Jacob studied the design of the hologram. It was an arm guard called the 'Earth's Might', and it wasn't just a simple treasure; it also had an array of complex runes engraved.
'Although it's slightly complex, it isn't difficult. At least not as difficult as my Planet Destroyer. Eight hours should be more than enough…' Jacob concluded as he finally looked towards the materials mentioned in this design with pictures. After remembering everything, he moved towards those ethereal bubbles with materials and tools. As he moved towards them, the temperature rose dramatically, filling the air with crackling energy.
The forger's tools and materials were scattered throughout this level, and Jacob quickly spotted the one mentioned in the design.
Without hesitation, Jacob moved towards the first material closest to him. It was a metal twinkling with a starry hue called the 'Elemental Star Ore,' one of the main components of the Earth's Might.
However, when Jacob tried to grab it, his hand passed through the bubble like an illusion, and he caught nothing but empty air.
Jacob was startled. He thought he would need to burst those bubbles forcefully, but that clearly wasn't the case. He tried again, this time encasing his hand with mana, but his hand again passed through the bubble.
His expression turned serious. He was confident they weren't illusions, so he knew there had to be another way to get those materials. Then his eyes suddenly flashed as he thought of another method. He felt a peculiar undulation from those bubbles because of his soul force.
This time, Jacob used his soul force to envelop the bubble, and to his surprise, the moment his soul force met the ethereal bubble, he felt its presence like any tangible thing!
As for why he didn't use it right off the bat, it was simple: Jacob had already learned a painful lesson about not grabbing unknown things with his soul force. So, he was meticulous about this point and only used it when he had no other choice. After all, he still has a long way to go before he learns about the soul force.
'So, I wasn't wrong. These bubbles can only be touched through soul force. What a vicious thing to do. After all, not all Quasi Legends can wake their soul force before becoming legendary rank. So, if someone without it came here, they would be completely helpless, and once the time passes…'
Jacob started to understand that the tower's trials were extremely vicious in one way or another; they first gave hope and then snatched it away the next moment.
Once his conjecture was confirmed, Jacob controlled his soul force and put pressure on the bubble. The next moment, it burst, and the material within was finally free and floated towards Jacob under his soul force.
Furthermore, Jacob noticed another point at this moment: to break the bubble, he needed to use some of his soul force, which was almost 5% of what he had when he was a quasi-legend rank. This means that a quasi-legend needed to rest between gathering these materials; otherwise, that would mean wasting massive time!
But for Jacob, it was no longer an issue. He quickly expanded his soul force, which covered a hundred-meter radius.
Although he didn't know what this area represented, he knew there was more to it because he could see everything in this range without any blind spots. It was like God's Zone when he used fluid acceleration above 20X!
Jacob didn't dwell on it for long because he knew he would know once he received that legacy or entered the legendary plains.
At this moment, within a hundred meters, the ethereal bubbles began to burst, and all the materials entered Jacob's infinity pendant!
Since he could grab those materials, and the tower didn't react, he wouldn't leave them here. After all, they were all quasi-legend rank materials, and there were almost 1000 spread over a five-hundred-meter-wide space on the third level.
The task that could've taken a quasi-legend with soul force forever to complete was completed by Jacob within five minutes. He pocketed everything else except for the materials needed to forge the Earth's Might. Now that the materials needed for the Earth's Might had been gathered, Jacob had over seven hours to create this arm guard.
As he began to work, he realized the difficulty of the task and the importance of soul force!
Because to use the furnace, one needed to fuel it with no other Soul Force, the tools were no different. They were unlike anything he had encountered before, and the forging process required a delicate balance of heat, which required soul force.
Although he didn't know why this place ran on soul force, Jacob noticed that using soul force in forging was extremely efficient. His proficiency increased by hundreds of times.
Now, Jacob was even tempted to take this entire forge within his pendant, but he felt that the furnace was unique, and if he tried to uproot it, he might fail. So, he was content with these exceptional tools.
After figuring out the crux of this place, Jacob was undeterred. He focused on the task at hand, his mind a whirlwind of calculations and techniques as his soul force put to the test for the first time.
Time flew by as Jacob worked tirelessly. His soul force started to exhaust, and he finally felt fatigued.
With each passing moment, the arm guard took shape. The final touches were the most challenging, requiring precision and skill to carve those runes.
At this moment, as the last spark flew from the forge, the weapon was complete. It was an exquisite dark brown armor guard filled with runic lines, a testament to Jacob's skill as a forger.
It took him around three hours to forge it, and his soul force was almost exhausted. But a surge of satisfaction washed over him as he held the arm guard.
However, before he could test it, a pillar of emerald light fell over the arm guard in his hands, startling Jacob. But he didn't sense any danger and remained in his place as he could guess it was the tower evaluating the arm guard.
A few seconds later, the pillar of light vanished, and the next moment, in front of Jacob, a light door materialized.
'Does this mean I passed the third test, and this door leads to the fourth level?' Jacob's eyes shimmered as he saw the arm guard in his hand. He knew that this was his reward since the tower didn't take it.
Without hesitation, Jacob wore the arm guard, Earth's Might, and with renewed determination, he stepped forward, ready to face whatever challenges awaited him on the next level!