Ch. 11..20

Chapter 11

With his newly acquired funds, Jack got up and exited the now empty association building. He used the system to scan the bag and found that it contained twenty-four silver coins and eleven gold coins.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that they barely deserved to be called coins. They were loosely cut and had no image on either side. Regardless, Jack made his way to the town square in the city’s center in search of a place to spend the little wealth he had.

After around five minutes of walking, he could see numerous small tents and stands scattered across what looked like a large medieval rock garden. Jack hurriedly entered the sea of people perusing the many wares presented.

He soon discovered that all similar products and services were bunched together. Apparel and accessories were to the north, trinkets and magical items were to the east, beasts and any beast related items were to the west, and weapons were to the south.

Thanks to Zariff, his weapon was already very good for a lv. 1 and Jack knew he wouldn’t be lv. 1 for long, so he didn’t bother with the many weapon stands. The east was where his attention went.

Jack took a lap around the many shops while fiddling with the stat gem in his hand. While on his second lap, a hoarse voice called out to him, "Boy, need me to embed that gem into something?"

Looking back Jack saw an older man with tattered facial hair at a small stand. Thanks to his years of experience playing the game, Jack did well to spot most of the fake items and scams during his first lap.

The old man didn’t have too many items available, but they were all decent quality. He started to walk over when a young merchant in extravagant clothes from the neighboring canopy yelled, "Don’t listen to that old coot! Something that simple, I can do free of charge with any purchase. Come, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed."

Jack was about to smile when he got a good look at what the young merchant offered. Most of the items were mediocre and some were fakes in front of Jack’s well-trained eyes and the achievement system’s detailed scans. But he perused anyways, acting interested in the few decent items available. "How much for this pendant?" asked Jack.

Before the young merchant could answer, the old man chimed in, "If that’s the kind of stuff you’re looking for, then you shouldn’t browse my wares."

This caught Jack’s attention and got him to respond before the young merchant could offer a rebuttal. "Oh? And why’s that? From what I see, your selection is very small. Everything you have is very adequate, but nothing too over the top that’s worth my time."

"Then why not come over and get a closer look, that way you can inspect my more valuable wares without other’s competition," said the old man with a grin full of dark, unruly teeth.

Hearing that Jack knew the old man was an adept salesman, but that also meant he might have some items not typically found on the market. Immediately, Jack put down the pendant in his hand and marched to the old man.

"Sir, please! I’ve got much more in the back, I’ll cut you a deal," begged the young merchant, obviously inexperienced and not confidant enough to stand his ground against the old man’s offer. It was the lack of confidence that caused Jack to leave the young man’s beautiful canopy for the run-down wooden stall with a worn-out curtain hiding the stock in the back.

"What do you got for me?" asked Jack.

"The name’s Zarris, and yours?" the old man introduced himself.

"The name’s Jack. I’m sure you’ve already seen through my level with your appraisal abilities, so why target me?" stated Jack.

Zarris chuckled, "You may be lv. 1, but of the thousands of people I’ve worked with you’re the first to have a strange class. Hero, wasn’t it?"

"Looks like you’re better than I thought," said Jack. "Then you should also have some wares that are, shall we ’unusual?’"

"You’ve come to the right place." Zarris disregarded everything he had on display and entered the back, leaving the curtain open behind him.

Jack took the hint and entered as well before closing the curtain. It was obvious to Zarris that Jack was a new adventurer, but his gut told him that Jack was far more unique. He had made it this far by following his gut feelings, for that reason he decided to befriend Jack.

Not many would notice, but Zarris could tell that Jack was carefully perusing and actively avoiding the typically attractive sales prices on display. Such a customer was unique and worth extra effort.

"So Zarris, what’s so special back here?" asked Jack with a slight smile.

"As you can see, I don’t boast the largest selection; in fact, I have one of the smallest collections in all town square. But I make up for it all with quality and rarity," Zarris’ crooked grin became warmer. "Forget that stat gem, I’ll take care of that easily. Tell me what you’re really after."

Jack tossed the stat gem to Zarris and sighed. He told the truth in hopes that Zarris would offer some special benefits. "Fine. I’m a newly summoned hero who got in an argument with the king and joined the Adventurers Association instead. Currently, I’m desperate to level up faster than humanly possible, got anything that can help?"

Zarris’ weary eyes showed a glimmer of light after hearing Jack’s brief request. "In that case, it will be hard to find such a thing even if you search the entire town square. Lucky for you, my small collection can usually offer something fitting of strange requests. Check this out." Zarris opened one of the leather chests on the floor and threw a small, emerald green pearl.

Jack snatched it out of the air eagerly. He knew exactly what this was before even the system could notify him. Some of the earlier achievements in the game had level caps, forcing Jack to reset his level and grind it back to the top. If it weren’t for these emerald-like spheres, Jack would’ve wasted a lot of time aimlessly farming EXP back then. "A weathered jade?"

"You’re not like any lv. 1 I’ve ever met," Zarris’ intuition on befriending Jack was confirmed correct the moment Jack named the item. Most experienced adventurers might have only heard about such an item, let alone instantly recognize it. "Consider that a gift from me to you, hero."

"Call me Jack. Normally I’m against gifts, but I’m desperate for immediate leveling. In return, how about I become an official patron?" offered Jack.

Zarris’ wild grin expanded into roaring laughter. His gamble won him the lottery. It wouldn’t bring him too much immediate return since Jack was only lv. 1 but having a summoned hero as a patron was well worth the weathered jade for advertisement alone. Not to mention the items that he could buy off Jack in the future. He calmed his laughter and said, "Wonderful! Then I shall also offer you a patron’s discount. What else do you need, now that we’ve settled that?"

After a moment of thought, Jack opened up to Zarris. "Let me tell you about my unique circumstances. I’m different than offer heroes. Not only do I have a separate class, but I also have my own subclass as well. To explain it simply, I can gain almost any skill, but I must meet random and unusual demands to be able to slowly master them. I’m not a fan of general wares, I like what used to known as adaptive items. Do you know anything about those?"

"Adaptive items..." Zarris was a little startled by Jack’s mention of such unique items that were uncommon centuries ago. In modern times, such things were only found in legends and possibly in ancient ruins yet to be discovered. "Sadly, in modern times such things rarely exist. Might I ask how a lv. 1 like yourself even knows about them?"

"Let’s just say that before I was summoned to this era, I was already familiar with ancient Kartonia. If you ever find anything from that era, I’ll be the first to buy it, got it?" said Jack with a wry smile.

"Of course! With your knowledge, you may know of some things that an old man like me may not understand. You’ll be the first person I’ll contact whenever I get anything of true value. Can we link contact crystals?" Zarris was ecstatic. He had hit a gold mine in his newfound partnership.

"Contact crystals?"

"You don’t know of them?" said Zarris, slightly stunned as he pulled out what looked like two hexagonal diamonds as big as his palm. "These are contact crystals. They let us communicate with anyone we’ve linked within a certain distance. These are low tier like everyone else’s. Those in the middle tier are only affordable to large guilds or factions. But these are plenty strong, as long as you don’t go beyond the surrounding towns or villages, we’ll be able to contact each other. Here, take one."

"Thank you," said Jack. He didn’t question the usual cost because he was certain that it was above his current budget. These kind offerings from Zarris struck a chord in Jack’s heart, cementing the importance of their relationship. "Is there anything else you’d recommend I get before I leave town?"

Zarris kept smiling and answered, "I think there’s one more thing only you would be interested in."

 

Chapter 12

"I think there’s one more thing only you would be interested in." Zarris uncovered his sleeve and activated the hidden, ornate storage band on his right arm. An item appeared in his hands. It was deceptively small and seemed insignificant, but Jack’s gaming veteran eyes were green with envy and greed. Seeing this reaction, Zarris chuckled and lobbed it to Jack, "Here, tell me what you know."

"You don’t know what this is?" Jack didn’t hide his true emotions; he already knew that Zarris wouldn’t scam him and that his relationship with a merchant like Zarris was crucial for his growth.

"Not a clue. I’ve asked dozens of merchants and craftsmen but all they can tell me is that it’s probably linked to ancient times. They all offered a great deal for it, but I refuse to sell anything without knowing its purpose," said the old man in deceptively tattered clothing.

Jack tried to calm his nerves before he explained the item. "It’s not an adaptive item, but it isn’t any less valuable. This type of item can be soul bound, in other words, it can only be used by a single person who must bind and link it with their soul. Without the know-how to perform the activation ritual, it’s completely useless."

Zarris’ was somewhat saddened when Jack said it wasn’t an adaptive item, but a smile too big for his face immediately formed after he heard it was an item that could be soul bound. Items like those were nearly impossible to acquire, let alone forge and equip. He said, "I found it while visiting a ruin over a decade ago. After holding on to it for so long and rejecting so many offers, I can finally be at ease. Now go on, tell me what it does."

Jack took a minute to read the system’s item description to ensure he fully understood the item’s capabilities. He then gave a summary to the patiently waiting Zarris. "This is a type of soul-piercing; the item’s been named "Privacy Screen".

By piercing it anywhere on your body and performing the right ritual to link it to your soul, you will be able to conceal any information or general presence on demand. If you were to link it and then stand in front of someone, they’ll still see you. It just conceals your aura and prevents anyone from easily seeing through your level, class, and other general info."

"Hmm..." Zarris didn’t know what to say. It was something incredibly rare and specially crafted during ancient times, but it had a very specific use and wouldn’t be generally attractive to a lot of buyers.

"Let me make you a deal," said Jack, effectively grabbing Zarris’ attention. "Let me have this. It’s possible to find other buyers but they won’t know how to activate it and link it to their soul. Besides, this is perfect for a newbie like me that doesn’t want everyone to know that I’m a summoned hero. What’s it gonna take to walk away with this?"

Squinting his eyes and stroking his unkempt beard, Zarris pondered the offered carefully. It didn’t take long for him to say, "Very well, you take it. As payment, you’ll let me watch you activate it so I can learn this for myself. That kind of knowledge nowadays is priceless."

Jack laughed lightly, "Good, cause I was going to need your help to do so anyway. I’m too low leveled to perform the ritual, so I’ll have to teach you either way. You’re over lv. 20, right?"

"Of course! I’m actually lv. 31 despite the old looks," declared Zarris proudly.

Jack wasn’t too surprised. Considering the fact that the old man had survived in ancient ruins which were probably filled with booby traps, Zarris would need at least this level of strength and an insane amount of luck. "Perfect, then let me explain the process."

Jack instructed Zarris to draw a large hexagram on the floor and surround it with a ring of characters used during ancient Kartonia that Jack easily understood thanks to "A Hero’s Tale." They made sure to use some magical beast blood that Zarris had on hand as the medium; this would increase the possibility of success to almost 100%.

Jack sat down in the center and Zarris stood at the side and followed Jack’s command to direct some of his mana into the hexagram, causing it to dimly glow.

"Now you must recite these words exactly. Repeat after me, ’Ice!’" said Jack, as he pierced his left ear with the earring, and he began to dimly glow like the hexagram.

"Ice!" Zarris grew excited and spoke loudly.

"Bank!" continued Jack.

"Bank!" Zarris followed along.

"Mice!"

"Mice!"

"Elf!"

"Elf!"

"Now repeat!" said Jack.

Zarris instantly memorized the few words and continued reciting, "Ice... Bank... Mice... Elf..."

"Louder!" Jack and the hexagram showed an even brighter glow.

The old Zarris showed more enthusiasm at the sight of this. "Ice! Bank! Mice! Elf!"

"Faster!"

"Ice, Bank, Mice, Elf!" Zarris subconsciously released even more mana into the hexagram as he shouted.

"Once more!"

"ICE BANK MICE ELF!" yelled Zarris at the top of his lungs, loud enough for all neighboring shops to hear.

"HA HA HA!!" Suddenly the light flashed brightly and disappeared, leaving a dull, used up hexagram and a hysterical young hero rolling on the floor in laughter. Zarris was confused until he heard Jack say, "Wow Zarris, I didn’t know you were into that. Do you spank yourself daily or weekly?"

Zarris’ face began to glow an even brighter red then the formerly lit hexagram and yelled, "You! You made me say such drivel! I ought to—"

"The link was successful." That quick line got Zarris to shut up but couldn’t help the old man hide his moment of shame. "The ritual doesn’t need you to recite anything. Just dump enough mana into the pentagram and make sure to pierce it after it has begun to glow. I’m grateful for your help; I don’t have anywhere near enough mana to pull this off on my own."

With a few long, deep breaths, Zarris temporarily curbed his frustration. "So that’s it huh? It’s simple enough, I just wish I understood those symbols. Either way, I can now replicate it when needed. It’s a good thing I have a few more soul piercings to sell now."

"You have more?" Jack stopped laughing and immediately felt like he got shortchanged. But he quickly dispersed such thoughts and had to give credit to Zarris for his sales tactics. "Can I see them? I might be interested in cutting another deal and can at least let you know what each piercing can do specifically."

Without hesitation, Zarris threw three more rings to Jack and wore a smile on his face after getting the upper hand in the end. Jack inspected each ring carefully. He noticed that all four piercings were crafted by the same person and he was blown away by something.

The craftsman carried a title, not like a grandmaster but a title given through achievements from "A Hero’s Tale." Such a discovery led Jack to believe that the characters everyone played as in "A Hero’s Tale" actually lived in ancient Kartonia and affected it personally. Before his mind ran away with that theory, Jack grounded himself and threw two of the piercings back to Zarris.

"What did you find?" asked Zarris, seeing Jack make a startled face.

"The piercing in your left hand is called ’Life Tree’s Leaf’ and it will passively increase total mana capacity and regeneration by 5%. Your right hand is holding ’Life Tree’s Seed’ and is part of the same set as ’Life Tree’s Leaf.’ It will passively increase total health capacity and regeneration by 5%," answered Jack.

"And the one in your hand?" asked Zarris with a lifted eyebrow.

"I’d rather not say, and I will make whatever deal I need to in order to leave here with it," said Jack.

Zarris was surprised that Jack was so determined to leave with the other when he knew how great the other two were. He was ecstatic to have found a set of soul piercings, but he wondered what could be better than those?

"I can tell you this, I’m the only one who can use this one to its fullest potential. For other adventurers, this little thing in my hand is useless compared to that set," stated Jack.

It was a difficult decision for Zarris, especially now that he knew how to activate them. He mulled it over in his head and tried to imagine what would have equivalent value to an ancient soul-piercing. After a few moments, Zarris nodded and said, "Very well, the last one is yours. But now you owe me a favor. No matter the request you must not refuse when the time comes. Got it?"

Jack was a little apprehensive, but he agreed. "For a friend, anything."

They both smiled, each excited for their new treasures. After they quickly performed another activation ritual and made a promise to meet up next month, Jack left the stand. He quickly left town square and hurried home. When Rydel was nowhere to be found in their room, Jack sighed and stroked the stud piercing that now sat above the "Privacy Screen." Excitement filled his body as he thought of the piercing’s name, "Hidden Agenda."

 

Chapter 13

Jack hurriedly opened his hero menu and went into his achievement list. There were six new achievements and one newly completed achievement. To Jack’s surprise, he selected and read the newly completed achievement.

[Get Zariff’s recognition: completed]

[Gain Zariff’s respect and recognition as an adventurer or hero. Reward: varies on what he recognizes you as. Would you like to claim the reward?]

He instantly claimed it and received another notification, catching him completely off guard.

[Get Zariff’s recognition: claimed]

[Zariff respects and recognizes you as a brother in arms, not as an adventurer or hero. Special reward: 30 skill points, access to "Hero’s Inventory," access to "Hero’s Map," and new achievement available.]

It took Jack a moment to gather his thoughts and calm his heart after reading this. From his perspective, just getting thirty skill points was well above his expectations, not to mention the other stuff. Before he could imagine how to spend thirty skill points, he exited the achievement and received two notifications about "Hero’s Inventory" and "Hero’s Map." Curiously he selected "Hero’s Inventory" first.

To his astonishment the system began to act on its own, bringing Jack back to the main menu. Jack saw that the button labeled "Inventory" changed colors from gray to green, or from inaccessible to accessible.

The inventory was directly opened and showed a list of everything Jack had on his person. There was even a section devoted to what he had equipped, letting him see each item’s description and making it easy to quickly switch equipment when needed. Just below the equipment section, there were sets of numbers displayed that read: 0 B, 24 S, 11 G, 0 P. This was all the money that Jack had with him, making it even easier for Jack to recognize this as the same inventory screen from "A Hero’s Tale."

Jack finally let his mind start thinking and exploring different theories. He tried to mess around with the new inventory function but was again startled by his findings.

Like in the game, he could select an item on the screen and be able to access it immediately, as if it had teleported from his pockets or bag into his hands. The same could be said for putting things away, but there was no actual storage like in the game. When he put something away, it would only reappear whenever it had come from.

He tried taking an item from his bag and placing it on the floor around you. That was when the system had lost connection with the item and it no longer became accessible through the inventory.

With his discovery, Jack had mixed feelings. He liked having immediate access to his stuff but was depressed that he had no ability to store something. The only solution would be to get a special bag that could hold a vast quantity of items using magic, but he would either have to reach lv. 30 himself to make one or buy one for who knows how much gold.

Hoping it would make him feel better, Jack opened his notifications and selected the one about "Hero’s Map." Again, the system took him back to the main menu and unlocked the "Map" button before opening it. Jack was expecting to see an updated version of the beautifully detailed map he loved to explore so much. What he saw was a decent outline of the continent with thirty-two countries labeled crudely. It was the same map that Jezelle had given him.

"What the..." thought Jack. It wasn’t too hard for him to figure out the issue. He tried to zoom in on the Reinolt Kingdom, but nothing changed; the same went for Trodar. The map would only carry information from other maps that Jack must acquire. It was easy for the system to accumulate and filter all the information into its comprehensive map, but it could only be as accurate as the information it was given.

Both new system functions would be very helpful, but Jack was sad it wasn’t as broken as in all the video games he loved. Clinging to their usefulness, he disregarded them not meeting his high expectations and moved on to see the new achievement he unlocked. At first glance, the air in Jack’s throat felt solid and impossible to breathe in.

[Save Zariff’s life: in progress]

[Find a means to save Zariff’s life. Reward: varies on how quickly and efficiently you can complete the task.]

Jack was frozen stiff for a few minutes as he tried to mentally digest what he had just read. Multiple times, he would close and open the achievement. At first, it was to verify it was a legitimate achievement and not his imagination; he kept doing it to see if it would update and offer any more information on how Zariff would die. With no results to his madness, Jack slowly laid his back on the worn-out mattress under him.

With everything happening so strangely, it took Jack some time to reach a conclusion. The Achievement System was not a godlike system that was equivalent to video game programs, but it was far more adaptive. Not only did it analyze and evaluate Jack’s circumstances, but it could also determine the needs, wants, and fates of those he interacted with. It gave no deep information, but the system understood that Zariff’s life was being threatened in some way or form. How? That was Jack’s job to figure out.

"What’s gotten to you kid?" A voice from the doorway broke the silence. The lanky and long-haired hunter continued, "You’ve been awfully quiet, but your face keeps changing. Something wrong?"

Jack hesitated to ask, but he steeled himself and said, "Is there something wrong with the chief? He’s not dying, is he?"

"Why do you ask?" Rydel’s tone became more serious.

Startled to see Rydel’s sudden change, Jack asked, "Wait, seriously!? He’s dying?"

Rydel shook his head and spat into the hallway out of disgust. "That’s something you don’t need to know, kid. It’s not like you can do anything about it."

"At least tell how! If not, as your roommate I’ll be even more obnoxious than Jezelle," said Jack, hoping he was able to guess a weak point of Rydel’s. It was a direct hit and caused Rydel’s face to twitch upon the thought. "Tell me, why is the chief’s life in danger?"

"Fine but keep it to yourself. Not even Maura knows this," answered Rydel. "The last major bounty that the chief hunted down was a hard job to chase after one of the top five bounties in the country. The chief didn’t want to go after the man, but the king came begging and offered three times the usual amount. Tempted by such a large amount of coin, the chief took the job."

"How long ago was this?" asked Jack.

"He accepted the job six months ago and it took him three months to track him down and finally capture the man. The chief came back in one piece and turned in the corpse for the massive reward. With the money, the entire branch celebrated on the chief’s tab," said Rydel.

"That’s according to everyone else, right?"

"You guessed it. The chief looked and still looks completely fine. Medics and clerics have all run diagnostics on him, but nothing ever came back negative. But the chief is certain that something is wrong, so much that he reached out to me and asked for my help to gather intel that might help. I haven’t found anything so far, so my big question is how you figured out the chief’s problem," stated Rydel as he flipped the conversation around.

"You already know about my weird subclass. It’s thanks to one of my abilities that I learned about the risk to that old fart’s life. But that’s all the info I got; it didn’t specify or give me any leads. I only knew that you and he were close, and I wondered if you might know." Jack shrugged his shoulders and quickly answered. "I wonder, why was he so certain he had a problem if all the medics and clerics gave him a clean bill of health?"

"Cause the man he hunted down was known as ’Yellow Jacket.’ He was a lv. 34 shaman who was on the verge of becoming a necromancer. The man committed mass murders and genocides across the country as a catalyst to get him closer to necromancy. His two specialties were curses and poisons. By using the two jointly, killing an entire village in a night was very more than possible. More than a week before he would release his poison through the air, water, or other means, Yellow Jacket would stealthily lay curse marks across the town. These curses were nearly undetectable and would prevent you from being healed by any person or item under lv. 30. Once that was active, poisoning towns were a cinch," explained Rydel.

Jack’s expression grew ugly and tense, but Rydel kept going. "In order to reach Yellow Jacket, the chief did something only he would be ignorant enough to do."

 

Chapter 14

Jack looked down and rubbed his eyebrows after realizing that’s exactly how Zariff would act in the face of death. He thought to himself briefly, "That idiot! You don’t have to charge right at someone to get a job done, especially not against someone like this."

Rydel was thinking the same before he continued, "Yellow Jacket hid in a mountain cave, but I’m sure you’ve already guessed the rest."

"That old fart was impatient and charged in despite the traps and curses surrounding the entrance. He made it to Yellow Jacket and used his barbaric strength to overpower him at the cost of being cursed and poisoned without a doubt," sighed Jack.

"Afterwards there were teams of medics and clerics hired by the king to tend to him immediately. They had planned for him to be impatient and waited for him to drag Yellow Jacket’s body from the cave. Once he came back outside, they all took turns removing poisons and curses of all kinds. According to them, they removed every threat, but the chief says otherwise. Wanna know why he’s been drunk all day?"

"To numb the pain," guessed Jack. "If Yellow Jacket was so well known for poisons and curses, then it’s likely that he has some unknown and untraceable toxins and curses. That’s my guess anyway. How does the chief feel exactly?"

"Not a clue."

"What?" said Jack. "What do you mean?"

Rydel rephrased, "I don’t have a clue how the chief feels. He won’t tell me that part. I was just told to search for the existence of untraceable toxins and curses. If you want to know that, good luck with him." He strolled into the room and laid across the bottom bunk across from Jack and instantly began snoring.

Jack didn’t bother him, knowing that if he did a knife might end up in his face. He got up and left the room to avoid disturbing Rydel any further. Exiting the association building, Jack saw the moon in the sky and the deserted streets. The markets were mostly closed, leaving only the high rolling shops and the shadier vendors.

During his trip to town square earlier in the day, he overheard some people talking about a park well off the beaten path and inquired about it. One turn led to another until Jack was on the outskirts of Reinolt City and climbing a large hill. When he made it to the top, his eyes widened and took in the view of the city below. Jack was in awe of the beautiful night lights scattered across the city.

"Ha, even a brat can find this place. It’s not so secret anymore I guess," a rough voice growled at Jack from atop a huge tree.

Jack didn’t shift his gaze, he only said, "Rumor has it that a ghost of a giant would hide here in the trees and cry where no one could see or hear him. If I knew it would just be an old fart like you, I would’ve brought Maura to chew you out."

"What is it brat? Did you already blow through your coin?" asked Zariff, unfazed by Jack’s sarcasm.

"Nah, I haven’t spent even one," said Jack as he pulled out the small bag from a pocket within his cloak and threw it down. "Here."

"What for?" asked Zariff who had yet to show himself.

"I’m buying information. Now tell me, is that much worth knowing what’s wrong with you?"

Zariff’s large frame fell from the tree and landed in front of the unflinching Jack. He said, "Rydel told you? I can’t trust—"

"I asked Rydel for more information after figuring it out myself. Wanna guess how I figured it out?" intercepted Jack. Zariff swallowed some saliva and didn’t respond, so Jack continued, "All I know is that whatever you have is life-threatening, that I can guarantee."

Hearing such harsh words, Zariff’s face paled a little. "You’re certain? How?"

"With the subclass achievement junkie, there are certain things I do to increase my skills. One thing I’ve learned is that I need to save your life, but I can’t do that when I don’t know what’s threatening you," said Jack.

"If you don’t want to admit it, then just say so. I’ve only just met you and I don’t know you all that well. My guess is you already knew you’d die and you’re just trying to find someone suitable to fill your job. If that’s the case, who better than a summoned hero, right?"

"So, you’ve already made assumptions," replied Zariff. "If you mention this to anyone, especially Maura, you’re dead brat."

"If that’s what it takes," said Jack with a slight smile.

Zariff chuckled, "There are two things; a toxin, and a curse. One is life-threating and the other is even worse."

Jack tried to imagine what could be worse than death but only shuddered. Then Zariff continued, "It’s the poison that’s threatening my life. My veins are slowly rejecting my blood, some already shriveled up. The pain is too much to function without some help." Zariff brandished a large bottle in his hand.

With his extensive experience and knowledge of "A Hero’s Tale," Jack began to search his mind for anything similar to what Zariff mentioned. A couple of things came to mind, but Jack quickly settled on what it most likely was. "Tell me, were you injected with the poison or did you breathe it in?"

"Injected. That madman coated his booby traps and weapons with it."

"Okay, then it’s definitely the walking death toxin," said Jack. It was a heavy blow to both Jack and Zariff. "By the look on your face, I can tell you’ve heard of it. I’m very familiar with it and might be able to make an antidote."

"Impossible! There’s no antidote for the walking death toxin! It an ancient poison that could destroy entire kingdoms if left unchecked. It’s called walking death because every step you take exhausts your veins and arteries, speeding up your death. And a snarky brat like yourself thinks he can pull something off like an antidote? You’re insane!" barked Zariff, fuming with anger.

Jack paid him no mind and simply waited for the angry giant to let off some steam. Soon enough, Zariff’s breathing returned to normal and he calmly bowed his head. "I’m sorry."

"No worries, my skin’s too thick for an old fart like you to hurt it. And yes, I can make an antidote. I promise." Jack hid the fact that in "A Hero’s Tale," he was the first person in the game to use walking death toxin. He had unlocked access to a special dungeon through the course of achievement hunting and was the first to win the toxin. As time passed more adventurers eventually got the toxin and its fame spread across Kartonia.

"Well, even if you can make an antidote, you’ll need the ingredients. For something as potent as the walking death toxin, who knows what you’ll need to find," rebutted Zariff

As much as Jack wanted to disagree, he couldn’t. In modern Kartonia not only were many ancient items missing, but ancient plants and beasts were missing too. And thanks to the development of so many countries since those times, all of Jack’s previous knowledge on where to find certain items was rendered mostly useless.

Luckily, the antidote didn’t carry an enormous list of ingredients, needing only one peak tier ingredient and three high tier ingredients alongside some easily harvested items.

"Either way, leave the poison to me. What about the curse? You said it was worse than death?" asked Jack.

"The curse isn’t an immediate or urgent threat, but in my eyes, it’s far more frightening. I can’t level up or gain any EXP because it’s being drained away faster than I can gain it. In two months, I’ll drop to lv. 35, then it can only speed up until I hit zero," said Zariff with depression apparent in his eyes.

Shivers ran down Jack’s spine after hearing that. He didn’t need to think or ponder to find out the problem, but he mentally agreed that comparing death to the result of this curse was like comparing a pooping pigeon with a ferocious pterodactyl. "We’ll do everything we can to stop both the toxin and the curse, no matter what."

"Wait, you know, don’t you?" Zariff saw the fear well up in Jack’s eyes after his explanation of the curse. It was one thing to feel sorry for someone else, it was another to feel afraid with only a mention of circumstances. And Zariff could tell it was genuine fear that Jack was feeling. "Tell me, I don’t care what it is but if you won’t say, forgive me beforehand for getting rough."

Jack chocked on his words as he barely whispered, "...Skaryn’s vengeance..."

"Say it again," commanded Zariff.

"...Skaryn’s vengeance..." Jack repeated in the same hushed tone, clearly against Zariff’s wishes.

Zariff roared, "LOUDER!"

Jack yelled, "SKARYN’S VENGEANCE!"

The booming echo seemed to hush itself as if it had said something that should never be mentioned. Jack tried to calm himself as Zariff too began to tremble after hearing the name of the curse.

 

Chapter 15

"SKARYN’S VENGEANCE!"

Both Jack and Zariff were spiritually shaken after discovering what type of curse it was. Zariff had only heard of that terrifying curse in legend and that it was irreversible. Jack had seen it before in-game and witnessed not only the curse’s strength but the aftereffect, and that’s what scared him the most.

"Was there anything unusual about Yellow Jacket or the cave? Like any strange symbols, item, something?" Jack began to scramble for more information. He understood the real purpose behind the curse known as Skaryn’s vengeance. That kind of curse wouldn’t just appear in the hands of someone, the curse had a very specific purpose that Jack wanted to stop at all costs.

"Umm..." Zariff tried to gather his thoughts and emotions. "There were symbols of countless curses drawn in the entrance of the cave, not even Halmut himself would know which one caused this."

Jack remembered a special event from "A Hero’s Tale." It seemed to come out of nowhere and didn’t follow the usual course of events. Most people wouldn’t notice that, but to someone who was achievement hunting 24/7, it was easy to see. That event went on longer than any event should, and it didn’t follow the logic of the game’s purpose either.

The purpose of "A Hero’s Tale" was to band together and face the forces of Skaryn and try to abolish all forces of chaos, or join the forces of chaos and eventually take over the world.

But that event had you face any kind of beast, monster, or character within the game in random assortments and levels, and they would attack you regardless of whether your alignment was good, evil, or neutral.

The only similarity was that every enemy from the event carried the same curse, which was named after that event, "Skaryn’s Vengeance."

"Is there a chance that Yellow Jacket placed the curse on you while you fought?" asked Jack.

"That’s impossible. I know the toxin came from when we fought, but I’m pretty sure the curse was from the traps. If he could cast such a curse easily in battle, he wouldn’t be dead right now," answered Zariff.

Jack stewed in thought. It made sense for such a powerful curse to take a lot of energy and time, but he couldn’t help but think back to the game and how the players got around that. "Did Yellow Jacket use any items while you were in the cave?"

"I thought the same thing, but I never saw him do anything like that. He was busy meditating in the center of a large pentagram until I finally broke through the traps. But before I could enter the pentagram and attack him, he jumped at me fought head-on," said Zariff.

"What? I thought he was a shaman, why would he fight you head-on?"

Zariff shook his head in disbelief saying, "That’s the weirdest thing, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. He may have only been a shaman, but he was as strong as a swordsman. I would’ve loved to investigate the cave, but I had to exit immediately after finishing that trash of a human and get healed." They were silent for a time, disregarding the world as they tried to narrow their thoughts into a conclusion.

"Let’s head back. I’m not sure how to remove the curse yet, but there has to be something that can help. I’ll write a list of ingredients for the walking death antidote and give you a copy tomorrow. Oh, and why didn’t you mention this to Rydel? I get that you don’t want to worry anyone, but if it’s this bad why not just tell him?" stated Jack.

"Well... I couldn’t understand the curse at all, so I figured it was pointless to tell him until he noticed my level drop and I couldn’t avoid it. As for the poison... it’s too embarrassing..." Zariff’s weird explanation left Jack with doubts until Zariff mentioned one last thing. "I realized the poison could cripple me after it already had. It’s hard to admit this but... my manliness might be crippled forever."

Jack stiffened and gave out a muffled groan involuntarily. Shaking himself from such a horrible thought, he picked up the small bag of coins on the ground, turned his back towards the old Giant, and said, "I’ll take my leave, don’t stay out too late and catch a cold you old fart."

Seeing Jack walk away, Zariff didn’t say or do anything. Instead, he waited for Jack to disappear into the distance and walked back accompanied by only his thoughts.

That night, neither of them could sleep well. The cold and dark night was swept away with the rise of the morning sun.

While Jack was too preoccupied to sleep or notice the sunrise, Rydel sat up casually and saw the mentally exhausted Jack. He took a guess and asked, "So, what’s the real problem?"

Jack leaned his head to the side and answered bluntly with sunken eyes, "Two things, walking death toxin and Skaryn’s Vengeance."

The cool and collected Rydel quickly became shaken and anxious. "What!? And he couldn’t tell me that much? That idiot! If he waited too long, it would be too late to do anything."

"He had good reason to not say anything," said Jack. He was certain Rydel would’ve held Zariff’s circumstances over his head. "Also, he didn’t know until last night when I diagnosed him."

Rydel’s anxiousness was replaced with confusion and he asked, "You diagnosed him? How could a newbie like you do that?"

"That’s cause before I was summoned here I was already familiar with ancient Kartonia. Don’t ask how, but I honestly might be the most knowledgeable person in the entire kingdom when it comes to ancient Kartonia," answered Jack. "Need me to prove it?"

"Yeah, I do," said Rydel without hesitation.

"Fine," Jack sat up on his bottom bunk and looked Rydel in the eyes. "Ask me anything you want about ancient Kartonia."

Squinting his eyes, Rydel thought for a moment before he asked, "Legends say that back then summoned heroes roamed the continent in droves, but once Skaryn was sealed away they disappeared. Why is that?"

Jack was startled and didn’t know what to say. Hearing this only caused him to create more theories so he simply said, "I can’t answer that question, ask me another."

"Why? You said any question would—"

"I can’t answer that question because I think I was one of those summoned heroes that disappeared. Only, things were very different back then and it would take too long to explain right now," rephrased Jack, stopping Rydel from prodding further.

Rydel coughed and stammered, "Fine... we’ll talk about that later. If you were an ancient hero, you probably have a title, what was it? Tell me that, I can search for the title and prove you’re right."

"Umm... I’m not sure," said Jack as he shrugged his shoulders. "Among us heroes, we used different titles than what the ancient people gave us, so we didn’t pay attention to the titles we were given. Actually, you already know the title the other heroes gave me; it’s the name of my subclass."

"Really?" Rydel didn’t know how to take that. It would explain the weird class and subclass but that was the second question that Jack couldn’t answer so he wasn’t 100% convinced.

The hunter then asked, "Answer this, and if you can’t answer this third question then it’s impossible to believe you. Most everyone has forgotten the ancient gods, other than Halmut and Skaryn. Only someone who’s had time to study and explore the world will know their names."

"That’s it, you want me to name the ancient gods? That’s easy. There’s Halmut, Skaryn, Lyrun, Perchet, Choron, Tyres, Sterfen, Moranti, Naparn, and the list goes on. Do I need to name all twenty-seven?" said Jack without wasting a breath.

"Twenty-seven?" Rydel’s face twisted in confusion.

"What? Don’t tell me there are more than that, cause I know for a fact there aren’t," stated Jack.

"There are were that many?" Rydel’s voiced silently rang out and surprised Jack.

"There are less? Wow, you guys really have forgotten about the gods," joked Jack.

"It’s not like we forgot, we lost a lot of records during the war of the gods," said Rydel, getting Jack to shut up and listen. "Halmut sealing Skaryn was only the climax of that war. All the other gods fought for their two leaders until many of them disappeared. But the ancient text only mentioned twenty gods, why do you say twenty-seven?"

"Cause not all twenty-seven fought in the war, duh. Seven neutral gods always stayed out of trouble. They didn’t want to tip the balance of power and did as they wanted without interfering," Jack explained like it was common knowledge.

"It was even typical for a hero back then to swear loyalty to a god of their choice and receive their blessing to level up quicker. The neutral gods weren’t too popular because their benefits rarely involved getting stronger for the war’s sake. That could explain why they were eventually forgotten amidst something like a war of the gods."

"Wait, those old stories were true?" suddenly Rydel stood up in excitement. "It’s possible to swear loyalty to a god and get stronger?"

"Yeah, that’s what everyone did back then. Wait, that doesn’t happen nowadays?" asked Jack.

"Never, at least I haven’t heard of it," said Rydel. "What god did you swear loyalty to?"

Jack chuckled, "You wouldn’t know him, I’m certain he’s been long forgotten. We can continue this conversation later now that you believe me, besides don’t we need to get going?"

 

Chapter 16

Rydel looked out the window and noticed the sun climbing through the sky. He sighed, "Fine, but we will talk about this later. What do you suggest we do about the toxin and curse, kid?" Though it wasn’t 100% confirmed that Jack was an ancient hero, Rydel followed his gut and accepted it as fact. But regardless of that, the current Jack was just some low leveled kid and that wouldn’t change overnight.

"I’ve already written up a list of ingredients for the walking death antidote but I’m not yet sure what to do about that curse," stated Jack with a solemn face as he handed a small sheet of paper from his within his cloak to Rydel.

The lanky man scanned over the list and chuckled in disbelief. "Good luck finding these, it’s going to be near impossible."

"I’ve already become a patron for a merchant in the town square, so I think that will help. But I’m too unfamiliar with the modern Kartonia, most of my former knowledge was rendered useless with the passing of time," said Jack.

"Well, we’ve got some time before we head out. I’ll grab a drink and meet you in town square later, so go talk to your merchant and get yourself some basic supplies. I’m sure you already know what you need, right?" asked Rydel sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah." Jack nodded as he got up and exited the room.

Rydel stared at the empty doorway and took in a deep breath. He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. "An Ancient hero, huh? Looks like we got lucky this time."

Jack was already outside and raring to go. First, he stopped at Jezelle’s to grab some breakfast on the go but wasn’t able to find her. With food in hand and one less silver in his purse, he ate his way towards the town square. Once he got there, he saw Zarris opening up and greeted him. "Morning Zarris. You open?"

"For you, of course," Zarris was a little surprised to see Jack again so soon but welcomed him all the same.

"I’ve got a list of things I need, mind taking a look?" Jack didn’t wait for a response before handing him the list of antidote ingredients.

Zarris glanced at the list and went wide-eyed. "These things, what on earth are you doing to need so many high-level items?"

"It’s not for me, I need to help a friend. Do you have a way to get any of these?" asked Jack.

"Well, I don’t personally have any of these, but I might be able to get my hands on some refined cleansing powder. As for the other three main ingredients, I don’t think I can help you. Death rattlers aren’t very common and are extremely tricky to deal with. I don’t know anywhere in the city where you can get some of its poison or blood. And the life tree’s dew, you can forget about that completely. A life tree only gets spotted once a century," explained Zarris dejectedly.

"Then forget the dew and please ask around about the death rattler blood and poison. Maybe some of the night merchants have some on hand?" said Jack, quickly adjusting to the circumstances.

"Fine, I’ll ask around, but I won’t make any moves to get these things until you can get me something worthwhile. These items you ask for aren’t cheap, you know," stated Zarris.

"Then I must thank you," said Jack as he bowed his head. "Also, I need some kind of spacial storage. Do you have anything for eight gold?"

Zarris smirked as he led Jack into the back. "I have some that might interest you. Take a look at these three."

An open chest showed many items and treasures, with the three Zarris mentioned near the top. Jack pulled out all three and set them on the table. There was a ring, an armband, and a necklace. Using the system to quickly scan the three, Jack grabbed the one he wanted off the table and held it up in front of Zarris. "I’ll give you five gold."

"Why the necklace?" Zarris asked. In his opinion, the necklace was the lesser of the three items and he would typically sell it for half of what Jack offered. Knowing Jack’s character, it was clear that the necklace was special.

"Eight gold. It’s rumored that the necklace in your hand is ancient, just look at how worn and dull the coloring is," argues Zarris.

"Five gold going once," said Jack.

This tactic caught Zarris off guard. Rather than argue and haggle for a price, Jack blatantly offered a price a little higher than the norm and stood firm. It was obvious them both that only someone like Jack would offer more than three gold.

"Five going twice," Jack continued counting.

"Sold for five gold," said Zarris as he shook his head.

"Wise choice. And rest assured, I’ll make sure to bring you plenty of goodies from my missions," said Jack as he put the faded, pale-purple necklace around his neck.

"You aren’t going to get too excited and leave without getting supplies again, are you? I’ll add three potions and three elixirs for another three silver," said Zarris, raising his hand like it wasn’t difficult at all. Another chest was opened and six glass bottles were pulled out, three blue elixirs and three red potions.

Jack grabbed and stored them all easily before he turned and bowed again to Zarris. "Thanks, friend. Please let me know as soon as you get news on anything from that list."

"Will do. I’ll see you soon enough, I’m sure," said Zarris who waved him off in a friendly manner and showed him out.

Since he still had about an hour before noon, Jack found a seat within the ancient rock garden in the center of the town square. Instinctively, he opened his menu and made his way to the achievement list.

With all the drama over Zariff, Jack had never found time to explore the new achievements and skill points. The five unread achievements from the night before had now become seven unread achievements.

[Win Jezelle’s challenge: in progress]

[Reach lv. 10: in progress]

[Reach lv. 20: in progress]

[Reach lv. 30: in progress]

[Remove Zariff’s curse: in progress]

[Travel to Trodar: incomplete]

[Find the tomb: incomplete]

The first four new achievements and the sixth new achievement were the result of his talk with Jezelle and only offered skill points. After speaking with Zariff the night before, the fifth new achievement had appeared and offered a varied reward based on how long it took him to remove the curse.

At the bottom of the list was an achievement activated by his newest soul-piercing, "Hidden Agenda."

This "Hidden Agenda" had the passive ability to unlock hidden achievements upon interacting with something related to the achievement. Jack was very familiar with items like this and they helped him tremendously when he was playing the game. Now that he had to live and survive based on the achievements he discovered and completed; this item became invaluable to him.

[Find the tomb: incomplete]

[Find the tomb of PleasantLilly98 near the outskirts of Reinolt City. Reward: 10 skill points, access to her saved data.]

Jack smiled as he read the achievement’s description. This achievement was activated when he had grabbed the necklace for the first time. The previous owner of the necklace was labeled as PreciousLilly98, the same person mentioned in the new achievement. What Jack liked, even more, was the reward of this fallen hero’s saved data. He was extremely curious about what he could do with that.

There were no other clues besides it being near the outskirts of the city, but that was way too general. Jack guessed that she was a new player since her necklace was so low leveled and imagined that her tomb wouldn’t be too dangerous. The biggest problem was finding it.

Reinolt City was massive; to comb over its outskirts would take weeks for the current Jack, and he wouldn’t want that. For the time being, he didn’t investigate the catacomb and made a mental note to get around to it.

He closed his achievement list and opened up his skill tree, which continued to offer new branches and skills with every new interaction he had. Seeing the unused thirty skill points brought a grin to his face.

Jack took his time to upgrade and divvy up the points. Two points upgraded persuasion to lv. 1, ten points upgraded bow to lv. 2, and ten points upgraded evasion to lv. 2. With eight points left, he eventually upgraded perception and deposited the last three points in stealth.

Seeing the sun high in the sky, Jack knew that Rydel would come find him pretty soon. In the meantime, Jack took his time reading and memorizing the map of the modern Kartonia. He paid extra close attention to the nations surrounding Trodar and those he’d have to cross to travel there. With a mountain range and a massive lake in the way, he knew that the journey wouldn’t be easy.

Jack thought back to his many missions and accomplishments in Trodar with his former guild. This inspired him to press forward the best he can and to do whatever it takes to level up.

Chapter 17

"Are you ready kid?" asked Rydel. He found Jack sitting in the center of the rock garden with his eyes closed. It looked like he was either in deep meditation or sleeping while sitting up. Rydel bet on the latter.

"Sure thing," said Jack as he slowly opened his eyes to see Rydel standing above him. "So, what are we gonna do, captain?" Jack carried a sarcastic tone when he said the word captain, which caused Rydel to twitch ever so slightly. With that in mind, Jack smirked and took note to keep calling him that in the future.

Rydel didn’t stop him from saying it because it was common for a party or squad leader to be known as the captain. Although the loner Rydel preferred not to be called that, he figured that if he gave it more attention, it would have the opposite effect with the nosey Jack. After clicking his tongue against his teeth Rydel answered, "I’ll explain on the way, we’ve got to head out if we want to reach our destination in time."

The two left town square and headed west until they came up to the western gate. There were two enormous wooden doors, each large enough to let a couple of elephants through. Raised above it was a metal gate that was only dropped in case of emergencies.

Jack tried to converse with Rydel multiple times but never received a response. Only after reaching the western gate did Rydel say anything. He didn’t stop like the others exiting the city. Instead, he shouted, "We’re with the Adventurers Association, open up!"

Some of the guards didn’t know how to act and just fidgeted around them. One guard was wearing full battle plate and stood on a raised platform to the right of the large gate. That man looked up and barked out orders, "Give ’em a light search before opening the gate."

Rydel’s eyes narrowed when he saw the captain of the guard. "Fronks, just let us through. It’s our right as association members to pass without a search. What are you trying to do?"

"Just following the new procedures. The Royal Court ordered that all who exit and enter require a search of their person and spacial storages. With the chaos running so rampant, it’s better to be safe than sorry," Fronks answered easily as if he had rehearsed it many times before.

"What trash! The association is an international power, comparable to the entire Reinolt Kingdom. What right do you have to search us?" shouted Rydel, making sure everyone within hearing distance could hear him.

"Calm down Rydel, it’s just a simple search." Fronks put up his hands, acting innocent in front of the newly watching civilians. "Everyone has to go through with it. Are you saying you’re better than everyone here?"

"Not better, just more privileged. I’ve worked my whole life to achieve what I have, to reach lv. 29, and to become a member of the association. Just because the local branch is smaller than average doesn’t mean that you can bully us," claimed Rydel, stepping forward towards the gate and ignoring the guards approaching him.

"Are you resisting a simple search? Come on, what’s there to hide?" said Fronks, oblivious to Rydel’s straightforward answer. "If you resist a search, I’ll have to call the other captain and insist that you and your friend chat with us privately."

Rydel knew that Jack wouldn’t be able to resist the other guards with his lv. 1 status. Everyone in the city knew that to become a captain of the guard, you had to reach at least lv. 25. Facing one wasn’t a problem, but two would make a simple getaway impossible. He clicked his tongue and glanced back at Jack. What he saw caused his jaw to drop.

Jack had already nocked an arrow on his bow and conveniently pointed it toward the arrogant captain of the guard. He was easily overlooked as a lv. 1 and had no one paying him much attention, so doing that much was easy. After everyone followed Rydel’s glance and saw Jack, he spoke loudly, "I don’t think you can stop us, if I’m being honest. Besides, if we make a big enough commotion, chief Zariff might come and join the party."

All the guards froze when they heard Jack mention Zariff. It was true that the kingdom wasn’t too friendly with the association and the relationship was worsening over time, but everyone was clear on Zariff’s standing within the kingdom. As the number three in the kingdom, everyone would both respect and fear him.

"Don’t listen to him! He’s just a lv. 1 brat with a big mouth," yelled Fronks, knowing that his men were frightened by the words of the mouse-like threat in front of him. "If the brat has the balls, he’d take his shot. I doubt he could even reach this far, let alone—"

Fronks was interrupted by the twang of a bowstring and the whizzing sound of an arrow flying through the air. He was startled, not by the arrow but by the courage this lv. 1 adventurer showed.

The captains of the guard had heard all about Jack from Arnole and were given clear orders to make trouble for him if he tried to leave the city. Though he didn’t know that Jack was a summoned hero that defected to the Adventurers Association, he knew that he had turned down the Royal Court and joined the association instead.

This was a slap to the Royal Court’s face and would affect its prestige if news got out. Just as the arrow reached him, it blew past his head and left Fronks untouched. "Ha! You can’t even hit a stationary target, what kind of hunter are you?"

"Who said I missed?" said Jack with a wry smile.

While thinking to himself, Fronts looked behind him and was shocked to see that the arrow had pierced and damaged the upper hinge of the massive right-side door of the gate. Everyone heard the wood creak as it began to bend and bow due to its weight. It wasn’t enough to cause any problems, but for a lv. 1 to cause that much damage to the massive gate was unbelievable.

From the outside, the doors were too thick to easily breakthrough, but thanks to hinges on the inside Jack was able to exploit its weak point.

Rydel began to laugh hysterically and immediately drew his bow with two arrows nocked. "Not bad kid, but you need to hit it a lot harder if you want to bring the door down."

Before Fronks could yell in retaliation and get anyone to stop Rydel, the two arrows were released and drilled into the two remaining hinges of the right-side door. Unlike Jack’s arrow that merely weakened and damaged it using the door’s own weight, Rydel’s arrows shattered the hinges into dozens of pieces.

Losing the support of the two lower hinges, the door peeled off the top hinge and fell to the ground, toppling over as it pushed against Fronks’ raised platform and all the guards scattered.

The duo of adventurers took advantage of the situation and dashed through the opening. All the guards were either scrambling to get on their feet or were busy trying to support the raised platform to keep it from falling over. Captain Fronks was furious and immediately sent orders to distribute warrants for both Rydel and Jack.

Both hunters quickly fled into the outlying forest, laughing the whole way. Rydel stopped after reaching about a kilometer out and said, "Kid I like your style. I was worried that you’d be a handicap in a situation like that, but who would’ve imagined a lv. 1 doing something that crazy. How’d you do that by the way? You shouldn’t be anywhere near strong enough to do the damage you did."

"I may be lv. 1, but I’m a lv. 1 hero. The logic of the other classes doesn’t apply to me," laughed Jack. "I’ve got my ways to get stronger, besides EXP. But once I level up, I’ll be able to do a lot more damage." Jack knew his strength was disproportionate to his level, but that was only for the skills he had upgraded. Any lv. 0 skill wasn’t even worth mentioning, no matter what level he would reach in the future.

"I’ll keep that in mind kid, but you need to stay smart too. Remember, you just pissed off a captain of the guard and helped me destroy the city gate. I’m not too worried cause I’m lv. 29 and can hold off most people till Zariff and the association take care of the warrants. You, on the other hand, are a lv. 1 kid that anyone could easily target. What are you going to do?" asked Rydel, truly curious why Jack did something so crazy.

"I wasn’t going to let them scan my spacial storage, are you out of your mind. I might be lv.1 but don’t forget that I was also an ancient hero," answered Jack as he activated his spacial necklace and took out the weather jade.

Rydel was taken aback that Jack could produce not only a spacial necklace but such a valuable item like a weathered jade. It wasn’t too useful for anyone above lv. 20, but it was a treasure for anyone else valued at around a dozen gold.

With a weathered jade, Jack’s level would soar even further with Rydel carrying him. If the guards had searched their spacial storages, they would’ve taken such a treasure from a weak lv. 1 like Jack. The lanky hunter chuckled, "You really are an ancient hero, aren’t you? I don’t know how you got your hands on something like that, but you’re way too crafty to be some wannabe."

Jack smiled at the compliment and kept laughing. He was a little worried about him temporarily having a warrant, but it only made him more determined to not return until after reaching lv. 10.

Chapter 18

The hunter duo continued down the path westward till nightfall. Rydel led them off the path and into the surrounding forest. He activated his spacial bracer and retrieved a tent. "We’ll camp here for the night. At this pace, we’ll reach our destination tomorrow night."

Jack was winded from trying to keep up with the lv. 29 Rydel; they had to take breaks multiple times while Jack caught his breath. With the flick of his wrist, a palm-sized crystal appeared in Jack’s hand. "Yo captain, we should connect crystals before I forget. Just in case, you know."

Along the way Rydel was trying to figure Jack out and how this lv. 1 was able to get his hands on such treasures. When he caught glimpse of the contact crystal, he mentally winced at how spoiled this newbie adventurer was.

He said nothing as he took out his crystal, touched it to Jack’s, and activated it to link the two. As long as the crystal was in contact him, Jack would now be able to mentally contact Rydel. Of course, Rydel would have to take out his crystal out to respond but he didn’t like the thought of Jack pestering him constantly.

"Go and gather some firewood. I’ll set up my tent and prepare the fire pit," said Rydel, giving Jack a somewhat cold shoulder.

The young hero didn’t mind the cold treatment at all as he began to search for stray wood under the moonlight. Though Reinolt City had its own port and dock to the north, the rest of it was surrounded by forests. It was very dense near the city walls, but plenty of moonlight was able to shine down in the outer regions, like where Jack and Rydel were setting up camp. Fallen branches and stray wood were scarce but after enough time Jack had enough to last the night.

He returned to see Rydel inside his tent, relaxing on a cot he must’ve brought. The fire pit was half a meter deep and surrounded by a ring of rocks. Jack brought the firewood out of his storage and placed them to side.

With a few branches placed in the pit like a teepee, Jack asked, "Got a light, captain?" As soon as he finished speaking, a flaming arrow flew out of the tent and into the fire pit. Everything went up in flames instantly and nearly singed off Jack’s eyebrows before he could back away.

"There, now I’ve shown you how to start a fire. From now on, you do the rest. I can’t wait for dinner, so make sure it’s really good." Rydel’s casual voice caused Jack to shudder.

Jack didn’t say anything and only sighed dejectedly. Without refusal, he got up and drew his bow. Trying his best to perceive his surroundings and find a trace of life nearby, Jack stilled himself for a few moments. Soon enough he left the camp and crept into the woods.

After a few minutes of traversing the woods, he was grateful that he leveled up his perception. If he hadn’t, he may not have eaten dinner, or worse he would have to deal with a cranky Rydel. Jack was following the small tracks of what he assumed was a brown fox.

He hunted all kinds of animals during his gamer days, so he felt familiar enough to recognize the simple tracks. When he noticed the large dark brown fox hiding in the hollow of a tree, he was stunned. It was far larger than Jack had anticipated and would be very difficult for him to deal with if he couldn’t finish it off with a single arrow.

Luckily, this was exactly why he preferred being a hunter and increased his bow skill to lv. 2. His body instinctively moved to nock an arrow and aim for its target. Before the fox had a clue, an arrow had lodged itself in the fox’s head and quietly silenced it.

"Wow, that was easy," thought Jack as he walked up and removed his arrow from his prey. He threw the fox over his shoulders and was about to turn around when he noticed something hiding under the large fox. It was small, fluffy, and had small pointy ears. Its fur coat was a deep brownish-red that appeared regal. Feeling the body over top it disappearing its tiny head looked up and opened its dark eyes.

Jack flinched when he saw the adorable baby fox. Regret pierced his heart as he imagined leaving this beautiful and adorable fox stranded without anyone to protect it. He killed countless animals and beasts as Jack_J in "A Hero’s Tale," but seeing this undeniably cute infant fox caused him to hesitate greatly.

The baby fox blinked and tilted its head when it saw its mother atop Jack’s back. It felt its mother’s pulse stop just before the mother’s body was lifted away. Its instincts screamed that Jack was dangerous.

There was no hesitation when it whined and took off into the forest as fast as it’s little legs could carry it. Seeing this Jack knew that the little fox had no chance to survive with his mother dead. Unwillingly, he placed the mother’s carcass back into the hollow and took off after the baby fox.

It wasn’t long until Jack heard a loud hiss in the distance, followed by whines of the baby fox.

He dashed towards the source of the whines and he saw a ring of thick, fallen tree trunks. Crouching behind a trunk and peeking over the top, Jack swallowed some saliva.

On the other side was the baby fox, who had entered the home of a huge forest python. It may be slow but once someone was in striking distance, it was very hard to escape its jaws. Jack tried his best to stay calm as he thought about the situation.

He was fine and he hadn’t been discovered yet thanks to the distraction of the baby fox. But if Jack wanted to save the baby fox, he would put himself at risk. His bow skill was only lv. 2 and was comparable to the basic bow strength of a lv. 6 or lv. 7 hunter.

Against an old, metal hinge he might cause some damage, but against a python that far surpassed Jack it might not do anything at all; he might be lucky if he could pierce its scales. Mulling it over, he pulled out his bow and quietly nocked an arrow with his shaky hands. After some deep breaths, he managed to still his nerves enough to take a shot.

Jack was closest to the baby fox, with the python’s head slightly to the right almost five meters away. Its coiled body was slowly reaching to cover the only opening in the ring, cutting off the chance of its prey escaping.

He took another deep breath and held it in as he peeked over the log to aim. After three seconds, Jack stood and instantly raised his bow to shoot.

The python noticed him immediately and began to turn its head to Jack as he released his arrow. It was aimed for the forehead, the common weak spot among snakes, but the snake did its best to dodge. Normally, dodging the arrow wasn’t too much of a problem but the close quarters didn’t let the snake completely evade the arrow. Instead of the forehead, the arrow pierced its eye.

Jack didn’t waste a moment, jumping over the tree trunk the instant the arrow was released. He didn’t look back at the snake after he grabbed the frightened fox and climbed back over.

The snake was in pain and lashed out with its nearby tail. It crashed against the tree trunk, leaving a deep impression from the force of impact. It continued to writhe in pain and struck Jack’s side when he was on top of the tree trunk.

Turning his back towards the tail and keeping the baby fox in his arms against his chest, Jack took the full blow and was sent tumbling across the forest floor.

The python began to move towards him, but Jack was relentless and immediately stood up to run away. There wasn’t much chase as the snake understood there was no chance to keep up with the fleeing hero. Upset and injured, the snake returned to its home within the circle of tree trunks.

Jack was panting and groaning heavily as he carried the baby fox away. Some ribs were broken, and he was heavily bruised on the entire right side of his torso.

Taking a tumble across the ground brought him many small cuts and bruises across his whole body. He did his best to reach the mother fox’s body at top speed but was saddened to see the corpse missing without a single track left behind.

With depression setting in, he looked down at the cowering baby fox. It looked torn and confused from being saved by Jack. Without any intention, it started to bond with him even though its instincts originally said Jack was an enemy. Jack pet its head, brushed the blood from the sides of his mouth, and slowly trudged back to camp.

 

Chapter 19

Depression set in as Jack approached the campsite, but he was stunned by what he saw. Rydel was sitting on a chair he carried in his storage with meat already butchered and hanging over the fire pit. The lanky hunter said, "You took too long, so I got impatient. Help yourself."

Jack sat on the ground and leaned back against a nearby tree. His arms fell weakly to his side as the baby fox was revealed on his lap. It cooed and whined quietly as it leaned against Jack’s chest. Suddenly wincing pain shot through Jack’s body as the fox snuggled up with him. He grabbed the fox gently and placed it next to him on his left side, trying his best to keep it away from his injuries.

"That’s quite a nice pet you got there," said Rydel. "A fur pelt like that would bring in about a dozen gold to the right buyer."

Shaking his head, Jack mustered enough strength to speak. "Nah, not this one. I’m too invested to do something like that."

"Yeah, I saw," Rydel chuckled and threw Jack a roasted meat leg. "You did good kid. That’s not what I would’ve done, but I can’t blame you. You keep that one, and I’ll keep this one."

After catching his dinner Jack squinted and noticed a fur pelt hanging to dry inside Rydel’s tent.

Before Jack could say anything or the baby fox noticed its mother’s fur pelt, Rydel smirked and pulled down the tarp that covered the entrance to the tent.

Not wanting to waste energy overthinking or complaining, Jack bit into the meat leg. It was a little tough and lacked any seasoning, but Jack’s weak constitution greatly appreciated the pick me up.

The baby fox saw the meat and licked its lips as it pounced at the meat leg in Jack’s hand. It missed the meat however and bit Jack’s right hand instead. While Rydel was laughing and enjoying his meal, Jack pulled off the baby fox with great surprise.

That bite of the baby fox easily broke his skin and could’ve even torn through the muscles on his hand. Jack may have only been lv. 1, but he was certain that a practically newborn fox shouldn’t be able to cause that much damage.

Another piece of meat was flung at Jack, but he was leaning in to look at his hand and was hit in the face by the flying meat. As it fell to the ground, the baby fox’s eyes gleamed and it attacked the rib meat in front of it.

"That’s some fox." Rydel was spooked by the insane bite the baby fox had taken from Jack’s hand. "Do you know what kind of fox that is kid?"

"Isn’t it just an infant brown fox?" guessed Jack, now unsure of himself.

Rydel slowly turned his head from side to side and said, "Nah, a brown fox can’t do damage like that until they’re fully grown, but I’m not 100% sure either. I guess we’ll figure it out eventually."

Jack nodded and pulled out a potion. He didn’t want to waste them, but such an injury could impede his EXP grinding later. Reluctantly, Jack poured the potion over his wounded hand and watched it visibly heal itself. Then he wrapped it carefully, knowing that although it was technically healed, it was still tender and could easily reopen. "Yo captain, are there any towns or villages nearby to stock up on supplies?"

"There’s one just on the other side of our destination, why? Didn’t you already gather what you needed?" asked Rydel.

"Yeah, but I don’t want to head back until I’m at least lv. 10. I’m sure I’ll need to restock eventually, and by them I’ll have stuff to sell or trade for what I need," answered Jack as he petted the baby fox with his left hand.

"What are you gonna name him?" asked Rydel, ignoring Jack’s answer.

"It’s a he?" said Jack, picking up the baby fox to double-check. "I don’t know, what do you think I should call him?"

"Don’t know, don’t care. That’s for you to figure out, and you to take care of. Remember, you saved him, so you have to pay for him," said Rydel.

"Sure, I’ll take care of all the food he needs, and he can sleep in one of the extra beds," said Jack, trying to relax and ignore the incredible pain he felt.

"No, I mean you’ll have to pay to register him. Every pet or beast companion in the Reinolt Kingdom must be registered at a local branch of the Royal Court," clarified Rydel. "They’ll run a magical diagnosis to determine its breed and bloodline purity, and then you’ll have to pay accordingly. The more exotic or rare the breed, the more expensive. By the looks of that fur coat, he might cost you a pretty penny."

"Seriously?" Jack shrank a little after hearing that. He didn’t think it would be so much of a hassle to adopt a pet.

"Hey, I think it’s more than worth it," interjected Rydel. "Yeah, it’s annoying to pay so much money, but you can also buy a beast master seal and make him your beast companion. We both know that thing is going to grow a lot, just look at the size of the mother. Plus, since he’s so young and he already likes you, you might be able to get a mutual beast seal."

"What the big deal? It’s just getting a beast companion. I do want him as my beast companion but isn’t there a cheaper way to do it?" asked Jack.

"There are a few ways, but that requires a lot of travel and time so it’s not worth it. And if you can get a mutual seal, that’s by far the best option. A beast can only carry a single seal in its life and the different levels of seals can affect your beast companion’s growth. Getting a mutual seal with a rare beast, like that fox might be, would make anyone green with envy."

Jack squinted his eyes and watched the baby fox chewing on the bones after quickly devouring the meat. He asked, "Then what’s so special about this mutual seal? If it’s so great, then why haven’t I heard of it before?"

"I don’t know what you ancient heroes did before, but we’ve been using these seals for the past few centuries," explained Rydel. "And the mutual seal is by far the best seal you can get. It means that you and your beast companion will level up at the same speed. If you level up, he’ll automatically level up to match you. And if he levels up before you, the seal will activate and bump you up too. If I could get that fox to like me, then I’d definitely take it off your hands. But let’s consider it as part of your 10%."

"Wait, for real!? Can we do that in the town? If so, we’ve gotta do it before we start grinding," said Jack enthusiastically.

"Calm down kid, we’ve got to stop there anyway. We need to get you healed up, right?" asked Rydel as he flicked a small leftover bone at Jack’s side.

Jack grunted, "Yeah, sorry about that. At least we both got something out of it; that pelt should be worth something too, right."

"I guess you’re right," Rydel chuckled. "Besides, I need you in full form for my plan to work."

"On that note, what is the plan exactly," asked Jack. "I don’t even know where we’re going."

"I guess you’ll find out eventually," sighed Rydel as he threw the leftover leg bone to the baby fox. "After we stop in Baltwood to get you and that fox pup all settled, we’ll head to the nearby azure mines."

Thinking back to the azure mines and what challenges they contained, Jack smiled. "Oh, is see. I knew I’d like working with you. I’m the bait, right?"

"You got it." Rydel was glad that Jack was happy to follow through with a plan that would make most new adventurers run for the hills.

"Sounds good to me, but I’m not heading back till I’m lv. 10, got it? Otherwise, you can kiss your bait goodbye," said Jack.

"You drive a hard bargain. I guess this will take a bit longer than I expected, but my 90% share is worth it, I guess." Rydel got up and stored his chair. Without another word, he entered his tent and tied it shut.

Taking a hint, Jack laughed and looked back at the baby fox. It was gnawing on the femur that Rydel had thrown earlier and had already eaten through the rib bones. Jack struggled to believe it was so easy for the baby fox to devour even the bones, that was until he noticed char marks all over the femur.

Seeing that the fox’s stomach wasn’t going to be full anytime soon, Jack forced himself up and threw the remaining meat to the even more excited fox. He thought for a moment and laughed to himself. "I’ll call you Bowser."

Chapter 20

"I’ll call you Bowser," said Jack as the little fox was drooling over its mountain of meat.

When the baby fox heard Jack talking to it, the fox turned and looked back at Jack like it was deciding whether it liked its new name or not. Jack thought for a second that it might’ve understood him and tested his theory. He grabbed the last roasted meat leg from the mountain and said, "Hey Bowser, do you like your new name?"

Instantly, the fox started nodding as it licked its lips and prepared to jump. Jack laughed, "Good boy bowser!" He threw the leg up in the air and watched Bowser pounce on the airborne meat with a big smile.

With Bowser happy and nothing left for him to do, Jack let weariness take over and he laid on the softest piece of ground he could reach within a few steps. After a few seconds of heavy breathing and turning to his left side, Jack fell asleep with ease.

Baby Bowser managed to eat every morsel of meat before it gave a quiet yawn. He curled up in Jack’s arms and slept by his side.

By sunrise, Rydel had already gotten up and taken down his tent. He gave Jack a light kick to startle him awake as he dismantled the fire pit. Jack yawned and saw little Bowser under his arms. With a smile, Jack carefully stood up and stretched his aching body.

Rydel immediately pushed to leave, making Jack a little sad that he had to miss breakfast. Rather than compromise, Rydel just joked that it was Jack’s fault for not buying any dry rations or basic food supplies.

All Jack could do was frown; out of habit, he had only bought potions and elixirs as he would back in the game. In "A Hero’s Tale," after reaching a certain level your constitution was strong enough to not need food or sleep for a day or two. With a max level character, why would he waste money on needless food or a tent in an online game? Clearly, he still had to break a few habits because he wasn’t just playing a game anymore.

Bowser woke up soon after Jack and climbed up onto Jack’s shoulder, being just big enough to sit there. He licked Jack’s ear a little before he laid his head down and observed the world from a new perspective.

Jack followed after Rydel begrudgingly. They took much longer to travel now that Jack was injured and unable to move at full speed. In the end, they had to take an extra day to reach Baltwood by the following night.

The village wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either. Thanks to being one of the villages closest to Reinolt City, many travelers and traders would stop there along their journeys. It was already dusk when Rydel led Jack into Baltwood. The lights of the marketplace and the inns were still lit, giving off a welcoming vibe.

After walking through the streets, Rydel opened a door to a placed called the Boar’s Inn and said, "Hey Trom, give me a room with two beds for the night."

Immediately a body flew down the stairs and welcomed the two. "Rydel, it’s a pleasure seeing you again. You finally started a party I see, it’s about time."

"Screw a party, this kids my bait," joked Rydel. "Anyways, I’ll need a room for two and add two basic dinners to the price. We’ll take a seat for now, so just bring me the key when the room’s ready."

"You got it," Trom nodded and rushed to the reception desk to talk with the lady sitting there.

"Come on kid, dinner’s on me tonight. Starting tomorrow, you’ll fend for yourself got it?" said Rydel.

"Understood Captain," Jack smiled. "I should have enough to get me by for a few days after paying for the beast seal. Should I get anything special for the mines?"

"Nah, you don’t have to worry about that part. I’ll take care of everything once we’re in there," stated Rydel. "The highest leveled goblin in there should be around lv. 15, but the rest should be closer to lv. 10 so I can easily handle it. You’ll just be the bait to bring out the droves of goblins for my arrow volleys to slaughter. You’ll only get your 10% of the drops, but the EXP of being in my party should be more than worth it on its own."

"No worries, I’m after the EXP. Any leftover drops are just icing on the cake compared to that. Bowser should be fine if he tags along with me, right?" said Jack.

"Sure thing kid, I wouldn’t want to waste good bait. Crazy people like you are hard to come by," Rydel joked as a female server approached the table.

"Two specials for the friends of the owner, and don’t worry cause it’s on the house," she said, placing the two plates on the table along with an old, rusted key. "Can I get you anything else?"

"Two brundies please and get some raw meat on the bone for the fox, whatever’s about to spoil is fine." Rydel didn’t look at the server as he answered, he was too busy grabbing a fork to stuff his face.

Jack followed along and ate while the server girl quickly retreated to the kitchen. It didn’t take long for her to come back with the drinks and a big leg of pork that was near festering, but Bowser didn’t seem to care at all.

They enjoyed their meal and only asked for more brundy as the night went on. The dinner special was a pork stew with potatoes and carrots and a side of freshly baked bread. It was much tastier than anything they had cooked without seasonings, so it hit the spot for the two of them.

Soon though all eyes in the restaurant were on them, not only because of their insane amount of drinking but for Bowser’s appetite. They were amazed by the amount of food and drink the two purchased.

The server’s originally questioned giving them two free specials because that’s where they typically made the most money and got the biggest tips, but after seeing all the brundy and raw meat they purchased they were glad the owner made such a move.

"Hey kid, that fox pup’s appetite is crazy. How can it each so much?" asked Rydel, now much more playful after having a few brundies.

"I don’t know how but he always eats an ungodly amount. Maybe it’s cause he’s a rare breed or something. Just look and see for yourself, there are char marks all over that bone he’s chewing on," answered Jack, who was also letting himself loose in order to forget the lingering pain he still felt.

Everyone around was baffled by Bowser’s ability to chew through bone like butter. When they noticed the char marks, some got a little jealous and were curious about what kind of fox it was.

A few were mad that some newbie with basic gear had found such a rare beast and were extremely envious. Finally, one man stood up and walked over to the hunter duo. The man said, "Hey brat, how much for that fox? That thing’s too good for you, surely you can see that, right?"

"He’s not for sale," Jack appeared to instantly sober up and stare into that man’s soul.

"Anything’s for sale at the right price," said the man. "I’ll give you sixteen gold for it, and that’s generous."

"I said he’s not for sale. Why not take that sixteen gold and go get your ear’s fixed," refuted Jack.

The restaurant quickly filled with laughter at Jack’s joke and the drunken man became furious. "Why you little—"

But before the man could lunge at Jack, there was already a knife pressed against his throat. Rydel chuckled, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Most people there couldn’t determine Rydel’s level. Most thought he was wearing something to conceal it; they would think that a new adventurer would rarely be accompanied by someone so high leveled. Some guessed that he was too high level for them to tell despite common belief, and the rare few within five levels of Rydel could see his strength clearly and had already decided to not covet that rare fox.

That man swallowed some saliva and stepped back. "You’re lucky tonight punk, but once I tell the boss about that fox of yours, no one will be able to save you."

"Then should I just kill you now or save that for later?" Rydel’s question caused that man to freeze on the spot. "Unless your boss is in the high thirties, I don’t recommend you pick on association members?"

The entire restaurant went silent. Though the Adventurers Association didn’t have the strongest foundation within the Reinolt Kingdom, they still had multiple offices within the Reinolt branch and were an international power. Picking an unreasonable fight with them was almost like revolting against the Royal Court.

Before anyone could question the duo’s legitimacy, Jack stood up and took off his cloak and pointed to the association insignia on the back of his shirt. Everyone immediately felt sorry for the bumbling bandit that tried to act tough.