12] Third Layer, and Commando Wing grows even more.

The event ended, and the new layer had been opened. Of course, we all went in there, the Giant Wooden Golem was dealt with, I got a bite of course, tasted like some Veggie snack bar, not that tasty, still better than K-brot however. The new layer was a peculiar Steampunky fantasy landscape, one look and seems that Maple's antics with a Flying Turtle had the devs hurry and make a flight Option available for players. Crude and would be only for Transportation, but it's something.

From the update notes, each Layer would have a spot for Guild homes to spawn, as well as more homes per layer to be acquired, and of course, a max cap on how many a Guild could own, a lot of other bits also were present in the Layer update, NWO must be doing well enough to warrant such dedication of the Studio running it.

We opened the home, and quickly spread out around the city to see if there's something interesting out there, this is a machine heavy theme, would those monsters be edible? Only one way to find out. Out in scouting the new environment we go, for starters, I will see the safe areas.

Exploring the town, it's filled with metal, mechanical parts and the buildings are metal sheet walls, looking around, packed is an understatement, the second layer's rocky buildings at least were looking somewhat orderly, this industrial scenario makes for some nice eyecandy from a distance, but once you have to walk around? Clutter and hard to identify your location, NWO is a game, so a Map HUD for the whole safe area is always available for players, a small kind gesture by the Developers to ensure some QoL for players.

Looking around, I find one very distinct spot, in the dark, rust filled corner of an already narrow alleyway. Looking around, I find a strange mask, rather the remains of it, under it when I picked, a rectangular device, dusting it off a bit, a few letters, half eaten by the grime firmly stuck to it, *X0-3 was all I could make of it, storing it away, I went my merry way. Further searching around game me nothing else, so to the fields I go.

The new types of Monsters were limited, but I bet the Developers have priorities, the Dungeons are where they emphasize the new ones, since Field Grinding isn't usually done by Players interested in the repertoire of new and interesting enemies. Going around, taking care to see what areas are not as explored or used for grinders, I find one, for good reason. High VIT monsters and Goblins armed with some average weapons, the kind of enemies players HATE to deal with in the field.

I deal with them, not on a XP grind yet, I am here to LOOK around, so the cleaner my path becomes, it's easier to find POIs. After a while, the area near me gets scarce of Field monsters, that's a cue for Dungeon entrance or an Area with some kind of finding, likely a challenge kind of thing. Near a small Pilar, suddenly, weird Machines pop from the ground, turrets?

BRRRRT

"Oops, lively angry machines. And there."

Evading for a while, then doing a trick or two with my short blades, those handful of enemies are done, the last I do the courtesy.

CHOMP

Fizzling candy, the acidic type. Passable. Once I am sure no more surprises are present anymore, I look at the waist height small Pilar those turrets had attempted protecting. A hole in it was present, like those you insert a Card or a device to Guarantee your ID for access. Wouldn't hurt to try, taking that object from Inventory, Pixie sets it into that hole, a nice fit no less. Lights shine briefly, and then the ground shakes, with loud whirring of mechanical parts, a Huge Opening comes from one area of that platform, the dirt having hid most of it. The area Pixie was remained because it had been on a higher point.

And suddenly, three metallic boxes twice an adult's size (3.6m tall) come from that Opening, the sheer level of mechanical presence giving her an idea, that this may have been once an Underground facility for large, mechanized devices, the kind used in war. When they open, the absurdly level of resemblance with just ENOUGH differences to avoid an Akitsushiman Copyright lawsuit.

"Power suits, huh? And what a flimsy lawsuit avoiding designs even…. Phoenix, Barbaros and Power Arms…" (AN: One imaginary kudos for whoever guesses which Mecha shows each model named shout outs from)

One by one they power up…. A special hidden fight? Count me in. The design couldn't make things clearer, a Melee, a ranged and a Pseudo Summoner esque enemy, A melee focused machine enemy will of course… RUSH.

CLANG

Good, the spark indicated a successful parry, next my aim is keeping myself close to this foe, but never let the fight draw too away from the other two, would be an ass to dodge Gunfire and enemy ads if we got to far from the sources of those two issues. Positioning, pacing, where each of my steps lead to…. A 3v1 Boss fight, I like these odds. For balance's sake, there's clearly some semblance of Dynamic HP mechanics in those units, a Melee Boss with such hard hitting and Tanky resilience shouldn't be losing this much of its HP bar as we fight.

Pulling a Bomb from the inventory I throw it at barbaros, yet the ads suddenly rush at it, the attack is blocked by a barrier, I see. However. One head-on rush at him, he makes a powerful strike with a secondary AoE wave, dodging it, then I quickly start tying some nasty Thorny vines on it. damage starts popping nonstop, not much per second, but it will keep that one enemy tied long enough.

Being my size, and against such a Summoner type of foe, its VIT was clearly lower of those Three, it summons ads to make a barrier, too late, evading it and now in Point Blank range, I tuck myself in a hard to get a hit on me spot, pop a special Smoke Grenade, for 10 seconds no monster or player detection skill can find me or my allies, now it's time to Eat- end this foe.

CHOMP

That's some very Iron rich cookies in taste, damn, a little worse and I would say it tied with K-Brot, 5 more seconds smoke out and my prey desperately summons new ads to hit me, 3 seconds, they start aligning for a hit, 2 seconds, first comes, I manage a last-ditch parry, done.

Suddenly, a massive burst of damage and light particles cover my prey, the Instakill of my Vampirism hit it. I Rush the now enemy that's gunning me, Those twin six barreled Steampunk style Gatling guns are raining bullets on my general area, using what pieces of environment are available, after some clever dodging I do arrive on it, Barbaros is finally freed off his Thorny shackles, so in a hurry, I do my best to get into a good spot to keep myself safe, and Biting I do. Once it's done for, I deal the finishing bite on the melee unit.

[Completed Hidden special quest: Lost Technology]

[Acquired Title: Devourer of all]

[Acquired Skill: Mobile Gears]

[Devourer Upgraded to Apex Devourer]

[Acquired Unique Series Skill: Soul of Cuisine]

Wow, got this much? Let's check them, the area seems safe enough after all.

Apex Devourer basically now also allows me to take in even attacks of the Kind a normal devour wouldn't do much, such as some super skill that locks you inside a Constant damage CC cage. Mobile gears allow me to convert Materials or Gold into adding one of those three Power Armors, Summoner seems to be that I can call up to Three shield like Drones that have an Autocannon for a weapon, their shield mode just makes a Barrier that can tank some damage.

The others were less unique, range or melee. The meat of this all is what I got as part of earning Devourer of all. Soul of Cuisine is a Passive extra effect I can use on either Devourer or my Biting attack, simply put, a player in either the dying state or within timeframe of a Priest's revival skill, I can instead nom their "souls" …. yeah…. That's a rather absurdly insane skill…. Limited, but insane, denying an enemy side revival? Geez.

Got my fill, so back to the Guild, I should also help them with grind or search.

Fae POV

Exploring this City of machinery and metal-based stuff, the developers for sure are making their sweet little dream fantasy worlds on each Layer. Whatever gets those guys motivated with Work is what management must be telling themselves, if that works, good for them. For now, this walking on such a crude industrial city is pretty much a sight and a reminder how crude things that birthed the Steampunk and Dieselpunk aesthetics were.

For now, I am going around, and seems there's nothing of Interest, until I end finding something that catches my curiosity. Following through the winding path, narrow and clearly there's clues there's been something not from this kind of aesthetic, and a weird sense of knowing the unknow I'm approaching. The end of the path ends in a house, made using the carcass of an Old Submarine, Germanian design even,

"Ah, hello…"

From that house, a person comes, female, yet she's wearing robes that cover her body, still never would I mistake such Boots, imperial make, and only ONE NPC I met before wore such, must be yet another hidden quest of that line, both the Pamphlet and that Item I earned from that Boss that came close to give me a heart paining sighting of Visha, as an Undead Vampire no less.

"Seems you're seeking completing the missing Pieces, my lady."

Instead of that memento kind of item, I pull that Cane, one look and I understood, damaged Orb, three cores are missing, and that one seems to be a ridiculous Hexacore design, albeit the Orb core part is a Pentacore, that cane seems to act as one more. From her reaction, that was the right answer. She gives me two Items, one is a core for it, the other, a Dish plate sized Disk, metallic casing, the internal part has a Clay disk with odd words, unreadable, but one may guess they're part of the Questline aesthetic. That lady is gone, so I follow the clues given.

Going Through the Field, I find the river, players are either fishing or Grinding XP or materials, I follow the flow from a distance, players seem to become weirdly wary of my presence when I get too close for some reason. The walk was scenic, credits be given to whoever these environment designers are, a monster here and there, sampling their tast- strength, I can see why Pixie has come to like such a game.

Finally on the end of it, a small head exit where River and Sea meet, a large rocky formation turns this into a very Rumelian Mythos material kind of chokepoint, looking around, hardly anything to see, no monsters either, and if there's a Dungeon hidden, either underwater or in a rather bothersome cave somewhere in these walls. Using the new Spyglass made by Elenium Labs crafters, I sweep around, the zoom level and lens glare concealment effect tacked on make for a nice tool.

10 minutes in and finally a clue, a rusty mast, of a kind of ship NOT made of wood. A bit of rappelling with ropes and hiking gear, all courtesy of those eggheads at the guild, and my feet are touching sand, mucky and coarse, like as if something Oil like had seeped into here. Closing in the point I saw from that rocky place, the Plate pops from inventory, then flies straight towards the waters near that now clear to recognize Radar Tower of a ship.

Suddenly, Tentacles with eyes on its suckers appear, a bit of dramatic flailing, and those eyes gaze at me, before lifting the wrecked ship to surface level, a Hole in its hull is my entry point, from a dark and impossible to see inside to once again another indoor area with light from what is an abnormal Starry cosmic sky. Walking around, you can see some markings that reveal the ship was an Imperial era warship. From the looks, it was the last great BB made by the Empire before the war became a lost cause, KMS Hambruck.

Walking around, the state of the compartments are in far better shape than one would expect a Vessel that was at the bottom of a sea floor for Mike knows how long, but something calls me towards one specific room of this once great Warship, what I see makes me wonder, what weirdness those developers were under for such an idea? What looks like a KMS AI core, just made with Great War era tech, a crude, eight core Device is pulsating, the Main core shines and lets me see it's what looks to be a Piece of the Cosmos inside itself.

Once there, the Cane pops out, looking around, I see that the Center area, there's a hole, I take this stick towards there, and as I insert it, until it's just like a Stick to control some device, power hums on that core unit, then something suddenly appears, a NWO esque menu interface.

[Recognized ID, Please provide the passwords]

"A Puzzle?"

[First Lock – Hint: Endloss Nacht]

Since the thematic is oddly persisting, I take the challenge on. Now, Endless Night? One figure makes me think of an answer.

"Let's try that, Untoten was it, right?"

Once I typed and sent it, a Buzz came, then a hiss of some kind of lock disengaging, guess I hit right.

[Second Lock - hint: Capture or Terror]

I search the Projekte List, and something that can be cued with the hint? Only one Match.

"Tager Widow"

Another Buzz and lock undone and seems it's a Three stage lock.

[Third lock – Hint: Sterneweg]

"Path of Stars…. She was guarding a Tool of her Lady, that Mysterious woman called me lady… Stars… piece of cosmos…"

Sighing, the possible answer may be one of a few things, so I test the obvious one.

"Lady of Stars"

The Buzz is different, so probably wrong, a red-light pops on the Left corner of the room, one more miss allowed it seems.

Looking at the List, there's one thing, Lady of stars is not yet usable, but one thing is available.

"Kosmosblut"

The Correct answer, and the last lock goes off, they make a Y symbol as they release the Main core of it. Taking it out, instead of inventory, it joins the cane, like the one Given by that mysterious cloaked woman. A roar, guess my stay here is no more. A paced Jog and back to the not beautiful beach I am, the Monster that lifted that ship takes it back to the sear floor.

"One more core missing…. Where?"

Back to that place, she's back, now revealing her face. A weird skin color, a Dark Grey, red hair cut to Imperial army standards, and aside the more exotic skin, she's a beauty for sure. A polite bow, almost close to that of worship even, a shorter bow back, and this Mysterious woman starts once more.

"The last one, was hidden by you personally, this is the key for where."

A large, Platinum key, the head of it had again, a Y symbol, I Thanks her, NPC or not, a bit of a hard ingrained habit honestly. And back to that cozy home made from an Imperial Sub carcass she goes. Me? Left with a Key and a very Vague clue, so I make the first and most Obvious Guess, back to sneaking into the Castle.

Knowing the overall layout of this area, some spots were ripe for being where that last one is locked in. For once, my bet comes to the peskiest of potential places, locked in the Open zone of the yard, a device whose control panels are broken, but I remember it having one that had been locked, a large keyhole present.

Sneaking towards that area, a bit harder than going up since hiding places were very few and patrols on higher areas may spot you, but with care and focus, it's done. Checking around, key out of Inventory and my hands test it on the locked panel, it fits. And is merely the Power lever, guess I know what it will be, so power that shit up. The Lights and Noise ring the alarms of course, but before the Monsters even manage to get much closer than halfway, the dive opens its Portal and in I went.

A ruined wasteland, clearly it once had been a very advanced and prosperous Civilization, but whatever destroyed it, must be another Boss that mandates a fight. Lo and behold, a Dragon, or something that has a strong semblance to one, rather, the sheer Gross appearance was on a level I thought only my Nightmares in the Week Post Arene were bad, whatever, be a straight fight Boss or one that is a Puzzle type, let's get this done.

…

Alright, there must be a trick or something I must find here, the enemy is not taking damage, and dear Mike, that thing is DANGEROUS as fuck! All the better, love a hard and tenacious challenger. Moving quickly through the ruble piles, avoiding its Breath attacks or Claw swipes, something, either the Orb, or a special Item, took a while, and one of its attacks to blast a pile of rubble, a shine I know all about, one mad dash to it and the Last Orb is on hands, the Cane comes out and a bright light forms with it and its last missing part.

[Acquired: Cane of Hexed Mythos]

[Acquired: Kosmosblut Dose x1]

A dose of it hidden inside that damn Cane? AH well, Game logic, no worries, this stuff doesn't spoil before you get it. Having it opens the Lady of Stars skill, guess that it requires a Dose to let me activate it, wunderbar, a Skill that demands a conditional item, it REALLY needs to be good for all the effort. Dose with an Injector in hands, I apply it, the pain of the needle comes to me, and I activate it.

[LADY OF STARS]

Transformation sequence done, my body now seems made of a stolen piece of the Cosmos, taller, at 3m, with a bombshell of a curvaceous Body, oh well, games will be games. Stats wise, they rose quite a bit, over 5 times, to end things, what was once a nice cane with a super Orb device, now is a nice Sword that also shines and hums like a Mage blade, except this one is like my current body, a patch of Cosmic skyscape.

Dragon roars, evading its attacks, a sort of Flight is possible in this form, but I see a Timer in my HUD, so I must beat this damn thing before it ends, closing in, this new weapon finds a meaty part to strike, cutting one of those ugly Wings, dooming it to being grounded for a while at worst. Damage was… quite hefty, so he must have a weakness to this form's powers. Solution to this bastard's found, it becomes a death by many cuts. The final strike was a bite, and holy moly, this form DEALS some harsh damage at it.

[Special Hidden Quest Completed: Lady of Stars returns]

[Special Shop seller Zerayah is available for you]

So there's a place to stock on either Kosmosblut or its Crafting materials, once I am back to the Guild, some checking with those Elenium Labs weirdos will be necessary. Before I leave from the gate, Lady of Stars form still active with a Minute remaining, something shines, where the Boss's Corpse had fallen. Picking the item, Endloss Nacht? Star of Revival? What weird items.

Leaving, the Monsters are still in full alert and surrounding the courtyard this thing's located, 30 seconds, more than enough, area clear, something is… powered? Using the last 10 seconds, I make a fast climb to a small Inner Tower's roof, where a Mysterious Circle is present, a Machine is on the corner, now back to my Normal self, I am just tall enough to properly handle it.

The vial of that so called Endloss Nacht goes into a socket, close it, and the NWO menu pops.

[Activate Schwarztein's Climate Changer?]

Pressing Yes, a ball is fired from that device, probably loaded with the contents of that vial I loaded in. From one instant to another, what's been a cloudy day became a Clear Sky Night, that weird Moon Thingy now being the Moon stand-in. looking back, the Circle now pulses a peaceful rhythm of light, getting to its Center the interface comes, checking it, I nod, ok, guess the Very last part is now ready.

[Item: Star of Revival was used]

[Item: Memento of Your most Loyal was used]

[Master of Schwarztein detected, Ownership of Castle Schwarztein confirmed]

[Would you like to summon your Most Loyal?]

Pressing yes, the Circle comes to life, intense light and smoke makes vision hard. It dies off as quick as it came to be, once again, a familiar figure is there, Stahlhelm, Gas mask and that weird all black uniform. A crispy sharp salute. Suddenly the dings of the game's message system come in a flood. I return her salute and let her be at ease, then I open it.

[Mom, did you just conquer a whole castle? And add it as part of the guild property?]

[Dear, answer those eggheads ASAP, else they will raze the Layers to find you]

[SASUGA FAE-SAMA!]

.

.

.

The rest was over 30 idiots repeating the message, I shut it down, then open this Castle's Menu, Pixie has a similar Authority as me due to being the Guild's Master, but control of this interface is mine alone, so I quickly look and find, a Door in the Ground Floor, a Side exit, now is a connecting Door to the Guild Building. Being followed by this newest NPC, when I open it, I am warned that [Unnamed] stats are limited to 40% when in a daylight time. For now that's no problem.

"Pixie."

"Fae…. And who's she?"

"Errrm… an allied NPC, name to be defined."

Me and Pixie's rest of the day was looking around the newest expansion for the Guild itself, a Castle perpetually locked in a weird Night. That Ascorbic and his increasing team of mad scientists followed us is mere background noise.