Arnold surprisingly didn't have any visions about his encounter with Gederick. Was Flora's presence the reason for this? When he slept in Sabrina's tent, he couldn't even sleep peacefully before feeling the same pain from back then consume his entire body.
Thinking back to that moment, he realized how stupid he was. Who hurts themselves thinking a pain they could control would be able to cancel out the pain that consumes their mind? Arnold told himself to go to a healer to check if his heart was doing okay. The origin of the pain resonates there.
Gederick's spear had pierced the middle of his chest, inches away form his heart, so it made sense if one thought about it.
Maybe he should ask Sabrina if she can do a quick check-up? Yes, she might be able to tell if something is wrong. Seeing as how she had been constantly asking him if there was anything she could do for him, he figured she might help him.
…
Arnold felt a weight press down on his face. Something soft and very heavy was on his chest, covering his mouth but thankfully not his nose, allowing him to breathe. However, he caught a whiff of sweat and stuffiness. It was a familiar scent, one that he had been exposed to numerous times.
Arnold slowly opened his eyes. He noticed a large shadow looming over him.
His eyes cleared up. Two majestic buns, wrapped in only short tights appeared before his eyes. Looking at it from this close made them look bigger than they actually were. The person they belonged to was blessed with wide hips and long legs but was on the flatter side since she didn't have a lot of fat on her body.
Flora suddenly moved and pressed her hips down, grinding her sensitive bits right on his face which made her moan a little.
Yes, Flora's butt was right on his face. He could feel her head somewhere near his crotch. Thankfully she was asleep. Why else would she be right on top of him? He forced down his disappointment at a certain cliché event not happening.
Arnold carefully lifted Flora and put her aside on the sleeping bag. She moaned and tried to hug him, probably thinking he was a pillow but he gently pulled her off him.
"Did she always sleep this sloppily?" Arnold thought to himself while looking at her face that was covered in her saliva.
'Hm?' he noticed a popup icon on the status screen. Curious as to what it could be, he clicked on it after making sure Flora was still asleep.
· Unique Tier Blueprint detected nearby
'When did this pop up? Right when I entered the tent?'
The system's interface (as simple as it was currently) only pops up when he wants it to. He can bring it up with just a thought and had purposefully left it off last night since it always feels like he's in a "mecha suit" of some kind. It wasn't intrusive per se, just very annoying since the icons block 30% of his vision, mostly his peripheral vison.
'Where is the blueprint?'
· System updated!
· Patch notes: The blueprint can be found amongst [NPC] Flora's belongings
His gaze shifted over to Flora. Surely, she won't mind if he takes a peek? If she picked this up then it must be valuable. Of course, just because it's valuable to her doesn't mean it will be worth something to him so he wasn't getting his hopes up.
The "Unique" title given to the blueprint definitely had him interested in what it could be. This is a title usually given to items that are considered the rarest in the game and only a limited amount of them exists or even just one that can't be duplicated.
Arnold glanced over at Flora again, making sure she was still sleeping for the third time. After confirming that she's not awake, he climbed over her to get to the bags which were in the corner of the tent.
The tent was fairly big but there wasn't a lot of moving space which is why he was now on top of Flora (he had no choice but to kneel awkwardly like this).
He didn't have to look long to find the blueprint. All he had to do was lift a flap of her backpack.
"Gold paper? Hmm…" it was neatly rolled up and looked fairly big by the looks of the thickness of the roll.
Arnold took it out to examine it.
"…" for a second he stared in silence when he saw the name at the very end of the scroll.
It was a name he had never forgotten but hadn't thought about for a while.
· Conqueror Warship Dunfer
A battleship fit for kings, emperors, and even demigods if fully upgraded—that was the greatest warship known as Dunfer, a first of its kind. It was a warship that could allow one to dominate planets if you obtain all its upgradeable parts scattered throughout the nine realms. These parts ranged from level 1 to level 5 (maximum).
"Where did she get this?" he unfurled the scroll.
Strange symbols appeared before his eyes which floated like holograms above the golden paper, showing 3d models of all the listed parts and the locations of merchants and stores across the realms that sold them. Of course, the parts were nothing interesting to him as a player since they were only level 1 parts. The warship only begins to become something he'd want to use once it reaches level 3.
Given how thick the scroll was, he was certain that somewhere in the scroll it showed all the parts separated by levels. Arnold didn't build the ship himself in the game, only received it as a play tester.
The warship needs thousands of parts to function so it would be a waste of time going to look for level 1 parts when he already knew where to find level 2 parts. Thus, he skimmed through the level 1 parts. He wanted the level 3 parts' locations.
"What the… Is the scroll endless or something?" he asked no one in particular when he noticed that the rolled-up section of the scroll wasn't getting any smaller.
'Hmm, I'll need to be in a proper work environment if I want to go through this whole scroll.'
A workshop could work. Particularly, one where airships are commonly built. Airship schematics are known for their ludicrous number of parts and descriptions which are written down inside of them, inconveniencing those who want to build whatever they contain. Multiple people will need to be assembled just to process the information and come up with a strategy to build the airships and make sure nothing important is missing.
Luckily dwarves managed to create a machine capable of analyzing all information inside a scroll. It was built specifically for construction blueprints but the [Imperial Intelligence Organization] and other similar organizations that process large amounts of information have access to them as well. Of course, only the nations the dwarves are allied with possess it, which obviously excludes the Theocracy that refuses to ally themselves with dwarves.
You only find one of them per city and access is usually only granted by the lords or monarchs of the respective region. Exceptions to this is the empire which has five cities (four if excluding Nuaria that still needs to be rebuilt) but only have two of these machines located in the imperial capital.
'…I'll need to get one of those machines but the dwarves don't lend them to just anyone.'
They'll be suspicious of his motives and why he doesn't just ask them to process the blueprint for him.
'I'll need to ask Liumiala to get me one of those machines. But if I do that then I'll miss out on another favor.' He had brought her more future clients but didn't know if she'll consider that one favor if there were more than one or if she'll give him favors equal to the number of new clients.
He didn't trust her enough to bet on the latter.
He suddenly had an idea. What if he gave the dwarves a city core-sized red crystal? The people probably already know how valuable his crystals actually are and the stock market must be in a craze thanks to Lunaria and Vetis' efforts. Dwarves need their power tools to be at tip-top shape so it's only natural that they'll be somewhere on the list of people requesting access to the crystals.
Arnold was the only one who could give them permission to buy the crystals.
With his plan already in mind, he closed the scroll then pondered if he should just take it without telling Flora. it's not like she'll need it.
He suddenly felt Flora move under him and moan as she rubbed her eyes. A gasp leaked out when her eyes blinked absentmindedly. A twisted expression slowly appeared on her face.
Almost immediately after her face twisted, he could see a fist flying for his face. It looked slow from his perspective but he knew that if he didn't do something then he'll end up losing a few teeth.
Arnold didn't have enough time to think. Dodging was out of the question since they were in such a small space. Plus, the shockwave from her punch might also end up ruining Anais' tent.
With that in mind, he used his own hand to block her punch, taking in mind to pull back his arm immediately after the two connect. This is to dispel the force behind her blow without sending all of it through his body.
"!"
Arnold could hear a (literal) bone-shattering sound the next moment before excruciating pain ran through his "right arm".
He didn't even have the thought of expelling her blow by moving his arm backward the moment her fist connected with his hand. Due to this, the energy was released right into his arm, tearing his skin apart and expelling itself forcibly like paper being torn by razors.
Arnold's arm fell down limply as blood flowed like a waterfall. He held onto it with a silent grimace.
"…." Flora could only make an idiotic repression seeing Arnold kneeling on the ground like that.
**
Sabrina was currently using her healing magic on Arnold's arm. She had expertly created an arm cast in just ten minutes using only cloth and scissors. She then carefully put it around Arnold's neck and put his arm inside so that it could hang loosely without moving too much.
Arnold could see the sweat dripping down her face as she overexerted her divine power to heal his arm. It's useless to use this level of healing magic on a broken arm. For that, she'd need to be able to cast Fifth-Rank magic that could shift your bones back into their original place and fix some fractures. In order to regenerate damaged tissue, one would need an even higher ranked spell, which no healer of priest possessed.
No, Ceera "the Seraphim" and "The Oracle of Melis" Angelica possessed that kind of magic so it's not correct to say no one can cast it. That said, he wouldn't be granted the luxury of meeting those individuals now or in the future so he didn't consider requesting their help even if he had the means to go there right this instant. Angelica and Luke will end up meeting anyway once she has a clear picture of who the next Hero will be.
"I feel like this will be an unnecessary thing to say but…" Sabrina spoke while the spell was still active, "You won't be able to use this arm for at least two weeks given the severity of the injury."
"I know." Arnold said with his eyes closed.
"How was Miss Flora able to injure you this much…?" she probably knew Arnold was as strong or stronger than Flora. Everyone knew that after he defeated Arthur without breaking a sweat.
"My arm hasn't been circulating aura for a while now so it was already a liability in a fight even if I could somehow still use it. I had figured this out after I tried surrounding it in aura to do an aura blast," he recalled a few days when he tried to shoot a boar with an aura blast only for a sharp pain to assault his arm.
"Is there no way to fix it?"
He opened his eyes and glanced at her, noticing her glowering expression.
"Someone suggested cutting it off completely and attaching a new arm."
In his world this would've been something to laugh at but this was a world of magic where anything is possible. Temples employ magicians and priests who major in medical field so they are capable of doing the above.
The problem with this is that they'll find out that Arnold is a demon factor. While the Temple itself won't act hostile besides banning him from their branches, there will always be someone out there who wants to use demon factors as slaves in their battles.
"…." Sabrina didn't say anything further, merely casting her gaze down at his arm.
His fingers were trembling slightly if one looked close enough.
Sabrina looked at Flora with a glare but she was staring somewhere else trying her best not to look at Arnold.
Sabrina took a step back to give Arnold some breathing room after her healing magic circle vanished.
"How does it feel?"
Arnold tried moving his right hand. The good thing was that he could move his fingers but exerting his strength felt even more impossible than before.
"There's a sharp sting but …I'll be fine in a day."
He was saying that to comfort himself. A warrior with an injury to one of his "weapons" was akin to a horse breaking one of its legs in the middle of war. The horse gets put down out of convenience by its master.
Arnold couldn't see a convenient way to get out of this. He could only rest for now.
Sabrina glanced at Flora with crossed arms, "How are you going to take responsibility?"
Arnold could see sweat dripping down Flora's neck. She answered with a harrumph.
"Anyone would think they're about to be assaulted in their sleep."
"But to hurl such a devastating attack…"
"It's his own fault, okay!? Maybe he shouldn't have climbed in bed with me!" She harrumphed again.
"You were the one who wouldn't let go. If I woke you up then you would've punched me anyway." Said Arnold from the side.
"Tch. I'm not apologizing."
"Why not!? If Al gets injured because he's not in top shape then whose fault is it going to be!?" Sabrina shot back.
"Don't raise your voice at me." Flora glared at her, making her shoulders twitch.
"Y-You don't scare me! Is that how you avoid accountability for your actions! Hurting people who demand you take responsibility!? Are you a barbarian without morals or a decent shred of compassion!?" Sabrina was now standing over Flora.
"Tch…" Flora looked away from Sabrina whose glare was even more menacing than hers.
"Apologize!" she yelled, making Flora subconsciously shrink back.
"…" Flora's eyes turned to Arnold before swimming all over the place.
She grumbled something under her lips.
"I can't hear you, Flora." Arnold said coolly, trying his best to ignore the pain in his arm.
Flora's expression turned bitter but she managed to squeeze out her next words: "I'm sorry… for trying to hit you…"
You were trying to kill me, Arnold almost said.
Sabrina's menacing glare vanished and she clapped with a smile: "Good job, Miss Flora. it turns out you aren't an emotionless barbarian, after all~"
Flora's bitter expression deepened and she harrumphed.
Arnold uttered a dry "I accept your apology". It didn't sound sincere coming from her but it was at least something.
"Hm?" Sabrina's eyes turned to another part of the camp, particularly where a commotion had broken out, "They're doing it again… They're really carefree." She said with a hand on her cheek and a shake of her head.
"What do you mean? What are they doing?" Arnold looked in the same direction as her but couldn't really see much since most members of the group were standing grouped together, seemingly watching something.
"The boys are competing—or rather fighting to prove who's grown the strongest since entering the dungeon. Magic isn't allowed, only physical altercations. Hans won last time and Hofir won the previous time."
There are about 19 close combatants in the entire seventh year group. The rest were magicians, alchemists, a few beast tamers, four arcane healers and three priests to buff the party during combat (consisting of Sabrina and two other adventurers).
"What's the point of competing if the mages aren't allowed to fight?"
It sounded like an activity to get their minds off the dungeon or just a regular stress reliever. Wouldn't the magicians feel left out if this is the case or do they have their own sparring matches?
"They use blunted swords or just fists to fight and only use their aura to protect their body but not enhance its abilities. Even if they're holding back, I don't see the magicians of our group having fun running around and avoiding getting hit."
"I see." Arnold looked at Flora who was biting her nails. "Why aren't you joining?"
'Her nails are really dirty. And she calls herself a princess.'
"Because I would win every time."
"True… Do the adventures compete as well? You might find someone amongst the rescue group a challenge."
"They'll get crushed if the adventurers join too. I'll only join if Daraia participates. I've been wanting to test her strength."
Arnold decided to swallow the "you'll get crushed though" that was about to leak out. Flora was nowhere close to Daraia in strength, who was probably as strong as Lancelot.
Flora suddenly smirked, "If you join then I'll happily become your sparring partner."
"Your head has grown big, Princess Flora."
"Tch." Flora stood up after grunting at him, "I'm not in the mood for your teasing so I'll go watch their match."
Flora suddenly stopped and turned back around, "Wait, what were you doing rummaging in my things earlier?"
"Al did what...?" Sabrina looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"I wasn't stealing her panties or anything..." he got that out of the way before a misunderstanding arose.
Flora glared at him.
"Humph, what would I do with your granny underwear, anyway?"
"Wha, those aren't granny underwear! They're made with flexibility in mind and won't tear easily!"
"Guys will get disgusted if they pull down your skirt and find that underwear on you. You should consider getting the lace underwear made especially for young woman."
"I'm not buying underwear to impress anyone, got it!?"
"At least buy yourself perfume or lotion. It wasn't exactly pleasant sleeping next to you, you know—Ah, calm down. I'll stop, alright?" he held up his hand when he noticed that she was gritting her teeth.
"Humph."
"I was wondering where you got that golden scroll. It stuck out of your bag so I got curious as to what it was. It's not every day you see a scroll made from gold."
It looks like gold but feels exactly like paper so it can't be ordinary gold.
"Oh, that? It's some kind of airship blueprint. I was looking to sell it since it's useless to me. It might fetch me a few thousand."
'Not even ten million gold is anywhere near that scroll's worth.' he swallowed those words.
"Why don't we trade?"
"Humph, don't think I'll let go of a huge payday just for a measly trade."
"Don't be like that. I'm sure you'll like what I have."
Saying so, he rummaged in his bag and pulled out "Storm's Demise", Bardolt's signature weapon from his pre-level 90 days.
"Eek!?" Sabrina jumped back when she saw the huge thing that Arnold pulled out.
It was a sword that was lodged in a large black rock that oozed a purple energy.
It was that same weapon that Bardolt used for his tank build. Runes of power were etched along the blade, glowing softly, indicating its enchanted nature and divine background. The hilt was wrapped in some kind of tough leather for an unparalleled grip, and the pommel adorned with a star-shaped gem that had seemingly lost its former power after becoming stuck in this unknown magical rock.
Flora's eyes widened when Arnold pulled out [Storm's Demise]. He swung it a few times (it was still pretty heavy even for him) feeling the air itself give way for his swing.
"Where the hell did you find that...?"
"Don't fuss over the details. Do you want it or not? I remember you complaining about your sword yesterday."
"G-Give it here!" she snatched the sword from Arnold.
Arnold suddenly heard a low hum from somewhere.
· The sword shakes in anger as its given away like a sack of a potatoes
· The sword hates Player Arnold
'….'
"Hnnn!" Flora suddenly used the rock as her standing platform and pulled the sword with both arms.
· The sword will not be pulled by the unworthy.
· The sword will wait until Flora is ready to accept its power.
'What a stubborn bastard.'
"What the!? It won't come out!" Flora glared at Arnold.
"There's nothing I can do about that." He put up his hand with a tired sigh, "Take this as your first test to prove that you're worthy to accept that sword's power. Upon achieving that privileged, you'll be one step closer to being ready to go save your master."
She frowned as her shoulders drooped.
"But I can't use my sword techniques like this…"
'I never thought I'd see Flora pout.'
"You'll get used to it with time."
"Easy for you to say since you're not a swordsman…"
True.
"How am I even going to carry this…"
"Buy yourself a magic bag. They're more convenient and you can always pull out your weapon during a fight. You can use mine for the time being."
He quickly transferred everything over to his other magic bag. He then threw the smaller magic bag towards her. The one Vetis gave him will be enough for now. Well, it was more than enough since it had more storage than his original bag.
Flora caught the magic bag and quickly stashed [Storm's Demise]. She slung the magic bag over her shoulder and then glanced at Arnold for a second.
"…I'll give the scroll to you later. Just come over to the tent."
With that done she quickly left to go see the sparring competition.
…
Sabrina turned to Arnold with a worried expression, "You should rest for a few hours. I'll come call you when it's time to depart. Or would you like some breakfast first? The boys managed to find a flock of birds that had laid their eggs not far from the forest. We're thinking of making boiled eggs and eating with the leftovers from last night."
"I don't have an appetite right now."
Rather, he had been feeling nauseous since last night. In fact, the feeling had been present ever since Oriel took control of him. That bastard, what did he do?
"Oh… I see…"
"I'm not tired either."
Something crossed his mind in that moment, "…Can I ask something else of you?"
"Eh, yes?"
She probably didn't expect him to actually ask her anything. He usually demands stuff from people.
He can't imagine himself saying "please" to others.
"You're capable of detecting abnormalities inside a person's body by using sensory magic, right?"
"Yes, we were taught how to manifest sensory organs with mana in our third year." She nodded attentively.
"I need you to do a checkup on my chest area. Look for any abnormalities and tell me what you can see."
"Eh? Have you been experiencing chest pains?"
"Of sorts… They aren't frequent and had only happened a few times."
"Hmm… Okay, I'll take a look. But I might not be able to help relieve the pain without proper equipment and medicinal herbs."
"I just want the checkup."
She nodded and walked around him. Afterwards, she lifted his shirt and placed her hands on his back.
After chanting something under her breath, white threads of light shot out of the manifested yellow magic circle, each of which shot towards Arnold's back.
Arnold could feel them enter his body. It was an unfamiliar feeling so he couldn't quite describe what they could compare to.
He silently cast his gaze over the rising sun as a gentle breeze blew against his hair. He kept his breathing calm and steady so as to not interfere with Sabrina's checkup. It was probably unnecessary since the sensory organs only observe your body and don't actually need to take action; thus, any irregular breathing wouldn't disturb them while they work.
He could feel Sabrina's soft hands grope his back as she continued humming. Her voice had a calm rhythm behind it which relaxed his body.
A radiant light rose from the horizon, bathing everything it touched in its warmth.
Arnold almost forgot that he was in a dungeon crawling with monstrous bosses and Offspring that could one-hit kill him. It felt like cold water was splashed on his face when he was brought back down to reality.
Sabrina's humming suddenly stopped.
"…Well?" he glanced over his shoulder at Sabrina.
He could see a frown on her face.
"Al… Can you really not feel anything out of the ordinary?"
"Any discomfort comes and goes."
"Yesterday when I found you and Miss Flora in the forest… Was that an episode that you were experiencing while crouched over?"
I wouldn't say I was crouching; he swallowed those words, nodding as an answer instead.
"I can't see anything strange. Your heart feels normal, breathing's fine and I can't sense any discomfort with the sensory organs."
"I see." He lowered his shirt and stood up, "I guess I was just being paranoid."
"Al…" Sabrina looked up at him but he ignored her and turned around.
"Thanks for listening to my request." He walked away after saying those words.
He could sense Sabrina walking after him but very far behind.
'Right, it's not anything to worry about…'