The Achievement Junkie

Jack met their gazes with his own. He had a feeling that it had all been too easy. His fate was already mixed up, so he wasn't too surprised to find a beast waiting for them inside.

He knew that the beast was likely the strongest on the mountain and it would be the most difficult thing they had ever faced, but Jack still wanted to enter that cave.

A part of him still believed in Daruun, who told him to seek out the neutral gods. And since Daruun knew that Jack's party would come here for Rydel, Jack assumed that there had to be a way to accomplish their goal. Daruun wouldn't send his own champion to his death before the champion's purpose was fulfilled.

'We'll have to enter the cave with the utmost secrecy. Normally, I would go alone with the blessed bracer, but I'd be dead meat if I was caught."

"...roooaarr…"

Again, that gentle roar sounded out from the cave. This time, Jack listened more closely and waited in silence, confusing the others. He warned the party, 'Shhh.'

A few moments passed and the same roar came from the cave. They waited again, finding that the roar was following some sort of patter with the same amount of time before each roar.

'Is it… sleeping?' Rydel asked the others for their opinions.

'Hmm, if it is, then we may have a chance after all,' laughed Jack. 'Everyone, we're going in. Since we'll be out of the weather, if things go south, don't hesitate to summon your beast companions. Now, be as quiet as possible.'

They all shared one last glance, reaffirming each other's determination. Since the beast may be asleep, they all felt a bit better.

As Jack took the lead, he handed Rydel the blessed bracer they had found in the goblin cave. He didn't want to leave anything to chance and he thought that Rydel might need it to enter the hidden temple.

Following Jack, the party took their time entering the cave. The path narrowed and started to wind further into the Glacier Peak.

Something felt off to Jack, though. If the roar they heard was from a slumbering beast, it must've been massive. Yet, the path they were on was only wide enough for two people two walk side-by-side. He wanted to know, how did such a large beast get so deep inside Glacier Peak?

The path continued for quite some time. Since they couldn't sense any threats and the cavern was already too narrow to hide inside of, Jack, Maynard, and Rydel retrieved their kari crystals to light the way.

It was perplexing how long the cavern was, slowly appearing more man-made than natural.

When they all noticed the subtle changes, everyone smiled. There really would be some kind of place hidden deep inside the peak, and the odds of it being the hidden temple were increasing the further they went.

Carved into the stone around them, the party found a few symbols and what appeared to be a serpent's head. The most surprising part was that the serpent's neck went along the wall and the end wasn't in sight.

They followed the path, continuing to inspect any new symbols of images they found. Just when they thought they had reached the end of the serpent's neck, another serpent's head appeared beside it, also going along the entire wall.

This same pattern happened again for a third time… a fourth time… a seventh time!

They had now passed seven serpent heads, and the end still wasn't in sight. They wondered how many serpent heads they would find and why they were there in the first place?

The roars still followed the same breathing pattern and remained soft, but now they were much louder. It almost sounded like there were multiple beasts in a heavy slumber at the end of the path.

Jack wasn't feeling very well. In worry, Jack stopped the party and opened his system. He then opened the map and double-checked their location compared to the hidden temple. According to the map, they were right on top of it, but Jack wasn't done with the map.

He changed the map's tab, searching through the temples of the holy gods. That was when Jack's heart sunk into the pit of his stomach.

'How is that possible?!' Jack shouted within the confines of his mind.

'Jack, what's wrong?!'

Rydel was the one to respond but everyone wanted to know why Jack had suddenly become so worried. And based on the anger in his shout, something bad may happen.

'This…' Jack didn't want to believe what he was seeing. He selected both tabs, looking at both the neutral and the holy gods. 'That's impossible! No, that can't be!'

Maura stepped up and grabbed Jack's shoulder, but still talked with her mind, 'Jack, tell us what's wrong!'

'This… Apparently, this is the shrine of the Water Goddess, Lunara…'

'HUH?!'

Maynard asked, 'But, wasn't this supposed to be Sterfen's hidden temple? How could you mix them up?'

'I didn't mix them up,' stated Jack. 'Sterfen's hidden temple is also here.'

'What?! You mean that there are two gods with shrines here? How?!' Rydel also struggled to believe it, while the girls were filled with disbelief and confusion.

'I don't know, but that's how it is. I know my information is correct because it came from Daruun himself.'

The others wanted to argue more, but they kept from saying more. They all knew that Jack wouldn't make a mistake like sending them to the wrong temple. But how could they expect to find two temples in such a secluded place?

'This confirms it.' Jack pointed to the seventh serpent head carved onto the wall. 'Do any of you know what the symbol of Lunara is?'

No one answered.

'It's the nine-headed Glacial Hydra.'

Everyone's spines stiffened, not letting them move or breathe. They all glanced at the wall, now hesitant to move forward a single step.

'Everyone, I'm going to keep going forward.'

That sentence chipped away at the fear that had frozen the others. They still said nothing, too shocked and afraid to say anything.

'If you want to go back, then I understand. However, I'm going forward. Will anyone join me?'

Everyone stared at Jack with a feeling that Jack was ludicrous!

'Jack… If you're really going to go, I'll join you.' Maura was the first to break the minute-long silence.

'Thank you, Maura." Jack smiled and bowed his head to her, showing his gratitude.

'Me too.' Daliea also stepped forward. 'Let's at least see if whatever lies at the end is sleeping or not.

'Count us in!' Maynard and Rydel replied together. 'We don't want to keep getting shown up by ya youngsters.'

Now alone, Keela and Eliza gave a sorrowful laugh and looked at each other. They said nothing, but the stepped forward, standing behind Daliea and Maura.

'Everyone… Words can't describe how I feel right now,' said Jack, almost getting teary-eyed.

'Remember, we're just checking if it's asleep. If not, let's get out of there as fast as possible,' reminded Rydel. He may have been willing to help, but he still didn't want to die.

'Alright then, let's go!'

With renewed energy, Jack led them deeper into Glacial Peak. After almost ten minutes of walking, they found the eighth serpent head, but the kept their pace.

Another twenty minutes passed and the path flattened out, no longer dropping at a slope. They had no clue how deep inside the peak they were, but it was too late to turn back so easily.

Soon, they saw the ninth serpent head and followed the path ahead. An hour passed in silence. Finally, they saw all nine necks gather and connect to a body carved into the stone wall. Also, a few meters in front of the party was an archway.

'We've finally reached the end…' Staring at the archway that was barely lit from their distant kari crystals, Jack took some deep breaths. 'Everyone, are you ready?'

'Ready!' The party responded in unison, anxious to see what beast or beasts were snoring so loudly.

They stored their kari crystals and let Jack and Rydel stay in front with their eagle eye. Though they couldn't see too clearly, at least they could still see figures and movements.

The party poked their heads through the archway, but neither Jack nor Rydel saw anything besides a huge, open room.

'Slow.'

Everyone kept a hand on the person in front of them, ready to activate some kind of light at a moment's notice.

They walked slowly, barely moving at all. It took them five minutes to travel twenty meters. And despite hearing the loud snores, Jack and Rydel were still unable to see anything.

Traveling five meters at a time, both men used their Eagle Eyes to the fullest, trying to learn what this place was and what might be inside it. Now, they couldn't even see the ceiling above them.

Another five meters, a total of seventy meters from the archway, they finally saw something.

It was large and smooth, too smooth to be a boulder. As the next snore sounded out, they noticed some slight movement. They finally found a sleeping beast, and its head was large enough for the entire party to sit on.