Capítulo 31: Slivia's Story
"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 sun set 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.
Capítulo 32: Talking with Bowser
"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.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES
TheSilverQuill
TheSilverQuill
A head's up to all readers. When I use ' and not " for a conversation, it's a telepathic conversation. Remember that.
Also, thank you for reading and following the story! Please vote and comment what you liked or didn't like below. It's thanks to you that we got a front page shout out, we made it in the original trending stories!!!
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