Arnold decided not to tell everyone that the antibodies will emit a horrid odor. While it would've been the perfect opportunity to see the girls naked, he'd also see the guys naked and he didn't want that. Seeing another guy's junk was too much for him. Some of the girls still stripped down to their underwear so he had some nice eye-candy while preparing the ritual.
Unlike with Sabrina's case, Arnold needed to chant the activation sequence since this ritual is using a "Chain Formation" which connected multiple multiplier runes. Chain formations are multiple magic circles of the same nature and category connected by a line of magic grease that acts like a wire. To make this easier to cast, magicians often draw the magic circles on magic sheets (or scrolls in Arnold's case).
'It's been a while since I've chanted anything.'
It had probably been five years since he made use of chants. The game required him to input chants that show up on the screen like popups. That was back in his days as a Sorcerer (before he obtained a unique class). Fast-forward a few years later, he didn't need to chant anymore ever since undergoing a class evolution. Well, that was the case for 70% of his spells. All of them were low-tier to mid-tier spells (First to Eighth Rank) while the rest (up to Seventeenth-Rank) required chants.
Under the watchful eyes of the hopeful afflicted, Arnold placed his hand on a multiplier rune that was placed on a large rock. His hand was moistened by the magic grease and he could feel its gentle warmth covering it completely.
There was a certain echo to his following words, which proved that the runes were listening and were ready to activate on his command:
"Through the veil of night, I call ◊ Undo this spell, break its thrall ◊ With earth's might and sky's grace ◊ Rid this curse from mind and spirit, time and space." A low but deep hum reverberated when a formation appeared in the pool of water, beneath everyone's feet. It illuminated everyone inside the pool, including Arnold, Anais and Castacia.
Antibodies are ready, he said to Anais and Castacia. The two nodded and placed their hands atop his.
"Runes of ancient magic, hear my call ◊ Lend your strength to this banishment spell I weave ◊ By the power of earth and sky, increase its force ◊ Amplify its might, unleash its true potential ◊ Break this curse and rid us of its evil."
An ear-piercing ring resounded when the multiplier runes—which were placed along the edges of the pool—glowed in a light that didn't lose out to the antibodies rune in incandescence and radiance.
Arnold shouted to the magicians, "Do it! Now!"
"Y-Yessir!" all six of them held up their arms to the sky when the blinding light engulfed the whole group.
Blood shot out of all of Arnold's orifices and his muscles tensed up on instinct but he managed to stay calm even as he tasted his own blood. His mind and body were both surprised and overwhelmed by the magic that rushed in like a flash flood during a rainstorm.
He could hear Anais screaming next to him.
The ear-piercing ring didn't subside during all this. Castacia was calm next to Arnold even though he could tell her energy signature was going berserk. She had a lot of composure. It was like a veteran pilot battling G-force. If Castacia was the veteran then Anais was the rookie.
Arnold could sense the ritual's magic power going out of control—likely caused by Anais being too overwhelmed by the magic control.
He didn't know what to do in that moment. If this fails then he'll need to start all over again and experiencing this ear-piercing sound a second time was bound to give him a seizure even though he wasn't epileptic. It could even cause brain damage. That was the price for not having an Intelligence stat suited for magic.
He glanced at Anais, well, in her direction since he couldn't exactly see her in this blinding light.
What Anais needs right now is something to calm her down.
He grabbed Anais by the waist and pulled her close.
He could hear a small "eek" before her head landed on his chest.
He could feel her body lose its strength and lean against him. Her chaotic energy signature instantly calmed down.
Since the two were so close at that moment, he was able to see her face even with the blinding light that was still present.
He pulled away and whispered in her ear, "Look at me."
Her big green eyes looked into his. Even though her attention wasn't on the ritual itself anymore, she was able to expertly control the spell and even get her energy signature to go back to normal. While not to a tremendous degree, her energy signature was now less chaotic than Castacia's.
Her blank expression lasted only a moment before her face flushed.
She lowered her head.
Arnold could feel something nipping his skin. That feeling multiplied a dozen times over before it felt like he was being stung by bees. It seems even his hardened skin, which he got through years of training, could feel this pain. He could feel Anais tremble and hear her whimpers.
'Ugh, this feels worse than I had imagined. Is it because of the larger scale this time?' That might be it. Were he any normal person then he would've collapsed from the pain. This must be what it feels like to pull an arrow out of your flesh. But imagine that feeling ten times over per second.
Some members from the group probably already passed out from the pain since the screams got less and less. That wasn't anything to be concerned about since only the magicians who were supplying mana and those in charge of magic control, need to stay awake for this to work.
Five minutes passed by and only then did the blinding light and ringing subside. A black cloud of impure stink was left in their wake. That was a sign that the antibodies had done their job and had successfully dispelled the curse.
Arnold looked at everyone's statuses.
No one had the "cursed" status anymore.
With a sigh of relief, he observed everyone's expressions.
They didn't look happy or unhappy, only confused as they looked at their hands.
'They don't have systems, after all.' There wouldn't be players among the students and the adventurers. If there were then Arnold would've sniffed them out already using his own system. Players aren't able to check each other's statuses but they can look at NPCs statuses just fine. He had been checking their statuses regularly and didn't notice any oddities.
Arnold let go of Anais.
"Are you okay?" he asked her.
"Mm…" she was able to stand upright even while her legs were shaking a bit. She quickly glanced at Arnold face then averted her gaze.
'Hmm, I thought she'd be angry for what I did.'
To clear up any misunderstandings, he said to her swiftly: "I don't do things on a whim, alright?"
"I-I know…" she still couldn't look him in the eye.
Arnold could feel someone burn a hole in his head. He didn't need to look to confirm that it was Arthur.
Yeah, Arnold would be pissed too if he saw a guy he didn't approve of hold either Anna or Melina in his arms. He loved his sisters to death and wouldn't hand them over to just anyone. He'll probably let their future husbands duel him to make sure they could protect his sisters when he wasn't around.
Anais sniffed herself while Arnold was thinking of how long it's been since he saw his sisters.
"I need a bath…"
Me too, Castacia said from beside the two with a wry smile
◊◊
The whole camp decided to go swimming immediately after realizing that the antibodies were the cause of the smell. Some were upset with Arnold for not warning them but Arnold ignored their complaints and simply said he was being considerate of the girls who didn't have bras and those who didn't like being naked in front of others. That seemed to calm them down and he even received warm gazes for some reason.
Arnold was invited by many of them to join them at the nearby lake but he told them that he needed some alone time and came to a nearby hot spring that was further in the forest.
Arnold stared at his status while submerged in the hot spring. It had been a while since he took a look at his entire status.
______
Race
Human (?????? ????)
Class
Warrior
Level
60
Strength
178
Agility
228
Defense
158
Dexterity
1570
Aura Power
3400
Magic Power
40[65] (+25 from magic item)
Total SP: remaining: 0 (SP will only be granted every level up so user Arnold is encouraged to make a decision over which stats to increase before receiving SP)
System patch notes: It has been acknowledged that user Arnold will manually increase stats. System has been distributing all SP to Aura Power but will not continue to do so until ordered to in the future.
______
His status didn't improve by much since he last checked it at level 58. He wasn't in top shape so maybe that was why the values were so low in his eyes.
The system was also partly the reason for his low stats, something he already knew after telling it to stop using his SP automatically.
He looked at the patch notes section.
'Distributing my SP manually is the best method to ensure I get the most out of my class. If done right, I'll be able to reach the later 200s in each stat.'
Besides that, another troublesome factor could be his warrior class hindering him. Warrior is a Common Class so your status values aren't given a special boost with every level up even if your potential is higher than others.
There was nothing he could do to change that. Due to this, he'd never thought about it too deeply. He was already stronger than the average level 60 whose strength stat wouldn't even reach 150.
Since he had been a warrior for 17 years, he suspects that a class evolution isn't far off. He might even get one by reaching level 70.
For now, it's best to focus on completing the [Death God's Consort] quest and obtaining the subclass that will be rewarded to him upon completion. He had a few ideas on how to complete it so there weren't any worries there.
Arnold waved the status screen away and asked the system a question:
"How many days are left until the academy reopens?"
He hadn't been keeping track ever since his battle with Gederick. His pocket watch was also damaged in that fight so there's no way to tell time either.
· System updated!
· Patch notes: 9 days until the School Arc resumes
"Hmm, the time dilation is something I'll never understand about world dungeons like this… It feels like I've been here for months already. Nine days, huh… This would mean it's already the month of Sekese (first month of the calendar year) and there's 2 days left until I turn 18…"
Last year he had planned to throw himself a big party on a cruise ship for his birthday this year. That was before the transmigration. Now he couldn't care less and felt it was a waste of time and money to throw a party for drunkards and bastards noble sons who will only come to eat his food and drink his wine.
He'd rather focus on using his remaining time—after obtaining the pure martial arts book and getting out of here—to go to his city and complete his piling work. He had left everything in his subordinates' hands for too long.
"I can't believe I would've hired a whole brothel for the day to have orgies. What a life I've been living, huh?"
Besides his family, Celeste was usually the only one—out of the rest of his childhood friends—who would celebrate his birthday with him. It had been that way for three years now.
Even his former fiancé, Olivia could care less about his birthday which had pissed him off a lot in the past even though he bought her extravagant gifts whenever it was her birthday. It can't be helped. He was blinded by love back then.
Arnold closed his eyes as he remembered the beautiful face of the Icy Princess Olivia. He could never picture her smiling, only looking at him with an emotionless face or slight disgust. It didn't matter what insult or lie came out of her mouth, Arnold would always chase her like a thirsty begging dog.
He opened his eyes and sighed.
That ship has sailed. A ship he wouldn't get on even if it wanted him after many years of being left stranded.
While gazing up at the night sky, Arnold felt someone approaching him. Warrior sense wasn't active so he had to look back to see who it was.
"Flora?"
Flora was the one who emerged from the trees. There was a bottle of wine under one arm and another two in her hand and also two glasses in her free hand.
"What are you doing here?"
He asked as he watched her climb into the small pool.
"What, am I bother to you? Do you own the hot springs, huh?" she answered roughly.
"I was only curious… What are the bottles of wine for? Are you expecting company?"
Arnold noticed that her cheeks were rosy red and her eyes droopy. It seems she had gotten herself quite drunk earlier when drinking with the guys.
'I guess their mission to have drunk sex with her failed, huh? Pitiful fools.'
He knew their intentions since this is something he used to do when he was inexperienced with women. His handsome face and wealth didn't get him all the women so he had to resort to this tactic most of the time when he was younger.
Flora scooted closer and gave him one glass:
"No one is coming. Hck."
Arnold took it wordlessly. The hot spring was fairly big but Flora had moved so close that their legs were touching.
She was wearing a frilly off-shoulder bikini bra and simple black tights which proudly showed her long legs and meaty but toned thighs.
"So, you're just looking for company then? Don't the guys give you enough attention?"
"They're just like little kids—loud and obnoxious. I got tired of sitting through their conversations. They never talk about stuff that I like."
'Weren't you laughing like a loose woman earlier?' It could've just been the effects of alcohol or she was just entertaining them for the sake of it.
"Oh? And what do you like?"
"You know so much about what happened in my life so you should know this as well." She pointed the wine bottle at him.
"Let's see… You want to talk about martial arts, body techniques, monster hunting, best farming spots for monsters?"
"Yes! That's it!"
"Sounds rather boring for a woman and a man's chatter."
Arnold resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"A princess ought to be more interested in what hairstyle is in fashion, what dresses are popular with young girls, shoes to wear that matches your clothes—"
"What? Why would I care for all those things? I'm not interested in them."
"…No one would look at you and think you're a princess. You lack manners, elegance and have a brutish way of speaking." Arnold took the bottle out of her hands and began pouring for himself.
'Hmm, it's been ages since I had tasted wine.' He sniffed the wine after bringing the glass up to his nose.
"The term princess is ambiguous! I could be from a warrior tribe that uses a power hierarchy system for its leaders. The chief has daughters and sons who have the prince and princess titles. All of them are expected to be ruthless warriors and intimidating."
"I guess you have a point. I can't see you being intimidating, though."
"What did you say!? I'm plenty scary! Hck!"
She tried glaring at him and twisting her mouth in a threatening manner.
"It's like I'm looking at a cat trying to be intimidating in front of a tiger but it looks cuter than usual instead."
Flora jumped a little at that.
"S-Shut up! You're making fun of my warrior spirit!" With her face beet red she hit the water with her palms, causing a big splash that landed on Arnold.
"Ah, my wine…" Arnold sighed in disappointment and threw the wine (mixed with hot spring water) out in the grass.
"You need to work on your emotions a little more. Like I told you before, an enemy can exploit that."
"Don't flirt with me out of the blue then, you idiot!"
"Ho, I didn't think a little flirting would move a ruthless warrior princess' heart this much. You're like the first years at the academy—all innocent and sweet since they have almost no experience in love." Arnold's eyes narrowed into slits, "Could it be that you actually like it but can't express it openly so you react violently to even a hint of praise or someone complimenting you?"
What was the term for someone like that again? He had it on the tip of his tongue.
Arnold leaned closer which made a vein pop on Flora's temple. She clenched her fist with a crooked smile.
"Blow into my ear one more time then I'm going to kill you."
Arnold silently moved back to his original position.
"You'll scare away potential suitors with that attitude. Are you going to kill your husband over minor inconveniences and disagreements too?"
"I'm not planning on marrying anyone!" she said roughly before throwing her glass aside and drinking straight from the bottle.
"Oh? Why is that? Did you promise someone that you'll wait for them?"
Flora suddenly began coughing and spilled some of the wine.
"T-That's not it…"
"I see. Well, I don't care either way." He took the bottle with a shrug and began pouring more wine. He quickly gulped down the wine before Flora messed with the water again.
'Tastes pretty good. I'm said to be a pretty hardcore alcoholic in the game so maybe even heavily diluted wine would taste good to me so long as it gets me drunk.'
"Oh, I always wondered something: how old are you?" Flora asked Arnold.
"Seventeen, why?"
"I've heard the others say that you don't act your age anymore. You're more reserved and mature compared to, well, a year ago from what I heard. You act less mature than your fellow fourth years at the academy."
"Well… I admit I was a rather annoying prick. But I'm not apologizing to anyone. If they have a problem with me then they should come and face me."
"You know what I think?"
"What?"
"Maybe the Berkley House's power got to your head. You only act differently because you're actually afraid of repercussions because Daddy Marcus can't save you anymore. The duke cleaned up after you, after all. If he continues doing it then your fake disowning will be exposed." Flora said with a teasing smirk.
True, the point of Marcus going out of his way to clean up after Arnold was to maintain (or rather preserve) the honor they had left which also affects the House's image and prestige.
He drank the wine before placing the glass on the edge of the hot spring.
"Bravo," he clapped sarcastically, "You managed to look deeper into something by looking at the bigger picture."
"I hate that condescending attitude of yours…" Flora showed him her fist. He held up his hands in defeat with a "this woman is so violent".
"Alright, I'll stop teasing you."
'It gets boring quickly anyway if she acts just as I predict.'
"Humph." She harrumphed before deepthroating the wine bottle again. Arnold could hear loud gulps as a lump in her throat moved up and down.
'No elegance.'
Flora went "Ahhhh~" after she was done drinking the wine. Her eyes looked droopier than before.
"Hck!" at the same time she hiccupped, Arnold could hear a loud "Blub... blub... blub..." sound and he could see bubbles appearing around Flora.
"…."
A smirk appeared on his face. Noticing that, Flora hit the surface of the water again with her palm.
"T-That wasn't what you think it was!" a red-faced Flora shouted.