[Congratulations! Successfully Escaped Silver Spider City!]

  [Acquired Title: Survived the Dark Elves!]

  Tch— Talk about a useless reward! His only consolation was that he had gotten rid of the Holy Mark plaguing him.

  "Wow, it's so vast! There really isn't any ceiling!" Lyriana exclaimed as she stared at the night sky, not minding the water drenching her face.

  — Drip! Drop! Dip! Drop! —


  More importantly, why was it still raining?! Just as he was pondering over the question, they heard rhythmical marching shouts coming over.

  "Oh, humans? This shall be enjoyable!" Without waiting, the high-level dark elf bolted forward, ready to have some fun.

  The wind soon carried the sound of metal clanging, shouts of anger, and involuntary dying wails. He recognized the voices!

  "Wait, stop. Friendly fire!" He screamed at Lyriana, the massacre finally ceasing.

  As soon as Jack barged in, he was suddenly ambushed. Bubblegum, and Moon Moon flew toward him eagerly.

  "Woo!" (You're finally back!!)

  The duo didn't care one bit about appearances as they circled him, their eyes glowing. What was up with his new look?!

  "Y-you changed race?! When did that—" Bubblegum asked, touching his body curiously. But suddenly, a claw violently tore her abdomen apart, instantly killing her.

  The dark elf had killed her!

  "?!?"

  "Annoying Braves will be killed! Anyway, how do we conquer humanity?" Lyriana happily chimed in, some random cultist cheering in the background after hearing "conquest".

  "Boss, what's happening exactly?" CPR dude came forward.

  A heartwarming moment of catching up followed, one that would perhaps have been even more heartwarming without the mysterious meat.

  They had tons of questions for both of them. For instance, what was she doing here, and when had she become Jack's subordinate. She actually hadn't…


  As they shared information, a few things became evident:

  1. D.L. was being watched by the powers in Sprigfield.

  2. The rain turned everyone wary and grumpy.

  3. The Empire was sending troops over.

  As if the Church wasn't enough, now there would be strong army peeps. Would he even have a place anymore in the Town? It would soon turn into a gunpowder keg.

  "For now, everyone should return to Town. Help the tavern develop and hunt to grow stronger." Jack instructed.

  "What about you, boss?"

  "There's something I have to investigate." Thus ended D.L.'s rescue mission, over before it even started. They couldn't help but chuckle realizing this.

  Jack led the wolf and elf toward the Very Wet Lake. As for visiting the farm, he'd try to ditch the volatile girl first.

  "Old Elemental, come out!" but no matter how many times Jack tried calling, he didn't show up. Then why the hell was the rain spell still active?!

  While he didn't care much about the people of Sprigfield, the Tavern and Pumpkin Farm were vital to his development. It was time to investigate!

  [Quest! Find the Old Elemental]

  [Quest: Stop the Endless Rain!]

  "Detective Moon Moon, I'll be counting on your sharp senses!"

  "Woo!" (I'll do it!")

  The little wolf guided them, finally finding the old man's trail. Wait, there was something else there too! Something smelled fishy! (Literally)

  "No sign of struggle, a potent magical trace leading to the lake, webbed feet…everything points to a kidnapping!" Jack exclaimed.

  "…What kind of kidnapping has no struggle," Lyriana remarked matter-of-factly.

  "He was probably meditating when it happened and never realized it. Now we'll have to "rescue" him from the lake somehow." Jack explained, sighing.

  "Tch— It will be without me. I hate water!" The dark elf spat out as she left to explore. She was gone!

  — Human And Wolf Ran Away! —


  She was powerful, but he couldn't control her. Because of that, it was simply better to let her do her own things.

  He spent about half an hour infiltrating the Town, covering his entire body with a pumpkin armor to blend in, the ghouls nowhere to be found.

  In any case, he had an errand to run.

  — Bang! Bang! —


  "Who the hell is it?! It's the middle of the night. Go away!!" An irritated voice came from inside the house, Jack banging even harder.

  Soon a positively fuming FF association president opened his door in a hurry.

  "WHAT?!!"

  "All the farms are getting flooded right now, right? I can fix the rain problem, but I'll need supplies. Potions to stay underwater, swim gear, a light crystal, and aquatic monster repellent.

  What kind of shady character was he?! Ensued the longest stare ever, with the leader finally agreeing for the sake of his association.

  — Hidden Diplomacy Check Passed! —


  Now he had one more person to meet before he could rest for a little while. He had to hurry before the day was over for this one was nocturnal.

  The two searched high and low, finally finding Jack's prey, safe in the lake. They simply had to bait it. For that, Jack took out a nice lump of iron as he hid behind a rock.

  "Woo?!" (Puzzled)

  They didn't have to wait too long. As soon as it thought the way was clear, the frogman jumped toward the metal. That's when the trap closed on it!

  "KYAAAA! Don't eat me!!!"

  "Relax, it's me! I need your help with something." Jack explained, Moon Moon salivating nonstop while looking at this juicy-looking friend.

  — Long, deep, and boring conversation! —


  The "kidnappers" were fish-men. They were probably around the strength of the rock Goblins, but the water definitely gave them a huge advantage.

  The best time to raid their base would be the morning, for most of them would be out. They soon planned an infiltration mission.

  They simply had to wait for the right time. Jack used the opportunity to go back to the farm. As the farm girl saw his appearance, she jumped in surprise.

  For a player, an appearance change was quite easy to understand, but it was an entirely different story for an NPC.

  As she took a step back, he could only sigh….but she was actually pushing her foot backward to rush into his embrace as if an Olympic sprinter.

  As she rested in his arms, she grinned, resolved never to move. Ghoul? Who cared!

  They remained like that for ages, even as a fairy landed on his head and a wolf wrapped itself around his legs, turning the reunion into a group hug.

  How could something so simple be so satisfying? No answer was needed…


  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━


  "What the hell is that?!" The frogman cried out as he stared at the thing Jack took out.

  "This? A fish-looking submarine, obviously! You can fit so many spies in this bad boy!" He slapped the top as if a car salesman.

  "How does it work?" The confused frogman turned around it.

  Jack had perhaps created the most ridiculous submarine ever. Ever heard of the yellow submarine? Get ready for the flashy orange pumpkin submarine!

  Speed? —> Nope!

  Power? —> None!

  Troll level —> Over 9000!

  It was as simple as flashy, but it had relatively good quality oars made with sturdy wood from their Tree Guardians. They had so many that they had started crafting with them.

  While it wouldn't be too useful in a fight, Jack actually planned to use it to sneak directly into the enemy lair. He winked at his friend, pushing the thing into the water.

  He reached for the bottom, grabbing a bunch of muddy algae and applying it to the exterior. It surprisingly acted as great camouflage.

  Of course, the ruse would be revealed if they collided with anything, but as long as they were careful and lucky they could avoid the dangerous monsters.

  "Private Froggy and Private Moon Moon, get in here!" Jack enthusiastically boarded.

  The little wolf was having a blast while the frog was wondering what was wrong with this strange-looking human's brain.

  Surprisingly he still hadn't realized that he was traveling with a flesh-eating ghoul. Then again, it didn't really matter.

  They dove, heading toward the center of the lake. This sure was one exotic road trip!

  Since it was a really cheap boat, there were no windows to know their position, and it definitely felt like a mobile coffin. Even then, the morale was high.

  Thus began an epic journey. Who knew how Jack was managing to steer them in the right direction, but he did. He was going in completely blind!

  If he wasn't wrong, there was the possibility complete this whole mission without fighting once. This was because Fish-men weren't exactly the most bloodthirsty creatures out there.

  But, just as he was hopeful, their camouflage suddenly failed them. With a —Thud!— they collided with something. A second later, their entire vehicle was breaking apart.

  "?!?"

  Water invaded inside, Moon Moon and Jack both consuming their low-quality water breathing potions. Their time was now limited!

  An Octopus was facing them, reminding them of that one sealed Boss they had seen long ago. But, even if it was relatively low level, they couldn't underestimate it.

  Jack made various gestures, explaining their battle plan. Moon Moon would distract it while he and Froggy would take care of the finishing blow!

  They all swam forward to accomplish their respective tasks. It didn't take them too long to finish the monster off. But, right as they were about to cheer, three more appeared a distance away!

  — Bubbles! — (Beat them up!)

  They charged as quickly as they could swim, beginning their onslaught. They might have been in a troublesome situation, but they were valiant!

  But there soon cropped up a problem. While two monsters fought them, the last one ran away. They all knew what this meant. It was going to get help!

  Very soon, this entire lake area would know that they were here! Goddamnit! Sigh, so much for a sneaky rescue mission…