Andreas raised his right hand up in the air, and the remaining three members of the group immediately focused their attention on Jack, with battle intent in their eyes.

“You’re outnumbered. Your pet over there is half dead. Don’t sacrifice yourself over your ego, man,” The Assassin who had been reluctant to fight this entire time called out.

That was not an option for Jack. The moment he removed what little protection he had, he was sure that the angry blonde man and the crazy woman would attack him, and Andreas sure as hell wouldn’t stop them.

He knew this wasn’t going to be an easy fight. He might be individually stronger than any one of them, but their talents and coordination would make things very tricky. Another factor that Jack had to take into account was…. When it came to it, he couldn’t hesitate. His objective was survival, and these people were a grave threat to it. They would kill him without hesitation. Perhaps they would feel regret later, but what was the point when he would be dead? If he hesitated to take the opening when he had it, he would have no chance of surviving.

A repressed memory started to rise in his mind, bits and fragments of an event coming back to him, but he quickly started thinking about other things, managing to suppress it for now. Not now. He couldn’t remember now. Preferably, not ever.

‘Luna, how much have you healed?’

‘The frost is gone, so I can run again. Pull these arrows out.’

‘You’ll bleed out if I do that.’

‘No, I can recover naturally after this… change.’

Jack complied, pulling out three arrows from her torso in rapid succession, causing silver blood to flow from her wounds.

“Thanks for the free arrows,” Jack called out to the group, as he stored them in his inventory with a flourish, mocking them.

“You know, if you leave that bow and all your arrows behind, I’ll let you leave unscathed. How about that for a counter offer? My old man did tell me that I’d make a good lawyer,” Jack insultingly called out, hoping, even if slightly to disturb their tempo and coordination.

Andreas, Brian and Elise saw through his taunt for what it was, but Jack saw Mike’s expression contort for a second.

‘Seriously? What is he, a kid?” Jack transmitted his thoughts to Luna as well, wondering just how smart she was now. And was she even speaking in english, or was it the gift of languages working its magic.

‘No, just an idiot,’ Luna’s response came, and Jack had to try his hardest not to burst out laughing right there. He’d noticed it earlier, and perhaps it had to do with the way he’d brought up Luna- but she didn’t see him as a parental figure or someone to look up to, but as an equal. He liked that.

‘Okay Luna, just focus on evasion. I can negate all wounds I take within a minute, so don’t interfere until you see me use that technique. How long will it take you to heal completely?’ Jack had come to appreciate how faster mentally communicating was when compared to talking.

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‘Fifteen minutes.’

“We gave you a chance,” Andreas said with a light shake of his head, and Jack was starting to get sick of the man’s posturing. In the next instant, Andreas waved his right downward, and Jack guessed that was the signal for ‘Attack’.

‘Now Luna. Run!’ Jack mentally ordered Luna, while the sword of an arrow whistling towards him was heard seconds later.

Jack moved his shield to guard his chest, successfully deflecting the arrow. However, Andreas action’s surprised him- Jack had initially thought Andreas waving his mace down was just a signal, but the frost-imbued mace continued to move until it made contract with the floor.

A wave of frost exploded outward in a flat conical wave, headed towards Jack’s direction.

Tier 1 Innate Talent: Freeze has been detected.

Jack knew that the talent wasn’t strong enough to cause him any real damage, but having his mobility restricted might result in similar consequences. Using his superior reflexes, Jack dove out of the way, dissipating the Qi shield for a second and using his left arm as leverage to perform a combat roll.

“Tch,” Jack muttered in irritation, as his left hand was now partly frozen despite his best efforts just as he got back on his feet.

Thankfully, casting Qi shield wasn’t a problem, and the circulation of Qi coupled with his physical body nullified part of its effects.

“Die, you cocky motherfucker!” The blonde haired man pointed his glowing red hand at Jack, sending Jack’s danger sense off.

Tier 2 Innate Talent: Fire attuned Lightning has been detected.

“Shit,” Jack exclaimed, as a bolt of red lightning arced through the air at a rapid speed, aimed right for his chest. Jack made the mistake of blocking instead of dodging, the impact pushing him two meters back through the forest soil. Jack watched on in surprise as multiple cracks appeared on his shield, before it shattered entirely.

Fire erupted across his left arm, but thankfully most of the impact had been absorbed by the shield. Jack patted his arm on his thighs a few times, managing to put out the fire but the pain lingered. If Jack had not suffered all kinds of terrible pain before this encounter, he would have screamed, but his tough physical body and growing tolerance mitigated that.

‘How did Luna take such a powerful attack head on and survive?’ Jack wondered, as he moved his neck sideways, dodging the arrow easily.

Tier 1 Talent: Minor Telekinesis has been detected.

‘Minor Telekinesis….?’ Jack was confused because he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, when his danger sense suddenly triggered, at the back of his neck. He moved his slightly charred left hand towards his back, guarding the area around his head and his neck. If it struck anywhere else, with his high physical stat it wouldn’t be anything serious.

A clink rang out as the arrow bounced off his shield and fell to the ground. Jack turned around and stomped on it, breaking it in half lest it once again start flying at him.

Jack realized that this fight would be more difficult than he bargained for. The blonde man, Mike, was the true threat in this group, but he listened to Andreas. That convinced Jack that they knew each other before this all went down, otherwise with his personality it would not be possible for him to cooperate.

Once again, Jack was on the move, thinking of ways to make his approach. They had the perfect skillset to fight at range, while on his side he had Luna who was far stronger than he expected. What exactly had the entity done to her? Did she have some special ability as well?

Either way, Jack knew he was in for a challenging fight.