Second World

”Are you waiting for me?” Jack asked, he didnʼt peg the vampire as one who bothered to say farewell. He then realized it was noon, the rare moment when sunlight hit the town. ”Are you not bothered by the sunlight?”

”It discomforts me a little,” Arlcard replied. ”But not as before, it seemed my vampire fatherʼs archaic blood had boosted my resistance against sunlight.”

”Good for you,” Jack said. ”I hope peace returned to this town. Itʼs good knowing you but Iʼm afraid I have to leave this fine town.”

”I can see that,” Arlcard said. He then took out something small. Jack wondered what it was but then he realized that he recognized the thing.

”That…”

”I have been thinking a lot about this since yesterday,” Arlcard said. ”If you have decided to keep that Book of the Damned, this thought wouldnʼt have even crossed my mind. But since you didnʼt, I figure you are someone that can be trusted. Seeing you hold your own during our fight against my vampire father also proved your prowess.”

Arlcard held out the small thing to Jack. It was his Companion Token.

”Are you sure about this? You can finally live a peaceful life here. Being my companion will be far from peaceful,” Jack said.

Arlcard smiled. ”Ever since I was turned, I have no illusion that my life will be peaceful. I still have some things I need to do and I will require power for that. The saying is that being an outworlderʼs companion gives us the ability to grow faster. I might have looked for one after dealing with my vampire father, you simply come at the right time.”

”Well, since that is the case, I wonʼt be courteous,” Jack said. He went ahead with the process of sealing the token with himself. After the process was done, he accepted the token.

”I will depend on you from now on,” Jack said.

”As with me,” Arlcard replied.

Jack summoned Pandora and rode off.

”You are very lucky, you know,” Peniel said after they left.

”I know,” Jack replied without any expression.

Peniel gave him an annoyed look. She said, ”What I meant is, that Arlcard might not stay as rare elite for long.”

”Oh? You mean his grade will increase?” He finally turned to Peniel.

”For a vampire like him to grow to a special elite grade without drinking any human blood is exceptional. Perhaps Aubelard truly saw something in his blood lineage that prompted him to turn Arlcard into a vampire. He had drunk quite an amount of Aubelardʼs blood while under the effect of Ancient Blood Awakening Potion. I donʼt think his sudden rise to a rare elite is simply because of Aubelardʼs blood, it could simply be a trigger over his hidden potential. Anyway, I wonʼt be surprised if his grade is higher the next time we see him.”

A mythical-grade vampire companion? Perhaps this was some sort of hidden reward of that SS quest, Jack thought excitedly.

It took Jack three days to arrive at a town with a zone portal. From there, he teleported to Tranviste. He headed directly to the City Hall. After going through the same procedure as last time, he was brought to Caleb Lucien. Horatio Maxius was also there again. This time they were inside a smaller office room instead of the large main hall where they first met.

Horatio was sitting behind a large desk which Jack supposed should be Calebʼs. Caleb instead sat at a large sofa by the side.

”Seeing you return here, I presume you come with good news, I hope?” Horatio said with a smile.

”I do,” Jack replied. ”Canʼt say so for the first and second princeʼs representatives, thought.”

”You met them?” Horatio asked, his smile never waned. Caleb, on the other hand, had his eyebrows raised hearing Jackʼs words.

”More than met. You can say they will never be able to come here anymore, or anywhere else for that matter.”

Caleb gave a mocking laugh, ”Are you trying to tell us you defeated them? You, who is only level 37?”

ʼHm? He knows my exact level?ʼ Jack asked in his mind.

ʼThere should be an enchantment that unveils all illusion or camouflage effect in this city hall,ʼ Peniel replied silently.

Jack did feel strange mana-flow in this building, he thought it was only for a defensive purpose.

”Letʼs say I am more than meet the eyes,” Jack replied to Calebʼs mocking with a not so humble manner.

”You certainly are,” Horatio said. ”Now, can you show us that you are successful when your two competitors have not?”

Jack saw that Horatio was unfazed by the fact that Jack knew he was playing all three sides of Themisphereʼs power struggle. He guessed this type of scheme was considered normal in politics.

”I found Aubelardʼs location, but there is no need for you to go look for him anymore,” Jack said.

Caleb frowned, ”We will be the ones to decide what we need or donʼt. What you need to do is just tell us his location.”

”I said you no need to go look for him because he is no longer alive,” Jack said.

It was Horatio who frowned now, breaking his cool expression since Jack first came into the room. ”Where is his body? We will still need to go check.”

”There is no need to. I know what you after,” Jack pull out the Book of the Damned.

Both Horation and Caleb stood up.

”I see from your reactions that this is indeed the thing you want?” Jack said.

”Give it to us!” Caleb commanded.

Horatio signaled for Caleb to calm down. The vampire princeʼs charming smile returned. He said to Jack, ”That is indeed what we want. That book belongs to the Maxius family. It was stolen by that traitor Aubelard. The fact that you come back to us revealing that book means that you are willing to give it back to us? Or do you want something else in return?”

The book was still in Jackʼs hand. Horatio knew that unless Jack was taken by surprise when the book was exposed, he would not be able to use force to get it from Jack. Jack could return the book into his storage bag with a thought. Even if he killed Jack, the book would either stay with him if he wore Amulet of Rebirth or would be gone for good if he didnʼt. The chance of the book dropping was slim. Horatio was not willing to take the chance.

There was one thing Horatio found reassuring, the book was not yet linked to anyone. He could sense it.

”You are right, I donʼt mind giving it to you. This means I have accomplished my objective and your cooperation with Prince Alonzo is secured, correct?” Jack asked.

”You have my word. I will show full support to the third prince of Themisphere,” Horatio replied.

Jack nodded, then added, ”still, I did more than I was asked. I suppose I deserve a bit extra, donʼt you say?”

Horatio laughed. ”It certainly is. Come with me.”

Jack stored the Book of the Damned and followed after Horatio. Caleb was trailing behind, Jack felt as if the guy was there to make sure that he didnʼt escape. They arrived in front of a double door that had a rune diagram etched on it.

Horatio made a gesture to Caleb who then unlocked the door. When the door opened, Horatio said, ”This is the city hall treasury. You may choose one item inside.”

”What is the highest grade of the items inside?” Jack asked.

”Super rare,” Caleb answered.

”Iʼm going to give you a Legendary grade item. It seemed like such an unfair trade, donʼt you think?” Jack said.

”Itʼs not a trade, itʼs a reward,” Horatio said. ”Fine, you can choose two items.”

”How about three?” Jack asked.

Horatio gave Jack a cold stare without replying.

”Okay, okay, two then,” Jack said. He brought the Book of the Damned back out and handed it to Horatio.

The vampire prince was confounded. He thought Jack would only give him the book after getting the items inside. In Jackʼs mind though, he would still hand over the book even if Horatio didnʼt reward him anything extra. Jack was bringing the book here for Arlcardʼs sake, after all, not for a reward. If he wanted a reward, the legendary book itself was the most valuable item. So, whatever he got inside the treasury would just be a bonus.

Jack went into the treasury, followed by Caleb. There were a whole lot of items inside. If he had to use Inspect on every single one, he might need to spend a night here.

He was about to say, ”Okay, Peniel. Work your magic,” but the words failed from coming out of his mouth when his eyes noticed something he recognized.

He came over to where the thing was and used Inspect to make sure. It was indeed the Ancient Blood Awakening Potion. He wouldnʼt need this item normally but now that he had a vampire companion, this item could boost his companionʼs power during a critical situation.

”I will take this one!” Jack declared.

He then went to another item close to the potion, which he also recognized. He used Inspect as well to make sure.

Vampire-slaying knife (Unique consumable)

Only usable on vampire race.

Kill any vampire below the archaic rank

Incapacitate archaic vampire for 30 seconds

Useless against ancient vampires

😉