Second World

Jack let him ordered to his heartʼs content just to shut him up. It was another five minutes before Jeanny arrived. She brought four people along. All of them were the friends who had come with her to the Crestfall Plain before. They are Giant Steve, Viral Cora, Salty Trade, and the annoying Swellgoing.

Swellgoing was still flashing Jack a hostile gaze when he entered. Salty Trade and Swellgoing had also become advanced class, probably thatʼs why Jeanny took them. Jack was disappointed to not see Trinity Dawn with them. She was said to be an expert, she would have been a good help if she could join.

Jeanny had also reached level 21, the same as Giant Steve. Viral Cora was level 20. Salty Trade had become a level 19 Archer, while that annoying Swellgoing was a level 20 Mage.

Everyone had improved. Jack felt slightly despondent, he still remembered when his level put everyone to dust. Now everyone had caught up already, and might even leave him behind if he slacked off.

”Why did you bring him?” Jack said to Jeanny once she got near. He was referring to Swellgoing. ”I understand you brought him since he is an advanced class already, but didnʼt I also said that you should bring only people that are trustable?”

Swellgoing was obviously riled when he heard Jackʼs words. ”Are you trying to pick a fight?!” He exclaimed.

”Did you already forget how I whoop your ass before?” Jack retorted.

”Please donʼt quarrel,” Jeanny mediated. ”He might be impulsive, but I trust him. You can trust him as well, you have my word.”

”If it is your word. Fine, then I will give him a chance,” Jack said.

”Iʼm here because I donʼt trust you!” Swellgoing exclaimed. ”I donʼt know what scheme you have for sister Jeanny, but I will make sure you do not take advantage of her!”

Jack shot him an irritated glance, ”donʼt push it, man. Donʼt make me kick you out of here. Just sit at the corner and be quiet.”

Swellgoing was about to retort, but Jeanny stop him. ”Go take a seat,” she said to him. He grumbled as he followed her instruction.

”Trinity Dawn is not coming?” Jack asked Jeanny after.

”She was in the middle of a quest, but she will be free tomorrow. If you need her as well and she was willing, I will pass on the message to her,” Jeanny replied.

”What about the other three that were with you at the Crestfall Plain? They were still at basic class?”

”They were taking their advanced class trials as we speak. I think they should have a good chance of passing. This is their second attempt after all.”

”Can we start already whatever this gathering is for? Yours truly here does not have all the time in the world,” John said.

”You can just piss off if so, no one forced you to stay!” Bowler snapped at him.

”Minor character should not make so much noise,” John quipped back.

”Okay, everyone, please be quiet!” Jack stood up and clapped his hands, stopping the bickering of those two before it got out of hand.

He walked to the center of the room so everyone could hear him equally. Everybody was leaning forward as they anticipated Jackʼs words.

Jack cleared his throat before uttering, ”anyone fancies a road trip?”

Everyone was silent as they stared at Jack. Some turned to the closest person next to them, unsure of what to make of it.

”Boss, you are such a lousy public speaker,” The Man said.

”Friend, canʼt you at least give us an introduction and a content first before going into the invitation?” John added.

”I told you this is a waste of time,” Swellgoing said to Jeanny.

”This is embarrassing to watch,” Peniel joined in as more clamors were heard.

”All right, settle down!” Jack exclaimed as he pulled out his sword and staff.

The room quieted down after the gesture.

Seeing everyone got their cools again, Jack stored his weapons and said, ”sorry, I was actually nervous myself. Never did this before. I usually did the joining instead of recruiting. All right, letʼs get to the point. I have a quest that requires me to go out far far away from this capital.”

”How far?” Someone asked.

”Very far. Around two weeks travel from here.”

”Two weeks? Are we going to another town?”

”Not really, but Iʼm sure we should see one or two on our way,” Jack answered the question but at the same time he also asked Peniel in his mind, ʼwill we be passing any towns on the way?ʼ

”There will be a couple of nearby towns on the way, just small ones though. Iʼm not sure if the route the army takes will be passing those towns. But considering it was the army traveling, they should stop by in at least one of this town to resupply.”

Another town, Jack could sense the othersʼ interest was piqued already.

Swellgoing on the other hand, was not impressed. He said to Jeanny, ”donʼt listen to him, sister Jeanny. There has not been anyone that has made the cross to another town. Even the guilds still not yet succeed in this. There is no way he can travel to one. He is just making a false claim and is just planning to use us for his own quest. I told you he is not the type that can be trusted.”

Jack gave the guy a sharp stare, ”man, you truly are an annoying jerk. You have only met me on two brief occasions, and you talked as if you know me already. You are like those incompetent businessmen who like to spread bad rumors on your competitorsʼ products just to tone down the competition. You choose to spend your time making trouble for others instead of using that precious time to hone your skills and crafts. If you feel so insecure, then you should work harder, rather than complaining about some imaginary competition which I am not even interested in.”

”Who are you calling insecure?” Swellgoing felt humiliated.

”What are you two competing about?” Jeanny asked.

Viral Cora shook her head and muttered, ”big sis, you are so oblivious.”

”I need to ascertain several points first for this recruitment,” John said as he lifted his hand.

”This is not a classroom, why do you lift your hand?” Bowler mocked.

”All right, everybody, pipe down! John, please say your mind,” Jack immediately took hold of Johnʼs question. At least someone was staying on the main point.

John showed his forefinger as he answered, ”first, what is the benefit for us to follow you on this trip. Second, how do you estimate the possible danger associated with this trip? Third, you said the travel to the destination needs two weeks, but how long exactly will your quest be? I donʼt believe we are to go back by ourselves once we help you reach that destination. Fourth, this trip will require us to stock many potions amongst other things, since we will be away from the capital and there is no guaranteed place to get a restock. Will you be supplying these necessary supplies for the trip? Fifth, what is the benefit for us in helping you?”

His palm with five fingers was exposed as his hand hung in the air, representing the five points he had just brought up.

”Dude, you mentioned the same point about benefit twice,” Bowler said to him.

”I know. It is the most important point, so it has the right to be mentioned twice,” John replied.

”I will answer the first slash fifth point together with the second point,” Jack said. ”You will get the chance to fight higher level and higher grade monsters along the way to get their experience and loots without the danger that come with such usual encounter.”

His listeners seemed to be rather puzzled by his statement.

”Elaborate please,” John said.

”The reason why there will be no danger when going against such monsters is because we will be piggy-backing with the army of Themisphere.”

”Army?” They all said out in a chorus.

Jack then told them about the nature of his quest. That it was to accompany a high-ranking noble to a faraway ruin located outside the border of Themisphere country. The noble would be bringing a small army in this expedition. They could tag along as they make their way to the ruin.

”How the heck did you managed to get this kind of epic quest?” Giant Steve who had been quiet all this time spoke.

Jack showed them his Themisphere Nobility Faction Badge and said with a grin, ”because I am a noble myself.”

Everyone started using inspect on his badge and found out that it came with the title Baron. The crowd looked at him with wide eyes. Flame, Bowler, and The Man had known that he had joined the Kingdom Nobility faction, so they were less surprised. But the fact that Jack had managed to become a Baron was still astonishing to them.

😉