System Change

Chapter 82: Hunting

Derek removed the shirt Brandi had made for him while he waited. There was no sense in ruining one of his only good shirts. He did not bother to put on any of his armors, his main armor was still damaged from the fight with the first Acidic Ghoul. Plus, his skin and bones had already been pushed to an entirely different level since then.

Derek stared at the sky where the void beam had disappeared. Waiting for the spider web like cracks to come. Finally, after three or so minutes, the hammering sound came. The dull thud sounded like he was in a smithy, but the smiths were working on a hollow drum. His gaze sharpened in anticipation of what was to come.

As the thundering drums increased, the crack finally appeared. The blue sky began to break, line after line appearing. Derek waited and waited. Finally, he furrowed his brows in confusion. The beast had already taken over twice the amount of time to appear than the one he slaughtered previously.

Derek focused his Void Sense into his eyes. The small spider webs in the sky brightened like a flare of the sun. The void leaked out of each one, but they were healing. The Void Beast was not doing enough to break through. In fact, if this went on any longer, Derek figured that the beast would run out of strength and the sky would heal itself completely. He could not have that.

Derek, using his enormous strength, shot off the ground like a rocket. Upon reaching the cracks in the sky, he entered Void Shift. Everything slowed, and the cracks stopped healing. Surprisingly, the dull thuds continued from behind the cracks. I’m definitely going to have to experiment with that. He thought.

Derek reached out and pulled himself up to the cracks in the sky. Taking his hand, he jabbed his fingers between fractures. Then he pulled. It was odd holding a piece of the sky in his hand. He studied the shard, then released it. It stayed where he let it go and floated beside him. Again, he gripped another shard and pulled.

After removing a few pieces, he could finally see clearly into the void tunnel. He shuddered, thinking about his time spent inside, and unconsciously moved back. Derek got a hold of himself. As long as I stay out here, it can’t hurt me. He thought. Wait, I can get out whenever I want with my control over the void. With that comforting thought, he moved closer again.

Inside the tunnel, the Void Beast moved, peering through the hold Derek had made. The same piercing crimson eyes stared death at Derek. The razor-like claws reached through the widened fracture and began to rip at the sky. I guess that’s my cue. Derek released Void Shift and fell. He landed on one knee on the ground below and gazed up. The pieces of the sky glistened as they crumbled and disappeared.

It was enough. Now that the beast could get his claws through the cracks, it had no problem coming out. Derek waited for the beast to appear, ready to test his unarmed skills. Finally, the creature pulled itself out and fell… Face first onto a stone.

Derek’s jaw hung open, shocked. He slowly walked up to the Void Beast. Blood pooled out of the mouth of the beast’s mouth. Derek reached down. It’s not dead, just unconscious… He shook his head and studied the creature. It was no doubt a Void Beast, but it was barely over a meter tall. It seemed like he had summoned a young beast this time.

At that time, the beast regained consciousness. It jumped up from its position and looked around. Its eyes landed on Derek. Shooting forward, it pulled back its clawed hand for a slash. Derek slowly raised his arm and took the strike. It did not even leave a mark on his forearm. This time, he felt like he was the Void Beast and his opponent was himself from before.

Derek laughed and covered his palm in the void. He pushed forward, slapping the chest of the creature. Like that, blood shot out of its mouth and it fell over, dead. Well, that was… interesting. Derek looked at the corpse. I wonder how much Stella will give me for this. She had told him that the stronger the Void Beast, the better it tasted, but maybe one as young as this would be a delicacy. He stored the remains in his bracelet and sat back down against the boulder.

He wanted to farm a few of these beasts. They had great value to others, and he had an easy way to attract them. Also, he wanted a fight. A real fight. He had survived on Earth by fighting creatures and invaders over and over. He had thought he would be able to embrace a peaceful and worry free life, but deep down, fighting for his life over and over had changed him. Thus far, the only thing that did not die instantly in a fight was a Void Beast.

He was not quite craving for a fight, he did not need to fight, but he wanted to fight. He could do without fighting, but there was a little itch that he wanted to scratch. And he had a way to bring a fight to himself at any time, so why not use it?

Derek channeled the void through his body again and cast Void Call. The beam shot up, and the same process repeated. He waited.

This time, he did not have to wait long, as in mere moments, the thundering sound rang out. Maybe the first call gathered some close, so this one was already there. The sky cracked, this time at a much more rapid pace. Even faster than the first beast he summoned. Derek tensed, giddy for a real fight. I wonder if this one is going to be as strong as the one that freed me from the void.

He stood and readied himself for a fight. The thunder sounded again, and massive fissures appeared in the sky. Derek gulped, hoping he had not bitten off more than he could chew. He waited for the claws to tear through and rip the shards away, but what happened made him even more excited.

Instead of the Void Beast removing the shards piece by piece, the thunder rang out, this time even louder than before. The impact from within the tunnel struck the shards again. This time, the shards came loose and bursted out from the sky. They flew through the air at an outrageous speed until they disintegrated like all the others before.

A massive clawed hand reached out of the fissure before grabbing onto the side of the hole. A foot followed, then a head, then torso. The Void Beast’s whole body was out, its hand still gripped the side of the fissure. It dangled there, gazing around the area before its crimson eyes landed on Derek.

I really hope that this beast isn’t the parent of the one before. He thought to himself, but there was no way for him to know. Their gazes locked, and the beast let go. It fell to the ground, landing without so much as a bend in its legs.

Derek was not scared of fighting the creature, though. He still had the void which had been able to penetrate everything it came into contact with without fail. He was raring to go. He had only had one decent fight since he arrived on this world, so it was funny that his second decent fight was going to be with the same kind of creature. It seems that the only danger to me is myself, literally. Derek laughed as he waited for the creature to make the first move.

This Void Beast was a whole two heads taller than the first one he summoned. It was ripped. Muscles seemed to be on the verge of bursting through its skin. The razor claws on the tips of its fingers were double the length of the previous beast. I’m going to put my Vitality to work today. Derek stared at the beast with a smile on his face. I bet Stella will pay a premium for this thing. I’ll probably get a membership as soon as I show it to her.

Instead of launching towards him as the other beasts had, the giant of a beast moved towards the rock with blood on it. It reached its claws down and scratched the blood covered stone, leaving deep tears inside. Then it raised a bloodied, stone covered claw and opened its mouth, presenting rows of spear-like fangs for Derek to see. It ran the claw over its tongue and closed its mouth, shutting its eyes in the process.

When it reopened its eyes, its gazes had changed from the aggressive gaze of a beast to a gaze of anger. It lifted its foot and brought it down on the stone, shattering it in the process. Then it turned. It slowly crept closer and closer to Derek. Inspecting him with its rage filled eyes.

The Void Beast stopped three meters away, looking Derek up and down. It snorted, the rage in its eyes changed to disdain, like it was looking at an ant. It was the same Jace had given him before they fought. It was a gaze that Derek loved nothing more than breaking. Derek’s smile grew wider.

The beast opened its mouth, rivers of fangs showing again. Derek prepared himself to take an attack head on. Then, the Void Beast spoke.