Arnold soon left the library after Lyra rejected his offer.
Maybe he was getting ahead of himself by offering her something like that. What's most important right now is gathering her souls together. Since she's the original, he would need to convince them all to come find her.
The system won't be of any help. When he tried to look for her fragments, the only response he received came from the academy. This proves that she's the original Lyra while the others are empty husks with her memories.
The feeling of teleportation washed over him and the next moment he stood at his destination.
The lab.
It was dark and the air stank of chemicals. He took a few steps through the room, wondering how Anais and Lauran could keep this place so tidy despite being so busy.
Well, there was one part of the lab that was quite messy.
He accidentally kicked a glass when he arrived between two chem benches. On the floor were two sleeping bags and Lauran and Anais peacefully sleeping. Their snack wrappers and empty plates littered the floor.
He looked around the dimly lit lab some more, noticing two strange but identical devices that sat on the same chem bench, with a bit of distance between the two. There were also two black rocks floating above both devices.
At a glance, you would think it's an altar of some sort, to hold up artifacts or the like. But since Arnold is knowledgeable about these types of devices, it's not that.
It's a teleportation device. Well, in design. He approached the chem bench and looked at the open book next to the devices.
"They think a human concept of a teleportation device will work. This is the exact same design the wizards from 300 years ago struggled to perfect. And no one has been able to do so even after so many modifications." He flipped the pages, immediately recognizing that this is a book you could find in any magic institution or academy. One of the wizards of old theorized what a teleportation device could look like and how it functions.
According to the system—
-Answer: This device is incomplete.
It confirmed his assumption. It's not that the system has the whole blueprint but it can understand when the device is complete and functional.
The question remains: what could complete the device? The wizards and scholars from centuries ago were so close to building a functional teleporter.
The fuel (the dying star) is there so it does not need a battery of some sort.
It's not something he can just figure out since he didn't obtain his magic prowess through years of extensive research and such. The game holds your hand throughout your progression and not many things require you to think.
But he knows Lauran and Anais can figure it out.
"They're probably trying to teleport small things before building the bigger device." It's not that difficult to build these contraptions if you have the blueprint but the real teleportation gate needs dwarves and engineers to help, which Arnold will provide once he cuts a deal with King Rockwell.
While he was examining the notes Lauran and Anais had thrown together, he heard the door open then quickly shut again. Hurried footsteps could be heard running down the hall.
"Who's that?" he quickly teleported outside, feeling something bump into his chest. He thought that he could take a message for Anais since the person left so abruptly.
"Kyaak!" the girl flew back and fell on her butt. She wasn't in her school clothes, but rather casual clothes since the break is still not over yet.
"Sabrina?"
"Eh?" the girl's face paled when she realized who was in front of her.
**
Arnold helped her up but her "thank you" was so small that even he could barely hear it.
As if she lost all control of her bodily functions, she just stood there awkwardly.
Honestly, he should be angry. He should be thinking of hurting her for not warning him of his impending death.
But seeing her so timid and fragile in front of him, too afraid to upset him further, made him think that he's being too irrational.
"I-I have to go!" he grabbed her arm just as she was about to run away, a small shriek leaking out of her and she went stiff.
"I think it's time we talk about what happened in that dungeon." Almost as if he wanted no objections, he demanded.
"…" head lowered, she stepped back into place, hands fidgeting and shivering slightly.
"If you had any worries about me coming after you or your family—" he flicked her forehead.
"Ow!" on the spot her flicked was a red mark that she rubbed while teary-eyed.
"Maybe I would've been irrational enough to seek that sort of bloodthirst but… you've known Arthur for long enough to trust him over a man who rumors say raped, killed and tortured people. I'm not proud of accepting the demon's powers. In fact, were it not for the demon, I never would've gotten here. To a degree, I'm still grateful to Oriel."
Lancelot would've taken him out on the assumption that he's allies with a demon that made a deal with the Luthial Kingdom's monarch.
He continued, "As you are someone I began to see as a friend, I'm still disappointed you couldn't even warn me. I was helpless back then so I could have escaped. Sure, I would've died in the end anyway since Arthur was stronger than me but you would've done your duty as a friend, right?"
Warning him would've given him a very small chance to escape to safety. It was cowardly but he values his life above everything else and wouldn't fight if things were hopeless or if there's no reward in the end.
"…I'm… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…. I'm sorry… I-I know…! I know I could've been a good friend one last time but I was scared… scared of what everyone will think of me…"
Her shoulders trembled as she sniffled with her head down. Arnold was about to place a hand on her shoulder but stopped himself, retracting his hand.
"You would've been branded a demon's accomplice and burned at the stake. So, thinking about it in another way, you were just looking out for yourself."
He knows she's not the type of person to think like that. But to erase any guilt she might have, he decided to go with that instead.
Tears began to stream down her eyes. Her hands opened and closed as if she was trying to grab something but hesitated.
"That makes me… sound so selfish…" she finally said in response to what he said.
"That sounds a little like me."
"Eh…?"
"I chose power that could create problems for my family. It's a miracle how long I went without being discovered. Thankfully, Lancelot also didn't babble to others."
While Sabrina wondered who Lancelot is, he continued:
"The point is, every human is selfish. We just draw the line in different places."
The two of them stared into each other's eyes for a second. Sabrina suddenly stepped closer, looked down then put her arms around him.
She's so small and fragile, and yet he had thoughts of hurting her—he wanted to let out his anger on her. That would be cruel, no? He's not a heartless monster, after all. it's not like she killed him directly. As fate would have it, she indirectly led to him attaining god-like powers, reaching the level of his endgame counterpart in just under a year since transmigrating.
Let this be his final thought of all that happened and let today mark the chapter of their newfound friendship.
Arnold put his arms around her and hugged her back.
Come to think of it, she is genuinely the first true friend he's ever made in this world…
**
"So, why did you come here so early? Actually, why are you even at school today?"
After their brief reunion, Arnold wanted to move on so he changed the subject.
Sabrina, nose still red, answered him, "…Anais has been hard at work so I'm trying to help where I can. I drop by every now and then to check on her and help them clean."
"Did she tell you what she's building?"
"She said it's a secret project that she was commissioned for. But even I know what it's supposed to be since she would only be passionate about something like teleportation. It's something she's been obsessed with for a long time."
"It's a dangerous thing to study, isn't it? Do the professors know? Someone is bound to find out about her activities since she's using one of the labs."
Sabrina nodded, "A few know, yes. But they've shown their support since they know how much she wants to build a working teleporter. If big institutions were passionate about something like this then they would fund her but not only is it an incredibly expensive investment, there has never been a successful experiment. They would be throwing gold into a volcano—is a saying my grandma always uses."
She's right about that. Arnold is the only one crazy enough to invest millions of gold into this project. That's because he knows Anais can do it even if she's not experienced in the field.
Her experience doesn't matter to him since he knows how she turned out in the future. It's best to invest in such a prodigy early so that she owes him in the future.
"…Why are you here?" Sabrina finally asked, "Did you… have a talk with her as well?"
"No, we don't have anything else to say to each other. But to answer your question, the mysterious investor who kickstarted this project is me."
Her eyebrows creased, "Eh? Why…?"
"I believe in her, is all. I want to help out my cousin kickstart her career as well. Maybe I will be greatly rewarded for it." With a shrug he continued, "Once Anais succeeds, I will patent the teleportation gate design I have in mind then sell my invention to other countries. No more need for long carriage rides between cities. I will also make back my investment a thousand-fold."
He would rub his hands with a devilish smirk while saying that but he doesn't want to scare Sabrina.
"You are sure she'll succeed? Uhm, I did not take you for a science type…"
"The problem with modern teleportation is that there isn't a catalyst to be both the fuel and powerhouse of the portal. We have many fuel sources but how do you keep the portal open and connect it to other portals? It's impossible for magicians to do that. It would be like connecting your brain to several portals, in theory."
He said that but Selia and Lunaria can open gates just fine. But this is likely a skill of theirs and not magic. Even Freya finds it difficult to maintain a gate. Then again, there is a big difference between an artificial gate and one created from a person's mana.
"Do you remember the machine you used to come back home?"
"Ah, yes. The machine from the dungeon floor of floating academies."
"The answer to building a functioning portal without the need for human intervention or even constant supply of energy is the fuel source of that machine."
"…The black chunks of rocks that floated above the platforms…? So that's why she brought it home…" Sabrina muttered to herself, loud enough that Arnold could hear so he confirmed it.
"That's right. Like sentient objects or weapons with souls, that rock that was once a living star that controlled the amount of mana it absorbed to keep itself alive. It can control specific magic and suck mana from the atmosphere, in theory. That's exactly what we humans do but it can do it at a far bigger scale."
"Uhm, how is it that you know all this…? I know you aren't exactly ordinary as you have presented yourself to be all these years… but aren't you a bit too peculiar?"
He said with a wry smile, "Bunking classes has its merits."
It was a vague explanation but Sabrina didn't push it.
"If other countries find out about this dead star's value, won't they try to enter the dungeon and take what's left of it? We couldn't exactly keep quiet about how we made it out so news would've spread by now about the coordinates teleporter…"
Arnold shrugged, "They can try but the empire might decide to bomb it, even at the risk of war with other countries. The majority of adventurers are probably against it—hell, some have probably already managed to enter the dungeon—but Daraia made it clear in the dungeon that she wants to blow that entrance into smithereens to seal the tentacle monsters inside."
Sabrina's face went pale and she shivered slightly, "…T-That is true…"
"…" he's curious what their first encounter was like with that thing but he doesn't want to use the Halo on Sabrina.
Besides, he already confronted one of them on Ofore—well, a hybrid—so he knows the monstrous presence those creatures have. But since he's way above the Faceless variant in terms of strength, he didn't really fear it. Then again, those things would be a big threat if in big numbers so he shouldn't get cocky.
…Maybe he can win against at least one of the "Mature" variants with his newly acquired martial arts.
"Why don't you finish your business with Anais," Arnold said, "I was just here to check on how far they are."
"Ah, yes. With this project, I can't exactly expect her to hang out since it's so important."
"No, it's okay. I'm not going to force her to use all her time on making a breakthrough, even if I am technically her boss."
"…I do worry for her future, though. As she is such a talented magician, any tower or institution would want her." Sabrina said as they reached the lab's door, not going in just yet.
"—I'm capable of multitasking, Sabrina." A sleep voice interjected after the door opened at that moment.
Anais' sleepy eyes widened for a second when she noticed Arnold standing there.
…
"You're not… mad at us anymore?" after Anais inquired as to why Sabrina was happily chatting with Arnold, she was told that he wasn't mad anymore.
It's best to leave things like this in the past. The situation was beyond their control and their voices wouldn't have made a big different (as aforementioned, he likely would've died anyway even if he tried to escape). But the probability of his survival doesn't matter anymore since he won't look back from today onwards.
"You could say that. But my mind remains unchanged about Arthur."
Hearing him say that made both go silent.
He looked back at the two devices from before, and change the subject, "How far along are you?"
"…It is as you said," Anais took the opportunity to change the subject as well, adopting a business-like tone, "The rocks provide enough mana to theoretically turn the devices on but beyond that, I can't get the necessary materials to check if the device will work. At first, I planned to build the small teleport devices to check if it's possible to make teleportation work with small items before moving on to building the actual gate. But, not all the materials needed to build a smaller gate is possible to get. I-If at all possible, I was thinking of heading back to the dungeon…"
It's true that not everything you need is just lying around in this empire. The book where she got the blueprint for the teleportation devices from dates back centuries, when such materials were abundant. But with all the failed experiments to build gates, a lot of resources was wasted. Of course, you could still salvage the non-functioning devices kept in the storages of museums and institutions but it's hard to say if the materials inside them will work.
Arnold took off the Virgin's Blood ring and held it out to Anais. It was obvious that she was trying to allude to the ring in order to get to the dungeon. Someone with her knowledge should know that the machine she used to escape the dungeon might be the answer,
"I'll only be here for a few hours so go get what you need."
"Y-Yes, thank you!" it was impossible to hide her grin when she received the ring.
The parts of that device will be crucial for their gates and there may even be more in that world but for now they'll take apart the one Arnold knew about first. Even if there aren't more similar devices, he's certain the scholars would've left the materials behind to craft them."
"Eh, you're going back!?" Sabrina panicked, "What if those things are on the 50th floor as well!?"
That's a valid worry to have. The 50th floor is devoid of life after all. Ask yourself what made it that way. And everywhere you looked was debris and damaged buildings floating around so it's obvious some kind of big battle took place.
"Just don't stay too long." Arnold said, to which Anais nodded, "Teleport back here if things get too dangerous then I'll go with you the second time to fight whatever's on the other side."
"…I guess I'll help. They are weak to divine power so I should be of some help out there."
"Thanks, Sabrina." Anais smiled before looking around the lab, "I'll have to believe that Lauran can finish today's tasks without me."
"How are the two of you getting along?" asked Sabrina.
"She's… very quiet. But she's attentive and listens when given instructions. Since we're a team and will be for a very long time so long as there's hope for this project, I hope she can open up to me more."
"I expect you two to have solid chemistry and teamwork as that can determine this project's success." Arnold said. "Even if it's just a coffee or two a week together, spend time with her outside of this lab."
Anais is the outgoing type so she should be the perfect match for the loner Lauran. They share the same passion for magic so there shouldn't be any issues that arise between them if they stick to focusing on the work.
"Yes, I'll try…"
Arnold took out his pocket watch to check the time, "Morwenne should be waiting in class already for us to arrive so I need to get going."
Just as he finished, he turned to the door, "Watch each other's backs in the dungeon. Remember, if you need help, just teleport back to me."
"Does this artifact have any limitations I should be aware of?" Anais asked before he could leave.
"Only that off-world teleportation has a cooldown. But the dungeon is technically connected to our world through some mysterious magical phenomenon. The floors inside the dungeon should also be connected so you can hop between worlds as you please."
The shadow worlds are the exceptions since they just drift around in that dimension without anything connecting them.
After explaining that to them, Arnold left the lab for the SDC office while Lauran still slept.