Jake definitely felt like he had unlocked some secret quest chain or something. Delivering to a B-grade through a Special Courier Job this early on was already a pretty big achievement, but now even an A-grade had appeared before him. Plus, because Jake did know a bit about the world he found himself in, he understood how important someone like a Duke was.
The specific country Jake found himself in had only three total dukes and one king. All the dukes and the king were A-grade, with the strongest fighting force of the entire kingdom being part of the duke factions or directly under the king. This is to say, someone with the Duke title was pretty much at the top of the Challenge Dungeon world both in power and influence.
There were also some S-grades out there, but they were few and far between. Some were hidden Lord Protectors, some were like the Founder of the Guild and did their own stuff, while others were in isolation or had left the world for the stars, with no one knowing where they were.
However, despite all this, there was still one tiny problem with the Duke showing up.
”It is a pleasure to meet you,” Jake said with a nod. ”But I still have to make my delivery first… and despite you being his father and the true client, my job doesn’t specify any of that. Would it be possible for you to give us a moment alone? I am certain we can discuss after.”
The Duke seemed taken aback as he looked Jake up and down for a few moments. The Baron also stared daggers at Jake, and looked like he wanted to blow up the magic circle beneath Jake any second. There was definitely tension rising until the Duke let out a slight chuckle that turned into a full-on laugh.
”Good! Even before me, you refuse to compromise in the slightest! Very good! I shall do as asked and give you a moment. My son here will signal me when we can return to the true discussion at hand,” the Duke said as the flaming figure faded away, and a second later, Jake confirmed he was no longer peeking, actually sticking to his word.
”You are lucky you weren’t reduced to a mere pile of ash,” the Baron said with a scoff. ”To dare show such disrespect toward the Duke…”
”I showed no disrespect, merely the professionalism I was hired to display,” Jake said in an as professional voice as he could. ”Now that it is just the two of us, let us confirm the delivery.”
Waving his hand, Jake took out Eternal Hunger. ”Let me just retrieve it right quick.”Considering Jake had eaten the item, he also needed a way to get it out again. While forcing himself to throw it up was certainly one possibility, he felt like it was a bit too nasty to show in front of a client. Stabbing himself in the stomach and pulling out the Sealed Elemental direct was definitely more polite, right?
The Infernal Baron looked on as Jake gutted himself, frowning a bit when Jake pulled out the orb. Jake assumed he was just nervous that the item had been ruined, which was almost offensive. He was no amateur Courier who would ruin the delivery in such a reckless manner. Shit, Jake even made sure not to spill a single drop of blood on the Baron’s floor but kept it all inside, and what little did drop out was burned away with destructive arcane mana before it ever reached the ground.
With the item successfully extracted, Jake quickly removed the stable layer of arcane mana around the Sealed Elemental and used Identify on it just for good measure… because the result definitely took him by surprise.
[Sealed Elemental (Unique)] – A sealed elemental of the fire affinity can be found within. Due to the shoddy work of the ones who sealed it, this item is slowly deteriorating and will reach critical failure in less than a week (6 days). Any attempt to interfere with this item may result in the seal breaking prematurely.
The seal on the item was meant to last seven days in total. However, despite around three and a half days passing, it said the seal would still last another six days. Jake suppressed a frown as he didn’t outwardly display any of his surprise. Internally, he did wonder what was going on, though.
Wait… maybe it’s a bit like those items the Nalkar vampires tried to preserve back in the Order? he considered after a bit, and the more he thought about it, the more right he thought he was.
Every item decayed with time. Even equipment would lose its enchantments if long enough passed, just turning into inert objects worth less than the raw materials it was made up of. It would take a long time, with equipment pretty much always outlasting the lifespan of whoever originally wore it, but it was inevitable. With maintenance, an item could be kept active for an even longer period, if not nearly indefinitely, by effectively replacing the enchantments with new identical ones, using the same framework set by the original creator. If one could get an equally skilled crafter with a similar Path to the original creator, of course.
Some items were a bit harder or complicated to maintain. In the case of the Nalkar vampires, they didn’t want to re-enchant anything, as that would effectively destroy the original items as it was, while other items simply couldn’t be maintained. This mainly happens with items of legendary rarity or above. Finding someone capable of re-enchanting these items was often borderline-impossible due to the Records in the item and the difficulty of finding a crafter with a similar enough Path. Luckily, they would last a long time by themselves anyway, but even they would lose their power with time. In these cases, the best way to preserve them was to simply make sure they didn’t degrade as fast.
The vampires used complicated formations to make this possible, each creating a beneficial environment for every individual item, but for some, all they could do was isolate it from all outside influences… which was exactly what Jake had done with the Sealed Elemental.
Jake’s stable arcane affinity was really fucking good at isolating things. In all honesty, Jake hadn’t expected it to work as he assumed the item was breaking down primarily due to system-fuckery, but seeing it work was a pleasant surprise nonetheless. He knew that even with total isolation, deterioration would still exist, but to see how effective his stable arcane affinity was with just a simple barrier was nice.
“Let me see it,” the Infernal Baron said as he waved his hand, and the ping-pong ball-sized item flew toward the B-grade. Once he had the item in his hand, he made a small hand motion as sparks flew, and a big smile appeared on his face.
“Great, and it’s in an even better condition than I expected,” the man said, looking incredibly pleased. “And now that I have the item, I presume you have no more complaints if the Duke rejoins us?”
“My job here is done,” Jake shrugged.
Snapping his fingers, a faint pulse of mana was released, and less than a second later, the flaming figure of the Duke of Flames flared back to life. “I assume all is well now?”
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“Yes, father,” the Baron said as he held up the item. “An early C-grade fire elemental variant.”
The flaming figure nodded as he turned his attention back to Jake. “Now for you, Courier. I remember you saying you met some challenges along your journey. Would you enlighten me as to the details?”
Jake considered for a moment if he should explain everything or not and in the end, saw no good reason not to. Plus, based on the words the Duke of Flames had said about Jake being what they had been looking for, he was pretty damn sure this was the start of a major quest chain, and withholding information could potentially lead to him missing out.
“Very well…” Jake said as he briefly explained what had happened. He included how he had met the adventurers, fought and killed the Silent scalekin mage, and the subsequent appearance of the shadowy figure that used – or had someone use – karmic magic to kill every witness. To finish with, he informed the Duke of Flames and the Baron of the offer they had made him to give the elemental to them instead while noting that these people did not seem to know what Jake was actually delivering.
“I see… things were much as we had expected,” the Duke of Flames said after Jake was done talking. With a serious gaze, he looked directly at Jake. “Let me ask you first, Courier… are you willing to take on work that may be more risky than any you have encountered prior? Jobs that may very well prove lethal if the slightest mistake or slipup is made?”
Jake was more sure than ever that he had just stumbled across a special quest chain and quickly nodded. “If the job is worthwhile doing, I see no reason to reject it. Of course, I will need to know the details first.”
The Baron glared at Jake again, clearly not happy he would even insinuate he wouldn’t downright agree with anything his father wanted. The man in question, on the other hand, didn’t seem offended in the slightest.
“I expect nothing less from a Courier of your level,” the man said with a smile. “Do not worry. Everything I will ever ask you will naturally go through the Guild. You are a Courier, after all.”
“In that case, I will temporarily agree,” Jake said.
“Good. Now, allow me to get you up to date as to why I may need your assistance,” the Duke of Flames began as Jake felt a big lore dump and quest description incoming. “The elemental you have just brought us is not for me or my son, but my daughter. Our Legacy revolves around consuming elementals to progress and refine the powers of our flames, and the more powerful and higher-tiered the variant of the elemental, the better. Many do not agree with this Path, some of which you encountered on your way here.”
Jake nodded along. He did know such things existed, and there were even quite a few alchemists who consumed numerous Soulflames. Actually, wasn’t Jake a bit like this? Just that instead of eating elementals to progress, he could eat poisons.
“This organization, as they call themselves, has been hounding my household for the last century or so. In the beginning, they were just a minor nuisance, creating some ultimately inconsequential challenges, but in the recent decade, they have grown in power at a frightening speed. Especially the last year has resulted in more trouble than ever before. I believe powerful forces have gotten involved, but I cannot prove anything or have uncovered any evidence… I need someone like you to help me with just that,” the Duke of Flames explained, giving Jake a good background for the upcoming quest chain. He did have one burning question, though.
“I fail to understand why you would need a C-grade Courier that badly. Are there not more powerful and skilled people available already working under you?” Jake questioned.
“I cannot make any moves myself. As a Duke, everything I do is closely monitored. I cannot even leave my residence in peace without potentially causing a conflict with another faction, and as you come to learn more details of what I need your help with, my limited abilities to act will become even clearer. My family, for the most part, also suffers the same fate of inability to assist, as does all those officially part of the dukedom. While I do have some hidden cards, their affiliation with this kingdom is impossible to hide. You, however, I have looked into. You are related to no one and nowhere. A clean slate that even my best spymaster nor the Guild could find a single detail about before you appeared and signed up to be a Courier. That is exactly why I need someone like you.”
“I take it this organization causing you trouble is based in another country?” Jake guessed after hearing what the Duke had to say. It made sense based on everything else the man said, especially when he mentioned his inability to act directly.
The Duke smiled. “That is correct, but alas, things are not that simple. If it was just a faction from another country, I would have been able to make some moves, but the last time I tried to, I found myself blocked by an unknown power. Coupled with the recent rise in power of this organization, I can only reach one conclusion. Someone from this kingdom has gotten involved with them, and if I am right, it is one of the other dukedoms, if not the royal family themselves.”
“Assuming you are correct, why would they choose to ally with an organization actively trying to sabotage one of their fellow nobles, especially one from a different country? Purely internal politics?”
“Some politics, yes, but primarily fear. The other dukes and even the king himself have stagnated. The Lord Protector is peak A-grade but failed to evolve even after so long, and his lifespan is running out. If the Lord Protector dies, I will take the top spot as the most powerful person in the kingdom, something a lot of people don’t want. My problem is that all of them are publicly supporting me, and there are even talks of naming me Grand Duke,” the A-grade continued. “Meanwhile, behind the scenes, I already know many of them are subtly trying to keep me in check, as I am the only one remaining who has a legitimate chance at reaching S-grade.”
Listening to the story, Jake honestly thought all these other nobles were either short-sighted or just downright dumb. Sure, if they were talking about the kingdom in isolation, it was more understandable to try and keep the competition down, but if everything the Duke of Flames said was true – which Jake got the feeling it was – wouldn’t they just leave themselves in a vulnerable situation after the Lord Protector died if they had no one to take their place?
Jake also didn’t like the entire notion of keeping others down to remain strong in comparison. In his opinion, those dukes and the king should just get their shit together and stop being wussies who had “stagnated.”
Stagnation was just a bad excuse for having stopped trying to progress. It was something people who had taken the “easy” route said when they stopped being able to pick the low-hanging fruits and didn’t dare to try and climb the tree itself. Any of these A-grades could stand up right now and seek out whatever powerful beings lived in this world, or maybe just fly into the starry sky and look for the monsters roaming in space.
“I am still not entirely certain what exactly you want to hire me for,” Jake said after hearing everything the Duke of Flames had to say and better understanding the situation.
“It is a lot to ask… but I need you to get an in with this organization, and you have already been presented with a golden opportunity,” the Duke of Flames answered as he threw the Infernal Baron a glance. The Baron nodded and tossed the Sealed Elemental back to Jake.
“Take the delivery and give it to them, just as they asked,” he explained. “In truth, we don’t really need this particular variant much. Getting a Courier into the organization is far more valuable, at least. Of course, we have to ensure they do not know you are doing this with my knowledge, so you need to find a way to hide it before meeting them in order to not raise any suspicion. Are you up to the task?”
As the man asked this, it finally appeared. The kind of system message Jake had been waiting for.
Special Courier Side Job: Assist the Duke of Flames in delivering the Sealed Elemental to [Unknown] without letting them know you have met with the Infernal Baron yet.
Objective: Package delivered (0/1)
Accept Side Job?
With a nod to the Duke, Jake accepted the system prompt, too. Jake had many thoughts about what this Challenge Dungeon would be about, but in all honesty, he had never expected him to get a job as a double agent in a political game while working for a late-tier A-grade Duke.
It was definitely a novel experience, and Jake was all for it.