System Change

“So…” Derek started. “Earlier, you mentioned that the other Void Beast may have been trying to kill and consume me.”

“Yes?” Asher tilted his head and answered.

“What kind of power boost do you think I would have provided the beast if it had been able to do so?” he asked.

“What kind of power increase?” the beast muttered. “It is much too hard to tell. Was your power at that time as devastating as it is now, or have you grown since then?”

“Well… it was quite a bit less, actually,” Derek answered.

“But still of the void?”

“Yes, still of the void,” Derek said. “I probably wouldn’t have been able to beat you at that time. Alanah here…” He nodded in Alanah’s direction with his head. “She would have been able to wipe the floor with me at that time. It wasn’t an easy fight for me, either. Well… it was easy, but that was only because of my defense and regeneration. If not for that, I couldn’t have kept up with it.”

“If that is the case…” Asher unconsciously tapped its razor-like claw on the arm of the chair—just where the previous rips were. “I can only assume that the beast would have received a boost about the same as if it had consumed another ‘Void Beast’ that was a little stronger than it was… hmmm… no… that’s most probably not correct,” the beast muttered at the end.

“What do you mean?” Derek asked. “Why would that not be correct?” He was thinking the same thing when he asked the Void Beast the question. He figured that since he was sort of void like the creatures were, he would provide the same benefit. He could only imagine Stella serving ‘Derek Hunt’ meals at the Crown Restaurant. I bet if Silvi didn’t know me and she was intelligent like she is now, she would be the first in line for the special of the day… the DH Burger. A chill ran down his spine at the thought.

“I mean that your void energy is much purer than any I have ever seen before,” Asher said, causing Derek to break out of his daydream. “I have void energy that is quite pure as well. In fact, I have yet to see another ‘beast’ with energy that is purer than my own. And that makes sense, considering I believe I am close to reaching ascension—or the next stage of my evolution.”

“I see…” Derek said. “Then me…”

“If your energy was as pure back then as it is now.” Asher took a pause to think for a bit. “If it was the same… there is no way I would be able to calculate the potential benefits of consuming one such as you. It could be the same, or it could be outrageous. Who knows, it may have pushed the ‘beast’ all the way past me and into its next evolution just like that.”

“I don’t think it was as pure as it is now,” Derek said. Back then, his hair was still coal black and his eyes only turned void purple when he unleashed his aura. Now, his hair always had a distinct purplish shine that one could see if the sun hit it just right, and his irises were no longer the cool blue color that they had been. Instead, the color had been replaced by pure void purple.

“I would say that his energy was a little less pure than yours currently is right now,” Alanah spoke up from the side. “At least, according to Stella,” she said to Derek with a shrug.

“Then that,” Derek said. “If it’s her, then she’s probably right.”

“In that case,” Asher began. “Then it would have gotten quite the boost—would have taken centuries off of training, at the very least. It would have been quite the boon for the ‘beast.’ I can see why it would be drawn to attacking you—even if it wasn’t a youngling.”

“I guess…” Derek said with a shrug. “I’m beginning to think that you all have different personalities—just like everyone else. And your personality is… how do I say… uh… self-centered or a bit narcissistic… maybe. You seem to only think about yourself and not others. Whereas the other Void Beast was very emotional or empathetic, and, if nothing else, acted like it was fighting for a cause bigger than itself.” It was hard to say that without it sounding like an insult, but he had a feeling that the beast would understand what he was trying to convey.

“Yes…” Asher nodded. “I can understand this. That seems correct.”

“You’re not mad that I called you a narcissist that only cares about yourself?” Derek asked.

“No.” Asher shook its head. “I believe that is an apt assessment. Power is everything in the void. The weak die while the strong live on. I do not want to die, therefore I do not want to be weak, so it is only right that I care about making myself stronger.”

“I guess that’s true,” Derek said. “Survival of the fittest…”

“Yes. Survival of the fittest, survival of the strongest…” Asher nodded as it took a small cup of some beverage that Alanah offered to him. Then Asher threw the entire drink into its maw—cup and all. After munching the glass and drinking whatever was in it, the beast continued. “That is very good—very accurate.”

Derek’s eye twitched as he watched the beast dine. Well… I guess I shouldn’t expect anything else. Asher is a beast, after all. He mentally shrugged. With his last questions answered, Derek couldn’t think of anything else to speak with Asher about at the moment. Honestly, one of the things he was most looking forward to was seeing if he could track the beast down with Void Travel once it left. If he could, it would open up more opportunities.

Once the beast finished everything that Alanah had given him, it looked back at Alanah with high expectations. However, Asher only received a shrug from the siren in return. “Sorry, that’s all I have that I can share with you.”

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“Then I shall not ask for more,” Asher said, but Derek could see some disappointment flash through its eyes. “Thank you for what you have given me. It was fantastic.”

“I’m happy you enjoyed it,” Alanah said.

“Then there is nothing else?” Asher asked once again. It seemed the beast wanted to get back to whatever it was it was doing before it heard the call.

Both Alanah and Derek looked at each other. Then each of them shrugged. It seemed like neither had a real question for the beast. “I guess that’s it,” Derek said. “Thank you for answering what questions we had. It was very enlightening.”

“Mhm…” Asher nodded. “And you have my gratitude for not killing and eating me.”

“That was no problem at all,” Derek laughed.

“Then I shall bid my farewell,” Asher replied. After that, the beast stood from the reclining chair and began walking away.

Derek also stood, then quickly stored all of his furniture—his heart only hurt a little when thinking about the rips accidentally created by Asher. But those rips were his own fault, so there was no reason to dwell on them any longer.

Both Derek and Alanah watched the Void Beast’s back become smaller and smaller as it walked into the distance. Then, it seemed that Asher found the perfect spot—Derek was even watching the scene with his Void Sense turned on high, so he also saw that there were some more erratic ripples in the void where the beast had stopped. Interesting… he thought. I wonder if Asher has a way to see the ripples, or if the beast is relying entirely on its instincts.

However, Derek felt that he had already kept Asher away from its training for ascension for too long already, so he didn’t bother running up and asking the beast about that. It wasn’t like it mattered much as it was—if the beast could see them, then it was just like how it was able to use Void Steps. If not, then it was instinctual.

Finally, Asher stopped and looked around. The Void Beast seemed to be happy with the location it had chosen, as it finally reached out and placed a clawed hand out in front. After that, Derek got to watch the beast channel the void into its hand, then push out with what looked like a palm strike. A crashing sound twice as loud as it had been when the creature broke out from the void sounded out—almost causing Derek to instinctively cover his ears, but he didn’t.

It was the first time Derek had seen this happening from the outside. Others must have based on the stories he’d heard about other beasts escaping into the void after causing mass destruction, but Derek hadn’t seen any of them, and the only beast that had ever escaped Derek was the one that he considered to be a bit of his savior—the one who had broken him out of the void and given him freedom after all those years trapped inside.

It seemed that it may have been harder to break into the void than it was to break out of it, as Asher channeled the void once again and struck out. This time, the space in front of the beast shattered and pieces of it began to fall to the ground one by one.

At that moment, something crossed Derek’s mind, and he entered Void Shift. The next moment, he appeared next to the startled Asher.

“Ah…” Asher said with a bit of a shaky voice. “Have you decided to not let me go? Have you changed your mind?”

“Oh, no…” Derek said and raised his hand in front of him. “Sorry about that. I just had another thought and wanted to run it by you before you left, if that is okay.”

“That is fine,” the beast said, this time with a more stable voice. “What is it?”

“Could you look at this and tell me what you think?” Derek walked a bit away from the beast, then he used Void Travel to rip open the space in front of him, causing the extremely dangerous part of the void to appear.

“This…” the beast was stunned silent. It stood stock-still for so long that the entrance to the void that it had made before was able to completely heal itself.

“Asher…” Derek snapped his fingers in front of the beast’s eyes a few times—finally breaking it out of whatever daze it was in after the third snap.

“Oh… sorry,” Asher said. “This space… it is amazing. I can feel my body reacting. The void is so strong.” As Asher spoke, it slowly walked toward the open space.

“Whoa there, big fella…” Derek said as he extended his arm to keep Asher from taking the final step inside.

“Huh?” Asher muttered. “Will you not let me go?”

“This is a pretty dangerous place,” Derek said. “Other than myself and my companion, any other living being that has gone in has died almost instantly—and those deaths did not look pretty.”

“It is fine,” Asher said. “I can feel it. It will not hurt me. It is… deeper than I have ever traveled. I will be able to ascend easier if I go in.”

“Are you certain?” Derek asked. He wanted to know what Asher thought about the space, but he didn’t want the beast to just walk inside and die, just like everything else.

“No,” Asher said honestly. “Nothing is certain.”

“Hmm…” Derek rubbed his chin in thought. “How about this?” He grabbed the beast’s wrist, and before it could object, he used Void Creation and created a small layer of void around the beast. “This is how I let people travel with me. The layer of void that I make acts kind of like a shield to protect them. We can walk in together and I’ll slowly remove it to see if it will harm you. If it does, though… you will most probably be left without an arm.” Or you’ll be left with a little baby arm… Derek thought, but didn’t say.

“Then I thank you,” Asher said.

“Okay, let’s go,” Derek replied, then took a step inside the void. Asher walked right beside him, step by step.

“This is amazing…” Asher muttered.

“I’m going to slowly withdraw my void now,” Derek said. “Be prepared.”

Asher didn’t say anything. Instead, it nodded its assent. Derek focused hard, then slowly pulled the layer of void protecting Asher’s hand away—all the time hoping that having a hole in the void wouldn’t allow the effects of the space to enter the beast’s body as a whole.

Luckily, it didn’t seem to do the beast any serious damage. “You may let go,” Asher said.

“Okay…” Derek nodded and removed his hand from the beast, allowing all its whole body into the unprotected space all at once.

“Ugh…” Asher grunted and fell to its knees, but when Derek quickly moved to put a layer of void around it, the beast begged him to stop. “No! Please… let me do this.”

“But…” Derek muttered, but when the beast looked at Derek, he could see the resolve. “Okay…” he relented.

Derek watched as the beast’s body moved and morphed—it was like every muscle in its body was twitching like crazy. However, none of the typical things happened—its body didn’t reduce in age or instantly become older, and it didn’t look like the space ripples made any devastating cuts on its body. I guess… it will be fine… maybe…

Soon Asher made its way to its feet. This time, it turned to Derek and even bowed slightly—showing earned respect instead of only deference. “Thank you for this…”

“Uh… I didn’t really do anything…” Derek said.

“With this, you have made my journey… much easier, but much more painful… but pain… pain is nothing on the path to power…” Asher replied.

“Well… That’s good… I guess,” Derek said. “I take it you want to stay in here?” Derek asked.

“Yes,” Asher said. “From here, I will make my own way.”

“Okay,” Derek replied. “In that case, I’m going to go. And you’re one hundred percent sure you want to stay in this part of the void?”

“Yes,” the beast answered firmly. “I will stay. It is… survival of the strongest… I… will become strong.” It was hard for the beast to speak, as it seemed to be in intense pain the whole time. But its eyes and words were resolute.

“Then I will see you later,” Derek said. “Have a good… journey.”

“Mhm,” Asher grunted in pain. “Farewell.”

Derek chuckled, then turned around and stepped out of the space. I hope something weird doesn’t happen when I close it, he thought. He took one last look behind him—at the back of the beast—then, with a thought, canceled his Void Travel skill and closed the opening. Good luck…

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