The gears of change had begun to turn more quickly with each passing day. Dustin had finished recovering from his mana drain just as the news was starting to pick up around dungeons. The previous leaks he had seen all over the internet had made their way to the television.
'US Military complete dungeon'
Dustin was glad that the event occurred earlier than expected, but he was also worried. Even if humanity grew accustomed to dungeons quicker, he needed to change public perception of them. If countries kept their dungeons under tight control for fear of losing military strength, then the Torians were just going to roll over them, albeit a little slower than they had last time.
If Dustin wanted regular civilians to grow an interest, he needed to reveal what the governments would be hiding.
One could grow stronger, faster, and smarter, from the dungeons.
More importantly, one could grow richer. If the appeal of strength and power wasn't enough to draw a crowd, then greed would pick up the slack. Earth currency was already beginning to crash, as each person could turn all of their Dos into close to a million dollars.
Dustin knew that Dos would be the main currency used in the future, and had no plans to convert the very thing that dictated his survival into useless paper. James had recently gotten back to him giving the thumbs up on a warehouse Dustin could use. The location was about an hour and a half drive away, secluded enough that Dustin didn't need to worry about wandering eyes.
With the Dos earned from his recent encounters, Dustin had picked up another weapon from the shop that had been on sale, and one more spell.
[Uncommon Enchanted Oak Spellbow]
60/60 Durability
15.0 - 17.0 Arcane Damage
+3 Agility
A bow made from the branches of an oak tree born from mana. Has runes engraved on the exterior.
Enchanted: Spells cast using the bow deal 20% additional damage.
[Spell: Echo Arrow]
After firing an arrow, summon two copies of it that will automatically fire at the same target, dealing 25% less damage.
Use: 50 Mana.
Dustin regained part of his former glory, a bow slung over his shoulder, quiver by his side, and a metal staff in one hand. The spellbow was an alternative to normal bows that dealt no physical damage, but arcane instead. It had the look of a regular wooden bow, but was augmented by a light pink hue that radiated from a series of engravings carved from top to bottom. They were done in a language unknown to most, though Dustin had gradually learnt what they meant over the years.
'Yearning'
To most, the engravings seemed to have no relevance to what the item actually performed. Only when one compared tens to hundreds of items, did the pattern become clear. Items that lended a hand towards magical means, often featured words related to the pursuit of knowledge. Those that aided strength, were of a meditative sort.
In the case of the spellbow Dustin had slung over his shoulder, it was geared towards boosting his magical damage, giving it a different damage modifier. Arcane.
Arcane damage dealt extra damage to Mana Shield and could ignore damage reductions from anything except resistance, but dealt reduced damage to health. When mana shield was depleted, it would sap the mana from a target instead, weakening them in a different way.
In a game of attrition, the spellbow was actually a better choice than a regular bow. Dustin had no problems with dealing damage, it was weakening targets to protect himself that was now a higher concern.
Mana shield wasn't a major concern when clearing dungeons, as most monsters did not possess any. Only higher tier enemies would have it, and even then, it wasn't enough to make them immortal. What concerned Dustin more was the danger that came from within.
Greed was a powerful motivator, but it was still a dark emotion nonetheless. Many people were killed by others for their equipment, Dos, or just for pleasure. Mana shield was the most popular defense among pioneers as it could absorb damage. Unlike other defensive options, it didn't hurt when mana shield blocked the damage.
Dustin had lost Ben in the past for the same reasons. He had purchased a fancy piece of equipment and was murdered for it, giving him no chance to even defend himself. Sacrifices had to be made, and Dustin wasn't going to stick to ideals of mercy or forgiveness. If someone stepped out of line, there was no time to give them second chances.
He stretched the string of the bow spellbow, feeling a familiar resistance. The arrows he purchased were made from an alien material, but provided suitable damage. Stronger spellbows could use special arrows, which enhanced the arcane damage, but were unusable by regular bows.
A knock on his bedroom door caught him by surprise, and he hurriedly hid the bow and arrows away in his inventory, ignoring the flashing warning that it had filled up.
"Come in!" He shouted.
A woman Dustin hadn't seen in a while tentatively opened the door, giving him a worried smile as she waved.
"Hey Dustin! Sorry I wasn't able to drop by earlier. I saw your face on TV yesterday, just what have you been up to?"
Dustin froze as his step-sister Alicia entered the room. The last time he had seen her flowing brown hair was when it cascaded down his arm, holding her head in his hands as she bled out from the hole in her stomach.
He was a little stiff when she hugged him, but eventually the dark emotions flooded out, and he restrained himself from crying to hug her tightly.
"Good to see you sis."
Alicia pulled back and smiled brightly, filling Dustin with a light and airy feeling. Something he had been lacking for a while.
Hope.
"Good to see you too Dustin. Now please tell me what happened at uni, the news has been calling you a hero!"
---------------
Dustin, Alicia, and their mother, Jean, sat around in the living room sipping tea as they chatted away casually. The news story that had covered Dustin's 'heroic feat' was playing on the TV, recorded by Jean.
The story chosen to cover up the dungeon incident was that two unknown attackers held a grudge against the university, wishing to harm one of the lecturers there in retaliation for their bad grades. Dustin had defended her, and the other students, scaring them off with his prop sword.
The two attackers were, of course, completely fabricated. Dustin had been contacted previously with a contract to not reveal the details of what actually occurred, but the 'story' everyone else heard he had yet to see.
He refused to answer most of their questions, as the police had forced him to stay silent about the whole affair. They were unhappy at being rejected, but couldn't complain about the legality of the situation.
Jean and Alicia were both proud, and worried, for Dustin. Jean had seen her son going through rapid changes the past two weeks, seeing him coming home late some nights, after being missing for a couple of days. His body and face seemed to change as well, as he grew leaner and taller. He no longer focused on his studies, but seemed to have some other direction in mind.
His mother could only hope that it wasn't one that lead down a dark path. Dustin had no complaints when she had asked him to stay home for a couple of days and rest as he had slept for over fourteen hours. His mana recovery was still in progress, leaving him little choice in the matter.
Alicia turned the conversation towards Dos.
"Have either of you purchased something from it? I turned a third of it into cash already." Alicia revealed, holding up one of her hands. An intricate golden ring was wrapped tightly around the skin, shining in the midday sunlight.
Dustin kept silent as his mother rambled on about how the system was going to ruin the economy. He already knew its effects, and the importance of keeping it around, but he didn't bother to warn either of them.
Regardless of the situation of earth's survival, he wasn't going to put his own mother and sister in danger. He would buy them protective gear in the future, but sending them out to hunter dangerous monsters was a definite no.
"What about you Dustin?" Alicia asked, her eyes glinting dangerously. Jean had already been telling her about his nightly escapades, making them suspect something was up.
Dustin shrugged, and held the cup up to his lips, only to be disappointed at the lack of liquid inside.
"I agree with mum for most of it. The economy is going to take a massive hit with this many people getting free cash out of nowhere."
Alicia nodded slowly, tapping her finger on the couch armrest.
"And what about these dungeons the news is all about?"
"No idea. It seems like a massive safety hazard, but I'm sure the government and military will work something out."
"I've heard you can grow stronger inside, seems interesting, doesn't it?"
"Sounds cool, but strength isn't the only thing that matters. I don't need to be strong as a chemical engineer, but smart."
"There's all these new eye catching things coming out, like that weird 'spell' that chick was talking about."
"Yeah it was awesome. I'm excited to see if the university investigates them for anything we can use in the course."
Alicia's eye twitched as each of her probing comments was shot down. Jean sighed from the side, taking the three empty mugs into the kitchen to clean up. Dustin kept his innocent smile the whole time.
"I heard mum talking about a friend's list feature. She said you two could talk through it?"
Dustin had already primed a trusted friend invite for his step-sister earlier, and sent it through instead of replying. Her face lit up briefly as the notification blocked her vision of Dustin.
Thanks to their lack of knowledge, he was able to alter the trusted friends setting to hide his level. If they knew how to access the settings, they could always disable it. It was going to be a while until then, hopefully long enough that Dustin could handle the outrage of a protective family.
When her name popped up into view, the one he had known her as in the past, he let out a long internal sigh. The three largest worries in his current life were now in his friend's list. His mother and sisters coordinates were the same, as were his, since they were all in the same location.
Ben was further away, and the mini-map put him at his favorite bakery. It wasn't going to stop someone from killing them, but it would let Dustin keep track of them.
Before Alicia could ask anymore questions Dustin excused himself, and helped his mother wash up. He had planned to meet with James at his house in the next hour, so he kissed Jean on the cheek after wiping down the bench and waved Alicia goodbye as he jumped into his car.
His crappy old Toyota stuck out like a sore thumb in the rich neighbourhood, and James' butler's nose shriveled in disgust when he pulled up outside. Having gone through the affair in the dungeon, Dustin ignored his glare and tossed the keys over, sliding inside to meet James.
He caught a glance of the butler opening the driver side door tentatively with two fingers when James appeared around the corner for a second, calling to him before he turned around.
"You're here! Come up to my room for now."
Dustin walked up the stairs with caution, avoiding the velvety carpet that spilled down them. He turned the corner into James' room and nearly bumped into him. He was dragged into the room as James' quickly shut the door, excitedly spilling the beans to Dustin.
"So we managed to get one of the warehouses down near the wharf. The inspectors are already paid off from viewing the area as we have other goods passing through, so it should be quite secure."
No sooner had James' finished speaking did he throw open the bedroom door and pull Dustin back out, running straight down to where a company car was waiting. Dustin questioned why he had even needed to go up to the room, but James' seemed a little worried that his parents would probe into his dealings.
"This 'vehicle' is much better than yours Master!"
Dustin felt a sharp stabbing pain as his own companion heartlessly complimented the limousine, and simultaneously insulted his own car. The small lightning spirits Lei-Lei was currently unsummoned, and was merely a voice in his head. If he willed it, the glowing purple orb would pop into existence beside him, ready to zap whatever he wished.
It was easier to keep her away from prying eyes, and she was still able to view the world from Dustins' eyes. He had been teaching her about earthen cultures, societies, inventions, during his downtime. She was like a small child in that regard, clueless to the world outside her dungeon, if you could ignore the firepower she was packing.
Dustin had been so distracted by the passing view and Lei-Lei's innocent questions that he had managed to miss everything James' was rambling on about, catching only the last piece of information as they arrived at the warehouse.
"-ou'll have to excuse the mess, we only just cleared out our last shipment last week."
The warehouse was fit smugly between identical copies on either side. Columns of the same building ran along the entire coast-line like somebody had copy and pasted them down. There was nothing outstanding about the one James' was letting him use, which was for the best.
When they got inside, Dustin felt his jaw drop.
The floor was covered in a mix of water, blood, discarded cardboard, and floating fish bones. Empty crates were torn open and left around randomly. Only the entrance was free from liquid and debris.
"Like I said, please excuse the mess."
The smile never left James' face as he held out a pair of keys for Dustin to take. His hand was slow to take them as he took in the battlefield around him. If there was any positive to be seen, it was that the ant eggs might even look neat when compared to the crate carcasses and stacks of fish bones.
James clapped his hands, drawing Dustin's attention.
"Now, please. Show me what it is you wanted this warehouse for, I'm dying to find out."
Dustin rolled his eyes and opened his inventory, seeing the flashing red outline that indicated it had reached maximum capacity. He left the ant eggs to take out for last, and filled the empty space in front of him with a dead monster from the dungeon instead. They flopped down into the murky water covering the floor with a splash.
A knife appeared afterwards in Dustin's hand as he approached an upside down scorpion. James' face paled as he sliced through the hardened carapace, wiggling the knife in and out to gradually saw through it.
James had nearly vomited by the time Dustin finished dismantling the scorpion, keeping the sharp barb on its tail, the thick plates that remained undamaged, and a small vial of poison he extracted.
There was a look of relief on his face when Dustin sent it away, only for it to come back in force as not one, but several motionless bodies filled the space.
Ignorant to the mortified rich boy behind him, Dustin set his eyes upon the next prize, determined to strip it of all its worth. Sooner or later the military, and pioneers determined to get stronger, were going to be buying not only Dos, but gear suitable for them. Only a few would be so bold as to try crafting gear with the remains of dungeon monsters, and even fewer that succeeded.
This was going to be Dustin's money maker.