Suspicious

Herald City was a much larger city compared to Raven city. In fact, it would easily store 4-5 Raven cities within, and it would even compare to a Medium sized city of a large-scale kingdom. At its centre were two mage towers, 6 and 7 floors respectively, meaning Jack's trip here was wasted.

"Identification"

Jack took out the adventurer's card he had made back at Raven City, and after showing it to the city guards, they let him in after he paid a few gold as the entrance fee. However, Jack did not go directly to the magic towers of the city. Instead, he went to the adventurer's guild to see if they had information regarding the monsters in the area. He knew, that despite giving away spells for extremely cheap if he wanted to get spells which were actually good, he needed money. More importantly, if he did not want to get sent on a death mission without knowing it, he needed the information.

Herald City, unlike Raven city, not only had a city guard but also a monster subjugation squad, which regularly cleared the monsters in the surrounding areas, as well as conducted large-scale battles with stronger threats like orc villages appearing in the area and the likes.

There are only 2 areas from where monsters spawn in the immediate surroundings of Herald City; Goblin Cave and Orc valley. Surprisingly, the Orc Valley, despite having stronger monsters, was the safer of the two due to the low number of monsters. The Goblin Cave had a nearly unlimited amount of goblins within, with the only way to clear it being the use of oil and fire to burn them while they wait within.

With this information in hand, Jack went to the 7-floor mage tower, since it was the residence of a golem mage, while the 6-floor tower was the residence of a fire mage. Jack had chosen to be a mage with an Engineer as his subclass for a very specific reason, and that reason was to be able to access a special class called golem mage later on. All mages knew the basics of all spells, however, they would naturally have to focus on a few particular aspects. Some mages were extremely skilled at large-scale magic and were used mainly in wars, while others were incredible at 1v1 battles or duels. Based on what you wanted to be, you would need to distribute your stat points. A golem mage was also such a class, but for this, a mage could be as weak as a child as long as his mana and intelligence were high enough, they could create and or control golems which were as powerful as other players in other classes at the same level as himself!

Of course, that would only be possible with the right materials.

"Welcome child. Do you wish to get a tour of the magic tower? That will cost you 5 gold." Said an aged, white-bearded, bald man.

"No sir. I am here to become a disciple of the golem mage" Said Jack in a respectful tone while giving the old man a 90-degree bow. In the orthodox mage world, ranking, seniority, and status were stressed on a lot more than just talent or strength. Jack had already had the experience of being thrown out of the mage tower for not allowing an old man who was barely at the 2nd circle to go ahead of him in the line and purchase spells.

"Ho~ A respectful youngling. Not bad at all. Here, take this and head inside. You will be asked a few questions, and as long as you answer them truthfully, you will become an apprentice. The rest will be told to you inside. But remember, you must remain incredibly respectful to everyone, no matter how weak or old they are."

"Got it. Thank you, sir!" Jack bowed once more respectfully before accepting the token and entering. After all, what would you lose if you just gave a little respect to others? In fact, you might even get in their good books, and be able to stay out of trouble.

The inside of the mage tower was the same as all the other 7 floor towers Jack had been to. The insides were pure white in colour, with the floor polished to a perfect shine, and multiple rooms on each floor, with a set of circling stairs leading all the way up. Of course, there was also a lift only to be used by the owner of the tower, and those he allowed.

Jack already knew where to go, and went straight to the disciple recruitment centre, where there was already a pretty long line of NPCs. Jack walked up and stood at the end of the line. The line was moving rather quickly, with him taking a step forward with every 2 minutes or so.

Soon, he was just 10 minutes away from his turn, when an extremely aged man walked up behind him, but did not say anything. Jack did not even notice him until he turned around to see if anyone was behind him out of curiosity.

"Oh my. Where are my manners? Please." Jack stepped aside and gestured for the old man to go ahead as he stood behind the old man. However, the old man did not reply or move. A minute passed in silence as Jack waited for the old man to respond to him, but nothing happened. The line in front kept getting shorter, but the old man seemed to have been frozen solid.

'Did he pass away?' Jack was curious as went to the old man and placed his finger below his nose, and a few seconds later, felt a slight breeze. Sighing in relief that he had not died in front of him, Jack went back behind the old man and waited. Secretly, he tried to see the level of the old man.

[??? ????? ????? ?? ????]

'Hah!' It was a high-level NPC. Most likely, this was some sort of test for his 'character'. Such things happened quite often within Mage towers, where the high-level NPCs were incredibly free in life, the only thing they cared about was getting their hands on students with great character, willpower, or talent. That, and getting their children married to their most outstanding disciples.

The latter being the only downside to becoming an outstanding disciple to a powerful orthodox mage. Almost every single orthodox player who had reached the ranking had already become married and had a few in-game children at least, both male and female players. Unfortunately, Jack was never one of them, since he had accidentally received the stone, which had caused an insane boost in his stats and growth, and caused him to reach the peak of rankers within just a few years of playing, catching up and surpassing those who had started playing from the very beginning.

However, although he was not sure about many things since coming here, he was sure about one thing; and that was that the stone would no longer exist in this timeline. When he had first gotten the stone, the voice on the other side of reality had shown a decent amount of surprise and had told him something rather cryptic which he did not understand until his reincarnation.

[This stone is rather rare, even for us. It will be the cause of great fortune, and even greater misfortune, to the point that you will wish you had never found it in the first place. However, in your greatest time of need, in the deepest depths of fear and panic, when all hope seems lost, this stone will appear and save you. It will give you a second chance, in exchange for its own existence. Ha, to think they would put something like this here. Go, child. I look forward to your accomplishments]

[Oh right. Almost forgot. If you do end up meeting me or one of my kind, in the past or future, act as though the stone never appeared and this conversation never happened. Else it would ruin all the fun. Also, at that point in time, I would rather kill you than let you live. Now go.]

It was clear that the stone was likely what brought him here, and disappeared from all timelines in exchange for that.

…

Time passed slowly as Jack resolved it in his heart to wait no matter how long, he would wait even if it meant having to waste a few days in the game doing nothing but standing here.

And that was exactly what he did.

A few hours later, it was time to leave, and he simply logged out right then and there.

[Logging out]

[Successful]

[United Human Calendar Year 4702, 7th of December]

After getting out of bed and getting ready for school, Jack went straight home to meet his parents for an important talk with them.

"I'm going to join the VR Academy," He said, leaving both his parents and Freya completely baffled.

"I already have a VR capsule which I bought from the money I made on my own from the stock exchange. It is not illegally procured, nor is it a cheap model. It cost me almost 80,000 credits to get, and I will be applying to the VR Academy today itself, and it is likely that the application will be accepted as soon as I apply. I will most likely have to leave the planet as soon as my registration is accepted."

"Jack-"

"I am not here to get your permission. I am here to get your blessings before I leave. I need to do this." Jack said as he looked directly at his father. He could not bear to look at his mother after saying what he had just said.

"How long until you return?" Jack's father asked in a serious tone and wrinkled eyebrows which were covered by his spectacles.

"3 years at the academy, and most likely, I will join the military afterwards. So, a pretty long time. However, I will be returning to visit once or twice every year, so do not count it as that long of a time. Also, I will take care of our debt, so do not worry about that. I just need some time to do that. Hold out until then."

Seeing that Jack had already planned everything, Jack's father just sighed before nodding.

Jack nodded back, before turning around and leaving. He could not bear to stay there for even a second longer, afraid his stock facade would falter in front of his crying mother and sister.

Soft sobs could still be heard from inside the dining room where Jack's mother, sister, and father were initially having breakfast.

Jack knew that if he stayed even a second longer there, his determination to bring a better life for his family despite the hardships he would have to face would break, and he would rather spend as much time as possible with his family right now, and think about the future later.

Jack did not pack anything and went straight to school, tears already streaming down his face. If the Max of the future saw his current state, he would definitely start teasing him for being a crybaby.

"What?" Ava and Max were both shocked.

"Yes. I will be applying now. Will any of the two of you like to come along with me?"

"But I don't have enough money to afford a VR capsule"

"I read through the documentation, the Academy will also be offering a temporary scholarship for those from poor backgrounds who cannot afford a VR capsule. You will be given one for the course of your study there, and by the time you graduate, you should have collected enough funds to purchase your own."

"I will need to ask my parents," Max said, slightly on the fence, but not disagreeing with Jack. He was Jack's best friend, and no matter what reason he had for going into the VR Academy, It was Max's duty to follow him through thick and thin. This was also the reason why Max had helped Jack's sister escape the Frost Group in the future, despite all the things Jack had done to him.

"Let's meet your parents after school then. I'll come along with you and convince them." Jack said with a smile on his face as he patted Max's back, which only ended up hurting his own hand.

"My father will not allow it," Ava stated after a moment of being stared at by Jack.

"And why is that?" Jack asked with a frown. He would not mind it if Ava said that she did not wish to go to the VR academy, or that she was not comfortable with it. However, putting her father in the spot was not the way Ava did things, in fact, she almost never mentioned her family. The fact that she mentioned her father meant that he was likely the problem.

"Will it be fine if we go to your house after Max's house to convince your father?"

"…"

"…"

After about 10 minutes of intense staring and utter silence, Ava agreed.

"Alright." After all, Jack and Max were her only two true friends among her entire friend circle even back at home, especially when taking those two-faced pricks into consideration.

…

After school, Jack took Ava and Max to Max's house, and after a very desperate negotiation, Max was allowed to go to the VR Academy, with incredibly strict instructions, including the fact that he was not allowed to attend any sort of parties or use any sort of substances, be they legal or illegal.

In fact, it was only due to the fact that Jack explained how important Tether was to the entire human race, and how important of a role Max would be playing in it did his parents begin to loosen up to the idea, and after nearly 3 hours did they finally succeed. Unfortunately, Max was forced to stay back home to 'discuss his future' while Jack and Ava left.

After walking a few blocks, Jack turned to Ava and asked.

"So… where is your home? We have been walking randomly for some time now."

Ava was on the other hand, twiddling her thumbs. Despite being almost 3 inches taller than Jack, she had her head hung low, in either shame or embarrassment, which made her the same height as Jack.

"Guys. I'm at the location. And he is here with me." She said softly, causing Jack's expression to immediately turn odd as he looked around for anyone she could be talking to. He had already faced such an ambush in his previous life. Right about now, he would be shot with a few tranquilliser bullets to knock him out, before he would be escorted to the base of a mafia or something, to be tortured for answers they wished to know.

He had survived that experience only due to the military taking action quick enough to rescue him. The only this was, that he never expected to be betrayed by Ava. But… he was not nearly important enough yet for someone to spend enough resources to ambush him. Thinking about it logically, something like this was much worse than just unlikely, it was bordering on the edge of impossible.

Contrary to his expectations, no shots were fired, only, a single car came into view behind them. It was a black colour hover-truck, its left side was facing them, with the sliding door open, as though waiting for them to get in.

In the driver's and passenger seats, were two rather large men in black suits, wearing black gloves and black sunglasses, despite it being nighttime.

'It's definitely the mafia.' Jack thought to himself as he was waiting for them to reveal a laser gun, or even a physical pistol, and point it at him, before signalling him to bring the girl and get into the van quietly.

However, nothing like the sort happened, and instead, Ava walked up to him and whispered,

"Didn't you want to meet my father?" She said before running into the black, and incredibly shady van.

Of course, before she could enter, one of the suspicious men stepped out, and Jack unconsciously ran after her, held her hand ad pulls her back behind him while eyeing the man in black suspiciously.

The man in question, however, completely ignored him, and bowed toward Ava, before opening the passenger seat's door for her to enter.

"Ma'am, since we have a guest, I would like to advise you to take the proper precaution and be seated in front. So that I can personally take care of the needs of the guest."

Ava escaped Jack's vice-like grip, only because he was too shocked to understand, and giggled as she entered the passenger seat of the van. Jack was still too stunned for words.

…

A few moments later, he found himself in the back of the van with the suspicious person, sweating bullets as he was not sure of what to do or say, as all four people travelled in silence.