The Achievement Junkie

As the sun began its morning climb, Jack rustled in bed to find a beautiful view. He relaxed and took a moment to admire his three wives.

Sure, they had grown stronger. Eliza was the weakest at lv. 60 while Maura and Daliea barely passed her at lv. 61. But that wasn't what Jack was admiring. Seeing them lying there with him, completely vulnerable yet entirely relaxed and wearing subconscious smiles, Jack would never forget that moment.

Jack carefully crept out of his wives' clutches and dressed himself. He had something to do before breakfast and taking his medicinal bath.

Jogging through the restricted area, Jack soon reached his destination. After a light knock on the door, it opened by itself. Jack stepped inside and approached a smiling Eedaj as the door shut and locked itself. "Maybe I should learn telekinesis too?"

"It has its uses," Eedaj chuckled. "Now… I wanted to speak with you regarding Kylon and her involvement in reviving Skaryn."

"Go ahead. I'm all ears."

Eedaj nodded, casted silence, and continued, "First off, what do you know about Kylon?"

"As the Storm Goddess, she wields water, fire, and electric magics. She's the strongest of Flood Dragons and hails from the ocean's depths," stated Jack.

"That's all?"

"Well, I know she's one of the most skillful gods though she's not known to be forceful. Kylon will fight tactfully with her incredible power, making her able to fight above her level and hold off much stronger foes when necessary," added Jack. "And I once heard that she and Lunara got along really well but I'm not sure about that considering what's happened now."

"Good… then you at least know the basics. But you know nothing of her origins? Or how she ascended?" asked Eedaj.

Jack shook his head, expecting Eedaj to fill in the gaps.

"Allow me to share what I learned from browsing her memories." Pausing to mentally run through the story he was about to tell, Eedaj sighed, "First, you should know that I found an anomaly among her memories."

"What do you mean an anomaly?"

"I believe a portion of her memories is sealed away."

Blinking, Jack was startled to hear that. But

But Eedaj continued, "I did learn a few things, but not as much as I would've hoped. I was busy doing so mid-battle and the anomaly made things a little difficult."

"How come you--

"I told her nothing as many forced memory anomalies usually create triggered responses," stated Eedaj. "If I had asked her about it, then she may have grown more furious and fought me more seriously while I was trying to end the battle quickly. Or she would've denied it and would've denounced her more friendly and calm attitude to our fight.

"Either way, I wasn't able to learn too much. But what I did learn was enough to deduce a few things. First, I learned that she held the final enchantment key. Second, I learned that some of her key memories appeared to be synthetic."

"Synthetic memories? You think she's had false memories implanted in her mind?" asked Jack

Eedaj nodded and added, "I do. But many of her recent memories are rooted from the ones I believe are false. This means that she's made certain actions to more firmly root those memories as true to her subconscious and that she may no longer know who she once was. It would explain why she was so formal with me during our fight yet not as friendly as Oosam, like she once was."

"But do you have any guess as to who could've done this to her?" Jack questioned, still baffled by the core of the problem.

"Maybe I can fill in some blanks…"

A new voice rang out, putting a smile on both Jack's and Eedaj's faces. Eedaj was the first to reply though. "Sterfen… How did you know we were meeting now?"

"I saw Jack making his way here is all," stated Sterfen with a shrug.

"It has nothing to do with your secret affinity for mind magic?" asked Eedaj.

"How could that be a secret? In Kartonia, it's classified under illusion magic, my greatest specialty. So how could I not take time to learn mind magic?" reasoned Sterfen.

Chuckling, Eedaj asked, "Then that's why you're able to secure your mind from my browsing? And the browsing of others as well?"

"Sure, let's go with that." Returning to the subject, Sterfen sighed, "I'm sure Eedaj remembers a few major events that involved Kylon, but I can offer a deeper perspective.'

Jack and Eedaj eagerly waited for the God of Secrets to share his wealth of personal, private knowledge on the topic.

"Jack, you should be able to guess that Kylon possibly came from Kustram, being a Flood Dragon from old times. But I can tell you that she was also the first-ever dragon that Skaryn met. She's the reason that Skaryn became obsessed with dragons. Were you able to see their first meeting in her memories?"

"No… I saw nothing like that."

Elaborating, Sterfen had both listeners on the edge of their seats. "It shouldn't have been difficult to find, given how it should definitely be a key memory for her. They spent a couple of years as sparring partners, honing their skills together and admiring the other's strength. This resulted in Skaryn searching out other dragons as training partners and Kylon sharpening her lightning and fire skills to stand out among the Flood Dragons. It's a foundational memory, so it should've been easier to find than any false memory."

"But…" Jack cut in with a sigh. "Why did Kylon become a holy god?"

"She had no choice," stated Eedaj, catching Jack off guard.

Agreeing with Eedaj, Sterfen explained, "The first and only god that was forced to ascend was Kylon. After leaving to travel the world, Skaryn eventually came back after learning of Kylon's growing fame. He visited her more often than not, even offering her help when it came time to ascend.

"However, Halmut learned of this and paid Kylon a personal visit as well. As the strongest dragon god, Halmut insisted that Kylon join the other dragon gods despite her unwillingness. That's when he forced her to form an unnegotiable contract and pressured her into consuming stimulants to force her ascension on the spot."