It took an order from Xalazuniox to stop Nero and Altia from going to rescue Serena the same instant. The red draconid was clear. Either stay on the campus on their free will or go to detention. Nero had no idea schools could keep staff detained but Altia said it was in their contract. And the draconid was basically the King of the institution. They spent the night in a nice room in the administrative building, with a warding spell set to go off if they tried to escape.

"Xalazuniox won't stay idle. He will try to find Holmes' contacts and prepare things to guarantee Serena's wellbeing," Bezzias explained before they retired too early in the day. "Sleep. You need a fresh mind for tomorrow. And Nero," He beckoned.

"What is it, professor?" The young man asked.

Bezzias held Nero's shoulder as if he was going to hug the young man but instead opened his backpack and retrieved his portable infuser. Then the bat-kin looked deep into the eyes of the minnid ape-kin. "Never weaponize something you are not sure you want to weaponize. Do you have any idea how dangerous these infusers are? Dear gods, I'll have to take this one apart and install a safety to monitor the Essence levels and detect abnormal rates of absorption to turn off the device because you could kill dozens of high-leveled people with this! Imagine a few of these going off in the middle of a war!"

Yes, that was dangerous and stupid. And probably unavoidable unless one was ready to run away when the limiter went off. Altia was fine because she was low level, but if he didn't turn it off, Holmes and Chrysopae would be dead in minutes.

"I understand. This is dangerous, cheap, and deadlier the higher one's level is," He said.

"Yes. We are glad you used the device in an ingenuous way and showed us one of the dangers of our technology but this particular iteration has been considered a failure. The Dean agreed to purge this blueprint from the records. But back to you. You got half of the problem right. What is the other half?" He asked, very teacherly in his probing of his pupil.

Nero racked his brain. Another half. Another end of the spectrum. He remembered the device was set to emulate a rank-C Dungeon. Nobody ever had a level of five hundred. Of course!

"People can use the infusers at a high setting to remove their limiters and handicap those above them!"

Bezzias shook his head. "Right on the first part, wrong on the second. There's a time to speculate and a time to be precise. This is the latter. Altia?"

"The safe margin for delving increases as one's level increases. Therefore, anyone willing to pay the astronomical cost of maintaining an infuser working at a high setting in the open would be of a high enough level that it wouldn't matter."

"Correct. Learn, Nero. One must be mindful of the consequences of all actions. Even you befriending the dispossessed princess has consequences. I agree that in this case, the benefits are greater," Bezzias then saluted him by holding both of his shoulders, a smile in his face. "You made us proud, research assistants Nero and Altia. Now rest. The adults will work through the night to ensure your work bears the most fruit."

"Professor Bezzias, about that request of mine, could you arrange it for tomorrow?"

"Yes, I'll have the craftsmen build it here at the Lyceum. It will be ready for the finishing touches tomorrow morning."

He left with a smile and the Lyceum guards quickly took position on the door. One of them, a wolf-kin, greeted them.

"Research assistants, good night. You are not prisoners though the Dean asked us to not let you out. Please don't try. If you need anything, please ask us. The kitchen knows you are here and they are ready to prepare meals if you so wish."

Nero smiled and offered his hand. The wolf-kin guard shook it. "We appreciate your hard work, and we'll cooperate. If you can send something filling but light, like a soup or stew, that would be great."

"Thanks a lot," The guard pulled Nero closer and whispered. "And the room is completely soundproof."

"That won't be... forget it. Goodbye."

The sun was shining outside and they weren't on the mood to do anything. The couple decided to catch up on their sleep. They did wake up for dinner.

The next morning, they did a quick equipment check and Nero opened the door. The same wolf-kin guard and his partner were at the door.

"Are you still here?" Nero asked, amazed and embarrassed.

"No, sir. We left at night and returned less than an hour ago. Good morning."

"Good morning," He greeted the polite guard. "Can we leave now?"

"I was told professor Bezzias is coming in a few minutes. Would you mind waiting?"

Are things that bad? Nero sighed. "That's fine. We'll leave the door open, is that a problem?"

"Not at all. My regards to the missus."

He turned around and Altia was brushing her hair sitting on the bed, smiling. "Thank you!" She shouted from there.

"You're welcome, ma'am!" The wolf-kin replied without turning to look inside.

Nero sat at the table and poured himself a cup of water. Bezzias did arrive in a few minutes.

"Oh, good morning. Are you rested? Can I come in?" He entered without waiting for an answer and closed the door. "There are some things we must talk about."

His tone of voice didn't inspire confidence. Altia stopped brushing and they sat at the couch.

"What is wrong, professor?" She asked.

Bezzias fidgeted with his fingers and groomed his wing membranes before talking. "There is unusual activity in Rafflesia's Meadow. A party of four entered three days ago. A party of twenty entered two days ago. None came out."

Altia covered her mouth but her eyes were watering. Nero tensed up. He creased his brow.

"Twenty, professor? Who delves in groups of twenty? Are you sure they were members of the same party?"

"Absolutely. And worse, the Adventurer's Guild confirmed they were all recent activations. Some anonymous third party hired a [Gadgeteer] through them to activate twenty devices."

Altia was trembling. Nero rubbed her back and threw an arm over her shoulders, pulling her closer.

"And I'm afraid this isn't the end of the bad news. Are they, professor?"

"Your instincts are sharp, Nero. No. Several unrelated parties bought yellow and blue Classes and Skills. They all kept to quantities that wouldn't be auto-reported to the Kingdom but the store clerks found it odd and reported to the guild anyway. And..."

"It all added to twenty sets," Nero guessed.

"No. Fifty," Bezzias stated with a heavy voice.

"So there's a group of thirty people that are going... Did anyone enter yesterday?"

"No. We think the last group of thirty are going to enter today."

"Thirty!" Altia gasped. "Professor, we need to go now!"

"Yes," Bezzias affirmed with conviction. I hope she is okay. Are you certain you can fight thirty adventurers?"

Nero shrugged. "Professor, my lowest Attribute is Charisma and it is over twenty in most builds. The Skill from yesterday gave me plus five on all of them."

They pulled their Attribute values. Nero's was without a Class.

Nero [Jester 0/0]

Strength: +36

Vigor +40

Endurance +24

Agility +34

Dexterity +37

Reason +29

Willpower +23

Perception +16

Charisma +17

Altia [Chemist 4/179]

Strength +11

Vigor +19

Endurance +21

Agility +25

Dexterity +35

Reason +32

Willpower +35

Perception +19

Charisma +22

They told Bezzias their status and the bat-kin researcher did a double-take. "They are spread out, that is expected with the kind of training you are doing. But the total values are reaching the second tier. Do take care, and rescue the princess, okay?"

"She'll be with us a bit past dusk," Altia promised.

"We might extend our stay in the Dungeon, to harvest some cards," Nero stated. "The Skills that drop there are mind-boggling. Maybe we'll even take a shot at the boss."

"Good luck. Let's go, Lamuril is waiting for us. And the item you requested is ready to assemble. The craftsmen are eager to work on it."

"That's wonderful news, professor!" Altia exclaimed.

They said goodbye to the friendly guard, making sure Bezzias knew how well he'd treated them. They did a detour on the Lyceum's workshop, where the craftsmen were really eager to work on Nero's little project. Altia was astonished by the finished product. The wonders of what Skill-aided crafting could do.

They went out and into the horseless carriage. The vehicle whined, chugged, and moved on its own. Just as a curiosity, Nero put on his goggles. Even though it didn't give an Attribute bonus outside a Dungeon, it still allowed him to see the Essence haze flowing out of some exhaust pipes at the back of the carriage.

They drove out of town and into the stone wall around Rafflesia's. The first hint something was wrong was the number of guards. More than twice the usual garrison of four. The carriage came to a stop and one guard hurried to meet them.

"We are sorry, but the Dungeon is closed!" He told them.

"Lad, we are with the Lyceum. These two here are research assistants and are delving to investigate the Essence disturbances of the place. We have a permit from the Lyceum and another from the Adventurer's Guild. I am sure your commanding officer received a memo this morning informing of this."

Bezzias left no margin for the guard to retort. He even kindly suggested he should push the trouble up the hierarchy. The trooper did a full half-turn and ran back to talk to some officer. Meanwhile, they got down from the carriage and walked to the gate calmly, as if they owned the place. The officer came to meet them.

"Professor Bezzias, if I am not mistaken. Good morning," The lieutenant politely greeted the researcher. His voice was firm though, showing that he wouldn't concede without a fight. "I am sorry to inform that the Dungeon is closed. We have twenty-four confirmed deaths in four days, and a group of thirty just entered."

Nero squeezed Altia's hand, to reassure her.

"Lieutenant Graaf," Bezzias said, reading his nametag, "This is a matter of utmost importance. The lyceum believes this Dungeon is on the verge of an evolution. With all the death happening inside, we think it might trigger at any moment. My assistant here has a device that can measure the Essence fluctuations. They are delving now, or you'll have Xalazuniox of the Lyceum, Amaryllis of the Guild, and your commanding officer here to ask you why you held back my assistants within the hour."

"Let me check the permits again," The lieutenant asked with a mellow tone.

While the man flipped through the documents obviously stalling for time, Nero asked a question. "Lieutenant, the group of thirty that entered, are they all the same party or different groups? Because thirty is a raid. Was the guild informed there would be a raid? Are they independent Adventurers or attached to some organization? Is this some concentrated effort by the army?"

Nero's intuition said this man took a bribe to let these guys through and block them. The officer stopped flipping and stared at him.

"Look, we know it is risky but science cannot be stopped. We are willing to even give an advance on our taxes, in case we die inside. This Dungeon generates barely no revenue. Here, we offer this Class card," He gave him the yellow tier-II [Venomancer] Class. "But we need a receipt."

The officer's eyes went wide. He fumbled his next words, mumbling something.

"I'll take the receipt, Nero. Don't worry. Go inside. Now," Bezzias pushed them past the officer. Then he shouted at the guard. "All clear, open the gate! The lieutenant authorized the delve!"

"Bruce, let's go, boy!"

"Open the gate!" The first guard shouted inside. The portcullis opened and they rushed inside. Time was flowing slower inside the Dungeon. Each minute wasted outside meant more trouble for Serena.

Entering "Rafflesia's Meadow" - Rank-I Dungeon. Disengaging Limiter. Error. Limiter is not active.

The three appeared in the grass meadow, Nero using his [Fireball] mage Class. He quickly scanned around and had no trouble finding a wedge of trampled flowers leading into the forest, straight in the direction of Serena's cave. Worse yet, they could hear sounds of battle ahead.

He summoned the flames several times, ten to be precise. Each casting created ten flames due to his improved Attributes. Altia restored his mana and they ran toward the trouble before any trippers respawned in the path. As they approached, the voices of the raiders became clearer.

"Hurry up, kill these blasted shamblers! And keep tracking the wench! I want to get out before dusk!"

Nero halted when he got visual of the raiders. They were fighting a massive force of shamblers, over fifty, Including Stomper. Not Daisy because there was no flower in that head.

"Serena might've charmed the shamblers. What should we do?" Altia asked.

"We'll balance the odds. Let them fight the shamblers and waste resources. I'm summoning more flames. Keep me capped."

Nero summoned more flames. Altia used one mana potion every two spells. Due to his amulet saving 3 points of mana every three castings, he soon had three hundred flames hovering high above him. It was just too hot otherwise.

"How many are you counting in there?" He asked.

"More than thirty."

The shamblers died to the combined attack in a few minutes.

"Regroup! I doubt the bitch has any more tricks up her sleeve. Heal and drink a potion if you have to!"

That was Nero's cue to start casting. Ten seconds later, the first fireball flew and he immediately started on another. Nero did the math. His improved Reason stat gave his fireball a maximum radius of six hundred and forty-eight feet. He lowered this radius a bit, to three hundred feet, and prayed Serena wasn't in that radius. By the looks of it, she wasn't. The raid finished picking up the loot and the fireball hit. The sphere of fire raised the full hundred yards up. Shouts of pain and anguish came from the raiders and their specialized builds made them suffer.

From what Bezzias reported, the Skills the raider's mysterious benefactor bought were all geared toward hunting Serena. They were ill-prepared for anti-mage combat.

"What the hell!"

"The forest is on fire!"

"Where did this fireball came from!"

"Scouts!"

"I'm on fire!"

"Douse him!"

And they weren't professionals. Just some random thugs hired and given the power they didn't understand. Before they figured out where the attacks came from, the second fireball flew true and the third was on its way. It exploded again, another plume of fire and smoke rising rapidly to reach a hundred yards up.

More shouts, curses, and threats. Nero felt mana returning from [Ignis Victoria], signaling that something died in there. Or somethings.

"There! On the flowers!"

"Get them!"

"Kill these bastards!"

The whole raid, at least those that weren't rolling on the ground, ran to intercept Nero and Altia. The couple was more than three hundred yards away. The third fireball flew a bit closer this time, ensuring it would get all both groups, the stay and the away raiders.

Ten raiders appeared, still on fire. Maybe those have high Vigor or some antimagic Skill, Nero wondered. To counter Serena's [Charm] and [Holy Bolt] maybe. They were still badly burnt.

Altia fired her [Magic Arrow] at the front raiders. Some were dodged, some hit. Nero discharged all of his flames on the ten raiders, thirty to each. He swapped Classes to [Warrior] and drew his [Clockwork Sword]. Seven of the ten raiders dropped, too wounded to continue.

"You'll regret entering this Dungeon!" Nero shouted. "[Dash n' Slash] - [Mobile Strike] - [Shield Bash]!"

Nero blurred and appeared between two raiders. His sword shredded the chain links of the leader, pressing with his Forty-five points of Strength and reaching his stomach, making mincemeat of his organs. To his left, the reinforced buckler punched the chin of the second raider, shattering the jaw and sending the half-elf-feline sprawling on the ground. He felt the sword scraping the first man's spine and severed it through.

Compatible Anima detected. Energy absorbed above the threshold. Processing upgrade. Weighing Attribute strain.

For defeating a foe seven times your level, you gained +1 Perception

"SERENA!" Altia shouted and fired a duplicated [Magic Arrow] at the third raider, a dwarf, piercing his left biceps twice. Bruce jumped on the dwarf's face, biting his potato nose and shredding his face with his claws. The man dropped his axes to try and remove the badger from his face. Bruce jumped off, taking an eye as a souvenir.

Then Nero was on the dwarf, connecting the sawing teeth to the temple. It wasn't pretty.

"Bruce, kill everyone on the ground! Altia, let's go!"

While the badger gave the finishing blow to the raiders, they ran into the burning forest, mercifully killing the raiders that were moaning, twitching, or just crawling and pleading for help. They shouted, screaming Serena's name. Altia gained an Accolade. Nero saw the screen lit up but there was no time to ask which Attribute she got.

Nero and Altia crossed the forest and reached the rock area. They found a disheveled princess, sitting on a rock, four raiders fighting against a trio of crag turtles.

"Serena! Are you okay?" Nero asked.

Altia just ran, tossed a couple healing spells at the nereid, and hugged the girl.

"Are you real?" Serena asked. She seemed doped. Detached.

"Of course. We are back, silly princess. To rescue you!" Altia said between sobs.

In the background, the raiders were losing to the turtles but killed one. Nero's device lit up.

Compatible Anima detected. Energy absorbed above the threshold. Processing upgrade. Weighing Attribute strain.

For defeating a foe fifteen times your level, you gained +1 Strength

Finally, Serena's wits caught up with her, and she blinked as if she'd just woke up. "Altia! Oh, Altia! You're here! Daisy is... Daisy..."

Both women cried. Nero swapped to mana bolt and watched the fight. The turtles killed two raiders. Then another. Then a turtle died, leaving two charmed raiders and one turtle. A water jet to the face broke a neck. The last raider killed the last turtle, panting for breath and covered in his own blood.

And got a mana bolt to the nape for his efforts.

Compatible Anima detected. Energy absorbed above the threshold. Processing upgrade. Weighing Attribute strain.

For defeating a foe eight times your level, you gained +1 Dexterity

Nero sighed. Killing people really gave Accolades more often than monsters. Maybe the compatibility part was easier to match. He did a quick soul-search and found he still loathed the idea of killing people without a very good reason. But it was these idiots' choice to come inside to attack his friend. Nero took the five bandoliers from the dead raiders and searched around. He found the rock where he put Serena's cave and went there. On the ground, he found a large pile of moss and vines with a white flower poking out of the moss. He looked inside the well-lit cave and found everything broken, walls and furniture. The raiders didn't find Serena home but they killed Daisy. he took the moss with the flower and returned.

He made eye contact with the princess. She smiled "Nero!" There was a mix of emotions in her face. Relief, happiness, fading fear, the pleasure of meeting an old friend or a relative after too much time. They were out for four days. What happened here during her stay? Then he remembered that the group of twenty that went in didn't return. Serena was alone and fought them. Or outlived them. Serena stood up and Altia released her. She ran and hugged his waist.

He hugged her back. "Hi, Serena. You need to absorb Daisy back to your Arbitrium. Hurry."

He pressed the moss to her Arbitrium and soon it vanished. Serena read the message on the screen and gasped. "I can summon her back?"

"Yes, you can. You need to absorb a portion of the defeated pet in one hour. Then you can spend Essence to respawn it. How much does Daisy cost?"

Serena sighed. "Two hundred and fifty thousand."

Nero whistled. That was a hell of an expensive pet. But it didn't matter. Daisy was worth it.

"Okay. Here is what is going to happen. You stay here with Altia and do some girl talk. Maybe away from these dead jerks. Find a rock with a nice view to sit on and watch the river flow or something like that. I'm going to loot with Bruce and come back to meet you. Then we talk about what's going to happen."

Nero didn't expect much from these hatchery thugs - he loathed thinking of them as Adventurers - and they didn't disappoint. After he was done with them, he tossed the bodies in the river. Maybe some fish would want them. To his surprise, moments after the bodies hit the water, something bit it. And other something and a dozen somethings swarmed the bodies. Huge fishes with oversized jaws and sharp jagged long teeth that were way oversized for their oversized jaws.

"Bloody hell! There are monsters in the river?" He shouted.

"Snapjaw piranas!" Serena shouted back. "Don't go for a swim if you have blood on you."

He was impressed. The nereid spoke of the piranas with the certainty only experience could provide. Nero fired a few mana bolts at the piranas. They died with a single spell. And their drops either sunk, the crystals, or were carried down the river, the cards. He wasn't going to pick them up so he gave up. He went back to fetching bodies and feeding the fish.

Halfway through his work, Serena asked from the rock the women were talking. "Won't you get their Arbitrii? To disassemble, study, and maybe reuse some parts?"

"Good idea. I didn't think of it, but maybe fiddling with someone else's Arbitrium when they won't mind me doing it anymore is better than experimenting on my own."

He looted twenty devices and washed them upriver from were a hundred piranas were now feasting on the premade raiders. Nero shook his head. Just the fifty Arbitrium cost ten million. And these guys had good cards. Maybe another twenty. How much are these people willing to pay to get their paws on Serena?