"Are you serious?" Jacob couldn't help but ask with disbelief after he heard an unexpected yet long explanation from Immortika.
In front of this information, the information about the Zodiac Constitution was nothing at all, and he finally understood why Immortika even bothered to explain so much. Without the early information, he wouldn't have been able to comprehend just what was in front of him, and he would've most likely ended up shooting on his own foot.
"Hahahahaha… I never lie… now it's up to you if you want to believe it or not, and the choice is also yours. This is all the information I could give you unless you find something interesting again." Immortika wrote playfully.
Jacob took a deep breath as he looked towards Elia, and a hint of struggle appeared in his eyes. 'Instant benefits or long investment? It's like I'm back to making decisions for the company, but it's far more important than just measly money…'
Jacob faced a dilemma. On the one hand, the sheer scope of what Immortika told him about was too grand for him to understand completely, and on the other hand, the opportunity to instantly evolve his hex core into legendary rank was just too compelling.
After an intense struggle, Jacob gritted his teeth and started to calm down. He looked towards Immortika and coldly asked, "Alright, I'll gamble."
"HAHAHAHAHA…" Immortika's maniacal laugh filled the page, extremely amused about Jacob's decision; it was like the cursed book could vividly imagine the enormous entertainment coming its way in the future.
"Don't make it sound like I'm the one forcing you. I'm just doing my part as your advisor. But I had to admit, you're doing a great job at entertaining me!"
Jacob was annoyed, as he wanted to trample on the cursed book. "I hope you choke on it someday."
After he had finished cussing, he directly unsummoned the cursed book as he didn't want to get more annoyed by it. After all, this decision was simply too big, and by taking this path, he was taking a risk. But he knew if it paid off, just like Immortika had told him, it would all be worth it.
Furthermore, with this information, Jacob's horizons have greatly widened, and he won't be at a disadvantage in some unique situations.
After Jacob calmed down, he looked towards Elia. The next moment, clothes appeared on his skeleton body. Now, only his skull and neck remained human, while the rest of his human features were gone.
However, he didn't cover his original face this time, nor did he use the gluttony mask. He remained seated cross-legged. The next moment, he broke Elia's slumber curse.
After his hex core had evolved into a unique rank, his hexes could now strengthen by three times, not to mention the new innate hex he awakened that day. But Elia was just a mortal, and his hexes could affect her for a very long time, even if he didn't use the infinity pendant's space that could stop time for anything placed in it, or at least it appeared like it.
But Jacob failed to notice that the marks around Elia's neck deepened after he used his hex on her, and that was also the reason he had seen far denser dark particles around her since the last time he saw her.
At this moment, Elia's eyelids suddenly fluttered before they opened, revealing big, warty eyes filled with confusion and stupor.
"Daddy!?" Suddenly, she started to remember what had happened, and she cried in alarm, panicked, and filled her heart with dread.
Elia quickly picked herself up with her little hands from the ground. She stood up and started to look around the dimmed cavern, which had nothing but a few luminous stones and only a huge entrance. At this moment, it was closed with a barrier, and an illusion was placed on it, making it appear this place had no entrance or exit.
"Daddy!" Elia panicked, and tears started to fill her eyes. She called her father again, but no reply was heard, and she started to tumble with fear.
"Stop exhausting yourself. He's not here." At this moment, a gentle yet icy voice suddenly rang from above Elia.
In her panic, she failed to notice the strange 'boulder' in front of her; she was simply too small, and Jacob was extremely huge despite sitting down.
The moment Elia heard that voice, she shuddered in fear. She quickly looked up and was shocked to see a huge giant with handsome features and long silver hair looking at her impassively.
Furthermore, for some reason, she felt this giant's presence was extremely soothing and made her fear quite a lot, which was very strange. Yet she was also familiar with feeling because she felt the same thing from the Dark Elf she suddenly discovered before she fell into this weird sleep. Elia knew about the giant race, and it wasn't like she hadn't seen any before. She wasn't just a weak-willed child either. In fact, she was mature for her age because of the curse she was born it. It has been tormenting her ever since she turned a year old, and that pain wasn't something a baby could endure.
Sometimes, she even thought that she would die, but strangely, when she was on the verge of death, that curse strangely stopped tormenting her. Furthermore, she knew how much it pained her father and how much he freaked out every time her curse tormented her, so she learned not to show too much since she didn't want to see her father like that.
But that was far easier said than done since that curse was simply too vile, and every time, it came back with vengeance. Furthermore, every time Elia undergoes that torment, she feels anger with herself for showing such a sight as if her pride was greatly hurt, and she starts to become silent because of it.
However, she still loved her father the most since he was her everything, and she knew how much he had sacrificed for her. So, she always showed him her smile so as not to make him worry.
But now, seeing this giant instead of her father sitting in front of her, he gave her that similar feeling with the dark elf, that feeling that she felt for the first time in her life, the same feeling that suddenly made her feel like she had to get to the bottom of it, the same feeling which made her longed for something else than her father's happiness, for the first time in her life!
"W-who is Un… M-m…mister? W…where i-is my D-da-dad?"
She asked while trying her best not to cry and show a brave face, but she was still too young despite her somewhat mature mindset. But she still gets the courage to speak with Jacob because of that strange attraction coming from him.
Jacob was slightly amused when he saw how quickly Elia had recovered and how she had put up a brave front.
Still, he suddenly pulled a faint smile as he replied, "My name is Jack. As for your dad, I don't know where he is, but if he'd known better, he should've already returned by now and been enjoying his life.
"You see, little Elia, I took you away from your father and gave him enough wealth for him to live like a king. You can hate me for this, but know that if you had remained with him, not only would it have brought you both misery and pain, but you would've died in a few years because of your special condition.
"That's why parting with him is the best thing you can do for him and yourself. Although he would be sad, it would be only for a little while, and it's far better than giving him constant grief and pain. At least he would know you are still alive somewhere.
"I'm the only one in this world who could help you with your condition, and I know deep down you know it too well. After all, you approached me that day for this exact reason, right?
"But I don't want to help someone who has no will to help themselves. So, you can choose to either go back to your father and give him more misery and wait for your impending end, or you can follow me on my long journey as my apprentice. "However, you must choose only one and discard the other forever. This is also my first test for you. I want to see if you have what it takes to live or if you want to go back to your miserable life!"