Chapter 71: The Requested Knife and the Painting
Magnus had expected that he would have to go through all one-hundred and seven towers in the area to find what he was looking for. Thus, when the Hivemind's Rie climbed her sixteenth tower, he wasn't expecting a sudden spike in difficulty.
Even with his newfound proficiency in solving puzzles, he could just barely figure things out. Multiple times did he have to use State of Higher Existence to cheat on what he thought was a simple problem.
It took him three, long, thirty-hour days to scale this tower.
And when he arrived at the very top, he was shocked to see hundreds upon hundreds of different weapons all stacked together in mountains. Swords, daggers, hammers, spears, bows, and more.
There were too many to count.
"Whoa," Magnus gasped as he had Rie go over to one of the weapons so that she could grab them.
She reached out her hand and—
Bzzzzzzt!
A powerful electric current surged into her the moment she touched one of the weapons. She was suddenly knocked backwards, sending her flying through the air to slam into a wall behind her.
A pained gasp escaped Rie's lips as the wind was knocked out of her lungs. She fell to her knees after a bone-creaking bounce.
"Urgh," The young girl groaned as she stood up.
She staggered to her feet as she gave the sword she touched a deathly glare. In the next moment, she assumed a state of higher existence and used up quite a lot of mental power to draw a handful of information.
"I see how it is," Magnus grumbled through her lips.
If Magnus had to give this phenomenon a description, it was through a simple word:
'Destiny,'
One could only take a weapon from this place if they were destined to be with it. If they were not, then rejection was the only thing that awaited whoever approached.
"I would try every weapon to see if I can wield them, but if Rie gets knocked back like that every time, I fear for her life."
Various thoughts rushed through Magnus' mind at this moment.
He quickly unsummoned his original body from the torture room and summoned it here.
With a skip in his floating steps, he went over to one of the weapons and reached out.
Bzzzzzt!
Another electrical shock forced itself through Magnus and launched him through the air.
But Magnus simply snapped his fingers, and then, he was stable.
He then stretched his neck.
This setup worked. But,
'More torture...' He lamented as he began going through each weapon one by one.
He was going to solve whatever puzzle or prize this was through rote repetition. Of course, Rie would help with State of Higher Existence from the side whenever an hour went by.
After a while, Magnus was able to narrow down the area wherein he could find the weapon destined for him.
'Firearms?' Was his first thought as he dug through the pile, throwing away whatever weapon was rejecting him.
And when he found what he was looking for, he pursed his lips.
In his hands was a huge anti-tank rifle. It was a gun that was longer than he was tall, with the barrel being immensely ginormous.
"...This," Magnus' mouth refused to close in shock.
The moment his hands landed on the rifle's grip, a surge of information flowed through him.
[[ Kelvin ]]
[[ Anti-materiel Rifle ]]
[[ Threat Level: 3-stars ]]
[[ Blessing: Destructive Energy Sniper ]]
[[ Curse: Vow of the Unseen ]]
Magnus chuckled upon learning of Kelvin's abilities.
The Blessing, Destructive Energy Sniper gave the gun the ability to be shot with only Spirit Energy. It was basically the condensing of a large amount of Spirit Energy using the generator it had inside it and shooting out a fast-moving energy bullet.
The Blessing had a cooldown timer of three days per shot. It was a cooldown timer that could not be changed even if one were to pour one's own Spirit Energy into it.
The process of turning intangible Spirit Energy into a tangible bullet was tedious and thus could not be rushed.
As for the Curse, it was an interesting one.
Because of it, Kelvin was set to only function when no other living being with a Blessing and Curse could see you shoot. If there was even a single person who could see Magnus when he fires, the gun would self-destruct—
Killing him in the process.
'But every shot from this baby is going to hurt for sure.' Magnus was excited.
He wanted to give the gun a little test run now, but there were no enemies in sight.
He had to go somewhere else.
'I'll try it on those jellyfish-like torturers.' He thought to himself.
But before he could do that, Rie spotted something.
Standing in the midst of the mountains of weapons, her eyes were locked onto a certain familiar blade.
"This..."
He was shocked.
"...I finally found it," Magnus muttered as he took note of Rie's vision.
Although he had only noticed the scabbard, he knew for sure that it was the knife he was looking for. It peeked out from under a pile of other knives, seemingly the cornerstone of the mountain— the moment Magnus moved it, a landslide of blades would occur.
And so a sharp landslipe did occur. Steel clashed against the tiled floor, ringing in Magnus' ears.
With his gravity, Magnus pulled the blade out. He let the sheathed knife float in front of his face.
"I can finally leave this place," Magnus sighed in joy as he reached his hand out and grabbed the knife.
Bzzzzzzt!
"Damn it!" Magnus jolted back. His eyes gleamed in a pinch of fury.
"You have no choice but to come with me." Magnus licked his lips as he invoked Master of the Hivemind and summoned Klaris.
Klaris then took this opportunity to steal Restiel into existence.
When Restiel returned, Magnus was instantly able to feel the connection he had with the Pocket World Diorama.
"I was right..." He chuckled wryly to himself.
"Without Restiel, I might've been trapped here."
Restiel was the one who poured Spirit Energy into the Pocket World Diorama. He was the only one who could take it back to escape. Of course, that was through conventional means. Javelin was currently out in the torture room so there was no worry of being trapped forever.
Silently thanking Klaris for being alive once again, Magnus unsummoned the entire gang. It left Restiel with a knife at his feet.
"Alright," Restiel heaved a breath as Divine Energy surged into his palm.
He grabbed out and grasped the knife.
The weird power bestowed upon the blade suddenly clashed with Restiel's purifying light.
"Argh!" Restiel grunted, but he swiftly retrieved his Spirit Energy from the Pocket World Diorama.
The world warped and curved.
In the next moment, he found himself standing before a startled Arlon.
"Y-you..." Arlon choked on the food he was eating. He would have drawn his sword and slashed out if not for the fact that his hands were currently preoccupied with his dining utensils.
"You're alive!" He suddenly broke out into a grin when he noticed the knife in Restiel's hands.
"Give it to me, swiftly!" He seemed anxious as he gestured to Restiel.
With no other choice, Restiel tossed the knife to Arlon. The rejection was too great and the angel was flung backwards.
Luckily, he could fly.
Spreading his wings, Restiel fought the force that launched him. In a moment, he stabilized himself as Arlon caught the knife.
No rejection force seemed to act upon him at that moment.
"Haha!" Arlon laughed heartily. "Perfect!"
He unsheathed the two black blades at the same time. Metallic sounds rang in Restiel's ears, but it wasn't unpleasant. Instead, it was somewhat melodic.
Two notes rang out from the blades, playing a short tune as Arlon brandished his weapons.
Wielding the two blades, Restiel witnessed the 4-star threat's demeanour change. He suddenly grew deceptive. As if he wasn't looking at the true body of his foe. Arlon became elusive in Restiel's eyes.
"Whoa," Restiel gasped as he watched.
[ Whoa indeed, ] Magnus agreed from within the Hivemind.
Arlon gave his two weapons a few swings before realising that Restiel was currently watching him.
He instantly straightened up and sheathed his weapons once more. His aura returned to normal.
"You took quite some time inside there, boy." He spoke, once again sitting down. He beckoned to Restiel to have a seat as well, "Here, you must be hungry. I'll cook for you. You still have to tell me what you've seen."
"...Yes sir." Restiel folded his wings and nodded. He sat down and had some of Arlon's cooking.
Rabbit stew was Arlon's dinner. And so, Restiel partook of some too. It was a pleasant meal, especially with the view that spread out before him;
Arlon was camping out in the same tower Restiel had found him in weeks ago. From it, the Gallery could be seen quite well. It was quite the view. Especially with the dancing lights of torches trudging along the roads below.
As Restiel ate, he told Arlon of what he saw.
The towers, the different puzzles, the crystals, and the mountains of weapons. All of these things made Arlon's eyes gleam.
"Interesting," Arlon muttered before nodding. "You've done well, boy."
He then took out the item that Magnus wanted.
The Painting of Contrived Lovers.
Restiel's eyes shone as Arlon placed the item in his hands. It was the size of a small television screen. He scanned the image portrayed and saw the pair of humans, both with long hair. Whether they were male and female or female and female was unknown.
The painting was abstract.
And yet the expressions were clear to see.
Conflict, unwillingness, and feigned affection.
Restiel could feel the emotions popping out of the picture.
"What an amazing piece of artwork," He couldn't help but remark.
Arlon nodded. "You feel it too? It's a common Curse for painting-type artefacts."
"A common Curse?" Restiel asked, "There is such a thing?"
This was something Magnus had heard for the first time. He always thought that Curses and Blessings were all unique. A billion kinds for a billion people.
A trillion for a trillion.
Like fingerprints.
Even if some were similar, none were exactly the same. Especially for stronger Blessings and Curses.
The more lines there were, the more there was to their uniqueness.
"Yes..." Arlon replied. "It is a characteristic of the Aodis continent."
The man then took out another painting from a Storage Scroll.
"All paintings are considered one."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
perilousindulgence
perilousindulgence I'm back~
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