Ackster hummed thoughtfully and caught Wilma’s attention.

“Honestly, I’m still a little salty about it. But I will try to look at things from your perspective.”

Wilma’s solemn face broke up in a bright smile.

“I couldn’t ask for more.”

‘Okay, that’s suspicious. I shouldn’t have done that.’

But it was too late to regret it now, even if Wilma’s sudden mood swing was alarmingly abrupt.

Ackster was about to move on and grab the box. However, Wilma still had her hand on it. Ackster tried to tug on it, but it didn’t budge. He was tired, sure, but his Strength had reached the C-rank. Yet, he couldn’t even move the box due to Wilma’s hand on it.

Wilma smiled playfully, her eyes glinting with a mysterious light at Ackster’s attempt.

“Not so fast. Doesn’t this relationship go both ways? What do you say about reciprocating a little now that I’ve exposed my heart?”

Ackster snorted

“Your apology seems a lot less sincere if you go straight ahead and ask for something in return.”

“Did you forget I’m not the only one who hasn’t been completely honest? Dean? You should be smart enough to know I know that’s not your real name, right?”

“So? A fake name is a lot different from getting me embroiled in stuff that can get me killed.”

“Oh, please, you’re practically suicidal with the way you’re training. I mean, it’s an effective method, and you seem healthy, at least in body. Your mind is another matter. But I’ve seen enough blood to know when you’re covered in monster blood or your own. Besides, I wasn’t the only one with hidden intentions, right?”

Ackster sighed. It seemed like he had gotten what he wanted. Wilma wasn’t as intent on playing around anymore as she both revealed she knew what Ackster was doing when he was alone in the wild and that he hadn’t accepted her invitation with pure intentions.

He still didn’t understand why Wilma was going to such lengths and revealing so much information when she could use it against him. He had a hard time believing Wilma had innocent objectives in mind as she did all this.

Ackster wondered if he should stop being obstinate. The more stubborn he was, the more he would delay his own progress. He just wanted to get this over and done with so that he could start making use of Limit Breaker and Monster Muncher to continue growing strong enough.’ to stop The Hero and save his life. If giving Wilma what she wanted would let him go and start acquiring the new skills and learning about this boxed-in secret technique, maybe that’s what he should do.

“Fine.”

As he came to that realization, Ackster also realized that while the Guild and Wilma’s actions were dubious in terms of the intentions behind them, they might necessarily be as bad as he thought. Sure, it was uncomfortable being watched and given a lot of things on a verbal promise, but if Wilma was speaking the truth, it could be a golden opportunity.

If the Guild helped expedite his growth, Ackster’s chances of outliving his ten-year life expectancy, it would be in his best interests to accept it. If he continued being stubborn and grumpy when dealing with Wilma, it wouldn’t be weird if the Guild didn’t extend its support and instead decided to cut its losses, even if Ackster had great potential.

After all, potential was nothing more than a promise of greatness, and it was a promise without weight, especially if Ackster’s attitude was shit.

Regardless of the Guild’s intentions, if it was Ackster’s ticket to survival, he had to grab it. As long as he lived, he couldn’t care less. Well, he would prefer if suffering came on his own terms, but that wouldn’t be true suffering.

“What do you want, Wilma?”

Wilma was briefly startled by the sudden abyss in Ackster’s eyes. They had been lively and practically telling the world what he was thinking. But, all of a sudden, they became bottomless and impossible to see through. If anything, it felt like Ackster was looking through her and completely disregarding her, as if she were nothing more than a speck of dirt on the side of the road.

Fortunately, it was only for a moment, and Wilma’s chills defrosted at once as soon as Ackster’s eyes returned to normal. Wilma didn’t answer his question at once to see if Ackster had done that intentionally, but it didn’t even look like he was aware that something had happened.

She acted like nothing happened.

“Hoho. I want a lot of things.”

“...”

“Alright, I guess we’re not there yet. First of all, I would like to know what drives you. Your motivation is an important point in deciding what happens in the future, you see.”

“‘First of all’?”

“Yeah. One thing at a time.”

Ackster shook his head. Sure, he had decided to be more cooperative so that he could milk the Guild for more. But he wasn’t going to spill his guts to Wilma that easily.

“Nope. One thing. Period.”

Wilma sighed.

“You drive a hard bargain. But I guess learning one of the secrets of the elusive Dean is a good deal still.”

‘The elusive Dean? What?’

Ackster didn’t voice his question since he was pretty sure it was just another one of Wilma’s attempts at sidetracking the conversation or trying to joke around with him.

“Alright. I’ve got it.”

“What?”

Ackster was a little curious about what Wilma was going to ask, but he was also worried. He was pretty certain by now that he wasn’t good enough at lying to fool Wilma, and he had just decided to be somewhat cooperative with the Guild. Lying straight off the bat was as close to the opposite of cooperating as he could get.

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“Well, it’s kind of two questions, but since the first one is more of a confirmation, I hope you’ll agree.”

“That depends.”

Wilma hesitated as she wondered whether it would be worth it or not.

“Ah, fuck it. You have a self-regeneration skill, right? What’s its name, and how did you get it?”

“That’s three.”

“I know. I came up with the third as I asked. So? You only need to answer one of them if you want to. I can also ask something else if you don’t want to answer.”

Ackster thought about it before answering.

Revealing his skill was risky since it was known in Degrest that Ackster Phileam’s skill was Strong Body. Telling Wilma what it was might expose his real identity. It was just that if she and the Guild already knew, it wouldn’t matter. If they wanted him dead or for The Hero to find him, that would have already happened.

But, considering that the Adventurer’s Guild’s secret forces hadn’t been mentioned in the original story or gotten involved with The Hero, at least not officially, the Guild and The Hero might not be on the best of terms.

It might be worth it.

Ackster didn’t know much about his skill other than what he had experimented and concluded on his own. And while the Guild might not know much themselves about the specific skill, they had access to a wealth of information about skills. They might be able to help him figure out what conditions he had to fulfill to evolve and strengthen the skill further.

Ackster knew kind of what might work. But he also knew that brute-forcing it by abusing his body and forcing Strong Body to work hard wasn’t the most efficient method.

If he was going to squeeze the Guild dry of all it could offer him, he was going to turn it into a desert and leave nothing behind.

“Before I answer, how much do you know about me? Not Dean, me.”

“Oh please, do you think we would go this far for someone whose identity we can’t confirm.”

Wilma’s bright smile blinded Ackster.

“Alright. Then, since I’ll be answering three questions when the agreement was one, I’ll need a favor.”

“Works for me.”

“Then, in order. Yes, I do, it’s called Strong Body, and it’s innate. I’ve always had it.”

Ackster grinned as he answered. Just giving up the name would have been enough. By answering one question, he would have answered all three. He felt a little prideful at having won a favor with his answer instead.

However, much to Ackster’s chagrin, Wilma wasn’t displeased or annoyed at Ackster’s answer.

“I see. That makes sense. Thanks for your honesty, Dean.”

She used his fake name with a playful wink. Although she knew his true identity, there was no need to use his real name. It was the name of a dead man, and it would serve no purpose to use it. She could also understand that Ackster didn’t want The Hero to catch a whiff of his continued existence.

“So, what’s your request?”

Ackster was a little miffed that Wilma took it in stride, but he realized that he wouldn’t gain anything by that. He should do the same as Wilma and take it in stride that Wilma hadn’t lost out. She was already prepared to do a lot to help him. Ackster asking for a favor was a good thing since it meant he was starting to rely on her more openly instead of her forcing him to rely on her.

“Help me make it stronger.”

“You mean…?”

“Yeah. I want to evolve it.”

“And you’re sure it’s possible?”

“There’s no reason it shouldn’t be.”

“Fair enough. Alright. I’ll look for ways on how to do that, but I’ll need to know a little about the skill first?”

‘In for a penny, in for a pound.’

Since he had already told her the name, it wouldn’t matter that much if he told her more. Besides, even if anyone found out about the details of Strong Body, there wouldn’t be much they could do since there weren’t any easily exploitable weaknesses. And, Ackster had also started getting more powerful skills.

He didn’t think Limit Breaker and Monster Muncher could quite measure up to Strong Body, at least not in their current ranks, but all of his strength and growth were no longer tied to Strong Body alone.

“My body is better in every way, at least as far as I can tell. My senses are sharper. I’m stronger and faster than I would be without it. My body memorizes movements and learns new things at once. And, as you already know, it increases how quickly I heal. That should be enough, right?”

Wilma stared at Ackster wide-eyed yet again.

“And you want to make it even stronger?!”

Although Wilma’s sudden outburst startled Ackster, he played it cool.

“Of course. All those increases are slight. It won’t take long until the skill becomes obsolete since my other skills will do more.”

“Alright.”

Wilma sighed in defeat.

“And I’m guessing you wanted a self-regeneration skill to stack it with Strong Body?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think they’ll synchronize?”

“I see no reason why it shouldn’t happen.”

“Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks.”

Wilma spoke with finality in her voice as if she was concluding their meeting, but she still didn’t let go of the ironwood box. Ackster sighed. He had given Wilma what she wanted, so why was she still holding on to the box?

“Dean.”

“Yes?”

“Nold, the guy who made this, was batshit insane.”

“Okay…?”

“But he was a genius. A crazy genius.”

“...”

Ackster didn’t bother responding.

“Everything you need to know to get started is inside the box. But there’s nothing about Nold himself inside.”

“...”

Wilma could tell that Ackster was running out of patience.

“Words won’t be enough to describe him, but you’ll realize once you start practicing how made he was.”

“...”

“I’m just saying that you shouldn’t lose hope. For obvious reasons, the true extent of his secret technique has never been explored, so I can’t guarantee that it is actually as great as it’s supposed to be. So, if you can’t handle it, don’t feel like you’re forced to continue. Even a little progress has been of great help to those who have retained their sanity.”

“...”

“Please be careful.”

Wilma looked deep into Ackster’s eyes with a serious gaze to convey that she really wanted him to be careful. He didn’t have to force it if it wasn’t meant to be. And if it was too painful, he could quit at any time. After all, it was entirely possible that nothing but pain and misery awaited him at the end. If he went mad or ended up crippled, he would lose too much. And

“Sure.”

Ackster grabbed the box.

Regardless of Wilma’s cautioning, he had to try at least. If Nold’s Secret Skeleton Refinement Technique delivered what it promised, if the supposed pain was worth it, he would have another reliable pillar of strength to prop him up in his inevitable battle to stop the end of the world.

And considering his opponent was The Hero and how he was already spreading ripples through the world that would inevitably affect the flow of the world and possibly The Hero’s growth, Ackster would need every source of strength he could get his hands on.

He left the Guild and headed back to the inn, where Mio waited for him. He couldn’t wait to begin reading about how to acquire the skills Wilma had provided. But he was most interested in Nold’s Secret Skeleton Refinement Technique due to how Wilma had warned him about it.

His Pain Tolerance was C-rank, and he felt pretty confident in his ability to endure. But if it was enough to make Wilma that wary and bad enough that he hadn’t read about it in the original story, C-rank Pain Tolerance probably wasn’t enough. If it was, trying to learn it wouldn’t have driven people mad.

However, with Strong Body to support his Pain Tolerance, Iron Will, and Clear Mind, Ackster didn’t think it was impossible to make at least a little headway. And if it were too hard to the point where he couldn’t handle it, he would simply have to find another way to grow stronger. In the first place, Nold’s secret technique wasn’t something he had planned on, so not being able to use it wasn’t necessarily a detriment to his plans, especially if trying to learn it would impede his progress instead.

But, although curious, Ackster had to sleep first.