‘Baaaaam’.

The wall finally came to stop. 

Acma turned his body around. The room he was inside now was half the size of previous hall. On the ceilings, there were numerous crystal that began to lighten up one by one soon after Acma step into the hall. It gave a bright white light, similar to the morning sun. Bathing under that light, a warm feeling birthed inside his heart. In the previous hall, it felt suffocating, far different from this room.

At the end of the room, there was a throne, elevated 15 feet from the floor. Whoever sat on that throne will look down at everything inside the room. In Acma’s mind, only a king or an emperor was entitled to sit on a throne like that. Acma moved his gaze toward the throne. He realized that something shiny was sitting on it. With his keen eyes, he was able to determine that it was a golden statue wearing a black helmet, which covering the head completely except the eyes.

Acma look at the golden statue only for a while. He wasn’t interested at it too much. What captured his attention the most were the shining crystals on the ceiling. 

“Damn, too bad that I can’t fly”, thought Acma while looking at those crystals.

He really want to take all those shining crystals. He was thinking about many ways to use those crystals. For example, he could use them inside his nokium ore mine. Currently, there only the miner goblins inside the mine, whose capable of seeing in the dark. If he were to employ other creatures as a workers, he might need to lighten the mine because not all creatures were capable of seeing in the dark.

He moved his gaze all over the room. When he look at the wall, its colour was dark red. Suddenly he realized that it was different from the colour of the wall at the previous hall or the gorge outside which is absolute black. He stroke his chin and thinking about something.

“Why it was different?” he muttered.

He still couldn’t find the answer. He felt that the answer behind this puzzle was really important so he keep pushing to solve it. 

After a while, something crossed his mind. 

“MAGIC!!” he shouted with a low voice.

He finally realized that the wall from the gorge until the treasure trove have suppressed the magic. He came to this conclusion when thinking about numerous skeletons and magical items inside the gorge. Those walls were built from a different materials from the wall inside this room. So, Acma was excited to try his magic.

In the beginning, he wanted to release a wind blade towards the ceiling, but decided to abandon that idea in fear of triggering something sinister inside this room. Then, he summoned his stone golem and it was successful.

Ding ~

You have learned Earth Stomp skill

Acma was extremely excited, not because of the new skill but because he was able to use magic again. 

“My dear visitor, come here and have a drink with me”.

Suddenly, Acma heard a voice calling for him. The voice came from the direction of the throne. When he turned his head toward that direction, he saw a man not far from the throne. Acma couldn’t hide his shock and his heart was thumping like a running horse. He was pretty sure nobody was inside the room when he entered earlier. Furthermore, he wouldn’t miss if anyone was sitting at that tea table near the throne. It was obvious that man was came out of nowhere.

That man was about 40-50 years old, wearing a white loose garment with a golden horse embroidery on the chest. From the look, that man most likely a seasoned martial artist. Emanating from his body, was a faint golden glow, giving a surreal look. Was he a real human being or not? Acma wasn’t sure but his heart was inclined to think that this man wasn’t real. Acma was hesitated to go to the man.

“Don’t worry, these statues won’t attack”, said the man referring to two columns of statues between the throne and Acma.

There were 25 metal statues, 12 statues on both left and right side and the last one was standing in front of the throne, holding a great sword. 12 statues on the left were holding a shield and a spear with a sword as a second weapon on their waist. The other 12 statues on the right were basically an attackers. They were holding either a great sword, twin swords, great axe or twin daggers. Their look were like a human who was wearing a full body armour.

“How does he know?” Acma was startled with what that man just said. It was true that Acma was hesitated to step forward due to those statues. 

After thinking for a while, Acma mustered his courage and step forward. He slowly walking between the statues and finally reached the man and his tea table. The man took out a beautiful teapot from out of nowhere and poured a glowing blue water into a cup in front of Acma when he sat. The man’s hand that hold the teapot was almost transparent, making the teapot looks like floating in the air.

Acma put off his helmet and put it inside his inventory. He raised the cup in front of him with his right hand while his eyes was staring at the glowing blue water inside the cup. Should he drink it or not? While he still weighing his options, the man in front of him just look at his face and smile. After a long while, Acma finally drank the water. 

Like its look, the glowing blue water wasn’t normal. As soon as it touched Acma’s tongue, it dissolve into an energy and it gave Acma a refreshing feeling all across his body.

Ding ~

You drank a Cosmic Dew for the first time

+5 STR +5 AGI +25 INT +10 LUCK

“Great drink right?” said the man with a bright smile on his face. “This water is called a Cosmic Dew. It have numerous benefits that even I don’t know. But one thing I am sure, it can replenish your spent mana instantly. Other than that, I love the feeling when it dissolve inside my mouth”.

“...” 

Before Acma could reply, the man continued.

“Too bad that I can drink it only with this tea set or pour it directly into my mouth”. The man was looking at the tea set solemnly. His eyes look sad. Then he raised his head and said, “Take this tea set as a gift for you. May it help you in your future endeavour”. He shoved the tea set to Acma.

“Thank you”. Acma was shocked greatly but nevertheless, he still thanked the man although he wasn’t sure the man could hear it or not. He immediately kept the tea set into his inventory. When he identified it earlier, it was a divine items, called a Cosmic Dew Tea Set.

The man shook his head and said, “No need to thank me. This tea set was fated to be yours. I am waiting countless years for someone to pass that door. You’re indeed lucky”.

Acma couldn’t reply anything and now he was sure the man could hear him. He secretly thinking, “Am I really lucky like this man say?” He started to recall the moment he step into the gorge until he reached this room. Was he lucky because he was wearing FREEDOM suit? Was he lucky because he had Alice’s help? Was he lucky because he didn’t lost the treasure trove to the trap? Was he lucky because he had a systematized inventory so he could find the dragon pearl among the treasures easily? Or was it because all of it? Thinking of it, Acma couldn’t help but sighed, “Looks like I’m really lucky like he said”.

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“I hope my luck will never cease in the future”, said Acma with a smile.

“That’s a good reply”, said the man.

“RUMBLE” 

The dragon wall suddenly moved and slowly spinning again. Acma was extremely worried by this sudden turn of event. He doesn’t want to lost the dragon pearl on the door. When he tried to stand up and went to the wall, he was stopped by the man and he assured him not to worry. 

The wall stopped after there were a gap about several metres wide. Acma felt relieved but only for a while.

“Clak” “Clak” “Clak” “Clak”

Side by side, the stone statues from the previous hall marched into the room.

“I ordered them to come here but don’t worry, its not to harm you. They were part of what I’m about to tell you”, said the man while looking at the marching stone statues. He continued, “These moving statues were made by me as a passing time. I called them as The Guardians. Not because I need their protection, but just as a hobby”. The man turned his head toward the metal statues and said, “However, these 25 were my pride. They were so great that even a dwarf supreme blacksmith can hardly make one of them, let alone 25”.

The man continued to talk for a long while about the greatness of his guardians. Acma couldn’t tell apart which part were just a bragging and which part was the truth. But one thing he was sure that these guardians were extremely powerful. 

“I wish I was able to make them in the future”, he thought.

Acma gradually held a respect towards the man in front of him. Although this man looks ordinary, he had many hidden talent and maybe he only showed a few of them. Secretly, Acma felt he wanted to surpass this man like he wanted to surpass his father.

The man took out a black, metal tablet from out of nowhere and gave it to Acma.

“This is a controller. Drip your blood on it and all these guardians will be yours”, said the man with a smile on his face.

Hearing that words, Acma grew excited. Although he couldn’t make something like this guardians yet, but having them right now was something he could never say no. He took the tablet, bite his lips and use his thumb to swipe the blood onto the metal tablet.

Ding ~

You have received a new title ‘The Puppeteer’

You’re able to control golems, puppets as your extra hands

+10 STR +10 AGI +10 INT

Ding ~

A puppeteer panel appeared on Acma’s sight. On the main section, there were information about the number and the type of golems or puppets he have. Currently he have 300 stone golems and 25 metal golems. The second section was a control panel where he could give a passive command like standing guard or active command like fighting a battle.

“Try to move any of these guardians. You can command them with your mind”, said the man.

Acma picked one of the stone guardians and tried to move it. In the beginning, his mind was greatly strained to the extent he got a headache. Only after several tries, he was successful and the movement of the guardian also became smoother and smoother. As for the metal guardians, even moving its finger proved to be a challenge. He should practice more in the future, or he could let Alice to control them.

"How do you feel? With more practice, you will be more proficient in controlling this guardians. I wish you a good luck”, the man said.

“It was hard, but I take it as a challenge. Thank you very much”, replied Acma.

He gave a sincere smile and he was really moved by this outstanding gift. He never thought he would get something like this and he never thought about it. His future would be more colourful with this gift.

“That’s all the gift I want to give you. Now, lets talk about something else”, said the man. “Knowing the reputation of the owner of this tomb, I bet you enter this tomb to get something right? Something that could make you powerful or strong. I already give you what you’re looking for. Actually I should make it more difficult, but I don’t want to wait anymore. I’m tired of waiting”.

Acma was shocked. The truth was he didn’t even know who was the owner of this tomb. It was purely coincidence that he found this tomb and entered it. 

“Sir, I ...”, he tried to tell the truth, but he was cut short by the man. “Hahaha, no need to tell me. It was your secret”, said the man.

“...”

It was a misunderstanding. Once again, before Acma could say anything, the man already started talking again.

“The owner of this tomb have all the definitions of being strong and revered or feared by many because of his strength. It’s not a shame if you also want to follow his footsteps”, said the man. He was looking deeply into Acma’s eyes like he was scouring his soul for some answer. “May I know what is your reason to become strong?” he asked.

Although Acma was still irked by that man’s misunderstanding, but his last question was valid. Acma turned his head and look at the golden statue. He was looking for his own answer, why he wanted to become strong? The truth was, he never thought about it seriously before. Since he was young, everything was prepared for him. He got the best physical training methods from his father, best medications and supplements from his mother, mangling and interacting with the scientists whom were a friends of his mothers for his intellectual development, sparring, hunting and killing live targets with his father’s friend, he treated all of this as something fun, time killing and following the footsteps of his parents. It got nothing with being strong.

However, the question from man in front of him was something fundamental and made him thinking. He have to think about it seriously.

“Why I want to become strong? ... I can’t find a good answer. What a shame”. 

Unable to answer the question, Acma lowered his head and gave an awkward smile.

The man seem to understand Acma’s difficulty. He spoke with a gentler tone,

“Everyone have their own reasons to become strong. Some reason is to protect, or for revenge, or to gain wealth, fame, companions, women and numerous other reasons. These reasons mould the way they fight and that’s why the reason to become strong is extremely important. You must never lost your sight”, he paused and the continued, “Above all these reasons is, to do as you wish”.

“To do as I wish”, muttered Acma. That phrase was like a thunder that waking him up from a deep slumber.

“Everyone have desires, dreams and hopes. But to achieve all of them, a strength and luck was needed. With a supreme strength, physically and mentally, you will be able to do as you wish. Nobody will dare to obstruct your path”, the man continued.

“To do as I wish”. Acma kept repeating that phrase until it was engraved deeply in his soul. Now he was more determined to become strong. If he wanted to protect, with strength, everything will be safe. If he wanted to destroy, with strength, everything will be obliterated. 

His eyes was brimming with new determination to become strong. He gripped the metal tablet tightly and look straight into the eyes of the man.

“Thank you very much for your enlightenment”. 

“Good, your current eyes look better. However, having fun in everything you do is also a form of strength. Only a strong can have that. Keep it up boy”.

Acma just chuckled when he heard that. The man was right again that he always having fun in everything he did. The metal tablet inside his hand suddenly glowing and then disappeared. However, he didn’t worry because he could feel the connection with the guardians intact. So he just ignored it and proceed with the most important question.

“Sir, may I know your glorious name?” he asked.

The man just smiled and slowly he stood up. “Eventually, you will know my name”. After he said that, he lightly pressed his index finger onto Acma’s forehead. The finger was glowing for a while before he pulled it back.

“I give you the location of the other three tomb and a method to find them. But I would suggest you go to the one inside Metal Kingdom’s territory first. If you’re lucky again, you will get a suitable weapon for you”, he paused and the continued, “Its time for me to go. Good luck boy. With you as emissary, the future of void element will be brighter. May the wrong past will be corrected”.

As soon as he finished saying that, the man suddenly disappeared, leaving a dumbstrucked Acma on his seat.