Jack looked at Sarah, her hollow, fear-stricken eyes gazing back at him- a second later she started lightly sobbing, but Jack put a hand over her mouth and gestured to her to remain silent. While Andrew’s actions were wrong, a normal man wouldn’t condemn another to death so easily… there was clearly something wrong with James' state of mind, or the persona he projected was a deceptive lie. The first was tricky to deal with, but the second a catastrophe. Jack was not a gullible man— his years among high society’s prestigious men and women had taught him both the art of deception and the intricacies in spotting falsities. He did not believe that James' scheme ran so intricate, finding it more likely that Andrew’s actions were the breaking point, the catalyst that pushed him so far he snapped, instead of his entire personality.

Now the question was: would he try to kill him? Rationally, his grudge was with Andrew, and Jack had even stood up for him multiple times— but was James really a rational actor. Tricky, tricky. Jack wondered if there was an arrow trained at his very location, waiting to end his life the moment he poked out of cover.

Overall, Jack felt that it was unlikely— there was no follow up arrow after Andrew’s assassination, and James was aware of Jack’s capabilities. Logically, if he wished to go after the group, taking him out first made the most sense.

Jack had regained his wits after the momentary emotional shock James’ action had caused him, but he didn’t hold that against himself— he was only human, after all. Sarah though, had taken it more personally, as tears kept trickling down her eyes. She was in shock, and quite frankly it was an understandable reaction. Jack did not let pride get in the way in admitting that Sarah’s current condition could easily have been himself, all his extensive preparations could never stand up from seeing a man die in front of himself. That was the thing about Doomsday Preppers, you never really know what you’re made off until the apocalypse actually strikes.

Perhaps Jack could regain his composure because Sarah was like this, but that didn’t really matter anymore.

Jack sighed, and then looked at Sarah directly in the eyes.

“I’m going to remove my hand, Sarah. But you have to promise me not to cry. We can’t be sure if James is trying to locate us, and any sound you make can get us killed. Do you understand,” Jack slowly whispered to Sarah, making sure she understood each and every word. She sniffled once, and then nodded, the flow of tears finally stopping as she used her free hand to wipe them.

Jack did as he promised after receiving a confirmation, hoping Sarah wouldn’t break into an anguished cry in the next second.

“He… killed him,” Sarah whispered, as if she wanted confirmation if what they witnessed was real.

‘This is not good,’ Jack thought to himself, seeing Sarah’s mental state deteriorate so quickly from her haunted eyes. Jack wouldn’t abandon her until he was forced to acknowledge that being with her would severely damage his chances of survival, and so far Sarah had been a competent teammate that had increased it instead.

Deciding that he had to do something, Jack reached out with both her hands– gently cupping her face and slightly angling it so that she was looking directly at him.

“Deep breaths, Sarah. Tell me, do you have anyone that’s relying on you? A child? Anyone you care about? A husband? Boyfriend?” Jack asked slowly, but his voice had an edge of steel in it.

Sarah took a deep breath, her expression changing a few times as she pulled herself back from the brink of tears through sheer willpower— the question apparently getting through to her.

“My father,” she replied in a hoarse, dry voice, her amber eyes staring back at Jack with some clarity after he asked the question.

“Okay, Sarah. How old is your father?” Jack asked slowly, not wanting to startle her and waste their progress.

“Sixty Six,” she answered.

Jack took a deep breath, almost as if in relief.

“So he’s exempt from the trial? Which means he’ll still be alive after all this ends?” Jack asked, and Sarah’s eyes immediately flickered, showing a strong reaction— whatever happened to her, at least her father would be safe.

“Yes,” She replied, probably guessing at Jack’s intentions by now.

Jack took a deep breath, almost unsure if he wanted to divulge the information or not— if there was one commonality Doomsday Preppers shared, it was paranoia and a distrust for authority, and he was no exception.

“What if I told you there’s a way to double his lifespan?” Jack asked, with some gravity to his voice.

Sarah stared at him blankly, blinking in incomprehension. She had likely expected Jack to go on a sermon on why she should stay strong and live for her family, which quite frankly, was his intention— but why use that when he had something much more potent in the arsenal.

“Double… his lifespan?” Sarah repeated after him incredulously, finding it difficult to believe such a thing was possible even when they lived in a magical world.

Jack removed her hands from her face, finding it uncomfortable by now, after which he nodded.

“You want to see him again, right?” Jack asked, hoping that Sarah had a good relationship with her father otherwise… he had no idea what to do.

Sarah nodded almost twice out of enthusiasm, causing Jack to inwardly sigh thankfully. Dealing with shock was a difficult thing, it was hard to determine what reaction the human psyche would have. At least in this case, she barely knew Andrew, and in all honesty– the man was a bit of a prick, rest his soul. She needed to be strong enough to bounce back, and there was honestly nothing Jack could do to stimulate the process except remind her that there were people relying on her.

“Then you need to stay alive and continue fighting. No matter what happens,” Jack spoke, regaining his trademarked calmness- the reminder as much to her as it was to himself. ‘Even if that means dealing with James,’ he mentally added. If the traitor wished to kill him, Jack would show no mercy. He might have his own reasons, but in this world everyone had their own reasons to justify their actions, and Jack wasn’t interested in that— only his survival, and what it took to achieve it.

Jack’s eyes widened in surprise when Sarah lunged at him– he almost instinctively drew his sword, only realizing a second later that she had no weapon in hand— the spear was kept on the ground to the side, and she was unarmed.

Sarah pulled him in a hug, Jack feeling her skin bring warmth to his own— for once he had been rendered speechless, hesitating for a second before responding in kind, his own hands completing the embrace.

“Thank you,” she whispered in his ear, and Jack took that as a signal to break apart the embrace. He felt some of the tension leave his shoulders, and Jack realized that he had been too high-strung— maintaining his vigilance minute of the hour was a very taxing endeavor, one that might lead to a burn out. Unfortunately, now was not the time for laxity.

“How many tutorial points do you have?” Jack asked curiously.

“Twenty five,” she replied, after making a few swiping gestures in the air while Jack scanned their surroundings for any threats.

“Maintain a lookout,” Jack stated almost as a command, as he parsed through his own inventory.

“System, is there any way to share information?” Jack asked the system in his mind, to which he received a prompt response.

1 cultivator detected in the immediate vicinity. Would you like to send a friend request?

“A… what?” Jack whispered out loud in stupefaction, surprised there was such a thing. Jack answered a few questions mentally, before agreeing.

“Sarah, did you get a prompt?”

“Yes. A… friend request?” She almost seemed amused at the prospect, making friends in a hellish forest full of monsters didn’t sound very plausible after all.

“Yeah. It doesn’t share any information except the name and lets you send messages like a smartphone, that’s all,” Jack decided to be upfront, he himself was not too comfortable with the concept until he asked for clarification.

“I accepted,” Sarah replied, which was all things considered, fair. If Jack meant her harm, he could have taken action long ago.

Elixir of Life [Increases Mortal Lifespan: 100 years. Transferable, Effects do not stack]. Does not work on Cultivators. [100,000/100,000]

10,000 TP

Sarah’s eyes widened as she took a sharp breath, her hands slightly trembling upon seeing the miraculous elixir’s description.

“You’ll unlock the System Shop when you get 50 TP,” Jack explained, and from the ecstatic look on Sarah’s face, Jack’s ploy at helping her regain motivation seemed to be effective. Perhaps too effective, but that was a problem for another day.

Fifteen minutes had passed since James’ assault– no further arrows had struck their vicinity. The tree did provide thick cover, so either he assumed that he and Sarah escaped, or James himself had sprinted away after taking the shots, in fear of retaliation. That did seem like the rational choice— James was an archer, he had plenty of targets he could pick off later. Why go after the man who was willing and capable to fight back, and knew of his presence?