Chapter 1194 – Job Transfer

Jake and Minaga appeared in the familiar garden of the palace Jake had called home in recent times. When he appeared, he instantly spotted a few familiar figures already there, including an exact replica of the Unique Lifeform who had functioned as his ride.

Besides another Minaga, the Sword Saint, and Sylphie were naturally there, but Dina had also come along. Artemis remained within the palace while the King was also still sitting in meditation on the other side of the garden, seemingly unbothered with everything that was happening.

“Ree!” Sylphie screeched the moment Jake had fully appeared, and before he could react, the bird was already sitting on top of his head.

He smiled as he reached up to scratch her. “Hey Sylphie, you look like you’ve had a good time.”

Sylphie didn’t answer but just looked down at his head. She moved her talons around a little, poking his hair a couple of times before she seemed to realize something.

“Ree!” Sylphie screeched angrily while flapping her wings, kicking up a gust of wind all around them.

“What? No!” Jake defended himself.

“Ree!”

“Only momentarily!”

“Ree!” Sylphie rejected his excuse.

“You shouldn’t be angry in the first place!” Jake quickly tried to change his strategy as he felt Sylphie’s talons begin to poke into his skin. “As a benevolent big sister, isn’t it only cool of you to allow him to be there for a moment?”

“Ree,” Sylphie said skeptically.

“Never, as I said, he only briefly used it as a springboard to jump,” Jake reaffirmed to the bird. “Actually, I’m confused… how do you even know?”

“Ree.”

The Sword Saint couldn’t help but chuckle at Sylphie’s answer as he shook his head. “Bird’s intuition? A superior version of a woman’s intuition, I take it?”

“Ree,” Sylphie nodded, having luckily calmed down by now. Somehow, she had felt that Jasper had dared touch her nest, better known as Jake’s head. Sure, he had briefly jumped on it once or twice, something that had happened around forty days ago, but Sylphie still seemed miffed as she had a strong sense of territory when it came to who was allowed to sit on top of Jake’s head.

With her calm, Jake regarded the others. “It looks like you two also had a good time.”

“I have indeed been enjoying the local Hunting Grounds,” the Sword Saint confirmed with a nod. “As well as the talents that belong to the Pantheon of Life. I heard you had some sparring matches, and I drew inspiration as I tried the same thing. It proved a wise decision, but sadly, as of a few hours ago, I was out of suitable opponents willing or able to battle.”

Jake looked at the old man with sympathy. “I know the feeling.”

The two shared the sentiment for a moment before he looked at Dina. “You’ve also gained quite a few levels, eh?”

“Indeed,” Dina confirmed with a small bow. “It has been a nice change of pace to fight alongside others once more. Grandfather has been tougher than usual, though, wanting to ensure I keep up with everyone else in my generation.”

“I theorize it has to do with the Seat of the Exalted Prima,” the Sword Saint added. “I and many others find it difficult to believe that the opportunities offered by the World Wonder will fall entirely to the natives of the ninety-third universe. Instead, there’s far more precedence to it being limited by levels and grades. Of course, this could be wrong, but it’s not like the large factions lose much by investing more in the next generation.”

“Hm, yeah, I could see that,” Jake muttered in thought. From his ring he got from the Prima Guardian event, he knew that the Seat of the Exalted Prima system event was designed for B-grades, and it was entirely possible that even B-grades from other universes had some way to take part. Not that it mattered much.

“I do feel a little sorry for them all, though,” Jake sighed.

“Why?” Dina asked, confused.

Jake flashed her a cheeky smile. “Because I’m gonna be the one to win whatever system event happens in the end.”

“You do know it’s entirely possible there will be multiple events,” the Sword Saint pointed out. “I seriously doubt the planet will pit an entire universe against each other when only in B-grade. That would simply be way too chaotic.”

“Yeah, yeah, but at the end of everything, I bet there’ll be one winner, and that winner will be me,” Jake insisted arrogantly.

“A World Wonder is rarely something that can be truly monopolized,” a new person entered the conversation as Artemis strolled out of the palace, having definitely heard their prior conversation and decided to join in.

“Most World Wonders offer opportunities, and I doubt the Malefic One would find it wise for you to even try to monopolize the World Wonder, even if theoretically possible. It’s far more likely that even if you win, what you win will be control rights that you can then share with other factions or people. That’s why it still matters to have young geniuses ready to participate… especially if it’s possible to have those talents help you during whatever system events may happen, thus getting their factions in your good graces.”

“And all that once more assumes there will be one final winner,” the Sword Saint pointed out again. “From my understanding, many World Wonders where it’s possible to limit and control access have several factions working together with their respective control rights.”

“Indeed,” Artemis confirmed with a nod. “The point is, no matter what, it’s clear the young generation will have a significant impact in the times to come, so we want to invest in it. It’s especially worth the investment when we have wonderful seeds like Dina here.”

“I thank the Mistress for her confidence,” the dryad druid bowed, looking a bit embarrassed.

“No need for the over-politeness,” Artemis waved her off.

Dina just nodded, still looking a bit awkward.

Minaga, who had been surprisingly silent throughout it all, especially when one considered he was literally there twice, decided to also chime up. “Yeah, we’re all friends here! Speaking of friends, why is the grumpy guy sitting over there and ignoring us all?”

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“He’s not,” Jake chuckled as he turned toward the Forest King. “He’s been listening in all along, hasn’t he?”

“Difficult not to when you decide to meet right next to where I train,” the King answered as he finally stopped floating there with his legs crossed. “I had nothing of note to add to your discussion, and I find it meaningless to engage in hypotheticals before we know more of this upcoming system event. I have enough matters to occupy my time and mind with already.”

“Isn’t he a ray of sunshine?” Minaga smiled at the rest of the group. “Anyway, as much as it pains me, I’ll need to head off now. Dina’s grandpa still needs me, and even Duskleaf has been bothering me a lot lately. Of course, you’ll soon meet my good friend again once you return to Earth and check out the super cool dungeon he’s been working on, but that doesn’t mean I personally won’t miss you.”

“It’s been a pleasure as always,” the Sword Saint nodded at the Unique Lifeform.

“I’ll check out the dungeon… geez,” Jake felt like Minaga had reminded him a few times too many.

“Ree!” Sylphie also said her goodbyes as she flapped her wings a few times to wave.