There was something else, after all. Ruined stuff, but there was more, Jack found, now that the grass that was growing over it was gone. 'If nothing else, I'll turn you to mana. Store, store. Figure out what you are later.'
What the things were, was a broken clay pot and a pewter mug that had been stepped on by someone a long time ago, almost sealing its mouth. Otherwise, it was intact.
'Wait, I'm freakin' stupid.' Jack was right, though not in the way he meant, though he did run back into the church and picked up the drinking vessel. 'Lemme...' he tried to move the item successfully, and put it underwater in the hole in the floor. After seeing a bubble come up, he knew it was filled with the water seemingly everywhere. Except inside... which now it was.
Moving the item again was easy, but now it contained something that it didn't before. He didn't get a message about it. He stood there, staring at the mug that wasn't as ruined as it first appeared. 'Not like everything in my pockets got me messages. So what, I'm supposed to research everything individually? Alright, annoying, but opens options. I think. Yeah okay I do need that other room. Smithy, it's time to join the party.' But Jack didn't get very far. He didn't even get one step. 'Wasn't there...' he walked around the wooden podium, and looked in its alcove. 'Thought so!' he touched the book that had been sitting there, storing it. Then he took another look at the Core. 'You look bigger... no, I look bigger... you? That's bigger than it was before. I swear it is.'
He wasn't wrong. The Core had increased in size, though only a tiny amount.
'Still fits in my pocket though.' He tried moving the Core into one of his jean pockets, but found he couldn't. 'Oh what, so my pants aren't researched so I... how do I know that? Okay then you're going over there.'
Jack moved his Core to the top of the mud at the bottom of the water through the hole in the floor.
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[Core Relocation in progress. Time to relocate: 1 hour.]
'Yeah, yeah.' He touched the podium, not really feeling inclined out of interest but obligation, and stored that too.
Outside again, Jack tried to buy another room, which would claim the blacksmithy next door.
[Core Relocation in Progress. Buying Room and Selling Room option disabled until complete.]
'Whatever. Just an hour. Maybe I can look around for that frog I heard earlier. I wouldn't mind something to distract me.'
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Leldro had been keeping his pace all morning, and now into the early afternoon. But now wasn't the time for a break for any of his resources he brought, though he did want some water. Water was okay, he had enough for a few days if he rationed it out. But he was so close now that he could see the town, with the church right at the center. No, he could wait before taking a break.
At least to Leldro, it was only a few moments until he got close enough to look into what he had heard.
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The Core relocation still in progress, Jack felt that feeling again of someone glaring at the back of his head from behind. Turning around, he could see the source. It was some small man who really stood out. The other men he saw earlier were wearing colors that blended into the environment for the most part, similar to this guy, with a big exception. This guy was wearing leather boots and brown cloth pants that looked really breezy, just like the other guys. But it was the white cloth with a yellow eye dyed in the center that made it very obvious that he was standing there. Like he wanted to be seen. He wore an off-white cloth shirt of some kind under it. What stood out possibly even more than his tabard, was... the look on his face.
'You're cramping my style!' Jack yelled at the man, who didn't react. 'Go somewhere else! You're making me uncomfortable!'
The man approached the church, and looked inside.
'Don't go in there! It's dangerous!' Jack yelled.
The man walked in and took a look around, though he didn't walk in more than a step or two.
'You're invading my personal space!'
The man craned his neck, looking up at the roof, and dragged his view to the top of the bell tower.
'Stranger danger! I need an adult! No, I need monsters that can do something! Damn it, thwomps are only good for deathtraps! I need a nightmare for jumpscares!'
The man looked even angrier, avoiding the broken stair but stomping through the mud and on top of the grasses. To Jack's relief, he left the church's yard.