System Change: Chapter 20

Derek walked into the forest, thinking about his achievements and new skills. For the most part, he was happy with his new skills. Still, he wished that he could have picked more than one from each category. Really, he missed his Heavy Blow and Wide Sweep skills. He could use the skills, albeit with a massive headache, when he first arrived on the new planet, but ever since his new system suppressed the old one, he lost access.

He wanted to gain a chance to get a heavy weapon skill… an offensive one. By his calculations, his Wide Sweep skill would be level 20 or at least closing in on it by now. If he could find the right skill to combine with it, he may be able to receive another upgraded skill, and this time it would be an area of effect attack skill.

But all of that would have to come at a later date. For now, he had a plan. He needed to increase his Identify skill and find something over 100 levels above himself to kill. He figured that if he found any injured creatures along the way, he could cast Rejuvenate on them to help level his new restoration skill. Or is it a spell? They both take mana to use, but some sound more like spells than skills. Oh well, I guess it doesn’t really matter.

Derek continued walking, casting Identify on everything he could. He was identifying trees, plants, rocks, everything he could find. If he didn’t remember using the skill on it, he tried to Identify it.

For a long while, he didn’t find anything other than rocks and flora. Though he knew from experience that some plants could be as dangerous as any monster. Finally, a little bunny hopped in front of him. He quickly used Identify and was baffled by what he saw.

Damn, what are the odds that the first monster I come across is level 54? And it’s the legendary horned bunny. It must be fate. Derek approached the bunny cautiously, but it had already taken note of him. However, it did not flee or move.

Soon, Derek was within arm’s reach of the creature. He squatted down. “Hey there, little fella, what are you doing out here in these big rotten woods?” He reached out to pet its head, then the bunny jumped.

“Ow! Shit!” Derek jumped back, holding his nose. It had launched itself at him the moment he reached his hand out. He hadn’t taken much damage, but getting head-butted in the nose by a level 54 jumping animal at full force still hurt, and it was not like he had any increased pain tolerance skills.

Derek removed his hands, checking them for blood. Seeing that there was not any, he looked at his HP. Ha, 26 points of damage to me. To Derek, this was nothing. But then he thought about Thomas and shivered. That would have been over a quarter of his health. No, he doesn’t have any endurance, so that probably would have one shot him. If I end up taking him anywhere, we’re going to have to be extra careful.

Derek thought about everything that he’d learned so far. The fact that his bunny is as near to the edge of the forest as this is crazy. I’m not even sure that Ms. Village Chief herself could take this little girl on…

He shook his head and kept walking. After about 50 meters, he felt something hit him in the back. He turned and saw the bunny sitting there, looking up at him. Does it have a grudge against me? Derek walked forward for some time before the rabbit hit him again. He looked at the cute creature again and chuckled before continuing.

It wasn’t long before Derek came across another creature. It was a level 34 fox. Derek kept walking, not bothering to be stealthy. The fox raised its head to look at him. It seemed timid but not afraid enough to run. Then, it seemed to notice the bunny hopping along behind him. Instantly, the fox was terrified and fled for its life.

At that time, a little gray rocket flew past Derek. “Woah!” He laughed out as the bunny caught up to the fox. Holy shit. He watched as the bunny landed in front of the fleeing fox and, with no hesitation, launched itself at the fox’s head. It was a one-hit knockout.

Derek scanned the fox again and noticed that it wasn’t dead but only incapacitated. He waited to see what the bunny would do. Sure enough, the bunny backed up and flew toward the unconscious fox. This time, the fox was not as lucky, and it died on the spot.

“This little thing’s a daredevil,” he said out loud as he watched the scene in front of him, the little gray bunny ripping into the fox, tearing out chunks of flesh. I thought rabbits were supposed to be herbivores, he thought, then he remembered the condition of the forest. Maybe it has had to become a predator to survive in a diseased forest. That would explain why it has such a high level.

I wonder if it injured itself at all. He cast Rejuvenate on the bunny. The bunny hopped backward and shook its head. Then it turned and looked at Derek. It tilted its head, cautiously approached its kill, then looked back at Derek, who did nothing, before continuing to gorge itself.

Instead of continuing, Derek waited until the bunny finished. Soon, the bunny hopped away, and Derek walked over to the animal carcass. No sense in letting this go to waste. He quickly dismantled what remained of the fox and stored what was left of the hide in his bracelet. I bet that girl would want this.

He left the rest of the fox there and continued his trek through the forest. Soon after, he heard rustling from behind a bush. He turned and looked, ready to use Identify, but when he saw what it was, he laughed. The bunny was sitting there, staring at him. I guess this thing is going to keep at me then. He walked forward, and the bunny flew at his face again.

This time, instead of taking it on the nose, Derek tilted his head and avoided the flying rabbit altogether. “You’re going to keep trying to take me out, huh? Did I murder your family or something?” Like this, man and bunny traveled deeper and deeper into the forest, his bunny nemesis constantly trying to smash into his back.

Hours later, the sun went down. Derek didn’t have any problems traveling at night, but it was harder to see, and therefore, Identify. Anyway, he wasn’t in much of a hurry. His only plan at the moment was to unlock the next level of his Giant Slayer achievement and level up Identify. He didn’t want to take much longer than a month because he wanted to help Thomas unlock his system. Besides, he doubted it would take more than a month to find something at a high enough level for him to hunt.

Derek made a small clearing to set up camp before lighting a fire. Once the fire was roaring, he took a bird carcass out of his storage bracelet.

I can’t believe that damned bunny launched itself high enough in the air to take out this hawk. Just thinking about the flying bunny head-butting a bird out of the air caused Derek to chuckle. Once the hawk died, Derek rushed over and stored it in his bracelet before the bunny could mutilate it like it had other monsters.

The creature had not taken kindly to Derek stealing its prey, so it launched a series of attacks on the man, which Derek took in full.

Other than the entertainment, there were some more pluses to traveling with his hot-blooded companion. His Dismantle skill reached level 5, and his Rejuvenation skill had leveled all the way to level 3. He had to admit, the bunny was an idiot. Most monsters were dumb, but the bunny was a special kind of dumb.

It would attack any living thing it saw—which was clearly demonstrated by it taking on a level 60 boar. Derek was sure it would have died if he hadn’t hit it with multiple Rejuvenation casts during its fight. This was also how he found out that he would not share in the experience gain of something he healed during a fight. He didn’t know if this was because he had no intent to kill the other creature or if it was just because he didn’t have a healing class.

Either way, it allowed him to be quite liberal with Rejuvenation, which was why it was already at level 3. Not to mention that the skill already recovered 15% HP over 30 seconds. With his calculations, Rejuvenation would completely recover one’s health when it reached level 20. Also, the skill would be extremely cheap to use in terms of mana. His only problem with the skill was the long cooldown timer, though this may also become shorter.

Derek removed the feathers from the hawk and put it on a spit over the fire. The gluttonous bunny was looking back and forth between the roasting bird and Derek. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll let you have some, too.” He was enjoying traveling with the creature, especially after it stopped trying to murder him every two seconds.

Soon, the bird finished roasting, and Derek took a bite. Ah… tastes like chicken. Man, I’ve really missed chicken. Derek took another bite. Then the bunny flew into his shoulder. “Yeah, I know, I didn’t forget. Stop being so damn impatient.” He ripped a big chunk of meat off the roasted hawk and tossed it to the bunny. “That’s all you’re getting. If you wanted more, you should have killed a bigger bird.”

With this, the two enjoyed their meal. Once he was finished eating, Derek slipped into Greater Meditation. He’d spent more nights like this than he could count, especially after his stint in the void. In fact, he preferred spending most nights like this as it left him refreshed and helped him level his skill.

Apparently, the bunny decided that this would be a good time for it to sleep, too. Soon, cute snoring sounds could be heard from the clearing. Derek smiled and continued meditating. The night would soon pass, and his adventure would continue.

Derek rose from his meditative state at sunrise, breathing deeply while stretching. Meditating is so much better than sleeping. It’s much easier to enter a meditative state than it is to fall asleep. Plus, if I were to enter deep enough, I could sit there for days or weeks without feeling time passing by. Derek couldn’t help but appreciate his Greater Meditation skill. It was his favorite skill and the one that he couldn’t do without.

After stretching, he looked around at the clearing he made the night before. Of his campfire, only smoking coals were left; the fire was no more. The bunny was already up and bouncing around. It surprised Derek that the creature had chosen to stay rather than up and leaving. It probably thinks of me as an easy meal ticket, he pondered.

Finally, Derek began his slow trek through the forest once again. The horned rabbit fell in behind him, and they walked. Soon, they fell into a rhythm. Derek would Identify anything he saw, while the bunny would attack. Then he would heal his makeshift companion. If needed, he would help the bunny out if she were struggling in a fight. As long as he didn’t damage the monster, directly or indirectly, he would receive no experience. After the fight, he would Dismantle what was left of the bunny’s opponent.

Derek made sure that he was constantly heading into the part of the forest with the most disease. With the pair taking their time, days passed, then weeks.

Two weeks after entering the forest, Derek received the notification he’d been waiting for.

Finally! Now I can be sure that a monster is at least 100 levels above me. With the skill reaching level 10, he could finally Identify any system creature at level 111 or lower. This meant that if question marks came back, the enemy was over one hundred levels above him, and he could go for the kill.

His Dismantle and Rejuvenation skills also leveled up in his two weeks of travel—Dismantle leveling all the way up to level 8, and Rejuvenation hitting level 5. So far, this trip has been super successful. Two new skills, and a lot of skill levels. Now, all I have to do is get the damn achievement, then I can get out of here.

Derek used Identify on the horned rabbit again.

I can’t believe that this little fella has already gained five levels. He could tell that the rabbit was hitting harder based on the occasional thud he felt on his back. Maybe the little fellow invested some stat points into Intelligence. She hasn’t been acting near as stupid as she was before. He smiled and shook his head, then kept trudging through the forest.

As Derek walked, he could feel that he was getting closer to the center of the diseased area, and his rabbit companion had begun acting timidly. It was no longer hopping along happily but cautiously following behind. He could tell that something was making it wary.

For the past days, Derek hadn’t run into any animal that didn’t have a ‘diseased’ modifier attached to its name. The monsters were, however, of a much higher level than before, the highest one so far being level 94. The bunny was smart enough to not want anything to do with these diseased monsters, opting to stay far away.

Derek also avoided the higher-level monsters, not because he was afraid but because he didn’t want to accidentally gain any more levels, making the achievement he was going for all the harder to unlock in the process.

Unexpectedly, the sound of the rabbit that was usually behind him stopped. He turned and looked. The horned rabbit was just sitting there, not moving. “Are you coming?” he asked. The rabbit made no moves. Derek sighed. Looks like I finally hit the point in the forest where it will no longer follow.

It pained Derek to lose his travel companion, but he had known that their partnership would not last long. He had no beast taming abilities, and the rabbit liked to headbutt anything it saw. If it was to follow him out into civilization, it would commit a massacre by complete accident.

He turned back and headed deeper into the diseased forest. He heard the rustling behind him and took a glance. The bunny had fled back the way they came. Good luck, buddy.

He was alone again. His chest tightened, and anxiety and nervousness threatened to overwhelm him. Calm down… He took a deep breath in and let it out. You’re not trapped anymore. You’re alone, but only because you want to be. He repeated the mantra until he relaxed. The longer he was out of the void, the faster the anxiety crept up when he was alone.

He felt it separating from the villagers, and then once again separating from the bunny. It was the exact opposite of the happiness he felt when he met the first Void Beast, or when he came across Thomas. I hope I can get over that soon. He shook his head and continued forward.

As he went on, he surveyed the forest. Withered, dead trees had fallen everywhere. There wasn’t a non-diseased plant in sight. In fact, the forest had been nothing but shades of gray and brown for days now. It was a wonder that the horned rabbit stuck with him as long as it did.

It was quiet. There were no birds chirping or animals rustling. It was like he had been moving closer and closer to the eye of a hurricane. The closer he got, the quieter it was. It seemed like something straight out of a horror film. He had a feeling like something would pop up and try to kill him at any second.

Derek didn’t like that feeling, so he increased his speed. After days and weeks of walking through the forest at a turtle’s pace, he sped along, not caring about any noise he made along the way. Previously, he was avoiding any contact with monsters because he didn’t want to accidentally earn experience. Now, there didn’t seem to be any monsters for him to avoid.

He rushed past wilted shrubbery and jumped over fallen trees. Then he saw it. A pale gray ball of… something. The sphere was the size of a giant beach ball from his old world. The sphere was floating about half a meter off the ground, moving in changing patterns, never rotating the same way for too long.

At first, Derek thought the ball of what he assumed was some kind of energy was a portal. But after studying it for some time, the differences between the portals he had seen on Earth and what he was seeing now were as clear as night and day. Derek was sure of one thing though, this object was the cause of the disease in the forest.

Really wish I would have gotten more information about dungeons before I took off. If this is a dungeon entrance, then it is nothing like the entrances to the dungeons that I am used to. Derek made a note to find Thomas’s grandfather and get any information about dungeons that he could from the man. Rookie mistake, Derek… rookie mistake…

With the way Richard had explained the dungeons and their overflow, Derek had just assumed that they would be similar in looks. Hell, I don’t even know if this is a dungeon or not. My theories and hypotheses from before may have just been completely wrong.

He tried to use Identify on the orb, but it had no effect. Why can’t things ever just be easy? Now, I’m going to go over, and it’s going to suck me in and make me spend years trapped in a space again. He shivered and removed the scary thoughts from his mind.

Derek calmed himself and worked up the courage to move forward. He slowly approached the floating orb, cautiously proceeding, step by step. When he was near it, he was able to make out an almost imperceptible humming sound coming from it.

He finally got within arm’s reach and slowly stretched out his right arm, all the while chanting in his head. Don’t trap me, don’t trap me, don’t trap me. Finally, his hand hovered inches from the orb. He held his breath, then rested his hand on it.

Huh… Nothing? And here I was, expecting to be sucked in or blown away. The oddest thing about the whole situation was that the ball was still rotating below his hand, but he could feel no movement. It was like his hand was on a solid surface.

Well, that was a letdown. He released his breath and pulled his hand back… or at least tried to pull his hand back. His hand was stuck and couldn’t move. Dammit! I knew something was going to happen as soon as I relaxed.

He was stuck. No matter how hard he pulled or moved, he couldn’t get his hand off the orb. Finally, he stopped resisting and thought about what he was going to do. I wonder if my high vitality can grow back limbs. He looked at his right hand and shuddered. Let’s keep that as a last resort. Why is it only my right hand? Why can my left hand touch it without a problem? He reached out and rested his left hand beside his right, just to compare the differences.

While he was deep in his thoughts, a system message was forced before his eyes.

Oh. Well, that’s much less scary.