Chapter 117: 50% Completion
Jacob merely chuckled when he saw how grateful Mr. Observer was. "Don't flatter yourself. Even if you manage to get rid of that parasite gem, do you think you can get rid of me if I decide to hunt you down?"
Mr. Observer felt a chill when he heard those words. Jacobs's fear was deeply rooted in his heart now, and he won't dare to cross Jacob even if he had ten lives.
"Don't worry, boss. This gem will be proof of my loyalty. I can't ask for more." He quickly kneeled.
"Alright now, leave before I change my mind." Jacob waved his hand in annoyance.
"W-what about you? Aren't you coming with me?" Mr. Observer was confused.
Jacob squinted his eyes coldly and said subtly, "Do you really want to know?"
Mr. Observer cursed himself for being an idiot and not reading between the lines and whiffled his head. He quickly stood up. "Again, thank you, Boss. You're the best."
Done finishing, he ran away without stopping. He was clearly afraid Jacob would still lust after heart, literally!
Jacob smirked when he saw Mr. Observer running away like a scaredy-cat despite having a peak b rank strength.
He really meant what he said that day, and since Mr. Observer really did an excellent job in these past six months, he let him go.
Truth be told, if not for Mr. Observer arranging those 'staff members' every month, he won't be able to convert his body at the same level as his 40% completed heart or reach a 48% progress rate and close to fifty percent.
Although Mr. Observer knows about Jacob's strange hobby of collecting the heart after killing his prey. But he didn't dare to question it and even helped him sometimes to collect them despite being disgusted about it.
Jacob shook his head. He was destined to be alone on this path and there was no need for him to make relations with others.
He glanced at Tunny's corpse and mumbled, "I never thought my learning abilities will reach such a level with my strength. You were the only one who knew besides me. So, I can't let you walk away with this secret. But I bury your remains as a token of my appreciation toward you."
In these last six months, Jacob had a far deeper understating of himself. Not only his physical strength was rising with his heart, but his mind was becoming sharper, and his learning ability was already at the level where he learned complex potion-making in six months.
He knew this kind of ability could be a disaster and a blessing at the same time.
From experience, he knew people in power tend to control those who can shake their position when they matured. If they can't control them, they would simply destroy them to get rid of future trouble.
Especially if your talent lies in the field of intellect and has ambition!
He was still a stranger to this world and its complex power structure. If he let his guard down and relaxed, he might be the next Mr. Observer and Tunny for another Jacob.
That's why I was completely ruthless with Tunny.
After he buried Tunny beside a tree, which only took him five minutes.
Jacob picked up his bags and left the area in the completely opposite direction from the rare region at full speed, which was now over 300mph!
Strangely, he was moving in the Humane Kingdom's direction!
After moving for three hours at his top speed, he finally started to exhaust himself. He didn't take the long safe route back because he didn't require it any longer. He was even hoping that some rare animal would jump on him.
Furthermore, he found a small water stream and a small natural cave. He decided to rest here for the night and absorb the ten rare blood essences he had prepared beforehand.
'This should be enough to cross the fifty percent threshold, and I'm already prepared for this advancement,' Jacob mused as he closed the cave entrance with a boulder.
"Cursed Immortality!"
Jacob summons the book and opens the progress page,
...
-Second Level: Turn Immortal Mark into Cursed Mark
-Completion: 48.00%
...
He then took out the injection and injected it without any hesitation.
Furthermore, this syringe was custom-made with titan iron because those normal syringes weren't able to penetrate his skin when he crossed the 40% mark four months ago.
After the heart essence entered his heart, it turned into a stream of warm energy before it vanished within a minute. It was completely absorbed!
He glanced at the progress page.
...
-Second Level: Turn Immortal Mark into Cursed Mark
-Completion: 48.02%
...
Jacob had expected this. Tier-4 to Tier-6 heart essence only provides a 0.2 or 0.3 percent increase maximum in his heart progress now, and he can absorb them within a minute.
He knew after reaching fifty percent, the rare species will be akin to uncommon species to him.
That was one of the reasons he no longer cared about the farm... ahem, Uncommon Dark City.
He mused after reaching fifty percent, only if he consumed the entire dark city could he cross the 60% which was simply not worth making the organization behind the Dark City his enemy.
Jacob didn't stop injecting another heart essence and then another...
After injecting and absorbing the ninth heart essence,
...
-Second Level: Turn Immortal Mark into Cursed Mark
-Completion: 49.09%
...
However, he didn't take the last injection right away. Instead, he speaks, "There's no hidden surprise at the fifty percent, right?"
After what happened at twenty percent, he was very careful whenever he was about to cross these thresholds.
"Why are you such a worrywart? If didn't have any mutant heart essence, then there's no need to worry about anything. Besides, now that you have that potion, is there any need to be cautious anymore?" Immortika annoyingly wrote.
"Hmph. Do you think Titan Iron grows on trees? Now quit your whining and let me advance in peace." Jacob berated and injected the last injection without caring about Immortika's reply.
This time, the process didn't just over in a minute.
The infinity-cursed mark in Jacob's heart suddenly shimmered darkly before it grew inker, and from 1 mm in size, it suddenly started to expand.
Jacob felt like something had just sewn deep within his heart as he clenched his teeth from the pain.
Although this pain was at Jacob's bearable level, it was still not something Jacob enjoyed.
If it was Jacob of the past, he might've gone insane already!
The infinity cursed marked stopped when it expanded to 1 cm from 1 mm, and the blurry pattern within the infinity symbol also became somewhat apparent, but it was still not clear.
Nevertheless, Jacob did not know about it, and he was now feeling relief since the pain had ended, and warmth replaced it.
He knew he had successfully advanced and when a sudden hunger rose; he was a hundred percent sure.
He glanced at the progress.
...
-Second Level: Turn Immortal Mark into Cursed Mark
-Completion: 51.01%
...
'The last injection gave me a whole percent? Nice.' Jacob was content with this progress.
A small vial appeared in his hand, filled with black liquid. It was the titan tears!
From the titan iron in his possession, he acquired 85 drops of titan tears, and he used 20 drops when he reached the 40% completion rate to quench his hunger by 60%.
Now, he had 65 drops, and after he felt the hunger of the 50% completion rate; he knew it was a wise decision to move in this direction.
He quickly gulped down the entire vial, which contained 30 drops.
The hunger was greatly subdued as warm energy seeped into his body.
But soon it completely vanished, and Jacob frowned, 'It seemed now one drop of titan tear can only quench my hunger 1%.'
He quickly took out another vial, which have twenty drops of titan tears, and consumed all of them.
Jacob felt half of his hunger was now gone, and he was far more powerful than he was fifteen minutes ago.
'I should keep the last 15 drops save for now and try sustaining myself with animals until I reach the Earthen Kingdom and find their lode of titan iron. It was indeed the right choice to 'visit' the earthen kingdom before heading to the higher region.
'In here, no one will be able to stop me from taking that titan iron, and once I have a sufficient amount of titan tears, I'll leave them alone.'
Jacob's lips curled into a devious smile.
He wasn't like Jerry and Tunny or anyone else in Dark City, they never bothered with the affairs of the barren, uncommon region.
That's why they missed out on the only titan iron lode in the uncommon region that exists in the Earthen Kingdom of Hob Troll.
Now, it benefits Jacob, and with his current prowess, those hob trolls would be courting death if they dared to stop him!