Second World

When Jack was being ushered inside the headquarters, he had been sending messages to Jeanny and John, asking them where they were. Since Jack departed late and took normal steed, it was already evening now. Jeanny and the others were already on the move, but they would still take hours to arrive here.

”Is something wrong?” Jeanny asked.

”I donʼt know… Something feels off,” Jack answered.

”We will try to move as fast as we can. We originally plan to move slowly to avoid attention, but if you think we need to arrive earlier, we will do so,” Jeanny said.

After thinking for a while and seeing that he was being brought into the warehouse, Jack sent his reply, ”rush here please.”

But when he sent this last message, he received a notification that his message was unable to be sent.

ʼWhat the…ʼ Jack tried again but received the same notification.

ʼSomething is blocking your messaging system,ʼ Jack heard Peniel say in his mind. She was hiding inside her hidden dimension. Though Unrivaled was an Archmage and was not weird to have a familiar, Peniel was one of a kind. She would get recognized straight away.

Inside the warehouse, Jack was looking at Scarface who was staring back at him with the others. Beside Jack was Stonecleave who made a gesture for him to go to Scarface. Jack walked forward. Though he was sure now that something was wrong, it was also too late to back off. Might as well see what was going on. Hopefully, it was just unnecessary worries.

Jack came before Scarface, who was now a level 45 Archmage. There was a small imp that flew above him. Jack deduced Scarface to have completed his elite class trial on the first try and get Call Familiar spell as well.

Jack asked him, ”What do you need confirmation with?”

Scarface turned and gave Red Death and Yellow Death a glance before returning his attention to Jack. He asked, ”You are level 41 Archmage? For someone with your expertise, isnʼt your level a bit low?”

Jackʼs Archmage was actually still at level 40. Level 41 was referring to his main class, Blade Dancer. When he used the Orb of Disguise, he could set up any class he wanted for a disguise. The orbʼs system only considered his Blade Dancer class when working on the disguise. If he had set up his disguise as a Sentinel, he would be a level 41 Sentinel, following the Blade Dancerʼs class.

”There are some unfortunate setbacks. Why? Is my level a problem?” Jack asked back.

”Well, I have been calling you for some time now. I thought you were busy questing and leveling up so you couldnʼt heed my calls. I must admit Iʼm a bit disappointed when I see your low level,” Scarface said.

”I apologize. Iʼm occupied and couldnʼt reply. I meant no disrespect.”

”Thatʼs okay. But I do have something that weighs on my mind,” Scarface said.

When Scarface didnʼt continue, Jack gave him a questioning look.

Scarface smiled. He said, ”Do you remember when we accepted you into our guild, I mentioned there was another person that is similar to you?”

”You did?” Jack asked, but inside his mind, he said, uh-oh.

Scarface nodded, ”I did. I said that this person had stats too high for his level, which defied the logic of this world. You know what? Turns out this person has two classes. He was a Blade Dancer now. Can you guess what his second class is? Archmage, same as the two of us.”

”He does? How peculiar,” Jack said with a laugh. Scarface laughed with him. Some from the crowds laughed as well, which added to the oddities of the situation. Jack, in the meantime, was already paying attention to the possible exits of this warehouse. There were no visible windows. The door he came in should have been closed. Jack didnʼt turn back to take a look, it would be suspicious, but he was sure that the door was locked already.

”Yes. I also find it peculiar,” Scarface said. ”Now, of course. After finding out that he has two classes, I thought probably you are the same. Thatʼs why you are so strong for a magician back then, perhaps you are hiding a fighter class. Itʼs ok if you donʼt want to tell us. Everyone is entitled to a secret. But what was in my thought at the time was, this is good! If we have a member that has two classes as well, that will be great! We can do a lot of things with such a member.”

Jack shrugged, still laughing. He neither confirmed nor denied it.

”But then, something else came into mind. You see, around a month ago, one of us got his hands on an item, a consumable item, that allowed us to change our appearance, into someone else… And then I started thinking. What is the chance of one person gaining a godly item that gives him two classes? I havenʼt met one except that other person I mentioned, and of course, you. But then again, what if it is actually just… one person? The other one was the same person… in disguise.”

”What are you trying to say?” Jack asked, no longer laughing.

”As I said, I just want to confirm. Have been calling you for a while for this. If my suspicion is true, that will also explain your constant absence,” Scarface answered.

”What do you propose I do to disprove this allegation?” Jack asked.

Scarface took out a magic scroll. He said, ”This is a rare scroll, similar to an invisibility scroll. Havenʼt found a place that sells it. We got this from a boss drops, and only one even after all this time. The spell inside this scroll is called Dispel. It can break away all illusions and disguises.”

ʼIs it true?ʼ Jack asked Peniel in his mind.

ʼIf the spell inside the scroll is as he said. Yes, your disguise will be revealed,ʼ Peniel answered.

”Do you mind if I use this scroll on you?” Scarface asked.

Jack stared at him in silence. The crowd was also in silence. The whole warehouse became eerily quiet.

After what seemed like a long time, Jack said, ”Go ahead.” If he was to be found out either way, better made them lose that Dispel scroll.

Scarface gave Jack a hard stare, before bursting into a laugh. The magic scroll on his hand disappeared back into his bag. He clapped Jackʼs shoulder. ”You passed the test. I am worried for a minute there that you will reject me. But since you agree to it, we can be sure now that you are not Storm Wind.”

”Of course, I am not! How can I be anyone else,” Jack laughed as well. Fully relieved on the inside.

”Come! We have a difficult quest on hand. With your help, we should be able to complete it in no time,” Scarface said as he went to a nearby table. Some papers were scattered on the table.

Jack walked over, but halfway there, he suddenly felt danger coming from his back. He immediately jumped to the side. The range of his jump had seriously increased after becoming a Beastmaster, so he was out of the danger zone from just one jump. When he turned back, he saw Warpath and Grimclaw, standing behind where he stood just now, with their weapons extended.

Warpath was now a level 43 Blade Dancer, he was still using two longswords on both hands. Grimclaw was a level 44 Avenger, he twirled his halberd after missed hitting on Jack.

The rest of the crowd was now spreading out, encircling Jack. Red Death was level 45 now. Yellow Death was level 44, he being one level less than Red Death was probably due to Jackʼs fault. Jack did kill him when he tried to ambush Jack.

”Your instinct is truly troublesome,” Scarface said.

ʼItʼs not instinct, itʼs mana sense,ʼ Jack thought. To Scarface, he said, ”I thought I passed the test?”

”There is no test,” Scarface said. ”Iʼm pretty certain you are who I think you are. I just thought we can get a drop on you by having you lower your guard. In the case Iʼm wrong, well, doesnʼt matter losing one member who never presents anyway.”

”Are you truly Storm Wind?” Red Death asked.

Jack looked at her. Guess the cat was out of the bag now, Jack thought. He deactivated the orb of disguise and returned to his original appearance. Some from the crowd gasped. Probably some still have a problem believing it.

”As expected. This explains how Saint John knew we were coming for him after the top guilds meeting,” Earmouth said.

ʼHe was already expecting you people to come at him,ʼ Jack said inwardly, but he didnʼt bother to explain.

”Fine, letʼs get this show started,” Jack said as he brandished his sword and magic staff. ”You should have assembled more people, or call in those native soldiers. These numbers are hardly an exercise for me.”

Jack then cast Magic Weapon spell, or at least tried to cast. No spell formation appeared.

”Huh?”

Seeing Jackʼs puzzled expression, Scarface said, ”You just tried to cast a spell, didnʼt you? Hehe. Do you think we are going to take you on without preparation? Not only spells, but you wonʼt be able to use any skills as well!”

😉