Chapter 81: Tick-Tock, Shock the Clock

Jack's POV

Zareth leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples as he stared at me.

"So, you're sure about this?" he asked.

"Yes," I said without hesitation. "A contract I need to handle your request, among other things. It won't activate until I turn eighteen. My birthday's in two months, so..."

Zareth let out a long sigh, rubbing his temples again. "Fine. I'll need a few days to prepare, but I should have everything ready by Friday evening."

I nodded. "I want it to last two and a half months inside. The extra time should help me adjust. Also, if you can, please make a wall so I can cast spells and send attacks at that won't break when time resumes. I don't want to destroy the building accidentally."

Zareth raised an eyebrow and asked, "What kind of spells are you planning?"

I smiled. "I'm going to be there for two and a half months. I need something to do so I don't get bored, and experimenting with magic is one of the best things I can do."

He nodded in understanding and an excited smirk crossed his face. "You better show me what you make afterward."

"We shall see," I said.

He chuckled before asking, "You need to buy any supplies?"

"I can afford it," I replied, already planning out what I'd need.

Zareth scoffed, reached into his coat, and tossed a gold coin my way. I caught it out of reflex and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'll take it out of the rewards for the quest," he said, waving off my questioning look.

I smirked. "Feeling generous?"

Zareth rolled his eyes. "I may be a devil, but I also know how to maintain a good relationship with a potential S-Rank. Especially one who could probably truly kill me before I even realized what was happening."

"Fair enough," I said, nodding and pocketing the coin. "You won't regret this."

Zareth scoffed but didn't argue. That was probably the best I was going to get from him.

It's odd seeing him actually act like a guildmaster and not some male prostitute or playboy when not in his time stop around me, I thought.

With that, I turned and left his office.

~~~~~~~

I stepped out of the guild, letting the fresh air hit me as I thought about what I needed.

'Two and a half months. It's a long time to go without food and water, but I should be able to survive. It's not like I need to eat, drink, or use the bathroom anymore... though not eating or drinking does still feel weird,' I thought with a laugh.

Shaking off the thought, I started walking through the marketplace, checking the stalls for anything useful.

A few caught my eye—fresh bread, some ripe fruit, dried meat, and so on.

I grabbed a few things, paying with some silver coins before heading toward a magic shop.

When I walked inside, I could see shelves filled with magic materials and items.

Shelves of spell books, wands, staffs, rings, necklaces, crystal balls, potions, scrolls, and many crystals, each in its own tray.

I made my way down one aisle and picked up a few empty magic stones[2].

'If I stored my lightning mana in them over the next few days, it might come in handy later. Especially when I run out of mana,' I thought to myself.

I walked to the front, paid, and asked if my friends had come by.

They said yes, but they didn't buy anything.

I nodded and waved goodbye as I left the store.

With some of my supplies handled, I started making my way back up the street toward the guild.

As I passed by, my attention was drawn to the training grounds off to the side.

A group of adventurers were practicing, hurling spears charged with magic at a row of targets.

I paused and watched for a bit, seeing their techniques.

'They're not bad. It's good to see them training before going on quests,' I thought as I started to walk away.

Then I paused.

I took a few steps back and took another look.

I stared and got an idea.

Without wasting another second, I turned and ran off toward the Blue Horse Smithy.

~~~~~~~

Winona, the owner of the Blue Horse Smithy, looked up from her work as I entered. She was wiping sweat from her forehead, a hammer resting against the anvil beside her.

"Jack," she greeted. "Didn't think I'd see ya this soon. Ya need something?"

"I need three steel rods," I said. "As pure as you can make them."

Winona frowned, confused. "Steel rods?"

I nodded. "About a meter long, four to five centimetres thick at the center. The ends should be pointed like a dart. Made of steel or something equally dense and conductive."

Her expression twisted in confusion. "Conductive?"

I smiled. "I need something that lightning can travel through easily and/or something it's naturally attracted to that is also very tough."

Winona's eyebrows rose. "What exactly are you planning?"

"An experiment."

She studied me for a moment, then laughed as she couldn't get a read on me.

"I can do that. When do you need 'em by?"

I smiled. "At least one by Friday afternoon if possible," I said.

She nodded and paused to think. "I should be able to get two done by Friday afternoon. Might be able to finish all three, but I'm not sure."

"That's fine. If you could also make some marbles or needles from steel as well, that would be great."

"Marbles and needles?" she asked, confused. "Are you making traps? I normally only get requests like that for traps."

I smiled. "I'm not making traps. They're for a smaller version of my experiment, but even if it doesn't work, I can still use them for other things too."

She chuckled and said, "Well, I have those inside already, so you can get them today. The rods will take a few days."

"That's perfect," I said. "What's the price?"

Winona hesitated before shaking her head. "Come with me." She walked inside.

Curious, I followed her out back, where she picked up two chunks of ore and handed them to me. At first glance, they looked like regular iron, but as soon as I held them, I realized what they were: Low-Grade Mithril.

Mithril forms when different ores are exposed to dense mana over time and begin to fuse together, becoming stronger, more durable, and highly valuable.

"I found these while refining the ore you gave me yesterday," Winona said. "Didn't feel right keeping them to myself when you've been so generous."

I rolled the chunks in my hands, considering. This one chunk was worth at least four gold.

"I'm fine with you keeping them," I said finally. "Consider it a deposit. My friends and I will need new equipment eventually, and we'll be coming to you for that."

Winona smiled. "In that case, I'll make the rods for free."

I raised an eyebrow, and she chuckled. "Market price for a Mithril chunk is worth about 2-3 gold per chunk, so with the average being about 5 gold in total, the rods would've been around eighty silver each, adding the marbles and needles at about 20 silver for both."

"You've got 2 gold, 40 silver left over. That's a lot. You sure you don't want to share it with your friends?"

I shook my head and said again, "No, we'll use it to buy weapons another time."

"Fair enough," she said.

I smiled, slipping the Mithril back into her hands. "I appreciate it."

As I turned toward the door, I sensed a presence, or rather several presences.

"Hm, maybe you won't have to wait long for that," I said.

She gave me a confused look as I walked over and opened the door.

Looking outside, I could see Aaron, Orin, Ark, Araki, and Zek all standing there carrying several books and boxes and staring at me in confusion and shock.

I smiled and said, "Welcome. Need any help?" I said, looking at the stuff they were carrying.

"H-how did you beat us here?!" Araki asked.

I smiled. "Things ended faster than I thought, so I went and did some shopping and ended up here about 5 minutes ago."

They all just stared at me.

I gave an amused laugh, noticed the clouds, and clapped my hands, snapping them out of their confusion.

"Not the time to stand there stunned. It's going to start raining soon," I said, pointing to the sky.

They all looked up and noticed the darker clouds and came inside quickly.

We talked for a bit about how things went.

They had managed to get most of their things and some extra for me.

I thanked them and stored it all in my ring so they weren't carrying it all the way back.

They asked me about what it was I had to do at the guild.

I said I was given a specialist quest from the guildmaster and that I would have to leave over the weekend to take care of it.

It wasn't exactly a lie, as Zareth did give me a specialist quest and part of completing it would be done over the weekend, but the next part was a lie.

I said a spirit was causing some problems in a nearby village and the guildmaster asked me to handle it.

Ark seemed a little worried and shyly asked, "Could we come with you?"

I smiled but shook my head. "No, I'm sorry. It may not be dangerous, but when dealing with spirits, it's best to limit the amount of people interacting with it. It shouldn't attack me due to my reputation among spirits."

Ark seemed a little sad hearing that but understood I was looking out for him.

"What do you mean 'Reputation?'" Zek asked confused but curious.

"I have a very... unique reputation among the spirits, though despite my asking, they never tell me what it is," I said, slightly annoyed.

That wasn't a lie. I do have a reputation with the spirits about being a possible saviour to them, but all spirit summoners are thought to be that... well, not the bad ones, but still.

Weirdly, I also have another reputation among spirits, but even when I ask Brakos, who knows what it is, he won't say. None of the spirits I have spoken to that do know will ever say.

What I do know is that it isn't because I am a primogenitor or because I am an otherworlder.

The only thing I do know is that when speaking with spirits if I mention I am Brakos' 'Chosen', they instantly know who I am and what my reputation is. (No, Zareth doesn't know it... yet.)

It could be related to the fact I can change fate, but they never say.

I'm getting sidetracked. Back to the conversation

Araki snickered, seeing my annoyance.

I glanced at him, and we talked a bit more.

I did notice Orin seemed tired, and after some time listening to them banter, I realized they had been pestering Orin about what we talked about.

'I probably scared him badly earlier. I should talk to him later,' I made a mental note for later.

I turned to the group when Winona came up and said "So, we've got a bit of an interesting situation,"

[1]: Devils are technically immortal, as when they die, they just respawn in Hell and can return to the mortal plane. The only way to permanently kill a demon is to either kill them in Hell, as they can't respawn in the same plane, or destroy their soul.

Spiritual Energy is Soul Energy, so Jack, if he wanted, could directly attack the soul and permanently kill Zareth.

[2]: Magic stones are like monster cores. They are crystals that can store mana, but the difference is that cores can only store the same element they are, while a mana crystal can store any type of mana you choose, as long as it is empty when you start.