“You cannot do that.” Landon said. “We need to follow imperial court procedures. I don’t want to have problems later.”

Greene group wasn’t convinced, though, so Landon continued. “Do you have a method to deceive truth detecting magic tools?” That poured a cold shower on them. Imperial court was going to investigate. They would question everyone. “We also need to question him.” London said, while pointing at Jack.

“Who do you work for?” London asked. Jack thought ridiculous, and would probably laugh normally, but this time, his live was at the stake.

“I didn’t know there was a bomb.” Jack said. “Aleena paid me to deliver the package, but I didn’t know about the bomb.”

“Aleena?” Someone from Greene group asked.

“Yes. We are in the same team. I have no idea how the bomb could have been there.”

“Aleena? Aleena Greene?” The leader of Greene group asked.

“Yes.” Jack confirmed.

The man frowned and reread the letter.

“You are lying. The message seems authentic, I can recognize her writing style. You must have killed the original messenger and replaced the contents of package.”

“No! I brought what Aleena gave me!”

“Are you trying to say my own cousin send a bomb to kill her own family? Your excuses are pathetic.” The man said with a disgusted face filled with hatred.

“That…” Jack didn’t know what is going on. He knew the truth, but this guy’s reasoning was solid.

“We need to transport him to the frontier.” Landon said.

The leader of the Greene house nodded. “Give him to us.”

“Fine, but don’t kill him.” Landon said and grabbed Jack. He was about to just give Jack away, but someone interrupted.

“Why? He killed my brother. I deserve revenge.” A young guy in the Greene group said.

Landon stopped. “You can’t. We will all have problems. Imperial court needs to take it over.” He tried to reason with them.

“He was my only brother. We were only researchers. I have never been in the exterior before. I don’t know why grandfather sent us here, but that was a mistake.” The young man was crying. Tears were running down his face and he looked pathetic. “We were only researchers.” He repeated. “The killer of my brother is right before my eyes. I will have revenge.” His voice sounded pathetic, but he was committed.

A lightning materialized around him, and after a second, it struck at Landon. A woman from Hillman group went forward as soon as the first sign of electricity appeared, and took the bolt with her body with only a grunt. Hillman group all prepared to fight the lightning guy, which cast more lightning. This time, though, the lightning wasn’t able to hit Hillman group as they erected an earth barrier. Someone rushed at the lightning guy, while Greene group rushed to his defense. Both groups started to fight each other.

Hillman group was stronger. They had one more fighter and Landon was a baron, while Greene group had a mix of 3rd and 2nd tiers. Hillman group victory was a good outcome for Jack, as they didn’t want to kill him outright, but Jack knew he couldn’t stay still. The Greene group literally fought to kill him, they were sending attacks his way. Jack rolled to the exit. He stood up and ran through the tunnel. Jack decided to liberate one of his hands. He was only one level before the next evolution, he didn’t have much to lose.

Life magic kinetic spell tore apart his flesh. The pain stopped him for a moment, but he knew stopping there wasn’t smart. He pushed life mana into his damaged hand, but the damage was severe. Jack managed to stabilize his wound and prevent blood loss, but the hand wouldn’t be functional unlit the next evolution.

Jack created a fast fire detection spell on the ground. It would be enough to wait for the win of Hillman family. He just had to survive until that moment. It was impossible for Jack to escape. Jack would need to stay in the exterior forever. The whole situation had to be resolved by the imperial court. Jack thought himself innocent anyway.

The spell revealed no monsters in his surroundings, though there was a place fire mana wasn’t able to reach. 'Someone is hiding there.’ A conflicting mana type or magical barrier could protect against direct detection.’ A human is most probable, though it could also be an elemental monster.’ Jack looked in that direction, and saw a huge icicle flying right at him. He subconsciously took a step to the side and twisted his torso, avoiding the projectile be the scratch. Theoretically, he had his armor, but it wasn’t a healthy behavior to take all attacks head on.

‘Should I retreat back to the cave?’ Jack thought it should be a monster. ‘Humans shouldn’t attack each other like that.’

Jack ran to a tree, to use it as a cover. He used earth magic to create a small bunker around him. Just as he created some basic defense, a few icicles hit the wall of his fort, punching right through them. Jack covered his face with his hands and let it hit him. It was a bit painful, but bruises were the worst of his injuries. The armor done a great job.

Jack tried to spot the enemy, but it eluded him, always staying hidden. Jack decided to go to the cave, he thought the fight may be over. Fighting against unknown monster unprepared wasn’t wise.

Jack ran to the cave entrance, but a dozen of icicles flew at him, and this time, they were rotating as his own earthen drill. ‘It’s too many of them. Jack sent earth mana to his armor, hardening it. The drills hit, but the outcome was the same as the last time. Jack hurried over to the cave.

“You are quite talented fellow, aren’t you?” A voice said behind him. Jack subconsciously turned around to see a white clothed man. He melted snow and created a huge water wave around him. The next thing Jack saw, the wave was moving straight at him. There wasn’t a thought in Jack’s mind to defend, he dashed away, trying to escape to the cave. The wave was fast and was going straight at him. He had no choice and changed his running direction. The wave missed his, but the route to the cave was now blocked by the man.

Jack hadn’t any good method to defend, he remembered how a water mage managed to crystallize water inside wolf’s lungs. Would the wave change into ice after engulfing him, it would be his end. Jack hoped to increase distance. It was harder to use the kinetic spell on a distant object. As long as Jack would maintain a large distance from the man, the enemy’s control over the wave would be clumsy. Jack ran ahead. He was actually increasing his distance from the frontier. Jack knew someone from the cave could walk out any moment, but Jack also knew he was too weak to fight the man, which was in 4th tier, judging by his Analyze skill.

The man give up on the wave, and just pursued Jack, sending icicles his way. One again, Jack cursed, he wasn’t prepared, he had to improvise. The chase continued, though Jack was temporary fine. He considered finding a powerful monster or fungi, but he knew a monster would either not engage, or kill him first as the weaker party.

At some point, the white clothed man just rushed at Jack. ‘Shit. He wanted me to be away from the cave.’ Jack realized and threw a huge rock from the ground at the man, but Jack’s enemy was too fast, he avoided Jack’s attack. Jack grabbed his spear, which normally was placed on his back with his healthy arm and prepared to fight. The man had no weapon, though it wasn’t reassuring. The man threw his fist at Jack’s face, but Jack blocked with his arms. The man was too strong, Jack’s arms felt like breaking apart. The hits to armor weren’t effective, though, but Jack was totally in defensive.

There wasn’t much he could do, but still Jack tried. He created a small illusion, hiding his spear true position. It was surprisingly effective, Jack hit the man’s face with his spear. He thought that he won, but the spear didn’t manage to pierce the man’s skull. Jack noted, even his skin was very durable.

“You have a few tricks, but this is the end.” The man said with anger, while healing his face. His clothes were now stained with his red blood. A foot wide ball of ice was conjured behind the man. The ball was constructed with multiple rotating icy wheels, with sharp razors on the sides. ‘Shit. This must be a 4th tier spell.’ The ball rushed at Jack. It wasn’t particularly fast, so Jack immediately ran in another direction. The ball followed him, while he felt attracting force, pulling him to the ball. ‘Gravity effect.’ It was to be expected, the base effect of water mana increased gravity. This killing ball spell was sophisticated enough to only increase gravity between Jack and ball.

Jack tried to lure the ball, so it would hit a tree. He succeeded, but the ball slid over the bark without a problem.

‘How? Ice should be fragile, and there is a conflict between water mana and earth mana. He shouldn’t be able to harden the ice with earth mana,’ Jack thought intensely. He had to find a way to survive.

The man created dozens of icicles and threw them at Jack, aiming to slow him down. Jack was forced to defend or dodge, the ball was getting closer as the result. Jack was surprised he hadn’t lost yet. His enemy was a baron. He thought the man was very weak for his level, however Jack knew he wouldn’t be able to escape despite that. The man was stronger, faster, had more stamina and clarity to spend, he knew better spells. Jack wondered about man’s objective, there was a chance he wanted to capture him, but the icy ball of death made it clear. The man wanted to kill Jack, and Jack knew he would die.

There was only one way to survive. The man had to leave on his own, and Jack had to die. He could pretend to be dead. There was an option to stop the beating of heart with magic, but the white clothed man would not get the notification. Jack thought about finding a strong monster, but the man would wait for the notification of participation in Jack’s death anyway.

The icy ball stopped, the mana inside must have dispersed. The man was recasting his spell. Jack knew he had a limited amount of time, he ran from the man. The ball already existed, recasting would be swift. He quickly took a look on his status.

Name: Jack Age: 15 Class: Survivor Level:24 91% to next lv Stats: Base Essence reinforced Strength 15.36/25 47.92 (20% + (6+2)%/level) Endurance 16.78/30 46.64 (20% + (6+2)%/level) Intelligence 20.19/25 104.18 (80% + (6+8)%/level) Mental Endurance 22.49/30 93.1 (50% + (6+5)%/level) Agility 19.98/30 80.71 (40% + (7+4)%/level) Perception 12.39/20 38.65 (20% + (6+2)%/level) Affinities:

Life

Fire

Earth

Light

10.28%

0.06%

6.48%

6.19%

Class skills:

Economy of movement

Scavenging

43

7

+10% to agility

Professions: 5/5

Conman IV

Masochist IV

Spearman VII

Wizard III

Battle mage V

Fighting skills: Sword handling 8 Spear handling 37 +10% to agility Archery 17 Battle precognition 6 Footwork 43 + 10% to strength Wrestling 1 Magic skills: Rune Shaping 34 +10% to intelligence Spell slinging 26 +10% to intelligence Words of Power 15 Meditation 16 Parallel thinking 34 + 10% to mental endurance Crafting skills: Farming 19 Cooking 14 Crafting 12 Trapping 16 Utility skills: Analyze 22 Charisma 35 +5% to intelligence and perception Pain Tolerance 23 Mental intrusion resistance 22 Tracking 12 Sneaking 12 Vitality 589/643 Stamina 269/460 Clarity 489/930

His intelligence was enough to cast a spell from the middle of 3rd tier. Jack knew a spell that may save him, a light magic spell placing information directly in someone’s brain. This was his only option, he had to create the notification of his death for the white clothed man.

There was a problem, though. The spell required about 140-160 intelligence. Jack planned to change the spell a bit, he only wanted to deliver the notification, but he would still need about 120 intelligence. Jack had a way to cast it, though. He entered in a half-meditation state.

There was also a problem of resistance against mana, as the white clothed man could have resistance against light mana. That would mean certain death for Jack, but he wasn’t able to find another way. He had to risk it. The fur armor he wore didn’t have light mana resistance, Jack just had to be a bit lucky.

Jack thought about casting his drill spell, or maybe the light beam spell, but he discarded such ideas. The man didn’t have strong means of attack, but Jack doubted he lacked strong defense. Jack’s armor could withstand his own drill spell, the man’s defenses should be even stronger. Jack had to preserve his clarity, he knew he would need it after feigning death.

The man recast his spell and rushed after Jack, who was half meditating. Jack was incapable of effectively dodging or blocking, many icicles hit him. Jack was finishing his spell, now he actually had to take the ball head on. Jack planned to heal himself after the man would walk away, but he had to have convincing injury for that to happen.

The ball was incoming, Jack would rather kill himself with something else, but the man wasn’t casting any other spells, and Jack had already proved the icicles were incapable of killing him.

The ball hit his stomach area, shredding his armor apart, and drilling into his stomach. Jack concentrated on the spell, this was the most important now. Be couldn’t threat his injury immediately anyway, be had to wait until the man would go away. Jack completely entered a state of meditation, and cast his spell. Jack hoped he deceived the man. There was a possibility the man would loot his corpse, or would like to destroy it. Jack would be defenseless, he could only hope the man wanted to quickly return to the mine. ‘The man should be somehow involved. The fight there is probably over, but there is a chance the man is actually in a hurry to re-join the events.’

Jack cast light detection spell, creating an inconspicuous, he hoped, eye in his grasp. The view was shocking. The man wasn’t there, he probably had already left. It was a good news, but... Jack looked at his body with life magic detection spell. ‘No wonder he had left. No normal man can survive something like that.’

The ball drilled through the armor from the front, shredded apart his internal organs, and left his body by destroying his armor on his back. His lower body was lying a few meters from his upper body. His guts were blended and lay on the ground mixed with melted snow. His liver was in parts, the same as his spine, which fragments lay here and there. Acid from his stomach dripped on the mush. The lungs were damaged, though not much, but his heart was in two pieces. His blood wasn’t pumped, rather, he was losing massive amounts of it. Jack felt faint, though he wasn’t sure whether it was because of the shock or lack of oxide in his blood. He thought he might lose consciousness, probably for ever.