It's been two days since I got the lesser demon and yesterday he truly showed his worth. With all the drones working, we incorporate the demon I named Queror. It's a rather dumb name which I got from cutting up the word, 'conqueror,’ seeing as he was probably going to the fourth floor to conquer it and continue to grow. Anyway, with orders that restricted his use of large AoE spells, we let him fight as he wants, showing his fierce battle style. We entered the dungeon at 8:30, taking a very long route from floor 1 to 3 as we slowly grind the floors, gathering more and more bodies. When we killed over 50 imps on the second floor, we tell Queror to cast a spell to amplify his voice and scream into the corridors. It would gather up several large groups inside the room and make for exciting battles with less effort to look for the monsters. On the third floor, we head down a shortcut to a room with chance for variant water imps. We were lucky to find a few, but I wasn’t expecting for Queror to eat the corpse. It did show a feature of demons I didn't know though; he grows by eating prey. Tony bitched about losing Winged imp variants while Mirella and I were just a bit annoyed. He got stronger by a small bit so it would help later on, but still, that was mp lost. After clearing that room, we weaved through the corridors, slaughtering all in our way. We even found two lesser demons on the way. This time, unlike with the variants, Queror just removed the hearts from the corpses and ate them. When the clock on my wrist module hit 8 pm, we decided to go back up. Taking the shortest route back, we ascended quickly and left the dungeon. Upon leaving, we cashed in and paid for all the bodies. It was only back at the ship that we got a full body count. 1253 wingless imps, 186 wingless leaders, 473 winged imps, 86 winged leaders, 2 lesser demons, variants were all eaten by Queror.

Imp: 18795 mp (15 mp/per)

Leader imp: 5580 mp (30 mp/per)

Winged imp: 18920 mp (40 mp/per)

Winged leader Imp: 5160 (60 mp/per)

Lesser demon: 200 (100 mp/per)

Total: 48655 + 29100

Final: 77755 mp

As I thought, having a secondary mage that also is a close range fighter has a lot of benefits. The hunting speed is much higher and our fear of confronting a huge number of enemies decrease because we gained a quality fighter. The next day, we didn't go because Mirella's mother was coming over. She is going to help us figure out the best course of action to spend our MP. We already have enough mp to buy the outer shell of the ship. The initial purchase will also cause a size expansion to the ship, as well as adding the bridge while opening up more space for new facilities. We only held Tony from buying it by using the command to prohibit him from buying anything. Unlike city or dungeon cores, ship cores have the most expensive upgrades. Because everything is of advanced technology, the price is very steep. For this single upgrade to expand the ship size, the cheapest one would take 40k mp, while a dungeon expanding to a second floor would take 3k-9k. It depends on what type of floor was created. It was around nine in the morning that Mirella's mother arrived. She came alone, but in her hand was a holocube, which is a small palm sized computer that projects what is saved inside. The location for the talk was in the third floor kitchen. The AI and Tony were already waiting there when we lead Mirella to the place. "Alright, let's get to business quickly. Unlike your father, Mirella, I don't like to take things slowly." Mirella's mother said, wanting to get started right away. We sit opposite her on the table and she gets right to it activating the holocube. What appeared was a hologram of an Recruit class Explorer ship like my own. "This is the current ship you own. An 8 crew planetside adventurers explorer ship. Now, how large exactly do you girls think this ship will grow once you purchase his first expansion?" Mirella's mother asked. We looked at each other and shrugged. "Each core grows different sizes and shapes depending on the personality and how much was invested in it." I answer. "Correct, there is no fixed size because the first purchase has only a fixed minimal value of 40,000 mp. At this value with a tame core, it would turn into something like this." She says and activated a sequence in the holocube. This made the ship hologram grow by one third of its original size and forms a new floor below the captains floor. The rough old look of the outside turn brand new and it also looks like the thrusters got upgraded in the process. "At minimum value this is the extent of the changes. If you add 20k more it gets better." She said and the hologram shifted more. The ship widened, creating space for all the floors to further expand. The outer windows become bigger with windows built to last the lack of pressure of the vacuum of space. The total size increase for 60k compared to the original size is nearly 50% increase. "This is considered the ideal size for the first expansion. Any more would force the ship to stretch or could throw off the balance of the ship. Less than this is okay, but the with research done says this is the ideal size. Again this is my suggestion, so don't jump the gun." She said. "Now for the first added facility; for you girls, I would suggest a monster habitat to house that useful little demon I sensed when I entered the ship. If you pull all the facilities of the floor with the bridge up this floor can be outfitted with several kinds of habitats. From what I can guess from the feeling of your demon, the mystic research lab would be his best habitat and you could even benefit by him learning new spells. It has a room for him as well, kind of like a dormitory." She says. We both nod and Tony makes a hologram window appear showing the cost of that room. 10k was the minimal cost which is a small lab room that looked partially like a library with the book shelves and a room in the back with four beds for the occupants. "My second suggestion is a gym. This is mostly for my daughter but can be used for future crew mates. This is also important because in space if you get only a weak gravity generator you muscle and bone mass could decrease over time." She said and looked at Tony who made a new screen showed up. The Gym was made up of four rooms. Two bathrooms, the main gym with the gear and the storage for spare gear. The gym, coming with all the gear plus the construction fitting all the plumbing and lights, cost 30k minimal value. "Mom, what value in size would you suggest for each of those?" Megumi asked worried. "For the gym and lab? Minimal value because you won't need any more than that until you get more crew. You can expand later." She says. We sigh in relief. We can't get everything at once but two out of three is good. "Oi, is there anything that will let me build my own drones without paying up MP?" Tony asked serious for once. "Hmm...yes, once you expand a second time, you should unlock a drone construction station facility. It cuts down on cost for mana but you will also need the founder, and parts factory facility." She said. "Huh? What’s expanding got to do with what I can build?!" He asked annoyed. "It is like a city core or a dungeon. Dungeons can gain skills that help it change the layout of the dungeon so it wouldn't be a cave forever. For them it's after the third floor. A city is similar where they can't use magic power to construct large structures or a make certain kinds of business within the city without size, population and so on. The requirements vary from type of core, but ship ones need to expand their ship to access the next level of upgrades and facilities." She explains. A hologram shows up in front of Tony as he starts reading about the factory. "Huh? Minimal price 8k for a 7x10 workshop full of robots and I can use the factory to upgrade drones. Making parts from mp would make it cost more to build a new drone but upgrading one works nicely." He say with a grin. "You two can get the gym tomorrow or whenever you get the mp for it but besides the expansion and the shitty demons bedroom I'm buying that factory to upgrade my drones!" He says making damn well sure that he was doing that. "Well, I'm here just to make suggestions, but one thing I do want you two ladies to do is at least buy better armor and find a healer." She says. "Healer, as in someone with the alchemists or priest class?" "It doesn't have to be a priest or alchemists." She says. "You both should know that there are a lot of other classes with healing capability. Even other races would naturally have it as a racial ability without being a healer." We nodded and understood. What was important was that the person could use healing magic, it didn't have to be the a cliche adventurers party with a priest. Even a tamer could help on that party by taming animals and monsters to make something with healing capabilities. "Well, it seems I said everything I could. From what you told me, you seem to have a good bit of MP so you can purchase my suggestions but just work on it. Each ship is unique and this is simply a basic idea I made for you kids. I'll come see in a few days how you kids are doing and give a few ideas. Oh, and core boy, build and upgrade a good bit of drones and make defense systems. When a ship expands it shows the crew is doing well, and a few more… jealous… adventurers might not like that." She says and gets up. We follow her out, Tony right behind us. "Since we are already on this topic go call that little demon so we can expand the ship already." She says. "It's not exactly safe to be inside when he expand his size." I do as she suggests and we stop on the second floor. I pick up the demon and we leave the ship. Only his size was expanding so our things will be safe. When we leave, a drone with Tony controlling it came with us. We look up at the ship and instantly Mirella's mother pointed out the first problem to avoid. "Before you expand move to one of the mid sized ship zones. If you expand here you will damage other ships." She said. He didn't complain to that since it was true. The ship would nearly double in size, so it was obvious that it would need a wider space to dock. He turned on all the systems and soon the ship took flight. It went over the other ships and flew towards the much emptier section. Their ships were three times the size of our current ship was docked. Inside you could see large numbers of people walking around working. When the small ship arrived some of the people inside the other nearby ships looked out. It landed in the area was clearly for huge ships like those around it and everyone that saw it thought the captain was an idiot. When they saw a small group approach they wondered who they were, but the next moment when the ship began to release a small dull glow they understood what was going on. The dull recruit class ship rapidly grew wider and longer and increased one floor, space travel grade windows formed on the third floor and the dull colored outer shell changed colors to a brand new metallic dark red. The aerodynamics became sleek and looked similar more like a Fighter ship then an explorer class. The size of the ship doubled and now it fit better into the parking zone it had landed in. "Wow! This is a rather impressive model." Mirella's mother said. "GYAHAHAHAHAHAH!! This is epic, I couldn't change to fighter model ship but with the 60k I used I designed something nice for sure." Tony said proud. "Just make sure you don't make us look like a bandits ship! We are adventurers, don't forget that you moron." I shout his way. "Yes, yes, Captain Bitch!! I shall keep in mind that I also do not want to be marked!!" He said in a nonchalant sarcastic tone. "Oh and the upgrade helped miss AI go up a rank so from now on she will start showing some curiosity." Tony says. "Gyahaha! Maybe now I can train a quality maid." "A maid isn't a bad idea actually. Some people like to make AI's friends but maid types are quite loyal and the most organized." Mirella's mom said. "Not only that, they have a "Must protect my master" mentality which makes them exceptional when teaching them new things." For once I had to agree with Tony's strange tastes. We will probably need to make new AI or buy them but for now one is fine. "Now then Bitches!! I'm off to upgrade my drones. The demon crap's room is on the second floor and the new floor is non the third one. Cargo hold has doubled in size and Engine upgraded." He said quickly before the drone flew off into the cargo hold that was opening. "That fucking retard wasted no time." Mirella said annoyed. "I think we should consider him being happy something good. He will be busy for the rest of the day, so we get some peace and quiet. Since we need new armor and to restock potions anyway, want to take this time to do so?" I asked. "You think that is a good idea?" Mirella's mother asked. "He just upgraded and he will be investing in Drones. Shouldn't you three head to the first two floors and gather some MP for him to set up self defense systems?" Her suggestion was sound and yet we don't get much free time away from Tony. "If any of them send anyone to fight, it will be newbies they think are enough. If it's at that level he can handle them." I say making her smile. "Good it seems you understand the basics of how testing others is. Just be careful because not everyone "tests" another crew okay." Mirella's mom said. ""Okay~!"" We both say. "Now let's go see some new armor and I want to see if I can get a new wand and gun today." I tell Mirella who nodded and us three head to the town to go shopping. In the ship to the left of Tony. There were many of the crew who watched the expansion. Some of the crew were interested in seeing them grow, others not so much. This ship being one of the newbie transport ship that take weaker new recruits of the crew to dungeons to train help many recently graduated students. A party of eight long time friends also saw the expansion, and seeing just three people were part of a crew that owned a ship with a core hurt their pride. The leader of the group was an ex-high class citizen, so he had the basic thought process of a noble and his plans was to use this crew to gather funds and experience as well as followers. This is so that when he leaves the crew, he can immediately buy a large ship with a tame core and expand fast with a large crew. "Those three bitches need to know that life ain't easy! Let's get the Lieutenants permission to "test" that ship! We might get lucky and snag the ship for ourselves and make it kill the original crew." Their leader said. He and his party ran through the wide perfectly white corridors of the spaceship until they reached the lieutenants office. They knock and get permission to enter after the voice of a woman calls. Inside sat a beautiful woman with bright blonde hair and just slightly tanned skin while she wore the lower part of her armor which was a tight uniform that showed her every curve. Her navy blue eyes pierced into the recruits that came in. This woman was a lieutenant because she was part of a huge crew. After reaching a certain size, army ranks were applied within the crew and the amount of different ranks within a crew shows how large it is. "Is there something you boys need?" She asked indifferently. "Well, we would like to test the ship core of the crew that just expanded their ship. It was a recruit class ship so we were wondering how good it was." He said lying. The lieutenant looked at him for a moment then she called the ship's AI. "Is there something you need, lieutenant?" The AI said appearing through a hologram. The AI had curiosity in its eyes and it looked around and at the boys. She was at the C rank stage, which gave her curiosity similar to a child. "By chance did you get video feed of the crew of the ship these boys mentioned?" The lieutenant asked. "Yes ma'am, would you like to see them. I can also run their faces through the planet's system to get adventurer rank and name?" The AI suggested. "Please do." The lieutenant replied. The next moment a hologram screen appeared showing a close up video shot of Leah, Mirella, her mom and Leah's slave demon. "Leah Binoli, F rank and Captain of the ship. Mirella Cannes, F rank and first mate. Chroma Cannes… retired?" The lieutenant read the information out loud, confused by the name of the last person. The name sounded familiar but she didn't know from where. "Pull up information about this woman." The lieutenant ordered. Several screens appeared. Moments later her eyes went wide and she paled a bit. "A rank...thought to be S rank in strength...retired from...the Dominion Felix...Mercenary crew." The lieutenant said pale. "You are NOT to get near that ship!! This woman is far too dangerous to make an enemy and her daughter is in that crew! Am I understood!" She orders. All the boys tensed up. The leader of the boys, not wanting to give up, asked, "Ma'am how long ago was that report made? If she is retired the her A rank status should have gone down with age." He says. His answer was received after being punched square in the face and being thrown into the wall outside of the room. "Let me tell you brats something. An ogre...no an Oni, only stops growing stronger the day they die. That report was 16 years ago. Her strength easily reaches the strength of the admirals, understood!?" She says. Now all the boys were sweating buckets and the leader that was punched was plugging his nose due to the bleeding. "This is my one and only warning, if you brats, "test" the ship, you are expelled from the crew and we won't cover for you. Also unlike the city dungeons, those little crystals that keep you alive won't work inside him and he will try to kill you. If he is above your mediocre strength you WILL die!" She shouts. "Now begone from my sights." She tells the crew and turns to the AI, "tell everyone that testing them is forbidden." "Understood." The AI says and vanishes. The next moment the AI's voice appeared all over the ship. "Good morning everyone! A recent ship just expanded and lieutenants orders are not to get near. That is all." She says and the voice goes quiet. As for the group, they leave and take their leader to the infirmary to heal his nose that was broken by the punch. "That… bitch!! Tomorrow… we will… show her there… is nothing to fear!" The leader of the group says while being supported by his friends. They all wore worried expressions but no one spoke back.