Second World

During the remaining of the day, everyone prepared for the coronation. There was also the preparation for the burial of Prince Alonzo, King Themos, and Princess Sindral. Prince Alonzo's burial was supposed to be carried out after Jack's execution. The prince was now instead being accompanied by his father and sister.

Jack thought of the prince. Alonzo's life was indeed a tragedy. Being treated as a foe by his brothers, lied to by his sister, and schemed and killed by his father. Yet, he could still be kind and supportive and work with the best intention for this kingdom.

Jack remembered the past when he heard people saying that God is cruel. He never agreed with it, but he couldn't help to think about it now. How can God allow someone as good and hopeful as Alonzo to die like this? He couldn't stop thinking that Alonzo's demise was simply to pave way for his ascent to the throne. For what? So he could replace Alonzo to be the king and thus could rally enough power to face World Maker? Sacrificing someone good for the sake of the greater good?

He very much hoped that this was not the case. The Gods and Goddesses of this world had no such power to direct fate, they were simply powerful guardians placed to watch over the world. Even the real God of this world, its creator, was simply a normal human who was a game maker. One that no longer existed.

If there was truly a being that decided and wrote all the events that happened here. He would very much like to meet this being, and perhaps give this being a beating or two, if that was even possible.

Jack wished very much that Alonzo was still alive so he could do right by the prince. Helped Alonzo become the rightful king he was meant to be. Now, Jack had to do it in Alonzo's stead. Jack promised himself he would help this kingdom with the spirit Alonzo had shown him.

The burial ceremony for the royal family should have been carried out before Jack's coronation. But since Serenity demanded the coronation to happen tomorrow morning, they had no choice but to go along with it and dealt with the burials the day after.

Thaergood announced the royal family's demise based on John's suggestion.

Before the announcement, the people were bewildered by the sudden passing of King Themos and Princess Sindral so soon after Alonzo was murdered. But they were even more confused by why the Goddess chose Jack, who was someone to be executed, as the next monarch.

After the announcement, the people could better accept Jack. Jack was not the murderer he was suspected to be. He was a hero who had beaten back the orc invasion, and he was the one who figured out the foreign influence in the palace. Even though he was an outworlder, he was not without merit.

The mass was enraged by the mention of foreign influence in the misfortune that befell the royal family. They demanded the true enemy be found. Thaergood assured their best men were working hard on it.

John was right. If the truth was announced. These people would call for blood from the Sangrod Empire. There had been too much turmoil in the kingdom as of late. Everyone was on edge. The calm they felt from Serenity's rain was slowly being washed off.

Jack had been offered Themos' chamber to spend his night in the palace. He had visited the place. Some furniture was broken there. Seeing the signs of struggle, Jack concluded this was where Commander Quintus had perished. The commander must have found a clue that brought him to this place, which caused him to be killed.

Jack felt the guilt again. He shouldn't have pushed the commander to investigate for him.

He didn't feel comfortable there. So, he decided to spend the night back in Heavenly Citadel. He would return tomorrow for the coronation.

John chose to stay in the palace. He wanted to learn all the current ongoing matters in Themisphere so he could advise Jack on what to do once Jack was crowned. Jack joked that John was more suited to be a king. John said that he didn't mind if Jack wanted to give the crown to him instead. Jeanny reminded Jack to not take the bait. The kingdom would for sure go down the villainy path if John was the king.

At Heavenly Citadel, Jack's closest friends came and congratulated him for being free from the execution and being crowned king. Serenity's heavenly announcement made it so that everyone in this country knew. Some of his friends even joked that it was quite a reversal of fate, from a convicted to a ruler. They were excited, though. Now that one of the leaders of their guild is the sovereign of this country, who would dare challenge their guild?

Some of the leaders of the other guilds came to offer their congratulations as well. Jack felt like chasing them away, but he was too polite to do that. He lamented his fate. Would this be what his life as a king be? Attending court matters and receiving dignitaries all the time? When would he be able to go out adventuring again?

But he had promised himself to rule in Alonzo's steed, so he won't complain now. It was his duty.

What little time he had after those visiting guild leaders left, he spent inside the legacy dungeon and Time Chamber.

After killing Themos and completing the kingdom chain quest, his level had gone up again. His Brave Swordsmaster leveled up to level 64 and was close to reaching the next level. His Time Sage became level 63. As for his Beastmaster class, it went up two levels to level 63.

He had 15 points of free attributes. He put them into his Wisdom stat. This stat decreased the magical damage he received, but he was not sure if this stat also made him wiser. Intelligence stat didn't exactly make him smarter, but it helped him remember things more easily and increased his thinking speed aside from boosting his magical damage, so he thought the wisdom stat should somehow help him in some unknown points as well. He would need all the wisdom he could get if he was to rule a kingdom.

The free skill points he had were 6 points for Brave Swordsmaster, 3 points for Time Sage, and 15 points for Beastmaster.

Jeanny had copied the Beast Howl technique book that John and Jet procured after killing the adult Dragon Turtle. She had given the book to Jack when they returned to the headquarters.

Jack immediately learned the skill.

*

Beast Howl, level 1/20 (Active skill)

Heals 10% HP to all summons when the skill is activated.

Increases Stats by 100% to all summons.

Ally's summons within a 30-meter radius received half the effect.

Duration: 5 minutes

Cooldown: 30 minutes

Stamina: 100

*

Jack thought the healing effect of this skill was very useful. Although it only heals 10%, pets' HP was high, similar to natives. A ten percent healing of HP could help them survive a significant time. Not to mention, this was a group heal, healing even ally's summons even if it was only half the effect.

Jack leveled up this skill using the 15 free skill points, bringing it to level 16. Each level increased the heal by 1% and stats increased by 5%, bringing the heal to 25% and the attribute increased to 175%.

He didn't use the souls in his Container of Soul to max-level this skill because he was not sure when he would get another Beastmaster's skill. It was better to save the souls for his other two classes which had many skills which were not yet maxed.

He had 2.186,129 souls inside the container. The majority came from killing Themos.

Jack used 6 Swordsmaster's free skill points to max-level his Blitz Slash. The skill now delivered seven slashes that dealt 200% damage each slash.

He then used 3 Time Sage's free skill points and 1,600,000 souls to max-level his Ghost Form spell. Each level increased the maximum duration he could remain in ghost form. At the max level, the maximum duration was 30 seconds.

He then used 500,000 souls to level up Mana Beam to level 6. Each level increased the damage by 20%. The spell now dealt 400% magical damage.

Jack also studied the loots dropped by Themos. He had just stored everything in his bag after the loots dropped. The situation at that time didn't allow him to check the loots in detail.

There were the usual coins, mana cores, equipment, and materials, which he just donated to the guild. He kept four of the most impressive loots. Three were unique grades, while one was unknown.

The first one was a rune technique book. It allowed one to learn a rune technique. Peniel couldn't seem to stop stressing about how lucky Jack was for getting a rune technique book. Jack kept on reminding her that luck was never his problem.

The rune technique contained within the book was called Infernal Cleansing Flame. Jack had a feeling it was the same rune technique that Themos used on Mason.