"That was easier than I thought," Ariel said as she looked over the field of corpses they had just created. "We didn't even need any guns at all."
"There were only a thousand of them," Lilia said. "Beating them down like this was inevitable, especially with the combination of our new classes. Each of us would have been more than capable of bringing them down by ourselves."
Bastion nodded in agreement. They had definitely grown strong enough that they didn't need to rely on guns to wipe out an army of Rank 1 and below. They simply had too many army-destroying options.
There was his Diamond Rain and Diamond Shatter combo, which he didn't use during the battle so he could focus on tanking. There was Seraphina's wide-sweeping Deathflare. There were Ariel's Rapid Fire arrows. There was Lilia's Mana Net. And last but not least, Elyra's Dark Magic, which could now create shadow clones of herself similar to Sibelle. Not to mention their summons, which could greatly aid them in massacring hordes of enemies.
"Loot!" Seraphina shouted as she began rummaging through the corpses.
After a while, however, she noticed there wasn't much worth salvaging. The kobolds' low-quality scales made them useless for collection, and their weapons were made of poor-grade metal that would take Bastion a while to purify. Even the Rank 2 leader's corpse was only equivalent to Rank 1 premium materials. The meat could still be used to feed the spores as fertilizer, but beyond that, everything was trash in her eyes.
"There's nothing worth taking here," Seraphina said with a sigh. "You can go ahead and store everything, Ely."
"Very well," Elyra replied as her shadow expanded.
Like a domain, Elyra's shadow spread across the entire battlefield, swallowing all the kobold corpses whole and leaving only the gouged, dry ground as evidence of their battle. It was easy enough to pull off, given they were in a dark cavern illuminated only by sparse clumps of glowing moss on the ceiling.
"Did we at least get any levels?" Seraphina asked as she prompted everyone to check their statuses. "Not even a level. What about you guys?"
"Nope."
"Nothing."
"No."
Bastion checked his status as well and noticed he didn't gain a level either. It was depressing how much they would have to kill to reach Rank 3.
[Name]: Bastion Diamondhart
[Age]: 120
[Class]: Arcane Warden (Rank 2), Armory Knight (Rank 2), Diamond Knight (Rank 3)
[Ability]: Arcane Corruption, Space Node, Diamond Body
[Rank]: Rank 2
[Level]: 200
[Health]: 5605/5605
[Mana]: 3825/4700
[Strength]: 50.7
[Dexterity]: 47
[Vitality]: 56.05
[Intelligence]: 47
[Wisdom]: 53.55
[Charm]: 40.6
[Fortune]: 9
[Status Points]: 0
[Arts]: Smithing 7, Enchanting 6, Earth Magic 6, Light Magic 6, Shield 6, Sword 6, Whip 6, Heavy Armor 6, Summoning 6, Unarmed 6, Riding 6, Cannon 6, Fire Magic 5, Water Magic 5, Dark Magic 5, Wind Magic 5, Taming 1, Cooking 1, Traps 1
[Skills]: Shield Bash 6, Block 6, Charge 6, Reinforce 6, Amplify 6, Slash 6, Parry 6, Stab 6, Smash 6, Dodge 6, Dash 6, Jump 6, Summon Familiar(Zephy, Pebbles) 6, Diamond Armor 6, Diamond Edge 6, Diamond Shatter 6, Diamond Rain 6, Diamond Steed(Steve) 6, Taunt 6, Inventory 6, Armor Slot 6, Weapon Slot 6, Quick Slot 6, Facility Slot 6, Arcane Shackles 5, Arcane Lockdown 5, Arcane Pulse 5, Arcane Sigil 5, Arcane Sentry 5, Earth Quake 5, Light Lance 5, Light Burn 5, Light Missiles 5, Light Barrier 5, Earth Rampart 5, Tame 1
[Skill Points]: 125
His stats had already maxed out for his rank thanks to his training and Elyra's special food, but they were quite low compared to his maxed Apprentice Rank stats. The limits of his bloodline's talent were starting to show. It would probably be much worse by the time he reached Rank 3. Fortunately, he still hadn't used any status points yet, so he should still be able to max out his Vitality and Wisdom by level 300.
As for his arts and skills, he managed to reach level 6 with the exception of Smithing which had maxed out. It was inevitable considering how much effort he and Pebbles put into it over the years. The rest saw only a single increase in level while his new skills had only reached level 5. It would still take a while before he maxed everything out.
"This is kinda sad," Seraphina said. "Shit loot, shit EXP. We should avoid stopping for hordes like these and just target their encampments."
"Every corpse counts toward the reduction in our taxes. It would be better if we just killed everything in our path," Bastion said before turning to Ariel. "By the way, has the map been updated yet?"
"Hold on," Ariel said as she entered the carriage and returned with the adventurer's journey map in hand.
Then she opened it, projecting a 3D holographic map around them and zooming in on their location, revealing multiple red dots below them past the warzone.
"It did. Looks like it shouldn't take us long to reach one of their main camps just below the warzone. Is that where we're headed?"
"It'll have to be," Bastion said. "If we want to recoup our taxes."
With their battle and cleanup finished and their heading determined, the group entered the relatively undamaged carriage and headed toward the spiraling tunnel ahead that led down below. They didn't manage to get far, though, as a group of adventurers blocked their path.
There was a warrior with a towering physique, holding a battleaxe and wearing mismatched medium armor, a rogue with shifty eyes skulking beside him, a swordsman with a longsword strapped across his back standing proudly, and a mage and an archer at the rear. All of them were Rank 2 and stood between the tunnel heading below and the carriage.
Bastion exited the carriage, his all-black full plate armor creating a stark contrast between them. On one side stood a ragtag party of poorly equipped adventurers, and on the other was Bastion in clean armor that gleamed even in the dark underground cavern.
"Hail, friend. We mean no harm," the swordsman at the front said with a smile as Bastion approached. "We were hunting a horde of kobolds that passed through here. You should have encountered them, given the direction you were coming from."
"We took them all down," Bastion answered.
"Already? Damn, you're fast!" the rogue at the side exclaimed before slinking back behind the warrior.
"I see. That is rather unfortunate," the swordsman said as he and the others moved aside to give way. "Sorry for stopping you, and thank you for answering."
"Hold on," Bastion called out, prompting the group to subtly place their hands on their weapons. "We're new here and could use some help with navigation."
"Of course," the swordsman answered with a smile.
"I understand that the fortified cities aren't exactly a good place to get supplies, so I was wondering if you could point me toward the adventurers' gathering place."
The swordsman's eyes narrowed at Bastion with suspicion. "Are you a noble or something?"
"From a different kingdom. Now I'm just an adventurer and a traveling merchant," Bastion said, taking off his helmet and revealing a much friendlier countenance. "Why don't you come inside our carriage and see the goods for sale yourselves? We accept trades, kobold corpses, and, of course, coins."
The group still seemed suspicious, so the swordsman went alone with Bastion to the back, where he opened the store for them to browse. The shelves were still stocked with premium products, though they were of far lesser quality compared to those sold in the capital. It couldn't be helped, considering they had made a killing there. Now their inventory was filled with lesser equipment from failed experiments. Still, they were of acceptable quality compared to the damaged armor and weapons most people used.
"The guys at the market are going to love these," the swordsman said. "You said you accept trades and corpses?"
"Anything we think we can turn into a profit," Bastion answered with a smile. "We happen to have made all of these products ourselves, after all."
"Now you're just boasting. You're former nobles, adventurers, merchants, and crafters? How do you have time to level up?"
"We have our ways," Bastion said with a mysterious smile.
"Alright, I'll show you to the black market."
"Black market?"
"Yes. They aren't exactly a sanctioned space, considering the kingdom's crackdown on war supplies. You're lucky you didn't stop by any fortified city, otherwise you would have been robbed blind."
With trust secured, Bastion and the group of adventurers headed out toward the hidden adventurers' black market. It was a newly dug cavern, hidden from the adventurer's journey map, located past the warzone and deep into Subterra, a place no longer protected by the kingdom's rank.
They spent a day speeding through tunnels until they reached a dead end, at least as far as the map was concerned. There, the adventurers stepped out of the carriage, equipped with their new armor and weapons, and headed to the side wall, where they fed mana into a small depression.
Like a hidden lair opening, the wall at the dead end lifted, revealing a concealed tunnel. They moved forward, the carriage barely fitting, until they emerged into a sprawling market. Tents lined the center, caves carved into the cavern walls led to homes, and a massive enchanted lamp on the ceiling cast bright light over everything.
"Welcome to the Adventurer's Black Market," the swordsman said as Bastion parked the carriage in an open space. "We don't have any rules other than the Adventurers Guild rules. Basically, don't steal, play nice, and trade fairly. And if you do get into a fight, you're on your own. Just make sure to keep public destruction to a minimum."
"Who's the leader of this place?" Bastion asked.
"There's no leader and no upkeep taxes either. Everything is worked on collectively for the betterment of the adventurers fighting in this war. We got tired of the kingdom's bullshit, so we built this place a few centuries ago to make sure adventurers are well supplied. Since you're a merchant bringing in goods, you can bet you'll be treated like royalty, so long as your prices are fair."
The girls exited the main carriage and started looking around the market, much to the shock of the adventurers. They had been with Bastion inside the Wanderer's Trove the entire time buying up the goods on the shelves, so they had never seen his companions.
"Damn, man, save some for us," the rogue shouted before slinking behind the warrior.
Ignoring the commotion, the girls immediately spread out and started perusing the wares. There were curious mana-filled resources for Lilia, textiles and gems for Seraphina, food and ingredients for Elyra, and even pubs for Ariel to gain intelligence. There was also scrap metal and raw ore for Bastion to look over.
It was the perfect place for them to finally start stocking up on supplies, considering they weren't able to do so anywhere in the Kingdom of Spores.
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