The Achievement Junkie

In the middle of the city, Bowser had already destroyed many homes and decimated dozens of goblins. He had relocated twice already to prolong the confrontment of any who dared try to stop him.

At first, Bowser understood that he might struggle to face any captains if they banded together against him. After his onslaught and Maynard's killing, however, Jack and Bowser had reached lv. 17 and were nearing lv. 18. With Bowser's level doubled in his flame form, he was confident in a fight with any guards.

Bowser continued his destruction of the city undisturbed until he felt a dagger pierce his flame body from behind. Looking back, he found a goblin captain dashing towards him and a troll with rippling muscles charging at full speed.

Thanks to his level boost Bowser could recognize these two as a lv. 32 captain and a lv. 33 troll warrior.

Immediately Bowser sent a message to Jack, 'Me… attacked… What… now?'

The message wasn't the clearest, but it was still understandable thanks to Bowser's simple words. A reply that was equally unclear returned, 'Fight… if… confident…'

Thinking to himself Bowser felt that the fight would be possible. The only thing making Bowser question his ability to fight would be his endurance; how much longer he could maintain his flame body transformation.

Self-righteous shouts in goblin sounded out as the goblin captain was the first to arrive Bowser to attack.

Bowser easily dodged the first swings of the small goblin, but he wasn't able to avoid the full speed tackle of the troll only slightly smaller than himself.

The fox was pushed harshly into the surrounding buildings, showing that the troll didn't care for the lives of the goblin citizens. Only victory was on the troll's mind; the pride of defeating a legendary existence like a Hell-flame Fox. Grunting war cries, the troll lifted its club over its head to deliver a heavy blow to the fox underneath him.

Not giving the troll a chance to act so freely, Bowser's tail reached around whipped the troll across the face, forcing it to tumble off the top of Bowser. Quickly returning to his feet, the fox dashed toward the goblin captain at full speed.

Feeling the troll's strength, Bowser knew that he had underestimated it. He had no clue that trolls, in general, were strong for their level. Then again, a Hell-flame Fox was naturally near the top of the list when it came to comparing strength to those of the same level.

Bowser was swiftly at the side of the goblin captain and slashing toward it with his claws.

The captain acted unexpectedly and swung its shortsword to meet Bowser's attack head-on.

Claw met blade as the two pushed each other back. Bowser proved stronger, being pushed back only one step compared to five steps back from the captain.

The troll lunged forward, using the goblin captain's actions as a distraction. Forcing Bowser back four steps and bruising his paw, the troll continued its charge with its club swinging. Suddenly, the thick club was thrown directly at the startled Bowser, as if it were a follow-up attack in a combo for an arcade fighting game.

Stunned by the flying tree trunk threatening Bowser while he tried to regain his footing, another slash was felt across Bowser's legs. Bowser realized that the goblin captain and troll had a shocking level of teamwork for a makeshift party.

Bowser didn't want to run because transforming back to normal and then back into a firefox might waste too much energy now that he was in combat.

The eyes of the firefox, which appeared to be made from black flames, began to show streaks of bright red flame. Bowser opened his mouth towards the charging duo as he jumped back.

The two enemies launched attacks, throwing their club and another dagger, but Bowser's attack swallowed them up. With a dark red flash, a heatwave passed over the town with Bowser as the source. From Bowser's open mouth, a monstrous wave of hungry red flames erupted forth. Easily swallowing and destroying the weapons, the red flames quickly reached the goblin-troll duo.

Encompassed by unbearable heat, both the troll and the goblin felt their skin immediately evaporate. Muscles and connective tissue were the next things to disappear as their bodies were burnt away layer by layer in a single moment. All that remained were charred skeletons that collapsed to the ground.

Every living thing within twenty meters of Bowser disappeared, leaving behind only bones to prove their past existence. The blast of red flames continued for about fifty meters, leaving nothing behind of the buildings or goblins, aside from the skeletons of the high leveled goblin captain and the troll.

As the flame subsided, Bowser had already shrunken back to his normal self. He had used up all the energy he had within that attack, still not being strong enough to fully make use of his bloodline's strength. The fox hobbled forward and hid within the large skeleton of the former troll, closing his eyes to rest and recover.

*****

In the depths of the palace dungeon, Jack was feeling relieved to find Slivia alive and well.

"Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?" asked Jack through the thick wooden slats that made up the cell's bars.

Slivia was up against the wood, anxiously grabbing one of Jack's hands. "It's you… You're really here."

"Of course it's me, silly." Jack chuckled lightly when he saw the genuine surprise in Slivia's eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" she said weakly, revealing her mental exhaustion.

"Here, you can have this back." Jack took off his cloak and pushed it through the bars.

Slivia took it eagerly and was about to thank Jack when she remembered that she was standing completely naked in front of him. She quickly pulled back and turned to the side as she swung the cloak over her. Feeling better but still embarrassed, Slivia neared Jack again with a bright red face. "Thanks, Jack."

The lighting wasn't the best, but Jack could still see the blush on Slivia's face. Though he hadn't focused on her nudity or commented on it, like any man he naturally noticed his full self before focusing on the surprise and joy in her face.

"How long have you been in here?" asked Jack, hoping to brush past the awkwardness.

"Only a half a day; I'm lucky you showed up while you did. If you showed up tomorrow…" her voice cut off, not saying another word. Slivia's eyes paused on a cell across from her.

Jack noticed her lingering eyes and asked, "Who's in there?"

"She…" Slivia stammered, "She was in my last party, but now… she's not the same."

Thinking back to the first girl he found in a cell, Jack imagined what Slivia was thinking. Putting his hand over hers between the bars, Jack said, "I'm just glad you're okay."

Hesitant respond, Slivia felt his warm touch soften her worries. "Thanks, Jack."

"Now we've got to get you out of here. The jailer's a troll, right? He probably left to go help handle everything else, so don't worry."

Just then Jack heard Maynard's call for help. Unable to do anything or offer any aid himself, Jack let Rydel reply instead. But soon after that, he received a message from Bowser. It was choppy like they were almost out of range, but Jack quickly let Bowser do as he feels based on his confidence in a fight.

"What's wrong, Jack?" asked Slivia, curious about Jack's weird silence and his serious facial expression.

"Nothing's wrong; the plan's going as we expected. There are some bumps thanks to the trolls, but we'll take care of it," said Jack. He wanted to encourage her and not let her worry about anything.

All of a sudden, heavy footsteps could be heard from a distance. Jack looked towards the stairs he just came from and Slivia's face shrunk as she said, "Jack, get out of here. That's him—"

"Shhh," Jack reached through the bars and placed a finger to her lips. "Don't say anything."

Before she could respond, Jack had vanished from her sight, startling her greatly.

Jack repositioned himself against the cell across from Slivia, slowly walking towards the stairs to get a good view of the giant entering the dungeon.

Like Jack expected, a purple-blue skinned troll dressed like a troll captain from "A Hero's Tale" descended the stairs. The troll wore a smug face, looking at the various cells in front of him. With a perverse smile, the troll stomped across the dungeon towards Slivia's cell.

Jack was glad he was invisible because he wouldn't want Slivia to see him so worried. Jack was already at lv. 17 but he knew that a common troll captain in-game ranged from lv. 30 to lv. 40. He had zero confidence in facing that perverted giant head-on. Yet Jack had a feeling that, based on how everyone else was doing, he wasn't going to get much help.