Leaving the Loki Familia behind him, he headed towards the Dungeon to get some money, even though he had at least one hundred million Valis waiting for him, once Ais and Tiona brought the money necessary to pay him back for the effort. He would not let them get away without paying, after all, it was bad for business and his reputation as a ruthless mercenary.
With that out of the way, he headed towards the Dungeon, intent on getting to floor 10 at the bare minimum. Descending towards the Dungeon, gaining an occasional look now and then, he made his way into the depths of the structure. He considered going out and carefully exploring floors, which he omitted last time he came, but the payout was not worth it. It was better to go deeper floors sooner rather than later, not to mention the monsters would appear one way or another and it's not like there was a plasma caster waiting for him in the Dungeon.
As he made his way down, some of the monsters attacked him, only to be killed in an instant. One of the new ones was a killer ant, cutely named 'rookie killer'. It wasn't that strong on its own, but it could call for reinforcements, which made it dangerous in its own right. Still, compared to the plant things he fought before, the monsters were at least three times weaker damage and durability wise. It didn't help that their speed and reflexes were also much weaker, making them easy prey for most of the adventurers in Orario.
Reaching floor seven went without a hitch, things staying the same until he reached floor eight, which looked different compared to the previous ones. The amount and size of rooms increased, while the length between hallways became shorter, making it look more like a maze it was meant to represent. Moss covered the brown-coloured walls, while short plain grass crinkled beneath his shoes. The light from the phosphorescence above similar to light from the sun.
One of the key differences were the monsters, while their selection didn't change compared to the previous floors, the ones located here were slightly stronger than the ones above him. Still no match for him, but the fact that the enemies could change in strength depending on the floor was intriguing. As he finished the last of the monsters and made his way down to the floor ten he could feel his eyebrow raise from the sight in front of him.
The structure of the floor looked similar to the floors eight and nine, however, the light shining from above became reminiscent of a morning mist. That's not counting for the mist itself, which made him pause for a moment, after all, he didn't expect to see the mist in the Dungeon in the first place. It made the visibility worse, but thanks to thermal imaging he should be fine.
Making his way through it, he noticed a peculiar detail about the place, there were dark tree-like structures strewn all over the terrain, which confused him. Why were there here? He had no clue, but a sound coming from the mist made him focus back on his surroundings. A three-meter tall monster came from the mist, with an old hide acting like a shirt.
It had a pig-like face with a massive head, belly the size of a barrel, with two stubby legs, two long arms and green skin. He read about the monster, it was known as Orc and if he remembered correctly it could use some kind of weapon. The monster roared, before it grabbed the nearest trunk, tearing it from the ground and turning it into a makeshift club.
The monster then charged forward, expecting to turn the Courier into a pancake. Seeing it, he prepared his guard, bringing his fists close to his face and waited for the monster. The club swung from down on top of his head, hitting him right in the arms. Then at that moment, the Courier used Scribe's counter on the monster and snapped its left arm, making it drop the weapon with a squeal. Then with another punch, he turned the monster into a pile of guts, blood, and gore all strewed across the landscape.
It was disappointing, to say the least, but still, the monsters were now getting strong enough to survive his bare hands, which was pretty impressive all things considered. It seemed like he had to start using the sword on his back to kill them in one hit. With a sigh, he drew the weapon and went on to explore the rest of the floor. On his way there, he came across a group of monsters, which he hadn't fought before.
It consisted of twenty Imps and five Bad Bats, with the former being a vaguely humanoid monster with long arms reaching to its ankles, dark skin and black eyes. The second one was similar to a bat, except with sharp fangs and with a sonic attack able to disrupt concentration. The bats decided to attack first using their sonic waves against him, he waited for the attack to connect and found himself blinking as the sound barely tickled him.
Compared to the devastating Lakelurk attack, which could ignore armour, those things were a joke. They didn't even manage to penetrate his armour, being more annoying than anything else. Even when the imps attacked with their sharp claws and the bats swooped in, the armour held strong, the Courier not even reacting at their attacks.
With another sigh, he swung his sword and with a single strike killed a quarter of the group, the monsters shrieking in terror. With a shake of his head, he got down to work, killing the monsters and leaving no magic stone behind. Once he was done, he decided to head back and sell the drops he gained, three floors being more than enough for a single day. Good thing he had unlimited inventory otherwise, he wouldn't be able to carry all the items and magic stones without becoming an over-encumbered man.
Going back to the surface, he found the Sun setting down in the distance. It was time to head back to the pub, but first, it was time to sell the drops to the Guild. Looking around, he made his way to one of the cashiers, Eina being nowhere in sight. He turned the bag upside down, kilograms of magic stones dropping on the tray. The man behind it looked surprised, but he carefully counted each one of the drop items, before handing over three hundred thousand Valis.
With a nod, the Courier packed himself up and went outside right towards the Hostess of Fertility. Sitting at one of the tables in the corner, he waited for one of the waitresses to come. This time it was Lunoire, who smiled at him.
"What would you like to eat, mister Six?" She asked.
"Well, not sure, is there something you can recommend?" He asked.
"How about a hamburger? It comes with fresh vegetables, cheese, tomatoes, and beef," She explained.
"Very well, you have convinced me well enough," The Courier replied before the waitresses went back to the counter.
As he waited for the dish to arrive, he glanced at Ryuu and gave her a brief nod, not wanting to distract her from the job. She returned it, before heading out to other customers. Not too long after, the dish came along with some fresh lemonade. The Courier smiled beneath his helmet, nodded at the waitresses before he took it off and started to eat.
While some of the customers sent whispers and glances at him, the vast majority enjoyed the company of their fellows instead. Finishing the meal in front of him, he put on his helmet, paid for the meal and went back to his room, locking the door behind him. It was a day full of activities, but there was one problem he still had, fixing the weapons.
While he could do that in the pub, it would be stupid, to say the least. He doubted Mia Grand would appreciate having a workshop here in the pub. So, that meant, he needed a separate workspace, which would also allow him to fix the weapons without drawing the attention of every single adventurer in the Orario.
It was something he wanted to leave for tomorrow, when he had time, no need to rush to floor fifty or something. Making himself comfortable on the bed, he pondered just what kind of mess did he get himself into it? Still, overall he preferred Loki over Freya any time of the day. Since the former, unlike the latter didn't creep him the hell out or make him shiver. Although for some reason, he had a feeling the goddesses would not let him off the hook that easily.
Freya was sitting in her chair, a glass of wine in her hand as she watched the Orario from one of the highest floors of the Babel. Her mind was busy, as she considered all available options to her, her target, Courier Six. Last time they met, he set off an inferno in her heart and made her crave him even more than before.
And yet, what he said to her last time still rang in her head. Slut, meaningless love, nothing to offer that would make him hers. It was unexpected, but it did nothing to dissuade the goddesses, in fact, it did quite the opposite as she tried to figure out how to handle this peculiar problem. She couldn't charm him, giving him money or gifts would not make him fall in love with her, at best he would act good, so she would continue giving him the gifts.
One option was to harass him and make his life so miserable, he would offer his love to her just to make her stop. However, she didn't want that, she didn't want this kind of love, she wanted to receive his love willingly or using her own skills, not by resorting to dirty tactics. Not to mention, she had a feeling the man would fight back and not simply take it.
She might have been goddesses of love, but she was also a goddess of war and knew more about it than most other gods. It could possibly be done, but it would have left a bitter taste in her mouth, assuming it worked in the first place.
She turned towards Ottar, one of her devoted members, standing silently behind her. "Ottar, tell me, how would you claim a woman that refuses your all advances?"
"...If there was a woman that refused my advances, goddesses. I would have tried to reach some kind of common ground with her, be it a mutually beneficial task, going to the Dungeon as a team or even a simple dance. If there is such a person, I would be more than happy to help you with him or her," He said, the goddess smiling at him.
"A common ground, huh?" She muttered to herself, thinking of the gods who she could use to help with her problem, a dangerous smile spread out on her lips.
The Courier woke up, blinking owlishly at the Sun pouring through the rooms inside his room. He really didn't like leaving the bed just yet, it was way too comfortable. But… he had things to do, so with a groan, he stood up, before taking care of the basic hygiene and heading downstairs to get something to eat. Everyone greeted him as usual before he made his way to one of the free tables and made himself comfortable. This time it was Ryuu, who walked up to him, nodding curtly at him.
"So, mister Six, do you have a preference regarding today's breakfast?" She asked.
"Not really no, I will trust your judgment on this one," He said, while the elf nodded before she walked up to Mia Grand.
The Courier waited patiently for the dish to arrive, his eyes watching as the waitresses prepared the pub and served a few customers here and there, mostly males. He smiled beneath the helmet, enjoying peace and quiet, something he came to appreciate over the years.
With the anticipation of a child, he waited for his dish to arrive, Ryuu coming up with a plate in her hands. "Here you go," She said.
"Thank you kindly, miss Lyon," He said and nodded at her, before she went towards other tables, glancing at him a bit longer than usual.
This time the meal consisted of pancakes, filled with vegetables, meat and such, coupled with a tea to make it easier to digest. With a smile, the Courier picked up the utensils and began slowly eating the dish in front of him, savouring the taste of it and leaving no breadcrumbs behind.
One of the things he disliked more than anything else was wasting good food, especially since finding good edible food in the desert often involved harvesting wild fruits or just killing raiders and taking what they had on their bodies. Just as good as usual, I wonder, who cooked it? May, or Miss Grand? He glanced towards the owner, standing behind the counter, who turned her attention towards him.
He gestured to the dish in front of him discretely, the woman shaking her head slightly before motioning the door behind her. The courier nodded in response, before focusing back at the meal in front of him. Once he was done, he put on the helmet, handed the dishes over to Ryuu and walked up to the owner of Hostess of Fertility.
"Is there something I can do for you, mister Six?" She asked with a grin.
"Just one thing, keep up the good work. Eating here has become one my favourite actives in Orario," He admitted, while the woman grinned even further.
"I will keep it in mind and tell May when I get to her. Still, are you soliciting my employees, mister Six?" Mia asked while the Courier gasped.
"Why I would never!" He said dramatically before the two ended up sharing a laugh.
"Heh, do me a favour and don't die in the Dungeon, I like regular customers," She said.
"I will keep that in mind, now then, have a nice day, everyone," He said before he walked up to the entrance of the pub. "I am heading out."
"Have a safe trip!" The employees and the owner said, watching him leave through the door, while he nodded towards them.
Now that was done, the Courier began his trek towards Twilight Manor, where Loki Familia resided. He wanted to receive the compensation for the repairs, but also find a place where he could conduct repairs in peace. No reason to have more people know. A while later he found himself standing at the entrance, two guards watching him intently.
"Is there a reason you are standing here, stranger?" One of them asked.
"I was hoping to meet with Ais Wallenstein or Tiona Hyrule, could you fetch them?" He asked.
"And why would we do that?" The other one asked.
"They kind of owe me some money for fixing their weapons," He replied, which seemed to have worked, the two guards glancing between each other.
"Wait here for a moment," One of them said, before heading inside, while the Courier waited patiently. A minute later, Loki, Ais, Tiona and everyone else he met yesterday came out, their attention right at him. He nodded at them, some of the members smiling, others nodding, except Bete who just scowled.
"Hi there, Six. What brings you here today?" Loki asked while the man rolled his eyes.
"To get paid of course," He replied, while the goddess chuckled.
"Straight to the point, eh? Sure, we got your money and quite a lot more weapons to fix for you," She replied, while Tiona and Ais walked up to him each of them caring a bag filled with money.
"Here you go, Six. Thanks for fixing Urga," Tiona said and handed over the bag.
"...Thank you for fixing the rapier," Ais said and handed over the bag.
He took them, weighted them, before putting them back inside his duffel bag and making them disappear. "Pleasure doing business with you. Now, Loki, regarding the repairs, I was hoping to ask for a favour," He said, while the goddesses' eyes opened slightly.
"Oh, and what would that be?" She asked.
"Simple really, I was hoping you could arrange some kind of workshop for me to perform repairs, doing it in the middle of the street is something I would like to avoid," He explained.
"Yeah, that makes sense. Tell you what, I will see what I can do and then get back to you. It shouldn't take long, but in exchange, I want a bigger discount," She argued.
"Not gonna happen. You already saved twelve million Valis. The least you can do is provide something as basic as a workshop in Orario. If you don't like it, you can take it to Hephaestus," He argued, his arms crossed, while Loki chuckled.
"Right, right. Fine, but we are going to bring a lot of weapons and armour for you to fix when we set it up," She said, while the Courier chuckled.
"I wouldn't have expected otherwise," He replied. "Now then, I am heading off into the Dungeon, so if you need something else, leave me a message at the pub, okay?"
"Sure, sure," Loki said, grinning at him all the way. "By the way, don't you have your own workshop if you can do repairs like this in the first place?"
"Never needed it before," He replied, which wasn't a lie.
"Hmm… fine, I won't pry, but I am still curious how did you get it anyway?" She asked.
"Trade secret," He replied, the goddesses smiling at him. "Now then, have a nice day, everyone."
"You too," Loki said. Everyone said their goodbyes, watched the Courier leave.
"So, Ais how much did you save anyway on the repairs?" Tiona asked, curious about the cost of the weapon.
"...Five million Valis," She replied, the Amazon surprised.
"Not bad. So we've saved over fifteen million Valis on repairs?" Tione asked. She knew the weapon was expensive but nowhere near that.
"It seems like you have made yourself quite a good deal, Loki, didn't you?" Riveria asked, smiling at the news. Her eyes glancing at man's back as he left them behind.
"You bet I did! If only he would join our Familia, things would be perfect!" She complained, while her Familia laughed at her antics, except for Ais, who only smiled instead. She managed to return the weapon in a perfect state, which Goibniu very much appreciated. Little Ais inside of her was happy knowing that she did the right thing.
Making his way to the Dungeon, the Courier felt his mood improved by a mile. He got a lot of money now, more than he expected when he got into the mess. He could easily afford a warehouse to store all the necessary materials for the space shuttle. It was still a long way off, but he made quite a bit of progress.
He still had to buy the necessary materials and find a proper site, possibly inside the Orario, so he could have easy access to it. Of course, he would only use it as a private workshop to create all the necessary components, separate from Loki's Familia. He didn't need them coming there, especially if they saw some of the technologies used during production.
Heading inside the Dungeon, he made his way down to the tenth floor, killing all the monsters that stood in his way. Only when he arrived at the floor eleven he came across a new monster, that actually made him stop in his tracks. It was big, standing four meters tall, with orange scales covering it and heat coming out of in waves.
It was an infant dragon, a powerful monster estimated to be a level two, a bane of low-level parties... and a joke. The Courier could barely contain his disappointment at the monster standing right in front of him, it's teeth bared as it charged forward intent on killing the man. For a supposedly powerful dragon, the monster was weak, comparable to some of the stronger geckos at best.
He could see other adventurers running away from it, the dragon breathing in, before it unleashed a wave of fire towards him, setting his armour ablaze. The Courier burned, his body covered in flames, standing still in front of the beast as it roared victoriously, expecting the man to burn to death. Instead, the monster stared, as the flames went out, leaving the man untouched, his armour slightly brighter than before.
"...You know, I expected something more from a dragon," The Courier said and let out a sigh. He had been set on fire before, multiple times as well. Fire geckos, flamers, incinerators, you name it. The fire the dragon used was at best comparable to a fire gecko with a bigger radius. He then drew his sword, before charging forward and delivering one slice towards the monster's neck, killing it an instant, it's head flying before it landed a couple of feet away from the rest of the body.
With the monster out of the way, he collected the magic stone, bigger than the ones he collected before. Then he set out once again, his goal floor 13. On his way there, he came across new kinds of monsters, such as hard armoured, silverback, wyvern and a battle boar.
The first one was an armadillo monster with a hard shell comparable to a suit of reinforced leather armour. The second one as a large monkey monster, covered in white fur with silver fur down the middle. It was strong enough to throw boulders towards him, an impressive feat on its own, but nowhere near a level of even ordinary deathclaw. The wyvern, on the other hand, had pink scales, two wings, and a long tail. The battle boar was just a massive boar standing two meters in height.
With that out of the way, he reached floor thirteen and decided to head back home and come back later. While a part of him wanted to go to the deepest floors right now, he wanted to explore the Dungeon at his own pace. After all, once he left this dimension and headed back to the Mojave, he would have nothing left, except some souvenirs, a couple of photos perhaps and his memories.
Only after he got out of the Dungeon and noticed that it was getting late, the sun about to set. He didn't realize how much time he spent exploring. While the dungeon was claustrophobic, not being able to see the sun, he wasn't afraid. The adventurers got used to it over time, plus it was far easier to survive in the Dungeon than in the Divide with all the Tunnelers and Marked Men running around the damned place.
Making his way to the Hostess of Fertility, he sat at one of the free tables, waiting for one of the waitresses to arrive. To his surprise, it was Ryuu who decided to take his order, despite the fact that she did so in the morning. "Good evening, Miss Lyon," He greeted.
"Good evening, Mister Six. Can I take your order?" She asked.
"I would like a mackerel with vegetables and a jug of water if you would be so kind," He answered.
"Very well, please wait here a moment," She replied before heading back to the counter with the order.
The Courier watched as the waitresses went around the area, serving the customers, each of them with a professional smile on their face, except Ryuu that is. He found it amusing, how stoic the woman was, she really should cheer up a bit, or at least that's what Courier thought. A couple of minutes later, she returned with and put it on the table.
"Here you go," She said, while the Courier nodded at her, before taking off his helmet, putting it to the side and digging into the dish.
The elf went back to the other customers, her eyes lingering on the Courier for a moment. She didn't know what to think of the man just yet. He was strong, that much was certain, able to fight a Barbarian on his own. The fact that he protected Bell and Syr from the monster, allowing them to escape meant he had a heart in the right place. However, she wanted to see more, proof perhaps of his true nature, her eyes tracing back to the same hand he shook.
Waking up once more, the Courier wasted no time in getting himself prepared for the upcoming visit to the Dungeon. He quickly ate the breakfast at the pub, before heading towards the Dungeon, saying his goodbyes to everyone in the process. He had one goal for today, reach floor 16 and then come back.
Making his way to the Dungeon, he went past the Guild, having nothing to there at the moment. Nahza hadn't reported any requests for the ingredients and he was fine with that. Reaching floor twelve proved to be pretty easy, the monsters being the exact same he met before, none of them posing a threat.
This changed when he reached floor 13, coming across three new types of monsters, including hell hounds, almiraj and dungeon worms. The first one was a dog monster, able to shoot flames from its mouth. The second one was a rabbit monster with white fur and a horn. And last but not least was the worm, which was basically an oversized worm with teeth.
The group that attacked him, consisted of three hell hounds, six almiraj and three dungeon worms. However, the monsters stood no chance against Blade of the West, their bodies cleaved in half. Even the hell hounds couldn't do anything, their breath not able to pierce through man's defences, easily fighting back, despite his whole body being covered in flames.
Killing them was easy enough, though he still had to avoid other adventurers, which were becoming less numerous on the lower floors, than on the upper ones. However, as he descended deeper, he came across another type of monster he had never fought before. The first one was a Minotaur, similar to the one that attacked him in the first place. The other one was a lygerfang, basically a tiger monster, but nowhere near as dangerous as the bloody night stalker, which could camouflage and swallow humans whole.
Once he reached floor sixteen, he decided to call it a day and made his way back to the surface, swinging by the Guild on his way back. Once again Eina was nowhere to be seen, though it was probably due to a fact she finished her shift earlier before he left the Dungeon.
Wasting no more time, he sold off all the drop items, before heading back to the hostess of Fertility. Once inside, he sat at one of the free tables and waited for one of the waitresses to arrive. This time it was Syr, who came to take his order.
"What would like to eat today, mister Six?" She asked.
"I would like a steak with vegetables if you would be so kind," He replied, while the waitresses nodded before heading back to get his order.
In the meantime, the Courier watched as the employees bustled around, Anya, Lunoire, Ryuu, Syr and Chloe. Their movements were graceful, fluid, full of experience. It brought him a chuckle when some of the more horny customers tried to touch the waitresses, only to be thrown out, not knowing how to behave. However, they were more of a rarity than anything else. The rest of the adventurers were satisfied with good food, nice company and having a pretty waitress coming up to take their orders.
"Here is your order," Syr said.
"Thank you kindly, miss Flova," He said, but before he dug in, there was something he wanted to know. "Miss Flova, may I ask you a question?"
"I don't see why not," She replied, her eyebrow raised.
"Now, I hope you don't mind, but why do work here anyway? Out of sheer curiosity," The Courier asked. The woman here was different from the rest, weaker. Which begged the question, why did the pub employ powerful adventurers with high levels, something he noticed when he first came here.
The waitress blinked before she smiled and motioned towards the rest of the bar. "More people means more possibilities. I get really excited just thinking about what I might discover on any given day. I guess... meeting new people is fun. My heart yearns for it," She replied.
The Courier snorted, while the girl blushed at his outburst. "I am sorry, miss Flova, but I couldn't help myself. The way you put it... I guess I am jealous," He said.
"Jealous? Why?" She asked her attention on the man.
The Courier shrugged and turned towards her. "I guess, I miss the attitude you have. The curiosity, the hope that you will find someone new, intriguing, who will become important in your life. Nowadays... I think I would rather trust a monster than another sapient being," He replied, while the waitress blinked in confusion.
"Why is that, mister Six? If you don't me asking?" She said, curious about the way he put it.
"... Mistakes of the past, my experience with them. Want an example of it?" He asked while the waitress nodded. "Well, that one time I was going around and exploring an abandoned city or what remained of it, I came upon another group. However, they lacked the necessary supplies and the city was full of traps and dangers."
"What happened then?" She asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Well, I agreed to help them on account that I would get a share of the loot and got them the supplies. After that, we went to explore the city and scavenge whatever we could find. On our way there, we had to fight off some monsters, our goals being an armoury and a local blacksmith," The Courier lied the last part. No need to tell about NCR or radios. "Anyway, after we cleared it out, they took all the loot and then tried to murder me on the spot. I had to defend myself and you can guess what happened then."
"...I see," The woman said, trying to digest the information given to her. "But... I don't understand it. Why did they betray you?"
"Greed, miss Flova, it's in the blood. Greed can turn even the most righteous being into a monster, only caring about its own interest. Try to keep in mind, would you?" He said while the woman nodded. "Now then, I will be enjoying the meal, if you don't mind."
"Oh, alright," She replied and went towards other customers, the story he said leaving a lasting impact on her. "Greed, huh...?"
