"….?"
Arnold slowly opened up his eyes.
'What's this softness below my head? A pillow?'
This was the second time he's felt this softness. The first time was back when Victoria was giving him a lap pillow.
But this particular softness didn't have the same smell as Victoria back when she gave him a lap pillow after he lost to Luke.
Who was it?
His eyes opened and he was able to see what he was laying on.
"…."
"!"
He looked straight into the face of a beauty. Her skin was fair and white. Her eyes were a deep green while her hair was completely white.
Her ears were exactly like that of an Elf.
Her small lips and tall nose were the craftsmanship of perfection.
Am I looking at an Elven Goddess, Arnold thought to himself.
No, it was…
"Rafaela?"
Arnold slowly lifted his upper body to look at her.
She averted her eyes.
"How long was I out?"
"…."
"Hmm…"
She refused to speak.
"I never thought you looked this beautiful beneath that mask," he picked up the bird mask, "I thought you'd have an ugly face or something. That's usually why people hide their faces."
"Flattering me won't make me let my guard down around you. I still think of you as a stranger." She said flatly, "…Are you alright?"
"…." Arnold went silent as he suddenly recalled what he experienced in the void.
He never expected the void to overwhelm his will that much. If one was unlucky, the void can even impact your psyche so much that you'll never be the same person you were before you entered.
"I'm fine." Arnold said a few seconds later.
He stood up and looked around.
"So this is the third floor, huh."
◇◇◇
The world resembled the grassy plains of his original world so much. In fact, the wildlife didn't differ from his world at all.
The sky was a deep blue and the trees weren't as massive as the trees on the second floor.
He felt at peace for the most part being surrounded by a familiar environment. Still, something gnawed at him even while being surrounded by such a peaceful place.
Why did his future self tell him to not trust Victoria?
Sure, she had a very strange and mysterious past but she would never hurt Arnold or get in the way of his goals unless they were a danger to his life. She was like his big sister, no, she was more like a mother, like Adrianna was before she began pushing her son away.
Arnold now had the memories of his alternate self so he could remember many things about Victoria.
Regardless of whether he knows the future completely or not, he was grateful to have these memories that was lost when he was transmigrated.
It was probably weird to say this but he felt like Victoria raised him. He wouldn't be healthy without her strict diet plans or well-dressed and have fashionable clothes without her fashion sense. She was more involved in his life than his parents who were always busy.
Marcus was a duke before anything else so he was away from the city most of the time tending to his territories and his duties in the empire as a Great Noble.
Adrianna always had to travel around due to her job as a professor and Elite Mage. She's locked in her tower at the castle most of the time to focus on research.
At least Anna was there for Arnold. He spent more time with his sister than he did his parents.
Was the fact that they spent so little time together the reason why Marcus and Adrianna adored their family so much?
Maybe that was how a family was supposed to be. The parents were off working most of the time while the children were by themselves. Of course, even Anna spent less and less time with him as her career grew. She already started a merchant guild at 15.
How lonely must Arnold have felt before Victoria came into his life?
Arnold looked up at the sky.
"If that was the real me from the future then…" he recalled something that happened not too long ago, "...then what was that vision I saw through the eyes of the other me?"
Was that even real? Was the Arnold he saw before the real him? No, these memories felt real, like he experienced that childhood himself.
"The other one was either a glimpse of my own future or a lie created with Destiny Magic."
If it was a lie... then the culprit was Angelica, the Oracle.
The question was: Why did she show him that vision in the first place.
If he had stayed a little longer in that vision… then he would've been be able to see who the Hero was who invaded Arnold's castle.
One might ask: Didn't the future Arnold mention Luke's name though?
If Destiny is involved then Angelica probably made future Arnold mention Luke.
Destiny can either be a blessing by offering predictions to the unknowledgeable or it can be used as a tool of fabrication to deceive others.
Arnold almost fell victim to the latter.
"—Shouldn't we be heading to the next floor instead of sitting here like we're on vacation?" a voice came from his side.
"Are you listening to me?"
"….?" Arnold's mind was blank for a second but he snapped out of it.
Rafaela sat down, carrying a basket of strange fruit she picked in the woods. He had forgotten that she said that she was going to gather fruits so he didn't notice that she was gone.
"We should prepare ourselves fully before thinking of moving any further. Chances are that teleportation between floors won't always be linear like earlier." Arnold responded after his thoughts were interrupted.
"Linear?"
He didn't arrive on the first floor when he came through the entrance outside. Arnold suspected that it could be a bug in the game that the developer team were too lazy to fix.
Teleportation could be random so they had to be prepared for anything. The two could even be separated. Arnold didn't want that since angel buffs are much more powerful than buffs of any priest or cleric.
If Arnold and Rafaela are separated than he won't be able to fight to his fullest potential. He'll have to be careful with preserving his power which can make fighting much harder since he can't go all out.
Luckily, a space pocket didn't behave the same way as regular floor hopping. Unlike teleportation portals that uses space to bend matter, a space pocket has a force that keeps your body's mass and form constant. Meaning that you wouldn't be bent like a noodle. It's like going through a tunnel that's connected to two specific worlds and not just randomized worlds.
That often happens in teleportation. A person isn't magically sent to another location. It's just that your body distorts so much with the help of space-time magic. The "noodle" shape of your body allows you to move as fast as light. It's so small than you can only be detected through a modern microscope.
Arnold finished explaining the above to Rafaela. Of course, he didn't mention anything from the game.
"Chances of us finding another space pocket is rare since they're not as common as portals. We might be taken to a floor which we're not prepared for."
"…." Rafaela looked at Arnold silently.
By the way, she wasn't wearing her mask anymore. Arnold was always surrounded by beautiful women so he was pretty used to talking to women comfortably unlike before.
"…Are you a teleportation expert or something?"
"Not at all."
'I just remembered what I read on a forum of conspiracies about teleportation in the game.'
He had no idea if he was right but he believed in that theory more than the other stupid ones he read about.
"Do you understand now why we should prepare thoroughly?"
"Yes… But how will we do it?"
"First of all, we should go over the kind of monsters we should look out for the most. Secondly, we should be aware of what inhabitants we'll encounter. Third, if the situation turns out to be different than what we expected to happen then we should be ready to adapt to that situation."
It was dungeon hunting 101. He wanted to mention the things he learned in class back then but that didn't seem important at the moment.
"Do you have any idea how we'll find a portal?"
"The disciples are thorough when they mark paths for us to follow. They usually paint an eye with wings on the paths. It's easy to spot in open areas."
Arnold looked around. He even used his aura to enhance his senses but still saw nothing.
"These doesn't seem to be any markings like that anywhere."
"Maybe it's because we're not too far from the entrance. The disciples usually make the markings further away to avoid unwanted guests from discovering the trails. But I can still remember the path I used last time. We can also resupply at certain points along the paths. They leave supplies for us servants in case we need it."
"I see. Hm?" Arnold spotted something moving in the distance.
It seemed like a gathering of sorts. Maybe swarms of insects or birds?
No, it seemed much bigger.
"Huh?" Arnold saw the same thing coming from the other side of the open grassy plain, "What's that?"
"?" Rafaela was about to bite into the fruit in her hand but stopped when Arnold pointed to the grassy plain.
"Those are the inhabitants of this world. They seem to be fighting in a skirmish."
"Hmm…"
'That doesn't look like any small skirmish, though. It looks like a war.'
It didn't strike him as a surprise that they were intelligent beings that knew about gathering together to fight. Each world in a dungeon was unique so there's no limit to what you can encounter.
Dungeon worlds can't just have monsters after all. What separated this dungeon from the rest was that it was so massive that it could hold entire worlds in its dimension. Smaller dungeons usually only have limited areas that players can explore. Which means they have limits on normal occasions.
The Sky God Dungeon wasn't called the biggest dungeon ever created for nothing. The servers of the game even shut down one time because of the traffic that the dungeon was getting. Even a game as big as Star Fantasy couldn't handle millions of players exploring one dungeon.
It was large enough to hold so many players but the servers weren't enough to keep them all in one place.
"Do you have any idea why they're fighting?"
"The humans from this land are in threat of extinction from the tribes in the mountains over there," Rafaela pointed at the ice mountains that were in the distance, "There are only a few kingdoms that way," she pointed to the west this time.
"Threat of extinction… So the tribes you mentioned are a danger to those people from the kingdoms over there? Don't they have people to fight for them?"
"They have soldiers but strong knights are very rare. That's why the kings of this world marry a lot of women. They hope that even one of their wives give birth to a strong fighter who can lead the kingdoms to victory against the mountain tribes."
"Let's go take a closer look at what's happening. It sounds interesting."
"… That is too dangerous. Inhabitants of these kinds of worlds usually don't respond kindly to outsiders, especially otherworlders like ourselves. The disciples don't even make contact with these people."
Otherworlders, huh. It reminded Arnold of the situation he was in. His body was taken over by a player who considered his world to be a game. He felt so detached from this world for the first few months after his arrival. However, that feeling disappeared.
Arnold reminisced in those days before he descended the hill, ignoring Rafaela's calls completely. In the end she followed after him.
◇◇◇
The two of them hid in a nearby forest. They used the big bushes as coverage.
The battle hadn't started yet.
This is probably because both nations were waiting for the other to respond. The first move was the most decisive in a battle. War is no exception to this.
'Now that we've moved closer, I can finally see what they look like,' Arnold looked at the tribe that came down the mountain, 'As expected of a barbarian tribe. Nearly all of them are wearing clothes made from animal hide, leaves and vines.'
Most of their weapons were also crude. Moreover, unlike the nation there were trying to invade, they didn't have heavy artillery weapons like ballistae.
This determines the victor even if the battle hadn't started yet.
"How does the kingdom lose against the barbarians every time? They don't even have armour or good quality weapons. They're like goblins."
Arnold looked at Rafaela as he asked.
She rummaged in the bag around her shoulder. She pulled out a small book.
"…According to these notes one of the disciples made… A witch is using magic to give the barbarians supernatural abilities. It isn't known how she's doing it. The kingdom of humans want to invade the tribe's territory and capture the witch who has been terrorizing their land."
'No, witches are dark magic users. Dark magic users can't buff people like arcane mages and priests can. Which means…'
"The witch is using a cursed item." Arnold concluded.
Only a cursed item could be used as a catalyst to supply power to an individual. Of course, it depends how powerful this artifact in question is. Every single weapon and magic item in the game had their own life bar or energy that keeps its form intact. This energy was called the "source".
A dark magic user can use their mana to corrupt an item and use its source as a sort of power supply. The item breaks down once its source is depleted completely.
The dark magic user's mana causes the [Curse] effect.
Every artifact or weapon could be corrupted if you used enough dark mana. Take any temple's holy sword for example. It was deemed a holy weapon because it was crafted by a priest. But just because it has holy properties doesn't mean it's invulnerable to curses or corruption.
The opposite was also true. If you apply enough divine power then even a cursed weapon could get a [Holy] status. That was how Lancelot was able to overwhelm the demon sword in Arnold's possession.
"If they have such power then it must mean that the cursed item isn't ordinary, right?" asked Rafaela.
"Yeah. It must be a magic item."
'And I want it.'
A sudden yell shook the grassy plain.
--"HEAR ME, BARBARIANS!"
'They speak common tongue, huh. I guess the devs wanted to make it easier to understand the people in this world.'
--"BRING FORTH YOUR GREATEST WARRIOR AND WE SHALL DO THE SAME!"
The person who was screaming those words was an old man with a crown sitting on his bald head. His long beard flowed in the wind while his red robe shone majestically to show his prestige.
He was definitely the king of that nation.
--"Why should we comply with your wish, King Flued Ardinis!?"
A gigantic man, easily reaching 3m in height stepped forward while dragging his Morningstar on the ground. His body was covered in red tattoos.
--"If you cannot comply with that then we shall assume that you're a coward who hides behind his people! You're the greatest warrior, aren't you!?"
Asked the king.
--"You dare insult the great chief!?"
--"Off with his head!"
--"I'll rape your women and eat all your children!"
The tribesmen threw insults, expletives and many other disturbing things at the king. They seemed to respect this great chief of theirs a lot.
The chief raised his hand which silenced his entire army.
--"Very well. However, I will send my eldest son to battle your greatest warrior, King Flued." The chief chuckled after saying so with a smirk.
--"What!? Are you afraid of losing!?"
--"Gyahahahaha!! Me!? Afraid!?" the chief's laughter boomed, "I might lose control and attack your entire army head-on, King. As much as I respect warrior duels, I simply cannot follow the rule of one-on-one."
'What an arrogant bastard. Well, what else can you expect from a barbarian…'
A man with the same tattoos on his body stepped forward when the chief backed away.
Arnold could tell from the man's long legs and fit physique that he was an agile fighter who relied on speed more than brawn.
"I am the eldest prince of the Zaltek mountain. Our people owned this land before invaders like you took it over! We were driven away from our land by your kind! We were forced into those cold harsh mountains. Had we not adapted then my people would've frozen to death! I, Zerrysi Kukao, eldest son of Albatursh Kukao, accept your duel, King of the Naridian Kingdom!"
"Then I shall send out our greatest warrior! Come, sir Arthur!" yelled the king.
Arnold's eyes widened slightly when he saw a young man donning full silver armour, walking towards the prince.
He wasn't surprised that Arthur was in this dungeon. Arthur was one of the 7th year students, after all. But why the fuck was he fighting in some war!?
Arthur closed his eyes for a second as if in concentration. His body was surrounded in a white energy. It heavily resembled Arnold's Sword Intent but the density was far different. Sword Intent was much lighter so it flowed upward. The energy surrounding Arthur was much heavier and was silvery-white, almost like Ki.
'….' Arnold's mouth was agape, '…He's able to control White Aura?'
"I, Arthur Tivurgian shall be your opponent!"
'Who the fuck gave him a blessing…?'