Baltwood

"I'll call you Bowser," said Jack as the little fox was drooling over its mountain of meat.

When the baby fox heard Jack talking to it, the fox turned and looked back at Jack like it was deciding whether it liked its new name or not. Jack thought for a second that it might've understood him and tested his theory. He grabbed the last roasted meat leg from the mountain and said, "Hey Bowser, do you like your new name?"

Instantly, the fox started nodding as it licked its lips and prepared to jump. Jack laughed, "Good boy bowser!" He threw the leg up in the air and watched Bowser pounce on the airborne meat with a big smile.

With Bowser happy and nothing left for him to do, Jack let weariness take over and he laid on the softest piece of ground he could reach within a few steps. After a few seconds of heavy breathing and turning to his left side, Jack fell asleep with ease.

Baby Bowser managed to eat every morsel of meat before it gave a quiet yawn. He curled up in Jack's arms and slept by his side.

By sunrise, Rydel had already gotten up and taken down his tent. He gave Jack a light kick to startle him awake as he dismantled the fire pit. Jack yawned and saw little Bowser under his arms. With a smile, Jack carefully stood up and stretched his aching body.

Rydel immediately pushed to leave, making Jack a little sad that he had to miss breakfast. Rather than compromise, Rydel just joked that it was Jack's fault for not buying any dry rations or basic food supplies.

All Jack could do was frown; out of habit, he had only bought potions and elixirs as he would back in the game. In "A Hero's Tale," after reaching a certain level your constitution was strong enough to not need food or sleep for a day or two. With a max level character, why would he waste money on needless food or a tent in an online game? Clearly, he still had to break a few habits because he wasn't just playing a game anymore.

Bowser woke up soon after Jack and climbed up onto Jack's shoulder, being just big enough to sit there. He licked Jack's ear a little before he laid his head down and observed the world from a new perspective.

Jack followed after Rydel begrudgingly. They took much longer to travel now that Jack was injured and unable to move at full speed. In the end, they had to take an extra day to reach Baltwood by the following night.

The village wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. Thanks to being one of the villages closest to Reinolt City, many travelers and traders would stop there along their journeys. It was already dusk when Rydel led Jack into Baltwood. The lights of the marketplace and the inns were still lit, giving off a welcoming vibe.

After walking through the streets, Rydel opened a door to a placed called the Boar's Inn and said, "Hey Trom, give me a room with two beds for the night."

Immediately a body flew down the stairs and welcomed the two. "Rydel, it's a pleasure seeing you again. You finally started a party I see, it's about time."

"Screw a party, this kids my bait," joked Rydel. "Anyways, I'll need a room for two and add two basic dinners to the price. We'll take a seat for now, so just bring me the key when the room's ready."

"You got it," Trom nodded and rushed to the reception desk to talk with the lady sitting there.

"Come on kid, dinner's on me tonight. Starting tomorrow, you'll fend for yourself got it?" said Rydel.

"Understood Captain," Jack smiled. "I should have enough to get me by for a few days after paying for the beast seal. Should I get anything special for the mines?"

"Nah, you don't have to worry about that part. I'll take care of everything once we're in there," stated Rydel. "The highest leveled goblin in there should be around lv. 15, but the rest should be closer to lv. 10 so I can easily handle it. You'll just be the bait to bring out the droves of goblins for my arrow volleys to slaughter. You'll only get your 10% of the drops, but the EXP of being in my party should be more than worth it on its own."

"No worries, I'm after the EXP. Any leftover drops are just icing on the cake compared to that. Bowser should be fine if he tags along with me, right?" said Jack.

"Sure thing kid, I wouldn't want to waste good bait. Crazy people like you are hard to come by," Rydel joked as a female server approached the table.

"Two specials for the friends of the owner, and don't worry cause it's on the house," she said, placing the two plates on the table along with an old, rusted key. "Can I get you anything else?"

"Two brundies please and get some raw meat on the bone for the fox, whatever's about to spoil is fine." Rydel didn't look at the server as he answered, he was too busy grabbing a fork to stuff his face.

Jack followed along and ate while the server girl quickly retreated to the kitchen. It didn't take long for her to come back with the drinks and a big leg of pork that was near festering, but Bowser didn't seem to care at all.

They enjoyed their meal and only asked for more brundy as the night went on. The dinner special was a pork stew with potatoes and carrots and a side of freshly baked bread. It was much tastier than anything they had cooked without seasonings, so it hit the spot for the two of them.

Soon though all eyes in the restaurant were on them, not only because of their insane amount of drinking but for Bowser's appetite. They were amazed by the amount of food and drink the two purchased.

The server's originally questioned giving them two free specials because that's where they typically made the most money and got the biggest tips, but after seeing all the brundy and raw meat they purchased they were glad the owner made such a move.

"Hey kid, that fox pup's appetite is crazy. How can it each so much?" asked Rydel, now much more playful after having a few brundies.

"I don't know how but he always eats an ungodly amount. Maybe it's cause he's a rare breed or something. Just look and see for yourself, there are char marks all over that bone he's chewing on," answered Jack, who was also letting himself loose in order to forget the lingering pain he still felt.

Everyone around was baffled by Bowser's ability to chew through bone like butter. When they noticed the char marks, some got a little jealous and were curious about what kind of fox it was.

A few were mad that some newbie with basic gear had found such a rare beast and were extremely envious. Finally, one man stood up and walked over to the hunter duo. The man said, "Hey brat, how much for that fox? That thing's too good for you, surely you can see that, right?"

"He's not for sale," Jack appeared to instantly sober up and stare into that man's soul.

"Anything's for sale at the right price," said the man. "I'll give you sixteen gold for it, and that's generous."

"I said he's not for sale. Why not take that sixteen gold and go get your ear's fixed," refuted Jack.

The restaurant quickly filled with laughter at Jack's joke and the drunken man became furious. "Why you little—"

But before the man could lunge at Jack, there was already a knife pressed against his throat. Rydel chuckled, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Most people there couldn't determine Rydel's level. Most thought he was wearing something to conceal it; they would think that a new adventurer would rarely be accompanied by someone so high leveled. Some guessed that he was too high level for them to tell despite common belief, and the rare few within five levels of Rydel could see his strength clearly and had already decided to not covet that rare fox.

That man swallowed some saliva and stepped back. "You're lucky tonight punk, but once I tell the boss about that fox of yours, no one will be able to save you."

"Then should I just kill you now or save that for later?" Rydel's question caused that man to freeze on the spot. "Unless your boss is in the high thirties, I don't recommend you pick on association members?"

The entire restaurant went silent. Though the Adventurers Association didn't have the strongest foundation within the Reinolt Kingdom, they still had multiple offices within the Reinolt branch and were an international power. Picking an unreasonable fight with them was almost like revolting against the Royal Court.

Before anyone could question the duo's legitimacy, Jack stood up and took off his cloak and pointed to the association insignia on the back of his shirt. Everyone immediately felt sorry for the bumbling bandit that tried to act tough.