Second World-Novel

"Half? Are you trying to rob my country?!" Thelgrun exclaimed.

"I did all the work," Jack reasoned.

"We provided the facility," Thelgrun returned. "That labyrinth consumes a lot of mana upkeep, and I don't see Themisphere donating any mana."

"All right, thirty percent then," Jack relented.

"Nope. Still too much. I am willing to give your country ten percent of the coin income that you and your team produced."

"Dude… Aren't you a bit too stingy? Twenty percent then."

"Fifteen! That is my final offer!" Thelgrun declared. "Don't forget I am also paying for you and your team's entrance fee."

"Tsk… Okay, fine! But another condition. I want permission to build an embassy in your country," Jack uttered.

"Hm… That can be arranged. But in exchange, you also let me build one in yours," Thelgrun gave a counteroffer.

"Deal. In addition, let's sign an alliance pact as well," Jack tried to push his luck further.

"King Storm Wind, an alliance is not something that can be decided on a whim. I do like you, young king, but I do not yet see any real benefit in my country entering an alliance with yours. Even if I am willing, I still need to convince my councilors and senators, and I don't see a good prospect in them agreeing."

Jack nodded. He didn't truly expect Thelgrun to agree just like that. Getting the embassy built was already a good first step.

"All right! I will be off then. Expect to get many gold coins again. Don't forget our deal!" Jack reminded.

"Don't worry. If you can give me even half of yesterday's revenue, I will honor our deal. I will send your share as a coin gift to Themisphere," Thelgrun assured.

With that assurance, Jack took the carriage to the labyrinth's entrance with Bowler and the others. He also sent a message to Warpath's team, informing them that he could enter the labyrinth early today. They replied that they would be waiting at the entrance.

On the way, Jack asked Peniel if she had an idea how many gold coins Palgrost got from their run yesterday. Peniel said she didn't know about the details. But considering that normally it took even one or two weeks for the entire thousands of players entering the dungeon to encounter only one gold bull boss, their record of killing three gold bulls in just one day must be unprecedented.

Peniel said that if Jack used his Runestone of Luck before entering the boss' room, it should increase the chance of a gold bull boss appearing. But Jack countered if he did that, he won't be able to use the runestone when they killed the boss. The runestone of luck possessed a hidden cooldown timer.

Arriving at the entrance, the dwarven soldiers again cleared the perimeter for him. Jack looked around before spotting Warpath and the others and told the soldiers to let them in.

The boss' room allowed ten people to enter at a time. Since they were nine people, they had one free spot. The high-level minotaurs on the fifteenth floor provided a good exp source, but mostly it was the level 70 mythical-grade boss on the fourteenth floor that contributed the most exp. So, Jack wanted to call one of his royal agents to share the exp.

He could have called all his royal agents to form a team but that would mean kicking out some of his friends here. He didn't have the heart to. He was not a person who sacrificed a friend for his benefit. On the opposite, he didn't mind sacrificing his benefit for a friend.

The royal agent he chose was Howard, the mythical-grade bow-wielding native. Howard was level 52 now.

Warpath and his team were rather speechless when they saw Jack had another mythical-grade helper, even if this one was lower level than them.

The nine players formed a party before entering the labyrinth together with Howard.

They did the same arrangement as yesterday. Everyone protected Jack while he did his incorporeal state. When Jack interacted with the mana of the labyrinth, he saw that the maze layout was indeed completely different than yesterday. But it didn't matter, he found the boss' room in no time.

They went down floor after floor with incredible efficiency. Since they started early, they managed to reach the fourteenth floor a bit after noon. This meant that after defeating this floor's boss, they could spend lots of time grinding on the fifteenth floor.

Too bad they couldn't return to the upper floor. Otherwise, they could go back and forth between the fourteenth and fifteenth floors to farm the fourteenth floor's boss repeatedly.

Jack asked everyone that after they defeated the fourteenth floor's boss, whether they wanted to go out and reenter the labyrinth so they could farm the bosses again.

Jack's proposal was shot down by Peniel who said that one person was only limited to entering the labyrinth once a day. If they left, they had to wait until tomorrow before they could enter the labyrinth again.

Since it was so, they could only stick to their original plan which was farming exp points on the fifteenth floor.

Unfortunately, the fourteenth floor's boss this time was not a gold bull boss. It was a mythical-grade gigantic armored minotaur. It was slightly weaker than the mythical-grade gold bull boss yesterday so they had no problem defeating it.

Howard showed off his new skill in the boss fights. When he activated his skill, his bow was blanketed by dazzling lighting energies. The lightning extended out the two ends of his bow, making his bow look as if possessing wings made of lightning.

He didn't need an arrow at this state. Every time he pulled his bowstring, an arrow made of lightning formed. When he released the bowstring, this lightning arrow shot forward with incredible speed. This arrow sought out enemies, making it almost impossible to dodge.

The arrow dealt high lightning damage, but that was not the high point of this skill. The skill lasted for one full minute. During this duration, Howard's firing rate increased. He was as if a living gatling gun. Different from the other archer's skill, Repeating Shot, he didn't have to stay in place. He could move around while continuing firing, making this skill the ultimate kiting technique.

Peniel said that the skill was called Lightning Destroying Arrows. It was a very powerful skill. It was Howard's innate skill that he got after leveling up. Not one that he learned. As a mythical grade, Peniel said that it was not strange that his innate skill was powerful. There was a chance that he would get more powerful skills as he leveled up.