Chapter 254: The State of The City of James I

{I want to let everyone know that I have a p-a-t-r-e-o-n with two new exclusive stories on it. One is The Aeternus Universe, and the other is a new story with a basketball system. I hope you guys will give it a chance. The link is https://www.p-a-t-r-e-o-n.com/easyread. Remove the dashes. Webnovel censors the word.}

I take multiple deep breaths over and over again. I sheath my sword, and I sit on a log. I can't believe so many came after me like that. It was absolutely insane. I'm completely clean of blood, thanks to the speed at which I moved. Sally is going to appreciate that. I stand up from the log and turn towards the direction I left her. The storm wasn't even close to her. So she should've been safe. I start running extremely fast and leaping in and out of the forest. Heading for the hill that I left her at. I check the message that I've gotten from the system.

[System message: Rewards for your actions are a 1% increase to your Mana Aura Control and 50 levels to your companion!]

I blink my eyes a few times. Unable to believe the second reward. Sally has been rewarded for my efforts? I'm not complaining, but that seems really strange. Why would this happen... The system is playing favorites again. It's making my most trusted ally become stronger, which means something is coming in the future. This means she's going to be around level 120, and that's a big leap. I will have to ask if Sally got any special messages, but since she's a native of Gaia, she doesn't have access to the system. I open my player stats to see the changes as I close in on the hill.

[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.190]

[Exp: 3/100%]

[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden),+3 more]

[Stats]

[Strength - 7095][Endurance - 7045][Dexterity - 7215][Speed - 8240][Focus - 19,660]

[Mana aura control: 6/100%]

[Health: 76,560,000,000/76,560,000,000][Mana: 216,600,000,000/216,600,000,000]

[Stat Points: 0][Armor rating: 500]

[Inventory]

[Passive Perks]

[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver] [An Overachiever]

[Active Skills]

[Heavens light Lvl.59 325/5900] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.59 225/5900] [Slash Lvl.77 4600/130000] [Parry Lvl.53 80/5300] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A] [Winged Glory] [Angelic Flight] [Divine Pressure Exertion] [Divinity Pulse] [Controled Fun]

My health and mana have both gone up by 20 billion. Having stats like this makes me invincible in the battle against mortal creatures. It makes me ask the question when I'm going to have to fight a God... Compared to a God, I'm still weak. My exp level has gone up a couple of percent from all the monsters I killed too. I take a final look, and I'm almost at the hill. My player info goes away at a thought, and I'm now within view of Sally. She's waving at me as I leap through the air. I smile, seeing how excited she is to see me. 

I land in front of her, and she immediately comes in for a hug. She tightly wraps around me and squeezes me. I can already feel the change in her power and level. "How in the world were you able to make me stronger from where you were at? A strange voice out of nowhere told me that because of you, I'm gaining 50 levels. Do you new people really gain power that fast?" She bombards me with questions. I don't know how to explain it to her. I've never heard of the natives of Gaia hearing whispers or gaining levels without helping in fights.

We stop hugging and pull away from each other. She is looking into my eyes for answers. "I don't know... If I did, I'd tell you, but I have no idea what's happening... I'm willing to bet that others like us might have experienced something similar." That is possible, but we get rewarded based on our performance and total contribution to the total kill pool. I'll have to ask players the next time I get a chance to. Before we can continue talking, someone rushes up to our location at a very high speed. It's the same female fighter from earlier. 

I turn around, and we both stare at each other. My hood is down since I'm alone with Sally. I watch the woman twitch and shake from time to time. I see a single tear fall from the right side of her face. "Cera... Is that really you..." My heart fastens, and my confusion grows. I know that voice. She quickly takes off her hood, and I see my older sister. "I can't believe it's really you!!" She runs up to me and leaps in for a hug. I don't stop her, and I give her a hug back. We spend a couple of seconds hugging, and only with Sally tapping my shoulder does it stop us.

Sally pulls me away from Hailey slightly and stares at my sister. Not knowing who she is. "Who's she?" Sally asks me a question that I didn't think I'd be answering so soon in my journey with her. Running into Hailey all the way out here and in The City of James is truly amazing. "Well!?" She is getting impatient. Before I can say anything, Hailey walks up in front of Sally and looks her dead in the eyes. Her attention no longer focused on getting a question out. Sally lets go of me and lets her arms hand at her side, prepared for a fight.

I need to stop this before this gets ugly cause I'm positive that if these two fought. Sally would be killed. "Sally... This is my older sister Hailey..." She backs away slightly and looks at me in shock. She quickly gives a small bow in forgiveness. I look at Hailey, and she's a little surprised and taken aback by the 180-degree turn in behavior. "Hailey... This is Sally, my lover." I feel like I've spelled doom with my words, and I watch Hailey's demeanor completely change. She is not distant looking and staring a hole through Sally's lowered head.

I should explain the story, but for now. That can wait. "I can tell you about her another time, right now. Sally and I are on a mission to destroy the James family and stop slavery in The City of James." Hailey stops what's she's doing as she realizes why I'm here. She can see Sally's elven ears and obvious elven features. "I shouldn't have to say why we're here." Sally raises her head, having felt it's been lowered enough. Sally looks to the side, avoiding eye contact with Hailey. My only guess is from being revealed as a past slave. 

I watch Hailey reach out to Sally, and I almost stopped her, but to my false thoughts. She places her hand on Sally's head and gently pats it. "I'm sorry I was so hostile to you, Sally. I'm protective of my brother, and this is the first time I've seen him so close to a member of the female gender. As a woman, I was worried that you have ill intentions for him. I can see now that I was wrong. I'm sorry." Sally into Hailey's eyes with a gentle smile and nods her head. Accepting her apology. She stops patting her head and backs up a step

She folds her arms and looks at me. "I'm surprised to see you here, little brother. There's someone I want you to meet." She takes the backpack off her back and opens it. A white tiger cub pops its head out and mews. It must not be a white tiger I know of. Big cats can meow and purrs like this one. I look over at Sally, and I see stars in her eyes. "How surprised would you be if I told you I'm in The City of James for the same reason you are?" I raise my head from the little tiger cub, and I stare at Hailey. I'd say I'm incredibly surprised.

The only reason Hailey would be here is if a close friend or person gave her a mission to come here. An ex-slave and someone wanting vengeance. It just goes to show that this city has a huge network of slavery that needs to be taken down. "If you are here for the same reason we are, then it means it's a real problem." My response causes Hailey to nod her head, and as we are having a conversation, Sally is too distracted by the white tiger cub. "You think we should work together on this?" I already know the answer. Hailey smiles and tells me that she's looking forward to it.

That is going to make our mission here go that much faster. Thanks to the chaos caused by the attack, it'll allow us to move more quickly and undetected. "So, what have you learned so far?" I want to know the information that Hailey's come across. I'm betting she's been here a bit longer than we have and already has good information.