Second World

He asked about their experiences when they were stricken by the disease. All of them expressed similar ordeals. They were awake but were as if trapped in their own bodies. They experienced hallucinations of every kind, sometimes as blurry as a dream, another time as vivid as reality. While not all the hallucinations were pleasant, there were some moments where it was like having a good dream as well.

All in all, the period by which they had the disease was not a really torturing moment. There was no aftereffect as well, the constant HP decrease stopped once they woke up. They even felt refreshed as their bodies had rested for a few days.

Somehow the disease did not sound as bad as it is, Jack thought. Was it truly an emergency? Why did the quest give him a time limit of two days? Maybe it was because this world system knew he had to leave already with the Dukeʼs army after two days?

He then asked each of them what they had done prior to being sick and how they felt when they first find out that they were sick.

The soldiers gave their stories one by one. Most of them served in different units and did different things. They found out that they were sick when they felt this extreme drowsiness. Their visions became blurry and they started to have difficulty moving. Soon their HP started to ebb away.

Itʼs a good thing that soldiers seldom did things alone. They always had a comrade beside them. It was their comrades that brought them to the infirmary. As the healer woman had informed, the illness was not contagious through touch or air, so the comrades that brought them were perfectly fine. These former patients themselves had no idea how they had contracted the illness.

Jack talked with them some more and bought them a second bottle of ale, but he did not get any important information out of it. Their discussion instead turned into pointless ramblings about the mundane life of a soldier, and how they envied Jackʼs adventurer life. Jack figured he might have bought them a bottle of ale too much.

Jack did not want to waste his time with idle talk. He bid them farewell, with difficulty, as they had become a little bit too friendly. He had to buy them another round again before they let him go. The guide guard also left him as his task was done.

Jack planned to go back to the inn which the Commander had mentioned before, but Peniel told him to go to another place.

ʼWhat portal?ʼ Jack asked as he not quite caught Penielʼs word.

”Zone Portal,” Peniel repeated. ”Go ask a local for a direction.”

ʼZone Portal. Is that place what I think it is?ʼ

”What do you think it is? Speak up. I canʼt hear your thought if you do not project it.”

ʼIs it a place where you can use to instantly teleport to another city?ʼ

”Yes. Once you register at the Zone Portal in this town, you will be able to teleport between this town and the capital of Thereath, with a fee of course.”

ʼAwesome! Then I should ask the others to join me there.ʼ

”No use for them,” Peniel said.

ʼHuh? Why? I thought as long as we have managed to reach another city, we will be able to use this teleport feature.ʼ

”This is true only for major cities, like that Theneward city which they mentioned during the guilds meeting. But for a small town like this, the teleportation function is not open to the public. Only members of the ruling Kingdom faction are allowed to use the Zone Portal.”

ʼOh, luckily I am one such member.ʼ

”Correct. Now you know how special being a member of Kingdom Faction is, donʼt you? There will be more benefits, so you better work hard to climb the ranks.”

No wonder Dylan was very interested to join the kingdom faction as well. The towns he had visited using the caravan must be small towns as well. If he could become a kingdom faction member, he would be able to use the zone portal back to the towns he had visited instead of continuing to rely on the caravan. Even though trade items could not be stored in playersʼ bags, he could still carry as much as he could into this zone portal, which should boost his earnings as long as it didnʼt offset the teleportation fee.

Jack went and asked for the location of this zone portal to one of the locals, which happened to be another soldier. Almost everyone he met in this town was a soldier. This soldier pointed the way to him.

Since it was a small town, it was not as difficult as when he was looking for a place in the capital. He soon found the place, which was an open square with a strange tall structure at its center. The structure was similar to the one in Thereath where he was teleported to when he used the Town Return scroll.

Although the square was an open space, it did not mean the place was open to the public. Fences surrounded the square, and several guards were guarding its four entrances.

Jack approached one of these entrances and was stopped by the guards. Since Peniel had informed him beforehand, he showed his Themisphere Nobility Faction Badge. The guards checked the badge and let him through.

With the aid of Penielʼs instruction, he did not need to ask the guards. He went to the side of the tall structure at the square center and activated the console there. The console scanned his body, before long, he heard notification that he had been registered to the Zone Portal of Thesewal. He could now use the portal anytime he wanted, with a fee depending on his destination.

ʼHow much is the cost to teleport back to the capital?ʼ Jack asked Peniel.

”I canʼt tell for certain, price is a changing matter from time to time, but I reckon should be around 3 or 5 gold coins.”

ʼWow, expensive,ʼ Jack commented.

”Transportation is an expensive affair. This portal can save traveling time and save you the trouble of going through dangerous areas. A couple of gold coins could be considered cheap already for all those savings.”

ʼYou are correct,ʼ Jack agreed. ʼSo I can travel back to the capital now?ʼ

”Do you want to?”

ʼI would very much like to experiment on it.ʼ

”Well, throw away your coins if you want to.”

After being reminded about the coins, Jack said, ”maybe next time then.”

He was still in front of the console and noticed another option on it. The option had the name rebirth stamped on it. Jack asked Peniel about it. She explained that he had the option to register his rebirth place here as well. This option was only for Outworlders. So if they died, they could resurrect here instead of the capital.

”Do you want to register your rebirth place to this town?” Peniel asked.

Jack thought about it for a second, and replied, ʼno. Even though it will be a shorter distance to the expedition army, I will still not be able to rejoin them, considering the high-level monsters in the wilderness. Unless the army decided to come back to pick me up, or if they are not yet too far away. If I need to come to this town again, I will just use the Zone Portal from Thereath to come here.ʼ

After finishing the affair at the Zone Portal, Jack rushed back to the inn. It was a small town, there was only one inn nearby the town gate, so he should find it as easily as when he was looking for the Zone Portal. He wondered if the others were inside the inn already. Should be highly unlikely, the sun was still high in the sky.

But as he approached the town gate, he noticed on his radar many green dots clustered together nearby. He was still in a party with the others, so those green dots were his friends. He saw the place they clustered in was the inn.

They were at the inn already? He was surprised. He went in and saw all his friends lounging in the lobby, chatting with each other. Some even sat on the floor due to insufficient chairs and sofas.

”Yo, boss! Finish with your important noble business?” The Man called out.

”Yeah, bro, donʼt mind us, small people. You go be aristocrat,” Bowler added.

Ignoring their sarcasm, Jack asked, ”What are you people lazying here for? It was still daytime.”

”Dude, this is such a small town. Many areas are even restricted, we only spent an hour to see everything,” Bowler said. ”There are not many shops nor facilities, and the army is resting. We canʼt go out to the wilderness by ourselves because the monsters are too strong. What do you propose us do instead of lazying around here?”

Well, thatʼs true, Jack thought as he scratched his head, and then he thought of an idea. He grinned widely and said to them, ”well then, since you people have got nothing to do. How about giving me a hand?”

😉