System Change

Chapter 44: Hand Feeding

After walking outside, Derek scanned the area. The dungeon was a ‘beast’ type dungeon, and he could see different wolves, bears, and other beasts roaming around. Unlike the previous cave with the insects, the area he was now in had a sky instead of a ceiling. Derek could not help but think about how the dungeons were created upon seeing this.

He was standing on a hilly plain area with the occasional tree. I guess this dungeon is a completely open area. He did not see any entrance to the next ‘chamber.’ His guess was that the beasts would come in waves. As he wiped out the first wave of beasts, the next would come, and finally, the dungeon boss would appear. Though he believed that likely, it was still only a guess. I’ll just have to find out for myself.

Before jumping into battle with the beasts, he turned to look at where he came from. Sure enough, there was a small log cabin sitting in the middle of the plain. Derek had a thought and walked back beside the cabin. Standing next to it, he pulled his fist back, then struck the building with a small amount of power. Seeing that the assault did not damage the structure at all, he pulled his fist back again and struck out with a bit more power.

Again, the structure was completely intact after his assault. He summoned his glaive and slashed the cabin. Nothing happened. Finally, using most of his strength, he sliced again. This time, the cabin took some small damage as a cut appeared where his glaive struck. But the cut rapidly healed before his eyes.

With this, Derek could at least know that his group would be completely safe from anything inside the dungeon as long as they stayed inside their spawn area.

Derek walked over to the door and opened it. Poking his head inside, he looked at Rayna. “You ready? The surrounding area is pretty safe for now.”

Rayna nodded her head and walked over to the door. Derek pulled back, and she walked outside with him. “It’s nice out here.” She muttered.

Derek did not respond to that. Instead, he told her the first part of the plan he made after surveying the surrounding. “The wolves are roaming around in packs of five.” He pointed at a group of wolves. “I’m going to aggro a pack, then kite them back here.”

Rayna frowned. “Aggro? Kite? What does that mean?” She asked.

It was not the first time he had confused people by using these kinds of terms. He just laughed it off and continued. “I’m going to get a pack of wolves to chase me back here. Then, I’ll leave one to you, while I take care of two or three of them, depending on their strength. I will subdue the remaining wolf or two and have Thomas and Mal come out and finish them off.”

A flash of understanding went through Rayna’s eyes. “That really is ‘hand feeding’ them.” She laughed.

“Okay, get ready.” Derek ran toward the closest pack of wolves. Once he was close enough, the wolves noticed him and began their chase. He ran back, keeping a small distance between him and the pack. Once back at the designated area, he slowed and turned around. The wolves all pounced.

He did not fight back, and just let them attack him. They were able to make it through the leather armor he was wearing, but nothing else. Once their teeth reached his skin, they were unable to pierce through.

“Now.” He motioned to Rayna.

Derek watched as she ran in and, choosing the wolf furthest from the assault, slashed out with one of her Wind Blades. Derek noted the damage the skill caused and nodded. It was not able to instantly kill the wolf, but it caused severe damage. One or two more and it will die. And it did. On the third strike, before the wolf was even able to close in on Rayna, it had died.

“Good!” Derek yelled. Then he decided not to hog the full experience himself. He kicked a wolf Rayna’s way. The kick was enough to almost kill the monster, so when it landed beside the woman, crippled and unable to move, she drove her sword through the base of its skull.

“Nice.” Derek pulled a leg off of one of the wolves going for his face, then tossed it at Rayna’s feet. It was still feisty, even with three legs, but it was rapidly losing blood, and a single Wind Blade made short work of it.

Derek quickly grabbed the remaining two wolves. He held one under each arm. He was careful not to injure them before, as he wanted full experience to go to Thomas and Malorie.

Rayna approached him with shining eyes. “I just got over 1,000 experience in that short amount of time and increased my Wind Blade skill level.”

“Mhm.” Derek nodded. “I thought you would like to fight one on your own to increase your fighting skill. And I would rather not level up too fast, which is why I gave you the others. Do you like this setup?” He asked.

“Very much.” She replied. Then, after thinking for a second. “Thank you for this.” She spoke.

“Don’t mention it. It’s as much for me as it is for the rest of you.” He said. “Now, go open the cabin door and have Thomas and Mal come out.”

Rayna nodded and went to the cabin. She opened the door and spoke a few words. Seconds later, the small boy and Brandi’s mother were cautiously coming out of the cabin.

Derek approached them, then spoke. “Okay, these pups are your kills. Thomas, give Mal one of you dagg…” He paused. Actually, if Thomas plans on switching classes, there isn’t any sense in him killing with daggers. “Hold on.” He said.

Derek looked at Malorie. “What is your best weapon? The one most comfortable for you to use?” He asked.

“I’ve only ever used small weapons, and the occasional sword. My class is common and weapons weren’t easy to come by in my village, so the stronger warriors got the better ones.” She answered.

Derek nodded and closed his eyes. He was searching through all the weapons he had stored in his bracelet. Soon, an amazing scene occurred before everyone’s eyes. Weapon after weapon fell to the ground.

There were tens of weapons on the ground. They were all different. There was a crossbow, book, katana, spear, whip, wand, and many other weapons. There were even some advanced scientific weapons he had gotten off of invaders, such as a photon pistol and heat saber.

Thomas did not show as much surprise as the others. Derek had actually made him train with many of the weapons on the ground. Derek spoke to the boy. “Pick one of the spears, find the one that feels the best.”

Derek watched as the boy walked over and began going through the spears one by one. Soon, he had chosen one. None of the weapons that Derek had picked up were bad quality, so it really was down to preference. The spear Thomas chose had a shiny silver metal shaft with vein-like red patterns running along it. Where the spearhead attached to the shaft, the red pattern formed a solid color. The spearhead was actually more like a double-sided blade than a regular spearhead. It was more like a long dagger was attached to the spear shaft.

Derek nodded at Thomas’s choice. It was not a bad spear. “Okay. Now come and kill this dog.” The wolves were still squirming around in his arms.

Thomas walked up to Derek and the wolves. He thrust out his new spear, and the blade pierced directly through the throat of the beast. Derek laughed at this. “Even after all that time with your daggers in the dungeon, you are still more accurate with a spear.”

Thomas’s face turned a little red. “I know, you don’t have to keep rubbing it in.” He said back.

Suddenly, Derek felt a strong hit on the side of his right knee. Looking down, he could see the leather armor burned away and smoking, and his naked knee was visible. He turned to see Malorie with wide eyes and the Photon Pistol laying at her feet. Realizing what happened, he thought to himself. Maybe I should have explained to them what everything does.

He looked at the embarrassed woman. “If you don’t know what something is or does, please just ask me.” He smiled.

Soon, it was clear that Malorie was apprehensive to use any weapon like the pistol or the heat saber. After observing her for a while, Derek could see that she clearly had a knack for using a staff. “Do you like the staff?” He asked her.

She hesitated. “I do, but I don’t think I could do very much damage with a blunt weapon like this.”

Derek nodded and walked over to another staff on the ground. With his free hand, he reached down and picked it up. He handed it to Malorie. “Try this one.”

She took the staff and performed some moves. “It’s good, but it’s still the same.” She said, confused.

Derek smiled. “See that button on the shaft?” He asked. The woman looked over the shaft until she saw the button, she nodded. “Push it in.” He said.

She did. Surprisingly, a straight blade came out of both ends. “This…”

“It’s a bladed staff. You can use it as a regular staff, but if you need… hehe.” He laughed. “Push the button in again and the blades will retract.”

She did, and the blades disappeared. The great thing about that particular bladed staff was that once the blades were retracted, there were no signs of blades ever even being there.

Seemingly fascinated by the weapon, Mal spoke. “I can have this?” She asked.

“Of course. If there is anything I lack, it isn’t weapons.” He continued. “Is that your pick? I’m getting pretty tired of holding this dog.” He said.

“Oh… Yes, I want this one.” With that, Malorie pushed the button in, causing the blades to extend out of the staff. Like Thomas, she aimed one end at the throat of the remaining wolf and thrust. It was not an instant kill like Thomas’s, so she thrust again. The wolf died in Derek’s arm and he dropped it.

Derek thought for a second. “Do any of you have the Dismantle skill?” He asked the group.

Surprisingly, Malorie replied. “I do. I helped my husband with his kills a lot, so I ended up purchasing it.”

Derek nodded. “Thomas, give her you daggers, you won’t need them anymore.” Then he spoke to Malorie. “Take the daggers, they are quite sharp. You can Dismantle the kills and give the hides to Brandi later.”

Malorie nodded, and without asking, Thomas walked around, collecting the wolf corpses and taking them into the cabin.

Derek smiled. “Okay, you two go inside. We’ll come get you when the next group is ready.” Derek collected all of the spilled weapons. He turned back to Rayna. “Ready?”

Sorry for no chapters yesterday. I spaced out and by the time I thought about it, it was like 1 A.M. Three chapters today though.