After a quick hunt, Nero returned to the camp. He got used to the noise and recoil of the weapon. He also found a good configuration for his shield that didn't interfere with shooting. The smaller targe that would attach over his Arbitrium and use the device as support, leaving his hand free. He had to remember to twist his forearm so the shield was facing down when he shot but it was a matter of getting used to it.

Altia and Serena found a happy medium mixing clothes, the Sorceress Robes, and the brigandine. altia was wearing wool stockings and a white blouse buttoned all the way to the neck underneath the dress, the brigandine over the almost black velvet and the red robes over the armor, leaving a strip of studded leather and the skirt showing at the front. The sash was cinched with some give over her belt but she didn't need to take anything from it during combat. [Potion Toss] worked with the potion anywhere on her, although she needed the hand movement to aim the Skill. If she needed something out of combat, she could reach under the sash or just lift it.

"You look really nice, my love," He said out front when he was close enough.

"She does, didn't she?" Serena cooed with a bit of pride in her voice.

Altia turned around. The robes under the sash swayed a bit, giving her outfit even more character.

"Thanks. Now, shall we go hunting? Why is that thing so damn noisy? If you used that in the rat caves, you'd cause a landslide!" Altia quickly changed the subject to avoid drawing even more attention to her attire.

"Sure, let's hunt. And it is noisy because it packs a lot of punch. I have this to cover its sound. [Shadow Coating]."

Dark gray stuff flowed from Nero's hand and covered the rifle, making its features less distinguishable even under sunlight. In darker areas, it would look like a shadow.

"But what are the final stats on the robes?" Nero asked, interested in shifting the subject away from his new toy's issues.

"Let me show you," She twisted her left arm to show her screen.

[Sorceress' Robes of Regrowth +3] - Clothes - Bound to Altia.

+4 Vigor

+4 Agility

+5 Reason

+5 Willpower

Special: Increases your mana pool by 13 points. The wearer recovers 1 point of mana per hour.

Special: The wearer may spend 1 point of mana to reduce the damage from the next 4 attacks by half.

Special: This item repairs itself for 1 point of durability each hour.

Nero whistled. Serena clapped her hands, excited.

"It infringes into Epic grade gear territory," The princess pointed out.

She was probably talking about the purple cards, Nero thought. He checked the stats and noticed the +3 didn't apply to the mana regeneration. It would've been nice if it did but Altia had enough mana potion to drown a gnome in by now. They had to use the batches about to spoil.

"Thanks, everyone," Altia replied, giddy. "I feel less exposed like this, but the leggings might get too hot."

"You'll have to buy thinner leggings later," Serena replied. "YOu'll want them in black or if you are feeling bold, tan."

He shouldered his rifle and checked all his gear.

"Let's go hunting then," He said. "I want to test my new weapon against the shamblers, so keep Daisy back on the low-level engagements."

Nero summoned more bullets. He would need to purchase or craft an ammunition pouch for his bandolier later. Reloading was fast only if the ammunition was easy to get. Fumbling inside his pockets for a bullet, checking its orientation to only then insert it into the magazine during combat would be fatal. If that happened, he would just sling the rifle over his shoulder and draw the sword.

He took the lead and cleared a path to the forest, shooting any trippers he detected, all of them. He had an effective Perception of over twenty and the goggles to find the monsters. He felt he had to practice reloading. The time he took to put all six bullets in the chamber was not the theoretical maximum the cards promised him. Nero shot even the trippers that were off their path on both sides.

He reloaded and felt the pocket empty. As he aimed, he shouted, "Mana!" and saw a blue mist descend on him. He put his right hand back in his pocket and summoned the bullets there. Then he fired. Nero went after the drops, using the movement boost from [Cougar's Speed]. It increased his baseline mana upkeep to two per hour but was worth it. First, because with a total of thirty, he had to push even harder to add strain to his Agility. Second, they might get lucky with the drops. By the time they reached the forest, it was well worth it, because he found an Anima crystal on the last thorn tripper.

"Lucky!" He shoed the glowing white gem. "I'll save it until I can get more strain measuring cards."

"Indeed. Congratulations, Nero!"

Serena cheered and Altia gave him a kiss, scooping the crystal and squirreling it away in one of her belt pouches. Nero frowns and she blows him a raspberry. He sighed and scouted the forest. A month of devastation cleared almost half of the trees in the area they hunt, the section of forest between the campsite and the rock formation where they will build Serena's hut. The trees threatened to turn the place into an obstacle zone but during Serena's solo hunts she usually has Daisy clear the trunks, eat the branches and drag some of them back to camp.

The advantage of thinning the forest was that the visibility improved greatly. Nero could see two shamblers far away, hiding in the now well-lit shade of trees. In fact, he thought he had a good shot to one of them.

"I'm going to test my weapon. I'm shooting a shambler. Let's see how many shots I need."

He declared and leveled his weapon. He aimed the shadow-wrapped rifle and pulled the trigger. He couldn't hear the clicking of the gears and barely the hum of the rings around the barrel charging. The roar of the shot leaving the barrel was just a faint pop. His Skill did nothing to the sound of the bullet hitting the shambler and the crackling and flash of the electrical burst. Enraged, the moss shambler ran. Which meant the critter lurched forward with the torso inclined. The shot tore through the moss covering, too fast to bounce back and broke some vines while the lightning fried the plants.

Nero shot again, hitting another spot. Then a third, fourth, fifth shot. The torso of the shambler had barely a patch of moss now. He aimed well and fired the sixth and last shot. The torso of the shambler burst along the right side and the other half fell down. The shambler writhed a bit, snapping more vines and sealing its fate. The monster started to dissolve.

"Six shots," Nero sighed. "That's a lot."

"Not if you think about the resources," Serena stated. "You spend 1 mana to summon twelve units of ammunition. You killed this one with a half-point of mana. I was hunting alone using one point of mana per kill, and my fights lasted much longer than the ten seconds you took to take it down. The thing barely walked more than a dozen yards before dying."

"What's the maximum range of your rifle?" Altia asked.

"A bit over a hundred yards."

"And you don't need to stand like a training dummy while you shoot. You can still move a bit, and with your Agility, you might be able to even shoot point-blank."

"Then it is settled. We all fire on the shamblers. I think I can kill it with fewer shots if I can hit twice on the same spot."

They engaged the second shambler before reaching the spot where the first one died. Nero took more time between shots but they fell closer to one another. Altia used her [Magic Arrow] spell and Serena, [Holy Bolt]. This one went down with three shots from Nero and two spells from each girl.

Without anything to do, Daisy was tasked with clearing the logs they found along the way. She absorbed the branches, bark, and leaves, leaving the spot-clean and naked wood behind. The idea was to gather the logs and carry them on their way back. Their new hunting routine put a dent on Altia's mana potion reserves. It was harder to brew than health and required hard-to-get ingredients. She switched to the plentiful healing potion and just used her class and Skill bonuses to restore small amounts of mana using [Potion Toss] all the time.

On the bright side, they could probably follow the trail of discarded potion vials now from all the duplication she did. Also, their kill speed was nothing to scoff at. A shambler would die in less than ten seconds from the moment Nero fired the opening shot.

They were hunting after lunch when the ground shook two times, one right after the other.

"Serena, tell Daisy to stand still," Nero commanded.

"Daisy, halt!"

The ground shook.

"It's Stomper," Nero said. "Altia, I need seven points of mana, I'm going to try something. Make Daisy stand still and let's move forward.

The Stomping Shambler was in a copse of trees they didn't clear. Altia used one mana potions on Nero, he calculated the effect and summoned three sets of bullets, then she used another. They stopped thirty yards from the sub-boss.

"I'm using a special shot. Cover your ears, I think this one might be noisier."

Nero leaned on a tree trunk for more stability and aimed at the head of the sub-boss. He poured twelve points of mana and stamina on [Empower Attack]. The rifle buzzed with the extra power and Nero's mana sunk by nine as his amulet triggered. He pulled the trigger. The muzzle flared even through the shadow cover and his shoulder bruised from the weapon's kick. The shot dealt seven times the normal damage and ignored 60% of the shambler's defenses. It blew off most of the monster's head and charred the rest including the moss covering the left shoulder, chest, and part of the arm. Smoke trailed from the rings along the rifle's barrel.

Stomper wasn't done yet. It rushed toward them, sending ominous vibrations through the ground.

"I don't think it's wise to shoot again until the weapon cools down," Nero said.

"Leave it to us!" Serena challenged. "[Holy Bolt]!"

"Yeah, we'll bring that thing down! [Magic Arrow]!"

Nero removed the strap from the rifle and dropped it, drawing his clockwork sword and standing ready to engage. He didn't need to. The girls' unceasing magic barrage finished the level twelve sub-boss before it could reach Nero. Altia's display shone for a moment as the boss dissolved.

Serena giggled in her victory highs. "That was... something. Sorry, I'm a little winded from the excitement," She sighed and fanned herself.

Altia chuckled and tossed a mana potion on each of them. She looked at her device and squealed. "I got a point of Reason! It was hard to raise it."

"Spellcasting arcane spells are a good way to improve Willpower and Reason to a lesser extent," Serena lectured.

"Uh?" Nero felt curiosity at Serena's statement. The princess gave him a challenging look as if inviting him to prove her wrong. "I mean, you are correct, but why do you say that?"

"Because the only three Attributes I've improved during this delve were these three. Reason, Willpower, and Charisma. And all I've done stress-worth was spellcasting and socializing. Just the fact I can talk back to you without flinching is proof of how much I've socialized," She sighed in relief. "And It wasn't as if spending ten hours every day with tutors since I was five was for naught. I bet I know more about gadgeteering than you, Mr. Sworn Gadgeteer."

Serena's voice was well-modulated, captivating, and conveyed exactly the emotion she wanted to. Nero was sure part of that hardcore training program was oratory. But he now knew he'd touched a nerve when he challenged her conclusion.

"In my defense, I've been a [Gadgeteer] for a whole of two days before delving."

The princess harrumphed and lowered her head, her glare fixed on him. "Apologies accepted." He chuckled. She thought he was mocking her. "What?"

"Altia, please," He passed the baton to his wife. He knew that explaining it to the nereid would just cause more misunderstanding.

Altia thew an arm over Serena's shoulder. "He is not mocking you. It's just... your angry face looks cute. Your cheeks dimple when you are angry."

The pretend outrage faded from her face for a moment and then was replaced by true outrage. "They do not!"

Nero was checking his rifle. The cover of shadows vanished when he let go of the weapon. He didn't want to face Serena because he was barely holding his laughter. "They do."

"They do," Altia echoed.

Serena grunted, her body stiff.

"Dimples..." Altia sang along.

She sighed and gave up. "I'm amazed you can see them through the scales of my face." The scales on Serena's face were barely visible unless your eyes were inches from her skin.

Altia poked the princess's cheek. "They kinda cave in. It is actually easier to see because the light hits the dimple differently from the rest of the face. It shines."

"Hey, girls. A [Egress] card," Nero called form where Stomper died. He returned with a crystal worth four hundred and eighty Essence and the silver card.

"That's what?" Altia asked. "The fourth or fifth we found?"

"Fifth," Serena replied. "It dispels the myth that it doesn't drop if you have them."

"I had one when another dropped from the boss," Nero pointed out.

"The boss always drops one for each Adventurer, regardless of how many cards the party has. That's proven and tested," Serena retorted.

"Okay then. I think the Dungeon wants to evict us," Nero joked.

"That's absurd," the nereid replied. "Dungeons have no consciousness."

There was a small pause because that was obvious for everyone. Even on the brink of destruction Dungeons never attempted to communicate and everything happened randomly. Nobody ever found a pattern to Dungeon's behavior besides spawning monsters endlessly.

"it's mid-afternoon," Nero affirmed after checking the sun's position and his clock. "I want to try and kill some crag turtles. See how this baby fares against them. Would you come with me for support?"

"Yes, surely. How much mana did you use? On that?" Altia asked. That was the empowered shot.

"Nine. My amulet saved me three. I'll reapply [Shadow Coating] and it will be exactly ten."

After refilling their resources, they went deeper until they came on the other side of the forest. It didn't take much for them to find the crag turtles, sunbathing on the rocky river bank. Nero stood at the end of his range, one hundred and twelve yards. He aimed and charged 3 stages of [Empower Attack]. The amulet didn't spare his mana and he pulled the trigger.

It was still noisier than a normal shot but not as noisy as the one used on Stomper. The buzzing of the rings was now familiar. It started on the one closest to the chamber and moved fast along the barrel.

The bullet hit its mark and cracked the shell of the turtle. At 3 mana and stamina, it did two and a half times the normal damage and ignored fifteen percent of the defenses but it just cracked even with the extra boost. The turtle would be fine if it weren't for the electrical discharge. It raced all along with the monster, lighting it up as if the flesh underneath its thick skin was made of light. The turtle screeched in pain.

"I think it is vulnerable to lightning," Serena said from behind, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Nero felt the thrill of the hunt. He waited for three seconds but the turtle didn't move. When it moved its head to face them, he shot again. He hit the snout. The crackle of the lightning coursed down the turtle's neck and it pulled the head and limbs inside its shell with another pained growl. With a stationary target, he just emptied the chamber. The turtle died on the fifth but he still shot the sixth bullet.

"They paralyze when hit with lightning. Maybe with a specialized [Mage] build, they might die with a single shot," Nero commented while he reloaded. Noticing the lack of any reaction he turned around. "What?"

Both girls were making sad faces.

"It seems the turtle suffered a lot," Altia explained. "I felt bad for it."

"Yes, its cries were too sorrowful," Serena added. "I hate them but I still felt sympathy."

"C'mon, they're monsters!" He tried to justify his position. It was like they were criticizing him.

"That's obvious."

"Yes, they are."

Nero didn't understand a thing. "Are you mad that I killed the turtle?"

"No. We are just sad it suffered," Altia replied.

"We are not angry at you," Serena added.

"Wait, do the other monsters suffer?"

"Maybe, but they don't cry in pain like that," Altia replied.

"Yes, we are just startled by the cries," Serena added.

Nero reloaded his rifle while he tried to understand the two. Then he gave up after the last bullet was in the feed chamber.

"I'm going to hunt another. I'll try to Empower more so it dies faster."

"Yes, I'm okay with that," Altia replied.

"We are not telling you to give up and leave the turtles alone," Serena added.

Okay with what? Hunting another or pumping the shot until it dies in a single go? Nero wondered but didn't ask out loud. He walked a bit and found another turtle before he reached the place where the first died. He got down on his stomach and leaned the rifle on the ground. Aiming at the head, he pumped six mana and stamina into the shot. When he was sure it was on target, he fired.

The turtle's head burst with the piercing impact. The shell was already shedding light particles before the lightning stopped arcing through the body.

"There. A painless death," Nero pointed out as he got back on his feet.

Altia used a mana potion on him, recovering five mana and one stamina.

"It was still gross," Serena said. "But I think it is okay. When I killed one with [Holy Bolt], it didn't bleed."

And when she killed one with Daisy pounding on the shell until it cracked, she wasn't watching.

"Well, back home we used to delve and kill rats until we were covered in blood and guts, didn't we, Altia?"

"Yes, that was really gross."

Serena didn't comment but she was visibly disgusted by the mental image.

"That's why we got cleaning brigandines," Altia added.

"Let's get our loot and hunt more turtles. I want to use all the bullets before they vanish and we still have a few hours of sun."

It was also good training for his marksmanship. The Attributes helped a lot but nothing could beat experience. Nero hunted a dozen turtles with the girls just watching him shoot before they returned to the camp. Daisy brought some logs to use as firewood.

The group went to bed earlier that night. The day they'd have to leave Serena behind was approaching. And all three Adventurers felt that in their own way.