"Good morning, Nero. I'm here," Altia said when she sensed him stirring awake on the blankets.

"Oh. Good morning. Why are you up?" She grinned then showed him a card. Pink background. "Where did you get that?"

"A rat decided to sniff up the tunnel, I killed it," She boasted. "You're welcome."

He just laughed and smiled. "What is that card?"

"[Self-Repair I]. Makes any tier I gear repair itself."

"Oh, great!"

Nero was excited and even forgot his impulse to talk her into not going off to fight without waking him up. It was dangerous and stupid. He also berated himself for not waking up. What good was his improved Perception if he slept like a rock?

They slept inside the Dungeon, again. Nero had no idea how many hundred rats they'd killed, he'd exaggerate and bet on more than a thousand. Altia's crystal pouch was full. Nero was filling the third card pouch on his bandolier, Altia had another two, everything gray. The Dungeon was really intent on exhausting them. He wished he'd get some accolade but no luck so far. These things were really rare.

"I think we should use the pink cards. Make some permanent gear. A weapon for you."

"If we find a green weapon I can use, then yes. I have a white [Greatsword] but it is too unwieldy and big for these caverns. And the only green equipment is level 2, I can't use it. Unless you want to wear a shield."

"Even a gray [Sword] would be fine. It could be an heirloom."

"I have no heir and... let's not talk about it."

She nodded and avoided his gaze. "Let's not talk about it."

He could swear he heard she whisper 'it's too soon' but he let it go. "Stash it. Let's eat breakfast and find more rats. That silver card must drop some time. How's your foot," He pointed that she was walking on the bandages.

"Better. I'll watch where I step today."

"Okay. Let's get it on."

Fifty rats and two hours later, they got a hint of good news. Their devices' display lit up. Nero checked his.

For defeating an enemy triple your level, you gained +1 Vigor.

Truly enough, the rat they'd killed was level 3, by the size of the Essence left behind.

"I got +1 vigor, Altia! And you?"

She seemed displeased. "I got a Level up."

Nero was about to congratulate her but his heart sunk. They were holding back on leveling her exactly because she wouldn't be able to enter this Dungeon after she reached level six. It seemed far away but the reality was different. Nero knew his parents, for example, had enough Essence crystals in reserve to put him around level twenty, if they were willing to spend it on them. But this experience in the relative safety of the tier I Dungeon was necessary to build the foundation of a good Adventurer.

"I'll put another point into Dexterity," She declared with no enthusiasm.

Nero checked his display. Both had four Stat points, and his were split halfway here and there. He had no hope to follow any build path, being forced to go with whatever his device or whatever powers that were decided to grace him with. As his mother pointed out, that was his hard and only path to power.

"Maybe we should try one snake. Maybe it will drop the card."

"Our Essence harvest will be lower now," She mumbled.

"It is fine. You could actually try a ranged weapon now. Maybe some throwing daggers?"

"A waste of cards, I'd have to summon a lot of [Dagger]. I'll keep this cudgel until it breaks."

"Let's move on. All for trying one snake, say 'aye'."

"Aye, aye, captain," She saluted badly.

To find the snakes, they just had to follow the tunnels downward until they reached the sand tunnels. Nero was counting on his improved Vigor to help shrug off the damage from the bites and he made sure he had one [Antidote] slotted in his device and another already summoned in his bandolier. They fought a few more rats, including a pack of 3 before finding the sand. Before stepping on the sand, he took a handful of pebbles and tossed them to skid on the almost uniform sand ahead. His caution was rewarded when one rock serpent sprang from its hiding place underneath the sand to pounce the rock.

Nero seized the moment of confusion as the snake licked the air to find its targets and tried to cut it before it could notice them. The serpent didn't fall for it, though. The young Adventurer had no idea the critter could detect heat. Maybe he'd later learn that he should've thrown a lit torch. The snake turned around and jumped to bite Nero, its jaw unhinged and wide open. Before either could reach the other, a flying piece of wood spun over Nero's shoulder and hit the jumping serpent right below its head, pushing it aside. He was surprised by the sudden attack and just grazed the serpent with his slash.

The stony ophidian recovered fast enough from what was just a distraction. It hissed and tossed a coil of its long body against the wall, to get leverage to jump again. Nero braced his foot on the soft sand and decided to just point his blade in the general direction where the snake would come from, trying to skewer the monster lengthwise. The serpent wasn't really relying on sight with the jaw that open and swallowed the blade almost to the hilt.

Nero raised his weapon on an overhead swing as if he was trying to hit the head of someone behind him. The full ten feet of the venomous serpent came out of the sand, twisting and whipping around in a desperate attempt to find purchase and wrap around something. Nero completed his swing and brought the snake down on the other side. Turning his feet to face the monster, he set one foot over the body, binding the snake in place. He then pulled his sword out of the creature's mouth, minding the edge alignment to cut the soft innards of the critter.

The snake's body twisted and coiled and extended madly. Its head went from side to side, spewing gray blood.

"Altia, move back. It's too dangerous to approach, it's unpredictable."

He retreated with his back to his partner, out of the sand and back to the relative safety of the rat tunnels. He wasn't sure he could hit the crazy snake without getting hurt. Then a dagger flew past him and impaled the snake a hand below its head. He glanced back. Altia shrugged.

"What, you told me it was a good idea to use throwing daggers."

Back to the snake, it was already dissolving. "Right you did. Thank you for your timely assistance, milady."

She chortled. "You're welcome."

The snake dissolved, leaving behind a larger Essence and a face-down card. Nero's heart jumped. He ignored his own safety and went to pick up the drops and Altia's dagger. The cudgel was further away but no serpents tried to kill the wooden weapon.

He turned the card around and dismayed it wasn't silver. Nero was really sick of the delve. "It's not [Egress]."

"No. It's blue with green edges," Altia pointed out. "Nero!"

It spoke how mentally and physically tired he was. He stared at the card for a few moments before realizing it. "Cool, green gear!" He read the card's details.

[Clockwork Saw-Blade] - green equipment - Main Hand.

+2 Strength when attacking.

"Keep hands away from blade during operation."

Effect: On a successful parry, damages the enemy's weapon. On a successful attack on an armored enemy, chips away some of its defense. Requires 10 points of Essence per minute to operate.

Some pieces of gear required Essence to operate. There was also the issue of binding to a user's Arbitrium, as the Essence had to be fed through the device to the gear. Once bound, the device could be operated only by the user. It could be stolen or borrowed but it would be just a very odd and not-so-sharp sword on anyone else's hand.

"What is its level requirement, Nero?"

"There's nothing written here. No level requirement," He replied. Maybe the Essence cost offset the power of the enchantment. Or because it wasn't enchanted, to begin with as it seemed to be a purely mechanical contraption.

"Well, there you go. Time for a gear upgrade, my love."

He barely noticed how she addressed him.

She pulled the pink card she had and poked his card pouch with it. Nero thought it was funny Altia could use the same tone his mom used with his father when she wanted to convey the idea he had no choice on the matter. He mused. It wouldn't be an heirloom because the weapon would be bound. He was sure the new card would have a good trade-in value, and all the pink modifiers she wanted to use would surely pile up. He could get the green [Chemist] for her out of the value of these cards.

"Altia--"

She was adamant when she cut him off.

"Nero. Sorry for being honest, but I gave it some serious thought. You will have a very hard time finding upgrades for you. I can wait on a green [Chemist] class and it won't be the end of the world if I have to use a white one or even get a green card from other Class and hybridize later. Please. Just as you made a rule that I get the first [Egress], I'm putting my foot down on this and making a rule that you cannot pass upgrades."

It hurt. He knew deep inside that she was acting in his best interest and he should just go with her suggestion, but...

"You are too important to me, Altia," He said the first thing that went through his head. "And your cap is high. Higher than mom's, actually. We should prioritize--"

She tapped his mouth with the card. "Likewise. You are important to me. You want to protect me? Get stronger. I think I have enough Essence to hit level five if I want. I won't level up to leave you behind. It's the serpents that are supposed to have rocks for heads. Not you."

"Let's go somewhere safer and think this out. Standing on the sand we are just inviting other rock serpents to bite us. Leave the cudgel there, we'll come back for it soon."

They backtracked to a safer place in the rat tunnels. Nero took out his pink cards. [Permanency I], one of his [Enchant +1], [Increase Damage], and added Altia's [Self-Repair]. He ejected the [Antidote] from his device and then slotted the four pinks and one green card.

Enchanting an item, or modifying it, was done like that. You could attempt to add up to five modifiers to one piece of equipment. The odds were relative to the quality of the cards. He was using four white-grade modifiers on a green item. He didn't expect all of them to work but he had some degree of control. The order in which he inserted the cards into the slots of his bracer mattered as the first ones had better odds of applying their power to the item. But the process was a gamble as the cards would be used up regardless of the result. There was even a small chance it would ruin all cards.

[Permanency] went first, along with [Self-Repair], then [Enchant +1], and finally [Increase Damage]. the +1 would apply to both the rending effect of the weapon and damage, although the raw boost of the latter card was greater. But if he was getting a specialized weapon, he should invest in its properties.

"Here goes nothing!" He clenched his fist and activated the cards in the slot. The device display lit up and then displayed the result.

[Rending Clockwork Blade of Regrowth +1]

On a successful parry, greatly damages the enemy's weapon. On a successful attack on an armored enemy, chips away its defense. Binds on summon. Requires 15 points of Essence per minute to operate.

+3 to Strength when attacking.

This item repairs 1 point of durability per hour.

Permanent.

Bound to Nero.

The description of the effect changed and the operating cost increased. No free dinner, Nero mused. He showed Altia the result and then confirmed the summon.

The weapon materialized in his hand, sheathed. It was heavier than his battered [Sword], the third he summoned in this delve. The sheath was just leather but thicker and wider than a normal sword. The handle was longer, remembering the 'hand and half' bastard swords. A long cross-guard and the pommel was a disk with inlaid gear motif. Nero took in the sights of his weapon and then ceremoniously drew it.

The blade was wide and thick. Two rows of serrated teeth on both sides, and some visible gears and flattened pistons along the middle. the point tapered abruptly but the teeth went all the way to the tip. He examined the teeth up close and saw that they were half pyramids as if someone cut them from top-down and then stuck each half on one side. Without the teeth, the weapon would be a flat slab of metal and gears. it was somewhat balanced but heavy in his hand. Swords usually were lighter near the edge, but this one had some inertia to it, resembling what an ax would but not that bad.

"So, how is it?" Altia asked, clearly excited.

"It will take some time to get used but it seems powerful. Should we test it?"

"Yes, please. Take all the level 1 Essence crystals. Let's see what this baby can do."

Nero sheathed the blade and strapped it to his belt. Then he took the crystals from Altia one by one and absorbed them, willing the energy to go not toward leveling up, but to power the weapon. After he was bound to it, he just knew how to do that. To his relief, the crystals disappeared in his hand but after a while, he felt it was full and the crystal in his hand, almost depleted. He'd used a hundred level 1 crystals with five or six energy each. Rounding up, the reservoir of the weapon could hold a five hundred Essence. Good for a bit over one half-hour of operation, down from almost one hour.

"Stay back. I'm turning it on."

She retreated a few paces. He drew the weapon, feeling its weight. He'd be in trouble if he didn't have a point in Strength. He found a button near where his thumb was and pressed it. The weapon hummed alive for an instant, gears turning in the slits where he could see it, getting faster toward the middle of the blade and ending in a gear with a couple horizontal slits with pistons attached. As the gear spun, the pistons moved sideways rapidly and then the teeth started to move up and down, alternating the movement. After a couple seconds of warming up, the teeth blurred into a diaphanous silver edge.

"Ho-ho! This looks dangerous!" Nero couldn't contain his excitement.

"Don't come near me," She squealed.

Nero decided to press the weapon to the Dungeon's stone wall. It made a grinding screech and some tiny flakes of stone and metal flew everywhere. "Damn," he shifted his thumb off the button and the weapon soon lost power.

"That was dumb!" Altia chided, angry. "Dungeon walls are notoriously hard!"

"Sorry. Are you hurt?"

"No! But that's not the point!"

He noticed she was another couple of steps back. Then Nero examined the weapon. He could swear he saw some bits of... Yes, the teeth chipped. But the weapon did leave a mark on the 'notoriously hard' Dungeon wall. He checked the reservoir and it felt empty by what should be a full minute of operation. He had no display to show how much it really was so he would need to learn how to gauge that by feeling alone.

Nero had a long way into mastering that strange weapon if he would do so.

"Put that devilish contraption away, please," Altia asked, less angry now.

"Right. I have to get a feeling of it in real combat. Are you up to hunting more rats?"

She raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Of course. I don't trust you to kill a rock serpent with that without losing a finger or two. Not yet," She tapped her cheekbone with a finger.

"Rat it is. Let's go."

He went past her focusing on hearing a rat.

"I'm a bit behind you. I don't have a main weapon, just a dagger."

"I think it is better this way. This could get messy."

"That's my fear. You are no example of cleanliness but one can always find ways to get messier."

"Hello, kettle," He laughed.

After sleeping for two "days" in the Dungeon, they were sure they were alone in there. With the deathtrap spawning more monsters in an attempt to get rid of its invaders, it didn't take long before they found the first test subject of the new weapon. The rat squeaked, Nero grinned, pressed the button. The weapon hummed with murderous energy as its gears spun wildly and he remembered to keep his mouth shut just as he swung his new blade at the monster.

Several things happened in a second. Nero found that he was suddenly stronger as he swung the blade, causing him to overextend as he was trying to compensate for the heavier weapon. The slash connected to one of the rat's front paws instead of its body or head. The rat got past Nero's buckler and latched to his left arm, above the elbow. The weight of the giant rodent threatened to bring him down but Nero shifted his weight, sliding his legs on the gravel to get some balance. Then he stabbed the belly of the monster with his weapon.

It wasn't beautiful. No, sir. It was the opposite of beautiful. The weapon's sawing teeth shredded the monstrous rodent's innards, finding more to shred as the beast squirmed in its death throes. It painted the Dungeon's dimly lit walls like a deranged abstract expressionist artist using carnage as their inspiration. An artist that had only one color of paint, that is.

The rat started to dissolve before Nero remembered to turn off his weapon. The pain from his arm was unbearable and only the fear of hitting himself with his own weapon made him endure through it. He dropped the blood-caked weapon after it stopped moving and fished for a [Healing Potion] in his bandolier. He drank the potion and the drops from the monster literally dropped down on the ground.

He heard Altia gag behind him. Impressive given how much they fought the last "days". At least the painting on the walls was ephemeral as everything dissolved into motes of light. Everything not covering Nero, that is.

"That was something," Nero mused.

"Tell me about it."

He looked down. It would be an epic moment for a [Egress] card to drop but he probably burned all his luck. Just a tiny Essence crystal.

Nero [0/0]

Strength: +1 (+4 when swinging the clockwork blade)

Vigor +1

Reason: +1

Perception: +1

Altia [3/179]

Endurance: +1

Dexterity: +2

Willpower: +1