Chapter 837 - Nevermore: Branching Paths (Patreon)

The scalekin sure hadn’t been the most talkative, so Jake hoped to get some information out of the bearded man who originally greeted him. He and all his friends were trying to run away right now after the mage had died, knowing that they didn’t stand a chance even if they got involved.

Power differences, especially at higher grades, weren’t just a simple math equation. Two people with half of Jake’s stats wouldn’t be equal to one Jake, and even if a few hundred of them came at him, Jake was confident in smacking them all down. There were certain conceptual gaps caused by higher stats and grades, resulting in far less damage being dealt by those who were a lot weaker.

Jake had ways to close the gap between himself and someone at a higher level, but such a thing was generally considered quite rare based on what Jake had seen. Likely because, in order to get stronger against higher-leveled opponents, you had to get used to only getting anything out of higher-leveled opponents.

All of this is to say that despite there being around thirty of them, the fact Jake could fight, let alone kill, the scalekin mage meant they wouldn’t be able to even touch him, Assuming he was in a condition to fight, of course. Jake did have the minor problem that he was on a timer as he flew toward the village.

Arcane Awakening had been suppressed down to the more stable 30%, but he had to keep it going, or he would enter a period of weakness. While he could re-trigger Arcane Awakening even while in this period of weakness, it would lead to an even worse backlash afterward, so he would very much prefer to avoid that.

Chasing down the bearded man didn’t end up taking long, especially with the stat boost active for some more stats. On the way, he also manipulated his cloak to entirely cover his body, and after a bit of quick cleaning up, he made sure to look like he hadn’t even taken minor wounds but was entirely uninjured after the fight. That should add a bit to his intimidation factor.

The man and his companions had fled through an underground tunnel to a hideout disguised as a small hill about ten kilometers from the village. From a distance, it looked entirely normal, as the ones who crafted it had transformed an actual hill and then placed all magic formations on the inside. Quite clever and a lot harder to spot that way, and most C-grades would definitely miss it.

Reaching the hill, Jake pulled out his bow again, nocked an arrow, and drew the string as he yelled, infusing his voice with mana and Willpower. ”I will count down from ten. When I reach zero… well, you can guess what happens. Ten, ni-”

Before Jake could even say nine, the bearded man along with two others, flew out from within the hill, their bodies phasing through it seamlessly. They all had their hands up above their heads, and Jake didn’t feel the slightest threat from any of them. ”Don’t shoot!”

Jake slightly relaxed the string but didn’t withdraw his bow immediately. ”See, that wasn’t so hard. Now, I believe we have some things to discuss, including why you decided that attacking a Courier who is just trying to do his damn job was a good idea.”

”We… we got a job… I am not sure about the details, so-”

”So you’re gonna tell me everything you do know? Great!” Jake said in a cheerful tone as he kept his eyes on the three of them. He also looked inside the hill, wondering if they were maybe trying to set up an ambush, but they were all just hiding… potentially hoping Jake thought only the bearded man and the two who exited with him were hiding there.

”We’re just middlemen. Adventurers,” the man hurriedly began to explain. ”I don’t even know who the job is from! That mage was the one who brought everything and hired us for his bosses. He had a letter with instructions, part of the payment, and everything like that. We were just here to make the presence of the Silenced less suspicious.”

Jake took in what he said, as that word toward the end stuck out due to the emphasis the man put on it. ”Silenced what? I know the scalekin wasn’t a big conversationalist, and I didn’t get anything out of him besides the occasional small grunt, but I’m not sure making his lack of talking his defining trait is polite.”

The bearded adventurer looked a bit confused at Jake for a moment as he stammered. ”Do… do you not know what a Silenced is?”

It sounded like Jake was really meant to, so he tried – and failed – to play it off cool. ”Remind me.”

”Someone from the Silenced Order. Slaves who have had their ability to speak or even properly communicate entirely sealed away and are primarily used by those who want them to accomplish tasks they really don’t want anyone to talk about or for anything to be tracked back to them,” the adventurer explained. ”Rare to see any C-grades of the Silenced Order, though. Mainly due to how expensive they are and their limited availability. Especially a late-tier C-grade, as after becoming Silenced, progress pretty much stops as their Paths are ruined.”

The explanation almost felt too long and thorough, making Jake think he had hit some intended dialogue option. Especially the last part that struck Jake as unnecessary added information. Alas, it told him everything he needed to know.

”So, in summary, someone unable to communicate came to you with a letter telling you to stop me in my path, and you did so without thinking that maybe, just maybe, the Courier wasn’t just some pushover?”

”Not just stop you. Stop any Courier coming out of Hillspring and going this way, and yes, the fact the Silenced couldn’t handle you was not part of the calculations… but we were never necessarily meant to kill you! Just incapacitate and intimidate. Look, all I know is that you are transporting something someone really doesn’t want the Infernal Baron to have, or at least not come in possession of, without this employer of ours knowing what it is. We didn’t even necessarily have to obtain what you are transporting, but just confirm what it is and report it,” the adventurer elaborated, once more saying more than Jake thought any good contractor should about a clearly confidential job. Also, for someone just meant to incapacitate, the scalekin mage sure did like to go for his vitals.

”And how exactly were you supposed to contact this employer?” Jake questioned, feeling this was the good dialogue tree to go down.

”The Silenced knew a ritual to contact the employer…” the man said, afraid that Jake wouldn’t like the answer as he suddenly remembered something. ”Ah! But we can contact the broker who put us in contact with the Silenced! He should be able to at least find a representative of the employer! I have a token to do it that should work even at this distance.”

”See, that sounds like a workable solution,” Jake said with a smile beneath his mask as he decided to put his bow away and, with a single step, teleported down in front of the bearded man, making him flinch. ”Do it. Now.”

Without missing a beat, the man did as asked, pulling out a token that looked like a metal slate of some kind. He infused some energy into it as a semi-transparent screen appeared in mid-air. Seconds passed, as the bearded adventurer looked more and more nervous, hoping the broker on the other side would pick up.

After half a minute, there finally was a response. The screen began to warp and got big enough to show an entire person as a figure appeared. The person was hooded, and when the bearded adventurer saw the person, his eyes opened wide.

”Who are you!? Where is Elmin!?”

The figure barely reacted to his outburst, but instead, Jake felt the figure on the other side turn and look him over.

”The Courier, I presume. I see you failed. How unfortunate.”

Jake couldn’t discern if the voice was male or female, and the hood hid any clues as to the answer. The bearded man seemed even more agitated than before as he yelled loudly.

”What the fuck did you do with-”

”He had served his purpose… and so have you served yours.”

Without any warning or even giving Jake the time to react, some energy came alive within the bearded man as he exploded like a popped balloon. The two at his side followed suit as Jake saw even the people in the hideout suffer the same fate. Within less than three seconds, all of them had died, and in the environment, Jake felt a faintly familiar concept.

Karmic magic… well, fuck me.

”Now, as for you, Courier…” the figure said, keeping their attention on Jake, who had just been standing there even as the blood splashed over him. He hadn’t flinched for even a second, and he wasn’t going to do so now as he stared at the figure on the other end. He didn’t doubt they were, at the very least, well into B-grade, if not higher. At least he made that guess, even if he couldn’t feel their actual aura.

”What?” Jake asked, trying to sound almost annoyed. He took this attitude very much on purpose for one simple reason… they couldn’t feel how powerful Jake was through the token either. Same as Jake couldn’t feel their power. So he would prefer to front that he was maybe stronger than he actually was. Seeing as the token also only relayed sound and visual information, he also slowly prepared for his escape as the stealth skill slowly began to activate.

”Taking an antagonistic attitude will earn you nothing, Courier. Our quarrel is not with you, and we are not your enemies.”

”Oh really? Tell that to the little lizard you put in my way,” Jake scoffed. ”Seemed pretty damn antagonistic to me when he began to throw his metal sticks.”

”The Silenced was merely following orders and was perhaps a bit… overzealous in their approach. Capture was ordered as a preferential resolution, but it seems like that was far beyond the capabilities of the Silenced,”the disembodied voice answered. ”However, that matter has already concluded. Rather than dragging out this needless topic, let us proceed with something more productive. Business. You are delivering something we want, and we are willing to compensate you for it.”

That they wanted to strike a deal with Jake instead of just issuing threats was a good start, as Jake crossed his arms. ”What exactly are you proposing?”

”Continue your journey as normal. None of our agents shall get in your way, but when you arrive, do not seek out the Infernal Baron. Instead, go to the Guild and inform them you lost the delivery on the way. We will then send someone to find you, and once the item is confirmed, post a Courier Job you are to accept. It shall be ensured that there will be no negative impact on your reputation. If you do this, there will also be a substantial reward waiting, along with new and highly valuable allies.”

”Hm,” Jake said, looking deep in thought. ”I will need to think about it, so give me a few days. I planned on making a small detour on the way, so I wouldn’t arrive in the city before in ten day’s time anyway. I assume this is all good on your end? That should also help sell the story if I do wanna go with saying I lost the delivery.”

The figure had a brief pause, almost as if consulting with someone, before the voice answered. ”Very well. You are to take this token and use it to contact us once you have an answer. We give you five days to respond, or you will come to regret your-.”

”You know what? I thought we were doing business, not that you suddenly decided you’re my boss and can order me around. With that attitude, I guess you’ll know when I arrive in the city what I want to do,” Jake scoffed. ”I’ll be in touch.”

”Wait, take the-”

Jake’s attempt to front himself as someone more powerful than he actually was had entered its final stage. He waved the figure off as he turned around and began walking away while he, at the same time, triggered two skills.

Firstly, Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter activated as a shadowy version of himself casually continued Jake’s walk. The real Jake stopped mid-walk as he fully activated his stealth skill, and instantly, he knew it had worked. The projected figure lost sight of the real him as the shadow perfectly replaced Jake, only to disappear into cursed smoke a few steps later.

Jake stood completely still, looking at the projected figure for a few seconds. He couldn’t read anything concrete from the person, but it looked like they were discussing something with someone. The figure took a final look around, and five seconds later, the projection disappeared with the token cracking down the middle. A second or so later, the entire token began to crumble entirely into dust and got scattered by the wind. The only evidence of their interaction remaining was the splatters of blood covering the ground.

Not wanting to take any chances, Jake began to fly a good distance away. There was a small forest of sorts nearby, consisting of just a few thousand trees total, but it was a nice spot for Jake to lay low for a while. After he got there, Jake found a nice hidden spot, sat down, and deactivated his boosting skill as the period of weakness washed over him. He could still have held on for a while more, but doing so would only have extended the time he would have to wait.

Entering meditation, Jake reflected on his conversation with the projected figure. Through it, he had confirmed a few things. First of all, they didn’t seem like they had any information on Jake as a person at all. If they did, there should have been some surprise that someone registered as barely in C-grade had killed a late-tier C-grade. None of that had happened, making Jake pretty sure the Guild didn’t have any information leaks on him, at least.

Secondly, they genuinely had no idea what he was transporting, for if they did, there is no way they would have agreed to him waiting ten days to arrive. The Sealed Elemental would get out of its seal within less than a week, and while it was a possibility this organization or whatever just didn’t want the Infernal Baron to have the item, they clearly also wanted it.

Finally, this organization was powerful. Based on how the figure acted, Jake got the impression he hadn’t spoken to the big boss but just a subordinate, and if a subordinate was capable of applying karmic magic to trigger some remote bombs placed inside all of the adventurers, the ones actually in charge were definitely not anyone Jake could mess with.

At least not directly. Right now, one of his big advantages was that they also didn’t know how strong Jake was. With Shroud of the Primordial, he could hide everything about himself, and even if he showed himself to be in C-grade, many stronger people could hide their grades like that. The mere fact that anyone, even an S-grade, would only see ??? when trying to Identify him would definitely help.

Adding on the fact they were clearly careful in regards to anything with the Guild, Jake believed he had a legit shot at bluffing them. Assuming he wanted to bluff them, that is. There was also one more thing. Jake wasn’t even sure if this second path to the Special Courier Job wasn’t actually a legitimate option… especially not after he had gotten a system message right after talking to the projected figure.

Special Courier Job 2 updated.

Special Courier Job 2: Transport the Sealed Elemental to the Infernal Baron in the mid-sized city without your cargo being discovered OR Transport the Sealed Elemental to the mid-sized city and instead deliver the Sealed Elemental according to the plans of [Unknown]. Time limit: 7 days.

That’s right… a branching quest with multiple outcomes. Actual decision-making was required.