Second World

"Even if someone could, which I don't think so as that was even above what Gods and Goddesses were capable of. Why would someone do it?" Peniel asked

"You said just now that Lightning God Sphere was the only reward that made sense for the quest, right?" Jack replied.

"You don't mean…"

"Yeah, probably someone tampered with the quest just to allow that divine treasure to appear within this quest. You yourself were plenty shocked when you saw that divine treasure."

Peniel was silent as she pondered deeply. "Who would want to do that?"

"Someone who was after the divine treasures?" Jack answered. "Those Gridhacker's group seemed to be a likely candidate, considering their in-depth knowledge on the quest and the temple. Still, something confused me though."

"What?" It was Peniel who asked for an explanation now.

"If they have the ability to tamper with the quest, then why not just directly give themselves the divine treasures? Why go through all these troubles?"

"Perhaps they have their limitations as well."

"Well, anyway. No need to ponder too much about it. We won't get the answer that way anyway. We will just have to beat the answers out of those guys when we see them again. Let's talk about another thing. Take a look at this book. Is it a good spell?" Jack said as he showed Peniel the technique book he had gotten from the duke.

"Your ability to set important matters aside is truly astounding," Peniel quipped with sarcasm, but he still studied the book.

"Myriad Ensnaring Chains?" She read. "Not bad, how did you get it?"

"It's the additional reward directly from the duke. Part of the rewards that you called pitiful. So, is it a good spell?"

"Remember the spell that had those crimson chains coming out and ensnared the Grim Sand Drake?" Peniel asked.

"This is that spell?" Jack asked back. "That was an advanced spell? I thought that was an Elite spell. How could an advanced spell manage to hold that beast? Even though it still managed to break the chains, the spell did hold it down for some time."

"Go ahead and learn the spell. You will know soon," Peniel said.

Again with her mysterious answer, Jack thought. But he still did as she said, he was going to learn it anyway one way or another. He activated the technique book's interface and accepted the learning option.

Myriad Ensnaring Chains (Active Skill, Evolving skill), level 1/20

Mark an area of 5 meters diameter, 3 chains with a length of 15 meters will come out of this area and ensnare anything that comes into range.

Range: 20 meters

Duration: 20 seconds

Mana consumed: 60

Cooldown: 5 minutes

The description did sound similar to what the duke had cast against the drake previously, though the duke's spell produced more than just three chains. Probably more chains would be added as the skill level increased, Jack assumed.

This spell was like the grandfather spell of Magic Bind. Jack thought It was even better than that blue chain spell Gridhacker had used on him. With a chain of length 15 meters coming out from an area of 5 meters diameter, it practically put the area affected by these chains to be 35 meters diameter. That was a very wide area of effect.

Jack then noticed a new type of description on the spell. "Evolving spell?" He asked.

"Yes." Peniel explained, "it meant that even though you can learn this spell as an advanced spell, once you change class to an elite one, this spell will automatically transform into an elite version of the same spell."

"You mean this spell will get even stronger?" Jack reconfirmed.

"It will."

Jack sucked in a breath. He had gotten offensive, defensive, and movement skills. Now adding this spell that could effectively control the enemy's movement in a large area, his arsenal of skills and spells could be said to be almost complete.

One regrettable thing about this spell was it took four runes to form its spell formation. He had to practice in order to be able to cast it efficiently during battle. However, he suspected that once the spell evolved into its Elite form, the spell formation would also change to needing five runes, because he remembered that was how many runes on the spell formation when Duke Alfredo cast it.

The duke was having a chat with Commander Quintus when Jack was conversing with Peniel and admiring his new spell. Their chat had ended so Jack asked the duke, "so, what now?"

"Now that the target of our expedition has been achieved, we will return as soon as possible to the capital. I will let you coordinate with your friends for the journey back arrangement. We will leave first thing tomorrow."

"Got it," Jack said. Peniel who was sitting on his shoulder suddenly uttered, "time to hide."

She then vanished into her hidden dimension just before John and the others came to sight. As they approached, John asked, "what's that ugly thing on your head?"

Jack ignored the guy, but John's next question took him by surprise, "what's the deal with that fairy? Why does she disappear when we come?"

Jack was mum, he gave the guy a clueless expression.

"I know the fairy got something to do with you. Just call her out already," John insisted.

"Hm?" Jack continued to act.

"Do you forget already that I have binoculars?" John said as he took out the item.

"You have been watching?" Jack asked.

"Friend, I have been watching ever since that scary dude appeared."

"You did? Then why didn't you come rushing to help?"

"Are you kidding me? That guy can even immobilize Duke Alfredo there, you think ants like us coming here can contribute anything other than giving our lives away? The second he exhibited his power, I have everyone stopped, then we stayed and watched from a distance."

Jack was speechless.

"What? Do you expect us to be like you, rushing in blindly when a friend is in grave danger?" John asked when he saw Jack's expression.

"The notion would have been nice," Jack said.

"I don't do nice in case you haven't noticed," John replied. "But please know that we are resolved to avenge you if you died back there."

"Oh, wow. I'm touched," Jack said sarcastically.

"I know. I'm a good friend," John responded, intentionally or honestly didn't catch the sarcasm. "Now, how about you introduce us to that fairy friend of yours?"

Jack thought for a bit before calling Peniel out. She emerged and waved to John and the others. "This is Peniel," Jack introduced. "She is a high fairy."

"Hi, my name is John," John said.

"I am Jeanny."

As the others were about to say their names, Peniel said to them, "Don't bother. I know all your names. I've been with you throughout this expedition."

"Yes, she was with me all the time. You guys just cannot see her," Jack said.

"You devious secretive man, how many secrets are you still keeping from us? John said to Jack.

"Hey, every man is entitled to his own secret," Jack defended himself.

John didn't give him any attention anymore as he chatted with Peniel, Jeanny and the others joined in as well. It turned out Peniel was rather excited to converse with them as well. She was quite chatty after all, to have her only conversed with him all this time, he did feel some guilt after thinking about it. Perhaps he should stop asking her to hide from now on.

Out of their conversation with the fairy, the others found out that the fairy was the source of all the information that Jack had been claiming to have gotten from the library all this time. John gave him a deriding glance before returning his attention to the fairy. He seemed to be the most passionate in talking to the fairy, most probably trying to dig as much information as he could from her.

Seeing that Peniel did not mind, Jack just let them be. It was good to see her making friends as well. He couldn't just continue to treat him as his property.

The army rested on the outskirt of the temple, some soldiers were setting up camp within the temple. Everyone had made their preparation, after the night passed, they would start to journey back once the sun was up. The mood was light now that they knew they had succeeded in the expedition, all they had to do now was deliver the potion back to the Duchess.

Jack and the others camped outside the temple, they preferred the outdoor setup. They were gathering together around a bonfire as they chatted under the night sky. Peniel joined in the group chatting now that she was exposed. She especially liked to chat with Bowler as the guy never seemed to stop talking. John continued to try for more information from the fairy but she was not that feeble-minded. She only let out a little bit of information without giving too much.

Life in this world was not too bad, Jack thought. Well, that was considering if he did not think about the group who was intent on catching him while being assisted by an all-powerful God.