"What's wrong?" Samantha asked.
Jack didn't reply. He opened his map system. He had traveled through large parts of the warehouse, so its layout could be seen on his map. He then compared it to the red dot positions on his radar. Fortunately, none of the dots seemed to be heading for the basement.
However, the cultists were now spread out all over the warehouse. If Jack's group tried to leave, they would most likely stumble upon at least one of them. Based on his memory, their choices of exits were: the front door, the back door, or the windows where he came in before. But those windows were only on the opposite side of the warehouse. On the side where these stairs came up, there were no windows or exits.
"Mister Storm Wind, what's wrong?" Samantha repeated her question.
"Sorry, I was thinking. The cult people were together in the center room before, but now they have all split up around the whole ground floor," Jack told them the truth about the situation. "We need to get past them. It won't be easy. You two need to follow my lead."
Samantha nodded her approval. Jack glanced at Gilbert who gave his silent nod.
"Okay, stay close to me, and don't make any noise!" Jack said as he climbed up the stairs. From the comparison between his map and radar, he had determined that, ever since the communion dispersed, it was the Main Hall which was now empty of the cultists' presence. The Main Hall had openings to both sections of the warehouse. They could use it to cross over to the rooms with the open windows.
When he had almost reached the top of the stairs, he gave a signal for the other two behind him to stop. They leaned on the wall of the staircase as they kept complete silence. He had seen in his radar that two dots were coming near their position. He stayed in his place patiently as he waited for the two dots to pass by. His heart leaped to his mouth when the dots stopped near the opening to the stairs. They were so close he could hear them talking.
"Hey, want to go check on that old man?"
Another voice answered, "What for? Our shift will come next; let's go have some refreshment first."
"Okay," the first voice agreed, and then Jack heard the sound of their footsteps getting farther away. Jack exhaled a sigh of relief.
He waited until the red dots were some distance away. He then checked to make sure no others were in their vicinity before he signaled for the two to continue. He brought them into the hallway where the entrance to the main hall was. After again making sure the hall was empty, he led them inside.
The hall was a simple rectangular room with several benches facing towards the dais with the altar. It was the common setup for a religious space. The altar was rather wide, allowing three people to hide behind it. Hence, he led his charges there to hide while he determined the correct timing to cross the room.
As he hid behind the altar, his God-eye monocle made a beep and highlighted something underneath the altar. The monocle marked it with a silver glow. He examined the place and found a loose tile underneath the altar. He removed the tile and exposed a small compartment. Inside it was a pot-like object.
'That's…!' He could hear Peniel's surprised voice. 'I must say, the Goddess Blessing didn't get wasted. Your luck stat had shown its effect.'
'Is it something impressive?' Jack thought as he took it out.
When Gilbert saw the object, his eyes went wide. He seemed to also recognize this object. Samantha however, only looked confused.
"What's that?" She whispered.
To find out, Jack used his God-eye monocle to inspect the pot.
*
Container of Souls (Unique Artifact)
Collect souls of slain people or monsters
Uses 1,000 souls to increase user's 1 basic skill level
Uses 10,000 souls to increase user's 1 advanced skill level
Uses 100,000 souls to increase user's 1 elite skill level
Needs to be linked with user before the container can start collecting souls.
Souls collected: 0
*
After reading the item's description, Jack had to agree with Peniel. This was damn good luck. He had gotten his hands on two Unique Artifacts in just the span of a day, while everybody was still struggling to find rare items.
Though this item would not increase his strength immediately, it would provide tremendous help in the long run. He would not need to rely solely on leveling up to increase the power of his skills; he could also collect these so-called souls.
'So, I will get souls from any monsters or natives I kill now?' Jack asked Peniel in his mind.
'After you've linked with it, then, yes. I'm not sure, but I think other Outworlders you kill will also provide souls,' Peniel answered. 'But I suggest you don't proceed with the linking now, it will take some time. You are not in a situation that allows it at the moment.'
Jack remembered when he made the link with Second Soul Remnant, that time it also took quite some time to complete the process. So he stored the Container in his storage bag for the moment. Gilbert seemed to want to say something when he saw the object disappear into Jack's inventory. His face showed a complicated expression. He then said softly, "The Cult folks are gonna flip on their pants once they find out that thing is gone. Not that I sympathize with them, you understand."
Jack shrugged. "They should have stored it more carefully then," he said.
After that bit of good fortune, Jack returned his attention to his radar. When he saw the positioning of the red dots, his heart sank. It seemed like he had used up his luck when he found that Container of Souls. The yard next to the side of the warehouse that had windows, now had a large number of red dots gathering in it. If Jack and the others went out those windows, they would immediately be spotted. Their path of escape now only left the front or back doors. Fortunately, with those red dots gathering outside, the number of cultists who were roaming around inside the warehouse was greatly reduced.
Jack chose to try the back door. There was only one red dot in the hallway by the back door and then another one outside the back door but inside the fence. He might not be able to kill those two red dots before they warned the others, but, if they were quick enough, they should be able to force their way through the small door where he had entered and make their escape.
Jack informed the other two of his plan. Gilbert looked like he was wondering how Jack knew the cultists' whereabouts, but he didn't utter a word. Samantha, on the other hand, was just glad they had a plan to escape.
With everyone clear on the plan, Jack took them out of the main hall. They proceeded carefully down the side hallway. They stopped right before the turn which would bring them to the back door. The sole red dot was still roaming around there.
Jack watched his radar and waited until the dot came near the turn where they were waiting. The idea was to catch the cultist off guard and leave him stunned before they ran through the back door, then Jack would hold the outside cultist long enough for Gilbert and Samantha to run through the small door in the fence.
They could hear the lone cultist humming as he came near the turn. Jack gave the signal and he rushed out. The humming cultist, who was taking a leisurely walk, was shocked at being jumped. He was sent flying by Jack's Power Strike and crashed into the far wall with a loud bang. The sound must have alerted the other cultist outside. No matter, Jack thought, as long as there were not too many enemies on guard outside, he could still manage the escape.
The cultist who had been sent crashing to the wall was still dazed on the floor as Jack and the others made their way past him to the back door. Jack pushed the door hard, no longer bothering with stealth, and dashed out as the door opened. He readied his sword to attack the lone cultist outside and keep him occupied until Gilbert and Samantha made their escape. But when he saw the enemy, his feet skidded to a stop.
The one who stood before him was the level 25 Priest of Phobos.