It took two days before Rose thought she was ready for Lucas was prepared to leave for Mt. Tippyton. Lucas had decided to wait until Rose had some minions ready to keep The Commons safe from wandering monsters before leaving and Rose had strongly agreed.

It had taken the full two days, with the assistance of Mason, to get her robots ready. When Lucas saw them, he thought that they weren’t much to look at. Due to the relative lack of metal when compared to the number of robots Rose wanted to build, the frames, shells, and other large parts were constructed out of wood wherever possible. This led to the unusual situation of having a larger number of robots built than the weight of metal would lead one to believe was possible, even if they were much easier to break.

Rose ended up with 15 robots.

“Are you sure you want to send some of your robots with me?” said Lucas.

I am very sure. The robots I selected to go with you are built for mining. So as soon as you get them to the mine, we can start producing more iron and whatever else is in the mine.

“Are wooden robots any good for mining? Do they even have the durability for it?”

They all have a few dungeon Nanobots inside them. As long as they aren’t destroyed, their state of repair, which shows as a health level when you inspect them, will slowly creep upwards when they are not doing anything. You could always use Cleanse to speed the repair along if you need to since they are technically objects… Now that is a very interesting loophole that we will have to investigate later.

“What Loophole?” asked Sarah

‘Healing’ robots by cleansing them instead of using light magic to heal. Lucas could be both Magus and Healer for a party of robots. Anyway, Lucas, before you leave, I need you to sign the contract with me. It’s not really anything nefarious or anything, it just establishes that you are working on my behalf, so I can earn EXP.

“So, I guess I only have one real question about this Rose. Will this reduce the EXP that I earn?”

I don’t know the answer to that.

“You’re a system object now, ask the system.”

A few minutes later, Rose was able to give Lucas a response. I forget I can do that. Yes, it will impact the EXP you earn, but only until I pick up the Dungeon Skill that counteracts that issue. You will get roughly 75% of your standard experience attributed to the skills you used, I will get 25% of your experience.

Annnd a second message from the System helpfully revealed it on my Tech Tree. I will need to get to the fourth tier on the Tech Tree to pick that up. I have at least one thing I want to get before that, but it’s on Tier 3 anyway. Hopefully, I can jump over to it from the Dungeon Crystal path.

Oh. A third message from the system revealed more of my tech tree. I don’t think the system was supposed to do that one, but instead of the question marks for the tiers I can’t buy yet, I can see everything until Tier 4. Somebody really likes answering your questions, Lucas. The message did let me know that I can’t cross between the legs of the tech, so I am going to have to decide what I want to do first.

Ultimately, I’m going to need at least 1450 EXP to get the penalty removed. But I will need to spend a couple hundred elsewhere before I can start towards that. Sub Dungeons and Dungeon Teleport fields sound especially useful once you get to the mine. I also want to unlock my EXP boost and the Research AI to start developing blueprints for reward items and better gear. It is also imperative that we get the Dungeon Shield back online, which costs 650 EXP. I will focus all of my EXP on upgrades, but that means that I will not be leveling up myself for quite some time. I am capped out at level 4 for upgrades until I am at least level 2. I think I would be capped at level 3 if not for the system revealing the EXP penalty removal on my fourth upgrade tier.

“I don’t think I have much choice. If I don’t sign your contract, you won’t advance much. If I do, it’s really just a short-term penalty. And I agree, if you can teleport back and forth from the Mine it would make this whole thing much easier. Considering we just fixed it, I’m going to be the one to ask, what’s the power requirement?” said Lucas.

I will get EXP from my Minions since they don’t level, and I have to spend EXP on them somehow to upgrade each individual, not sure how that works yet since they haven’t earned any EXP, but you’re right on the power requirement. I will probably need to build more power generation capacity. I wonder if a windmill or a solar panel would do better in the mine area… But I digress. I, Rose, hereby offer a Freelancer contract to Lucas.

“And I accept,” replied Lucas.

With a flash, a pop-up forced its way out of the Notifications queue and in front of Lucas's face.

System Message

Congratulations, you have contracted with a Dungeon Master. You are now a Freelancer for The Common Good.

You may end this contract at any time by informing. Rose, the Dungeon Master

Your EXP will be reduced by 25% under this revision of the contract.

Immediately followed with another when he dismissed the first notification.

System Message

Due to becomes a Freelancer, a long-term buff must now be shown.

Familiar Blessings: -100% EXP gain in High Tech Skills; +100% EXP gain in System supported skills

“Ug... Rose… Do you remember when I told you my skills level fast?” asked Lucas.

No... I don’t think you ever actually mentioned that…

“Apparently I have a permanent buff to EXP for System selected skills, but a permanent penalty applied to all EXP I could earn for non-system selected skills.”

Is that why your records said you had problems with Energy Weapons and Guns…

“Ugh… Yes. I wish you would delete those records.”

But they are so much fun to tease you with.

“I’m sorry, what are we talking about,” interjected Sarah.

“I can’t earn EXP for skills and technologies the system has locked out. Which was a problem before but doesn’t have any negative impact on me at all now. It really doesn’t make any sense, though... Who would have known ahead of time that it would benefit me…”

Unless the person to which we are referring always intended to destroy High-Tech weapons. Maybe he used Hades as an excuse to do what he was going to do anyway.

“I… could see that,” said Lucas slowly. “Guns were not well-loved by some members of our family. I mean we supported the second amendment and all that, but nobody owned a gun.”

“Excuse me again. Hi, I’m Sarah. Can we speak plain English? What is a Gun? What is the Second Amendment?”

It’s something from my time. It’s not really something you need to worry about.

“Well, if we don’t need to talk about it, let's get going, we are burning daylight. Lucas, are you going to post anything at the Hero’s guild asking for help in this quest, or are you going solo?”

“I don’t know how I would explain the robots,” replied Lucas.

“That’s what I thought. May I suggest then, taking Brandy and Ralph. They both actually have combat skills. And while neither one of them has any significant affinity to speak of, Brandy has unlocked Light Affinity and some basic healing. If you have the Robots pull the wagon, you can have her cultivate during the daylight hours to improve her affinity.”

“What do you mean, by the time I get to the mine? It’s like a day-long trip at best. It’s like 3.5 miles west. It’s artificial as all get out since it wasn’t there before the fall, but it’s right near old U.S. 31 used to run,” said Lucas.

“Surprisingly, I followed all of that. The pathway known as ‘us 31’ which Sarah pronounced us instead of U.S. “is fraught with danger. There are many high-level monsters camped along the path of terror. Regardless, we have to cross a dry river bed, get to the far side of a lake, and get around to the front side of an artificial mine. We may even have to climb up it a little way. I’m not really sure where the mine entrance is at.”

“So, a day of travel and a day of searching for the entrance?” asked Lucas.

“What you are forgetting is the day that will be spent fighting off attacking monsters once you get much further to the west. I’m guessing 3 days will get you there if you are harried constantly by monsters. From the village, we would take Rocky Road, west until the road ended and then cross the woods to get there while avoiding ‘us 31.’ From here, it depends on what exit you take from The Commons. If you want to hide the entrance on the village side, I’d set out on the opposite side of the river. Which saves you from having to cross the river downstream but includes more time in the woods and leaves you closer to the abandoned mansions for a time.”

“Didn’t Joe tell me there weren’t any bridges to the south? Was he telling the truth?” asked Lucas.

“Yes, there are no bridges to the south, but the river gets shallow enough you can walk across and keep your head above the water as long as it is not flooding. That’s enough to stop Monsters, but not enough to stop the miners.”

“So excuse my ignorance, but are there no monsters in the river?”

“The dome over this dungeon… Oh. There are probably monsters in the river now, but the dome used to block the monsters from coming downstream with the water. I’d go north. I wouldn’t want to fight monsters in the water,” said Sarah. “We need to tell Esfield about the monsters as soon as possible.”

“North it is, Rose do you agree? Sarah, you can go tell Esfield about the monster potential after we get back. Just mention you saw one get past the barrier rather than anything more specific.”

Your analysis is excellent. I agree.

“Do you still think it will be days versus a day?” asked Sarah.

I still think it will take you at least a day to do it safely. Regardless of the speed which you could make the trip, my robots do have a limited top speed based on their construction materials. They can pull almost anything at that speed, they just don’t get faster… I think it’s a system-imposed limit as opposed to a physical limit. If the wooden robots continuously walk without anything in their way, and without having to stop, they would reach the mine in around 12 hours. Before you ask, the fighters are not nearly that slow, just the mining robots, and everything is faster inside the dungeon itself. Slow isn’t a problem for the mining bots when they are supposed to stand in one place and mine...

‘Alright, I guess. Sarah, can you get me enough rations and canteens for a two-week trip for me, Brandy, and Ralph. I don’t think I will be gone that long, but better safe than sorry. Can you get the wagon over to the main exit? I’m not sure how you will get it there though. Load it into the wagon and get the Robots hitched up, and I will go talk to Brandy and Ralph.

I’ll take care of the wagon. I will have two of my bigger bots carry it.

“While we are talking about it, we will at least need to pretend that ore is going back and forth between the mine and here. We probably need to send shipments to the town every so often. Can you get another couple wagon’s built if you have time? Hopefully, the land behind us won’t have many monsters on it, and the wagons will be able to run with minimal protection,” requested Lucas.

I’m on it. I will have my bots grab some basic combat gear for Brandy and Ralph and put that on the wagon too. I may not have anything caster appropriate yet, but I think Ralph is going to be a defender based on Sarah’s reports.

“That’s pretty good group composition. A defender, a healer, and a really hard-hitting damage dealer,” said Lucas.

“That’s why I suggested it, Lucas,” replied Sarah. “If you clear the Mine, Brandy and Ralph can probably qualify as heroes for Esfield. They do that, and you get a lot of credibility as a positive force for the area. I don’t know that Esfield has ever had three active heroes in the area at the same time. It may even buy you enough goodwill to reveal that you are based out of a dungeon. One that you’ve cleared solo. If not, clear a couple more dungeons, and you should be there.”

“OK. We will go with that plan. Let me talk to Brandy and Ralph and get them on board… Um... which ones were Brandy and Ralph again?” asked Lucas.

Sighing, Sarah responded, “Brandy is the one who is on the shorter side. Maybe 5 foot and 1 inch. Ish. She’s got sand-colored hair and is thin as a rail. Well, except for certain rather large assets.”

Before Sarah could answer on Ralph, Rose jumped in. You watched Football, right? Of course you did. Ralph is built like a linebacker. Wide, tall, and looks like he can take a hit. He’s heavily muscled because he was previously a slave in a mine. He’s probably got some relevant skills for clearing the mine. The only former slave who is taller than you.

“What’s a Linebacker?” asked Sarah

“Uggggh. Rose, can you teach her enough about our time, or give her a dictionary or something, so that she can answer these questions herself?” sighed Lucas.

Giggling, Rose replied Sure Lucas. We’ve got plenty of wood to make paper, so I will have my Dungeon Nanobots print out an encyclopedia. I’ll have one of my AI’s build it. On another note, before you head off, anything you want me to focus my nanobots on while you are gone?

“IF, and I stress if, you can, try and figure out a way to grow crops on sub-level 7 after the village gets started on sub-level 8. That would give us some internally protected crops just in case we have to close the place up,” requested Lucas. “Please try and get the running water all set up if possible too.”

I’m going to have to take at least one option besides the XP penalty elimination to get that done. But it’s pretty cheap. I’ll consider taking that early on, and we’ll see where we end up.

“I will see the two of you over at the wagon. Let me go grab Ralph and Brandy,” stated Lucas.

It was pretty easy to find both Ralph and Brandy, they were both hanging out on the seventh level. Ralph seemed to be hauling logs, and Brandy seemed to be, well Lucas wasn’t quite sure what Brandy was doing, but it wasn’t hauling logs. She was clearly attempting to help Ralph haul the log, but she was as clearly way too short to be effective at it. Ralph didn’t seem to mind her presence, but she was definitely not being productive.

“Ralph, Brandy, after you get that tree trunk wherever it is going, I need to talk to you,” said Lucas as he stepped in to lend Ralph a hand.

“Thanks, Boss,” replied Ralph.

“Yes,” said Brandy breathily, “Thanks’ Lucas.”

Sighing, Lucas said “I’ve got a mission for you two if you want to accept it. I’m about to head out to the mine. I’d like to help you grow into Heroes if you have the potential. I’ve got some gear upstairs for you, and we can slip out to Esfield to buy something if we have to before we go.”

Almost before he could finish his sentence, Ralph replied, “I’m in. I’ve a shield that I have made since we arrived at the suggestion of the Dungeon Master. She supplied the metal and the assembly, but I carved the wood for the body.”

“And I too am in,” replied Brandy as she sashayed towards Lucas. “I have little training in steel, but I have enough Light affinity to cast a few healing spells.”

“Especially if I can train in light affinity on the way,” purred Brandy

“Pack your things then. I’ve got rations on the way. Meet me by the main door in 30 minutes, if we need to go buy something, we will head out from there,” turning to a nearby speaker, Lucas asked, “Rose, do these two need to sign contracts or are they good as is because they are in my party?”

I think they are good as is, but they are welcome to sign Freelancer contracts if they wish. We honestly might want all the villagers here sign Freelancer papers… Those signatures make it impossible for my non-robotic minions to attack, rather than just exceedingly unlikely. And since you have signed a freelancer contract with me, said Rose with a squee, I’ve unlocked cats!

“Even if it takes us a few hours before we are ready to go. Let’s get it done then, I’d hate to see any villagers mauled by a cat.”