The Achievement Junkie

"Umm…" Jack hesitated to say anything as the goblin queen stepped closer. "But I-I don't even know your name. We can't just—"

"Daliea."

The queen's interjection caught him off guard. "What?"

"My name is Daliea Shrintal, former heir of the last tribe of shadow goblins. It is my sworn duty to carry on and recreate my tribe. In order to accomplish this, who better than a hero to help my offspring grow strong." She gingerly reached out and ran her fingers down the side of his arm.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on! Who said I was okay with this!?" yelled Jack. "There will be no such thing happening between us."

"And why not? Do you not find me attractive?" asked Daliea.

"You're…" Jack couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence, as he felt her soft touch and noticed the caring look in her eyes.

"You will be treated as my king, whether you stay with me or not. What matters is that I can do my duty to my fallen people. Surely, you don't want my race to die off, do you?"

"I never said that. Of course, I don't want it to die off, especially if you're a shadow goblin. Your race is one of the most mysterious of them all," replied Jack. "It was the most secretive and is one of the few races with life spans that last for centuries."

"Then help me, and I'll offer you everything I have," pled the queen, blinking and tilting her head seductively.

"Sorry, but I don't think you have anything that I would willingly trade for my virginity," stated Jack.

"You're still a virgin?" asked the queen, with amazement in her eyes.

"N-no… I just…" Jack tried to take back his words but failed miserably.

"In that case, I'll trade my virginity for yours. That is a fair trade, yes?" offered the queen.

"Nope! I wouldn't try that on the first date, let alone before it! You don't have my consent," said Jack. "As I said, there's nothing you have that I think is worth my participation in such acts."

"What about this?"

"Nope, I said nothing—" Jack paused when he noticed the small stack of scrolls that were placed on his bedside table. "What are those?"

"Maps, spell scrolls, valuable information, etc. You're a smart man, so I must offer something smart men find most important, information." Daliea picked a scroll off the top and unraveled it in front of Jack. "This is a map containing the general geography of the entire continent and it contains the locations of each major city and each major trade route. Is this not worth me pleasing you?"

Choked up by his hunger for knowledge on the current world, Jack struggled to form his reply, "Nnnnnoooo… I still can't agree to this."

A brief flash of anger passed through the queen's eyes as she returned the map to the table as she retrieved an item from her storage necklace and placed it with the scrolls. "How about now?"

Jack's breathing grew heavy the moment he recognized the item. "Where did you get that?"

"Near my tribe, we always found these foul beasts. During the long summers, there were so many of them that we held hunting contests and festivals to see who could capture the largest one. Why? You seem very interested in this." Daliea raised an eyebrow as if she knew exactly what she was doing.

When Jack saw the look in Daliea's eye, he knew that he had bitten her bait. He wasn't sure how the goblin queen knew he was looking for information about Death Rattlers, but her productions of a Death Rattler stinger was too much of a coincidence.

"You wouldn't happen to have a sample of Death Rattler poison and blood, do you?" Before he could even finish his sentence, two vials filled with differing liquids appeared on the table.

"Done. Now, I think I've offered more than enough considering I'll be the one pleasing you, don't you think?"

Jack groaned, "You're not wrong… but I still can't go through with something like that with you."

"Why not? It's because I'm a goblin, isn't it? Go ahead and say it. I know most humans are repulsed by those of other races." The queen stared at him, expecting his answer.

"That's not it," stated Jack, shaking his head. "As I said, I wouldn't even go that far with anyone after the first date."

"First… date? What's a date?" asked the queen, struggling to figure out Jack's strange sense of priority.

With a chuckle, Jack answered, "A date is when two people spend time together and try to get to know each other better. Sometimes it's simply going for a walk, other times it's some kind of activity."

"Do all humans go on these 'dates?'"

"Usually," persuaded Jack. "Most of the time there are multiple dates before people go that far with each other."

"How many dates does it take?" asked Daliea with a serious determination written all over her face. "Tell me Jack, how many dates must we have before you can give me your seed?"

Not wanting to answer, Jack tried to stall. "I'm not sure, it's different with every relationship."

"Then how many dates must you have before you're willing? I must know!" yelled Daliea. "If you don't answer me, then I might as well take you here and now while you're unable to fight back."

"I could still activate my bloodline skill and—"

"That would be useless against a lv. 34 shadow goblin sorcerer at your low level, wouldn't it?" interjected Daliea.

Sinking in defeat, Jack had no choice but to answer. "Three… I would need at least three dates before I could give myself to someone."

"Easy enough," said Daliea. She turned and began to step towards the door.

"What's the matter with you? Where are you going now?" asked Jack.

"I'll be extending my stay in the capital. That way, we can go on our three dates before I return to my city," answered Daliea.

Jack opened his mouth to respond but his tongue instead, not daring to deny it out of fear that she might steal his virginity on the spot. He then remembered the stack of items and scrolls on the table and shouted, "What about all this? Are you forgetting something?"

"Consider that a reminder of our first date," replied Daliea. She didn't give Jack a chance to refute her statement and closed the door behind her as she promptly exited.

Jack sighed and wept with dry eyes. "First… date?" The queen's last words hit him like the rush of a cold waterfall, shocking him to his senses and leaving him with a sense of exhaustion.

The only thing Jack wanted at that moment was some shuteye. He closed his eyes and tried his best to calm his pounding heart. After a few minutes passed, Jack was still and ready to sink into a deep sleep.

"Hey, brat!"

A sudden shout erupted as the door swung wide open. "The queen said something about you and her dating?"

"No, it's not what you think you old—"

"Didn't think you had it in you, kiddo. Not many can swing that way, but I don't blame yeah considering she's a rare beauty," laughed Zariff, who was buzzed and looking for some entertainment. He then noticed the pile of good on Jack's nightstand, almost spitting out the brundy remaining in his mouth. "What did you do? How did you convince her to give you all this?"

"I guess… we had our first date?" Jack didn't want to reason with a drunk, especially if that drunk was Zariff, who was known for his drunken mood swings.

"For everything she left you, I think the least you could do is help her out. Besides, you're the only one who can," stated Zariff while he pocketed the vials of blood and poison, as well as the stinger.

"Wait, you knew about that? And you let her!?" yelled Jack.

"Of course I knew. Who else was going to help a virgin brat like you get some action? I'm just trying to help," chuckled Zariff before he chugged his bottle empty. "If anything, you should be thanking me."

"Nothing happened! Nothing!" exclaimed Jack. "Apparently she'll be staying longer so we can go some dates. It was the only thing I could think of to keep her from forcing the situation."

"Why not just man up and do as she says? What, do you not find her attractive at all?"

"That's not the point! I would never try something like that on the first date," reasoned Jack, trying his best to sound gentlemanly.

"Wow… you really are a virgin," laughed Zariff. "Almost any other man here would've done anything to be in your shoes, and you gave her a lame excuse like that?"

"What's wrong with that? You wouldn't want Maura going around and doing the that with—"

"What about Maura!?" yelled Zariff, nearly causing Jack to soil his sheets. "You trying to get my daughter too? And Sliv, what about her? You're just trying to get it on with anyone, aren't you?"

"No! Of course not! I would never try to—"

"Just shut up! And not a word about my sweet daughter got it!" Zariff looked at Jack like a dead man as he spun around and waddled out of the room, leaving Jack trying to catch his breath.