The token in Jack's hand dissolved into dust once it was used. The dust drifted in the air before expanding and converging into a human-shaped figure in front of him. The figure solidified and turned into a man in light armor. The man looked around as he took in the situation.
The man appeared young on his face, around his mid-twenties. This disappointed Jack because he doubted a young native to be anything impressive. He was proven wrong, though, after using his Inspect.
*
Tetsuo (Eternal Human), level: 90
HP: 4,600,000
Strength: 3,920
Physical Defense: 4,250
Magical Defense: 4,180
*
"Level 90 eternal…," Jack muttered. His luck didn't disappoint. The Ancient Companion Token was not wasted. Level-wise, this native was as strong as a country guardian. But of course, a true dragon outpowered most monsters of the same level and grade, so it was not a good comparison.
Tetsuo's strength stat was higher than his even when he had three classes' attributes and a legendary-grade bloodline, but the native's defensive stats were lower than his.
"Where am I?" Tetsuo asked.
"You are inside Thereath palace," Jack answered.
"Thereath…? Never heard of it. What country?"
"Themisphere," Jack answered.
"Never heard of that as well."
"You are in the future," Peniel explained. "We summoned you using the Ancient Companion Token. Since you don't know Themisphere, you must be from more than five hundred years in the past."
"Future…? I remember now," Tetsuo said as he frowned and touched his head. "I have died during the war. So, you brought me back to life? You are an outworlder, aren't you? I have this unexplained desire to be your companion. Is this the effect of you resurrecting me?"
"Yes. Although I don't want you to be my companion. I want you to be my royal agent," Jack said.
"Royal agent…? You are a sovereign?" Tetsuo asked.
"Yes, he is the king of the country we mentioned before," Peniel informed.
Jack opened the royal agent page in his status window and sent the invitation to Tetsuo. Tetsuo accepted without much thought. He was compelled by the world system to accept. Jack checked his traits, affinities, and talents from his royal agent page.
Tetsuo couldn't cast magic. He only had skill traits. His skill traits were fist, gun, move, form, beast, tech, dagger, and club. His elemental affinities were light, wind, and soul. He had four talents. They were shapeshifter, tech-savvy, gun proficiency, and beast warden.
Shapeshifter allowed Tetsuo's beast form to last for two hours and also halved the beast form's cooldown. The cooldown of Tetsuo's beast form was only three hours. This meant during combat, he only had a one-hour gap when he was not in beast form.
Jack wondered what Tetsuo's beast form was. It was not explained in his skill list.
"Do you mind showing me your beast form?" Jack asked.
"I do mind," Tetsuo replied. "I don't want to use my beast form unless in a fight. It is disrespectful."
"Uh… okay," Jack didn't push.
The Tech-savvy talent gave Tetsuo 10% increased damage when using tech weapons or tech skills. It also improved his chance of learning tech skills.
Jack thought that technocraft and beastmaster were two classes that contradicted one another. One was inclined to machinery while the other to nature. For Tetsuo to embrace the two classes was very unusual. Jack wondered what kind of battle style his new royal agent had.
Tetsuo's third talent, gun proficiency, gave him an increase of 10% damage when using a gun as a weapon. It also improved his chance of learning gun skills. This talent allowed him to learn gun skills with a requirement of twenty levels above him. But considering he was already level 90, there weren't many gun skills he was unqualified for.
Jack noticed a handgun inside a holster slung from Tetsuo's left waist. On his right, a different weapon was hung. It was a mechanical claw.
Beast Warden, Tetsuo's last talent, provided his pet with a 10% increase in HP and defense. The talent also improved his chance of learning pet skills.
As a level 90 eternal, Tetsuo had an extensive list of skills. The skills mostly came from beastmaster, gunner, battle monk, and technocraft. Many of the skills Jack was not familiar with. He saw the Tame Pet and Master Tamer among those skills, so Tetsuo should have a medium-sized pet.
Jack was tempted to ask Tetsuo to summon his pet, but Jack suspected he would receive the same reply as when he asked about Tetsuo's beast form.
Probably Tetsuo would reveal his beast form and pet if Jack invited him to a spar, but Jack was too tired. He just skimmed through Tetsuo's skill list to find what skill from the kingdom's library he could add. After looking for some time, Jack inserted Shooting Dash and Ki Shield
When he checked Tetsuo's gear to see if he could upgrade them, he learned that he did no need to. All of Tetsuo's equipment was unique grade. He even had a wings tool.
After finishing, Jack said to Tetsuo, "You should be able to use the zone portal freely now that you are a royal agent. I will send you to join my other royal agents tomorrow. They are preparing to face a war in another country. You will be of great help to them."
"I am resurrected from my death only to fight another war? It figures," Tetsuo remarked.
"By the way, what war was you in?" Peniel asked.
"Hm… We don't have a name for that war, but it was a long one. It was mainly the battle between the true dragons and the beholders, but mortals got dragged into the war as well because of the beholder's mind-controlling power."
"The ancient war?! That was a millennia ago!" Peniel exclaimed.
"Oh, it has been that long already? So, what is this future war we are having here? Are we fighting to conquer another country?"
Jack heard a hint of sarcasm in Tetsuo's voice, but he wasn't offended. He answered, "We are having a war with the underworld forces. If we lose, the upperworld will be annihilated."
"I see… Well, I had a few encounters with demons during my lifetime. They weren't pleasant opponents. I was bound to serve you but I'm glad you are fighting a righteous war. All right, you can count on me!"
"Thank you. I will give you a more detailed instruction tomorrow morning. You can take a rest in one of the guest rooms. I will have a guard to bring you there."
"If you don't mind, I would like to take a look outside. I'm just back from the dead. I'm in no mood to rest," Tetsuo said.
"Very well," Jack said.
Jack called a guard to show Tetsuo the way around the palace. After Tetsuo left, Jack took his rest.
