System Change

Chapter 263: Trial One - Complete

Chapter 263: Trial One - Complete

The team standing before Derek was a shadow of its former self. All ten members had made it back, but other than Vanessa and Elena, everyone else looked bad really bad. Derek opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off before he could.

Where is everyone? Where is Tristan Allister? We need him, Elena Webb, the groups main healer, said.

Sensing the urgency in her voice, Derek didnt dally. He moved a bit away and quickly opened his Time Prison. Which caused an entirely different commotion.

What is this? He heard from inside the prison.

Did you get the notifications too? someone else asked.

He would figure out what they were talking about later, but now wasnt the time. Derek poked his head inside and, with a loud voice, said, They are back! The trial is complete. Tristan Allister, Elena said she needs you, quickly.

Everyone inside quieted down at the sound of his voice and realized what was going on. Soon, they all came rushing out.

Tristan, the healer with the light element, was among the group. He swiftly moved through everyone else.

What is it? he asked, but after taking a look, and before Elena could answer, he immediately got to work.

When he saw what was going on, it all clicked for Derek. Tristan was reattaching limbs. Louise Bonilla, the archer, and John Newman, a support class, were both missing an arm. Luckily, they had managed to keep the detached piece and Tristan had quickly stitched them back on with some form of light based stitching.

The same couldnt be said for Ciera Cook, the dual blade swordswoman. Both of her legs were cut, or rather bit, off at the knees. She lay unconscious, tourniquets strapped around the stumps to stall the bleeding.

What about her? Derek asked Elena, who was working on the woman.

Its going to be a lot harder for her, Elena said. We dont have her limbs to reattach, so Tristan will have to work overtime to regrow them for her. Its not something thats easy, and most healers dont have that ability. If a regular healer closed the wounds, she wouldnt be able to regrow them anymore, so I had to tourniquet them during the battle.

Tough decision, Derek said.

If the fight had gone on any longer, I would have been forced to heal her. Being crippled is still better than losing your life. She continued. Im glad I didnt have to, though.

Derek nodded. She had done the right thing. It was a blessing for Ciera that they managed to complete the trial in time. Derek also made a mental note to not lose any limbs. Though, with his Vitality and Endurance, it was possible they would regrow themselves. He didnt want to take that chance, though.

That trial was only an uncommon ranked one, right? Derek turned to see Edgar standing next to him, with a slight worry in his eyes.

Yeah, Derek said.

Edgar and Derek then stepped back and let the healers do their work. They werent needed in all the fuss. Finally, after over thirty minutes, everyone was at least stable and had calmed down. Nobody was fully healed, but they no longer had to worry about anyone losing their lives. Ciera was, however, still unconscious, and Tristan was working himself to exhaustion by helping her slowly regrow her legs.

Derek frowned. 25 free stat points didnt seem like such a great reward to him. Then again, his view on things may have been skewed because of his cheat like beginning and legendary class. Not to mention a buffet of Void Beast for stat enhancement.

However, it didnt seem to be that way with anyone else, as even Tyron had a glow in his eyes. He hadnt even stopped hammering when the team had appeared, but when he heard the reward, he was all ears.

That is a great reward. Especially for those already maxed out. Edgar agreed. And if that was the reward for an uncommon trial It was true that the only way to obtain stat points after maxing out a class was from Achievements (Awards), Void Beasts, and very, very rare dungeon rewards.

Exactly. Vanessa agreed as she looked back at the trial orbs.

Out of the six trial orbs up front, the first one had gone dim, and the one next to it had an increased glow. It even looked like it was surging. It was all Derek could do to not to go forward and examined the next trial. Still, he was more concerned about whatever system notifications they were talking about.

Now, what about the system notifications? he asked.

That would be my fathers doing, Edgar replied before bringing his finger up, telling Derek and everyone else who had begun to chatter to calm down. Once everyone was quiet, he began. Im sure there are a few of you who know, Vanessa and Avery included, why received the flood of messages when Derek opened his prison for us to leave, and why the others received the notifications five days into their trial.

First, as it has been said, Dereks skill cuts off our contact with the Great System when we are inside. So, really, we would have received the notifications at the same time, but since we were cut off, we didnt get them until it was opened. And then, we got them all at once. Edgar began to explain.

Derek still had no clue what he was talking about, but what he said about his skill was true. However, Derek hadnt received any concerning notifications. The only ones he had gotten was related to his skill level increasing multiple times. Still, he stayed quiet and listened.

Who all here received a notification about a contract being broken or annulled? Edgar finally asked. With that question, just over half the participants raised their hands. The likely scenario is that those you were contracted with are now dead.

That statement brought up another round of chatter. Edgar waited for everyone to quieten down again before he continued.

Before we left, the Royal Family, Alanah Swan, and Natalie Savannah, along with Derek here, all worked together to stop Gerald Torith. It was found out that he had done many despicable things, along with many others in the kingdom. I will not go into detail. But, needless to say, the kingdom has been working hard to cull any of those deeply involved in his schemes.

Oh Derek thought. It now made sense why he hadnt received any notification. He only had a few contracts, and they were with trustworthy people. Well, all but his Adventurers Guild contract.

So House Aarden? A voice called out from the crowd.

Cliff Aarden was captured alongside Gerald Torith, Edgar explained. I personally do not know how deep it all runs. We will not know until we finish this dungeon. Natalie Savannah has been hard at work obtaining information. As I have been in the dungeon with you all for what amounts to around four months on the outside, I am not privy to that obtained information yet.

For now, we need to look forward, to the next trial. This is not a chance we need to miss. With that, even though everyone may not have accepted everything, they pushed it to the back of their minds. There was nothing they could do about what was going on outside.

When Edgar explained what was going on, Derek made sure to examine everyones reactions closely. From what he could gather, though he was no professional in judging people, it hadnt seemed like anyone was worried about being associated with Gerald. Everything seemed good, at least for now.

Derek watched as Edgar took the first step forward to the second dungeon trial. He placed his hand on it, then let out a giant sigh.

Well thats just great.