System Change

“Come on,” Alanah finally said. After that, the two of them walked the rest of the distance to the edge of the abyss—where Ryven was unable to go. It didn’t take very long before Derek and Alanah were standing at the very edge, looking down at the steep drop off.

“Whew...” Derek whistled. “That’s a long way down,” he said.

“Yes, it is,” Alanah replied. “Close your eyes and listen,” she said. “Do you feel how powerful the vibrations are just at the edge?”

“Let me see,” Derek said before closing his eyes and doing as he was told. The vibrations were certainly jarring—even to him, they were enough to make him a little more than uneasy. “It’s about at the point of your control when you try to give me a command when you aren’t transformed. I’d say that it’s enough to really affect or harm any person under level 200, or even many over level 200 that don’t have high rarity classes.”

“Mhm.” Alanah nodded her head. “That’s about where I would put it, too,” she said. “Using The Echoing Abyss to train up everyone’s Mental Resistance and willpower was certainly a good idea.”

“I also didn’t see any monsters around on our way here.” Derek pointed out. “Do you think those strong guards and fighters have somewhat got them under control?”

“It’s just about the only thing that makes sense,” Alanah answered. “If there were still level 220 plus monsters roaming around the edge here, there would be more guards around the more talented heirs and students that are training close to the edge.”

“I guess that’s true,” Derek said. “I bet there’s also someone who patrols the edge, too.”

“I would imagine so,” Alanah replied. “And if there is, then they won’t be your run-of-the-mill guard.”

“Should we jump down?” Derek asked as he looked out over the drop off once again.

“Not just yet,” Alanah replied. Then she pointed at the monster that Derek had mistaken for land earlier. “The monster. What do you see?”

“That... I’m not sure,” Derek answered. “It doesn’t look like it’s moving at all, and I think that, at its size, it would be easy to see even the subtlest of movements.”

“You are correct.” Alanah nodded. “The creature is static. As long as I’ve known it, it hasn’t moved an inch from where it’s at... well... that’s not true.” She corrected. “It has grown a bit, which means that I guess it has moved. But it hasn’t moved based on anything other than growth.”

“What kind of monster is that big, yet doesn’t move?” Derek asked. “And is able to make an entire area a danger zone just by sitting there.”

“You’ll never guess,” Alanah lightly chuckled.

“I’m not even going to try,” Derek said. “I would rather you just tell me.”

“Very well,” Alanah said. Then she pointed. “You see that part that looks like land?”

“Yes?”

“That is a very dense canopy,” Alanah explained.

“Really?” Derek asked. “If that’s a canopy, then that means that the creature is...”

“It’s a tree,” Alanah finished his sentence.

“Valuable...” Alanah tapped her finger against her leg armor. “Yes... it is something that I would deem very valuable.”

“Great,” Derek said. “After we get this item, I think I may have a few ideas to try on that big piece of firewood out there.”

“Great,” Alanah said. “My plan is to challenge it with my own controlling powers. I may be able to beat it at its own gain at this point in my life. But if that doesn’t work, I welcome you to try whatever you can. I would hate to let these people of Linderis have such a good training area.”

“A little vindictive, are we?” Derek said with a laugh.

“Sometimes, it is okay to be petty,” Alanah replied.

“Can’t argue with that,” Derek said. “Now... where is this item you’re looking for? Let’s go get it!”

“Wait!” Alanah halted Derek. “Before we go down there, I must ask... are you okay with gaining experience points and increasing your level?”

“Huh?” Derek frowned.

“Well... once we get down there—if it is anything like it used to be—it will be hard to avoid fighting. Even close to the walls, the beasts go on rampages. And if we choose to go to the Echoing Willow, there will be more and more beasts there—beasts that the tree will be able to control. I can’t imagine we will be able to get anywhere without you killing some beasts and gaining levels.”

“You have helped me greatly so far, and have made this trip fun,” Alanah continued. “For obtaining my valuable, I, alone, will be enough. You do not need to follow me there. You can find a spot and hide until I return. After that, if we head straight for the tree, we should be able to avoid the monsters between us and the tree, but the monsters that are around the tree are a different story.”

“I don’t know,” Derek said. “I think a giant tree that can’t move may make for one of the best training dummies out there. I only have five levels until I hit level 250, anyway. I’m sure Silvi is itching at getting out there and leveling her own skills up.” Specifically, he was thinking about her Cook What You Kill skill. It was something that she hadn’t been able to use much, and he looked forward to seeing what it could do—especially at higher levels.

“That is true...” Alanah muttered. “And I should be able to take care of any of the beasts that aren’t in the core region of the tree quite easily.”

“If I can make it to the tree with a few levels left to gain, then that will be more than enough for me,” Derek said. “It will hopefully give my skills a small boost alongside the skill potions. Besides... I’ve been holding my level back for too long and now that I’m so close, it’s hard to not just push it right up there alongside everyone else.”

“Yeah... your level may be the same as everyone else, but with the quality of each of your levels, there will be a massive difference,” Alanah said with a smile.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Derek said. “I’ll finally be at the point that everyone already thinks I’m at. That means I won’t have to shrug any questions off about it if anyone asks. And like I said, it will free Silvi up to go collect as much dinner as she wants.”

“If you say so,” Alanah replied. “In that case, I must thank you once again for taking this journey with me. And seeing it through to the end.”

“Oh, stop it.” Derek rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re going to make me blush,” he said. “Besides, we’re way past all this decorum. I just did what a friend should do.” Especially if said friend is growing antsy from sitting in a shop all day with nothing much to do there, he thought, but didn’t say.

“Still,” Alanah said. “It is all the same.”

“Fine,” Derek said. “You are welcome... Now, let’s go get you shit!”

“Ah... yes...” Alanah said. “Let’s go get my... stuff.”