Chapter 334 Convincing Dradich
"King Wilheim, can you hear? Hello…" Inside the beast's massive maw, Jack was sitting on the creature's firm tongue with his contact crystal in hand.
"Jack? Is that you? Sorry for the wait, I was in a meeting."
"That's fine, I just wanted to inform you of something before you freak out in surprise."
"Then give me a moment to find somewhere more private." As King Wilheim hurried through the palace halls toward his office, he squinted. A few minutes later the king continued, "Alright, I'm ready to talk. What's going to happen now?"
"First, have you visited Lunara yet?"
"Ummm…"
"Don't tell me that the mighty King Wilheim hasn't yet gone to visit the Water Goddess, the same goddess that your family has worshiped and admired for so long?" Jack sighed. "Why not?"
"Well… I've been so busy, and with the yearly auction not long ago we had to travel and prepare other things."
"No more excuses, I need you to go up there immediately. Actually… It might be easier for me to send her to you."
"What?!"
Jack looked up to the top of the wyrm's mouth. "Hey! Dradich, can you let that old mage inside here? I need to speak with him!"
Upon Jack's questioning, Dradich opened his mouth yet again to allow Tralon entry. As the old man walked in, Jack pulled out a couple of kari crystals to give them some light as Dradich closed his mouth again.
"Wait a moment, King Wilheim. Let me call Lunara real quick" Jack then looked to Tralon and ignored the king's babbling as he ended their conversation. 'Tralon, I'm going to need your services soon, so just wait a bit.'
Tralon sighed and nodded, defeated. During this trip, he had been more of a travel service than anything else. It was partially due to his decrease in level but mainly because of Jack's unorthodox tactics, which he supported.
"Lunara? Are you doing alright?"
Only a few seconds later, a familiar feminine voice replied, "I'm doing fine, but I'm lonely without my husband. How're you and Lina doing?"
"Lina's doing great! She's helped in ways that I didn't expect. Did you know she already has the devour skill?"
"Really?! So soon?!" Lunara shouted with joy. "I'm so proud of her!"
"As for me, I'm briefly away from the rest of the party at the moment. I needed to enter the Leisure Guild's storehouse to reclaim some things," Jack added. "It's been so long since I made this place, that it's turned into a bunch of thriving ecosystems filled with beasts that Kartonia hasn't seen for some time."
"Really? What are you after in there?" Lunara asked.
"An item that didn't do much for me in the past but might help me better contact Daruun now. Also, I've been recruiting people and beasts to our cause. You'll never guess what beasts I found on the ice floor deep in my dungeon."
"You have a floor filled with ice?" Lunara questioned, a tone of excitement in her voice.
"You didn't know… Hmm, I thought you would know about this place since you're always with Sterfen. Let's talk about the dungeon later, what you need to know is that I found a group of Glacier Wyrms down here."
"Glacier Wyrms?! Jack, you must bring them to me!"
"I'm doing that now. I'm currently convincing them to join you in Aazoon. We'll open a spatial rift and send them right to you. I just need to know whether you're able to leave the mountain and visit the king in Frostburn City. Is that too much to ask?"
"No, that's one of the few things I'm allowed to do," replied Lunara. "So long as I'm within the Icicle Mountains and don't make a scene in the city, then I'll be fine."
"Good, I'll make sure the king prepares someone to welcome you privately and takes you to him. How soon will you be there?"
"In about a minute or so." A low hum sounded from Lunara's crystal, the same hum that came from a teleportation circle. "Tell him to hurry."
"Okay, I'll tell him now! Thanks, Mom!"
"No, thank you! I'm glad to have such a capable son." Lunara chuckled as the conversation was cut short.
Reconnecting to the king's contact crystal, Jack spoke up, "King Wilheim! Hurry and prepare someone to receive Lunara! She'll be at your front door any minute."
"WHAT?! How can I--"
"Also, don't tell anyone of her identity. She's not wanting to be worshipped. We just need to inform you of a few things privately. Okay?"
"Okay… Then I'll send someone immediately!"
Jack patiently waited as Lunara then arrived at the icy palace and was directed to a spare guest room. Wilheim was waiting silently inside, unbeknownst to the servant, shaking with nerves as the door opened to reveal the beautiful Lunara in her frosty blue dress.
Once the door shut, Wilheim cast silence and bowed. "Y-your Holiness!"
"I appreciate the bows, but how about we begin the discussion. Let's touch crystal's so Jack can fill us in on the rest."
"Right…"
When both crystals made contact, Jack began to explain everything. "So, before you two get acquainted, let me tell you what I'm about to do. I'm going to have Tralon open a spatial rift and send fourteen Glacier Wyrms into the Icicle Mountains."
"WHAT?!" Not ready for such a statement, King Wilheim interjected. "Jack! You can't just--"
"He's doing this for my sake, King Wilheim," stated Lunara, getting the king to shut up instantly. "Jack, continue."
"They want to be reunited with their greatest ancestor, Lunara, and Lunara could use the power of such strong underlings. I'm not sure about the other eleven, but the three I'm currently with are all over lv. 60 and can create frost bodies that almost rival Bowzer's flame body," explained Jack.
"And King Wilheim, don't worry about them since they'll be serving Lunara. I'm sure they won't rampage through your city or Aazoon without an order."
The king swallowed some saliva as Lunara giggled at the statement.
"This won't be long term though, at least I don't think so," added Jack, surprising both King Wilheim and Lunara.
"What do you mean, Jack?" asked the goddess.
Jack answered, "I'm sure Sterfen will fill you in more once he returns, but I'll give you the gist of our current plans. Soon, we'll be bringing gods back into public view, at least in Trodar. That's all part of the plan to get you, Lunara, protected inside of Trodar, away from the influence you despise."
Lost and utterly confused, King Wilheim failed to understand the situation.
"That… Of course, he would try something like that," Lunara chuckled, thinking of her husband. "I hope you've got a place suitable for me prepared. That glacial floor of your dungeon doesn't sound bad at all."
"You know… that's not a bad idea…" Inspiration struck Jack as he started to take that thought and run with it. "I'll have to add something to this place, but you might be right, Lunara."
"I'm so proud of my son, gathering the gods for the sake of his tired mother." Lunara showed a warm smile.
"WHAT?!" no longer able to keep up with the conversation at all, Wilheim shouted. "What's going on--"
"King Wilheim, I'm just letting you know that strong beasts, the likes of which even you can't control, will be entering the Icicle Mountains. But they'll be controlled by Lunara, so don't be afraid. Just make sure no one goes out there and angers them, okay?"
"I… I can make sure that won't happen," replied Wilheim, a bit calmer after remembering he had shouted at a goddess.
"Then I'll have Tralon open the rift in five minutes at Glacier Peak. He should remember that place."
"We'll be waiting." Lunara smiled and disconnected the conversation. "Come on, Wilheim. We'd better take the teleportation circle if you want to get there soon enough."
"What?"
Nervously following the goddess out of the room and through the halls, King Wilheim baffled the servant and nobles throughout the palace. His action of following such a gorgeous, unknown woman was unusual and striking. Even Willim caught a glance at the two of them before they exited the palace and hurried to the base of Glacier Peak.
Jack, on the other hand, looked to Tralon with a proud smile.
"I'm assuming I'll be opening a rift to Glacier Peak if I heard correctly," stated Tralon.
"Yup. Go on out and wait for the other wyrms to arrive."Jack's smile grew wider as he thought about Dradich becoming companions with Argyle. "Hey, Dradich! You may want to let us out so you can properly call your fellow wyrms. If they don't arrive in five minutes, then they'll get left behind!"
'Where's your proof?'
"In five minutes, you'll have your proof when we open a rift in space. You'll be able to peak through it and see for yourself!"
'... Very well. But you'll remain in my mouth as I see things for myself. I don't want there to be any tricks involved.'
"Fine, I can do that," laughed Jack, amazed by how astute the ancient wyrm was.
Both Jack and Tralon exited the wyrm's mouth, allowing the colossal beast to roar and shake the snow around them.