Second World

Jack did not have the time to wonder about where the voice came from, because the draugr had jumped at him again. He used Shooting Dash to blitz away from the monster, before zooming back and using Flame Strike on it. The pushback force of the strike sent the monster back to the two soldiers.

”Try holding it for real this time!” Jack exclaimed.

”You open the door for real too!” Jonathan retorted back.

Jack turned to the spot where the voice had informed him. It was too high for him. He would need to climb the wall or find something to step on.

”Peniel, do you hear the voice as well?” Jack asked.

”I did,” Peniel was already flying to the mentioned spot.

She looked for a while and finally found the square-shaped stone mentioned by the voice. She pushed at it. Luckily, it didnʼt require too much force so her small body still had enough strength to press.

A rumble was soon heard as the wall started to slowly open again.

When it had opened wide enough, Jack turned to the two soldiers who were still fighting. He cast Magic Bind, which held the draugr for a breath. Jonathan used the chance to execute a skill, his halberd turned into an earth hammer. He slammed this hammer into the draugr who flew away from the impact.

”Letʼs go!” Jack called out as he ran out through the opening with Peniel flying closely. Harper followed soon, while Jonathan stayed on their back to cover their escape. Luckily, the crypt door was still opened, so Jack didnʼt need to spend time using lockpicks again.

The four soon came back out into the graveyard. They looked back at the open crypt door and waited. The draugr didnʼt follow them. They exhaled relief breaths.

”What the hell was that thing?!” Harper exclaimed. ”Why canʼt it die?”

”Never seen that kind of thing before,” Jonathan said. ”Itʼs a good thing you managed to open that secret door. We canʼt fight that creature non-stop.”

”Well, we have to thank our secret helper for that,” Jack uttered.

”Secret helper?” Jonathan asked.

”You guys didnʼt hear the voice that told us how to open the secret door?” Jack asked.

”What voice?” Jonathan asked again.

Harper shook his head.

Jack looked at Peniel.

”Perhaps the voice was only directed at your mind. I heard it as well because I am linked to you,” Peniel gave her opinion.

”Hey! I didnʼt notice this place is foggy when we entered,” Harper mentioned.

The others looked around. Jack and Peniel were familiar with this foggy scene because it was the same as yesterday.

”Crap, get ready for battle again!” Jack exclaimed as he readied his weapon.

”What combat?” Jonathan asked, but he still got into a combat stance. ”For the love of God, one day following you had more excitement than the entire year stationed here.”

The three humans had their backs to each other, covering their blind spots. The two soldiers were not sure what manner of menaces they should expect jumping out of the fog, while Jack was expecting either the cemetery ghouls or the banshee to come out.

”There is no need for such an alert,” Jack again heard the voice of that mysterious hooded stranger, the same one that had informed him how to activate the secret door to escape the draugr.

The hooded stranger then appeared out of the fog as mystically as yesterday.

Jonathan, who noticed the figure, immediately shouted ”Harper, on me!” As he dashed to the stranger.

”Hold!” Jack hurriedly called out and grabbed the soldier to stop him.

”What? Wasnʼt you the one that says there will be a battle?” Jonathan asked.

”He is not an enemy,” Jack replied. The stranger wouldnʼt have helped them escape, otherwise.

”Really? He looks like one to me,” Harper commented.

”Letʼs talk to him first,” Jack said. Then to the stranger, he said, ”Are you the one who let me know how to open the secret door just now?”

”I did,” the stranger replied.

”Why did you help us?”

”I originally didnʼt intend to. An adventurer who doesnʼt know his limit will just be a problem. I have given you a warning the last time. Any other day, I would have left you to your own fate, but I see that you have gained the assistance of the two useless soldiers stationed here. So, I guess you might have some use, after all.”

”Hey! Who the hell did you call useless?!” Jonathan shouted.

The stranger acted as if he didnʼt hear, he continued to speak, ”There is also another reason why I helped you. The situation is now turning to be more urgent than I expected. Although even the three of you are still not strong enough, another two who followed the rumors I spread had arrived. They should be at the tavern by now.”

”Mister, I have no idea what the hell you are spouting about,” Jack said.

”Go to the tavern, you should find the two outsiders there. Convince them to come to the Countʼs mansion tomorrow morning. Do pay attention that you have to arrive before noon! Iʼll explain further once all of you arrive.”

With those last words, the hooded stranger receded into the fog just as he did yesterday.

”Hey, wait! I still have some questions,” Jack yelled as he chased after, but the stranger had vanished again.

”Damn! Two times now! What is this guy with all the mysterious acts?” Jack uttered with vexation.

The fog soon disappeared after the hooded stranger vanished.

”You met the guy before?” Jonathan asked.

”Yeah, yesterday. At this place as well,” Jack answered.

”So, what now?” Harper asked.

Jack gave the matter some thought, then said, ”Letʼs do as he asks. He doesnʼt seem to mean us harm. We will go to the tavern, see if there are the people he mentioned. Then we go to the Countʼs mansion tomorrow.”

”Is that guy the count?” Harper asked.

”His voice is different from the count,” it was Jonathan who answered his partner.

”He could have masked it using some trick or spell, but I too donʼt think he is the count. Have the two of you ever met his son?” Jack asked the two soldiers.

”Yeah, very rarely though. But never heard him speak. The guy is a total loner,” Jonathan replied. ”You think the guy just now is the son?”

Jack shrugged, ”we will find out tomorrow. Letʼs head over to the tavern first.”

”But arenʼt the tavern closed already by night?” Peniel asked.

”Oh, right. It does, thatʼs why we seldom hang around that place at night anymore,” Harker said.

”Letʼs just go anyway. If there is no one there, then that hooded guy was only messing with us,” Jack said, but then he remembered something.

”Oh, before I forget, we need to go to one other place first,” Jack announced as he opened his map.

The town was not big so it just took a little time for him to go from one place to another. He arrived in front of a modest house with a porch. Artificial light brightened the porch, an ancient-looking woman was sitting on a wooden rocking chair on the porch.

ʼLucky! The granny was at home and awake,ʼ Jack thought to himself. This was the oldest person in town who Brad had informed him earlier.

There was still another problem Jack worried about, though. He went up the porch and greeted the woman politely, introducing himself. When the old woman replied to his greeting with a clear response, Jack breathed a relieved sigh. The woman was not senile despite her old age.

Jack first chatted with her about mundane stuff. Jonathan was getting annoyed standing outside seeing the two chatted. After a while, Jack asked the thing he wanted to ask. He asked if he knew of any stranger that came into town and started living in this town when she was little, or if she heard anything from her parents about newcomers that settled into this town before or around the time she was born. This was a small town, so any newcomer should make quite a hot gossip.

The woman thought for a while, it was a lifetime ago, after all. After a while, she said, ”there was indeed someone like that. He arrived here when I was still a baby. I didnʼt remember of course when that person came and started living in this town, I just heard my parent talk about it when I was slightly older.”

”Who is that person?” Jack asked.

”That person died already of course. Almost anyone my age died already,” the woman uttered, Jack felt the sadness in her voice. ”But his descendant still live here till this day. He lived up there in that big house.”

”The Count?” Jack asked.

”I believe thatʼs what people call his descendant now,” the woman replied.

”I thought the townsfolk said that the Countʼs ancestors had lived here since very long ago?”

”I think one hundred years can be considered long,” the woman replied. ”But yes, I also heard tales about the Countʼs ancestors being here since this town was built, which is untrue. That big house used to belong to a wealthy merchant. The countʼs grandfather bought that house and the merchant left. I donʼt know why a rumor spread about the countʼs ancestor living here since the beginning, but I donʼt really care about it. What I know is, the current Countʼs grandfather came here not long after I was born.. He stayed and died here, leaving his son, and now his grandson who is the current Count.”

😉