Earth's Greatest Magus

Emery went to the tempering facility to deliver the ingredients he had painstakingly gathered. He told Klea to stay put in the spirit cave to practice since this was a simple matter, but when she heard where he was going, the girl insisted on coming along.

Together with Magus Shena, the three of them arrived at the facility. The moment they entered the building, they were immediately greeted by the same scene they had seen the previous time – a sea of people pacing about with their business.

Knowing who Emery was and what his purpose was for him to come, the staff at the reception didn't stop Emery and immediately let him enter the inner area without a single question.

The group of three walked across the long hallway where dozens of large cauldrons could be seen on either side. Each and everyone of them were occupied by acolytes or magus, both of which were busy tempering their bodies to pay attention to their surroundings.

Facing this kind of spectacle for the first time, Klea's eyes shone as she cast her gaze all over the place.

"Wow… this place sure is interesting, Emery.." She said offhandedly, full of curiosity.

Klea, after all, did have a great deal of passion and a keen interest in knowledge, in general. Therefore, this kind of fascinating encounter couldn't help but tickle her thirst for new knowledge.

Smiling at Klea's oozing curiosity, Emery made his way towards Master Dulin's private workshop. When he entered the workshop, he could clearly see how the dwarf master's sour expression was replaced by a smile as soon as the latter saw his face.

"You're here, Emery!?" Abandoning what he was doing, Master Dulin quickly approached the group, a nervous but hopeful expression showing on his face. "Did… did you get it..?"

"Yes, master. I did," said Emery as he took out the bulk of the materials he had gathered from his Spatial Space, placing them on the large table in the workshop.

The dwarf master's face grew increasingly brighter as he saw so many ingredients laid out on the table. When the last batch of materials came out of Emery's Spatial Space, a massive bright smile could be seen on the man's face.

"Yes yes yes. Very good. You have been gone for almost 3 weeks, it must be hard for you… I was worried that you didn't get– I mean, I was worried for your safety."

Hearing Master Dulin's words, Emery was silent for a moment. Unlike what the former thought, he actually only spent four days harvesting all of these. However, just as he was about to correct the dwarf master, Klea suddenly opened her mouth.

"You're right, Master Dulin. It was really hard for Emery." Glancing briefly at Emery with a concerned look, she continued, "He got a lot of injuries while trying to harvest all of this for you, master. Those monsters are just too dangerous."

Hearing Klea's words, Emery was inwardly confused. But seeing the secret signal she gave, he decided to go with the flow for the time being.

"And who is this young lady?" asked Master Dulin to Emery as he turned towards Klea.

"Let me introduce you to her, master. This is one of my close friends from Earth."

Once again, Emery's choice of words succeeded in making Klea annoyed. Emery noticed that and was about to say more when the girl suddenly walked up to the dwarf master saying, 

"Master, I came here because I have heard about your distinguished name.. All the amazing work you have done… the great achievements you accomplished.. Master, I am a fan of your work."

Emery's mouth was wide open when he heard what Klea just said. He was shocked, dumbfounded even, that she could spout such embarrassing words. But then, to his complete surprise, the dwarf master seemed happy hearing such blatant flattery.

Seeing the positive reaction, Klea swiftly added, "After hearing that you are in dire need of these ingredients, I immediately decided to help Emery harvest them. All so that you can get them faster. But… the process is really not easy, master."

Emery was stunned speechless seeing how Klea could easily attach herself onto the dwarf master, making the latter feel bad yet at the same time erase the sense of distance between the two of them – becoming friendly.

In the end, Klea 'accidentally' mentioned how helpful would be if there was reimbursement for doing such a job, and being taken by her tempo, the dwarf master willingly gave Emery a large sum of spirit stones for his efforts.

[3000 x Knotgrass - 90,000]

[200 x Borage Mushroom - 40,000]

[50 x Nux Myristica - 25,000]

Emery's mouth had yet to close, as he dumbfoundedly stared at the fact that he was now 155,000 spirit stones richer than just a moment ago. 

Seeing firsthand what had happened, Magus Shena let out a low chuckle and whispered, "It's rare to see a dwarf handing out their spirit stones so willingly. Your girl is truly talented," to which Emery only smiled wryly in response.

After that, Master Dulin gave Emery another list of ingredients to harvest from a different island – the batch he needed to hand over for next month. Naturally, Emery accepted it to keep his promise.

While Emery thought his business here was over, Klea didn't seem to think so. She approached the dwarf master once again and said, "Master, do you really have the heart to send an acolyte to such a dangerous place again?"

Hearing Klea's words, Emery quickly tried to stop her. He, after all, looked forward to devouring more beasts during the task.

"You don't have to mind her words, master. I'm willing to do it, don't worry."

Master Dulin nodded his head, seemingly unfazed by Klea's actions. "I'm not worried. After all, you have a great magus to help you with the task." He said dryly, his eyes glancing at Magus Shena.

The female magus gave a small smile at Klea before turning to the dwarf master and saying, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Master Dulin. I am only here to protect them, hunting beasts is not part of my responsibility."

Klea quickly followed, with such a concerned look on her face, she looked at the dwarf master and said, "She is right, master. My heart aches when I recall how badly injured Emery was before. If only he had a stronger body… I'm sure the task would have been completed easier, and faster."

Hearing her words, Emery suddenly felt as if he was being struck by lightning. A shudder ran down his spine, especially when he noticed Klea secretly had her wicked smile on. As expected, she grabbed the dwarf master's arm and said what she had planned from the start.

"Master Dulin, with your greatness.. I am sure you can boost your harvester's physique once more, can't you? If you do…I'm sure Emery will do his job better."