System Change: Chapter 29

After taking out the trash, Derek used Rejuvenation on Rayna. It pulled her out of the unconscious state, but she still looked pitiful. He walked over to her and crouched down, turning her unconscious body over, and pulled out another health potion. With one hand, he tilted her head back, and with the other, he poured the potion into her mouth.

After checking and seeing most of the wounds on her body visibly healing, he stood. He walked to each corpse, putting them into his storage bracelet. Finally, he got to Davis. He looked up at the quiet crowd, spotting Leon and his wife within. “Leon, take Davis away. We’ll decide what to do with him once Rayna wakes up.”

Walking back over to Rayna, he picked her up in a princess carry. He looked over at Richard. “You, follow me.” He walked back to where he left Thomas and the others. He paused, turning to look at the still silent crowd. “You probably know already, but it would be for the best to not talk about anything. I imagine there will be a village meeting later today, or tomorrow at the latest, when your chief is better. Until then, go about your day as if nothing happened.”

Derek began walking, and Richard followed.

“You killed a no—” Richard began, but Derek cut him off.

“Not here.”

Richard nodded his head solemnly and continued following behind Derek.

Before long, they arrived at the courtyard, where he left Mal, Brandi, and Thomas. It was empty. Remembering what he told Thomas, he walked over to their residence and opened the door.

Inside the living area, Thomas was standing with his daggers drawn. Brandi was awake and holding the unconscious Malorie in her lap while looking toward the open door.

Derek smiled after seeing Thomas in his battle stance. “It’s just me. I’ve taken care of everything. I brought Rayna back here to recover.” He turned to Brandi. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay, but Mom…” she trailed off.

“She will be fine. She’s not critical anymore, and her body is mostly healed. She’d probably wake up now if you tried, but I suggest letting her rest,” Derek explained as he walked to an open space and laid Rayna down.

Brandi let out a sigh of relief, then started sobbing. “It’s my fault… I didn’t know who they were…” she began.

Derek furrowed his brow and stopped Brandi. “No sense in talking about it now. Calm down and gather yourself. We’ll all talk after everyone wakes up. For now, just tend to your mother.” Derek walked over to an empty corner and sat with his back against the wall. He motioned to Richard. “Either sit or go home for a while. I’m sure Delilah is worried. It will be a bit before she wakes up, and Thomas is safe, as you can see.” Derek told Richard to follow him so he could show him that Thomas made it home in one piece.

Richard nodded. “Mhm. I’ll go let Delilah know that everyone here is okay and that Thomas is safe. Please, let me know when they awaken. I would like to be here for the discussion.”

“Sure. I’ll send the boy after you and Leon.” He dismissed the older man.

After Richard left, the house went quiet. Not having anything else to do but wait, Derek checked his notifications.

Dammit! I don’t like where this is going. Derek moved through to the next notification.

Shit…

Derek moved the notification away, looking at the next.

There go all those level 25 dungeons. Son of a bitch. Derek was angry that he wouldn’t be able to get the rewards for completing extra dungeons, but as he thought about it, the one he was looking forward to the most was the level 50 dungeon, so it wasn’t a huge loss. Besides, even if he would have been thinking about his levels at the time, he would have killed the group all the same.

But still, now I have to mess with my class again. At least upgrading a class is a lot less trouble than initially choosing one. After thinking that, it was like a lightbulb turned on in his brain. Does this mean I get to upgrade my class from epic to legendary since it’s a growth class? With that thought, Derek rushed to see his options.

Derek was disappointed. Nothing changed other than him receiving two new class skills. He also looked into the class change options, but they were all the same as before. He really did like Channel Void, and he didn’t want to lose it, so he immediately put the thought of switching class out of his mind. Hopefully, the next two skills I unlock will be good and not like Void Call.

Derek stopped hesitating and upgraded Champion of the Void.

He hurried to the next notification.

Of course.

Damn, six kills to go from level 18 to level 30. It may be hard for others to level with this system, but it’s terrifyingly easy for me. Now, let’s see those two new skills. Derek pulled up the first skill.

What a high mana cost, he thought before learning the skill.

Derek was itching to try his new skill, but he thought about what happened last time and decided to wait. Let’s see the other skill.

Interesting. He purchased the skill.

A massive amount of information flowed through Derek’s senses. There were ripples in the surrounding space. It seemed that if he wanted, he could grab a ripple and rip the space open. Some areas looked more solid than others. He felt that no matter what he did, he couldn’t make a dent in those areas.

This is crazy. It’s a complete sensory override. Derek closed his eyes to filter out all the distractions, but when he did, he could hear the undulations of the void. One thing he knew was that if he was ever trapped in a void tunnel again, he would have no problem finding a weak point and breaking out.

As he calmed down, he realized that his new senses were not as distracting as they first appeared. The more he focused on other things, the less he sensed the void. And, after an hour of experimenting, he could turn down and tune out the void if he so desired.

I’m not entirely sure how useful this will be, but at least it’s a passive and will level up without me doing much. After everything was settled with his new class, Derek checked his updated status.

Wow. Not bad at all. Oh, I have enough stat points to bring both my strength and dexterity up to 500. Derek looked around and saw that Mal seemed to stir. I’ll do that soon. If it’s going to be anything like when I got vitality and endurance to 500, I’ll need to spend some time picking the right skills.

“Mom!” Brandi’s elation at her mother’s waking brought Derek fully out of his thoughts. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need more healing?” Brandi rapidly fired question after question at her recently awakened mother.

Seeing Mal looking disoriented after rising, Derek spoke. “Give her some time to get her bearings.”

Hearing his voice, Malorie’s unfocused gaze shifted to Derek. “Derek? What are you doing here? The nobles… they… are they gone?”

“Yes, they are gone,” Derek said. At that time, the commotion seemed to rouse Rayna from her slumber. Derek looked over at her as she sat up.

“Thank you,” Rayna said as soon as their eyes met.

“No problem. They ruined my good mood.” He laughed.

“What ended up happening?” the chief asked.

“They all spontaneously died. It was weird. I mean, first they were alive, then they weren’t,” Derek joked, but Rayna didn’t seem to be in a humorous mood.

“He was a noble, Derek. If others find out, the entire village will be dead,” she said in all seriousness.

“Then don’t let them find out. Besides, I already have somewhat of an idea of what to do to hide it from others. You just have to get the village to keep their mouths shut. Shouldn’t be too hard seeing how if they talk, they die.”

“Thomas!” Derek called out. “Go fetch your grandpa and Leon.”

Thomas jumped up and ran out the door. A few minutes later, he returned with Richard and Leon. The small room was getting cramped, but Derek didn’t care.

“So, what exactly happened?”

The first to answer was Brandi. She had been suppressing herself from speaking since her first outburst, so when the opportunity came, she spoke up. “It was my fault. They wanted the hides you gave me. B-but I wouldn’t let them.” She ducked her head. “They took them anyway, so I…” She trailed off. “I tried to take them back. The bald man hit me. I don’t know what happened after that.”

“For hides?” Derek asked. “Really? The highest was only around level 70.” Are the nobles really that petty? Derek couldn’t believe what he heard. He shook his head.

“Many nobles are like that. That young Gracefall was just more so. It was our bad luck that he was the one that accepted the mission,” Richard explained.

“Oh?” Derek motioned for him to continue.

Richard sighed. “Their noble surname was not always Gracefall. They were once known as Searidge, and they were the city lords of Torith, then Searidge, before their fall. As for what happened, I’m unsure. It happened over a century ago, and only those nobles involved will know the full details. But, when a noble house falls, they are given a new, shameful surname from the king, such as Gracefall or Honorless.”

“They’re not stripped of being nobles?” Derek asked.

Richard shook his head. “They get to keep their status as nobles, but they are demoted to lower-class nobles. Usually, there are two types of people from a fallen noble house. One that wants to restore glory and honor to their name, and perhaps even restore their house name in the process, and one who takes their shame out on others. Unfortunately, the Gracefall you met was the latter.”

Derek sighed. “I feel like the former should outnumber the latter. Is there a history of houses being restored?”

“There are few who have been restored, but it has happened. But it’s much more common for a fallen house to stay down, eventually losing their nobility altogether. With that Gracefall’s actions, I suspect the only thing that has kept them from losing their status entirely is their strength with water magic. Even if the leader of the house is good, which I’m not sure about, having a son like that…” Richard trailed off and shook his head.

“Yeah.” Derek snorted. “The water mage had such great strength.”

Richard opened his mouth but closed it again, seemingly unsure of what to say. Finally, he spoke again. “His class was at least rare. It’s just, against you, he never had a chance to use it…”

“He was arrogant. He thought his posse could take me. When he finally understood his situation, it was already too late,” Derek said. It’s a shame. He may have been able to increase my Magic Resistance even more. “Enough of that. Why was Rayna involved, and why did Davis die?”

Rayna answered. “When they arrived at the village, Davis ran ahead so I could greet them. We were on our way when I heard the commotion in the courtyard. I got there as they hit Malorie. Brandi was already on the ground. I lost my cool seeing them kick Mal after she was unconscious and her state changed to ‘Critical.’ I shot a Wind Blade at the man as he was going to kick her again.”

She sighed. “They roughed me up pretty good, then dragged me through the street. I guess they wanted to gather a crowd. As for Davis, he jumped in front of a fist meant for me. It hit him in the neck. He was most likely dead before he hit the ground.” Tears filled the bottom of her eyes, threatening to fall.

“What are we going to do now? If the nobles find out what happened, the entire village is done for,” Leon said, finally joining in the conversation.

“I have an idea, but it’s not watertight.” He looked toward Brandi. “Brandi, what level is your Leatherworking?”

Everyone in the room stared at him oddly, but Brandi answered, “It’s level 9. The high-level hides helped sooo much, you don’t even know. I think I would have made it to 10 today if everything didn’t happen.”

“Mhm.” Derek looked through the bodies in his bracelet and was surprised to find the noble wearing a ring. He took the ring out and infused it with mana. Sure enough, it had the hides in it. He took them out. “Here, take these and go hit level 10 as soon as possible.” He gave the hides back to Brandi and stored the storage ring. Brandi didn’t ask questions and hurried outside with the hides.

It seems that my storage bracelet works differently than the storage devices from this system. In his system, he couldn’t store a storage device within a storage device. When he stored a body, the device would be left on the ground.

He retreated from his thoughts and looked at Rayna. “Okay. First, you are going to need to hold a town meeting and get everyone to keep quiet. It shouldn’t be too hard if they know their lives depend on it. The story, if anyone is asked, is that the adventurers came in, got the map from Richard, and went to the dungeon. They were barely even in the village.” Derek looked at Richard. “Sorry, man, you’ll be losing your map…”

Richard smiled bitterly but nodded his head.

“Next, I’m going to need an oath from Brandi, Rayna, and…” He looked around, and his gaze settled on Malorie. “And Mal.” He looked at Richard and Leon. “I would like one from you two also, but it isn’t required.”

Rayna scrunched her face up. “What kind of oath?” she asked.

“The same oath that Thomas took before we traveled together,” he answered. “That you will tell nobody about any of my secrets that you learn unless I okay it.”

Both Richard and Leon furrowed their brows. Derek noticed. “The reason I don’t require an oath from the two of you is that you are both non-essential for what I have planned, and you both have significant others that you don’t want to lie to or hold anything back from. If you give your oath, that’s great, but if not, this is where you leave the discussion. Either way, there will be things the others learn that you will not.”

“Why us?” Malorie asked.

“Well, I know Brandi’s personality, and I trust her enough. Plus, she should benefit greatly from what I plan. Rayna will do what is needed for the village, and you will do what is needed for Brandi,” he explained.

After he said that, Rayna gave her oath without hesitating.

After some hesitation, Malorie also gave an oath.

After seeing the two women give their oaths, Richard spoke. “I must speak with Delilah about this before I decide.”

“I have to do the same with Sana,” Leon said.

Derek nodded, and the two men left. Derek stood and headed to the door, too. “I guess I’ll go see if Brandi agrees,” he said and walked out and over to the courtyard. The three others followed.

When he got there, he saw Brandi busily shaping some hide. He waited until she was finished before he asked. “Brandi, will you swear an oath to the Great System to not reveal my secrets unless I say you can?”

“Of course.” She was a little stunned, but she didn’t even ask why. “I swear on the Great System that I will not reveal any secrets I learn about Derek unless he allows me.” She nodded, then turned back around. “I think I’m about to break through. Can I get back to it?”

Derek saw the oath notification come through. He laughed at the girl. “Go ahead, we won’t bother you anymore.”

At that point, the sun was already going down. It had been a long day for everyone. “I’m going to head to the inn and get some rest. You all should, too. We’ll talk more tomorrow after the village meeting.”

With that, Derek left and went to the inn. He nodded his head to the bartender and went straight to his room. He then sat on the bed and slipped into meditation.

Early the next morning, Derek got up and went straight to Rayna’s place. They chatted a bit while they waited for Leon and Richard to spread the news of a meeting. A few hours later, they walked out, and the entire village was gathered. There were more people in the village than Derek originally thought.

As Derek scanned over the village, he noticed Brandi in the crowd. She had bags under her eyes, and she was doing her best not to nod off. Malorie elbowed her and said something. Brandi looked up and met Derek’s gaze. She flashed a wide smile and gave him a thumbs-up. I guess she hit level 10. He chuckled to himself.

Soon, Rayna walked in front of everyone and addressed them. She explained what happened and the troubles they faced. She told the village what she expected them to do—and the consequences if they didn’t listen. Overall, Derek considered it a good speech, and if the nobles didn’t investigate too hard, he could see the plan working, especially given the evidence he planned to leave.

After the meeting, everyone but the seven from the previous night left. Both Richard and Leon had come to the same conclusion about the oath. They would prefer to not lie to their wives, and they didn’t want their significant others having to make an oath as well, so they chose not to give one. After explaining it to the others, they left.

Derek, Rayna, and the others went inside her residence and sat at the meeting table. “So, are you ready for the plan?” he asked.

“What are you thinking?” Rayna asked.

Derek laughed. “Well, Mister ‘Noble’ Gracefall, with his strength, was able to lead his group through the level 100, undying dungeon. Thanks to them, the overflow of the dungeon has stopped, and with proper dungeon control, the disease will stop spreading.” Derek gave a mysterious smile. “Unfortunately, his team was wiped out in the dungeon, and he suffered a fatal wound from the final boss. He was able to escape, but he bled out and died before he was able to receive help from anyone. He died a hero. Or at least that is what all the investigations will say after my plan.”

“What?” everyone in the room asked at the same time.