“Look who it is, dumbass one-haded Jack,” Basitain greeted Jack. “I told you so. You Corvus only bring bad luck.”

“Glad to see you, Bastian,” Jack was too tired to be bothered by Bastian.

The old man came close, his hand blackened in dirt, rust, and oil, scratching his messy hair.

“Did they hit ya in the head, kid? You seem… strange.”

I wouldn’t be here if they did, Jack thought. Answering out loud would only make Bastian follow with a barrage of insults.

Jack put his hand up, taking out a gold coin.

“One gold coin if you can stop your sarcasm!”

“A bit cheap, but I’ll take it.”

Jack dropped it on the hand of the smith to avoid touching it.

“Alright, that’s enough greeting for today. Let’s get to our business now!”

The two went to the table and sat down. Bastian seemed free today. The forge at the back wasn’t burning red hot either, making the atmosphere quite temperate.

“Can you help me with this?” Jack asked, raising his left arm.

“What’s the name of my shop?” Bastian responded.

Jack knew all too well where this would eventually head to. Still, he played along with the peculiar old man.

“Sword in The Forge,” Jack answered with a dull voice.

“Not Hand in The Forge, right?”

Jack nodded at Bastian's snort.

“You really want to prove I was right to call you dumbass Jack, huh?”

Jack had thought the exhaustion would have surpressed his sentiments, but he was sorely mistaken. The smith once again proved how unlikeable he could be.

“I only ask you to help, not to forge one yourself.”

If Jack had had this kind of relationship with Dan Herring, he wouldn’t have bothered himself with this damn place.

Bastian seemed thoughtful. His eyes brightened up like every time he saw a gold coin.

Jack sighed. He knew it would come to this sooner or later.

“How much does it take for you to help me? And I’ll warn you first; I will only pay when it’s all done.”

“Them gold coins are not my main concern,” Bastian contemplated.

“You don’t have to worry about the other deal either. Maybe we can start working on it within a month or so if you have managed to gather the required ingredients. I will do my part to make sure the result is something worthy of an Archon. But, you know, of course, it’s going to be much harder working with just one arm, don’t you?”

Bastian was expecting just that as he nodded instantly.

“I’ll contact someone for an arm and upgrade it for ya, kid. The cost, let’s see, five hundred mana crystals.”

“Five hundred?” Jack stared back at the smith.

“That’s the floor price, kid. The arm itself is only around two hundred. But you won’t be able to use that for long.”

“Why?”

“Hmm, I told you so. They must have hit you real good on the head.”

Jack didn’t respond to that. Hit or not, his mind was as fuzzy as it got, too busy thinking about all sorts of things to talk back to the old man. Besides, Bastian would just answer everything himself.

The smith leaned forward, putting his hand in front, measuring the length of the amputated part.

“You’re ten; that means you are in your damn puberty. You’ll soon get taller, arms lengthened, too. Then what? One long arm, one shot arm, and you no better than having one arm. So, are you going to get a new one every new year, or are you gonna let me fix that and live happily forever after?

“So, the other three hundred is for you to do that?”

“What else? I already have the material with elastic and growth properties. With some minor adjustments, I can get you whatever shape, size, and strength. So? Cool, huh?”

Jack genuinely put his thumb up. Bastian puffed his chest up pridefully, his wrinkly face giving out a satisfying laugh. Suddenly, he frowned as his mind came across something.

“Alright, now shoo, shoo, kid,” Bastian suddenly had a change of heart.

“What’s wrong?” Jack worryingly asked for the sake of a future with two healthy arms 

“I have to make some preparation now!”

“Hey, don’t tell me you aren’t sure how to do it!”

“It’s a tough job adjusting an item like that. But I’m fully capable. I’m no Archon, but don’t you dare doubt me. Now, shoo.”

Jack’s lips twitched. According to what Bastian had just said, basically, his rank couldn’t guarantee a good result.

As soon as Jack opened his mouth, the pair of dirty hands tossed him out of the door.

 

Abraham came to Jack at dusk. Things were getting out of hand as the Harper now didn’t even have a servant to call for.

“Is it that bad, father?”

“Yes,” Abraham twitched his temples. “Among the property, the house was sacrificed first to ensure I can keep the rest of the family business for now. I have to handle what I can.”

“It’s okay,” Jack said. “I find living in such a big manor was a bit wasteful anyway.”

Abraham didn’t respond to that but remained focused on the main subject.

“I have also gotten a job for Sophie so she couldn’t interfere with the things we’re about to do. Then, should we go now? It’s getting dark, so I reckon you won’t have much trouble moving, right?”

“Before we go, let me show you this.”

Jack spent half an hour teaching Abraham how to use the conducting substance before the two finally left.

Due to the lack of a connecting point in Oxdale, Jack recommended returning to the farmhouse to reactivate it. This time, with Abraham carrying Jack at full speed, the two were there in no time. The yellow trail of smoke materialized, and the race was on, heading toward Flamemond.

Abraham had to use some mana crystals to make up for the constant running. He didn’t want to take any chance of losing track. Still, he could slowly feel his burning muscle begging for a stop.

As Abraham was about to ask for some rest, the smoke that they were following turned red.

“Not good,” Abraham said. “We have to hurry.”

Abraham understood the signal. This wasn’t a two-sided chase. Someone else was threatening enough for Rat to signal danger.

Ignoring his own fatigue, the head of the Harper household dashed away even faster than before. Crystal after crystal crumbled inside his palm, leaving trails of mana smoke behind. Even so, the insufficient rate of absorption was taking its toll on Abraham in this situation of mana overusing and lacking concentration. Eventually, though, they made it to their destination as a clump of red smoke hovered the plain outside the wall of Flamemond.

Jack jumped down and cast his gaze at the lamb bright town. Just from its outside look, Flamemond was obviously bigger than Oxdale. Situated by a river, a large bridge welcomed the town’s visitors traveling from the west. Those who came from the north, the direction of Oxdale, would pass through a large monolithic stone gate, where a dozen of soldiers was scattering out in their metal armors.

“We can let the other powers get their hands on him,” Abraham said, gasping heavily.

“I’ll take west, and you’ll take east,” Jack suggested.

“Be careful. Try not to worsen your wounds.”

From the last known connecting point, the two separated. Jack immediately used Presence of The Night to avoid any unnecessary encounters. As for Abraham, people would just assume he was a part of the ongoing search. No one wanted to bother a high Crusader anyway.

Jack occasionally used Shadow Dance to increase his speed while activating the conducting connector. He reckoned, amid the turbulence, Rat might have forgotten to mark the ground during his run. If the bandit were still in range, Jack would get him.

The official search outside the town was initially quite crowded but gradually grew scarce, for they assumed the bandit had returned inside. Jack knew otherwise since the town was still in the effective range of the last connecting point, and he would have picked up a smoke trail already.

Lurking around the flat fields surrounding Flamemond was a foolish act, so Jack went to the nearby woods, swung himself high above the ground, and used Shadow Eyes to increase the chance of catching something. Still, midnight passed, and the heavily guarded forest in the middle of its harvesting season showed no sign of the bandit. Standing on top of a tall tree, Jack had himself an overview of the whole area. Flamemond was still shining brightly. The night here was more lively than in his own town, perhaps because of the teleportation gate and its value to the economy of the houses and nation itself. Eventually, the burbling river, peacefully running its course without many activities around, caught Jack’s attention.

Jack jumped down from the tree and ran to the nearest river bank. He grabbed a pinch of conducting substance in his palm, then dipped it under water. When activated, it only released a small line of smoke that didn’t make it very far before vanishing in the air.

With this knowledge in mind, Jack quickly concealed himself, then rushed to the entrance bridge. As expected, a small and fragile smoke line rose up from the water surface toward him.

Jack didn’t jump in immediately but instead checked the surrounding. Rat had to be under the river, covering himself with the muddy bottom and his personal skills. On the bridge, a sleepy guard was leaning on the handrail, yawning. It looked like someone was eager for a hunt but was forced to take the boring patrolling duty instead.

From the soldier’s aura, Jack knew he was not a Crusader. He could quickly knock him out and then deal with Rat. Still, this man wasn’t the most of his concern. Using Shadow Eyes, Jack could see a twisted phantom lurking in a nearby bush. Its unnatural form was made even clearer by the moonlight.

That shrouded technique gave him a chill. In order to be sure of this unwelcomed visitor, Jack put a point into Niemis’ Blessing.

Niemis’ Blessing (Herald, Active, Multiple Targets)

Description: Let the Nightblade God guide your way.

Level: 1 (Requirements for next level: Spirit >= 10).

Mana cost: Low mana per second.

Cooldown: 0s.

Effects:

Can cast on multiple Nightblades. Each target will require more mana.

+5% Agility.

+5% Strength.

+5% Spirit.

*Work regardless of environment.

*Does not stack with other Niemis’ blessing or other faction’s blessing.

*Higher Rankers will require a larger amount of mana to maintain the buff.

Jack aimed the skill and cast it to see if it would take effect or not. The result made him cancel it instantly lest his presence be felt.

If Jack hadn’t been cautious, staying in a distant corner to examine things first, the other one would have been upon him right now.

Though he couldn’t feel the person’s aura, the reactive mana consumption while using Niemis’ Blessing had revealed enough. Jack knew this time he would need Abraham to face what he assumed to be, at the very least, a Crusader Nightblade.