Chapter 389 Eliza“s Entomophobia
Sighing, Jack turned to his wives and asked, "We"ve got two options for today, do you want to go shopping together like I promised or do you want to come with me to raid an ancient tomb?"
"Wasn"t the promise to go shopping in Estonya?" Eliza added with a smile.
Jack chuckled, "We can still do that, but it"ll have to wait a few days till an official agreement is made between the guild and Korten."
Smiling, Eliza replied enthusiastically, "Then let"s check out that tomb! But can we get there and back in a day?"
"We"ll be fine thanks to my new skills," Jack proudly answered. "But since we won"t be shopping, let"s test out some of your new skills in a special room. Also, I want to introduce Daliea to her new beast companion."
"Then let"s take Lina with us. That should be fine, right?" asked Maura.
Jack nodded as Lina perked up at the sound of her name. "Where are we going? Are we going shopping?"
"No…" Jack reached out and rubbed her head, repeating himself, "We"re going to raid an ancient tomb, but first we"re going somewhere to test new skills and meet Daliea"s new beast companion. Also… You haven"t met Dragov yet, have you?"
"Who"s Dragov?" asked Lina, speaking for both herself and Jack"s wives.
"Just follow me." Jack held the door open for the women. As Bowzer and Phoro were the last to exit, Jack closed the door and added, "Just know that he"s harmless, okay. Don"t freak out when you see him."
They toured the Leisure Guild while Jack avoided explaining himself. Eventually, Jack reached a restricted part of the guild, not even accessible to the managers. Jack showed his new guild emblem, that of the guild master, allowing himself and the party to enter through the enchanted gate.
Once they pa.s.sed those enchanted walls, which blocked the view of everything inside the restricted s.p.a.ce, the women were surprised to find so many courtyards in a s.p.a.ce that appeared much smaller from the outside. Jack waited for them to catch up, moving at a decent pace toward the courtyard at the very back.
"Okay…" Jack sighed, grabbing the handle to the door but pausing before opening it to his wives and Lina. "Again, don"t be scared of what"s inside. Dragov is my third beast companion and a former companion I had back in Ancient Kartonia. So remain calm."
"Jack, what is he? Why is he so scary?" asked Eliza.
Maura added, "You"ve already told us, so just open the door."
"I"m sure we"ll be fine, Jack," stated Daliea, grabbing the handle of the second door.
Not waiting any longer, Jack opened the doors together with Daliea, startling Jack"s wives. Maura hesitated to take more than a single step inside while Daliea shook the nerves away and trusted Jack"s words of warning. Eliza immediately jumped behind Jack, peeking over his shoulder in terror.
"Whoa… He"s as big as Mom!" Lina was amazed, staring at Dragov"s huge body with her mouth wide open.
Jack chuckled, "Yeah, he"s a great addition to the defenses of the guild. Should something happen, Dragov can break out through the back wall and emerge outside of the city."
"J-Jack… W-what is that?"
Looking back to Eliza, Jack was amazed to see genuine fear in her eyes. "Eliza, come inside and we"ll talk while we go meet him."
Eliza finally entered the room, but she remained behind Jack"s back every step of the way.
"Dragov is a Draconic Centipede," stated Jack. "He"s already lv. 81 and will be the guardian beast of the guild for the time being. Once we"ve got other strong beasts and experts, then he"ll be joining us on the battlefield."
"Th-that will be joining us?! B-b-but…"
"I guess Eliza is afraid of something after all," giggled Maura.
"Don"t worry, Big Sis. He looks friendly!" Lina shouted as she ran down the steps reaching the bottom at a breakneck pace. Once there, Lina changed to her hydra form, which was now fifteen meters long and four meters tall. She roared, "Hi! I"m Lina, what"s your name?"
Dragov had long noticed them but was surprised to see Lina turn out to be a hydra. He replied with a bow of his ma.s.sive head, "h.e.l.lo, I"m Dragov, Jack"s beast companion. I didn"t know he was traveling with a Nine-headed Glacial Hydra…"
"That"s my little sister, Lina," Jack shouted as he tried to hurry Eliza down the stairs, who was fighting him for every step until he picked her up. "Remember, I"m now the son of Lunara and Sterfen, so it only makes sense to help raise my little sister."
"I"ll remember that." Committing that to memory, Dragov then asked, "What brings you here, Jack? Do you need my help with something?"
"At the moment, no, but I wanted to introduce you to my wives and I thought this would be a good place to test their upgraded bloodline skill," answered Jack, surprising the women around him. He then added, "Also, I"ll be bringing Mooldrat here as well. He"ll be traveling with us from now on."
"Go ahead and use this s.p.a.ce as you wish Jack. If you want, they can go ahead and attack me. It"s better than attacking the walls," Dragov politely stated.
Surprised to see that the colossal centipede was so kind, Maura and Daliea followed Lina to feel Dragov"s impregnable exoskeleton. Sensing that the beast showed them no hostility and only hospitality, they both bowed their heads and introduced themselves, even though Maura was still hesitant.
"Eliza, you should go too."
"Jack… I- can"t…"
Sighing, Jack pulled her in front of him. The hero nudged her closer and closer toward Dragov, not letting Eliza avoid that much-needed introduction. "Go on, Eliza. You"re confident enough to speak in front of thousands but you won"t greet my beast companion?"
"Th-that doesn"t count! Those aren"t the same, not at all!" Her voice lashed out at Jack as she was only a few meters away from the biggest insect she"d ever seen, larger than the ones from her nightmares. "J-Jack… Please…"
"Just put out your hand and introduce yourself," stated Jack. "If you don"t hurry and say it now, I"ll leave you alone while I go get--"
"No!" One of Eliza"s hand"s firmly gripped Jack"s arm as she tried to swallow as much of her fear as possible, burying her head in his chest. "H-hi… I"m Eliza… J-Jack"s wife…"
"It"s a pleasure to meet you, Eliza," Dragov replied with another bow of his head. "I"ll make sure to always protect you and help you whenever I"m able. As Jack"s wife, I"m willing to die in exchange for your life if necessary."
"Th-thank you…"
Since Eliza"s other hand was held out but wasn"t coming any closer to Dragov, Jack telepathically told Dragov to move closer. The moment Dragov"s hard sh.e.l.l-like exoskeleton touched Eliza"s hand, she s.h.i.+vered and instantly retracted her arm to grab Jack even tighter.
"Well, I guess Rome wasn"t built in a day…"
Eliza was distracted by Jack"s strange phrase and didn"t notice that Phoro had flown away and the shutting door above startled her all the more.
Before the women could get Jack to explain where Phoro had left, the door was opening again. Phoro led the way but a ma.s.sive black beast was floating in with him. Eliza, who was already afraid of the behemoth insect her, again tried to hide herself behind Jack, failing miserably now that there was a beast on each side of her.
"Everyone, I"d like for you to meet Mooldrat, a Dark Beholder who, like Dragov, has been alive since Ancient Kartonia," Jack introduced the beholder, who bowed his floating head to the women and grinned with his gnarly yellow teeth. "From today onwards, he"ll be your companion, Daliea. He"s lv. 78, so now I"ll be sure my wives are safe while they"re traveling with me."
The nerves that each of the women felt melted a little, causing Eliza to stop shaking for just a second. It was a touching thought for them to know that Jack was that worried about them.