Chapter 126 – Resolving the incident, an unstable experience.
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Jack sends a final message to his sister before turning off the computer screen, the online world is abuzz with excitement as the free travel commenced for everyone with some disappointment that it's only a single token yet people quickly worked out that you only need a single token to travel with an almost unlimited number of people. There's countless people offering rides around the whole world to the different regions they know about, the world map that was once incredibly hard to find and expensive to find completed is now freely shared about with the popular destinations highlighted.

Much to his annoyance, the home region Plain of Sorrows, is listed as one of the most popular destinations meaning there's an untold number of people going to the region.

Luckily teleported players don't respawn in the region once killed there, they also don't get another free travel token meaning it's slightly harder to return yet some people have already travelled 30+ times.

Jack finds himself in a dilemma, he cannot stay away from the region for too long yet he cannot neglect this change to travel about as judging by his interactions with Beau, the turning point for the village lays with Xueli, and maybe the little Phoenix chick, and that strength requires travelling to find. That's not to even speak of his cultivation technique that requires him to find the legendary auspicious beasts bloodlines…

"White, when will I be strong enough to just sit back and relax?," Jack asks as he sits on the bed.

'Master, this unit cannot say, even Master was unable to attain that sort of strength. Master's strength was over… ^9999* your current strength.'

Jack sighs, "Fine, so I'll never be able to relax?"

'Master that is not true, you are focusing on raw power aspects. You are talented and have resources in ways that he didn't have.'

"Strength means more than talent or ability, I will never be able to fight your old Master."

'Master would be surprised by Master's current abilities, but yes that is true. That is why Master should not be discouraged, it is simply a matter of time before Master catches up.'

"It still doesn't feel like my own power…," Jack says while placing his fingers on his forehead.

His consciousness shifts but it arrives within his inner space where he's able to look at himself training, his second copy opens its eyes and looks back at Jack.

The two stare at each other for a moment, one of them begins to develop a nosebleed while the other disappears in a burst of smoke.

Jack shifts his eyes but that slight movement is enough to cause himself to collapse as he's reaching out before him, his hand suddenly grabs onto something soft and pulls on it, he pulls with all his might and forces himself through whatever is blocking him.

His vision returns as he begins to pant looking around the room, a dark room with an open door for some reason, a room like the one he left the game world in yet his mind is dazed and frazzled over what happened.

'Mast…, Master…, Master can you hear me?'

Jack coughs up as he says, "What?"

'Master's access to the game space was severed while he was entering it. It was fortunate that Master devoured the second consciousness to boost the momentary access you have otherwise Master's consciousness would have completely collapsed, even this unit could not have recovered you.'

"What?," Jack says not knowing what to make of those words in his strange state as he looks around the room.

'Master, you need to concentrate. What was the last scene you saw?,' White asks with a strange inflection in her tone.

"I saw… darkness. That's all it was," Jack says with a wispy tone as though he feels like he has forgotten something.

'Master may need time to remember, you have returned to the game space for now where you must at first regenerate your consciousness within the internal realm," the robotic voice of White says as the deep bass of thunder clouds above roil about.

"Yeah, fine I could tell I'm back since I'm not underground. How long has passed?"

'Roughly 2 hours since Master attempted log in.'

"That's not too bad then," Jack says while standing up and stretching his body, it feels like it hasn't moved in untold ages as he limbers up, "anything I miss?"

'This unit wouldn't know.'

"Fine," Jack does as she says then walks towards the door annoyed at attitude of White compared to Xueli, there's nothing that can be done about it. He arrives by the doorway when a noise nearby catches his attention.

It sounds like someone is yelling in village square, Jack walks towards it where he quickly spots a scene he wasn't expecting.

"Unhand my friends," a young man says as he strikes a man holding a shield.

The young man's hand covered with an illusory figure of a shelled creature, it strikes the shield that emits a faint ringing sound that disappears slowly into the background.

"Now now young master, don't react too swiftly," a man's voice says.

Jack stands on the exterior of the flat stone paved square and watches the empty space devoid of anything but people from a distance, Beau is standing before several strong men wearing matching uniforms while behind those people several normal people can be seen. Each one of them have a weapon pressed against them revealing a hostage type situation.

"I said don't threaten them," Beau says while strike forward against, this time his strike is intercepted by a illusory giant shield in the air as several people's shields glow on the ground in response.

"We're not threatening them young master we're simply ensuring our safety by holding them as leverage, we want to hand them over unharmed too… it's just you understand."

"I don't even understand what you're asking of me, so why would I understand you threatening the helpers of my village."

"Young master, you must have been prepared for this surely."

"Prepared for what?," Beau asks.

The man speaking exhales deeply, "This."

A thud comes from the not too distant distance, several people have their heads chopped off spurting their blood everywhere yet the crowd doesn't react beyond a couple sharp inhales. They are truly pressured by the threat that these newcomers pose to them, Jack doesn't react to what's going on before him yet internally his heart is beating wildly as this is a possibility that he too could face one day.

"Why would you do that?!," Beau asks as he rushes forward launching a punch towards the shield that is easily able to absorb the power pushing the young man back towards several severed heads.

"Young Master, we tried to warn you but now we're down to only half our leverage… now that we have shown you we're serious. I would like you to reconsider our offer."

"Harold, Peter, Jat…," Beau says names softly before picking himself up, "I don't know what you're talking about so leave, I don't want to hurt you," he says with a crack in his voice, his emotions are barely hanging on by the sounds of his weakened voice and slumping posture.

"Young Master, you are the cause of these peoples problems. You could alleviate their problems by simply giving us what we want. Where are the items? They're produced every day so you will have lots of them."

"I don't know. It's too confusing so I just leave it, just take it!," Beau says while yelling up into the air.

"If you don't need them then why all the fuss Young Master, those people's heads are a result of your actions and now you're saying it was for no reason? How will you explain it to the relatives of Harold and Peter?," the thin masked man speaking to Beau speaks up taunting the grieving young man.

"Shut up!," Beau says while trying to plug up his ears crouched on the ground, "shut up shut up shut up!."

A quiet chuckle can be heard over the heavy breathing, the thin masked man speaking is softly laughing to himself as he stands over Beau, "Young Master, now go a retrieve the item for us. The iridescent royal silk eggs."

Beau is sobbing to himself, "Get it yourself," he struggles out between breaths.

"Now Young Master, don't make me repeat myself. Entering the city heart protective barrier isn't permitted by just anyone, it will also initiate a pesky invasion protocol that I don't want to start so could you please?," the masked man asks with a more pleasant tone.

Beau doesn't move.

"Young Master, please do not make me repeat myself. Do you want more heads to land on the ground," the masked man says.

Beau suddenly jolts upwards and straightens his back, "You can't, you can't do that, I'm doing what you said," the young man says with a strange tone in his voice, as though he's completely suppressing himself.

"Go get the eggs then," the masked man says while watching the young man walk away quickly.

Jack lets out a soft sigh, this young city lord is getting bullied by some random person who has just shown up, there's no telling if they're a player or game world faction nor what sort of level they are. His own power might be enough to stop the main group of enemies here but he doesn't have any support, it seems like all his friends have bailed on him leaving him alone with the city heart spawns.

There's nothing for Jack to do here, it's not his city nor is it his place to dictate how others are to run their own little cities.

Jack turns his head to look for a quiet escape route when nearby he hears a voice, "Missed one!," someone yells forcing Jack to turn his head back just in time to see three masked figures approaching him quickly with flared out robes trailing behind them.

"JACK!," Beau says from across the square spotting the commotion.

Jack disappears from the spot as the masked figures arrive, the young man reappears next to Beau stumbling a couple of steps due to the lack of landing space placing his hand on Beau's shoulder to slow the two of them down, he speaks up.

"Beau you don't need to worry about me, you need to worry about yourself. You could solve this if you used your actual power, I know you haven't used any skills yet."

Beau breaks eye contact and looks away from Jack, "I can't do that."

"You need to try, not for yourself but for everyone and shrimpy…" Jack speaks clearly and calmly with a smile towards the young man next to him.

"Excuse me, who are you?," the masked man asks nearby.

"I'm Jack," Jack says while looking at the masked man nearby backed by several other larger people wearing similar masks.

"Well Mister Jack, could you please leave the young man alone as he is doing something for me," the masked man says with a sneering tone.

"Beau all you need to do is try," Jack says while returning his gaze towards Beau.

Beau buckles under Jack's gaze almost immediately and averts his gaze, "I can't endanger everyone," he says softly and without conviction.

"You're already endangering them by not acting, you're dooming them by choosing to stand here," Jack says watching the young man grit his teeth yet remain unmoved.

"You cannot ignore me, don't forget who is holding the leverage here," the masked man says making a motion towards the side. Two people stand up from the crowd of kneeling people, they move a few steps away from the rest of everyone under the watchful gaze of everyone including Jack and Beau.

Jack is indifferent to this display but Beau yells out, "Jonas!" while moving his feet forward quickly but finds himself stopped by Jack as the background is filled with some laughter coming from the masked people only a few steps away.

"Let me go, they have Jonas!"

"Are you going to ask them nicely too? Are going to give up once they say no?"

"But—

—No buts, people will die if you don't act."

Beau looks pensive and undecided as he breaks eye contact with Jack, a scream breaks this quiet moment drawing both of their attentions.

Jonas is being held up from a kneeling position by his hair, a sword has been placed by his neck with a thin line of blood drawn from it.

"JONAS!," Beau screams trying to break free from Jack unable to after a moment, the masked man begins to speak but Jack quietly speaks to Beau instead.

"Beau, this isn't our world. The strongest fist dictates the winner, if you have people you care about then you need to be that strongest fist to protect them. I'll save Jonas but you need to hit that guy as hard as you can, we have this chance."

"But—

—can everyone count on you to step up when needed?"

Beau pauses for a moment then nods his head, "Ok."

Jack doesn't feel commitment from the man's words but it's not the time for this as he turns to look at the two masked men who are standing near Jonas, the thin and tall masked man is still speaking out a monologue pacing about beside Jonas being held up.

"192 people have died by these hands since the apocalypse begun, I have to ensure a safe passage for people yet somehow I'm killing people. It's strange but the reason is simple, it's due to people putting up a fight, if they didn't put up a fight then we could just implement our plans without any issues. I don't want to increase the number either but iit seems like you're forcing me to increase yet again. It's simply because you won't do what I want when I want it, now are you going to get the item?," the masked man asks after rambling for some time turning towards the two of them.

The masked man pulls out a thin sword and points it towards Jonas, "I don't want to repeat myself."

"Now Beau, use your strongest skill," Jack says while disappearing from his spot. He reappears off to the side and grabs Jonas ripping him away from the other masked man's hand. The momentum behind Jack's movement skill carries the two of them several steps away in an instant.

Jack looks behind and notices that Beau has only moved a step forward, there's nothing he can do about it now as Jonas and himself come to a stop a dozen steps away from the tall masked man.

"Beau!," Jack yells out.

"Unhand everyone else, don't hurt them and leave, I'll give you the item if you promise to never return," Beau says without looking at Jack.

"Leave and never return? You cannot make demands of us young master, we'll be back every week to collect."

Beau clenches his fist, "Fine, leave now."

"I'm glad we could see eye to eye young master, but we have to unfortunately handle this incident. This new comer has disrespected me and must pay."

"I'll pay whatever, just let him go," Beau says.

"He must pay with his life, Young Master is unable to pay,"

"But…," Beau says looking at Jack with a worried expression.

Jack smirks to himself, a flash of purple appears in his eyes as he looks at the tall masked person speaking, behind him others are moving to block his exit route, "You can only trust yourself and your own abilities," he says softly yet audible to everyone.

Beau reacts to these words with a twist expression, the thin and tall masked man launches himself forward with his naginata-type sword raised up ready to strike but Jack is ready too.

A blinding amount of light appears beneath the masked man, it disappears just as quickly as it appears leaving several people hurt.

The masked man seems unaffected as he lands next to Jack and takes a swipe, "DIE!," he yells in a crazed pained voice.

The masked man strikes several times, Jack leaps backwards to avoid these strikes but finds himself quietly surrounded and heavily outnumbered by other masked people. Jack smiles to himself at the vaguely familiar scene before him, the other masked people don't move as he turns around to face where he came from.

The thin and tall masked man has launched himself toward Jack, Jack uses Bridging-the-Stars causing another burst of lightning to appear on the ground yet narrowly miss the rapidly moving man again revealing a massive shortcoming in the skill. The masked man travelling through the air is only metres away.

Jack readies himself to leap away again when he finds himself narrowly dodging a strike from behind aimed for his neck, a yell comes from behind.

"You're not the only one with abilities," a voice says as a naginata-type sword makes another stab towards his neck.

Jack can only dodge the second strike by stepping towards the leaping man who also strikes forward in mid-air, "DIE!," he shouts leaving Jack with no escape route as follow up strikes come from behind and sides. The situation is incredibly intense and Jack doesn't have time to think about it as the leaping man is upon him.

Jack reaches his hand out before him, "Fireball," he says as a flash of orange-red qi appears in the shape of a flaming ball causing everyone's face to be lit up by the bright orange-red glow cast out by the qi, he pulls his arm back to launch the fireball towards the leaping man when a sudden pain comes across his body nearly causing the fireball to flicker out of existence. Jack focuses his mind to maintain the fireball readying it to throw causing the colours to change.

The orange-red fireball hovering outside Jack's hand shifts to a orange-black colour and that's not all, the fireball is rapidly shrinking causing the heat to become more intense and concentrated.

Jack grits his teeth and without any time to reconsider launches his hand forward releasing the fireball, throwing it towards the leaping man while also avoiding the slow lumbering stabs from behind him.

"NOT ENOUGH!," the leaping masked man says in his crazed pained voice striking towards the orange-black fireball which is quickly collapsing on itself.

Jack has no idea what's going on with the fireball but he has no time to be concerned about that as he quickly scans around for any sort of escape route, an impending feeling of doom is coming over his body as each moment passes forcing him to quickly choose anywhere else to be. He uses Bunny Dash once landing a short distance away near Beau just as the leaping masked man's stabs reach the fireball, all of these actions happening only over a few moments.

*CRACK*

Jack's vision becomes black for a moment as his ears are filled with the sound of cracking glass before he finds himself awoken by the snapping of wood in the distance, he looks around and immediately spots a young woman standing near him.

"White?," he asks.

"Yes Master," she responds with a happy tone as though there's nothing unusual about the situation going on.

"What am I doing here?"

"Does Master remember what he was doing before he came to this space?"

"I was… in the middle of an incredibly slow fight, Bridging-the-Stars was useless so I had to…,'

"Had to what?"

"Use fireball…," Jack says while trailing off as though he's trying to understanding his own logic process, "it was just a fireball though, it shouldn't do anything bad."

"Master may remember this units guidance, using Master's internal energy will adversely effect Master's foundation. What happened to Master is another aspect of that because Master essentially skipped 2 whole levels of cultivation, Master's internal energy is somewhat uncontrollable unless it's forcibly suppressed by Master using the formless qi among other methods..."

"So why am I here? Can I return?"

"Master is free to return anytime, Master was brought here for safety."

"Is it safe now?"

"This unit would not know if it is safe but Master's anchor points remain so the space remains intact."

Jack frowns at this lack of information but knowing it's not forthcoming he places his hand on his forehead and concentrates while shutting his eyes, he can feel his consciousness shift indicating something has happened but as he opens his eyes he closes them quickly then reopens them. He blinks heavily a few times looking out at the dark night scene around him.

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