The Achievement Junkie

"You know who I am?" Jack was startled.

"Every association member in the capital knows who you are hero," explained the man in green. "After you and Rydel destroyed the city gate, they put warrants out for your arrest. The chief is working hard to get them removed and explained your identity to the entire city in protest."

The man in black chimed in, saying, "People stormed the royal offices and demanded that a summoned hero shouldn't be given a bounty or go through a forced search. I had my hunches when I first saw you, but I figured that if you were the real deal, you would be able to dodge my strike. It seems I guessed correctly"

"And if I hadn't dodged it?" asked Jack with a frown. Originally, he was alright with the near-death experience, but Jack wouldn't forgive so easily now that he knew Brunar had recognized him yet acted anyway.

"Well…" The man in black coughed and redirected the conversation. "I'm just glad that we have a summoned hero on our side. Things are looking up for the branch thanks to you; we had a flood of applications pour in after the announcement."

Knowing that the man wouldn't apologize, Jack shrugged and disregarded the incident. "So, where's your master? He should be here soon, right? I need to hurry up and make lunch, so please excuse me."

The samurai adjusted his kimono and accepted Jack's harsh tone, understanding that Jack hadn't forgiven him for nearly killing him. "My name is Brunar and he's Troni, please forgive our reckless introduction."

Surprised to see Brunar bow and ask forgiveness, he lightened his opinion of the man but kept a cold front. It was easy to make friends with Jack, but it was even easier to make enemies. Once he had a negative impression of someone, it would take some time for him to willingly make up.

"I hope you guys like rabbit," said Jack, not bothering to look back at them. He and Slivia began to skin and prep the rabbits undisturbed by the samurai, who sat down cross-legged and watched them carefully.

"Do you need any help?" asked Troni.

"Nah, we got this covered," responded Jack. His opinion of Troni was a little better than Brunar because of the two, Brunar was obviously the leader and most likely Maynard's top disciple.

"We can skin them, with our precision we—"

"I said, 'we got this covered.'" Jack didn't let Brunar finish and gave him the evil eye.

Brunar wasn't afraid of Jack, but for some reason, he felt that Jack's gaze was too heavy for a newbie adventurer.

Sure, he was a summoned hero, but he heard from his master that Jack was still a lv. 1. If Jack was so low leveled, it didn't make any sense.

Because Brunar had a reputation for acting on his own, following orders exactly as they were given, he would occasionally get scolded by his master or Zariff. But why did Jack's gaze feel as heavy as theirs, if not heavier; that's what Brunar wanted to know.

Jack didn't pay him any more attention, finishing the cleaning and prepping of the meat. They skewered it on homemade wooden pikes and stuck the wooden pikes into the ground around the fire, letting them leave the rabbits to cook on their own.

"I have a question for you," said Brunar, noticing that Jack was finally finished.

"Too bad, because I may not have an answer," said Jack as he closed his eyes, appearing to meditate as he began to explore the achievement system in boredom.

"You…" Brunar's hushed word barely left his lips as he restrained himself from lashing out at Jack.

"Brunar, can you blame him?" asked Troni. "If your blade had come any closer, he would've died on the spot without hope of survival. That's not exactly something to take lightly."

"So? At least be respectful to your seniors. I've already apologized, so I have no reason to be ignored," argued Brunar, not giving an inch.

Troni shook his head. He understood both perspectives and could sense that both had their pride to uphold.

Jack was a summoned hero and would later be the hope of the country. Brunar was a rising star in the branch and was admired by many. However, after Jack's identity was publicly announced, Brunar's fame began to shrink and fade.

The worst part in Brunar's eyes was Jack's level; he had been eclipsed by a lv. 1 and that was unacceptable to him.

"Are you okay?" Jack's quiet voice reached Slivia's ears. "I don't see any marks or scars, but I want to be sure."

"I'm fine. Troni didn't even grab me very tightly; I would've pulled away from him if I hadn't seen his level far above mine," answer Slivia, trying to help repair the damage done to their party's relationship.

"I'm glad at least one of them has a brain." Those words were only loud enough to barely escape Jack's mouth, keeping them between only Jack and Slivia.

Bowser jumped off Jack's shoulder with a frown on his face. He nuzzled into Slivia's lap as if looking for female comfort. She immediately gave in and started to show Bowser love, petting and scratching him all over. Jack chuckled when he understood Bowser's shameless, childish nature.

Over an hour passed by and the sun was descending in the sky. Everyone had already eaten and were left waiting for their last two party members to show up.

Eventually, two figures appeared in the distance walking and talking with one another. Jack recognized Rydel and started to scan over the man beside the captain.

His kimono was white with red diamond accents all over. There were two katanas at his hip which the system identified as high tier weapons, surprising Jack. He was shorter than Jack but his battle scars and toned body demanded praise.

Jack stood up and ran to welcome the two of them. "Nice to meet you. You're Maynard, right?"

"Yup and ya must be Jack. I'm glad to meet ya," said Maynard, extending his hand to shake Jack's. "I've heard a lot about some 'cheeky brat' from Zariff; that's ya right?"

"Of course, who else could get such praise from that old fart while so low leveled," joked Jack. Thanks to Maynard's easy-going response and personality, Jack immediately felt much better about getting more party members. "Make sure to teach your disciples properly; if I wasn't lucky, that idiot over there would've killed me."

Both Rydel and Maynard grew serious, replacing the light atmosphere. Maynard turned to face Brunar and asked, "Really Brunar?"

"Don't listen to him! I was just testing him to see if he was a hero worth his reputation," claimed Brunar, defending himself brazenly.

"Then good for you, you've proven you can overpower a newbie like me. Congrats." Jack's dry tone ground into Brunar's ears.

Furious, Brunar declared, "Don't just talk, why not prove yourself in—"

"That's enough."

Suddenly Brunar felt a small blade being held up against his throat, close enough to cut skin if he swallowed saliva. Rydel had appeared from behind Brunar and said, "Whatever you do to him, I do to you. Got it?"

"Yessir!" Brunar trembled as he tried to feel the gap between his strength and Rydel's.

"Be happy Maynard's a good friend because I've killed for less," said Rydel, putting away the knife and walking to Jack's side. "Everything okay? What happened?"

"He launched a sneak attack on me as I came back to camp even though he recognized me as an ally," answered Jack. "If I hadn't noticed the attack soon enough, I would've lost my head."

"Is that true?" Maynard's solemn voice sent shivers down everyone's spines as he looked to Troni and saw him lightly nod.

Brunar looked to his master and said, "As a summoned hero of legend, I was certain that Jack would have the ability to evade. And if he didn't, that just meant he was a fake after all."

It wasn't too rare for someone to try and rise in popularity saying they were a foreign hero, so Brunar debated with that logic.

"Idiot!"

Maynard exploded into fury and drew a single sword. Swinging it sideways, he struck Brunar's head, only it wasn't with the blade but the flat side.

As Brunar was thrown into a tree, Maynard sheathed his sword and approached his disciple. "You and I have both seen the association's records, so how would a fake have the hero class, huh?"

Keeping silent, Brunar avoided answering and looking up to his master, rubbing the side of his face. Maynard continued, "He's a hero no matter how you look at it and you've got to accept that. In the future, he'll surpass you and me both so he can become a peak existence in the continent. Get over yourself!"

"I refuse to let some newbie beat me! I won't let him pass me!" barked Brunar in ignorance.

Wanting to humble his disciple, Maynard sword slapped him one more time across the other cheek. "I hope you can reevaluate yourself. You're too arrogant and will never reach your potential how you are now."

Brunar opened his mouth but no words came out. Inwardly, he promised to never let Jack surpass him so that he would be the only star in the branch. He was too full of himself thanks to everyone's praise and Maynard's typically loose guidance.