Time ticked by quickly and hours stretched into three days ever since Jax and King formed an agreement.
And right now...
Whistle. Whistle. Whistle.
Jax was down there lying on the grass under the shade of a certain tree, both his hands resting under the back of his head. He lied there leisurely, whistling at his favorite tune to pass time.
If one would look at him to see any apparent changes on his getup, then one would notice the white leather quiver wrapped around his waist.
It also looked like a vertical bag as it had a small triangular lid to cover its mouth, revealing only the pure white bolts on each corners of the quiver's mouth. That quiver also had smaller pockets and it seemed to hold many purposes, like carrying things other than bolts.
It seemed like Jax got a loot drop that he liked during the past few days he was grinding fishes.
In any case, Jax was resting easy at that moment. If it was before, he would have been too busy around this time, hunting monsters relentlessly in an attempt to complete his mission.
But right now, he didn't need to worry anymore. After all, someone else was doing the job for him. With that certain someone, he could get a very high reward with no risk at all.
Even till now, Jax still found it hard to believe that he would find heaven in this hellish place.
''Scroll. Lord's Quest.'' As Jax lied down leisurely, he summoned the Scroll to see his progress. He wanted to recalculate how much progress he would get further at the end of this mission.
_____________________
[Mission]
• Slay fishes and collect 100 souls or more within the time limit of 30 days.
(Souls collected: 1,834/100)
(Remaining time: 16D)
_____________________
A wide, excited smile surfaced on his lips. If this went on, perhaps he would reach a ten thousand souls collected mark once he finished the mission?
''Ke ke, too bad, once King is seized by his laziness, he would disappear without a trace and wouldn't even do his job...'' Jax sighed in regret as after a moment, he added, ''I would have been able to collect a lot more souls if that wasn't the case.''
''But maybe, I should not get too greedy. King is still a human. He still has patience...'' Jax muttered again to himself, he still knew his boundary. He still knew that there was a line that one shouldn't cross.
He shouldn't force King to do all the work too much, while he was just there waiting leisurely for King to finish all the job.
''Right, I shouldn't cross the line.'' Jax smiled sarcastically.
After all, the truth was that he had already crossed some of the lines a long time ago. That could have caused him his life.
The reason why he was still alive and kicking was that King still needed him. And he was curious about him. King never forgot to keep an eye on him, trying to learn more about that strange Outlander.
That being said, although Jax only took his time leisurely, he didn't forget to remain cautious of that ticking time bomb. He didn't ignore the fact how King treated him. That he was nothing but a mere tool for his own ambition that he could dispose of any time he was done with him.
Fortunately, Jax knew that King still needed him and was intentionally keeping him alive. He made sure to make use of it for his survival.
For Jax, it was impossible to escape King's grasp anymore. But because of the Scroll, he had seen a way out. And the only way he could think to escape his grasp was to act carefree in King's presence, only to make a move when his guard was down.
In the past few days, Jax had only let King hunt monsters while he was just there watching from the side and doing stupid things.
Of course, monsters would sometimes come to attack him. But King would always come to his rescue as if a knight who was trying to save a damsel in distress.
In the end, Jax was starting to feel it. He was starting to realize that he was getting more and more useless, similar to a background character.
He was even starting to feel that he was getting more and more closer to a pig. The owner would feed it and take care of it, only to be slaughtered when the time had come.
Then again, he already knew that from the start. However, thinking about the close to zero possibility of changing that fact was a different matter. He couldn't help but feel a chill running down his spine at the mere thought of it.
For the past few days he had known King, he was definitely someone too strong. And treating him like a pig to be fed now and slaughtered later was only a piece of cake for him.
''No, I shouldn't overthink too much.'' Jax shook his head furiously to shake the terrifying thoughts off his mind. He rose to sit down and clenched his fist in front of him, ''I still have a way. Only when I get stronger will King see me as a person. I should let him know that I am someone...''
''What are you yapping about?''
Jax was just about to finish his words when a sudden voice sounded behind him. He was yet to see the person who had just spoken when that certain someone spoke again.
''I took care of all those insects. I'm off today, so take your time doing your own business.''
Jax smiled brightly. He rose to his feet and turned around to face that person. Of course, it was King. Who else could be there other than him?
''You're the best, Brother! I'm sure we will become good friends from now onward.'' Jax gave the other party a thumb's up. After realizing King's capability quite well, he was now calling him Brother. It would be a good thing to befriend such a person.
''Don't be ridiculous. We're not brothers at all. And we will never become good friends.'' King was quite honest. He made sure to coldly let the other party know that they had a huge wall between them. And he should stop dreaming.
''Ha ha, you're too kind. Don't you know tha... Ha ha ha...'' Jax was just about to flatter the other party when King suddenly disappeared again. He couldn't help but laugh dryly and force out a bitter smile. That guy surely was impatient.
''Well, I should start working too,'' Jax decided as he walked forward unhurriedly.
Not too faraway, he could see countless half-dead bodies of different kinds of monster fishes lying and piling up on the ground. If it was before, he would have become too excited. But right now...
''Damn, there's really a whole lot of them...'' Jax sighed. Repetitive work for the past few days had thought him well that doing the same thing was boring. He was just thankful that, after plenty of effort, he managed to level up his Skill: Soul Steal.
When he collected a thousand souls, he felt a sudden change within him. He learned that the proficiency level of his Skill: Soul Steal had become Beginner-level. It confirmed that the repetitive use of his skill would level its proficiency up.
In any case, not only did he level up one of his skills, but actually two of them. Whenever he had leisure time, he would lie somewhere safe and control his soul out of his body. He would explore the area or watch King do his job in Soul Form.
To his joy, him, playing around could also level his skill up. Now, he only needed to level either his first or second skill to Intermediate-level and his last skill to Beginner-level, and he would be able to see the unlock requirements for the Phase 4 of his ability.
He was eager to see what kind of skill he would unlock this time.
Soon, Jax finished collecting all the souls. But as soon as he was done, a sudden thought crept into his mind.
Jax stood up straight. He waved his hand to the side and, with a thought, a weapon suddenly appeared. It was a two-handed white crossbow, stretching as long as his arms.
The crossbow carried a touch of some gothic design. Its bow strings bloody red, emitting a faint luster as if thirsting for blood. Its limbs resembled the skeletal wings of some exotic white beast. Each limb had one bow string attached at both ends. Then another string was placed at the middle of each string of each limb to connect the two bow strings together.
Both limbs also had a gem embedded on each. Those gems looked like the preying eyes of a predatory eagle, simply seeking for preys to hunt. Looking at its entire body frame, one would see a completely new otherworldly design, displaying both awing and intimidating vibes.
Jax held the crossbow with both his hands. Then he used the scope to aim for a random target and test whether the sight was good or bad. Yet again, he was flabbergasted at the fact that the scope could zoom in and out with just the mere thought of him.
He smiled, and was tempted to load an arrow and hit a target. But soon, he put the crossbow down and held back that thought.
''Maybe, I should open the other two Weapon Mystery Boxes too.'' Jax said with an excited smile. ''I want to see what kind of surprise it will bring me this time.''
The crossbow was, of course, a weapon that appeared from the Weapon Mystery Box he received as a reward from the Lord's Quest. Jax opened the mystery box a day ago, giving him that crossbow. He was disappointed at first, since what he wanted was a melee weapon. But later on, when he tried it, he had a great time using the weapon as he started to like it.
By then, he realized how that weapon could help him a lot.