Without the fireballs, Nero couldn't hope to best his last score for most mana spent inside a Dungeon. But the device didn't reset the tally so he had that going for him. The shrunk Dungeon was just too damn small to burn. Which he recognized as some pretty twisted statement to make although it was true. But his goals in the Dungeon were more than fulfilled. He replenished his Essence crystals, obtained decks upon decks of white and gray cards - what could be expected of a gray-grade Dungeon running on dregs of ambient energy - and even got another troublesome person to look after.

He checked his Arbitrium. He spent almost a month of Dungeon time hunting and gathered a fair amount of Accolades, the highlight being the six points of Charisma from the stress of dealing with Moira. His Dexterity, Reason, and Perception also went up by six but these were way easier to train. The other Attributes didn't fare as well. He didn't strain his resource pools and also engaged in very little Melee combat. He earned two points of Strength and one of Vigor because of his rampage. But improvements were improvements. Satisfied with what he achieved, Nero climbed down the tower and sat next to a bored Moira.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

She didn't attempt physical contact. Worried about enemy patrols, the siege, and betrayal, Nero also didn't look at her.

"It is time to leave the Dungeon. I'll be gone in a few hours," He answered his mind elsewhere.

"What about me? Are you giving me one of these silver cards you have or at least my equipment back?"

"Yes, maybe I should show you where you'll live for the next weeks at least. Don't worry about being left behind, you will meet my sister. I'm getting you out of the Dungeon but not into the real world. Can I ask you to climb to the top of the tower now?"

Moira made a face like she didn't understand a thing of what he said but Nero didn't care to explain further. Part of him still didn't fully trust her and it was all the fault of her advances. He's been too long away from Altia.

"Okay, boss," She mumbled with a hurt voice and climbed the ladder.

Nero hid underneath the platforms. Unless she was peeking from the edge right above him, she wouldn't be able to see him. He did the same thing he did with Rodther's temporary shelter. Remove all gear that grants Willpower and make another temporary shelter for cheap. He opened a portal to that one, paying six thousand Essence into the portal spell to attune it to the Dungeon's environment mana and called Moira back.

The shelter he created for her was almost entirely underwater except for a single island in the middle. Two acres of grass with a few fruit and nut trees and a stream coming from a spring at the middle, a stretch of white-sand beach a dozen yards wide and then a deep ocean. He added some coral but couldn't do anything about fish or other marine animals.

"What is this?" She asked, curious about the open portal.

"Your new home for a while," Nero said and removed the bindle with the nereids' things.

He searched their belongings for any military information. There was nothing and Nero assumed they were just grunts sent to farm a Dungeon. A little embarrassed about rummaging through someone else's objects without permission, he compensated by repairing and cleaning all their equipment and clothes.

"Is that another Dungeon? Where is that? Is it safe?" Moira was brimming with curiosity.

"It is not a Dungeon although your limiter will stay on. There are no monsters or creatures inside. There are freshwater, fruit, and nuts in the trees. Here's a stack of provisions, use them sparingly. You'll be alone for a few weeks at least but I won't abandon you."

There was also the issue of preloading the shelter's upkeep. Nero only paid for sixty-two days instead of the hundred where Rodther was. He had enough Essence but didn't feel like abusing it. The Skill did come with a warning regarding making long-lasting spells.

"I don't have much choice, do I?" She asked as she fluttered her long eyelashes with a coy smile plastered in her face. She was still trying to seduce him.

Nero deadpanned. "We met as enemies. I feel bitter for having to kill your partner but I am the one holding the cards. You were spared, healed, granted the opportunity of meeting my sister, and a new leg. Don't push your luck."

"Scary!" She teased then whispered to herself with a faint shiver. "But so manly..."

With a Perception score of eighty-four, Nero heard her loud and clear. He could only wonder what his father-in-law could listen to if he wanted. Huron's whole build was based on Perception.

Moira walked through the portal. Nero stayed in the Dungeon side and handed the bindle and the cards to her. He waved his hand and shut the portal before she could finish her gesture. He believed she was about to blow him a kiss.

Nero leaned on the tower pillar and exhaled deeply with a groan. Dealing with Moira was exhausting. Resisting her sensual and feminine body was even harder. Willing to vent some steam, he climbed the tower for one last boss kill. He aimed at the cave's enlarged and straightened opening and found the dire warg in his den. He charged fifteen stances of [Empower Shot] and pulled the trigger.

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

For defeating a foe seventeen times your level, you gained +1 Charisma.

He shouted his anger at the message.

Nero stared for too long at the diagnosis text displayed in his Arbitrium screen. "Maybe that's why almost every Accolade sister gained inside Rafflesia was in Charisma," He spoke to the Dungeon. He cleaned the whole Dungeon one more time just to get the juicy crystals without Moira to soak the Essence and lower his rewards. All the cards he got on the last run were white.

He read a bit more about device schematics until he felt sleepy. Nero would no longer leave a Dungeon without a fully rested and fed body. After he woke up, he took the day-skipping pyramid device and fed it enough to keep the whole clearing and tower inside the effect. 'No surprise wolf attacks for me, thank you', he thought.

He triggered the device for the first time and watched. In the blink of an eye, all the trees were back. The rustling sounds of the wolves around his fortified position startled him. Nero climbed up and watched the movement through his Essence-sensitive lens. Instead of seeking trouble with the monsters, he just chilled for an hour on his tower. One hour later, he cast [Invisibility] and used the [Egres] card.

He looked around the portal, searching for enemies. The area was in a forested copse, following the usual setting where a Dungeon mimicked its surroundings. Nero had a hunch that the Dungeon made a copy of the environment and kept that static. Any changes usually happened on the outside. But that was not the point. Enemies. He focused and walked around.

The soldier party from Coriander was camped not fifty yards from the portal. They were still awake and Nero stopped to eavesdrop. One of the two younger nereids, a girl that left the Dungeon earlier were huddled around the campfire while another one, a wolf-kin man that was obviously older than the others in the platoon comforted them. They had three tents set up and only these two outside.

"Your sergeant did exactly what I'd do, Hefalina," he said to the sobbing nereid girl. "You are younger and couldn't fend for yourself alone in the Dungeon. If her wound was half as bad as you described, she would at least lose her leg. She gave you a new chance to live, and you should be glad."

"But..." Hefalina mumbled and shook her head. "She was family."

"It is over now. We're past midnight, she is dead. For crying out loud, stop being so soft, girl! Honor her memory and live for her sake too," The wolf-kin ended the conversation and stood up. "If you want to do something useful, kill the bastards from Bast that forced us to come here."

"Yes, lieutenant," Hefalina begrudgingly agreed.

The wolf-kin lieutenant looked around and sniffed the air. He was facing in Nero's direction but not straight at him. The wolf-kin narrowed his eyes and tensed his body. Once [Dangersense] pinged, Nero started to charge [Snipe] and then [Piercing Shot]. He could abort the Skills and refrain from taking the shot but he couldn't make two minutes move faster. And all the wait and aiming took a toll on Nero's nerves. But the fourteen points of Stamina he invested into [Piercing Shot] told him the wolf-kin was on the second-tier, his level between sixty-six and seventy. A Dangerous enemy with high enough Perception to be a problem if he left him alive.

It wasn't

"There's someone out there," The wolf-kin growled a warning. "Wake up the--"

**BLAM**

"[Desperate Dodge]! [Steel Skin]!"

The wolf-kin shouted the activation of his two second-tier Skills moments before Nero pulled the trigger. He was too dangerous to leave alive indeed. The wolf-kin body jerked to the side but Nero had enough Accuracy bonuses. His weapon added Reason to the shot Accuracy and [Piercing Shot] added Willpower. With all three Attributes averaging more than a hundred points, a final correction to his aim ensured he hit his mark. Deprived of his favorite Skill [Empower Attack], the shot incapacitated the wolf-kin and punched through part of the left side of his face, destroying the ear and coating the wound with a layer of ice. Lightning coursed through the wolf-kin's body, sending him convulsing into the ground.

**BLAM**

Nero didn't stop to watch his failed assassination attempt. He kept shooting at the convulsing wolf-kin's head as fast as his rifle cycled bullets. He was probably dead but he shot a fifth time.

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

For defeating a foe sixty-eight times your level, you gained +2 Willpower.

Definitely dead. He had to do something about that glowing screen though.

Hefalina froze, her scream turning into a muffled whimper. The other tents stirred with people inside, shouting about an enemy attack. Nero recast [Invisibility] and moved around. Three nereids, one bear-kin, and two fox-kin left the tents. Nero initiated [Piercing Shot] and paid the stamina cost to gauge their levels. They were all at most in their twenties except for one. The most dangerous was the bear-kin at level forty-five and he let the Skill run its course, activating [Snipe] in sequence.

They were asking a petrified Hefalina and checking the lieutenant's body when Nero took his shot.

**BLAM**

Without a high Perception score or second-tier Attribute bonuses and Skills, he had no chance. Nero's headshot froze and electrocuted the bear-kin's soldier brain and he fell down smoking from the ruptured ears.

"There he is!" A nereid man pointed at him.

Nero recast [Invisibility] and moved to another position. He downed the lead Nereid with a chest shot and the others used mobility Skills to close the distance. Without a choice, he turned on his bayonet's teeth and engaged. He dodged [Firebolts] cast by the fox-kin and brought the weapon down on another nereid. The nereid woman blocked with her sword but flinched from the lightning discharge, the metal of the weapon offering no resistance to that. The teeth shredded the sword and broke the blade, Allowing Nero's weapon purchase on the woman's shoulder. He pressed down and split her.

He heard the whooshing flame too late. A firebolt was about to hit him when one of the plates from his shield automatically sprang up to block it. The surprise created an opening in his defenses but he wasn't unaware of the incoming spear. Nero sidestepped and turned another Nereid's kidney stab into a grazing blow that just scratched his armor. He swung the bayonet in a wide arc to get some room to maneuver. The two nereids in melee jumped back and it gave Nero the opportunity he wanted. Quickly aiming the rifle, he shot the fox-kin [Mage]'s stomach, taking him out of the fight.

He ran toward the downed [Mage], searching for the other fox-kin. He found her crying over the dead bear-kin's body. Hefalina was still in the same place, frozen in panic. Nero took account of the two nereids chasing him and turned around. They dove behind trees to get out of his line of fire. Nero used the opportunity to turn off his bayonet and cast [Invisibility] again.

"Where did he go?" A nereid asked the other.

"I don't know. Maybe he can go invisible."

"Damn, who is attacking us? Is he a cat-kin?"

"No idea. He has a funny hat and a cloak. I couldn't see ears or a tail."

All of these nereids were fresh recruits, Nero thought. Why were they talking in the middle of a fight? He circled around and came close behind one of them. From behind he couldn't tell the gender as nereids men were androgynous and slim. It didn't matter. Nero just aimed at the nape and pulled the trigger. He turned around to shoot the other nereid and found his target running away. Nero aimed at the center of the back and shot. The lightning surge gave him enough time to hit the enemy twice more and finish him.

All that was left were the two women in the camp. Nero became invisible again and approached.

"Where are you, bastard cat!" The fox-kin girl screamed, completely out of her mind. "I'll burn you down with this wretched forest! [Dual Cast]! [Flamethrower]!"

She joined her hands together in front of her and a huge cone of fire shot out. Nero ran to the side but moved too fast. His stealth Skills depended on slow, careful movements but in his moment of panic he forsook that.

"There you are!" She twisted and directed the flames.

Nero's saving grace was that she had to maintain the concentration on her channeled spell and she couldn't turn as fast as she wanted. The tongue of flame arced toward him and he braced himself. It was going to hurt but he had to take her down before she destroyed the forest. Nero aimed straight at the incoming flames and shot. He took a second shot as he was engulfed by the flamethrower spell. Seconds later, the fire around him died. Nero opened his eyes and sought his enemy. The fox-kin girl was on the ground, her body seized by convulsions. He took no chance and shot her again, ending her torment.

The forest became quiet if not for the fire that was spreading through the short undergrowth. Nero felt the need for one build with wide-area ice or water spells. The forest would burn, there was nothing he could do. Or...

He did have a water spell. He could connect a portal to the bottom of the ocean shelter and... No. The materials from the shelter couldn't exist outside. All he got for his trouble was an oval opening with suspended water. He shook his head and dismissed the portal.

Nero went around, shoving the bodies into his dimensional pouch. After he was done, he approached the camp.

"Please don't kill me! I surrender!" Hefalina raised her hands.

"Who was Moira to you?" He asked.

A short burst of hope washed through Hefalina's face and quickly disappeared. "My aunt. How do you know her name?"

"Swear to forsake Coriander," Nero spoke back, propping the rifle aimed at her threateningly. "If you do, I'll let you live and answer your question. You don't have much time. The forest is on fire."

"I swear! I'll defect if you want me to! I'll do anything you want! Please don't kill me," She begged.

"Good. Now, do exactly as I say. Don't talk anymore or I'll shoot. Nod if you understood. Good. I'm going to make a portal. You'll dive into the ocean." Hefalina nodded at each statement. "Stand up and get ready."

She was trembling. Nero opened a portal to Moira's shelter, ten meters above the deep ocean. Hefalina looked down and jumped through. The portal closed right after her.

Nero looted the camp into his dimensional pouch and ran, away from the castle and the siege. It was time to put some distance between him and the fire, make a long-lasting exit portal, and hop back.