The Achievement Junkie

Thinking back a moment ago, Tralbok originally thought he had miscounted. But it was then that Tralbok realized why he spotted only seven swords. The eighth hand had stolen the God of Time's storage ring while Jin phased through him. It was a feat worthy even of Rikko.

With a big grin, Moranti didn't hold himself back. The God of Space snatched the ring and scanned through its contents with haste.

"Oosam! Get us out of here!" Tralbok shouted in pure terror, not wasting any time as he rushed toward the Illusion God with abundant use of time and lightning magic.

Oosam also acted immediately, aware of the sudden shift of the situation. A storm of false doubles exploded out from the Illusion God to form another perfect diversion. The true Oosam reached Tralbok with his wind magic and used a spell scroll to teleport away.

They barely managed to miss the beautiful scene of Moranti finally reacquainting himself with his long-lost personal weapon. It felt like a piece of him had rejoined him to make Moranti feel whole.

Glad their unorthodox plan worked out in the end, Jack let loose a long sigh.

"Before I congratulate you all and thank you, lets head somewhere else…" Moranti clung to his scythe, jabbing into his body without doing himself any harm. At the same time, a rush of spatial energy inundated the area to envelop all of Moranti's rescuers.

Unlike the times when Jack and Tralon had teleported, there was no flash. Instead, the spatial energy seemed to implode into nothingness.

On the other end of their teleportation, everyone reappeared in Gilga. They were in the sky overlooking the Leisure Guild. Also, they were now gathered together and no longer spread apart like before. Not only had Moranti teleported them all away, but he had repositioned everyone with little to no difficulty.

Removing the scythe from his body, Moranti brought the blade to his lips and kissed it. Only after that did he look to everyone else with a smile. "Who is it I have to thank?"

Jin chuckled and pointed Jack while he dispersed his illusory arms. "My nephew planned that, so he should get most of the credit."

"So you came up with that little scheme? Thank you!" Moranti stored his scythe and opened his arms with a toothy grin. Jack was then teleported in front of Moranti, making it easy for the God of Space to embrace his hero. "You don't want to know what would've happened if you were much later. If we were closer to Olympic Chateau, Torian may have shown up and ruined everything."

Keeping that in mind, Jack chuckled while he patted Moranti on the back. "Does this mean you'll be joining us?"

"Duh!" shouted Moranti. "If I wasn't the first god to form a contract, I would've known better in the first place!"

"I'm glad to hear that. With you on our side, Halmut will bide his time before attacking," Eedaj stated. "Your presence here changes everything. It means we're now the strongest faction."

"I wouldn't say that…" Moranti sighed, catching the others off guard.

Choron added, "He's right. But let's get back to everyone else. It will be easiest to explain things only once."

"Right… Then let's go…" Jack nodded and let go of Moranti.

Jack was the first to land, reverting to his normal form and leading the gods toward the restricted area. At the same time, he called everyone telepathically to inform them of the rescue party's return.

The rescue party was the last to reach Dragov's courtyard, but they were only a few minutes behind the others.

Moranti was eager to speak his mind. However, the God of Space was immediately sidetracked from the moment he stepped into the dug-out courtyard. The sight of another from his race nearly drove Moranti to tears.

"Jack… How did you--"

"That's Karronteel," Jack answered while Moranti pointed at the Spectral Dragon testing his new strength against Dragov's hard exoskeleton. "He had been trapped inside a summoning amulet that I got from one of the auction houses. Since none of them understood the ancient text, I got it for cheap."

Suddenly, Moranti pulled Jack in for another hug. Only this time, Jack felt his shoulder moisten.

"You should go and talk with him. He's a huge fan of yours!" Jack joked, nudging Moranti forward.

Rather than run, the God of Space instantaneously teleported to the bottom of the steps. He now stood in the air between Dragov and Karronteel, the water still apparent in his eyes.

At first, Karronteel and Dragov were confused but Moranti's form changed in the next instant. Moranti expanded into a fifty-meter tall Spectral Dragon, awing both of the sparring beasts.

"Moranti!" Karronteel shouted in excitement. "I-it's really you! I knew you'd be alright!"

The fifty-meter Spectral Dragon nodded and smiled at the twenty-five-meter Spectral Dragon. "You're Karronteel, right? Have you already partnered with Jack?"

"Yes!"

"Good… He's the one who saved me just a few moments ago," Moranti stated, sending waves of gratitude over Karronteel's heart. "I saw what he was capable of and I agree that he's the most suitable partner. Only, as he'll soon ascend to godhood, so should you."

With the simple extension of his long tail, Moranti touched the younger dragon's forehead. A dazzling purple light burst out from within Karronteel, not surprising anyone.

"Now, you'll do our people proud," added Moranti.

"Always!"

Karronteel understood what had just happened thanks to witnessing Lorwynn and Kori activating their temporary potential. Like the others, Karronteel had proudly become a demigod.

"Make sure to ascend as quickly as possible. If you don't ascend soon enough, I may lose my life," Moranti stated, startling everyone apart from the gods. Continuing, Moranti sighed, "Such is life… We have to accept past decisions and make the most of them."

"Why do you say that?" Jack asked.

Turning to the young hero, Moranti answered, "Because that's what's stated in my contract. I was the first god to accept a contract so the conditions could never get so complicated. My only condition is that I need to reach lv. 99."

"You mean you need to reach lv. 99 before Skaryn is unsealed?" reasoned Jack.

"Something like that…" Moranti shrugged. "There's a chance that Skaryn won't do anything though, so long as Tralbok doesn't kiss up to him like always."

"What level are you now?"

"Lv. 97. But don't underestimate me. I'll go toe-to-toe with halmut if I need to. I can't overpower that pestro but it's almost always a fair fight," stated Moranti. "That's not counting when he cheats though. Halmut does that a lot…"

"No kidding…" Lunara angrily sighed, reminded of many past memories involving both Halmut and Naparn during the Godly War. Kori also nodded, completely understanding how they felt.

Jack couldn't help but chuckle to hear Moranti using Pestro's name in such a way, catching him off guard. But he quickly returned to his thought about Moranti's unexpected statement. "When you say that Skaryn may not do anything, what do you mean?"

"Just that. Is that hard to understand?" the God of Space chuckled.

"I thought that--"

"You don't know Skaryn or Halmut." Moranti explained, "Let me preface our discussion with some background information.

"Back in the day, thousands of years ago, Skaryn and Halmut were companions bearing the first-ever mutual beast seal. Together, they ascended to godhood with Daruun's divine assistance. They remained great friends for quite a while but being the first to ascend fueled their greed unlike ever before."

While most everyone was startled, Moranti continued, "I was the first strike against their friendship. As aiding demigods ascend gave EXP, both of them fought to have me join them. I chose Skaryn in the end because he didn't threaten me or try to control me. Also, his offered contract was much better than Halmut's, so it was a no brainer."

"But why are you sure he wouldn't do anything?" Jack continued to instigate.

"Because we're also mutual companions."