the Crown Prince was in a rush, now you?” He asked. Apparently, he was on more friendly terms with Edgar than the rest of the Royal Family.

“Too much to explain at the moment. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it in the next few hours.” Edgar said, as they followed the man.

Before long, they were standing on the teleportation circle and Tavors was sending them away. With a flash of a light, Derek blinked and was in a different room.

“Come on.” Edgar said.

They ran out of the teleportation room and through the building. A building that looked surprisingly similar to the one in Savannah.

Edgar didn’t bother greeting anyone as he led Derek out of the building.

When they stepped outside, Derek took a quick look around. So far, he’d been in Torith, Wilmette, and Savannah. The distinct city smell that he smelled when he first got to Torith invaded his nostrils once again. It was a smell that had surprisingly been absent in Savannah.

But he could not compare Savannah to what he was currently seeing. The buildings were wall to wall, and the people were walking shoulder to shoulder. People of all sizes and races. Big, small, elves, dwarves, halflings… the place was crowded.

While Savannah was known for its luxury, the capital was not. It was known for its population. Hell, when Derek was traveling to the dungeon outside of Savannah, he’d come upon towns that were close in size to Savannah itself, and even bigger than Torith had been.

But all that paled to compare to what Derek now saw in front of him. Unfortunately, Derek didn’t have a lot of time to sight see. He was there on a mission.

“Let’s go. The Teleportation Building is pretty far away from the palace. The capital isn’t built like Savannah. I won’t be slowing down anymore. I know that Avery is strong, but my brother took shortcuts to power. It’s best to get there as soon as possible.” Edgar said. “Normally, it’s frowned upon to move in the air while in the capital, but this is an exception.”

Derek nodded as he watched Edgar shine whitish-blue for a moment before shooting into the sky.

“It’s a straight shot that way.” Edgar pointed, then turned into a streak of lightning and vanished.

Damn… Derek thought. He’s fast. However, not to be beat, Derek jumped into the air and got his footing with Void Steps. Then, when he got his balance, he used Void Shift. It would be very mana intensive, but he had just broken the second threshold of Wisdom. Plus, he had Greater Meditation and multiple Major and Greater Mana Potions he’d received from the Golem Dungeon because of his Repetitive Dungeoneer Award.

He had more than enough resources, and if he played his cards right, he may even be able to beat Edgar to the battle. That way, he would get to pick his opponent first.

Derek smiled and focused heavily on his Void Sense as he pulled himself through ripple after ripple. To himself, it didn’t seem like he was moving fast, but while shifted, everything else moved at a literal crawl, even Edgar… or the lightning ball that Derek believed was Edgar.

The ball of lightning was still moving rather quickly ahead of Derek, even while Derek was using Void Shift. Derek was faster by a bit, but would soon have to stop the skill and refresh his mana. Unfortunately, he was unable to use potions while in Void Shift. If he could, wouldn’t have to come out of it, and could just keep going.

Soon, he pulled himself ahead of Edgar by a decent amount, but his mana was nearly drained, and Derek didn’t feel like getting a mana headache at this time. He came out of Void Shift and immediately pulled out the best Mana Potion he could find and chugged it down. The potion restored 10,000 mana, which was two-thirds of his MP.

Derek saw Edgar reform his body and stop midair. He gave Derek a stunned and incredulous look. Derek saluted and entered Void Shift once again. Yeah… he was going to get there first.

***

Edward slowly made his way to his feet. His head and neck were aching and his health was extremely low. It sat at less than thirty percent. He felt ashamed of himself. He was one of the strongest in the Kingdom, yet he was toyed and played with by the Vice Leader of the Assassin’s Guild.

Sure, she was also considered one of the strongest in the Kingdom. Actually, she was close to the top of the strongest in the Kingdom. Still, his lightning should have countered her shadow. Or at least not been as suppressed as it was.

As Edward got his bearings, he blinked the blurriness out of his eyes and focused on the fight in front of him. The Shadow Witch was close to the top of the strongest in the Kingdom, but so was Avery. However, very few had seen the man fight. With what Edward was seeing in front of him, he would be able to confirm the man’s strength.

The man moved at wicked speeds even in the weird shadow dome, and even in the clouds of… pollen? Edward didn’t know. He only knew that the half elf plant user had released them, and Avery had been cautious of them.

Still, Avery flashed in and out, avoiding vines, trying and failing to trap his feet and legs, while dodging whips of shadow and flying spikes all at once. The scene was fascinating. Edward couldn’t believe that anyone could be that fast. And the fact he was doing it while already being slowed made the feat even more impressive.

Unfortunately, Edward knew that the speed couldn’t last. Avery was drinking Stamina Potions constantly, while dripping with sweat. Yet, he was able to counterattack occasionally-mostly hamstringing Gerald every chance he got. If his father’s former advisor didn’t have an arch enemy before, he would once this fight was over.

It was the smart move, though. Keeping the one they needed to capture immobile while dancing and dodging all the attacks was just about the only thing that could be done. Edward winced as he used three different types of potions.

His Health, Mana, and Stamina were all low, and it hurt even to move. He would have to get back into the fight. Avery’s showing was impressive, but he was only one man, and he had a limited supply of Stamina Potions.

Edward would have to recover so he could provide Avery with support. If he could just take care of one, Avery would be in a much better situation.