Ch. 31..40

Chapter 31

"How about we get out of here and set up camp elsewhere?" said Jack as he stomped out the small fire.

"Sure, I’ll follow you." Slivia nodded frantically, still feeling a little awkward from before.

Rydel laughed as he exited the cave and let the other two follow behind. They reached the horses as the sunset and quickly removed their tracks while preparing to leave.

Slivia hesitated to climb on but Jack helped her mount his horse before he jumped on behind her. Her cheeks glowed bright red, but she said nothing, accepting his help to steer the horse as they made their way down the mountain.

Once the sky became black, they were already halfway to the azure mine.

Rydel had brought out his tent yet again and was setting it up as Jack made the fire pit. Slivia was distracted with Bowser as she petted him and played with his tail.

It wasn’t long before Rydel called out, "Kid, go get us some food. The lady deserves something nice to eat after all this."

"Fine, I’ll go find us something," said Jack. He finished the rock ring around the fire pit and said, "Yo Bowser, it’s your turn."

Like clockwork, Bowser’s ears pricked up and Bowser dashed into the firepit, amazing Slivia as Bowser lit the logs by gnawing on them. He was done in a few seconds and hopped out of the fire and onto Jack’s shoulder.

"What kind of fox is he?" Slivia had never seen such a rare breed before. She had only seen tier three or tier four breeds and the occasional tier five breeds during royal celebrations. A beast like Bowser with incredibly soft fur and extreme fire affinity was beyond her comprehension.

"He has a descendant bloodline from the Inferno Fox. I was lucky enough to save this guy from a huge forest python and we’ve been together since." Jack spoke as Bowser licked the side of his face playfully.

"Seriously? A tier six breed?" Slivia was blown away, now even more certain that Jack was different.

"That’s enough, for now, you love birds. Hurry and go get some food kid. As for you miss, I’ll help you set up your tent," said Rydel, making sure that things got done.

She nodded and retrieved her tent.

It was small and tattered; she obviously bought it used due to the high price of tents.

Rydel only glanced at it before waving his hand and saying, "Not that old thing, this one." Another tent identical to his appeared, just waiting to be assembled.

"Wait, you mean you’ve had two this whole time?" asked Jack.

"Yeah, so what? You’re plenty warm at night thanks to that fox, right?" said Rydel. "Now hurry up, I’m sure the lady’s hungry."

Jack groaned and walked out into the nearby woods with Bowser on his shoulder.

Slivia giggled and started to piece together the tent with Rydel’s help. After about thirty minutes passed, Jack returned with what looked like a deer but with only one antler coming from the center of its forehead, like a breed-confused deer that thought it was a unicorn.

They all helped prepare it and roast it over the fire, while half the deer was set aside for Bowser and his unbelievable appetite.

"Not bad kid; did your level go up again?" commented Rydel.

"Yeah, I’m lv. 4 now." While out hunting Jack claimed the benefactor achievement to instantly reach lv. 4 and advance his perception to lv. 2 with the reward.

"Really? I couldn’t tell. How’d you do that?" asked Slivia. She was a lv. 12 cleric and was curious how all of these strange things seem to happen around Jack.

"Umm... Let’s just say I’m a little different," answered Jack sheepishly.

"But how did you even get accepted into the association? I thought you had to at least be lv. 15 to be considered or lv. 10 with connections," she continued to question.

"Well..."

"The kid’s a summoned hero, so the chief made an exception," Rydel explained before he chomped down on his dinner.

"What!?" Slivia was baffled; she expected Jack to have a powerful background but being a summoned hero was completely different. "I thought all summoned heroes worked alongside the king, like in the legends?"

"Not this one. That idiot king got on my nerves, so I turned him down and joined the association instead," said Jack, speaking openly now that the cat was out of the bag.

Slivia’s eyes widened as her mind was struggling to believe all this. Seeing her struggle, Jack continued, "I’m different than other heroes, I have a special class and subclass even. So that’s why I can level up a little differently."

"So, you’re like a special hero among summoned heroes?"

"Yup, you guessed it." Rydel blurted it out before Jack had a chance to respond. "That kid’s something else, maybe if you get close enough to him, he’ll share some of his secrets or show you some of his cool stuff."

"Captain, what’s up with you?" shouted Jack.

"What? The nice lady wants the truth and you’re not giving it to her. She told us the whole truth, so why not tell her yours?" persuaded Rydel.

Jack’s eyebrows smushed together as Jack tried his best to stay calm. Finally, he said, "Consider yourself lucky to learn all this but don’t go blabbing about it. This was all supposed to be a secret."

"Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me." Slivia was grateful for Rydel’s interference, it let her share Jack’s biggest secret. Now, she had a way to stay close to him and maybe travel with him.

Rydel chuckled as he retrieved some wine and a crudely made mug to pour himself a drink.

He understood exactly what Slivia was thinking and thought he might give her a little push. He thought that the two would work well together and it was better than having Jack chase Maura.

If Jack pursued Maura, the problem wouldn’t be Zariff but her mom. And her mom was one of the few people Rydel genuinely feared when angered.

Tossing that worry to the back of his head, he entered his tent and let the two youths keep talking peacefully.

"What level are you Slivia?" asked Jack.

"I’m lv. 12, but as soon as I’m lv. 15 I plan to join the association," said Slivia.

"Why would you want to join the association? It’s not because of me, right? You don’t have to do something like that to thank me." Jack returned to his shameless self in no time, giving Slivia a good taste of his true self.

"No, no. I’ve always wanted to join since I was little," explained Slivia as she lifted her hands awkwardly after Jack’s comment. "There was an association member who used to always help my family whenever we needed. My parents are farmers, so they never had enough money to pay him what he deserved, but he always took the job as long as there were free food and board. One day, when he was out handling business, the farm was raided by bandits..."

She paused and tried her best to keep water from spilling over her eyelids.

As she struggled to contain the waterworks, Jack passed her a handkerchief and let her relax.

Happy to receive it, Slivia took the handkerchief and wiped the water from her cheeks before she continued, "My parents and older brother were killed as they protected me from the bandits. I ran away as fast as I could but they caught up easily. They captured me and chained me up. I was only fourteen when they..."

"Hey." Jack saw her mentally shift and called out to her before she got lost in the memories. "You’re here now, you’re fine. Okay?"

Slivia continued to use the handkerchief and took a deep breath. "After a few days, I was thinking of taking my own life. Anything was better than what they made me do. But before I could, that same adventurer broke into their hideout and took care of all the bandits. Afterward, he found me nude, chained up in their cellar. He broke the chains with one swing of his massive sword, threw a blanket over me, and hugged me with tears in his eyes. He apologized for everything and wouldn’t stop blaming himself.

"After a while, we both left the hideout and stayed at an inn at the nearby town. He stayed with me for three weeks, trying to help me the best he could but he had to leave on another mission. We talked with the innkeeper and we cut a deal so I could live there and work at the inn. Then, that adventurer disappeared, and I never saw him again."

Jack was speechless, unable to think of a response. Slivia finished wiping her tears and lightly laughed. "Don’t be so sad. Look at me now, I’m almost ready to join the association. Once I do, I want to search for that man and thank him properly. Now you know my whole truth."

"You..." Jack hesitated to speak. "You’re a lot stronger than me."

Slivia was taken aback by Jack’s response. She had already respected and possibly fallen for Jack, but that reply shattered the barriers she had placed over her heart long ago.

Jack was shaking his head. He had been teased and picked on his entire life, never able to make any real friends.

That’s when he found "A Hero’s Tale" during its beta phase and used it as an escape from his pitiful reality. Rather than try and fix the problems he had in real life, he would divert all his time and energy into being the greatest, most recognized hero there was in "A Hero’s Tale."

Thinking back, Jack knew he had a pitiful life.

That’s why he fully embraced this new world without hesitation when he arrived and never planned to go back. But after hearing Slivia’s confidence after going through what she did, he had never felt so weak in his life.

 

Chapter 32

"You’re strong too. You’re way braver than I am," said Slivia in a hushed tone.

"Nah, it’s not the same. You only know me from this world, you never met me before I was summoned. I was a weak scaredy-cat that would hide from all my troubles, never confronting them. Here I’m a hero, but there I’m nothing." Jack let out a deep breath and loosened up a little. "So, Slivia, what are your plans now?"

"Umm... I was kind of hoping I could stay with you guys for a while," answered Slivia nervously.

"Actually, I was going to ask you to stay. Considering the changes in the azure mine, we could use your help. You’ve seen all the recent changes and it always helps to have a cleric around," said Jack.

"You guys are going in there?" She finally remembered why she and Jack met in the first place.

"Well yeah, Rydel is probably talking with the Zariff right now. It’ll probably become an official mission. Plus, with what we plan to do, I can guarantee that you’ll reach at least lv. 15 by the time we’re done," persuaded Jack.

"Really? You can guarantee that? What exactly are we going to do?" asked Slivia.

"We’ll discuss that tomorrow, for now, I just want to enjoy the meat," chuckled Jack.

Slivia smiled and blushed. "Okay, but you have to share." She tore off a piece of Jack’s rib meat and giggled. Jack froze for a second as he stared at her smiling face. The air became a little heated and a little awkward between the two of them.

Suddenly, Bowser snatched away the rest of Jack’s rib meat and started to chow down. While Jack and Slivia were sharing stories, Bowser had finished his half of the deer and set his sights on the more delicious cooked meat that was left unattended.

As Bowser broke the silence, the two laughed loudly and the mood returned to normal.

For the rest of the night, they chatted about Slivia’s different adventures while laughing or applauding each other.

Slivia took this opportunity to hide Jack’s handkerchief in her storage ring while he wasn’t looking. But sooner or later their fun had to end when Slivia went to sleep in her tent and Jack was left alone with the now tired Bowser.

He sighed and pondered about Slivia’s stories. Both he and she were inexperienced in love and had no clue how to address it.

Time continued to pass until Jack remembered something.

Looking down at the nearly sleeping Bowser, Jack focused his gaze. Nothing happened at first, but suddenly he felt happy-go-lucky. The feeling stuck with him as long as he kept focusing, but he’d easily lose it if he looked away.

Next, he tried to think of the phrase, ’Who’s a good boy?’ Jack focused on the phrase while staring at Bowser and was surprised to see Bowser open his eyes in startlement. Bowser’s ears twitched as he stared back at Jack and scrunched his face. At first, Jack didn’t understand what was going on until he heard an infant voice in his head yelling, ’ME!’

Amazed at the reaction, Jack thought up a reply, ’You’re a good boy!’

Bowser acted like a bobblehead as he jumped up and down in Jack’s lap, responding, ’Me! Me good boy!’

Jack laughed frantically as he shot up to his feet in excitement with Bowser in his hands. ’Bowser, you can hear me, right? If you can hear me, wag your tail up and down.’ When he saw Bowser’s tail go crazy, Jack’s smile stretched from ear to ear. ’Good boy! I can finally talk to you.’

’Me talk too,’ replied Bowser. ’Me happy!’

’Bowser, how old are you?’ asked Jack. He had long thought up a list of questions that he wanted to ask Bowser when given the chance; this was just the first of many.

’Bowser born three month." The fox pup’s reply was broken, showing that Bowser understood the human language well enough to roughly understand Jack, but he struggled to build sentences.

Jack laughed and rubbed Bowser’s little head. ’Good Boy!’ He wanted to ask Bowser about what happened before they met, but then he heard how young and innocent Bowser was. Due to that, he decided to wait until Bowser was older or until Bowser brought it up.

’Jack good too!’ Bowser enjoyed chatting with Jack, feeling much closer to him. For the past few days, no one could talk with him, let alone understand him. Now that he and Jack were mentally linked, he would always talk with Jack to try and learn to speak better or just because he could.

’Are you scared of going in the mine? There will be lots of goblins,’ thought Jack, curious to see how brave the little fox could be.

’Me no scared!’ With his chest puffed out, the fox pup tried his best to appear intimidating but despite his efforts, Bowzer was even more adorable when he did this.

’Good boy! You’ll be safe, I promise.’ Jack yawned and scratched his head. ’For now, let’s get some sleep. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.’ Bowser nodded and curled up on Jack’s chest. Most people might feel cold out under the stars, but Jack was warm and cozy thanks to the heat Bowser naturally put out.

The morning sun woke Jack up nice and early, making sure to blind him the moment he opened his eyes.

Squinting to recover his sight, Jack slid Bowser carefully to the side and stretched his body. He soon noticed that Rydel was still in his tent snoring but Slivia was nowhere to be found.

At first, he panicked a little, but Jack found her boots and bag still in her tent. Not sure what to think, he searched the surrounding area to make sure she was alright.

To the south he found nothing, and the west was the same. When he searched to the north, he heard running water in the distance. Like all hot-blooded young men, Jack’s mind immediately started to wander in thoughts of finding Slivia under a waterfall. Keeping his thoughts at bay, Jack coughed and refocused himself before continuing northbound.

The sound of crashing water grew louder the further he went, and Jack slowed with every step as if he were afraid to find her. Jack noticed that up ahead of him was a clearing of trees, letting in more of the natural sunlight.

He proceeded to hide behind a tree and calm himself down. It was easy for him to figure out that the water was in the clearing and he dreaded the thought of getting caught peeking by Slivia. After slowing his breathing and steadying his rapidly beating heart, Jack crept closer and closer to the clearing.

Once he reached the last line of trees, he hid again and mentally prepared for what he might find on the other side of the tree. A few seconds passed and Jack finally built up the courage to look around the tree trunk. His head poked to the side, revealing the entire scene before his eyes.

In the clearing, the ground had sunken down, as it were an unnatural crater. At the bottom was a crystal-clear pool thanks to a fountain of water spewing from one of the crater’s ridges. Some small fish could be seen swimming in the depths it was so clear.

The only thing Jack couldn’t see was a bathing Slivia because she was nowhere to be found.

Inwardly Jack sighed, unsure of whether he wanted to find her or not. Instead of worrying, he enjoyed the view, admiring the water’s clarity.

"It’s amazing isn’t it."

Slivia’s voice appeared from behind the turned around Jack, causing Jack to jump in fright. There she was in a loose-fitting shirt and a plain skirt. Her damp, long hair was wild as it fell and hung to dry naturally. Jack’s heartbeat kicked into high gear, not letting him recuperate or respond quickly.

"Are you okay?" asked Slivia.

"Mhm." Jack nodded and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I’m fine. I just saw that you were gone and was making sure you were okay."

Showing some blush, Slivia smiled when she heard that he was looking out for her. "I’m doing great; in fact, I found the perfect place to take a bath. Isn’t it just perfect?"

"It definitely is," said Jack who also started to blush. He never had much of a thing for prim and proper girls. His type was more of a hands-on girl that could work hard alongside him but was still undeniably feminine. Seeing Slivia dressed like this was a huge turn-on for Jack.

"What’s the matter?" Slivia was confused and didn’t understand why Jack was acting so weird.

"Everything’s fine, but I should go check on Bowser and make sure he doesn’t get into anything." Jack bolted away, not giving himself a chance to hear what she had to say next.

Slivia was left alone and without a clue. She said to herself, "What’s wrong? He’s lucky I found him and wasn’t busy taking a..." Immediately she realized the awkwardness and turned as red as an apple. Taking her time, Slivia strolled back to camp while she tried to calm her shaky heart.

Chapter 33

"Morning kid, what’s wrong?" asked Rydel as Jack ran back into camp at top speed.

Jack was breathing heavily and held up a finger, wanting a second or two to catch his breath. "Nothing, just a little caught off guard by something I found."

"Oh, did you catch Slivia bathing?" asked Rydel nonchalantly.

"N-no, I was just concerned that something happened, so I went looking for her," stammered Jack. His usual smooth self was gone, leaving a young, hesitant version of him in its place.

Rydel laughed, "So what if you saw her? Man up and admit it, for all you know she may be okay with it."

Jack shook his head and turned his focus to relighting the fire. After that, he dismissed himself to catch some breakfast so they could get an early start to the day.

Amused by Jack’s nervousness, Rydel stopped pestering him for the time being and started taking down his tent.

Slivia returned soon and was glad that Jack wasn’t at the campsite, wanting to avoid any more awkwardness. By the time she and Rydel packed up the two tents, Jack was back with another unihorn deer.

Bowser was up and ready for his first meal of the day, devouring his half before anyone else could even get their meat cooking over the fire. The young fox blinked as he felt Jack’s suppressed nerves thanks to their mutual bond. ’Jack, what wrong?’

Startled by the young voice Jack answered ’Nothing, just had a weird morning. I’ll be back to normal after breakfast.’

Not giving it too much thought, Bowser finished his portion as the rest pulled their meat off the flame and started to eat. Bowser, being smart and mischievous, trotted over to Slivia and accepted her loving pets.

She scratched his belly and behind his ears, eventually, she even shared her food with him.

Jack understood Bowser’s intentions and couldn’t help but laugh, settling some of his nerves.

He ate his food as he pondered a few things. First, he wasn’t too surprised when a new achievement appeared about seducing Slivia, but he had yet to decide how he wanted to treat it. Second, Jack focused on piecing together some sort of plan for the azure mine. With all the smaller goblin settlements abandoned, they were going to have to change their tactics.

Originally, Jack and Rydel both had a mutual understanding that Jack would be the bait to lure out the goblins from each settlement, giving Rydel plenty of targets for his volleys of arrows.

Thanks to Rydel’s superior level, this bait and hunt strategy was perfect for grinding EXP, so long as the bait had complete trust in the hunter.

That wasn’t a problem for Jack; if anything he was pumped about being the bait. No matter how unorthodox, if it could accelerate his leveling, he didn’t care about the tactics.

Now that there was only a single city deep within the mine, the only small targets were likely just outposts, but attacking those would be the same as knocking on the front door of the goblin city and announcing their arrival.

They had to come up with a new plan that could wipe out the city; Jack was determined to do at least that and cash in extra EXP from his achievement.

Plus, if the system made it such a priority, then it would be best if he could accomplish it. If not, he struggled to even guess what might happen in the future.

"Got any bright ideas kid?" Rydel’s voice broke the silence. "We’ll reach the mine’s entrance this afternoon and enter it tomorrow morning after you’re fully healed, so I hope you’re ready."

"Don’t worry captain, I’ve got a few new ideas," replied Jack.

"What are you guys going to do?" asked Slivia, curious what she had unknowingly signed up for.

Jack blinked a couple of times after turning to Slivia, still a bit shaken from their morning encounter. "We’ll need to sneak past all the outposts first. With Rydel’s eagle eye that shouldn’t be too difficult, but that leaves us with the biggest problem. That goblin city shouldn’t be too big yet, right?"

"I’d guess it was three times bigger than Baltwood, but nowhere near the size of the capital," answered Slivia.

"Okay, then I think I know what would be best." Jack nodded sternly and became more serious. "What did that old fart say about all this?"

"This is now an official mission from the association. The chief said he was too busy to come personally on such short notice, but he pulled a few strings and convinced a good friend of mine to help us out. He’ll be at the mine by sunrise tomorrow, so make sure we have a big meal waiting for him. A few of his students might tag along too, but his strongest student is only lv. 21 so don’t force them into anything too crazy." Rydel was slightly more energetic when he mentioned his friend.

"What level and class is he?"

"His name’s Maynard and he’s a lv. 33 samurai, specializing in dual-wielding and absolute slaughter. He’s terrible at stealth and he struggles thinking on his feet, but with simple instructions against an army of low leveled enemies he’s the best in the branch, second only to the chief," said Rydel, making sure to praise his friend while letting Jack understand how he would be best used.

"That’s perfect!" Jack smiled, feeling more confident with his wild plan. "They’ll be the main force and the diversion. How confident are you with infiltrating the city and ousting the goblin king?"

"What makes you think there’s a goblin king?" asked Rydel.

"If the Royal Court is supporting the goblins from behind the scenes, then they must’ve confronted one of the strongest goblins and given him the ability to kill his rivals and become the goblin king. That’s the only way that so many major changes could’ve happened so quickly." Jack’s guess was based on the different goblin events that were always appearing in "A Hero’s Tale," all of which ended with facing the tribe’s goblin king. But now that they weren’t playing a game and could make plans outside a game’s protocol, why not take the king out immediately?

"Hmm, okay I’ll do it. But know that I’m not 100% confident. If there’s a goblin king involved, then he’s probably not much weaker than me and that’s if there’s not someone from the Royal Court there to interfere." Rydel shrugged and spoke honestly.

"That’s fine, you’re still the best option for that part of the plan. As for Slivia, you’ll join the main force as the cleric and rake in plenty of EXP. How’s that sound?" Jack looked back at her, gently meeting her gaze.

"I can do that." Slivia nodded and clenched her fists with determination.

"Great! With the goblin armies facing a meat grinder and the goblin king being assassinated, it will only be a matter of time till they fall into chaos and let us walk all over them," reasoned Jack.

"What about you kid? What are you going to do?" Rydel understood that as long as they were all registered in one party, everyone will get a small cut of EXP from every monster slain. That would give Jack a chance to level up at a ridiculous pace which would make any adventurer green with envy. He hoped that Jack would do something and not just chill by the wayside.

"Don’t worry about that," Jack chuckled. "Once the goblin city is on the brink of collapse, I’ll be there to kick them while they’re down and keep them from getting back up."

Curious to see what Jack planned, Rydel smiled. "Sounds good to me, just don’t bite off more than you can chew. You’ll be alone and won’t have anyone to save your sorry self."

"Trust me, if you think your friend will generate the most EXP, just wait till I make my move," said Jack confidently.

"Well, if that’s it then we’ll wait for Mardayn and his crew to finalize everything," replied Rydel with a smirk, holding onto a small belief that Jack could put off something so crazy since Jack was once an ancient hero.

"Wait, what are you going to do Jack? You’re only lv. 4, it’s impossible to do something that crazy," stated Slivia with concern in her eyes.

"Just trust me I can, if I wanted to destroy the goblin city alone, I could find a way to do it. With everyone else’s help, the least I can do is that much," joked Jack.

He thought about jokingly asking if she was worried about him, but the thought alone made him hesitate due to his fear of rejection and he kept it to himself.

Jack quickly gathered his thoughts and continued, "Just look at it this way, I’m desperate to level up as fast as I can. The fastest ways to do this legitimately always carry the biggest risk, but the payout is more than worth it. After this mission, you’ll be more than able to join the Adventurer Association and I’ll be able to fast track my way to the top of the branch."

Slivia wanted to disagree and keep Jack from doing something so dangerous, but she could feel his persistence. She frowned slightly and said, "Fine, but promise me you won’t die. If you die, I’ll never forgive you."

Jack laughed, "Of course I won’t die. What do you think this is, some game with infinite lives?"

 

Chapter 34

Everyone ate their fill and finished tearing down camp, making sure to eliminate all traces of their stay. They mounted their rested horses and rushed to the azure mine. It was easy to travel the short distance on horseback, so they arrived a little earlier than planned.

"It’s only midday. Since we’ve got time, let’s set up camp in the forest outside of the mine’s entrance," said Rydel, leading the way.

"Are you going to scout the mine?" asked Jack.

"Yeah, I’ll scan the entrance and the nearest mineshafts," replied Rydel. "You two should be fine without me for a little while. If something happens, just contact me and I’ll come back running."

Nodding their heads, Jack and Slivia agreed with Rydel’s plan, dismounted their horses, and tied them down in the nearby forest. There was no clearing, but they preferred it that way. By camping in a denser patch of the forest they could almost eliminate the chance of being discovered while Rydel was away.

As soon as Rydel’s tent was up, he disappeared without a trace. Jack swallowed some saliva and nervousness now that he was alone with Slivia. Bowser was stretching near the fire pit when he felt Jack’s sudden change and asked, ’Jack, what wrong?’

"Nothing’s wrong buddy," said Jack, trying to play it cool.

’But you feel different.’ Bowser struggled to communicate clearly but his instincts were sharp enough to tell him that something was off.

Realizing that Bowser could sense his emotions, Jack shrunk a little. He didn’t want to mention that awkward moment to anyone.

On the outside he was always confident and cool, trying his best to act like his favorite superhero, shameless and adaptable. But his inexperience with female relationships created more pressure than he anticipated.

When it was a game, it always worked out and it was easy to put on an act. But Jack was starting to understand that he wasn’t Jack_J; he was Jack, a weird and awkward hybrid of Jack_J and Jackson Jones. This is something that he wouldn’t want to admit and he would try his best to convince himself otherwise.

"Umm, what do you mean?"

Jack looked to Slivia and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"You just said, ’Nothing’s wrong buddy.’ Why?" Slivia explained her confusion, wondering why he suddenly spoke and even called her buddy. Strangely enough, her heart ached a little when she heard him call her his buddy.

"No, no! I was talking with Bowser," said Jack, putting up his hands after realizing his blunder. "Sorry about the confusion. I didn’t mean to call you buddy."

"Oh, why not? Am I not your buddy?" Slivia didn’t know why she said that, but she turned terrified the moment the words left her mouth.

Frozen where he stood, Jack’s nerves reappeared with a vengeance. He stammered, "That’s, umm, not what I meant, but I wouldn’t use that word, exactly..."

"Then... What word would you use?" Slivia’s confidence was boosted a little by his reply, and since she had somehow asked already, she decided to commit to the conversation.

"Umm..." Jack’s face paled slightly as he instantly regretted his open-ended answer. He tried this best to come up with a solution but drew blanks no matter what he tried. Suddenly, he thought of something. "Bowser, stop that!"

Slivia followed Jack’s pointed finger and saw Bowser using the rocks from the firepit like a backscratcher. Bowser was confused because he always did this, so he asked, ’What Bowser do wrong?’

’Nothing, just go with it and I’ll give you an entire unihorn deer for yourself,’ offered Jack.

’Okay!’ the simple-minded fox’s eyes lit up.

"What’s wrong?" Slivia asked, being even more confused than Bowser.

"He’s about to pee by the fire, but he knows better," said Jack, picking up Bowser and carrying him to the outskirts of the camp.

’But Bowser no pee. Bowser know better,’ argued the little fox.

’I know Bowser, but just go with it. Tonight, you’ll have your own unihorn,’ persuaded Jack, making sure to keep up the charade in front of Slivia.

"Okay boy, now you can go," announced Jack aloud, now outside of camp and away from the previous conversation.

’But Bowser no need pee.’

’Just pretend for now. You did nothing wrong and I’m glad to have you. You’ve earned your unihorn,’ replied Jack.

’Okay!’ Bowser licked his lips in excitement.

Back near the firepit, Slivia was perplexed mentally and emotionally. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Jack was avoiding the question, but Slivia knew she wouldn’t have the courage to ask again. However, she was happy that Jack didn’t want to be her buddy.

Things gradually returned to normal when Jack came back with Bowser on his shoulder and told Slivia that he was going to find food for lunch and dinner. She volunteered to stay and watch the fire, waiting for Rydel to come back when he was finished.

While hunting, Bowser took the initiative to help Jack sniff out any nearby prey, eager to get his unihorn for lunch. They found some wild rabbits and Jack liked the idea of mixing things up, so he decided to chase them back to their rabbit hole beneath a huge tree. There was a total of seven rabbits; two parents, and five children.

Happy with his find, Jack scoped out his surroundings and planned his attack. Both sides of the tree had an exit, making things a little more difficult. Lucky for Jack, he had hunted these all the time in the game.

He stood on one side of the tree without an exit, making sure he could shoot towards both exits from a distance. As he nocked an arrow, Jack pointed it downward and let Bowser bite the end, causing the end to burst into flames. Immediately he blocked off one exit with the flaming arrow and nocked the next one. Again, Bowser lit it on fire before Jack launched the arrow at the other entrance.

That time, one of the rabbits tried to run away and was pinned by the arrow to the ground, blocking the other rabbits from retreating. Jack sighed in relief as he got closer and launched some more arrows into the rabbit hole and quickly offed his prey. Glad he didn’t burn the one rabbit too badly, Jack put the rabbits in his storage.

Jack knew that was enough for Rydel, Slivia, and himself, but he continued his hunt for a unihorn. Eventually, they found a small herd of them. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jack claimed four unihorn and stored them all before he trekked back to camp.

When Jack neared the camp and Slivia came into view, he smiled. Just then, Jack noticed something out of the corner of his eye and jumped back, narrowly avoiding the swing of a katana. Breathing heavily, Jack gathered his bearings and assessed the situation.

"What are you doing here?" asked the long-haired man on the other side of the blade. He was maybe in his thirties and wore a black kimono over an undershirt.

"Why are you asking me, we set up camp first. Shouldn’t I be asking you why you’re threatening me?" reasoned Jack.

"Answer the question. I’m not sure how you dodged my perfect surprise attack, but I’m certain I won’t miss again," exclaimed the man.

Jack hesitated because he knew the man was right; he had only managed to dodge that strike because the man underestimated Jack’s perception, but a head-on fight with the man would be impossible for Jack to survive.

He looked behind the man and noticed that someone else had sneaked up on Slivia, who now had a knife to her throat.

"As you can see, you and she are no match for us. Now, what are you doing here near the mine?" the man asked again, clearly losing his patience.

"We’re here on business for the Adventurers Association; so, unless you want to die when our captain returns, I’d recommend leaving us alone." Jack cut to the chase and made sure that his new enemies understood exactly what they were getting into.

"You’re with the association?" The man tilted his head in surprise. "Prove it."

Jack immediately removed his cloak and showed off the association’s insignia made up of two capital "a’s" imprinted on an open scroll. Seeing this, the man sheathed his katana and let out a breath as he relaxed.

"Sorry for all the trouble. We’re scouting for our master and weren’t able to discover anything involving the association on that woman. When you arrived, we thought it would be best to act first and ask later to avoid any possible problems in the future. Please, forgive us," asked the man as he lightly kowtowed to Jack.

Slivia was immediately released and the other man in a dark green kimono kowtowed as well.

"It’s fine; no harm, no foul," said Jack, hurrying to Slivia’s side. "If you’re with the association, then your master should be Maynard, right?"

"Yes, it is, and your captain must be Rydel. It’s an honor to fight alongside you, hero," answered the man in green.

"You know who I am?"

Chapter 35

"You know who I am?" Jack was startled.

"Every association member in the capital knows who you are hero," explained the man in green. "After you and Rydel destroyed the city gate, they put warrants out for your arrest. The chief is working hard to get them removed and explained your identity to the entire city in protest."

The man in black chimed in, saying, "People stormed the royal offices and demanded that a summoned hero shouldn’t be given a bounty or go through a forced search. I had my hunches when I first saw you, but I figured that if you were the real deal, you would be able to dodge my strike. It seems I guessed correctly"

"And if I hadn’t dodged it?" asked Jack with a frown. Originally, he was alright with the near-death experience, but Jack wouldn’t forgive so easily now that he knew Brunar had recognized him yet acted anyway.

"Well..." The man in black coughed and redirected the conversation. "I’m just glad that we have a summoned hero on our side. Things are looking up for the branch thanks to you; we had a flood of applications pour in after the announcement."

Knowing that the man wouldn’t apologize, Jack shrugged and disregarded the incident. "So, where’s your master? He should be here soon, right? I need to hurry up and make lunch, so please excuse me."

The samurai adjusted his kimono and accepted Jack’s harsh tone, understanding that Jack hadn’t forgiven him for nearly killing him. "My name is Brunar and he’s Troni, please forgive our reckless introduction."

Surprised to see Brunar bow and ask forgiveness, he lightened his opinion of the man but kept a cold front. It was easy to make friends with Jack, but it was even easier to make enemies. Once he had a negative impression of someone, it would take some time for him to willingly make up.

"I hope you guys like rabbit," said Jack, not bothering to look back at them. He and Slivia began to skin and prep the rabbits undisturbed by the samurai, who sat down cross-legged and watched them carefully.

"Do you need any help?" asked Troni.

"Nah, we got this covered," responded Jack. His opinion of Troni was a little better than Brunar because of the two, Brunar was obviously the leader and most likely Maynard’s top disciple.

"We can skin them, with our precision we—"

"I said, ’we got this covered.’" Jack didn’t let Brunar finish and gave him the evil eye.

Brunar wasn’t afraid of Jack, but for some reason, he felt that Jack’s gaze was too heavy for a newbie adventurer.

Sure, he was a summoned hero, but he heard from his master that Jack was still a lv. 1. If Jack was so low leveled, it didn’t make any sense.

Because Brunar had a reputation for acting on his own, following orders exactly as they were given, he would occasionally get scolded by his master or Zariff. But why did Jack’s gaze feel as heavy as theirs, if not heavier; that’s what Brunar wanted to know.

Jack didn’t pay him any more attention, finishing the cleaning and prepping of the meat. They skewered it on homemade wooden pikes and stuck the wooden pikes into the ground around the fire, letting them leave the rabbits to cook on their own.

"I have a question for you," said Brunar, noticing that Jack was finally finished.

"Too bad, because I may not have an answer," said Jack as he closed his eyes, appearing to meditate as he began to explore the achievement system in boredom.

"You..." Brunar’s hushed word barely left his lips as he restrained himself from lashing out at Jack.

"Brunar, can you blame him?" asked Troni. "If your blade had come any closer, he would’ve died on the spot without hope of survival. That’s not exactly something to take lightly."

"So? At least be respectful to your seniors. I’ve already apologized, so I have no reason to be ignored," argued Brunar, not giving an inch.

Troni shook his head. He understood both perspectives and could sense that both had their pride to uphold.

Jack was a summoned hero and would later be the hope of the country. Brunar was a rising star in the branch and was admired by many. However, after Jack’s identity was publicly announced, Brunar’s fame began to shrink and fade.

The worst part in Brunar’s eyes was Jack’s level; he had been eclipsed by a lv. 1 and that was unacceptable to him.

"Are you okay?" Jack’s quiet voice reached Slivia’s ears. "I don’t see any marks or scars, but I want to be sure."

"I’m fine. Troni didn’t even grab me very tightly; I would’ve pulled away from him if I hadn’t seen his level far above mine," answer Slivia, trying to help repair the damage done to their party’s relationship.

"I’m glad at least one of them has a brain." Those words were only loud enough to barely escape Jack’s mouth, keeping them between only Jack and Slivia.

Bowser jumped off Jack’s shoulder with a frown on his face. He nuzzled into Slivia’s lap as if looking for female comfort. She immediately gave in and started to show Bowser love, petting and scratching him all over. Jack chuckled when he understood Bowser’s shameless, childish nature.

Over an hour passed by and the sun was descending in the sky. Everyone had already eaten and were left waiting for their last two party members to show up.

Eventually, two figures appeared in the distance walking and talking with one another. Jack recognized Rydel and started to scan over the man beside the captain.

His kimono was white with red diamond accents all over. There were two katanas at his hip which the system identified as high tier weapons, surprising Jack. He was shorter than Jack but his battle scars and toned body demanded praise.

Jack stood up and ran to welcome the two of them. "Nice to meet you. You’re Maynard, right?"

"Yup and ya must be Jack. I’m glad to meet ya," said Maynard, extending his hand to shake Jack’s. "I’ve heard a lot about some ’cheeky brat’ from Zariff; that’s ya right?"

"Of course, who else could get such praise from that old fart while so low leveled," joked Jack. Thanks to Maynard’s easy-going response and personality, Jack immediately felt much better about getting more party members. "Make sure to teach your disciples properly; if I wasn’t lucky, that idiot over there would’ve killed me."

Both Rydel and Maynard grew serious, replacing the light atmosphere. Maynard turned to face Brunar and asked, "Really Brunar?"

"Don’t listen to him! I was just testing him to see if he was a hero worth his reputation," claimed Brunar, defending himself brazenly.

"Then good for you, you’ve proven you can overpower a newbie like me. Congrats." Jack’s dry tone ground into Brunar’s ears.

Furious, Brunar declared, "Don’t just talk, why not prove yourself in—"

"That’s enough."

Suddenly Brunar felt a small blade being held up against his throat, close enough to cut skin if he swallowed saliva. Rydel had appeared from behind Brunar and said, "Whatever you do to him, I do to you. Got it?"

"Yessir!" Brunar trembled as he tried to feel the gap between his strength and Rydel’s.

"Be happy Maynard’s a good friend because I’ve killed for less," said Rydel, putting away the knife and walking to Jack’s side. "Everything okay? What happened?"

"He launched a sneak attack on me as I came back to camp even though he recognized me as an ally," answered Jack. "If I hadn’t noticed the attack soon enough, I would’ve lost my head."

"Is that true?" Maynard’s solemn voice sent shivers down everyone’s spines as he looked to Troni and saw him lightly nod.

Brunar looked to his master and said, "As a summoned hero of legend, I was certain that Jack would have the ability to evade. And if he didn’t, that just meant he was a fake after all."

It wasn’t too rare for someone to try and rise in popularity saying they were a foreign hero, so Brunar debated with that logic.

"Idiot!"

Maynard exploded into fury and drew a single sword. Swinging it sideways, he struck Brunar’s head, only it wasn’t with the blade but the flat side.

As Brunar was thrown into a tree, Maynard sheathed his sword and approached his disciple. "You and I have both seen the association’s records, so how would a fake have the hero class, huh?"

Keeping silent, Brunar avoided answering and looking up to his master, rubbing the side of his face. Maynard continued, "He’s a hero no matter how you look at it and you’ve got to accept that. In the future, he’ll surpass you and me both so he can become a peak existence in the continent. Get over yourself!"

"I refuse to let some newbie beat me! I won’t let him pass me!" barked Brunar in ignorance.

Wanting to humble his disciple, Maynard sword slapped him one more time across the other cheek. "I hope you can reevaluate yourself. You’re too arrogant and will never reach your potential how you are now."

Brunar opened his mouth but no words came out. Inwardly, he promised to never let Jack surpass him so that he would be the only star in the branch. He was too full of himself thanks to everyone’s praise and Maynard’s typically loose guidance.

Chapter 36

Disappointed in his disciple’s recklessness, Maynard turned to Jack and deeply bowed. "Forgive this man for his disciple’s lack of discipline. If I were more strict or hands-on with him, he wouldn’t have turned out like this."

"There’s no need for you to lower yourself," said Jack. "You are close friends with the captain, and I can tell that you’re a genuine person, so don’t worry yourself too much. This idiot’s actions were his own, in the end, he is the one who should apologize and make up."

Maynard knew what Jack said was true, sighing in disappointment. "Please don’t let this affect our teamwork during this upcoming mission."

"You worry too much," joked Jack. "Let’s all calm down with an early dinner. That way we can get plenty of rest to storm the mine tomorrow."

No one disagreed as Jack retrieved three unihorns, one for his original party, another for the three samurai, and the last for Bowser as per their promise. Within half an hour, the unihorns were cleaned and being roasted over the fire to everyone’s personal preference.

"So, what do ya got in mind?" asked Maynard, looking to Rydel.

"I think you’ll like what we have planned." Jack was the one who answered, stealing everyone’s attention.

"Master was talking with your captain, you should sit and listen while they lay it out for you," stated Brunar begrudgingly.

"Actually, Jack’s the one who thought up the plan." Rydel chimed in. "I’d come up with something similar, but I think his plan is more fitting."

"Like I was saying," said Jack, ignoring Brunar’s interruption, "the plan is simple. We will all form a party, letting us see any unexpected changes in anyone’s status. Phase one consists of you three as the main force with Slivia’s support as a cleric. You’ll storm the main city gate, drawing out the bulk of the goblin forces. It’ll be hectic, but I think you’ll all manage with Slivia there to restore HP and MP while it drags on. Any questions so far?"

Maynard showed a toothy grin when he heard his role. "Sounds perfect to me!"

Troni nodded in agreement with his master and Brunar didn’t do anything to disagree, knowing that this was their specialty. Brunar turned to Slivia, "Don’t hold us back. You’re not an official member so don’t expect too much help if you can’t keep up."

"I’ll take care of her," said Troni suddenly. "You and master take the lead to slaughter the main forces, I’ll remain in the back and keep them away from Slivia. I have to admit, with a cleric’s help, even if they’re low-leveled, our stamina will be much greater." He looked to Slivia, bowing his head graciously.

She didn’t know what to say, bowing back in response. Troni’s sincere words seemed to touch her inexperienced heart.

"Good, then we’ll leave phase two to the captain. While you’re distracting the goblins, he’ll sneak into the city and eliminate the goblin king," continued Jack.

"Goblin king? How do you know there’s a goblin king?" questioned Brunar, trying to find fault wherever he could with the plan. He wanted it to go smoothly, but he didn’t like a lv. 1 calling the shots.

"Because how else could the goblins have banded together so quickly? If you want to go and research it personally, be my guest. Either way, Captain will infiltrate the city and eliminate the goblin king as phase two." Jack didn’t waste too much breath on Brunar, making sure to return to the topic quickly.

Rydel nodded and gave his two cents. "Remember, I can’t guarantee that I can kill him. He’s probably around my level and if they have someone from the Royal Court supporting them, I may even have to flee."

"Understood, no matter what happens we’ll trust your judgment. Make sure to contact me the moment there’s a change of plans," said Jack as Rydel nodded in response.

"You said there were three phases," said Maynard. "Does that mean you’re in charge of phase three?"

"Correct." Jack smiled, admitting to it. "I’ll be in charge of kicking them while they’re down. We don’t want them to regroup after losing their king, right?"

Everyone nodded, not arguing with Jack’s logic, but Brunar couldn’t believe that Jack had a way to do this alone. "Why are you the one in charge of phase three? Actually, why are you the one making the plans? You’re a lv. 1 newbie that can only hide behind his captain’s protection, you’ll just die on your own."

No one disagreed with Brunar either, understanding and agreeing with his logic.

Slivia started to worry even more for Jack. Maynard and Troni stared unhesitatingly at Jack, knowing that he would surely respond.

Rydel didn’t bother to listen to Brunar, despite his logic making sense to most people. Rydel also understood that Jack wasn’t measurable by normal logic; not only was he a summoned hero, but he was once an ancient hero at the top of the powerful Leisure Guild. Until proven incapable, Rydel would believe in Jack and his plans fully.

"You’re not wrong, but you’re not right either." Jack’s response got everyone to tilt their heads in thought. "Don’t worry about me. Besides, if I die from my foolishness, then wouldn’t you be happy?"

Brunar was silent, not admitting anything. Jack continued, "All you need to know is that Bowser and I will also infiltrate the city soon after the captain begins phase two. Just keep grinding away at the main forces until you get my signal, that’s when you’ll go all out and use your strongest skills to begin slaughtering the remaining goblins. The goblins’ morale will be on the decline after losing their king and from phase 3, so they will become easy targets by then."

"Good, I approve." Maynard gave a thumbs up. "Then we’ll leave phase three to you and that fox."

Unlike his disciples, Maynard had chatted with Rydel after finding each other in the entrance of the mine.

Rydel made sure to inform Maynard about Jack and Bowser, knowing that everyone would see the truth about Jack’s mutual seal after his next-level analysis. Of course, Jack’s information would become classified to anyone below lv. 30 in the association due to the importance of Jack forming a mutual seal with a purebred ancient bloodline.

The moment he formed that seal, Jack’s importance to the association doubled. The world would go crazy if they knew the truth about Jack; a summoned hero who was once a legendary, ancient hero and now he had a mutual seal with a Hell-flame Fox.

"But Master, there’s no way we can depend on—"

"I’ve already given my approval; you can’t change my mind. Focus on your role and let others focus on theirs, that’s why we make different phased plans. If you worried about the entire plan, you’d never be able to accomplish your task." Maynard always spoke bluntly, even more so after his top disciple had acted out so rashly against arguably the most valuable member of the entire Adventurers Association.

Not daring to speak out again, Brunar shut his mouth and nodded. He accepted his role and hoped deep down that his words would come true, letting Jack embarrass himself in front of everyone.

"Good, now let’s eat!" yelled Jack, chomping down on a unihorn leg. Everyone followed suit, letting themselves enjoy the night before a dangerous mission.

"Getting cold feet?" Jack whispered to Slivia, noticing her nerves and apprehension.

"Well, I’m just nervous like everyone else," replied Slivia.

"Just let go, don’t worry too much." Jack chuckled at how stiff Slivia had become. "Like this, you’d be a burden on the mission and wouldn’t have much hope of joining the association. Just focus on your role and nothing else, if you can do that much then you’ll be immediately accepted into the association."

"Really?" Slivia perked up after thinking about it that way.

"Of course. If anything, this was a godsent opportunity to bypass the screening and join the association directly. Consider this a test of your abilities, do well and you’ll have two high leveled adventurers witness your qualifications to join." Jack tried his best to let her focus on the bright side.

"I guess you’re right." Slivia looked down instinctively, hesitant to meet Jack’s gaze while filled with excitement to join the association.

"What are you two blabbering about, hurry and join us for a drink!" Maynard handed them two mugs filled with wine. "To a complete victory!"

"To victory!" yelled everyone as they clanked mugs and tried their best to chug their wine. Maynard and Rydel were the first to finish but Jack was only a second behind, putting a smile on Maynard’s face.

"After all this goes down, I’d love to sit down and chat with ya, Jack." Maynard took the opportunity to get closer to this mysterious hero.

"No problem, I’m sure I’ll be meeting all the high leveled adventurers after this mission anyway so why not get a head start?" laughed Jack.

After everyone finished their meal the night came to an early end as Jack had mentioned, they all made sure to rest up before the long day to come.

Chapter 37

Before the sun gave everyone a wake-up call, Jack was already wide awake. Heading south to a nearby creek, Jack took his time pondering the mission ahead of him. He quietly stripped and entered the water, sitting down to more fully immerse himself in the gentle stream.

Glad he could finally clean himself, he relaxed and let the running water wash away his worries. In front of everyone, he had to maintain his focus and put on a brave front but in reality, he was terrified of what might happen. It was his first mission in this new world and his first mission to not let him respawn, the fact that he was low leveled only made things worse.

Jack thought to himself, ’I must be crazy for taking on phase three alone.’ If he had his way, he wouldn’t be alone during phase three. But since Zariff wasn’t able to make it and only Maynard and his disciples were able to help, Jack had to adjust the plan and ensure it could even make it as far as phase three.

Trying to avoid getting depressed, Jack cheered himself up. ’After this mission, I shouldn’t be much lower than Brunar. Then, things will be much better, I can go back to regular grinding as we had planned.’

"Relax won’t ya?"

That casual voice startled Jack, causing him to blink rapidly in search of its origin. He soon discovered Maynard emerge from the water not even five meters away.

Maynard continued, "Be honest with yourself; if you’re afraid, then be afraid. If you’re scared, then be scared. Bravery isn’t measured by one’s words, but by their actions in the face of fear. If there was no fear, there would be no bravery."

"You’re a lot wiser than I’d have guessed," chuckled Jack, relaxing after hearing Maynard’s advice.

"I’m not the smartest or the most intuitive, but I’m smart enough, to be honest with myself. If you can learn that much, you’ll surpass Brunar easily. It’s sad but I haven’t paid close enough attention to him lately. Again, I apologize for letting him act out as he did." Maynard cupped his hands and bowed his head to Jack.

Jack did the same and replied, "It’s to be expected, who would want to be outshined by someone as low-leveled as me. Anyways, I’m sure you’ve got some questions for me, right?"

"Indeed." Maynard smiled at Jack’s frankness. "You’re far too experienced to be a newbie, yet too inexperienced to be a veteran. Why’s that?"

"I’m sure Rydel has already talked about the truth behind my mutual seal with Bowser, right?" asked Jack, getting a nod in response. "Then I’ll put it simply. I was once an ancient hero from Trodar, at the time I helped lead the Leisure Guild. It’s too strange for me to explain how, but I’ve now been summoned to modern Kartonia with a fresh start and a new class. Is that enough explanation?"

"Yup, that’s plenty," stated Maynard, smiling due to Jack’s sincere honesty. "I’ve met a couple summoned heroes before and even though they were far more powerful than myself, their gaze never made me feel that I lacked experience like yours does. If what you say is true, it’s no wonder that I feel so small in front of you despite your level. Your spirit is far more experienced than your body."

"My spirit?" asked Jack.

"That’s right, spirit arts were even rare during ancient times. I practice a couple of spirit arts so that I can better face opponents stronger than myself. It focuses on the way of the samurai, but it would be an honor to share it with someone so reputable as yourself." Maynard retrieved a scroll from his storage, it wasn’t too worn but it wasn’t brand new. "Here, take it as a gift. Perhaps I can treat you as a brother?"

"From a brother, it’s impossible to not accept." Jack took it happily, easily accepting the honest Maynard’s offer and storing the scroll. "The captain’s judge of character really is amazing."

Maynard laughed loudly, "You’ve probably gotten an earful from him, right? If you’re originally from Trodar, then I’m sure he’s hounded you about the past." He saw Jack chuckle and scratch his head, admitting to the truth without saying a word. Maynard continued, "In the future, I’ll have more questions but for now I have only one, will you answer it?"

"Of course."

Standing up, Maynard started to exit the creek. "Is it true that in ancient times, there were hundreds of heroes above lv. 50?"

Upon hearing the question, Jack burst into laughter without any control.

Maynard was startled and waited patiently for Jack to answer.

After a few seconds, Jack calmed himself and said, "You’re wrong." The samurai frowned, disappointed to hear such a thing. However, Jack kept speaking, "There were thousands."

"Thousands?" Maynard’s heart stood still for a moment as he took in Jack’s words.

"There were even hundreds over lv. 80 to be honest. Only people at that level were able to stand at the peak of the continent," Jack continued speaking, not giving Maynard a chance to settle his mind and heart.

"Above lv. 80?" Maynard had heard rumors of that the strongest heroes of ancient Kartonia were too strong to measure, but lv. 80 was too far for Maynard to imagine. "Wait, if you led the strongest ancient guild, doesn’t that mean..."

"Yup, I was lv. 85 in the past. I would’ve gone further, but it was impossible." Jack admitted it, happy to see the absolute shock on Maynard’s face.

This was way more than what Maynard was hoping to learn. He only wanted to verify that it was possible for so many to reach that level, trying to inspire himself to continue. But hearing that so many reached not only lv. 50 but lv. 80, Maynard didn’t know if he was inspired by the past adventurers’ achievements or depressed by the modern adventurers lack thereof.

"Don’t get down on yourself," said Jack, seeing depression settle on Maynard’s face. "Heroes have an easier time leveling up and the chaos back then was far stronger since Skaryn wasn’t sealed away. With stronger foes, it’s only natural for the ancient heroes to get so strong."

Maynard’s lips twitched upwards in a small smile. "Thank you for broadening my horizons, I will seek your help in the future. Forgive me for asking a second question but please accept me as your student and follower."

Before Jack could respond, Maynard fell to his knees and bowed before him.

Jack asked, "What do you mean? You’re lv. 33 and I’m lv. 4, do you realize how ridiculous that would be?"

"You know I don’t care about what others think. I’ve always acted how I wanted when I’ve wanted. I want to be your student and I want it to be from this day forward despite your current level. You and I both know that you’ll surpass me easily enough," persuaded Maynard, not giving up.

Jack sighed, "And I’m sure that you’ve realized how I am, I care even less about what others think. I’ll do anything if I feel it’s the best option, no matter how crazy or unorthodox. I’ve even run into battle stark naked."

"If streaking into battle is all it takes to join you, then you shouldn’t worry yourself," said Maynard, who had also done so, only not by his choice.

"You won’t give this up, will you?"

A brilliant grin showed on Maynard’s face. "If I can be a student to someone as reputable as you, then I don’t care what I must do or who I must make enemies of. Being under you is the greatest guarantee to grow my strength, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about."

Indeed, Jack understood what Maynard was talking about, but he was startled that Maynard was willing to go so far.

What Maynard wanted wasn’t to become a disciple or a follower, he wanted to form a pact with Jack. There weren’t many people who knew about the ancient pacts and fewer who had learned one. Maynard didn’t know any pacts, but he was certain that Jack knew a few and he had a basic understanding of what they did.

A pact was similar to a beast seal; it was a seal that wasn’t quite as beneficial, but it wasn’t as restrictive either. Both of them would share a portion of their EXP gained in battle and some stronger pacts would even link people telepathically.

To the current Jack, this wasn’t too tempting, but to anyone who didn’t have a mutual seal and the ancient adventurers, this was a very enticing offer.

In the past, Jack had formed a pact with a single man, and they traveled together until Jack appeared in the modern world of Kartonia.

"Let me explain this now, I’m not able to come back to life like ancient heroes, so neither can you." Jack wasn’t sure if there were rumors about that, but he guessed so.

To a normal adventurer that would be the most enticing benefit; they could grind anywhere alongside their hero companion and wouldn’t need to fear for their lives, giving their complete focus to the battle.

The only downside was that normal adventurers could only form a single pact, so if Jack decided to dissolve the pact at some point for any reason, Maynard wouldn’t be able to form a second pact with anyone else.

"Even so, I insist we form a pact. I’m sure Rydel has already done so if he knows all of this," replied Maynard.

"He knows I was once a peak existence on the continent, but he had never asked about my level," said Jack.

"Knowing him, he’s probably just waiting for a better time to ask. He’s not as desperate as I am to grow stronger, not yet at least," guessed Maynard.

After passing lv. 30 he had hit a wall, taking far too long to level up and feeling depressed for his lack of progress. His forming a pact to someone with Jack’s potential was like giving a lion wings; giving him the chance to fly behind his current limits and explore new horizons.

"Fine, I’ll form one. You’ll be the second person to receive my inheritor pact.

 

Chapter 38

"Fine, I’ll form one. You’ll be the second person to receive my inheritor pact."

That sentence struck a chord in Maynard’s heart, marking this as one of his happiest moments. Jack continued, "My inheritor pact is a little different, it’s a pact that I created."

"Seriously!?" Maynard was astounded by that fact.

Jack chuckled, it wasn’t too difficult for him to do in-game and he mainly did it for the achievement. "The inheritor pact is similar to a mutual seal, but not quite as powerful. After it’s formed, we’ll be linked telepathically and will share a portion of EXP earned from that point on."

"That’s excellent!" shouted Maynard, overjoyed that Jack knew such a powerful pact.

"That’s not all, there’s one last thing. You’ll receive 5% of my earned EXP but I’ll receive 50% of yours. Is that too much to ask?"

Maynard thought for a moment and said, "Why not? I’ve finally gotten this lucky, why would I tun ya down now?"

Jack gently smiled and said, "Good, I’m glad to hear that. In exchange for 50% of your EXP earned, you’ll have access to all of my skills as well and can even develop them as your own beyond that point. This is what makes it the ’inheritor’ pact."

With wide eyes and a slack jaw, Maynard froze in excitement. Such a pact was unheard of. Yeah, it cost him EXP, but he wouldn’t level up any slower than before and he would now gain access to who knows how many new skills without even trying. For normal adventurers, learning skills typically meant searching for them in scrolls, magic items, and old dungeons. This benefit was amazing, Maynard would have been willing to pay 75% of EXP or more for it if he needed.

"Let’s hurry up and do this, who knows if the captain will sneak up on us and try to join in." Jack liked gaining more EXP, but he was hesitant to do this so early on. The only reason he accepted Maynard was his honest character, the type that couldn’t lie no matter how he tried; and Jack really was desperate for EXP. "Let’s get out of this pool first."

Jack also exited, they both dried off the best they could, and they put their clothes back on. Jack motioned for Maynard to kneel before him. "I’ll draw the pact on your forehead in my blood. Once I’m done, you’ll prick your finger and press it to the center of the pact to activate it, okay?"

"Perfect!"

Jack quickly used his tiny knife to make a small slit in his index finger, letting him use it as a rough pen. He drew three circles intertwined in the center of Maynard’s forehead, followed by a different ancient symbol within each circle. Drying his finger with his black cloak, he said, "It’s done. Now it’s your turn."

Without a second thought, Maynard bit his thumb and pressed it firmly into the center of his forehead, where he felt the three circles intertwining. The pact glowed bright red and slowly sunk into Maynard’s head as he let out a few pained groans. Once it was over, a voice rang out in Maynard’s mind. ’Can you hear me?’

’Yes! It worked!’

’Good, this should make communication during the mission much easier,’ said Jack. ’For now, don’t worry about your new skills. Given the difficulty, it’s best to not test your new skills during the mission. I’ll fill you in on what skills you have afterward, okay?"

’Works for me!’ Maynard laughed. No matter what happened in the mine, nothing would be able to worsen his mood. He was even more excited about the mission, wanting to hurry and clear it so he could learn new skills.

’Good, now let’s hurry back before anyone starts looking for us.’ Jack took initiative to leave and was quickly followed back to camp. Everyone else was either waking up or trying to resist mother nature’s sunny wake-up call.

"Did you enjoy your morning bath? Did it help to have Maynard scrub your back?" joked Rydel.

Jack was going to answer but Maynard’s roaring laughter eclipsed everything, waking those still sleeping. "I already beat ya to it, Rydel! I’m just surprised you haven’t made a pact yet and let me act first."

"Pact?" Rydel asked seriously. "You formed a pact?"

A little dispirited by Maynard’s rambunctiousness, Jack sighed, "Yes, we did. It looks like he’ll be partying with me for a while."

"Well, if you’ll make a pact with that old devil, then surely you’ll accept your captain, right?" This was the first time Rydel had ever addressed himself as the party captain, trying to weasel his way into the same benefits that Maynard now enjoyed.

"It’s not like I won’t, it’s just—"

"Great, let’s hurry and get it over with while everyone else is getting up," said Rydel, dashing out of sight.

Maynard laughed and Jack sighed as they both followed behind the lanky hunter. Jack was hesitant to accept a second inheritor so quickly, but there weren’t any real issues in doing so. They quickly explained and formed another inheritor pact.

Afterward, Jack spoke mentally, ’I haven’t mentioned any skills to Maynard because we differ in class and trying new skills might be awkward during the mission, but it’s different for you. You two should know that my skills work differently than most. With my subclass, I can unlock any regular action as a passive skill and level them up as I grow. This is how I was able to damage the city gate as a lv. 1 because my bow skill was lv. 2. Typically, the skill share ability will give you half the skill I have, so anything I have at lv. 2 will be available to you as a lv. 1 skill. Currently, my only skills at lv. 2 are bow, evasion, and stealth.’

Both Rydel and Maynard were blown away by all the passive abilities they received without doing anything. Yeah, they would sacrifice 50% of their EXP, but their new abilities could be seen as priceless and would let them be far more effective during any mission.

’You weren’t kidding when you said you were different, kid. So many abilities and you’re only lv. 4, anyone would pay a fortune to just a couple of these skills you’ve gained,’ said Rydel telepathically, following Jack’s lead to keep anyone else from hearing their secrets.

’That’s because my skills don’t level up with EXP, I have to unlock them through sets of achievements. Think of achievements as personal ’mini-missions’ that my subclass generates and finds in the world around me.’ Jack did his best to explain how it was for those who had no experience gaming.

’That’s how ya knew about chief, huh? Makes sense,’ said Maynard. ’Just curious, is there a way you could get your sword skill to lv. 2?’

’I think I can get it to lv. 2 by the time we reach the goblin city, but I don’t have a sword.’ Jack complained about not having a sword even though he didn’t need one to level it up. He guessed that Maynard would have plenty to spare and would willingly give up a sword so low leveled if asked.

’If that’s what you need, take this.’ Maynard retrieved a lv. 20 katana with a fiery red handle. ’It’s too weak for me anyway.’

Jack was baffled at Maynard’s generosity. He replied, ’I’ll take this, but what about my other levels? I’m lv. 4 and you can only use weapons at your same level.’

’Easy.’ Maynard didn’t bat an eye as three more swords appeared in his hands. ’These are lv. 5, lv. 10, and lv. 15. With these, you’ll be able to train well in the way of the sword and make me stronger by default.’

With some humility, Jack took all four swords and stored them away, glad to have Maynard’s help.

Not wanting to be outdone, Rydel activated his storage and took out four different bows. ’Here, these will help you too. That way you won’t give up the bow to focus on the sword.’

Giddy and wide-eyed, Jack received the bows graciously and bowed to them both. ’Thank you. With these, I’ll be able to level up both skills for sure.’

’Also, if ya ever need our help to fulfill any of those ’mini-missions,’ just say the word.’

’Don’t worry, you’re already helping me with my most important one. I plan to raze that goblin city for that reason,’ explained Jack.

’Well, with better stealth and strength I might be able to assassinate that goblin king after all.’

’If anything happens inside, immediately inform the others. With me as the intermediate, all three of us can communicate telepathically within five hundred kilometers so don’t worry yourselves too much,’ said Jack.

The surprises never ended with Jack as Rydel and Maynard kept feeling their hearts shaking from endless excitement. After years of struggle and hardship, why wouldn’t they be overwhelmed with joy from gaining so many immediate, passive abilities without any significant backlash?

’Let’s hurry back, isn’t it time we all formed a party and entered the mine?’ Instinctively, Jack led the two others back to camp like he was the true leader of the party despite his level.

Brunar rushed out of bed when he saw them all leave. He tried to follow and listen to their conversation but by the time he was close enough to hear their whispers, they stopped talking entirely, just looking back and forth at each other and making faces. Seeing Jack so close to his master fueled Brunar’s contempt for Jack.

"What’s going on?" Silvia yawned as she exited the tent Rydel had lent her. She was surprised to see Jack, Rydel, and Maynard so close and chatting like old friends.

"Is everyone ready for the mine?" yelled Rydel, catching everyone’s immediate attention. "Hurry up and take down camp. You can eat rations as we enter, we don’t have enough time to waste."

Jack neared Bowser who shook his head. ’Morning Jack. How you?’

’I’m doing well, but boy do I have a lot to tell you.’ Jack began to explain his weird morning as he laid Bowser on his shoulder and fed him some jerky rations.

"Don’t hold us back, newbie." Brunar’s voice interrupted Jack and Bowser’s conversation, putting a weird expression on Jack’s face.

"Yeah, yeah. Just do your job and everything will work out fine," said Jack, quickly ending the exchange and turning back to Bowser.

 

Chapter 39

Brunar didn’t like how Jack kept deflecting his taunts as if they were useless. They were, but Brunar just thought Jack was too afraid to do or say anything.

Jack sat down by a tree as everyone else took down their tents and put out the fire. He opened his notifications and went to the achievement screen, happy to see the latest addition.

[Form a pact with a follower: completed]

[Form a pact with a follower. Reward: varies based on who the follower is, and the pact used. Would you like to claim the reward?]

Jack claimed it before he had finished reading it, anxious to see what he got.

[Form a pact with a follower: completed]

[Formed an inheritor pact with Maynard the Ronin. Special reward: 35 skill points]

Glad to get some free skill points, Jack spent them immediately. First, he advanced his sword skill from lv. 0 to lv. 2 for fifteen skill points. Next, he spent ten skill points to push health regeneration to lv. 2. This way, both Rydel and Maynard would have their health regeneration, bow, and sword skills at lv. 1. Plus, Jack would need a close-range weapon while in the streets of the goblin city since just in case and a sword would work perfectly.

Before he closed his skill tree, Jack spent the last ten skill points to increase his hearing and intimidation skills to lv. 1. With him being so low leveled, those skills would help him better avoid danger and keep any low leveled enemies from immediately attacking. Jack hoped that they would come in handy, especially if his increased hearing could help him discover more achievements.

’Why Jack happy?’ asked Bowser.

’I just unlocked more skills, of course, I’m happy,’ laughed Jack. ’Not sure if it’s enough for phase three, but we won’t know until then.’

’Why phase three special?’

’I’ll explain it later buddy. Till we reach the goblin city, don’t worry about it,’ answered Jack, handing Bowser more jerky rations.

’Okay,’ said Bowser, happily accepting his dried breakfast.

Jack thought for a moment, trying to anticipate what kind of small achievements might appear within the cave. If any of the missing adventurers were still alive, they were most likely being held captive somewhere in the goblin city, unknowingly waiting for phase three of Jack’s plan. Determined to find something, Jack made his mind to explore a few abandoned goblin settlements and possibly an outpost if needed.

Suddenly, Maynard interrupted Jack. ’Hey, did ya already advance?’ Looking across the camp, Jack saw Maynard with a bright smile as he wielded one of his katana. Not many would notice the difference in Maynard’s energy as he wielded the sword, but Jack easily recognized it as the passive activation of the sword skill.

Activating a passive skill would unlock a new level of focus and natural reflex towards the respective skill, almost like it were more instinctive. Jack smiled when he noticed Rydel equipping his bow and doing the same as Maynard. Neither of them attacked or did anything more than wield their weapons, but that was all they needed to feel their new level of strength.

’Yeah, I got lucky and was able to upgrade it now.’ Jack smiled when he saw the joy of adventuring reignite in their once bored gazes.

’If you need anything else to advance them again, we can help kid,’ said Rydel with a childish joy in his voice.

’Yeah, no kidding! Just say the word!’ Maynard added his two cents, fully supporting Rydel’s statement.

’I’m sure there will be a few things that could help, like exploring abandoned goblin settlements,’ stated Jack. ’Also, you should know that I also upgraded my health regeneration skill, so you have that now too.’

Without a word, Maynard sliced at his finger, showing extreme precision in only breaking the skin like a paper cut. He was amazed to see the cut slowly repair itself at a speed barely visible to the naked eye. ’You’re pretty amazing, ya know that!’

Rydel heard Maynard’s comment and felt a rush of enthusiasm wash over him. He had just become stronger with multiple skills and the best way to test them was to find a fight as soon as possible.

’Be careful though, the regeneration you have is only lv. 1 and isn’t invincible. It’s only to help with minor injuries and help maintain your stamina. I’m hoping Rydel won’t even need it this time around,’ mentioned Jack.

The two nodded, understanding that they can’t be reckless. They let their heartbeats settle down and nodded to each other.

Maynard yelled, "Hurry up! We can’t wait for ya any longer. If ya don’t want to be left behind, store your tents and get over here."

Brunar was the first to take down his tent, followed by Troni. Slivia was slower and was eventually helped by Troni without invitation, causing her to silently blush. Jack was busy chatting with his new followers to notice, otherwise, he may have felt some jealousy begin to well up in his chest.

"Good, now let’s go. Leave the horses here, that’s all we can do." Rydel took charge and led the way.

"But what if someone claims them while we’re away? Surely, we can take them with us, they’ll speed up the journey significantly." Brunar argued, not wanting to leave behind the purebred horse he had recently purchased after breaking through lv. 20.

"Leave it, they’ll only get in the way in the caves." Rydel didn’t look back but his stern answer showed his unwavering opinion.

"Master, surely we can—"

"Ya heard him. Leave it Brunar, otherwise, they’ll be easy for goblins to track and target," interjected Maynard emotionlessly.

"That’s what happens when you spend so much on a mount without having proper storage." Jack’s comment was only a whisper, just barely reaching Brunar’s ear.

"Don’t talk to me like that, you—"

"Our party captain said to leave it!" Maynard turned and gave Brunar the death stare, forcing his cooperation and silence.

Despising the obvious protection that his master gave Jack, Brunar silently stewed in his emotions as he tied down his horse again and followed the party toward the cave.

Everyone moved forward behind the two pillars of the party, Rydel, and Maynard. Maynard offered the greatest physical strength and the power to face anything head-on, opposite to Rydel who specialized in quick wits, secrecy, and assassinating threats without detection. What felt a little unusual was how close behind the two Jack stood, giving off a sense of closeness to both Rydel and Maynard.

Once they reached the cave’s entrance, Rydel faced the party. "Alright, from this point onwards we’ll form a single party with me as party captain. Are there any objections?"

With only silence following, Jack saw his status bar change and add everyone’s’ status. Happy to know how to form official parties, Jack took a mental note.

"Good. From here on, I will lead the way while Maynard will watch our rear. This way we can’t be surprised and easily ambushed." Everyone quickly nodded and followed Rydel into the caverns with little hesitation.

The inside walls of the mine were dirt brown, like the usual mine, only having faint streaks of blue passing through the rock walls. These lines were once azure deposits that had been mined long ago and had run dry. With every few hundred meters they traveled, the blue lines would grow thicker, soon showing some remaining azure.

"Jackpot!" Brunar got excited when the walls were now ripe with faint blue azure crystals.

"Calm down, this is the lowest quality azure and can’t be compared to mid-tier or high-tier azure that we’ll find deeper in," said Rydel, calming the situation temporarily but planting a seed of excitement for later.

The party moved forward without any obstructions, confirming that not a single goblin remained on the first floor. Because Rydel was extremely familiar with the mine, he decided to take his time and explore the entire first floor. Some complained and argued that it was a waste of time, but Maynard supported Rydel’s decision, so no one questioned it further. Little did the others know that Jack had asked Rydel and Maynard to do so in hopes of learning more and finding as many clues as possible for achievements.

In the far reaches of the first floor, they found some low leveled rat monsters, offering the party their first pieces of EXP. It wasn’t much for most of the party, but it was enough for Jack to almost reach lv. 5. Not only did he and Bowser share EXP, but he also received a portion from Rydel and Maynard with every monster.

The biggest factor, however, was the weathered jade that Jack activated under his cloak as they entered the dungeon. Weathered jades were pretty much useless for anyone above lv. 20 and too expensive for most under lv. 10, but for anyone as low-leveled as Jack who could get one, the benefits were practically cheating. For every piece of experience gained within three days, Jack would receive an additional ten EXP. So, every time Jack gained EXP from himself, Maynard, or Rydel it would activate, meaning that a single monster would give him three bursts of EXP.

What Jack had forgotten was his companion mirroring skill. Yes, he and Bowser shared EXP, letting them both level up twice as fast compared to others, but the companion mirroring skill allowed Bowser to gain five EXP extra with every monster.

When Jack saw his insane leveling potential, he couldn’t help but chuckle. He knew that every level was twice as hard as the previous and the beginning levels were the easiest to advance through, but he couldn’t help but imagine the incredible amount of EXP he would get from razing the goblin city.

 

Chapter 40

Jack did his best to contain his excitement and not draw attention. He smiled briefly and moved forward with the party. Under Rydel’s guidance, they went deeper into the dark caverns. Troni, Slivia, and Jack all held up torches, bathing the cave wall in warm light.

Rydel was especially sharp, making full use of his eagle eye ability. "We’re nearing the first goblin settlement. Be careful, just in case some goblins were left behind."

Everyone followed closely, peeking around every corner they passed. Just like Rydel had said, it didn’t take long for them to see the settlement in the distance.

It was abandoned. There was a short, spiked fence surrounding the settlement, yet parts had been trampled and destroyed. The goblins homes were made of hardened mud and had dark red highlights across the surface; Jack knew from the lore that cave goblins made their concrete-like mud from a mixture of monster blood and ground stone from the cave walls.

"Search for anything unusual and bring what you find here, be it items, weapons, remains, or anything," Rydel commanded, getting everyone to split up and search the small settlement, no larger than one hundred meters in diameter.

Everyone combed through the short, square-shaped huts and found ashes covering the floors as if everything inside had been burned and destroyed. In the entire settlement, they only found burnt knife blades and small bones amidst the ashes.

Jack sighed, disappointed in their findings. The goblins were more careful than they had anticipated, eliminating everything that might have helped prospective invaders and leaving nothing behind.

’Cheer up, we’ll find something for ya soon enough.’ Maynard tried to raise Jack’s spirits.

Rydel quietly nodded. ’There are three more settlements on this level, let’s hurry up and investigate them.’

When Rydel ordered the party towards the next settlement, Brunar complained about them wasting too much time and effort. Even Slivia was against the thought, wanting to find her old party as soon as possible. Jack and Troni both spoke up and defended Rydel’s orders, swaying Slivia and forcing Brunar to participate in the settlement searches.

It took the entire day to explore the first level and rummage through the remains of each settlement. Like the first, the fence was trampled and everything inside the mud huts was burned to ash. Also, like the first, there was nothing of value in any of the settlements.

"We’ll camp in this settlement for the night. Clear out a hut and feel free to have a fire for the night, cause once we enter the second level, we won’t even light a torch." Rydel’s emotionless statement let the party relax until they heard the final piece of information.

"What do you mean?" asked Brunar.

"Exactly that, there will be no fires on the second or third levels," repeated Rydel, looking down on Brunar for talking back.

Maynard explained, "Cave goblins are very strange creatures, they’re about half our size yet are equal to us in strength. They’re eyesight in impeccable, sensing heat and not light. On the first floor, it doesn’t matter too much because the first level doesn’t have any real threats. But every level deeper contains stronger and more threatening monsters, many of which sense heat light the cave goblins."

Brunar was silent as he started to piece everything together. "But if we’re way stronger than them, we shouldn’t have to—"

"You must’ve leveled up from basic rescue and escort quests. You can’t even understand this much?" Jack chimed in, putting a frown of Brunar’s face. "Not every monster is going to walk up to us and wait for us to kill it. Many are secretive, sometimes waiting to poison you while you sleep. Maynard and Rydel have sharp enough senses to avoid this, but what about the rest of us? We’d be on death’s door by the time either of them killed the monster responsible. And that’s just one possibility."

Not knowing how to respond, Brunar coughed, "Then what do you suggest we use to light the way?"

A small gem was thrown to each member of the party and Maynard answered, "That’s a kari crystal, it’ll light up when you equip it to ya. They can be worn as necklaces, bracelets, anything."

Jack was speechless; kari crystals were only found in lv. 30 mines and were very expensive. Maynard having so many showed Jack two things. First, Maynard had spent a lot of time grinding after reaching level thirty and wasn’t like the average adventurer that slows down after lv. 30. Second, it showed that Maynard wasn’t an avid trader or interested in money like Rydel; otherwise, he would have sold the surplus and made a killing. Smiling, Jack was pleased to better understand his new follower’s personality.

"If there’s nothing else, then I’m off to bed. Night everyone," said Jack, ducking his head to enter the nearest mud hut.

Not bothering with the rest, Rydel did the same. Slivia shrugged and examined the kari crystal, sifting through many ideas of simple accessories she could craft from it. Troni nodded, following the party captain’s lead and secluding himself for the night.

Brunar hesitated before he called out to his master, stopping Maynard from escaping a conversation. "Master, please let me speak with you about some things."

"Very well, just make it fast," said Maynard, suppressing a yawn.

"Has something happened between you and that new hero?" Brunar tried his best to speak respectfully about Jack in front of Maynard, knowing that his master might discipline him if he didn’t.

Maynard’s face twitched, not expecting such a question. He pondered for a moment before answering, "Brunar, it’s about time for you to begin journeying on your own. There’s not much else I can teach you and you’ll catch up to me soon enough, so I see no other reason for you to keep following me."

Baffled by Maynard’s statement Brunar asked, "What does that have to do with this?"

"I’ll be honest with ya. After this mission, I’ll start journeying with Jack. I’m not sure how long this will last, but I’m certain it will be for a significant period," stated Maynard.

"Huh!?" Brunar shouted in response, catching Slivia’s attention because she had yet to hide away in a hut.

"Like I said, I’ll be journeying with him for a while." Maynard shrugged casually, not wanting to explain anything further.

"But, but..." Brunar had no way of understanding how great the benefits of following Jack were and no one was willing to tell him due to his distrust in Jack. The young samurai quietly muttered something while containing his rage, "What did he offer you? He must have some treasure you’re after... If so, then why not just take it from him? He’s too low leveled to stop you."

Maynard frowned deeply. Not only was he mad that his disciple wouldn’t respect Jack, but his proposal of extortion was also ugly in Maynard’s eyes. "Brunar..."

Setting his spite aside, Brunar started to clear his head when a hand struck his face. It wasn’t strong enough to fling him through the air, but it left a pure red handprint on Brunar’s right cheek and made sure that Slivia could hear it. Maynard continued, "A samurai must never act such a way, at least no samurai I call my disciple."

Hearing Maynard’s words felt like being struck by lightning to Brunar. When his master had become more lenient with him after reaching lv. 20, Brunar had begun to have more freedom to act alone. While in this position and having some minor fame within the association, he had found many ways of extorting others, some instances being minor and others being major offenses to his master’s humble teachings. This was the first time he had let any information about that slip in front of his master.

"Master, I apologize for such unrighteous thoughts. Please, forgive my unruliness," begged Brunar while kowtowing. He understood how straightforward his master was and his quickness in delivering judgment. Trying to retain his position as the number one disciple, he fell back into the act of playing nice.

Squinting heavily, Maynard’s expression was a little ugly. "Watch your words and actions. You know better than others, so act better than others."

"Yessir!"

"I’ve already told you my answer, now get some sleep." Maynard didn’t look back to his bowing disciple as he entered a hut. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Brunar had been playing him the whole time. However, he quickly destroyed that thought, sure of that he was wrong based on all the time and experiences the two had shared as master and disciple.

Jack was in his hut with a small fire to the side near a wall. He had pushed most of the ash outside, leaving him a small space just big enough to lay down. Above the flame was some unihorn rib meat on a tall skewer, which was leaning against the wall for leverage. Bowser was gnawing on the small bones from the monster remains in the ashes, enjoying the new taste he discovered.

Sighing, Jack stared at his achievement screen and its most recent update.

[Find the tomb: in progress]