Jack turned to Aiko , “ What do you think about all this?”
“It is a grave mistake to try and seek refuge in Aiko’s home world. The way humans like Aiko are treated there by the Beast Lords , it's just horrible Bossman,” Aiko voiced her concern.
“ What’s she talking about? Is she from this new world like the monsters? If so, we must alert the military at once !” Carol took out her radio , ready to relay with her superiors.
“No , I’ve already tried things the military way ,” Jack took the radio from her .
“ And yes ,she’s from the same world as those monsters . Aiko , you said that there’s other humans that live in Praiyas with the monsters ?” he got back to where he had been.
“Aiko has not been there in a long time , but when she was there , all humans were slaves of the Beast Lords.”
“Okay , we’ll get to the specifics later. Now Carol , you said they are moving everyone to the portals , do you know where Hamilton and the rest of my friends might be? I’m guessing that you two already know each other, ”
“ Hamilton and I used to be together a while back. Actually ,the result of it is why I stayed and watched over you.
We were a couple for a while. Things happened and I got pregnant. Sadly I was never able to tell him and never have to this day. Thought it would just make me look petty trying to force child support out of him. My job was going great and I was perfectly capable of providing for our son.
I thought about telling him back when we were in Parliament , but he didn’t even seem to recognize me. I don’t know why , maybe it's because of the scar.
I brushed off the idea quickly and decided to focus on getting you to headquarters as fast as possible. This way I would still have time to go get my son and the nanny to safety.
You see , when you were fighting last night , I got a call from the nanny saying that she had been left stranded in the house when the rescuers left. That area is now swarming with monsters,” Carol explained.
“ You need my help to save them don’t you ?” Jack sighed , interpreting her answer to mean that she didn't know where they were.
“You’re my only hope ,”
“And to think that you were going to rat out Aiko just now ,” Aiko retorted , but this time trying to tone down the icy edges of the remark.
“Yes Aiko . And I’m sorry I acted without thinking ,” Carol turned to her.
Despite the bluish aura around Aiko and the fact that her body was slightly translucent , Carol seemed totally unrattled by the butler girl.
Aiko was about to say something smart but stopped mid thought . Something else had gotten to her.
“Bossman , Aiko feels the presence of the other System user.”
“What does she mean by that?” Carol asked Jack , sensing something was wrong.
“ I have pending business to take care of ,” he said , his eyes turning to the tallest skyscraper in sight. On top of it , the black silhouette of a cowboy made a small eclipse against the radiant golden rays of sunrise.
“ Is your child nearby ,” he asked , already starting to go over his System stats. This was going to be all out war and he could not have anyone close to him till it was done. Survival here wasn’t even guaranteed.
“ It’s a few blocks from here ,”
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“Aiko , go with her. You know more about the creatures from Praiyas than anyone else. With you by her side , you should be able to navigate the streets unharmed,”
“Who is that man in the cowboy outfit ?” Carol followed Jack’s eyes.
“Bossman is about to fight a big war. Let’s go quickly or we’ll just be in the Bossman’s way ,”Aiko shut her up and took her by the hand. Her grip was exceptionally cold , to the point of being chilly.
As he watched her drag the complaining Carol away , Jack thought of telling Aiko not to abandon Hamilton’s child no matter what happened. Knowing Aiko , she would have seen that order through to the end, even if it got her killed.
He stopped himself , understanding that it was wrong of him to command what she did with her life. Then another question followed . Yes Aiko was human, but was she even alive?
Those many questions would unfortunately have to wait .
Ludicrous Caesar was already standing beside Jack , admiring the sunrise with him.
Swiftly , Jack started levelling up what he could in the System.
[
System Information
Stamina - Level 2
]
It cost him nearly all of his points to push both Stamina and Rejuvenation up a level each.
Rejuvenation took the most points , the upgrade cost of every talent seemingly going up with each level raised.
It was worth it however. Not only did the abilities become more powerful , but it also reduced the proportional stamina consumed when engaged.
[
System Information
Stamina - Level 3
Rejuvenation - Stage 1 ,level 4
Remaining Points - 50
]
Now having his stamina at level three and Rejuvenation holding six bars , he went for yet more power since the cowboy didn’t seem to be in any hurry.
Killing the Soul Reaper had earned him three summoning tickets , which could unlock new talents if he was lucky .
He wasn’t interested in a new artefact at the moment as that would probably be of no help against an opponent like Caesar.
He needed real Talents that could go toe to toe with Constricted Surface at the very least.
He disintegrated the summoning tickets and then waited . It was his lucky day indeed.
He got two three star talents and then one sweet five star.
[
System Information.
New Talents unlocked ;
* Recharge - passively increases the rate of stamina regeneration
* Manifest - summon the former living forms of talents to fight beside you.
* Singularity - Draw energy from surrounding matter to fire off a powerful beam of energy that obliterates all in its path.
]
The first two were three stars and they installed almost immediately. The five star one , however, lagged behind.
As he waited for it to install , Jack decided to start a conversation with the cowboy.
“ I still don’t know why you are after me,” he asked.
“Reason is beyond you , Jack Kamphar. Yet let this linger upon mind as our battle shakes city , I will not let your name fade from memory.”
“ Is there a way to avoid this conflict ? If so tell me and I’ll do it ,” Jack tried a hand at diplomacy.
“Fall upon your sword and take life with own hand. End this battle before beginning ,” Caesar replied.
“ Can’t do that , so it seems that we now have to fight till one of us dies ,” Jack sighed.
“ Your System stands improved , yet still absent proper power . If your aim is defeat and the release of death , then you march toward certain victory,” Caesar took a few steps back.
Jack waited for him to reveal his floating prisms and unleash a hailstorm of bullets like the last time , but the man just took a simple boxing stance. He was going to start the fight at a slow pace , then turn up the heat as it dragged on. And of course , Jack’s Perception couldn’t get a read on any of the man’s abilities.