"You're late." Davi gave Ragna the stink eye, and the mighty Knight let out a loud laugh.
"I had to take Crowe back to the village! Once I did, I rushed back here as fast as I could! A dungeon environment weakens mages, so my Mana Step wasn't as good!" Ragna gave a sheepish smile. "Either way, the two of you did good. I'm proud."
"Well, we kind of lucked out with the monster," Olivia admitted. "I don't think either Davi or I could have beaten that cerberus if we had to fight it when it was at full strength." Not to mention, she only had a little bit longer in her Polymorph state, and then she'd revert back to her standard form, which was low on blood and out of mana from using Polymorph.
Ragna picked up the golden core that had fallen out of the Cerberus. It was a lot bigger than the one that had come from the tree monster. That core had been about the size of a golf ball, but the one from the Cerberus was a little bit bigger than a baseball. "Looks like we got a big one this time. This will be good."
"The cores are important, right?" Davi asked.
"Yeah." Ragna shoved the golden core into his underwear, and it vanished. "Monster Cores are needed for Cultivation pills in Rossum, the Titans in Gallenth, and Enchanted items in Esteria. They're also needed to improve a mage's base core, though most people don't use them that way due to the risk."
"Risk?"
"I'll explain it more later, but for now, your Core's grade is one that won't improve through natural training. The better grade your core is, the stronger you are overall, but the only way to actually level your Core up is to either consume a pill, which will temporarily boost it up, or to spend time in a dungeon for a long amount of time, since the strain of the dungeon causes our cores to naturally swell. Without a better Core, it would take a person years to evolve their grades to the levels beyond S+, which is why Knights are so much stronger than normal civilians since all low-ranking Knights have at least an S+ Grade Core by the time their training is done."
"Okay? That makes sense, I guess." Olivia pulled out the small core she got and handed it to Ragna. "I got this one also. It's weaker since it's small, right?"
"Yes." Ragna took the core and gazed at it, then stuffed it into his underwear, just as he had done with the others. "Not all monsters have cores, because most monsters are generated from a stronger monster. This is the third core we got from this dungeon, which is odd."
"The third?" Davi raised an eyebrow. "Only two monsters dropped cores here?"
Ragna shook his head. "No. On my way back, I saw one in the corpse of a large merfolk and took it. It was extremely tiny, so I'm not shocked you didn't see it in that monster's corpse. This dungeon was odd, as it seemed to contain one boss and two mini-bosses, which were the large merfolk and the wooden sentinel. Sometimes dungeons can have a thriving system with different species, but for three vastly different ones to all work together like this is strange." Ragna rubbed his chin and was deep in thought. "Oh well, we don't need to worry about it now. It's over. That cerberus was the true boss of the dungeon, and I've located the vault."
"Alright!" Olivia's eyes lit up, and she pumped her fist in the air. "This will be my first time entering a vault, so I'm excited! I can't wait to see what sort of items it'll have!"
"Well, are you two ready to see it?" Ragna's eyes also lit up, and he seemed excited.
"You bet!" Olivia cheered. "Where's the vault?"
Her joy faded away when Ragna wrapped an arm around her and Davi. He casually picked them both up, and then she screamed as he leapt through the air!
Ragna shattered past the ash-covered sky and jumped over a mile away before he came crashing down again. As soon as his feet rammed into the ground, he used that to propel himself even further and leapt into the air again! He did this dozens of times, the soot-covered field not changing as he crossed boundless miles in only a few hops.
Davi remained blank-faced and still, his armor fading away as he allowed himself to be carried along, while Olivia screamed louder, the wind ripping through her hair, as she wrapped herself around Ragna's arm for dear life. Somehow, this was even worse than the truck.
When Ragna finally did stop jumping, he crashed down into an almost empty field. The ground was made of ash, much like the rest of this floor, but there was also a lone door that stood before the three of them.
It wasn't attached to anything and was just a basic and generic wooden door with a brass handle, but even with how ordinary it looked, Olivia could feel a soft and gentle push of mana.
Ragna set the two of them down, and he approached the door. He reached out, turned the handle, and the door opened. Space twisted and distorted, and a room appeared out of thin air on the other side. A golden light shimmered out toward them, and Ragna stepped through. Davi also confidently walked through, but Olivia hesitated.
What was a vault like? What sort of treasures did the elves leave behind? Not all vaults had crazy items since many had been looted already, and those empty vaults would be recycled and reused in future dungeons, but vaults almost always contained at least something. If a person died in a dungeon, all their items would be transferred into the vault, taking up a spot in the collection that other people could later claim for themselves.
Part of her wondered why the elves created a system like that. The dungeons were invented toward the end of King Sylas's life.
When Haru and the other heroes, as well as the rest of the world, all attacked Sylas on all sides, the king admitted defeat and created the vaults and the monsters to hide the last of their relics away, hoping humanity would die in their endless greed to reclaim them.
What must it have been like for that fallen king to be reduced to a failure? How would he react today, seeing how his vaults were treated and how little he truly mattered in the grand scheme of things?
Olivia forced those thoughts away, and she stepped through the doorway and into the vault. Like every dungeon floor, she found herself entering a new space that shouldn't have been able to exist but simply did. The vault was everything she had been expecting.
It was a stone room, with a ceiling that was only fifteen feet above them. It wasn't that big, only about the size of an average family-sized living room. Still, it did have a lot of random trinkets lying around and various candles along the walls, which Ragna quickly lit, allowing them to see in the vault—no clue where he got the matches from.
In the center of the room, there were old and faded golden, silver, and copper coins, each being ancient Bells that might have been worth something if they weren't covered in so much mold and what looked like dried blood. There were also several piles of modern-day Bells, which were various paper bills. Not stacked as high as the coins, but enough to turn a single person rich overnight. Jewels, dented golden cups, gems, and even fine, yet dusty, silk were also scattered next to the Bells.
Besides all the money and valuables, various shelves were set up along the walls. Most had books, thick tomes whose pages were yellow and brittle. A few had random knick-knacks that didn't seem to be valuable at all, and some had weapons on them. The weapons ranged in quality, seeming to be either ancient, in which case they were rusted beyond belief, or more modern, like guns that appeared to be fifty or so years old.
"Alright." Ragna gave a brief look across the room. "Look, but don't touch. See if you can feel any magic coming off any items. I doubt there is any enchanted gear here, but that cerberus was far stronger than it should have been, so perhaps something here is enchanted. Let me look at it first, in case it's cursed."
"Enchanted items can be cursed?" Olivia was startled by that reveal, and it caused Ragna to let out a snort.
"Anything can be cursed. So don't touch."
Davi hummed and began to walk through the dungeon, looking around. Since the room was small, they could all see each other. He made his way over to the weapons and studied them with a critical eye, not really seeing anything particularly interesting.
Ragna made his way over to a bunch of the shelves that had books on them, and he sighed and shook his head when he didn't feel any mana on them. He had been hoping for a grimoire. The spells the elves made were mighty, and even if it wasn't for a type of magic no one in his guild could use, the captain would still be able to sell the book to another guild or rich noble for a hefty sum. A grimoire from the elven days was worth a hundred times more than the enchanted loot, or Bells, that a dungeon could have.
Olivia, on the other hand, wandered around aimlessly. She didn't really know what she was looking for, but she did eventually find a table near the back that was filled with various flowers, seeds, and what looked like meat. They were all in glass containers and seemed to be fresh and preserved. She didn't sense any mana; then again, she wasn't good at that, but she was confident that there wasn't any magic in front of her.
Each jar was also filled with a clear fluid that resembled water, but it bubbled slightly. Whatever the fluid was, it was likely the reason the meat and other stuff didn't spoil.
Olivia was about to say something but suddenly stopped when a golden flash danced along her skin. Polymorph deactivated, and the pain, as well as a wave of exhaustion, hit her head-on. She collapsed backwards, smacking onto the ground.
"Olivia! Are you okay?" Ragna crouched next to her, already having moved toward her the moment she glowed.
"Y-Yeah." Olivia squeezed her eyes shut. It took all her willpower not to black out. Not only was her body badly injured, but using Polymorph had nearly drained all her mana away. Her skin was a little blistered and burned but began to heal slowly, and after staying on the ground for several minutes, her body eventually didn't feel like she'd blacked out. "I just need to rest for a bit. I'm going to lie down."
Ragna looked her over gently. "Alright. It seems your body has just reached its limit. Yeah, just take a moment to catch your breath. When we're done, we can head out of the dungeon, and that'll give you a boost once you're not being weakened by this place."
"Oh yeah. I guess I hadn't considered that my Quick Regeneration would also be slowed while I was in here." Olivia groaned slightly. For most mages, even using a Vil-level spell was impossible while in a dungeon.
That made her think about Davi, which made her slightly salty since he was seemingly fine. Davi had used his Vault spell a bunch and maintained his armor all the way up to the end of the Cerberus' dying. His Mana stat wasn't that big, and his Efficiency was also terrible, so he shouldn't have been able to cast spells that well yet, but because his Core and School Grades were so good, it was allowing him to use his spells at a reduced price and have more mana than he probably should have.
She had said she'd help him, even told it to Maya, but how could she even be of use to him when he was so far above her? Sooner or later, she'd have to ask Maya for more advice, but she hadn't spoken to the system since the incident. That would have to change.
Olivia glanced at Davi, who spotted something in another corner of the vault. "Ragna," Davi called out. "I think I found something."
Ragna moved over to where Davi was and took a look at what the raven-haired teen had spotted. It was another weapon rack, but this one was filled with a bunch of blades so rusty they no longer seemed like they could even cut. That was the case for all but one.
A single sword was placed onto the rack, ideally in the middle. Next to it were its rusty companions, but this sword looked to be perfectly fine. It was covered in a lot of dust, and the blade would need to be sharpened slightly, but otherwise, it was in perfect condition.
The weapon was a longsword, though not a standard one. The blade was a lot longer and thicker. Not quite the extent of a claymore, but enough that it would be hard to justify holding it with one hand for normal people. The handle was long enough for two hands to grip it, and the crossguard was extended and curved slightly upward. It was like a bastard sword, a mix between a longsword and a claymore.
Both the handle and the blade were black, lacking all color, but there were various lines through the blade that reminded Davi of the lines you'd see through a razor blade, but this sword was narrow and had a double-sided edge. The handle was wrapped in dark leather, and various white letters seemed to be inscribed along it, though Davi didn't speak the language and had no idea what they said.
There were some other various decorations along the handle of the sword, but the only one that was noteworthy was the thing placed into the center of the cross guard. Unlike the rest of the weapon, it was made out of glass and looked like an eyeball, but greatly expanded with the pupil blown up. Davi thought it might have been real for a moment, but it didn't react or do anything, and he realized it was just a strange replica of the real thing. The glass it was made out of was white with a purple iris within it.
Davi studied the sword. His scar didn't throb, but he felt a strange pull from it. Without a doubt, this blade was magical in nature.
"By Haru," Ragna tugged on his mustache. "We must truly be blessed today. Ironic since we're from the Phoenix Flight guild. This is an enchanted weapon. From the looks of it, it's one that was owned by the elves as well. Truly a great find."
"Is it cursed?" Davi asked. Ragna shook his head. "Or can you tell it's not cursed just by looking at it?"
"When you get a high enough Mana Sense skill, you can," Ragna explained. "Mana and Curses are different. Curses can utilize Mana or Qi to power them, but a curse itself has its own type of energy source. I'm not detecting anything, which means that this sword isn't cursed. Well, that or it is cursed, and the curse is so powerful I can't sense it!" Ragna let out a sharp laugh.
"So it can still be cursed?"
"Unlikely. While it is true that some elven items are cursed, most elves didn't curse their gear since they thought they'd be able to reclaim it later."
Davi reached out about to touch the blade, but he hesitated. He thought Ragna would warn him not to, but the man stayed silent. Under Ragna's gaze, he fully grasped the handle and pulled the sword off the rack. Dust dripped off of it, and he lifted the blade into the air to gaze at it. The candlelight reflected his image back at him in the surface of the metal.
"Is it a strong weapon?"
"Possibly." Ragna also looked the sword up and down. "Do you know how enchanted items work?"
"Not a clue." Davi shrugged. "Care to explain?"
Ragna's lips curved up into a smile. "There are three kinds of enchantments that exist in this world, and three tiers of enchanted items as well. The kinds of enchanted items are known as passive enchantments, active enchantments, and cursed enchantments. Passive enchantments are simple and easy. Anyone can use these. They provide small boosts and remain consistently active. Most weapons can have a few dozen runes. These enchantments allow the sword to dull more slowly, never rust, be sturdier than they normally are, cut better, and empower the user who holds it with a soft increase of mana. The power of these enchantments is based on the one who enchanted it, and the one who wields it will draw out a portion of that power."
"A person can only draw out a bit of it, though, right?" Davi asked.
"Yes, that's correct. Someone without a Circuit Core can tend to only draw out a fraction of an item's power. Therefore, a person with the A1 Enchantment Grade can create an item of A grade quality. A person without a Circuit Core would then wield that sword, and it would likely only be the level of a D- grade object. A person with a Circuit Core would be able to use the weapon at the level of A Grade naturally, and someone like us with mixed Cores could use it at the level of C+ or B-."
Davi didn't know why, but he felt a slight pang of annoyance through his chest at the thought that he'd never be able to use this blade at its full potential. "You said someone with A1 Enchanting could make an item that's Grade A?"
"That's right. Enchanted items don't fully use the same grading tiers we do. The lowest they can fall is D-. Their tiers are also significantly higher than ours by a full stage. So an A grade item is actually on the level of an A1 Mage's Core."
"That explains why enchanted items are so coveted." Even someone who didn't have a Circuit Core and would be stuck with a sword that gave them the boost of a D- grade item would still be mighty since that boost would actually be on the level of a D1- improvement spell. It also explained why the Knights were so feared by the rest of the world and considered so powerful, as they were able to truly utilize not just low-rank gear but high-rank gear as well, which they could draw the full power out of.
Ragna began to speak once more, going over the other details about the items. "Most weapons and armor that are made by powerful enchanters will have both passive and active enchantments on them. An active enchantment is extremely valuable, and only the best enchanters can make them. You need to be at least an E2 Enchanter to even begin to make a weak one, so you'll typically only find Active Enchanted items in dungeons. Active Enchantments work differently from Passive Enchantments. They have to be activated, as the name suggests, and unfortunately, that's the issue with a lot of Active Enchantments."
"What do you mean?"
"Elven magic is different from our magic. Our magic evolved and transformed as humans mingled and created concepts, but for the Elves, they only had elemental magic. As such, there are only seven types of active enchantments that can exist. Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, Lightning, Light, and Dark. Even with our understanding of magic, enchanters can't change this rule. An active enchantment that does exist can only be connected to a person born with the corresponding element as the weapon type. So, you have Shadow Magic. That means you can only use weapons that fall into the Dark category since they wouldn't accept you otherwise."
Davi suddenly felt a lump appear in his throat, and he glanced back at the weapon. "So, if this sword isn't Dark, I can't use the active enchantments?"
"You couldn't even use the Passive Enchantments," Ragna said sadly. "To use an enchanted item at all, you have to bond with it so that the passives will work on you. The issue with that, however, is that if it has an active enchantment on it, then it's impossible to bond with it unless you have the correct type of magic."
"So…"
"It would just be a normal sword." Ragna nodded. "Granted, one that won't grow dull or break, but the effects that make it sharper or give you a power boost wouldn't work on it either."
"I see." Davi gripped the handle of the sword even tighter. This explained why, when he held Rowan's sword, he wasn't any stronger. That blade hadn't been bonded to him, even though it was just one with some passive enchantments on it. The sword felt right in his hands, and he hated the thought of giving it up, yet he also knew that the chances were it wouldn't be a Dark type, even though the sword looked like it belonged to that group. "Are you sure this is an active enchanted item?"
"Yep." Ragna reached out and ran his hand along the blade. "I can feel both the passive and the active enchantment inside of it, but you'll need to get it appraised by Olem first. At the very least, we know that it's not a cursed item either, since the sword didn't react to you picking it up. Cursed enchantments can also hide within the passive and active ones, but they always have some negative effect and will go off when the blade is grabbed or the conditions for the curse are met. Olem can tell us more."
Davi gave a hesitant nod, and he lowered the blade. "You said there were three tiers of enchanted items as well. Anything I should know about?"
Ragna considered it for a moment. "They're not super important to go over. Basically, there are human-made items, elven-made items, and then Knight gear. Human-made items are always the weakest and will usually have a few passive enchantments. The stronger ones might have an Active Enchantment placed onto them as well, but even the best enchanter in the land can't make items as good as the Elven ones. Elven Enchanted items will always be full of the perfect amount of Passive Enchantments, and they also always have an Active Enchantment placed on them. What makes them so sought after is that they will grow with the user as well. The stronger the person bonded with the item gets, the stronger the item will become. Lastly, you have Knight gear, which, despite being made by humans, is the best."
"How did that happen? It sounded like Elven items were just better?"
"Well, it's because Knight gear is made out of Elven items!" Ragna let out a loud laugh as if it were a funny joke. "Knight gear is a fusion of man and elf. The king's personal enchanter will spend weeks and even months creating a powerful enchanted item, and that item will then be forcefully smelted down along with a similar item made by the elves, and they'll be reforged and combined with Haru's mana. This causes the Knight gear to gain the passive and active enchantments that were on both weapons, as well as a 'boon,' which is a power so great that it allows a Knight to use a second kind of magic. Tori's lance is a famous example. The two Light types within the weapon merged together, becoming a Holy Light type, and then the Boon it gained was a form of telekinesis magic. With her skill, she can basically control photons now."
"Rad." Davi sighed, and he stuffed the sword in the vault. "So what happens if it isn't a Dark type?"
Ragna shrugged. "Up to you."
"Me?"
"You found the sword. If it turns out to be a type you can use, take it as your own. If it's a type someone in our guild can use, then consider giving it to them, though we won't force that on you. If you want, you can sell the sword if you can't use it. Any of the guilds or noble families will pay you a ton of Bells for it. You can also just keep it. Maybe it'll look pretty on your wall or something. It's your sword, Davi. Do what you want with it."
Davi shuffled slightly and stared at the ground, feeling a little embarrassed. "I never really liked swords growing up. It always felt like I had to hold them. Like I was trapped. Something about that sword, though… Do you think it was lonely being here? Locked away in this vault, never being used. What did that eye see? Swords have a Path to follow. They're meant to be used, yet that one wasn't. I don't know what I'll do with it, but I think it should be allowed to leave this place."
Ragna reached out and placed a hand on top of Davi's hair, and he ruffled it. "Alright. Then let's leave."
Davi helped Olivia up, but due to the blood loss, he was forced to carry her on his back. They made their way back through the dungeon, going in reverse order. The lake of lava had returned, and Davi got ready for a fight, but no monsters came out.
The rooms of a dungeon would reset and fix, but the monsters couldn't return. New ones would have to take their place.
When they reached the second floor, Davi paused and looked around the church. It was fixed, and all the roots were gone. Now that the space was cleared out, Davi took notice of one of the walls, which had several paintings upon it. One in particular stood out.
It was of a man with dark skin and bright purple eyes. He had pointed ears showing that he was an elf, and he wore the same robes the monstrous tree thing had been in.
Had they been the same person? Could elves be monsters? Humans were able to become them because the elves made it so. Surely they didn't use that curse on themselves.
Right?
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Ragna looked at the painting alongside Davi. "This place appears to have belonged to the elves. A church. Of course, all dungeons were the elves, so it always seems neat to see them."
"What do you mean?" Davi asked.
"Just think about it." Ragna nodded toward the elf in the painting. The man looked happy. He had a smile on his face and a large dog that was seated next to him. The area he was in appeared to be an open field. "The elves didn't live in this land. They lived in Gallenth. This place is from that old world, carried to us through time and through space. That is something I always found amazing. A place no longer of this world nor this time. Simply amazing."
"Yeah..." Davi resisted the urge to shudder as those purple eyes stared back at him. It was the same color as in the sword. "Amazing."