Second World

The group of blue dots was approaching. They didn't seem to stop to slay monsters as Jack and Grace did, so they were gaining on them. Which was fine for the two. In fact, they thought the group was rather slow.

The two finally decided to stop and wait when they came upon a natural rock formation, which formed an enclosed space with only one entrance and exit. They went inside this rock formation and waited for their pursuers.

Not long after, these pursuers arrived.

As was already expected, Vincenzu Giovanni led these pursuers. Thirty-four players were entering the rock formation. Most were level 48 like Vincenzu, all of them were elite class players. They saw Jack and Grace sitting relaxingly at the opposite end.

"You must be surprised seeing me here, don't you?" Vincenzu said with a wicked grin. "You should have expected this when you cross the Casa Oggetto."

"We do have expected you. We have been waiting for five minutes here. Are some of you still using uncommon steeds?" Jack asked.

Vincenzu was taken aback. Some of them indeed were using uncommon-grade steeds. But Jack's words were not the reason Vincenzu was surprised, it was that his two preys didn't behave like preys. The man was standing up facing them with a smile while the beautiful woman was still sitting idly, not even looking at them.

Although Vincenzu was surprised, he quickly dismissed it. He thought these two must be simply acting tough. They knew that they couldn't escape, so they were putting on a facade to confuse them.

"Hehe, don't you think your childish act can fool me," Vincenzu said to Jack. "You are a goner, no matter what you say. Don't think you are safe just because you are wearing an Amulet of Rebirth. My people will be on the watch for you. If you dare set foot in Palgrost again, we will know. You can be sure that you won't be able to travel safely in this country anymore except within its cities. As for the beautiful lady here, don't worry, I will take care of her."

"There must be something wrong with your eyes," Jack said.

"What?"

"Did you see me wearing an amulet of rebirth?"

Vincenzu paid attention to the pendant on Jack's neck. It was indeed not the amulet of rebirth.

"Haha, you fool! Then prepare to lose everything!" Vincenzu uttered.

"I see that you are not wearing one as well?" Jack asked.

"Heh, why should I wear it if I'm not in danger?" Vincenzu snickered.

"Can you please finish it already?" Grace said to Jack. "Why waste so much time?"

"Oh, I figure that it will be more satisfying if I let him trash-talk first before I trash him," Jack replied.

"Do you think we are in those novels that used to populate the internet? Just finish it already so we can continue our journey."

"Yes, ma'am," Jack said then turned to Vincenzu. "You heard the lady. I will finish this quickly."

"Haha, finish quickly he said..."

While Vincenzu was still laughing, Jack's two weapons appeared in his hands. He made a quick multi-rune casting.

Vincenzu's people never expected their prey to fight them since they greatly outnumbered the two. They figured these two would cower first and beg for mercy, as their other past victims did, both in this world or the one before. So, they weren't truly on alert. Even when their prey was showing calm expressions, they were like their boss, thinking that the two only put on a brave façade to confuse them.

Only when the ground under their feet glowed an eery green that they knew their preys were serious about fighting them. They quickly tried to move away from the area.

Jack had used Dragon Eye before casting. His spell formation was completed in a blink of an eye. He first cast Magic Field. He then proceeded with Myriad Venomous Vipers. Under the effect of the Magic Field, the double cast probability was triggered and the Myriad Venomous Vipers were cast twice. Jack placed the double-cast spells next to one another. The two areas covered almost one-third of the area in that enclosed space.

Jack then followed up again by casting Tracing Beams. This spell also triggered the double-cast effect, resulting in twenty beams firing out instead of just ten. Those who ran out of the areas marked by the Myriad Venomous Vipers were hit by these beams and were knocked back into the areas again. They were easily captured by the vipers.

Thirty vipers caught thirty players, the remaining four could only watch helplessly while those thirty were getting bitten continuously while entangled. Their HPs went down at a rapid rate.

While the four were stunned by this turn of events, five wind energies slashed at three of them and instantly took their lives, leaving only Vincenzu alive.

Seering the situation, Vincenzu's survival instinct took over. He dashed to the exit without thinking, running past his thirty followers who were still being incapacitated by the vipers. Since the vipers were occupied, none blocked his escape.

However, when he reached the exit, another Jack appeared there.

"Why leave so early? Please stay," This second Jack said and used Flame Strike.

Vincenzu was able to put up his weapon for a parry, but he was still sent flying back into the enclosed space while losing more than half of his life. The amount of HP he lost from that single hit gave him the fright of his life. If he didn't parry, it might be possible that he had lost his life from just that one hit. When he fell to the ground, he saw that all thirty of his followers had died from the vipers.

When his mind was still in shock, the first Jack stood above him.

"I know that you can't inspect me. So, let me tell you that it is Storm Wind who takes your life," Jack said.

"Storm...," Vincenzu couldn't complete reciting Jack's alias because Jack had stabbed him in the neck using Drilling Thrust. The hit resulted in critical damage and emptied Vincenzu's HP bar.

Vincenzu was the last to die on his team. So, after he died, all the bodies there disappeared. Every one of them dropped something.

"Wow, none of them is wearing the amulet of rebirth," Jack remarked after seeing the loots.

"They must have never expected getting defeated by two players," Grace said.

"Their misfortune is our boon," Jack said. "They will be cursing us to seven hells after coming back to life."

"Cursing you, you mean? I didn't touch them," Grace said. "Let's just collect all these loots and continue our journey."

"Yes, ma'am," Jack repeated his words.

*

The time they took to arrive at the coordinates given by Janus was as estimated by the station master, three days after they left the carriage. Actually, they could have arrived earlier if they rode without stopping. The station master must have made an estimation thinking that they used uncommon-grade steeds. They had made several stops to kill new monsters. When they were near the area of the coordinates, the monsters were right around their alley, around level 50. So, they dismount and kill any monsters they saw while making their way forward.

A day before they reached their destination, Jack's human age reached its twelfth month of age. His passive race skill, Limitless Potential, was upgraded to rank 8. The boost this skill now provided were HP +1800, Stamina/MP +220, and all attributes except luck +8.

When they finally reached the place marked by the coordinates, Grace said, "There is nothing here."

Jack looked around. There was indeed nothing there. Just a stretch of flat barren land with rocks, stones, and dead trees.

Grace summoned her Runestone of Detection but found nothing. Jack didn't put much hope when Grace summoned her runestone, his Godeye monocle didn't detect anything as well.

"That Janus person must have given you the wrong coordinates," Grace said.

"He doesn't strike me as a person who makes such a careless mistake," Jack said. "He said that the energy trace from the Eye of Illios ends here. Let's look around, maybe there is a clue."

"What kind of clue?"

Jack shrugged. "Beats me. Try using your mana sense as well, perhaps we can sense that trace of energy that Janus mentioned."

"All right," Grace said, but her voice didn't sound optimistic.

The two spread out and searched around the place. They circled a few times, starting from the exact spot of the coordinates and slowly going further. Finding nothing, they circled back until they met where they started.

"Nothing," Grace said. "Not even a trace of unusual mana."

"Same...," Jack replied. He kicked one of the stones on the ground. "Nothing but rocks and dirt."

"I think he gave you the wrong coordinates," Grace said again.

Jack didn't refute that idea this time.

"I'll go look around one more time," Jack said, not willing to give up.

Seeing Jack's persistence, Grace didn't want to disappoint as well. She circled in a different direction as she combed through the ground with her eyes. Peniel also did not follow Jack this time, she flew in another direction and helped with the search.

They took longer this time, scrutinizing everything. They returned after almost an hour. Grace just shook her head without saying anything.

"I don't even know what I'm looking for," Peniel said.

Jack couldn't help but get disappointed. Did they come all this way for nothing?

"Maybe the clue shows up at a different time? Should we stay and wait to see if anything changes?" Grace offered.

"If there is something in a relation to time, Janus should have mentioned it. But then again, the Order of Magi's people are as baffled as we are. They simply followed the trace here and are not sure what to do from here."

"Well, then I say our condition is the same. I don't see how we can find what they can't," Peniel said.

"Sigh... You are right. Perhaps we have only wasted our time for coming here," Jack said and again kicked a stone out of frustration.

"Hm?"

"What is it?" Grace asked after noticing Jack's reaction.

"I think that's the same stone I've kicked before...," Jack said.