Jareth's pupils dilated, bending his upper body to the right in the nick of time as the frost pillar brushed past him. He could feel the chill on his left hand.
His body shivered and slightly stiff.
Gritting his teeth, he stretched his right foot wide apart, leaning his body to the right as he launched the last fire spear at the fox's left side.
The fox, that was about to escape, darted to the right to dodge as the fire spear slammed into its position, exploding with a blazing fire that painted their vicinity crimson.
Seeing the fox perfectly in front of him, Jareth whipped his sword at its neck. The fox sprayed a tiny pillar of frost at that moment.
The glowing sword cut deep, almost decapitating it, but the frost brushed past his left shoulder.
[Elite Arctic Fox Killed!]
Jareth remained still for a few seconds before standing, dispelling his spells.
He panted, noting the faint white mist puffing with each exhale. Lowering his head, he saw his chest bare, his tracksuit already torn and dusty.
His eyes roamed over his left hand, seeing the tracksuit coated and frozen stiff in white frost while shivering.
Feeling the chilly numbness and stiffness in the arm, he flexed it.
The frozen tracksuit fell in tiny broken weightless ice shards, revealing his left hand beneath, covered in patches of white frost.
Clenching his left fist to steady his shivering hand, he turned his gaze to the bleeding fox, with a scorched deep cut on its neck.
Groaning, he mumbled, "My core has almost exhausted all my mana. This level… it should take me for another round of battle, right? I could have finished it with ranged attacks. I won't try this stunt again."
Listening to his surroundings, he noticed the frenzy battle echoes dying. Snapping his head around, he saw a few beasts running towards him.
'Damn! They are already returning.'
Jareth bent and sent the fox's corpse into his badge before dashing into the long alley beside him.
He didn't stop, sprinting for escape. He knew what it would be like if all those beasts returned—some small ones might enter the alley.
Suddenly, he heard faint galloping behind him. He would have missed it if not for his enhanced senses.
Snapping his head around, he saw a white fox chasing swiftly behind him with frost swirling in front of its gaping maw.
'Shit! A sibling has come for revenge!' Jareth screamed inwardly, seeing the intersected alley ahead.
Peeking back, he saw an ice lance swiftly form.
Jareth rolled forward the instant he saw the ice lance disappear.
The ice lance struck the wall ahead and shattered.
Springing to his feet, he dashed left at the intersected alley.
After running a few steps, he pivoted to face the intersection and swung his hands forward, activating [Infernal Torrent].
Running with backward steps, his gaze locked onto the intersection as crimson flames spewed, swirling to form fire spear after another.
In a few seconds, five crimson fire spears levitated in front of him. They aligned in a vertical order in the narrow alley.
He anticipated with bated breath.
'The worst decision was chasing me in this narrow alley. I'll show you how I would have killed your brethren if I never wanted to test my reflexes.'
A white figure abruptly cut into his alley.
Jareth launched fire spears in rapid succession. The white fox ducked and tried to escape, but Jareth angled the first fire spell, striking it with a deafening detonation that sent it tumbling back down the alley.
Crimson flashes spiraled up.
The rest of the spears quickly struck their target under his control.
A series of explosions shook the walls and floor of the alley, with wild crimson flames spiraling higher with each explosion, sending searing heat sweeping through the alley.
Piercing squeals tore from the middle of the furnace-like fire.
Narrowing his eyes against the hellish scene, Jareth stretched his hand to create three more fire spears.
Activating [Grieving Echo], he locked onto the green aura escaping from the middle of the fire.
Jareth shot the three spears, drowning the alley with another massive explosion.
[Elite Arctic Fox Killed!]
He huffed, feeling his mana remaining only a pinch in his core.
'I can only form one fire spear?' he estimated. 'Fortunately, its physique isn't as strong as those close-combat ones.'
Staring at the flame, Jareth pondered, 'Should I leave it? No! Never leaving my kill! Well… let's first survey.'
With a thought from him, he released [Quintessence Claws], black mist swirling over his forearms and hands to form a pair of sharp misty gauntlets.
Jareth swiftly climbed the building beside him, crouching on the top of the roof to scan. He noticed some beasts eyeing the flame from the ruined paved path, but none entered the alley.
'Not all have returned. Looks like I'm in luck.'
Jareth swiftly moved in a crouched position, using some of the high rising walls as cover to go over to the other side of the dying flame.
Gazing below, with the [Grieving Echo] spell still activated, he saw the dwindling green aura at the edge.
Jareth dropped down into the alley but hissed at the searing heat from the flame. He felt like his blood was heating in his body. Even his tracksuit was slowly catching fire.
Sweat rolled down his face. Even the chill in his left hand vanished.
'Is that what they go through?'
Squinting his eyes, he quickly shot his gauntlet hand out and pulled the charred corpse from the flame.
Jareth didn't waste time and stored the corpse in his badge.
He swiftly left the area using the alleys and buildings.
He thought, 'If I had known this kind of escape route, it wouldn't have been difficult for me when I was stuck. Although, the area close to the tower doesn't have narrow alleys, so I'm not sure if it would have been very helpful.'
Jareth saw the beasts slowly pulling back, with many Awakened arcanists—which he deduced from the speed in movement and physical attack—hunting the roaming ones in the outer estate.
When he got home, he was already feeling the urge to buy a car.
Along the way, he bought food for himself and the girls.
He dropped theirs on the dining table, ate his, and went to bed.
The next day, he called Annie about helping him purchase his armor, even going as far as promising to pay her.
She agreed to help him with his purchase but wanted him to treat her to lunch as payment. Jareth accepted in a jiffy.
At noon, Jareth first went to sell his kills.
He sold everything—plus the cores, each Rank 2 Level 2 going for 20,000 aures—for 123,000 aures.
He had only 21,000 left in his account, adding all to 144,000 aures.
Jareth took a cab through the bustling street to Smithing Abode Street, where he met Annie at the Arcanist Court Equipment Abode. She was dressed in a sleeveless top and free pants, her wavy black hair in a tight ponytail.
She adjusted her glasses and greeted him.
Leading him to the armor section, which had a few people browsing, she forgot what they came for and began enthusiastically explaining things about smithing.
Jareth let her finish before asking her for his armor.
They settled on a black full-body armored suit for 120,000 aures Rank 2 Exquisite armor according to her.
Paying with a bleeding heart, Jareth asked if she had any restaurant in mind while praying inwardly she wouldn't take him to an expensive restaurant.
She took him to a hidden restaurant in the street behind the smithing abode street. It was hidden because there were only a few people there.
Annie informed him it was newly opened.
Both of them were eating, with Jareth doing the talking. He was a pro at it as he had attended a few dates on Earth.
"Uncle Elias?" Annie suddenly called out.
Tilting his head, Jareth saw Elias, the man that visited him in Esta's house.
He still looked the same—dressed in a black suit and white shirt, his pale look like he was out in the cold, his long silver hair, and a dark shade that hid his eyes.
Annie quickly walked up to him and pulled him to their table.
"Hello, Jareth. We meet again."
"Hello, Sir Elias," Jareth greeted softly, not really comfortable in Elias's presence. But he kicked his acting into gear.
"You guys know each other?" Annie asked.
"Yes," Elias answered.
Jareth chuckled calmly. "Just acquaintances."
"Then it should be easy. Uncle Elias, why don't you read our luck for this week?" Annie asked with soft eyes.
"Girl, what's your problem with luck?" Elias stared at her. Annie made a pitiful expression. "Fine!"
He stared at Annie for a few seconds. "Your luck is normal for this upcoming week."
"Nothing, huh?" Annie's face fell. "Can you check again?"
"It didn't change." Elias retorted instantly before facing Jareth.
Jareth also stared at him. Suddenly, his forehead furrowed.
"Jareth, do you have any plans this week?" he asked.
"Yes." Jareth nodded but didn't elaborate.
"Then I'm sorry to inform you that your luck is very bleak," he replied.
Jareth thought for a moment and shrugged. "Bad luck is part of life."
Elias shook his head and answered, "You don't understand. It's very bleak. On the percentile scale, your chance of survival is one percent."