Second World Novel

"That butler must have used this artifact to disguise into Jimena," Peniel commented. "You are pretty lucky to get this item. Disguise items are very rare, and usually they are one-time use only. You indeed hit a jackpot here."

"But is it okay to take it?" Jack asked, his expression seemed conflicted. "Shouldn't we report our findings here to the duke?"

"Well, you were tasked to find out clues about the cult, right? It's not like this orb is going to have the clue in helping you to find the cult anyway."

Jack looked around the room. He was alone, the captain had left to make a report on their recent find already. Nobody knew, so what the heck. He tossed the Orb of Disguise into his storage bag. He would experiment with it later after he was out of this estate.

"By the way, how many unique artifacts are already in your possession?" Peniel asked. "I have never heard of an adventurer who possessed as many as you do before even reaching the elite class. That luck stat you have there really shows its effect."

"Really? I wasn't even aware if this luck stat does anything."

"Of course it does! Even for an Elite class, possessing one Unique Artifact was already considered a stroke of enormous luck. Tsk tsk, you are lucky it's highly unlikely to steal from an outworlder since they only drop one or two random items when killed. If not, everyone would have come to steal your stuff if they know what you got inside that bag of yours."

"Yeah, lucky me," Jack said, and then joked about it, "what can I say, probably I have a hidden superpower which is luck. Hey, probably I will awaken another talent which increased my luck stat further."

"13 points are still not enough for you?" Peniel said.

There were another two more valuable things inside according to his God-eye monocle. They were covered by an assortment of junks inside the chest. Jack moved the junks aside to look for the other valuables. He found one to be a purple color robe.

Flowing Lavender Robe, level 15/35 (rare cloth armor)

Physical Defense: 30

Magical Defense: 36

Durability: 50

Intelligence +3

All elemental resistance +10

It's a chest piece cloth armor for magic-user. Why did the name sound so feminine?

"Well, I have no need for this cloth armor, let's dismantle it later at the forge," Jack said.

"No, now that you have that Orb of Disguise, you have a usage for cloth armor," Peniel countered.

"How so?" Jack asked.

"What do you have in mind for your disguise?"

"Not yet thought about it."

"Wouldn't you think disguising yourself as a mage is a good choice? Since you are half a mage. The others only know you as a Warrior. If you disguise as a Mage, no one will connect your new persona to your original one."

"And I will need cloth armor if I disguise as a Mage," Jack caught on with her train of thought.

"Now you catch my drift?"

"All right," Jack said and put the cloth armor into his inventory bag. He continued to shuffle through the junks inside the chest for the last valuable item.

It took him a much longer time to search for the last one. He was worried somebody will come into the room before he found it. It would be awkward then if he took the item for himself.

After shuffling through the chest content for a minute, he finally found it. It was a small ring, no wonder it took him some time to find it among the various junks inside the chest. Jack lifted the ring and inspected it.

Recovery Ring (Rare accessory)

Endurance +2

Active ability: Recover 50% of HP & Stamina/MP, cooldown: 3 hours

"Perfect! With this, all my equipment slots would be filled up," Jack thought aloud. He went ahead and equipped the ring. He had the Ring of Luck on his right hand and the Recovery Ring on his left.

"Such luck! Two rare and one Unique. Other adventurers would vomit blood knowing you get all this from a single chest," Peniel commented.

"Hey, look. I've not gotten any experience, coins, or items, since the start of this goddamn complicated quest. So it's reasonable to compensate me with these three items after these three days of vacuum," Jack said.

"The third day has not technically ended yet, and you are still going to get a reward when you report to the Adventurers Association," Peniel countered.

"Could you not just be happy for me? Whose side are you on anyway?"

"Whatever."

Jack continued looking through the room, but there was nothing else of value anymore. Nor was there any other clue about the Cult of Phobos, so he left the room.

He found Duke Alfredo and Captain Salem in the courtyard, they were discussing something. When they saw Jack come in, the Duke asked, "did you find any other clue?"

Jack shook his head, "unfortunately, no."

"I have made a report regarding the possibility of the cult's activity last night," the captain said. "There were indeed some movements reported. Currently, my associates are investigating the individuals that might have been involved, they will be apprehended if they are found to have a connection with the cult."

"Hopefully their influence in this capital can be uprooted," Jack said. "I guess I will bid my farewell."

The duke nodded. Since Jack had solved the case, there was no point for him to hang around anymore. "All right, I will contact you once I find any news about the third fragment. In the meantime, please keep the two fragments safe."

"Your Grace can count on me," Jack said with confidence. "By the way, if I happen to find a clue about the third fragment, how should I be in contact? It's not like I can come and go into this district freely."

Duke Alfredo took out a piece of rolled paper as if he had expected the question. Jack checked the piece of paper, it was a writ of entry permit for the Noble District.

"With that writ, you can enter and leave this district as you wish," the Duke said. "But I would warn you to not cause any trouble in this district. I will not let you go easily if you do anything that is a disservice to my reputation."

"Don't worry, I will not disappoint, Your Grace, and thank you for the writ." He stored the writ and then took out a rectangle piece of Jade and handed it to Captain Salem, "I guess I don't need this, after all."

"Keep it," the captain said. "Its function is the same. If you are in danger, break it. As long as you are still within Themisphere kingdom, all the kingdom guards and soldiers within the vicinity will come to your aid."

Jack's eyes were wide, "really? I can summon kingdom guards? It sounds like a really useful thing then."

"Consider it a parting gift," the captain said. "I hope our paths crossed again."

"Likewise," Jack replied.

"How about joining us for lunch before you leave?" The Duke offered.

"Great, I'm starving," Jack said.

On his way to the dining room, Jack inspected the jade piece.

Themisphere Beacon Stone (Special consumable)

Summon soldiers and guards of Themisphere within a radius of 300 kilometers.

Summoned soldiers and guards will protect you for a duration of three hours.

Depending on the usage, this Beacon Stone could provide a very powerful aid. If he chose an area with a high population of Themisphere soldiers and used it, he could literally possess an army within that three-hour duration. He kept the Beacon Jade inside his bag, it would be his trump card if he was ever in an emergency situation.

'Not bad,' he said to Peniel in his mind. 'though my experience level does not increase, I harvest quite a number of useful items in this quest.'

"Indeed. I have a suspicion this quest's real difficulty is not in the range of Silver hall adventurer quests. But it was really a fun quest, I hope we can get more quests like this in the future."

'No way! I don't want to do this kind of quest again. No combat and still so exhausting. I prefer quests with more hack and slash action!'

"Brute!" Peniel mocked.

After the lunch, Jack bid them farewell again. When he stepped out of the mansion, the colorful barrier formation along the edges of the estate was no more. The sky was its normal color. It was already past noon at the time, he traveled through the estate's outdoor landscape with ease. He saw Matias feeding the fishes in the artificial lake, and waved to him. The gardener waved back.

After he exited the estate gate, he headed directly to the Adventurers Association to claim his fair reward.