Two weeks, no wonder the duke said the quickest time the expedition took is one month. Even if considering only the travel time, going there and back again had already lasted one month. Not considering the time needed to explore the ruins, the process would take a longer time.
"That is also if considering we all use mounts," Captain Salem added.
"Mounts? What if I don't have any?" Jack said.
"You can purchase a mount easily near the city gate," Commander Quintus told him.
The duke was much more accommodable, "don't worry, you will be provided one on our departing day."
"Oh, that's good then," Jack said, completely not ashamed of being a miser.
"So when are we heading out exactly?" He asked.
"In the morning two days from now. You can use today and tomorrow for whatever preparations you need. The army will gather at the north gate, but I would like you to join me in my mansion here before we head out to the gate. Please be on time."
Jack then heard a voice notification informing him that he had completed the quest, Wait for duke Alfredo's news. He received tidbits of coins and experiences for the reward. And without pausing, the notification informed him that he had accepted the continuation of the chain quest, Accompany Duke Alfredo to the Temple of Divine Squall.
'Wait a minute, I was not given the choice to accept or refuse?' Jack said in his mind.
"Do you plan to refuse?" He heard Peniel's voice in his mind.
'Well, no, but…'
"Then why does it matter?" Peniel replied without giving him the chance to finish his sentence.
Now you also did not give me the choice to say my piece, Jack complained in silence.
"This expedition is also registered under Faction quest, you can come to my office to pick up the quest," Commander Quintus advised him.
Jack was grateful, it seemed like these high-ranking NPCs in front of him were trying to help him improve his Kingdom Faction's rank. Talk about playing favor. Well, he was the only kingdom faction member at this moment. If they did not regard him as a favorite, there was no one else available. Still, he could not help but think if there was something hidden under the layer of their supports there.
"Before you leave," Duke Alfredo said as he took out a strange gizmo with the shape of a tiny triangular pyramid.
"What is that?" Jack asked.
"The result of the fusion," the duke answered.
"Fusion?" Jack was puzzled at first, before he then said, "do you mean the fragments of map? They fused into that thing?"
That did not look like a map at all! Jack exclaimed in his mind. Where the hell was the logic in three pieces of torn paper combined into a piece of solid metal block like that?
Duke Alfredo touched a part of that gizmo and a holographic image appeared above. Jack looked at it and saw the image looked like a map, with some text details indicating some of the landmarks and names of the areas. In the center of that map was a small site layout with an octagonal shape.
There were four arms extended out from that octagon. Looking at the layout, Jack assumed those four arms were some kind of extension towers, like a minaret, similar to the Taj Mahal building from his real world. However, since Commander Quintus described the place as a ruin, he wondered how much of its past splendor was left on site.
A written text mentioning the name Temple of Divine Squall was on this octagonal layout, accompanied by coordinate numbers. This map floating in front of him was where they would be heading to two days from now.
Duke Alfredo deactivated the gizmo and the holographic map vanished. He then offered the thing to Jack.
Jack pointed at himself and asked to make sure, "you are giving it to me?"
The duke nodded, "the same precaution as with the fragments. Your outworlder's inventory bag would keep it safe if something happens. I believe this thing still serves another function apart from just being a map. It could be a key to enter the ruins as well."
Jack thought the duke's thinking was reasonable. He accepted the pyramid-looking gizmo. He inspected it when it was in his hand.
Memory of Elding (Special Artifact)
No explanation? He turned to his flying encyclopedia, 'do you know what this is?'
"No, never seen nor heard of it. I don't even know such an item exists. Something is fishy here…" Peniel answered.
'Don't be so hard on yourself. You have to admit that once in a while there are bound to be things that you are not aware of,' Jack tried to console her.
"No, you don't get it. I had the fountain of knowledge within me. There should be no item in this world that I don't know of… Unless it is an alien entity."
'what alien entity?'
"Something not of this world… Similar to that God-eye monocle of yours, and whatever it is that give you that second class of yours."
'Hm… Well, okay,' he thought as he stored the thing in his inventory
"That's pretty carefree of you," Peniel quipped.
'I have a principle. If it can't be solved, then there is no need to stress about it,' Jack replied.
However, there was one issue that he might solve. The issue of commanding three hundred personnel. He had the experience before in commanding a small adventurer party in past games, but such party usually comprised of ten people or less. He had no confidence in commanding a small army, unless such command could be spread and delegated.
"Am I allowed to bring other outworlders along in this expedition?" Jack asked.
The three NPCs turned to Jack at the same time, they then looked at one another. There seemed to be a tacit understanding in their eye contact.
The duke was the one who spoke up, "all right. I give you the authority to recruit your own people. You can have them go directly to the North gate where the army gathered in the morning two days from now."
"That's cool," Jack commented. "Will they be provided mounts as well?"
"No problem on that," the duke said.
"If you have no more questions, how about we head to my office tower?" Commander Quintus said.
Jack agreed with him and they make their way there. The commander again let Jack ride his mount with him to the place. At that place, he followed the procedure and accepted the faction quest, Expedition to Temple of Divine Squall.
Jack excused himself after signing on the faction quest. He walked himself out from the noble district. On his way, he sent messages to all the ones on his Friend list, except for those who only concerned themselves with their auxiliary jobs, such as Ellie, Master Chef, Fairdeal Dylan, and those that were of a guild, such as Silverwing and William of Wellington. All of them agreed to meet. He set a time for them to meet tonight at Raven's Den, their frequent tavern in Thereath business district.
While waiting for the night, he went and stocked up on potions, foods, and magic stones. He did not forget to stock up on Iron ores as well. They would be going on a long expedition, the army should have a mobile station that let them repair their equipment's durability, but he still preferred to have some stock of ores on hand just in case.
He also used the Blacksmith Workshop and upgraded all his equipment except for Storm Breaker, to level 31. Since he was already level 21, he could use level 31 equipment. He lost a decent quantity of ores due to several failed attempts though, even with the help of Runestone of Probability.
After he finished with his equipment, he still had enough amount of iron ores, which he used half to make Whetstones. The other half he left for the contingency of fixing his equipment's durability on the road. He created 28 Whetstones. With the help of the Runestone of Enhancement, 8 out of those 28 Whetstones were the improved version.
He also went to the Magic Scroll shop to stock on some scrolls. He purchased the ones which he had accustomed to, Magic Wall, Wall of Vines, Magic Bind, Wind Jet, Heal, and Regeneration. There was one Fireball scroll available, so he grabbed it immediately. He also bought some new scrolls, Haste and Group Haste.
He then went to the Magic Association shop to buy some more Disruptive Bombs. He had tasted the wonders of these bombs in action. With this tool in his inventory, he felt much safer on the road. He also bought another bottle of Reset potion. Unfortunately, there was no more Pyro Lynx Figurine in the shop.
Following Peniel's suggestion, he also bought several of a new kind of tool called Disarm tool, and also stocked up on lots of lockpicks.
He spent around thirty-five gold coins for all those purchases, bringing his stack of coins down again.
After done with all the preparation, he asked Peniel, 'you know the direction of this Temple of Divine Squall, right?'
