I kicked the criminal in the face, knocking his teeth out and forcing him to the ground.

We had been in Texas for a month now. At first, I was surprised by how many people had survived around the area once known as Houston. That was until I realized they had more guns than any other state. It helped them survive the first few months with ease.

When we arrived we found that the local law enforcement had all combined into one group. I wasn't surprised, considering how many people had died during the first few weeks. Even Texas wasn't spared that reality.

I learned that while the law enforcement was coming together, other groups took the chaos to form their own little kingdoms.

This didn't surprise me, power fills a vacuum. It actually worked out in our favor. With the peacekeepers busy they needed to contract out jobs. Hence the reason I was kicking a guy in the ribs right now.

He groaned in pain.

"Suck it up, I gave you the opportunity to surrender but you decided shooting at me was a better option. Now I have two holes in my armor and am in bad mood."

I fingered the two holes in the left side of my armor. The bullets had penetrated my armor and tore into my skin but the damage was minimal. These were some of the weaker outlaws in the area, they hadn't been smart enough to choose a class to complement their guns or a decent class at all.

This wasn't true of some of the more successful gangs out there, but we hadn't dealt with any of them.

"Time to go," I said, hefting the dazed man to his feet. "You guys ready to turn these idiots in?"

"Yeah," Martin said as he cinched the last knot on his prisoner.

Ska just nodded, his prisoner was bleeding heavily and unconscious.

"Well, three survivors are more than I thought we would get."

"Hmm, it is an admirable number considering how weak these men were," Ska said in disdain.

I had to agree, out of the ten men, these three were the only ones to survive our initial attack. We dragged the three survivors back to the jail, where they would be tried, and likely executed for their crimes.

That was fine with me, I collected our reward and we left.

"So what are you guys' plans for today?"

"I plan on going back to the dungeon," Martin stated

"Well, at least it's still worth the effort for some of us. Going alone this time?"

"Yeah, I can solo them with my summons now, plus Ska said he wanted to do something else."

"Oh, Yeah?"

"Yes, I wish to hunt some of the monsters near the city," Ska replied with a deep purr.

"Alright, you two have fun. I'm going to work on the project."

The three of us went our separate ways. Martin was heading to one of the three dungeons we found. We had used them as a cash cow. Unfortunately, after five trips the dungeons stopped paying out. Since they were only level ten dungeons I got little in the way of experience. So after it stopped paying out, I stopped going. Ska continued to go with Martin for a time, seems like even he got bored with the weak creatures.

I headed toward the outskirts of town, grumbling at the damage to my temporary armor. It was hard enough to replace my staff and armor. None of it was the same quality as my old gear but it was all that we could afford. I reinforced them with runes, after I purchased a new carving kit. A quick burst of anger flitted through my mind as I recalled why I had to replace my gear.

I certainly haven't forgotten why we were here.

I arrived at a rocky hill. From the outside, it matched the sparse vegetation of the surroundings. As I made my way to the backside, there was a hole bored into it.

I had spotted this hill after our second mission for the local law enforcement. That was when the idea popped into my mind. After thinking it over and inspecting the hill, I came up with a plan.

Three weeks of hard work later and here it was. A hill... with a large open cavern inside. True it wasn't much but it was a start. The fortress, once complete, would have a domed top and an angled underside. I figured the angled sides would help deflect attacks. Not that those were the only thing we would be relying on.

My weeks hadn't only been spent hollowing out the hill. I had figured out runes for shielding and cloaking. Then I had a harsh hit of reality when I calculated how much mithril I would need to make it work. It made the funds I spent on the house look like chump-change in comparison.

I wasn't working on that today or the house. Without funding, we were at a bit of a standstill. I walked over to the folding table and chair that made up my workspace. The cave was a bit sparse decoration-wise. There was another table, some chairs, and our bedrolls.

Maybe if Fiona was around she could have given us some pointers. She was scouring the countryside for dungeons and scouting out the dwarven stronghold. I tried telling her it wasn't necessary but she felt like it was her fault we got captured, because she wasn't there to protect us. No amount of me telling her otherwise seemed to help.

Accessing my new storage ring, I set a tattoo machine on the table, along with a mana generator. Thankfully the town we found ourselves in had a Bazaar. The cost was a bit much, considering the materials we needed. But I wasn't about to go back to trying the old-school approach.

I had made little headway in the last month on the tattoo design to strengthen my body. Mostly due to lack of time and materials.

I was just about to get started when I heard a knock.

"So this is where you run off to. Can't say I'm all that impressed," a man I recognized said, walking through the opening.

I really needed a door.

"Marshall, what brings you by our humble abode?"

"Just came to thank you and your team for their work today. Where are the others?"

"Out and about. They were unimpressed with our target and needed to burn off some more steam."

The Marshall grunted.

"Is that really the only reason you came by?"

"No..." he said, reaching into his vest and pulling out a cigarette and lighter. "You mind?"

"Nope, go right ahead."

He nodded in thanks, lighting the homemade cigarette. "This came in today," he said, handing me a folded piece of paper.

I reached out, taking the sheet from his hand, and unfolded it. My eyes scanned the document while the Marshall walked around the room, inspecting the walls.

"Level fifteens huh... you sure this information is accurate?"

The man nodded. "Came from a reliable source. He confirmed at least three of their crew were of that level. With a total of twenty-five others of varying levels."

"And you want the three of us to take them on?" I asked in confusion.

"Not alone. We just need some higher-leveled backup for the ten officers we're sending."

"Dead or alive?"

"Dead, they are too dangerous for us to attempt to keep them alive."

"I can bring it to the others when they get back, when do you need an answer by?"

"A few days. The gang is on foot but we can't wait too long or they will get into the foothills and we will never find them."

"Alright, I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

"Take care, Paul, and tell your friends I said thanks," he said, before leaving.

"Well, at least this would make Ska happy," I mumbled.

That overgrown kitty had been getting grumpy lately, what with the under-leveled mobs and weak targets. I supposed I could use a change of pace as well. My lack of progress on my tattoos was beginning to bother me.

I pulled out the animal corpse and got to work testing some combinations.

I was pulled from my work a few hours later when Martin returned.

"Any luck," He said, taking off his armor and setting in the corner.

"No," I sighed in resignation. "How did your dungeon dive go?" I asked, stretching my cramped muscles.

"Good, I hit level eleven."

"Hey, congratulations. Any sweet new skills?"

"I got one called blood sacrifice. Using my blood I can fix my dice to a specific outcome."

"That will come in handy," I replied.

"Indeed. Too bad it can only be used once per day."

"Hmm, you might want to think about using your free skill point to get a recast skill like my multicast."

"Is that what you use to cast your skills multiple times?"

"Yup, increases the mana cost each time."

"As tempting as that sounds... I don't think it would work for me. And I probably wouldn't want to risk it. My skill requires a hundred health to cast."

"Yikes, yeah, probably not a good idea then. Still, it should be helpful. Oh, before I forget, the Marshall stopped by, he wanted to thank us for our work today."

"Well, that was kind of him. But I'm guessing by the look on your face, this wasn't a social call?"

"Not entirely. He came by with a request for assistance. They found a group of outlaws. Three of which are said to be level fifteen."

"Well, that will make Ska happy. How many?"

"Twenty-eight but he is going to be bringing ten of his men."

"So, two to one odds seems doable. Any info on what classes those bigwigs are?"

I shook my head, "info is scarce but we should be able to handle it."

"Alright, I'm in. When is the shindig?"

"We have a few days. It should give me time to fix my stupid armor. Oh how I miss my old armor," I lamented.

"Don't worry, we'll get our stuff back eventually. Any idea when Ska will be back?"

I chuckled, "he will probably come running through that door as soon as he smells your cooking."

"Well, then I better get at it," Martin smiled.

My estimates of Ska's return time were a bit off. He came in well after dark, scratched and bruised, but happy.

I explained to him what the Marshall relayed to us and it made Ska even happier. He was purring like a kitten with the news, although, Martin's food may have attributed to that. I also finally talked Ska into enhancing his claws.

"Hold still," I grumbled for the fifth time.

"It is uncomfortable," Ska growled.

"I never said it would be pain-free, only that it would make your claws more deadly."

He grumbled but did his best not to move. There wasn't much room on his claws and eventually, they would grow out making the runes useless, so I decided to go with a simple runic combination. I decided on a life steal combination I had come across. That way he could heal himself while causing additional damage to his target.

Originally I wanted to do a different set of runes on each claw, but testing on a dead creature proved that to be a dangerous proposition. I really had to stop having dead creatures blow up on me.

Just like weapons and armor, the quality of the body needed to be up to the task of channeling the magic. I figured a sentient creature could take more than a monster but It wasn't like I had a way to test it. Well... I did but I wasn't ready to go that route yet.

I finished the last claw. "Alright, done. Give it a try," I said.

He gave me a blank look. "Oh right, you should prob take some damage first, to test it thoroughly," I said.

I invited him to a duel and he growled in approval.

"Let's go outside first."

"As you wish."

We walked to a small clearing and I pulled my staff from my ring, giving it a twirl. It was weird having such a light staff again. My armor appeared on my body with a flash of thought as well. Turns out there were different grades of storage rings or devices in general. It cost me three times as much almost twenty-five hundred credits but I got one that allowed me to quickly equip any gear. I could have gotten a cheaper one but I wanted the maximum space, which turned out to be nine cubic feet.

Sure it was an expense we could little afford but I felt it a must. The ability to equip all my armor in less than a second was a game-changer.

"Whenever you're ready."

Ska didn't waste a moment, sprinting at me. I was ready for his leaping attack, spinning to the side and cracking him across the shoulder with my staff. I heard a growl of pain as he landed. He rotated and lashed a clawed arm at me with blinding speed. I wasn't fast enough to avoid the strike as his claws ripped deep bloody lines down my exposed arm.

I grinned despite the pain. Ska was learning quickly. When we had fought the first time he had no concept of fighting an intelligent opponent. He treated me like his normal opponents, wild animals or monsters.

That didn't mean I was going to go easy on him. The training Martin and I had put him through helped him learn to survive against crafty opponents.

I slapped his other paw away with a crack of my staff as I cast my wings and flew outside his reach. This gave me time to inspect the damage he dealt with his enhanced claws.

HP: 665(732) / 645

Almost a hundred damage from one attack. It was impressive, considering his speed and the fact that he could rake me multiple times in quick succession.

"How's the healing?"

"Good, I recovered twenty-five health," he said with a rumble, "now get down here so we can finish this!"

"You asked for it," I said with a smile.