That night, they ate their dinner in silence. While Jake didn't mind that, the atmosphere created by the girls sure was a bit troublesome. They were too worried about the whole, or perhaps that was the right reaction, and Jake was the weird one. Nevertheless, things had livened up a little bit, at least the next day. Lana and Louise woke up early as well and then decided to run alongside Jake.
"What is this?" Jake frowned when they saw them wearing sneakers and sweatpants.
"Living confined isn't truly living," Lana said.
"Yes… I don't want to keep running from someone like him," Louise replied with a serious expression.
"Whatever you say," Jake said and then shrugged. "Still, I don't think you two can keep my pace in a run."
"Don't underestimate the women of the world," Lana protested.
"I am not underestimating any women. I am underestimating your sedentary lives… not like I can talk much now that I play for more than ten hours per day dungeon masters online," Jake said and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Leaving those two behind while he ran would be rude since even Jake wasn't sure what Justin would do next, so they headed toward a nearby and ran around it. As one would expect, the girls were already gasping for air after three laps around it. That was the result of everyday asking for their meals using their cellphones and not exercising enough. Most people would think that just maintaining their weight would be enough. Still, only a few of them truly realized how useful it was for them to exercise seriously, at least one hour per day.
After the girls recovered, they decided to just walk around the park and do some dashes now and then. Still, Jake passing by them annoyed the heck out of Lana. He couldn't understand why she was being so competitive about something she barely did. After just half of an hour, Lana started to ask until then they were going to do that… apparently, she was thinking that a lot more time had passed.
"You can return if you want," Jake said.
"Is that a challenger?" Lana asked.
"Not really," Jake shrugged.
"For someone who doesn't practice an actual sport, you sure are diligent, Jake," Louise said.
"I disagree, this is just to keep my body healthy," Jake said. "If I get sick, I won't have enough money to pay for a good hospital and I can't count on anyone if that were to happen."
"Do you mind if I ask about your father?" Louise asked.
"Yes, very much," Jake said and then sighed. "I would like to think that he is dead, but the bastard is out there, being useless."
It was more than evident that Jake had a complicated relationship with his father, so Louise decided not to pry any longer. Still, in the end, she connected the dots. He said that his mother died at his birth, and in the game, everyone could see that his name was Judas… his father was probably the one who named him, so was that the reason he didn't get along with him? Louise couldn't see any problem with the name itself, but if his father gave him that because his wife died and he blamed Jake… that was pretty messed up.
After a while, the group returned to the apartment, and while the girls were tired, they were also refreshed. Even Louise wasn't thinking so negatively anymore when Justin appeared in her head. Her mind had cleared a little bit, so perhaps it was time to go home.
After cleaning themselves and eating their breakfast, the group returned to the game. At that point in time, they couldn't help but think that their routine had gotten a bit weird compared to before. However, they decided to think that it was just because of the summer vacation.
"Hey, guys," Luke said when he saw the group approaching. "It seems you succeeded yet again. Congrats."
"How can you tell?" Lana asked.
"Even without Appraisal, I can see that your gear didn't change, and failure means that you would have to start again," Luke replied. "It is pretty obvious… anyway, things will get a bit complicated from now on, but i am sure you will succeed… if you buy the right items, of course."
"And you have them," Jake said.
"Naturally," Luke said. "Although I said items, you only need one since you guys obviously are way above average… you need the ring of Purification."
Luke showed them a ring that looked like it had been made of glass, and the party used Analysis. The ring granted them the skill Purification. It was obviously a skill for support characters since it could decrease the power of status negatives like poison, burn, and freeze. Now that Jake thought about it, the cold was more troublesome than heat when it comes to the influence the weather might have over most situations.
"So, the monsters in the new map can add the freezing status," Jake said. "What about the item that can decrease those effects?"
"They are too expensive for you guys right now," Jake said. "It is another Cape and the cost is 300.000 coins."
Jake was surprised. The price seemed a bit too high considering that the item only granted a single skill. Was Luke trying to increase the difficulty of the next mission? If yes, then why?
"Don't look at me like that," Luke said. "That item is a rare drop, after all. It is also very stylish, so many people want it for fashion purposes. That being said, there is a way for you guys to obtain the Cape…"
"Nah, I am not interested," Jake said. "If it is too expensive, then it is fine."
"Shouldn't we at least hear him?" Lana asked.
"Nope, I can smell trouble miles away from me," Jake said. "I am one hundred percent certain that he will ask us something very troublesome."
"As expected of you, champ," Luke said. "You are really something else… I can't decrease the price of the item, but I can loan it to members of my guild."
Jake was expecting something troublesome, but he didn't expect that. While he didn't know a single thing about guilds, he didn't expect that Luke would be that desperate to recruit newbies.
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