The Achievement Junkie

Jack kept pushing forward. He was lucky to only run into low-level undead so far, but he knew that soon he'd be facing stronger monsters.

He saw a few people every now and then inside the caverns. The catacomb was a natural underground maze. It was no wonder it would take the entire night just to explore it all.

Amidst his fast fights with zombies, Jack had found over one hundred gold's worth of coins and gems. It was nice, but Jack would never be satisfied with that. In his anxiousness to find the tomb, Jack retrieved the staff and saw that the glimmering red light was slowly getting brighter.

A soft yawn broke the silence, followed by a gentle voice in Jack's head. 'Jack, where this?'

Jack shook his head, in disbelief that Bowzer could sleep so much. Bowzer was currently hidden in his cloak and he wasn't allowed to show himself. 'It's about time that you're up! Here, smell this.'

Pressing the staff against his chest, Jack let Bowzer get a good whiff of the staff. Then he put it away and asked, 'So, can you smell the tomb?'

It took a moment for Bowzer to respond. The fox was wriggling around in Jack's coat as if he was rolling around and looking every which way. After almost a minute, Bowzer calmed down. 'Keep going. Me say which way.'

They traversed the caverns, letting Jack's torch light the way in front of them. 'Hey, Bowzer, why are you sleeping so much? Are you okay?'

'Yeah, me just tired. Soon Bowzer grow.'

'Bowzer grow? What do you mean?' Jack got curious. If Bowzer was about to grow then maybe he'd reach adolescence soon. 'How big will you get?'

'Soon, very soon. Me grow stronger," answered Bowzer.

Jack chuckled. He could feel Bowzer's head bobbing up and down as if the little fox was agreeing with itself. 'Well, just let me know, okay? It would be best for us to take it easy when that happens.'

'Jack, go left.'

With his personal GPS, Jack wasn't too worried about getting lost. Now he could focus on fighting undead and avoiding the other wandering groups.

Thanks to all the zombies he had killed so far, Jack and Bowzer were now lv. 21. By then, they were only encountering zombies between lv. 24 to lv. 26. Jack was wondering if he could reach lv. 25 before he had to leave.

"Hey, look who it is?" A joking voice echoed through the cavern.

Jack frowned and glanced at his provokers. "What do you brats want?"

"Hand over your treasures and we'll let you leave without injury," said the young man leading the Treall Family group. His name was Gret Treall and he was Glen's older brother. He had made it his goal to harass and take advantage of Jack at every opportunity he could.

"Wow, those are big words for a weak brat like you. What gave you the courage to taunt your elders?" Jack laughed and turned to leave down the cavern to the right.

"Where do you think you're going, you coward? You only know how to pick on people weaker than you, so I'll do the same thing to you!" Gret shouted and ran toward Jack, followed by the other four people in his group.

"Coward!" They kept yelling until they were about to reach Jack. Gret drew a sword and lunged forward, attempting to cripple Jack forever.

"Clang!"

"Huh?" Gret's sword, which was about to pierce Jack's side, suddenly stuck itself into the cavern wall. "What? What happened? Where did he go?!"

They were going insane! After chasing Jack and forcing him into a narrow cavern, the middle-aged man somehow disappeared from under their noses.

Across the stone wall and in the left cavern that ran parallel to the other, Jack was already walking away while laughing to himself. The more he used Sudden Death, the more he grew to love the skill.

'Jack, be careful. Me no can help, no?'

'Right, you can't help Bowzer because it's a secret that we're here,' explained Jack. 'But don't worry, after we exit this place, we'll make a fast getaway and then you can come out.'

'Fine, but me no like hiding,' replied Bowzer.

Jack sighed and continued walking down the path with Bowzer's guidance. The number of zombies he would encounter started to dwindle. He began to wonder if someone was ahead of him clearing the path. That though was soon confirmed when he heard a few voices in the distance.

"That sword should be ours, you know that!"

"We fought for it, so it's ours. Please, let's just keep moving forward."

When Jack recognized both voices, Jack made sure to stay close to the wall and stay hidden. 'I guess Flint is the first to find a magic item. Too bad those Treall jerks found them.'

He peeked around the corner and was surprised. On the ground was the corpse of a zombie troll. It was lv. 28 and was surrounded by lv. 26 zombies. It was clear that Flint and his group had to really fight to get the sword in Flint's hands.

Sadly, Jack also noticed that one of the guards around him was heavily injured. It was easy to guess that it came from the zombie troll.

With one guarded heavily weakened and the others being exhausted or having minor injuries, Flint's group wasn't in the best place.

"Flint, just give it up. You won't be able to protect it for long without both of your guards, so why hold on to it?" reasoned Gret. He was laughing coldly and eyeing that magical lv. 30 sword.

Flint shook his head and smiled. "No matter what, I can't give it up. If you really want it, come and take it already. What, does the Treall Family only know how to bark?"

"Hand it over, Flint." A second voice came from one of the caverns.

Jack quickly recognized the Lyre Family group. He sighed and scratched his head. Moving ahead was going to get complicated.

"Tarnel, so you're here too," Flint laughed as his group was effectively surrounded. "Let me guess, you want the sword too?"

"Just pass it over and I can guarantee that we'll protect you," stated Tarnel. There wasn't a frown or a smile on his face. He looked emotionless as if this were a common happenstance for him.

"We don't need your protection, but thanks for the offer. If you hurry, then you'll find the next magic item." Flint did his best to convince his aggressors to leave him alone.

"Hey, Tarnel, if we beat them bad enough then everything in here will be split by the two of us. We can cut out the Maronn Family entirely," Gret chuckled and looked to Tarnel. "How does that sound? More for us, right?"

A wand suddenly appeared in Tarnel's hand. "That's not a bad idea. How about whoever defeats Flint can have the sword?"

"You read my mind."

Both groups slowly walked forward, making their encirclement tighter and tighter. There was no escape for the Maronn Family.

While Jack was on the side, he was startled. Someone had noticed Jack but hadn't given away his position. To his surprise, it was Flint that noticed Jack and occasionally saw him. When Jack didn't act or draw any attention to himself, Flint smiled and signaled for Jack to join in. He even held out the sword, as if he was offering it in return for Jack's help.

Shaking his head, Jack watched as the attackers were about to make their move. With a big sigh, a lv. 20 sword appeared in Jack's hand.

"Flint, it's your last chance. Hand it over!" Tarnel yelled, hoping to get the sword before Gret had a chance to take it.

Gret laughed and launched himself at Flint. "Too late!"

A glowing rapier appeared in Gret's hand, the same that had nearly pierced through Jack's side.

"Bring it on! You'll regret it!" The magic sword disappeared and a different lv. 25 sword replaced it. A brutish aura burst forth from Flint as he charged against Flint.

"CLANG!!"

A heavy ringing filled the corridor as Flint's greatsword and Gret's rapier met in full force. Gret was pushed back a couple of meters, unable to counter Flint's superior strength.

"This is the strength that allows you to boast in front of me? Ridiculous!" Flint charged him again, anxious to force Gret into the ground.

A frown appeared on Tarnel's face as his wand began to glow yellow. "You chose this Flint, not me."

Sensing the tension, everyone burst into action. The Maronn Family took a defensive position and did their best to protect their young masters as they fought the other young talents. Their biggest fear was the Lyre Family because they were adept mages. The Lyre Family would be able to support the Treall Family if they wanted or just attack from a distance.

Sparks of electricity started to fly around Tarnel's wand. "Lightning Verdi--"

"THUD! CRACK!"

The massive electrical energy dispersed into nothingness, startling everyone on the battlefield. Even more shocking was that someone had appeared behind Tarnel and managed to hold a sword to Tarnel's neck.

No one understood what those sudden sounds were until they noticed Tarnel's limp right arm.

"It's… broken…" They didn't know what was happening. Tarnel was about to cast Lightning Verdict and incapacitate Flint in a single attack. Yet now, Tarnel was ambushed and overpowered out of nowhere.

Though the Lyre family didn't recognize the culprit, the others did. The Maronn Family guards had embarrassed faces, unwilling to look at the man responsible for saving them.

"You, again! Stupid old man!" Gret yelled at the top of his lungs.