After [6] sending out the items, I hung around a bit more instead of leaving directly for bed. I have something I needed to ask these gods and goddesses after all.
âExcuse me, I have something I need to consult with everyone.â
âŚâŚ.
Wait, whereâs everyone?
âExcuse me? Can anyone hear me?â
âŚâŚ
Eh, donât tell me youâve all run off the moment you got the offerings! Are you that irresponsible?!
âExcuse me! Anyone there?â
âOu, sorry, sorry. I was in the middle of enjoying the whiskey you just gave us.â
âAah, same here.â
⌠aside from these two, there were no other voices, does that mean-
âAahh, the goddesses ran back to their temples clutching their offerings.â
⌠oooooiiiiiii!!!
âWell, what is it you want to know?â
Whatever, whatever! Letâs forget about those irresponsible goddesses and direct my questions to Hephaestus and Vulcan.
âAnyway, you know about my plans to visit the Avering Dungeon, right? I just want to know a bit more about it.â
âAh, is that all? I think War God knows more about that place,â
âOho, well, [4] first off the Avering Dungeon has 27 levels. Unlike Doran, Averingâs dungeon is the classic bricks and wall type of dungeon. It wonât transform into fields or marshes like the one in Doran. So, in theory itâs less difficult than Doran. However, the last time anyone reached the bottom level was about 200 years ago, so it canât be looked down either.
Its treasure chests often yield Magical Items, so that makes it even more popular. Even if you donât get a Magical Item, whatever comes out of the chest tends to be quite valuable too. However, thereâs a reason why people donât generally make it all the way down to the lowest level.â
Argh, I want to ask why, but Iâm afraid Iâll really hate the answerâŚ
âThe Avering dungeon is also famous for its Undead population. There are at least 3 Undead Monsters Floors.â
Ugh⌠Undead?
âAs you should know, physical attacks do not work on undead. As for Magic, only high powered Fire or Holy Magic works on them.â
âEeeh? What should I do about this? Also, I donât think Holy Magic is one of those things that Fer has either. Wait, what about Sacred Magic?â
âEh, thatâs a completely different thing [TZ 1]. A person with Holy Magic is called a Saint thanks to their powers against the Undead. An Undead is basically helpless in the face of Holy Magic. By the way, most Heroes from another world would have Holy Magic granted to them.â
âŚ. Is that so?
Then, for the rest of us ordinary mortals, weâll have to make do with high level Fire Magic?
âI~diot, you want to use high powered Fire Magic in the narrow passages of a dungeon? Youâll be roasted like a chicken.â
Guu⌠heâs right.
âThat said, itâs not impossible for ordinary humans to fight against Undead. All they have to do is get the church to engrave a Holy Seal on their weapon. All the Undead attacked by this weapon would be instantly eliminated.â
A Holy Seal? That sounds promising. Iâll have to pay the church a visit once I reached Avering.
âHold it right there. There are too many problems attached to that Holy Seal thing. First, the Sealâs effectiveness would disappear after 10 attacks. Second, the Church charges a lot of money to engrave a seal onto the weapons.â
What the-
This is why I hate religious bodies.
âJust what kind of religion is that?â
âWell, not a follower of ours, I can tell you that! Itâs a made up religion called the Church of Rubanov. They claim to have Holy Powers, but the truth of the matter is, their power came from a Sacred Item they recovered from a dungeon hundreds of years ago. Isnât that right, God of Blacksmith?â
âUmu, if Iâm not mistaken. It came from a dungeon in the area now called the Kingdom of Malbert [9]. The real thing is kept in the headquarters of the Church of Rubanov. The one in Avering is just a duplicate, which is why the effect is so weak.â
I see, naaâŚ
Wait, isnât Rubanov that extreme religion from that Holy Kingdom of Rubanov? Arenât they the ones who persecute Beastmen, Elves and Dwarves calling them evil spirits or some such nonsense?
What the heck is it doing in a discrimination free country like Avering?
âThey are here because itâs discrimination free. Their true target is the Kingdom of Leonhart, but they canât openly target a country like that in so they begin increasing the number of believers in nearby countries first.â
I see, what a scheming kingdom. [5]
âThankfully, the people of Avering arenât stupid either. Not many would fall under the spell of this false religion. If the people needed recovery magic, they would most likely visit the temples of our followers.â
âI see, so only the people who needs the Holy Seal would go to that fake religion. Itâs basically just paying for a service.â
Huh, Iâm glad crazy believers of the Rubanov religion isnât increasing. After hearing all about their schemes, I donât plan to even set foot into their church or temple either.
âItâs good that you understand this. Anyway, you donât need the seal since you have us.â
Oh, right. Although these two gods often acted like alcoholic uncles. They are actually gods of this world.
âYou⌠nevermind. Well, War God, what should we do about this sticky situation?â
âCanât we just grant him Holy Magic and be done with it?â
âNo, donât do that. The God of Creation would notice something fishy right away.â
âI-is that so?â
âWhat do you mean âis that soâ? Special skills like Holy Magic is only granted to a Saint or Hero from Another World. The moment you grant this skill, theyâll notice something right away.â
âThen, what should we do?â
âWhy should we do anything? This guy has the Blessing of the Goddesses as well as Absolute Defence. That should be good enough. He canât really fight, but he wonât die that easily.â
âWait, thatâs not good enough. The main purpose is to make him level up. If he just runs around or hides like a turtle, heâll never level up. We must do something! For the sake of the Tenant Store!â
âNuu, youâre right. Thereâs that issueâŚâ
âThink of it as an investment. We should get him something he could use to fight off lots of Undead Monsters and level up quickly. Just imagine his experience point shooting up every time he vaporizes an Undead.â
âConsidering the number of Undead within the Avering Dungeon. He might well be able to reach the level required for a new Tenant Store at the end of the challenge.â
âThatâs right, thatâs right,â
⌠I guess my presence is superfluous here.
âNo matter what, we canât give him Holy Magic directly⌠Hmm⌠How about this. I made something a while back. Itâs basically a stamp that could be used to engrave magic onto weapons. Similar to that fake religionâs Holy Seal, but way stronger.â
âOooh, nice idea. Itâs easy to make and weâre totally not giving him Holy Magic directly. So, itâs all fine.â
âGahahahaha, this is perfect.â
âAhahahaha, perfect is right!â
⌠oi, whatâs with that creepy laughter?
âAlright, letâs make it right away!â
âOu!â
Five minutes laterâŚ
âAlright, what do you think of this shape?â
âGood, good. Hold on, Iâm going to put the Holy Power in now,â a short while later. âI guess thatâs fine?â
Guess thatâs fine?
Guess?
Iâve been getting increasingly anxious by the conversation thatâs happening without my participation for a while now.
âOi, Other Worlder-kun, Iâm going to send this item to you now.â
Suddenly, one of the cardboard altars began to shine with light. [6] Itâs the one I used to transport the godsâ whiskies over.
When the light subsided, what was left on the cardboard box was a silver object with a long handle.
What the-
I came closer and found that it was basically a stamp with a long handle. Kind of like the ones used in ancient drama where they use to stamp an engraving on soft wax to seal an envelope.
However, when I looked at the stamp part, there was no engravingâŚ
âOh, I havenât come up with a name for it yet⌠Ah, whatever, letâs just call it the Holy Stamp. You can stamp whatever weapon you like. Any weapon with the Holy Stamp is super effective against Undead Monsters. Itâs kind of like the fake religionâs Holy Seal, but much better.â
âThe effect will last one whole day after you stamped it with the Holy Stamp. You wonât see any engraving on the stamp, but if you press that part against a weapon, an engraving will appear. Oh, and the weapons wonât be damaged once the engraving disappears. Thatâs another side effect of the fake churchâs so-called Holy Seal.â
Woah, that sounds amazing.
Is it really alright to give me this thing?
âSure, just take it. In fact, we insist.â
âJust make sure to work hard and reach Level 40 so you can unlock the next Tenant Store.â [TZ 2]
Ugh, whatâs this pressureâŚ
But, with this weapon in hand, thereâs no need to fear the Undead Monsters. I should really do my best. [5]
âUmu, thatâs the spirit,â
âWe expect great results!â
âAlright, shall we enjoy some whiskey now, War God?â
âOh yeah, letâs drink till morning!â
âŚâŚ
âFuuh⌠looks like theyâre gone. Iâm really tired.â
Still, I managed to get some information about the dungeon, as well as this Item from the gods. Well, letâs [Appraise] it first.
[Godâs Holy Stamp â A magic item created by the God of Blacksmith, Hephaestus and God of War, Vulcan. If you attack an Undead with a weapon marked with this stamp, it will instantly disappear.]
Isnât it incredible to get an Item made by the gods themselves?
No, itâs no big deal. Iâm always giving them liquor anyway so itâs fine.
Yes, itâs all fine.
I hope the next Tenant Store really turn out to be a liquor store or those two would freak out. I kind of feel like Iâve been tricked somehow, but anyway, Iâll do my best to reach Level 40.
Alright! Letâs level up at the Avering dungeon!
[TZ 1: How is Holy different from Sacred? :O] [Gumihou: I want to know tooâŚ]
[TZ 2: These greedy bastards lol] [Gumihou: HaizzzâŚ]
[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs
[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs
[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue
[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue
[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information
[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose
[7] Add Dialogue Tag
[8] Changed Details to Reflect Future information: Original was âThe lowest 3 floors of Avering dungeon contains undeadâ, this is not true.
[9] Kingdom of Malbert â West of Reijseger. First mentioned in Chapter 3. The three ârealâ Heroes headed there because Reijseger declared the country an enemy.