Chapter 407 Why Is My Tomb There?!?!
"You're kidding me, right?"
"No, Jack, what you're reading is the truth."
A whole new flood of emotions overtook Jack, switching from excitement to anxiety and from uneasiness to wonderment. Even Jack wasn't sure how to take in that information.
"I'm guessing you have some questions based on your baffled expression," added Daruun. "Is my assumption correct?"
Jack slowly nodded. His mouth opened but he only managed to take a deep breath and let out a long sigh. Opening his mouth again, Jack's words finally came out, "Daruun… How can this speed things up? Wouldn't this be an even bigger distraction than trying to level up me and Tralon at the same time?!"
Smiling, Daruun shook his head. "That depends entirely on how you want to reach your tomb. Should you decide to choose common means, then of course it would distract you even more. But, should you attempt it through uncommon means, then you'll be able to accomplish it sooner."
"What kind of uncommon means can get me to the bottom of Earthen Keep sooner?!" Jack shouted, feeling mislead. "How did my body even get down there, anyway?!"
"Don't you remember?" Daruun asked with a joking smile. "Jack, what was the final achievement that you completed in "A "Hero's Tale"?"
"Easy, "All for None, None for All", right? How does…"
"Do you remember now?"
Jack slapped his forehead and dragged his hand down his face. After all the times it took Jack to finally succeed at "All for None, None for All", how could he forget the final success?
"You mean to tell me… that my old character's tomb is on the final floor of the Earthen Keep? The same floor guarded by Crypt Lord Duorda, the hardest boss of "A Hero's Tale"? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"
"Does your system lie?" joked Daruun.
Staring at his still open achievement list, Jack felt defeated.
[Find the tomb: incomplete]
[Find the tomb of Jack_J. on the final floor of Earthen Keep. Reward: 85 skill points. Event reward: 2000 skill points.]
Though he was glad to notice that there was at least an event reward, Jack was still torn as to how he could possibly accomplish the achievement in record time like Daruun was implying.
"Jack, just ask your questions and we'll talk about it. Haven't you already been thinking about how to clear that dungeon?"
"Yeah, but I was going to attempt it after becoming a god or when I've got a few gods to carry me through it," replied Jack.
Daruun smiled teasingly with a chuckle. "But would that get you a legendary achievement, Jack?"
"What do--"
"Don't forget, some of the in-game achievements have been programmed into your system. Have you forgotten your other great achievement involving Earthen Keep?"
Jack blinked and pondered for a moment, only to feel like he was hit over the head by reality as he remembered. "You can't be serious! You want me to solo run it, at my current level?!"
"Yes… and no." Daruun explained, "To earn that achievement, did you have to kill all the mobs?"
"No…" Jack stubbornly replied.
"Did you even have to kill anything?"
"Yes! I had to kill the boss!" shouted Jack, not holding back his fury. "Do you know how long that fight took and how many times I died memorizing all of his attack patterns?! He's a boss built for a hundred man raid, and now he's probably lv. 89!"
"But are you in a game, Jack?"
"I… What do you mean?"
Daruun answered, "Games can only include possibilities that are programmed into them, but what about life? I can assure you that there is a way for you to accomplish that achievement and for you to earn the legendary achievement along with it. If there's wasn't such a possibility, would I bring it up?"
"That… No, you wouldn't have mentioned it…" Jack agreed, unhappy for Daruun to be right in such a situation.
"Jack, this will allow you access to all the items you held previously and even the items from your personal storage that was within the guild."
"You're the reason that's empty?!" Jack shouted again.
Chuckling, Daruun answered, "Not me, the world. That same integrated mechanic of the world gave you most of Ponlinne's treasures, so why wouldn't it transport your personal goods to your tomb? And since you technically never logged off, I made sure that you were included in those that created a tomb at the end of the servers."
"But… how on earth can I do that now? Maybe if I was at least lv. 80, but now… It should be impossible."
"It's not impossible, just nearly impossible," corrected Daruun. "That's why the system will reward you handsomely for it. Also… I'm sure you'll want to gain those skill points as soon as possible."
"Why's that?" asked Jack.
"Because you'll be glad to have them. Now, aren't you going to ask about how you'll pull off such a stunt?"
"Yes, please elaborate."
"Very well." Daruun explained, "With ninety-nine floors, even running through it without fighting will take you quite a long time to run it. And you'll only be allowed your beast companions, no one else, though you won't need them in my opinion."
"I can't even bring them?!"
"Let me finish," stated Daruun. "Once you're inside Earthen Keep, you shouldn't exit until after you've already entered your tomb. Your teleportation skill is too easily spotted and isn't subtle at all. It would alarm the mobs on whatever floor you attempt to use it on. To exit the dungeon, that's fine. But to reenter the dungeon where you left off, it would get you killed."
"So, if I leave the dungeon early, then I'll have to start all over again?" reasoned Jack, uneasiness plastered on his face.
"Correct. That's why you shouldn't leave until after you've entered the tomb," Daruun repeated. "What you're wondering the most is what will happen on the ninety-ninth floor with Duorda, but I'm sure you'll come up with something."
"That's it?! You're not going to tell me have to evade him or how to do anything?!"
"Nope. I don't want to influence your system and detract from your reward. However, I can guarantee you that there is a way and it will make itself known, given who you are," answered Daruun. "Don't worry too much Jack. Getting there will be easier than you think, so long as you realize how poorly you've been using your pact."
"Poorly?" Curious, Jack asked, "How else am I supposed to use my pact?"
"You've used it well in most cases, but it's potential can't be reached with what you're doing now. It's the way you gain new skills and abilities, which you're decently good at balancing, so you should gather as many as possible. But you've distracted yourself with spells and haven't touched any of the high-level skills that Argyle, Hadurt, or the others can offer you," reasoned Daruun. "You'll need those as well, don't forget that, Jack.
"Also," Daruun continued, "you should be trying to gain the strongest skills from the strongest people, yet you've ultimately failed to do so thus far."
"But I've--"
"Jack, who are the strongest people you know?" asked Daruun.
Shrugging like it was obvious, Jack replied, "Hadurt and Lorwynn, duh."
"Wrong," corrected Daruun. "And this is the root of your failure to magnify the potential of the pact. I even made sure that the system could complement the pact, yet you fail to use it with your strongest allies!"
"What do you…"
"Oh, did it finally hit you?"
"I can use the pact on gods?" Jack asked half-heartedly, finally figuring out what Daruun was implying.
Daruun heaved a sigh of relief. "Finally… You've finally realized what I assumed you would've been doing all along. It's about time, Jack."