System Change

The rest of the day after getting back from the Assassin’s Guild with Vanessa was uneventful for Derek. He brought the Shadow Witch back to Savannah with him, then, after she thanked him profusely for allowing her to have her revenge, the former Vice Leader, and now Head of Information Gathering for the Kingdom of Cydaria, left to go have a chat with Bones and Ogre before leaving for the Teleportation Building and heading back to the capital.

Now that she had her revenge, she planned on putting her full effort into her new position in Cydaria. Derek knew one thing for certain—Edward was going to have a very capable adviser to his throne once she got settled.

With Maven dead and the promises from the Assassin’s Guild to not mess with Derek or his friends, he felt like he could truly relax. Even after thinking about it for some time, other than possibly a few people from the former Kingdom of Astrus, he couldn’t think of anyone else who would want to harm him or his people—and those people from Astrus who may want to would have others much higher on their lists. Sure, there were also some elves from Alanah’s birthplace, but they didn’t have a way to get to Derek—not to mention the fact that they didn’t even know who he was or where he was from.

Thinking about all this allowed Derek to smile and feel a sense of accomplishment. He had taken care of most of the threats to everyone, and he had managed to carve out a place for him and his people. Malorie, Brandi, Thomas, Rayna, Jacks, and all the others would be able to go on with their lives without worry. What more was there that he could wish for? Honestly, thinking of that question, the only things that really stuck out to Derek was Alanah, and a few personal plans. So, his reason for needing to grow stronger had changed.

First, he only grew stronger when the system came because of survival and because it was something for him to do. He hadn’t had any real reason to want to get stronger—in fact, one could say that he increased his strength mostly because it made him feel alive, and allowed him to protect his place at his family’s old cabin.

But, after arriving in Cydaria because of Silvi Jaccobs’ portal, he found another reason to grow stronger. That reason was so that he could protect those who he had grown close with, but now, it seemed like he had accomplished that task. However, now that it seemed like he had accomplished that, his objective had shifted. Now, he needed to grow stronger so that he could find the Dawn Siren and make good on his promise. She had promised him a date, after all. The things I have to go through just for a single real date, Derek thought internally and chuckled.

I’m sure that she’ll thrive wherever it is that she is, he thought. She’ll probably be stronger than me when I eventually find her. A smile grew on his face at the thought. That was one of the reasons that he liked Alanah. She was truly powerful, and she had gained that power on her own. She was ambitious and was someone who he thought would be able to stand beside him once he reached his peak strength—whatever that may be. Her personality and beauty don’t hurt, either. He laughed.

All that was also the reason that Derek didn’t feel the need to rush to figure things out. Alanah was a half-elf, so she had a naturally long life, and who knew if that life would be able to grow longer in the new system she had ascended to? The woman could also take care of herself, so he wasn’t worried about her safety. He would get to her. He just didn’t know when. And he didn’t believe that she would be in any immediate danger, so he didn’t need to rush himself.

But all that was for the future. What Derek needed to do now that he’d accomplished most of the things that he set out to do—some without him even realizing—was to figure out his next steps. There were various options he was considering. However, the thing that his mind kept coming back to was completing the second requirement for advancement from the Origin System.