The Achievement Junkie

Near the entrance of the Balt Guildhall, a door swung open as Rydel entered the room. Inside were multiple beds, with adorning chairs and tables for visitors.

Rydel looked around and found Jack in the back corner, accompanied by a doctor. "How is he doc? Anything you could do?"

The doctor sighed heavily, "Nothing… I couldn't do anything."

"Don't worry yourself. This kid is very different from anyone else, so much so that the reason he's like this is confidential," explained Rydel, trying to alleviate the doctor's concerns from his inability to treat a patient. "You're not the first person who couldn't help the situation. But, do you have any idea on what's going on with him?"

"I've never seen anything quite like this," admitted the doctor. "Anything magical is unable to help him, and traditional medical supplies are only slightly better. Honestly, I'm amazed he's still alive."

"Really? It's that bad?"

"From my analysis, I've found multiple internal injuries on his lungs, ribcage, and more. He's somehow healing himself slowly, but that will take maybe a week or more for him to wake up," explained the doctor.

"A week or more, huh?" repeated Rydel, focusing on the recovery time. "Thanks, Doc, I'm glad we could at least learn that much."

"Just doing my job," replied the doctor, who shook his head and left the room.

Being left alone in the room beside the unconscious Jack, Rydel whipped out his contact crystal. "Hey Chief, you there?"

"Yeah, any good news?" asked Zariff.

"His body is slowly healing himself and he might wake up after a week or so."

"That's good. At least HQ will be happy to know he'll pull through soon," stated Zariff. "What about the mission? You gave me a brief explanation, but what else you got? There's got to be more to this."

"As for the trolls situation, they most likely won't return the cave. With their leader not answering his contact crystal, they'll probably avoid coming back," explained Rydel. "The goblins and the Balt Guild agreed to work together and are currently discussing the finer details of their alliance."

"Good, they'll be a great support if we need it. Now, I need you and the others back here ASAP. The royal court has been hounding me about finally having you and him in court to determine everything."

"How's that coming along?"

"Good, it's just too much paperwork for my liking," groaned Zariff. "Hurry up and get back here. You know I hate legalities and public speaking."

Rydel laughed, "Yeah, I'm surprised you've lasted this long without me. If the guild can reimburse me, I'll purchase some horses and a cart to carry Jack. With Jack taken care of, we should be able to reach the capital by tomorrow night if we push ourselves."

"Fine, I'll make an exception," replied Zariff. "Just hurry up and get here. HQ will be trying to contact Jack soon; the least we can do is have him here before then."

"Okay Chief, I'll buy the horses first thing in the morning."

"You also mentioned a club, is that right?" added Zariff.

"Yeah, but technically it's the kids, so you'll have to convince him about—"

"Perfect, I can't wait to try it out!" Zariff's booming laughter echoed in Rydel's head. "With that, I may be able to hold my own against Arnole."

"Don't get your hopes up just yet captain. What about your condition?"

Silence hung in the air until Zarif sighed, "It's okay, not much worse than before."

"Do you think Jack can find an antidote?"

"No clue, but who can offer anything better? If they could, I would've found them by now," answered Zariff.

"Just one more thing for Jack to do I guess," said Rydel. "Oh, I almost forgot to mention, you need to talk to Jack about pacts."

"Pacts? What about them?"

"Both me and that old devil have already formed a pact with the kid. It gives him a lot of our EXP but it's worth it, trust me."

"What!?" yelled Zariff. "You're gone for a week and you two have already done something so crazy? And without me?"

"Calm down Chief, you'll get in on it too. The kid's pact is different from the one you know," explained Rydel. "There's no limit to the number of pacts he can make?"

"No limit?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure there are some drawbacks for having too many. If not, why wouldn't the kid make a pact with everyone?" stated Rydel.

"I guess that's true," agreed Zariff. "I'll chat with the brat after he wakes up. For now, just hurry over."

"And make sure you prepare another room," added Rydel.

"Oh yeah, for that cleric girl you mentioned, right? That's easy, she'll bunk with Maura. They should be around the same age."

Rydel chuckled at how cheap Zariff acted, pairing his daughter with a roommate despite the abundance of empty rooms within the association building. "Sure, that'll work. For now, I'm off to eat. It's been too long since I had a good meal."

Not wanting to hear Zariff's complaints about not getting to join the feast, Rydel cut the call and took one last look at the sleeping Jack. "Hurry and wake up kid. You're too important to lay around doing nothing."

The hunter got up and left without a second glance at Jack's hospital bed. He quickly left and went back down the hall.

After asking a passing servant in the hallway for directions, he finally arrived at the dining hall. The door was massive, giving a sense of grandeur and great importance. As Rydel pushed the doors open, he noticed a lot of familiar faces stuffing their mouths.

"No fair, you couldn't wait for me?" Rydel complained in a joking tone.

"Grab a seat already," answered Maynard. "If ya don't hurry, there won't be anything left for ya."

"Don't mind if I do." Rydel rushed to the table and quickly filled a plate with many of the local delicacies presented on the table.

The main attractions were huge smoked boars. Their internal organs were removed before they were cooked from the inside out, using the ribcages as a stand to hold the meat completely around the flame. It's aroma filled the room, activating any nearby saliva glands with a single whiff.

There were also many sides of different fruits, vegetables, or soups. Some different poultries of the region also laid on the table, either grilled whole or with sweet and sour sauce slathered all over them.

"Slow down, or there won't be any boar for the rest of us," shouted Rydel as Brunar tore away another boar's leg.

"Hmm?" Brunar did his best to reply, but his overstuffed mouth wouldn't permit anything audible to escape his mouth.

"That's just how he always eats, especially if it's a feast," Troni mentioned as he sat comfortably and enjoyed his food. He looked to Slivia beside him and held out a large chunk of the pungent boar's meat. "Here, you can have this."

Slivia glanced at Troni and smiled politely with a raised hand. "I'm okay. I've never had a large appetite, so don't worry about me."

"Come on, enjoy yourself a little," replied Troni as he set the meat on her plate. "At least share a drink with me. You can do that much, right?"

"I'm not much of a drinker, sorry."

"Nonsense," answered Troni. He had already passed her a full glass by the time she reached out to stop him. "Here, just one glass. I'm sure that's fine with you, right?"

"Really, I'm okay—"

"I insist," said Troni with a genuine smile and a raised glass.

Slivia sighed and lifted the glass. "Fine, but just one."

They both held out their glasses, saluting them to each other. Troni exclaimed, "To your future in the association!"

Other's around the table hadn't heard much of their conversation, but they all joined in the salute and yelled, "To your future in the association!"

With that, everyone hurried to chug their wine. Slivia did so sluggishly, not wanting to finish the cup and be forced to refill it.

Across the table, Maynard and Byron were chatting away about their different insights on the sword. They were much less focused on the feast than the others, distracted by each other's findings and understandings. It wasn't every day where two sword maniacs found each other by circumstance, so they made the most of it.

The late hour soon took its toll on the party, bringing tiredness upon them. Brunar struggled to leave the table willingly, but he soon passed out in a food coma atop his bed. Maynard, Byron, and Rydel didn't bother sleeping, not needing it due to their high levels.

Slivia was pestered by Troni all night, and it only got worse as he got more drunk. When she was about to leave, Troni asked her to help him to his room.

At first, she wanted to reject him, but his drunkenness showed when he toppled over himself the moment he left the table.

With a sigh, she agreed to help him back to his room. She let him put one arm over her shoulder and supported his every step. They quickly reached his room and she pushed the door open.

When she tried to set him down, he was already sleeping and tried to pull her into his embrace. Seeing this from a mile away, thanks to his drunken behavior, Slivia ducked the arm reaching for her and pushed him off her and onto the bed.

She was long gone by the time Troni opened his eyes shook his head.