Second World

"If you don't mind me asking, what's so special about this fragment piece?" Jack couldn't help his curiosity.

Duke Alfredo did not give any response after hearing the question.

Afraid that he might have overstepped the boundaries, Jack immediately said, "I'm sorry if my question has offended Your Grace, I begged for your forgiveness."

The duke waved him off, "you have helped me in resolving this matter, so I guess I do owe you an explanation."

"I will excuse myself first then," captain Salem said.

"No, you should hear about this as well. You are one of the officers among whom I trusted within this Kingdom."

The captain felt appreciated hearing the duke's words.

"You both know about the duchess' condition, don't you?"

Jack and the captain nodded.

"She was not always in that state. She used to be a powerful sorceress, one that was even more powerful than me."

Jack's eyes widened. Was he for real? The duke was already a level 65 Rare Elite human, what level was the duchess originally? He could not picture the elegant and gentle duchess as someone who held power even stronger than the duke.

"How come she lost her power?" Jack asked.

"She was in her current state due to suffering from a curse. The curse put her in a weakened state that continuously eats away on her life force. If she cannot break free from this curse's hold, she will continue to weaken, and she might not make it past another two years."

"What does that have to do with this fragment piece?"

"This fragment piece was given by a divine seer who I have searched to ask about a cure to lift my wife's curse. The seer informed me that if I can collect three such fragments, the completed map will point me to a place where I can find such a cure. Three years have passed since the seer told me about it, but I still cannot find the other pieces of the fragment despite my vast connection."

The duke let out a defeated sigh, he was hopeful when he had received the clue from the seer. But after spending so long, he still could not make any progress. It was enough the beat down the unyielding spirit that he had when he first started on the search. Time was running out, and his wife's condition did not become any better. His wife had told him to let go, as she couldn't bear to see him wasted his time away just to look for a cure that was nowhere to be found, but he was unwilling.

Hearing Duke Alfredo's story, Jack couldn't help but be touched. After pondering for a bit, he finally decided. He took out the other Fragment piece. Duke Alfredo was stunned by the revelation.

"Y–you have another piece?" He stuttered.

"Yes, now you only need to find the last piece," Jack said as he extended the hand that held the fragment piece towards the duke.

"You are giving it to me?"

Jack shrugged. "It was just a piece of torn paper to me. There might be treasure where the map pointed, but I can see that you need it more than me."

The duke was silent for a time. He seemed to be deep in thought. Jack's hand was still extended out.

Bloody hell, how long was he going to make me keep this pose? Jack complained in his mind.

After a while, the duke's expression turned resolute. He put his hand out to push Jack's hand which was holding the fragment piece away. He then took the fragment piece from the display stand and offered it to Jack.

"Huh?" Jack was confused by the duke's action.

"I would like to ask you a favor," the duke explained. "As it was evident, there are other parties who are keen on getting their hands on this fragment pieces. I'm out in the open, which makes me an easy target. I hope you can help me to keepsake this piece together with yours. Once we find the third piece, we can embark on the place pointed by this map together. I only need the cure for my wife, whatever other treasures you find there, you can keep them. What say you?"

When the duke's words ended, Jack heard another voice notification, "you have been offered a chain quest: The Duchess' Cure, part 1 is Fragment of Map Pieces, do you accept?"

'Chain quest?' Jack asked in his mind.

"It's a long quest consisted of several quests linked to each other," Peniel explained. "Each of the individual quests will provide reward once completed, but the reward will be paltry. It was tedious to complete a chain quest. However, if you can complete the whole linked quests, the main reward will make it worthwhile. Most of the highest grade equipment or item could only be gotten from such chain quests."

Hearing that, Jack said to the duke at once, "I will gladly accept the task."

"Good, now take this. Keep it with you at all time."

Jack accepted the piece of Fragment of Map from Duke Alfredo. He then stored it inside his inventory bag. He now possessed two pieces of the Fragment of Map. He took a glance on his new quest inside his Quest List window.

Fragment of Map pieces (Chain Quest Part 1)

Difficulty: SSS

Rewards: ???

Keep the two pieces of Fragment of Map and look for the third pieces. Return the three pieces to Duke Alfredo once all three pieces are collected.

'What the f**k! SSS difficulty? Are you shitting me?! Peniel, am I even qualified for this?' Jack exclaimed after seeing the description.

He didn't hear Peniel's reply, so he called again, 'Peniel?'

"Odd…" He finally heard her voice. "There shouldn't be any SSS difficulty quest at your stage…"

'Then why am I receiving one?'

"… I don't know. I think something strange is afoot here… But since you've already accepted the quest, might as well go with it. Don't worry, the SSS difficulty was referring to the overall chain quests, not the current part one you have here. And it doesn't indicate any time limit, so just take it slow."

'I remember the duke said his wife only had two years left, so maybe there is a hidden time limit?'

"Probably, and by looking at your progress, in two years, you probably will be strong enough to tackle the SSS difficulty already."

'Really?'

"I don't know. The speed of advancement of you outworlders is scary. It took us natives years to train until we are strong enough to ascend from basic class to advance class, and even longer to achieve the elite class. But from the time I met you, you were still a fledgling at the time. But only a little over one month had passed, and you were already an advanced class. I could not use common sense to estimate your kind's growth rate."

Jack thought about it. Well, it might be crazy for the natives, but this rate of growth was just right for them players. After all, they were following the game rules here. If the growth rate was too slow, no one was going to play the games. The difference was, in this alternate world, there was no choice. All those that came into this world would have to play it.

'Well then, no point to worry about it for now. Let's just do what you said, let's just go with it for the time being.'

He then said to the duke, "I think we should try to find out more about the Cult of Phobos. In fact, my piece of the fragment was gained when I was tackling the quest which involved the cult. Since they are so eager to get their hands on it, there is also a high chance that they might have the third piece. If we can find them, we might be able to complete the fragments."

"What you said makes sense, I will make collecting information about them a priority," the duke said. "Probably you should also go and check Winston's room. He had been possessed by the Cardinal for quite some time, he probably left some clues in his chamber."

"Okay, I will do that first thing in the morning."

"Yes. It is extremely late already. Let's us all take a rest. I'm glad we had managed to settle this matter favorably. If Winston had managed to get away with the fragment without revealing the cult's involvement, I wouldn't know where to look for it."

"I'll come and bring you to Winston's room first thing in the morning," captain Salem said.

Jack agreed. He then parted ways with them and went back to the guest room to rest for the night.