“Is that a skill?” Abasi asked.
“No. It’s what we outworlders called martial art,” Long replied.
Two orc guards barged into the hall. The sound of fighting had attracted their attention. “Chief! Is there a problem?” They then realized an unknown draconian was there.
“Leave! We will talk later about the matter of how you let someone pass through unknowingly,” Abasi uttered.
The two bowed anxiously before retreating.
“What do you want coming here? My father is no more. Whatever deals you have with him had died with him,” Abasi said.
Seeing the orc warlord had calmed down, Long said, “I’m here to make a new deal with you. I believe you have heard from your father about the organization I represent. We are based in Liguritudum but we will be making our move to the rest of the world before long. We are inviting you to join us.”
“Hmph! My place is here,” Abasi said.
“In a place that no longer values you and your tribe,” Long said, causing Abasi to scowl again.
“You have heard what the other chief said just now. The council will soon expel your tribe. You will just be one of the many tribes in this nation without any political power. If you are willing to accept the demotion and are satisfied with letting your tribe do others’ bidding from now on. Then so be it, let us part ways. But let me tell you this, if you let that happen, you will lose any opportunity of taking revenge.”
Abasi turned to Long and said mockingly, “If I join you, I can?”
“Yes,” Long answered, not offended by the mocking tone. “If you don’t believe that we have the power to take on the world, there is nothing I can say to convince you of that. But know that after that failed invasion, Verremor would no longer take another action against Themisphere. Which meant you will no longer have a chance to go after the ones responsible for your failure and your father’s death. Your father died at the hand of an outworlder woman named Jeanny. She is in the same guild as Storm Wind, your nemesis. Their guild is an enemy of mine. So, you see, the best chance for you to get to them is with us, because we are also targeting them.”
Abasi was silent. He seemed to be seriously contemplating the offer. Long could see that, so he added an incentive. “Take this as a gift,” he said and threw a small bottle at Abasi.
Abasi caught the bottle.
“That’s a reconstruct potion,” Long said. “It will grow your missing arm. There is no certainty that the Church of Creation will agree to heal you. With that potion, you no longer need to worry about persuading them to heal you.”
Abasi didn’t respond. He just looked at the bottle with a contemplative expression.
“There is no need to give me an answer immediately. Just leave me a message at the usual place your father did if you are interested to join,” Long said. “And don’t worry about that reconstruct potion. As I said, it is a gift. There is no need for you to feel indebted for that potion. If you want to join us, that’s great. If you don’t, that’s fine as well. Just know that by not joining, you have thrown away the chance of joining the winning team. The future ruler of this world.”
Abasi wanted to scoff at Long’s remark, but the draconian’s confidence made him unable to.
“I will take my leave then,” Long said.
“Hold!” Abasi called. “I have two conditions if I am to join.”
“State your conditions,” Long said.
“I want to be there when your guild makes a move on Storm Wind and Jeanny’s guild,” Abasi uttered.
“Naturally,” Long replied. “What’s your second condition?”
“I want to be your companion.”
Long raised his brows. He didn’t expect this. But after a brief thought, he could understand Abasi’s request. Abasi had seen how crazy the outworlder’s growth speed was. The first time Abasi encountered Jack, Jack was nothing. Abasi could kill the outworlder as easily as flicking his finger. But now, Jack could fight at almost an even ground with him already. The next time they met, maybe Abasi would turn out to be the one powerless against Jack. Hence, he needed to level the playing ground. He needed to be able to increase his power as fast as the outworlders did.
Long in front of him was the perfect candidate. Although Abasi hadn’t fought seriously, this outworlder before him could force him back with one hit as well as sneak in undetected through a guarded complex. This showed that Long was not a simple outworlder.
“Hahaha, I accept,” Long said.
“All right. I will prepare my companion token. Stay here first for a while.” Abasi called one of his servants to prepare the material for the token. Long took a seat inside the hall in the meantime.
“Hm?” Long frowned in his seat.
“What is it?” Abasi had sat in a chair opposite Long while waiting for his servant.
“Something shocking had just happened in Themisphere,” Long answered.
“Something shocking? Is it your guild’s doing?”
“No, this is something unexpected. This will cause waves in the Themisphere country. Your nation should receive the news soon. This also concerns that nemesis of yours.”
—————
Arriving at the palace, Jack went to report his presence to Mason as usual. The royal advisor informed him that Emris, Duke Alfredo, and the others should be arriving soon. Mason didn’t want to delay the rehearsal for them, but they might be able to join the rehearsal mid-way. Jack proceeded toward Prince Alonzo’s chamber as usual.
Arriving there, the two guards opened the door for him. Jack then waited in the foyer as he had done many times throughout this week. He stood in attention while waiting.
During the first few days of rehearsals, Peniel had teased him about his seriousness. She said in any other situation, he would have sat leisurely on the couch that was available in that foyer while waiting.
Jack told her that while he was frivolous in general, that didn’t mean that he was not able to be formal when needed.
“Hm… today the prince was taking especially long to prepare,” Jack commented.
“Yeah, it has been almost an hour already,” Peniel agreed.
“Maybe he was nervous since tomorrow will be the real thing, so he wants to make sure that everything is perfect,” Jack said. Mason did tell him that he might wait for one hour for the prince. But in all the rehearsals before this, the prince never took longer than half an hour. He looked at his radar. The lone white dot in the prince’s bed chamber was still there, but it had been static for a while.
Jack continued to wait. Another ten minutes passed.
Jack finally couldn’t keep standing still anymore. He went to the door of the bed chamber and knocked. “Your Majesty, do you need any help?” He called.
The sound of something falling and crashing was heard from inside. The sound gave Jack a jump, but he was even more surprised when the lone white dot inside the prince’s bed chamber suddenly vanished.
“What…?”
Then he noticed a white dot appeared some distance away. This white dot then moved further away from his position.
“Huh…?”
Did the prince use a teleportation spell? But why? He had a bad feeling after seeing the weird movement on his radar. His radar told him that the room next door was already empty, but he uttered, “Your Majesty, I’m coming in.”
Jack then opened the door and was shocked to see prince Alonzo on the floor. He was frozen for a second by the scene.
“Prince Alonzo…!!” He shouted as he snapped out of his shock. He hurriedly ran to the prince who was laying on the floor. He used his Inspect on the way, only to prove what he feared was real. His Inspect confirmed that the one on the floor was indeed Prince Alonzo and his HP was zero.
He knelt to look at the prince’s body. There was no sign of struggle, just a single sword stab wound to the heart. The room was the same. Aside from a table lamp that was on the ground, all the other things in the room appeared intact.
While he was still trying to make sense of what had just transpired, he heard the sound of the door opening followed by hasty footsteps. He turned back and saw the two guards who guarded the door come in, behind them was royal advisor Mason.
“Your… Your Majesty…!!!” The guards shouted once they saw the body on the floor.
“You…!!” The two guards immediately brandished their weapons at Jack.
Jack was taken aback by the two’s reaction. “Hey! Wait a minute! The prince is already dead when I enter this room!”
“Liar! We talked to the prince a few moments before you came. He is still fine then. No one came into this room except for you! If you are not the perpetrator, who is?!”
“What…? We will deal with that later. The palace should have someone with the resurrection spell, right? Hurry and call one!!”
Hearing Jack’s words, Mason immediately commanded one of the guards to go and call the palace’s main healer.
“Royal Advisor, I…,” Mason lifted a hand to stop Jack from talking.
“I’m sorry, mister Storm Wind. I like you, but currently, you are the main suspect. I can’t let my personal feeling cloud my judgment. Unless prince Alonzo can be resurrected and we hear his explanation, please stand to the side and refrained from making any movement.”
Jack thought about making an argument, but he decided he should just comply. He went to one side and waited. Not long after, the guard returned with an old man in a white robe. Following behind them was Emris. This lord marshall was the first to arrive in the capital among the natives who went to the war.
Emris frowned heavily after seeing Alonzo’s body. He glanced at Jack before returning his attention to the palace’s main healer who was now casting a spell.
The spell was completed. A saintly light appeared out of nowhere from the ceiling right above Alonzo’s body. This holy light bathed Alonzo’s body. A hymn could be lightly heard.
The light didn’t last long. It died down soon. The soft hymn was also gone. Alonzo stayed still.
The healer turned to Mason and said, “I’m sorry, My Lord. The prince had died for more than one hour. The resurrection spell cannot work on him anymore.”
