Somewhere in the inner region of the Magic Beast Forest, a bone fire lit a spacious cave.
Jacob sat in front of the bonfire and chewed on a roasted leg while a small pile of clean bones was sitting beside him.
Sitting on the opposite side of the bonfire was an 8'1-foot-tall purple scale kobold wearing black armor, but his eyes were deadpan as he stared straight at Jacob without blinking.
It was naturally Autarch who had changed its body from a gnome to a kobold who was the strongest in the alchemist group bought out by Jacob despite being a Grandmaster Rank Potion Alchemist.
"It's rude to stare at someone while they are eating." Jacob impassively said at this moment as he finished off the meal which was quite fulfilling as he was feeling quite powerful, especially after eating that Bronze Puppet Assassin.
Jacob had a feeling that his heart was more powerful than those Iron Puppet Assassins, and he probably gained far more with its heart than he did with all seven of them combined.
Still, it didn't mean he was happy about it. On the contrary, he was feeling quite apprehensive because if more than ten of those bronze robe guys came after him, he might not escape without paying a steep price.
He never thought the Killer Skull Society was hiding such a terrifying trump card under their sleeve. But he was also confused about why they were sending them in small groups, not all of them together, since it would be easier to kill him.
This was the only thing he couldn't comprehend.
"I'm not staring, I'm just observing how Sir could eat so much since it's impossible according to my memories, and only a giant can eat this much, but Sir is clearly not giant." Autarch emotionlessly stated.
Although he can act like a normal being but in front of Jacob, he seems to prefer talking with his true self, which seems to have no emotion, and Jacob also prefers the real Autarch.
"Like you, I also have special abilities which I can't tell you for your own good." Jacob coldly stated.
Despite knowing Autarch can't betray him, he still chooses to keep his abilities to himself since no one has seen the future.
"Understood." Autarch nodded expressionlessly before he asked something again, "Can I know why you were attacked and by whom or were you hunting?"
Jacob scoffed, "I was attacked by an organization called the Killer Skull Society, and it might not be their last attempt."
Autarch nodded, "I indeed have a set of memories about the notorious Killer Skull Society."
"Then I don't need to explain it any further. All you need to know is they are my enemies and now yours as well. If in the future, if you find any news related to them, report it to me." Jacob ordered.
"Understood."
"Now, I need you to look into these space rings for me and tell me what is inside them. They are related to the Killer Skull Society as well." Jacob then flipped his hand ten space rings appeared.
Those space rings belonged to none other than Skull No. A-0, who died by Jacob's hand, and in his mind, the Killer Skull Society was sending those mutants after him because of these space rings.
Before, he didn't have any means to open them, nor did he trust anyone enough to ask them to open these rings for him.
He could've even made someone open them and then kill them, but he decided to wait until he subdued Brain Hunter or awakened magic power of his own.
"What about the space rings you gave me to sort out before?" Autarch expressionlessly questioned.
Jacob questioned in return, "Are you done with them?"
Autarch nodded, "Yes. I was done in an hour. Do you want them right now?"
Jacob nodded without hesitation, "Yes. If you don't need anything, I will be keeping them on me since you will be changing your body often and might even need to abandon it if this kind of attack happens again.
"So, these items will be safe with me. I want you to make an inventory list on the Star Watch about the items in those rings and then send them to me. But you may keep one Advance Type-1 Space Ring and anything useful to you for your personal use."
"Thank you, Sir. But there is nothing useful in those rings for me. I'll keep a ring for convenience." Autarch stated before he took off the ring from his ring finger before he, took out another ring from it, and handed it to Jacob.
Jacob accepted it without hesitation and stowed it away in his pendant as he knew now he didn't need to worry about running out of space as he could let Autarch store anything in those rings.
Then he handed Autarch those rings he discovered on A-0.
Autarch didn't waste any time and wore one of the ten rings and tried to open it. The ring shimmered azure light before it returned to normal.
Autarch then looked at Jacob with a deadpan expression while Jacob was looking at him with anticipation since he wanted to know what was inside those rings, which made the Killer Skull Society so hyperactive.
Autarch impassively said, "I cannot open it. It is inaccessible. I'm sorry." From start to finish, his expression didn't change.
Jacob was startled, and then he frowned as he knew Autarch wasn't lying. He didn't have the ability to lie to him, but this revelation was still hard to swallow, "Why?"
"My magic power was blocked by some barrier that is stopping me from probing into the independent space of this space ring. It's like some encryption has been placed on it." Autarch replied.
"Try others," Jacob said with a clouded expression as he was feeling indignation and perplexed to the extreme.
Autarch, oblivious to Jacob's inner turmoil, did as he was told and started to wear those remaining nine rings one after another, and each time like a robot, it would say 'Inaccessible' and move on to the other.
Jacob's fury was at the boiling point until Autarch's words were finally changed on its eighth try, "This one is accessible!"