System Change

Chapter 30: Return

It had been over a month since Derek left on his quest to upgrade the Giant Slayer Award. Now, he could tell that he and the bunny were drawing closer and closer to the edge of the forest. During their travels, Silvi was just as aggressive towards any creature as before, however, she had relented, and no longer attacked Derek.

Derek had done a remarkable job at not earning any more experience since leveling to 18. In fact, he was so worried about getting more experience that he did not support the bunny in her fights as much as usual.

What troubled him the most was the level 25 dungeons that he wanted complete. At level 18, he was not sure if he would be able to enter and complete more than one, maybe two. Of course, he did not know how many beasts he would have to slay in a dungeon, but he figured that it would not be a small amount.

As the duo traveled, the forest was slowly getting more lush and vibrant. They had reached the point of the forest where the undying disease had not had much impact. Other than the creature struggling under his arm, the levels of the creatures around them were now only in the mid to upper 20s. This was not much for the bunny anymore, but she did not seem to care, still attacking any and all other beasts. Derek did not mind this either, as he was able to increase his Dismantle skill at a rapid pace.

In fact, Derek had made great progress in the last couple weeks. His Dismantle skill had leveled up to 10, Identify had made it to level 12, and Rejuvenation had leveled again, making it level 6. He could now actually cut into the Void Beast’s corpse with his dagger. He had not dismantled it yet, as he wanted to do it in a quiet place with no possibilities of interruptions.

As he approached the end of the forest, he began to wonder how Thomas had been while he was gone. Though, thinking about it, his interest in the kid was irrational and unlike him. But, for some reason, he wanted to get back to the village and the villagers too. He was there for less than a day, but he was strangely excited to be returning.

When he left the village initially, it was with his previous mindset. Sure, he planned on returning and helping the kid get a few extra skill points, and maybe running him through a dungeon or two, but as he traveled alone again, a weird feeling seemed to be growing in the pit of his stomach. At times, the feeling made him uneasy and even almost caused him to panic. He had decided to just ignore it and try not to think about it.

Finding the bunny and traveling with it had actually lessened the weird feeling he had, but it had not gone away. The reason that he was thinking about this now was because the feeling seemed to be lessening with every step he took towards his return. For the first time in over a month, he actually picked up his pace.

***

Thomas had had a very interesting month. After Derek left, leaving him the Mana Clippers, his grandpa had come to find him. For the second time in a single day, he had found himself in the village chief’s residence.

There, he had been asked question after question about Derek. Now, he did not actually know very much about Derek, but even answering the most basic questions had left him feeling slimy. Eventually, he had just decided to answer with ‘I don’t know,’ or he just shook his head.

During the light interrogation, the Mana Clippers in his hands had been spotted by Rayna and the others. He flat out refused to let anyone handle them. Of course, if the others had wanted, he knew he would not be able to keep them. Luckily, dropping Derek’s name was enough to cause everyone to back off.

After leaving the interrogation, he had spent his days playing with the Magic Weapon and counting down the days to his birthday. He had given himself the same haircut that he gave Derek when they first met and had kept cutting his hair every few days. Also, he had talked his grandpa and some other villagers into allowing him to cut their hair.

His greatest accomplishment was talking Brandi into a haircut. She had so much hair, and he was able to experiment with the clippers over and over before she had run out. He still winced when thinking about the slap he received once Brandi looked at herself in a mirror. He had to admit, he had gotten carried away. That was two weeks ago, at least now, she had a modicum of hair back, but she was still close to bald.

Right now, Thomas was sitting on a small bench outside of Brandi and her mother’s residence. He was watching Brandi experiment on a hide. This was a hobby of his. When he was bored, he would always come and watch her work on the hides. Even with all the hides that Derek had left, she had gone through them multiple times, taking previously completed works and deconstructing them, then making something else out of the material.

He had asked her what her Leatherworking level had risen to, but she only answered him with a gleaming smile and shook her head. He had no doubt that if she could ever make it to level 10, there would be some kind of Leatherworking class waiting for her. And once she was able to get her hands on a crafting class, she would be able to level up based on her work instead of killing monsters.

Thomas had fun messing around with the Mana Clippers, but he could not help but feel envious of the passion she had for her craft. She was so focused on Leatherworking that he had seen her miss meals and completely ignore anything happening around her. Thomas shook his head and sighed.

He had turned 13 two days ago, but Derek had yet to return. On his birthday, his grandpa had brought him a level 11 frog to kill, but he refused. Sure, he wanted to unlock the Great System as soon as possible, but he had promised Derek that he would wait until he returned. He knew that his grandpa was disappointed in him, but he held a certain amount of faith in Derek.

A smack to the back of his head pulled him out of his daydream. He turned to look at the culprit and was surprised to see Brandi standing next to him. “Why did you stop crafting?” He asked her.

Brandi frowned at his question and pointed to her crafting area. “I think I’ve done everything I can with the hides Derek gave me. I’ve deconstructed them to death, I don’t think I have a single hide left that would survive another try.” She sighed and continued. “What about you? Why are you moping around here?”

Thomas could see the frustration in her eyes. I don’t know what she’ll do now that she can’t craft anymore. “I’m just wondering when Derek will get back. He told me to wait on him to unlock the Great System, but I don’t know how long that will be. What are your plans now that you’re out of hides?”

Brandi pouted. “I don’t know. I need to level up, but it’s scary out there right now. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get a class.” She seemed genuinely worried about that possibility.

“It will be fine. If your mom isn’t able to help you, I’m sure grandpa will. Or, Chief Rayna will, she’s nice enough and it would be much easier if she helped.” He knew that, without her father, she would have to rely on others to help her reach level 10.

“Mhm, I’m sure you’re right.”

***

At this time, Derek had finally made his way to the edge of the forest. He walked out of the treeline and breathed in a deep breath while looking to the sky. Finally. He thought, then looked at the chipmunk squirming in his arms, then at Silvi. He could tell that she had been angry at him ever since he captured the chipmunk instead of letting her kill it. She can’t come to the village with me. She’ll cause a massacre.

“Silvi!” He yelled at the dumn animal to get its attention. “Stay in the forest.” He pointed towards her, as she had not left the forest yet. He started walking forward. Good, it seems like she doesn’t want to leave anyway. He walked further and noticed that the bunny had still not moved. He nodded and yelled at her. “I’ll come back in a few days. If you’re still here, you can keep following me.” He stared at the bunny and waited. Soon, Silvi turned and hopped back deeper into the forest.

Hmm… Maybe she’s smarter than I thought. Derek surveyed the area. “This way.” He said and started walking. Luckily, he was able to exit the forest close to where he entered. This was made possible because of all the camps that he had made along the way.

It had not taken long at all for Derek to be able to see the village gates. As he got closer, he noticed that the gates were closed up tight. I guess that makes sense, especially with everything that’s going on.

He saw some guards looking out from the top of the gate. They had not spotted him yet. He continued walking until one of them saw him. He saw the two discussing something and one of them climbed down.

“Halt!” The remaining guard yelled. “Who are you, what do you need?” There was no contempt directed at Derek, the guard was just direct. He decided to answer.

“I’m Derek, you may have heard of me. I’m back for a bit. No need to go through the trouble of opening the gate.” Derek spoke, then jumped from where he was standing. Landing next to the guard on the gate. The guard jumped and nearly fell from Derek's sudden manoeuvre. Derek chuckled and patted the guard on the shoulder. “Keep at it.” He said and jumped down into the village.

After surveying the village, Derek took off towards where Brandi had been staying. First, I have to empty my spatial bracelet.