The Achievement Junkie

Seeing himself off, Jack left Glacial Palace and made a quick visit to Raztol's humble abode. After making him a demigod as well and momentarily turning down the petition to make Wingreig one as well, Jack returned to Glacial Palace to meet Lunara. Together, they left for Glacier Keep.

They took the long passage through Glacier Reef and reunited with the helmed swordsman on the other side. Their entrance alerted all the other gods.

"And Tralbok?" asked Torian.

Jack smiled and nodded. He contacted Moranti then and there, leading to two figures appearing in a flash of purple energy.

The moment the chains were unlocked, Moranti laughed, "Here, you can have this as a bonus!" Moranti shoved Tralbok toward the legendary gods while lobbing a potion.

Torian snatched the potion and Grixor caught the red-faced Tralbok. They quickly administered the potion and healed the minor injuries that littered Tralbok's body.

"That ungrateful, blasted imbecile!" shouted Tralbok, attempting to stare a hole into Moranti's skull.

"Want to fight? I'm down!"

The God of Time started taking deep breaths as he walked towards the trees. Wanting what everyone else had yesterday, Tralbok didn't want to waste energy or time before entering the unknown dungeon that was Glacier Keep.

Now, all they could do was wait.

Time passed at a decent pace. Everyone was either meditating, snacking on their second batch of fruit, or chatting within separate bubbles of silence.

"Shouldn't we include him?" asked Lunara.

"Nah, don't worry about him," replied Jack. "He'll be fine."

"Well… what should I even call him?"

"Rynheart," Moranti answered, catching Lunara off guard. "Though he doesn't say much so don't expect a conversation. Best to let him be vigilant as always and inform him when necessary."

"Okay…" Nodding, Lunara reassessed Rynheart and took note for later.

Jack added, "He's also a lot stronger than you'd expect, so don't worry about him much. If anything, we can count on him to be a unique part of the team that can attack with a lot of power without even a moment's notice. And now that we've added dark affinity to his rapier, he'll only be more menacing."

Hours continued to pass and everyone's anxiousness was growing, welling up inside them as they were got closer and closer to entering Glacier Keep. Jack was more excited than usual, not only because of his plan but due to the chance to explore a brand new dungeon. That was a rare event in-game and even rarer after coming to Kartonia. Everyone else felt the same as they hadn't seen a new dungeon in thousands of years. For them, this was nostalgic.

But while everyone was gradually becoming more fixated on the sealed doors under the crystal clear lake, a familiar laugh appeared from above. "Sorry to keep you waiting for so long."

Everyone looked upward with both godly factions feeling differently.

"Don't worry, I've already told you that I hold no grudges for what you've done due to lack of withheld information and unfavorable coincidence," reminded Daruun. "I look forward to seeing you all join the challenge of Glacier Keep. Remember, though you've all forged your own path thus far, you've also been favored by fate on many occasions. Now, it's time to put that to the test."

CLAP!

As Daruun's soft yet thunderous clap filled the chamber, the ground shook momentarily. The icy seal covering the doors shattered as the roxite doors began to move. To everyone's shock, the full view of the roxite doors became clear. Once the icy cover was gone everyone could see that the doors spanned the majority of the lake floor. An ethereal energy still coated the doors though but didn't interfere as those doors opened, proving them to be almost ten meters thick.

Beyond the surreal energy and the now-open doors was a gigantic spatial rift of swirling purple energy.

"I wish you all the best. Now go, before I close the door."

All the gods nodded in unison as if entranced by the swirling vortex below the lake.

"Let's go!" Torian led the charge as the legendary gods took off into the deep lake. They were all equipped with water-breathing chokers thanks to Kylon but they now felt the chokers may not be necessary given the spatial rift.

"Thanks, Daruun!" Jack shouted, being the first from his party to dive into the water.

Moranti bowed and entered next, followed by Lunara. The last person was Rynheart who stood at the lake's edge for a moment before looking upward.

"Go on," Daruun insisted with a warm smile and some water in his eyes. "We can catch up afterward. You should hurry."

"Thanks, Dad…" Having said that, Rynheart dove into the water and passed through the giant, short-range spatial gate.

"Jack and his plans… I've got to give me more credit for his creativity…" Daruun chuckled, waving his hand and shutting the bulky roxite doors. He then vanished, leaving only the thin film of illusory energy covering the doors and not impenetrable ice.

Coming out the other side, Jack was a bit relieved to be breathing air and not be underwater. He turned around to see Moranti and Lunara pass through with Rynheart coming up the rear.

Jack, his party, and the legendary gods all saw the spatial rift close behind them and looked around the giant chamber of roxite hundreds of meters wide. It was an octagonal room with one of the eight sides raised by a dozen or so steps. There, they all fixated on the human man sitting on the top step wearing clothes that reminded Jack of his homeworld.

"So, we finally have some Kartonians joining us!" laughed the man. "It's about time."

Everyone was on edge, especially the legendary gods. Of course, Grixor was the first to ask, "Sir, do you mind if we ask for your name and an explanation?"

"Oh, did Daruun not tell you anything?" The man hopped to his feet and nonchalantly walked down the steps. "You're here to challenge Glacier Keep, right?"

"Yes…" Torian responded. "But what is all this? We've never seen a dungeon like this, nor have we had someone such as yourself greet us upon entering a dungeon."

Sighing and nodding slowly, the man pounded a fist to his chest and beamed. "The name's Oli."