The Achievement Junkie

Not seeing any faults in Maynard's logic, Jack and Rydel chuckled at the ronin's childlike confidence. Jack asked, "Okay, so we agree that something large might be coming in and out of the palace, but what? What would be so big this far into the mine?"

"How should I know? Ya two are the smart ones, so ya should figure that much out yourselves," joked Maynard.

Rydel laughed, "If you're so confident in your answer, you must have some kind of idea, right?"

"Yeah, but why should I tell ya two so easily."

"Don't pay him any more attention Captain. Most likely, he's just guessing with the doors' size as the main determinant. Let me guess, you think it's ogres?" stated Jack.

Maynard answered, "And if it was? Why couldn't it be ogres? They're not too uncommon in these mountains and it's normal for them to seek shelter underground."

"But ogres and goblins are like water and oil, they never blend well," said Rydel.

"Then what else could it be? Trolls? Trolls never dwell in caves and aren't indigenous in this region," reasoned Maynard.

Jack flinched when he heard the other two bantering and zoned out for a second. He was thinking back to the hidden tomb he had discovered almost twenty-four hours ago. Disregarding the discussion between the two veterans, Jack spoke up, "We need to plan for trolls to interfere."

Startled by Jack's decision to defend what both veterans agreed was the biggest reach Maynard had mentioned, Rydel responded, "Are you sure? Trolls?"

"Really?" asked Maynard, as he if regretted mentioning something as terrible as trolls.

'No, it was a good thing to mention,' said Jack in the depths of everyone's minds.

Following along, Maynard asked mentally, 'Why trolls? Aren't ogres more likely?'

'No, it has to be trolls,' repeated Jack. 'When we found that ancient hero's tomb, I was able to see the fallen hero's last moments. Take a wild guess what killed him?'

'Trolls?' Rydel was curious yet cautious when Jack mentioned the ancient hero. 'Trolls? Really? This deep into the mine?'

'I have no clue why they were down here or how they got there, but that's what killed that ancient hero. It could be something else too though, I mean how long ago was that hero killed?' mentioned Jack. 'For all we know, those trolls are long gone or dead by now.'

'Hmm,' Pondering the new information, Maynard's eyes were closed as he focused all his brainpower on the subject. 'As long as nothing killed those trolls, they could still be alive ya know? Trolls have an incredible lifespan, unlike their ogre counterparts.'

'I don't think there would be too many due to the trolls having fertility issues and their general lack of females, but they would alter our odds of success,' said Rydel.

Jack asked, 'Then, in the case that there are trolls, what should we do?'

'First off, rescuing the survivors becomes the greatest priority,' interjected Maynard.

'Why is that?' asked Jack.

'Don't you know how Trolls solved the… Oh, that's more recent,' said Rydel, with a flash unwillingness to say more. 'Trolls lack females and the few females they have struggle with fertility. This naturally limits how large a group of trolls can be. However, they found a slight loophole to this in the past few centuries.'

Catching onto the vibe of the conversation, Jack interrupted, 'Don't tell me, that trolls would…'

'Yeah, that's exactly what they do. They're known to always try and capture any female alive instead of killing them. And then… well, you get the picture.' Rydel finished Jack's thoughts for him.

Jack clenched his fists tightly, thinking about how Slivia was the first one to be targeted out of the party. He set his mind to save Slivia no matter the cost because he wouldn't be able to forgive himself otherwise.

'When do we start phase one?' asked Maynard.

'I wish we could right now, but if I don't get at least a couple hours of sleep I'll be more of a burden than an asset,' said Jack, cursing his own weakness.

'Then sleep for three hours. At that time, we'll initiate phase one and prepare to launch phases two and three,' stated Rydel. 'Will you be okay, kid? I know this means a lot to you, but you understand that emotions can easily get in the way of a mission's success.'

Jack said nothing more. The young hero nodded his head and closed his eyes while leaning his head back against the wall behind him, giving himself up to exhaustion.

Maynard and Rydel stepped away from the slumbering adventurers. This gave them enough distance to chat quietly without disturbing the sleepers.

"Things just got a lot harder, didn't they?" asked Maynard.

"You could say that again," confirmed Rydel. "I wonder if there are trolls that come in and out of the goblin palace, and if so, are they currently in or out?"

"Let's hope the latter. If not, I have no clue what will happen."

"I worry for that kid the most," said Rydel.

"Really? Why's that?" asked Maynard.

"If the trolls are in the goblin palace, where do you think they would be?"

Maynard went wide-eyed. "I didn't think about that."

"Yeah, hopefully, the kid will be fine. If he encounters those things, I'm not sure any of us could save him in time."

"Ya got any ideas on how to face those things?"

"Not exactly. I wish you were right about the ogres, that wouldn't change too much. Then we wouldn't have to deal with a trolls extremely thick skin or their minor affinity with magic," mentioned Rydel.

"No kidding," sighed Maynard. "Ya think we bit off more than we can chew?"

A soft chuckle reverberated in the narrow passageway. "Of course, that's what we do best. If we don't take on these kinds of missions, then who else would be unlucky enough to get them?"

As three adventurers slept, Maynard and Rydel continued chatting, eventually discussing and sharing opinions or strategies for each other's phases of the plan.

Of the sleepers, Brunar was the first to wake. The moment he opened his eyes, Brunar was back on his feet and chomping down on some dry meat rations for breakfast. Next came Jack, who awoke minutes after Brunar and had a similar morning routine.

Troni was fast asleep and showed no signs of waking, so Brunar took matters into his own hands. Shaking his fellow disciple awake Brunar mumbled, "Hey, get up before Master finds out. You know what he'll do."

With more enthusiasm than expected, Troni rubbed the tiredness from his eyes as he yawned. In a couple of minutes, Troni was up and looking around the unchanged scenery of the cave.

"We've got ourselves a big day ahead of us today, so don't hold back and stick to the plan." The party heard their captain's announcement and turned to face him. Rydel continued, "You two will do exactly as your master says, no matter what it is. Do you understand?"

"Yessir," both young samurai nodded and bowed to Rydel in unison.

"Very good. I'll be taking a head start since I'm needed at the palace. Maynard and I have already discussed the exact details while you were asleep so don't worry yourself too much. If you stick to the plan, then you'll make it out alive," said Rydel.

"Yessir."

Jack was glad that Rydel hadn't mentioned the possible troll threat. It wasn't something he wanted them to worry about or distract them. Thinking about it himself, Jack steadied his breathing and forced himself to remain calm.

Seeing Jack taking things seriously, Rydel smiled and said, "I imagine you need to leave too, right? You'll need to infiltrate beforehand and get ready so you can enter the palace at a moment's notice when the perfect opportunity presents itself."

"Will do captain," saluted Jack.

"How interesting, the last to leave camp are those in charge of the first phase," laughed Maynard.

"Also, keep in mind that the neurotoxins we were able to distribute among the guards should be well in effect right now. Typically, the neurotoxin's effects of total paralysis last for more than a day, so this diluted dosage should have them slowed and twitching for the next few hours. Take advantage of this opportunity," emphasized Rydel.

"Always," answered Maynard with a nod. "Then we'll see each other on the other side of those walls after we slaughter our way through the guards. And don't worry, I've got plenty of potions and elixirs for us three thanks to ya sharing with us."

"Anything to accomplish the mission," replied Rydel with a smirk.

"And to ya Jack…" Maynard turned to say one last thing to Jack, but he was unable to find Jack anywhere. "He's more anxious than I thought."

"Can you blame the kid?" mentioned Rydel. "Anyways, I'm off. Keep me in touch if you know what shows up."

Brunar and Troni were confused by Rydel's not so subtle secrecy. However, when they asked their master about it, Maynard only faced Rydel and replied, "Same goes for ya, and happy hunting."

"Happy hunting," Rydel returned Maynard's expression, which was a common phrase among association members as if saying, "good luck."