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.
“Excuse me, I have something I need to consult with everyone.”
…….
Wait, where’s everyone?
“Excuse me? Can anyone hear me?”
……
Eh, don’t tell me you’ve all run off the moment you got the offerings! Are you that irresponsible?!
“Excuse me! Anyone there?”
“Ou, sorry, sorry. I was in the middle of enjoying the whiskey you just gave us.”
“Aah, same here.”
… aside from these two, there were no other voices, does that mean-
“Aahh, the goddesses ran back to their temples clutching their offerings.”
… oooooiiiiiii!!!
“Well, what is it you want to know?”
Whatever, whatever! Let’s forget about those irresponsible goddesses and direct my questions to Hephaestus and Vulcan.
“Anyway, you know about my plans to visit the Avering Dungeon, right? I just want to know a bit more about it.”
“Ah, is that all? I think War God knows more about that place,”
“Oho, well, [4] first off the Avering Dungeon has 27 levels. Unlike Doran, Avering’s dungeon is the classic bricks and wall type of dungeon. It won’t transform into fields or marshes like the one in Doran. So, in theory it’s less difficult than Doran. However, the last time anyone reached the bottom level was about 200 years ago, so it can’t be looked down either.
Its treasure chests often yield Magical Items, so that makes it even more popular. Even if you don’t get a Magical Item, whatever comes out of the chest tends to be quite valuable too. However, there’s a reason why people don’t generally make it all the way down to the lowest level.”
Argh, I want to ask why, but I’m afraid I’ll really hate the answer…
“The Avering dungeon is also famous for its Undead population. There are at least 3 Undead Monsters Floors.”
Ugh… Undead?
“As you should know, physical attacks do not work on undead. As for Magic, only high powered Fire or Holy Magic works on them.”
“Eeeh? What should I do about this? Also, I don’t think Holy Magic is one of those things that Fer has either. Wait, what about Sacred Magic?”
“Eh, that’s 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.”
…. Is that so?
Then, for the rest of us ordinary mortals, we’ll have to make do with high level Fire Magic?
“I~diot, you want to use high powered Fire Magic in the narrow passages of a dungeon? You’ll be roasted like a chicken.”
Guu… he’s right.
“That said, it’s 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.”
A Holy Seal? That sounds promising. I’ll have to pay the church a visit once I reached Avering.
“Hold it right there. There are too many problems attached to that Holy Seal thing. First, the Seal’s effectiveness would disappear after 10 attacks. Second, the Church charges a lot of money to engrave a seal onto the weapons.”
What the-
This is why I hate religious bodies.
“Just what kind of religion is that?”
“Well, not a follower of ours, I can tell you that! It’s 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. Isn’t that right, God of Blacksmith?”
“Umu, if I’m 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.”
I see, naa…
Wait, isn’t Rubanov that extreme religion from that Holy Kingdom of Rubanov? Aren’t 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?
“They are here because it’s discrimination free. Their true target is the Kingdom of Leonhart, but they can’t openly target a country like that in so they begin increasing the number of believers in nearby countries first.”
I see, what a scheming kingdom. [5]
“Thankfully, the people of Avering aren’t 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.”
“I see, so only the people who needs the Holy Seal would go to that fake religion. It’s basically just paying for a service.”
Huh, I’m glad crazy believers of the Rubanov religion isn’t increasing. After hearing all about their schemes, I don’t plan to even set foot into their church or temple either.
“It’s good that you understand this. Anyway, you don’t need the seal since you have us.”
Oh, right. Although these two gods often acted like alcoholic uncles. They are actually gods of this world.
“You… nevermind. Well, War God, what should we do about this sticky situation?”
“Can’t we just grant him Holy Magic and be done with it?”
“No, don’t do that. The God of Creation would notice something fishy right away.”
“I-is that so?”
“What do you mean ‘is that so’? Special skills like Holy Magic is only granted to a Saint or Hero from Another World. The moment you grant this skill, they’ll notice something right away.”
“Then, what should we do?”
“Why should we do anything? This guy has the Blessing of the Goddesses as well as Absolute Defence. That should be good enough. He can’t really fight, but he won’t die that easily.”
“Wait, that’s not good enough. The main purpose is to make him level up. If he just runs around or hides like a turtle, he’ll never level up. We must do something! For the sake of the Tenant Store!”
“Nuu, you’re right. There’s that issue…”
“Think 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.”
“Considering 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.”
“That’s right, that’s right,”
… I guess my presence is superfluous here.
“No matter what, we can’t give him Holy Magic directly… Hmm… How about this. I made something a while back. It’s basically a stamp that could be used to engrave magic onto weapons. Similar to that fake religion’s Holy Seal, but way stronger.”
“Oooh, nice idea. It’s easy to make and we’re totally not giving him Holy Magic directly. So, it’s all fine.”
“Gahahahaha, this is perfect.”
“Ahahahaha, perfect is right!”
… oi, what’s with that creepy laughter?
“Alright, let’s make it right away!”
“Ou!”
Five minutes later…
“Alright, what do you think of this shape?”
“Good, good. Hold on, I’m going to put the Holy Power in now,” a short while later. “I guess that’s fine?”
Guess that’s fine?
Guess?
I’ve been getting increasingly anxious by the conversation that’s happening without my participation for a while now.
“Oi, Other Worlder-kun, I’m going to send this item to you now.”
Suddenly, one of the cardboard altars began to shine with light. [6] It’s the one I used to transport the gods’ 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 engraving…
“Oh, I haven’t come up with a name for it yet… Ah, whatever, let’s 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. It’s kind of like the fake religion’s Holy Seal, but much better.”
“The effect will last one whole day after you stamped it with the Holy Stamp. You won’t see any engraving on the stamp, but if you press that part against a weapon, an engraving will appear. Oh, and the weapons won’t be damaged once the engraving disappears. That’s another side effect of the fake church’s so-called Holy Seal.”
Woah, that sounds amazing.
Is it really alright to give me this thing?
“Sure, just take it. In fact, we insist.”
“Just make sure to work hard and reach Level 40 so you can unlock the next Tenant Store.” [TZ 2]
Ugh, what’s this pressure…
But, with this weapon in hand, there’s no need to fear the Undead Monsters. I should really do my best. [5]
“Umu, that’s the spirit,”
“We expect great results!”
“Alright, shall we enjoy some whiskey now, War God?”
“Oh yeah, let’s drink till morning!”
……
“Fuuh… looks like they’re gone. I’m really tired.”
Still, I managed to get some information about the dungeon, as well as this Item from the gods. Well, let’s [Appraise] it first.
[God’s Holy Stamp – 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.]
Isn’t it incredible to get an Item made by the gods themselves?
No, it’s no big deal. I’m always giving them liquor anyway so it’s fine.
Yes, it’s 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 I’ve been tricked somehow, but anyway, I’ll do my best to reach Level 40.
Alright! Let’s level up at the Avering dungeon!
[TZ 1: How is Holy different from Sacred? :O] [Gumihou: I want to know too…]
[TZ 2: These greedy bastards lol] [Gumihou: Haizzz…]
[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 ‘The lowest 3 floors of Avering dungeon contains undead’, this is not true.
[9] Kingdom of Malbert – West of Reijseger. First mentioned in Chapter 3. The three ‘real’ Heroes headed there because Reijseger declared the country an enemy.