Arnold and the others returned to the capital before nightfall. Arnold thought that they would go to a restaurant or diner but instead came to a pub in the commoner district.
Perhaps they liked the atmosphere here better than the establishments in the richer places like the inner capital and shopping district. People couldn't become rowdy there or even let loose. You couldn't do things like make music, or walk down the streets after dark.
There would always be knights patrolling who would chase such people away.
Arnold also preferred this place instead.
The group Arnold and Stella was assigned to was an odd group.
Despite all of them being different races, they got along quite well. Raymon was supposedly half-dwarf, given his muscular frame but normal human height. Eclese, like he mentioned before, he was a Mountain Elf. Maylim was as human as Arnold and Stella were.
How this odd group winded up together made him curious. Whenever someone from a different race joined the academy they would instead mingle with people from their races first before becoming friends with humans and other races.
This wasn't the case for Eclese, Raymon and Maylim. The three of them had been inseparable in both school and battles.
They got along so well that they knew everything about each other. They could coordinate much better than any adventurer team Arnold had ever seem.
They were an excellent team together but were individually very uninteresting.
"—Show me your junk!" Maylim pulled Arnold's hair and clung to him like a monkey.
"Why would I do that, miss?" Arnold calmly asked as he pried her away from himself.
"You think you're so tough, huh kiddo!? You walk around the academy like you're some kind of god! I hate that arrogance as well! Does your tool live up to your arrogance, hah!?" Maylim poked his cheeks with her finger. She was entirely red in the face. A sign that she was drunk.
Her breath also stank that Arnold had to pinch his nose.
'She really is a light drinker. She reminds me of Elora.'
Maylim only had two refills so far but she was already acting like a completely different person. She was elegant but outgoing when she's sober but now she was like any drunkard, only more beautiful and seductive.
"That still doesn't answer why I should show you my, ahem, crotch. Maybe you just want to see it because you're curious?"
"W-W-What!? O-O-Of course not! Stupid! You're a stupid head! Why would I like you just because you're handsome and strong!?" Maylim tried slapping Arnold's head but he swatted away her attacks with only one hand.
"I never said you liked me, miss Maylim. Even if you did I would like to politely refuse."
"Ahhhh! Stop it! I know you've been looking at my breasts all this time! Just admit you're the one who likes me! See!? You're even staring now!" she pushed her chest together with her two hands.
Her cleavage was indeed visible before but that didn't mean that Arnold was intentionally staring at it. Her shirt was two buttons down so anyone could see her bra. Her chest wasn't explosive but she was well-endowed for her age.
"I am happy in the relationship I have now, miss Maylim. That woman who I love and cherish is much more beautiful and has a much bigger chest."
"Why you!! How dare you say my chest is smaller than some bimbo I've never met!?"
The attacks ensued.
Eclese was busy studying the magic arrows from across the table. He seemed so absorbed that he ignored whatever was happening around him. He was probably interested why his 'arrow' was so strong that it could blow a Chimera's head off.
Raymon was sitting quietly in a corner, gazing at one of the bartender girls with dead eyes. From a bystander's perspective he seemed like a psychopath planning to kidnap the girl he was staring at but Eclese reassured Arnold earlier that Raymon was just in love.
Eclese mentioned somewhere in their conversations that Raymon quickly falls in love with any woman he finds attractive. He would watch the woman from afar. That was it. Just watch.
There was the battle maniac who was a light drinker—Maylim.
There was a man dedicated to research and artifacts rather than his own social life outside his small circle of friends—Eclese.
Then there was a half-dwarf behemoth with hands that could crush any ordinary person's spine; a gentle giant and he was also a bit shy when it comes to love—Raymon.
These three were definitely an odd trio but Arnold knew that they were close.
There was no greed for power, money or the leadership role… Only friendship and that was something that Arnold seemed to associate with his former guildmates.
They were strangers in real life but was like a family once all of them were logged in.
'Maybe that was what's important in a team… Friendship.'
During his time at Misteltein, he preferred working alone but wouldn't turn down the offer to work with others if it meant the benefits increased.
One could say that he was just tolerant towards others if they had to work together for the benefit of the Guild.
'But I enjoyed it. Working with all of them as a guild and rising to the top three.'
He learned to love being in a guild when he accompanied Alecs. She opened his eyes to a broader world. He was looking at the game, no, life in general through tunnel vision and always kept his gaze facing forward. He never looked around himself.
Turns out that one could be happier if you work in a team. Especially if you did something you enjoyed. For him it was playing the game when life was rough.
"I noticed that you didn't bring Fire Lily with you on the expedition," Arnold spoke to Stella.
Maylim fell asleep on Stella's lap so Arnold could finally rest.
Stella touched the sword resting next to her at Arnold's words, "…I left it behind because it was a burden."
"Burden? A sword like that?"
Fire Lily was on the same level of Luke's current sword—Semi-Star class. Although they were the same class, Fire Lily had more requirements to use its full power. Luke's sword only needed to absorb his golden aura for it to release its full capabilities.
That was demonstrated in his fight at the castle. Luke's sword was the easier weapon to handle.
"… It's just… I realized that it's just a burden to carry around a chunk of metal if I can't use it."
"I thought you could release the power just fine? Wasn't that what happened in our fight?"
Stella's aura was much more intense back then when she was angered by Arnold's taunts.
Stella glared at him, "You taunted me on purpose back then. I lost my concentration because of that…"
"…."
'So the power came out on its own... No person on this world deserves to be called a swordsman if they can't even focus during a fight.' Arnold mentally shook his head, 'Forget it. She won't change even if I tell her that.'
"I guess it's because I've relied too much on the heirloom. That's why I'm not able to surpass you yet."
Arnold wanted to say "There's zero chance of that happening even if you train ten times harder than I do". He was a Transcendent after all. Although Stella would be able to rise to the top of the continent's warriors, she would never be able to hold a candle to either Arnold or Flora in terms of swordsmanship.
The two of them were considered as two of the best, Flora being the first then Arnold.
The Hero Party had six Transcendents out of the original 15 with Luke, Lauran and Flora being three of them.
Looking at Stella's dejected expression, he decided not to say the above mentioned. He knew that she would only fly into a rage. That was pointless since it wouldn't help her situation at all.
He looked at the sword she had been using these past three days.
"The blade is already chipped in multiple areas even though you've only used aura a dozen times so far. Well, it's ordinary steel so we can't expect much from it."
"Actually…" Stella looked down, "The reason for the sword being like this is because I've been training my Sword Intent in secret using it…"
"So you're thinking of doing what I did?"
"Mm..." She nodded.
"I get that you want to gain the approval of your family but—"
"That's not—"
Arnold held up his hand when she was about to argue, "But you shouldn't do it at the expense of your life. Listen, lady Freya spoke to me when I visited her at her office the other day…"
Arnold thought about what he could and couldn't say. He couldn't reveal the fact that he knew that this power could make even a mortal a god.
If humans knew about this then they would seek that power without regard for their lives.
"She said, 'If you ever use that power again then you will die'," Stella's eyes slowly widened, "Sword Intent is a weapon anyone in this world can use so long as they are dedicated to learning it. But Aether is a different story. I'm only telling you this because it could endanger your life as well. Don't move too close to the light or else you'll encounter the sun and burn yourself."
'I feel bad for lying like this but it's for the best. This world only needs one Arnold von Berkley.'
After seeing what the power could do, Arnold decided not to mess with it any further. That power allowed him to singlehandedly defeat the entire Hero Party, nearly killing Luke who didn't have his Holy Sword yet.
That desire for power drove Arnold mad and turned him into a killing machine who knew only his goals and not the consequences of them. What would happen if Stella—a pure girl—also gained this dark desire? Her desire for power was only to surpass people she deemed worthy of fighting one day and winning against, not to stand at the top of the world.
Yes, it was better to lock that power away for all eternity, not even thinking about using it. He didn't care about the other students attempting to learn it since they were garbage who would never be able to obtain that power like he would. At most they could do something similar to Rodrick in the future.
He also didn't have to worry about Luke using it since the gods wouldn't allow it.
"…." Stella opened up her mouth but nothing came out. She lowered her head again and spoke softly, "…I'll still surpass you one day…"
Arnold decided not to reply to her remark. He asked a question instead.
"Do you know where to buy the best swords in the empire?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
"Just curious. That sword right there is garbage. Did you get it from an armory or something?"
Knights tend to throw their trashy weapons in the household armory instead of melting down the steel to sell to blacksmiths. The swords would be used for sparring sessions since it was cost-effective.
Arnold used a sword like that when he first started adventuring, after all so he knew their crappy quality.
"…I bought it at a store."
"A blacksmith store?"
"Yes…"
Arnold sighed, "How can you be a swordsman and not know what kind of sword suits you best? That sword is obviously meant for people like me who aims for vitals instead of attacking with force alone."
Arnold held out his hand. Stella gave him the sword, "As expected. It feels way too light for someone like you."
"What? Why is that an issue?" she didn't seem to understand.
"I mean that you rely more on brute force than technique alone. I know this from the experience of our fight. Instead of stabbing or slashing, you prefer hitting like someone hitting something kind of like a club, right?"
Stella's eyes widened, "I-I never considered this. I only fight how I want…"
"That's exactly why this sword isn't fit for you," Arnold threw it on the floor, alerting the waiter who passed by.
"Then what sword is suitable for me then, genius?"
"A claymore. Two-handed, long and destructive. It's perfect for barbarians," he noticed Stella glaring at him, "No offence."
"…What do you suggest I do then? Fire Lily isn't a claymore."
"Well, it can be modified if your family find a capable blacksmith. Question is who would be able to do it since blacksmiths don't exactly do these things in our empire anymore."
It was more appropriate to say that it was rare to find someone who could do something like that.
"Then might I suggest seeking out the one who made these?" Eclese spoke as he pointed at his arrows, "If that personage could craft such magnificent arrows then I believe they can modify a magic sword as well. Well, it depends if they have the right materials."
"Of course. This person should be able to perform a technique called Weapon Synchronization."
"You know what that is as well?" Eclese's eyes widened.
"What are you guys talking about?"
Stella was the most confused when she saw Arnold and Eclese nodding seriously at each other.
What Arnold mentioned was a method used to create an exact copy of a weapon by transferring its properties and abilities to another object.
In order to do that, you would have to find an experienced blacksmith who was skilled in crystal smelting.
It was something that you do to reinforce steel. This was how magic swords were made in this world. You would use steel or any other crystal and melt them together to craft a sword.
The weapon's abilities depended on the kind of crystal used. Green crystals allowed one to use the wind spells, blue allowed one to use water spells, and pink allowed one to use fire spells.
From what he could tell from Fire Lily's design, a very valuable and rare kind of pink crystal was used to craft it. The sword could transform into a living flame so whichever crystal was used was very powerful.
Stella was busy writing all of this down that Arnold was explaining to her.
There were two methods of weapon synchronization:
Either she used a large crystal as her new blade or she goes with the second method which was crystal smelting. It all depended on if they could find a crystal large enough to be her new blade.
The issue with the first one was that she would have to find something that could act as a blade. The sword's power is mostly in the blade, after all.
But how would she go about finding crystals like that?
'I don't really want her to use the crystal smelting method since it isn't always successful. It can negatively affect her sword's durability if we use the wrong one. So we'll have to use the alternate synchronization method if she can't do the first one.'
Usually only the deepest parts of dungeons had the biggest crystals growing inside. This was due to the fact that the most mana was gathered there so crystals grow in a much larger size.
Mining large crystals was also out of the question since there was a legal size limit to how large a crystal could be that someone could take home. Well, that only applied to people who don't legitimately buy the crystals from an auction.
Problem was that the next major auction would take place in eight months, which was much too far away.
'Hmm...'
A major character was right in front of him. She was someone who would go on to join the Hero Party. Although her role in the party wasn't that significant like Flora or Olivia, she would still become a powerful ally for the Hero.
Arnold wanted her to become his ally instead of Luke's. The two of them(Luke and Stella) didn't even need to interact and it should stay that way. Luke didn't need Stella since her only role in the story was taking care of cannon fodder and having his kids.
If he could make her an ally then that would ensure he had someone who could fight by his side whenever he was in trouble. She would definitely be a help if Luke ever decided to turn against Arnold for whatever reason.
Perhaps she might be able to even face people like peak Flora with his help. "His help" in this case meant he had to help her get stronger so that her value as an ally increases.
In order to make her an ally, he had to gain her trust first. As it stands now she hated him with a passion. But she was rather professional when it came to working together with him if it meant her academic marks were involved.
'And in order to gain her trust, I'd have to…'
Use my crystals to help her, was what he was thinking of doing.
The blood crystals could be used as the catalyst in reinforcing the abilities of her Fire Lily and also ensuring that its abilities skyrocketed. Forget crystal smelting, using 99% pure crystals as a catalyst would make her sword obtain its peak might – Semi-Star Class.
It was the perfect plan to gain her trust.
The issue though is that not many blacksmiths know how to do weapon synchronization.
"Any idea where to look for the person who sold those arrows to you, sir Eclese?" Stella closed her notebook and asked.
"That personage usually sells their products to small towns instead of big cities or nations. Maybe they don't want to stick out? I'd recommend looking in port towns or fishing villages. Although it wouldn't hurt to try the blacksmiths of the Empire first before attempting to look for this person."
'They will definitely stick out if their craftsmanship talents were revealed.'
Arnold couldn't even remember the last time he saw the artifacts or magic items of someone this talented. There was someone in Misteltein with a legendary class but their weapons were just a bit better than whoever this mystery person is. Still, that was an impressive feat.
"So I need to go to all the small towns. Got it."
"Hold on. Don't you want to try buying a claymore first before attempting to turn your Fire Lily into one? Lots of people regret wasting their money on expensive blacksmith synchronization." Eclese offered a suggestion.
"Ah… right. I can do that after I buy the sword. But…" She laughed awkwardly, "I have no idea how to start with picking one or where to begin looking."
"Why don't I help?" Arnold spoke.
Stella's expression twisted into one of distaste.
'Hey now… that's rude.'
"Arnold is right, miss Stella. If anyone knows swords better then it's him. Our leader over there didn't even notice your fighting style wasn't suited for that sword but he did. She's a sixth year knight student but she's not very bright when it comes to understanding fighting styles except when it comes to balancing out our party."
Stella looked at Arnold with a troubled expression on her face.
Why would I want help from this guy?
He's my enemy so I shouldn't be getting help from him.
I hate his guts so I don't want to rely on him.
Arnold guessed that she was probably thinking about something along those lines. All her thoughts had one thing in common: I hate him so I don't want his help.
"Don't you want improving your fighting capabilities? Though you're one of the strongest fighters in our grade, your performance in sword fighting is lacking behind even your classmates."
The only reason Stella was in the A class was because she had powerful aura. She also showed major potential for growth. That was usually enough to be put in a B or A class. No one in A class had to be perfect in swordsmanship(like Arnold). They only needed to be capable.
"What do you say? I can even help you train with your claymore."
"Ugh…" Stella's face distorted again.
'Can you stop showing your emotions so openly…'
"Humph! Fine. I'll allow you to help me!"
'What a trashy way of asking someone for help.'
He was doing this to gain her trust and loyalty so he didn't care. It was better to play it safe and take his time. Gaining allies overnight wasn't realistic for his goals. In fact, he would be more suspicious if someone just accepted his offer to become allies.
"How about tomorrow afternoon?" Arnold offered.
"…Hmm." Stella fell into thought, "I usually report to my mother whenever I finish an important exam or project. But I guess that can wait."
"Why do you report those, if I may ask?" Eclese asked Stella.
"Oh, it's because she offers to tell my father since I never see him that much…"
"I see. The Ayried patriarch is a busy man so it's understandable, I think."
"Then tomorrow afternoon it is then..." Stella squeezed out a response to Arnold.
"Mm."
The two nodded at each other.
◇◇
Maylim woke up a few hours later while Arnold and the others were having discussions with each other. Perhaps she remembered what she said to Arnold but Maylim instantly rushed upstairs after making an excuse that she was tired.
Eclese finished chewing his grilled meat. Arnold found it bizarre how an Elf was eating meat. He always assumed that Elves were vegan given their thin frames. Maybe he was linking them to stereotypes from earth too much.
Eclese spoke to Arnold and Stella, "The Academy will take 60% of our loot once we go back. The two of you will be getting 20% from the 40% left over."
"Isn't that uneven? Someone is losing 10%."
"Take it as a gesture of appreciation for your contribution to the team these past three days." Eclese rummaged in the magic bag where they put all the cores.
"You're giving it now? Shouldn't we wait, sir Eclese?"
"Nah. I'm sure you and Arnold are already fed up with the three of us so we should part ways here tonight," Eclese took out about three big cores the size of a human head each and five hand-sized magic crystals.
Magic crystals and monster cores were valuable in dungeon trading so it was crucial to take both wherever you are in a dungeon. Of course, you couldn't just take any crystal in the ground since its value depended on its purity.
Looking at the dirty pink color of the five crystals, Arnold assumed that their purity was definitely below 60%. But they could get three silver for each of them at least. It was pocket change in Arnold's eyes but the money wasn't that important as long as his academic results and level experience gained was good enough.
"Can I use these crystals to make a new Fire Lily?" Stella asked as she held the crystal in the light and peeked through it. It was like a pink-tinted mirror showing her reflection.
Arnold was about to say that that was a bad idea. He suddenly remembered that these people wouldn't know about how bad the method used would affect the durability of a weapon.
If you were to look at both methods then the crystal smelting was the worst choice.
"Why not gather enough money to buy a better grade crystal from a Magic Tower?" Eclese suggested.
"Why? Is this one no good?"
"Of course not. You want the sword to be even better than it is now, right? That means using materials that are far better than the materials used to craft it."
It was like a "spending money to make money" kind of scheme. Warriors often invested more into their gear and weapons.
Arnold could understand since he had done this as well. It was far better to buy better gear than eat three times a day, especially if you're a novice adventurer.
Better gear meant getting stronger, getting stronger meant hunting more monsters and hunting more monsters meant more money. It was almost like a cycle for adventurers.
"I'm not sure how long you'll wait but it'll probably take months before a high grade crystal pops up anywhere on the continent. You also can't rely on an auction happening anytime soon. I'm sure your family would be able to afford it if the time comes," Eclese looked at his pocket watch and groaned, "We need to go or else we won't get any sleep. Two hours is all we need."
Raymon and Eclese stood up.
"What about miss Maylim?" Arnold looked at the stairs that she took earlier. Although this pub was mainly for drunkards to drink their life away in alcohol, you could book rooms here too.
"She's probably waiting for us outside after jumping out a window," Eclese chuckled, "That's what she always does when she says embarrassing stuff during her drunken state. Anyway, I hope we see each other again."
"Ah, wait. I'll go with you. I have to get back too!" Stella quickly stood up.
She probably didn't want to be alone with Arnold. He didn't find it that offensive given the fact how bad their relationship is so he didn't care.
Before walking away with Eclese and Raymon, Stella turned around to face Arnold.
"…?"
She bit her lip while Arnold was curiously staring at her, "…Remember, tomorrow afternoon in front of the academy's front gate. Don't be late. You're the one who promised you'd help me after all."
Arnold wordlessly nodded.
Stella turned back around and jogged after Eclese and Raymon. Arnold was left alone among the crowd of rowdy commoners.
He raised his hand and ordered another round of ale. The waiter brought it a minute later.
He suddenly heard the conversation in the booth next to his.
"—Did you hear about the water being contaminated with parasites that are causing trouble for the citizens of Nuaria city?"
Hearing this made Arnold turn his head towards that booth.