Capítulo 29: Advancement and Search for the Truth
By the time Jack and Rydel came to after their night of celebrating, it was nearly noon the next day. Both were doing fine, not feeling too hungover. Rydel was the first to say anything. "Let's call Zariff and fill him in on all this. First, let's mention that fox of yours and then we'll get his opinion on the whole mine situation."
Jack nodded groggily and said, "Sure, sounds like a plan captain."
Just as Rydel pulled out his contact crystal, his stomach gurgled and growled at him. Without saying a word Rydel got up and bolted for the door. Not having any intention of stopping him, Jack understood that Rydel would feel better after clearing out his system.
He took advantage of this time to change his bandages and apply the new ointment. After that Jack opened up his notifications. His eyes blinked a few times as if they didn't believe what they saw. There were multiple new achievements and some of them were even completed.
[Register Bowser as a beast companion: completed]
[Lower public opinion of Royal Court: completed]
[Raise public opinion of Adventurers Association: completed]
[Beat Leodoro II to lv. 10: in progress]
[Unlock companion telepathy: in progress]
[Unlock companion bloodline: in progress]
[Unlock companion mirroring: in progress]
[Discover the goblin benefactor: in progress]
[Find Byron Balt: incomplete]
[Find any survivors: incomplete]
[Find the goblin city: incomplete]
[Destroy the goblin city: incomplete]
Jack was blown away when he saw how long his list of new achievements was and grew excited to see three had already been completed. He instantly claimed them, not hesitating at all.
[Register Bowser as a beast companion: claimed]
[Officially register Bowser as a beast companion with a mutual seal. Special reward: 20 skill points.]
[Lower public opinion of Royal Court: claimed]
[Lower public opinion of the Royal Court by means of rumors and gossip. Reward: 5 skill points]
[Raise public opinion of Adventurers Association: claimed]
[Raise public opinion of Adventurers Association by means of rumors and gossip. Reward: 5 skill points]
Now thirty skill points richer, Jack smiled as he read over the other achievements. Some were expected, like those about Leodoro II, who Jack assumed was the crown prince and those about finding the survivors and the goblin city.
The others stuck out to Jack for different reasons. Curious, he checked the other two incomplete achievements.
[Find Byron Balt: incomplete]
[Find Byron Balt, the son of the Balt Guild Leader. Reward: varies on the state you find him in and whether or not you can bring him out alive.]
[Destroy the goblin city: incomplete]
[Destroy the newly formed goblin city. Reward: EXP offered varies on the degree of destruction caused.]
Reading those deepened Jack's smile. He now recognized his new friend Jard Balt as the Balt Guild Leader, ensuring that he now had a powerful local ally. And with an achievement willing to award him EXP directly, how could Jack not get excited.
Those two achievements were mentally marked as some of the most important to the current Jack; he would make sure his plan would complete them to the best of his abilities.
Jack moved on to look over the three new achievements involving his beast companion. He was extremely interested after he noticed they involved the rumors Jard had mentioned about the mutual seal.
[Unlock companion telepathy: in progress]
[Advance companion telepathy to lv. 1. Reward: 5 skill points.]
[Unlock companion bloodline: in progress]
[Advance companion bloodline to lv. 1. Reward: 5 skill points.]
[Unlock companion mirroring: in progress]
[Advance companion mirroring to lv. 1. Reward: 5 skill points.]
Jack was now laughing hysterically, even though he didn't realize it. He couldn't contain his joy when he understood that his achievement system had given him a way to directly access the abilities he wanted the most.
But before he jumped into his skill list, he was startled by his last achievement in progress.
[Discover the goblin benefactor: in progress]
[Find out more about the goblin's recent rise in power and who was the one who caused it. Reward: 100 EXP, 10 skill points.]
Unsure of how he got such an achievement, Jack began to ponder what might've caused it to appear. All he could think of was the earlier conversation with Drad and Slivia. Jack questioned whether they had hidden anything important, almost certain that they had.
He didn't think for too long as he put the idea to the side and immediately opened up his skill list, checking out the first of his three new favorite skills.
[Companion telepathy: lv. 0]
[Communicate with your beast companion telepathically. Advance to lv. 1 to unlock. 0/10 skill points]
That smile instantly flipped when Jack noticed the price to advance the skill to the next level. Thanks to the other skills he advanced, Jack noticed that every level up would cost double the previous.
An example was how to level up his bow skill to lv. 1 it had cost his five skill points, but to advance it to lv. 2 and lv. 3 it would cost him ten and twenty skill points respectively. But to level up his companion telepathy to lv. 1, it would cost him the same price as any other lv. 2 skill.
From one perspective, this might cause some people to wait and level it up later. However, Jack understood that if it cost him twice as much to level up a skill, that skill must be worth twice as much as any regular skill.
He checked the other two companion skills and discovered that they followed the same trend. Somewhat reluctantly, Jack spent all of his newly earned thirty skill points on the three skills.
[Companion telepathy: lv. 1]
[Understand your companion's feelings and share basic communications. 0/20 skill points]
[Companion bloodline: lv. 1]
[Inherit the initial level of your companion's bloodline abilities. 0/20 skill points]
[Companion mirroring: lv. 1]
[Any skill, spell, or item that affects you can also affect your companion to a minor extent. 0/20 skill points]
Jack also jumped back to his achievement list and claimed the fifteen skill points from unlocking his companion abilities before he distributed them among his skill tree. In the end, he upgraded his stealth to lv. 2 and advanced his health regeneration to lv. 1, the skill he had picked up thanks to the ointments he had been applying for the past few days.
After that, Jack determined in his mind that the next achievement he completed must be to discover the goblin benefactor. Not only would it give him more skill points, but it offered an instant 100 EXP.
Advancing in levels was similar to advancing skills, every level would need twice as much EXP as the previous level. Lv. 1 required 25 EXP, making lv. 2 and lv. 3 cost 50 EXP and 100 EXP each.
This meant they would need 200 EXP to reach lv. 4, but they would reach that easily with the mutual seal's integrated teamwork. And if discovering the mysterious benefactor would instantly get them closer to that, why wouldn't he want that before entering the unusually dangerous azure mine?
Waiting for Rydel to return, Jack did his best to plan out what skills he would upgrade next and what order he would chase his achievements.
Eventually, Rydel returned and whipped out his contact crystal, but Jack stopped him from contacting Zariff and said, "Wait, there's more to this story then we thought. The goblins have a secret benefactor and those two clerics should know something about it."
"How do you know that?" asked Rydel, a little apprehensive to believe such a statement.
"The same way I found out about the threat to Zariff's life. You know I was right then, and you know I'm right this time too," stated Jack. "We need to talk with those two again, after that we'll better understand the situation, making sure that we can respond to the situation the best we can."
"Hmm, I guess it's worth a shot. Let's hurry up and find them," said Rydel.
Both of them hurried to ready themselves and locked their bedroom door after exiting. The sleepy Bowser was still yawning as he laid on Jack's shoulder.
Trom was standing by the stairway as if he had been waiting for them. Trom said, "If you're looking for those two, they just checked out this morning."
Startled, Jack asked, "Got any idea where they went?"
"I'm not sure, but I think some of the staff overheard a few things," answered Trom, as Jack tossed the man a gold coin. "Their morning server heard them discussing something about leaving town and fleeing into the forest. I'm guessing they'll try to hide out for a while. They headed for the nearby mountains, just east of the azure mine."
"Thanks, Trom," said Jack as the two hunters bowed and took their leave. Trom smiled as he stashed his latest earnings.
"Kid, it seems like you were right. Though they didn't share the full truth, they wouldn't go so far as to hide away in the mountains because of us. There's got to be something big behind all this," guessed Rydel.
Jack nodded and sighed, "They shouldn't have hidden anything; if they needed protection, who better than the association."
"There's only one organization here that could scare them that much," said Rydel. "I think you can already guess it."
Not too surprised, Jack arrived at the same conclusion.
Capítulo 30: Saving Slivia
"Got any ideas on how to find them?" asked Jack
"Of course, how do you think I gained my eagle eye ability," said Rydel. "But first, let's buy some horses. Considering the fact that they went into hiding the moment we discovered them, they must be afraid that someone will be after them. If that's true, we need to find them first."
Glad that he won't need to travel on foot, Jack agreed. When they had left Reinolt City before, they didn't have time to purchase any horses before fleeing through the gate. Having a horse would speed things up.
"Let's resupply and get everything ready to enter the dungeon. We may not have enough time to come back here." Rydel planned for the worst, he always preferred being overly prepared in place of underperforming thanks to lack of supplies or intel.
"Let's head to the stables near the village entrance, there will be plenty of shops along the way offering what we need," said Jack
Finding the basic goods they needed wasn't hard at all. They found plenty of rations, bought more potions and elixirs, some torches, and more. Thanks to the many neighboring shops, they were able to use every shops' nearby competition as a threat to haggle prices, getting everything Jack needed for a total of one gold.
At the stables, they each bought a horse for one gold coin as well, leaving Jack with only a dozen silver to his name. He didn't mind at all though, because he knew had gotten everything he needed for a steal and he'd walk out of the mine with plenty of trading goods.
They quickly saddled up and left the village to the west, heading towards the mountains and the mine in between Baltwood and Reinolt City. The drowsy Bowser slept in one of Jack's saddlebags while Jack followed Rydel's every move. It didn't take long to reach the foot of the mountain as they combed its base.
Rydel caught sight of some distant tracks off of the beaten path and led the way. Jack was right behind him as they climbed the mountain and soon approached a nearby cave. It was almost sunset, but Rydel could still clearly see the tracks that led them there.
"Let's dismount here, we don't want them hearing the horses," said Rydel, hopping down with the reigns in hand. He and Jack both pulled their horses to the side and found a few boulders to tie down the horses. After the horses laid down in wait for their riders to eventually untie their reigns, Bowser leaped onto Jack before he and Rydel crept into the cave.
It was a good thing the Jack had increased his stealth, that way he wasn't so easily detected by the higher leveled clerics in the distance. They approached Drad and Slivia who were sitting around a small fire; they listened to their conversation.
"Why didn't you tell them Drad?" asked Slivia.
"You and I both know what could happen if other's found out about this," answered Drad, showing an ugly frown in the fire's dim light. "You should be thanking me, you were about to say it, weren't you?"
"Well, yeah. They're with the association, why would they fear the Royal Court? If anything, they were our only shot at getting protection." Slivia raised her voice as her temper started to dwindle.
"The association is powerful, but that's mainly outside of the borders. Inside, they can't compete with the Royal Court, no one can," said Drad in disbelief. "It's best for us to just hide and lay low for a while. If we can wait it out long enough, I'm sure everything will be fine."
"How do you know? I'd rather take the little protection I can get from the association then hideaway with a jerk like you."
Drad started to raise his voice. "Oh, so I'm a jerk for saving your life and trying to protect you? Really? We'd probably be dead by now if I didn't wake us up early and get us both out of that inn. Why would you trust those two over me when we've been partying for over a year now?"
"Don't act so innocent Drad. I've known about your perverted tendencies for a while now," stated Slivia, no longer afraid to speak her mind in the heat of the moment. "I've heard some of the stories from the captain, and he already warned me about you."
"Oh? So, you already know about that?" A switch in Drad's brain flipped when Slivia said that, and he revealed a perverse smile. "Are you sure you've heard correctly? The captain would always mix up stories and exaggerated things. I'm just a lover, not a fighter. When I'm able to love women without restraints, I'm able to forget the horrors of being an adventurer and all the death I've witnessed."
"You're sick, you know that?" Slivia folded her arms and leaned back in disgust.
"No, I'm not, you just haven't realized how invigorating it can be to let go and forget about the trauma. How about I show you?" Drad didn't hold back any longer. Sure that his life was being threatened, he no longer let himself be held any inhibitions.
"Get away from me," yelled Slivia as she got up and made a dash for the cave's entrance.
"Hey, get back here! Don't you know you'll die out there? It's too late for those association members to protect you!" barked Drad as he jumped to his feet and reached out to grab Slivia.
"I'm not so sure about that."
The statement coming from the darkness caught both Drad and Slivia off guard. Drad's hesitation gave Rydel a moment to appear and grab hold of Drad's arm. Rydel squeezed harshly and pulled Drad in close as he pinned the cleric to the ground with the arm behind his back.
Writhing in pain, Drad yelled, "Why are you here!? That's impossible!"
"Can it pervert." Jack kicked the immobile Drad in the face, causing only enough damage to bruise Drad's cheek. He turned to Slivia and asked, "Are you okay?"
Shaken with all kinds of emotions, Slivia fell into Jack's chest and let her tears flow. "Thank you! Thank you! I'll tell you everything."
"Don't worry, you're safe now," said Jack as he patted her head with one hand and embraced her with the other. "Just calm down for now; we'll discuss the rest later."
She didn't respond and just let loose even more waterworks into Jack's shirt and cloak. Jack sighed, "Is there any reason we need that trash over there alive? If not, I'd rather we take care of him."
Drad sobered up from his fit of rage and pled, "There's no need to kill me, I know more than her and can even help you guys. We can team up and explore the mine for clues."
"The kid told you to can it." Rydel was tired of Drad's blabbering and flicked a small knife into the back of the cowering cleric's throat. Drad immediately stopped wriggling as his final breath left his lungs. "That's better."
Slivia didn't know how she felt seeing Drad die. He had tried to come after her and was always hitting on her during the year they partied together.
Though he had spent over a year partying and working together with Drad, all that time spent together was overturned in a single instant. She felt relief when she saw Drad grow still and silent.
Soon she stopped shaking and slowly let her breathing return to normal. Then, she remembered that she was being held tenderly against Jack's chest. Peeking up in embarrassment, Slivia inched away from Jack and said, "Thank you."
"Don't mention. Are you feeling better now?" asked Jack.
"Yeah, I feel a lot safer with you guys here and that perv out of the picture," answered Slivia.
"Now, what's this about the Royal Court?" Rydel chimed while he looted the fresh corpse at his feet.
Slivia hesitated to answer but she slowly opened her mouth and said, "In the mine, when we were surrounded by the goblins we noticed something. The high-level goblins were all wielding weapons, and they weren't like the usual ones they can find among some dead adventurers."
"What kind of weapons are we talking about?" asked Jack.
"Lots of different kinds. The only similarity they had was the crest embellished on them all."
"The royal crest, right?" Jack guessed, letting Slivia nod in response. "So, based on what you've seen, the royal court supplied the goblins with weapons and maybe more. Was there any more evidence that you found?"
She shook her head and said, "No, we were too busy trying to escape to look for anything else. We only noticed the weapons when we tried to break free. I don't have any proof, so you'll have to believe me."
"No worries, we believe you. If anything, your story confirms our hunch," Jack joked, trying to lighten the mood. "You're with us now so don't worry about your safety anymore, okay?"
Slivia nodded, happy to hear that and glad to be a little closer to Jack. Jack looked to be around her age and was almost a head taller than her, slightly taller than the average man. She had a feeling that he was different and that he was bound to be great. Her heart fluttered a little, partly from being saved and partly due to that feeling.
"That's pretty big talk for a lv. 3. I'm glad to have such a powerful hero to protect us," laughed Rydel.
"Hey, that's why you're here, I'm just the bait hungry for EXP," clarified Jack, not caring to admit the truth.
Slivia was stunned to hear that Jack was only lv. 3, but even more so to hear him shamelessly admit to it. Her heart softened a little as if she wondered why Jack was so different from all the other adventurers she had met.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES
TheSilverQuill
TheSilverQuill
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