Jake and Carmen stood outside of the small brick house. It looked cheaply built, which made sense as this was squarely in the slums of Puddlerock. Apparently, many of those who lived there had been exiled from Saint-something island due to breaking some of their stupid Holy Church rules. Or maybe they just had a bit too much independence to fit in.
“This is the place?” Carmen asked as Jake checked the paper in his hand.
“Definitely looks like it,” he nodded. “How did you find out about this Clinton guy anyway?”
“The Holy Church isn’t the only faction with people able to divine stuff. Valhal has Rune Seers and stuff like that. I just got in touch with one of the better ones, and she used my Records to track my family by linking me to them. This is how she found this guy, too, as his karma is deeply tied to theirs,” Carmen explained.
“I see,” Jake nodded. He still wasn’t clear on how Carmen wanted him to track her family, considering he had yet to see anything to go from that wasn’t just good old detective work. For the Primas, he could use their energy signatures, and he would need something similar if he was to track humans.
“Why are we stalling, by the way?” Jake then asked.
“I wasn’t,” Carmen said defensively as she raised her hand to knock on the door. She hesitated a bit before she finally built up the courage.
She knocked two times as the two of them waited. Jake wasn’t worried about no one being home, considering he could already see the man inside sitting in a chair reading a book. He was on the older side, probably in his late fifties to early sixties. Also, inside the house, Jake had already spotted a lot of fishing gear, and overall the guy called Clinton just gave Jake the impression of an average retired man who liked to fish.
When Carmen knocked, the man looked up, frowned, and placed the book on a table as he went to open the door. It didn’t take long before he was there, but he didn’t open it right away.
“Who's there?” he asked carefully.“My name is Carmen… I am looking for some people you used to travel with, and I heard you could provide some information,” the warrior of Valhal said a bit nervously.
The man instantly responded as he opened the door slowly at first, but was surprised and swung it open rapidly when he saw her. “Who are you?”
Carmen looked a bit surprised herself. “I already told you my name.”
“Your voice just reminded me of someone else… sorry. Ah, where are my manners? Come on in. I hear you are looking for someone?” the man called Clinton said, finally calming down.
That is until he saw Jake wearing his mask and the hawk sitting on his shoulder. He stared at them a bit as Jake just raised his hand to give a friendly wave, Sylphie mimicking him as she raised her wing to also wave.
Cuteness won out as the man couldn’t help but smile at the sight and was further calmed by Carmen’s explanation. “He is a tracker I work with to help me find the people I am looking for.”
Clinton nodded once more as he invited them in, and after the usual pleasantries of being offered a drink and politely declining, they finally got to the main topic.
“I can already guess who you are looking for… you look just like her. Your mother is called Marcia, right? Your father, Antonios?” Clinton asked with a light smile.
Carmen frowned a bit as she nodded, but Jake also felt a faint sense of relief. If it was because of the use of present tense implying they were still alive or the confirmation the man named Clinton knew about them, Jake wasn’t sure.
“They were also traveling with several others from my family, right?” Carmen asked.
“Oh yes, quite a few. I think it is lucky that an entire family could enter a Tutorial together. I remember your father mentioning you and saying how you were away at college at the time and therefore weren’t present at the annual dinner. It must have been tough,” Clinton said apologetically.
“Unlucky… yeah,” Carmen muttered as her gaze turned a bit cold. “I am currently looking for them and heard you know more. But before that, how come you left their group?”
Clinton sighed. “While it was a very cohesive group, there was also a lot of… drama. Being an outsider, I had no influence, so when I finally came across a safe settlement, I chose to make it my home. I also must apologize, but I am not sure exactly where they went, just that they went towards the western city of Longchester.”
Jake finally decided to also enter the conversation as he asked: “Do you have something related to any of them? An item they crafted or used that hasn’t been bound to someone yet, or maybe something similar?”
“Hm,” Clinton frowned, not questioning why Jake asked for it. “I may have something. Let me look.”
The man got up and went to check in another room. Jake had decided to butt in for two reasons. First of all, because it needed to be asked, and secondly, because he saw how hard Carmen was clenching her fists below the table. He found it a bit weird but still decided that changing the topic a bit would be for the best.
Jake had no idea why Carmen was even looking for her family. He had never asked but had assumed it was similar to his own reasons. Having no plans to pry into her personal business, he would just let her handle it, and even if there was some bad blood between her and her family, it was for her to deal with. All would come to light if they found them anyway.
“Ah, here it is!” the man said as he brought out a wand. Jake looked at it and instantly felt a mana signature from it. “This wand belonged to Antonios. He got a better one when we entered this city, and I didn’t have a high enough level to bind it to myself at the time… when I finally did, I realized I had no plans of fighting anymore.”
With a string of mana, Jake floated the wand over and scanned it. The mana within was faint, but Jake was sure of it. It belonged to a person that wasn’t Clinton. Carmen was looking at him, and Jake nodded as she sighed in relief, muttering something about the Rune Seer not scamming her.
“How much for it?” Carmen asked Clinton.
“You can have it,” the man just smiled. “Your father and mother helped me out a lot in the Tutorial, and I owe them at least that. It was your father’s anyway, so returning it to his family only seems right.”
“Alright,” Carmen nodded with mixed emotions.
“If you do find them, please give them my greetings. I hope they are doing well,” Clinton said as he leaned back and took a sip of coffee.
“Just one final question… was there a woman called Beatrice with them?” Carmen asked in a serious tone.
“Of course!” Clinton said with a cheerful smile. “She was such a nice young woman. Beatrice is your cousin, right? You are about the same age, but I hear that you drifted apart due to some differences. I hope you two can reconcile. After all, family is more important than ever in this new world. Do say hi to her for me, alright?”
Carmen just frowned but nodded. “I will be sure to greet her when we meet, that I can promise you.”
“You guy’s ready to go?” the silver-armored warrior said as he escorted Jake, Carmen, and Sylphie to the teleportation chamber once more. He had actually been way more helpful than Jake had first thought he would, having more or less stalked them ever since they entered the city.
The man had even handed him a map of quite a large area that had been created by the United Cities Alliance. It was a lot like Arnold’s map, just about a hundred times worse and less detailed. A lot of it was rough estimates with no proper identification of where dangerous beasts resided. This did partly make sense, as to the United Cities Alliance, an area filled with level 160 monsters was viewed as pretty much the same as one filled with C-grades, marking them all as danger zones.
It did give some insight into areas worth investigating, though. But before they would have time to head out and check the danger zones – hopefully finding two Primas on the way - they would head off to this Longchester place and continue their tracking mission.
There was just one minor problem… the young man in silver armor really wanted to come with them and had even made a decent case for why they should bring him along. He was well-known and had knowledge of all the areas they were heading to. With his reputation alone, he would remove all potential barriers to their travels just by being present.
“You sure you really wanna come?” Carmen asked skeptically, with Jake getting why. The guy looked young, probably barely in his twenties. He also just struck Jake as a bit green, even if his level was high. He was too… cheerful. But then again, Jake wasn’t the best at reading people if they were good at hiding their emotions.
“I can carry my own weight,” he smiled. “Trust me, I will be of use, even in a fight!”
Jake just shrugged. “Just know we aren’t your babysitters.”
“Naturally not,” the warrior kept smiling. After a bit more convincing and the man even pulling out a small satchel with snacks for Sylphie, their group was convinced. If nothing else, then he was a damn good planner. They continued their journey that had rapidly turned from a three-man journey into a four-man one.
This did change the dynamic quite a bit, as Jake and Carmen were the kinds of people who could run through the plains for twenty hours straight without exchanging a single word. But this guy? It was like he had a condition that would make him explode if he shut up for more than ten minutes straight.
Anyway, this guy was called Peter, the kid of the city leader of Puddlerock. At first, he seemed a bit… well, dull, but the more the guy talked, the more Jake’s opinion changed. Even Carmen seemed to shift her perception quite a bit.
Peter was originally a member of the Holy Church. The plan had been for him to get good relations with the massive faction on the planet to help out his father and because he genuinely wanted to make Earth a better place. The Church was present on both continents from the start, with its influence spreading from the beginning.
At first, the young man had fit in well. His affinity for light magic was high, and he was quickly recruited as a potential paladin. He had risen through the ranks, gained power, had his own elite party, and generally just been a real asset. He actually enjoyed his time there and thought the Church a force of good… until something happened.
Peter had been part of the Treasure Hunt. He had left pretty early on due to getting into a scuffle with vampires a bit above his own league, but some members of his party had stayed behind. One of them was a mage that the young guy clearly had a crush on despite not admitting it even with all his blabbering.
She never returned.
This in itself was not that suspicious. Many died during the hunt. Peter had kept going as normal for months after that until one day, he had coincidentally met up with her parents and heard them talk about how much of a hero their daughter had been. Peter had agreed, but when they talked a bit more about her, he found out that she hadn’t died in a fight or anything like that. She had sacrificed herself in a ritual to create a sword.
Jake remembered the Sword Bertram had used on the Monarch of Blood but only now knew how they made it. He remembered the power Bertram had displayed, and only now did it make sense how they had managed to create it.
Peter had been distraught, and he only felt more messed up when no one around him thought it that weird. They praised her sacrifice and said she was just in the Holy Land now. He had even been brought and spoken to her spirit… but even so. She had even explained how she had reached the end of her Path and had trouble gaining levels, and she had gone out doing what was best for everyone.
Even if Peter could see the logic, he just didn’t like it. He had heard about it happening but, like an idiot, never believed it would happen to someone he cared about. His faith was broken, and it was almost as if his progress stopped from one day to the next.
When the system event of Unusual Unions arrived, he participated and became what he was today. He had even renounced the god from the Holy Church that had blessed him. This had all led to some fallout between Puddlerock and the Holy Church, and honestly, Jake put two and two together pretty quickly that Peter’s old man hoped to create good relations with Valhal and the Order of the Malefic Viper through Jake and Carmen as the bridge to the Holy Church was more or less burned.
Since the event, Peter had progressed more than ever and began leveling again. He was not associated with any faction besides the United Cities Alliance and was more or less a lone wolf. Now, for the final question, how was he in a fight? Well, that was yet to be determined as none of the guards or officers they met as they teleported around wanted one. And boy did they meet a lot of guards.
The next days were spent teleporting to a city, going to the public office of the city, and then tracking down Carmen’s family in the records. Luckily they were a group of nearly thirty people, making them stand out quite a bit, but it was still damn annoying.
Peter helped immensely by cutting away all the red tape and giving them instant access. It still took a while to get around and put together everything, but finally, they got confirmation after visiting city number eleven.
The family was found.
They were in a city without a teleportation circle in it and had lived there for about two months. Now, while this city didn’t have a teleportation circle currently, that didn’t mean it never had one. It had been deactivated about three weeks back due to what an official described as “political differences that were currently being resolved.”
Talking to a merchant who had been there recently, things became a bit more clear.
“Eh, they had some issues with the guy running it not wanting to contribute taxes or something last I heard… or maybe it had something to do with all the workers. I honestly don’t know, but the place is a damn mess and keeps raking in money. I would generally stay away,” the merchant had said.
“Why?” Jake asked.
The merchant looked at Jake and shook his head. “the place is just a bit messed up and serves a certain clientele… but hey, if you are into whores, gambling, and doing some messed up stuff, you may enjoy it. I sure know I ain’t going back. If I did, my wife would kill me.”
For some reason, Carmen smiled upon hearing this description. As for Peter, he just frowned, clearly not aware of the place. As for the name of the city… well, it had the most on-the-nose name Jake had ever encountered:
Paradise.