Chapter 9 Past and Presen

"Seems like this Chaos Syndicate will be more troublesome than I thought."

Jack had finally started to better understand his situation and clear his mind to brainstorm when another mug slammed down on the table. He looked to his left and saw Rydel taking a seat.

"I like you kid, but don't get all heroic on me and take on the Chaos Syndicate just yet. Until your stronger than me, don't even think about it," said Rydel.

"Oh, if it isn't Rydel. What good fortune we have to gain your company," said Jezelle, poking fun at the tall, skinny man. "I'll bite, why has the reclusive Rydel come out of hiding to speak with nobodies like us?"

"Can it Jezelle, don't play innocent with me. I'll get out of your hair in a second, so save the flirting for after I leave," said Rydel. "Kid, you may be low leveled for now, but with my methods, you'll be leveling up in no time. Plus, I'm curious about what you can do with such a weird class and subclass, Mr. Achievement Junkie. What's that supposed to mean, anyway?"

Jack's eyebrow twitched after hearing Rydel. Not only was he seen through by this oracle, but he felt naked before Rydel's all-knowing gaze. "I know you're not an oracle, so how do you know all that?"

"First off, anyone with high enough authority in the association can access its stat gem and find the data it's stored of all the branch members. Second, with you being so low leveled it's so easy to see through you; like I'm looking at a child trying to hide candy behind his back," stated Rydel emotionlessly. "Even if you were high-leveled, my eyes can see through just about anything so get used to it."

"Eagle eye?" asked Jack, who wasn't surprised to see Rydel gently nod his head in confirmation. Jack sighed and shrugged, "Figures, so how much authority do you need to have to access the association's stat gem?"

"You can access the info on anyone up to five levels higher than you. Of course, you're only allowed to use the stat gem unsupervised if you're lv. 20 or higher. Otherwise, it's impossible for you to fully access it due to the item's level requirement," answered Rydel.

"That little one you have is the lowest quality stat gem and can only store one person's information. The stat gem in that podium is a medium tier stat gem. It's higher quality and much larger so it can store up to one hundred people's stats and can power a stat analysis if it's hooked up to the right equipment."

"Enough about your stats. Wanna try me again Rydel?" Jezelle spoke up. "I already drank half a keg today; you can consider it a handicap. Think of it as me going easy on you, what do you say?" She was interested in hearing that Rydel had the eagle eye ability, but the rest of the conversation was too boring for her to listen in.

"No thanks. I've already underestimated you once, so that won't happen again," Rydel quickly sidestepped the offer.

"Oh, why not? Last time you almost drank 70% of the keg, I'm sure you'd fare even better now," taunted Jezelle.

Thinking back to his challenge, Jack was a little shocked to hear how well Rydel could handle his liquor. During his challenge earlier, after the third mug, he received a notification about a new skill for [Alcohol Resistance]. It was only lv. 0 after he unlocked it, but it still helped him almost reach the challenge's halfway point.

"I already know your type, Jezelle. I won't fall for a trick like that again. Kid make sure you're ready by noon tomorrow," said Rydel as he got up and left without looking back.

"Now, where were we?" asked Jezelle gently, as if Rydel had never interrupted them.

Jack subtly shook his head at the femme fatale with a smirk. Seeing her decisively drive away Rydel, he wasn't sure what to think of her. He continued their previous conversation, "I'll figure out a way to deal with the Chaos Syndicate soon enough. What are the immediate threats that we face here?"

Jezelle smiled after Jack resumed the conversation without batting an eye. "We mainly face the threat of wild beasts and some monster settlements spread out across the country. For now, it's not too bad but if we were to face all these threats at once no one knows what would happen."

"What about other countries? Does the Reinolt Kingdom have any enemies or allies?" asked Jack.

"You may have seen the bad side of the king, but he typically does very well when handling the relationships with other countries. There is only one country that would willingly fight us, but that's not the king's fault," said Jezelle.

"Oh? Why's that?"

She continued, "The Reinolt Kingdom and the Zuran Empire have had a blood feud for as long as the Reinolt Kingdom has existed. Our nation is quite young, only seventy-four years old, yet we have one of the strongest foundations in all of Kartonia. Wanna guess why?"

"You were once a part of the Zuran Empire?" guessed Jack.

"Bingo," said Jezelle, somewhat surprised that he immediately figured it out. "The Zuran Empire was once the strongest country in Kartonia, but a civil war broke out and a few powerful factions broke free and formed their own countries. The Reinolt family was the first noble faction to succeed and they helped two other noble factions do the same. I'm sure you can imagine how furious the Zuran Empire was at the time. For now, they can only stand guard and maybe raid some border camps, but if they ever find a way to destroy the Reinolt family, they'll do so in a heartbeat."

Jack finally started to understand why the world he found himself in was so different than that of "A Hero's Tale." The world there was also called Kartonia, but it was made up of eleven countries across the continent, one of which was the Zuran Empire.

Based on Jezelle's explanation, Jack guessed that the Kartonia he was familiar with from the game must have been the distant past. He was even more convinced of this due to her mentioning of Halmut sealing Skaryn centuries ago. During the timeline of the game, both gods held active roles in the world and the whole point of the game was to eventually defeat Skaryn and end all chaos.

"So that's how it is," Jack mumbled to himself before continuing the conversation. "What about the Polt Federation, are they still around?"

Jezelle showed a confused expression. "Of course it is! They may be small, but no one in the past millennium has ever threatened them directly." She didn't understand why Jack phrased the question like an old-timer asking if something from his childhood was still popular.

Jack sighed in relief, "Good, that makes things a little easier." In the game, the Polt Federation was a small republic that sat at the center of the continent that shared borders with almost every major country in Kartonia.

Being a free nation that attracted many merchants and businessmen, it was easy for it to become the largest center of trade and travel across the continent. The true power of the Polt Federation was rumored to rival the Zuran Empire, but no one knew for sure because it's full strength was always hidden and never displayed.

"You're very interesting Jack. How do you know about the Polt Federation?" questioned Jezelle.

"It was just a hunch," he dodged the question and asked his own. "Do you have a map of Kartonia? I'd like to see it for myself."

Before Jack finished speaking, Jezelle had already activated the storage crystal in her ring and pulled out a map. She threw it to Jack and said, "Have it, I've got plenty."

Jack thanked her and unfurled the map across the table. At first glance, he spotted seven of the old countries he was familiar with, including the Zuran Empire and the Polt Federation. He was shocked to see so many things that had changed across the continent he was formerly familiar with. It startled him to notice the complete disappearance of some of ancient Kartonia's strongest nations. The hardest blow was noticing that the country he was most familiar with had become the smallest in the entire continent.

Jezelle was perplexed by Jack's sudden change in emotion upon seeing the map. She squinted her eyes at Jack as his gaze seemed to lock onto a single part of the map before he froze in his chair. Nonchalantly, she changed seats and slid to his side so she could try and figure out what he was so choked up about. Following his line of sight, she noticed the tiny country and was about to say something but was interrupted.

"What happened to Trodar?"