Capítulo 20: Baltwood
"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.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
TheSilverQuill
TheSilverQuill Big question:
Why doesn't the Adventurer's Association not have many members when they're an international power?
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Capítulo 21: Royal Court's Grudge
"Fine, I'm sorry okay. It won't happen again," mumbled the bandit as he took a step back.
Rydel said nothing and acted instead. Within a single breath, he cleanly slit the bandit's neck and wrapped a handkerchief around it to avoid blood spilling all over the restaurant floor. He yelled, "Yo Trom, you can take this trash's bounty down from the wall. It should be for 'Slar, Bandit Captain.'"
Trom quickly appeared and hurriedly removed a poster from the wall as he bowed his head and smiled at Rydel, waiting for the hunter's next move.
"I don't usually deal with this level of trash but he brought this on himself." Rydel glared at the other bandits sitting at the now silent table. After seeing their captain killed like a lamb before the slaughter, they were scared stiff and unable to move. "Let's go, kid, I've had enough for tonight."
"You got it Captain!" shouted Jack before he chugged the last of his brundy. Jack picked up Bowser, who was carrying the last of a charred pig's foot and followed Rydel to the stairs.
"This should cover a few nights, right?" Rydel passed the bandit corpse to Trom with a smirk.
"Of course," said Trom as he turned and dragged the corpse out the back door. The incident wasn't expected but Trom knew how to take advantage of a situation and give kindness for kindness. Normally he would charge one gold coin for a room with two beds and a few silver for food. This bandit captain was worth ten gold, easily making him more money.
The hunter duo escaped the many shocked gazes in the restaurant and found their room upstairs. Those people downstairs began to gossip and form the stories that would spread like wildfire the next day, all about a mysterious newbie with a rare fox and his merciless companion.
"Don't worry about the people downstairs. There will be lots of rumors and stories tomorrow, but they'll disappear in a few days," said Rydel. "Just make sure to sleep well cause we've got a long day tomorrow. First, we'll find a local medic and then we'll head to the local association branch. There's some stuff there I need to take care of."
"There's a local association branch here? How come we don't just stay there?" asked Jack.
"Cause it's only an office. There's a single bed and it's for the man who runs it 24/7."
"Really? Why is it so small? I thought the Adventurers Association was an international power?" questioned Jack.
"It is, but that doesn't mean much here. The Adventurers Association headquarters is in the Polt Federation, so the surrounding nations all respect and give the association authority in their respective regions," sighed Rydel. "The Reinolt Kingdom is one of the few nations who keep a neutral relationship with the association. They don't stop the association or impede it, but they do their best to keep it from growing too powerful within its borders. Can you guess why?"
Jack scratched his head for a second before he guessed, "With a strange entity like the association, some nations probably fear the association stealing their internal strength, right?"
"Exactly," chuckled Rydel. "The Polt Federation already has its hidden military strength that no one wants to face, but the federation offered a pact with the Adventurers Association. As the most neutral nation across the continent, the neutral Adventurers Association joined hands with them and the two entities were deemed untouchable from that point on. King Leodoro already hates outside threats but having such an influential power inside his borders made things worse."
"I can imagine," said Jack. "What did he do about it? Knowing his personality, he probably lowered the acceptance standard of the Royal Court and offered insane benefits to attract would-be association members."
"That's exactly what he did, but he also personally invited many high-level adventurers with bribes to join his side. And considering the amount of wealth he offered, almost everyone left the association. That's why the association building is so empty nowadays," clarified Rydel.
"What a rotten king. No wonder that idiot boasted so much about his Royal Court." Jack recalled the king's offer to join the Royal Court and the incredible pride the king displayed. "How many lv. 30's does the Royal Court have now compared to the association?"
"Before the recent pact between the association and the federation, we had more than twice as many. But after the king's unbelievable bribes, they've now got six, one more than us. Other than Arnole and Zariff, they're all under lv. 35," answered Rydel with a displeased grunt.
"At least we're beating them in one category." Jack's words caught Rydel off guard and got the lanky hunter to look back him. "We've got more summoned heroes."
Rydel burst into laughter and slapped his leg. It didn't last long, but Rydel was feeling a little better after imagining all of the wealth and resources the king must've lost thanks to Jack.
"Did the Royal Court make you an offer too, captain?" asked Jack.
"Yeah, and it was a good one too. It had me consider leaving the association," answered Rydel.
"Then why did you stay?"
"Cause of the chief." Suddenly, the indifferent Rydel became solemn and a hint of pride flashed in his eyes. "When everyone was made an offer, you can guarantee that Zariff was given the biggest of them all. But the moment Arnole and the Royal Court showed up at the association building, he stood guard in front of the door and forced them to admit all benefits they had to offer him publicly."
"After they gave in to his demands and announced them, shocking every civilian and adventurer to their core with jealousy, he flat out refused. Chief didn't even let them into the association building and forced them to find the other adventurers in private to make their offers."
A genuine smile crept onto Jack's face as the story went on. He was going to speak but Rydel continued, "The members who stayed behind and turned down the Royal Court were furious at everyone who left."
"But the chief didn't let anyone lash out against any defected adventurers, saying that if they're hot-blooded and itching for a fight to let off some steam, then they can just look for him. He hasn't publicly admitted it, but a huge grudge has grown between him and the king because of this."
"Sounds just like the old fart I know," joked Jack. "Well, I guess I've got to hurry up and level up. To be honest, I'll be leaving the moment I'm lv. 30 and can travel safely, but I'll stand by that old fart if he needs some help."
He wouldn't admit it to Rydel, but his opinion of Zariff only went up every time someone talked about him. There was no doubt in Jack's mind that Zariff was worth more than just befriending, maybe even being a sworn brother. That's something he would think about, even if it was awkward considering his achievement to seduce Maura.
"I figured you'd leave when given the chance. Got any place in mind?" asked Rydel.
"Trodar."
"Oh…" Rydel flinched back when he got the immediate answer. "There's a lot of trouble around Trodar, why go there?"
"Cause that's where I spent most of my time as an ancient hero," answered Jack.
He didn't mention his former guild or him helping set up the Trodan Council that ruled the nation. Those memories were precious and personal, plus he had no clue what might happen if people found out that he was such a major character in ancient Kartonia.
Someday he would be stronger and not fear any backlash, but if that was leaked and some enemy found out, they may not hold back and would do everything in their power to silence Jack before he became powerful.
"Trodar, huh?" Rydel stroked his chin in thought for a moment. "I guess I'll have to join you."
"Why's that?" asked Jack.
"Cause that's my home. I was born in the streets of Gilga," said Rydel, gently staring back at Jack. "You were an ancient hero of Trodar?"
Jack swallowed some saliva and chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I was. Just keep that between us for now, okay? Few people know that I interacted with ancient Kartonia before coming here, but you're the only one who knows that I was an ancient hero. I didn't even realize that until you explained a few things to me."
"Don't worry, I can keep a secret, but you'll have to answer all of my questions," persuaded Rydel with an eager grin.
"I guess I can do that much. I'll try my best to answer," said Jack.
Rydel tensed up slightly and leaned in closer to Jack, giving them a sense of closeness while they were seated on the two beds across from each other. With a mix of excitement and anxiousness, Rydel asked his first question, "What happened to the Leisure Guild?"
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