System Change

Derek continued watching the exam after Thomas’s team finished. The boy had gone to sit with the rest of his class and teammates once they were through and continued watching the other students. Throughout each match, Derek was thoroughly entertained. In fact, after the next group finished, he got an idea.

Looking down at the stands where the students were sitting, Derek picked out one of the instructors—a close one—and wanted to try to send him a telepathic message. He hoped the instructor would be able to receive it. Being an instructor in the academy, it would make sense that they would be open to receiving incoming telepathic links just in case something happened.

‘Can you hear me?’ he sent, and was happy when the instructor he was sending it to began looking around. ‘I’ll take that as a yes,’ Derek said. ‘Come to the king’s private booth. There’s something I need to talk to you about.’

The instructor’s head then whipped toward the booth where Derek was sitting. The man stared deeply at it with wide eyes for a moment before turning back to another instructor and the rest of the students. After a few words, the instructor got up and headed underneath the stands.

While waiting, Derek placed the badge on the door and opened it up as he leaned back and enjoyed the battles below. A few minutes later, and he saw the instructor walking down the hall toward the booth. When he arrived at the entrance, he stopped.

Derek looked at him with a smile and said, “Come on in.”

The man hesitated, but when Derek raised his eyebrows and turned his shoulder toward him—showing him the king’s token—the instructor stepped inside.

“Mr…” the man paused.

“Hunt,” Derek replied. “Derek Hunt. You may have heard of me.”

“Ah… of course,” the instructor replied. He didn’t seem as happy to meet him as the previous faculty member, but, even though he tried to hide it, his face still showed a bit of shock and surprise. “Mr. Hunt. How may I help you?”

“The students…” Derek started. “The… hopeful ones… how is there willpower? How are they with aura?” It was something that Derek wanted to know—he especially wanted to find out how Thomas’s willpower was compared to the rest of the kids, because he had already proven that he could compare with the top students when it came to battle prowess.

At their current levels—which were all just under level 100—they should have similar stats. That meant that based on their stats, each student should technically be able to withstand close to the same amount of aura. However, those with real dedication and willpower would be able to take even more, and Derek wanted to test just which students were at the top. It would be good for them, too. He even knew that he could wake them up from a coma if he accidentally released too much at once.

“How… are they with aura?” The instructor asked, then answered. “A few seem to be better than others. We don’t conduct much aura or mental resistance training until the students’ third year.”

“I see,” Derek said. “And how are you and the other instructors with aura?” Derek asked with a smirk.

“Us?” The man’s eye twitched. “I figure we’re just about as good as any other elite at our levels.”

“Like the ones who went on the raid with me?” Derek asked. He noticed that this instructor didn’t go out of his way to be overly polite or respectful like the other one had. He was fine with that, though. After all, he wasn’t some snot-nosed noble… yet.

“Well…” The man hesitated. “Maybe not as good as those men and women. But we are still top tier in the kingdom. Otherwise, King Edwin wouldn’t entrust us with teaching the kingdom’s future like we do.”

“Good,” Derek said. “Then you will all have a little training, too. The war is over and everyone is now allies. I imagine that everything will quickly change. Who knows? You may have foreign students and teachers entering your academy in the future.”

The man frowned, but didn’t say anything.

“Okay, you can go now,” Derek said. “Just tell them that you received word that there was going to be a special training exercise once all the battles are finished. Make sure all the students are in their best shape before I come down.

“Y-yes?!” the man said with a frown.

“Yes,” Derek said. “You can take this order as if it were from the king. If you want, I could go get him for you.”

“Of course.” The instructor bowed. “That won’t be necessary.”

After that, the instructor turned on his heel and scurried off out of the booth and down the hall. Derek chuckled as he stood up and closed the booth door behind the man. Now this is exciting. It should make for a hell of a surprise for Thomas, Derek thought. I hope he does well, though, because I’m not going to go easy.

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After the instructor left, Derek watched the remaining of the students battle. There were only four teams of five left, so it didn’t take long for everyone to finish up. Once the exams were over, Derek saw the same instructor he’d talked to take all the students to the center of the arena instead of out of it—much to the confusion of the students and other instructors.

Once the students were gathered, the one instructor huddled up with the five others—there were six in total, and they switched out between every group that went up to battle. Derek saw the man point to the booth he was sitting in, then watched the surprised expressions appear on the others’ faces.

I guess that’s my cue, Derek thought. Then, with another thought, he activated Active Void Shift and appeared on the ground in the middle of the arena—directly in front of the group of around 150 students. Some of the students gasped at the surprise of a random man appearing in front of them, others just eyed Derek. However, most hadn’t seen him yet because they were busy gossiping with the other kids.

“Ahem!” Derek cleared his throat loudly to gather everyone’s attention.

Thomas had been one of the students with his head turned when Derek appeared, but when he cleared his throat, the boy’s head whipped around and his eyes landed on Derek. Derek watched as Thomas’s eyes widened and his mouth broke into the widest smile Derek had ever seen from anyone—much less Thomas. Derek smirked at Thomas, then shook his head just a bit to indicate to the boy not to cause a scene.

Next, the six instructors made their appearance in front of Derek by lining up formally in front of the students. They all bowed, some much more deeply than the others, but it was about what Derek expected.

“Good morning!” Derek greeted all the students and instructors. “I’ve been watching your exams from the king’s booth since you began. I’ve seen many talented fighters…” Derek’s eyes landed on the tank that was with Thomas’s group, Thomas, and a few other students before he continued. “And I’ve also seen some not so talented ones today. Overall, I have been impressed by many of you. You show good coordination with team members that you are not overly familiar with.”

The few students that received a look from Derek stood a little straighter and wore a proud expression on their faces—especially Thomas. Even the stoic tank followed suit. They don’t even know who I am, but I guess they all know what the token I’m wearing stands for, so it’s not like they’re being complimented by some random passerby… which they really are. Derek half smiled.

“Now, I’m sure the overwhelming majority of you have no clue who I am, correct?” Derek asked, and every student other than Thomas shook their heads. “Well… that’s to be expected.” He laughed. “Let’s see… what’s the best way to explain my current status in Cydaria?”

Derek rubbed his chin and tilted his head a bit before continuing. “Oh, I know,” he said as he raised his index finger into the air. “My name is Derek Hunt. I am either the most feared or respected man among all the higher ups and royals in the three kingdoms. And the reason that isn’t four kingdoms is because I have yet to visit the kingdom of the dwarves, Vallum.”

At that, one of the instructors snorted lightly, but caught himself when another gave him a stink-eye.

“Of course, you don’t have to believe me,” Derek said. “But, I can pretty much guarantee that I am the strongest person here in Cydaria—except for possibly Alanah Swan, or maybe the Adventurer’s Guild Leader who I have yet to meet, so I can’t actually judge him.”

“You’re stronger than Prince Edgar and his dragon?” one of the students managed to speak out.

“Who do you think got him that dragon?” Derek smirked. “Edgar is a friend, and he is strong in his own right—one of the strongest in the kingdom, actually—but the fight between us wouldn’t last long.”

Murmurs began coming from the crowd of students at that. Derek wasn’t exaggerating. He was pretty sure he was the strongest in the kingdom, and he did believe that he could beat Alanah if they were both going all out. He knew that she couldn’t hold that siren form for long, and his specialty was his battle endurance. So he wasn’t just blowing smoke. He wanted the student to realize his strength, so they went all out to impress him when he tested them.

“Now, you may be asking yourself, ‘why is he here?’ or ‘shouldn’t he be in Astrus with everyone else?’, and the answers to those questions are simple. Astrus is now Indaria, and the war is officially over, with peace treaties in place and everything. I decided to come back early while Edwin and the others finished up everything on that side,” he answered.

“As for what I am doing here… Like I said, I watched your battles, and I became interested. I’m not someone who needs much of a reason for things,” Derek said. “But, I thought that since the kingdom as you know it will be changing soon with the alliance between three kingdoms, I’d give you all a little test.” That got the students to stir even more.

“The other kingdoms are sure to send some of their own students to the academy and maybe even foreign instructors, and I imagine more dungeons will open up for you students to explore than ever before. After all, the teleporters will be connecting all three kingdoms soon enough, so travel will be simple. So, I thought I would help you all to prepare a little,” he finished. Then, he looked at the instructors one by one. “Instructors… if you would, please step to the side.”

“Now,” he said directly to the students. “I’m sure everyone knows how aura works. Its strength is determined by the total combination of all your stats. I’m sure that by now, many of you can release at least a bit of an aura,” he explained and saw many of the kids nod their heads. “What determines your ability to withstand an aura is your own stat enforced aura, and your overall willpower—which isn’t something that is tangible.

“Today, I want to test everyone’s willpower and auras against my own,” Derek said. “It is possible to fight against someone much stronger than you and win, but that won’t happen if you can’t even withstand their aura. There could be a mage in front of you with absolutely no defense and his neck wide open for a vital hit, but if you can’t move through his aura, you will still have no chance,” Derek explained and saw even a couple of the instructors nod along.

“Now, how many of you received an epic class at level 25 or 50?” he asked, and a few students raised their hands. He saw that one of the students was actually the terrible support that he’d seen earlier. Really system? Really? He inwardly questioned the system’s sanity.

“Only three of you? That’s to be expected, I guess,” Derek said. “The three of you will have a small advantage over the others in this test, but don’t get cocky. As for everyone else, I image that your stats are all at least somewhat similar.” Though Thomas may have a couple Void Beast meals in him too… He better do well, then. “Now, prepare yourselves! Instructors, please retrieve each student when you determine that they are unable to continue.”

With that, Instructor Hunt waited for them all to prepare, then unleashed his aura.

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