System Change

“Here,” Edgar said, as he flicked a storage ring into Derek’s hands.

Derek caught the ring before checking out the contents. Inside was every skill scroll he had put on his list, nothing more, nothing less. He nodded and quickly pocketed the ring. He would sort everything out later. First, he had to see what this Prince wanted to talk about.

“What do you want?” Derek asked.

“First off… do you have a private place to talk?” Edgar asked.

“Is it that serious?”

Edgar shrugged. “Not really, but I would rather do it in private.”

“Whatever,” Derek said. First, he thought about taking Edgar down to the basement, but he could almost guarantee that Brandi was still working down there. Plus, even if it wasn’t as tight as a secret as it used to be, it was still better to keep as few people in the know about Brandi as possible. “Follow me.”

With that, Derek led Edgar to Rudy’s office. Surprisingly, Derek hadn’t been the first person up this morning. Rudy was actually sitting at his desk going over a stack of papers, which caught Derek off guard.

Derek wasn’t the only one caught off guard. When the door opened out of nowhere, Rudy almost jumped out of his skin.

“Oh… Derek,” Rudy started. “I know this is your building and all, but I beg of you, please knock.”

Derek rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and flashed an awkward grin. “Sorry about that, Rudy. I didn’t think anyone else would be up at this hour.”

“Of course I’m awake. Do you know how much possible business I drummed up yesterday? Hmm?” the contract writer asked with wide eyes. “I don’t either. But I have to be prepared just in case.”

Derek nodded. “I understand that.”

“So what are you and…” Rudy glanced over Derek’s shoulder and saw Edgar standing behind him. His eyes widened even more, as if that was even possible. “And the Prince doing here?” Of course, Rudy wasn’t as surprised as he let on, as he already knew that Derek and Edgar had some awkward type of friendship. He’d met the man multiple times already.

“We…” Derek started to come up with an excuse, but Rudy waved him off.

“Sorry. That is not a question I should ask.”

I can’t just kick Rudy out of his own office. He thought before almost kicking himself. He had the perfect place for private meetings. And to make it easier, Edgar had already seen the place.

He shook his head as he ripped open the void in the corner of the office. Behind the rip appeared the door to his Time Prison.

“Don’t let this interfere with your work,” he said to Rudy. “Just think of it as another door leading to my own office.”

Rudy made an awkward face and shrugged as Derek led Edgar into his Time Prison.

“So this is what it’s like in here.” Edgar looked around the darkened area. “Can’t really see anything.”

Soon, he summoned a glowing orb out of his storage ring and sat it down in the center of the prison. It was a nearly identical, if not smaller, version of the rune imprinted street lamps Derek had seen in the city.

Ah… why do I always forget to find some lights for this place? Derek thought as he mentally put lamps for his Time Prison on the top of a list of things to do.

“This…” Edgar said as he looked around after the place was lit up. “This will be perfect.”

That was confusing. “Perfect? For what?” Derek asked.

Edgar raised his finger. “One second…” he walked over to the entrance of the prison. “Can we close this door with you inside, or can it only be closed if you’re outside?” He reached forward to try to pull the door closed, but it wouldn’t budge.

Derek walked over and grabbed the door, not closing it just yet. “I just have to be the one in control,” he said casually.

“And does it cost mana to keep the whole thing active?” Edgar asked.

“You sure are asking a lot of questions about my personal skills. I don’t know if I should answer you,” Derek replied. Though he really didn’t have any reason to keep mum about the Time Prison, it was one of his skills that many people already knew of. Speaking of which, it’s about time I updated those oaths. I’ve grown much more powerful, and other people have learned things about me. I would hate to have Thomas or Malorie break an oath by accident. He moved that up on his mental list of things to do, right beside lights.

“Ah…” Edgar grinned, a little embarrassed. “Sorry… it’s just… this is such an amazing skill.”

If anything, Derek thought Edgar would have been much more interested in his Void Shift skill that allowed Derek to race with him to the palace… not the Time Prison skill. But the man seemed very intrigued by the skill. Derek wondered why.

Derek shrugged once again. Letting the man see a few more things wouldn’t hurt. With his hand gripped tightly on the door handle, he pulled, shutting them inside.

As soon as the door was closed, Edgar opened his eyes wide in shock. “Woah… is this real?”

“Yup…” Derek answered. “You’re basically cut off from the Great System until the door is opened once again. I can also adjust the flow of time to be either faster or slowing in here than on the outside.”

Edgar clicked his tongue. “So… you can’t use this as a sort of training space? One to level up skills while time passes slowly on the outside?”

“Hahaha…” Derek laughed. “That was one of the very first things I thought about when I received this skill. Could you imagine how broken it would be if I could do that? Especially for crafting types.”

Edgar nodded gravely. “It definitely would have been an oversight by the Great System if it didn’t have some limitations. Still, it’s perfect.”

There it was again. What was it perfect for?

Edgar walked over to one of the cells. “And these are your… prison cells?”

“Yup.” Derek answered. “I can adjust their time flow each separately. And when someone is inside the cell, their metabolism is put into some kind of stasis. I’m not sure how it works, but even if they don’t have enough Endurance or Vitality, they will not starve or die of thirst.”

The Prince’s eyes soon fell on two of the cell doors that were closed. “These… are active?”

“Bones and Ogre,” Derek replied.

“Ah… I guess those two assassins bit off more than they could chew. Serves them right.” Edgar nodded and moved back to the center of the room before taking out a couple of seats from his storage ring and sitting in one, gesturing to the other for Derek to have a seat.

Derek sat. “So, why is my Time Prison perfect? What’s going on inside your head?”

“That’s easy.” Edgar gave Derek a big grin. “You’re going to come on the raid with me.”

“I am now?” Derek rolled his eyes. “And what makes you think I would do that… especially with you putting it that way?”

“Well, when we first met, I knew you were… different. Good different, by the way. I liked that.” Edgar began to explain. “Then I got pushed into leading this raid. Normally, I would have jumped at the opportunity, but it meant that I had to… power level.” Edgar spat.

“And you don’t like power leveling?”

“Fucks with your skills. It’s easier to gain skill proficiency when you are at a lower level, you know?” Edgar confirmed something Derek already theorized.

Derek shook his head. “Gotcha.”

“So I had to power level to get my level up to lead the raid. Luckily, I put most all of my and my team’s focus on leveling skills, so, while it was a bit of a blow to me personally, it wasn’t crushing. However, of my team, I was the only one I felt could safely take that blow without it crippling my growth too bad, so I refused to let any of the rest of my team power level with me. Thus, those I trust the most will not be able to go on the raid with me.” Edgar explained.

“I see.” Derek respected Edgar’s decision. He cared more about his people than his own safety. “I… would have done the same.”

“Exactly…” Edgar said. “Then, I saw you again at the dinner. To my surprise, Natalie Savannah said that your aura was stronger than my own. That was after I finished power leveling to 250. Imagine my surprise. That was when I decided to ask if you wanted to be on the raid team.”

“Ask?” Derek asked. Because Edgar sure hadn’t asked before. He practically told him he would be joining the raid team.

“Yes…” Edgar smiled. “Then we had to go save my brother and capture that meat sack. From that, I saw some of your power with my own eyes. After that, I needed you on the raid team. You’re someone who could watch my back. Someone who can keep up. I’m not sure how your void powers work exactly, but from what I saw, you have decent offensive capabilities.

“And as for some of the blows you casually shrugged off when fighting Cliff Aarden, your defensive capabilities are even higher.” Edgar continued. “Then I come in this… prison. You realize this is a mobile safe zone, right? If it can’t be opened from the outside, it’s basically a cheat for a raid dungeon.”

Derek thought about that. He still wasn’t sure what exactly a raid dungeon from this system entailed. But he could see how the prison would be useful.

“Does it cost mana to maintain?” Edgar asked once again.

Finally, Derek shook his head and answered the question. “No. It only costs mana to open initially. Once it is open, it is stabilized and does not cost mana to maintain.”

Edgar’s eyes sparkled at that. “Then… you must go on the raid with me.”

Derek sighed. “What is the difference between a raid dungeon and a regular dungeon?” he finally asked. He’d wondered about the raid ever since he heard about it, but since it had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with the King, he hadn’t bothered about it.

“Have you never been to a raid dungeon before?”

Derek shook his head.

“Then you are in for a treat.” Edgar grinned widely.