Second World

After leaving the Temple of Courage, Jack went to where Domon and Leavemealone were at. He was surprised to find Jet was also there. He was sparring with Leavemealone.

Jack greeted them before looking for a corner and did his own training. He was applying what he had learned inside the Ancient Battleground to control the mana in each of his fist strikes and kicks.

”You are training unarmed style? Jack boy?” Jet came to ask. He had finished a sparring session and let Leavemealone train by himself for now.

”He is not, canʼt you feel his control over his mana?” Domon said, he also came by when he saw Jack practicing.

”Now that you mentioned it, you are right. You are starting to get it,” Jet said.

”He still fails one out of ten, though,” Peniel informed the two.

”It was a big improvement already,” Domon said. ”He only started to seriously learn mana sensing several months ago. Now he is already starting mana manipulation.”

”Yeah, remember how long it used to take us?” Jet said.

”The condition of this world is also a big factor. With the right teachings, the youths here can learn this technique faster.”

”Gramps, got any tips for me?” Jack asked as he practiced his punches.

”I can only say that you are on the right path. Everyone has their own way of communicating with mana. You have to find your way. Remember that there is no shortcut in martial arts, just relax and keep repeating your training until the executions become as natural as you are in lifting your arms.”

Jack nodded, he had expected that.

He practiced until late at night, while Peniel and Carnelia went somewhere together again. Jack wanted to continue but after seeing his grandfather and Leavemealone were still there as well, he decided to quit and told them, ”the two of you have a match tomorrow morning. Letʼs go back to rest.”

Leavemealone acted like he didnʼt hear. Only when Domon told him to stop did he obey and left. Leavemealone went to the building for the vampire guests while Jack and Domon left for the building for the human guests.

On their way, they saw Princess Purple hanging out in one of the gardens, enjoying the view. She had always spent the nighttime at this place, Selena was sitting close by. There was an open garden as well in the building they stayed in, but she probably didnʼt like being there because others were using that garden as well. It was pretty clear that she disliked being around other people. She only went back to the building when it was time to sleep.

Domon greeted the two ladies, Jack only greeted Selena. He greeted Princess Purple before, but the girl acted as if she didnʼt hear, so Jack didnʼt bother to do it the second time. Domon was also given the cold shoulder every night, but he carried on greeting her every time he passed by.

After they passed the two, Domon said to Jack, ”Do you sense that?”

”Yes, what do you think its intention?” Jack replied.

”I canʼt think of anything good considering it concealed itself like that.”

”Letʼs sneak back.”

Domon agreed. The two then took a roundabout way back to where the two women were at.

*

Princess Purple was gazing at the full moon above.

”Itʼs so pretty here,” she said.

”It is,” Selena replied.

”I hope the life here is permanent. I have no interest in going back to that old and disgusting world from before.”

”The past world was ugly because of us humans. From the looks of it, we all come here. Sooner or later, we will bring that ugliness here as well.”

”Do you want to go back?” Princess Purple asked Selena. ”If you can.”

Selena gave the matter some thought before answering, ”If we are allowed the choice. No, I donʼt want to.”

”Me too,” Princess Purple said.

Suddenly a thick beam of energy shot past right next to Princess Purple. It gave the girl a terrible scare that she yelped.

A figure jumped out from a nearby bush and made a strong downward kick. The kick hit the ground with a loud impact sound. Princess Purple turned at this person and saw it was Domon. His back was to her at the moment. Selena had run over to Princess Purpleʼs side.

”What is the meaning of this?” She uttered to Domon, demanding an explanation.

Domonʼs back was still to them. ”There is an assassin here. He almost stabbed Purple just now.”

”What?” Selena uttered.

”What nonsense! There is nobody here except us. What is your angle, you disgusting old man? Donʼt assume us to be gullible little girls!” Princess Purple proclaimed.

Domon didnʼt reply. He still had his back on them.

The ground before him suddenly brightened and crimson chains shot out. The chains swerved around as if trying to grab something. One of them made a clanging sound and was deflected as if hitting a hard object. At the same time that happened, a man in a black cloak materialized. This man had deflected the crimson chain using his dagger.

Both Selena and Princess Purple gasped. Domon had told the truth. Domon didnʼt move from his position, he stayed with the two women at his back. It was clear that his stance was to protect the two.

The cloaked assassin jumped back away from the reach of Myriad Ensnaring Chains.

”Tsk!” The cloaked assassin uttered.

”Itʼs you!” A voice was heard from the side. The cloaked assassin looked to his side and saw a person come out from behind a tree. The person was Jack.

”You?!” The assassin also uttered, clearly recognizing Jack.

”Itʼs good that you are here. Itʼs time for me to get you back for what you did, Oswald!” Jack uttered as he lunged forward.

”Hmph! I have failed the second I showed myself. Goodbye!” Oswald replied as thick white smoke exploded from where he was standing.

”Donʼt think that you can hide from…” Jackʼs words stopped because Oswaldʼs presence had disappeared inside the smoke.

”Vanish?” Jack thought out loud, but he didnʼt sense Oswald nearby. Vanish only brought the user ten meters away. He should still be able to sense him if he was within that distance.

”He could be using a ten-stars grade Vanish. That max-grade Vanish sent the user twenty meters away,” Peniel explained.

”Twenty meters. If he is that far then I canʼt sense him,” Jack said.

”Whatʼs going on here?!” They turned and saw two golden armored knights approaching.

”A battle has occurred here, explain yourselves!” The two knights said to the four players.

Selena came forward and explained everything.

”An intruder? The lead knight frowned. Wait here!” One of the knights left and the other one stayed. Not long after, that knight came back with Callan and Pallas.

When the two arrived, Callan said with a gentle voice, ”Iʼve heard the report from my knight, but do you mind iterating what had happened here again?”

Selena did the explanation again.

After hearing the story, Callan told his knights, ”Gather the others and performed a sweep! I want this intruder found!”

”Yes, Your Holiness!” The knights uttered and left. As they left, Myson came by.

He said to Callan once arrived, ”Your Holiness, I want to report. Our border barrier just detected a forced exit.”

Callan frowned hearing it. ”It must be the intruders, he has escaped.”

”I know who that assassin is,” Jack said.

”Tell us!” Pallas commanded.

”His name is Oswald. He is a member of the Assassins Guild.”

”Assassins Guild? How dare they! I will go and raze their place!” Pallas boomed.

Callan calmed the divine champion down. ”It is possible this assassin is doing a side job not sanctioned by the guild. They should know not to cross us. Anyway, I will contact their leader and demand an explanation.”

”I am more worried how this assassin can slip into our territory undetected. Our border barrier should have warned us if someone tries to enter forcefully,” Myson said.

Callan looked at the players and said, ”Iʼm sorry this has happened under our roof. We have truly failed as a host. Please accept my deepest apology. Please return to your quarter now. I will place sentries there. I guarantee no one will be able to get near you again without being noticed. You have my words.”

The four players nodded and walked back. Two knights with golden armor were escorting them.

After Jack and Domon entered their room, Jack said, ”I think I know how that assassin entered this place.”

”Oh? Then why donʼt you say anything just now?” Domon asked.

”If I do that, there is a chance they might postpone the matches, or disqualify our opponents.”

”How so?”

”I think that Oswald came together with the group that participated in this tournament. He entered together with one of the nativeʼs entourage, using a disguise or something. He must have been commissioned to take out the healer of the team that goes into the final, which is us. None of us wears Amulet of Rebirth since we feel safe. If Purple was taken out, then she was out for good. I doubt this council will let us bring another healer from the outside. They might let one of the human participants from the individual match replace the missing member, but a healer is the most crucial piece in team composition. A team without a healer has a much lower chance of winning against a team with one.”

”So, you are saying the assassin is sent by the orc or the vampire sides to jack up their team matchʼs winning chance?”

”That is my guess.”

”Only one of them should be the perpetrator, right? Why go after us when their own team is not yet certain to go to the final? Why not target their direct competitor first?”

”Now, that is something I am not clear about as well. Perhaps they know for sure that they will win against their current opponent? The one they have no confidence in is against the human team? But this move is pretty smart also. This way, we donʼt know whether it is the orc or the vampire who has hired that assassin. Probably thatʼs why they hired a human race assassin as well, to prevent us from knowing which race is responsible.”

”Hm… Now, I understand why you didnʼt tell Callan about this. Good! A man should not take the easy way.”

”I actually donʼt mind the easy way, but I just feel like kicking their butts after seeing their dirty tricks.”

😉