Chapter 694: The Third of Two Paths (1/2)

'Jack, everything is taken care of here. Expect a surge in levels, shortly.'

'Thanks, Perchet.'

Relieved to have the skirmish in Galcier Reef end well, Jack finished off the five constructs ranging from lv. 92 to lv. 94. It was quite easy as he engulfed them in a spectral flare, annihilating them long with their cores.

This was the fourth room the party had entered thus far, excluding the empty room in the beginning. In that short period of time, they had learned some of the basics about key drops. They had each earned one key from killing lv. 93 constructs, then passing those four keys to Rynheart. Lunara had earned five keys from destroying a lv. 97 construct, followed by Moranti earning four keys from defeating two lv. 95 constructs or two apiece. And Jack also gained two keys for the lone lv. 94 he had destroyed but only one key for each of the two lv. 93s and the two lv. 92s. Together, the Jack, Lunara, and Moranti now had a combined total of fifteen keys.

Going back to his map, Jack noticed something weird. Originally, the next room had two lv. 94s and one lv. 93 inside while Rynheart had passed to the next room. But now those three constructs were gone and the map still hadn't progressed.

Jack was about to contact Rynheart when the helmed swordsman appeared before the party. Immediately, Rynheart held out his card. 'I need your keys.'

'Seriously?' Jack asked. 'How much does the last barrier cost?'

'The one I choose costs twenty keys.'

'Twenty?! When all of these barriers have cost one?' Jack questioned, sharing the concerns of Lunara and Moranti.

Nodding, Rynheart turned toward the next corridor. 'Come. I'll show you, but don't touch anything.'

The four traveled through the corridor and passed through the now-empty fifth room as the barrier was already gone. As they entered the sixth room, the three following Rynheart were astounded. Though Jack could've seen it through Rynheart's eyes via god's perspective, he had only flashed the spell briefly to unlock the map and not inspect Rynhearts thoughts. But now, Jack was all the more curious about Glacier Keep.

The sixth room was empty but there were now two barriers of different colors. Instead of being dark-silver in color, one barrier was tinted green and the other was tinted blue. Both barriers had ”1” displayed and had intricate yet faded etchings along the barriers' surfaces. Also, behind both barriers lied a small mound of silver cores, the same that gave five keys apiece.

Before Jack or Rynheart shared their thoughts with the other two, Jack looked at the words engraved above each passage.

Above the green door, it read, ”For those that have chosen fate…”

Above the blue door, it read, ”For those that fate has chosen…”

'Where's the door you chose?' Jack asked Rynheart, surprised at the situation.