System Change - Chapter 273

Chapter 273: Post-Fight

Derek walked over to Edgar and his wyvern once he saw the contract was finally formed. It was a pretty amazing sight, watching someone tame such a beast. It was entirely different from what he had experienced with Silvi. Still, Edgar was lucky the beast hadn’t tried to make him its contracted beast like Silvi had Derek. Then again, he hoped Silvi’s personality would never change. It’s what made her the best bonded companion of the bunch.

“You did it,” Derek said to Edgar when he finally reached him and his new companion. “Congratulations. That looked pretty tough.”

“It was both harder than I expected, yet easier in multiple ways,” Edgar replied, then smiled evilly. “I can’t wait to see the look on everyone’s face when I come out of the trial with a fucking dragon. How jealous do you think they’ll be? Oh, I bet Edward is going to regret not leading the raid now.”

“I can only imagine their reactions.” Derek walked forward and was finally able to get a good look at one of the wyverns up close without immediately being punted to the ground. “They are magnificent creatures.”

Edgar ran his hand along the side of the wyvern. “Indeed, they are.”

“So, did you name it?” Derek asked.

“Of course I did.” Edgar nodded passionately. “His name is Blitz!”

“Blitz, huh?” Derek thought about the name for a bit before agreeing that it would be a good name once the dragonkin evolved into the lightning element to fit Edgar. “Good name for a lightning beast.”

“I thought so.” Edgar stopped petting the wyvern and turned back to Derek, looking at him. “So, how did everything else go? Did Avery get him a baby dragon? Did the two of you take care of all the small ones?”

Derek couldn’t help but chuckle at Edgar’s question. “Yes, Avery contracted an interesting beast. It is currently evolving over by him. We took out all the other small dragonkin. It was tough when I was left alone, but once I saw Avery evolving his companion, I brought them back over to him and we made short work of those that were left.”

“He’s bonding with his beast already? Here in the trial?” Edgar scratched his chin. “Do you think that’s why the trial wasn’t completed?”

“I was wondering about that, too,” Derek said. “But I think it probably has more to do with you and your wyvern still being in battle when the hour was up. I think we need to take care of everything within that time frame. Though that’s only a guess.”

“That’s probably it,” Edgar agreed. “I guess we should all gather again, and prepare for the next wave… if there happens to be one. The trial may just finish as soon as the eleven hours are up.”

Derek nodded. “Follow me.” After that, he led Edgar and his new companion over to where Avery was. Blitz still had some injuries, so they didn’t rush as fast as they could have, even though the beast wouldn’t have had any problem withstanding it.

The archer-assassin was actually sitting on some crumbled rocks, staring deeply at his evolving beast when they arrived. When they arrived, Avery looked over the two of them, then behind them at the wyvern. He looked it up and down, then nodded.

“You did it,” he said, directed at Edgar.

“It wasn’t easy.”

“I would guess not,” Avery agreed, then turned back to Lyra, who was still evolving.

Derek almost laughed. There actually wasn’t a hint of jealousy in Avery’s words or eyes. The man seemed to be more than happy with his choice of companion. Derek glanced over at Edgar, who actually seemed a bit sad that the interaction hadn’t gone as planned.

“There’s always the Crown Prince and the king,” Derek said to cheer the young prince up.

But Edgar wasn’t finished, yet. He still had one more move up his sleeve. Saying nothing, Blitz moved out away from them, then, a bolt of lightning struck the beast out of nowhere. Then another, then another.

Soon, the fire wyvern was covered in an endless stream of lightning coming from the sky. Soon, the lightning formed a sphere around the beast, and began to float in the air, eventually coming to a stop. The two spheres of evolving beasts weren’t far away from each other, one covered in a grayish hue, and the other shining blue with sparks of electricity flowing off it.

Surprisingly, both spheres were the same size. Derek had seen the size of Lyra, Avery’s amphithere, and it was nowhere close to the size of Edgar’s wyvern. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were both dragonkin, or maybe it was the level of their bonds. Derek didn’t know.

He could only shake his head as he watched Edgar move to another pile of rubble beside Avery and plop down on it before staring at his own evolving dragonkin. Derek rolled his eyes, then turned around and opened his Time Prison up, letting the two others out.

Needless to say, when Tara and Jasper came out of the Time Prison and were greeted by the enormous orbs containing the two dragonkin that Edgar and Avery had contracted with, they were stunned. They both stood wide-eyed, mostly watching the orb crackling in lightning, but occasionally shifting their gazes to the other, more dull evolution orb.

After a few moments, Derek closed the prison door and cleared his throat. “It’s not polite to stare.”

That was enough to break the two out of their reverie.

Jasper quickly got ahold of himself and looked over at Edgar and Avery before turning his attention back to Derek, who was standing beside them.

“So, they did it?” he asked.

“Yup,” Derek replied nonchalantly. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“But we didn’t clear the trial?” Tara, the elven support mage, asked. “I only ask because I just leveled from level 240 to level 250 in that short amount of time, and my buffs even received quite the boost in levels, as well.”

“We’re not sure of that,” Derek said. Then he went on to explain to the two his and Edgar’s guesses on what was going on, and why the trial hadn’t been completed.

“I see.” Jasper nodded. “You’re right, I think due to the final wyvern not dying or being contracted with before the hour passed is the most probable cause. That, or it was never supposed to end with only the three wyverns.”

After that, they all moved closer to the two others and sat around, waiting for the companions to evolve. Derek had to admit, he was just as excited as everyone else. While waiting, Derek viewed his stats. He expected quite the change based on the number of notifications he had ignored or dismissed during the fight.

Derek did a double, then a triple take at his status sheet. With over 900 stat points available to spend, he had a ton of options. The first thing he thought about was maxing out another of his stats, but he hesitated. He was unsure what the best course of action would be.

If the hour of fighting dragonkin taught him anything, it was that he was lacking in attack power when his skills, specifically Multi-Strike, were on cooldown. From everything he knew, intelligence would affect how much damage his channeled void would do overall, so that was a must. It was the stat that he had mostly overlooked because he hadn’t run into much that could defend against a pure attack on a vital organ.

Well, he hadn’t run into anything like that until now. And seeing how they were just in the second trial, there was a good chance that he would run into more and more enemies with defenses just as high. Honestly, he was still glad he chose vitality and endurance as his focus, because those two stats allowed him to keep his fighting style and stay alive. Staying alive was the most important thing. It didn’t matter how much damage you could output if you were dead.

But now he had a decision to make, and he was leaning toward intelligence and strength. Intelligence would increase the magic damage of his attacks, and it may even increase the potency of Void Shift. He wasn’t sure on that front.

Strength would increase the amount of force he would be able to apply that magical damage with. The harder he could swing his halberd… well, his fists now that the halberd was gone, the more damage his channeled void would be able to do when it connected. What he found that he wasn’t really lacking, and was much less of a priority now, was his dexterity and wisdom.

Wisdom was great, overall, but with his recovery due to Greater Meditation, having a ton of it wasn’t exactly necessary. Sure, it allowed him to move his mana quicker throughout his body and allowed him to direct his void better, but currently, with it already having over 1,000 stat points invested into it, it was able to keep up in his fights. Even the ones with the wyvern.

Dexterity spoke for itself. It was a stat he wanted a lot, but it was also the stat he knew he didn’t currently need as bad as the other stats, minus wisdom. It would make him faster in both movement and attack. But it just wasn’t yet a necessity.

He also had Silvi to think about. Once he pushed a stat past a certain point, her stats would break through a threshold and she would have to go through the pain that came with it. It was a pretty bad situation because of the time dilation in the dungeon as well.

He also didn’t want to begin breaking through thresholds while in a trial surrounded by people. He trusted Avery and Edgar well enough, and Edgar even knew he wasn’t at max level yet, but he didn’t want them to know exactly how true that was.

No, the first decision he made was to wait until he was back in the dungeon, then he would move far away from everyone before going through with the breakthroughs. And once he was able to, he would push both his intelligence and strength to the point just before it would push Silvi into her own breakthroughs.

For now, he move all his stats to the edge. All of his stats, including dexterity. So, with a quick thought, he made the adjustments to his stats. He felt the increase in both his strength and his mobility almost instantly. Dumping over 170 points into a stat brought with it quite the noticeable change.

After that, he checked his stats.

He smiled as he closed his stats. They were looking good. If the trial didn’t end when the next wave was due, he had no doubt that he would be gaining even more levels before it was over. With a sigh, he stood and pulled a comfortable chair out of his storage. If he was going to wait for dragons to hatch, he would at least be comfortable doing it.

Chapter 273: Post-Fight Derek walked over to Edgar and his wyvern once he saw the contract was finally formed. It was a pretty amazing sight, watching someone tame such a beast. It was entirely different from what he had experienced with Silvi. Still, Edgar was lucky the beast hadn't tried to make him its contracted beast like Silvi had Derek. Then again, he hoped Silvi's personality would never change. It's what made her the best bonded companion of the bunch. You did it, Derek said to Edgar when he finally reached him and his new companion. Congratulations. That looked pretty tough. It was both harder than I expected, yet easier in multiple ways, Edgar replied, then smiled evilly. I can't wait to see the look on everyone's face when I come out of the trial with a fucking dragon. How jealous do you think they'll be? Oh, I bet Edward is going to regret not leading the raid now. I can only imagine their reactions. Derek walked forward and was finally able to get a good look at one of the wyverns up close without immediately being punted to the ground. They are magnificent creatures. Edgar ran his hand along the side of the wyvern. Indeed, they are. So, did you name it? Derek asked. Of course I did. Edgar nodded passionately. His name is Blitz! Blitz, huh? Derek thought about the name for a bit before agreeing that it would be a good name once the dragonkin evolved into the lightning element to fit Edgar. Good name for a lightning beast. I thought so. Edgar stopped petting the wyvern and turned back to Derek, looking at him. So, how did everything else go? Did Avery get him a baby dragon? Did the two of you take care of all the small ones? Derek couldn't help but chuckle at Edgar's question. Yes, Avery contracted an interesting beast. It is currently evolving over by him. We took out all the other small dragonkin. It was tough when I was left alone, but once I saw Avery evolving his companion, I brought them back over to him and we made short work of those that were left. He's bonding with his beast already? Here in the trial? Edgar scratched his chin. Do you think that's why the trial wasn't completed? I was wondering about that, too, Derek said. But I think it probably has more to do with you and your wyvern still being in battle when the hour was up. I think we need to take care of everything within that time frame. Though that's only a guess. That's probably it, Edgar agreed. I guess we should all gather again, and prepare for the next wave if there happens to be one. The trial may just finish as soon as the eleven hours are up. Derek nodded. Follow me. After that, he led Edgar and his new companion over to where Avery was. Blitz still had some injuries, so they didn't rush as fast as they could have, even though the beast wouldn't have had any problem withstanding it. The archer-assassin was actually sitting on some crumbled rocks, staring deeply at his evolving beast when they arrived. When they arrived, Avery looked over the two of them, then behind them at the wyvern. He looked it up and down, then nodded. You did it, he said, directed at Edgar. It wasn't easy. I would guess not, Avery agreed, then turned back to Lyra, who was still evolving. Derek almost laughed. There actually wasn't a hint of jealousy in Avery's words or eyes. The man seemed to be more than happy with his choice of companion. Derek glanced over at Edgar, who actually seemed a bit sad that the interaction hadn't gone as planned. There's always the Crown Prince and the king, Derek said to cheer the young prince up. But Edgar wasn't finished, yet. He still had one more move up his sleeve. Saying nothing, Blitz moved out away from them, then, a bolt of lightning struck the beast out of nowhere. Then another, then another. Soon, the fire wyvern was covered in an endless stream of lightning coming from the sky. Soon, the lightning formed a sphere around the beast, and began to float in the air, eventually coming to a stop. The two spheres of evolving beasts weren't far away from each other, one covered in a grayish hue, and the other shining blue with sparks of electricity flowing off it. Surprisingly, both spheres were the same size. Derek had seen the size of Lyra, Avery's amphithere, and it was nowhere close to the size of Edgar's wyvern. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were both dragonkin, or maybe it was the level of their bonds. Derek didn't know. He could only shake his head as he watched Edgar move to another pile of rubble beside Avery and plop down on it before staring at his own evolving dragonkin. Derek rolled his eyes, then turned around and opened his Time Prison up, letting the two others out. Needless to say, when Tara and Jasper came out of the Time Prison and were greeted by the enormous orbs containing the two dragonkin that Edgar and Avery had contracted with, they were stunned. They both stood wide-eyed, mostly watching the orb crackling in lightning, but occasionally shifting their gazes to the other, more dull evolution orb. After a few moments, Derek closed the prison door and cleared his throat. It's not polite to stare. That was enough to break the two out of their reverie. Jasper quickly got ahold of himself and looked over at Edgar and Avery before turning his attention back to Derek, who was standing beside them. So, they did it? he asked. Yup, Derek replied nonchalantly. Pretty cool, huh? But we didn't clear the trial? Tara, the elven support mage, asked. I only ask because I just leveled from level 240 to level 250 in that short amount of time, and my buffs even received quite the boost in levels, as well. We're not sure of that, Derek said. Then he went on to explain to the two his and Edgar's guesses on what was going on, and why the trial hadn't been completed. I see. Jasper nodded. You're right, I think due to the final wyvern not dying or being contracted with before the hour passed is the most probable cause. That, or it was never supposed to end with only the three wyverns. After that, they all moved closer to the two others and sat around, waiting for the companions to evolve. Derek had to admit, he was just as excited as everyone else. While waiting, Derek viewed his stats. He expected quite the change based on the number of notifications he had ignored or dismissed during the fight. Status Personal Information Name: Age: Level: Experience: Class: Race: Derek Hunt 30 198 54,550,000,000/66,000,000,000 Legend of the Void Legendary Human Modified Health: Mana: Stamina: 37500 15045 37500 Stats Strength Dexterity Endurance Vitality Intelligence Wisdom Stat Points Remaining 825 825 1500 ??? 1500 ??? 830 1003 918 Contracts Alanah Swan Crown Restaurant Silvi Bonded Beast Stella Brighton Crown Restaurant Francesco Jaccobs Torith Adventurer's Guild Rudolph Mckinney Natalie Savannah via Malorie Stewart View Contract View Status View Contract View Contract View Contract View Contract Contract Unavailable Skills Absolute Nullify Lv. 12, Basic Repair Lv. 1, Chain Lightning Lv. 13, Channel Void Lv. 18, Cleaning Lv. 9, Cure Toxin Lv. 4, Dismantle Lv. 12, Enhanced Movement Speed Lv. 1, Greater Meditation Lv. 10, Heavy Weapons Mastery Lv. 20Choose Specialty Path, Identify Lv. 17, Magic Resistance Lv. 20, Multi-Strike Lv. 14, Physical Resistance Lv. 20, Rejuvenation Lv. 14, Sweeping Slash Lv. 20, Telepathy Lv. 4, Time Prison Lv. 9, Unarmed Combat Mastery Lv. 19, Void Call Lv. 4, Void Sense Lv. 16, Void Shift Lv. 9, Void Steps Lv. 13, Void Storage Lv. N/A Skill Points Remaining: 17 Skill Upgrade Points Remaining: 7 Achievements Greater Giant Slayer, Jack of All, Lesser Dungeon Explorer, Lesser Dungeon Traveler, Lesser Enigma, Lesser Enforcer of Oaths, Repetitive Dungeoneer, Minor Slayer of the Unknown, Solo Diver, Magical Glass Cannon, Meat Shield, Lesser Explorer, Offensive Powerhouse Derek did a double, then a triple take at his status sheet. With over 900 stat points available to spend, he had a ton of options. The first thing he thought about was maxing out another of his stats, but he hesitated. He was unsure what the best course of action would be. If the hour of fighting dragonkin taught him anything, it was that he was lacking in attack power when his skills, specifically Multi-Strike, were on cooldown. From everything he knew, intelligence would affect how much damage his channeled void would do overall, so that was a must. It was the stat that he had mostly overlooked because he hadn't run into much that could defend against a pure attack on a vital organ. Well, he hadn't run into anything like that until now. And seeing how they were just in the second trial, there was a good chance that he would run into more and more enemies with defenses just as high. Honestly, he was still glad he chose vitality and endurance as his focus, because those two stats allowed him to keep his fighting style and stay alive. Staying alive was the most important thing. It didn't matter how much damage you could output if you were dead. But now he had a decision to make, and he was leaning toward intelligence and strength. Intelligence would increase the magic damage of his attacks, and it may even increase the potency of Void Shift. He wasn't sure on that front. Strength would increase the amount of force he would be able to apply that magical damage with. The harder he could swing his halberd well, his fists now that the halberd was gone, the more damage his channeled void would be able to do when it connected. What he found that he wasn't really lacking, and was much less of a priority now, was his dexterity and wisdom. Wisdom was great, overall, but with his recovery due to Greater Meditation, having a ton of it wasn't exactly necessary. Sure, it allowed him to move his mana quicker throughout his body and allowed him to direct his void better, but currently, with it already having over 1,000 stat points invested into it, it was able to keep up in his fights. Even the ones with the wyvern. Dexterity spoke for itself. It was a stat he wanted a lot, but it was also the stat he knew he didn't currently need as bad as the other stats, minus wisdom. It would make him faster in both movement and attack. But it just wasn't yet a necessity. He also had Silvi to think about. Once he pushed a stat past a certain point, her stats would break through a threshold and she would have to go through the pain that came with it. It was a pretty bad situation because of the time dilation in the dungeon as well. He also didn't want to begin breaking through thresholds while in a trial surrounded by people. He trusted Avery and Edgar well enough, and Edgar even knew he wasn't at max level yet, but he didn't want them to know exactly how true that was. No, the first decision he made was to wait until he was back in the dungeon, then he would move far away from everyone before going through with the breakthroughs. And once he was able to, he would push both his intelligence and strength to the point just before it would push Silvi into her own breakthroughs. For now, he move all his stats to the edge. All of his stats, including dexterity. So, with a quick thought, he made the adjustments to his stats. He felt the increase in both his strength and his mobility almost instantly. Dumping over 170 points into a stat brought with it quite the noticeable change. After that, he checked his stats. Stats Strength Dexterity Endurance Vitality Intelligence Wisdom Stat Points Remaining 999 999 1500 ??? 1500 ??? 999 1003 401 He smiled as he closed his stats. They were looking good. If the trial didn't end when the next wave was due, he had no doubt that he would be gaining even more levels before it was over. With a sigh, he stood and pulled a comfortable chair out of his storage. If he was going to wait for dragons to hatch, he would at least be comfortable doing it.