Chapter 33. A Friend?

The night had arrived, but the street lamps along the street allowed good visibility. Jack could see from the man's robe and the staff he was holding that he was a Magician. His God-eye monocle inspected the man and found him to be level 9. No wonder he was having trouble, he was surrounded by four level 10 goblins and a level 11 Skeleton Thug. The poor guy was totally outclassed.

The man was surprised by Jack's interference. He was still standing there when a goblin made another slice on his leg. The cut woke him up with an ouch. Jack came forward and stood in front of him just as the other goblins approached. Jack used Swing and forced them back.

"Fall back!" Jack said to the stranger. "Use your spells to hit them from a distance. I will keep them from coming near you."

The magician nod fiercely and did as he was told. He was not going to argue with his rescuer.

The Skeleton Thug and Goblin that had fallen had gotten back up again. The two of them charged together. Jack's Swing skill was still on cooldown so he currently had no Fighter skill available to deal with multiple opponents, and he didn't want to expose his Magician skill in front of a stranger. He resolved to use his advantage in speed to deal with the two opponents. He had changed his weapon skill back to Dexterity +2 when he arrived on the scene.

With his dual-class attributes, he practically over-leveled all the monsters here. He had also fought their types continuously every day, so he had basically memorized their attack patterns. Even without relying on his Magician skills, he could still whittle down the monsters' HP.

He skidded through the monsters' attacks with ease and slashed them whenever he saw an opening. Once in a while, there would be magic balls coming from behind and hitting the monsters. Jack was impressed. He had thought that there was a high likelihood that the guy would just run away after being saved. Apparently though, the guy had some guts and held his ground instead of saving his own skin.

With Jack holding the monsters back, the magician continuously fired off his spells. The Magician's damage, however, was nothing compared to Jack's.

Not long after, the last monster fell to the ground and broke into dust. Three copper coins and an iron ore were left lying on the ground. Jack went around and collected them without reservation. After all, he could safely consider the monsters his kills; the Magician was only there making background noises.

After Jack finished collecting the drops, he looked at the Magician. The guy didn't seem to mind about the loot. He looked like a teenager that was just a little bit younger than Jack. He gave a grateful smile when Jack approached.

"Thank you for your help, brother," he said with a bow. "I would have been a goner if not for you."

"No trouble," Jack replied.

"I am Star Bowler," The guy said.

"Storm Wind."

"What a cool name that is!"

'Yeah? And yours is a cute one. Do you like bowling that much?' Jack thought in his mind but didn't let it out loud.

Instead, he asked, "What's your level?"

"Nine, brother. And yours?"

After the incident with Ogre and Mouse, Jack had decided to be cautious of strangers. But the magician gave an honest answer without hesitation. Therefore, he would do the same.

"Thirteen," he said.

"T–Thirteen?" Bowler's eyes were bulging.

"You aren't joking, are you brother? This is really unexpected. I'm really fortunate to have been saved by an expert."

Jack just shrugged and asked, "How come you ended up in this mess? You must know better than to disturb a pack of Goblins that are higher level than you."

Bowler's face turned gloomy by the question.

"That is true, but… sigh, I'm not used to talking badly about people, but guess I just ended up in bad company. I was originally traveling with another two companions.  We were heading towards the place that voice in the sky asked us to go. But there was this road not far from here which was patrolled by that group of Goblins. If we were to avoid them, we would have had to make a large detour. In addition to that, we had reached there by sneaking around many monsters. If we went back to make the detour, we would risk getting caught by the monsters we had just avoided. So, we decided to fight it out with the Goblins… or at least I thought so."

Bowler gave another sigh and continued, "They told me to take a position opposite them and had me attack with my range spell to lure the monsters over. The plan was for them to flank the monsters and deal damage from the ambush, so as to lessen the burden for all of us in fighting them off. But in the end, they ended up…"

"Leaving you once you lured the Goblins over?" Jack interjected.

"Yeah," he nodded sadly. Then his expression was replaced by anger.

  "Those assholes! After the things we went through together, I thought it meant something. I'd even saved their asses during our travels."

"People tend to do ungrateful things when they're trying to survive," Jack said.

Bowler nodded in agreement.

"I assume you are also heading to that place the beam of light is shining on, right?" He asked.

"After that notification from the sky? I think everyone who is still alive will be heading there." Jack answered.

"I supposed that's true," Bowler said. "Do you mind if I tag along?"

Jack looked at him in silence.

"I don't think I will be able to make it there alone," he added, with a hint of helplessness in his voice.

"All right," Jack said after some consideration.

"Thank you, brother!" Bowler was ecstatic.

"Just don't slow me down."

"I won't, I won't!"

"It's very late already; let's find someplace to spend the night."

Jack brought him back to the office building he was in before. After climbing to the fifth floor, he took out his tent again.

"That's neat! Where did you get that?" Bowler asked.

"Home appliance store," Jack answered.

"I should get myself one."

"You should find some sheets, or chair cushions, or blankets, to use for lying down. I can't share this tent with you."

"Yes, of course," he said, and went away searching.

"He seems like a nice guy," Jack heard Peniel's voice from behind. He turned around but didn't see the Fairy there.

"Don't worry, I'm still hiding as you requested," the voice was coming from the air.

"Please stay on guard for tonight," Jack said. "I don't want to get ambushed in the middle of my sleep."

"Come on, are you asking me to stay awake all night?" Peniel protested.

"Please, I'll make up to you. It's either that or I chase him away. I don't want to take the risk."

"All right, all right," the Fairy relented. "You owe me one!"

"Yes, I do," he said, then added. "Thanks."

He didn't get a reply.

Bowler's head poked in the door. "You mind me sleeping in this room with you, or do I have to find another one?"

Jack considered for a while before replying, "This room is fine. I'll go to sleep first. I suggest you do the same. We will have an early start tomorrow. If you can't wake up, don't blame me for leaving you."

"Don't worry, I'm an early riser. I will take a bath first. I found a washroom with running water. It has been a while since I last took a bath."

"Okay," Jack said, and laid himself down.

Letting the guy stay near him would increase the risk if the fellow had bad intentions. But it was also necessary in order to determine if Jack could trust him or not. If the guy was going to double-cross him, it was better to find out sooner rather than later. He entrusted Peniel to watch over him. The guy didn't know about the Fairy, if he tried anything, he would be in for a surprise.