Cursed Immortality

Geko frowned ever so slightly hearing Jacob's impassive tone and coldly replied, "I'm the group leader of the Wind Bringer Mercenary Group and the sixth leader of the sixth vanguard team of All Alive Alliance, Geko." 

'A mercenary from the bank, huh? Since he's a vanguard leader, he might be pretty high up on the ladder…' Jacob thought as a flash of coldness flashed past his eyes because of his deep grudge against Lucy. 

"I don't have a grand background nor titles; I'm just a Nobody." Jacob nonchalantly replied. 

Viciousness shone in Geko's beastly eyes, "Are you messing with me?" 

Jacob chuckled coldly, "I don't intend to. Anyway, since you are here and met me, how about we join up? I'm sure you don't want to tread in these unknown lands alone, right? We can help each other out." 

'So, he at least knew the significance behind my status…' Geko disdainfully thought and said, "Why should I trust a desperado like you? You've clearly entered this place without alerting the All Alive Alliance. You should know it's my duty to get rid of ruffians like you." 

Jacob didn't show any reaction as he coolly said, "Alright, you can be petty, and I'm going to leave. If you have skills, try to uphold your so-called duty."

Geko's eyes widened slightly when he heard Jacob's fearless reply, and anger surfaced. It was the first time that some nobody had talked to him this way, and he felt humiliated when Jacob clearly taunted him with the 'duty'. 

It was quiet that Jacob had easily seen through his sham of playing hard to get and thus becoming the leader among them. Geko's instincts were very sharp, and he knew just how dangerous this giant was, so he didn't want to attack Jacob from the start but just declared his superiority. 

But it seemed to be not working anymore. 

'I'll deal with you once I find more members.' In the end, Geko spoke coldly when he saw Jacob walking away, "Hmph, very well, let's move together." 

Jacob's lips curled ever so slightly under his mask before he turned toward Geko again and said, "Everything we found will be distributed 50/50. If a danger appeared that could threaten our lives, then this alliance would be over. That's are my terms." 

Geko narrowed his eyes, but he didn't find Jacob's terms unreasonable. In fact, he wanted to say the same, with the exception of that 50/50 distribution part. But he decided to go along with it for now until he fully measured Jacob's strength. It won't be too late to renegotiate the terms again. 

"Very well." Geko nodded, but he didn't let his guard down. 

Jacob's eyes shone with a peculiar glint as he moved toward the edge of the mountaintop where Geko was standing. 

Geko silently stepped aside as Jacob was coming towards the fallen snow monster, and when he saw what Jacob did, his eyes widened with astonishment. Jacob stowed away the entire body before he said, "Food supplies. You can have half of it after we find a place to rest." 

With a strange glint in his eyes, Geko shook his head, "Help yourself. I have plenty of rations." 

"More for me, I guess." Jacob shrugged his shoulder and finally looked around. 

The view from the top of the mountain was breathtaking as they were surrounded by snow mountains. The falling snow was making it hard to see so far. 

At this moment, Jacob suddenly noticed a strangeness far west. He said to Geko, who was also observing his surroundings, "What do you make of that?" 

Geko looked over, and his eyes narrowed when he saw a silhouette of a humongous mountain enshrouded by snow, "Do you think we should head towards it?" 

"It's qualified to be a goal. Tell me how big a trial plain can get?" Jacob asked again. 

Geko gave him a strange look as he said, "Don't tell me you just enter without even researching the basics?" 

"I like adventures, and where's the fun in an adventure if you already know your destination?" Jacob coolly said, "Now, just answer the question." 

Geko was speechless as he replied, "You're an odd one, I give you that. A trial plain can be as big as the entire epic plains or even larger. It all depends on the nature of the trial. From this place's name, I first reckoned that this would be as large as a city or some graveyard. But now, I can't tell anymore. We might be on the very edge of the trial plain." 

Jacob nodded as he thought the same before, "What about exit? I heard there can only be a single exit, and it exists somewhere around a trial shackle (condition)." 

"Correct. The more shackles there are, the harder it is to find the exit. Some people could be trapped for their entire life in a trial plain. That's why the vanguard unit's duty is to find the traces of the exit and claim it before the dark beings. And to find the exit, we need to find the shackles, and to find them, we need to figure out what type of trial it is." Geko grimly stated. 

Jacob could tell Geko was quite apprehensive when he said the last part as if he was anxious, "You don't seem like someone who wants to be here." 

"You can say that again." Geko bitterly smiled, and then his eyes went cold, "Enough with this bullshit. Let's head towards that mountain. That seemed like a place where a shackle could be. I'm also quite sure this ice monster won't be the last we saw." 

Jacob didn't pry into Geko's personal life anymore as he wasn't interested in it in the least bit. He was making Geko feel easy around him so he could pry into the bank's deep secrets!

'I have plenty of time.' Jacob smiled deviously behind his mask, "Very well. Let's move. I don't think there's a concept of night and day in this place, so it's quite an advantage." 

Geko nodded in agreement as they both started their journey towards the highest mountain. Right now, they both didn't know that a pair of emotionless eyes were observing them from another mountaintop!