"All right, I accept. But if I am to search that uncle of yours, I will need more information to go by," Jack said. "How exactly does he betray you?"
"That is Maxius family's secret, you do not need to know," it was Caleb who answered.
"Suffice to say he made a grave mistake," Horatio added.
"Which town was he last seen in this country? Do you know in which direction he headed when he left?" Jack asked another question.
"This city we are in was the last city he was reported to be seen. The report from our pursuer at the time was he was heading Northeast."
"I doubt the pursuers stopped just because of the border. What further report was available after they chased him into Themisphere?"
"There was none."
"You need to help me if you want me to help you. I don't have much to go on if you withhold information."
"We don't withhold any. There was no further report because none of the pursuers we sent had returned. We assumed that all of them were killed. These pursuers were only scouts that were supposed to track Aubelard before we sent someone powerful enough to deal with him, but he must have found out and taken care of these pursuers."
This statement made Jack uneasy, he asked, "How powerful is this Aubelard…?"
"He is a level 80 rare elite vampire," Horatio answered.
"Le… level 80 rare elite…?" Jack stammered. This was the highest level native he had heard of.
"All you need to do is find his location, we are not asking you to deal with him," Caleb said. "In fact, we advise you to not approach him at all. He is a very dangerous individual and will not hesitate to kill you if he finds out that you have anything to do with us."
"That is right. For your sake, we strongly suggest to immediately come back to us once you confirm his location," Horatio added.
"Even if I find him, it is not guaranteed that he will stay there. By the time I report to you, he might have moved on," Jack said.
Horatio shook his head. "I don't believe so."
"Why?" Jack asked.
"He is wounded when he fled this country," Horatio answered. "Although he is still dangerous, he still needs to find a place to stay and heal. He can't afford to move freely or his wound will get worse."
"Wound? That was a hundred years ago. I'm sure whatever wound he had should have healed by now?"
"Our race did have an excellent healing factor. However, his wound is not anything normal. It was dealt by my father, the patriarch himself. Even if several hundred years passed, he will still not fully heal. It will even get worse if he didn't stay still and find enough sustenance."
"Sustenance? Do you mean human blood?"
"Any blood, but human blood will be best."
Jack gave the matter some thought, "anything else you can share with me?"
"Here, this is a portrait of him. Maybe you will get some information if you show this picture to someone who had seen him," Horatio said as he gave Jack a small-sized photograph.
'There is a photograph in this world?' Jack thought as he accepted. But the picture on the photograph looked more like a painting. A very realistic painting. It showed a middle-aged man with neatly combed grey hair in luxurious clothing.
"This should be helpful," Jack said as he stored the photograph.
"However, please note that an old vampire like my uncle has the ability to morph himself to look like a human. He might even look completely different from the picture."
"Uh… Then this picture isn't exactly helpful…"
Horatio smiled at Jack's comment. He continued, "although he could use disguise, it is only at night. If he is hit by Sunlight, the disguise will come off. So, maybe someone still sees him during the day."
"I see… Do you have anything else?"
"I am afraid that's all we have about my uncle."
"All right, I will do my best," Jack said as he stood up.
"We await your good news then," Horatio replied.
After Jack left, Horatio asked Caleb, "What do you think of his chances?"
"Very doubtful. I am confused why the third prince send an outworlder. They are too weak. The representatives from the first and second princes have a much better chance to succeed."
"Although your thinking makes sense, I won't be so sure. Outworlders might be weak for now, but their improvement rate is staggering. They are also very resourceful. I won't say that his chance is any less than the other two. Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I will show my support to whoever gets the information first."
When Jack came out of the city hall, Sinful Pleasure was still there.
"You are really still waiting for me," Jack commented.
"I have a good feeling about you. I think we can be good friends," Sinful said.
"Well, I think so too."
"So, where else do you want to go?"
"Is there Hunters Association and Adventurers Association here?"
"Sure, which one do you want to go to first?" Sinful asked.
"Hunters Association," Jack answered.
"Follow me!" Sinful said.
'I understand why you want to go to Hunters Association, but why Adventurers Association? You have no completed quest to report this time,' Peniel asked Jack using her mind.
'I remembered you said that when my Archmage reached level 35, I will be able to use two swords while still cast spells, right?'
'Yes.'
'I am just a tiny bit left from reaching that level. I want to get to that level first before I go on the search for this Aubelard fellow. So, maybe I will take a short quest that provided me enough exp for that. At the same time, increase my adventurer grade to Gold. I just need a little more points to get to that grade.'
'Hm… Good. In that case, once you reached level 35, we should find a place with Magic Furnace. The Mage academy here should also have one.'
'Like the one I used when forming a contract with you? Why do I need that place again? Is the spell I got at level 35 similar to the Call Familiar spell again?'
'Once you reached level 35, I will explain.'
The building that housed the Hunters Association in this city was similar in shape but different in its ornamentation. It had a lot more decoration and was more extravagant compared to the one in Thereath. When Jack went inside, he found the layout to be almost the same as the one in Thereath. Because of this, he had no problem finding his way.
All the halls are similar to Thereath, crowded. Jack wondered if he could use the VIP status here as well. Peniel confirmed to him that the badge was valid at all branches of the Hunters Association, no matter the country. He showed his badge to the staff and was taken to the VIP hall. Sinful, however, was barred from entering.
"Dude, how did you get all this privilege?" He said.
"You want to wait for me again?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, I will be here."
Jack went in and handed the two hideout cores and one settlement core. Since the level he got these cores from was higher than the previous ones, the rewards he received were also higher. He received 22 gold coins and 9000 hunter points.
He also submitted his ten completed hunting quests and cashed in all the trophy loots. He got 9 gold coins and 860 hunter points
With these hunter points, Jack had broken through to a gold-rank hunter. The staff informed him of this, at the same time his badge was being processed. When it was returned, the badge was a dazzling golden color.
After spending a short time admiring his new badge, he asked the staff, "Can I see the exchange list for gold-grade hunters?" Jack had 15,323 hunter points available for exchange.
"Certainly, sir." A holographic list appeared in front of Jack.
Though the quality of the items in this exchange list was good, Jack still scrolled them speedily to the top, where the exclusive list was located. At the same time, he asked in his mind, 'Peniel, is the exclusive list in one city the same as the other city? If I take an exclusive item here, will it still be available in Thereath?'
'Exclusive items in neutral and league factions are divided by country. Every city in the same country will share the same exclusive items. But they are separate for different countries. If you take an exclusive item from this city, other cities in Sangrod will no longer have this item available.'
'So if I take an exclusive item here, I can teleport to Thereath and take the same item again?'
'Each country provides a different list. You might not find the same exclusive items if you go to Thereath. And by the way, do you think exclusive items in the gold hall are cheap?'
Jack reached the exclusive list at the same time when Peniel asked the question. His jaw dropped after seeing the list.
Complete map of Sangrod Empire (super rare tool) – 800,000 hunter points
Sun Destroyer Bow (super rare bow) – 600,000 hunter points
Wild Beast Bloodline (super rare consumable) – 750,000 hunter points
Sky Eagle Wing (super rare tool) – 700,000 hunter points
