Chapter 174 Return to Reinol
Downtrodden, Jack frowned and left the room. Wanting to drown his new woes in brundy, Jack joined Rydel at the bar.
"Hey, so, what was so important that you couldn't come down sooner?" asked Rydel.
Jack sighed, "It seems I got too excited for nothing…"
"Whatever it was, it seems like it can wait if you're not wanting to talk about it. Anyway, want to fill me in on the plan?"
"I'll give you the gist," answered Jack. "First, we head back to Reinolt and gather up the party. Second, I need to alter my Inheritor's Pact. It should only take me a few days of study and practice, but it has to be done."
Rydel laughed, "Why, so you can take all our EXP instead?"
"The opposite, I don't want to take any of your EXP. We'll be too close for it to matter, and it would be bad if I was the only one leveling up. I need to find a way to balance it while keeping our benefits. Thanks to some new supplies I bought, it should only be a matter of time until I have it ready."
"I'll drink to that!" Rydel cheered, downing the last of his brundy. "Kid, I hope you keep your promise. You didn't forget that you'll be helping me get blessed by that god, right?"
"Of course not! That's the next part of the plan," replied Jack. "We'll be heading for the Aazoon Kingdom once the pact is ready. But we're not taking any roads unless it's absolutely necessary."
"Really?"
"Really, otherwise we won't be able to get so many people to level up. However, with so many people, we should be able to face some pretty powerful beasts with tons of EXP!"
"Calm down, Jack, you're getting ahead of yourself." Rydel slapped Jack's back with his empty mug. "By the way, weren't we supposed to search for that sword god in Zuran for that old samurai?"
"Well… Actually, I don't plan to go there at all…"
Giving Jack a strange look, Rydel asked, "And why's that?"
"Because the sword god isn't a neutral god," answered Jack. "Only the neutral god are trustworthy."
"Seriously? I thought Halmut, the god of the heavens, was the one who defeated Skaryn and saved the world?"
"It's true that they fought and that Halmut won, but do you think Skaryn was the only side that instigated the war?" snickered Jack.
Baffled, Rydel tried to figure out what Jack meant. "You mean… that both Skaryn and Halmut were the cause of the Holy War?"
"Precisely. When both of them were just as influential as the other, eventually, they decided to try and overtake the other's influence. With more influence, wouldn't the gods become more powerful? Powerful enough to have no rival?" reasoned Jack. "Does that not make sense?"
"No, that makes perfect sense," agreed Rydel. "Is that why Trodar was hit harder than everyone else because it was always a neutral state and never holy nor chaotic?"
"Yup, like always, you figure everything out so quickly."
With a loud sigh, Rydel left a couple of gold coins on the bar counter and stood up. "Don't stay up too late, kid. We've got a long day of riding tomorrow."
"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Jack retrieved a gold ring from his storage. It's dark green gem was hazy in the light of the inn's candles. "Here, this is for Ayden."
"Huh?"
Rydel took it and inspected it. Without a second thought, Rydel smiled and dashed out of the inn. A couple of minutes passed and then he returned inside.
"Thanks, Jack. I'll make sure to treasure it." Having thanked Jack for his new bestial storage ring, Rydel went upstairs with a beaming smile on his face.
Left alone at the bar, Jack sat there for a long time, thinking and pondering about what he should do next. The biggest thing on his mind was what he should try and buy from his new spell list.
After the wedding, Jack gained fifteen skill points for getting Eliza to admit that she liked him. Though they had gotten married, Jack still received fewer points than either Maura's and Slivia's achievements. It was proof that they just didn't know enough about each other to get so serious so quickly.
Lucky for him, all low-tier spells that Tralon knew were given to Jack for free. Unlucky for him, they were mainly practical spells like Light, which only created a small ball of light.
Spending twenty of his thirty skill points, Jack upgraded his mana regeneration to lv. 3. Jack figured that since he couldn't get any high-tier spells, then he should at least do something that would aid his spell casting and skill using.
There was one major flaw to having so many skills and spells; both spells and skills use mana. Without an absurd amount of mana, Jack's huge arsenal of abilities wouldn't be too difficult to face. For that reason, Jack was determined to level up his mana abilities to the max if given the opportunity.
As the night dragged on, eventually Jack took himself upstairs and slept next to Bowzer. Not once did Jack go and see his wives.
When the morning sun woke the party up, they all hurried to the bar for a quick breakfast. Once that was over, they all mounted their horses and dashed down the road toward Reinolt.
*****
Just outside Reinolt City's south gate, two adventurers were farming EXP from anything they could find. By looking at their levels, it was clear that both of them were too strong to gain much benefit from killing such low-leveled creatures, but they did it anyway.
"Keela, don't go off too far! Ya know we need to stay near the city. Jack and the others should be arriving soon."
"Okay, Maynard. Let's just head back then," Keela pouted, unhappy with the results of all their farming. She had managed to level up, but that was only because she was already at the very top of lv. 27.
Even after spending a month grinding through the forests outside of Reinolt City, nothing special had happened to her.
'Hey, where are you two? We should be approaching the south gate in a few minutes.'
A mental message rang out loud and clear in Maynard's mind. He smiled and replied to Rydel, 'We're at the edge of the south forest, so we should be able to meet ya outside the gate.'
Looking back to Keela, Maynard smiled. "It seems they'll be here soon then we thought. Let's hurry back, or ya will miss them."
"Really?!" yelled Keela.
Since the others were back, it meant that she wouldn't have to stay near the city anymore. Plus, she had heard from Maynard that they'll be going to other countries soon. Their journey would finally be starting and she'd be able to level up together with Jack and them.
"Try not to act too surprised when ya see Jack. A few unexpected circumstances happened in Federal City."
"What do you mean? Is Jack okay?"
"Oh, I'm sure he's fine. If anything, he might be better than fine," laughed Maynard. "Either way, I just hope ya don't act too surprised and die of shock."
"What happened in Federal City? If it wasn't anything big, then you wouldn't be making such a big deal out of all this!" Keela shouted at Maynard, hoping that he'd just admit the truth.
"Ya will see. Anyway, let's get going."
The two-person party quickly made it back to the south gate and stood off to the side of the road. As carts and travelers passed, Keela scanned them all in search of Jack while Maynard was calmly passing the time with meditation.
"Didn't you say that they were supposed to be here by now?" asked Keela.
Keeping quiet, Maynard kept his mouth and his eyes shut.
"What, did you miss us that much?"
A familiar voice came from behind Keela and the moment she heard it she turned around with a smile. "Jack!"
Diving at him with her arms wide, Keela laughed and tried to embrace him.
Suddenly, two people appeared in front of Jack, blocking her way. One of them was easy for Keela to recognize, but the other wasn't. "Who's this?"
"This is Eliza. She'll be traveling with us from now on," stated Jack. "And I'm sure you already recognized Maura, despite her new clothes."
"Dear, who is this, and why is she trying to lay her hands on you, my husband?"
Eliza's sudden statement rocked Keela's brain heavily. "H-husband?! What is she talking about, Jack!"
"Calm down, both of you!" yelled Jack. "We've finally arrived and you're not letting us relax after our long journey."
Keela quickly looked at both Eliza's and Jack's hands, finding both of them to be wearing wedding bands. "WHAT?! What happened in Federal City?!"
"Only our wedding," Eliza joked around with Keela.
It was easy for her to see that Keela was also trying to get after Jack. Sadly for both her and Maura, Jack had only agreed to marry them in name and not in act. Other than the moments where he would put on a show as their husbands, Jack would treat them like he had before. Even when Eliza tried to sneak into his tent at night, she was quickly rejected.
Since she hadn't been able to make much progress with Jack their entire trip, she at least wanted to let off some steam. And since Keela was practically begging for it, Eliza played along.
"What, were you rejected and failed to get Jack's heart? Unfortunately, you can't even be his second wife, even if he agreed."
"What do you mean?!"
With a subtle laugh, Eliza looked Keela in the eye and pointed at Maura. "Just see for yourself."
Keela blinked a few times but quickly focused on the ring Maura was wearing. When she saw it, she felt like a freight train had hit her head-on. It was too much to take in or understand, so she was getting angrier by the second.