Second World

'F*ck! One of the bad ones?!' Jack exclaimed in his mind. He was on full alert at once. He thought about summoning his weapons, but what good would that do?

The young man, who was God of Greed, simply looked at them with half-smiles. He appeared to be amused by the changes in Jack's expressions.

"Are you two talking behind my backs? I can sense some exchanges between your minds," Greed asked.

Jack and Peniel weren't sure how to answer. So, both of them keep their minds blank, afraid that those telepathic signals might offend this divine being.

"Hm... So quiet now? You two are rather talkative when I'm still hidden. Well... I guess I can't blame you. I do have that kind of charisma to shut people up."

Greed then turned and walked away. "Come!" He said without looking back.

Jack only paused for a beat before following the instruction. Peniel did tell him to comply with whatever this person wanted. Peniel flew silently behind Jack. It didn't do her any good to hide inside her hidden dimension. As had been proven during their encounter with Fear, these Godly beings could easily rip her out of that dimension.

Greed took them into the small forest. After a short walk, they came out to another clearing. A big wooden hut was at the center of that clearing, much bigger than the huts that housed the legendary and unique trinkets.

The door to the hut opened by itself when Greed came near. Greed entered the hut. The door stayed open.

Once Greed disappeared into the hut, Jack stopped and hurriedly took out his Town Return Scroll. He activated it without delay.

Nothing happened.

"I blocked most signals to and from this place. That thing is useless," Jack heard Greed's voice from inside the hut.

A pause, then Greed's voice was heard again, "Don't do that again."

Seeing no choice, Jack took a deep breath and walked into the hut. The inside was spacious and luxurious. It didn't reflect the simple-looking façade of the outside. Multiple modern and comfortable-looking leather sofas were laid out in the large living room. Above, a second-floor balcony was overlooking the living room. Greed was up there on that balcony, sitting on a leather throne chair.

"Make yourself at home," Greed said from up there.

Jack looked around before deciding to sit on a sofa that directly faced Greed.

"So, what is your purpose coming here?" Greed asked after Jack sat down.

"I am looking for the Eye of Illios," Jack answered truthfully.

He didn't think lying to this person was wise. Greed didn't kill them immediately after appearing. This meant that there might still be a chance to get out of this seemingly perilous situation. He just needed to wait for the right opportunity. Although Serenity had said that she would come to his assistance if he was at risk of being harmed by another divine being, he didn't dare to put his hope on that. This place had weird enchantment that nullified his monocle and mana sense. It was not out of the question if he was out of reach from Serenity as well.

As if to confirm his worry, Greed said, "I see that peace-loving auntie has placed her mark on you. But don't you count on it, she can't sense you here in my abode. Blame yourself for coming into my sanctum. No one will be able to help you here. Even if you kill yourself, you will revive back here, so don't try anything funny."

Jack was seriously depressed after hearing that.

When Jack kept quiet, Greed continued, "You are quite an interesting fellow, I must say. That's one of the reasons I didn't simply blast you to oblivion after finding out that the one entering my place is just a weak outworlder. You not only have the mark of my divine peer, but also the mark of the creator. Unfortunately, both are useless to me, so don't count on them. Anyway, what do you want with the junk you said you come here for?"

"Junk...?" Jack was confused at first, but then he realized what Greed meant by the junk.

'Did he just call a legendary artifact as junk?' Jack thought with amazement. But then again, with the way the Eye of Illios was piled up haphazardly with the other items inside the huts, perhaps Greed wasn't kidding.

"I was tasked by someone to find it," Jack answered.

"Who?"

"A league faction called Order of Magi."

"Order of Magi... Oh, it's the faction that brat made. I see that he also bequeathed his special class to you. So, how is Majus doing?"

"Majus?" Jack was at a loss.

'Hey, isn't Majus that old ghost who oversaw the Time Sage trial?' Peniel said to Jack in his mind.

"High Fairy, talk in the open! I don't like it when people talk behind my back. You can be saying bad things about me, for all I know. Don't make me ask that again," Greed said with a hard stare at Peniel.

"I–I'm sorry, Your Holiness... It won't happen again," Peniel hurriedly said.

"Don't call me that!" Greed then asked Jack, "So, from your response, you don't know Majus? Then how did you become a Time Sage?"

"I know a residual spirit who called himself Majus. He was the one who gave me the trial that allowed me to become a Time Sage," Jack answered.

"A residual spirit. So... the brat has passed away? Then who runs the Order of Magi now?"

"I'm not sure," Jack replied. "The one who tasked me is a mage called Janus."

"Janus? Hm... Never heard of him. Well then, I don't care about that Eye of Illios. All those trinkets were those I've collected during my fit of greed. But I also don't see why I should give it to you."

Hearing that, Jack became hopeful. He asked, "In that case, is there anything that I can do for your divineness? In exchange for the Eye of Illios?" Greed had been upset when being called holiness, so Jack made up another title for him.

Usually, in a game setting, this was the perfect moment where the NPC gave the player a quest with the reward for the item the player came looking for. But instead, Greed said, "What the hell kind of thing that I need from you that I cannot do myself?"

"Uh...," Jack was at a loss.

"Hm... Stay here. We will see what's what. Perhaps I will give you the Eye if you entertain me enough."

"Huh?"

"Okay, get yourself accustomed. I will be back tomorrow," Greed said and vanished.

"Huh?" Jack was at a complete loss.

*

Jack stayed seated for an hour, unsure of what to do. He was even so quiet that Peniel start to tease him.

"Hey, are you not afraid he is still watching us in secret?" Jack said to her.

"I am, but I just can't help it seeing how obedient you look," Peniel said with a giggle.

Jack rolled his eyes at her. She could still joke. Did she forget already how she got killed by Fear in the past? This time Serenity won't be able to come to their rescue anymore. Luckily, this Greed didn't appear as murderous as Fear. He was still scary though, but Jack thought that as long as they played by his rule, their lives shouldn't be in danger.

'Are you sure he is Greed?' Jack asked in his mind. Greed might be able to sense that they were communicating telepathically, but he couldn't discern the contents of their mind talks.

'Are you questioning my knowledge again?' Peniel returned.

'No. It's just... He didn't look that bad. Eccentric maybe, but not as bad as I expected. I thought that any of the bad Gods would have just slaughtered us without any words if they find us in their lair.'

'Well... I have that impression as well.'

'And he is not what I expected. Yes, there are heaps of legendary and unique items in his huts, but I expect someone that is the personification of greed to be a little more... extravagant. This place, although looks luxurious, is rather dull for a God. Heck! He even isn't wearing a shirt. And what's his deal living in an empty cave with nothing but a fake forest and lake? When we fight against his army inside the Ancient Battleground, I imagined him to be someone that lives in a grand castle surrounded by millions of minions.'

'Well... The story that I know about him does mention him to be like that.'

'So? Are you sure the one just now is truly the God of Greed?'

'How about you try attacking him and find out then?' Peniel said annoyingly when Jack kept asking the same question.

Jack stood up. "I'm going out for a walk," he announced.

"Didn't you say he might still watch us?" Peniel asked.

"He did say to make ourselves at home," Jack countered. There was no response after so long, Jack thought Greed might truly have left them to be on their own, or that he simply didn't care what Jack did, so Jack thought it should be okay for him to check the rest of the place.

Jack came out of the hut and entered the forest. He walked around. No hostile monsters, just small animals that scurried around the forest. Jack walked for a long time. The cave hall despite being big, was not too big. After a few hours of walking, he had pretty much walked the entire place.

The place only consisted of the forest, the lake, and two small clearings. One with the hut where Greed took them to, the other with the series of huts containing legendary and unique items. There was no visible exit.

Aside from the items in the huts, only one other kind of thing interested him in the whole cave. Portals inside the forest. During his walk inside the forest, he found several large trees with a portal opening, very much similar to the one that had brought him to this place.

He was now standing in front of one of these portals.