System Change-Chapter 541: Boiled?

“What am I?” Derek asked back. He rubbed his chin as if he were in deep thought, then answered, “I’m Derek, but you seem to already know that.” Inwardly, he thought, I don’t know how this is going to play out. Does he know about the upcoming system clash?

“That is very obvious,” Kelvin said, narrowing his eyes. “That does not explain how you are here, why you are here, why the system doesn’t view you as a part of it, or why you almost destroyed an entire city minutes ago.”

“Well… I’m here because…” Derek began, but stopped after registering what Kelvin said. “Wait, what do you mean I almost destroyed a city?”

“That’s why I’m here!” Kelvin half-shouted. “The system gave a catastrophe-level warning in a dungeon not far away. It was on the verge of overloading and exploding—which could have been big enough to wipe out any cities nearby… or worse. And that is because of you!”

“Oh…” Derek was dumbfounded, but at least he got an answer. So going into that dungeon at our levels really was a bad idea, he thought. Damn… I’m glad I decided not to stay long.

“Explode?” Earth Silvi said from the side. “Why?”

“Ah… yeah… that’s my bad.” Derek rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I didn’t know you were in a dungeon when I found you. It seems that they have level caps for a reason.”

“That’s why you left so soon to meet outside the dungeon?” Silvi asked.

“Yeah,” Derek said.

“What are you all talking about?” Kelvin cut in. The crimson-colored human looked like he was about to blow a gasket—both literally and figuratively. The man clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles cracked, and Derek felt his aura start to leak out. The wave hit Earth Silvi, and she let out a whimper.

“Stop that,” Derek’s Silvi sent a wave of her own controlled aura back at the man, and it completely canceled it out. She disappeared from Derek’s shoulder and reappeared on a pot lid floating in front of Kelvin. “I understand you mad,” her voice rang out. “Would be too if someone tried to boil me.” She continued to float around and examine Kelvin, and Derek almost face-palmed. “No flavor. Better ways to cook.”

“You… wha…” Not only Kelvin, but everyone was speechless as they watched the bunny.

“Can’t cook system people,” Silvi said. “Can’t cook elves…” she said in a light voice, then turned her head to look at Derek.

“No, we can’t…” Derek said.

“Mhm… can’t cook elves,” she said again. “Shouldn’t cook humans.” Silvi nodded sagely. “You escaped, though. You lucky.”

“I escaped?!” Derek was pretty sure that Kelvin was currently too flabbergasted to be angry. “From… from…”

“Being cooked,” Silvi confirmed.

“I… what?!”

“Because you are red,” Derek said with a sigh. “Forgive my companion. She is a chef, and everything she thinks and does revolves around cooking. She… we’ve never seen a human with crimson-colored skin. Her first thought must have gone to how we…” Derek motioned to himself, Silvi, and Gerard. “How we would turn red when we become very hot.” Derek explained. Silvi obviously hadn’t been listening to Earth Silvi when she spoke a little about Kelvin.

“That…”

“Yes,” Derek said. “She is a beast companion, and she can be ignorant sometimes. I am sorry.”

“Not boiled?” Silvi was aghast. “Red skin? Not hot? Never seen that. Just white, black, brown, tan… blue…” She shook her head. “No… he was just too cold.” She floated to the front of the man and hesitated. The next moment, a small plate of food appeared in front of her, and it floated to the man, who mechanically reached out and took it. “Have food as apology.” She nodded, then disappeared before reappearing back on Derek’s shoulder.

Talk about a way to calm someone down, Derek thought. Just confuse them to near death, then give them a plate of food… only Silvi…

Kelvin stood in silence for what felt like forever, but soon, his bracelet buzzed, and it broke him out of his stupor. The meal he was holding disappeared, and he tapped away on the bracelet for a moment before looking back up at Derek. “So, you didn’t know you were on the verge of causing a catastrophe?” he asked, much calmer than before.

“No,” Derek shook his head. “I didn’t know we were going to end up in a dungeon. Like Ms. Jaccobs said, we left very quickly after realizing where we were. I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I didn’t want to take the chance.”

“I see…” the man narrowed his eyes again. “And how does one just… appear in a dungeon without following proper protocol?”

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“Secret,” Derek replied with a shrug. “I’m sure you don’t want to tell me about all of your skills, now do you?”

“No… I guess I don’t,” Kelvin said. “But you still haven’t explained to me why the system does not recognize you.”

“Because I’m not part of it anymore…” Derek said bluntly.

“You’re what?” Kelvin’s eyes widened.

“Yeah… getting trapped in the void really messes with you…” Derek said, leaving it at that.

“That’s right… you were trapped in the void…” Kelvin said.

“Yeah…” Derek said. “It’s a pretty big place. A lot of it isn’t in the system’s purview.”

“So… you are really Derek Hunt. You have some sort of… teleporting ability that allows you to bypass certain constraints. You were trapped in the void so long that the system was no longer able to connect to you…” Kelvin said as if he was checking off a list.

“Sounds about right,” Derek replied.

“But… your companion… its strength… that aura,” Kelvin said. “You are very strong… considering you set off system warnings—leading to me being sent down here.”

“I am,” Derek replied with a nod.

“How?”

“I dunno,” Derek said. “Do you know how time works in the void?”

“Randomly,” Kelvin said.

“Do you know how old I am?” Derek asked.

“Hmm…” Kelvin went quiet for a moment to think. “If I recall your profile and add a couple of years… you should be in your lower thirties.”

“I should be, shouldn’t I?” Derek asked rhetorically with a smile. “I was in the void for probably centuries. Hard not to get strong when you’re that old, don’t you think?”

“Centuries?” Kelvin’s eyes widened again. “You’re serious?”

“I am,” Derek said.

“Why did you come back?” Kelvin asked. “You know… the system does not welcome you. You are a threat that it wishes me to eliminate.”

“I’m not worried about that,” Derek said. “I just wanted to let Silvi know that it wasn’t her fault… well… that it was precisely her fault, but there are no hard feelings. However, it seems like she’s doing pretty well for herself.”

“Yes,” Kelvin said, eyeing Earth Silvi. “Blink is such a useful skill, is it not?” Silvi’s eyes went wide, and she opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Instead, Derek spoke. “So… I’ve answered your questions. You can answer mine now. What are you? The system gives you information… apparently. Are you some kind of admin or something?”

“Nothing like that,” Kelvin scoffed. “I am a part of the system council. The council leader of the humans.”

“So… you’re here because…”

“Because Planet C-186 is a human planet and thus falls under my purview,” Kelvin answered.

“I see,” Derek said. He was honestly surprised that the man didn’t choose to try to eliminate him and Silvi, but he figured that Silvi’s little aura display from earlier had him hesitating, and though he’d been surprised many times, he seemed to be pretty level-headed. “Then you are the strongest human?”

“Strongest?” Kelvin bit his lower lip. “Maybe… in some instances. But that is not something you need to know.”

“I guess it’s not,” Derek said. He was trying to get some information about the strongest in the system without drawing more attention than necessary, but asking too many questions would be suspicious given the reason he gave for being there.

“What are your plans? You know that you can’t stay here, right?” Kelvin asked.

“I wasn’t sure, but I guess that’s true, since it seems that the system is unable to recognize me…” Derek sighed. He turned to Earth Silvi and said, “Do you have Identify? Can you use it on me?”

“Uh… yeah… sure,” Silvi said, and her eyes widened.

“What’s it say?”

“It says what Kelvin said,” Silvi replied. “You’re a creature not of this system, and it wants me to eliminate you.”

“I see…” Derek said, then turned back to Kelvin. “And I suppose not everyone is going to be like you and have time for a chat?”

“Nobody will be,” Kelvin said. “If they do not know you or of you… you will not be having conversations. Your… companion especially so.”

“Oh… well…” Derek shrugged and turned back to Silvi. “Do you and Gerard want to come with me? I… think we can safely bring you with us…” he said, but he already knew the answer. He’d also come to the conclusion that he didn’t want to risk them going to the Davenresh System. Dave had told Derek that he could have died because of the systems fighting each other before, and he wouldn’t risk that. There really was so much that could go wrong.

“We… can’t,” Silvi finally answered after being quiet for some time. “I can’t leave my team. We’ve built something here.”

“I thought as much,” Derek said. “I just thought I’d ask.” He sighed. Then, his eyes lit up, and he turned back to Kelvin. “Hey, you wouldn’t by any chance know of a guy named Jace Whitaker, would you?”

The question did not get the reaction that Derek was expecting. Instead, he saw the already red man grow even more crimson. He struggled to keep his aura under control, and all his muscles tensed. The man gritted his teeth, and his eyes even turned bloodshot.

“What… do you want with him? Are you… friends?” Kelvin asked through gritted teeth, his voice a low growl.

“Not really,” Derek said, waving the man’s question off. “Dude’s crazy. Kept coming around and kicking my ass while I was on Earth. Was thinking that I’d be able to give him a little payback now.”

Instantly, Kelvin seemed to calm. It seemed like he and Jace didn’t exactly have a good relationship. “That man is a pain in my ass. He deserves nothing less than an agonizing… uhem…” Kelvin caught himself and checked his emotions again. “Mr. Whitaker is the leader of a task force under my command and the system’s. He is protected by the system as a reward for his place on the tutorial leaderboard.”

“Oh… I see,” Derek said.

“I am afraid it would be against protocol to give you his location, as you are currently an enemy of the system,” Kelvin said, then under his breath and barely audible, added, “As much as I would like you to find and kill the bastard.”

“Ah… well… that’s a shame,” Derek said. “Nothing I can do about that, then.” If Jace was the leader of a task force under the system’s command, then visiting the man was definitely out of the question. He’d been on the fence about looking for him, but what Kelvin said pushed him over to decide against it. Derek turned back to Silvi. “Well… Silvi… it really was good seeing you again, but it seems that I am unwelcome here and have to cut my stay short.”

“Where will you go?” Kelvin asked with his eyes narrowed.

“I don’t know,” Derek said with a shrug. “I’ll spend some more time in the void… and there are tons of planets that aren’t part of the system. I guess I’ll do some more traveling.” Derek looked at his shoulder, where Silvi was resting. “Are you ready to go?”

“No ingredients from here?” Silvi asked.

“That looks to be the case,” Derek said.

“Was nice for nothing…” Silvi muttered. “Let’s go.”

He turned back to Earth Silvi. “This is the last time we will meet, so you do your best to take care of yourself, okay? And Gerard, keep looking out for her.”

“I will,” both said at once.

“Kelvin…” Derek said. “It was… interesting meeting you.”

“It has certainly been interesting,” Kelvin said, then the man fully released his aura and grabbed Derek by his wrist. “But… I cannot just let you go. The system will not allow it.”