NOVEL WEB Chapter 32: Not invited
The King and Queen had been reclusive since leaving Jack and the others. Hiding away in their rooms, no doubt discussing the future that magic like the system might bring about. Jack didn't insist on seeing them, he had other fish to fry. Lexen's group had told him that they would likely be leaving soon, many of them had homes or churches to return to. They expressed their gratitude for meeting him, and offered him sanctuary in their homes should he ever need to travel and meet them. Jack was grateful for the offer, even if he wasn't likely to take them up on it. At least for the foreseeable future, he was stuck here.
It seemed that more and more dignitaries and travelers would make their way here from across the world, Jack would be doing this for a while yet. The thought was daunting, more encounters like this one? Even potentially more dangerous ones. With the priests leaving, Jack would be responsible for each and every status being granted from here on out. He would need to practice his [Multi-Status Granting] skill to make sure he could apply it to large groups effectively. Even ignoring his casting, this compound simply wasn't made for that many people to stay. The current army had to set up row after row of tents, and those practically filled most of the empty space between the entrance to the valley and the first buildings.
Well, Jack supposed that he wouldn't have any shortage of things to do. Testing skill level-ups would take a lot of time, but at least he could enlist the help of Plexion he seemed to have an intimate understanding of magic and the capabilities of those using it. The demon seemed to be able to mentally assign values to different spells, classifying them into different levels of competence. He chatted about it to Jack via the screen while Jeler, a few of the soldiers, and even a few mercenaries sparred. When Jack asked, Plexion informed him that the late King of all demons was counted as one of the best mages in the world when he was alive. Given that he had found a way to hide himself from Deis using magic, Jack wasn't that surprised.
The sparring had been an interesting experience, the soldiers fought using a clear style when compared to the mercenaries. Similar movements, or methodical coordination on the parts of the soldiers. They knew how each of them should move and acted accordingly in group spars. The mercenaries on the other hand seemed to be focused on results rather than acting as a cohesive unit. It was common to see one of them charge in to take the brunt of a blow while another snuck around and targeted the attacking soldier. The two groups sparred a few times, Jeler being the clear leader for the mercs, both in strategy and skill. He never used the [Point Defense] skill for some reason, Jack figured it was probably because Jeler wasn't confident using it in a fight yet. All in all, the spars had been light-hearted and meant for trading pointers. Jack didn't notice any overt hostility on either side despite how tense things had been before.
Aside from the guards posted around the King and Queens dwelling, the bore-bot lab house, and the entrance to the valley, most of the people in the camp were off duty. This led to cookfires, drinking, games, roughhousing, sparring, and any other kind of leisure the compound could accommodate. Jeler stayed with Jack, mostly hanging back and watching. Some of the games and activities were familiar to Jack, certain dice and card games for example. But other activities were a mystery to him. He felt like an outsider looking in on a culture he didn't understand, anytime he came close nearly everyone stopped what they were doing to look at or talk to him. It was like they all understood that he was supposed to be set apart. It was hard for Jack to swallow that.
Jack decided that he'd rather go back to the house than awkwardly hang around the fringes of the festivities. "Jeler, you can hang back and spend some time with people, I'm going to head back to the house."
Jeler paused, looking at Jack. "Nah, I'm your bodyguard man. Arguably this is when you need a bodyguard the most, surrounded by random strangers."
Jack saw the logic in it but felt bad. Jeler constantly had to spend time near Jack. The cat man seemed like he wanted to cut loose and have some fun. "No seriously, go and have fun. Reph and them will be there, and there are guards posted at the house. Get out of here." Jack lightheartedly shooed Jeler away and the animalus paused before smiling at Jack and wandering off.
Jeler immediately found a group to sit with and was handed a drink. Jack found himself jealous at how easily the other man was so quickly accepted into camaraderie while he felt like a total outsider. Sighing, he turned away from the people and walked back towards the house where the bore-bots were staying.
The house was being guarded by a handful of mercenaries, with no soldiers present outside of the dwelling. Riniox was inside, sitting with the bore-bots in the living room and quietly discussing something.
They looked up and greeted him as he walked in, Riniox glancing around before frowning. "Where's Jeler?" she asked.
Jack shrugged. "Oh, I told him to take the night off, he deserves a break."
"And he said yes?" Riniox raised an eyebrow, still frowning. "He'll be punished for that."
Jack was surprised. "Even though I told him it was fine?"
"Of course," she said matter of factly. "Feelings shouldn't get in the way of duty, especially when a person's life is on the line." Her tone was steady as she spoke, her eyes locked onto Jack's.
Jack nodded slowly, seeing the value of her words. But the threat of death wasn't something that Jack felt very strongly. He knew that there were people that didn't like the idea that he existed, even people that might wat to see him gone, but he felt very secure. Not only did the mercenaries seem very capable, but the addition of friendly soldiers only bolstered his confidence. Even ignoring things like guards and security, Jack didn't really think that his life would ever truly be in danger. He was a dang ghost for goodness sake! Even if his body broke and fell to pieces he would just pop back up into the sun.
"Well, he did want to stick with me, don't punish him too hard." Riniox nodded as this, and Jack decided to go upstairs. The day had been long and had transitioned rapidly from rense and exciting to incredibly boring and tedious. Jack wanted to go over a few things, and then check in with Plexion. His spirit helper had told Jack that he was going to spy on some people using the screens. Jack absently supposed that this was probably a good idea. Plexion could monitor people safely from the void and let Jack know if there were any problems. The only issue with the system was that Plexion could only monitor one screen at a time and had no way of knowing if it would be helpful or relevant.
Jack idly wondered if he should try eating a butterfly next time he was in the void, maybe it would be useful to check on people and see what changes popped up. Although, giving himself the ability to monitor people from the void felt...kinda creepy. Did he really just want to spy on people instead of working with them to make the system better? It felt a little bit like how Deis apparently watched almost everyone in the world at the same time, with no privacy for anyone.
Jack shuddered at the thought, it was like the FBI spying on everyone, but way more tangible and real.
Jack sat down in the chair in his room and idly opened his screen. Messages blared at him as Plexion frantically had a butterfly type them out. [GET OUT OF THERE! FROX IS COMING, GO GET HELP!] Jack was stunned for a moment, overwhelmed by the messages appearing on every bit of free space on his screen. Then he shot to his feet, just in time for a hand to suddenly appear on his windowsill. A man climbed up into Jack's window, dressed in all black. It was a human Jack didn't recognize, but the man had a hammer clutched between his teeth by the handle, which he grabbed before jumping into the room.
'I thought Frox was coming, who is this guy?' Jack's mind whirled before remembering that the demon could disguise his whole body. Jack lunged for the door, the hammer swishing past him as Frox dove for him. Jack threw the door open and yelled as loud as he could. "Help! I'm being attacked!" Then an impact struck him from behind, sending Jack sprawling to the floor. He clattered against the ground, fear filling his heart as the assailant lept on top of him. Jack looked up and saw the hammer coming down to smash into his head when a chair came hurtling down the hallway. The piece of furniture crashed into Frox, knocking his weapon out of his hands and sending him flying back, further down the hall.
Riniox stood at the top of the stairs where the hall began, she had no weapon in her hands but the look on her face was one of pure violence. She charged down the hall as Frox picked himself up and drew a hidden blade, ready to meet her.