The Achievement Junkie

After his massage and his breakfast, Jack hurried out of bed. He was determined to now let it go any further.

Soon, everyone else was up and finishing their own breakfast while Jack spent time thinking about the trip. With breakfast not taking long, the party quickly left Frostburn City.

They made sure to go southeast. That way, they would eventually reach the capital of Maltor, Scorch City, which was surrounded by the Molten Mountains.

Opposite Aazoon, Maltor was known for its heat. Every mountain in the Molten Mountains was a volcano. Together with the Aazoon Kingdom, the two nations formed what looked like a rough symbol for yin and yang on the map, one side covered in ice and the other covered in desert.

Jack wanted to avoid going directly south, but not only to make it easier to reach Trodar.

The main reason he avoided going directly south was because the second most powerful holy god had a temple on the other side of Maltor. Jack wanted to avoid that half of the country at all costs.

But he didn't tell the others that because he didn't want them to worry.

Thanks to the weather, their travel speed was quite slow. It took them almost three weeks to reach the Aazoon-Maltor border. Though they did stop multiple times to play with Lina in the snow, no one complained about that.

The border was more guarded than the Reinolt-Maltor border, but it didn't take them too long to get through the border patrol.

Both nations were rivals, but they hadn't had a war in over two hundred years. Due to that, the party didn't have much to worry about.

Jack's party stopped in the nearest border town and made sure to purchase better supplies. Now that they were crossing a dry desert and not a frozen tundra, it called for a change in clothes and supplies.

Like the tundra, they took their time traveling. Unlike the tundra, it took them a bit longer because of Lina not being used to such weather. After the first few days at a slow pace, she grew more accustomed to it and they finally picked up the pace.

In the end, it took them almost eight weeks, or two months to reach Scorch City starting from Frostburn City.

Along the way, everyone under lv. 34 had managed to level up once, including the beast companions. It wasn't much, but it was progress nonetheless.

But when they finally got there, the party was glad to see that Scorch City also had an artificial environment created within its city walls. Inside the city, they could finally relax and enjoy a cool, fresh breeze.

Covered in sweat, the party all agreed to get rooms, bathe, eat, and turn in for the night.

After getting a good night's sleep, they all felt much better. At breakfast, everyone was asking Jack what it was that they should do now since they all thought they were just passing through.

"We'll be staying in Scorch City for a while," replied Jack, startling everyone. "I don't know why, but we have to stay here for the time being. It shouldn't be more than a few days, but I've already paid to stay here for the next two nights in the meantime."

"Can we go around and check the market for anything good?" asked Eliza with a seductive smile.

"Sure, go ahead and buy any peak-tier spells or any items that you think are worth buying."

"Great!" Eliza sprung to her feet and grabbed Jack's arm. "Let's get going."

"Wait, I thought--"

Maura got up and grabbed Jack's other arm, surprising everyone. "Can't you give us some time too? Since we're staying here a few days, you'll have some free time anyway…"

Jack knew that he couldn't escape their two-pronged attack. "Fine, but only for today. I've got other things--"

"Yay! Big Brother's taking us shopping!"

During the trip, everyone would make sure to teach Lina about everything they could. And the girls made sure to teach Lina all about the joys of shopping. They also made sure that Lina knew that Jack was loaded and could afford almost anything that Lina could want.

With a long sigh, Jack stood up and let his wives take him away. They were followed closely by Keela and Daliea, leaving the samurai and the hunter behind at the table.

"He's finally starting to open up again, isn't he?" Rydel laughed as Jack was dragged away.

"Yeah, it'll do him good though. I wonder how long he'll last," commented Maynard.

The two chatted while having an early drinking session. In the end, they started betting on how long it'll take for Jack to crack and who'll get him first.

While Jack was now being dragged in the streets of Scorch City, he checked his map to verify something. He was right to check the map because his thoughts were confirmed.

After they reached Scorch City, Jack had contacted Sterfen and Lunara to give them an update.

At that time, Sterfen told Jack that he needed to stay in Scorch City for the time being and offered no explanation. All Sterfen would say is that the party needed to wait at least three days and that within that time period, something good would happen.

Jack's hunch was that it somehow involved Kori, the Fox God.

According to the map, Kori's shrine was now in Maltor and it was headed for the capital. The only possible explanation that Jack could think of would be if Sterfen had somehow contacted Kori and the Fox God was determined to meet them, no matter what.

Unable to determine why, Jack could only wait and see what happens. He trusted Sterfen, so Jack was confident that Kori wouldn't do anything bad to them.

"Jack!"

Suddenly, a cry for his name brought Jack back to reality. He was now in a tent surrounded by clothes. "What is it, Eliza?"

"You've been staring off into space for a while now and you won't tell me which dress you like more!" pouted Eliza, holding up two dresses against her body.

"Really? Why do you need--"

"Jack, what do you think?"

Turning around, he noticed Maura doing the same thing with two more dresses.

That's when Jack realized that all five girls, including Lina, were each browsing some of the most expensive dresses in the entire tent. Normally, those were only purchased by nobles and royals, but they were dragging him into spending a fortune on dresses alone.

"Ladies, do you really need such dresses? It's not like there's any occasion for them."

"Well, maybe we can make an occasion," laughed Eliza. "We've yet to go on a date even though we're already married. I think you owe Maura and me that much."

"But--"

"Look, Big Brother! Big Sisters all look so pretty! I want a pretty dress too!" Lina's eyes were twinkling as she cut him off. "Please, Big Brother? Pretty pleeease?"

Jack bit his tongue, unable to say no to Lina's cute face. He had fallen into the women's trap.

Patting Lina's head, Jack looked her in the eye. "For now, you can only get one dress. Okay?"

"Okay!"

It wasn't only Lina that responded, but all five girls.

Eliza got closer to Jack and pouted, "So, will you tell me which one you like most or not?"

"... I like the blue one. It goes well with your blonde hair…"

"Thanks! Then I'll get the blue one for our first date!"

"I never--"

"Jack, which one?" Maura pouted, following Eliza's example.

Wanting to cry, Jack looked at her puppy dog eyes. "The red one…"

One by one, Jack gave his opinion on each of the girls' dresses. They all chose the one that Jack liked the most. Except for Lina, who convinced Jack to buy both dresses, making the other girls jealous.

From that point on, Jack paid attention to everywhere they went. At all costs, he would avoid getting trapped again.

They spent all morning browsing the market. Other than a few trinkets to go with the dresses, they didn't buy anything else.

Jack wasn't able to find anything worth buying, so he dejectedly paid for a few small things to keep the women from dragging him into any more major purchases.

For lunch, the group found a local restaurant.

Excited to try the local cuisine, everyone made their orders. Like always, Jack gave the waitress an early tip to keep them from cutting off Lina's many orders.

With satisfied stomachs and happy faces, the party made their way to the local magic shop.

Inside, everyone split up and started searching for whatever suited them. With Jack there personally, they planned to splurge and get anything they wanted.

Maura was helping Lina browse too, teaching her to not read or use the items without purchasing them. That had already happened, though Jack was lucky it was with some cheap trinket in the market and not a peak-tier spell.

Jack was browsing the fire type and lightning type spells, hoping to find a peak-tier spell.

In the end, Jack did find one, but there was a problem. The peak-tier spellbook was in the arms of a middle-aged man who was also browsing the fire type spells.