Second World

Jack glanced over to the small door, hoping that Gilbert and Samantha had already left the warehouse compound. To his dismay, they were still behind the mace. It vibrated with a transparent light that created a force field preventing the two from reaching the door.

'What kind of skill is that? Is the Priest a melee fighter or a magic-user?!' Jack screamed in frustration in his mind.

'He is a melee fighter, most likely something of a hybrid between an inquisitor and monk class,' Peniel's voice came to explain. 'That force field thing is most likely the mace's weapon skill.'

Jack hadn't really been asking for an explanation; he had just been expressing his frustration. But he asked Peniel, 'Do you have any idea how we can get out of this situation?'

'Nope,' she answered flatly.

Jack was about to curse and tell her how useless she was, but managed to stop before he formed the words. He remembered that the Fairy heard everything he uttered in his mind.

Left with no choice, he decided to fight with everything he had in order to buy time. He just hoped that the force field from the mace had a time limit. He aimed his staff and sent several standard range attacks at the Priest. The priest dodged them all with ease as he leisurely walked towards Jack, toying with the mouse.

Jack knew the Priest's speed was overwhelming; he would only have one chance while his opponent still underestimated him. Jack focused all his attention on the Priest's movements as he continued to send range attacks towards him.

When his Mana Bullet came off cooldown, he cast it. The Bullet again passed by the Priest's body as he vanished. This is it! Jack thought. He didn't know if the Priest would come at him from the left or right, but he was pretty certain the Priest wouldn't waste time circling to his back. He wouldn't consider it necessary against such an easy opponent. Hence Jack jumped back the moment he noticed the Priest's sudden disappearance.

As he jumped back, a shadow swiftly swept by from his left. The Priest's fist swung on a low line. He was repeating his attacks from before. Jack didn't have time to scoff at his opponent's lack of creativity; he kicked the ground to launch himself forward.

The Priest showed surprise when he realized his prey had escaped his attack, but he regained his mocking grin when he saw the prey coming back towards him. 'Like a moth to a lamp,' he thought. He saw Jack swing his sword towards him. He could have easily evaded the attack, but he confidently chose to lift his hand up instead.

He was planning to slap the sword away before delivering another series of punches to his prey. But before the sword reached his hand, it broke apart. He was confused by this turn of events. Did the sword's durability run out? But if so, it should have broken when it hit his hand, not before. Then he felt a surge of power from the sword as it emitted golden light from its center. It was too late for him to dodge anymore. When the sword slammed onto his hand, he felt hot pain burn from his hand to his entire body.

Jack's Overlimit skill managed to break through the Priest's iron-like defense. Jack had combined the attack with his Power Strike skill. It cut a gash in the Priest's arm, spewing a line of blood. Though the slash only hit the arm, his opponent lost 196 damage.

The Priest was so shocked by the sudden increase of his opponent's power that he failed to dodge the second attack. This was only a normal slash, but it still scored 105 damage. Not planning to waste the opportunity, Jack followed with a third slash. But this time, the Priest had come back to his senses and no longer allowed Jack to attack him freely. Jack's third slash hit empty air as the Priest circled to his back.

Jack was aware his opponent was behind him but his reaction was not fast enough. He was punched hard on his back. He stumbled forward and made a roundhouse slash, but it still hit nothing but air. The Priest's fist then jabbed at his face. Jack swayed backward, trying hard to keep his balance as he executed Swing, hoping the large area skill would strike his opponent. But he still hit nothing.

Jack had cast Magic Shield but the Priest's punches came from unexpected angles. The Priest was starting to take him seriously after being injured twice. Jack's Overlimit skill was rendered useless as he could not make contact with his opponent.

Jack felt another hard punch to his chest. It sent him flying to where Gilbert and Samantha were. He fell to the ground; his HP was in a critical state. He would not survive another two punches. The force field was still there; they couldn't pass through.

He could see the mocking faces of the Acolytes watching from a distance, and heard the relaxed footsteps of the Priest slowly approaching. He would lose his life and still fail to complete the mission. It was depressing.

"Screw it!" Jack cursed as he rose to his feet again. He was just going to lose 50% experience anyway, he would try to deal as much damage as he could with the remaining health that he had.

As he thought all hope was lost, he saw the Priest's eyes go wide and his expression turn grim.

Jack heard a screeching sound from his back. He turned and saw Gilbert enveloped in a blood-red aura!

Gilbert had his arm stretched out, and, somehow, he was drilling through the force field around the mace. His hand was just an inch away from the mace's shaft.

"Are you insane?" the Priest yelled. "You know you don't have much life left; you will burn through it if you use that Life Burning Art again!"

"Better than letting you slaughter us," Gilbert replied with a resolute face.

His hand grabbed onto the mace and the force field shattered. He pulled the mace out of the ground. The force tore the earth and threw dirt all over the place. A large hole was left where the mace had been embedded. Gilbert brandished the mace and rushed past Jack in the shape of a red glowing ball. The red ball of energy slammed onto the Priest and exploded. The impact sent the Priest flying to the other side of the warehouse's outer yard.

Gilbert then swept his hand in a horizontal arc; it created a shockwave that pushed away all the Acolytes who were watching, stunned by what they had just witnessed.

"Go!" Gilbert shouted to Jack and Samantha.

Jack didn't waste any time, he picked up Samantha and carried her while he ran to the fence's small door. When he opened the door, he glanced to the side and saw Gilbert throw the mace towards the Priest who was just getting back up on his feet. The Priest tried to use both hands to catch his weapon, but instead, he was pushed back even further by the force of the throw.  He slammed onto the far away fence on the other side. Gilbert turned back and ran to them as Jack went out the door.

They made it to the street that Jack had come down before. Jack was just about to run towards the direction of the Business district, but Gilbert called to him, "No! This way!"

Jack stopped and turned to follow Gilbert. The old man was still enveloped by the same red aura. He looked completely different. Before, he was like an exhausted man who was having trouble with his age, now he seemed to be as fit as a tiger. As they ran away from the warehouse, he saw on his radar that red dots were coming after them. He glanced back and saw the Acolytes rushing out of the warehouse.

"This way!" Gilbert shouted.

Jack still carried Samantha so he and Gilbert could run at full speed. He turned the corner where Gilbert had gone. They weaved through several complex alleyways around the slum. Gilbert was very familiar with the layout of the slum; he kept on making turns to throw their pursuers off their scent. There were even two occasions where they went through doors and passed through empty dwellings.

Although the Cult had many members, they were having a hard time trying to catch them.. Just in case the Cultists managed to find them during their escape, Jack ate the remaining Bread and Junk food, left over from the Tutorial period, to recover his critical health.