The Achievement Junkie

"I grew up with nothing. My family consisted of my father, my mother, and myself, but I rarely saw either of them. I had been sent away to nearby mines to work for a wage given to my parents. Though I hated it as a child, I have to thank them when looking back." Daruun showed a sad smile. "Because of that hard manual labor, I grew to be quite strong for my age.

"However, as years passed and I was sent from one mine to the next, eventually something happened without my knowledge. My parents had been killed for the savings they had amassed from my earnings. I don't know what they had planned to do with that money, but I'll never know so I don't like to think about that too much."

Jack listened closely, surprised that the all-seeing god came from such a lowly beginning.

"The mine I was working in didn't tell me about their deaths. They kept working me until the mine was depleted, acting as if they had been sending money back home. I only found out the truth when I returned home and found that another family had moved into our small, dilapidated home…

"They didn't tell me anything, only shooing me away. I had to track down a distant neighbor that worked with my dad in order to find the truth. But… I wasn't even sad about my parents' passing. After growing up in that forsaken world, my fourteen-year-old self thought it was just part of life, or fate if you will," stated Daruun.

"That was the first occurrence that had me pondering what fate was. At the time, I believed that fate was a destiny of sorts as if it were something that I was just born into and had no say or control over.

"My stubborn and foolish self believed that my parents' passing must have been a way to let go of the past as if I was born for something greater. With that in mind, I made it my mission to find the largest city I could and prove myself capable of living a better life than my parents in every way possible."

Daruun paused his story to take a satisfying sip of wine. "Are you keeping up? Or should I slow it down a tad?"

"No, I'm following along fine. Don't worry, if I have any questions then I'll let you know," Jack joined Daruun in taking a sip but he hadn't stop imagining the god's ongoing story playing out in front of him.

With Jack keeping up, Daruun continued, "It took me two years of travel and wandering to reach Bragdor, a city the size of Zurden in the center of one of my home planet's many deserts. There, I was sure that I would leave my mark on society and prove successful.

"And no, I didn't have any idea what I was going to do next," chuckled Daruun, understanding what was going through Jack's attentive mind.

"I ended up working more manual labor with a merchant company. After proving I was smart enough to count and loyally working with them for a year, the owner started to take a liking to me. He started to teach me how to read and write, showing me that I can work with my brain and not just my body.

"After another year, I was then placed in charge of organizing the man's storehouse. I was to make sure everything was accounted for and was in its proper place," explained Daruun. "The owner had practically become a father figure to me, a boy now eighteen years of age. And since I proved capable of working well with numbers and was also his strongest employee by far, the man had instinctively started treating me better, like a son of sorts.

"He allowed me to live with him in his large home and eat with his family…" Daruun paused again, this time taking a deep breath. "That's where I met Turmea for the first time. She was the owner's daughter, and he always kept her hidden away at home to protect her. She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen…"

Since Daruun had paused again, Jack asked, "Was the owner okay with the two of you being together?"

"Not at first… It took more time to convince him I was not only capable of providing for her but that I truly loved her. He was an incredible man, unlike every other greedy man on that miserable rock of a planet.

"When I started pursuing her, he wasn't directly against it, he only kept us from rushing into something without developing true emotions first," Daruun explained with a smile. "And once Turmea started to reciprocate my feelings, her father took it on himself to teach me everything there was to become a merchant. He showed me how to manage costs, negotiate deals, plan for travels, and anything else involved in the business. He hid nothing from me. Soon, I was his right-hand man, as well as his son-in-law.

"That time of happiness ended not much later," Daruun stated as the smile fell from his face.

"After I had the privilege of marrying my wife, Mea, my reputation as the greatest merchant's right-hand man and possible successor became known throughout the city. One night I was wandering the streets in a shadier part of town, uncaring of my growing reputation. That was the first time I was confronted with a dubious offer. They asked me to help them raid the man's storehouse and I'd get half the profit in return.

"I told them no without hesitation and walked away, not listening to anything else they had to say. They tried to hold me back, but I was more than strong enough to deal with those muscleheads.

"When I came home I didn't mention it to my father-in-law, though in hindsight I most definitely should've," sighed Daruun. "One week later, the same thing happened in a different part of town, only they had brought more muscle to try and keep me in check. I beat my way out of that encounter and did my best to keep it hidden from my father-in-law.

"He would've found out eventually through the rising rumors, but it happened a third time in the middle of the city market. But that time it was the men of the city's second-largest merchant. They pulled me aside to make sure our conversation wasn't witnessed by the masses, offering me everything that my father-in-law owned so long as I helped run him out of business.

"Like always, I said no. But that time I didn't have to fight my way out. They let me go without any objection. However, they told me I had one week to accept the offer as I walked away."

Jack was engrossed in the story, forgetting about his original question and taking mental note of Daruun's experiences.

"That week passed quickly and I hadn't bothered counting the days or even considering the offer I had long forgotten. The day after that encounter I left the city on a journey to procure a new product from a distant village. I was gone for an entire week and was glad to return to see my wife again…

"Before I entered my home, I saw the doors and surrounding walls battered and destroyed. Some parts of the wall were still on fire, gradually spreading across the property. I rushed inside to see my worst nightmare I had never imagined…"

Daruun's face was deadpan, emotionless. His eyes were hardened and lifeless.

"When I entered my home… I wasn't welcomed by what I found… I was destroyed…" The calm-minded Daruun struggled to get the words out of his mouth. "In the main hall, I found my father-in-law chained up by the same guards he had hired to protect his home… In front of him was my mother-in-law… being raped… by the same merchant who had made me the offer to betray my father-in-law…"