Second World Novel

"We have to work together," Jack said.

"Hmph! Aren't you great? Why do you need my help?" Red Death uttered.

"Cleo! This is not the time for your pride!" Jack scolded. Red Death was slightly taken aback by the scolding.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to yell, but we truly need to work together. Don't you want to win?" Jack asked.

"Of course, I want to," Red Death replied.

"Then we have to work together. We have to win, not just for our pride or for rewards. Bigger issues are happening and we need to win to help with the situation."

Red Death was puzzled by what Jack meant by it, but she didn't care to ask him to explain. She wanted to win, that's all she cared about.

"What do you propose?" Red Death asked.

"We have to find out the dwarf team's position," Jack answered.

"Yeah, no shit. I've been trying to do that most of the first hour. No luck. That's why I decided to hide and wait for them. How are we going to do it with the little time we have left?"

"By doing what I do to find you," Jack said. "Come."

Red Death was clueless as to what Jack meant but she followed after him. After walking for a bit, Jack looked around before deciding to enter one of the buildings.

"Watch the entrance while I go look around," Jack said as he sat crosslegged.

"Go look around?" Red Death was puzzled. So why were you sitting?

Jack closed his eyes. He then did as before. He allowed his mana sense to expand before sending his consciousness away. There was a limit as to how far he could sense. From the first attempt when he found Red Death, he should have covered around one-quarter of this arena dimension. If he was lucky, he should be able to find Jet's team in this second attempt. If he was not, he might need to change location two more times before finding them.

After letting his consciousness roam for a while, he got a result. He opened his eyes, "Found them!" Jack exclaimed.

"What? How?!" Red Death asked.

"I used my mana sense to scan the places away from here," Jack answered as he stood up.

"… I don't think that's how mana sense work."

"Really? It works just fine that way. You should try it sometimes. Come! They are hiding inside an enclosed building. From how I sense them, they should be planning to wait out there until the time limit of the match ends. So they shouldn't be leaving that place."

Red Death followed after Jack despite still being puzzled.

*

Inside a building that still had its four walls intact, Jet and the other four dwarfs were sitting on the floor. Once in a while, Hideout peeked out from the half-broken window.

"Stop peeking out," Jet said to Hideout. "If they happen to pass by and happen to look this way, they will see you and our hiding place will be found out. It is still okay if it is the red-haired Assassin. If it is that Blade Dancer, it will be a hassle. They won't come into this building for no reason. Just stay down and stay calm. I will know if anyone comes too near."

Hideout nodded and sat down, but he was still restless. He was not used to staying still. He hated waiting. He couldn't stop shaking his leg.

"Stop that, you are distracting," Sierra said to him.

"I'm bored," Hideout replied.

"Keep your voice down!" Jet warned them.

Silence returned as they wait.

"Should be less than half an hour now, shouldn't it?" Hideout said again after some time.

No one answered. He didn't ask the second time. His leg started shaking again.

This time, Jet was the one annoyed by his leg shaking. He was just about to reprimand him when he sensed something. His eyes turned wide before he yelled, "Move to the side!!"

A bright thick beam crashed through the window that Hideout used to peek out before. The beam struck Outdoor who sat at the opposite wall. The beam shifted and tore the wall as it moved and hit Longstick that sat not far away from Outdoor.

The beam ended. The dwarves looked at each other in confusion. Jet felt another thing and immediately shouted, "Out! Out! Out of the building!"

He jumped to the broken wall where the window used to be and rolled outside, just as the floor in the room lighted up and thirteen crimson chains burst out of the ground. The chains captured two dwarfs that were still in the room. Hideout and Sierra were the closest to the broken wall. they had also managed to run out before the Myriad Ensnaring chains appeared in the room.

When the two came out through the broken wall, the ground underneath them shone again. Arcane Turbulence erupted and engulfed them, dealing damage as well as causing Disoriented status that slowed their movement.

Jet had sensed the spell and had moved away. He located Jack right away. "Run!" He shouted to Hideout and Sierra. "I will hold him down!"

Without hesitation, he ran towards Jack. He used Call Wolf Pack and summoned his bear pet. They ran together with him charging towards Jack. Jack summoned Therras and cast Magic Weapon, turning into a dual-swordsman.

*

Outside the arena, the royal representatives from the human team were visibly gaping when they saw Jack summoning his pet. This was the first time Jack called out his pet in front of them.

"Isn't that…!" Prince Alonzo was unable to finish his sentence.

"It seemed it is," Duchess Isabelle said. "This outworlder is truly interesting."

Prince Rhemos was also greatly surprised. His face then turned into a deep scowl.

*

Inside the arena dimension, Therras clashed with the bear. Jack used Whirlwind Slash when the six wolves came near. Jet jumped to Jack's back before making a fast punch with his katar but Jack turned back in time to parry the punch.

"How do you find us!" Jet asked.

"By using my mana sense," Jack answered while parrying Jet's follow-up punches and counterattacks with slashes.

"Bullshit! You just attack immediately once I sensed you. You already know where we are."

"That's right. I already know because I use my focused mana sense to sense you from three blocks away."

"That's not how mana…," Jet was about to repeat what Red Death said to Jack before stopping himself. He thought of something that made his movement stopped. Jack didn't let go of the chance. He used Penta Slash.

The first slash hit, but it woke Jet up from his trance, he immediately defended himself by sending his fists to meet Jack's subsequent slashes. Jack's Penta Slash damage was far higher, thus Jet was still damaged despite he blocked the slashes using his punches. He took the brief gap after the fourth slash to roll, dodging the fourth and fifth slashes.

"Damn! You are still fast despite those short legs," Jack uttered.

"Hmph! Don't you underestimate me!" Jet uttered as he jumped and slashed with his katar.

Jack dodged and was about to slash at where Jet landed, but Jet was gone already. Jack sensed that old geezer above him and felt a quick slash at his back. He turned with a slash, Jet had jumped again to his side. Jack felt another slash by the side of his arm.

Jet kept on jumping around him like jumping fleas. His jumpings seemed erratic. However, Jet always went to Jack's blindside. Even with his mana sense, Jack found it hard to keep track of the old dude's jumping. Luckily, the slashes were shallow and his defenses high. With his high body recovery rate, such little damages were meaningless.

Irritated, Jack cast Ice Ring. Jet felt it and hurriedly jumped away, out of the Ice Ring's reach.

"Is that the new martial art you mentioned you have developed for your new body?" Jack asked.

"Hehe, what do you think of it?" Jet said.

"Impressive. You utilized the Beastmaster super jump ability into it. I'm impressed by your creativity."

"You are pretty calm. You might have found us, but you can't keep us here. My four other friends will leave and we will still win, even if I fall here. The two-hour time limit is almost at an end. As long as they keep running, you won't be able to do anything."

Hideout and Sierra had left the area of Arcane Turbulence and had already run away following Jet's order. Longstick and Sierra were still bound by Myriad Ensnaring Chains, but the spell's current grade only lasted twenty-eight seconds. The chains were coming off at the moment Jet was speaking.

"They won't escape," Jack said with a grin. He called his wolf pack out. Ten wolves rushed towards Longstick and Sierra. At the same time, Hideout's voice was heard. Jet turned to the voice and saw Hideout getting ambushed by Red Death. Sierra was trying to help his partner.

Jet wanted to head over but Jack blocked his way. "Your fight is with me," Jack uttered.

"Moved aside, boy!" Jet exclaimed as his two fists produced seven after images. "Even your grandfather takes extra care when receiving this art of mine! Now, move aside or taste the might of my Seven Injuries Fists!"

Jack stayed his ground. His swords danced as they met Jet's seven katar images. The fists, however, seemed to border between fake and real, they seemed far and near at the same time. Jack had a problem gauging their distances. His slashes which were supposed to hit the fists, missed three out of the seven punches.

The three punches struck Jack's body. The first punch made his insides tremble. The second punches produced heavier internal shaking. When the third punch landed, Jack felt a connection between the spots where the first and second punches had landed, then he felt as if he had been electrocuted from the inside.

The damage he suffered was nothing on the first punch, but the damage increased on the second punch. On the third punch, it spiked. Jack's tremendous HP fell by half after receiving the three punches.

If all seven punches had landed, despite his awesome defense and HP, he had a feeling that he would still be instant-killed.