Chapter 4: Trouble

The old clerk turns around and searches through the drawers behind him. Shortly afterward, he pulls out a stack of papers and hands them to Jack, "Here's what you want," he says with an amiable smile on his face.

"Thanks," Jack puts away the insignia and begins reading the documents he received.

[The Sacred Academy's graduation event concluded with Leena Qinhorn as the winner…

[The famed mercenary, Mr. Vundin Heiris, also known as Crimson Flames, is wanted for allegedly killing two members of the Qildor clan. His current location is unknown, anyone with information on him is to report to the knight tower closest to them… ] When Jack read up to this point, he paused.

He looked at the clerk and pointed at the paper, "Is this accurate?" He asked.

The clerk gazed at the paper and immediately nodded, "Indeed, our sources have confirmed it. He is responsible for our clan members' deaths, but he has recently disappeared." A look of anger surfaced on the old clerk's wrinkled face.

Jack went silent and sunk into deep thought, [What's going on? Why would he kill Zaos' parents? They shouldn't have had any connections… ]

Seeing Jack silent, the clerk quickly added, "You don't need to worry. An investigator will be here soon to clarify the situation."

Jack's heart skipped a beat, [an investigator? If one does arrive I'll be implicated too!] Jack was extremely wary of this investigator. His situation was extremely delicate. If the investigator found out he was a fraud, his life would be in danger.

[But there isn't much I can do. Disappearing will make me even more suspicious, and with the Qildor clan's resources, I wouldn't get far…] Jack's thoughts moved at lightning speed, but he remained composed outwardly.

"When is the investigator meant to arrive?" He questioned the clerk.

"Probably on the day of darkness." The clerk replied after pondering for a bit.

[It's the day of light today, so five more days from now.] Jack pointed at the papers in his hand, "May I keep these?" He asked the clerk.

"Sure, I have other copies." The old clerk waved his hand with a smile on his face.

"Thank you, sir." Jack bowed slightly to the man.

"Call me Ronik, boy." The old clerk responded, still smiling.

"Sure, Mr. Ronik." Jack acknowledged, much to the delight of the latter.

Jack kept the papers in another sack he had tied to his waist and bowed once more to Ronik, "I shall take my leave now Mr. Ronik."

"Alright. Try to visit this old man often, there aren't many of our brethren remaining." Ronik smiled wearily in response.

"I'll try," Jack answered as he left the store.

Jack heads back up to the busier part of the market, he moves to the left side and enters one of the large brick buildings. Compared to Ronik's empty store, this weapon shop was filled with items and customers.

As Jack walked through the aisle, he saw all sorts of weapons on display, especially blades and bows.

[I'm convinced this is a fantasy world now… Not a single modern weapon in sight.] Jack lamented as he gazed at the weapons in the store.

Jack walked to the section of the store that displayed daggers, throwing knives, and throwing needles.

He went to where the daggers were placed and began browsing through them. Soon he settled on a pair of purple-black metal daggers. The daggers had a simple plain design but were extremely sleek.

[Mhm. These are nice, and the price is affordable.] Jack thought as weighed the daggers.

After affirming his choice, he headed to the area where the throwing needles were kept and grabbed a set of 20 dark throwing needles.

Jack nodded after feeling their weight and then headed to the checkout counter.

Behind the counter stood a bulky male elf with short brown hair and a thick beard. He had his arms crossed around his chest, watching all the customers like a hawk.

Jack dropped the items on the counter and said to the clerk, "I would like these."

The earth elf turned his attention to Jack, "The daggers cost 100 poor-quality dark mana gems, and the needles are 2 poor-quality dark mana gems each so your total is 140." He responded after taking a quick look at the items.

Jack nodded and took out 40 rough-looking Mana gems, and 1 polished-looking mana gem.

The clerk received the Mana gems and nodded at Jack after confirming the amount.

Jack then proceeded to exit the mercenary city with his new weapons tucked into different pockets in his outfit.

Jack ran for another 15 minutes before arriving at the hideout. Jack headed to one of the empty rooms in the hideout and took out his newly bought weapons.

[I can use this room to train.] He thought as he glanced around.

[Using Zaos' memories as a reference, I should be able to train with these weapons much faster. Plus, they are suitable with my void elemental weaves.] Jack took out a needle and turned it invisible before throwing it at the wall.

The needle followed the trajectory of the throw and impaled itself into the wall. From Jack's point of view, it looked like the wall had just suddenly formed a dent, however, Jack knew the truth.

[My opponents won't even see it coming.] Jack flashed an evil grin.

For the next 2 hours, Jack practiced his weapon-wielding technique and his elemental weaves. He stopped only when he had begun to feel tired.

But the effects of his training were bearing fruit, [indeed, using Zaos' memories as a base, and his body's already built muscle memory, I can improve at a faster rate in techniques he already knew.] Jack smiled to himself.

Jack packed up his stuff and took a quick bath before returning to the bedroom he claimed for himself.

He sat on the bed and began analyzing the events of the day.

[The situation surrounding Zaos' parents' deaths is a lot stranger than I initially anticipated. And now there is going to be an investigator involved, I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything about the situation if one does show up.] Jack rapped his finger on the bed.

[I'll also have to make preparations to meet the investigator as there is a high chance I'll be required to see them, although they might not have much interest in me… I'll have to make sure I don't expose anything incriminating.] Jack decided. After that, he sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to recall anything he might have forgotten.

[Oh! I forgot to finish reading the documents I got from Ronik.] Jack fetched the sack containing the documents and took them out.

He began reading through their content, however, after just a few seconds of reading, Jack's face sank completely.

"Bloody hell!" He screamed in annoyance. Jack flung the document in a fit of anger, his rough gesture caused the paper to crumble and fold, revealing an ominous set of words… a war is coming.