After the final decision was made, one by one, the group all left Jake's room.
Two minutes later, it was only his leader, Eden, that remained as they had a heavy topic to discuss.
Stopping at the door, Eden faced Jake, "How many more?"
His subtle didn't confuse Jake. Instead, the latter scribbled something on his notebook and showed Eden.
"This is your last one. Time flies fast, heh," teased Eden.
He looked at Jake's deadpan face and stopped his bad attempt at a joke.
Donning his serious face, he replied to Jake, "One last time... Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"
Jake scribbled down an answer for Eden to see.
Looking at it, Eden laughed out loud, "This is something you don't hear every day, hahaha"
He opened Jake's door to leave, before repeating the content on the note for his amusement, "If we don't complete the mission, we will probably die. If we complete it, we will quit our job. In any case, this is more important than it seems. Ending with you leaving in both scenarios, whether to the underworld or to the Central Continent. Hahahaa, what a cruel way to put it."
Dwelling on Jake's words, he left the room and closed the door.
*Bam!*
As soon as he heard the sound, Jake sighed and quickly got comfortable.
He arranged his room and then removed the cloak he wore.
Stripping down to his underpants, Jake went to a nearby mirror to stare at himself.
'.....two months..' mentally marked Jake.
Vividly examining himself in the mirror, Jake was once again reminded that it had been exactly a year since he had arrived in this strange world.
A year...just hundreds of days, yet he had experienced a lot of unbelievable things.
His appearance had not drastically changed, not even a bit. However, there were new features added to his beautiful looks.
Gotten from his encounter with a [Grade-3 Demonic Beasts] was a small vertical scar on his face, close to his right eye.
Back then, the injury had almost damaged his right eye, if not for the healer that saved him. She also added contact lens to protect his eye and camouflage it.
There were other new features, but they were too hard to notice.
Jake trailed his hand to his throat. His body trembled under the soft touch of his fingers.
This was one of the things that had detained him for quite a well.
Jake had never used a notebook to communicate. So, why did he use it now?
It was simply because he had decided to act like a princess two months ago at the beast's attack on the sea.
He remembered perfectly. He was about to die when he released his melodious voice, summoning the sea serpents to save him.
Jake understood that his scream was way too high for his body to endure. It messed up his throat any now he was unable to produce clear sounds.
Basically, he was dumb--Wait, that's offensive!
Basically, he was mute.
However, he was not distraught as the scream saved his life and also shed light on his identity.
He now knew that he wasn't human, but just someone that looked like one.
If he made a sharp cut on his skin, he would see a silvery blue blood that started getting brighter after the sea attack.
It started from deep red, but every single day it reverted back to its original color.
This was confusing, but Jake paid no attention to it, at least for now. Aside from just the change in his blood, nothing else seemed to manifest!
He was still the same old Jake, except he was more prone to injuries and his healing factor had reduced now. His face was also pale, not that it mattered.
All in all, he was messed up!
After his blackout two months ago, he washed up to his island, battered with injuries, and was saved by Eden.
However, nothing ever came for free. In exchange for saving him, Jake had to join Eden's group and complete a set of missions.
Obviously, he could not reject the offer, especially when he was banged up.
Plus, the strength of Eden wasn't one to smirk at. Eden was at [Realm-3 Stage-2] and was possibly one of the strongest on this island.
He was close to the king of Aztec in strength, but Jake could tell that he was still very far off.
However, he was much older in comparison. When his mates when drunk, they spilled out that he was over eighty years old.
Jake wasn't surprised when he heard that, as he had expected that. It was the beauty of cultivation, it prolongs one's lifespan and hides proof of age.
One could never tell the precise age of a cultivator without using special means. However, they could tell the age group and talent.
As a cultivator approaches the maximum lifespan of his present cultivation realm, his appearance catches up to him, leading him to rapidly age.
It was the same for Eden, as one of the oldest on the island, his appearance was also the oldest.
The Aztec king was in his thirties, while Eden was in his seventies. Yet, the younger one was stronger than the older one. Talent!
It all boiled down to one's capacity to progress.
It was the same case for Jake. After absorbing the [source essence] of multiple Sea Serpents and the Kraveld, Jake's talent had reached new heights.
His absorption rate took him to the end of [Realm 2], where he currently was, prepared for a breakthrough into the legendary [Realm-3].
This was also why Eden picked Jake. He saw potential in the youngster and couldn't waste the debt that Jake owed him.
It was a mutual relationship that benefitted both sides.
One that Jake felt comfortable in.
After checking his body, Jake proceeded to apply healing salve and consume medicines. It was something he did regularly.
He needed it to regain the power of speech and his body, while seeming stronger, had reduced in defense.
However, Jake had not wasted his two months. He had learned other techniques, including elemental ones, which enriched him on his path.
As there was no hidden stage for [Realm-2]. Actually, there was, but it was not something hard to achieve.
Jake had achieved it last week. He didn't spare a sweat to do that.
Now, all that was left for him was to break into [Realm-3], surpassing his peers in the process.
So, today, after hearing on their next bounty hunt, Jake decided to break through to [Realm-3] at this very moment.