The Achievement Junkie

Taking his time, Jack spotted the items he was most interested in, narrowing his options of what to grab first.

There was a hand-crafted, legendary bow made entirely with legendary materials. According to his system, the bow boosted agility, attack, magic attack, and even the speed of a mount. It's most outstanding effect was the versatility of magic type. It allowed you to cast spells into the arrows it shot, launching the spells on impact.

Apart from that, there was a katana with a black blade and a blood-red hilt. It only boosted attack and agility but to the absolute extreme. It carried two magic affinities, dark and fire. Also, it would amplify any dark and fire type mana used in attacks. Like the bow, it was also hand-crafted and made custom by an ancient hero with legendary materials.

Other legendary items could be found but those two, in particular, were the most eye-catching to Jack. He had just reached lv. 88 and would be able to wield them immediately.

Taking that into consideration, Jack pondered a strategy, finally. He wondered if this is what Daruun meant about a path showing itself. Jack was now lv.88 and would be able to wield all of the legendary weapons laying around the ninety-ninth floor. With so many legendary items, Jack would feel more confident taking on the lv. 89 boss.

It still wasn't a guaranteed win but it was better than anything else he thought up.

Keeping Duorda's appearance in mind, Jack stood beside the bow. The hero then looked to the not-so-distant katana, followed by another legendary item, and another legendary item. Jack spent the next minute or so locating each legendary item in accordance to his current location.

Taking a final, calming breath, Jack assumed his minokawa transformation. Following the path he had just created on the spot, Jack rocketed through the air after snatching the bow from the ground.

The speeding hero grabbed the katana next. One by one Jack rushed by the legendary items and stored them away.

But as Jack picked up the third legendary item, a voice echoed through the chamber, "Will you show yourself, or shall I find you?"

Glancing to the side, Jack noticed murky, black energy gather atop the black steps. Out of that darkness a single, human-sized being stepped out. It wore a white robe that appeared to be worn out from wind and storm. There were no eye-catching rings, no spectacular items, and no luxurious accessories. The being was an undead skeleton that looked to come from a human. At first glance, the undead monster appeared to be a common skeleton mage, only utterly insignificant with a uniquely colored robe.

However, there were two defining features of the undead. Within the empty eye sockets, a bead of blood-red light glowed. The color of the skeleton's bones was dark grey and nearly black, heavily contrasting the tattered, pure white robe.

"Will you show yourself, or shall I find you?" the skeleton repeated. "This is the last time I'll ask."

Thanks to his incredible speed, Jack managed to snatch the legendary items as Crypt Lord Duorda waited for a reply. While still invisible, Jack asked, "If I show myself, can we talk before fighting? I'm sure you've been rather lonely down here, Duorda."

"I don't mind chatting first," stated Duorda, catching Jack off guard. "Now show yourself."

Seeing that Duorda dissipated all of his gathered energy, Jack complied. The hero became visible as he stood only twenty meters from the dungeon boss. There wasn't a single weapon in his hands nor was there a look of anger on his face.

Duorda spotted his challenger and asked, "Why come alone? You know of me yet you think I'm so easily defeated?"

"Mind if I call you Duorda? You can call me Jack if you like."

"Jack…" The crypt lord tilted his head back and forth while analyzing Jack. "Have we met before, by any chance?"

"You could say that, but not while I'm in this body. The last time I fought you was over one thousand years ago," Jack answered.

"One thousand years ago… But you haven't fought me since before the wave?"

"The wave? What's that?" asked Jack.

Duorda explained, "I've been in isolation for thousands of years. I know that gods have come to exist yet have never met them. All I know of the outside world are the few things that I learn from fallen opponents.

"In the past five hundred years, I've had had little to no opponents, something that I attribute to the wave that I mentioned. A wave of ethereal, invisible energy passed through my chambers at that time and since then challengers decreased until they stopped appearing altogether. I'm unsure if others knew of this wave's existence though, as the challengers at the time seemed to be unaware of it."

"If it was invisible, then how could you see it?" asked Jack.

"I answered your question, so now you answer one of mine," Duorda nonchalantly insisted. "You claimed to have faced me one thousand years ago, or five centuries before the wave. If that's true, then explain how such a thing is possible. I'm intrigued."

Smiling, Jack shrugged and put together a fitting answer, "That's only possible because my soul was summoned to this time in a new body."

"Your soul was summoned? Who has such power to summon souls into a newly created body? Was it one of those gods?"

"I answered you already, so I'll--"

"Give me a complete answer or we fight now."

Hearing Duroda's casual but cold tone, Jack nodded and continued, "My soul was summoned by Daruun, who also created this new body of mine. Do you know who Daruun is?"

"Daruun… You say Daruun was the one to summon your soul?" Duorda asked rhetorically, looking down to the ground. "Daruun…"

"I take you at least know who Daruun is, right? In that case, how could you see that invisible wave?" asked Jack.

"Daruun…" Duorda mumbled once more to himself, ignoring Jack's question.

Suddenly, black, murky energy flooded the entire ninety-ninth floor in an instant. Jack could feel it oozing over his skin it was so dense. The hero shouted, "You said we could--"

"Daruun summoned you?!" Duorda shouted, letting the energy condense even more as the red glow in his eye sockets grew furious.