System Change

Once he was finished talking with Tyron, Derek ventured away through the camp. Everyone was doing their own thing. They were all veteran adventures, so they didn’t need any help from anyone when it came to setting up.

Derek found Edgar standing in front of the trial orbs, looking them over once again. Derek walked up behind him.

“Any changes? Or does it still just show the same thing?” Derek asked.

“It’s all the same,” Edgar sighed. “It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to see any progress from here. We won’t know anything until they either come out… or don’t.”

Derek nodded. “Oh, they’ll come out. I may not trust Vanessa, but you should know better than anyone else how strong she is.” Derek wasn’t joking. The prince was the one who had fought the Shadow Witch, after all. “Even if everyone else dies, she won’t.”

“Yeah, yeah..” Edgar muttered, then turned away from the orbs. “It just sucks because I picked out almost everyone here, yet we ended up in a trial dungeon where we can’t all collaborate.”

“You win some, you lose some.” Derek shrugged. “There’s nothing you can do about it right now, anyway.”

“You’re right,” Edgar smiled, and his usual nonchalant attitude came back like it had never left. “How about you show me what you did with your prison?”

“I thought you would never ask,” Derek smiled. “Follow me. Let’s go somewhere less crowded.” With that, Derek led Edgar away from everyone else to an open area.

Well, the entire area was pretty much open, aside from the ocean on one side. An ocean that seemed entirely different from the one outside. The water was as calm as glass, and there weren’t any beasts or monsters splashing around in it like there was in the ocean on the outside.

Derek made sure to take note of that. It didn’t seem like there was any wildlife other than regular plants around. The entire place was barren. Derek mentally shrugged and continued on.

Once they were a small distance away from everyone, Derek stopped. It wasn’t that he was hiding anything from the others, he just wanted Edgar to take a look inside and give his thoughts about it before opening it up to everyone. Who knows, the prince might have a few suggestions to make it more hospitable. He may have even brought some extra amenities.

Actually, Derek would bank on Edgar having brought some stuff of his own. The man wouldn’t have given him such a knowing look while he was asking about the prison if he hadn’t had some form of plan.

“Okay… this is good,” Derek said. Then, he ripped a tear in the space in front, revealing the entrance to his Time Prison. He opened it and stepped inside. He was quickly followed by Edgar.

“I love what you’ve done to the place,” Edgar commented as he looked around the wide open area.

Everything was so easy to see now that Derek had taken the time to buy lamps and place them around the area. It was still a bit dark and brooding because of the solid black walls, ceiling, and doors, but there wasn’t much Derek could do about that.

I guess I could have bought some paint and given it a shot. He thought, but eventually decided that it would be pointless. There was no need for something like that.

Edgar continued running around like a kid in a candy store, peeking his head into each of the open cells, and finding beds placed in each one.

“Wow! You really went all out. I don’t know if we’ll be able to convince anyone to use one of the bed in a cell that you could lock someone in at any time, but hey, it’s the thought that counts,” Edgar said with a smile.

Derek agreed. He doubted he would trust someone to not lock him in a prison cell if he was sleeping inside, so he wouldn’t particularly feel bad if the others chose not to use the rooms he’d made up.

“Still…” Edgar continued. “This entire open area with the tables and chairs will be more than enough. We won’t have to feel like second-class citizens eating on the ground and sleeping in tents.”

“That’s good,” Derek said, then nodded to the back wall, where he had set up his makeshift showers. Edgar looked where he nodded to and walked that way in interest. Derek followed closely behind.

“What is it?” Edgar pulled the curtains away, revealing a tub with runes and Derek’s prototype shower hanging on the wall. It was basically the same setup he had back in his shop, only more portable. “A bathtub?” Edgar nodded in appreciation.

“Not only that,” Derek said, and he took a step forward and placed his hand on the base of the portable shower. Injecting mana into it, he activated the rune, and a jet of water sprayed out. “This is a shower. A… new product I’ve been working on with a builder.” Derek then went on to explain how the shower worked.

“Interesting.” Edgar moved over and played with the shower some. Turning the power of the stream to high and low, and changing the temperature. He seemed to be enjoying himself. “This is very nice. It will sell well. I’ll have to buy a couple for father at the palace.”

Derek then showed the prince that the showers could be removed and placed anywhere with an attachment rune on the back. “I was thinking about using these for adventurers, and making more luxurious, permanent ones for residences.”

“It’s great. You’ll do well. It will for sure become something that no adventuring team would want to do without once they learn about it. That is, if the price is good.” Edgar said.

After the prince examined the showers, he moved back to the middle of the prison and placed down a nice-looking couch and some better lights and lamps than the one Derek had used. He also placed what turned out to be a recording crystal that was loaded with different songs, which was great, because Derek hadn’t heard much in the way of music since he arrived in Cydaria, and he was sorely missing it.

The two then left the prison, and Derek closed the void behind them before they moved back closer to camp to look for a good place to re-open it. Soon, they found a place that was out of the way, yet not far from the base camp.

They hadn’t been too far out of view before when Edgar wanted to see the prison before everyone else, so when Derek used the skill this close to camp, there were already a bunch of people wandering closer out of curiosity.

Edgar then called to everyone close by and began to explain the skill.

“This is the special skill that Mr. Hunt has, which is why I wanted to bring him along this time. If it had been a normal raid, then this skill would have been extremely vital. However, with a trial dungeon such as this one, the special space isn’t as needed as it would have been.

“Now, with that said, I imagine everyone here is going to be pleasantly surprised when you step inside. Derek has gone out of his way to make the space as comfortable as possible. There are rooms with beds, dining tables, couches, and even bathing stations inside. Though, do note that the small bedrooms are actually functioning prison cells, and it will be up to you whether you choose to trust Derek not to lock you away.” Edgar chuckled a bit, then looked at Derek and got a nod in return. “You may enter and exit as you please.”

Soon, eleven of the remaining fifteen adventurers all flooded into the space, curiosity overtaking their cautiousness. Though the prince of the country did vouch for Derek, so that must have lessened their hesitation.

Left outside were Derek, Edgar, Avery, and Tyron. Avery had gotten a quick look inside before, when he booted Gerald back inside, and Tyron had actually come back over to Derek to discuss something.

“So, I was thinking about something like this, but I don’t have the materials on me,” the smith said as he pulled out a blueprint for a glaive from his storage ring.

The look of the glaive was still similar to Derek’s old one, but the staff was a little bigger round, and there was a slight hook on the backside of the blade. The hook would typically be used for parrying blows. Derek nodded in appreciation.

“The color and overall look will rely on the materials we use, but this is basically it. If I use the materials I brought with me, it wouldn’t be as durable as I imagine you need it. I’m sure you want a weapon that could stand both your channeling and smashing against high-level defensive creatures.”

Derek looked over the glaive and nodded. “This will do fine. I’ve went this long without having my preferred weapon, so I can last a bit longer. Who knows, maybe they will bring back some good materials from their trial.”

“Nice weapon!” Avery said. He and Edgar had both looked over Derek’s shoulder as he examined the blueprint, and had both drawn the same conclusion.

“I’m a bit jealous,” Edgar said. “My sword is amazing, but it wasn’t made specifically for me. And definitely not by someone like Mr. Blacksteel, here.”

Tyron snorted. “I’ve seen the sword you use, young prince. I don’t believe you have any right to be jealous. It may not have been made specifically for you, but it suits you well enough. If I had the same material that was used to craft it, could I make it more suitable for you? Maybe… but I don’t even know what metal it is made out of.”

Edgar smiled, but didn’t say anything else.

“I do believe that I could make you a nice set of daggers, though,” Tyron then said as he spoke to Avery. “I don’t do bows, but your daggers could use an upgrade. They are nice, but not well suited for you. You should see about hiring me.”

Avery rolled his eyes. “Like we haven’t tried to hire you. If it was that easy, you would have already made me a set.” He then walked inside the Time Prison, and the others laughed before following him inside.

Derek almost couldn’t believe his sight once he was back inside. It had been minutes, and the place already looked like a place that had been lived in for decades.

A group of four sat around a table playing some card game while drinking something, and two others were lounging on one of the couches Edgar had brought. Another two were at the back, looking over the showers. One of those two, however, had a frown on his face and was drenched from head to toe.

The remaining person stood outside the cell which held Ogre inside and looked at it, then an empty cell with hesitation.

“Hmm… that’s nice.” Derek heard Tyron’s deep voice and turned, just to see him laying back in one of the beds in a cell, his feet dangling off the end because of his size. That seemed to help Timothy, the man contemplating beside the cell, to make a decision. He also entered a cell and took a load off.

“I knew this would get plenty of use,” Edgar said.

“I guess so,” Derek replied.

“Ya’ll up for a game of card?” Avery asked.

Edgar nodded at the man, but Derek shook his head. “I’m going to stay outside for a bit and watch the trials. We should always have at least one person out there in case something changes.”

“Suit yourself,” Avery said, then sat at the table with the game going on.

“Hah… suit yourself…” Edgar snorted, then went to the table as well.

Derek shook his head and exited the prison. Only once did he have the idea to shut the door to play a prank… well… maybe twice. But he chose not to. No point in risking the trust of the others over something so silly… at least not until they had this raid figured out.

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