Tricks and Predictions

Jack stopped walking. He looked at Jason and said. "What is wrong? What is with that look on your face?" 

Jason looked at Jack and then looked into the other room at the stairs Jack had just run up. He looked at Jack again and said. "How is this possible?! I just saw you! Are you trying to trick me again?" 

Jack had a look of utter confusion on his face as he said. "What are you talking about? I just got here. And what do you mean again?" 

Jason grabbed the hilt of the sword on his back and said with irritation. "You are trying to trick me aren't you? This same thing happened back in that building. How are you doing that? Are there two of you?" 

Jack smirked and said. "Two of me? You think there are two of me?" 

Jason looked at Jack with irritation and said. "That is what I said isn't it? So how are you doing it? You got some kind of clone or something? Do you have some kind of crazy copy of yourself that you send to go find me so you can come in at the right moment and make them disappear so you can make it look like I'm crazy?" 

Jack continued to smirk as he said. "So you've finally caught on, huh? I guess it gets pretty suspicious when you use the same trick twice." 

Jason pulled his sword off of his back. He said with irritation. "So it was you! You're the one trying to screw with my head!" 

Jack laughed mischievously and said. "I am a master of deception after all. And you're so easy to deceive. Especially when I use illusions. I made the right call when I gave Thomas the good vial and gave you the poison." 

Jason had a perplexed expression on his face as he said. "What are you talking about? Illusions? Poison?" 

Jack chuckled mischievously and said. "You don't remember?" He then laughed as he said. "You've already died once. I brought you back." 

Jason had a look of utter confusion on his face as he said. "What?! What are you talking about?! That's not even possible. You can't be brought back once you die."  

Jack smirked and said. "You don't believe me? It has happened twice already. I got you killed and then I brought you back again." 

Jason said with shock. "Twice? I've died twice already?" He then said while annoyed. "If you're just going to keep killing me then why even bother to bring me back? What is the point of that?" 

Jack frowned and muttered to himself. "The point of it?" He said with a serious tone of voice. "You're number seventy six, the Slasher Slayer. You're one of the top eleven Slashers. You've destroyed an entire town and an entire army. Thomas and I were sent to find and kill you." He balled his right hand into a fist and said. "But you aren't actually supposed to die! There is no way someone like me should actually be able to kill someone like you! I'm not even a Slasher but I've managed to kill you two times already! A high ranking Slasher should only be able to be killed by another high ranking Slasher!" He moved his fist into the air. He released his pointer finger from the rest of his fist and pointed at Jason as he said with annoyance. "Didn't you swear to destroy the Slasher Clan?! So, quit dying to someone like me, you idiot! It's pathetic!" 

Jason said with annoyance. "Shut up." He turned to his right and began walking toward the weapon room. He put his sword back on his back and said as he walked. "What the hell would you know, anyways?"

Jack said with irritation. "Wait! Where are you going?" 

Jason walked through the doorway into the weapon room and said. "Getting Thomas."

Jason walked into the weapon room and walked toward the staircase as he thought. "'A high ranking Slasher can only die by a high ranking Slasher'?" He scoffed and thought. "Why does it matter how we die? And besides, my rank isn't anywhere near high enough to be considered high ranking. Only eighty and above should be considered that." 

Jack ran after Jason as he said. "Wait! Hold on! What do you mean getting Thomas? Is Thomas here?" 

Just as Jason was about to take the first step up the staircase a familiar voice stopped him before he could. 

The familiar voice said. "Wait you two! I have something for you!" 

Jason stopped walking. He turned and looked at the source of the familiar voice. 

The old man known as Norv stood by two small furnaces in the upper right corner of the room. The door that was next to the two small furnaces that was previously closed was now open. 

Jason looked at Norv and said. "Huh? You wanted to give me something? What are you talking about? What is it?" 

Jack had stopped walking too. He looked at Norv and said. "Give us something?" He shook his head and said. "I appreciate the offer but..." 

Norv interrupted Jack and said. "Both of you come over here. I have something for you two." 

Jason immediately began walking toward Norv. 

Jack stood where he was and said. "Wait but..." 

Jason sighed and said as he walked. "Just do as he says." 

Jack hesitated but then finally began walking toward Norv. 

Once Jason and Jack both reached Norv they both stopped walking. Jason and Jack both stood side by side as they stood in front of Norv. Jason stood to the left and Jack stood to the right. 

Jason said with annoyance. "What is it? What did you want?" 

Jack said. "I don't mean to sound rude but..."

Norv raised both of his fists up and hit both Jason and Jack on the head as he said. "Quit being so loud in my shop! You're disturbing my work!" He then hit Jason on the head again as he said. "And quit being disrespectful!" 

Jason and Jack both rubbed the tops of their heads with their hands as they said. "Sorry, Sir! It won't happen again!" 

Norv looked over at Jack and said. "Now what were you saying? I interrupted you." 

Jack put both of his hands up and said as his lips twitched. "Nevermind, Sir. It was nothing I swear." 

Norv stared at Jack for a few seconds and then finally said. "Well alright." He then looked at both Jason and Jack as he said. "You two follow me. I have something for the two of you." 

Norv walked into the room, which was next to the two small furnaces, which was now open. Jason and Jack followed Norv into the room.

The room was very similar to the closet downstairs but it was much more organized. It had two shelves that covered the entire perimeter of the room other than where the door was located. Each shelf contained various pieces of equipment and tools. Underneath the shelves were ten chests in total. There were four chests on the left side of the room, four chests on the right side of the room, and two chests at the end of the room. Out of the ten chests nine were locked. The chest closest to the door on the left side of the room was unlocked and was wide open. 

The two things that immediately caught Jason's eye within the unlocked chest was a dagger and a chestplate. The dagger had a sleek design with a jet black color to it. Its blade also looked extremely sharp. The chestplate was both dark gray and orange. Dark gray was the dominant color and orange was the secondary color. In the center of the chestplate was a giant seventy six engraved into it. 

Jason frowned and thought. "Armor? I don't need armor." He said. "Sorry, but I can't accept something like this." He turned around and began walking out of the room but then was suddenly stopped. 

Jack grabbed Jason's left arm with his left hand and said. "What are you doing, you idiot? Did you listen to anything I told you?" 

Jason glared at Jack with irritation as he said. "What do you think you're doing?" 

Jack said with annoyance. "Why are you trying to leave? This is something you need in order to stay alive longer." 

Jason ripped his left arm away from Jack's left hand and began walking away as he said. "I've gotten this far without wearing any armor. So, why should I start wearing armor now?" 

Norv called out to Jason as he said. "Hold it, you! I spent a lot of time making this armor. I even personally customized it just for you. So, you better take it!" 

Jason stopped walking. He said with his back facing Norv. "I'm sorry but it wouldn't suit my fighting style. I rely on speed when I fight. I can't have something heavy holding me down."

Norv said. "That is why Alex requested I make it extremely light weight."

Jason turned around. He said with a look of surprise on his face. "It was a request from Alex?"

Norv said. "Yes. I normally wouldn't take on a job like this but since it was a request from Alex I did. Light weight armor is a real pain to make." An intimidating aura came off of his body as he said. "That is why you aren't leaving until you take it!" 

Jason walked toward the opened chest and said with irritation. "This better actually be light weight. I remember when Alex made me 'light weight' armor and I could barely even move in it." He began to take pieces of the armor out of the chest. 

Jack looked over at the black dagger in the opened chest and asked. "If the armor is for Jason then does that mean that dagger is for me?" 

Norv said. "The dagger?" He looked at the black dagger in the opened chest and then shook his head as he said. "No. Everything in that chest is for Jason." 

Jack said while confused. "Huh? What were you going to give me then?" 

Norv motioned to the two locked chests to the right of the opened chest and said. "The one on the left is for you. The one to the right is for your friend upstairs." 

Jack had a look of surprise on his face but it quickly disappeared. He then asked Norv with an expressionless expression on his face. "Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?" 

Norv said. "A question?" He smiled and said. "Sure what is it?" 

Jack moved his right hand and grabbed the handle of his sword and said with a serious tone of voice. "How did you know I would end up here?" 

Jason sighed and said as he was in the middle of putting on his armor. "It's because of Alex. He is really good at predicting things. He can usually predict something days, weeks, and sometimes months in advance. If he knew I would be here then he knew you would be here with me." 

Jack released the handle of his sword. His right hand fell back down to his side. A mischievous smirk appeared on his lips as he said. "I've never heard of him before. He sounds interesting. Somebody like that actually exists?"  

Jason continued to put his armor on as he said. "Yeah but he can usually only predict specific things involving me. Like places I'll go, equipment I'll get, and people I'll meet. It is usually only stuff like that."

Jack asked. "Why can he only predict things involving you?" 

Jason shrugged and said. "I have no idea. He isn't always right though. Sometimes his predictions end up being wrong." He motioned to the locked chest besides his chest and said. "Anyways, are you gonna put on your stuff too?" He then suddenly shook his head and said. "Wait, actually can you go get Thomas? He is upstairs in the first open room." 

Jack said. "Huh?! Why should I go get Thomas?!" He pointed at Jason and said. "You've already finished putting all your stuff on! You should go get him!"

Jason wore a complete set of metallic dark gray and orange armor. The armor itself was almost entirely dark gray but the trim around the edge was orange and the outline around the number seventy six was orange as well. His knuckles, knees, and elbows were also orange. Strapped to his right side was a black dagger, strapped to his back was his sword, and strapped to his upper right arm was a black mask that looked like it was made from the same material as the dagger. 

Jason said while annoyed. "Just go! I have to talk to Norv about something!" 

Jack looked at Norv and then at Jason. He then muttered. "You have to talk to him about something?" He grumbled and said, "Fine. But you're carrying Thomas as soon as I get back." He walked out of the room. 

Jason looked at his left hand. He squeezed his fingers into his palm, forming a fist, and then released his fingers forming an open hand. He then looked at Norv and said. "You were right. It really is light. Definitely lighter than what Alex made me." He looked at the black mask on his upper right arm and placed his right hand on the handle of the black dagger strapped to his right side. He said as he looked at the black mask and felt the handle of the black dagger. "The only things that are even slightly heavy are this mask and dagger. The mask is about as heavy as this entire set of armor and the dagger is about two times heavier than my sword." He released the handle of the dagger and looked over at Norv as he said. "Why are these two made of different material than everything else?" 

Norv sighed and said. "I made them as thin as I could without breaking them and you're still complaining that they are too heavy?" 

Jason shook his head and said. "No, they're fine. They add a little bit of extra weight, but they aren't very big so they won't cause much of an issue. I was just wondering why you used different materials for them?" 

Norv said. "Because back where I'm from masks were only made from five different materials. Gold, silver, white, black, and crimson." He pointed at the armor Jason was wearing and said. "A gold, silver, or white mask would not match the rest of your armor. A crimson mask wouldn't look that bad. But, crimson is about two times heavier than that black material. The color that matches it the best out of the five is black."

Jason then asked. "And what about the dagger?" 

Norv said. "It matches the mask. It also just looks better. Having all your armor and weapons look the exact same is bland and boring. Since your primary color is dark gray and your secondary color is orange then black fits perfectly. It is also because of how strong that material is back where I'm from. Crimson material is the strongest, that black material is the second strongest, and white material is just a little bit weaker than that black material so it is third strongest."

Jason had a confused look on his face as he said. "White? Black? Crimson? What are you talking about? And what do you mean 'back where you are from'? Where are you from exactly?" 

Norv laughed and said. "The Land of Warriors, obviously!" His joyful laughter echoed within the room.

Jason's face twitched as he thought. "The Land of Warriors? What is that? Is he screwing with me?" 

Norv suddenly stopped laughing. He looked at Jason with a serious look on his face as he said. "That wasn't the actual question you intended to ask me though was it? What did you really want to ask me?" 

Jason smirked and said. "You're right. I was curious about how you designed my armor but that isn't what I really wanted to ask you." He pointed at the one opened chest and the two locked chests on the left side of the room and said. "How did you know I would show up here? And how did you know Thomas and Jack would come here with me?" 

Norv had a perplexed expression on his face as he said. "You already said it yourself, didn't you? It was a prediction from Alex." 

Jason said. "Yeah but Alex's predictions aren't always right. Recently pretty much all of his predictions have ended up being wrong." He motioned to the opened chest and the two locked chests on the left side of the room and said. "To make this much equipment it would take you at least a week, possibly even longer than that. What made you so confident his prediction would end up being right?" 

Norv chuckled and said. "It was a pretty risky gamble. I doubted him myself but he insisted that you all would come here. He even gave me a lot of money for all the armor he was having me make." He sighed and said. "But it seems that his prediction wasn't right this time either." 

Jason had a look of surprise on his face as he said. "Wait, what? What are you talking about? What do you mean he wasn't right?"

Norv said. "There wasn't supposed to be three." He motioned to the third locked chest, on the left side, that was closest to the two locked chests at the end of the room and said. "There was supposed to be four."