System Change

“Hey!” Derek said with false indignation as he took a step forward toward the man. He was, after all, playing his new role as the blunt and dumb friend. “Your sympathies? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I…” The guard was slightly taken aback. “I just… I know the feeling,” the guard finally said—his eyes finding Alanah’s and avoiding Derek’s.

“Relax, Derek,” Alanah replied with a sigh as she reached out and grabbed Derek by his collar. “The guard is only relating to our shared experience.”

“Wait!” The other guard turned to look at the first. “Who is your dumb friend?”

“Uh…” The first guard was at a loss for words. “Ahem…” he cleared his throat then turned back to Alanah. “So, the two of you are from Vorandell?”

“That’s right,” Alanah replied, glad to see that neither guard seemed to hold much suspicion toward them.

“I see.” After a moment, the first guard took a step forward and held out his hand for Alanah to shake. Not passing up the opportunity to get along, she took the man’s hand and shook. “My name is Jesse, and this is my… brother Barry. We are guards for the Draylanthian Royal Army stationed by the coast to watch for any high-level threats coming from the sea.”

“To watch?” Derek asked. “Not to take care of?”

“Take care of?” Jesse asked back rhetorically. “Oh, no.” He waved his hands back and forth. “We are near the bottom in the ranking hierarchy—lookouts, really.”

“Oh…” Derek was a little disappointed, but it made sense, as the two hadn’t even been able to react or leave more than a scratch in his armor with their swords. That meant that even with the small amount of strength he showed, neither of them would really be capable of telling exactly how ‘elite’ he and Alanah were. They were probably level 250 rare classes at most, Derek thought. Maybe even uncommon classes until their final class upgrade at level 200.

“You seem disappointed,” Jesse said, not allowing Derek’s words to go unnoticed.

“He just likes hitting things that can prove challenging for him,” Alanah answered in Derek’s stead. “Think of it this way,” she said. “At least my friend won’t be pestering you two for a spar.”

“Ah…” Jesse’s eyes glanced over at Derek. “That is good indeed.”

“Indeed,” Alanah said with a nod. “Now, if you will excuse my ignorance, would you mind telling me how the Noble Brandt family has gotten along? A very, very long time ago…” Alanah swept her hair back and pointed to her elven ears. “When I was adventuring here in Draylanthi, I met someone from their house, and we hit it off. However, after we separated, neither of us kept in touch with one another. And since I have not stepped foot in this kingdom since then, and I don’t make it my business to keep track of politics and other nations, I have not heard anything about them.”

“The Brandt family?” Jesse asked with wide eyes. “The Brandt family has grown very powerful under their family’s patriarch.”

“Have they?” Alanah asked. “And who is the current patriarch?”

“That would be Sir David Brandt,” Jesse answered.

“I see,” Alanah replied. “It is nice to know that they are doing well.”

“They are indeed doing well,” Jesse replied, then his eyes turned serious. “Now… I have to ask, are you planning on staying here in Draylanthi? Or…”

“Oh,” Alanah said as she waved him off. “No, we are not. I would very much like to visit the Brandt family, but just knowing they are well is good enough for me, as, unfortunately, we must get back to Vorandell and report our success in driving the Maelstrom Whale away, and our failure to slay it. I wish that were not the case, but… a mission is a mission, after all.”

“Indeed…” Jesse replied. His brother was still staring at him with daggers in his eyes after being inadvertently compared to the ‘dumb’ Derek.

“I take it we can head that way,” Alanah pointed behind them. “Along the coastline, and we will find our way back to Vorandell?”

“Yes…” Jesse said hesitantly. “You would be able to get back going that way, but it would be better for us to contact someone to escort you back via proper channels. If not, I’m afraid—”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” Alanah replied, cutting the man off mid-sentence. “I’m afraid we are on a bit of a time crunch and going through the ‘proper channels’ would delay us greatly. On our own, we should be able to get back to Vorandell in hours, if not minutes.”

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“Minutes?” Jesse said, his eyebrows raising. “You are quite the distance away, I don’t—”

“Did you not see how quickly my friend moved?” Alanah cut the man off yet again. The guard seemed to be getting more and more flustered. “I am faster.”

“You cheat,” Derek said from the side.

“And you don’t?” Alanah clicked her tongue but turned back to the guard.

“Oh…” the guard muttered. “Still… if you would please—”

“Well,” Alanah said, cutting Jesse off for the third time. “We’ll be off, then. Thank you for the information about my friend’s family. Have a good day!”

‘Let’s go… now,’ Alanah sent to Derek telepathically. ‘Before they react.’

Before either of the guards could say anything to stop them, Derek shifted into the void and pulled himself so far away from them that even with enhanced eyesight skills, they would have a hard time making him out once he deactivated his skill. Alanah, on the other hand, rocketed off behind him—pushing as hard as her non-transformed state would allow.

Once the coast was clear—quite literally—Derek deactivated Void Shift and waited a couple of seconds for Alanah to catch up. Soon enough, she was beside him. “Why the sudden rush?” he asked. “Did you notice something that I didn’t?”

“Follow me,” Alanah replied as she turned and headed back out to the sea. She went far enough that they could still make out the coast if they looked from the sea, but also far enough away that if more guards were patrolling the coast, they would be unable to see them. And if they did, they would be unable to make them out as people.

“What was that all about?” Derek asked again once they were traveling normally.

“Nothing much,” Alanah replied. “I just don’t have the time to stick around in Draylanthi if I want to accomplish my tasks in Linderis before my time is up. They were two low-level guards, so they either won’t report us for fear of being punished for allowing us to leave so easily, or they will, and our information will eventually reach the Brandt family—either is fine with me.”

“What’s the deal with you and the Brandt family?” Derek asked. He had been wondering ever since she brought it up. He didn’t know if she was just making things up to become more familiar with the guards or what. “Is that one of the families that has it out for you or something?”

“Oh, no,” Alanah said with a shake of her head. “It’s nothing like that. In fact, David used to be one of my party members,” Alanah replied. “We were actually quite good friends before my powers became too uncontrollable. After that, I had to leave him. He was one person who was never afraid and never tried to run or hunt me. I am truly happy that he and his family are doing well. It would be great if the two of you could meet. I’m sure you would get along well—he’s not all that different from Avery, actually.”

“Oh, we’ll see…” Derek said. “So, if word of an extremely beautiful, green-haired half-elf who happens to be extremely powerful gets back to him…”

“Then he will know that I am still alive—or, he will at least have suspicions,” Alanah replied.

“Won’t he try to find you?” Derek asked. “I take it you were… close?”

“No, he knows me better than that. He’ll know that if I want to see him, then I will,” Alanah replied. “And yes, we were close. But no, we weren’t intimate, if that is what you are asking.” She turned to Derek with a mischievous grin. “Why? Are you jealous?”

“Me? Jealous?” Derek snorted. “Who would ever be able to compete with me? One little burst of aura and I’m sure whoever was trying would go running for their momma.”

“You’re very modest, too, aren’t you?” Alanah laughed.

“The most modest! The modestest! Extremely humble, too,” Derek replied as they flew forward. “I am also quite handsome, if I do say so myself. Quite the catch.”

“Eh…” Alanah shrugged. “That is debatable.” She then brightly smiled again. “I do, however, have it on good authority that I am extremely beautiful.”

“Sounds like a very smart, humble, modest, and handsome man,” Derek replied. “I would like to meet such a character. I’m sure the two of us would get along. We’d be fast friends.”

“That would be…” Alanah sighed. “If there were two of you… just… pure chaos. I don’t even want to think about that.”

“Chaos? That sounds fun,” Derek replied, then the two looked at each other and laughed. “So,” Derek said once he finished chuckling. “Are we really going to this Vorandell now, or was that something you just decided to tell those guards?”

“No, we’re really going there now,” Alanah replied. “It will be much easier to move around in Vorandell. Which means that we shouldn’t have any trouble getting to the border with Linderis. Once we are there, however, that won’t be the case. That is, unless any major changes have happened since the last time I was there.”

“I’m ready,” Derek said as he punched the air a few times.

“Let’s try to get through this without too much killing,” Alanah replied. “What do you say?”

“Fine by me,” Derek said. “I do have a question for you, though.”

“Oh?” Alanah raised her brow. “What question is that?”

“You could have just commanded those two guards to give you information, then forget that they ever saw us,” he said. “Why didn’t you? Was it specifically so you could get that vague message to the head of the Brandt family?”

“No, that was not the reason.” Alanah said. “It was mostly because I’ve always hated that about my class—controlling everyone that I speak to. It always pained me to do so to those who don’t deserve it. Now that I am able to control it, I would prefer to only use it when absolutely necessary, or on non-intelligent beasts and such.”

“That makes sense,” Derek said. “I am happy for you that you can control it now.” That was something that he wasn’t really able to understand, and he hoped he would never experience. Having people become controlled just by interacting with him and he not being able to control it sounded awful, and he truly was happy for Alanah that she could control it.

“Yeah…” Alanah nodded. “There is also the very slim chance that someone could be watching our interactions with others that we don’t see. And if they interacted with two guards that don’t remember us even though we just left, it would be easy enough to piece it all together and realize who I am. Right now, I’m sure that only David would put together that fact, and only because I specifically mentioned his family. I am not the only green-haired half elf around, and most all people with elven blood are beautiful, after all.”

“Well… I guess that’s true,” Derek said. “I’m pretty sure you are the only half-elf with green hair that I’ve met. Or at least the only one that I’ve met that I’ve bothered remembering.”

“You’ll see many more here,” Alanah replied. “Green hair color is quite common around here—at least more so than it was back in Cydaria.”

“I can’t wait,” Derek replied, then the two of them continued on their way. Their next stop: Vorandell.