The Achievement Junkie

Chapter 384 Tralon“s Opinion on Life or Death

While Jack readjusted to the other people in the room, his wives were startled to see Jack suddenly disappear from their side. Though he was only a meter or two away, it was still jarring.

"Sorry about that," Jack walked back to his wives while explaining himself to the room. "Me and Daruun had one last chat before he left. Which reminds me..."

Taking out the ring Sterfen had given him long ago, Jack looked to Maura and Daliea. "You two, hold out your hands with your storage rings."

As they did so, they soon found a vast amount of spellbooks being poured into their storages.

"Jack, you don’t have to--"

"Daliea, calm down. Consider this your duty as my wife," Jack stated. "I’ll always try to protect you, but we’ll be facing gods. There’s no telling what might come our way, so the least I can do is offer you these. This is one way that I can help protect you, okay?"

"... Okay." Daliea wasn’t well accustomed to receiving such a plethora of gifts or so much help from other people. It was a new experience but she felt good about it, albeit a little awkward to respond to.

"That goes for you too, Maura. Learn all these spells, even the legendary ones," added Jack. "You’ll have to be very careful managing your mana, but it’s better to have them just in case. Since your lv. 40 now, you should be fine to use a mythic-tier spell if the need arises."

"And what about me?" Eliza asked, smiling at Jack.

Jack sighed. "Sadly, I don’t have much at the moment, but I can get you a legendary blessing and a couple of mythic spells from the storehouse. Will that be enough for now?"

"That’s more than enough," Eliza replied. She held her hand out as well, but she pulled Jack in for a quick kiss before he could transfer a couple of mythic spells. When she broke the kiss, Eliza added, "Just don’t forget any of us. I get traveling when necessary, but you have to promise to treat us all equally. And no more wives, either!"

Laughing, Jack held up his arm to the square. "I promise, no more wives. You three are already too much for me to handle, so having more is out of the question."

Taking the two mythic-tier spells and a handful of peak-tier spells, Eliza then asked, "So, what do we do now?"

"Well..." Jack sighed, looking around the room with a slight tinge of pink in his cheeks. "I’ll be leaving to raid a few ancient tombs and then I’ll go visit Dragas with Eliza, but I want to talk with Tralon in private first. Then, I’ll talk with everyone about what the guild will be planning next."

"We’ll be waiting outside," Hadurt commented, throwing his arm around Lorwynn and dragging Lorwynn out the door.

The others did the same, leaving Jack and Tralon inside to talk alone. And with the special bookcases that auto-cast Silence, they never had to worry if someone outside could listen in on the conversation.

"Yes, Jack? What did you want to talk about?" Tralon asked with his usual smile.

Jack hesitated to reply at first, but Jack answered Tralon with a question. "Did Daruun tell you about the two major paths we could focus on?"

"No, I’m not sure what those two paths are."

"Then... let me explain them. I want your honest opinion on these two paths and your personal feelings as well. Okay?"

Tralon nodded. "Of course."

"Alright..." Again, Jack sighed, this time taking a seat and motioning for Tralon to do the same. Once Tralon sat beside him, Jack began his explanation, "There are two main focuses that the guild can choose from. But due to the sensitivity of time, by choosing one path we’ll have to abandon the other completely.

"One option is to focus on the removal of Lunara, Sterfen’s wife and my mom, from the Holy Gods. This would involve Lorwynn and Sterfen working together to handle the task while the rest of the guild can focus elsewhere..." Jack stated before he paused.

"That sounds like a wonderful thing," Tralon replied. "It would give us something to aim for as well as offer the rest of the guild some leeway for our actions."

"Exactly, it would allow me to focus on the election and other things while we get the guild ready to receive both Sterfen and Lunara. That would be a huge help to the guild," added Jack. "But..."

"Go ahead, Jack. Say it." Sensing Jack’s unwillingness, Tralon pushed the hero to admit the guild’s second option.

"But going that route would leave us unable to save you."

"I don’t need to be saved, Jack," stated Tralon, shattering Jack’s expectations. "Have I ever asked you for such a thing? You allowed me to become the adventurer of my dreams, Jack. My greatest wishes have already been fulfilled. And ever since I took that elixir of youth, I knew that I had no hope of living any longer than those thousand years. It’s only logical."

"But Tralon, so long as we’re careful, there’s a chance--"

"There’s a chance for everything, Jack. No matter how our lives are at any given moment, there’s always a chance things could turn for the worse or for the better. If anything, knowing exactly how long I had to live encouraged me to give it my all," reasoned Tralon. "Since I knew you were coming back and I was promised to meet you again, I made sure that this guild remained. I didn’t let anything be taken nor did I sell a single thing of value. My final wish was to make sure you had everything you needed to continue your adventure. That way you could help others achieve their dreams, like how you helped me."

"Tralon..." Speechless, Jack tried to reply but his tongue was glued to the bottom of his mouth. He couldn’t make a sound.

Continuing, Tralon smiled and placed both of his hands on Jack’s shoulders. "Jack, you gave my life a purpose. Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought my life could’ve been so adventurous and grand. Thanks to you, I’ve gone toe-to-toe with gods and have grown more powerful than most mortal men could comprehend. As your adventuring companion, I became powerful enough to face ancient heroes on my own. You allowed me to surpass even heroes, Jack, that’s something I couldn’t have asked for."

"But Tralon... We can do that again, so why not--"

"I’ve long accepted my death," Tralon admitted, "and I refuse to compromise the lives of my fellow guild members and especially not yours. I don’t doubt your abilities, Jack. I’m certain you would succeed in becoming a god before my life comes to an end, but that would complicate everything else you hold dear.

"Since I’ve already accepted and awaited my passing, why should I force others onto a path where they would face death unwillingly?" reasoned Tralon, still smiling.

In the back of Jack’s mind, he was unable to form words or sentences. All the adventures and achievements that Tralon spoke of were gained while Jack was playing a game. That’s it. There was nothing special beyond it just being a fun game to play and giving Jack a sense of achievement he lacked in his normal life.

It hurt Jack to hear how amazing and spectacular Tralon made it sound when all Jack knew was the amalgamation of pixels on a computer screen. The sense of achievement Jack felt from his escapades in "A Hero’s Tale" was dwarfed by Tralon’s statement, even though both Jack’s and Tralon’s achievements were one and the same.

"Jack," Tralon continued sharing his thoughts in excitement, "I can never thank you enough for all that you did for me. The times we fought together, the times you saved my life, and the countless adventures we experienced. All of my proudest moments in life were with you, Jack. So thank you. Don’t worry about me, you’ve got new companions to live and adventure with. Allow me to do what I can while I’m here, though, so don’t get disheartened when I do finally pass. Okay?"