The Achievement Junkie

Jack and Rydel traversed the streets and the rumors of last night's incident were still prevalent and kept anyone from troubling them. But for some reason, everyone was silent wherever they passed, and the gazes of the crowd didn't show fear. Jack had a weird feeling, but he had no clue what had gotten into the people to change their attitudes so quickly.

"Remember, let's hurry and get the registration over with so we can look for those clerics, Drad and Slivia," reminded Rydel, causing Jack to refocus and pick up the pace. "I think I know the Balt Guildhall. If it's by the Boar's Inn like Vaul said, then there's only one building it could be."

Jack nodded and agreed. "You're talking about that big building that seemed out of place, right?"

"That's the one. We passed it after we entered the village, so I'm pretty sure that's the place. My question is, how are you going to pay for this kid?" asked Rydel.

"Umm, that's a good question," said Jack, scratching the back of his head in nervousness. "It couldn't be over six gold, right?"

"Who knows now, thanks to that idiot prince. I think you could've been fine if it were the Royal Court's price but based on what Vaul said I can't say for certain."

Jack pondered for a moment before he asked, "Hey captain, you wouldn't be able to spot me some coin just in case, would you? It's only if I don't have enough and there's no other choice."

"Nope, you can forget it," answered Rydel. "I've lent money far too often for you to ask."

"Come on captain, it's for the better good. With Bowser in the party, we'll gain more EXP and an even better bait. If anything, you'd just be investing now to get a better return while we're in the mine," persuaded Jack.

"Nice try, but no." Rydel sped up and left Jack behind him, who was trying his best to keep up.

It was already past midday and the streets were filled with merchants and customers alike. The duo from the association hurried and disregarded every booth; normally Jack would be very interested, but he knew that he had no money to spare now that he had to register Bowser at the Balt Guildhall.

Eventually, they passed the Boar's Inn and noticed the large building further up the street. It looked like a big barn had been turned into a fortress, giving off a sense of practicality, very much unlike the Royal Court office.

"After you kid," said Rydel. He was an experienced adventurer, but Rydel understood that Jack was far more cunning with his words. Jack was always finding ways to get the best deals while at the same time form steady relationships.

Jack stepped forward and pushed the large door open. The interior was the same dark green color as the outside, and it maintained that practical sense throughout the entire hall. There weren't too many people, but a few had come thanks to the surprise screening of the royal office.

"I thought you'd come!" a voice yelled from the other side of the room.

The hunter duo was startled to see a somewhat familiar face. It was a man that had signed the royal office waiting list just after them. They only recognized him thanks to the dark green scarf around the man's neck, which was conveniently the same color as the wall.

"The name's Jard Balt," the man quickly walked over to introduce himself. "You two are the adventurers who stood up to the crown prince, correct?"

"Yeah…" stated Jack quietly, recognizing Jard's last name and his clear connection to the Balt Guild.

"Great!" Jard yelled, surprising everyone in the guildhall. "For you guys, we'll handle whatever you need free of charge."

"Free? Are you sure? We need a bloodline test for that little guy," stammered Rydel.

Jard peeked at the lazy Bowser on Jack's shoulder and grunted, "Hmm, if that's what you need, then I'm not sure if we can shoulder the cost. Your antics caused the surprise screening, which caused a boom in business for us since our greatest competitor suddenly shut its doors. Anything else we can handle, but we can only offer a 50% discount on a bloodline test. Is that ok?"

"Of course!" answered Jack. "Can you take us back right now? We've got some other matters to handle and can't take too much time."

"Great, just follow me," said Jard with an appreciative smile as he led the two away from the lobby.

"Hey Jard, what were you planning on doing at the royal office?" asked Jack.

"Good question boy. I was there to submit this month's transaction reports and pay the needed taxes. The screening worried me before the royal office informed me that as long as I come back on the first day they reopen, then there would be no need to worry." Jard spoke honestly and didn't hide anything from his guests.

"That makes sense I guess," said Jack.

"You're obviously someone higher up in the guild, so you must know something involving the disappearing adventurers, right?" Rydel jumped to his conclusion.

"So, you've already heard. The association lives up to its name," praised Jard. "Of the three parties to go missing, the second was made up of Balt guildmembers. Their strength barely qualified to enter the mine, but we didn't worry too much. What shocked us was that not a single message was sent via the party's contact crystals. The only way to interpret this was if they were instantly killed or easily captured and stripped of their items."

"How big was the party?" asked Jack.

"It was made up of six lv. 8's, two lv. 11's, and one lv. 14. Together, we assumed that they should be able to take care of any trouble with such a line-up and get a lot of our younger members some much needed EXP," explained Jard with depression in his eyes. "My son was among the lv. 8 youths, but we've yet to find them anywhere, no matter how hard we search."

"We'll be heading to the mine as well, so if we find anything or get a chance to help them, then we will," said Jack, trying his best to comfort Jard.

"Really?" Jard wasn't too surprised. "Do you mind linking crystals? I would like to hear about any findings immediately."

Jack had already retrieved his contact crystal and touched it to Jard's. "That's the least we can do, especially after offering such a great discount."

"Just so you know boy, if you guys can bring back our men, we'll pay you a hefty reward for each guild member returned safely."

"We'll try our best." Jack bowed his head in thanks. "If there's anything else you might need help with, just send me a message."

"Thank you," Jard bowed his head graciously as he approached a door near the end of the long hallway. "Hurry in here. With such a rare fox, it's best no one else knows about us being in here."

Glad to see Jard's desire for secrecy, the two hurried into the room before Jard shut the door and locked it. "Very good, now for the bloodline test. We'll need a drop of the fox's blood, so I'll let you handle that part."

With ease, Jack took out a tiny knife that Zariff had let him keep due to the knife's uselessness in battle. Jack pet Bowser and asked the fox to hold out his paw.

Bowser seemed to better understand humans with each passing day, so Bowser nodded and stuck out his paw facing upwards. The knife poked the paw lightly, just enough to pierce the skin and reveal a drop of bright red blood that was almost resplendent.

Jard noticed the blood and his heart shook. The radiance and pureness of the color proved that the fox's blood was the strongest Jard had ever seen personally.

Without wasting time, Jard activated the machine sitting on a table in the center of the room. Its design was simple, being made of bronze with eight small, clear crystals jutting out the sides and one flat gem in the center. "Place the drop on the center gem."

Both Jack and Bowser nodded in sync as Jack stepped up to the machine.

Bowser placed his paw on the center gem and the entire machine began to glow. One by one the side crystals lit up brilliantly until all eight were no longer translucent and were filled with a pure red light.

The three of them all watched this entrancing display of color for a few seconds until the light slowly dimmed and vanished. Jack sighed and asked, "So what's the bloodline?"

Still, in a trance, Jard struggled to speak. "This… umm… I'm not sure." He went to the side and pulled a big book off a shelf. Dust scattered as Jard opened it and began to flip through its pages.

"Kid, do you understand what just happened?" Rydel was still in shock like Jard. It was as if he was even more shocked that Jack had no clue just how impactful the event was. His hunch was correct when he saw Jack shake his head in response. Taking a second to choose his words, Rydel said, "Kid, I think that fox has a pure ancient bloodline."