Chương 101: Chapter 063 A Message From The Gods (Part 1)

Jack had left Anna, Polly, and Zia in the kitchen to get to know one another. He was in his room, trying to come up with a plan to avoid the Inquisition while he put his books away.

"At least she listened to me for once," Jack complained as he put the last book back on the shelf above his bed. Polly had left his books where she'd dumped them to enact the prank. After putting things back to how they were meant to be, he looked at his bare bed boards. His mattress was against the wall, drying, and he had some spare blankets to sleep on.

"I'm sleeping on hardboards again, stupid sister." His thoughts went to the more pressing problem. How do I avoid them? His stomach was in knots from the anxiety of knowing inquisitors could knock on the door at any moment. Jack left half his mind on the task of dealing with the Inquisition while enacting an earlier plan. Three hours passed before he finished his task.

"There, done." He pulled together a pile of [Fireball] spell scrolls. He was no closer to solving the Inquisition problem than before; all he could do was keep moving forward. After storing the spell scrolls on his bookshelf, he fetched his white oak bow. He wanted to test an idea.

"Hmm…" He was focusing on the [Pseudo Blood Mage: Blood Omen] skill.

"Feels like I can gain insights in multiple ways." The [Blood Omen] skill allowed the Apprentice Blood Mage to sense important future events related to their target. It granted an insight into what the Fates had in store for them. With all skills, there was an instinctual element; the skill holder understood how it worked, but it was only an overview. His other stolen blood mage skill, [Sanguine Pack], for example, indicated he could consume an enemy's blood, but it didn't specify how.

He'd found drinking the blood was an option when he licked Fenton's blood, but with time, he might be able to absorb blood through touch. Jack placed a finger on one of the bloodstains and used the pseudo [Blood Omen] skill. He felt his mana reduce as the skill activated and the blood vanished.

"Oh. Wow!" He experienced sensations related to the owner of the blood. They were fate-touched and had an important destiny. One day, they'd be powerful, and he also felt they'd make a good sacrifice for skills in the future.

"Hmm. They weren't feeding on the blood… they were analysing it." He also concluded he should remove all the bloodstains from the bow.

"Whose blood is this?" He spent the next few minutes absorbing all the blood and gaining the same sensations. What do I need for the skill to activate? Jack had discovered the pseudo [Blood Omen] skill worked with touching a target's blood, but when Greaves invited him to the hunt, he hadn't touched his blood. No, the Baron had only patted his shoulder before inviting him.

"He must've used the skill then," he whispered.

"That crafty bastard." He recalled the first time he met Baron Greaves at the Royal Library during his first life.

"He shook my hand… he must have used the skill then to see if I was valuable." Jack placed a hand on his own shoulder and activated pseudo [Blood Omen]… nothing. Shrugging, he grabbed a book that had once belonged to his father. The skill again gave nothing.

"So, it's touching the target or their blood." He assumed.

"I can work with that…" Though I'm not sure what use that will be to me? He had no plans to start killing people just because they were fate-touched.

"Still, it would be interesting to know someone is touched by the Fates." Those touched by the Fates tended to have important events happen around them. Knowing a person is touched by the Fates would give him the choice of trying to get close to them or staying as far away as possible. Jack replaced the book on the shelf.

"Time for more tests." He activated the mage skill, [Shield]. As expected, a blue glimmer formed around him and then faded away. The [Shield] would remain for either twenty-four hours or until it was damaged enough to dissipate. He could instinctively feel the [Shield] and how much time and power it had left. The spell could be refreshed at any time. [Shield] at level 1 wasn't a strong shield. The amount of damage it could take depended upon who, or what, was attacking.

A weak goblin might require a few hits to dissipate the [Shield], while it would take a decent blow from a Novice Warrior to dissipate it. However, an Apprentice Warrior would cut through the [Shield] and injure the Novice Mage in their first strike. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Still, a shield was a shield, and having some protection was better than none at all. Next, Jack tested [Reflect]. A red glimmer formed around him, and like before, it faded away.

Like with [Shield], he now had an active spell that would reflect damage back at an attacker. At level 0, the skill was weak. It would reflect one of his own unskilled arrows, but would struggle with a [True Aim] enhanced shot. Like with [Shield], the [Reflect] skill lasted a day or until it was dissipated by enough attacks.

"I'll keep them both active at all times." He turned to [Foresight] next.

"Right. Let's see how disorientating this really is." He was, of course, aware of the skills description and how it worked in practice. The description—briefly peek into the immediate future—made the skills sound useful during a fight, but he'd read it was too disorientating to use. Jack took a deep breath and, as advised in the books he'd read, sat comfortably on a chair perfectly still. He activated [Foresight], and as expected, nothing obvious occurred.

"That was okay." He raised one hand in the air, and as he lowered it to his desk, he again activated the skill. For a second, he saw a future image of his arm dropping down.

"Fuck! That's…" He felt slight nausea as his brain processed the future for a single second. He'd read that it would take years of practice before a Novice Time Mage would overcome the nausea and be able to make use of the skill.

"That's awful. No wonder no one uses it in combat." Since he was in his bedroom with no one around, he couldn't test [Chronos Touch].

"I'll try to think of a way to test it later."

Jack entered the busy Adventurers Guild and approached the barkeep with the clockwork arm.

"What can I get you?" The barkeep polished a glass. Jack smiled.

"Do you know if Cain is out of the infirmary?" The barkeep frowned.

"Cain woke a few hours ago; he's in the back settling the bill. Why do you ask?"

"A little girl sent me to find him, wants me to make sure he's alright." Jack chuckled.

"She was worried you wouldn't feed him." The barkeep stopped cleaning the glass, and the clicking and whirring gears in his clockwork arm fell silent.

"You found the orphan girl?" Jack nodded.

"Earlier this morning. Zia's safe, with my mom… probably cooking biscuits."

"You sure it's the girl?" The barman's eyes narrowed.

"Completely sure." Jack nodded.

"Eight years old, silver hair with huge puppy dog eyes. She lost her parents on the road to Lundun. Cain saved her, but she told me he became ill, and they were separated here." The barkeep nodded.

"Wilma!" he shouted across the Guild hall.

"Go tell Cain the girl's been found."

"Already?" a young woman shouted back.

"Blast. I was hoping to get the reward." She headed towards the stairs that led to the administrative offices. Cain already posted a reward. Jack pointed at the same place he had waited last time.

"I'll wait over there." Five minutes passed before he saw Cain enter the Guild hall. Hmm… he hasn't got a cheap prosthetic yet. Looks tired. Looking worse for wear, the almost seven-foot-tall Cain headed towards the barkeep.

"Someone found the girl?" The barkeep nodded towards Jack.

"The young kid over there." Jack was already standing as Cain approached. I owe you a lot, friend. He offered his left hand. Cain took it, and Jack patted him on the shoulder as hard as he could.

"I'm Jack. It's good to meet you, Cain."

"Well met, Jack," Cain replied, not budging a millimetre from the shoulder pat. Jack shook his sore right hand as they both took a seat. Is he made of stone?

"You found the girl?" Cain frowned.

"The reward's 1 gold." Jack nodded.

"Zia is safe with my mom at home. I found her this morning…" Cain interrupted.

"This morning? I put the reward up an… hour ago." He smiled.

"I had no idea about the reward and have no interest in claiming it." He watched Cain's eyebrows raise in surprise with a hint of suspicion. Few would turn down a reward of 1 gold.

"I saw a little girl, covered in dirt… and she looked like she didn't belong on the streets. I fed her a wrap… she was so hungry, I gave her half of my wrap as well. I've seen stray dogs eat slower." They both laughed. Jack continued, "She looked a lot better after eating some food and a bath. She was more worried about you, though. Thought the Guild was holding you captive, and you'd be in trouble because she ran away." He chuckled. Cain breathed a sigh of relief.

"She's a good kid."

"She is," Jack agreed.

"You want to see her? We can go now. Knowing my mom, they're probably cooking biscuits as we speak." Cain nodded.

"Yes," his voice was thick with relief. Jack stood and led Cain out of the Guild and towards his home. On the way, he brought up Cain's missing arm.

"I assume you plan to get yourself a clockwork arm?" He frowned, recalling the ritual at Viscount Tides' hidden chamber and how Cain's arm was regenerated. I don't think we'll get to repeat that again. Cain frowned, then nodded.

"I think my dad knows an inventor who's working on a new design and is looking for strong volunteers." Jack used the knowledge from his past rebirth.

"My mom will insist you stay for dinner so you could ask Dad about it then."

"I don't have the coin for a good prosthetic." Cain rubbed his stump. Jack shook his head.

"I don't believe the inventor is looking for payment from the volunteers. My dad will know more. He'll be home in a couple of hours; you can talk about it then." Cain nodded.