Chapter 228 Search For a Stone
As the morning sun rose and shown through the windows, all the members of Jack's party awoke and made their way downstairs for their usual breakfast. But Jack was nowhere to be found.
"Have you seen Jack?" Eliza looked around the breakfast table.
Maura shook her head and frowned. "No… Mother said he had a guest last night and Jack left immediately after. When she asked if she should wake us up, he said it wasn't worth it and that he would be back in the morning."
As Eliza's lips twitched downward into a frown she crossed her arms and glared at her food. The site of eggs and bacon and biscuits didn't make her any happier but she ate all the same.
The party enjoyed the breakfast or at least tried to. Rydel and Maynard dug into the meat eagerly without a second thought. They knew Jack would be back and it didn't bother them in the least. Nina didn't pay too much attention, so long as she had the attention of Mara, chatting her ear off. Keela tried to calm down Eliza, gradually succeeding until Eliza agreed to eat without Jack.
It was only a matter of time before there was a knock at the door. Maynard hurried to open the door. Jack entered with a frown on his face. As he sat down Eliza was the first to speak up. "Where were you? And how come you didn't tell any of us that you left?"
"I didn't see a reason why I should… All I did was go to the marketplace." Jack sighed as he started to shovel eggs into his mouth.
"So, did you find what you're looking for?" asked Maynard.
Jack swallowed his food before he answered, "No, I didn't…"
"And what's so hard to find that it wasn't in the federal market?" asked Rydel.
"It's a long story," mumbled Jack. "You guys know how I find hidden tombs, right? Well, there is a particular item that's commonly found in ancient hero tombs of the weaker players. I want that item but to do so I need to find an item belonging to now-dead weak players."
Maynard and Rydel both looked at each other and smiled.
Lina then spoke up, "What's a hidden tomb?"
"It's a place for fallen heroes. There you can find their past items and their treasures. But the treasure I want isn't valuable in terms of money, yet it's priceless to me. That item can let me speak with Daruun since I'm pledged to him."
The others around the table stared at each other. They did know what to feel.
"So you had a way to contact the God of Fate and you didn't tell us about it? Not even your wives?" grumbled Eliza.
Jack shook his head. "Nope."
Hearing his casual answer Eliza didn't know how to respond. She was fuming yet she didn't know why. Rather than yell back, Eliza stuffed bacon in her mouth and glared at Jack like a wife would before putting her husband in the doghouse.
Unfazed from Eliza's gaze, Jack looked to the others in the party. "I need that item because it will help me and all of us in the future. Also, it will make sure that our plans are steady and more successful. So until I find that item, I'd rather not leave Federal City.
Maynard laughed, "That's it? That's all you had to say!" Both he and Rydel ordered another few rounds of brandy, no longer worrying about traveling in the day.
Daliea finally made herself known. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I don't think so, sadly." A slight smile showed on Jack's face. "I'm the only one who can recognize items that formally belonged to ancient heroes."
"Okay. But if you find a way for me to help, then let me know," insisted Daliea.
"The same goes for me," added Maura.
"And me too, Big Bro!"
Jack looked around the table, smiling at the girls offering their assistance. He also looked at Keela who nodded, silently adding herself to the list.
"And make sure to ask me too..." stated Eliza, making sure she wasn't forgotten.
Everyone then finished eating their food, some enjoying it more than others.
Rydel and Maynard stayed behind to enjoy themselves and drink while the girls went their separate ways. Keela asked Eliza for a massage so she went upstairs to their room. Daliea followed behind, making sure to always be learning from the master masseuse. Maura showed Lina around the city. Little Lina was excited to finally see and experience such a wonderful place without any rush.
Just think he said, Jack spent his time in the market combing through every single tent.
Most of the day had no results. Jack only managed to cover one-fourth of the market since he was extremely thorough and didn't dare miss a single shop. Near the end of the day, however, as the sun was setting Jack was lucky enough to find a spear. It was a lv. 15 spear, peak tier. Just above the flavor text, Jack found the owner's name, that of an ancient hero.
Without alerting the others Jack exited the city and retrieved the magnificent bird that he had purchased during the auction, which he quickly named Appa. Jack mounted the bird and let Bowzer sit on his head. While Bowzer kept the bird calm Jack quickly performed a mutual seal and made the bird his beast companion.
Thanks to his companion telepathy skill it was quite easy for Jack to lead Appa around toward his intended destination, the northwest region of the Polt Federation.
Without much trouble Jack found the desired location, performed the chant, and opened the tomb. Only a few low-level beasts were around so Appa and Bowzer cleared it easily.
In the meantime, Jack entered the tomb and found hardly anything inside. There wasn't even much gold, let alone platinum. It was clear that this player never bothered to buy a thing and soon gave up on the MMORPG. And, sure enough, Jack discovered no tutorial stone; guessing that it was used up a long time ago.
The young hero and his beast companions quickly fled, returning to Federal City empty-handed.
They found the others eating dinner without them but they didn't care. When the others asked what Jack had been up to and why he was late, he said nothing.
Bowzer tried to explain but no one understood a word of what he was saying.
The next day wasn't any better. Jack managed to find another useful item, but it was impossible for him to reach that tomb's location. He was already warned not to enter Talrania, so there was no way he could chance it just to find a tutorial stone.
On the third day, the unhappy Jack returned to the market to scour through the last of the shops. Again he found another item but he kept looking. Rather than hurry off to the tomb, Jack decided to finish searching and find all tombs after that.
Once he had finished looking at all the shops, Jack had two items and two leads. The sun had already set and the others were already enjoying dinner. But Jack exited the city on the same. Bringing out Appa yet again Jack left for the first of the two hidden tombs.
Appa's speed proved immensely helpful. In half an hour they reached the southeastern border of the Polt Federation and entered Fulton. After another five minutes of travel, they descended into a forest.
Bowzer handled beasts in their way, letting Jack focus solely on opening the tomb. As he entered this one, which was the within a large ancient tree, Jack found a familiar sight. There was a single chest near the sepulchre with only a few gold coins and some starter items inside. But no tutorial stone.
They hurried to the next place, hoping to finally get their hands on what they needed.
This time they went southwest and entered Sandros. It took almost an hour for them to travel and then search in the sand for the tomb's entrance. If Jack weren't in such a hurry, he would've appreciated the pyramid-like tomb that was hidden in a mound of sand.
Beasts that resembled scorpions and spiders surrounded them, but again Bowzer and Appa took care of. It was easy. All of those visited areas were swarming with lv. 20's, enough to kill the low leveled heroes but nowhere near strong enough for the flaming fox and the giant bird.
Whilst inside the tomb Jack started to smile.
A sarcophagus replaced the typical sepulcher and three chests laid beside it, proving the fallen hero to be a money player. The anxious Jack quickly dug through the chests and stored everything without any inspection until he reached that item, a tutorial stone. On it were a few cracks but it remained whole.
Without hesitation, Jack poured mana into it and the world went quiet.
"You were quite eager this time," stated a familiar voice.