Rafaela returned to the shrine shortly after Arnold and Tanaera were done eating.
Arnold cleared out the monsters just as he had said so that Rafaela won't be attacked by them when she comes back. He didn't know what it was but he felt ready to face anything. Maybe it was because he ate a warm meal after so long? His water-cooked meat was only bearable because of the spices he added.
Arnold hates to admit it but Tanaera makes delicious food. He hadn't eaten a warm meal in weeks. It was probably odd from another perspective how his first warm meal was made by a stranger he captured from an enemy camp.
"Which one of you cooked?" Rafaela asked as she looked into the empty pot.
"Tanaera." Arnold said after lifting his upper body from his laying position. He had nothing else to do so he decided to rest while waiting for Rafaela. She came back sooner than he expected.
"And you ate it?" Rafaela looked at the two empty bowls, "Why would you trust a prisoner?"
"Aww, I'm still a prisoner even after making you guys a nice meal? That hurts my feelings." Tanaera emerged from around one of the rocks.
"I'm telling you this now. Angels are highly resistant to dark curses and poison so don't try anything that you'll regret."
"It's fine, Rafaela."
"What?" Rafaela looked at Arnold.
"We can trust her. For now at least."
"Why? You were cautious of her ever since we left the third world floor. Are you under some kind of hypnosis of hers? Let me check." Rafaela put her hand on Arnold's forehead.
"Geez! I already proved to this guy that I won't hurt any of you." Tanaera intervened, "I'm part of the team now, right?"
She asked while looking at Arnold.
"I said for now at least."
"That's good enough! Anyway, is it really true that angels have resistance to dark magic negative effects and all kinds of curses? That's pretty crazy."
"My halo grants me that protection. While offensive spells cannot be blocked, I can ward off any mental attacks. But I'm sure this guy here will protect me if you do attack me with attack spells, right?"
"Indeed." Arnold answered.
Rafaela was now an important ally. He needed her just as much as she needed him to survive. If danger comes to her then he needs to be there to rescue her.
The same goes for Tanaera. Her ability to grant him a stigmata will greatly increase his chances of victory in every fight.
A buff coupled with a multiplier will make him much stronger than he is now. He might even become stronger than his demon lord form for a short duration. It was better than using the demon lord power, especially after what he found out about the "Failed King".
"Oh, so that's why you're together. I thought the two of you were adventuring friends."
"….." Rafaela just sat down after ignoring Tanaera.
Arnold and Tanaera sat down as well. The two curiously looked at the magic bags that Rafaela put down.
"So what did you find?" asked Arnold,
"Besides potions and a few magic items, there's some food and other supplies. The food isn't exactly the kind you call exquisite cuisine." She took out something resembling a chocolate bar, "This is all that was left. In fact, there were two crates worth of these left behind. I suspect that one of the other angels came through here and took most of the stuff that was supposed to be here. We will have to make due with these protein bars for now. Hunting animals shouldn't be our main source of food."
The bar of protein looked like hardened faeces. Arnold shuddered imagining the taste.
"That will have to last until we reach your master's base or until we reach the next supply point."
"There should be ten supply points left. At least the ones that my master set up. I'm not sure about the others."
"I see. I'll hunt for us during the day if I need to," he then muttered, "We have another problem. I don't know whether or not I can find ingredients to make more potions."
"What do you need?"
"Tree sap. The tree sap I'm looking for is hard to find, though. I didn't have the luxury to purchase holy water from a temple."
"Then that will have to do." Rafaela suddenly looked at the large brown sack that was sitting nearby, "What's that?" she pointed at the sack.
"That's the supplies I bought from the undead merchant."
"I didn't meet an undead merchant along the way. Where did you find this merchant?"
"He was in the shrine just a few hours ago but he vanished after our business was done."
"An undead in a shrine? That's strange. They normally avoid shrines since a misconception exists that makes undead creatures think they're restricted from shrines." Rafaela looked at Arnold seriously, "I must warn you to be careful when making purchases from the merchants you meet on these world floors. They value one's life as some sort of coin purse. It's never a good thing to use your life as a pouch of coins."
"So you know that they take your karma as payment?"
"Yes. An acquaintance of mine bought items from one of those merchants once. Losing too much of your karma will result in drastic consequences. She lost most of her divine powers as a result. What kind of things did you buy?"
Arnold stood up and grabbed the sack. He brought it towards them. The items inside the sack clanked together. One could tell that it was heavy just from looking at it.
Arnold opened up the large sack. Inside were the following magic items:
Wizard's Little Finger—it'll come in handy when he wants to cast spells from a distance. He knows a lot of arcane chants(word for word) so it shouldn't be hard to find a spell that has high damage but low mana requirement. The magic item's purpose is to amplify the attack power of spells. Even a simple fireball can become deadly.
Reflection Knight Shield(A). It can reflect 50% damage of attacks from enemies lower levelled than the user or 20% damage of attacks from enemies high levelled than the user. Arnold wasn't a knight per se so a shield would only slow him down. However, he could use the shield to deflect damage to make it harder for his enemies to throw him off balance.
Ring of Fortress. The magic item allows its user to allocate their attack power to defence for a limited amount of time. It was a D-rank magic item so the duration was fairly short(5 minutes). He'll have to find a way to ascend the magic item.
[Call of Body] earrings(×2). The magic item recovers its wearer's stamina by an increase of 50% the normal speed. It also increases agility by 5 points. Elves are born with long limbs and thin bones which allows them to climb trees and evade projectiles much quicker than the average human warrior. Arnold wanted to replicate something like that using the fast recovery speed and agility increase. He wasn't confident in evading arrows while preserving his power in a fight so an item like this will come in handy.
Great Borati Chime. A magic item catalyst that allows regular mages to use divine spells. He had a few healing spells in mind that could help in the midst of battle. Chugging potions while fighting wasn't ideal. He'll only need it if Rafaela isn't able to heal him or he gets separated from her during a fight.
There were other items but those only increased his stats a little when worn so they weren't important to mention.
There was also his ultimate trump card out of this dungeon—the Yorm Branch. He'll only use it once he finds the pure martial arts book.
"…Why did you buy so many…" Rafaela looked at him incredulously
Tanaera looked inside the sack, "Putting your own life on sale just to buy magic items must mean that you have a goal for being in this dungeon."
"You're right about that. I have a goal. Though I'm unsure where I can begin looking. What I'm looking for is a book. Specifically, it's a martial arts book that holds the techniques directly passed down from its creator."
"A pure martial art. So that's what you're after?"
Arnold nodded.
Rafaela went "hmm" as she looked into the pit of ash from the fire that already burned out.
"I think I know where you can find the book."
"Is it a shadow world?"
Rafaela's eyes widened slightly.
"How did you know?"
Arnold recalled the conversation he had with the undead merchant.
◇◇◇
"—Rumour has it that there exists a world between the dungeon worlds, not connected by a portal. This world was dominated by martial gods who passed down their ancient powers to their believers and disciples. One could say that that world itself was a paradise for aspiring martial artists. Its air is filled with strong Ki, the animals exist solely for you to test your strength, the harsh conditions hone your body into that of a true warrior and the myriad of clans that you could find could teach you various things about becoming a true martial arts master. Ironically enough, that is what brought the world's downfall and the near extinction of its humans."
"….."
"There were many clans, as I've just said but two clans in particular hold the title of having the most members and the strongest martial masters. Ku Johun and Funiji Kaijin. Those two are the world's remaining sect leaders after slaughtering every other clan in power with their overwhelming numbers. The normal humans cower and hide in the darkness of their world, wishing that the two clans' battle don't take their lives as well."
"…Okay, so what does this have to do with the book that I'm looking for?"
"The book is the reason for the downfall of all those clans and the continued war of two powerful martial artists."
"What…? Are… Are you telling me that I have to confront those two martial masters if I want the book?"
"Kakaka, did you think that it will be easy? That book is the last remaining pure martial book after the gods sealed or destroyed the other books in fear of the humans—of the world they created—surpassing them. The book has now become the ultimate decider in who rules the world. Every person must bow down to that individual. The martial masters have been fighting for decades non-stop. Both are evenly matched and it appears no victor has been decided."
"Do these so-called martial masters know where the book is?"
"Yes, but they will not touch it nor allow anyone else to gaze upon it until a victor has been decided for their fight. Their people are very traditional and respects the laws that were created by their ancestors. The one who wins is most deserving of keeping the book and becoming the last martial god."
'What in the actual…' Arnold looked at the merchant blankly.
How strong were the skills in this martial art book that an entire world was at stake!? Won't revealing this book in his world cause the same amount of chaos?
"…Do you know how I can get to the shadow world?"
"No clue, kakakaka!"
◇◇◇
"—Shadow worlds can't be entered through normal means," Rafaela said after Arnold finished explaining what the merchant said, "The world is drifting in the dungeon's shadow out there somewhere. Going to the world won't be an easy task. But I know what can get you there."
"Really!? What!?"
"…Why are you so excited all of a sudden… A certain contraption allows one to open a portal to any of the shadow worlds."
"Any of the shadows worlds…? So there's more. Why is that?"
"I believe that the creator of the dungeon failed in connecting those worlds to the dungeon so they are now lost worlds that can't be travelled to by normal means. They drift aimlessly in their respective solar system."
"If the portals didn't work in the first place then why would some contraption work?" Tanaera asked from beside Arnold, "You mentioned a portal to the shadow world. Is this portal different from portals that connect the dungeon worlds together?"
"Yes. The reason we can create a portal to connect to the shadow worlds is quite simple: Traces of the creator's mana was left behind when they failed to bind the shadow worlds to their dungeon. Think of it like a lingering scent or a trail. The contraption's key role is to identify worlds with the creator's mana which will act as a sort of activation for the portal to form."
'This makes things more convenient. Just knowing about the martial world's existence would've been useless.'
Rafaela had once again proven her worth.
"Where can I find the contraption?"
"Every disciple has one."
"So there are several of them, huh."
"Yes, they just replicated the original contraption and took a small amount of the creator's mana. The disciples use the contraptions to access their own private worlds. Some use these worlds as storage units and others to train in their spare time."
"Will your master allow me to use hers to go to the martial world?"
"I don't see why not. But she won't do it for free, especially not for strangers. You must give her something to receive something in return."
"Ugh, what the hell… Alright. You should take me to your master once we reach the world floor she's on."
"Our business will be done after that. Understood?"
"Yeah." Arnold glanced at Tanaera who was silently listening to the two, "You should know that my business in this dungeon is done once I get that book. I won't need you anymore. I'll still take the necklace, though."
"Can I go with you once you leave?" Tanaera asked with a small voice.
"Huh?"
"To your world, I mean. Can I go with you?"
"….." Arnold looked at her for a few seconds, "Why?"
"…I…I want to see the world that accepts people like me and don't see the dreadful goddess that I resemble so much. I can't say for sure if I'll adept to the world but I'll try if it means I can continue using my powers."
'Hmm, if she's willing to come with me then I can have her teach Elizabeth dark magic.'
Elizabeth couldn't learn dark magic in its entirety on her own. Her talent in dark magic was only discovered by a witch when she wandered into a valley filled with undead. This was when she was in her 20s.
It wasn't a problem for her to become one of the strongest magic casters in the game in just a few years. However, Arnold knew that she could've been many times stronger if only she was guided by a more experienced dark magic user sooner.
Tanaera fit that role perfectly. She was much older than Elizabeth and had been honing her skills for years while alone in this dungeon. The fact that she could control the power of a Cardinal artifact means that she was no ordinary dark magician.
The academy had good teachers of dark arts but none of them come close to Tanaera's mastery of dark magic. Perhaps Tanaera could even become a professor at the academy?
Arnold felt someone poking his cheek. He opened his eyes.
Tanaera's face was right in front of his.
He's been in deep thought so he forgot to answer her.
"So? Will you take me with you? I can't go on my own, you know. I need someone to guide me for a while."
"On one condition." Arnold held up one finger, "You will listen to one request of mine once we leave this dungeon."
"…And that is…?"
"There's a certain someone I want you to meet. She's an incarnation just like you."
"Ah."
"I'll explain everything when we leave the dungeon. Rather, let's leave the subject for when you actually meet the person."
"Okay." Tanaera nodded, "I accept your condition."
"Are the two of you done now?"
"Ah, yeah we're done." Arnold stood up, "Where's the portal to leave this world? I think it's time we leave now that we have everything we need."
"It's just past the forest to the east."
"Alright. Let's get out of here."