'Jack, what's wrong?' asked Bowzer. 'Do you not like Daliea?'
'Th-that's not it!' Jack shouted in reply. 'I wasn't expecting that… And Daliea never acts like that, so I'm sure Eliza had something to do with it.'
'But since she agreed, doesn't that mean Daliea likes you? So, what's wrong with liking her back?' the fox reasoned.
'That… We're not discussing this right now,' Jack changed the topic. 'Right now, we've got to reach Churstin Canyon as soon as possible and I know just the way.'
'Oh, do we get to run there?' Bowzer asked in excitement.
'Nooo… This way we'll be there in no time at all,' laughed Jack.
'What do you mean? Hello??' Bowzer looked to Jack with a tilted head. Jack's silence was enough to let Bowzer know that Jack was already up to something. Only when a flash of light appeared and blinded him did Bowzer understand Jack's plan.
"Tralon, thanks for coming and helping us out." Jack walked up and shook his hand.
"What's the emergency?" Tralon was on guard, searching his new surroundings. "I don't sense any threats or imminent danger… What is it you need?"
"Me and Bowzer need to go to Churstin Canyon, but we've lent our bird to the other party members so we need your help," explained Jack.
"But I'm not a caravan service…" sighed Tralon. "It's not too far from here. Why not ride Bowzer there?"
"But you're already here. Wouldn't it be a waste of your mana to come here and leave without helping us out?"
"It could also be considered a waste to have me use a legendary spell to take you somewhere so near." Tralon then burst into laughter, "Well, you're still the same Jack that I served in the past."
"So you'll help us?"
"This time, yes. But I'm not a caravan service, so please don't think of me as free transportation," stated Tralon. "I'll cast Spacial Rift so you can cross through it. Shall I do it now? Do you already have what you need?"
"We've got everything, so we're ready when you are."
"By the way… Why are you going to Churstin Canyon? I don't remember that being in the plan you presented me," asked Tralon.
"I'm going to meet Choron," Jack replied with a proud smile.
"The Ninja God? Why's that?"
"Because he's had a quest waiting for me since before the Godly War and now I can finally accept it."
"Since before the Godly War… interesting…"
Jack continued, not hiding anything from his long-time companion, "Once I fulfill his request, then he'll be moving to Trodar and will start to operate publicly like in ancient times.
"Really?! That splendid! Leave it to you to convince a god to relocate and come out of hiding," praised Tralon. "Then I'm glad to be of aid in this quest. If you need my help to complete it, I'm more than willing."
"I'll remember that, but for now we only need to get there as fast as possible, hence calling you."
"Say no more!" Tralon waved his hand. It didn't seem to do anything for a moment, but a second later black and purple energy gathered behind the man. The energy morphed and twisted, becoming a tear in space itself large enough for both Bowzer and Jack to enter side by side. "Good luck, Jack. If you need me, I'll come immediately."
"Thanks, Tralon. You don't know how much your help and support means to me," Jack stated. "Oh, and sorry for not always treating you with much care before… Like when I used you as live bait, or--"
"I forgive you, Jack. Just promise me you'll rise to even more glory this time," chuckled the old man.
"Then consider it a promise."
Jack gave Tralon a bow before he and Bowzer walked through the Spacial Rift, disappearing from sight.
Reappearing on the other side, Jack and Bowzer exited the rift. They saw the rocky ridges of the surrounding mountains and the lack of greenery to cover the canyon in the distance.
The Spacial Rift closed not even a moment after Jack and Bowzer exited it as Tralon didn't want to waste any mana.
'Wow… Is that the canyon, Jack?'
'That's it, buddy.' Jack smiled. 'It's just us this time, so we'll have to be careful. I'm not sure what kind of test Choron has waiting for us.'
'Right.' Bowzer was excited to not only be out of the ring but to be allowed to roam alongside Jack.
'I don't think this place will have lots of beasts, otherwise, I would've waited to fully heal before coming,' Jack explained. 'I'm guessing the difficulty lies with finding the actual entrance to the god's shrine or with some kind of puzzle he's placed before that entrance.'
'Really?' Some excitement disappeared from Bowzer's voice. 'How do you know all this?'
'Because it's not the first time I've had to sneak into Choron's shrine, but that was before he relocated and hid away."
While conversing with Bowzer, he was already looking at his map to find any clues about the entrance. However, since he had no good maps about Churstin specifically, his map tab only gave Jack a general area to search and not a finite location.
'We'll check over there first.' Jack pointed to the northern end of the canyon. 'Sadly, things will be harder this time around, but we should be able to make do.'
While Bowzer was trying to question Jack about the last time he raided a god's shrine, Jack was now looking at his achievement list. There were some new notifications there that he must've missed while unconscious.
[Step one in controlling Trodar: completed]
[More than you can handle: completed]
[Seduce Daliea: completed]
Jack selected the first one, eager to see his reward.
[Step one in controlling Trodar: completed]
[Delay the army until sufficient Trodan forces reach the border to control the situation. Discover the truth about the Limneer-Sandros alliance and break the alliance. Unique reward: 100 skill points. Would you like to claim the reward?]
Jack was baffled by the second sentence in the achievement description. He had discovered the truth about the Limneer-Sandros alliance, but he had no idea why it was broken off or that it had already ended. Yet his system credited Jack on the feet, so Jack didn't plan to complain about it.
Next, Jack claimed the reward and opened the next one.
[More than you can handle: completed]
[Forcibily cast a spell that your mind is unable to handle and succeed. Reward: 20 skill points. Would you like to claim the reward?]
With a chuckle, Jack claimed his twenty skill points and moved on to the last achievement, which forced Jack to acknowledge Daliea's emotions.
[Seduce Daliea: completed]
[Get Daliea to confess her feelings through the act of kissing in place of words, even after marriage has already been mentioned and considered. Special reward: 50 skill points. Would you like to claim your reward?]
Since he already had thirty-nine skill points, Jack opened up his skills tab with two hundred and nine skill points to spend. He reexamined his options, hoping to find something that could prove helpful for his newest challenge.
Looking at the spells of his inheritors, Jack wasn't surprised to see that Keela was no longer listed but he was surprised to see Eliza's spell list so full.
Eliza had not one but two mythic-tier spells. One was given to her by Jack, but he had no clue where the other one came from. Also, there were more peak-tier and high-tier spells as well. The only conclusion Jack could imagine was that Argyle had given her more spellbooks during their last trip to the capital, which was befitting of Argyle's protective character.
With more options to choose from and more skill points to spend, Jack chose what he felt would best fit the situation.