The main camp where the students and adventurers made refuge was located a short walk away from the city's front gate and the highway that leads into it.
There weren't any monsters here besides the occasional slime so it was rather peaceful.
A giant crystal was placed in the middle of this camp. Its purpose was to catch all the transmissions that the other teams are sending from different regions. They've been communicating with each other this way for the past few days now. It had proved to be quite convenient.
In that same camp…
A heavy tension could be felt in the air.
The adventurers didn't dare move in this heavy silence. Even shifting their gaze away from what was causing this tension took quite a bit of effort.
At first, they thought some bandits had the balls to try to raid their camp but the pressure that was in the air wasn't from a mere bandit, it came from two seasoned warriors—Arthur and Arnold von Berkley.
"—What are you doing here…?" Arthur asked after the two had stared at each other in silence for about ten seconds.
Arnold looked around the camp, scanning every adventurer's face.
Arthur's gaze suddenly shifted to someone amongst the group who was standing behind Arnold.
"Huh? Sabrina!" he ran past Arnold and held onto Sabrina's shoulders. "Your face isn't pale anymore and you're not wheezing! What happened?"
Sabrina scratched her cheek, "I'm not quite sure either how since I don't understand what Al did…"
"Al…?" Arthur looked back at Arnold hearing that, "He helped you…?"
Arnold muttered something along the lines of "all of them are cursed already… As expected…" before turning to Arthur.
"What's so hard to get? Did the white aura fry your brain?" Arnold's mocking comment went unheard of since everyone was focusing on Sabrina.
"Uhm, he did some kind of ritual that is meant to remove curses and now I'm all better!" Sabrina's smile was just as pure and bright as everyone remembered it.
"Curses…" Arthur looked dumbfounded.
"You lot!" Arnold glared at everyone in the camp, "Move closer and gather around so that I don't have to shout over all of you! You need to know what's going on so that I can get started on the necessary preparations immediately!"
Most of them exchanged gazes, visible confusion on their faces.
Daraia suddenly approached Arnold, "Little Adrianna's first-born son… I didn't expect to meet you here."
Daraia looked down at Arnold.
"….." Arnold looked at her outstretched hand. Her fingers were way thicker than his and her hand could probably cover his whole face.
"It's common courtesy to shake hands when you meet someone for the first time." She said with a wide grin, "I haven't seen your mother since we graduated from the academy and she didn't even invite me to her wedding even though we were good friends once. You look just like her, you know?"
She must mean his face. Adrianna liked to keep her hair short back in her academy days and almost never worse makeup, instead choosing to go with her natural beauty that garnered more female than male attraction. She looked more androgynous than womanly so there was some resemblance in her and Arnold's faces.
Arnold sighed and shook Daraia's hand. She then gripped his hand with all her strength, making him jump a little.
"Oi, stop fucking around so that he can explain what the hell happened to that Penis guy and Sabrina!" Flora threw a small rock aiming for Daraia's head which she caught easily.
"My, my. You don't truly respect your elders, merc. Oh well, I know mercenaries have no manners whatsoever."
Daraia looked back at Arnold.
Despite Arnold's surprise, his expression didn't change that much.
"Wha—" Daraia felt his grip increase and match hers in strength. She tried squeezing even harder but he just gripped harder as well until their hands were white from squeezing too hard. Despite not exerting all her strength, she was certain that no mere student could withstand this much. It was wrong to assume the young man in front of her was like the others. She had tried the same thing with the other warriors in the group, including the others students. It was a kind of humiliation tactic to test their strength.
A wide smile emerged on Arnold's face, almost reaching both ends of his cheeks. It didn't look friendly at all. In fact, some may even call it creepy and demonic.
"Nice to meet you, Guild Master Daraia." He said in a cold voice.
***
The adventurers gathered around Arnold who was now standing on top of a tree stump to speak to everyone. He had told the communication unit to make contact with the other teams to issue an emergency return. All three teams responded with an affirmative even though none of them were informed of why they had to return.
Taking the distance of each team into account, they might make it here by sunset.
"Before I explain what I used to cure Sabrina, let me tell you exactly what was wrong with her," he paused and scanned everyone's faces for a moment, "Do you know what it feels like to be kissed by misfortune? Not a kiss on the cheek or a peck on the lips but an intimate, passionate kiss that slowly makes your lips go numb and makes your body hot. As time goes on, maybe a week or possibly longer, the kiss grows even more passionate until your body can't resist its temptations any longer. In contrast to kisses from a loved one, misfortune brings only suffering and despair the longer its mark remains on you. I'd say all of you have received that passionate kiss while I received merely a peck on the lips." His eyes turned to Sabrina when he said the last part.
Her eyes turned downcast. Maybe she was blaming herself at that moment.
Some of them frowned but others nodded in understanding. Among them was Sabrina who nodded. It was no surprise that she'd know what Arnold was talking about since she experienced this "kiss of misfortune" firsthand.
"This particular curse is not known to the scholars or even doctors in our empire or the whole continent of Diacree for that matter. But as someone who has studied the magic arts purely out of self-interest—including forbidden magic arts—I am familiar with what this curse can do and how it affects the afflicted even though I do not know its true name yet. You will all die. It doesn't matter how. All you should know is that a death granted by misfortune cannot be avoided through normal means," countless gasps could be heard, "If your destined death is falling off a mountain and we try to save you then you'll still be able to die from a teammate accidentally shooting you with a magic spell that coincidentally lost its control, which can also cause infighting because everyone will suspect that person of murder. Conflict will arise, one side favors the murderer while the other seeks justice but then an even bigger fight breaks out, which means—"
"In the end, we'll die by either accidents or by the hands of others." Daraia finished, "I think I understand what we're dealing with. A kiss is supposed to be a pleasant thing yet the kiss of misfortune brings only suffering and despair…"
Arnold nodded at Daraia while scanning all their statuses.
Aside from Arnold himself, the professors, Daraia, Fleridine, some of the veteran adventurers and Flora, there were no other individuals who had achieved level 50-60 or above. Daraia was the highest level at level 77. Following her in second highest level was Arnold at level 60 then Castacia at level 59, Remri at level 58, Jerlin at level 56 while the rest ranged from upper level 40s and early level 50s.
The students with the highest levels were Madilith at level 25, Arthur and Shirley at level 28, Hofir and Hans at level 27 , and Evelyn at level 24. The rest were under 20 with the lowest being level 15.
For Year 7 students, they've grown exponentially compared to last year's graduates. The highest level among the class from last year was level 23.
While their growth rate was dogshit from a player's (and Transcendant's) perspective, it would be considered on the level of geniuses in the eyes of the NPCs of the new world.
Arnold was merely interested in how far they've grown ever since coming here three months ago which is why he shamelessly looked at their statuses. In any case, their levels were satisfactory to say the least.
'Anais is only level 21… It seems she hasn't been doing much levelling…' Of course even if levels—as mentioned before—are not the only thing that determines strength, he was still hoping she'd make use of her potential to grow.
Arnold glanced at Flora for a few seconds.
Level 53. She's catching up to him. The last time he checked her status was back when they killed Ruduli and his gang. She was level 37 back then.
Noticing Arnold staring at her, Flora sent a glare his way before harrumphing as if to express that she didn't want to talk to him.
In any case, he didn't ponder their levels that deeply and his observation lasted only a few seconds before he spoke again.
"Does anyone here know anything about Group Curses?"
None of them answered.
"That's basically what we're dealing with. A simple Exorcism spell won't be enough to stop it since the source is the reason for it multiplying even when it's vanquished from one individual. To stop it, we need to destroy the source from both the afflicted and the Mark."
"H-How are we supposed to stop it!?" Arthur shouted with a pale face.
"I was just getting to that…" Arnold said with a tired voice before rummaging in one of his magic bags and pulling out a scroll.
On it was a strange formation that looked similar to runes that's illustrated in magic books. Every magic spell has a runic formula (magic circle) at the top of the pages to indicate what the manifested magic circle will look like once the spell is cast.
"First, I need mages experienced in earth magic to create a hole large enough to fit everyone inside. It doesn't need to be deep or anything special, just a simple hole to fill with water. The wind isn't strong so we can't rely on the wind spirits to distribute the power of the antibodies among every here. That's why water is the best option right now."
Spirits and Mana are one of the same—both are energies of the realms which have very similar properties. If a small water spirit comes in contact with the antibodies then they'll cling onto that antibody and swim around in the water while attached to it. The antibody will stick itself to the afflicted on its own like a magnet to metal so coordinating the spirits isn't necessary. This eliminates the need for an Elf or Elementalist Class individual to help them.
"Second," he held the scroll up higher, "I need all the magicians to study this scroll, no, the rune on the scroll and learn to cast the antimagic antibodies that it represents. Learn the magic sequence, how long it takes to chant the activation charm, how much mana it requires every second, etc…"
"Wait… How long do we have?" one of the adventurers in a magician robe raised his hand and inquired.
"Less than a day most likely. You'll need to study the scroll all night. I've added a few notes about the rune and what supplies it'll need for the ritual's process which will make it easier to digest. Magic control will be left up to me, Professor Castacia and Anais. All of you will supply mana to the antibodies. Even if that is your only task, something could go amiss during the process which will force all involved to improvise to make sure the ritual goes smoothly. And to improvise, one would need knowledge about the subject to act quickly and efficiently. Think of it like carrying a bucket of water when your little sibling is playing with fire magic while in a forest. I trust there's no issues with this?"
The magicians of the group glanced at each other. It was obvious what they were thinking about.
-There's no way a warrior could maintain a rune or spell's magic control…
Knowing 960 spells and casting all 17 ranks of magic isn't enough?
He decided not to correct that person who doubted him. Instead, he asked who was confident in their earth magic to help him create the rune's surface area (the hole).
Four magicians stepped forward out of the thirty adventurers.
Arnold told two of them to cast the Second-Rank spell [Grounded Erosion] to break down the ground and the other two to flatten the broken-down rubble to create a circular surface hole. It measured about ten meters in diameter and was half a meter deep.
Everyone watched as he instructed volunteers to draw the runes on the sheets of paper that he bought in the city and told them to place the paper around the hole.
Preparations were completed in only half an hour. The magicians had to study the runes so they had moved to quiet areas away from the camp.
A grey cloud hung over the heads of all inside the camp after hearing that they were going to die and the only one who could help them was a student.
***
Arnold returned to the camp after about an hour and leaned against a nearby tree to look over the camp. He had been checking if everyone was doing their jobs earlier.
The magicians tasked with supplying mana to the antibodies were hard at studying and he confirmed that the others had finished making the hole where the ritual will take place.
While it's a ritual of sorts, it didn't require him to sacrifice anything (like most rituals out there). It was more of a magical procedure, similar to medical procedures.
Both situations could cost the lives of many so the two are comparable in a sense.
While leaning against the tree, Arnold recalled Madilith's title and thought about the curse yet again. It's all that occupied his mind lately.
[Mark of Cursama]
'Those Special Organs are already one which means they're a foe I should be cautious of.'
What was its goal for making Madilith of all people the Mark? Why couldn't it have been anyone else?
'No, there might not be any special reasoning behind making her the Source of its Mark. The curse itself, however…'
He recalled the color of the "active" status under Madilith's title.
It was red. To put this danger into perspective, it would be classified as a National Threat level 5. Meaning it could wipe out a whole nation and the perpetrator will be executed for their crime. If the adventures and the students went back to the empire now then they'll likely cause a genocide. Of course, Freya might be able to stop it but not without thousands dying for the sake of researching the curse.
Arnold would be dead long before that.
Arnold then remembered the question marks.
'The reasoning behind the curse magic's name being locked behind question marks might be similar to magic that works on one's knowledge of its effects—like the Realm Gate in Ofore.'
"Meaning… If I somehow found out what Cursama's purpose is for casting the curse then I can find out the name of the curse as well and determine if antibodies will be enough. The problem is that we don't have much time left to test this… Who knows if the curse will be even more severe when its symptoms start appearing in someone else…"
He clicked his tongue the next moment. The game had such ridiculous mechanics you'd have to learn to progress through certain scenarios. If he wasn't knowledgeable about these things then he wouldn't have made it this far.
'I guess failing my college classes to grind more hours into the game turned out to be worth it…'
There were few situations in the story when knowing the goal of the caster of the magic would reveal its weaknesses and origins so there weren't many opportunities for newbies to find workarounds for these mechanics. This is exactly why the System was so useful.
Players could spend their Stat Points to increase their Loremaster rank by a few levels to identify unknown objects and spells. They can combine their loremaster ability with their system and perform an analysis on their opponent even in the midst of battle.
Arnold wasn't so privileged. He could identify the effects of the curse to a certain extent yet did not know its caster's purpose. If he found that out before proceeding with the ritual then he can come to a conclusion on whether the antibodies will be sufficient.
One option available to him would be the "Future Letter".
Why not use the Future Letter in his possession to find out what the curse's name is and who the caster is? He could ask the future Arnold or even someone from the group what he needs to know.
Well, he can't do that. Simply because the consequences of taking shortcuts by manipulating time are unknown to him. Also, finding out the things he must do and endure will place an even heavier burden on him because he'll have expectations that even exceed the norm. In addition, he'll be acting within the limitations of not changing the future to the point that it reflects in the past.
"I'll change this to get a better outcome" is what could go through his head. This will be motivated with the intent to not make sacrifices so he'll try to find loopholes to get the same result but follow a different process. If done incorrectly and outside time limitations, it'll be his demise.
This is why he'd rather not use the Future Letter right now when his own life is on the line.
'To avoid getting myself caught in the same dilemma again, I should find a way to unlock Loremaster…'
He would be able to identify all kinds of things just by looking at them. It's one of the most important appraisal skills in the game. Of course, there's nothing special about it other than it can identify spells, runes, curses, equipment, etc...
'There are things in this game that even top players are unaware of.'
One might ask: why not prioritize unlocking the system's full features instead? Aside from the fact that he doesn't possess the means to unlock the system yet, he had a feeling that it will be a quest reward in the future.
The system was already giving him quests to unlock his locked skills and martial skills and even choose subclasses so it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that it would reward him with a fully-functioning player system if he does enough quests.
Or maybe it's a timed thing? Maybe the more he uses the system, the more features it grants him access to. In truth, this would be a pain. The system has a lot of redundant features spread among the really useful features (like search functions, online lobbies, trackers, etc…) so it would demotivate him from trying his best if he wasn't sure which feature he'd unlock next. He wasn't so gullible to rely on luck (fate) when it was literally wishing for his death at this moment.
In the end, he decided to have more hope in the first condition to unlock the system rather than the second. He had asked the system about the first condition before what it would take but it didn't tell him. He didn't even get that annoying "system updated" ding.
This is akin to withholding giving information on how to complete a quest. For example, you don't know where something is located which you have to retrieve to complete a quest so you ask the system where to find it but it declines to answer.
This is why he thought the first condition made more sense. The system would basically be spoon-feeding him if it gave him all the answers. He thought that maybe he'd get an answer if he asked different questions and tell the system to only answer with "yes" or "no". He decided not to do so since finding the answer might be even more difficult if he's the one asking the questions…
..
Arnold could sense newer signatures inside the camp which weren't there before he left to go check up on the magicians.
Infusing aura into his eyes, he could see Evelyn in the distance, embracing Sabrina while teary-eyed. Their classmates and fellow students gathered around the two with smiles on their faces.
Anais was the next person who hugged Sabrina. Well, she ran into her friend's arms more like. Sabrina almost fell over but managed to catch Anais and the two span around on the spot while both were smiling.
Arnold watched them silently.
They really care for Sabrina huh, he thought as he looked at his seniors.
Sabrina wasn't an important side character in the game but she was a very good friend of Evelyn until the very end of the game. She was Evelyn's shoulder to cry on and the person she cared for as much as for her nephew and niece and her aunt, Castacia.
She was absent from most of the events in the game and is only heard from again after the war when Luke got married to all his wives at once in a huge ceremony. Sabrina was amongst his concubines. To be honest, Arnold thought they had wasted her in the game. She was one for the few rare people revealed to have the potential to become an Oracle once Angelica got the Destiny Goddess ending before the final war.
That wasn't why he saved her. Not every move he makes needs to be motivated by some benefit to him.
He did it because he wanted to. And yet, at the same time he feels an indescribable disgust when others call him a hero for doing so.
What would you call this?
Arnold felt someone or something staring at him at that moment, which prompted him to look in its direction. It was outside the camp so he expected that it was one of the magicians who wanted to take a break inside the camp.
'Who was that? I can't detect anyone with my senses in that direction.'
He might just be tired. He hasn't had a full night's sleep in two days so he was a little jumpy. He even unleashed an aura blast when he heard a noise in the bushes the other night while sleeping outdoors only to find out he killed a rabbit that was simply passing by.
While telling himself to go take a nap later, he headed down the small hill.