The heck! He used his God-eye monocle to inspect the pebble without touching it.
Ice Seed (Rare consumable)
Evolve a skill
'Evolve a skill? Hey, Peniel, I remembered you said something about this. Is this something that can give extra effect just like Scarface's Mana Bullet spell?'
"Yes," Peniel answered.
Jack was ecstatic, he had been interested to find this seed ever since he saw Scarface's spell effect. He picked up the Ice Seed again. Now that he was aware of the cold sting, he could bear it. He held it just long enough to transfer it into his storage bag.
Seeing him finished collecting the loots, Bailey said to him, "you are lucky to survive long enough until I arrive."
"Yes, thank goodness that you came. I thought you will just be waiting outside the cave and not coming in?"
"That was my intention, but I receive an alarm beacon from Alonzo. He carried it for an emergency. I came in immediately. I met them halfway and they informed me about the boss and that you were still inside. I told them to stay behind as I rushed here. I half expecting to find your corpse actually, imagine my surprise when I found you are still alive. That was very brave of you to hold the boss to allow my cadets to escape, I sincerely thank you."
Hold the boss? Walter's act of cutting the rope came back to his mind, his anger was welled up again.
"That was some cadets you have. How could they mistake a level 28 Special Elite for a level 22 Elite?" Jack uttered with annoyance.
"It's not entirely their fault. I think when they first scouted this cave, the boss was indeed level 22 Elite. There was a possibility it underwent evolution."
"Evolution?"
"Yes, it was when a monster increases in grade and level. That Ice Troll Sentinel must have absorbed a large quantity of energy from the Ice Mana Site to be able to reap such an advancement."
There could be something like this also in this world? Jack thought. As he contemplated over this info, they heard some footsteps approaching.
They turned and saw the five cadets came back. All of them gave a surprised and relieved look when they saw Jack was still alive, except for Walter, his surprise carried a grim expression.
"Thank the Gods you are safe!" Lindsey was the most enthusiastic seeing Jack was safe and sound. It was understandable considering how Jack had saved her.
The other cadets save for Walter also came and expressed their relief of his safety. Their cold treatment towards him when they first entered the cave was no more. They had been impressed by his prowess and also moved by his willingness to engage the boss and let them escape first. Jack just replied to them with a smile and small nod. His eyes stared at Walter.
Walter was obviously unsettled by the stare and also unhappy with his comrades' warm treatment of Jack. He spoke out loud, "what's so special about this outworlder? He is clearly just lucky enough to stay alive until Lieutenant Bailey saved him!"
Jack's eyes narrowed. The guy had left him trapped down there to fend for himself, and he didn't seem to have any guilty conscience about it.
"What?! Are you unhappy about something?" Walter uttered.
Lindsey couldn't tolerate Walter's attitude, "you are really annoying! You might not have made it out if mister Storm Wind hadn't stalled the boss to give us more time to escape."
Hearing Lindsey's words, Jack could guess that it was what Walter had told them when they didn't saw him during their escape.
"Heh, if he foolishly wanted to become a hero, that's his problem. He is probably just trying to earn more merit. After all, don't outworlders have the ability to revive again after they die?"
Jack took a step towards him. Walter immediately goes into alert. But after seeing Jack's warm smile, he relaxed. He had heard that outworlders are savages who mostly didn't respect laws when given the chance, but he supposed even an outworlder would be wary of making an enemy with the noble of the kingdom. His confidence was back.
"You should know your limit. This is not your world after all. Know your place and you will less likely to get in trouble."
Jack still wore his smile when he spoke, "trouble? You mean like when you cut the rope and let me fall to fight with the boss alone?"
After Jack finished his sentence, he dashed forward. His action caught everyone by surprise, including Walter. Before the squire could unsheathe his weapon, Jack's Storm Breaker was already in his hand. He executed Swing skill vertically. The move slashed Walter's left arm. Jack then followed up in a fluid motion and used Power Strike at the same arm that was hit by Swing. The skill sent Walter flying back. While he was still in the air, Jack performed a third skill, Sword of Light. The shining crescent shot through the air and hit the exact same spot which had been hit twice before.
Jack had copied Bailey's method when fighting the Ice Troll Sentinel. Walter's defense was definitely not as tough as the boss', and he was also not wearing armor at the arm part where Jack was targeting. The effect of the three consecutive skills resulted in an outcome expected by Jack. When the Sword of Light hit, apart from the damage number appearing on Walter, his left arm was also sliced apart. Jack was completely furious with the NPC's treachery, he couldn't care less about the penalty of attacking within the capital. He, however, was still conscious enough to not take the guy's life.
"Argghh…!! You a**hole! What have you done…!?" Walter was screaming in pain, holding the stump of his arm. Blood was spurting out from the cut part.
Jack showed no intention to continue his attack. Nevertheless, Bailey still stood between him and Walter.
"What's the meaning of this?" She asked with a stern face.
"It's a retaliation for what he had done to me," Jack replied calmly. "He intentionally cut the only rope that can be used to climb out from the boss' lair, leaving me down there to die."
Bailey's brows furrowed further upon hearing it, he turned to Walter and asked, "was that true?"
Walter's eyes were red with madness as he gritted his teeth to endure his pain, "what the f**k does it matter?! He is an outworlder! He has no business here in our world. They should all be chased out from our kingdom! So what if I try to kill him? What value does he have against a noble such as me? He has attacked me, I command you to kill him...!"
The punk didn't even try to deny it, Jack thought. His intolerance against outworlders was excessive. It was probably similar to the racial discrimination in his original world.
Walter continued to rant through his pain. Bailey wasn't in the mood to listen anymore, she said to the other cadets, "Marriet, use your heal to stop his bleeding. You and Pablo take him back."
Marriet went and cast her heal spell. She wasn't using any magic staff, but was instead using her two hands facing Walter's wounded arm while chanting the spell. A golden healing light enveloped Walter's stump. Jack saw Walter's HP got replenished. The blood was no longer coming out from his wound. Yet the arm was still severed. The healing spell didn't grow the limb back. She and Pablo then carry the wounded cadet and brought him away.
Walter was yelling in anger as he was taken away, demanding Bailey to capture or kill Jack. When he saw no response from the Lieutenant, he threw threats at both her and Jack, proclaiming that his father would not let this go, and for Jack to prepare for his punishment.
"Who the heck is his father anyway?" Jack asked when the sound of Walter's frantic ravings lessened due to distance.
"A magistrate of the kingdom," Bailey answered, her sight was still in the direction of the three leaving cadets.
Jack didn't exactly understand the hierarchy of power in this kingdom, but he assumed this magistrate held quite a high position in the kingdom.
"I guess I am in big trouble then?" Jack asked.
Bailey turned her attention back to him, her expression was serious. She then sighed and said, "you are, but since it was him that had performed dishonor act against you, we might still sort it out. Still, it would have been better if you have just reported his deed to me instead of taking the matter into your own hands. It was fortunate that you didn't kill him. Otherwise, no one would be able to protect you even if he is in the wrong."
Jack shrugged. If they were in the wilderness and there was no one around, he might actually have killed the punk.
"So are you going to protect me?" He asked.
"No, but Lindsey's old man probably could. We will see," Bailey replied.
