Chapter 167: Akto’s Reward (3)

I know I grabbed Akto’s hand, but I couldn’t touch it. It was as if it was a soul that could not be touched. I guess you could say it was like a hologram with no physical body?

I tried again, but the same thing happened.

However, Akto did not take his hand away. It was as if he was telling me to find a way to do it.

“Do not give up and shake my hand. Then the reward I promised will naturally become yours.”

I felt something after hearing that.

There was a similarity between the two.

Akto was a soul without a physical body.

Similarly, Fairy Energy existed inside the jewels without a physical body.

I think I get it.

He means that I can only make Fairy Energy my own if I can grab his soul with my hand. That’s the way to reach the real apex of Jewel Alchemy.

I calmed myself. Then I focused. I was treating Akto’s soul as if it was an ingredient for jewel combination.

Then I reached my hand out again.

I still couldn’t grab Akto’s hand. However, I made myself believe that Akto’s physical body was there and continued to focus.

I then suddenly felt an unknown source of warmth at some point. It felt as if a source of heat was coming out of Akto’s body.

This change meant that things were going well.

I focused even more. I made sure to focus on the warmth coming out from Akto.

It started to get stronger the longer I focused. Especially the warmth coming from his outstretched hand. And that warmth slowly turned tangible. I could feel our hands starting to touch.

‘I can feel it! I can grab it!’

I lightly shook Akto’s hand.

I definitely felt it. It felt like Akto’s skin touched mine. I could also feel Akto tightening his grip like I did.

That was how I shook hands with Akto.

Akto started to smile even brighter.

“Amazing! I didn’t expect you to realize it this quickly! Is it the difference between Dwarves and humans? Or are you just special?”

I could not respond. I was too busy focusing on not losing the feel Akto’s hand was giving me.

The feeling was not perfect. I did manage to grab Akto’s hand, but it was extremely faint, like a mirage that could disappear at any moment. I was worried that putting even a bit more strength would turn it into smoke.

I focused and focused some more. The feeling became even stronger as I continued, and I could feel the strength in Akto’s grip better as well.

I heard Akto’s voice again in a moment.

“That much is enough. That’s about as far as I got. I am really amazed. You took less than five minutes to learn something that took me tens of years!”

There was no more progression as Akto mentioned.

Akto removed his hand as well. It turned into an illusion again even though I didn’t let go.

I had no choice but to pull my hand back in.

Akto turned his gaze again. He looked toward the Dwarves with an affectionate gaze. He was especially paying attention Goonto.

“You already reached One with the Sword at such an early age. I’m shocked at your achievements.”

“Thank you very much. It is an honor to meet you in person like this, Akto-nim.”

“You came all the way here to rescue me. Thank you very much. But it’s too bad. I wish to give all of you rewards as well, but I do not have anything. Is there something you want from me?”

“You are the hero of all Dwarves! I got to meet THE Akto-nim in person! Being able to rescue you with my own hands is both an honor and a reward in itself.”

I could feel that Goonto meant it.

Akto should have felt it as well. Maybe that was why his expression softened even more.

“But I still wish to give you something. The only thing I have is information about this Demons’ Mine. Feel free to ask me anything about this place.”

Oh, that’s really nice to hear.

There’s still things for us to take care of here. We were kind of stuck because we had no information.

It was also a chance to make Akto owe me a favor.

I quickly cut into the conversation.

“I will give the Dwarves rewards on your behalf, Akto-nim.”

“You will? How?”

Akto, as well as Goonto and the Dwarves, looked toward me with gazes full of expectations.

Giving the Dwarves a reward was simple. I knew what Dwarves liked the most.

“I will fortify their weapons one level more.”

“Oh! You mean a two level fortification is possible?”

“Holy crap! Will you really do that?”

All of the Dwarves’ eyes opened wide in joy. It was as if they had received the best present in the world.

Akto was very satisfied as well.

“It is indeed the best gift you could give them. You are already friends with the Dwarves as well. Don’t argue with each other and stay friends with the Dwarves forever.”

“Of course. I keep all of my friends for a very long time.”

“Hahaha. Thanks. I’m guessing there is something you want from me in return. Tell me.”

“I wish to know about the Demons’ Mine.”

“Which aspects?”

Can’t he just tell me everything? For example, how many Demons are left, what is at the end of the Demon’s Mine, what treasures are hidden here, etc.

Well, I’ll ask him one by one if he prefers that.

But what should I ask first? He doesn’t sound like he’s going to give me an unlimited number of answers.

There was something that came to mind. The Western District quest still was not completed. Maybe the solution for it could be hidden here as well.

“I am looking for the Fairy’s Orb. Do you know if it is hidden inside the Demons’ Mine?”

I wasn’t expecting much. The chances of the Fairy’s Orb being in the Demons’ Mine when it could be anywhere in the Western District was low.

Even if it was here, Akto probably doesn’t know about it.

I asked just in case he might know something.

However, a shocking answer came out of Akto’s mouth.

“It’s deep inside!”

“Excuse me? You mean it is here?”

“This is the place where the most brutal battle happened 1,000 years ago against the Demon World. The allied forces of the humans, Dwarves, Fairies, and the Shapir fought the final battle here in order to push the Demon Lord out.”

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Akto shared a very old story.

The final battle ended with the allied forces winning. The Demon Lord had to take the Demons and the forces from the Demon World and return to the Demon World.

That passageway is this Demons’ Mine.

However, the Demon Lord’s powers were not completely withdrawn. The Demon Lord’s power are still maintained at a high level in the Western District.

That means that the Demon Lord could always return through the Demons’ Mine.

The Fairy sealed some of her powers in the Orb and hid it in the Demons’ Mine in order to lower the chances of that happening. As long as her powers are maintained, the Demons’ Mine would not be able to serve as a passageway to the Demon World.

I had an odd thought after hearing about that.

“Then the passage to the Demon World will open again if the Fairy’s Orb disappears?”

“I suppose so.”

“Then why would the Fairy tell me to retrieve the orb? Is she planning on opening this path for them?”

“That probably means that there is no point in blocking this path any longer. For example, another passage might have been created.”

I understood what he meant.

There was no reason there had to be only one passage to the Demon World. The Demon Caves that randomly spawn count as a passage of sorts as well.

A passage could even open in the middle of Peria Mountain. A Demon Cave had already opened there once.

Considering that situation, sealing just this passage would leave us vulnerable to the power of the Demon World coming through the other passages.

The Fairy is trying to recover her strength in order to prevent those variables from coming into play. That is the only way to respond to the power of the Demon Lord that could come through any passage.

“Then where is the Fairy’s Orb? I need to retrieve it and take it back to the Fairy.”

“I will lead you to the location of the Fairy’s Orb. But you will need to be careful. There are many Demons hiding inside the Demons’ Mine.”

I was a bit worried about it. I learned how to fight against the Demons, however, we would be at a disadvantage if they are in a large group.

We still needed to do what we could.

“I understand. We will rest here for a bit before continuing on. I need to fortify the Dwarves’ weapons as well.”

“Oh, right here?”

I didn’t know whether I should. I’m not picky about where I do it, but the problem was that Demons or monsters could attack us at any moment.

I looked toward Akto.

“Nobody will interrupt us, right?”

Akto started to laugh.

“There are no Demons or monsters nearby, so you don’t need to worry.”

The Dwarves then started to shove their weapons to me.

“Please do mine first.”

“What do you mean? Haven’t you heard the human idiom about how even cold water has a top and bottom? Mine is first.” (TL: Korean idiom for respect your elders.)

I’m going to fortify all of their weapons. The chances of retrieving the Fairy’s Orb go up if the Dwarves become even a bit stronger.

But it’s quite funny. The later I fortify their weapon, the stronger it will be. My skill will go up with each fortification.

Of course, there probably won’t be much of a difference.

I sat down on the ground. I then randomly grabbed one of the weapons being shoved toward me.

“Be quiet from here on. The fortification can fail if my focus is disturbed.”

Everybody quickly became quiet.

The Dwarves were also glaring at each other. It was as if they were saying that they wouldn’t forgive anybody who made a peep.

Thansk to that, it was easy to focus.

I first checked the status of my Jewel Alchemy skill. I then almost shouted out.

[Jewel Alchemy: Advanced Level 3, 99%]

‘Wow! When did this happen? When did it go up to Advanced Level 3?’

But that was not it. It was Advanced Level 3 at 99 percent. Advanced Level 4 was right around the corner.

I knew that the secret of Alchemy that Akto taught me would increase my skill level significantly, but I didn’t expect it to be this much.

‘Then should I see the effects of Advanced Level 3?’

My bag was full of Jewels of Fortification. It was because I received Jewels of Fortification and Jewel of Luck each time I fortified weapons in the Dwarf village.

I had probably over 100 Jewels of Fortification.

Goonto and the other Dwarves each had at least five on them as well. They brought it so that they could ask me to fortify their weapons if there was a chance.

Of course, there was no point to use them as they were. All of them had low fortification indexes.

“Give me the jewels you have.”

[Jewel of Fortification: Fortification Index 9%]

[Jewel of Fortification: Fortification Index 9%]

I grabbed two of them and tried combining them.

But combining them felt much different than before.

First of all, the time it took shortened a lot. The last time I combined jewels it took at least five minutes, however, I finished combining them in less than 30 seconds.

It also felt nice. It felt like something that was completely cleanly.

I carefully looked at the results.

[Jewel of Fortification: Fortification Index 17%]

‘Wow!’

I had to question my eyes for a moment. I got a 17% jewel after combining two 9% jewels. That meant that I only lost 1 percent in the combining process.

Maybe I could do a perfect combination if I try a bit harder.

Furthermore, a fortification index of 17% was very high. The highest one I’ve managed until now was only 19%.

Maybe I could reach a much higher fortification index this time.

‘Let’s try it! Focus!’

I picked up a jewel with a fortification index of 7%. I then tried to combine it with the 17% jewel.

Harrison and the others were suppressed by the presence the Dwarves were giving off that they couldn’t even approach me. The Dwarves were also very curious after seeing my expression, however, they stayed far away in order to not hinder my fortification or combination and instead focused just on making sure that everyone remained quiet.

Maybe that was the reason. I could easily focus and I finished combining them in less that 30 seconds once again.

I checked the results with a heart full of anticipation.

Translator: Miraclerifle

Proofreader: Borderline Masochist

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