The Achievement Junkie

While the hidden room was eerily quiet, a flash of purple energy appeared. Another man had returned to the scene of his own crime, smiling at what was left of the place.

Jack's double chuckled and retrieved the key card from their shared pocket dimension. He sighed at the unchanged number on the display but shrugged and moved on. Not getting any keys from the twins was inevitable in order to protect the card from the incredible explosion.

Now, an ethereal, humanoid was beginning to take shape not-to-far from Jack's double. That quickly started to gain a physical body once again, proving to be the man of the hour and Jack's other half.

Jack's double immediately stepped forward to cast revivification. The speed at which Jack's body began to reform sped up slightly. Sadly, that increased speed didn't last for even a second, proof that using such a tactic recklessly would likely cause terrible consequences.

Putting the aside, Jack's double scanned over the hundreds of silvery cores lying on the ground. He took his time walking across the room while flicking small spectral flares. The cores were all destroyed in the flames, letting Jack watch his key count skyrocket. Soon, he reached the purple barrier at the end of the room, smiling in satisfaction.

Five hundred keys were necessary to open that slim, purple barrier. And thanks to the annihilation of more than two hundred high-level constructs, Jack had just enough to claim his prize.

But he waited. With a shared mind, Jack's double walked back to his other half to at least be able to walk. Considering the visible speed of his recovery, Jack assumed it wouldn't take too long. After fifteen minutes of silent thought and reflection, Jack's double approached his newly-formed self with a half-smile.

Though Jack's body had finished reforming, there was no way it was going to be moving on its own any time soon.

Remembering how revivification did so little, Jack tried something different. His double cast mana share, divvying up his remaining energy between his two bodies. What Jack didn't expect was how much mana was wasted in that effort. Jack's second body still had about two-thirds of his mana left due to only teleporting and keeping Wollice on his toes. But using mana share robbed his second body of nearly all energy, leaving him on the brink of mana depletion. That was also how much energy Jack's revived body now had, apparently dumping the rest of that unused mana into Jack's dormant body.

Taking a deep breath, Jack's revived body was now able to move with only some soreness. But there was no way that the revived body would be joining any battles for a time period that was likely much longer than Jack would like.

Able to stand, Jack took back his card and his two bodies walked to the purple barrier. Anxiously, Jack dumped nearly all of his newly gained keys to open the final barrier standing between him and his newest, event-based achievement. But Jack was sad to see that his expected achievement hadn't been earned.

Jack then gripped the final purple core and noticed something new about it. There was a faint white light at the center. When Jack turned the core in his fingers, the light would never diminish or change, staying constant and firm.

As the core was crushed, Jack watched his card change color as well. It had become purely purple and there were no longer any numbers displayed.

While Jack received a notification from his system, a verbal announcement played throughout the room.

"Congratulations!"

Suddenly, spatial energy enveloped both Jack and his double. They were forcibly pulled out of Glacier Keep and into the waiting area. To their surprise, they weren't the only ones forced out of the challenge.

CLAP!

Everyone's attention shifted to the man standing on the platform, who immediately spotted Jack among the crowd. "This challenge is over! Thank you for--"

"HEY!!"

In the middle of the man's announcement, a familiar voice shouted as a raging wind blade was snuffed out. Jack's double had immediately equipped a basic roxite helmet but both he and his double found Skaryn from his angry shout.

The Dark God had slashed through a plethora of wind blades while he stood atop the amputee Halmut, which left Jack stunned with a single glance. But he was startled again as Tralbok appeared at Halmut's side with the aide of time magic. Tralbok then used his amulet to teleport away, narrowly avoiding Skaryn's counterattack and carrying Halmut to somewhere that should be safer for them.

"GET BACK HERE!" Moranti shouted, placing a hand on Skaryn's shoulder. Both then teleported away, following after their runaway foes.

"Don't mind them," commented the plain-looking man, demanding everyone's attention. "I'm sure they'll handle their disputes, but we must first congratulate the first-ever winner of Glacier Keep. Jack Accrutya!"

Jack was taken aback at how casual the man handled the sudden attack in the waiting area while also realizing that Oli was no longer in the room. Had Oli been there, Jack was sure that Tralbok would never have managed to escape. Then again, Jack didn't doubt the dynamic duo of Skaryn and Moranti who would never allow Tralbok and Halmut to escape, even if Halmut had all of his limbs.

But Jack then realized that something else more surprising had occurred. As the plain-looking man pointed at Jack in the crowd, everyone around Jack was speechless while they locked their gazes on Jack like he was a rare, endangered species that might vanish without a trace. It only made sense when someone finally shouted out everyone's shared thoughts.

"No wonder!" Woltin was the first to rush to Jack, holding out his hand with pride.

Wollice wasn't far behind, grabbing Jack's other hand. "You're related to the district leader?! Of course, you're not interested in working for us!"

"Yeah… I'm not exactly trying to--"

"It was an honor to lose to you, given how spectacular our fight was!" Woltin added, jumping to Jack's side and throwing an arm around him. He then whispered, "Don't worry, you're secret's safe with us."

Sighing, Jack threw an arm around each twin and laughed, "So, I take we can be friends?"