Chapter 185: Left Behind
These phantoms were going to serve as Jason’s elite spies and assassins. Jason wasn’t a fool, and he knew that there were things out there that he just didn’t have any control over. There were people and organizations that were making plans for him, and if he didn’t gain more information about them, then he was going to be caught unaware when they finally made a move. So Jason was going to become proactive.
The Phantoms would dive into the shadows, and from there, they would follow anyone that Jason suspected of being dangerous. Jason knew that there were people who would be able to sense the Phantoms even if they were in the shadows, but that was only if the Phantoms got too close. As long as they maintained their distance, then no one would ever find out.
"You’ll go into the shadow and stay there until I give you more orders. Alpha, remain here."
Jason gave the phantom an order, and they all bowed their heads in obedience before they easily fell into the shadow. Alpha stayed back while looking towards Jason curiously, and Jason asked her where the cure for the Hunter’s Toxin was. Alpha immediately responded while ordering one of her subordinates to go and bring the Toxin’s cure from inside her tent.
The phantom appeared from the shadow a few seconds later with the cure, and Jason took it. It was a glass bottle filled with a blue liquid, and Alpha explained that the victim would need to swallow the liquid to cure the Toxin. Jason nodded, and he ordered Alpha and her subordinate to return to the shadows. Jason looked the toxin over for a few seconds and frowned before he gently went down on one knee. Riyala and Fenrir had been playing together at the side all along, but Riyala stopped her excited laughing and gently pushed Fenrir back when she saw Jason’s frown. She wanted to ask Jason what was wrong, but she didn’t have to as she saw Jason put his hand out and summon Gina’s body out from his Alternate Dimension.
Gina’s body gently fell to the floor in front of Jason, and Jason’s eyes immediately fixed themselves on her emotionless face. He glanced at her chest, and he felt a strange pain in his heart when he didn’t see it moving, but he ignored all that and simply took the cure and poured it into Gina’s mouth. He held Gina’s head up slightly and made sure that it went down her throat before he released her and quickly put her back into his Alternate Dimension.
Jason knew that even though Gina was dead, the Hunter’s Toxin was still inside her, so if he had resurrected her while she was like that, then the toxin would have started acting again and killed her a second time. At least now that he had given her the cure, she would be free from any poison and he could resurrect her back to perfect health. Jason just didn’t know that it would be so difficult to see her like that.
A hand landed on Jason’s shoulder, and Jason looked up to see Riyala giving him a sad look. She slowly crouched until she was at eye level with him and asked,
"Are you okay?"
Jason released a huff and smiled. It was obvious he wasn’t okay, but as far as he was concerned, it didn’t matter. All that mattered now was getting Gina back. Jason stood up, and he gave Riyala his hand to help her up while saying,
"Yeah, I’m fine. I was just a little tired. Come on."
Jason helped her to her feet, and then he began walking towards the artefacts that his subordinates had gathered—
"Help me~"
Jason suddenly stopped in his tracks as he heard something echo in his ear. He turned around sharply to glance at Riyala, and he saw her giving him a curious look. Riyala asked Jason if there was something wrong, and Jason shook his head ’no’. He ran a hand through his hair and tried to listen for the voice again, but he didn’t hear anything. What the hell was that?
’It sounded like a woman asking for help. I don’t recognize the voice.’
Jason quickly turned to the system and asked it if it recognized the voice he just heard, and the system sent a response back.
[The system registered a fleeting signal passing through the user’s mind, but the system did not detect any form of mana or telepathic control within the signal; therefore, the system does not think this signal is a threat to the user. Due to the lack of mana signatures, the system is incapable of tracking the origin of the signal.]
Jason turned to the side and looked out into the horizon. He was curious about where the voice came from, but after he didn’t hear anything again for a while, he decided that he was too busy to bother about tracking it down. Jason moved to the tent and put his hand over all the artefacts before opening his Alternate Dimension beneath them.
The artefacts fell into Jason’s Dimension, and he saw a very long list of notifications appearing in his system as it registered all the different artefacts at the same time. Jason paid only half-mind to the new notifications as he moved out of the tent. He began walking back to the Dimensional Tear that he and Riyala had come from, and Riyala turned to follow him.
Fenrir pushed Riyala from behind with its snout and Riyala turned around and smiled when she saw that it wanted her to get on. Riyala moved to the side and Fenrir lowered its body so that she could jump on before Fenrir continued following after the King.
The only things left behind were the stench of blood and dead bodies.
——
The user has gained [20] new Artefacts. A list of them will be displayed below.
——
Ashen Embercore [Rank B – Pendant]
Durability: 90%
Description: Reduces the mana cost of fire spells by 20% and causes them to burn twice as long.
——
Veil of the Hollow Star [Rank S – Cloak]
Durability: 100%
Description: Protects the user from all elemental attacks. Grants 100% increase in stealth and agility.
——
Stonebraid Gauntlets [Rank C – Gauntlets]
Durability: 100%
Description: Increases physical damage for earth magic users by 20% and grants minor resistance to knockback.
——
Stormtide Lens [Rank A – Monocle]
Durability: 90%
Description: Water and lightning spells can now chain between multiple targets with reduced casting delay.
——
Oathbrand [Rank S – Sword]
Durability: 90%
Description: A sentient blade that amplifies the user’s spell power by 50% while slowly draining their health.
——
Whisperroot Totem [Rank B – Totem]
Durability: 100%
Description: Reduces mana cost for nature spells by 10% and passively heals nearby allies over time.
——
Cinderspine Crown [Rank A – Crown]
Durability: 100%
Description: Fire spells cast during combat apply a stacking heat debuff that weakens enemy defenses.
——
Orb of Gleaming Silence [Rank C – Orb]
Durability: 100%
Description: Silences an enemy caster for 1.5 seconds when you successfully land a critical magic hit.
——
Frostbite Fang [Rank B – Dagger]
Durability: 100%
Description: Ice spells slow enemies more effectively and have a chance to freeze if cast from stealth.
——
Magister’s Coil [Rank S – Ring]
Durability: 90%
Description: Increases maximum mana by 20% and allows one spell per day to be cast with zero cost.
——
Scroll of Black Rain [Rank A – Consumable Scroll]
Durability: 100%
Description: Summons a corrosive rain that reduces the elemental resistance of all enemies in the area.
——
Infernal Talon [Rank B – Claw Weapon]
Durability: 100%
Description: Fire-imbued melee attacks leave behind burning trails and reduce fire resistance on contact.
——
Lantern of the Pale Host [Rank C – Lantern]
Durability: 100%
Description: Illuminates invisible enemies and boosts light or holy-based spell damage by a moderate amount.