The Achievement Junkie

'Jack, we're almost there. We'll be landing in that over there to keep Ayden hidden.' Rydel's mental message reached Jack and they both nodded as the roc started to descend.

It was around six in the evening when they landed. After about an hour of walking, they would enter Ponlinne, a small city near the border between the Zuran Empire and the Reinolt Kingdom.

"What about your bird?"

"She'll stay here in the valley but I can call her any moment to pick us up if something happens." Rydel brushed her feathers one last time before Ayden let loose a loud caw and took off for a cave at the end of the valley. "Well, time to go."

Both adventurers started their walk toward Ponlinne.

With his mask back on, Jack asked, "So, is there anything I should know about Ponlinne? Anything or anyone to watch out for?"

Itching his five o'clock shadow, Rydel sighed, "It's about time I mention Commander Pire. He was a general who fought against Zariff personally during the last big skirmish on the border. He's a lv. 37 swordsman, but he's known for his powerful swordsmanship. The chief only survived because of his freakish defenses."

"And why do I need to know about him for this trip?"

"Because he's the one in charge of Ponlinne," answered Rydel. "He doesn't come from a strong family, but he's one of the four commanders of the Zuran Empire's forces. If there weren't two other nations that had branched off from them, the Zuran Empire would have taken Reinolt a long time ago."

"That's the strength of a kingdom from Ancient Kartonia. They probably have some people above lv. 40." Jack scratched his head, trying to think about how the Reinolt Kingdom could eventually defeat such an enemy.

"You're not wrong. The strongest members of the Zuran Empire are the twelve lieutenant-commanders, four commanders, three generals, and the king and queen. All of the lieutenant-commanders are lv. 35 and the commanders are the strongest soldiers under lv. 40," explained Rydel. "It's rumored that the generals are over lv. 40 and that the king and queen are at least lv. 45."

Jack was shocked by the power difference and had to ask, "How in Halmut's beard has the Reinolt Kingdom survived so far?!"

"Do you remember that mysterious voice that ended our battle with the syndicate members?"

Jack scratched his head and chuckled, "Umm… not exactly."

With a loud sigh, Rydel continued, "In Reinolt, the king somehow got protection from someone over lv. 50. I have no clue how, but I know it's true. That guy one-shotted the giant, lv. 48 cetus and was the sole reason why the Reinolt Kingdom isn't attacked by anyone above lv. 40. If the Zuran Empire did that, they would be forcing the man to act. They tried it one, but that mysterious voice annihilated an entire army and a general in minutes. Make sense?"

"Seems like it pretty a complicated. So, the Zuran Empire is stronger but the Reinolt Kingdom has the most powerful expert? Sounds like a screwed up dynamic, considering the mysterious voice may just leave one day," reasoned Jack.

"Well, you're not wrong. That's why Reinolt needs to grow quickly, but Arnole did his job well at dividing the Reinolt Kingdom's powerful groups," said Rydel. "Now that they're all working together, they might stand a chance in the future, if they can keep holding off the Zuran armies that is."

"Okay." Jack nodded and refocused himself. He didn't want to get too distracted since he came to Ponlinne with a goal in mind.

Jack took advantage of their walking time by going through his achievements and skills list. After everything that had happened with the cetuses and Arnole publically turning against Reinolt, Jack's two event achievements were completed and claimed. A new event took their place, [Revive Slivia: in progress.]

Now, Jack had gained one hundred and seventy-five skill points from completing his two events with great results! Thanks to the capture of so many cetuses and the low casualty rate from fighting people and beasts higher level than them, he was highly rewarded by the system. This proved that events always gave more rewards than anything else. With a total of one hundred and eighty-eight skill points to spend, Jack examined his skill list carefully.

To his surprise, there was a new category button inside his skills list. It was labeled [Inheritor Skills] and caught Jack's interest. He immediately selected it, assuming it must be part of the system upgrade from his pledge to Daruun.

'Are these what I think they are?' A smile appeared on Jack's face. He had always found it weird that he couldn't learn any direct skills or techniques within his Achievement System, only general skills to enhance. 'With these, my problems are solved.'

There Jack found a list of each of inheritor's different skills. Maynard, Rydel, and Zariff all had their own tab and their own skill list.

He found Maynard's Bloody Cross, Rydel's Eagle Eye, and Zariff's Aura Armor skills and many more. Jack was over the moon. Looking closely, they all had different costs. By the looks of it, the more powerful skills had the highest costs while the weaker ones were cheaper.

Without thinking about it, Jack instantly selected Maynard's Sudden Death skill.

[Sudden Death]

[A speed based skill that allows the user to travel instantaneously within short distances. The higher the user's speed, the further the distance available for travel. Cost: 100 skill points.]

'One hundred skill points?! For one skill?!' Jack was astounded. He guessed that some of his general skills would eventually cost him that much, but one hundred skill points was still a lot!

He continued browsing, seeing that most of the good skills were all fifty skill points, like Maynard's Blood Thrust or Rydel's Multi-shot. Three skills had higher costs: Rydel's Eagle Eye for seventy-five skill points, Zariff's Penetrating Fist for seventy-five skill points, and Maynard's Sudden Death for one hundred skill points.

Jack agreed that those three were the most terrifying of the lot.

Eagle Eye was a rare ability that would allow Jack to more easily see through people and track things. Even though he's still only lv. 20, he would be able to read anyone's level, regardless of how much higher it is than his own. Even if they tried to hide it, Jack would still be able to see it most of the time.

Penetrating Fist was exactly what it sounded like. It was a special attack that could penetrate anyone's defenses. Instead of harming someone outwardly, Penetrating Fist would transfer its force toward the target's internal organs. Ignoring people's defenses was a frightening thing. This attack would force opponents to dodge instead of block, giving the user more control of the fight.

Sudden Death was easily the most powerful skill available to Jack. It could straight up let him teleport within small distances, making his evasion skills sky-rocket and allowing him to reappear anywhere around his opponent for surprise attacks if done correctly. Maynard had killed many people stronger than him, and it was all thanks to this rare skill that he had found and mastered.

'It costs a lot, but it will definitely save my life in the future.' Jack took a deep breath and purchased the Sudden Death skill. Immediately, it appeared as a lv. 10 skill which shocked Jack.

'Lv. 10?! Is that supposed to be the highest level they can go? Why is it already so strong?' Jack tried to figure out what was happening.

Suddenly, Jack disappeared and reappeared on the other side of Rydel.

"Huh?" Rydel easily recognized that skill but was startled to see Jack use it. "Where did you…"

"I can only go this far, but why?" Jack ignored Rydel and was talking to himself.

Another quick glance at the skill list reminded Jack of the Sudden Death skill's description. He found a speed skill in his skill list and it was labeled lv. 0. Seeing that, he quickly upgraded it to lv. 2 for fifteen skill points.

"Let's try this again." Like before, Jack disappeared and reappeared in a blur. This time, however, Jack was able to reappear as far as twenty feet away. "Hmm, maybe it can only go ten feet per level of speed?"

Thinking that way made Jack shiver. There were many times where he saw Maynard use the same skill, and the samurai had traveled over seventy feet away easily without batting an eye.

"How fast is Maynard to be able to go so far? He must be crazy fast?" Jack was still thinking out loud.

"He is. Other than swordsmanship, speed is all that crazy samurai practices," Rydel laughed, catching Jack off guard. "So, you can use that samurai's insane Sudden Death skill. Can you use any of mine too?"

Jack scratched his head and smiled shyly. "Well, it's possible but I chose to learn this one first. I'll be able to learn other skills too with time."

"With each of our skills at your fingertips, you won't have to worry about too much. Then again, I feel the same way since my archery is stronger thanks to you." Rydel shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? Maybe you'll learn all of our skills. With Maynard's scary swords, the chief's overwhelming fists, and my sharpshooting, you'd be unstoppable in the future."

"Yeah, that's the goal." Jack clenched his fist, determined to grow as fast as possible.

Slivia had died because he was too weak, so Jack needed to level up faster than humanly possible. Lucky for him, his Achievement System had many ways to make him stronger.

Though now he had more achievements to choose from, some were on the more ridiculous side. There were a few that he wouldn't want to try in Reinolt, but he was now in the Zuran Empire so why not give them a try. Besides, if he could accomplish a small one, he'd get at least five skill points. Then he'd have enough to buy either Eagle Eye or Penetrating Fist.

That's what Jack was really after. If he couldn't level up immediately, then some powerful skills could at least help bridge any level gaps.