The importance of good equipment. Wearing one good artifact could allow someone ten levels below to survive or even win the fight against a superior opponent. When in a vocation that entails dealing with potentially strong monsters and opposing enemies, adventurers almost always spend their hard-earned cash on procuring the best possible equipment. It directly correlates to their survival rates. Welton's Furnace provides the hardiest and most consistent sets of armor on the continent. All other blacksmiths seem to fall short. Idil's explosive growth is supported by their investment in the military, arming their top brass with the highest quality equipment available on the market. Mana crystals, adamantium, and high-quality enchantments are only a fraction of what's available to Idil's forces. Many kingdoms are implementing similar strategies but are quickly finding challenges in issuing large amounts of gold to invest in their forces.

~Procuring Good Equipment for Dummies by Thomas Kodine

Nonchalantly, he headed to the outhouse but was met with a peculiar sight. He had gotten adjusted to the lack of latrines, urinals, and the common amenities which were found on present-day Earth.

In Pesodonia, he had almost cried at the stench erupting from the local outhouse. Going from doing his business at a nearby bush or the top of a branch was hardly an improvement. Elway was much better, as their outhouses were much more well-managed and even came with a communal sink to wash their hands in most places.

But seeing the palace bathroom, he was amazed to see an almost identical replica of the stalls and toilets on Earth, including sinks and mirrors. The sight was enough to make him do a double-take and go back out, wondering if he had just been transported back to his home planet.

Reluctantly, he went inside one of the stalls and tried them out. It was a genuine duplicate of a regular toilet; white porcelain and water along the bottom. It even included bidets. The seat itself was wider than usual, likely to compensate for the average dwarf’s larger than average backsides. Hesitantly, Chester sat down and urinated. It was a familiar, yet odd experience after going so long without it. He flushed and watched it go down the drain.

"Wait...drain?"

The illusionist didn't even wash his hands as he rushed over to where Alda was talking to another dwarf. She looked at his wide-eyed expression and smirked, dismissing the person she was talking to before addressing the curly-haired human.

"You enjoy our outhouse?" She giggled slightly when saying the last word, as though it was a funny inside joke.

"You guys have toilets? Is this like, widespread?"

"Haha, yes. Almost every place in Welton has it. One of our craftsmen specialized in architecture and revolutionized our kingdom. We've been making some progress selling the idea to other kingdoms but not a lot of headway there yet."

"Do you guys have a place where I can read up on it? I'm intrigued by this whole...system you got there."

"This is one of the few times someone's taken a genuine interest in our culture and history. We have archives in the palace, I could show you around."

Chester's thoughts ran wild with potential ideas. 'Toilets means plumbing. That means a sewer system. A sewer system means a potential exploit in that stupidly tough vault's defenses!'

He thanked whatever omnipotent being there was in the sky for providing him with such an opportunity. The criminal had almost given up right then and there but was sent a perfect way to sneak through the defenses through a toilet of all things. Chester didn't know whether he would've been able to think of such a plan without his increased INT.

Plans were created and discarded at rapid speeds as she told him more about Welton's sewer system. She seemed happy to provide any information, a fact which gave the man a slight twitch in his heart as Alda had been nothing but kind since they met. He asked her why she had so much in-depth knowledge about the sewer system.

"I hold a lot of love for this place. My father is the craftsman responsible for inventing the system, over half a century ago." Alda puffed up her chest in pride, closing her eyes and showing a small smile.

"Your dad was a craftsman? I didn't expect that. I figured you'd be part of some warrior lineage of some sort. Kind of like Damien."

Chester had a burning theory that her father was an otherworlder like him. He didn't know much about it but knew there were instances when people from Earth were reincarnated and had their memories intact. The likelihood of a person being reincarnated and introducing Earth inventions didn't seem too far out to assume. It was far too uncanny when comparing the toilets to the ones he knew from Earth.

"He fell in love with my mother, an elf, who had come to Welton to get a new set of equipment. He was very persistent and they eventually got settled and had me. It's a standard love story. I faced a bit of discrimination here, being half-elf and all, but I've proven myself."

"Discrimination? I would've thought you were like, worshipped. You're a piece of work."

She rolled her eyes but her smile indicated that she enjoyed the compliment. Their conversation continued without much progress, as Chester knew he had to explore more avenues on how to exploit the sewer system. He decided that it was enough reconnaissance for today and enjoyed the rest of it with Alda. Unbeknownst to the both of them, the distance had shrunk between them and there was a bit more familiarity in their interactions.

Greater Mana Infusion is now level 2.

With a powerful blue aura surrounding him, Damien clashed with Jensen late into the night. His stats were further augmented by the moon overhead, but so was Jensen's. The vampire wielded one ax, deflecting any blows coming his way and sending some of his own. The younger vampire did a sweeping motion with his foot to get the soldier off balance but was checked by the man's calf. A quick pommel strike neared the man's head and he slapped it away with ease.

Advanced Sword Mastery is now level 4.

"Let's stop here for now, Prince. We've made a lot of progress."

Damien let out a breath, giving a customary bow to the older vampire. "Thank you, Jensen. I appreciate your help."

The vampire prince was humbled by the Lieutenant-General. Even though they weren't going at maximum speed, he could sense that the muscular soldier was holding back a great deal of his strength. Evidenced by the fact he didn't use both axes to fight, the man had shown himself to be on par with the likes of Elric and Joseph Devon. He seemed to show no difficulty keeping up with the agile boy even when he was wearing his own set of armor while Damien was only wearing his cloak.

'And Natalie is likely even stronger...I have more work to do.'

"Sir! General Drake is asking for your presence."

The vampire curtly nodded at his subordinate. "Lead the way."

"Wait, can I come as well?"

Jensen turned to meet his eyes. Damien wanted to take part in their duties, feeling a sense of obligation. The man reluctantly agreed, seeing no good reason to turn the boy away.

They made their way to the fortified walls of Welton. The place was swarming with soldiers and people being ushered out of the crime scene. Natalie was dead-center, next to a crater containing a few unrecognizable corpses. They looked like they had been mangled by a wild animal. Archie, however, was nowhere to be found.

"General! Is there anything you require?"

She turned to them as they approached. Her expression was serious. With blood dripping down her hands and a few scuff marks around her face, it was clear Natalie was partly responsible for the corpses beside her. Jensen gave her a salute and the younger vampire followed suit, making the woman smile for a brief moment.

"Oh, you're here. I'll need you to bring your men and do some patrols of your own. Use the bloodhounds. Found these rats hiding in the walls. Can't believe these idiot sentries can't even pick them up on their own. They're using some sort of scent remover along with Invisibility, so you'll need to be careful."

A dwarven soldier handed her a towel which she wiped herself clean with. She seemed very irritated. Damien stared at the bodies for a few moments, but couldn't find anything incriminating on their persons. He got a bad feeling about this entire ordeal. Natalie bent down and grabbed a piece of their clothing and handed it to her subordinate. Jensen pocketed it before leaving to follow his orders.

"Is there any way I can help?" Damien asked. She looked unsure and he didn't hesitate to say some more. "And don't underestimate me either. I can help you guys out."

Natalie ruffled his head and he squawked in indignation. "C'mon. You have that Shadow Servant skill, right? We can use that to help see if there are any more rats skulking around the area."

"Hm? You know the name of my skill?" Damien looked shocked to hear her recite the name of his skill. He didn't expect her to know what the Shadow Knight class did. He could barely recall it being mentioned in Wisperium's archives when they taught them about classes. It was especially rare even amongst its tier.

"Of course." She looked at him oddly. "Your grandfather had the same class, but his servant wasn't a canine like yours. If I recall, it was some sort of black snake? I never got to see it, but I've heard stories from Neftelia. Remember her?"

That was another tidbit that Damien didn't know about his family. He twitched upon remembering the senile fortuneteller. Neftelia Valentine, the second oldest vampire alive aside from Dracule Rose. Unlike his great-grandfather, her aging process hadn't slowed to a standstill. Her eccentricities and powers had only seemed to grow more out of hand as she aged.

"Huh. I didn't know that. I should look into grandfather once I return..."

The boy was curious about his late grandfather, who had died shortly after the Draconic Invasion five centuries ago. Dracule never talked much about his son, always keeping quiet and looking wistful whenever the topic of the family was brought up. He shook his head of thoughts about his dead relative and moved on to follow Natalie's commands. Her face changed and she quickly got him set up with another group and ordered them to spread out and ensure they had at least one bloodhound with them. Jensen had returned with five squads of soldiers, each one with their monster companion.

"Damien, you're going to be following squad three. Check the residential area and the walls, and listen to your superior. Don't go off on your own, understand?"

He swallowed his words. He knew that she was sending him to the area with the least likelihood of enemy interference, but could admit that she was simply doing this for his safety. Summoning Maxwell, the shadow canine erupted from his silhouette and let out a quiet woof.

Squad three consisted of two vampires, two dwarves, and one bloodhound. They were all well-equipped, but Damien was only wearing his cloak. With the mithril sword in his sheath, he followed along quietly and kept his mana sensory abilities turned on. There weren't many words exchanged between the soldiers, only a few muttered commands and quick hand signs were the norms.

The bloodhound was a massive animal, almost four feet tall on its hind legs and six feet in length. Its snout was massive and inspected the piece of clothing Natalie had given to Jensen from before, using it as a reference to detect any similar smells in the area. Inside the residential area, there were many low-rise buildings. Civilians peeked out from their houses as the soldiers traversed the streets with a sense of urgency.

After almost twenty minutes of vigilant searching, the bloodhound seemed to pick up a trail and began sniffing the air and leading them closer to the walls. Its pace grew faster and faster before beginning to growl.

"They're here. Spread out!" Jensen's subordinate said. The vampire brought out a vial of golden powder; pixie dust. Damien remembered the substance being on the illusionist after escaping Elway, and him cursing about how it wouldn't come off no matter how often he rinsed himself with water.

He threw the vial up in the air and threw something at it, forcing the vial to shatter into tiny pieces and spread all over the area. Damien's eyes were looking for any sign of movement, and Maxwell's hackles were raised at it seemingly prepared for a fight. The pixie dust eventually settled and revealed a few silhouettes along the wall. But that wasn't what Damien was looking at. His ears twitched and he could see some of the pixie dust clinging to an invisible foot trying to get away.

He sprung into action, bringing his sword low and shouting out his most powerful offensive skill.

"Shadow Smite!"

A wave of darkness exploded and quickly dispelled the invisible spy's camouflage. It revealed a hooded man cradling an injured arm. The other soldiers attacked the other silhouettes only to reveal that they were decoys. Damien's sword clashed with the enemy's dagger, but he was pushing him down with ease.

"You're coming with me," Damien said, his eyes flashing red for a brief moment.