After finishing inspecting what he could of the High Elf’s Soul, Rainer’s mind drifted as he left the room. He realized just how lucky they were in handling this 3rd Tier expert. To pass two Tier 3 Trials… Rainer wasn’t impressed with the High Elf himself, but rather the place he came from. Just what sort of external means did he rely on to accomplish such a thing? And then there was the fight itself. A battle of luck and Art’s quick thinking. All Rainer knew was, right or wrong, they couldn’t give any future invaders a chance to think or understand them.

And what of this man’s classes? He already knew from Kara’s experience and then the knowledge he got from Fai’Etah and Talvara that Tier 3 was a combination of two classes. He now wondered why it remained [Fist Master]. Was it that the two combined classes were too close in purpose, and then when added on to the fact it was only the base advancement, it became [Sacred Fist Master]? Or was the combination not a given? He supposed the answer didn’t matter to him, given his knowledge and goals. Though he did have a slight worry of having to pick Arcane over Void if they couldn’t combine.

He took a moment to ask for news from Neutral City’s clans on which parties had and hadn’t returned. There were few influences that didn’t have spies around the Dungeon.

“All the Guildmasters and Dragon Isle Kings are still missing. One of the Neutral City parties returned, but it was merely one of the side teams. The main ones are still inside or are otherwise indisposed,” Elelaria said, still having good connections with her clan.

She had suddenly risen in status and Rainer had already given her complete discretion in how to hand out ‘difficult’ favors to her family. No doubt their good impression would be greatly lowered if they knew that it came at literally no effort or cost to her and that she had the [Archon]’s full approval in helping them.

Even more so, the ‘secret’ information she gave about Rainer and his backing came straight from him.

Rainer gave his thanks, knowing that time was of the essence. Who knew when one of those parties might leave the rest area, assuming they were still alive. Now that he was in the rest area, he was free to act as he pleased.

It was time for a raid of the ages. While he might have felt bad about killing their people, no Dragon Isle King or Guildmaster was an innocent person. He’d steal from them with a clear mind and heart.

But at the end of it all, the idea was more entertaining than anything else. Stealing from the Mage Guilds should be quite cathartic. The things found from the spies and assassins they captured had shown that, let alone them, even a few of the Dragon Isle Kings wanted their secrets. They had their own tactics to avoid mental magics, but compared to Earth’s, it was child’s play.

He grabbed a thick cloth sack Elelaria had gotten for him. Not able to bring any enchanted items, he had only this sack and access to [Arcane Awakening: Spatial Storage] when not under [Void Suppression].

Who knew what he would find? He pushed back the idea of entering [Sleep Learning] for several hours as he began to raid the holdings of the Dragon Isle Kings. Whether it was [Void Suppression] or [Blade of the Void], what his other half had accomplished with a Void Talent had made Rainer excited for the future.

[Void-travelling] nearby, he walked step by step to the Serpent King’s valley palace. A cloth sack over his shoulder, the emaciated and monstrous-looking Human went forward.

Rainer sighed as he looked at the endless white Void. Maybe he should have spent the first night getting a peaceful night’s sleep.

But all the thievery had left him filled with energy, even if he had no idea whether he acquired any truly useful items or knowledge. He just skimmed all he could, planning to memorize it with [Sleep Learning] later, and took whatever felt the most magical and guarded or looked the brightest on the rare chances he had to use [Arcane Revelation]. Plus, he had only finished with just the Serpent King’s lair.

He couldn’t resist playing with [Soul Presence] and the spell he got from the [Nature’s Walkers].

While evidence pointed to it not being a direct relationship, his real Soul could still be harmed in [Sleep Learning]. But an unlimited access to Arcane Power meant that damage mattered little, apart from chipping away at his own sanity. Or rather preparing him for painful situations, he mentally corrected.

After helping everyone into [Sleep Learning], a surprised Fai’Etah included, he went off with the shadowy lifeform.

“So what kind of things should I expect when I go to rescue you?” Rainer asked. They would be having a few duels on top of talking of her race’s strengths and weaknesses. There was a chance he wouldn’t be able to immediately take her back.

“If they are a melee combatant, they will likely strike with their true forms.”

“Why are you in an enchanted robe anyways?”

“The humanoid fleshling form has it’s advantage, same reason you are using it, no?”

“I am a humanoid fleshling. No rather, a Human.”

“I see.”

Rainer got the feeling she didn’t see.

“Well then, there are a few. Magic tends to be easier to use in a humanoid form. Something about it just flows better. I am unsure of the reason, but even Divinites take a humanoid form so there must be some use in it. Combat techniques and general speed are improved in most cases as well. Most magic spread around tends to be designed for use as a humanoid, making it quite dangerous at times if you are not.

“Well then, shall we fight?”

Her robe suddenly disappeared as an outpouring of shadow and other more physical-looking parts quickly formed a large figure now looking down at him with far too many eyes.

But her trick to surprise him failed as he blasted her with all the [Arcanium]s he had stored. His eyes widened as the Arcane seemed to naturally destroy her body, leaving her to reform herself a few moments after.

“Death really is unpleasant,” she remarked. “But it seems despite the wrongness of your true form, you are truly an Arcanist.”

“Your race is weak to Arcane?”

“Aren’t they all?”

Rainer wanted to say no, but he really had no counter even if they all weren’t as weak to it.

“I’ll use my magic this time, as it seems surprising you with my appearance was ineffective. How odd.”

Rainer nodded, ready to see how he fared against her magic. And wondering if she would share it with him.

Now alone, he began with [Absolute Frost]. The Soul-like spell was probably the reason he learned to use [Soul Presence] to influence magic and certain skills so easily, and without it, it may have never happened given the lack of [Archon] bonus aid. He left his Soul unseparated, not using Avatars in this white space.

Every cast of the spell let him influence it more and more.

[Arcane-Ice Manipulation has reached level 9]

And in turn, the more he could influence it with [Soul Presence], the more he improved with his Arcane and Arcane-Ice skills.

[Absolute Frost has reached level 2]

Given the rapid casting and the general improvements as he focused the spell ever so slightly more, the level up wasn’t surprising. But his goal remained to find a way to push it to the 8th Tier where it rightfully belonged.

[Soul Presence has reached level 2]

The boost from his [Archon] class made him realize that he wasn’t using the full strength of his Soul. And that further level ups were likely a combination of pure power and efficiency. With this in mind, he began trying to add [Soul Manipulation] into the mix, not only for the use of [Soul Presence], but to increase the speed of the healing. And for the important subject of influencing magic directly with his Soul, rather than through [Soul Presence].

[Soul Manipulation has reached level 5]

The night continued with a painful draining of his Soul with every spell cast. He had at first not seen the pain reduction of the [Soul Sheath] as a big deal, but he appreciated it when taking into account his damaging of his Soul constantly over eight hours. This wouldn’t be an easy skill to level.

Lilia had spent the night not far from him, listening to his comments on [Soul Presence], and getting a general feel of his Soul as he used it. While no one could recover Soul damage like he could, the Soul did recover naturally. So the skill would still have much use for anyone. And the severe pain he was experiencing related more to his methods, rather than just the skill itself.

After enduring constant pain to his Soul, Rainer found himself happy to wake up from [Sleep Learning] for the first time in a long time.

Rainer blinked a few times as he looked at the food provided by the rest area. The magical glow of the steak in front of him was hard to miss. Seeing a recently enlarged and now awakened Tiamat enjoying it, Rainer figured it was fine for him to as well. He couldn’t help but notice her Draconic ‘half’ being just short of a whole. From what he could see, the last parts of her that were still showing their Wyvern roots were quite unimportant in the magical scheme of things.

Perhaps he might figure out a solution during his Draconic self-experimentation.

After a few bites he had to wonder if this was part of their reward as well. He would certainly be trying to take some of the wine with him.

Elsewhere in the universe, his Avatar went through yet another private study and then a treasury. The Dragon Isles tended to favor guards and anti-teleportation set-ups over enchanted doors and magical warning systems, making his work a bit easier so long as he could find a place to safely retract [Void Suppression] to cut through a door or wall with [Arcane Blade].

He nearly chuckled when he ended up in a repository of Aura knowledge and techniques. That would be helpful.

It was halfway through the second night of [Sleep Learning], and another additional level in [Soul Manipulation], that Rainer knew he needed a break. Despite having plenty of energy he felt a great fog over his mind. He had dealt with painful learning in the past, but this was beyond anything he did before.

He had many other things to work on in [Sleep Learning], but there wasn’t much that would provide short term benefit in the Dungeon. Nor could he think of much that would let him relax, as it often involved Runes. He had an itch to look at the spells Fai’Etah gave him after their duels.

He called Kara and Gunthar over, deciding to have them go through some of the books he collected. As the Dragon Isles relied on their Aura abilities, they would find the things here more useful, and perhaps it would make more sense to them.

As the two of them sat down with a twinkle in their eyes, something more obvious whenever Gunthar chose to look like a Sun Elf, Rainer decided to see if he could recreate the [Primordial Rock] in here.

With a bit of disappointment, the dark-grey rock was easily formed in his hand. He tried to put it into a spatial ring, and was pleasantly surprised when the action didn’t affect it. There were only two things thus far he was unable to create in here: life and the Mana-well. Even then, he could recreate recently dead life, so it made the Mana-well a bit more special in that regard.

Given that the rock didn’t affect the spatial ring, there was something about it that he couldn’t recreate. Something truly special.

He grinned as he easily turned it to rubble with a manipulation of Arcane. Something special indeed.