At this time, Gunner and Xela had long since reached the depths of the underground world. The Branded Servants had cleared out more than 200 hives, sending unique Queen Bugs to Darius while eliminating all the others.

As one could imagine, this had resulted in a great amount of experience.

[Gunner has gained 240,333 EXP, etc.]

[Xela has gained 240,333 EXP, etc.]

[Gunner has leveled up x61! He is now level 40(+73). He has gained 6.1 Ability Points and Skill Points to spend as he wishes!]

[Xela has leveled up x60! She is now level 40(+73). She has gained 6 Ability Points and Skill Points to spend as he wishes!]

Their power hadn't grown much, but they had surely gotten far more used to their greatly increased prowess over the past two weeks. Gunner especially had become far more proficient in maximizing his Strength without having to activate Earth's Guardian.

Xela didn't have much problem in this regard because she had gained a specific set of skills after becoming a Divine Maiden, and she had long been practicing them before the tragedy that had led her into the hands of the like of Foldo.

Currently, they had gone far beyond Darius' own level, but they were not worried since he could easily catch up when the time was right. However, their journey came to a stop when they encountered one of the Guard Androids that relayed Darius' departure message.

"What do you think?" Xela asked Gunner pensively.

Gunner folded his arms and thought for a bit. "Let's go back. We only came down here to pass the time while he was experimenting and also provide him with some help. He won't spend too much time in the library, so it's best we're around to welcome him upon his return."

Xela nodded and followed Gunner as they rushed back along the routes in which they came. One would notice that at the location of every destroyed hive, there was a short metallic pole with a spherical blue orb on top that was lit dimly.

These were naturally connector towers for the Supreme Portal. Every time the duo had cleared a hive, they had a Guard Android construct one so that Miranda's eyes could reach down here with ease, now and forevermore.

All of them had cleverly been built into stalactites, stalagmites, or in other obscure locations, so unless one knew that they were there, it was night impossible to stumble upon them organically.

This was important, as if battles occurred here, intruders came in or Insects tried to resettled these hives, these things could easily be destroyed due to ignorance or intention.

With them down here, they could be activated once Darius came back and Miranda connected a central tower. That was why they were dimly lit, as they were in low-power mode.

Soon, the duo reached the surface and clambered out from underneath, sighing with relief. The sight of the sun above them that was fading into the horizon had never looked more beautiful after a short few weeks spent underground.

The smell of fresh air was unbelievably fragrant compared to the stench of Insect shit or the guts of those they had slain. Xela especially sighed and entered the refurbished Polito Housing Unit they were based in to take a long-needed bath.

Gunner though, circled around the city once to make sure everything was fine before releasing a mass of Guard Androids, making Solena set them up to patrol the area constantly.

It's fine if those who came here for specific treasures or to try and break into Vault 04 focused on their tasks and left when the time was right, but if any one of them had ideas of entering the underground, then it was Gunner's duty to either repel them or directly end them.

Apart from that, Gunner noticed that he had yet to check out his new Abilities after increasing his stat points.

[Unlimited Power - Advanced Ability

Cost: Stamina per second

Description: Your strength has condensed into a force that is beyond the limits of the humanoid body, reaching into the depths of your genes to unlock the power of your ancestors. With that lock removed, you now have the ability to endlessly increase your Strength to any degree you can think of, but the duration is limited by your stamina, and the backlash you will incur depends on how high you make the increase.]

[Immortal Body - Advanced Ability

Cost: Stamina per second

Description: Your body's vitality has condensed into a force that flows through your veins and harnesses your vital force to keep your body in perfect shape. Your body has transcended normal humanoid limits and gone from mortal to immortal. You can regenerate any part of your body as long as you are alive and possess energy.]

Gunner was pleased by this. With his already insane defenses, he would now have no problem dealing with damage from stronger enemies as long as he could regenerate, even without Xela's healing.

Speaking of his elven sister, he knocked on her room after she had finished bathing and asked her for the details of her increased abilities too. With a look of curiosity, Xela decided to humor her half-giant brother.

[Super Instinct - Intermediate Ability

Cost: 20% of Stamina

Description: Your mind and body have melded as one. Even before your nerves can transmit information, your body reacts to danger around you. You are able to move anywhere within a distance of 1 kilometer in an instant.]

[Intermediate Psychomancy - Advanced Ability

Cost: mana per second

Description: You are an intermediate psychic, past gathering your mental faculties, you can now hone and focus them with finesse to affect the world and its contents around you with extreme ease. You currently have access to Telepathy, Telekinesis, Transvection, Telesthesia, Precognition, Psychomancy, and Mind Control. ]

[Metamorph - Intermediate Ability

Cost: None

Description: You have achieved the pinnacle of social integration. Taking your expertise one step further, you are able to change the visual form of your body at will, limited to the entire body only currently.]

[God's Chosen - Advanced Ability

Cost: None

Description: As a Paragon of Luck in the Advanced Order, you are one of the inner court members of the Goddess of Luck's faction. Whenever you encounter an attack on your person of any type or category, you have a 60% chance to deflect it fully and a 15% chance to reflect it with the attack becoming unblockable.

Extra Effect: Every month, you may reverse three unfortunate circumstances into beneficial ones.]