System Change-Chapter 558: Protocols

“You’ve got to be joking,” Natalie said with a grimace. Then, in almost a whisper, she said, “This is going to cost so much money.”

“We’ll see,” Derek said. “Wait until we have more information. Who knows? It may not be so bad.”

Jakis

Silent Night

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Wri

The Indomitable

Shield

Azureblade

Trischa

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Invasion Time Remaining: 90 Days

Derek looked over the Invasion Status with a slight frown. At that moment, he was extremely happy that he’d decided to pick his own title. It looks like Dave’s trying to be funny… if he has any control over the titles, Derek thought. It was glaringly obvious that Braxton, Marrick, and Edgar had all opted for the system to pick the titles that they were using.

He was sure that Marrick wouldn’t really care, and he thought Edgar might get a laugh out of it, but if he knew anything, it was that Braxton would be furious. He really wasn’t a fan of that nickname, and now, two systems’ worth of people would know him by it.

Derek also looked over at Avery. He’d chosen ‘Siren’s Second’ as his title. He was sure that the man picked it himself, too. It made perfect sense, as that was how Avery always saw himself—as Alanah’s second-in-command. It was pretty fitting.

Derek was also almost certain that the ‘Sir Brandt’ he saw on the list was Alanah’s old friend. I guess he really was strong, Derek thought. I may try to meet him if possible one day… if I have any time left.

I don’t recognize any of these other three names, Derek thought as he looked at Vendra, Aria, and The Queen. I think I may be able to guess where one of them is, though. As far as he knew, there were no queens on the continent with enough strength to become a Guardian. That only left the other continent. He wasn’t sure which kingdom she was queen of, but if her title was actually correct, he was sure she was over there. Probably the elven kingdom, he thought.

I’m surprised that I don’t see anyone else from the Assassin’s Guild… or Vanessa, he thought. I wonder if they weren’t strong enough, or if the system was just choosing to split the Guardians up a bit. Marrick is on the other continent, after all.

And speaking of the other continent, he thought as his eyes scanned the list of Strongholds. I’m kind of surprised that Eloria is on there. I thought that if any city was going to become a Stronghold, it would be Stonehelm. That place is underground and super protected… then again… maybe that’s why it wasn’t chosen… I bet Osian is not liking this. Derek clicked his tongue. I have no clue where Ashgarde is, but Virendell? That sounds way too much like Vorandell to be a coincidence.

Three days to prepare… three months to defend… Derek thought. Actually… Derek glanced at his temporary status and saw that Dave was correct. He was going to have just enough time to finish the invasion before he had to advance. That is, if I choose to wait it out, though. If possible, he would prefer to end it as fast as he could. It would give him more time to spend with everyone else without worrying about other things.

Who knows how hard it’s going to be to find the Champions, anyway, Derek thought as he looked over the list of Champions. Actually… his face broke out into a smile as he focused on a single name. What are the odds that the ‘Azureblade’ is Kelvin? He did use a sword, and his flame was blue at times. If it is him, then I don’t have to worry about finding one of the Champions, at least. I wonder if they have any special rules or if there’s a way for me to find the others.

I wonder what the Origin System would think about a Champion being kidnapped and providing me with some information, Derek thought. I bet it would consider it as a defeat and take him out of the invasion… Derek sighed. He couldn’t think of any way to just beat the information out of Kelvin without the system interfering. After our last fight, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Origin System yanked him up as soon as he saw me.

“What are you grinning at?” Avery asked. It looked like he was finished reading all of his prompts, too.

“I think I may know one of their Champions,” Derek answered truthfully.

“The one you mentioned before?” Avery asked. “The one who was ‘almost’ as strong as me?”

“That’s the one,” Derek replied. “I’m not certain, but he used a blade and had some blue fire.”

“You think he may be Azureblade?” Avery asked.

“Possibly,” Derek said.

“What a dumb name,” Avery said with a chuckle.

“Agreed,” Derek replied.

“What do you plan to do?” Avery asked. “Are you going to… go after him as soon as the invasion starts?”

“No,” Derek said, shaking his head. “Not this early. I think we should be cautious and see how things play out for a bit. It’s unfortunate that there was nothing about the defenders being led to the Champions in the rules. If that were the case, then I would just leave everyone else here while I go hunting. But it doesn’t seem like I’m going to be able to do that.”

“Yeah,” Avery replied with a nod. “That doesn’t seem to be the case. But I do understand it,” he said. “We are ‘defending’ after all.”

“Sure,” Derek chuckled. “But I grew up hearing that the best defense is a good offense. And while I do have some crazy good defense, my offense isn’t anything to scoff at.”

“True,” Avery replied. “My offense is much better than my defense.”

“Not if you hang back and pepper everyone with a bow,” Derek said.

“So… I guess I’m staying in Savannah?” Avery asked.

“For the time being,” Derek said. “But, like I said, I will too.”

“What else?” Avery asked.

“Hmm…” Derek rubbed his chin in thought. “We have five Guardians on this continent,” he said. “Six if I go get Marrick and he comes back with me. I’m trying to figure out if we should just bring everyone here and ‘lose’ Eloria without taking any casualties, or if we should just split up the Guardi—”

Just as Derek was about to finish his thought, the front door to Natalie’s estate was thrown open, and an angry-looking dwarf came barging in. “Hey, Braxi,” Derek said. “You got here pretty quickly.”

“Can you believe that shit?” Braxton huffed as he ignored Derek and walked over to hop on the couch. “Just because I couldn’t think of a name fast enough, the system had to go and… do that… we’ll see if I ever help it again…”

“Again.” Derek said. “How did you get here so fast?”

“I was already here,” Braxton said. “I was down by the rough part of town visiting my good friend when all this stuff started.”

“Oh,” Derek said. Obviously, Braxton was visiting his Roman to try to get some more brew out of the halfling. “I see.” Derek frowned. “Then… there are three of us here, and Edgar is right beside us in the capital. We have to figure out what we’re going to do with Eloria. There are a ton of those teleportation arrays everywhere, and Osian is a sitting duck if we don’t do anything.” Derek took his communication crystal from his storage bracelet and channeled some mana into it. “After all, we have less than three days left to prepare.”

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