Second World
chapter-1687

"Can you please warn me if you want to test your skill on me…?!" Peniel scolded while flying back to Jack.

"Hehe, sorry," Jack chuckled. "This spell is similar to Teleport Other."

"That's true, but teleport others can't be used to target enemies," Peniel said.

"Hm…," Jack thought about the possibility. If he could readjust an enemy's position, that could indeed turn the advantage depending on the situation. "But I can't tell how strong this spell's pulling power is. I need to go find an enemy to get an estimation."

"The power of the spell's black hole depends on your intelligence stat," Peniel explained. "If you upgrade its stars, it will also increase its pulling power and the strength of its mental disruption, making it more difficult for the enemy to escape the black hole. With more stars, you can teleport bigger targets. At the moment, you will not be able to teleport a target bigger than a normal human."

"Oh. So, I can't teleport the mobile fortress…," Jack muttered.

"Yet," Peniel said. "But please note, you will never be able to teleport static structures. Additionally, after reaching five stars, the duration of the black hole is shortened to two seconds. When you fully max the spell to ten stars, the duration of the black hole will become only one second. It will be very difficult for the enemy to escape then."

"I see. Okay then. This skill will be the priority when my container of souls is filled up again."

*

The next morning, Jack met up with John and Tip. He gave John his Ring of Inheritance, to which John responded with, "After all this time, you only get a legendary-grade cloak and a legendary-grade ring? You should work harder. If not, I might already get better equipment. If that happens, you won't be able to give your things to me anymore."

"Motherf*cker," Jack cursed. "A thank you will make me feel a lot better."

"You should know by now I'm not in the business of making people feel better."

"Despite you being an unbearable ass, here," Jack handed him a pile of goods that he wanted to donate to the guild.

John took the goods from him and passed it to Tip who was next to him.

"Go back to headquarters," John said to Tip. "It will be some time before we enter Liguritudum. Spend one week to manage the guild and the guild army. You can teleport back to the border town of Hydrurond or Aurebor then cross the border zone. With your super rare steed, you should be able to catch up to us before the next battle happens. I will send you detailed instructions via messages."

Tip nodded.

"I also have this," Jack uttered before Tip left. He took out the heart of darkness and showed it to John.

"What do you think?" Jack asked.

John took the heart of darkness and gave it a good look. Since he had Hope's knowledge, he should know how best to use this thing.

"Breathtaking," John said. He threw the heart of darkness at Tip like it was a common stone. Tip didn't expect that, but he was quick enough to catch the thing before it fell to the ground.

"You should learn more on how to show appreciation," Jack said to John while shaking his head.

"And what use is that for?" John asked.

"So, you don't get accidentally killed by, let's say, a king who happens to be not in the mood at the time," Jack replied.

"Duly noted," John returned.

"Uh… Do you still have any other things you want to pass to me?" Tip asked. Jack said no, so Tip took his leave.

After Tip left, Jack said, "I'm honestly still conflicted about whether to give this to you, but I think you can make better use of it than me."

Jack showed John the Mind Breaker.

"Wow. Now, that is a good find," John snatched the Mind Breaker from Jack's hand and stored it inside his inventory. Jack waited for John to say something but he didn't.

Jack sighed. He then asked John, "What now? We just wait until it's time to march?"

"You can go and dance among the troops to entertain them if you want," John replied.

"#$*@..."

"I will go and give Nova some tips in managing the country. She might be experienced at leading a guild but a country is a whole different beast," John said. "You do whatever you want."

"Before you go, do you have any news on our other fronts?" Jack asked.

"The force marching from Hydrurond is making steady progress. I gave them the instructions to march slowly and build a secure supply line. This way, we can catch up to them with our force here. We will be bringing Verremor and Aurebor's siege engines with us, whatever was left of them."

"Do you think Liguritudum might attack while our troops are marching?"

"With the losses they suffered, I doubt they will attack our force before we enter Liguritudum. No, I don't think they will."

"What about the third force? The one Thelgrun led."

"They were on the inland sea for some time already," John answered. "The Liguritudum armada showed up when they sailed near Liguritudum's territory, but I instructed them to avoid contact. So, there hasn't been any battle on that side. The Liguritudum armada has more ships. A few days ago, the enemies tried to force a battle, but Thelgrun followed my instructions and his armada retreated. They kept a distance from the enemies. They continued to retreat and now they were positioned close to the strait that linked the inner sea to the outer sea."

"If the enemies continued to chase?" Jack asked.

"Then they will sail out to the outer sea," John answered.

"Isn't the outer sea dangerous?"

"As long as they sailed near the land, they should be okay. I don't think the Liguritudum armada will do that. They will surely return once their scouts report about our force nearing their border. The border of Liguritudum is marked by a wide river that flows to the inner sea. My mother will surely send a portion of the armada to rain fire at us when we try to cross that river."

"I see."

"Oh, one thing you should be aware of," John said. "I had a chat with my father yesterday. He said the attempted rebellion in Sangrod was over. Emperor Horatio is marching with further reinforcement to join us."

"Archibald has been defeated?" Jack asked.

"Not really. He just up and disappeared with his people," John answered.

"Huh?"

"My father said Horatio was also puzzled by the occurrence. They thought maybe Archibald sensed their ploys and realized that he had been cornered, so he ran. Horatio left 500,000 troops in Sangrod in case Archibald attacked when they were out of the country. Without a settlement as a base for Archibald, those half a million troops should be enough to take care of him."

Jack nodded. Horatio previously stayed in Sangrod with a million troops. If he left half a million, that meant he came with a half million reinforcement. When Jack was about to leave for exp farming, he noticed John was deep in thought.

Jack waited until John looked at him again.

"The battle on the sea is about to begin," John said to Jack. "I've left them a recall plate to summon me when it is time. I will go into Liguritudum with the sea fleet. You will lead our force from here. March once the resupplying and the mobile fortress' upgrade are complete."

With that advice, John vanished.