Ch. 50..60

Chapter 50

In the pitch-blackness of the third level, Rydel and the party were currently sitting and resting. They were still tied together, apart from the unconscious Jack on Rydel’s back.

"We’ll rest here, this should be far enough," said Rydel, coming to a stop. He sat down and laid Jack on the cave floor.

"But what if they find us?" asked Brunar. If anyone could see Brunar’s face at that moment, they would notice the first real hint of fear in his eyes as his right shoulder was being healed by Slivia.

"If they find us now, then chalk it up to bad luck. Just sit and rest. We need Jack awake to move further with the plan. Besides, there are some things we need to discuss," answered Rydel.

Maynard was the next to sit and speak, "The goblins are far stronger than we had anticipated. Those two goblin captains were both at lv. 30 and I have no clue why. Imagine how strong the goblin king might be."

Everyone started to better understand how far off their expectations were from reality. The goblins would be more troublesome, plus they failed to sneak into the third level and were easily discovered. Now the goblins know that there’s a threat to them and would be able to prepare or track them if necessary. Their original plans might still be possible, but the odds of success had plummeted.

"I knew this was too good to be true," whispered Slivia, letting the darkness hide the tear rolling down her cheek.

"Hey, don’t ya dare give up hope," said Maynard.

"Why not? My last party was wiped or captured before we could even come up with a plan, and our plan won’t work after what just happened," Slivia explained her depressed reasoning.

"I had no clue the third level would have changed so drastically," mentioned Rydel. "I’ve traversed these three levels many times in my life, but the third level was always lit by the abundant azure. To find the entire level in darkness means that all the azure has been mined and transported in a short amount of time. It wasn’t like this during your last journey here, right Slivia?"

"No..." she shook her head and let her voice fade out quietly.

"Hmm. If that’s so, then the goblins must’ve done this on purpose," said Rydel.

"But if the goblins were the cause of this, why would they need the azure? They’ve rarely harvested it before, so why now?" asked Brunar.

"It might have something to do with the Royal Court." Maynard’s comment grabbed everyone’s attention. Currently, Maynard had retrieved one of the short swords he had collected from a goblin corpse. Running his fingers along the flat side of the blade and the hilt, Maynard found the Royal Crest pressed and imprinted at the base of the blade.

Frowning deeply, Maynard expressed his thoughts, "To think the Royal Court is really behind all of this. I’m guessing they cut the goblins a deal to retrieve all the azure here. And I’m sure they’re the ones behind the sudden rise in the goblin’s strength, only I don’t know how they could do this. If they were able to raise the goblins’ strength so much, why not do so for themselves first?"

That thought was slowly digested by everyone, each taking their guess to the reasons behind the Royal Court’s objective.

Rydel broke the silence, "I have no clue, but there has to be some higher purpose if the Royal Court is really behind this. Also, remember that this information is classified and can’t be shared with anyone besides your superiors within the association. Is that clear?"

Everyone nodded, accepting the terms. Deep down, they hoped that they were wrong because no one wanted to make enemies of a superpower like the Royal Court.

"So, what now?" asked Brunar, who was slowly returning to his usual outspoken self.

"For now, we wait. Once Jack wakes up, we’ll discuss things further and determine what we do next," answered Rydel.

"You mean we’re still going to attack the goblin city?" Troni’s question and doubt pierced everyone’s ears. "If that was only a couple squadrons from the outposts, how strong is the goblin city? How strong is the supposed goblin king? How does our small party have a chance to take the goblins head-on?"

"Do you not believe in your master’s strength?"

Troni turned toward where he guessed Maynard was sitting and answered, "No, it’s obvious that you’re the strongest one of the entire group. It’s just that you alone can’t guarantee our safety when we’ll be facing so many high leveled goblins. Am I wrong?"

Maynard shrugged his shoulders, accepting his disciple’s logic but not admitting if it were true or not.

"I say we get out of here and get reinforcements to sweep through this place," continued Troni.

"Impossible," said Rydel. "Sure, they know we’re here and vastly outnumber us. But if they’ve made so many changes since Slivia last entered this place, can you guess what the goblins may be like by the time we return with reinforcements? Their growth is unfathomable and unpredictable. The best time to strike is still now. You know exactly what the azure is used for, so why would we give time to the goblins who have so much of it?"

Swallowing some saliva, Troni and the other two young adventurers remembered the effects of azure. If the goblins were given time, doesn’t that mean they’d have time to start blowing through the azure and strengthen themselves even more?

"That’s why we must succeed now, got it?" No one dared to rebut their captain. "Good, now we wait for our hero to wake up."

In the silence, the young adventurers pondered over Rydel’s and Maynard’s favoritism towards Jack. They understood that he was a summoned hero, but why does that give him reason enough to have their two leaders await his opinion and command?

"Before he gets up, I demand you tell us more about your relationship with this guy?" Brunar was the first of the three to blatantly ask what they were all wondering.

Rydel sighed, "He may be low leveled, but he’s different. Jack knows a lot more about Kartonia then you would ever guess. To be honest, he might know more about Kartonia then Maynard and me combined."

"Ya don’t need to be jealous of him, he’s got his own trials and hardships waiting for him," added Maynard.

Troni asked, "And what’s up with his leveling? I don’t know his current level, but I saw him cycling through different weapons and even using a lv. 10 gladius. Wasn’t he reported as a lv. 1 according to stat gem at the association? Shouldn’t such growth be impossible?"

The two veterans could sense the jealousy in Troni’s voice. Rydel was quickly able to better understand why Brunar was selected as the first disciple and why Troni was the second.

Strength wasn’t the most important thing to Maynard, he’d rather have an average disciple that was willing to work harder than anyone else and take challenges head on over some pampered, talented youth.

This was the biggest difference between the ronin’s two top disciples. Brunar was outspoken and had no filter to his thoughts, but his personality and work ethic were both extremely consistent. Maynard liked this consistency and admired Brunar’s chase for strength despite coming from the slums of the capital.

Rydel didn’t know it, but Troni hailed from a noble family. Though it wasn’t the strongest noble family by any means, Troni still had his arrogance. Troni learned to hide his pride around his master, however, there were times that it would become more evident upon provocation. He was always keeping his thoughts to himself and quietly obeying his master’s orders, while occasionally enjoying the privileges of the nobles during his leisure time.

Both students worked hard, but Maynard understood them both too well to let Troni become his top disciple. Knowing what the top disciple might earn in the future, Troni would always try to scheme his way there under Brunar’s nose.

Wearing his emotions on his sleeve, Brunar was easy for Troni to manipulate, given time. And now they were like best friends, constantly traveling together. Troni could accept Brunar’s insane work ethic but seeing a supposed lv. 1 adventurer almost immediately reach lv. 10 was way too much for him to keep his cool.

"Yeah, what’s up with that? That kid’s crazy!" Brunar commented with a big grin. Before, he was hesitant of accepting Jack’s claim to fame as a lv. 1 newbie but seeing Jack reach lv. 10 so easily proved that Jack was worth the fame.

In the back of Brunar’s mind, he was giddy to see Jack’s sudden rise in power. Through hard work, Brunar had surpassed peers and fellow disciples alike. Seeing Jack’s insane leveling lit a fire in his belly that had long been dormant, the feeling of a challenge. After a long time, Brunar was happy to find someone that could reignite the competitive fire within him.

Maynard sighed, "If ya want to know that much, you’ll have to ask Jack personally."

The three young adventurers came up with their theories behind Jack’s rise in achievements while Rydel and Maynard eagerly took out a couple of elixirs. After forcing the two mana-restoring elixirs down Jack’s throat, they saw Jack’s face twitch.

 

Chapter 51

Jack groaned as his consciousness returned. His MP had dropped to zero thanks to his bloodline skill, exhausting himself so quickly that he weakly fell unconscious. Now that his MP had maxed out thanks to the two elixirs, Jack opened his eyes to the unfamiliar darkness.

"You okay kid?" asked Rydel, responding to Jack’s sudden groans.

"Yeah..." answered Jack. "I just used too much mana too quickly, that’s all. That was my first time trying that skill, so I had no clue that it would use so much MP."

"How do you feel?" Brunar’s unexpected concern startled Jack. "That skill was like your fox’s, just not as strong. How’d you do that?"

"Umm..." Jack was hesitant to reply. "It’s because of the mutual seal, so I’m just lucky I guess."

"Well it was amazing, know that I’m jealous," chuckled Brunar. "You’ll make a great rival after all, but don’t expect me to make it easy for you to pass me. I’ll do whatever it takes to stay stronger."

Not sure how to take the sudden compliment, Jack asked the group, "We’re in the clear now, right?"

"Yeah, they shouldn’t be able to find us anytime soon," answered Rydel.

"Good, then you were probably waiting on me to discuss the plan, right?"

"Ya guessed it," said Maynard. "So, what do ya think? Now that we’ve been found out and the goblins are aware of our threat, what should we do?"

Jack let out a deep breath before he shared his thoughts. "Stick to the plan, that’s the best solution. We’ll have to alter our expectations and some minor things, but our aim is still the destruction of the goblin city."

"But how can we possibly face the entire goblin city? Just those two captains were lv. 30’s. If there is a goblin king, what level would he be? How could we possibly beat so many goblins?" Troni let loose a flurry of questions, somewhat panicked.

"That’s simple," smirked Jack. "We just need water."

"Water?" Troni and the others were dumbfounded.

Suddenly, Rydel laughed, "So that’s how it is, I knew I’d like the way you do things kid."

While everyone was distracted by Rydel’s random comment, Jack explained further, "The key to our victory will be water, or better said the goblin’s water supply."

"You mean to poison them?" asked Maynard.

"That’s exactly what I plan to do," said Jack. "Why else would I have wanted so much neurotoxin earlier? It won’t be enough to fully paralyze a full city of goblins, but if we can successfully poison their limited water supply, I’m sure they’ll be slowed or partially stunned. There’s no way they’d be able to fight at full strength, making it even easier for us to deliver quick killing blows."

Only Troni continued frowning amidst the small crowd of smiles, but no one could see it. Hearty chuckles and laughs broke the silence that followed Jack’s elaboration, changing the party’s attitude gradually.

"Well, that’s not too bad an idea," said Brunar. "I’ll pass you all my neurotoxin too, the more the merrier right?"

Slivia remained silent, but she was relieved. She had mentally placed Jack on a pedestal as a summoned hero, so she was glad that he was able to come up with a solution during dire straights and keep good on the mental image she had created.

"So, will that be a new phase in the plan?" asked Rydel.

"We’ll call it, phase zero. It’ll have to happen before the actual raid begins, so I think it’s fitting." Jack reached into his cloak pocket and felt the soft fur of the sleeping Bowser. To his surprise, the ears perked up and reacted to Jack’s combing fingers. "It seems like Bowser’s feeling a bit better. As long as we don’t start the raid in the next few hours, he should be ready in time for the plan."

"I’m glad to hear that, he was a huge help earlier. If it weren’t for him, those lizards would’ve done more than just poison my leg," praised Brunar.

"Still, it’d be safer to retreat temporarily and return with the branch chief and more reinforcements. Why should we risk our lives now with only slim chances of success?" asked Troni, still bargaining to flee.

"You don’t get it, do you?" Jack stared at the source of Troni’s voice. "The more time we give these goblins, the stronger they’ll get. Of course, I wish that old fart could join us, but we’ll just have to make do without him. Any real adventurer understands that there’s a risk in every mission and embraces those odds with everything they’ve got."

Troni remained silent, unsure of how to reply. Jack didn’t allot Troni much time to respond before he continued, "I’ll admit it, this mission has plenty of dangers and unknowns. But that’s why I decided to become an adventurer in the first place, to achieve things that everyone else thought impossible. Also, if the Royal Court is really behind this, then wouldn’t they ensure that the association is too occupied to give a full out assault?"

Gasps escaped the party’s mouths; they hadn’t considered that idea. The Royal Court was openly on bad terms with the Adventurers Association, so why wouldn’t they find some excuse to keep the association busy.

"The Royal Court has a hand in this. I’ve gathered a number of the goblin’s weapons and all of them carry the royal crest," confirmed Maynard. "I’m not sure if this was done by official orders or in the shadows, but either way the Royal Court will want this to stay silent. I’m certain they wouldn’t let us charge in and blow the cap off the incident."

"Then it’s best for us to continue our plan and handle the issue without drawing much attention. If a battalion of adventurers left the capital, the entire city would be on edge without a proper explanation," reasoned Rydel. "We’re the best option to complete this mission while maintaining the most secrecy possible. Anyone want to object?"

No one replied, each for their reasons. Jack spoke up, "Good, then let’s hurry and find this goblin city. Slivia, where did you find it last time?"

She flinched but answered nonetheless, "It’s in the center, but I don’t know where we are now."

"Leave that part to me," said Rydel. "I’ve got a rough idea of where we are, but I can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to sneak past each outpost on the way."

"We need to attack any outpost we find," said Jack. "We won’t be able to tell whether the outposts notice us and notify others to try and surround us. It’s best if we just strike first and wipe out each outpost we meet. With you two working together, a lv. 30 goblin captain shouldn’t be too much trouble and you can pick him off before the rest of the goblins have a chance to act."

"Great! Then I’ll distract the other goblins while Master slays the goblin captain," said Brunar, anxious to grow stronger after seeing Jack’s meteoric rise in strength.

"Then it’s settled, we’ll move forward from here." Jack ended the discussion and slowly stood up, still a little weak after having gained consciousness. As he got to his feet, Jack felt a chill pass over his body as the cloak opened while in motion.

"Oh yeah, and you should know that your special move destroys your clothes. We’ll have to figure something out for that later. For now, hurry and change," Rydel commented as he stood up.

Embarrassed, Jack turned away from the party and put clothes on under the cloak. He then turned and asked, "Who should I return this to?"

Slivia answered, "You can keep it. I’m sure it’ll come in handy."

With red in his cheeks, Jack nodded and readied himself to leave like the others.

Rydel made sure Jack was tied in like the rest and they set off. They followed Rydel blindly, trusting the hunter’s experience. With his eagle eye ability, Rydel was still able to distinguish some shapes in the darkness within a couple of dozen meters. This was very helpful to the party as it let them quickly find a nearby outpost.

"It seems to be almost empty. Maybe it was one of the outposts that ambushed us earlier," deduced Rydel. "Scratch that, it’s not empty but all the goblins there are gathered awkwardly to one side."

"They’re probably from a different outpost and are investigating the deaths of their allies," whispered Jack. "Do you have a clear visual on the captain?"

"Yeah, he’s atop the watchtower. If we don’t act fast, he’ll be sure to notice us."

"Good, here’s what we’ll do." Jack then explained a brief battle plan to the party and everyone nodded in agreement.

Atop the tower, the goblin captain was peering into the distance, trying to sense any signs of life. Suddenly, a few bright lights appeared a couple of dozen meters from the outpost. The goblin captain grunted and commanded his troops to charge the invaders, certain that they must be the culprits of their comrades’ deaths.

It watched as the goblin troops charged the four lights in the distance and were met with resistance. Not happy with the goblin’s chances of victory, the goblin captain activated a storage necklace and retrieved a contact crystal.

Just when it was about to send a message to nearby outposts, a light appeared to the side of the goblin captain. Startled by the appearance of what seemed to be a samurai, the goblin captain drew its sword to block the surprise attack.

The goblin captain pushed back the enemy blade and prepared to inform the other outposts, but an arrow stuck itself through the goblin captain’s throat. Unable to speak or communicate, the goblin captain felt fear.

A second strike from the samurai swung towards the captain, who struggled to defend. Like before, the second swing of the katana was followed by a second arrow. It lodged itself in the goblin captain’s arm and rendered it unable to wield its heavy longsword. With an easy opening, Maynard’s blade glowed red as it was thrust forward into the captain’s chest and heart.

Before any other goblin within the outpost had a chance to aid their captain, they watched as their captain fell to the sword. Those goblins quickly met the same fate as a rain of arrows claimed their unguarded lives.

Maynard rushed to the rest of the party, who was holding off the other goblin defenders. The battle wasn’t very dramatic, but it proved that the best defense was an even stronger offense

Chapter 52

The party gathered back at the outpost since it was cleared by Rydel and Maynard. Rydel climbed down the watchtower to meet everyone below.

"Well, we know how they’re communicating," said Rydel, showing the contact crystal to everyone. "It’s a good thing we caught them off guard and took the offensive."

Going through the goblin captain’s storage necklace, all they found were weapons and dried meat rations. They found some more weapons inside the outpost, but nothing else. It supported the idea that the goblins received some outside help to obtain better materials and hadn’t advanced due to their intellectual advancement.

"Is there anything else?" asked Jack.

"Nope, none of the other goblins had anything besides a weapon," answered Brunar, flinging a dagger into a pile of weapons.

"Alright, let’s head out. If there’s nothing here, then the other outposts are probably the same way. All that matters right now is getting to the goblin city." Rydel took the lead and they tied themselves up to leave.

They used the same ambush tactic on another two outposts without any issues, other than lack of rest. Everyone pushed forward with a few yawns along the way, just waiting for the chance to see the city and take a much-needed break.

The third floor was dark and barren; not a single azure crystal was left to light the way. Not even a single creature could be found anywhere, so there weren’t any threats besides the goblin outposts.

Having relaxed as they got in a rhythm, the party was getting tired and were distracted by any thought that crossed their minds. Even Rydel was starting to slack and wasn’t quite as sharp as he could’ve been.

It had been over an hour since they passed the third outpost, but nothing was in sight. It was somehow appearing to get darker. Intrigued by this, Rydel heightened his focus again while the others simply followed along.

Out of know where Brunar ran into Rydel’s unmoving back. Jack collided with Brunar’s, Slivia with Jack’s, and so on until the party was at a complete halt.

’What’s going on?’ asked Jack telepathically, not daring to speak aloud.

’Don’t move, I’m trying to investigate the path. Something’s off,’ answered Rydel.

’Like what?’ asked Maynard.

’I... I’m not sure. It’s just like before but for some reason, everything in front of me is an even deeper shade of black. It feels like the world ends right here and stepping any further we would fall off the world’s edge. In all my travels in this mine, I’ve never felt quite like this,’ Rydel struggled to describe how he felt.

Jack took a moment to think before he replied in his mind, ’Can we walk around that blackness?’

’I think so,’ answered Rydel with a shrug.

’Then that’s what we’ll do.’

Rydel nodded silently as he whispered, "Everyone, be extremely careful to follow the exact direction I’m pulling you."

The party leader took a few steps and pulled the rope carefully with his arm, making sure to lead the group around that strange darkness. Brunar was extra careful, sensing the seriousness of the situation. He would mirror Rydel, pulling the rope along carefully.

Each step was quiet yet strangely heavy on their hearts like they were silently traversing a cliff. The tension felt unnecessary, yet mandatory by the nature of that darkness.

The party did its best to continue despite a few yawns and the exhaustion that was setting in. Slivia was a good example of this as her footing was clumsy or overlooked at times.

The next person to show their tiredness was Troni, whose feet would fumble on occasion. Since the ground wasn’t always even in that region of the mine and the darkness wouldn’t let him see his own hand in front of him, Troni was the first person to trip and fall to his knees.

Troni quickly caught himself and tried to get back up, but the sudden tautness of the rope caught Slivia off guard. Maynard remained still, but Slivia’s footing was lost and she fell backward.

The next in line was Jack, who heard Slivia groan as she was pulled down. He turned to look back instinctively as he was pulled down face first. When Jack landed, he was surprised to land softly. His head found a pillow-like cushion to break his fall and the ground beneath him felt extremely smooth to the touch. Enjoying the awkward circumstance, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Ow!"

Slivia’s sudden cry caused Jack to widen his eyes and activate the kari stone out of reflex. Jack was dumbfounded to find himself on top of Slivia with his head resting on her ample bosom and blush on her nervous face.

"Sorry!" Out of fear, Jack tried to push himself back off but collided with the falling Brunar instead. They pushed each other to either side of Slivia, Jack to her right and Brunar to her left.

It wasn’t too big a deal until Jack looked down and couldn’t find the ground, despite having his kari crystal lit.

’Jack!’ Rydel mentally shouted as he grabbed Jack by the back of his cloak and pulled him back, returning the blushing hero atop Slivia.

Originally, Jack thought Rydel would be furious about him using the kari crystal, but everyone was glad Jack had in that instance. The party looked to their right; the same direction Jack had fallen.

There was no ground, only a sheer cliff shrouded in darkness that appeared to easily overwhelm the light of the kari crystal. They could only look about two meters before the remaining light was engrossed in complete darkness; the same deep darkness that Rydel had seen.

"This..." The party was speechless at the abysmal scenery in front of them, especially Jack who immediately put out the kari crystal’s light.

Other members of the party activated their kari crystals out of curiosity, but Jack tried to stop them and yelled, "Get back and no lights!"

Amidst Jack’s yells, the rolling darkness expanded and flowed towards the party. Jack jumped away but didn’t get very far with everyone being tied together. By the time the others followed his example, the darkness had surrounded them.

The light from the kari crystals was dimmed and overpowered, not letting anyone look beyond their hand’s reach. Suddenly, Jack was being pulled off the cliff. He tried to fight it and tried to find the source but was scared stiff to see the rope around his waist pulling him into the abyss.

Without any other choice, the party was pulled into the abyss one-by-one. They felt like they were falling but at an extremely slow speed, as if the darkness was so thick that it was tangible enough to slow their descent through the air. Everyone was still connected by the rope, but they couldn’t see each other.

Everyone was screaming, yelling, or shouting, everyone except than Jack that is. Jack was stiff and hyper-focused on the situation like his gaze was sharp enough to cut through the rolling darkness. Soon, something came into view and everyone stopped screaming.

Black tendrils lashed out from the darkness, embracing each unsuspecting party member as quick as lightning. They were firm yet felt ghastly to the touch. As they wrapped themselves around the party members’ limbs and torsos, a ghostly chilled filled their lungs, making it even harder to breathe and concentrate on the situation.

Jack managed to avoid them with the help of the gladius that he had pulled out of storage, anticipating the sudden seizure of dark tendrils. Rydel and Maynard were able to avoid most of the tendrils and managed to free themselves quickly with their strength.

’Are you free?’ asked Jack telepathically.

’Yes,’ answered Rydel.

’Ya know it,’ said Maynard.

’Good, we’ll have to take this thing on together,’ said Jack. ’It’s a Nightmare Lily, are you familiar with them?’

’Nightmare Lily!’ Both Rydel and Maynard were shocked by the announcement.

’I’ll take that as a no,’ continued Jack. ’It emits pheromones that can darken night itself, letting it hide in holes, pits, caves, and other shaded places. If you can close your eyes and focus hard enough, you’ll notice that you’re actually on the ground and no longer in the air.’

Hearing that, the veteran adventurers didn’t know what to think. Taking some deep, focusing breaths, they closed their eyes and physically felt around them. Like Jack had said, they somehow felt the ground beneath their feet. Amazed that they were upright after having thought they spun around in the air, they both opened their eyes to see more tendrils creeping up on them.

’The Nightmare Lily is known for disorienting its prey before its tendrils drag it towards the mouth within the main bulb. If we’re not fast, we’ll lose someone,’ Jack’s voice wavered as he announced this. ’I’m too weak to fight it, but you can follow the tendrils back to the bulb and attack its brain, just above where the tendrils are connected to the main body. Make it fast!’

Not wasting another second, Maynard and Rydel dashed into action. They quickly followed the tendrils back to the main bulb and found Slivia and the two young samurai being pulled towards a gaping maw within a mass of giant, dark-purple flower petals.

Just as Slivia’s feet neared the opening and she could feel an acidic breath against her leg, the veterans slashed through the base of the bulb-like Jack had described. A shrill whine was let loose as the tendrils were loosed and the frantic bodies of the trapped adventurers fell to the floor. The darkness slowly began to clear, letting everyone’s kari crystals shed light across the visibly wilting body of a fully-grown Nightmare Lily.

 

Chapter 53

Brunar and Troni were still disoriented from the residual pheromones in the air. They had no clue what was happening.

Slivia, however, was brought to her senses upon feeling the acidic breath of the Nightmare Lily on her leg. She genuinely thought she was about to lose her life in a horrid twist of fate.

All three of the entangled adventurers weren’t able to see Rydel and Maynard charge against the fiendish plant, they only realized that they were suddenly freed. As the extra layer of darkness dissipated, the two veteran adventurers came into view.

The two young samurai were more startled by the sudden feeling of the supposedly nonexistent ground than by being freed. Slivia was in tears as her heart went through a rollercoaster of emotions in a matter of seconds. Rydel and Maynard sighed in relief when they saw that everyone was unharmed.

It was then that they noticed how everyone still had a rope around their waists. What was shocking was how none of them noticed the rope tearing and being forcibly disconnected amidst being entangled.

Jack was approaching the others but was still in the now dissipating pheromones. He wasn’t in a rush to reach them because Rydel gave him an update on the situation and instead took his time to near the faint light of the others’ kari crystals.

The expression on Jack’s face was ugly and hard to interpret. In the face of other threats, he was confident in the abilities of Rydel and Maynard to handle the situation.

But now his heart wouldn’t let him forget how real the threats were. If he hadn’t immediately informed Rydel and Maynard, it was clear to Jack that at least Slivia would have lost her life.

Up to that point, Jack had some internal struggles with instinctively treating this new world and environment like a game. He understood that he couldn’t respawn, but he hadn’t yet felt the disparity of walking the tightrope of death.

With Slivia less than a moment away from death, the severity of the situation forced Jack to accept this new world as his new reality. This wasn’t a game, despite having the same leveling system or being the same continent. He and everyone could die with just one misstep, and they would never get a second chance.

While Jack was in mental turmoil, Rydel and Maynard filled in the others about the creature that had attacked them.

Hearing this, Slivia tried to thank her two saviors. Her gratitude was turned elsewhere as her heroes denied her thanks and explained how Jack’s instant response was what saved them.

Looking all around her, Slivia failed to find Jack and her heart ached a little. "Jack!"

The cry of his name awoke Jack from his harsh realization. Not wanting them to worry, Jack activated his kari crystal and shuffled to the others.

"Jack!" Slivia’s shout was followed by her jumping and falling into Jack’s arms, tears still flowing down her cheeks from being on death’s door. "Th-thank you! Thank you!"

"I..." This was too much for Jack to process while he was already focused on feeling helpless to the world around him. Jack wasn’t able to say anything else.

"I was-was about to be eaten. If you hadn’t..." Slivia quivered in Jack’s arms, unable to calm herself.

Jack remained speechless and motionless with his arms supporting the clinging cleric. His eyes softened as he finally felt the genuine tears and anguish in Slivia’s eyes. Instinctively, he embraced Slivia tighter and welcomed her tears with his shoulder.

She remained there for a good minute before Brunar had reoriented himself and saw the scene in front of him. "Wow, you’re luckier than I thought," laughed Brunar.

Slivia didn’t hear the remark, but everyone else lightly smiled or chuckled.

Not liking the situation he found after returning to his senses, Troni stated, "Now’s not the time to relax. We need to be ready for anything."

Slivia sniffled, "I just..."

"He’s right."

When Jack responded the entire party grew more tense, especially Troni who only wanted to spoil the atmosphere between Jack and Slivia.

"Why’s that?" asked Rydel, solemnly staring at Jack.

Jack patted Slivia’s head as he raised it from his chest and explained, "More times than not where there’s one flower, there’s always more nearby. The same goes for Nightmare Lilies."

Everyone held their breath and Slivia gripped Jack’s arms tightly. Jack continued, "Usually, there are at least three Nightmare Lilies gathered together, but five or seven together aren’t uncommon either. We need to hurry and get out."

More rolling darkness began to near them, as if a Nightmare Lily was listening in and realized its prey was about to flee.

"We need to hurry!" Jack shouted, regretting his inaction after the first Nightmare Lily was killed. He cursed his overwhelming emotions, recognizing that he again acted too late to save his party from more threats.

The party turned the other way but was met with more rolling darkness, letting them know that they weren’t trying to escape just a single Nightmare Lily.

"Captain, do you still remember where the wall is?" asked Jack.

"Yeah." Rydel quickly pointed a finger while they were still able to see each other.

"Good." Jack’s breathing was heavier than usual, revealing his uncommon nervousness.

The young hero retrieved his bow did his best to steady his hands. Jack was startled when a lit torch fell to the ground in front of him. Glancing to where the torch came from, Jack saw Maynard wearing a smirk.

Seeing Maynard’s confidence helped Jack to calm his shaky hands. An arrow appeared, passed through the lit torch, and was nocked while Jack slowed his breathing. As the rolling darkness set in eclipsed the light of the kari crystals, the arrow was released and stuck itself in the nearby ground. Jack repeated this while the others circled him with Rydel and Maynard on opposite sides.

Soon there was a very faint trail of warm light being formed as Rydel, Maynard, and the other samurai began to defend against any emerging black tendrils. With prior knowledge to the strange pheromones, they were all on high alert and ready to act at a moment’s notice.

"Let’s head toward the wall," said Jack after releasing his fourth arrow.

He guessed that the wall wasn’t too far from them and kept himself from wasting another arrow. With stealth in mind and his lack of funds, Jack hadn’t bought too many arrows while in town. Thanks to all the unexpected events, Jack had almost exhausted his supply. And since they hadn’t even seen the goblin city, Jack did his best to save the dozen or so arrows left at his disposal.

Just then the darkness started to thicken, and more tendrils snaked through the air. Now facing three fronts, the party was eager to escape.

"Everyone go! I’ll draw their attention and go for the kill," stated Maynard as his katana began to emit their red glow.

"But Master—" Brunar hesitated.

"Very well," replied Jack, grabbing Slivia by the hand and bolting toward the lit path he had created.

Rydel nodded and dashed in front of Jack, revealing numerous small throwing knives in his dexterous fingers. As a few stray tendrils tried to flank them and close in on their route of escape, they were quickly pinned to the ground by knives.

Troni didn’t waste time and followed suit, with the reluctant Brunar in tow.

Maynard had already disappeared and reappeared to the side of the lily nearest the fleeing party. With a couple "Blood thrusts," Maynard offed the Nightmare Lily in a flash.

Nightmare Lilies weren’t physically tough but were very hard to deal with due to the effectiveness of their surprise attacks and swarming tactics.

Offing one or two was very possible for the aware Maynard, though it meant he would have to use more MP for both his attacks and his "Sudden death" skill. That was the skill that allowed him to quickly appear beside a foe within five meters while striking. It was called "Sudden death" because although it was difficult to deal with, it was also Maynard’s biggest opening if an enemy were able to counter.

With one lily finished off and its pheromones dispersing, the faint trail of fire came into Maynard’s view. Maynard dashed toward it at full speed, slashing apart any tendril that dared approach the trail.

It didn’t take long for the party to reach the wall; the overly anxious Troni had almost run into it face first if Rydel hadn’t slowed him down.

"Brunar, throw the others up. We’ll keep you in the clear," commanded Rydel as he brandished more knives.

Without hesitation, Brunar braced his back against the wall and cupped his hands to form a step of sorts. "Hurry, I’ll throw you all up."

Jack meant to let Slivia go first, but Troni cut in and said, "I’ll be the first. Who knows what’s waiting for us up there?"

Not wanting to waste time arguing, Jack let Troni’s excuse pass him by as Troni was thrown up and disappeared into the darkness above them. No sounds followed, making everyone reluctant to try with someone else.

"Did you make it?" yelled Brunar.

"Yeah, I’m up," Troni yelled back in response with ache apparent in his voice.

"Okay, Slivia next," said Jack, pushing her forward in a gentle yet hurried manor. She was hesitant to release Jack’s hand, but she followed along. In but a moment she was tossed into the darkness above with a soft cry.

"You next." Brunar nodded to Jack with a friendly smile.

 

Chapter 54

"You’re next."

"Thanks." Returning the nod, Jack didn’t waver and stepped into Brunar’s hands. As Jack pushed off with all his strength, Brunar added to his momentum drastically with a hard throw of his hands.

Now airborne, Jack’s jaw seized while he prepared for impact with the cave floor. Like he anticipated, the light of his kari crystal grew stronger as a rock ledge came into view along with the light from Slivia and Troni.

Jack gripped the ledge the best he could and used his arms to direct his upward momentum over it. He succeeded in passing over it to safety, resulting in a hard tumble across the ground.

With a sigh of relief, Jack rolled over from his back and sat himself up. The sight of Troni crowding over the fallen Slivia wasn’t his favorite but he welcomed it, nonetheless.

As Jack rose to his feet, Slivia brushed off all the dirt she could while she stood herself up with Troni’s hand as a stabilizer. Jack looked back at the edge of the massive pit, expecting someone else to fly overhead.

’Catch!’

A sudden shout appeared in Jack’s mind as a bundle of rope was expertly tossed over the ledge. Quickly catching on, Jack rushed to the rope and grabbed hold of the end reaching into the darkness below.

Then, a flying Brunar passed the side of Jack. The astounding height Brunar reached proved that it was most likely Maynard who launched his disciple without care for a soft landing.

Grasping the rope tightly, Jack waited for Maynard and Rydel to make their appearances.

At this moment of suspense turning to relief, an arrow shot out of the darkness and pierced into Jack’s bicep. His grip wavered as Jack struggled to clench it with his full strength and groaned in pain.

Rydel, who was climbing the rope faster than a monkey chasing a bundle of bananas, felt the change of tension in the rope. When he heard Jack groaning in pain, he sped up and shouted, "Jack, are you okay?"

Jack didn’t reply, keeping his focus on his grip while looking back at the others who had escaped the Nightmare Lilies. Slivia was struck in the thigh while Troni was lucky to have his armor block the shot at his waist. Brunar’s tumbling had allowed him to evade the shot aimed towards him, but he instead landed on it and the fletching sticking out from the ground roughly tore the back of his kimono.

Just as Rydel got his hands on the ledge, Jack and Slivia felt a tug from the arrows embedded in their flesh. Without warning, ropes attached to the end of those arrows were made taut. Both Jack and Slivia felt themselves being yanked back, away from the rest of the party.

Brunar was busy getting up, still in a daze from his rough landing and confused as to what he landed on.

Troni saw Slivia being pulled away and quickly drew his sword. He lunged forward in an attempt to cut her free, but three more arrows appeared, two aimed at him and another at Slivia.

Pausing to deflect the arrows, Troni watched the third arrow pierce Slivia’s upper torso, just under the left clavicle.

Now being pulled with twice the speed, Slivia cried in pain as she was dragged away. When she was almost ten meters away from her party, a goblin appeared in the light of her kari crystal and yanked the lit wristband from her arm. Slivia and the goblin were quickly swallowed up in darkness and Slivia’s cries became muffled until they appeared nonexistent.

At the same time, Jack yelled, "Hey!" as he was pulled away from the pit’s edge in a separate direction.

Lucky for Rydel, he had grabbed the ledge and let go of the rope the moment he felt the unexpected yet forceful pull from Jack.

Refusing to let go, Jack yelled back to Rydel, "Grab the rope!"

Peeking over the edge while hearing Slivia’s cries and Jack’s shouts, Rydel noticed the dire situation. He hurriedly pulled himself up to one knee and grabbed hold of the rope.

Rydel’s death grip on the rope caused it to instantly grow taut, leaving Jack in the middle. "Aaagghh!" Jack yelled as his body felt like it was being pulled in half from his arms. He could end the agony by letting go, but that was the one thing Jack refused to do at that moment.

Caught in the middle, Jack steadied both feet under him and leaned toward Rydel the best he could.

Not wasting the little help Jack offered him, Rydel braced his arms and pulled back with all his might.

"AAAAAGGGHHH!!"

Jack’s lungs almost gave out from the force of his pained shouts. But Jack was happy to be tugged because he could feel the arrow’s grip on his muscles weaken.

Another arrow quickly shot out and tried to pierce one of Jack’s legs, trying to remove his footing. With great strain and aid from his evasion and perceptions skills, Jack tried to evade it. He managed to keep it from gripping his flesh, but it grazed his calf and forced Jack to crash against the floor.

With the tug-of-war at a standstill, Rydel briefly let go with one hand. At that moment, he pulled out another small knife and aimed the other rope attached to Jack’s arm. The shot was difficult, but Rydel’s "True aim" skill allowed him to nick the rope.

Seeing the weakened rope slowly unraveling, Jack groaned as he forced himself back to his feet and leaned back towards Rydel.

Unable to hold on any longer the rope snapped, and Jack collapsed to the ground.

A third arrow was shot at Jack but Rydel reflexively drew his bow and nocked two arrows before he launched at full speed. One arrowed collided with the enemy’s while the other flew into the darkness, aimed at the hidden archer. Rydel had seen two arrows come from the same direction, confirming the enemy’s position and allowing him to strike back.

Rydel’s arrow pierced its target and the party heard a shrill cry. Rushing to help Jack, Rydel kept himself ready to strike back but no other attack arrived.

Assuming that the target fled, Rydel looked to the other side. When he saw Brunar painfully getting up and Troni being pushed back by arrows, the now distant Slivia had her kari crystal wristband ripped from her.

As Slivia vanished in the darkness, Rydel was at war between his emotions and his duties as a party captain.

"Hey! Why’d ya take the rope?" Maynard shouted from the bottom of the pit.

Reluctant to do or say anything, Rydel remained frozen for a moment of thought.

"Oh, there it is!" Maynard yelled as he saw the rope a couple of meters off the ground. The ronin jumped and grabbed hold of the rope while repelling a few black tendrils.

Jack, who was still firmly gripping the rope from the insane surge of adrenaline he just experienced, felt his body jerk back towards the pit. Unable to hold himself back, he was dragged across the rough cave floor towards the dark abyss.

"What the..." Maynard was startled when he started to fall back towards the ground with the unanchored rope in hand.

Forced to recognize the strange development by Jack’s sudden movement, Rydel again grabbed the rope. With him as the new anchor, Jack came to a stop and Maynard flew up the rope to barely avoid entanglement with another Nightmare Lily.

Maynard heaved a sigh of relief as he grabbed the ledge, happy he was through with wasting the little MP he had left. However, his emotions quickly fluctuated when he noticed the disarrayed party.

"What happened?" asked Maynard, focusing on the collapsed Jack with an arrow sticking out of his arm.

Rydel wearily looked at Maynard, revealing his disparity with a glance. "We lost Slivia."

The ronin’s eyes exploded wide open as he searched for the cleric. Seeing only his disciples in awkward stances, Maynard’s posture shrunk for the first time during the mission. Maynard asked in a hushed tone, "Goblins?"

"Yeah," answered Rydel, pointing at the rope forcibly attached to Jack by the arrow.

"This changes things," commented Maynard.

Jack was so caught up in his turmoil that he had failed to notice Slivia’s struggle and disappearance. Hearing them mention Slivia’s capture, Jack’s tired head flopped to the other side.

When he saw Troni standing awkwardly amidst some fallen arrows and Brunar with a depressed look on his face, Jack was forced to wake up and smell the roses.

A terrible ache appeared in his chest, yearning for Slivia to come back. He remembered the terror he saw in her eyes just moments earlier and her reluctance to release Jack’s hand. The pained tears in her eyes were a fresh memory that solidified itself in Jack’s heart.

In the back of his head, Jack wished that Troni was the one they had taken. Troni had refused to let Slivia go first and was only lucky to have the armor that Jack had given up.

The pain in Jack’s heart had taken root and the only solution would be to get Slivia back, alive.

 

Chapter 55

"Jack... Jack... KID!"

Rydel’s calls eventually got Jack to look up, who was surprised by what he saw.

"Does this not hurt?" asked Maynard, who had been fiddling with the arrow in Jack’s arm while Jack was in a daze.

"Ow!" yelled Jack, now aware of Maynard’s antics.

"Good," said Rydel. The party captain retrieved some bandages and a bottle of what looked like medieval vodka. "Now that we know you’re still with us, don’t move."

Without waiting for Jack’s reply, Maynard retrieved a small wakizashi and used it with scalpel-like precision to remove the arrow cleanly from Jack’s bicep. Rydel then poured the alcohol over the wound, letting Jack grind his teeth in pain. After that Rydel bandaged it up nice and tight.

"You’re welcome." Maynard smiled and gave Jack’s bicep a friendly pat.

Wincing in pain Jack looked at the two makeshift medics and tried to remain calm. "What now captain? Are we going after Slivia?"

Rydel went silent again; indecision riddled his face.

"Let’s hurry to that goblin city," interjected Maynard. "I’m sure that’s the root of all this, and more than likely that’s where we’ll find that cleric girl."

Jack replied, "But if we don’t hurry—"

"Do you know where they went kid?" Rydel subtly asked.

"Umm... no, I don’t." The enthusiasm in Jack’s voice lessened as he confessed.

"Me neither, so that’s out of the question. I agree with Maynard, I think it’s best to hurry to the goblin city. If there are any survivors, that’s where we’ll find them along with Slivia. Remember, there wasn’t anywhere to keep prisoners in the outposts," stated Rydel, sounding more certain of his decision the longer he talked about it.

A hand reached out to help Jack up to his feet. Jack accepted Brunar’s help. "Thanks."

"I’m sorry for my inability to help her. Don’t worry too much, we’ll get her back." Brunar’s encouraging words were accompanied by a genuine sincerity in his eyes.

"Yeah, we will," said Jack. He had gone from having a near party death to a clean getaway and then lost the same party member in the end.

Jack always had a front up as an adventurer, as Jack_J the achievement junkie, the most accomplished ancient hero. But here among his party, he was the weakest member with the least amount of practical experience.

He was also the only to never experience losing a party member or anyone close to him for that matter. Back when it was just a game, Jack had never lost any immediate family and never even attended a funeral. This was the first time anyone near him had faced a serious threat to their lives, let alone the girl that he was interested in and in such a cruel manner.

"Hey, cheer up. Ya know we’ll get her back, so why hold yourself back with worry?" reminded Maynard as he wiped his katanas clean and prepared to set out.

Jack inhaled deeply and held it for a few seconds before releasing air along with some of his tension.

"Are we ready?" Rydel asked the party.

No one said anything as they stood up and nodded lightly. Trusting their captain’s judgment and sense of direction better than their own, everyone tied themselves together and left silently.

Travelling in the quiet blackness the party encountered two more outposts and ambushed them both. Their actions showed a new level of ferocity, especially Jack’s as he released his pent-up anger through his arrows and the occasional sword swing.

They found nothing new within the outposts, so the party moved on. Nothing would stop them from reaching the capital as quickly as possible.

Soon something started to move within Jack’s cloak pocket. A tired fox pup poked its head out and patiently examined its surroundings. Aware that someone was missing, Bowser asked, ’Where Sliv?’

Hearing Bower’s thoughts, Jack glanced down and was surprised he hadn’t noticed the now awake fox. ’The goblins took her away.’

Sensing the depression in Jack’s heart, Bowser climbed back up on to Jack’s shoulder and licked Jack’s cheek. ’Sliv gone or dead?’

’Gone, but we need to hurry. The sooner we get to the goblin city the better.’

Bowser sniffed the air around him and caught the scent of blood. Following the smell, Bower noticed the bandages on Jack’s arm. ’Jack hurt?’

’I’ll be fine, I’ve got health regeneration at lv. 2 now. Give it some time and it’ll be as good as new.’

’Okay,’ Bowser nodded reluctantly. ’Goblins do this? What happen while Bowser sleep?’

With nothing else to do, Jack relayed all the events thus far, from finding the hero tomb till escaping the Nightmare Lilies and Slivia being captured.

After hearing it all, Bowser wore a small frown on his small face. ’Dumb goblins. I kill them.’

Amused by Bowser’s childish taunt, Jack chuckled to himself. Feeling a little more light-hearted and relaxed, Jack noticed something about Bowser. He wasn’t completely sure, but he wondered if Bowser had grown because he felt heavier and larger than before while staying perched on Jack’s shoulders.

’Did you grow in your sleep?’

’Hmm?’ Bowser blinked and looked himself over. ’Not sleep, from E-X-P’ The fox pup struggled to pronounce EXP.

’What?’

’Bowser grow with E-X-P. All foxes do,’ explained Bowser.

Jack started to think back to the game. Most creatures that were able to be pets would only come at their set age and that would never change. He had never heard of a beast that would age with EXP in place of time.

Taking Bowser’s word for it, Jack shelved that concept within his brain so he could revisit at a later time.

Out of nowhere, Bowser’s ears pricked up and he started sniffing the air. ’Goblin.’

’What?’

’Goblin follows us.’

Dumbfounded by Bowser’s announcement, Jack takes a moment to think it over. If there was a goblin following them that was untraceable, who knew how long they had been followed? That would also explain the sudden ambush the moment they left the dark pit filled with Nightmare Lilies.

’Are you sure?’

’Yup.’

’Where?’

Bowser turned to face the hidden threat. ’Behind on right.’

Thinking about how he should go about this, Jack called out to Rydel and Maynard, ’Hey, we’ve got a follower.’

’What? That’s impossible, how do you know?’ asked Rydel.

’Bowser just told me. It’s behind us on the right side,’ explained Jack.

Peeking back, Rydel focused in on that area but couldn’t find anything. Wanting to have faith in Jack, he activated his "True aim" skill and went wide-eyed upon discovering something. It didn’t appear to have a completely decipherable form, but there was something there.

Suddenly, Rydel stopped the party and remained completely still. The hunter took a quick breath as he immediately retrieved his bow with two arrows nocked and ready. Before anyone could do or say anything, both arrows were hurled through the air towards an invisible target.

Brunar and Troni thought Rydel had gone crazy, but they were proved wrong when they heard pained grows following the twang of Rydel’s bowstring.

With the audible clues giving away the hidden enemy’s location, Maynard acted next with his "Sudden death." He appeared beside the difficult to track enemy, but how could Maynard miss a screaming target that was too busy to dodge or counter his surprise attack?

The party heard a slashing sound in the air and the trickle of blood hit the floor. When Maynard activated his kari crystal, they got a good look at the now visible spy.

It was a cave goblin with black, ashy skin and beady red eyes. It was half the size of a human but was stout and musclebound with a dirty, leather loincloth around its waist. There didn’t seem to be anything special about it other than a bracer on its forearm. It was lv. 25, but there was no way for it to survive the carefully aimed attacks of Rydel and Maynard.

Rydel’s arrows pierced its heart and throat while Maynard severed its spinal cord from behind. The goblin was too lax after successfully following and ambushing the party, so it considered being discovered an impossibility.

"So this is a cave goblin? They look a lot stranger than forest goblins," said Brunar.

"That’s one ugly pestro," said Troni.

Jack laughed as Troni cursed using the name of Pestro, a demon god known to win fights from him natural stench and looks alone. Wanting a closer look at the strange bracer, Jack removed it to inspect the bracer with the system and received two notifications. Opening the first one, Jack read:

[Resplendent bracer: lv. 10, rare, blessed]

[A bracer crafted from high-quality steel that has received Sterfen’s blessing. Grants the user the ability to become invisible. It can only be seen through by certain skills and abilities that target the user specifically. Invisibility is rendered useless if the user is in combat or has a weapon equipped.]

Jack’s eyes turned green with greed as he immediately equipped it in front of the entire party.

"Hey, what is that?" asked Brunar. He wanted to double-check if it was a good fit for his fighting style, though Brunar’s tone wasn’t too harsh like it was in the hidden tomb.

Saying nothing, Jack simply winked and vanished from everyone’s sight to their surprise.

 

Chapter 56

When Jack vanished before everyone’s eyes, they were baffled. According to their eyes and mind, Jack had disappeared in every sense of the word.

Only Rydel was able to find him but that was using the "True aim" skill like Rydel had done to locate the hidden goblin.

Jack reappeared in the same spot with a beaming smile on his face. "Since Troni got the armor, I’ll take this one. It’s only lv. 10 so I don’t think you’d want it."

"What!? Of course, I’d still want it!" replied Brunar.

"Even if the invisibility deactivates with a weapon equipped?"

The others realized why killing the goblin was so easy, and why it only carried the bracer and a contact crystal. They all sighed, giving up on trying to get it from Jack.

"What about me? Wouldn’t it be of use to me for phase two?" asked Rydel with a grin.

"True, but you’re not the only one sneaking into the city. Who do you think will be searching for the survivors and Slivia?" Jack mirrored Rydel’s smile.

Rydel laughed and responded mentally, ’You’ve got a point, but let me try it out sometime.’

’Sure thing captain!’

"You guys know what this means?" Rydel’s question grabbed everyone’s attention. "This thing probably started following us after we entered the third level, keeping an eye on our every move. But think of it this way, they’ve known exactly where we are but haven’t done anything more to us. Why is that?"

"Umm..." Brunar put his mind at work, trying his best to solve the question. "Because they’re afraid of you and Master?"

"I’m not so sure about that, but wouldn’t they have better chances of killing or capturing you two if it were in city limits?" Jack answered.

"I was thinking the same thing," agreed Rydel. "They’d rather charge and surround us near the city where they have who knows how many goblins."

"Also, don’t forget how high leveled the goblins have been. Just the outpost captains were all at least lv. 30 so far. Imagine what the city guards will be like or the goblin king," said Maynard.

They swallowed some saliva as they pictured how strong the city might be. Rydel added, "Of course, I don’t imagine them being too much stronger than the outpost captains. If they were that strong, the Royal Court would be too afraid to work with them. But still, things are very different from any of our expectations. Who would guess that goblins were smart enough to lie in wait for a perfect ambush on you guys while we were preoccupied?"

"It’s too weird, there has to be a reason for this," interjected Jack. "Like you said if the goblins grew too strong, then why would the Royal Court support them?"

"There’s only one way to find out," said Maynard as he put his hand on Troni’s shoulder. "You aren’t to blame for any of this, you tried your best. The only thing we can do now is move forward and teach those goblins to never defy a samurai."

Troni smirked lightly and bowed his head in respect. "Thank you, Master, I will follow your guidance."

"Since that’s over, I say we run to the goblin city. They already know we’re on our way, so why not surprise them with an early visit," chuckled Rydel. "But first, you three drink this."

Three small bottles appeared in Rydel’s hand and they were quickly dispersed to Jack, Brunar, and Troni. Rydel explained, "This is a prototype energy potion that a friend of mine has been working on. It’s supposed to give you enough energy to equal a decent night’s sleep. Try it and let me know what you think."

Brunar and Troni were hesitant, but Jack had finished his before Rydel was done talking and threw him the empty bottle.

The smell was very familiar to Jack, reminding him of the countless energy drinks he had consumed throughout his gaming career. It was more primitive and was chunky at times, but Jack was starting to get desperate to stay awake.

Not wanting to be outdone, Brunar put the bottle to his lips and slowly chugged the thick, grainy potion. Troni was repulsed by the look and smell of it, but he gave in to peer pressure and did his best to hold it down.

Soon the three of them felt more revitalized and alert. Jack was certain that he’d probably crash after three hours if he couldn’t rest by then, but he thought that was plenty of time to reach the nearing city at top speed.

"Well, let’s head out then." Rydel activated his kari crystal and dashed ahead.

The others didn’t take long to do the same, running to catch up and stay close to the party’s two pillars of strength. Since the goblins were onto them this whole time, why not use the kari crystals to speed things up?

*****

About twenty kilometers away from the rushing party of adventurers, there was a resplendent city filled with an azure glow. It was twice the size of Baltwood and was pack to the brim with cave goblins.

The streets and buildings were basic and primitive, like larger versions of the abandoned huts on the second level. However, the abundant azure made up for the dull appearance. There was a roughly made stone wall that circled the entirety of the city. It only had a single gate to enter or exit but that was plenty for a city that never had visitors or trade caravans passing through.

On the opposite end of the main gate, a crude castle had been constructed from a concrete mixture using the cave’s natural stone as the main ingredient. Three towers extended out of the castle, appearing to wave and teeter harshly from uneven construction, making the castle appear like a triangle drawn by a kindergartener from the sky. The castle’s brilliance was the greatest in the whole city, compelling every goblin who passed it to gaze in awe.

Inside the main hall of that crude castle, a goblin messenger walked in and spoke in its native tongue, "Your highness, we have brought you the latest captive so you might pass judgment on her."

"Very well, let her in." A calm, feminine voice sounded from behind a canopied throne.

Two guards walked to a pair of wooden doors three times their height and pulled them open slowly. As light from the main hall entered the musky passageway, a few goblins in leather armor entered. One goblin carried a chain that pulled their captive along, beckoning her to follow obediently.

Hesitant to obey but doing so nonetheless, Slivia stepped into the main hall lit under the purest azure she had ever seen. The chain was connected to an iron collar around her neck and then to a set of iron clamps around her wrists. Her cloak had been removed and tattered by her captors, leaving her with only a fitted dress that was shown off in the magnificent lighting, despite the dirt and tears it now carried.

"Hmm, this one is very beautiful. Tell me, what is your name?" That same female voice asked Slivia from across the room in Common, the language used across the continent by humans and the more intelligent humanoids.

"W-why do you need my name?"

"Why not? A queen should know the name of her guests," replied the goblin queen. "You’re a cleric, no? We don’t have many healers here; your skills would be much appreciated here."

"I..." Slivia clenched her jaw, keeping herself from responding.

"Hmm? Speak, I know you wish to answer me."

"I... would never work for you..." Slivia mumbled a faint whisper, not understandable to any living thing.

"Speak, while I’m still patient." The queen’s tone turned darker, one degree away from threatening.

"I’ll never work for you!" blurted out Slivia, refusing to even entertain the thought of working with those responsible for the slaughter of her former captain and possibly her party.

Bursting into laughter, the queen’s voice filled every inch of the main hall. "You’re sassy, I like sassy. Why not work for me? I can provide all kinds of benefits, I’m sure you’ve noticed the abundance of my palace."

Not wanting to say more, Slivia turned her head away while shutting both her eyes and her mouth.

"Oh, you’re like the others huh? Don’t worry, you’ll join them soon enough after you’ve had a change of heart," stated the queen with a sinister snicker.

"The-the others? They’re alive!?" questioned Slivia, not able to contain her emotions under extreme stress.

"You’ll see them soon enough after you submit to me. Till then..." The queen commanded the goblin holding Slivia’s chains in her tongue, "Show our beautiful guest to her quarters, and make sure she appreciates it."

Without a word the goblin nodded and turned to exit the main hall with Slivia close behind.

"Wait, what about the others!?" Slivia continued her shouts and pleas.

"You’ll see soon enough, beautiful," answered the queen, still hiding behind the canopy within the shadow of the large thrown.

Before Slivia could say more, the doors were shut in her face. She pled with the goblin pulling her away, but there was no response like he had no way to understand her. In a few minutes, she and that goblin disappeared into the darker parts of the castle, making their way towards the dungeon.

 

Chapter 57

Jack and the others dashed through the third level of the mine under the light of their kari crystals and the guidance of Bowser. Since he was awake and aware of anything that neared them, the party was able to counter several goblin ambushes along the way.

Over two hours had passed when they defeated the last outpost. By then everyone had consumed at least two or three more elixirs to replenish their mana and the younger adventurers had finished one or two regular potions as well.

Jack was left with only one potion and two elixirs, making him wish he hadn’t been cheap when buying supplies back in town. Also, the party was very hesitant to take any more because consuming too many in too short a time would have negative effects on the consumer, stunting their natural health and mana regeneration abilities for a time.

The party’s impatience finally came to an end when they saw a spec of bright, blue light in the distance. Excited for the first time in a long while, they all quickened their pace and bolted toward the brilliant destination in front of them. Soon they deactivated their kari crystals, not needing their dim light in the face of the pure azure embedded across the goblin city.

"Is that..." Brunar was caught up in wonder. It had an unnatural beauty about it, seeing such harshly built edifices that mimicked cave walls and glorious azure clusters spread across the entire scene.

"Yeah, that’s got to be the city," answered Jack.

"Hmm, let’s circle the city and search for somewhere we can camp without being seen," said Rydel.

"You got it, Captain!" Jack’s unusual enthusiasm showed as he darted away.

"Hey, wait! Everyone let’s go," commanded Rydel as he and the rest followed Jack closely.

Eventually, they found a deep ditch about half a kilometer southeast of the main entrance. Based on the walls of the ditch it was most likely an emptied azure vein, but it offered the perfect hiding place for the party.

"We don’t have much time until we three need to rest. I’m guessing you two will be fine watching over us while we nap?" commented Jack.

Rydel and Maynard chuckled like it were too easy, not even worth answering verbally. Anyone over lv. 25 had enough strength and energy to stay awake for forty-eight hours straight if needed.

"Then let’s quickly go over the plan while we’re all still awake," said Jack. "There are some things that we’ll need to change obviously, with the city being bigger and more than likely containing more goblins than anticipated. While we rest, I would like to ask the captain if he could gather information on the city and leave Maynard here to guard us."

"I’d do that whether you’d like it or not," joked Rydel. "Anything, in particular, you want me to look for?"

Jack revealed a somewhat twisted smile as dozens of glass vials filled with a transparent liquid containing hints of purple appeared on the floor between Jack and Rydel.

Catching the hint, Rydel stored the vials. "Sounds easy enough. But if I’m the one doing that, I’d like some insurance, if you know what I mean."

"Take it for a spin," laughed Jack as he removed his resplendent bracer and held it out to Rydel.

"Don’t mind if I do." Rydel eagerly took it and instantly equipped it. The party captain disappeared for a couple of seconds and easily reappeared behind the others. "Wow, I could get used to this."

"That’s just a basic one, you should see the high-level blessings. They let you stay invisible while in combat and the highest level blessing even removes the sound of your movements," commented Jack.

Troni and Brunar were dumbfounded by Jack’s claims, not knowing whether Jack was being serious or not. Rydel and Maynard, however, had a glimmer in their eyes when they heard that.

"But you can only get that blessing as a devoted follower of a god; the higher your devotion, the higher the blessing given," Jack explained it more in-depth, letting them understand that these blessings weren’t free or easy to get by any means.

"Blessings of the gods?" Brunar trembled when he thought of the tales and legends of ancient Kartonia before the war of the gods changed everything.

"Seriously? That’s just legend," reasoned Troni, not wanting to get his hopes up and not believing in blessings of the gods without personally experiencing them as proof.

Jack shrugged his shoulders and returned to the topic at hand. "Either way, there’s a couple of other things we need information on. If you hear or find anything about any survivors from the missing parties, let us know. And if you can learn about the strength of the guards or their weaponry, that would be best."

"Consider it done." As Rydel nodded in acceptance of his assignment, he disappeared completely.

"You know an awful lot for a newbie," commented Brunar. "Why’s that?"

Jack sighed and waited a moment before he answered. "I won’t say at this time. You don’t trust me?"

"If Master trusts you, then I’ll trust you. I was irritated at you earlier cause you were just a lv. 1 newbie. But you level up faster than anyone I’ve ever met, so I now acknowledge you my greatest rival," said Brunar confidently.

"Is that so?" Jack laughed as he sat down on the ground with his back against the wall. "You’re weird, you know that?"

"So what? You’re weirder," Brunar replied with a grin.

"I can’t argue with that logic. Just cause you trust me doesn’t mean I have to tell you everything though. I only told you about Bowser because the association will protect him in case of any major issues and your master said you were trustworthy. Any more info about me needs to be earned."

Brunar showed a pensive face as he nodded. "Okay, so I just need to prove myself to my rival. That makes sense."

"And who said I was your rival? I’m a summoned hero and you’re—"

"You’re the only one our age that qualifies to be my rival. I’m twenty-four and haven’t yet met a single person under twenty-five worth my time. Not till I met you, my first real rival," stated Brunar. His simple, picturesque way of thinking got Jack to chuckle yet again. "I’ve made you my rival, now don’t disappoint me."

"Just don’t blame me when I leave you in the dust. If I told you everything about me, you’d need to change your pants," joked Jack.

Now even more curious, Brunar sat down opposite Jack and looked him square in the face, "I don’t know too much about you, but don’t take me lightly. Never take me lightly."

Seeing the arrogance return to Brunar’s eyes, Jack couldn’t help but have some respect for the young samurai. Jack now understood what kind of person Brunar was. Honest to a fault with no filter on his thoughts or words. As a fellow arrogant man, Jack could appreciate Brunar’s genuine confidence.

"Try not to get left behind. If you can’t keep up, then I’ll never acknowledge you as my rival," said Jack.

Brunar showed a toothy grin and extended his hand across the narrow passage. "Good, as it should be!"

Shaking his head with an accepting smile, Jack took Brunar’s hand firmly in his grip. "Then I’ll be expecting a lot from you."

While those two were chatting and bantering back and forth, Troni was at the side studying Jack and Bowser carefully.

"What’s wrong with ya?"

Startled to hear Maynard creep up from behind him, Troni answered, "Nothing, just trying to get a good feel for him."

"He’s unorthodox and weird, but he’s honest when you need him to be," Maynard stated his personal opinion of Jack. "Jack will be famous throughout the continent one day, so I would do your best to not get on his bad side. If ya manage to piss him off, not even I would interfere."

Astounded by his master’s words Troni flinched before responding. "Is that fox a Hell-flame Fox?"

Maynard’s gentle expression turned solemn and he peered into Troni’s eyes. "That fox’s identity is classified information among the association. If news were to leak out, the culprit will be dealt with by association headquarters directly."

When Troni’s eyes showed tension and mixed emotions, Maynard added, "Don’t even think about mentioning this to your family."

Troni stiffened when he heard that and immediately replied, "No, of course, I wouldn’t do that."

"I’m not accusing ya, I’m reminding ya. Let me remind ya of this also if you break my trust or the association’s, I’ll personally seek ya out like I said back when ya begged to be my student." Maynard’s voice was like a whisper from a death reaper.

"Of course I remember," stated Troni as he took a seat and closed his eyes pretending to rest.

Maynard shook his head and found a place to sit and meditate, hoping his warning didn’t fall on deft ears.

Brunar and Jack chatted for over ten minutes about random things with the occasional threat as a rival mixed in. Eventually, Jack stopped the conversation with the excuse that they needed to rest. He wasn’t lying, but he had something to check before he went to sleep.

After two hours of straight travel, Jack finally had time to check his remaining notification.

 

Chapter 58

Jack was intrigued to find an interesting, new achievement. Multiple things were running through his mind at the speed of light.

To find a blessed item and verify the existence of an ancient god’s temple was equivalent to discovering a new island off the coast. This news would attract global attention.

There were still some temples of Halmut among the many capital cities across Kartonia. However, they were controlled and regulated by the Religious Council and Jack had found their new customs to be pitiful. Any blessing offered to items or adventurers was only a fraction of the basic blessings he knew in-game, and they were only given to devote followers.

What excited Jack was the particular god they needed to find. Sterfen, the god of secrecy, was previously one of the seven neutral gods that had disappeared from modern history. It wasn’t the same god he had pledged to as a gamer, but Jack was sure that a certain hunter he knew would benefit greatly from pledging to such an entity. And that would also greatly benefit Jack by default.

Another interesting part of the achievement was the reward. That was the first time Jack’s party as a whole would be able to affect an achievement directly. It implied that anyone in the party would be able to interact or not interact with the temple. And if normal adventurers like Rydel and Maynard could gain blessings directly from a god, like ancient heroes and others discovered the truth, wouldn’t Jack’s party become the envy of the continent?

"Hey, Jack..."

A whisper sounded in Jack’s ear, causing him to open his eyes and face Brunar with an annoyed expression. "Can I help you?"

"Is it true what you said, about the blessings of the gods?" asked Brunar is a gentle, serious tone.

"Do I have reason to lie?"

"I don’t think you’re lying, but are you certain that you’re right?" Brunar questioned further.

"Hmm..." Jack slowly blinked and leaned in closely. "There’s a lot of things I’m certain of and there’s a lot of things that you would never believe, especially if I described them in detail."

Brunar was taken aback by Jack’s answer, finding that hard to believe, but Jack continued, "I can tell you that pledging to a god directly can be more beneficial than you can imagine. Also, there are more gods than you realize, and that bracer is proof."

"What do you mean?"

"That resplendent bracer has Sterfen’s blessing. It’s only at the basic level, but you can already see how powerful such an item is. It’s because of that bracer that Slivia was captured so easily and it will also be key for our success in taking the goblin city," explained Jack.

"Who’s Sterfen?" asked Brunar, too caught up on the unfamiliar name to digest everything else.

"Sterfen was the god of secrecy and was one of the seven powerful neutral gods in ancient Kartonia."

"Neutral gods? I’ve never heard of those?" Brunar’s confusion slowly set in with each question.

"That’s cause they didn’t participate in the war of the gods and were lost to history, according to my knowledge," answered Jack. "You can believe what you want, but I know for a fact that Sterfen was the god who blessed that bracer. And no, I’m not willing to let a priest verify the blessing."

Brunar was about to ask that when his idea was shot down before conception, removing the only way to prove Jack’s reasoning in Brunar’s eyes. "Then... how do I know what you’re saying is true?"

Jack chuckled, "You’ll have to take my word for it."

Taking his time to think before responding, Brunar scratched his head and looked intently at the cave floor between him and Jack. "So, if I were to believe in everything you’ve said, what would that mean for me exactly?"

"What are you getting at?"

"Master already told me that after this mission he won’t be partying with me anymore, then he said he’d be partying with you for who knows how long. You told him more than you’re telling me right now, right?" asked Brunar.

"Yeah, so what?" Jack answered openly, not caring to offend.

"So, why not tell me the same stuff?" pled Brunar. "I’m his number one disciple and you said he vouched for me, so why not trust me?"

"I do trust you, enough to tell you this much. At first, I didn’t trust you farther than I could throw you," reasoned Jack. "You had your chance to get on my good side back then, but you failed horribly, we both know that. Now, you’ll have to earn that trust."

Brunar was going to interject but he couldn’t disagree about their first interaction. He understood that he had acted wrongly out of pride and jealousy, but Brunar felt that he deserved to be prideful and wouldn’t step down so easily.

"I’ve told you everything I’m willing to say for now. If you want more, then have faith in what I say and the plans I make. Any doubt you show me will prove I was right to not trust you." Jack shrugged and stared off into the distance, showing that he wasn’t too interested in Brunar personally.

No further conversation was made as they both looked separate ways. Brunar pondered Jack’s words and the events that Jack had caused or triggered within the mine. Finding a rare item was one thing but finding the tomb of an ancient hero was unheard of. Or Jack’s knowledge about the strange Nightmare Lilies, that were rarely found in modern Kartonia. And then there was the Hell-flame Fox with a mutual seal on top of all that.

The young samurai was nearing a mental crossroads that would affect his life forever. Choosing to keep his former outlook on the world or following the absurd and unprecedented thoughts of a newly summoned hero.

Jack was unaffected by the previous conversation, returning to think about the new achievement. It was clear to Jack that this achievement would take him a long while to accomplish.

There were no clues about a location so he would have to search and investigate this himself. Lucky for him, he had access to the greatest database of knowledge on ancient Kartonia the world over, his own brain.

Combing over his past experiences, Jack remembered the location of a couple of temples. The problem with that was the distance; they’d have to travel across three countries to maybe find an ancient temple’s ruins.

Time quickly passed as Troni was the first one to pass out, followed quickly by Brunar. Jack was teetering near the edge of consciousness when Maynard asked him a question, "What are ya doing for phase three?"

Rubbing some exhaustion from his eyes, Jack answered, "Just the usual infiltration of the palace and extraction of the survivors. You know how that goes."

"Before, ya mentioned something about me seeing your signal and going all out. What should I be looking for?" asked Maynard.

"Oh, that?" Jack smiled as he remembered. "I’ve made a few tweaks from my original plans for phase three, but I’m excited to see my distraction go into play."

"Distraction?"

"The appearance of a Hell-flame Fox is seen as an unstoppable natural disaster, right?"

Maynard joined Jack in smiling and asked, "Hmm... But what about Bowser? How long can he hold that form?"

"That’s the thing. What’s scarier; a Hell-flame Fox that approaches the city to wreak havoc or a Hell-flame Fox that appears and disappears throughout the city at random?"

"That might be the most frightening distraction I’ve ever heard of." Maynard knew that Bowser was low leveled but there was something about the fox that would still send shivers down Maynard’s spine.

Similar to Jack, Maynard wasn’t able to sense Bowser’s level. Maynard didn’t know how that was possible, but he understood one thing. The thought of a Hell-flame Fox, a creature that haunts legends, appearing out of nowhere with an undecipherable level would strike terror in the hearts of any adventurer.

And little did Maynard know that Jack had planned it even further. The reason Jack needed that resplendent bracer was for both Bowser and himself.

Jack’s companion sharing skill would allow him to hide Bowser in his normal form as the fox dashed and relocated elsewhere. Hiding Bowser’s flame body was impossible because it was considered an attack or an enraged state, but a small, speedy fox would easily slip past common goblins with invisibility.

Since phase one would attract the guards and most of the attention, Jack was betting that the goblins remaining in the city were generally the weakest. And once there was a commotion in the palace from phase two, who would be left to stop a rampaging Hell-flame Fox in the middle of the city?

Chapter 59

’What are you two talking about?’

Maynard was startled when he heard Rydel’s voice but was unable to determine where it came from. Jack laughed and didn’t even bother searching, knowing he hadn’t a chance of finding the stealthy hunter.

Rydel appeared within the emptied vein a meter away from the seated Jack. "What’s this about phase three?"

"While you and the rest distract the goblin’s main forces and those within the goblin palace, I’ll be busy rescuing any survivors," answered Jack.

"And you’ll let that fox pup wreak havoc in the meantime?" asked Rydel.

"Something like that, but it’s just to distract and lower morale. If a huge flaming fox can distract the front lines and split their attention momentarily, then our reliable samurais will be able to slaughter them easily."

"There are a few things I wanted to talk to ya about," said Maynard. "First, ya should’ve realized that there will be some goblins above lv. 30, how are we going to deal with them?"

"Why don’t you ask Rydel. Depending on how things went ’delivering’ that neurotoxin, we’ll have to adjust the plans." Jack redirected the conversation and attention to Rydel, who was now sitting down like the other two.

"About that," Rydel began to explain. "I had to make a decision. Instead of spreading the neurotoxin throughout the city, I made sure to contaminate every drop of water that the city guards could access." Like Jack, Rydel assumed that the majority of the goblin populace was around lv. 10, which he confirmed before acting.

Jack’s face twitched as he pondered Rydel’s decision and accepted it as the best option. "Then you and the others should be fine at the front gates. By the time anyone from the palace tries to stop you, the palace will be on high alert thanks to the captain."

Maynard lightly nodded and said, "I’m glad to hear that, but what about Rydel in the palace? Won’t ya be at a higher risk with them at full strength?"

Rydel didn’t turn his head but his eyes glanced to the side and met Maynard’s gaze. "Don’t worry about me. I was going to ask if I could use this new bracer to help make things much smoother. But I’m guessing that’ll be met with some opposition."

"Sorry captain but both me and Bowser need that bracer for our plan to work," reasoned Jack. "Right now, we’re just shy of lv. 15 and would struggle to do anything. Bowser can just ’Flame On!’ and he’ll be fine, but what about me? That bracer will let me slip into the palace while the palace guards are busy tracking you and will also help Bowser disappear from the goblins in his normal form."

"So, the rumors are true? Your items can affect the fox too?" deduced Rydel. "I understand and am willing to part with the bracer, but I do like it despite its low level."

’What if I told you that I could get you something even better?’ asked Jack telepathically, leading Rydel’s conversation like he would dangle a carrot in front of a horse.

’What’s better than invisibility?’ Rydel knew Jack was once an ancient hero but that wouldn’t change his opinion on the skill of invisibility. The hunter had always sought that ability, trying his best to erase his presence by improving similar skills.

He finally had a way to go completely invisible and there were no side effects. Rydel struggled to believe what could be more tempting than that.

’That’s just a basic blessing that any follower of Sterfen could easily request. You might be able to get an intermediate blessing, letting you attack while invisible,’ persuaded Jack.

’Go on,’ said Rydel, anxious to hear more.

’If you’re hit, then the invisibility will dissipate, but then you’ll become like many hunters in ancient times.’

’How do you plan to do that?’ asked Rydel.

Jack chuckled, ’Simple, we visit a temple of Sterfen, the god of secrecy.’

’Seriously?’ Rydel was amazed at how casual Jack had mentioned such a solution. ’It can’t be that simple, right?’

’Why not? All we have to do is locate and visit one of Sterfen’s temples. After that, it’ll be a piece of cake. Besides, you’re not satisfied with this level of invisibility, are you?’ asked Jack.

’Well...’ Rydel wasn’t able to refute Jack because deep down he felt exactly as Jack described. He wouldn’t be satisfied as a master of stealth until becoming invisible was as easy as breathing.

’Then how will we find one of these temples?’ Rydel mustered up the words to ask.

’The nearest temple of Sterfen that I can remember is in the...’ Jack paused as he stroked his chin in thought. Unaware that Jack was checking his system map, Maynard and Rydel waited patiently for Jack to continue. ’It’ll be in the newly formed Aazoon Kingdom.’

’In Aazoon?’ Rydel flinched when he heard that.

’Oh my,’ said Maynard, having some insight to Rydel’s past.

Seeing the shock that flashed by Rydel’s face, Jack guessed the reason, ’That’s where you first fled, wasn’t it? Where your dad died?’

’Yeah, that’s the place,’ said Rydel. His voice wasn’t shaky, just a little slower than usual.

’That’s where we’ll find the nearest temple I know of. Of course, there’s the chance that it’s been destroyed and ruined over the years, but it’s worth investigating,’ continued Jack.

Matching the flow of the conversation, Rydel returned to his usual self. ’Then we’ll head there on the way to Trodar, right?’

’Exactly,’ Jack answered with a nod.

’Umm, what about me?’ asked Maynard, not willing to be left out. ’I’m not interested in this god of secrecy, but there’s got to be some other god we can find for me, right?’

’I was about to mention that,’ stated Jack. ’Any requests or preferences?’

Maynard smiled and explained his desires, ’There’s a sword god, right?’

’There is, but,’ Jack had already planned this response in anticipation, ’I’m less confident in finding that temple in a functioning condition then I am about the other.’

’Really? Why?’ questioned Maynard

’Because of the war?’ guessed Rydel.

’That’s exactly why,’ agreed Jack. ’The twenty gods that fought in the war are publicly known yet no one has pledged to them nowadays. Why’s that?’

Maynard’s shoulders drooped, already realizing the answer. Jack continued, ’We can search for it if you want; there used to be a shrine for Tyres, the sword god in the Zuran Empire. However, looking over a map you’d see that it’s now in the Reinolt Kingdom. It’s not a temple, but it would be a good lead to see if a temple still exists.’

’Why would it be a lead?’ Rydel spoke up, curious about how Jack would find a temple through a shrine.

’There are plenty of ways to find things that are linked, especially places that share a strong connection, like a god,’ said Jack. ’I’d do the same with Sterfen’s temple, but the nearest shrine I can remember is equally distant as the temple itself.’

’And what if ya can’t find the sword god’s shrine?’ asked Maynard.

’Then we’ll have to find you a better god,’ said Jack nonchalantly. ’Don’t worry too much, I’ve got a backup in mind.’

’Really? What god is it?’

’Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for some time. Who are the seven neutral gods? Are there any better than this Sterfen for me?’ questioned Rydel, striking while the topic was hot.

’We’re getting off track, how about we return to discussing the plan?’ suggested Jack.

Rydel and Maynard didn’t say anything, keeping their focus on Jack without wavering in the slightest. Their hungry stares proved to Jack that he had said too much to leave the topic open for the time being. Jack said, ’Fine, I’ll tell you about the seven neutral gods, but we need to finish discussing the plan immediately afterward. I still need to get my beauty sleep.’

The two veterans nodded and let Jack explain, ’Like the other twenty gods under Halmut and Skaryn, these seven gods were ranked among themselves by terms of power and influence. It’s not quite as accurate due to their differing natures, but that’s where I’ll begin.

’The lowest-ranked of the seven is Rikko, the god of sleight of hand, or the god of trickery as we called him. He was known to deceive everyone in some way, typically through his appearance or offering blessings for... unique missions and circumstances.’ Jack remembered some of the strange requests players would get, like stealing a king’s pillow or a queen’s panties.

’Next is the goddess of love, Dragas. She had the most followers of all the neutral gods but didn’t offer too many benefits in my opinion.’

’Really? How come so many followed her?’ asked Rydel.

Jack thought to himself about the typical NEET that would play "A Hero’s Tale." It was easy for him and every other gamer to figure out why so many shut-in players with little to no social life would be attracted to a scantily dressed goddess of love.

Sidestepping Rydel’s question, Jack continued, ’The god I was thinking would benefit you the most Maynard is the next on the rankings. He’s Jin, the god of discipline. Jin was known to reward his followers for demonstrating consistent discipline in their lives, no matter what it was for. Considering your passion for the sword and your upright character, I think you’d be a perfect fit.

Maynard’s face tightened as he heavily considered the offer.

 

Chapter 60

’It sounds good, but I think I’d like to search for the sword shrine first before I decide.’

’Very well, then I’ll continue.’ Jack nodded and took his focus off the ronin. ’Next is the god I think that old fart would love. Guuro, the god of economics, otherwise known as the god of gold. He was known for rewarding followers with great wealth and would offer blessings for the right price. I even heard that you could barter him if you had demonstrated enough devotion.’

Both Rydel and Maynard laughed heartily as the captain responded, ’Yup, that’s right up the chief’s alley. We’ll have to fill him in on this later.’

’After Guuro comes Sterfen, who you already know as the god of secrecy. I think he’s perfect for you Captain. Sterfen emphasizes secrecy in act and word, but to receive a blessing you’ll have to offer him a secret. The greater it is, the greater the blessing,’ explained Jack.

’Okay, that I can do,’ mentioned Rydel with a smirk.

’Following the list, we get the second most powerful, Eedaj, the god of the mind. He was known for his abilities to read minds and manipulate memories. His blessings were based on quests of that nature. He’s one of the most mysterious gods because no one has ever seen him or met him personally.’ Jack finished and took a break to stretch his arms and back.

’And?’ prodded Maynard.

With a sigh, Jack continued, ’The final and most mysterious of the neutral gods has an interesting role. Hands down he’s the most powerful of them all, but he can’t interact with any other god personally.’

’What? Why’s that?’ asked Rydel.

’He’s Daruun, the god of fate. According to legend, he’s seen all of the future and all of the past. No matter when or where Daruun is aware of everything that is, has been, or ever will be. But in exchange for accessing fate itself, he lost the ability to alter it in any way or form. Kind of weird if you ask me; what’s the point of seeing all of time and fate if you can’t do anything about it?’

The three began to share some opinions and questions about the gods Jack had recommended for them. Jack wasn’t able to explain much else, limited by his lack of knowledge about these mysterious gods.

Then, Rydel had a thought. ’Hey, Jack, what did that god of fate offer as a blessing as the highest-ranking neutral god?’

Jack hesitated to answer that question. Daruun was very different from the other gods. He had no temples or shrines and he was impossible to find if you looked for him. However, every player had met him before because the game utilized Daruun as the guide during the initial tutorial of the game.

That was the only time anyone was ever able to communicate with Daruun. The final time was after completing the first few missions and events when Daruun would offer the chance to pledge and follow him. Every player only had that one chance to accept the offer, it would never come again.

The benefits and blessings Daruun offered were very unappealing to most players and seen as insignificant. Many young and ignorant players might’ve followed him in hopes to find a better god later, but they quickly found out that Daruun was the only god that made it impossible to revoke your pledge. Most of the followers of Daruun are empty accounts that were dropped to find better, more attractive blessings with new accounts.

Perhaps, Jack_J was the only one that pledged to Daruun in a heartbeat. When Jack saw that Daruun’s blessings helped him to discover hidden achievements and learn additional information about every achievement on the list, pledging to the god of fate became a requirement of Jack’s.

Jack was also intrigued by one of the passive blessings Daruun would eventually offer a highly ranked follower. In all of "A Hero’s Tale" Jack was the only one to discover this passive blessing that came to any follower at lv. 50 or higher, and it was a major factor in his completion of the achievement list. During any event, main story mission, or dungeon, Jack would occasionally receive a ten-second ’vision’ of something that would occur and alter the respective event or place. With that prior knowledge, Jack was able to act accordingly and accomplish many things in some very unorthodox ways.

’Umm... that’s really hard to describe,’ admitted Jack. ’Daruun was the least popular god of all because his blessings were weird and didn’t apply to the majority of heroes. Honestly, his blessings wouldn’t apply to you guys at all.’

Perplexed and curious, Maynard asked, ’Why’s that? What’s so unappealing? He’s one of the most powerful gods, so he should have some great benefits.’

Paying attention to Jack’s pained face, Rydel guessed, ’Jack, were you one of Daruun’s followers?’

Unable to deny the claim, Jack slowly answered, ’Yes, I was. But it really would be too difficult to explain his blessings to you, not to mention that it might be impossible to pledge to him nowadays.’

’Why’s that?’ asked Rydel. The captain understood that Jack had good judgment for things like this, but the contradiction of Jack’s words and Jack’s past actions made him hungry to know more.

’Daruun has no temples or shrines. Upon arriving here for the first time, every ancient hero was introduced to ancient Kartonia by the same Daruun. Eventually, he would offer them a chance to pledge to him. Pretty much everyone would turn him down or would later give up adventuring due to his strange and nearly impossible quests. That would be the last time anyone would see Daruun, so it was impossible to pledge a second time,’ explained Jack.

The two veterans were speechless, trying their best to comprehend this Daruun’s strange actions.

Jack saw them struggle to accept Daruun’s mysteriousness and added, ’Like I said, it might be impossible to pledge to him since he never made himself known this time I arrived. And with that option gone, I have no clue which god to follow. At least, we can find you some gods to pass you blessings.’

’Wait, you want to pledge to Daruun again? I thought he was undesirable to any follower?’ inquired Rydel.

Jack sighed, ’If given the chance, I’d like to pledge to him again. His weird blessings would help me with my various achievements, or mini-missions. That’s why he wouldn’t be of any help to you two.’

Finally accepting that Daruun was strange and unfit for them to follow, Rydel finished asking questions while Maynard began to ask about Tyres, the sword god.

Jack briefly described the sword god and the simple blessings he offered to increase the strength of a warrior’s swordsmanship, similar to Jack’s passive sword skill. After exhausting Maynard’s curiosity, Jack verbally returned their conversation to the original topic at hand. "So, it’s decided that I’ll have the resplendent bracer, right?"

"Sure kid," answered Rydel as he tossed the piece of equipment back to Jack.

"This is for the best," said Jack. "Besides, if you did your job too well, I wouldn’t have a distraction to let me enter the palace undetected."

"I guess your right about that," shrugged Rydel. "Anyways, there are a couple of anomalies that I found, and I’d like to briefly discuss them before you slept."

"Then hurry and spit it out," yawned Jack.

"Thanks to that bracer, I was able to enter the outer regions of the palace and I noticed a few things. First off, they’ve got a decent amount of guards there. I only found two lv. 30 guards from my search, but I should be able to sneak past them with a couple of passages I found," stated Rydel.

"That’s good but why do you need my opinion?" asked Jack, trying to hurry through the conversation.

"There’s something strange about the palace’s construction. The cave goblins are roughly half our height, right? But every single door I saw was at least three times the goblin’s height, even the back doors. I can understand the main gates but even the back doors?"

"That is weird," added Maynard. "We know that the palace is fairly new, so ya would think there’s a reason for that."

"Hmm..." Jack thought to himself, wracking his brain for some kind of answer to no effect. "Are there maybe some stables or pens for large beasts and captured monsters? Maybe it’s to allow them inside?"

"I thought the same thing, so I began to search further. There was a building near the back of the place that was most likely filled with different monsters and beasts, but why would they let those beasts in the palace? They’d cause more damage than they would prevent," reasoned Rydel.

"What’s the purpose of having large doors?" Maynard asked somewhat stupidly.

"What do you mean?" asked Rydel.

"Exactly that. What’s the purpose of having large doors?" repeated Maynard.

Stunned by the simple question, Jack took a moment to answer with the same level of simplicity. "To let in large people or things."

Maynard nodded with certainty in himself and replied, "Then there must be something big that goes in and out of the palace."