Finally, when they reached a house with a simple brown door, Gilbert fished out a key and inserted it into the door's key hole. He opened it and ushered Jack and Samantha inside, before he went in and hurriedly closed the door and locked it again. Afterward, the red aura around him dissipated and he fell onto a nearby chair. He was panting heavily.
Jack put Samantha down on another chair, and took a seat next to Gilbert. The old man was having difficulty breathing. Jack sat there patiently waiting for him to gather his breath. Samantha went up and looked around the room. She found a glass and a bottle of water in a cupboard. He poured the water and brought it to Gilbert, who drank it slowly.
When he was calm enough, he started to spoke, "I don't have much time left…"
Jack frowned, during his travel around the business district, he had seen several healer shops. There was also a large hospital building. "If you are hurt, we could go to the business district to get you treated," he said.
Gilbert coughed a few times after another drink, he set the glass down. "No use, what ailed me was not something external. It was the result of having used a forbidden art too many times. I used to be one of the most devout members of the Cult. I don't mind throwing my life away for the benefit of the Cult. Hence, I have used the Life Burning Art several times during my service, it had eaten away at my life force each time I used it. Now I guessed it was finally time to pay the dues."
"Why did you leave the Cult?" Jack asked.
Gilbert was silent for a while, then he said, "let's just say I finally have my eyes open and see the Cult as what it is, a bunch of fanatics doing the bidding of a mad God."
Jack didn't enquire further. Instead, he asked, "is that why they come after you? To punish you for leaving the Cult?"
"If only it was that simple," Gilbert shook his head. "They were looking for something I have taken from them."
"What is it?" Jack asked.
Gilbert didn't answer. Instead, he looked at Samantha and said to her, "I'm sorry. I was the reason you were taken by them. They thought they could use you to pressurize me."
Samantha put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a consolation look, her gaze telling him that she didn't blame him. Gilbert then turned back to Jack.
"I admire your courage and determination, young man. If not for you, we wouldn't have made it out of there. I am very much in your debt. However, I still would like to ask you for a favor."
"A favor?"
Gilbert took a deep breath, and then he rose up with difficulty. He then walked slowly to a corner of the room. He removed one of the stones on the wall which revealed an empty space behind. He took something out and came back. He offered the thing to Jack. It looked like a piece of torn paper. Jack accepted it in confusion.
"I have been looking for someone that I can trust to pass this thing to," Gilbert said. "At first I considered Samantha, but if I give her, it will only bring her disaster. She doesn't have the strength to keep it."
Jack scanned the torn paper.
Fragment of Map (Special item)
One of three fragment pieces. Combine with the other two fragments to reveal the map.
"Fragment of Map? What is this map for?" Jack asked Gilbert.
"It's part of a map. We found it during an excavation on an ancient ruin. It was supposed to be very valuable as the Cult placed much importance on this Fragment. I went through much trouble to hide in this Capital, but they managed to find me still. I don't have much time left, they will continue to hunt for me. I will lead them away to another town. I hope you can keep it away from their reach."
Jack was conflicted. He wanted to return the fragment. It doesn't seem to give him any benefit. It would be a different issue if he had the other two fragments and had a complete map. Then it might point him to a treasure that he could use.
But for now, it would just bring him trouble. What if the Cult came to hunt him next? He was still a long way from being able to contend with them. The Priest alone was already enough to beat the shit out of him, and he thought that the Priest was not even among the upper echelon in the Cult.
Seeing Jack's hesitation, he said, "if you can find the other two fragments, it will point you to a treasure with unimaginable power. Trust me, this information is from a reliable source. The Cult wouldn't have wasted so much time hunting for it otherwise."
Jack gave him a wry smile, "that is considering if I can get my hands on the other fragments. They are most likely in the Cult's hand. How am I going to take it from them?"
"No, this is the only fragment they had," Gilbert replied. "They still have no clue of the whereabouts on the other fragments."
That still doesn't make it any easier for me to find, bro. Jack thought in his mind.
"Don't worry, they will not know that you are the one who has the fragment. Although my time is short, I still have at least a couple of months left yet. I will take them far away and leave several distracting clues for them. It will throw them off your scent. For all they know, you are just an adventurer that is involved due to a quest."
Samantha who was listening from the side told Jack, "please accept Mister Gilbert's request, Mister Storm Wind. It was a wish from a dying man. If you kept that thing, it will put his soul to rest when the time comes, knowing he had foiled the Cult's plan."
Jack glanced at Gilbert's hopeful gaze. Finally, he agreed. "Fine, I will keep it as long as I can."
Gilbert exhaled in relief. He said, "thank you. As a token of appreciation, and also to help you become stronger to oppose the Cult, I will give you these."
He took out two books and gave them to Jack.
"Technique books!" Peniel exclaimed from his side.
Jack received the books as he asked Peniel, 'what's a technique book?'
"Why don't you just check it yourself using that magnificent God-Eye of yours?" She replied.
'No need to be jealous,' Jack quipped back, and then did just that.
Technique Book: Sword of Light (Rare Consumable)
Grant the skill: Sword of light
Restriction: Warrior class
Technique Book: Life Burning Art (Super rare Consumable)
Grant the skill: Life Burning Art
Restriction: Any Advanced class
A book that gave you skill? These were good stuff. He thought he would only get a new skill from leveling up, so there were other ways to get skills.
'Warrior class?' He asked Peniel.
"It's one of the two advanced classes branched out from Fighter class," she answered.
Before he could ask anything further, Gilbert spoke, "I hope you can become stronger. The Cult's plan is to bring chaos onto this world. As an adventurer, sooner or later you will clash with them. I also hope that you can find the other two map fragments before they did. Unfortunately, I also had no clues of their whereabouts."
As he spoke, he took a backpack from another concealed compartment, and walked to the door.
"You should take the Northern part to go back to the Business District. That way had a guard office so the Cult people will not dare to attack there. Samantha will lead you through there. Once you reached Business District, it will be much safer as there are more regular guard patrols."
"Where will you be going?" Samantha asked with worry.
"Away from here," Gilbert replied. "The sooner I started, the further I can lead them away in my remaining time."
"Good luck," Jack said to him.
"You too," he replied, and then walked out the door.