Weapon at the ready, Solomon pushed through a thin screen of brush to enter a clearing, the first he had encountered other than the one at the dungeon's entrance. His decision to stick to the edges of the dungeon was rewarded, as he found himself confronting only a single boar.

The boar wasn't any less eager to attack for being alone. It let out a squeal of rage and charged forward. Solomon braced his spear on the ground and kept his shield in front of him, just in case.

It was hard to tear his eyes off the onrushing boar, but Solomon forced himself to take a quick glance around to make sure no other monsters were nearby. He turned back to the boar and adjusted the aim of his spear just as it came within reach, catching it squarely in the chest.

The boar didn't seem to care. It pushed forward with enthusiasm, no sign of pain or hesitation in its attitude as the spear sank deeper into its body.

The boar's progress finally came to a halt when it pushed down to the bar set across the spear shaft. The boar's head was close enough for its stinking breath to wash over Solomon as it snapped at his face. He took a step back in disgust, sliding his hand down the spear shaft to keep it out of the reach of the boar's tusks.

The boar had managed to ignore being impaled, but it went wild as its progress was stopped. It thrashed back and forth, tearing the wound in its chest wide open. Solomon kept a tight grip on his weapon. If he hadn't improved its toughness, the violence of the boar's actions would have snapped the spear in two. As it was, it was hard for him to keep the spear steady with one hand. He grit his teeth and focused on keeping the boar off of him.

His efforts were rewarded, as the boar's violent actions burned through its HP at a prodigious rate. Not to mention whatever internal injuries it was doing to itself that HP couldn't heal. The adrenaline flowing through Solomon's system made it feel like the fight was taking forever, but according to the timer in his vision it didn't take more than a minute for the boar to collapse to the ground, dead.

Congratulations on completing a successful combat encounter!

You have demonstrated Polearm Mastery, Lvl 2. Would you like to add this skill?

Solomon stared at the dialog box for a moment, considering his options. He could use the Grid Points. Also, adding another skill should open up a new Grid. He still didn't want to fill out the Berserker grid. The physical boosts might be nice, but he really didn't see himself clearing out the dungeon if he couldn't keep a clear head. If the new grid followed the pattern, it should offer abilities that would make him more effective with the spear, too.

The problem was that adding any skill was a big, long-term commitment. Right now, Solomon had four open skill slots. One was filled with his Improvised Weapons Mastery skill, at level four, while his maxed out Pain Resistance skill didn't count against his cap. Adding Polearm Mastery would leave him with only three slots remaining.

He wouldn't open another until he maxed out another skill. Considering what he had gone through in order to max out Pain Resistance, he didn't expect that to happen any time soon.

The problem was that he didn't really want to commit to using polearms for the long run. His first big purchase of abilities from the system had given him the ability to make gunpowder, near enough. He didn't want to keep stabbing monsters to death like some kind of chump. He wanted to build guns and shoot them from a distance like God and John Moses Browning intended.

Of course, it wouldn't do much good to plan for the long run if he got himself killed in the short run. The sad fact was that he was currently without any kind of functional firearm. If he was going to clear this dungeon, it was going to be on the strength of his remaining hand.

"No," Solomon said, shaking his head. There was a better way.

He set the spear down for a moment and used his system-granted ability to Disassemble the dead boar. As expected, he was able to add another set of tusks and another beast core to his inventory.

He then pulled his axe from his belt and set it on the ground. Drawing the chalk from his inventory, he gave the axe a quick working over and then hit it with the toughness enchantment.

He had to wait a few minutes for his MP to recharge. Once he'd gained back enough, he used his Personal Enhancement ability for the first time. According to the system, the ability would enhance the axe as long as he was the one using it.

Once the glow of the ability faded, he picked up the axe to inspect it. It was hard to say exactly, but the cutting edge seemed to gleam with a certain menace that it hadn't displayed before. Overall, the weapon seemed to sit comfortably in his hand, as though it had been painstakingly customized for him by a master craftsman rather than thrown together by a complete amateur.

Solomon smiled. Even once he was equipped with a proper firearm of some sort, he'd still need a personal weapon. The monsters he'd seen so far didn't seem the type to give up just because they'd been shot once or twice. He'd try not to get into close combat out of concern for his own safety, but he didn't think he'd be able to avoid it altogether.

A spear wasn't practical as a holdout weapon. Just carrying the thing around would be a pain in the neck. An axe, though, that was simple enough to keep on his belt and have ready for use at a moment's notice.

He put the spear in his inventory and checked to make sure that his shield was still firmly attached to his left arm. It was time to see just how much he could impress the system with his axe work.