The Achievement Junkie

As the egg trembled, everyone shook in anticipation. They continued to wait another five minutes until it trembled again. Then it happened again in three minutes, one minute, ten seconds.

Now the shaking was constant, rocking back and forth as Lunara's energy was being poured into it.

"Crack!"

Crackling sounds filled the large room, echoing off the walls. The shell started to break, with cracks slowly covering its surface.

"Crack! CRACK!!"

A piece of the eggshell fell to the floor, shattering on the stone floor. Another piece fell, doing the same. Now, there was a hole the size of a human head.

"...rrrraaaaaaa…"

A soft whine came from the egg, filling all eighteen of Lunara's eyes with tears. She and Sterfen immediately stopped wasting their energy, taking a moment to catch their breaths and watch their daughter finally be born.

"...rrraaaaaa… RRRAAAA...."

The whining got louder as the shell continued to splinter and break apart. Finally, a single hydra head poked out from the now open shell. It's baby blue scales beautifully reflected the magical lights of the room.

"...Rrrrraaaaa…"

"Linala…" Lunara's voice trembled as she said her daughter's name.

All of Lunara's heads gradually surrounded the baby hydra as the rest of the shell was destroyed. It crawled around for a few minutes before it learned to use its cute, stubby legs. Recognizing Lunara as its mother, the baby hydra cuddled up to the giant mother hydra.

Sterfen also appeared next to the baby hydra, holding out his hand to pet her.

The baby hydra hesitated but soon felt a sense of familiarity with the man in front of her. That familiarity came from her bloodline, letting her know that the man's blood was also running through her veins. She didn't know how, but the baby didn't question her instincts.

As Sterfen pet the baby hydra, he got closer until he was hugging her tenderly. It was as big as Bowzer's adolescent form, so it curled its long body around Sterfen, happy to be pet.

Lunara then shrunk down to her human form and joined her husband in hugging their child. It was a moment that they had waited almost a thousand years to see. A moment they thought they would never have.

The others had watched the whole thing from the stairs, touched by the tenderness that both parents showed. Though gods were also imagined as all-powerful, this was a rare moment that showed how gods were just like everyone else. They would never forget that.

A few minutes passed until both parents carried their daughter to the stairs and then up to the great room.

Jack's party followed them. They all wanted a turn to pet the baby hydra.

Another hour passed as Lunara cradled the baby, engraving this moment into her memories. Sterfen was beside her for most of the time, but also chatted with the others. He wanted to give his wife time with the baby since they would soon have to part.

"Here." Jack pulled out a velvet bag filled with EXP pots, startling Sterfen.

"You weren't kidding when you said you had plenty," laughed the new father. "You should give them to her. That way she really will see you as her big brother. Otherwise, it may be hard to get her to listen to you while traveling."

"You have a good point."

"Jack, you're my son now. I would rather treat you like the son I never had, then for it to just be a name. So, know that I'm entrusting your sister's safety to you. If you need us, we're just a call away." Sterfen smiled.

"Well, technically I didn't have any parent in the first place since I was summoned here. If you're serious about being my parents, I wouldn't mind, Dad."

Moved and still emotional from the baby's birth, Sterfen's eyes watered a little bit. "My boy."

The father reached out and hugged his son, finally happy to have a son he can call his own. To make sure Jack knew that, a white glow surrounded Jack and seeped into him.

"There, now you're truly my son. It's not much, but now not even legend-tier items will be able to see through you. Just like me, you're truly unreadable."

"Thanks, Dad." Jack hugged him again. "Is there anything in specific you want me to teach little Lina?"

Sterfen got a chuckle out of Jack's nickname for Linala. "It's up to her, but I'm a master of knives and illusion type magic while your mother is a master of water type magic and has her bestial form. If I'm not mistaken, little Lina should have both illusion type and water type magic. Help her surpass us, that's all I ask."

"Will do, Dad."

"Well, since you're all leaving, how about I say goodbye to your lovely wives and your future wives."

"Dad!"

"Come on, you know is fathers joy and responsibility to embarrass his son with the honest truth," joked Sterfen. "Take good care of all my daughters-in-law, it'll be good for little Lina to have so many sisters."

He then hugged each of the girls one by one, thanking them for returning their daughter, as well as asking them to take good care of both his son and his daughter.

It made them all proud that Jack was officially the son of two gods. Even if he was adopted, it was still an honor that no one else had ever earned in history. And it was the man that they cared about the most.

Sterfen reached Maynard and said, "Make sure to tell Jin I said, 'Hi.' Jin's like a brother to me, so I know you'll be in good hands."

"As for you," Sterfen looked to Rydel, the man who he had given his legend-tier blessing. "You're traveling with my son, so I hope you represent me well."

"Of course, Master Sterfen."

"Good." He placed both hands on Rydel's shoulders, giving him an encouraging nod. "I look forward to seeing and hearing all about the great things you've done in my name."

Another couple of hours passed and everyone trickled into the great room, where Lunara was now standing with a sad smile on her face.

Sterfen approached her and wrapped his arms around her. "Luna, everything will be fine. Our son will protect her and they can reach us if they ever need help. It's time."

She nodded slowly, agreeing with her husband. Lunara walked to Jack. "Jack… no, Son, please take care of her."

"I'll protect Lina with my life." Proceeding to take out the velvet bag of EXP pots, Jack retrieved one and placed it on Linala's chest.

Linala, like any other baby, bit down on the EXP pot. But before she could swallow it, it glowed and disappeared as the EXP transferred to her.

The baby hydra started to grow, quickly becoming lv. 6 in an instant. Soon, Lunara was forced to put her down.

Jack pulled out another two EXP pots and put them on the ground for Linala to play with. Again, she bit down on them until both vanished and her level rose to lv. 14.

This process continued until seven EXP pots were used and Linala had grown to lv. 32.

Also, her body was now ten meters long from head to tail and she had three heads. Linala no longer acted like a baby, but she did seem shyer.

She noticed something strange about Jack. For some reason, Linala felt some both her father's and her mother's energy when she looked at Jack. Because of that, she slowly brushed her three heads against him, testing to see if he was friendly.

Jack pet all three of her heads. "Little Lina, I'm your big brother, Jack."

"Ja-ck?"

Everyone was startled. Linala had already said her first word, and it wasn't they had expected.

Sensing that something was off, Jack pointed one of Linala's heads toward Lunara. "That's Mom, can you say hi?"

"Mom!"

Lunara felt like electricity had just run through her body. Hearing her newborn baby calling her that was too much.

"And that's Dad, say hello."

"Dad! Hello!" Linala repeated anything Jack told her.

"Lina, for now, you'll have to travel with me and your sisters."

"Sisters?" Linala saw Jack pointing at the other girls behind him. "Sisters!"

"Yes, they're your sisters. I'll keep you safe, together with your sisters and your uncles."

Linala saw the two middle-aged men in the back. "Uncles!"

"Yes, but now we have to say goodbye to Mom and Dad."

"Good-bye?"

"Yes, we won't see them for a while, but we can talk to them whenever you want, okay?" Jack pet her heads and led her to Lunara and Sterfen. Once in from of them, he hugged one of her necks. "Make sure to hug them tight, just like this, okay Lina?"

"Hug!"

The young hydra wrapped one head around Jack, one around Lunara, and one around Sterfen.

Both parents were teary-eyed, happy that Jack was really acting like a big brother. They both felt a bit more at ease, glad to have chosen him of all people as the son they had always wanted.

"Little Lina, do you want to know something cool?" asked Lunara. As Linala nodded cutely, the mother leaned in and whispered something into her ear.

Suddenly, Linala started glowing bright blue and her form started shrinking. Just like her mother, Linala was able to take a human form. Normally, it was only possible for bestial gods, but having no mortal blood and being born a demihuman allowed her to inherit the ability naturally.

As she shrunk and the light started to fade, Lunara retrieved a blanket and covered her naked daughter.

Linala looked like a young, barely-teenage girl. She was small and cute, with bright blue hair, just like her mother.

Sterfen held up the blanket as Lunara helped Linala into a battle dress, made for both beauty and battle. At last, she handed her daughter a ring. "This is a special kind of spatial ring that will hide in your scales when you transform. That way, you won't need to worry about it."

Sterfen threw Jack a ring as well. "There's not much in there, but consider it a sort of early inheritance."

With a questioning look, Jack inspected the ring and almost had his eyes pop out of his skull.

Inside the ring were all kinds of gold, platinum, and luxury items for travel. Also, there were many water type and illusion type spellbooks, two of each kind.

Jack mumbled to himself, "Yeah, not much at all."

"One last thing," stated Lunara, staring at Maura. "By my godly authority, I hereby place you under my care, Maura Dyrshire."

Blue energy gather around Maura, gently merging with her, giving her a sense of comfort. It was over in but a moment and Maura quickly bowed. "Thank you, Mistress Linara."

"Please, you can call my Mom. You are my daughter-in-law and my daughter's sister, after all," laughed Lunara, not thinking much of it.

Sterfen looked at them all and gave his final hug to his daughter, together with Lunara. "Little Lina, make sure to listen to Jack and your sisters. Do whatever they say, okay?"

"Okay, Dad! Okay, Mom!"

"Alright, now go and stand with them. We'll send you off," stated Lunara, again with a smile filled with both sadness and hope.

When Linala ran to Jack's side and grabbed his hand, Sterfen and Lunara also grabbed each other's hand. Together, they recited, "To the base, we send you, to the place marked in the past. Down the mountain you'll go, to the city you saw last."

White, blinding light filled the room, originating from Jack's party. Like a bolt of lightning, the light appeared and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Left alone in the great room, Lunara was crying into her husband's shoulder. They were both tears of joy and sadness.