The Achievement Junkie

"Grixor…" After a long period of silence among the gods at Glacier Keep, Torian finally got up and approached his long-time friend. "What's the matter? Still got that on your mind?"

"Yeah… I can't forget about it…" Grixor mumbled.

"Well, you don't need to forget it but you shouldn't get hung up on it."

Nodding, Grixor sighed and finally looked away from the mystery man, "I know… It's just… How was it so easy for him?"

"Well, given his many affinities that compliment each other to create a single powerful thrust, it would make sense that he can deal a lot of damage. But he's also one of those glass-cannon heroes," argued Torian, trying to cheer up his pal. "Sure, they can deal a lot of damage but they break with a single hit. That's all you have to remember. If he attacks you, wouldn't a trading blow be best in your case?"

"Not a bad strategy…" Grixor took a deep breath as he felt a bit better. "I'll remember that for later."

Out of nowhere, a small purple flash caught everyone off guard. All the legendary gods turned to watch the mystery man stand up and be engulfed in spatial energy as if he were teleporting casually. But the moment the flash ended, they spotted no difference as he sat back down to lounge against the wall.

"Torian… any idea on what just happened?"

"No…"

Both Grixor and Torian were constantly going back and forth on what to believe and not to believe. After learning of Daruun's true level of dominance, they had become the embodiment of controlled fury. Then, after learning more about Halmut's connections and trying the stimulants they both felt a bit better about their current trajectory.

But that didn't mean they hated how mysterious the other faction of gods was becoming. They had only seen four gods after entering the deep sea and none of them revealed anything about their level. Considering that they had definitely grown stronger somehow, the mystery of their true strength left Torian and Grixor feeling slightly hesitant and less confident. And the addition of the helmed swordsman as a god only made that worse, given that they had no clue what level he was and they felt assuming his level wouldn't be accurate either after seeing the man injure Grixor casually.

The strange scene of spatial energy just complicated things more. They were silent again as everyone tried to keep cool and attempt to understand what the helmed man was up to. Only a few minutes later, the incident happened again with the same scene repeating itself.

"Torian! I ordered for all fruits to be delivered!"

As Halmut's imminent roar finally arrived, Torian nodded to Grixor as they both took out contact crystals. Torian stated, "Hal-- Your excellency, know that the fruits would all spoil before their eaten and go to waste if we did that. Also, after so many--"

"I ordered you to bring them all! What else matters?!"

"You know what… lately you've been acting like a lunatic, Halmut," replied Torian, not in the mood to stroke the Sun God's ego. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've gone--"

"I'M NOT CRAZY!!!"

"Halmut, just calm down and we can talk. After eating so many fruits, their effect wears off until at least a day passes, according to Kylon. This way, we can maximize their effect and--"

"I made an order and you failed to deliver yet again!" shouted Halmut, disregarding Torian's logic.

"If you would calm down and properly assess our situation, then we can--"

"I expect you to obey without issues from now on! If you want any more stimulants, then you'd best behave!"

"I… yes, Halmut…" Surprising himself, Torian was shocked he had agreed the moment the stimulants were mentioned. For some reason, the thought of having more stimulants made his pores tingle, as if his pores were drooling and anticipating a marvelous meal.

Grixor spoke up as well, "Halmut, what about those four Flood Dragons? Will they--"

"Don't worry about them. Focus on the keep and nothing else now! You've already failed me again and again so just focus on one thing for now. Getting me the treasure of Glacier Keep!" Halmut roared. "Then… and only then… will you get another batch of stimulants."

"Y-yes… Halmut…"

"Good… then don't bother me until you've entered the keep!"

Pounding his contact crystal into the black-screened viewing table, Halmut snarled, "Why do they always fail me?! Are they that incompetent? Was I that terrible at choosing worthy subordinates?!"

Roars echoed through the destroyed interior of Olympic Chateau. Every time Halmut was left alone the destruction would only get worse and worse.

"Such a simple task… Yet they still fail! We're so close… Why fail me now?!" Clutching his fists, Halmut extracted energy from more stimulants as fast as his body could process it. The Sun Dragon was doing everything he could to get his next high yet he only trembled worse as took in more stimulant energy. "I NEED MORE! MORE!!"

Finally, Halmut ripped his fist through the air and down into the viewing table. As it shattered and shards of crystal spread through the room, Halmut's lip quivered. "Just… HURRY UP ALREADY! It's almost time… FINALLY!"

"Rest?"

Halmut abruptly stopped shaking, but for only a moment. "I should rest? Yes… I… I haven't rested… I need rest for tomorrow…"

As a high-level god on the very brink of ascending to a two-star cosmician, Halmut was able to go for long stretches of time without rest or sleep and feel little to no effect. However, that didn't help his mental state. Being under constant threat and feeling forced further into a corner each day would gradually chip away at Halmut, and the faux-ore was ultimately unhelpful like any overused drug would be.

Alone with no one to witness his descent to insanity, how could Halmut not feel tempted to sleep? How could he not want to pause everything and rest for once in such a long time?

Such a temptation was too hard for Halmut to overcome when he knew deep down that he needed energy and mental clarity for the next day. Otherwise, his plan would fall apart.

Such an opportunity was also exactly what Sterfen had been waiting for.