Chapter 138: Studying Battle Aura 1

Kent cast another Light spell and carefully examined the two pitch-black hammers. Only then did he notice the intricate magical arrays engraved across their surfaces in mithril.

The moment he focused his senses on them, he detected a violent surge of lightning elemental energy. There was no doubt about it: these were lightning-element magical weapons. As for their exact rank, however, Kent was still unable to determine it.

Even more puzzling was the material from which the hammers had been forged. Kent had never seen anything like it before. It was neither metal nor wood. Judging by its appearance, it looked somewhat like the bone of a magical beast, though he couldn’t be certain.

Kent stored the dragon lance and both hammers inside his spatial ring. His immediate priority was to find somewhere to rest and treat his injuries. After that, he would search through the contents of his spatial ring to see whether it contained any methods for cultivating Battle Aura.

As for returning to Muan City, that would have to wait. Neither Kent nor Daphne had the slightest idea where they were. They had fled wildly through the tunnels earlier, and Kent had completely lost track of their direction. After all, there were no stars in the underground world to serve as landmarks.

Still, Kent wasn’t particularly worried. His strength was respectable enough now that he should have a reasonable chance of surviving, provided he wasn’t unlucky enough to run into a whole group of intermediate-rank magical beasts.

Moreover, with his strength having increased so dramatically, exploring these uncharted regions for rare magical plants and magical metals had once again become part of his plans.

But for the moment, he needed to find somewhere to settle down—a place that was relatively safe.

He stood still for a while, but before long, the pain in his chest and abdomen returned.

"What’s wrong? This is all my fault. I’ve only been holding you back."

Seeing Kent clutching his chest, Daphne noticed a thin trickle of blood escaping from the corner of his mouth. She hurried over to support him, her face filled with guilt.

Kent managed a weak smile and patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"If you weren’t here, wouldn’t I have no one to lean on right now?"

Only now did Kent truly feel the full extent of his injuries. His entire body ached, and even speaking sent sharp spasms of pain through his internal organs. He had no choice but to lean against Daphne’s slender shoulder for support.

In truth, Daphne was a first-rank magic archer. Although she looked rather delicate, her physical strength was actually greater than that of an ordinary, fully grown human man. Her frail appearance simply made it difficult to tell.

Kent and Daphne continued onward at a slow pace, supporting each other as they went.

Fortunately, the aura released during Kent’s earlier battle with the three-headed Hellhounds had driven most of the low-rank magical beasts far away. Only a few small creatures remained in the area. They were too weak to sense the overwhelming pressure of the battle, so they had never even considered fleeing.

Neither Kent nor Daphne, however, was in the mood to bother with them.

Along the way, Kent spat out two more mouthfuls of blood. Fortunately, he felt considerably better after each episode, as though some of the pressure inside his body had finally eased. Injuries to his internal organs were not something ordinary healing magic could repair.

Daphne remained silent throughout the journey, walking beside him without saying a word.

What irritated Kent most, however, was Big Nose.

The little creature had somehow managed to perch on his shoulder and was now licking his face with its tongue, its tiny eyes seemingly filled with concern.

Kent didn’t know whether to laugh or get annoyed. It wasn’t as though he had never seen a magical beast display almost humanlike expressions before, but Big Nose’s eyes were ridiculously small. How was he supposed to make out its expression properly?

Kent and Daphne walked for a long time before finally noticing a reddish glow in the distance.

They followed the light and rounded a bend in the passage. Only then did they discover that they had reached an opening leading into an enormous cavern.

The cavern was so vast that its boundaries were nowhere to be seen.

Countless gigantic stone pillars rose from the ground, supporting the immense cavern above them like the columns of an ancient underground palace. Far in the distance, a volcano was actively erupting, casting a fiery red glow across the vast expanse.

The warm light washed over Kent’s body, and he couldn’t help taking a deep breath of relief.

He recognized the material from which the enormous pillars were made. They were constructed of obsidian, a stone harder than refined iron.

Muan City had obsidian too, but it was extremely scarce there.

Here, however, the towering pillars seemed to stretch endlessly across the cavern.

Kent gazed out at the immense underground landscape in astonishment. Even the portion of the cavern he could see clearly was several times larger than Muan City, and that didn’t even account for the vast areas hidden beyond his field of vision.

“What a wonderful place!” Kent exclaimed as he gazed at the countless patches of edible moss, ferns, and mushrooms growing all around him.

This was one of the distinctive features of the Underdark. Most of the magical beasts, ordinary beasts, and other creatures living beneath the surface disliked light, preferring to dwell in darkness, much like mosquitoes that remained hidden away from the sun. Of course, there were always a few exceptions, and it was perfectly normal for some creatures to venture out during the day.

However, wherever a volcano existed in the Underdark, there was light—even if that light came from fire rather than sunlight. Most magical beasts still disliked such places, while those capable of adapting to the volcanic glow were predominantly fire-element magical beasts. These creatures not only enjoyed the light but also preferred living near molten lava.

As a result, a relatively empty zone formed around volcanic regions. Most magical beasts avoided this area, while the fire-element varieties tended to congregate closer to the lava, leaving a broad stretch of land in between where dangerous creatures were extremely scarce.

This made the surrounding area one of the best places for humans to settle. Not only were edible mosses, ferns, and mushrooms abundant, but the volcano’s warmth and light had also allowed a variety of plants adapted to these unusual conditions to flourish.

Such environments were exceedingly rare in the Underdark. A suitable location needed to have an enormous cavern, a volcano, and enough habitable land around it. Finding all these conditions in one place was no easy task. This was the main reason why the number of human cities in the Underdark had never reached a hundred.

Kent and Daphne carved several characters into the cavern wall to mark their discovery. This was a way of establishing that they had been the first to find the place. Those who discovered such locations ahead of everyone else could receive substantial rewards, with the exact amount depending on the circumstances. One thing was certain, however: a generous number of mithril coins would be part of the reward.

The two continued downward, and along the way, Kent discovered numerous magical plants unique to the Underdark.

Some were ingredients for potions used to neutralize magical traps. Others included moonlight grass, the primary ingredient in revealing powder. This low-growing plant emitted tiny, scattered points of light, making it relatively easy to recognize once one knew what to look for.

He also found several important ingredients used in healing potions, including hemostatic grass and a medicinal herb known as blade-fleece. The latter could be crushed directly and applied to an open wound to stop the bleeding.

In total, Kent came across more than a dozen varieties of magical plants.

However, he wasn’t in any hurry to gather them. His immediate priority was to find a safe place to rest and recover from his injuries. The plants weren’t going anywhere, after all.

Eventually, Kent and Daphne found a cave beside an underground river. The entrance lay more than ten meters above the ground, and the cave itself extended nearly ten meters inward. Its opening was narrow, but the interior was considerably wider, making it an excellent place to hide.

More importantly, the water flowing through the underground river was warm, suggesting that it had passed through an area near the volcano. There were even fish swimming in its depths.

Of course, magical beasts also inhabited the rivers of the Underdark, but according to what Kent had heard, the more dangerous aquatic varieties generally appeared on the second level of the Underdark.

Daphne promptly set about cleaning up the cave. She cleared away the debris, gathered some withered plants for bedding, and helped Kent arrange several animal pelts he took from his spatial ring. Judging by their quality, the magical beasts from which they had come must have been of considerable rank.

With their temporary shelter finally prepared, Kent settled down to recover from his injuries, while Daphne took care of his daily needs.

“Finally, found it!”

Kent had been rummaging through the contents of his spatial ring for quite some time when he finally came across a book that discussed Battle Aura.

It wasn’t a proper cultivation manual, merely a book explaining the basic principles behind it. Still, it was better than having nothing at all.

Kent carefully read through the book once, but much of its contents remained difficult to understand. He read it a second time, then a third.

Only after going through it repeatedly did he begin to develop a rough understanding of what Battle Aura actually was.

As it turned out, Battle Aura was formed by storing absorbed magical elements within the body. When needed, these accumulated elements could be released, much like squeezing water out of a sponge.

The stronger the body, the greater the amount of Battle Aura it could store.

What surprised Kent most, however, was the way Battle Aura circulated through the body.

Unlike the cultivation methods he might have expected, its circulation did not follow the meridians. Instead, it traveled along the bones.