Finally! Back in the dungeon. Ok that makes me sound like a sadistic torturer, but you get the idea. It's been two months since I was in the dungeon properly. The Spear of the Fallen and Shield of the Line were both very useful and important weapons to me. They were a gift. So maintaining them was of some importance. The Xiphos was actually part of a set. The armour, shield and spear were cheaper when bought together. It still cost $100,000,000 for the lot. Also I had the Emissary Armour as well. I still couldn't use it, even after my first round of gene enhancement therapy. But I was feeling more energetic and lighter than before. The trade off was the excruciating agony during and after the process. I had to be conscious throughout or the full effects won't be realized and it can change me in undesirable ways. I personally thought that was some bullshit, but I'm not risking injecting an anesthetic for the process.
I'm still using what I have. Buying things now is of no use to me. Especially with my Warcage. It has everything I could want already in it. There is also a suppressed M40 in there. That I used extensively over the last few weeks to takeout key figures. The toad of a captain of the Ishtar familia. I didn't know how a shot to the head would affect a level 5 adventurer. But a shot to the head is a shot to the head. She dropped dead inside her familia compound. That hit was done at the request for Hermes. He has plans to use Freya against Ishtar. This makes future plans easier.
It took a few days of scouting and intel gathering to get a rough outline of Phyrene's routine. I brought Asfi along to act as spotter and lookout. We were in position about 700 metres away. We'd been there since 04:00. The window was pretty small to take the shot as well I only had clear line of sight for 1 degree. About 24 m wide. That was the kill box. The top floor of the Ishtar compound was in clear view so there was no problems there, but we didn't know where Phyrene would appear or exit. If nothing happens today then we wait.
It took a few hours for the target to appear. She was at the window on the second highest floor, taking in the sights. And that was the last thing she saw.
All in all I think it was a good shot. 10 hours of waiting and 3 seconds to acquire target, get a solution and fire. Asfi was panicking seeing everything from her spotters scope. We waited to see if anyone would sound an alarm. A few targets of opportunity would be in our best interest. A few minutes later a disheveled young boy came to the window and started crying looking at the sky. He was one of her victims. Seeing him turn and smoke coming out of the room, we packed up, cleaned up and left.
The next day news around town was that Phyrene Jamil was killed by one of her slaves. The slave then burned the top three floors of the Ishtar compound to ashes. He was sadly killed by Ishtar's servants while trying to get away.
The city was on alert. The high level adventurers were all out in force. The red light district was on lockdown. A few days later Hermes' plan took form and Ishtar was sent back to heaven. This left a power vacuum. Hermes used it to his advantage and took over the red light district along with Freya. The alcohol alone was making him so much money it was ridiculous. The drugs and hookers were all under Freya's care.
Hestia managed to get a new Renard in her familia. I took her away from the slaver delivering her to Ishtar. I keep tabs on the children after I free them. I was happy for her seeing her be taken care of by Hestia. The others were doing fine in other familias or the orphanage. They were taken care of properly. An education and enough play time for them to just be kids. I also found a few cat and dogs for the kids to take care of and play with. It's surprising how compatible kids are with puppies. Reminds me of why I do what I do.
Happy thoughts aside, I was on the 17th floor now. Using only the Xiphos, left handed. The infant dragons were more frequent around me. The wyverns as well. The Minotaurs would show up in groups of 5 or more after I fought off the damned lizards. It was getting more frequent as well. It took me 5 hours to make it to the Goliath. I came across Ligerfangs but they died too quick. I wanted to tame one, but they were too aggressive and I simply went for the most efficient method of killing them. I got a lot of soft fur as well. It was surprisingly fluffy and soft. I wanted a pet sabretooth. Stupid dungeon. The hellhounds would be easier to tame but I wanted a pet tiger and I would get a pet tiger.
The Wall of Grief was recently cleared by an expedition. By the shadow in the wall it would take between 7-10 days for the Goliath to respawn. As I got closer to the wall the shadow started growing faster. Does the dungeon hate me or something? It's been spawning monsters nonstop around me. Whatever time to see if I can beat the fucker with my wrong hand.
While I was waiting for the Goliath to show up, I checked the SHOP for the rest of the set for the Xiphos.
{SHOP->Weapons->Sets
Will of 300: Armour, spear, and shield belonging to Leonidas of Sparta. The set creates a synergy to booth the strength and stamina of the wearer to the level of 300 Spartans. Xiphos already owned. $100,000,000}
I had the money but would it be worth it? I mean there was a Runic spell to combine similar items. Even then the allure of power was strong. I went ahead and added it the cart. I'll sort it out later. I still don't know the capabilities of the Emissary Armour. The INVENTORY is still giving me the same description as before. My priority for now is kicking the Goliath's ass and taming a Ligerfang. There needs to be preparation for heading into lower floors. The jungle I can handle, it's the Water City and the bullshit of fighting on narrow surfaces that I need to be careful about.
Taking a look at the wall, there's still enough time. I also planned the upgrades of the Chat-Group. The features made everything so much easier. Imagine me lugging around all the monster cores and drops. I had a guild open me an account. I use that for food and necessities. Has enough in it for me to not work another day. But I like money and I like it even more when it's in my INVENTORY. A few hundred million is nothing to scoff at. Sure the kit for the top level familias costs a hundred fifty million on average, but they are in debt. They can't buy it outright. I can probably start a money lending business, with favourable terms and such but the guild is already a player in that regard. And its too much paperwork.
I could just blow up the wall and expedite the process but I decided to relax after the several hour long walk I took to get here. I ate and drank food I'd packed away for the expedition. There was a bit of a hiccup as some adventurers coming up saw me sitting leisurely smoking a pipe. I pointed to the wall and they understood what was going on and left.
An hour later the wall started cracking. I was in my marine uniform with the Xiphos in my left hand. Standing facing the Wall of Grief. The moment the wall broke I moved forward and swung at the head of the Goliath. What? I am not going to wait around for the thing to break out properly. I'm not here to have an epic battle. I want the monster core and drops. What surprised me was the Goliath's head split in half on either side of the Xiphos. The body was dissipating back into whatever it was originally. The drops were already in my inventory.
That was easy.
Whatever, I'll go check on my treehouse and sleep.
*****
The treehouse was untouched. I double-checked everything and then reinforced the wards again. The house was a little dirty but that was quickly sorted out. I pulled a tempurpedic mattress and sheets from the INVENTORY and went to sleep.
****
The 'morning' bought along a feeling of untold comfort. The sheer comfort and euphoria I felt whilst having nothing to do. I had completed 2 objectives on the Mission Chain. Killing 10 slaver and freeing a hundred slaves. Now the objective was to kill 25 slaver and free 500 slaves. I got Background Music and Boss music for completing those objectives. Easily managed, but the word around town was that the slave market was staying away for a while. The slave traders were keeping their distance. In the last 6 months more people affiliated with the black market have died in or around Orario than in the last 10 years combined.
The number of deaths picked up ever since I got my baby. My M40 was the same. The settings the minute of arc adjustments. The familiarity was what made me deadly. Everyday there would be several bodies all over town with their heads blown to smithereens. I was using my preferred settings. A slightly longer barrel. .300 Win Mag cartridge with a 180 Grain hollow point bullet. It's what I used in 'Nam and that's what I'm using now. The suppressor is wonderful. The assembly screws on to the end of the barrel. I enchanted it to be lightweight, reducing the tendency for the barrel to drop when reacquiring a target. The entire system works like a dream. I just have to think it and the target is dead.
All ready to go do more damage in the dungeon I went lower to the 19th floor. It was like I was back in the jungles of Vietnam. The blue light was the only thing that gave it away, but other than that, the atmosphere and eerie feeling of someone watching you and simply choosing to let you live was prevalent. The MAP showed that there were no hostiles nearby. So it's something that really doesn't give a shit for the time being. I really need to upgrade the features. Maybe if I simply add them to cart and complete quests, I might get more as a reward. Worth a shot, I'll do it later.
I head into the Tree Labyrinth. I take an occasional look at the MAP, but rely mostly on my senses and experience. The familiarity of my standard issue marine kit makes this a whole lot easier. The first few lizardmen and bugbears were easily taken care of. This got me a bit more comfortable with my surroundings. The safety net your training provides cannot be stressed.
There was another massacre on the 19th floor. There were other adventurers on the floor. All they saw was a green blur running all over the place. Where did he come from? Where did he go? All he left in his wake was the blood and guts of dead monsters.
I experimented with a new style of combat. Xiphos in my right hand MP7 in my left. It was surprisingly effective in this pseudo-medieval setting. I continued cycling through my weapons and combinations trying to get more familiar with them and learning the best way to apply them to my current situation. Machine pistols were good as long as the ammo was armour penetrating. Bigger cartridges could use many types of ammunition to get the job done. FMJ works best overall. Hollow points for soft targets. AP rounds for hardened targets or anti-material purposes. Tracers if you really want to give your position away.
With a few million earned from the 19th floor, I went back to sleep. The feeling of someone watching me disappeared as soon as I left the 19th floor. That will need to be looked into.