Second World

Since tricking and goading were not successful, Jack decided to just attack. The worse was simply dying and losing one level, he still had the Immortal Soul he could count on. He cast Mana Bullet and jumped to the side, just as a knife flew past where he had been. Oswald had also made his move the second Jack attacked.

Several knives fleeted over, Jack never stopped moving sideways alongside the edge of the gorge as he parried and slashed at the incoming knives as he shot ranged attacks at Oswald.

The two continued to compete in range attacks, with Jack at an obvious disadvantage. Still, Jack was glad the assassin didnʼt execute the move he had used when he decimated the Mouseant swarms or when he killed Jackʼs stallion. Probably those skills had a long cooldown, he would have been one shot if Oswald used them.

Jack suffered a few knife stabs when he was forming a spell formation. The ground underneath Oswald flared up as Jack cast Arcane Turbulence. Oswald suddenly vanished when the torrents of energy spiraled up.

”Surprise!” Oswald uttered as he suddenly appeared in front of Jack. He stabbed forward and his dagger thrust through Jackʼs chest. Oswald frowned.

”Surprise!” Oswald heard Jackʼs voice behind him while Jackʼs image in front of him turned blurry.

Jack had activated Dragonʼs Eye the moment Oswald vanished from inside the Arcane Turbulenceʼs area. He had expected a high-level assassin like Oswald was sure to have a high-grade evasive skill. Thatʼs why Jack didnʼt bother to use Lightning God Barrage. No matter how strong an attack was, it was useless if it didnʼt hit the target.

Without the Dragonʼs Eyeʼs ability to slow his perceptionʼs time, Jack would have been stabbed by Oswald as the assassinʼs stabbing speed was so fast that it was as if his dagger had reached his body the moment the assassin appeared. With the time slowed, Jack could see the stab and used Flash Step to avoid the deadly strike.

Oswald was just about to move aside when a ring of light locked his body. Jackʼs Dragonʼs Eye allowed him to cast in extreme speed, so he used Magic Bind to stop Oswaldʼs movement. He then sent Flame Strike to the assassinʼs back.

Oswald still managed to tilt his body and blocked the strike using his dagger, but the force of impact still pushed his body away. He was sent flying into the gorge.

”Yes!” Jack exclaimed victoriously. ”I did it! Canʼt believe it really wo–”

His words were cut abruptly when a shining rope shot out and bound one of his legs. He then felt his body getting yanked forcefully. He was unable to prevent himself from being pulled into the gorge and down into the fogged abyss below.

His mind performed a quick-thinking as his hand thrust Storm Breaker into the wall of the gorge. The sword pierced deep into the wall and held his fall. Jack used two hands to hold onto the sword. He was not only holding his own weight, but the shining rope was still tying his leg and he could feel the weight of another person at the end of that rope.

That weight suddenly disappeared, replaced by rapid footsteps. Jack glanced down and was astonished to see Oswald was running along the gorge wall vertically towards him.

With the extra weight gone, Jack released his left hand and summoned his magic staff back. He then sent rapid shots at the assassin. Oswaldʼs two arms swung with high speed, cutting every shot Jack sent at him. The assassin then gave a powerful kick at the wall and his body zoomed past Jack.

Jack looked up as the assassin was now above him. He could still catch the assassinʼs face that was grinning at him as he kicked the sword at Jackʼs hand. Jack watched in dismay as his Storm Breaker was forcibly ripped out of the gorgeʼs wall.

The force of the kick sent Jack away from the wall while at the same time gave Oswald the push to run further up. Jack saw the assassin arrived safely back up to the edge of the gorge while he plunged further into the depth of the abyss.

The sight above was soon covered by thick fogs as he continued to drop. He could not see anything around him. He didnʼt know which side the gorge wall was at. But even if he could, his position was already too far to be able to stab into it again for a handheld.

The fog became thinner and he looked down. The vision of a rapidly approaching ground entered his view. Everything became black soon.

He had a thought during that brief darkness. ʼDid I die? There was no pain from the fall. It just happened too fast. Well, luckily I have the Immortal Soul. Finally, that skill is put to use. I will revive in the capital anytime now. That Warren piece of shit! Iʼm going to get him back for this. He is the only magistrate I know that has a grudge with me.ʼ

He could feel his body again. He opened his eyes, expecting to see the sight of the capital. But what entered his view was a dim barren landscape with fogs preventing the distant views.

He looked around, trying to make sure.

”Iʼm still at the bottom of the gorge? Did I survive the fall?” He asked, to no one in particular, but Penielʼs voice answered him from above.

”You are still at the bottom of the gorge, and you did not survive the fall.”

Jack looked up and saw the fairy floating down.

”Check your immortal soul, it should be on cooldown,” Peniel said.

Jack opened his status window. That inherent skill was indeed on cooldown. There was a timer beside it indicating that it was still 23 hours and 58 minutes before the skill was active again.

After realizing he had truly experienced death, he promptly checked his inventories and other statuses. He realized that his God-eye monocle was missing. He looked around and found it on the ground not far from him. In a way, it could be said as good luck that he revived at the place he died, so he didnʼt have to come all the way here to pick this up.

No other thing was missing from his bag and equipment. Apparently, only the monocle was special. All his other skills, talents, titles, even his race age were still the same as before. The only thing that changed was his level. The Immortal Soul made it so that the penalty was only 50% experience of his current level. Since he had only leveled up both his classes not long ago, the 50% cut made his warrior level go back down to level 28 and his magician to level 27.

He thought at first the reduced experience from Immortal Soul would only eat up all his experience without reducing level, it seemed to not be the case. But at least he didnʼt lose a full level like the normal death in a safe zone, just a half one, so it would take him less time to return to his previous level.

After making sure there was nothing to be concerned about his status, Jack studied his environment again. It seemed like an empty place with nothing.

”This is the Valley of Tempus? It really seemed devoid of anything,” He commented.

”Well, no one ever returned alive from here, so nothing was ever recorded,” Peniel said.

”So, even you donʼt know whatʼs in this place?”

The fairy just shrugged.

”I thought Iʼm going to revive back in Thereath. How come Iʼm still back here after dying? Ainʼt we supposed to get our rebirth in our registered safe zone?”

”That should be the case. But this place is strange, the mana flow around this place is very slow. It feels completely different from the world outside. Perhaps what the locals said about this place is true, those that fall here will not return back up again. Maybe thatʼs why you canʼt revive back in Thereath.”

Jack took out a Town Return Scroll to test the theory. He received the notification that the scroll was unusable due to this place being a restricted zone.

”Are you kidding me? Donʼt tell me I have to spend the rest of my life down here!” Jack was horrified by the thought.

”Hey, itʼs not like I want to be here as well. If you donʼt go back up, I will be stuck down here with you as well,” Peniel uttered.

”All right, letʼs calm down. There should be a way up. Every area in a game is designed with an entrance and exit. If we can come in here, there should be a way out as well. We just have to find it.”

”Although I donʼt like you referring to this world as a game, you are right, there should be a way out. So letʼs start searching already.”

”How about you fly up there and see how high we have fallen? Maybe we can make a rope by tying vines together or something and you can tie it with something sturdy up there for me to climb.”

”Canʼt do that. Have tried to fly up, but it is as if something is blocking me. I canʼt get through that fog.”

Jack had a prudent thought to stay still at this place at first, at least until his Immortal Soulʼs cooldown was over. There was nothing on his radar, so it should be safe. If he started wandering around, he might meet monsters that were out of his league. If he was killed again, then it would really be game over for him.

But as immediate as the thought surfaced, he cast it away. Ever since he started playing games, prudent was never his style. Going into the unknown, venturing into new worlds, fighting new opponents. That kind of thrills had been what made him so captivated with gaming. He was not going to change now just because the stake was higher.

He walked around in a circle at first. He had fallen not far from the wall of the gorge, but due to the fog, he could not see clearly, but it should be nearby. Once he found the wall, then he would figure out a way to climb it.

ʼStrange,ʼ he thought. He had been increasing the radius that he traveled, but there was still no wall in sight. ʼNo way I got blew so far away from the wall, right? I didnʼt feel that much draft when I fell.ʼ

As he walked further and further, he suddenly caught movements on his radar. Red dots! Lots of them.. Heading his way.

😉