Congratulations! Your ‘Poison Resistance’ Passive Skill is now Level 2.

“That is good news, Alan! You will now be able to withstand its paralyzing effect and probably survive for a longer amount of time,” the child-like voice in his head said, as Alan watched his HP bar slowly decrease.

“Great…” He panted, watching the color of his palms getting purple. “But I don’t plan on dying like this anymore…”

YOU DIED

Death by poison.

Death Penalty: 50% of your GOLD has been substracted from your account.

Gold balance: 4486

Fourth time is the charm.

As soon as he respawned at the mansion’s lobby, Alan ran towards the left corridor, dodging the eternally standing Housekeeper who yelled at him.

“Aaron, max the pistol’s firepower.”

“Right away, Alan. Auto-casting, Modding.”

Alan reached the library and kicked the doors open.

Professor Spiegel’s arachnid feet rattled as he turned to face him. “Back already? Very well, Mister Alan! You still have a lot to learn!”

Alan got into cover behind a bookcase, just as Spiegel released a venomous burst of venom that melted the wooden doors. Nope. Not anymore.

“Aaron, scan the area.”

“Roger,” the Anima said, materializing above Alan’s right shoulder. The small spirit with a skull for a head wearing a hazmat suit put on his goggles and looked at his surroundings. “Carnivorous books are coming this way, Alan. Five of them.”

“And I can’t hear Spiegel getting close. Either he hasn’t moved from his place, or…” Alan peeked from behind the bookcase, looking for the monster. “There he is, stuck to a wall. From that corner, he could shoot venom anywhere I run.”

“The books are getting close, Alan.”

He glanced at the living books rushing to bite his feet. Even though they were not strong enough to kill him, they had distracted before so Spiegel could deal the mortal blow. Why are his minions these things instead of little spiders?

Alan climbed to the top of the bookcase before the critters could reach him, getting into Spiegel’s field of vision.

“From that spot, my minions cannot attack you, but at the cost of becoming an easy target, my boy!” Spiegel shouted, preparing the stinger of his tail.

Alan pointed his pistol while listening to his charade.

“Aaron, let’s use ‘Quick-Thinking’.”

“Activated!”

Time passed faster inside his head, while his reached-out hand slowly moved into the desired position. “Is the pistol’s firepower maxed?”

“Yes. The next shot will destroy the weapon, though.”

“We have spares,” Alan replied, while aiming and slowly pressing the trigger. “I’m ready.”

The telepathic connection between Alan and his Anima returned to normal, and the carefully aimed shot destroyed Spiegel’s venom gland. The once erected tail fell lifelessly, as a green, thick liquid dripped from it, melting the floor.

He doesn’t have a reason to be up there anymore, so…

“This is not over yet! I can still fight!” Spiegel shrieked, jumping down and getting rid of his tail by ripping it off.

He’ll now knock down the bookcases.

Anticipating it, Alan started jumping one over the other while swapping the destroyed pistol for a double-barrel shotgun. “And just to be sure… Quick-Thinking again, now!” From atop the final bookcase, Alan carefully aimed at the unsuspected Spiegel and pulled the trigger.

The shot exploded the professor’s human head, but his arachnid body continued to contort in anguish. Alan patiently reloaded the shotgun, landed on that round, black body, and discharged another point-black shot.

Count Dylak's retainer, Professor Spiegel defeated!

Congratulations! You are now Level 10!

You got a new Active Skill, ‘Steady Shot’!

Oh, that’s a pleasant surprise, Alan thought while jumping down from the corpse and getting as far from the puddle of blood as possible. He walked towards the chair Spiegel was resting before the fight and found a book over the reading desk nearby. ‘Knowing your Enemy. Principles of War and Fighting…’

“The System has acknowledged your combined use of Quick-Thinking and aiming as a Personal Skill, Alan,” Aaron informed, hovering around his head. “Let me check the Skill’s info for you. Let’s see… Hmm… Yes! You won’t have to ‘manually’ activate Quick-Thinking anymore. Use ‘Steady Shot’ instead, and you will gain the same Fast-thought-process, a slower heart-rate, and a steadier hand.”

“No additional damage bonus, eh,” Alan said while skimming through the book.

“No, unfortunately.”

“Fine.” Alan saved the book inside his Inventory and hid his hands inside his orange Tactical Jacket’s pockets. “Scan this place and search for any metal object we could use.”

“Scanning… Are we going to craft more ammo?”

“Yes…” Alan whispered. “The Double-Barrel Shotgun worked, but it uses a lot of scrap metal.”

I crafted it as a response to my previous fight on Unus. After watching Bella fight with the pump shotgun, I realized I needed to be as agile as her to use it efficiently. This one needs to be fired at point-black and has only one shot, but is so much more powerful. A perfect ‘last defense’ for someone like me that fights at the back lines.

“But in this situation, it’s not optimal at all…”

“Although you have been brought to this dungeon to strengthen yourself, it renders your Mechanic skills useless,” Aaron commented. “I have finished marking every single metal object in this room.”

Alan equipped a pair of goggles that allowed him to see Aaron’s marked objects as glowing yellow silhouettes. “There is something weird about all this…” He said as he strolled towards a three-arm iron candelabrum. He saved it inside his inventory, and Aaron started working.

“Auto-Crafting: Ammo… What is weird about all this, Alan?”

“Why am I respawning here instead of New Unus Town? And why did Viola Lang suddenly reactivate this place? All this side of Eurola has been abandoned. Not even normal monsters spawn nearby…”

“I can answer the first question. Now that you are not a resident of New Unus anymore, the system automatically respawned you at the nearest Safe Zone in the area.”

Alan frowned. “Is this dungeon a Safe Zone now? Must be Viola’s work too.” He picked a small metal bust of an eagle and studied it absently. “When I met her, she said that she was planning on gradually upgrading every single monster into a NU… She visited the former Slime Village days ago to check on them, so, did she come here to do the same because it was inside the area? But that doesn’t explain why Count Dylak was looking for me. If these Dungeon NPCs gained autonomy, why are they still following their old programming?”

“Maybe Dungeon NUs behave differently from Wild NUs,” Aaron suggested. “Ammo crafting complete.”

“We wouldn’t get the answers if we asked Viola Lang herself. She strikes me as a very eccentric person…”

If Amelia heard me say that, she would say the same thing about me…

A faint smile formed on his lips, as the memory of her striking amber eyes and fiery red hair flashed in his mind. He exhaled deeply.

“The Mansion’s door won’t open until I kill all the bosses, right?” Alan turned towards the Library’s exit. “I’m not ready to face the Level 12 Housekeeper yet. Although Spiegel was only Level 9, he caused me so much trouble due to his venom and that ‘Creature of the Night’ Passive Boost… If I remember correctly, the twin maids are Level 8, but if they fight together, I won’t stand a chance. Let’s scout the mansion in search of a different boss.”

His spirit companion crossed his tiny arms. “Do you think there are others?”

“The existence of the Housekeeper proves it, and these kinds of places always feature a butler. Let’s--” The continuous sound of something acid stopped him in his tracks, and turned his gaze back at Spiegel’s discarded tail. “What’s up with that? Spiegel’s body has already vanished, but why is this still here?”

“It means it can be used.”

Alan quickly grinned. “Oh, yeah?”

“We would have to craft enhanced bullets that can hold the venom, using even more scrap metal.”

“Let’s do it, even if it means that we’ll carry less ammo. We’ll get plenty of supplies at our next destination, anyway… The kitchen.”