"How about we get out of here and set up camp elsewhere?" said Jack as he stomped out the small fire.
"Sure, I'll follow you." Slivia nodded frantically, still feeling a little awkward from before.
Rydel laughed as he exited the cave and let the other two follow behind. They reached the horses as the sun set and quickly removed their tracks while preparing to leave.
Slivia hesitated to climb on but Jack helped her mount his horse before he jumped on behind her. Her cheeks glowed bright red, but she said nothing, accepting his help to steer the horse as they made their way down the mountain.
Once the sky became black, they were already halfway to the azure mine.
Rydel had brought out his tent yet again and was setting it up as Jack made the fire pit. Slivia was distracted with Bowser as she petted him and played with his tail.
It wasn't long before Rydel called out, "Kid, go get us some food. The lady deserves something nice to eat after all this."
"Fine, I'll go find us something," said Jack. He finished the rock ring around the fire pit and said, "Yo Bowser, it's your turn."
Like clockwork, Bowser's ears pricked up and Bowser dashed into the firepit, amazing Slivia as Bowser lit the logs by gnawing on them. He was done in a few seconds and hopped out of the fire and onto Jack's shoulder.
"What kind of fox is he?" Slivia had never seen such a rare breed before. She had only seen tier three or tier four breeds and the occasional tier five breeds during royal celebrations. A beast like Bowser with incredibly soft fur and extreme fire affinity was beyond her comprehension.
"He has a descendant bloodline from the Inferno Fox. I was lucky enough to save this guy from a huge forest python and we've been together since." Jack spoke as Bowser licked the side of his face playfully.
"Seriously? A tier six breed?" Slivia was blown away, now even more certain that Jack was different.
"That's enough, for now, you love birds. Hurry and go get some food kid. As for you miss, I'll help you set up your tent," said Rydel, making sure that things got done.
She nodded and retrieved her tent.
It was small and tattered; she obviously bought it used due to the high price of tents.
Rydel only glanced at it before waving his hand and saying, "Not that old thing, this one." Another tent identical to his appeared, just waiting to be assembled.
"Wait, you mean you've had two this whole time?" asked Jack.
"Yeah, so what? You're plenty warm at night thanks to that fox, right?" said Rydel. "Now hurry up, I'm sure the lady's hungry."
Jack groaned and walked out into the nearby woods with Bowser on his shoulder.
Slivia giggled and started to piece together the tent with Rydel's help. After about thirty minutes passed, Jack returned with what looked like a deer but with only one antler coming from the center of its forehead, like a breed-confused deer that thought it was a unicorn.
They all helped prepare it and roast it over the fire, while half the deer was set aside for Bowser and his unbelievable appetite.
"Not bad kid; did your level go up again?" commented Rydel.
"Yeah, I'm lv. 4 now." While out hunting Jack claimed the benefactor achievement to instantly reach lv. 4 and advance his perception to lv. 2 with the reward.
"Really? I couldn't tell. How'd you do that?" asked Slivia. She was a lv. 12 cleric and was curious how all of these strange things seem to happen around Jack.
"Umm… Let's just say I'm a little different," answered Jack sheepishly.
"But how did you even get accepted into the association? I thought you had to at least be lv. 15 to be considered or lv. 10 with connections," she continued to question.
"Well…"
"The kid's a summoned hero, so the chief made an exception," Rydel explained before he chomped down on his dinner.
"What!?" Slivia was baffled; she expected Jack to have a powerful background but being a summoned hero was completely different. "I thought all summoned heroes worked alongside the king, like in the legends?"
"Not this one. That idiot king got on my nerves, so I turned him down and joined the association instead," said Jack, speaking openly now that the cat was out of the bag.
Slivia's eyes widened as her mind was struggling to believe all this. Seeing her struggle, Jack continued, "I'm different than other heroes, I have a special class and subclass even. So that's why I can level up a little differently."
"So, you're like a special hero among summoned heroes?"
"Yup, you guessed it." Rydel blurted it out before Jack had a chance to respond. "That kid's something else, maybe if you get close enough to him, he'll share some of his secrets or show you some of his cool stuff."
"Captain, what's up with you?" shouted Jack.
"What? The nice lady wants the truth and you're not giving it to her. She told us the whole truth, so why not tell her yours?" persuaded Rydel.
Jack's eyebrows smushed together as Jack tried his best to stay calm. Finally, he said, "Consider yourself lucky to learn all this but don't go blabbing about it. This was all supposed to be a secret."
"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Slivia was grateful for Rydel's interference, it let her share Jack's biggest secret. Now, she had a way to stay close to him and maybe travel with him.
Rydel chuckled as he retrieved some wine and a crudely made mug to pour himself a drink.
He understood exactly what Slivia was thinking and thought he might give her a little push. He thought that the two would work well together and it was better than having Jack chase Maura.
If Jack pursued Maura, the problem wouldn't be Zariff but her mom. And her mom was one of the few people Rydel genuinely feared when angered.
Tossing that worry to the back of his head, he entered his tent and let the two youths keep talking peacefully.
"What level are you Slivia?" asked Jack.
"I'm lv. 12, but as soon as I'm lv. 15 I plan to join the association," said Slivia.
"Why would you want to join the association? It's not because of me, right? You don't have to do something like that to thank me." Jack returned to his shameless self in no time, giving Slivia a good taste of his true self.
"No, no. I've always wanted to join since I was little," explained Slivia as she lifted her hands awkwardly after Jack's comment. "There was an association member who used to always help my family whenever we needed. My parents are farmers, so they never had enough money to pay him what he deserved, but he always took the job as long as there were free food and board. One day, when he was out handling business, the farm was raided by bandits…"
She paused and tried her best to keep water from spilling over her eyelids.
As she struggled to contain the waterworks, Jack passed her a handkerchief and let her relax.
Happy to receive it, Slivia took the handkerchief and wiped the water from her cheeks before she continued, "My parents and older brother were killed as they protected me from the bandits. I ran away as fast as I could but they caught up easily. They captured me and chained me up. I was only fourteen when they…"
"Hey." Jack saw her mentally shift and called out to her before she got lost in the memories. "You're here now, you're fine. Okay?"
Slivia continued to use the handkerchief and took a deep breath. "After a few days, I was thinking of taking my own life. Anything was better than what they made me do. But before I could, that same adventurer broke into their hideout and took care of all the bandits. Afterward, he found me nude, chained up in their cellar. He broke the chains with one swing of his massive sword, threw a blanket over me, and hugged me with tears in his eyes. He apologized for everything and wouldn't stop blaming himself.
"After a while, we both left the hideout and stayed at an inn at the nearby town. He stayed with me for three weeks, trying to help me the best he could but he had to leave on another mission. We talked with the innkeeper and we cut a deal so I could live there and work at the inn. Then, that adventurer disappeared, and I never saw him again."
Jack was speechless, unable to think of a response. Slivia finished wiping her tears and lightly laughed. "Don't be so sad. Look at me now, I'm almost ready to join the association. Once I do, I want to search for that man and thank him properly. Now you know my whole truth."
"You…" Jack hesitated to speak. "You're a lot stronger than me."
Slivia was taken aback by Jack's response. She had already respected and possibly fallen for Jack, but that reply shattered the barriers she had placed over her heart long ago.
Jack was shaking his head. He had been teased and picked on his entire life, never able to make any real friends.
That's when he found "A Hero's Tale" during its beta phase and used it as an escape from his pitiful reality. Rather than try and fix the problems he had in real life, he would divert all his time and energy into being the greatest, most recognized hero there was in "A Hero's Tale."
Thinking back, Jack knew he had a pitiful life.
That's why he fully embraced this new world without hesitation when he arrived and never planned to go back. But after hearing Slivia's confidence after going through what she did, he had never felt so weak in his life.