The Achievement Junkie 197 Abusing Sterfen's Vast Knowledge

"The relationship is complicated between those two. Out of respect for my wife, I'll give you the briefest of explanations. When she was made a demihuman, Halmut had indeed adopted her and gave her everything she could ever ask for. Yet, in the end, it turned out that he didn't care for her, but only cared about the strength she added to his group of influence. I think you already understand that part."

"Right, that's pretty obvious if he would hold her child hostage and then toss it aside like it was nothing."

"But do you understand why Halmut tossed away the egg instead of helping it hatch?" asked Sterfen.

Thinking about it, Jack shook his head. If it were him, he definitely would've wanted it to hatch.

"It's because our daughter will already be a demihuman. She'll never have to agree to anyone's terms to become one since both of her parents are already gods," stated Sterfen. "You'll need to conceal her title, but don't worry about that too much. She has my blood, meaning that she can conceal anything with just a thought. It will take a legendary item stronger than your cloak for them to see the truth."

"Do you have any other questions?"

"Hmm… I'll have to think about it," replied Jack. "Do you know how long it will take to hatch the egg?"

"Probably a couple of days. Please, make yourselves at home in the meantime," Sterfen said as he looked at Jack's party. "And since you all are his wives, I guess that mean's your my daughters-in-law. What are your names?"

Maura was hesitant to say anything, but Eliza was too excited to keep her mouth shut. "My name is Eliza Dyrshire, Jack's second wife. It's a pleasure to meet you, Father-in-law."

"You adjust quickly, I like that," laughed Sterfen. "And you, you must be Maura, right?"

She nodded her head, "Y-yes, I'm Maura. Sorry, I'm just nervous to meet someone of your caliber."

"Don't be nervous, we're family from now on. You'll be my daughter's big sisters, so you'd better treat her well."

"Of course!" Maura and Eliza bowed, both happy to get that over with.

"And what about you two, has my son not yet made you his?"

Jack suddenly choked on his tea, almost coughing up a lung as he cleared his throat.

Before Keela could answer, Eliza spoke up, "Actually, Jack still hasn't made either of us his woman yet. I think we should have the rights to be his first since we're already his wives.

"Really?!" Sterfen glanced at the nervous Jack. "You're just full of surprises. I never would have pegged you as such a straight shooter when it comes to women. Just make sure to take care of them, because if you neglect them for too long, they'll come to neglect you too. And in a party, you can't have that happening."

Jack wanted to thank Sterfen for the advice but he also noticed the god give him a cheeky smile with a wink.

"I'm never said it wouldn't happen, I'm just against going so far without any true emotions behind it," stated Jack, defending his romantic ideology.

"Really?! I'll hold you to that!" 

"Me too!"

Both Eliza and Keela immediately spoke up, committing Jack's statement to memory. If Jack was being honest, then it was only a matter of time.

Maura and Daliea said nothing, but they both gave Jack a meaningful look, causing the hero to blush and look away.

Sterfen kept quiet for a moment, but he wasn't laughing or smiling. He was staring at Daliea, who only noticed after the commotion about Jack subsided.

She felt uncomfortable as if Sterfen was able to see right through her. Since he said nothing, she eventually asked, "Umm… Are you against me, a shadow goblin, being here?"

"Not at all, but I think you've got the wrong idea," Sterfen chuckled and looked at Jack. "Do you understand what I'm talking about, Jack?"

"No… I don't think I do…"

"Hmm, that makes sense, I guess. It did happen before the time you were a hero, after all."

Jack's curiosity was instantly piqued. "What do you mean? What happened before I was a hero? You mean, before I was an ancient hero?"

"I sure do. Before you were an ancient hero, her race went through struggles that very few races survive. They did somethings to guarantee their survival, even if it eventually led to your generation not knowing the truth about your own people," stated Sterfen while pointing to Daliea.

"I won't explain anything to you since I had only recently become a god at the time and only learned a part of the story, but I can point you in the right direction."

Jack turned to Daliea, noticing that she was genuinely confused. With her like that, it was clear to him that the origin of Daliea's people was even more mysterious than he'd expected.

"You know how we can learn more about her people, Father?" asked Jack, already trying to abuse his new title.

"Smart move, calling me father in hopes that I'll give you special treatment. Well, it worked, sort of. I'll tell you this, the origin of your people can be found in Korten."

"Korten?!"

Everyone was shocked to hear that because it made no sense. Korten was one of the ancient kingdoms, and no one bothered to invade them because it was the Elven kingdom. Since the Holy War, the Elven Kingdom of Korten rarely made any contact with the outside world. All who tried to enter were never heard from again.

"My people… really originate from Korten?" asked Daliea, struggling to keep herself together.

"Yes, I never lie," stated Sterfen.

"Jack…"Daliea looked to him with begging eyes.

He knew what she wanted to ask him. Their only chance of ever getting into Korten was with Jack.

Lucky for him, there was a time that the Leisure Guild had an exclusive trade treaty with Korten because they shared borders at one point. He thought that he might be able to find a way in, but only after the revival of the Leisure Guild and after Trodar reclaimed its lost territories.

"I'm sure my son will think of a way to enter Korten, but till then you'll have to wait patiently." Steren then looked to Rydel and nodded. "Are you ready to receive your blessing?"

Rydel didn't say a word but he immediately dropped to his knees and bowed to Sterfen, ready to accept his blessing.

"By my godly authority, I hereby place you under my care, Rydel Kalen."

Those few words seemed ordinary to everyone except for Rydel. For him, those words were echoing inside of his head as if they were burrowing their way into every part of his being.

White light covered him for a moment, marking that the blessing had been completed.

"With my legend-tier blessing, you'll now have a passive invisibility skill that doesn't use mana and works even when attacking. Also, your stealth abilities will increase tenfold, giving you the ability to go anywhere without ever being found or noticed," explained Sterfen. "Unless it's legend-tier detection magic, you can't be found. Use this wisely."

"Thank you, Master Sterfen!"

Rydel slowly rose to his feet, elated to have such abilities.

Curious, Jack checked his skill list and opened Rydel's tab. Just as he thought, he was unable to acquire Rydel's new stealth abilities.

"Before I go and prepare us lunch, let me tell you about a few people that might catch your interest, Son," added Sterfen, grabbing Jack's attention.

"My wife isn't the only god that stands against their benefactor. There are other lower gods that would rather follow Daruun, but are bound by the terms the accepted as demihumans and can't betray the main god that helped them."

Sterfen continued, "Though there are seven neutral gods, you'll find that others might be more suitable for your companions."

"Would the Sword God happen to be one of those?" Maynard blurted out his question, still not wanting to give up on pledging to the god he admired the most.

"Of all the holy gods, Tyres, the Sword God, is the most loyal to Halmut. I'm sorry, but I would heavily recommend that you forget trying to seek him out," answered Sterfen, stomping out the small fraction of hope Maynard had left. "I'm sure that Jack would agree in saying that your dedication to your craft would be a perfect fit for Jin, the God of Discipline."

"Plus, I think he'll take a liking to you. You'll figure out why when you finally meet him," added Sterfen with a smile.

Maynard was sad by the truth but felt better about pledging to Jin since Sterfen, a god, also said it would be perfect for him. With that in mind, Maynard was more at ease.

Looking back to Jack, Sterfen stated, "There are a total of six gods that aren't willing to follow orders, and Lunara is one of them. Would you like to guess the other five?"

Chapter end