Chapter 28: Chapter 27: Peaceful Days

Abraham was finally home from Mocester to inform his family about acquiring a massive contract. The delivery of this contract would be around the time of the awakening ceremony, so most likely, he would take Jack with him on the trip.

Jack was so busy with the classes that sometimes, he completely forgot how much the Hensley wanted him dead; and thanks to Meinhard, Abraham was still oblivious about all of this. The lessons were growing more intense as Rolerra was preparing its students for the awakening ceremony. If performed successfully, it would bring many benefits to the participants, and the few with ample capability would have a high chance of being accepted into Kosine. But, not everyone would be going, for there were still many students whose families were yet to have the fortune, so they would have to wait for the next event or the ones after that.

Thomas and Agos would be participating in the ceremony with Jack this year. Agos, who had been training with Jack’s new mana manipulating method, had shown considerable improvement. The boy had been converting the mana in the food much more effectively, leading to an unprecedented phenomenon: he had been feeling full lately. Storing that much mana without utilizing them had stopped his usual ever-presenting hunger.

“I hate this new method,” Agos grumbled to Jack during class.

“That means,” Jack glanced at Agos, “you haven’t been doing any of the physical training I’ve told you to.”

Agos scratched his head and tried to change the subject or sneaked away every time Jack gave him that look.

Thomas, on the other hand, was seemingly one step before Jack, as if Xerath’s training was born for him. The stamina, the agility, the flexibility, he had it all. If Jack were to pick, Thomas would most likely be the one in the class to make it to Kosine.

Having to learn so many things at once had stretched Jack’s body to the limit. He had managed to gain decent results in many fields but at the cost of his physical training. He may have the endurance but lacked the agility like Thomas. He may have the subtlety and meticulousness thanks to the smithing sessions with Bastian but lacked the complete muscle and bodybuilding structure of a combatant. However, Jack deemed it all worthy, for the system was preserving the experience he had acquired from the products he had had his hands on.

Under the protection of three high rankers, Jack could enjoy a period of peaceful time where he could study, eat, and sleep comfortably. Though, he wondered how long it would last.

Three more days until the system would fully restart itself, Jack had managed to acquire enough knowledge to open some more branches on the skilltree. This time, it was for the Warrior and Maester.

The Warrior branch was divided into Sword, Shield, and Martial Art. For now, there was no apparent specialized and mana-consuming skill like those of the Nightblade, but instead, something else called Mastery Skill Node. Martial Art Mastery, Sword Mastery, and Shield Mastery. Each of these would act as a passive supporting skill to situationally increase the user’s stats.

Much like Artificer, Maester’s skill tree branched into two with crafting and combat. The combat part was relatively less impressive compared to its Artificer counterpart. Whereas the Artificer benefited greatly from the weapon’s stat requirement reduction, the Maester didn’t quite have such advantages, for most of their creation could be used regardless of ranking. Of course, there were still some unique poisonous or healing potions that could have opposite effects without the ample skill or knowledge to use them.

There was a skill called Condensed Shot, very similar to the one Julia did during her class. The system gave Jack some more detail, as the skill could be upgraded to create different variants and it was also the basis for learning higher ranking skill nodes. Most notably, though, was the duo of Resistance Technique and Enhancement Technique, which, as the name implied, helped the Maester with their own resistance against as well as the effectiveness of their potions when used on themself through the use of a specialized mana manipulation method channeling on their organs and body parts.

Still, the Arcanist branch was a slow progress. Meinhard wasn’t always available to assist Jack with his study. However, Jack reckoned he would be able to learn more about it if he could get into Koisine, where there wouldn’t be as much restriction on studying material as here in Rolerra.

“This time, we will use the teleportation gate at the neighboring town of Flamemond,” Abraham said at the dining table, preparing Jack for the trip to Mocester. “I have reserved a spot for our caravan.”

“Will that be the last of our savings?” Jack asked.

For the last two months, Jack had been paying more attention to Abraham’s business. He had been spending all of his time and energy to secure the contract at Mocester, so much so that he had to put aside the rest of the Harper household’s administration. The contract was mainly about packaged materials and food. Even though he had received the deposit from his trading partners, the total investment was so massive that the Harper had been struggling with paying for the workers and rental fees.

Abraham rubbed his eyes.

“We have no choice,” Abraham said. “The safety of this contract must be prioritized. With the number of people heading for Mocester these days, the time required to travel to Oxdale will be quite unpredictable, putting us in a precarious position. We’re at a lot of risks here.”

Jack said nothing more. Part of this financial burden they were facing was him. Discussing in detail only would only make this situation more tricky.

“Alright,” Sophie scolded, “can you two finish the meal and talk about a more delightful subject?”

Jack smiled, scooping up a hot spoon of stew.

“If I managed to be accepted into Kosine,” Jack said, “I would try to visit you often.”

Sophie looked at Jack affectionately, her eyes on the brink of tears.

Kosine was situated in the capital city of Edover, further down the road to Mocester. Therefore, he would be attending the academy full-time. If things went smoothly, Jack would travel there using the teleportation gate, or at the very least, with a cart. It was said that sometimes, the professors and supervising agents there would even conduct small tests and challenges on the road.

“Where will you get the money to go home,” Sophie scolded Jack, “just use your savings on food. You are getting skinny.”

Jack pouted, raising his arms up and shaking his body.

“Don’t I look healthy enough? You know what I’ll be lacking when I go to Kosine?”

“Now, what will that be, my little Jack?” Sophie asked.

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“The love of my parents,” Jack smilingly said.

Though they were getting used to the way Jack had been expressing his feelings after his awakening, Sophie and Abraham still couldn’t hold back their emotional outburst. They mocked each other on who had Jack’s flattering taken after.

To Jack, his literal life-long experience had taught him one important thing: you could never say enough words of love to those you held dear. At the end of his past life, the only thing he had wished for was for them to have still been there for him to say cheesy lines.

The next morning, the old butler was going around, preparing the clothing for Jack. He was somehow still not yet satisfied with Jack’s seemingly neat and tidy wearing today. A dark coat embellished with purple outlines and golden threads wrapped around Jack’s body. Inside was a personalized white shirt made by Sophie herself. Lastly was a dark blue trouser made from a rather luxurious magically-cultivated cotton of Oxdale, which resulted in a very cool and comfortable feeling under the lower body area. 

Edward held in his hand the Harper’s emblem, a golden harp on a silvery cloud.

“You shouldn’t wear this?”

“Why?” Jack asked.

“You are a child of the Corvus. Though exiled, you should still carry their symbol.”

“So should I just abandon the Corvus name?” Jack answered aggressively.

Edward was going to reply, but Abraham entered the room and disrupted the conversation. He went toward Jack and put his hand on his adopted son’s shoulder.

“You should listen to Edward. At the very least, wear it under your shirt or something. But, you must still carry it with you.”

From Abraham’s rather assertive voice, Jack reckoned there was something more behind all of this, so he relented. Jack opened his personal chest and took out the emerald pendant. As it shone under the sunlight, the raven’s eye seemed to be staring at him. Damn raven. The object always gave him this feeling of being under surveillance. Most of the stuff in here, he had sold them away. The chest had done its service.

Jack wore the necklace while walking to the front yard, trying to hide it under the two layers of clothing. He had a small bag worn across his shoulder, inside of which were a couple of necessary books, Bastian’s cube, and the Legacy Orb.

The whole crew was standing at the front. There were up to five cargo carts this time, each attached to two robust horses. Abraham and Jack would be on their personal cart, accompanied by a group of around fifteen mercenaries on horseback. According to Edward, half of them were of lower Herald and the rest were upper. Robert, the carpenter, was also among them. He would be their repair and maintenance man for this trip.

Sophie hugged Jack; her eyes were out of tears from the constant sobbing this whole morning. She pushed a small pouch full of food into Jack’s hand.

“Please eat well, dear,” Sophie sobbed some more. “Got that? Contact me whenever you can, alright? And remember to visit me!”

Jack’s nose was getting a bit runny, but he held himself back, not wanting Sophie to get emotional again.

“Sure,” Jack said, “I’ll call and visit you so much that you would want to kick me out!”

Then, Jack got on the cart with Abraham and Edward. They headed toward the town of Flamemond.

 

On the road to Flamemond, there was a group of people gathering around a fork. One way, which the folks usually used to go to the town, was a flat plain; the other went through a forest, which adventurers used to hunt beasts and monsters. 

“Rat?” The chunkiest among them called out.

“Here, boss!” His voice screeched like a rat.

“Have the mercenaries reported back?”

“Yes, boss. There will be someone or some monsters blocking the way from Oxdale to Flamemond. I also put some money into the teleportation gatekeeper’s pocket. He won’t mind customers being a little late.”

“Good. Alright, everyone, prepare to meet our customer!”

They then spread out and waited in silence.