[11 hours until Jeanne leaves him.]
The sun was finally coming out. One ray of light reflected off the Silver Moonlight Dagger, hitting Jack's core. He still hasn't bought the skill. 800 was a lot of points to spend. Not to mention Jeanne wouldn't let him hold her hand anytime soon, and Ella was off-limits now. So his only hope for handholding points would be Aria. But who knew if the points counted when handholding a vampire-ghost-hybrid.
'Fine," he said.
[Magical Weapon Slime evolution has been purchased.]
The world seemed to dissolve into a torrent of information that his little slime core didn't have the capacity to fully process. He learned about the dagger. The type of elf wood used for its handle, the way the runes were carved to perfectly align with the silver for maximum magical output.
The dagger was made with materials from a fallen moon, Eculus.
"What?!"
[New Evolution Skill learned: Moonlight Infusion. Moonlight was one of the advance forms of ice magic. ]
The knowledge felt more like remembering something he had forgotten, and he almost found comfort in it. At the same time his stats changed.
[Mana: 20-> 50]
[Intelligence: 15->30]
[Weapons absorbed: Silver Moonlight Dagger.]
He felt the cool, metallic energy of the dagger flow through him and the bigger mana pool allowed him to create two slime tentacles.
"I guess it's worth the price of losing a rusty tetanus filled nail." Jack thought to himself.
A sudden jolt.
[Handholding points: 900 -> 100]
After all the notifcations finished, Jack decided to test out his new skill. The dagger inside of him turned to liquid magic, which flowed out of his tentacles. Forming two, short daggers made out of pure moonlight energy.
Suddenly they vanished.
[Mana: 0/50]
It seemed that using four skills at once was too expensive for him. But he now had a reliable way to fight. And not a single second went by that he wasn't excited for the future.
Right Aria.
He dashed towards the Collection room.
On the way back, he passed by the hallway where the armor statue was supposed to be; it wasn't there anymore. Shaking off the goosebumps from a piece of armor, he hopped over to the 'Exotic Slaves' room and found Aria.
She was still in the same cage.
Her ghost-like form was flickering more intensely now. The collar must have increased its power after he left her for that long. First he'll free Aria. Second he'll check the room in the back for anything of interest.
He quickly checked to see if Lord Ingelton was nearby.
Then he stretched out a tentacle, morphing it into a dagger of solid moonlight. The tentacle trembled, the bright blue energy straining against its gelatinous container.
One touch wasn't enough. He had to saw through the glass like a tiny, determined lumberjack. A terrible noise echoed in the room; like nails scratching against the wall.
After a few seconds a crack formed on the glass cage. It lost it's stability and the whole thing shattered into pieces, making a thunderous sound which echoed throughout the mansion.
Glass shards crashed to the floor, somehow phasing through Aria.
Jack hopped to her. The collar was pulsating at an unnatural speed. He tried using the dagger on the runes but he couldn't break it. Her collar was attached to the skin on her neck and he didn't trust himself to be precise enough to cut through it.
The sound of him sawing was muffled by the loud bang of the door being open. This wasn't Ingelton.
"Fucking hell. How on earth did you get here, you little pest?"
A gravelly voiced mercenary said. The leader, Marcus. His eyes widened at the sight of the shattered cage. Aria was trying to stand up but her arms buckled under her own weight; the collar was enough to make her lie down again.
She reached her hand to Jack, whispering, "It's okay to run. Please..."
Before Jack could answer, another door burst open, not to the Exotic Slaves room, but the one in the back that Jack intended to investigate later
"Lord Ingelton."
Marcus stood a little straighter. Jack's eyes darted toward Ingelton, the pathetic lord of this gilded cage. He looked far different than he had from a distance. His face was a patchwork of hastily applied powders and concealer, a desperate attempt to hide the ravages of whatever vice had hollowed him out.
"What is. The meaning. Of This." His words were clipped, enunciated with a fury that seemed to come from a place of impotent rage. He pointed a shaking finger at Aria, then at Jack. "This... this is the slime?" he sputtered, his face contorting in disbelief.
"Apologies, my lord," Marcus stammered, taking a step back.
While they talked about him. Jack was reading their stats, formulating a plan.
[Ingelton Ares Elmsworth, Level 10]
[HP: 100/100]
[Mana: 60/100]
[Skills: Runecrafting Level 4, Fireball Level 2]
The system clarified that a fireball at level 2 was pathetic compared to the lightning he saw with Jeanne. Ingelton's skills were pathetic in general, but he wasn't the threat.
[Marcus, Level 16 Human]
[Class: Hunter]
[Title: Mercenary]
[HP: 600/600]
[Mana: 30/30]
[Skills: Tracking Level 6, Swordsmanship Level 4, Dual Wield Level 2]
Marcus had far better HP and combat skills. A head-on confrontation would be suicide. Jack had to use the element of surprise, to make the environment work for him.
"Why was his HP so high?"
[Classes are equivalent to evolutions, requiring specific conditions and in some cases, lineage. He is a hunter who gets stat bonuses from his tracking skill level.]
Sensing Jack's impending question the system answered.
[HP makes your skin tougher and you take longer to bleed out. However without the appropriate skill, the removal of the heart or brain still results in death.]
"Brain-removal method, check," Jack muttered.
"Kill the demon, now!" Ingelton shrieked, his voice a screech of panicked authority. He fumbled for a wand tucked into his sash.
Marcus drew his sword and his dagger, the movements smooth and practiced. He wasn't just a thug; he was a professional.
Jack's body tingled filled with a sense of dread. This fight had only one option to win.
"Two against one is unfair," Jack said.