“Have fun you two, but please be careful.”

“I’m always careful.”

“Aye, he’s right, it’s just his luck that is terrible.”

After receiving a smooch on the cheek from Elodia, Roland was ready for the small one-man expedition. Next to him was his canine companion that was itching to sink his teeth into some salamander meat. Ever since getting back home, Agni had become restless. It was clear that he couldn’t wait to have another adventure with his master, just the two of them as it usually was.

“Agni calm down! You’re knocking down the tools…”

“He is just excited to go outside.”

Elodia placed her hand on Agni’s head which was now covered by a silvery metallic helmet. It covered quite a bit of his head with an empty spot for the large red gem sticking out at the forehead area. His forelegs were covered by plates of metal to protect him from attacks. For his torso and belly, he had a large chainmail jacket with more armored plating for the top parts.

Normally it would be problematic to place this much armor onto a beast that relied on agility. The added weight to the legs and body would normally cause Agni to be much slower and prone to getting hit. However, thanks to all the buffing spells that the wolf-barding had, he would be even stronger. These took a set amount of MP but were worth the increase in stats. Thanks to the mystical evolution variant, mana was not a problem.

“Wish we could do something about that tail… someone could lose an eye…”

The biggest problem with his wolf was the large tail that was moving like a propeller. Whenever the wolf got excited he would cause damage to anything that was behind him. If someone was smacked by that mass of organic rubies they would be in for some damage.

“Hey boss, that thing looks a bit off… are you sure that won’t be a hindrance?”

While packing up Bernir pointed toward Roland’s shoulder-mounted cannon. It was a testing product so he decided to stick with one for now. To balance it out he had to increase the weight on his right shoulder for the time being. For a blacksmith like Bernir the added contraption threw the whole design off, it just didn’t look all that great and didn’t quite fit the aesthetic.

“When I finish testing it, we can try designing something more eye-catching, if you want you can try drawing up some schematics.”

“Schematics… hah, I’m not really good with those…”

“Well, there is always time to learn new skills.”

Usually, Roland was the one that came up with the designs and put them on paper. Then Bernir along with Dyana would give their opinions if it needed altering. His two helpers used a more hands-on approach with not planning things out.

“Hm, perhaps I’ll just make it before you come back Boss, I’d rather use my hammer.”

“If you say so, just don’t forget to finish your daily quota, we have been getting more requests lately, there have been a lot more new adventurers.”

“No problem, you’ll have a mountain of swords to inscribe runes on when you return!”

Roland smiled at Bernir who started flexing his muscles. He would not be gone for more than a week but that didn’t mean that his assistants couldn’t produce a bunch of weapons for him to work with. With their skills increasing and thanks to the runic power tools, the manufacturing process had gotten a lot faster.

“How is our new guard doing?”

“Ah, she is… trying…”

Before going towards the tunnel Roland turned his head towards Elodia. Grisalde his previous party member was on guard duty. Without her there he would not feel comfortable just leaving for a week again.

“Just tell her not to start fights with the customers, I know that she has a short fuse… and if something happens then.”

“You don’t need to worry boss, we’ll be fine.”

“That’s right, have a safe trip and please be careful.”

Both Elodia and Bernir quickly replied to stop him from talking. He had prepared some magical weapons for each one of them to use in the worst-case scenario. After hearing the same explanation multiple times, everyone was tired of hearing it.

“Is that so? Okay then, Agni let’s go.”

“AWOO!”

After hitting a few hammers from the wall stand Agni was ready for some adventure. The door shut behind the two as they entered the narrow corridor. There was not much space to maneuver which forced them to walk behind one another. It was made more difficult due to an overzealous wolf that decided to just bolt forward while leaving him behind.

“Agni…”

Roland could only sigh to himself while checking the third companion that was slowly stomping behind him. It was the same fat mule golem that he had most of his golems and utensils in.

“There he goes… I guess it’s you and me big guy.”

The golem did not reply as it just continued to lumber behind him. This golem was not alive, it was just a complicated program that responded to voice commands. Yet Roland knew that there was a possibility to make it more life-like. There were records of intelligent runic constructs in this world. If they were creatures with actual intelligence was still debatable, it could just be a very intricate program that had an answer for everything.

However, there was a possibility there. Some mages could summon creatures into this world that were able to communicate with them. Perhaps after reaching a high enough tier he could produce more intricate runes that could simulate a human brain or something close to it. If it was possible to create living organisms with the help of magic, then it should also be possible with runes.

‘Doesn’t seem like it’s that far-fetched, I wonder how much more I’ll be able to make after I figure out tier 3 rune stacking.’

This was something that he was looking forward to. For the time being, he was unable to recreate tier 3 runes even though his debugging skill still worked on them. He somewhat knew the theory behind the stacking but he could not perform this task without a higher-tier runesmithing skill. Yet considering that he was able to create tier 2 runes as a tier 1 runic blacksmith. Perhaps it would be possible to create tier 4 runes as a tier 3 class holder.

‘With tier 4 runic magic there wouldn’t be many people that could go against me… but I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t possible.’

The professor at the magical academy couldn’t provide him with tier 4 runic knowledge. His knowledge ended at tier 3, without any help Roland would need to get a tier 4 rune to examine. Due to the high rarity, they had astronomical costs applied to them and the craftsmen capable of crafting them were considered geniuses. Apparently, the tier 4 structures were so complex that making one item could even take years.

“Awoof!”

His contemplations were ended by Agni’s dog-like bark. They were at the end of the tunnel that still needed some work. The area was made a bit more spacious so that his mule golem along with Agni could stand to the side.

“This part needs some work…”

The tunnel ended with no exit, there were just magical lights pointing toward a somewhat unsuspecting-looking wall. When glancing onto his radar Roland could not see anything behind it but this was certainly the spot. To get past this point, some drilling would be needed. Without taking a break the golem was opened up and a large portable drill of immense size was taken out.

After pressing the large mining tool against the wall he started working. The large drill part sunk into the hard wall that would not be able to last for long. Together with earth magic that allowed him to move the softer dirt out of the way it didn’t take long to get to the other side. The thickness of this wall was below that of a meter and not really a problem.

“This should do it…”

After creating a few other holes he filled them up with runic scrolls. Soon with the help of a small controlled explosion the path was opened up. Only after stepping through the human-sized opening did his radar register what was on the other side.

This was a hidden chamber on the second level of the Albrook Dungeon. Roland had mapped the entirety of it along with the hidden pathways that no one had discovered yet. The lack of runemages and runesmiths within the adventurer ranks was very convenient.

Just like the secret underground mining area and its walls, this one would reform itself after a while. Roland had considered placing a thick door between it to stop from it closing up. The dungeon was unable to absorb inorganic matter and he had already tested it by shoving a long tube through it.

After the wall was reformed the tube remained stuck in it throughout the entire length. The reason why he decided against it was for safety. The secret passages could always be discovered in the future. If he left a door here then the pathway towards his workshop would also be discovered.

He did not want to explain why he created the tunnel in the first place even though he had a reason besides the mining area. There was of course a way to place a door here while safeguarding his secret. Yet that would require placing traps to collapse the tunnel that he worked for years on, which he was unwilling to do.

The other option was to place the explosives inside of the dungeon. Considering that inorganic magical tools would not be eroded by the dungeon it was possible. The problem with that approach was that there was nothing holding people back from trying to enter into the hidden area again. In the end, he would still need to collapse the tunnel he worked on.

‘Perhaps on the way back I can finalize the pathway, it won’t be easy to get the thermal energy out.’

While thinking about the next venture he opened up an unsuspecting chest. It contained an iron dagger, something that he usually received from this low-level area. These chests were random drops and there was a small chance of getting something good like the egg Agni hatched from. Yet for now, he had not been able to get anything else on his level.

“Another one to my collection… I think this makes the 6th iron dagger with the exact same design.”

After tossing the dagger into his mule golem he looked towards the opening. The eye sockets of his armor began glowing as he started up his aiming device. A spot above the entrance was locked on and his shoulder cannon began moving.

First, it raised itself from the folded position it was on. The small limb pointed upwards while adjusting its position on the lower circular joint. It took around a second for it to get into the right spot before firing a charged orb of mana. The blue projectile collided with the rocks causing a small cascade effect. Soon the entrance that he came through was hidden from view and even if someone came here they would not be able to spot his tunnel.

‘Everything seems to be in order.’

Roland looked at the display screen that was showing him some basic figures about his new weapon. The output of how much mana it drained could be adjusted and he could shift to a different element for the spell it was designed for. There was no reason to add any special effects, a ball of concentrated energy that did a massive amount of damage was enough.

“Let’s go Agni, I need to perform some tests.”

With now being inside the dungeon he needed to get to the secret area. Regretfully it was impossible to make a tunnel that directly connected to the mining area. This was the most he could do as this chamber was the closest to his home. He would need a lot more time to burrow further down to connect to the huge underground lava zone.

The room he was in was connected to another hidden zone through which he could get to the sixth floor. From there he needed to take a few more shortcuts to reach the boss room. The boss was being constantly farmed by the adventurer guild which made getting through it an easy task.

“I really need to get those spatial runes working…”

“Awoo!”

While Agni was guarding the outside he was trying to squeeze the fat golem through the secret room's opening. He had to start carrying it when going down the stairs and some places continued to be a tight fit. Luckily with his radar system, it wasn’t hard to evade snoopy adventurers that were littering the various pathways.

‘There are a lot more of them lately, good that I prepared already.’

The monsters on these ten levels were too weak to produce any worthwhile experience so he left it up to Agni to clear the path. It was a funny sight when a few newbies were spooked by that large Dire Wolf that was one shooting monsters they were having trouble with. To his surprise, while passing by he was also recognized by some of them. There weren’t many people wearing runic armor that also had a wolf covered in rubies as a pet in town, so this was something that he would need to get used to.

From the sixth floor, he arrived at the seventh and made his way towards another special spot. It looked like a dead end but in reality, it was another shortcut that he could take. Instead of pressing a hidden button though he brought out the large hammer that he had recently created.

After making sure that there was no one close by he raised it up. The hammer head started glowing in a blue hue like most of the runic items that he made. With it being charged up he brought it down directly in front of the ground. One hit was all it took as a large chunk of rock exploded on the spot to create a hole.

Through this hole, he made his way towards the eighth level and quickly continued through another hidden path towards the boss chamber. With the whole ten levels mapped by his runic armor, he was able to find thin walls and ceilings through which it was possible to break through. What would normally take him a whole day only took one hour as he was already in the open lava zone.

‘Luckily most of the new adventurers are still only tier 1, this place hasn’t changed that much, now only the most annoying part remains.’

As always he arrived late at night when most of the adventurers were going back to town. He had already rigged the entire lava lake area with mapping devices to detect anyone that could be watching. Yet perhaps in the future this would also not be a requirement as there was another entrance to the mining area that was usable just harder to access.

“Let’s go Agni!”

“Woof!”

With the golem hosted above his head and an additional concealment spell cast, he made a run for it. With his current enhancements and increased stats, the trip to the center was quite short, within a matter of minutes both he and his wolf were in the safe underground location.

“Calm down Agni, I’ll need you to stay in the back for a moment.”

“Wooo?”

Agni was confused as this was the part where he could always let loose. The monsters inside weren’t anything that he couldn’t handle and the path was usually cleared out by him. Roland had other plans though, the shoulder-mounted cannon needed to go through some live testing. The monsters on the inside were perfect to test against moving targets.

Magma Troglodyte

L65

“Perfect.”

The first monster appeared, it was a volcanic variant of the Troglodyte reptilian monster that could be encountered in the higher levels. They were slightly larger than their unevolved counterparts and could also spit magma. Yet when faced with the shoulder cannon they weren’t able to put on much of a struggle.

Within a moment the portable shoulder turret took aim toward the monster’s head. The blue orb caused the tunnel to be illuminated long enough for the monster to look at the shining light. Its head instantly exploded causing chunks of flesh to splatter all over the walls and floor. Roland's current level and stats enhanced the cannon's power, a difference of more than fifty levels was impossible to resist.

Perhaps he overestimated the agility of the monsters here but almost all of them went down with one shot. Even with a grazing wound the monsters would become sluggish and succumb to the next blast.

‘Good… it won’t have trouble with enemies like this but probably won’t do that much against something at my level, but I should test it further…’

“Agni, you can go ahead now, let’s go visit our dear friend.”

Agni’s tail started moving as a propeller as he was finally allowed to toss himself into battle. Roland would support him from the back to make their journey faster and if everything went well, it would be time to face the boss in single combat.