The Achievement Junkie

White light surrounded the party, blocking their vision entirely.

It gradually faded away, but they could still only see white. It took them a moment, but the party soon realized that they were at the base of the Glacier Peak, not too far from Frostburn City.

Beneath them was an enchanted platform embedded in the mountain. It was impossible to find in the blizzard, but them being sent there must have blown away the snow covering it. However, the blizzard was making quick work of covering it back up.

Everyone immediately geared up and put on their warm clothing.

When they saw Linala start playing around in the snow, not caring about a jacket, they all laughed. The little girl was adorable, making it easy to forget that she was actually a beast with the most powerful hydra bloodline in the world.

"Big Brother, what is this?" Linala asked as she rolled around in the snow.

"That's snow. Right now we're in Aazoon, the coldest country in the world. There's lots of snow here because it's really cold. But look." Jack pointed at everyone else in the party. "See, most people can't be here where it's so cold. Can we play in the snow later, somewhere that's not as cold?"

"Okay!" Lina nodded, happily agreeing since Jack promised to play with her.

"Everyone, let's go get something to eat. We'll reach Frostburn City by noon," stated Jack, taking the lead.

The mood was very relaxed since the strong beasts of Glacier Peak were behind them. With only the base of the mountain between then and the warm, artificial environment of Frostburn City, the party was happy.

Just like Jack said, they arrived at the capital just after noon and quickly got themselves a few rooms at a local inn.

Not wasting another minute, they all hurried to the tavern and made their orders. Maura took care of ordering for Lina, who was very curious about why everyone was so excited.

"Here's your drinks. The food will be out shortly."

The waiter brought them all their drinks, mainly the local brundy and a big glass of milk for Lina. They all watched little Lina guzzle down the milk like there was no tomorrow. In the end, they ordered a whole pitcher of milk, slowly portioning it out to her.

Since it was a large inn with a decent-sized kitchen staff, the food came out quickly.

When it hit the table, everyone started to dig in.

Surprising them all, the first to finish was Lina, who was licking the plate clean. "More!"

"Lina, you need to say please when you ask for something. If not, you'll be rude to others," stated Maura, taking the moment to educate the little girl.

"More, please!" Lina repeated with a nod.

Jack smiled and told the waiter, "She can order whatever she wants and however much she wants. Don't worry about the cost."

"Sir, with such a large party already--" Just then, the waiter was cut off by Jack handing his a few gold coins under the table. "Very well, sir, we'll bring out today's special stew for the girl."

"Yay!" Lina shouted, smiling at Jack.

After seeing her almost empty a carton of milk and lick her plate clean, it was obvious to Jack that Lina's appetite was enormous. Then again, he remembered her hydra form, which was almost big for the party to ride.

He tried to think of some sort of plan to handle her appetite, but only two came to mind.

The first option was what was currently happening, just order as much food as possible and don't worry about the coin. Though Jack had enough money to do that, especially after Sterfen's gift, that wouldn't allow the party to be low profile.

The second option was for Jack to finally level up his cooking skill.

By cooking most meals, they could cut costs and the party would be able to blend in better with the other travelers. Jack would have to feed her enough so that she wouldn't need more than a few plates at the taverns.

When the party left at the end of the night, Lina had drunk two and a half pitchers of milk and eaten ten separate dishes.

Everyone in the tavern was blown away, but Jack made sure to tip well in order to keep the staff from talking too much. The party left to one of their rooms to talk in private, letting the dinning room return to normal.

They all gathered in Jack's room, wondering what was next, excited to meet another god.

"First, before we do any of that, me and Maura need to perform the pact and the mutual seal with Lina."

"Huh?"

"Lina, to help you get stronger faster, me and Maura are going to help you. But you have to let us do some things, okay?"

"Okay!"

"I'll go first." Jack stepped forward and smiled at the girl. "Don't worry, this doesn't hurt."

Taking out a knife, Jack slit his finger, making Lina give him a weird look. But Jack continued, using his finger to draw the pact in blood on Lina's forehead.

"Okay, now you need to bite your thumb and put a drop of blood where I just drew on your head," explained Jack.

With no hesitation, the girl obeyed Jack and bit her finger. In a flash, she pressed her thumb against her forehead and the blood slowly disappeared into her skin.

'Can you hear me, Lina?'

"Oh! I hear Big Brother in my head!" Amazed, the girl shouted back to Jack.

Jack laughed, along with the others. 'Silly girl, try and talk with your mind. Just think of words you want to say.'

'Like this?'

'Yeah, that's perfect!' Jack gave her a big thumbs up. 'Now we can talk without anyone else hearing. Or if you're far away and need to talk to me, you can do it just like that.'

'You can also talk with all of us," added Eliza with a laugh.

'Really?! I can talk with sisters too, and uncles? Amazing!'

'Okay, now it's my turn,' said Maura. She stepped in front of Lina while Jack stepped to the side.

'Both of you please be patient with me. I'm still new to writing seals, so I won't be too fast,' stated Jack.

True to his word, Jack took his time drawing the bestial seals. Luckily, Lina's physical body was incredible, so she felt little to no pain during the procedure. Soon, the seal was over and successful.

"What does this one do?" asked Lina.

Maura answered, "This seal lets you and me be like partners. We'll share EXP and grow faster together."

"EXP?"

"That's what you get after winning fights and battles," added Eliza. As Jack's wife, she made it her duty to cherish Lina. "You're so strong already, but you can only be as strong as your mom and dad by getting a lot of EXP."

"Oh! So I need to fight a lot, I can do that!" Lina was pumped up. She was excited to get strong like her parents, though she wouldn't be if she knew how long it would take.

"We'll do it together. From now on, we'll fight together, you and me. Okay, Lina?" asked Maura.

"Okay! I'll fight together with Sister Maura."

"Now, we can move on," stated Jack. "I've got to make a detour to the palace. We'll be leaving in the morning, so I wanted to say goodbye one last time."

'Then I'm coming too!" shouted Maura. "I want to say goodbye to Erina."

"Oh, then I go too!" shouted Lina, latching onto Jack's coat.

"Fine, but no one else. You all need to make sure we have supplies for the trip through the tundra. We had it easy getting here, but we need all the grinding we can get," said Jack. "Everyone already has snow stallions, but ask around and try to get a map of the tundra."

"We'll take care of that." Both Maynard and Rydel nodded.

Turning to the other three women, Jack asked, "Can you all search for all the high-tier and peak-tier spells you can find. The more, the better."

"And the cost?" asked Keela.

"Knowing Eliza, she's got plenty on her and I'll pay her back for whatever the costs were."

Eliza nodded. "That's fine with me. Tell little Erina I said goodbye, okay?"

"I'll tell her," replied Maura, who was walking to Jack's side. She grabbed Lina's other hand. "Are you ready to go, Lina?"

"Mhm, let's go! To the palace!"

"Silly Lina, you don't know where to go," added Jack, keeping her from running out of the room without them. "We'll lead the way, so just hold both of our hands."

"Okay, I'll hold Big Brother's hand too!"

The three casually left, leaving smiles wherever they went. With Lina's natural beauty and her acting not quite her age, she was adorable to the older travelers and they all thought she was Jack's and Maura's daughter.

Many made small comments along those lines, making both Maura and Jack blush, but Lina was unfazed. She was happy to go to the palace.