System Change

“Welcome home?” Vanessa asked as she stepped forward into what looked like a giant meeting room. There was a massive oval table in the center that was surrounded by chairs. On the table was what looked like a map, not only of the Kingdom of Cydaria, but of the entire continent. Even the Dwarven Kingdom of Vallum was there in all its glory. “This place has never been a home to me, and you know it. Some may have chosen this life, but as you well know, I am not one.”

That sparked Derek’s interest, but currently, his interest was more focused on the table. He stored what Vanessa had said in his mind for the moment and took a step forward.

“Sure it has,” the Guild Leader said, ignoring Derek, who was no longer standing beside Vanessa. “The guild was your home for some time. You moved all the way up the ranks to eventually become the Vice Leader of the Cydarian branch. If this life was not for you, you would have never been able to accomplish as much.”

“Cydarian branch?” Derek’s attention finally moved away from the map, and his eyes moved up to look at the man who had just spoke. It was interesting, as there didn’t seem to be a head seat. Instead, four seats were arranged around that part of the table—three of which were occupied. The seat furthest to the left was occupied by a woman with silver-gray hair and dull, white eyes. The one next to her was empty. The third one was occupied by the man who was speaking with Vanessa, and another figure who was wearing a cloak covering all of their features was seated in the final chair.

Derek ignored the other two and focused his attention on the man carrying on with Vanessa. He was completely bald, with the same black eyes that Vanessa had. Apparently, it wasn’t uncommon for someone who was raised in the Assassin’s Guild to earn a class related to darkness or shadow. Even the man from before, Lazrus, seemed to have some kind of dark based class—according to his eyes. Derek’s eyes looked over the man for a few more seconds, then back down at the map imprinted into the table. I see… he thought to himself.

“You know exactly why I worked my ass off to get to where I was,” Vanessa said, breaking Derek out of his thoughts. “The higher your rank in the guild, the fewer restrictions. Since I wasn’t able to choose a different lifestyle, the only other way to live was to gain enough power to get some modicum of freedom.”

“Such potential…” the Guild Leader muttered. “It is a shame… truly.”

“Yeah… right,” Vanessa said. “I had so much potential that I’m sure you were plotting something well before my capture. I was growing too powerful and influential for you.”

“I would never.” The man reached up with one of his hands and scratched at his face. “You are my niece, after all.”

“Only in blood,” Vanessa said. Finally, she moved up beside Derek, then looked down at the unoccupied chair opposite the Guild Leader, then pulled it out and sat. “A lot of good that did my father.”

“Get up!” a shout was heard from behind both Derek and Vanessa. Derek turned his head and glanced at Lazrus, who was genuinely fuming. “That is my seat. I earned it.”

“Lazrus!” the Guild Leader hissed. “Mind yourself! We have guests.”

“But…”

“But nothing! Do not embarrass yourself in front of everyone,” the leader said.

Derek inwardly chuckled at the mind games Vanessa was playing with the new Vice Leader. Even after taking the seat, she never even attempted to give the man any attention. Though Derek was a little taken aback, he had been eying that very seat before Vanessa took it for herself.

“So,” Derek said after also ignoring the jealous Vice Leader. “This is more than just a kingdom wide organization, then? You work throughout the continent.” His eyes then lingered on the leader, then the two other people who seemed to be seated at the head of the table. “So… you are each a leader of a specific branch, right?”

“Not bad,” the bald leader said. “The reports didn’t say that you were smart, but I guess they wouldn’t know that, would they?”

“Nah,” Derek said. “I’m the dumb one. I just hit things ‘til they stop moving. May have learned some things along the way, I guess.”

“And he’s funny,” the leader quipped.

“So, I take it that we’re inside the Assassin’s Guild’s headquarters?” Derek asked. “And we’re probably not in Cydaria anymore, either. At least, not after all of those teleports it took to get here.”

“Two for two,” the man replied. “But please, do have a seat.”

Derek looked down at the four seats opposite the Guild Leaders. All four of them were occupied now that the last one was taken by Vanessa. His eyes lingered on each person for a moment. He debated on which seat to take, then finally shrugged. He took a step forward, put each of his hands on a chair, then pushed—clearing the middle. After that, it was easy to pull out his own chair—his favorite recliner—and take a seat. “That’s better,” he said as he leaned back and tossed his feet up onto the table.

Stolen novel; please report.

At the same time, Derek saw both the bald man’s and the silver-gray haired woman’s eyes twitch at his power play. They were obviously expecting him to either try to take one of the Vice Leader’s seats, or to sit at one of the seats on the side of the table—they didn’t expect him to move everyone and take a singular seat at the head of the table.

The three Vice Leaders seemed to be doing all they could not to attack him, and Vanessa snorted and smiled. Apparently, she approved of his antics.

“So…” Derek said. “I thought I would be dealing with one Assassin’s Guild leader, but it seems I’m dealing with three. Is the fourth one busy? Might as well talk to you all while I’m here.”

“Yes… he is busy…” the bald man said.

“That’s a pity,” Derek said. “How did you put it? It’s a shame… truly.”

The bald man narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say anything. Instead, the woman spoke. “Maven,” she said. “Let’s get to it.”

“Fine,” the bald Guild Leader, Maven, replied. Then he focused on Derek. “Mr. Hunt, we have heard of many of your feats, and some of our men have even seen some up close. What is it that you would like to discuss today?”

“Bones and Ogre,” Derek said.

“Bones… and Ogre?” Maven asked with his eyebrows raised. “Those two whelps? What about them?”

“Well, I want any contracts or missions to kill or capture them to be canceled. I would also like them to be released from any contracts or oaths they have the Assassin’s Guild. They work for me now, not you,” Derek answered bluntly.

“So I’ve heard,” Maven said. “Has the skinny man really become a butler?”

“You really do have eyes and ears everywhere, don’t you?” Derek asked rhetorically.

“We do,” the man answered. “Assassin’s make for great information gatherers.”

“That’s good,” Derek said. “Then that means you know quite a bit about me, right?”

“Yes, we do,” Maven answered.

“Then that makes it easy,” Derek said. “Release those two from everything, then I’ll be on my way and you can carry on with all your stabby stab business.”

“And what do we get out of it?” the woman next to Maven asked.

“To continue on with your guild?” Derek said. “It’s a pretty good deal.”

“You may be strong—you may have even been able to take out half an army with one skill—but do not think you can threaten us,” Maven half shouted. “In fact, if you think you can…” he started, but was interrupted.

“Do it.” For the first time, the fully cloaked person spoke. “Give him what he wants and let him leave.” The man had a very deep voice, and the other two leaders seemed to put some weight into his words. But Maven still seemed reluctant.

“Why should we do that?” he asked. “We may not be able to defeat him, but isn’t the same true for him as well?” The man looked back at Derek. “And nobody wants to live a life where they have to always look over their shoulder. Not to mention your friends and…”

“Maven!” the cloaked man shouted. “I said to give him what he wants, and let him go. Let the Assassin’s Guild be done with it.”

“Wait…” Derek said. “Did you… just threaten my friends?”

“No, he didn’t,” the cloaked figure said. “Maven is just a bit riled up after seeing his niece. Pay no mind to anything he said.”

“It’s not like he even knows where we are,” Maven spat. “What is it that has you so worked up, Nyx?”

Derek stood from his seat, then took a couple of steps back. After that, he ripped open the space in front of him and took a step into the void. With his Void Sense, he sought out all the auras that he could. He was looking to see if he could get an idea about where they currently were. It wasn’t easy, and he wasn’t sure if he would even get the correct location, as it was impossible for him to judge distances without locking onto specific auras or places special to him.

Inside the void tunnel, there was no real up or down or left or right. In fact, there was still a slight fear in his mind when he used the skill—it was what was holding him back from using it without aiming directly at an aura with his Void Sense. He didn’t know where he may end up if he left the void at a random spot. For all he knew, he could take a single step, open a portal, leave, and end up in the middle of space. Every time he went inside, he had to use his Void Sense to orient himself by searching for auras or places that held meaning to him.

By looking at the cluster of auras of the Cydarian Royal Family, he knew they were at Cydaria—it was the same if he looked at the auras of the Indarian Royal Family. The thing was, unless he kept the portal open, the direction was almost never the same, which made it extremely difficult to judge anything.

Derek ignored those thoughts and looked for the auras closest to him. It wouldn’t be precise, but he could at least get a general sense of where they were if one of clusters was close by. Derek saw all the auras of his friends and acquaintances and muttered, “Interesting…” After that, he stepped back out of his portal and closed it. He looked at Maven dead in the eye and said, “Are we in Vallum?”

“W-what?” Maven muttered.

“You idiot,” Nyx said to Maven. “Have you not read the latest reports on Mr. Hunt? About his… teleportation skill?” The cloaked Nyx took in a heavy breath and released it. “According to the reports, it is speculated that he can teleport to anyone that he has met before. And you brought him here.”

“I…” Maven looked from Nyx, then to Derek. “I didn’t know. There’s no way that’s true, is there?”

Derek studied the cloaked figure for a moment, then looked back at Maven. “Oh, it’s true, it’s very true. There is no hiding from me. You can think of me as your own personal bogeyman if you piss me off. And that stuff you said about my friends earlier… you’re well on your way to doing so.”

“But you came in here and started making demands!” Maven said.

“Because he can!” Nyx shouted at Maven. “Kaelus, you’ve been quiet. What do you think?”

“I am afraid that I was as in the dark about this man’s ability as Maven was,” the silver-gray haired woman said with a sigh. “Why were the reports on Mr. Hunt not made priority?”

“I did not believe he was someone who we had to worry about,” Nyx replied. “Mr. Hunt,” the cloaked man said, then he pulled his hood down. What was left after that was a solid white mask. Once that was revealed, he reached up and took the mask off. Underneath the mask was a very disfigured face. The man had no ears, no nose, and one eye was even missing. “Please accept my apologies. If it makes you feel better, know that I placed your friends’ names in our Black Ledger. You need not worry about them from now on.”

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