The Achievement Junkie

"You were quite reckless, you know? You know…?"

"Hmmm…" Jack groaned as a voice echoed between the walls of his skull like they were canyon walls.

"Get up already. You know it's me," berated the voice. "Who else could speak with you while you remained unconscious?"

Fighting with his mind, Jack managed to open his eyes. He was startled to see such a vibrant, bright blue sky. As he sat up, Jack noticed a not-too-distant sun peeking over the clouds. It was an unusual place to be, but Jack soon remembered that he had seen it before.

"Daruun… What's up? And… I'm unconscious?"

The god walked over to Jack and patted the hero on the back. "First, congratulations! You've accomplished the first step to gaining control over Trodar, albeit you nearly destroyed your body and mind while doing so. You just had to go and forcefully use a spell you knowingly didn't have enough mana to cast, didn't you?"

"Shut up… I lost two party members to make that happen," Jack stated angrily.

"No, you lost one party member," corrected Daruun. "While you've been unconscious, your party took it upon themselves to use the life spring jewel and revive Daliea."

"What?!" Finally standing up, Jack met Daruun's gaze. "What exactly is going on right now? Tell me that first before I get too mad to listen."

"Good… You're making progress." Happy to see Jack a bit more open, Daruun threw his arm around Jack's shoulder. The god waved his hand, causing the scenery around them to shift and recreate a past event.

Jack loosened up as he saw Rydel, Eliza, and Dirk meet back up with Maynard, Maura, and Lina. He saw their conversation. He felt their pain and matched some of their tears. He struggled to keep it together when he saw Eliza and Maura lose completely to their emotions.

Next, he saw Eliza retrieve the life spring jewel from Jack's storage ring. She knelt beside Daliea's body and poured some mana into the jewel.

Everyone was startled as the jewel shattered instantly, but they were reassured when all of its energy poured into Daliea, filling her with vitality once again. After a few moments passed, her chest began to rise ad fall, proving to everyone that the goblin girl was breathing yet again.

The scene began to fade, returning to the cloudy landscape as the party gathered around the sleeping Daliea.

"Please tell me you noticed your unconscious body lying at the side?"

"Yeah… I saw it."

"Good, then you should understand that right now you're still unconscious," explained Daruun. "I'm not here to answer any questions, I'm just here to check up on you."

"To check up on me?" Jack gave Daruun a strange look. "Since when did you care about me personally and not just my duties as your champion?"

Daruun shook his head. "Jack, I've always cared about you. In fact, you don't know it but I've also been watching you, even your entire life prior to your acceptance of my quest."

"I call bull…"

Before Jack could curse the god, the clouds reshaped and showed a young man sitting at a makeshift computer desk in his tiny bedroom. The computer was old even for the late 2000's, but the young preteen didn't seem to mind in the slightest. All he cared about was his ability to play his favorite game, "A Hero's Tale".

"This… How is this…"

"Like I've always said, I have seen everything past and future, as well as everywhere," stated the god, not surprised by Jack's stupor. "If you remember correctly, this was the first day that--"

"This was my first day playing "A Hero's Tale", but how can you…" Feeling assaulted with the new information, Jack's current understanding of Daruun was broken beyond recognition. "Aren't you just… A god from Kartonia?"

"Well… technically no."

"What?!"

"If you want me to better answer that question, then you'll need to use your tutorial stone's last charge. I can activate it in your place if you'd like?" Daruun smiled.

"I… But won't I…"

"It's your choice, but you already know what to do until you've joined the Trodan Council. By then, maybe you'll find another tutorial stone, who knows?" laughed Daruun.

"You would…" Jack mumbled to himself. After realizing that Daruun had seen not only Jack's life in Kartonia but his growing years back in his homeworld, Jack's opinion of Daruun changed instinctively. Before, Jack felt that he was only a pawn to the fate that Daruun had given him, but now… Jack wasn't sure what to feel.

Following his gut, Jack asked, "Daruun, can you tell me about your origins and how you're tied to Kartonia if you're not from here?"

Daruun chuckled, "Since that's your question, I'll give you an answer. But only if you're truly open to me and my insights. Do you promise to follow my guidance and not act like an ignorant, spoiled child?"

"Yeah… I'm sorry about that. If I had followed your guidance, I could've used Spacial Disruption to counter Trank's insane speed, right?"

"Correct."

Jack took a deep breath before he humbly bowed. "Daruun, as your champion, I'll do better to follow your guidance."

"Good. Now, let's take a seat before I ramble on about myself." The god waved his hand, creating some simple but comfortable chairs for the two of them. Between the chairs was a small table with a bottle of wine and two glasses already poured. "Please, help yourself."

Jack and Daruun grabbed their glasses. They took a sip, shocking Jack's senses with its divine taste.

"First and foremost, I accept your apology," stated Daruun. "I know how stubborn you are as well as your ignorance towards authority, something you've always shown a tendency of with your parents."

Shrugging his shoulders, Jack took another sip of the heavenly wine in place of responding.

"As for my origins, they aren't much," Daruun continued. "I come for an impoverished world in the corner of this sector. I grew up in a humble family and eventually had my--"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Jack put up his hands in protest. "What do you mean by 'world in the corner of this sector'?"

"Right. Allow me to explain the galaxy's general layout first," stated Daruun, stealing what was left of Jack's attention.

"The galaxy is made up of twenty-eight sectors, eight at its core and twenty others surrounding them. Both of us come from sector twenty-six on the edge of the galaxy. That's where my homeworld, your homeworld, and Kartonia are all located. Each sector is then divided into districts and then into systems. All three of these worlds are located within the Fate District, but each is in a different system, as each system has upwards of a dozen worlds."

Following along hurt Jack's brain, which wasn't expecting Daruun to share that big of a picture.

"Like I said earlier, my world was impoverished in comparison to the others, even worse off than yours," explained Daruun.

"Wait, WAIT!!" Again, Jack put up his arms in protest. "What do you mean worse off than mine?"

"Jack, that's an entirely different question for another time. Unless you don't want me to answer your original question, I'd suggest that you either find more tutorial stones or find my temple. Either will work."

With that over with, Daruun continued, "As I was saying, my world didn't have much to offer. There was no means of communication or travel between it and its neighboring planets. And it offered people little to no means of growing stronger and eventually breaking through the void between worlds."

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Are those things supposed to be commonplace?!"

"For the sectors closer to the galaxy's center, they're mostly commonplace. For sectors like ours, I'd say it's about fifty-fifty at most," Daruun explained. "Anyways, my world lacked a means of growing stronger and we couldn't even attempt to create technology that could reach another planet, let alone fly. The world was more primitive then Kartonia in that regard."

Jack patiently sat down. He was glad Daruun had given him a chair, otherwise, he may have fallen over after getting hit with such outstanding information.