The Achievement Junkie

Chapter 554 A Shocking Realization

Almost half an hour had passed as Duorda and Daruun casually chatted. Duorda was nearly caught up on some of the major events of the district when Daruun glanced at the door. "No need to knock, just come in."

The door creaked open as Jack reentered and returned to his seat. A wry smile was plastered on Jack’s face, and Daruun’s nonchalant smile was exchanged for a shocked expression with a slightly gaping jaw. Even though Daruun had already read Jack’s mind, the hero still asked, "Daruun, is it possible for me to make a pact with you?"

Duorda was left stunned and speechless as he never saw such a thing coming. But Daruun broke out in laughter, unable to control himself for a couple of minutes.

"Sorry... I’m not mocking you..." Daruun stated as he started to gain control of his chuckles. "This... I didn’t expect you to ask me so soon. Of course my grandson is allowed to make a pact with me. But be warned. If you can manage to purchase a single one of my skills early on and be in a position to use such a skill without overloading your body, then you’ll find yourself flying up the ranks faster than you can imagine. But there is a chance you’ll kill yourself should you use certain skills while you’re body isn’t ready to bear such a burden of energy."

"All the more reason to make a pact now!" laughed Jack. "So long as I have Undeath, wouldn’t that keep me from dying in those scenarios?"

"Yes... technically, that would keep you from completely dying. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be restored instantly. The more damage caused to your internals and your mana system, the longer it takes to heal and restore your body," stated Daruun.

"Then I’ll just have--"

"Duorda’s healing won’t help you in such a case," Daruun continued. "Before, you were a mortal. Now, you’re an immortal and your energy is much more potent, to others and yourself. Don’t assume that you can destroy your body endlessly and simply have Duorda bring you back effortlessly. Though he can heal your battle wounds and can heal using raw cosmic energy, healing damage caused by raw cosmic energy still takes quite a while to heal properly. Don’t forget that, ever."

"Alright, alright..." Jack sighed, disappointed to have his bubble burst. "But we can still form a pact?"

Nodding, Daruun motioned for Jack to step forward. Jack did precisely that, standing before Daruun as he excitedly drew the pact upon Daruun’s forehead. Daruun slit the tip of his thumb with one of his fingernails, surprising Jack, and then stamped his thumbprint in blood as a seal of approval to finish the pact.

Jack eagerly opened his skill list, startled to find Daruun’s name appear but for Daruun’s listed skills to remain unknown. Each of Daruun’s skills or spells were listed with the same name, [???], while the costs were the only thing that varied. As for classifying the skills, they still were separated into four categories, plainly listed as [Three-star], [Four-star], [Five-star], and [Six-star]. There was nothing below three-star listed, letting Jack better understand what Daruun meant by his earlier words.

"My skills are nameless for the time being due to their origins outside of Kartonia, or not having been entered in the system manually as I did with Duorda’s, and them being far beyond your current level of strength. Also, if you look at the others’ skills, you’ll notice one of the system’s updates," Daruun mentioned. "All skills that were labeled as personal have been changed to one-star, similar to how your divine rewards are now classified as one-star rewards."

Jack didn’t bother confirming that statement, believing Daruun’s words. His mind was already fully occupied by the costs of all the unknown skills.

"Sure, it’s a lot compared to what you have now, but you’ll get stronger and earn more eventually," added Daruun. "So long as you take advantage of the autogenerated achievements and continue to search for cheats in the system, then you’ll be fine."

"But... So... Duorda’s Undeath is a three-star passive skill, yet your few three-star skills cost at least fifteen thousand more skill points!"

"According to your system, one-star skills and rewards range from two thousand to fifteen thousand skill points," answered Daruun. "Two-star skills and rewards range from fifteen thousand to fifty thousand skill points. Three-star skills and rewards then range from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand skill points, and so on. Duorda’s skill is rare and powerful, but it’s not unbeatable within the void. Many cosmicians four-star or stronger will try to find similar skills or abilities to better their chances at survival. It’s practically required at that level, however, Duorda is unique in how he has the Living Miasma and Dying Miasma skills as well. But, in your case, getting it early is a huge advantage against one-stars and two-stars, especially when you’re confronting groups of them alone."

"Then how come--"

"It’s easier to process the skills of Kartonia due to their dependence on the natural energy of Kartonia. Hence, their reduced cost compared to some of Duorda’s one-star skills which originate from pure cosmic energy," stated Daruun.

"Also, know that the achievement system isn’t as convoluted as you may think, at least in terms of how it functions. It’s directly connected to your body’s incredibly high affinity for cosmic energy, which was more difficult to create than the system itself. By using the latent cosmic energy that your body is storing, it functions according to the programming etched into your body and needs more cosmic energy for more powerful skills and the like. Otherwise, your body wouldn’t be able to handle anything more complex than the simpler ’god system’ I created for Karonia."

"So... The Achievement System is programmed into my body, which you painstakingly created first hand?" Putting some thoughts together, a sudden look of shock overcame Jack. "Am I... a construct?!"

Smiling wide, Daruun nodded. "By technical definition, yes, your body is that of a construct, though your soul not artificial in any way."

Jack frowned but Daruun continued, "And I must say, your body is my greatest masterpiece and was far more difficult to create than Duorda’s. Remember, making constructs with lower levels of strength offer them more potential for growth, but making constructs below the one-star mark is typically looked down on as a waste of time and effort. To counter that belief, it took me nearly a millennia to design and craft your body. But it was worth the effort since you’re officially the first construct to ever become a cosmician and start with absolutely no strength what so ever. So, though your body is that of a construct, you’ve proven to have the greatest potential of any living being that I’ve ever heard of in all my life."

Feeling a bit better about the circumstances, Jack sighed.

Duorda, on the other hand, was booming with laughter, shouting, "No wonder you bested me! In that case, we’re brothers, Jack! I’m proud to know that my younger brother will surpass everything that I’ve done while I help him grow."

"What’s wrong, Jack? Do you not like the system or the body?" asked Daruun, smiling lightly.

"No, that’s not it... It’s not a bad thing, it’s just... I had never considered such a thing before so I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about it," answered Jack.

A resounding slap was heard as Duorda proudly pounded on Jack’s back. "Brother, be proud of your body! With it, along with your unique and matchless skills, you’ll become one of the greatest cosmicians throughout the void!"

"Thanks... Brother," Jack sighed, finally smiling and chuckling along with the other two. He was glad to have not spent any skills points before learning more about how costly his new cosmician skills would be. Now, all that was left was deciding to spend all sixteen thousand extra skill points or not.

"Remember, don’t hold back, Jack," Daruun added. "For now, just let loose to an extent and then purchase undeath after Skaryn’s revival. After that, then consider what you should be saving up for."

Nodding, Jack agreed. The hero opened his system and took a final moment to ponder his spending strategy.