Primer for the Apocalypse

Zavira and I spent the next several hours inventorying and categorizing the loot collected from my fallen opponent.

As I suspected, the elf had been wearing a variety of high-quality items, including talismans made with runes I’d never encountered before.

Remarkably, the enchantments were not obscured, which I interpreted as meaning they were the Sovereignty Sect’s disciple’s creations and meant for his own personal use.

I knew enough about the glyphs and sigils that comprised runes to have a basic understanding of their general purpose without needing to activate anything, and I decided to store the items in a separate section of my ring for later study.

There were several similarly crafted items in the storage ring that I’d retrieved from my fallen opponent’s finger, and I removed them along with the rest of the non-perishable finished items before handing the storage device to Zavira.

I shifted most of it into my ring since there wasn’t enough room in my apartment for everything. The elf wasn’t quite a hoarder, but he’d collected a ton of items.

Or maybe he brought a lot of it?

There was furniture, jewelry, books, bedding, paintings, manatech items… It was a lot. There might have been enough to furnish and decorate a few apartments.

“Did this guy ever sell his loot?” Zavira asked when she peeked at the raw materials left inside.

Like most high-end storage rings, the item was enchanted with [Stasis], allowing goods and materials to remain in the exact condition they were in when they entered. The elf must have leaned heavily on this feature, given the sheer volume of Tier Seven materials stored within.

There was even material harvested from two types of Tier Eight creatures inside, which indicated the former elite had already started fighting zone bosses before our encounter.

I found it interesting that the elf’s Tier Seven storage ring’s capacity was only slightly smaller than my expanded Tier Six ring. Considering how much effort I’d put into increasing the storage capacity of my ring, I expected the difference to be greater – in my favor – even with the tier advantage.

However, I was certain that once I enchanted a new Tier Seven ring, I’d likely more than double my current capacity. Space Magic Mastery, coupled with a strong affinity, would provide a significant boost over what other Enchanters might be able to create, including those with a standard Space affinity.

My internal inventory had already doubled in size with my increase in tier, so I had no reason to believe the same wouldn’t happen for any external storage item I created and put effort into expanding.

“Do you want any of the materials to work with?” I asked. “We were planning to take a short break to craft now that we’re in a Tier Seven environment anyway, and I could use a few new items to enchant.”

I knew that if I offered her the materials outright, she’d refuse since she hadn’t been involved in their acquisition. But if I offered her materials in exchange for crafting, Zavira would be much more likely to accept.

“I can do that,” my companion stated. “I don’t plan on accepting any commissions right away since we have enough to pay for lodging already.” Zavira glanced in my direction. “What do you want me to make? More jewelry? A few replacement blades? Or, would you rather I start on your family’s weapons?”

“Take whatever you think you can use and make whatever you want. I wouldn’t mind a few new blades for my personal weapons before we head into the labyrinth,” I said before pausing. “The weapons and items for my family can wait.” I glanced at the pile of weapons nearby and added, “I might not need any for this tier, actually.”

I’d had Zavira craft items at each tier for my closest friends and family, and while I usually paid for everything outright, Zavira often accepted raw materials or enchanted items in trade.

Aside from the items I was stockpiling for others, most of what we exchanged was done to support our two-person party. I had no issues crafting talismans or enchanting weapons for Zavira since doing so ultimately allowed us to progress faster and safely than we would have otherwise. As far as I knew, she felt the same way.

Zavira glanced at the mixed pile of weapons and armor before shrugging. “Just let me know.”

I was about to go back to examining the items when I realized a potential issue we might have on the floor.

“Do you want me to make you a pod? I don’t think we’re going to be able to return to our apartments every night like usual.”

“I don’t think so, either,” Zavira said with a sigh. “Thank you. I’ll have to pick up another set of furniture, but that’s a small cost in comparison.”

I chuckled lightly. “The elf had a ton of furniture in the ring. You can pick what you want from it later. I have no use for that much stuff.”

“Are you sure?” Zavira asked with a raised brow. “You know I didn’t contribute to the fight at all.”

“Fighting is overrated,” I said jokingly. “You’re my friend and partner. We’ve been sharing loot for years already. I don’t see this as being all that different.”

“As long as you’re sure. I don’t want you to feel like you’re being taken advantage of.”

“I don’t,” I replied.

I was grateful for her concern, but Zavira had always been very fair when it came to loot. She was also very cognizant of unbalanced trades, likely due to her connection to such a famous Smithing sect.

I turned my attention to the small pile of growth items.

While having a few small apartments-worth of furniture and accessories was odd, it did not immediately scream, ‘This guy has been killing and looting people!’

However, the former elite couldn't have obtained that many growth items within the dungeon.

Even if he was exceptionally well-supplied before entering the dungeon, that didn’t explain why he had a pile of growth items stuck at lower tiers.

More likely, he’d been involved in killing and looting several people during his time as a challenger, and the growth items were part of the spoils of his efforts.

Even taking part in a war hadn’t garnered me a fraction of the number of growth items the elven disciple had stored in his inventory. Part of that was probably because the Trials on the fourth and fifth floors were elusive and difficult to find. Because of that, hardly any of the Springhearts or their allies had growth items.

Then again, maybe they all chose special skills like Space Magic Mastery instead of physical items?

Regardless, the growth items were of limited use right now, though Zavira claimed they could potentially be reset by draining the mana to their starting point. It wasn’t anything I’d ever encountered before, but I was sure Master Kairos would know what to do.

I did plan to study each item to see if I could uncover any secrets involved in their creation. If I eventually managed to make my own growth items, I was almost guaranteed to reach the Expert stage of Enchanting.

Even without the value I’d get from personally studying the items, holding on to them for the sect to examine seemed like a smart thing to do. Surely, someone within the Epíkairos Sect would have the ability to peer through the obscuring effects.

Now that I thought about it, maybe the now-deceased elven disciple had considered the same thing. It would certainly explain why he’d collected so many growth items since entering the dungeon.

Shaking my head, I stored the entire pile and moved on to the pile of mixed-tier weapons and armor that I’d glanced at before. Everything looked well-made – especially the Tier Four items.

Most of the pile was lower tier, with only a few items reaching Tier Seven. I found the disparity particularly odd, given the circumstances.

I wasn’t sure why the sect elite would bother collecting such items unless they were trophies of some sort. Considering the elf’s backing, I couldn’t imagine he had any direct use for lower-tier weapons or armor.

Then again, maybe I was reading too much into things. Maybe the disciple was originally from a lower-tier world and wanted to provide for the family he left behind?

“Do you want any of this?” I asked Zavira when she finished looking through the ring. “Even if I save most of it for people back home, I can’t see keeping everything.”

After looking over the pile with a critical eye, Zavira said, “I’m sure I can make use of whatever you don’t want.”

I shifted my attention to the next pile, which included a lot of random, miscellaneous items.

Within the pile was a decorative crate holding a dozen navy-colored sect robes embroidered with the Sovereignty Sect’s emblem in white silk, along with the accompanying under-armor. There were a few more robes scattered haphazardly through the rest of the pile, and I suspected they had been damaged or soiled at some point.

I wasn’t sure what I could do with such items aside from studying the enchantments contained within them. For now, I stored the robes and under-armor with the rest of the items I planned to hand over to Master Kairos.

“Oh, it looks like he had a growth chariot!” I said excitedly as the small card-shaped item was revealed from where it had been hidden beneath the crate of robes.

I’d learned a lot by studying Ros’s modifiable conveyance in the other timeline – it was the inspiration behind my pods, after all. I hadn’t been able to learn much about the runes or enchantments themselves since most were obscured, but what I had ascertained had been instrumental in allowing me to create similar devices.

Hopefully, my higher tier would allow me to uncover even more secrets hidden within the intricate piece of manatech.

And it was a growth item to boot!

I barely stopped myself from rubbing my hands together greedily before I picked up the thin piece of crystal.

“Okay,” Zavira said from a few steps away. “Now I’m jealous.”

I laughed gleefully as I hugged the item to my chest.

“Yep. This is mine. You can’t have it,” I said with a wide grin. “I’m still going to make pods for both of us since I don’t want to rely on something unknown. Who knows what kind of security features this thing has?”

The look of jealousy lessened as Zavira considered my words. “That’s a good point. Maybe you’ll be able to recreate it after you study it for a decade or two. If you do manage such a feat, I would be happy to buy one from you.”

I nodded unconsciously. “I wonder if there’s a skill or spell that will allow someone to see through obscuring effects,” I mused.

“I’m certain there are,” Zavira replied. “Have you tried Find Hidden? It’s a pretty common spell for finding traps and hidden rooms. Maybe that would work?”

I remembered seeing the spell before, but I couldn’t remember ever buying or learning it. I’d considered the spell to be a more limited version of Spatial Sense, so it hadn’t seemed worthwhile before.

‘Hey, Lisa? Do we have that spellform recorded?’ I asked my Interface Assistant.

‘We do. Would you like to activate spell assistance?’

I sent a pulse of acknowledgment after motioning for Zavira to give me a moment. The outline of a complex spellform manifested, and I carefully traced the lines with neutral mana while focusing a thought stream on my intent to gain the ability to see obscured runes.

The spellform pulsed once and fizzled out, dissipating the mana I’d infused into it into our surroundings.

“Why didn’t that work?” I asked Lisa aloud.

“You tried to learn it just now?” Zavira asked.

I nodded.

“That looked like a Master-level spellform. It’s going to take more than one attempt to learn it, even with your current stats and the assistance of your interface. Spells at that level of complexity are notoriously difficult to learn manually.”

She was right, of course. But I still thought it should be possible.

“You can always buy the spell or see if something more tailored to your goal is available,” my companion added. With a considering look, Zavira said, “If you really want to figure it out on your own, you should consider the methods used to obscure enchantments. Meditating on that topic might bring you closer to figuring out how to bypass such effects.”

I took a few moments to think about what she said.

I didn’t think I was going to miraculously create my own method of seeing through obscuring effects, but I did think that casting Find Hidden and potentially modifying it to better suit my needs was possible.

The second part would certainly be difficult, but we expected to be on the seventh floor for close to two decades, subjectively – maybe more than that with the added [Time Dilation] I could manifest.

I felt confident that I’d eventually manage it.