Darius' train of thought was quite simple actually. Since they couldn't easily escape, as that was what their spiritual senses were warning them against, he would rather choose the battlefield in which he would fight.

Immediately, he set up a few Temporary Spatial Arrays in case his ability to teleport would be blocked like that one time Thanatos had decided to punish him.

​​

He would never forget that bitter lesson...

However, that wasn't the only thing he did. Illusion Arrays, Distortion Arrays, Killing Arrays, and others soon filled the place.

Most of these were creations from Pan's Immortals, since they seemed to love these arrays or formations as they called them there.

Since Pokterr accepted all methods, he would use every resource from every continent he could acquire or transmute here. Speaking of Transmutation…

Darius placed his hand to the floor of the cavern they were currently in.

[Would you like to change the Empty Artificially Created Cavern into a Faraday Cage? This will cost 189 Conversion Points.]

Darius didn't even hesitate to pay for it. Immediately, the room shifted from one of rock to metal, and its size contracted slightly.

Some cameras, three beds, and some mechanical supplies were present. There was a small bathing chamber and toilet, as well as nozzles in every corner of the room to spray disinfectant.

A Faraday Cage was basically an enclosure used to block electromagnetic fields. A Faraday Cage may be formed by a continuous covering of conductive material, or in the case of a Faraday Cage, by a mesh of such materials like the metal that his Transmutation used which was the best in Faust for such a purpose.

They were used to screen for various forms of radiation and had the nifty purpose of isolating a target from others. You could take it as a sort of hi-tech quarantine room.

Why did Darius waste so much CP on this? Well, the answer was quite simple. As stated earlier, Faraday Cages blocked electromagnetic radiation. Since this place had none of that, how could it be an issue?

Darius removed an item from his inventory with a smile.

[Nuclear Electromagnetic Warhead - Technological

Durability: 30/30

Quality: Perfect

Damage: 40,000-500,000

Description: A prototype nuclear electromagnetic pulse from the continent of Gravitas that is not yet ready for military use due its volatility. Created through pure Transmutation.]

This was a costly device Darius had transmuted in part, because its cost surpassed 1000 CP straight from nothing. He'd had to create some of the parts himself with Miranda's help and then transmuted the rest.

He could have transmuted each part individually and let Miranda built the rest with her database of knowledge, but he had made this long ago, when he had still been on Fallon.

He had only just digested all the restricted info, so if he wanted to start a proper arms race, he would need to return to Fallon and settle down after this Quest.

Darius tossed the warhead into the bathroom, them removed another from his Inventory and hid it under the bed, then took out another then placed it in the laundry basket. He eventually placed over 20 NEWs in the room, which was his total stock.

Then Darius checked the Supreme System quickly to see the progress he and his Brand Servants had made slaughtering all those Adept bugs and even some Masters that came up to intercept them.

[You have gained 687,342 EXP, etc.]

[Gunner has gained 687,342 EXP, etc.]

[Xela has gained 687,342 EXP, etc.]

[You have leveled up x172! You are now level 40(+195). You have gained 17.2 Ability Points and Skill Points to spend as you wish!]

[Gunner has leveled up x171! He is now level 40(+255). He has gained 17.1 Ability Points and Skill Points to spend as he wishes!]

[Xela has leveled up x172! She is now level 40(+255). She has gained 17.2 Ability Points and Skill Points to spend as he wishes!]

With the infusion of new points, Darius decided to invest some while they were here, otherwise if anything unexpected happened, it would be too late to allocate anything else. As such, he made some changes to their collective character sheets.

[Name: Darius Stone

Race: Ancestor Dragon (Fledgling)

Stage: Journeyman

Class: Itemancer

Subclass: Magus

HP: 10,000/10,000 (5,000 HP Surplus)

MP: 17,600/17,600 (+1,600) (35,200 MP Surplus)

STA: 4,000/4,000

Level: 40(+195)

Experience: 2,525/4,000

Strength: 100

Agility: 150

Endurance: 100

Intellect: 440 (+40)

Charisma: 100

Luck: 100

Physical Status: Healthy

Mental Status: Focused.

AP: 1.5 (-40)

SP: 49.5 (-10)

Active: Elemental Breath - Lv.40, Analyze Lv.40, Combine - Lv.40, Lightning Bolt - Lv.40, Group Teleportation - Lv.40, Spawn - Lv.20, , etc

Passive: Magical Mastery - Lv.20, Elemental Control - Lv.20, Draconic Regeneration - Lv.30 (+10), Spell Enhancement - Lv.100, Spell Mastery - Lv.100, Mageward Barrier - Lv.100, Spirit Barrier - Lv.100, Channeling - Lv.1, Basic Lancer Arts - Lv. 4, Weapons Mastery - Lv.1, Unarmed Mastery - Lv.1, etc

Abilities: Transmutation (Intermediate), Dragon Transformation (Intermediate), Limit Release (Intermediate), Super Instinct (Intermediate), Man of Steel (Intermediate), Intermediate Psychomancy (Advanced), Metamorph (Intermediate), Divine Favor (Intermediate).]

Darius did not do too much to himself because there was not much to add really. He increased his Intellect once more and even took out some potions that would boost his Int significantly for battle purposes.

[Rare Intelligence Boost Potion - Consumable

Durability: 50/50

Description: A superb quality creation of Alchemy that grants a 30-minute Focused state, increasing Intellect by 90% and lowering Strength and Endurance by 5%. Created through pure Transmutation.]

Unlike the Intellect Boost which was used to increase learning IQ, this one that increased battle capabilities came with inescapable drawbacks, which was why Darius hardly used them.

However, now was not the time to be conservative, so he guzzled one down and shook his body. In terms of skills, there was nothing he could increase much apart from his Dragon bloodline skill, of which he chose Draconic Regeneration.

Really, out of all the options he had, it was the best one. Now, his natural regen per second had increased to 150% from 100%.