Finally, after working on it for a week, my weapon is finished. For the finished version I used a dark oak-like wood. And painted the iron black too. I also used in the paint minute amounts of that light-absorbing metal. I had enough of them from the destroyed robes I got throughout my journey. Some time was needed, but I did make a good mix at the end of the. It was a strange-looking gun, which is a dark environment is hard to spot. That is the sole reason for making it. I don’t plan to make this weapon public. It isn’t too strong per se. It is more random than I want it to be. One person can shoot at me from 100 meters and I wouldn’t notice it until it is too late. I won’t sell them until I can make some kind of safety feature. Not for the user, but for me. So it won’t be used against me.

Standing up from the worktable, I stretch a bit. Sitting all day long is annoying, even with a strengthened body. Finished my stretching, I look over my ammunition.

On the desk, two dozen small grenades lye in wait. For distinction, I made some noticeable differences in their design. I marked their bottom part with different stuff. The arcane wall grenade had a violet block on it. The fireball had a red ball. And so on. All in all, just barely enough for me not to get confused by it. That I am a horrible artist never came to my mind.

The most numerous were the normal fireball grenades. They numbered a dozen. The others were the rarer spells and more difficult spells. In the short time, I managed to only make one arcane wall grenade, so I have to use it wisely and only when fleeing. Two arcane penetration rounds, and five soul shock rounds. These wouldn’t be very effective normally, their range is too small, but in the tunnel, it is very handy. I Also made some paralyzing rounds just in case.

Now, I load into the launcher one arcane wall, for fleeing, three fireballs and one of each arcane penetration and soul shock. As for the small, handheld versions? One was filled with another arcane penetration and one with soul shock. Wait that might not be the best. I contemplated for a second, and decided to exchange the arcane wall with soul shock. If necessary, I can simply take out the small launcher and use it, finding the right round and then launching it would take too much time while fleeing.

I also don’t except human failure.

Everything ready and loaded, I plan to explore the ruin again. This time armed a lot better than before.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

For the next year, I slowly accumulated resources and points. Normally, I would go into the ruin at night and come back 3 or 4 days later. This was the timeframe which I can do without sleeping and still stay reasonably concentrated. When meeting some other people, I mostly hid the launcher inside my robe, trying as good as I can not to show it. Alas it didn’t work out perfectly.

Slowly rumours went around the compound about the mysterious weapon I carry around. This forced me to use a dummy every time I entered the ruin and explored it. This, all in all, didn’t make a big difference, but it left less room for loot.

I choose my fights very carefully. I hid in the shadows and waited for prey. I made a big circle from the more dangerous areas. They have the best loot, but also the strongest contenders. Occasionally, I ran into some fights I either couldn’t win, or winning it wouldn’t be worth it. This mostly happened when groups of 15-20 came together. These were rare, but as time progressed, they become more common. This happened partially because of me. Groups without a third stage apprentice and small in numbers, around 3-4, were easily wiped out with my grenade launcher. The best scenario was when I caught them by surprise, and one or too cheap fireball grenades finished them off. Most of the time, it didn’t work out. One or sometimes two surprised, mostly the leaders. They often possessed defence artefacts. Weak ones, but enough to defend against the normal fireball grenade. They had two choices. Immediately use an artefact to flee, like a minor teleportation scroll, or die.

In the first month, as I wasn’t that familiar with the ruins yet, I only fought twice, while I stayed in the ruin for over half a month. The most difficult was gauging the opponents power. On my very first fight, I choose the opponent too hastily. He was too strong. This led me to waste my only arcane wall grenade. A fact that annoyed me a lot. Making one arcane wall grenade cost 8 to ten times more than a normal fireball grenade. That person relied on a strong defence artefact to defend against the weaker grenades. Having no choice left, I used the arcane wall grenade and fled. This situation made it plainly obvious that my strength is still too weak and relying on the launcher, while great, is not always the best option. Over relying on it cost me today only an expensive grenade. In another situation, it would have cost me a lot more.

With this in mind, I operated a lot more carefully. This also meant that for the first 4 months, my spoils were a lot less than others.

In terms of monetary reward, these four months were inefficient, but that was not the case. This time taught me a lot. I got experience fighting people head-on. Later, I directly left one person alive to duel me. Of course, this wasn’t fair. If he was winning then I killed him of course, in general, I killed all of them. This taught me to be careful, how to move silently, to gauge opponents and how to fight them.

As a sport, I practised some moves on the earth. Simply as a means to stretch a bit, but that meant nothing. This fighting was my welcome ceremony into this world.

Bloody, but honest.

PART 2

On the fifth month to now I picked up my space. The fights occurred increasingly more often and I also won more and more of them. I dared to go deeper into the ruins, fighting solo enemies three times. Every time I lost. Not bad, but I still lost. Then I always left, either with the arcane wall grenade or other tricks. My reputation and my spells become so famous after some time, that even casting a normal arcane wall confused the enemy, hesitating whether to pursue or let me leave. This misconception made my trips cheaper.

Through all the fighting, my income increased a lot. Compared to before, where my income was nearly nothing, now I used hundreds of points per month. Mostly I bought potions to fasten my progress towards grade three. I also bought materials which helped in the soul path. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a potion formula for such a potion, so I consumed these ingredients either by itself or with some supplementary ingredients. This approach is a lot more wasteful and expensive than the other one. The only light at the end of the tunnel was that some of these ingredients weren’t too expensive. No one knew their usage or only as supplementary ingredients. Still, it cost me a pretty penny to buy all of them.

++++++++++++++++

I sigh, the last year was very eventful. I think while meditating. I am at the cup of breaking through as both mage and soul mage. I am close, but at the same time so far. I only need a small push, but what is that push? This thing has bothered me all this while. Why is it necessary that people break through mostly by being pressured and under great danger. Is it really true that when one is between life and death that one can break through all of the shackles? This is still a mystery for me.

My gaze changed to a more resolute one. I decided to go into the ruin again. Not like I usually do. This time I will go deep, take a look at what my soul compass pointed towards last time and, if possible, breakthrough.

I go to the worktable and take inventory of my weapons. The launcher got damaged a lot over time. Normal iron wasn’t made to resist the forces used. It got often damaged and I had to repair often. The gun now in front of me has close to nothing to do with what I began with. The metal I use now is a lot more head and explosion resistance. It also got enchanted by me for its durability. In the year, I didn’t neglect my other interests. I advanced a lot in terms of runes and formations. Alchemy also advanced through my efforts to make a potion for my soul path. The only thing remained is that I still can’t make an array.

The wood had changed also. Still dark in colour, but it is a lot more like jungle wood, than the earlier oak. The rest of the improvements are inside and drastically made the launcher more durable.

The grenades also changed. They still used normal iron, but now I enchanted them to be more durable. This also lead me to put more scrolls into it. This also increased the range of the gun to 150 meters. Stronger explosion + better-surviving shells = higher firepower.

Now I had, through accumulation, made a dozen of arcane wall grenades and even more from the others. In comparison, I don’t have that many fireball grenades. They get used too often.

I packed everything into my grenade belt and moved out of my room. I kind of looked like a cowboy with an oversized gun at this point. Something which brought me a lot of fame at this point. Very few people had any ideas of ambushing me like it happened a year ago in the ruin. Yes I found the skeletons and even more stuff, but that doesn’t mean that I am not a vengeful person. I killed the leader of the group from where the rouge came.

Walking through the street, a lot of people had admiration in their gazes. Some had reverence even. The smallest part had a strong hostility. These were mainly Isaacs men. We are in a cold war right now. He tried to send some people after me, but after they all vanished, he stopped. I also didn’t fight against him yet. It isn’t the time. I am not that confident yet. When I break through the third stage, then I will fight against him. He annoyed me too often.

Sometime later, I arrived at the entrance of the ruin. The guards all know me well, so no one stops me from entering.

Inside, I breathe in. The air inside gives me a sense of conform. Only two ways to ambush me. From the front and the back. Easy to oversee.

The way took as long as ever. I also went through my experiences with Nelton and Allister. The two, who had been cooperating closely, had some strange things happening. I imagine that the two might split after dealing with Isaac. This is good news for me, that meant that Nelton might want to join me later and that dealing with Allister later will be easier.

The chamber with the directions is the same as ever. Cool and damp. The air is stale, with some kind of fungus smell. Can’t say that I didn’t miss it. I choose the most dangerous root this time. This leads to the number one deathtrap inside the ruin. Also the place with the most resources.

It is the gathering place of geniuses from both sides.