The Achievement Junkie

Jack clutched the key with all his strength, which was just enough to keep a firm hold of it.

Notifications were flooding the corner of Jack's vision, reminding Jack of the meaning behind his victory. Also, this prompted Jack to open the menu and notice something interesting.

His level had gone up. It had shot up from the peak of lv. 88 to the very tip of lv. 89, giving some explanation for the minor relief that allowed Jack to hobble around. In fact, Jack's system showed that he still had a surplus of EXP that should've propelled Jack directly into lv. 90. But Jack hadn't.

After opening his notifications, however, Jack learned why. The first of many notifications caught Jack off guard.

[Mandatory System Update]

[Insufficient skill points to perform the process. Required: 30,000 skill points]

Already weak from the fight, Jack groaned and fell back onto his rear. He knew that something was going to be expensive thanks to Daruun's advice but Jack didn't want it to be quite so costly.

Jack allowed the other notifications to play through as well, letting his new achievements console him.

[Who's the boss? I'm the boss!: completed]

[New dungeon record!: completed]

[First ever victor: completed]

Opening them one by one, Jack claimed the massive rewards with a tired smile and let their descriptions sink into his mind.

[Who's the boss? I'm the boss!: claimed]

[Successfully take on more than one hundred coordinated experts over lv. 80 and come out on top. Legendary reward: 3,000 skill points.]

[New dungeon record!: claimed]

[As a solo party, conquer all ninety-nine floors of Earthen Keep in record time, even when compared with hundred-man raids. Legendary reward: 4,000 skill points]

[First ever victor: claimed]

[Become the first person in history to defeat the temple guardian, claim the entrance's key, and gain the right to enter Daruun's Temple. Divine reward: 10,000 skill points]

Twenty-six thousand four hundred and seventy-six skill points… Reading his new total filled Jack with satisfaction, only to remember that he was still short of paying for his system update. And that's not including how Jack felt knowing that all of his hard-earned points would imminently vanish in a single instance.

Jack was still taking everything in for a moment, especially the confirmation of that door leading to Daruun's temple, when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Hey, Jack! You forgot about me!"

Looking near the entrance of the ninety-ninth floor, Jack spotted the white skull laying on the ground. "I thought…"

"Tell you what," Duorda stated, "you take me to reunite with my body and I'll heal you up. How's that sound?"

"Duorda… You just tried to kill me… And I'm exhausted…" reasoned Jack. "If I tried to do that now… I'd collapse and--"

"Don't worry about that. I'll make sure you're able to walk in no time, just get me to my body," Duorda interrupted, unconvinced. "Besides, we're allies now. You may have used some dirty tricks to get the job done, but that's just the way the world works. You won fair and square. Now take me to my body and I'll patch you up before we go see Daruun."

"We?" Jack sighed, taken aback by Duorda's bluntness.

"Mhmm. Now pick me up and take me to my body!"

"One sec…"

Taking his time, Jack got up from his knees one leg at a time. Still using his "bladed crutches", Jack gradually neared the disembodied skull. Finally, Jack picked the skull up and held it against his side. "How can you heal me like this? My body is a wreck on the inside. Magic can't--"

"Magic can't fix anything, but I can," Duorda confidently responded. "You'll see. Just get me my body and you'll be feeling better in no time."

Jack hesitated to forcefully use the last bit of mana he had. The only time he had felt relief from mana exhaustion was when Daruun had healed him after a successful summoning. Tying Duorda to Daruun did help the skeleton's case though, as did the confirmation of Duorda being the guardian of Daruun's temple.

"Fine… but you owe me one…"

Duorda agreed, "Very well, now let's go!"

Taking a deep breath, Jack felt the last of his mana squees out of his exhausted body. The pair was transported away and instantly arrived on the empty third floor of the storehouse.

"Finally!" Duorda laughed, spotting his body nearby. His bones came back to life, reassembling and rushing to pick up Duorda's skull. After reattaching his skull to his neck, Duorda moved around for a few seconds. "That's much better… You have no idea what it feels like to lose your body like that. Jack?"

The white skeleton found the silent Jack lying on the ground. Shrugging, Duorda squatted over Jack to get a better look at the unconscious hero.

"He really did a number on himself. I can't heal that without time, at least not fully…"

Holy energy washed over Duorda's bony hands as the skeleton pressed into Jack's chest. Rather than pure, shining holy energy, however, the holy energy that Duorda used was murky and cloudy, like the draining miasma from earlier but white.

A few moments later, Jack sighed and blinked. He was unsure as to how, but Jack was waking up to the sight of the strange holy energy.

"What… What kind of energy is that?" Jack asked, certain that it wasn't anything he'd ever seen before.

"It's not magic," answered Duorda. "I'm not originally from Kartonia, so my full abilities can't be explained with your logic. Now stand up. I did my best so I'm sure you can at least run around."

Taking Duorda's advice, Jack jumped to his feet. Some soreness lingered across all of Jack's joints and muscles, even his veins, but Jack could move without any real pain at least.

"Now, take us back. I gave you some mana and Daruun is waiting for us," stated Duorda, catching Jack's attention.

Placing a hand on Duorda's shoulder, Jack used Greater Teleportation to carry the two of them back to the ninety-ninth floor.