The Achievement Junkie 110 Coming Up with a Plan

As the night finally winded down and everyone eventually got their rest, the entire association building became busy and active in as the sun rose. Not many people got much sleep, but news was spreading throughout the building.

No one was allowed to leave the building for the time being as if they were trying to contain the rumor that was spreading within the association. Everyone was surprised to hear that Tridon was involved and was now performing an autopsy on one of the cetus corpses with some of the association's higherups. 

According to the rumor, the branch chief had made a call to the Adventurers Association headquarters. He had requested that more men be sent to the Reinolt branch and asked for all branch members to immediately return from their current missions on emergency orders. The most shocking part that most adventurers didn't believe was that Zariff had requested men stronger than himself. Such people were higher ranked than him, so he had the ability to force such people to act, yet he made the request anyway. If that were true, no one could imagine the reason behind it.

In a back room on the second floor, a small group of people was gathered around a large table. Zariff, Rydel, Maynard, and Jack watched Tridon careful open up the cetus' dead body. 

Jack had his right arm in a sling and bandages across his shoulder, but he was far more stable and could move without pain. "Tridon, make sure to not ruin anything. Each corpse is very valuable and can be made into some strong items."

"Trust me. I may not know too much about cetuses, but I'm confident in my examination skills," said Tridon as he cleaned detached the cetus head while not damaging the beast's vertebrae. "I'll take extra care with such a fine specimen. If you're impatient, just wait outside. I'll have the entire body dissected by nightfall."

With that, Jack nodded and left the room. The other three followed him to the conference room. He saw Rydel go to a gem embedded in the wall and activate some kind of magic formation. "Silence spell, not bad."

"Now we can really talk." Zariff took the lead seat. "Jack, what can we expect to happen and what do you suggest we do?"

Jack took a moment to scratch his head and ponder Zariff's question. "You want me to be honest? I'm not confident in facing what's coming without someone higher than lv. 50."

"But what can we do? Ya think we can just leave and let the city be destroyed?" asked Maynard.

"Well…" Jack was having conflicting thoughts. Jack_J the Achievement Junkie never took on a challenge he wasn't at least 75% confident in succeeding. In such a situation he would just forget about the event and come back to it when he was stronger. Jackson would leave the city without question, he wouldn't even wait for proof that it would happen.

Deep down he agreed with everyone around him, but he felt inexperienced and nervous when faced with the current situation.

"Any idea who's coming from the association? Anyone over lv. 45?" asked Jack looking for any strand of hope he could.

"I don't think so…" Zariff shook his head with a grim expression. "I think another branch chief will be coming and he's lv. 39. I couldn't convince them to send anyone else with our lack of proof."

"I feared that…" sighed Jack. "How many people in the city are over lv. 35?"

"Including the noble families we should have at least be four," answered Rydel.

"That's not including the number one in Reinolt, no one knows where he to find him or how strong he is," explained Zariff. "I've never met him, only the king has and he hasn't even seen his face."

"Well… This will definitely make things more difficult." Jack scratched his head with his good arm, showing his nerves. "Do we really have to face this thing? There's no way we could evacuate and relocate, at least temporarily?"

"There's no way." Rydel shook his head. "The Royal Court would never agree to that; it would be their disgrace. And considering their enmity with us, I don't think they'll be much help to us, maybe in word but not in action when we're under pressure."

"I have a thought, hear me out," said Jack as he scrunched his face, not expecting the others to agree with what he was about to propose.

The others gave Jack their full attention and waited to hear the first pitched solution from the young hero.

"I think we should ally with the goblins."

No one expected Jack to suggest such a thing, but no one spoke out against it while they considered the thought further.

"If we can get their support, we'll have more lv. 30's to help handle the strong cetuses. And with Daliea's powerful magic--"

"Daliea?"

Zariff chimed in, showing the other's confusion.

"Daliea, the goblin queen, is a powerful mage and can be a huge support in a large scale fight against the cetuses. What do you think? She said she was willing to ally with the association, right?" explained Jack.

"Actually, that's not too bad an idea," added Rydel. "I think you might be on to something with that. What do you think, chief?"

"I'm willing to work with them. They've proven their strength and appear to be loyal to their promise. Time to test them," said Zariff. "Jack, go and talk with the queen after this. Do whatever they say to get them to agree, so long as it doesn't harm the association. Got it?"

"Yeah, I can handle that." Jack finally showed a hint of a smile, glad to at least gain the support of a goblin army to challenge to cetus infestation. It was a strong ray of hope that helped calm his troubled mind.

"What else do you think, Jack? Any ideas on how to handle a cetus pride lord?"

Zariff's question brought another tinge of fear to Jack's calm heart. "Hmm…" As Jack groaned he was fiddling with the tutorial stone under the table. He wasn't ready to use it yet but holding it at least helped calm him down.

"Maybe… we should search for unnatural strength?" mentioned Jack.

"What do ya mean?" asked Maynard.

"You've never used such a thing so it makes sense you don't know, but there are some items that can temporarily boost someone's level. Of course, it has its downsides but I can't think of any other options at the moment, other than overpowering the pride lord with everyone over lv. 35 at once."

"Such a strategy is very risky, but if we can get the goblin's support then it might actually work," said Rydel. "How are we going to get some unnatural aids? And what are the drawbacks you hinted at?"

"The drawbacks depend on the item you use. The only possible aid we can come up with might be a boost potion?"

"A what?" asked the others.

"A boost potion. It was something heroes made in Ancient Kartonia and is the easiest strength aid to get our hands on, so long as we can scrounge the ingredients in town," explained Jack. "However, it will drastically lower all EXP you gain while it's active in your system and you'll be left weakened after it wears off. The effect lasts for an hour and will boost you by five levels, but you'll be left five levels weaker than normal for twenty-four hours afterward."

"So, you're saying it will greatly strength us and possibly help us manage to win the battle, but the entire association will be left in a weakened state, something you don't want to risk considering our relationship with the Royal Court?" Rydel hit Jack's sore spot, easily figuring out Jack's uneasiness. "What do you think, chief?"

"I think we should prepare for the worst. Let's gather the material for those boost potions, but save those for emergency use only. Also, no one outside of this room can know about this," stated Zariff. 

The branch chief was very serious at the moment, recognizing just how bad of a situation they were in. Whether it was the cetuses or the Royal Court, both represented a threat but one felt like it could happen at any moment.

"I'll get you a list of the ingredients, old fart. Make sure only Zarris sees this, okay?"

"You got it, brat."

After righting down the need ingredients on a slip of paper, Jack bowed his head and left the room.

He came to stand in front of a dorm door, hesitating to enter. Before he could bring himself to knock, the door swung open and Jack could see Daliea's illusory human figure in front of him.

"Hurry up. Enter."

Chapter end