Jax During The Past Week

News traveled fast that as much as it was a threat, the stone statue was also a big opportunity. People learned that it was called the Sacred Statue and that it could manifest people's greatest fear into an ability.

Depending on the people's perspective of fear about something, the Sacred Statue would test them and let them take the First Trial: Master's Quest.

And that trial was to conquer one's greatest fear.

The entire world fell into great chaos, the first in the entire history of mankind.

After several days, some people managed to finally conquer their fear. Those who first conquered their fear and became a Master only caused greater havoc, bragging about their conquered abilities like they were kings of their own.

But while the earth was in total disorder, a certain young man was dealing with his own problem in a separate space. In the woods that seemed peaceful, with a light shower sprinkling over the land, he was actually running away furiously as if his life was on the line.

People would think that it was crazy, but that was right, he was being chased after by three flying puffer fishes as if he was the only food available on the land.

He was, of course, Jax. And by the looks of it, he underwent many changes. Be it his facial expression, physical appearance, body frame, and the way he dealt with things, it all changed drastically.

As if he had gone through a series of metamorphoses and became a completely different person.

After some time, he finally found his destination. It was a cave located on the trunk of a massive tree. He ran swiftly in its direction and when he got closer enough, he leaped forward into the cave and rolled many times over as soon as he landed.

The three flying puffer fishes chasing after him didn't chase him inside any longer. As if a certain barrier was there to prevent any monster from entering. The puffer fishes had no choice but to return.

''Phew, thankfully, there are safe places in this godforsaken place.'' Jax heaved a sigh of relief as he wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand.

Right now, Jax was down on the ground. His breath heavy and fast, trying to furiously recover the energy he lost from running away. After some time, he rose to his feet and stretched his arms and neck.

Right now, Jax had his clothes totally torn and ragged, revealing his thick muscles and a few small scars. It also seemed like he became a little taller and his disposition was similar to that of a trained soldier. Adding the fact that his appearance became a lot more attractive and handsome, people who knew him would likely fail to recognize him.

That was if he dressed up a little better.

In any case, it had been a week and a half ever since he was transported to that damned place. And he definitely learned a lot of things in this new world that welcomed him.

If there was a place called hell in the afterlife, then it should be this place.

The thought of him being dead only made more and more sense.

However, he was certain that he was still alive. The pain was just too real to ignore. He could bleed, he could breathe, he could get hungry, and he, too, could pee and poop.

If he was already dead, then how could he still experience the same thing as what the living could?

In the end, Jax sighed. Resigned, he turned his gaze in front of him as he said, ''Scroll, Lord's Quest.''

An ancient scroll glowing dimly in the shade of black suddenly appeared. It rolled open before him and revealed the information he needed.

Summoning the Scroll was also one of the things he learned from the past week.

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[Mission]

• Slay fishes and collect 100 souls or more within the time limit of 30 days.

(Souls collected: 2/100)

(Remaining time: 19D)

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Seeing his progress, Jax forced out a wry smile and said, "Damn, so, it has already been 11 days, huh?"

Jax never imagined that the fishes he needed to slay were actually closer to be called monsters. It could kill him at any moment even if he tried to be careful.

As such, when he checked out his progress, Jax wasn't looking at how many fishes he had killed so far, but at how many days he still had left for him to accomplish the mission.

He scratched the back of his head, as even he himself thought that his progress was a bit too slow. He even doubted whether he could truly accomplish the mission or not.

It couldn't be helped. After all, he spent his first week exploring the strange place in Soul Form. After learning about his ability to separate his soul out of his body, he began to study its capabilities, its restrictions, its limits, and more.

In any case, the place he was transported to was a strange island, called Fish Mystic Land. He learned it from the Scroll. It was actually a huge island where he hadn't explored all the borders yet. The area he was in was a tropical rainforest where it rained during the entire night until late in the morning.

But the real problem didn't lie there.

Strange monsters of many kinds lived on that strange island. As ridiculous as it was, the monsters there were actually different types of fishes that, instead of swimming in the water, could swim in the air with no problem at all. As if they could defy gravity.

Each type of fish also had its own terrifying ability. Some of the fishes even had a Unique Trait. Take, for example, those three puffer fishes that were chasing Jax earlier.

That kind of monster was called Cute Puffy. They were as big as a human's head, but once they ballooned, they could go as big as a wrecking ball.

And then explode.

Contrary to what its name suggested, it was actually a terrifying monster that Jax tried so hard to avoid...

Suddenly, Jax felt a chill running down his spine, recalling the time when Jax almost died when he tried to touch one of the Cute Puffies.

''Damn it, just why on earth did the Scroll name it Cute Puffy...?'' Jax grunted, his expression revealed a palpable unease. He took a deep breath before he added, ''Scroll. Monster Index.''

The light brown scroll rolled close and rolled open again shortly after, revealing the information that he needed.

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Name: Cute Puffy

Description: Can attract others with its cuteness. But when it ballooned, it will explode and be able to cause a bloody mess. It eats the chunk of flesh of those it kills in its explosion.

Danger Level: Green Threat Level

Ability: Explosion

Monster Affinity: Conjuration type

Unique Trait: Explosion resistance +50%

Number of monsters slain: 1

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Its ability and Unique Trait actually complemented each other!

''Tch, I won't fall on the same trick twice.'' Jax clicked his tongue as he uttered, ''I will never touch those cute puffer fishes ever again!''

But the problem was... Cute Puffies were actually hovering all over the place. Other monsters tended to avoid them too, as if they already knew the consequences if they dared mess with them.

On top of that, Jax had already killed one of its kind — the one he touched and exploded to cause harm to his body. Out of anger, Jax used his ability to steal souls against it. Since Cute Puffy would be stunned and be weakened for several seconds once it exploded, Jax took the chance to steal its soul, and thus, successfully killed it.

Normally, Cute Puffies were timid and harmless creatures. But after Jax killed one of its kind, all the Cute Puffy seemed to be aggressive against him. Spotting him from afar was more than enough to agitate them and chase after him.

Jax never expected that those puffer fishes were actually the type to hold grudges and uphold revenge. He believed that the aggressiveness of the Cute Puffies was related to the Danger Level of the monster.

Just how could he hunt properly with this anyway?

It had to be known that a single explosion caused him severe injury already. If not for that special place called the Cave of Resting, a place that could heal any injuries, then he would have suffered from his injuries badly and would even have died.

Thankfully, there was a Cave of Resting nearby when he suffered from the explosion. And he also learned about its existence and purpose through the Scroll beforehand. That saved him from certain death.

Still, if those puffer fishes tried to flock at him all at once, and then explode, then he would definitely die without fail.

''Thankfully, my ability to separate my soul from my body comes in handy in a situation like this. I can freely spy the area and see the places that have lesser dangers.'' Jax smiled as he sat down cross-legged.

Then, with a different thing in mind, he said, ''Scroll. Character Status.''

The Scroll floating in front of him rolled close and open again and then showed the kind of information that he asked for.

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[Character Status]

Name: Jax Jabat

Conquered Ability: Vengeful Soul

Rarity: Forbidden

Affinity: Forbidden

Grade: Forbidden

Rank: Forbidden

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[Vengeful Soul]

Description: You can control your soul as well as the soul of others. Gives twice the effect of every skill unlocked against enemies you seek vengeance on.

• Phase 1 (novice): (Soul Form) You are able to separate your soul from your body and enter Soul Form. In Soul Form, you're intangible and can't be seen through the naked eye. You can control your soul to go from place to place.

• Phase 2 (novice): (Soul Steal) You can take the soul of the living out of their body upon contact with your physical body. The stronger the target, the heavier the soul. And the weaker the target, the lighter the soul.

• Phase 3: ??? (Unlock requirements: Slay 1 Elite monster. Absorb 10 souls.)

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Jax focused on the ability he conquered, Vengeful Soul, and read the condition needed to unlock the phase 3 of its ability.

''I have already killed 2 monsters so far.'' He muttered with a serious tone, ''But I didn't absorb their souls and instead put them on my Quest...''

He couldn't help but shake his head slowly and sighed. His logical thinking told him to unlock the third phase of his ability first.

''Right, I should unlock my third skill first. Who knows, maybe it will be helpful for me to progress faster?'' Determined, Jax nodded his head and decided.

But learning that he still had a long way to go, Jax closed his eyes and focused. The first phase of his ability was already unlocked to begin with, while on the other hand, the second phase of his ability was only unlocked when he achieved his first kill.

That said, he had two skills at his disposal. Still, he needed to work extra harder if he wanted to get stronger and unlock more skills.

And he needed to be careful.

After all, monsters here were dangerous and couldn't be taken lightly. One wrong step and his life could be in danger. To survive, he really needed a lot of effort to plan things out and get things through.

With that in mind, Jax decided to make a move. His soul then left his body and drifted out of the cave called Cave of Concealment. Jax started to explore the nearby area to see where he could hunt properly this time.