The shipping containers were mostly empty however after searching a number of them Regina and I did find several what looks to be expensive pieces of art fairly well preserved art at that as well as numerous stacks of gold bars found inside crates in one container. Indicating that this guy might have also had his hand in a lot of different honey pots. Most of the artwork was far too big to put into the weapon given that it was sculptures and large paintings lining the walls of the shipping container, but a gold bar was easy enough to go into the melee weapon and it even unlocked The metal series and a weapon.

Midas's dagger level 40

luck: 2

unique weapon skill: Golden touch

active skill: Gold dust

accessory slots=0

"So that dagger increases one of the special stats right?" Regina said looking over my shoulder which I was so shocked that I was having a hard time processing it.

"Yeah it looks like it." I said checking my stats and confirming that my luck had risen by one bringing it from 4 to 6.

"I overheard you mentioning something about the special stats to Lord Caesar and Lord Lanius but I still don't understand what they do."

I gave her a similar explanation however for her I used her blacksmithing as an example. Regina using her strength to shape steel and endurance to handle intense heat and long hours was easy to explain and the perception to notice minor imperfections in the blade and the intelligence to know how to fix them which she understood perfectly so there was little need to carry on the explanation.

"Charisma I heard you tell Caesar what it did this morning and agility are pretty self-explanatory but what does luck do?"

"Well that part I'm still a little confused about luck is a pretty subjective term whether we're talking combat or just day to day activities so I really won't know until something happens to confirm it."

"Master Derek about the metal series aren't most weapons made of some kind of metal?"

"Yes but given the name of the first weapon I think the metal series is more intrinsic to a specific type of metal rather than the weapon itself." I say looking at the status screen for Midas's dagger, "For example this weapon must be related to the legend of King Midas who's the cornerstone of his legend is his greed and lust for gold."

"Who is King Midas?" Regina asked which I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a lot of old Legends kind of died off with the bombs dropping.

I decided to tell her the story that I was told by my grandpa while we looked through the storage containers. I figure I should embellish it a little in a way she could comprehend the magnitude of King Midas. I know technically this isn't the original story from ancient Greece but it was close enough to the one my grandpa told me.

King Midas was once a man with more money and power than any king before or after him.

One day counting his gold he is visited by a gnome and King Midas begged the gnome who addressed himself as Goldie to not steal his gold.

Goldie said to King Midas's surprise "I want not your poultry gold King for I have the golden touch."

Goldie promptly touched a silver candlestick and it was turned to gold instantly.

King Midas begged Goldie to give him the golden touch but Goldie advised against it saying that "to use the golden touch will be a golden curse so I would think carefully if I were you."

King Midas only laughed and said "how could it be a curse when it grants such glorious gold."

King Midas asked three times and Goldy relented giving King Midas the Golden touch.

King Midas overjoyed turned his entire castle to gold every brick and every carpet and every door was made into a shiny gold.

By the time he was done he had worked up an appetite and as he sat down to eat he grabbed a piece of meat and as he bit into it he discovered that it had become gold.

Every fruit every piece of meat from one end of the table to the other had turned to gold and was inedible he reached out for his servants and they became golden statues.

He reached for his wife and daughter and they too were made into golden statues much to his horror.

For days he would reach for help only to turn his knights his horses and anyone within his vicinity into gold leaving him alone in his castle.

After a few weeks he would grow hungry and thin and couldn't eat a single bite of food so he called for Goldie to come to him to rid him of the golden touch.

Goldie appeared before him and said, "I warned you King Midas that the golden touch would be a golden curse."

"Yes you did I was a fool please take it from me take this curse." he begged falling to the floor.

"I warned you to think about it did I not." Goldie said smiling at him.

"I know you did I should have listened please take the golden touch from me."

King Midas begged once more and goldie relented taking the golden touch in exchange for his entire castle and everyone and everything in his kingdom.

King Midas agreed and was left the next morning with a single piece of meat in the middle of a barren wasteland for every tree and blade of grass and every person was gone leaving him alone but he was free of the golden touch.

So King Midas the once richest king in the world with the most powerful army and the most land of every one before and after was left a broken and poor Man for the rest of his days.

As I look over at Regina who this whole time had made gasps and eeps as the story went on which I'll be honest was kind of cute almost childlike in the way she was staring at me like I did my grandpa when he told me the story.

"So King Midas was probably even more powerful than Lord Caesar and in the end still fell." she asked hesitantly as doubting Caesar probably wouldn't go over well for her if I reported it.

"Yes but it's less about the power he wielded and more about his greed becoming his own undoing." I say, "In truth the version I told you was one from I believe Germany that my Grandpa changed up a little to tell it easier to me as a kid."

"So there are other versions of it even though it's pretty much the same story."

"Yes the original story was Greek and instead of a gnome named Goldie. King Midas had met I believe a satyr who served the god Dionysus and Dionysus gave him the golden touch when he requested it because King Midas honored the god by saving his servant."

"Did the original end the same way?."

"No, I believe it ended with him starving to death." I said although Regina didn't seem surprised by that, "The thing about old stories like that is that they're completely subjective depending on who's telling the story and where they live because customs differ pretty dramatically from where it originated."

"Did he have a reason for telling you the story in the first place?"

"I already told you about my mother I think he was trying to tell me to be careful of what I do with my life because I could easily go down my mother's spiral."

"I understand but I have one more question about your version why did Goldie relent and give the golden touch after Midas asked three times? Was there a reason?"

"Yes, in a lot of ancient cultures the number three and seven were considered special so in a lot of old stories like that you hear people asking three times and then receiving their request."

Our conversation continued like this I explained a little bit about old cultures even before the Great war which she did find interesting at least and after we search the last shipping container I went back to the gold bars and put 20 of them into my weapon as they would prove useful later should I need money. The one thing I was curious about is why the hell haven't they been looted before I mean it's true gold as a form of money is a bit more impractical given the state of the world but gold still has many uses so I have to question that at least.

"Master Derek you only put one of the crates into your weapon, why not take the rest of it?" she asked a legitimate question to be honest given that most people aren't going to take them.

"Well I don't want to end up like King Midas do I?" I said which caused her to laugh, "but in all seriousness keeping this around here for later use especially if any of the other heroes come by."

That was another problem altogether, the other heroes according to Caesar two of them were summoned by the NCR and one of them by Mr House in New Vegas which that one could go either way but the NCR ones might be more gung-ho about killing me. I'll deal with that problem when it comes up considering I still had something to do here and that was finding the basement. We searched around for a little until we noticed a door that led to the dock area and there was a door that led from there into the basement.

We made our way down the stairs to find a large sealed door which did have a standard lock. I decided to use my perk points and put one point into the skeleton key perk and then the other one into The food taster perk which Regina put her hand on my shoulder asking if I was all right without actually asking me all I could do was smile at her I didn't really know how I felt about it but that perk was going to be incredibly useful given that it made me immune to poison and venom.

After 5 seconds the skeleton key was made using three of the lockpicks in my inventory. It did have an ornamental skeleton where you grip the key at and as I approach the door and put it to the lock the key molded itself into the proper shape. Opening the door with ease we walk inside to see the walls lined with chains and several buckets clearly for the bathroom use. I'm just glad we didn't find any skeletons to be honest. I mean I know he said he let them go but part of me still thought he might have just killed them and I could see Regina was relieved a little bit as well. Walking around the room I did find a table with what seemed to be collars on them and I recognize some of them as shock collars and one of them a particularly large one was a bomb collar.

I picked up a shock collar and put it into the melee weapon. It did unlock a series and it unlocked a single weapon.

slaver's whip

passive skill: slave stat growth up (low) slave level growth up (low)

ritual skill: slave seal

accessory slots=0

I looked over at Regina who looked a little nervous I guess she forgot she was technically a slave considering I've been treating her as an equal. I looked at the weapons information and noticing the ritual skill I decided to check it out and see what it did.

slave seal: Slave seal is a ritual skill where you apply your blood to some ink and using a brush you paint a symbol of your choice on your slave's body. After the line is drawn you will be given an option to place limits (one limitation must be placed in order for the seal to be effective) on your slave. Upon completion the slave will officially be yours and no shock collar or bomb collar will be able to affect them. Any slave owned by you will be under the influence of the growth adjustments.

Regina looked at me nervously but I smiled and patted her on the head causing her to blush a little and start pouting I couldn't help but treat her like a kid with some of the mannerism she had she was kind of like one of those cute anime characters that you couldn't help but like. To my own shame though I couldn't help but think about using the slave seal given that it will increase her stat growth and level growth quicker but I wasn't going to force her into doing it. I put the bomb collar into the melee weapon and it unlocked The explosion series and a new weapon the explode which got me to reread that to make sure I read it right.

The explode level 20

melee damage: 4

defense: 8

explosion resistance:10

fire resistance:10

damage resistance:10

unique weapon skill: directional explosion

accessory slots=0

I had to do a double take on the weapon stats as well given that this thing seemed to be very powerful. I was nowhere near level 20 but after checking my stats I determine that I did get the resistances and the extra 4 points to melee damage. I probably would get stronger faster if I started leveling up given that my stats did get a 10 point increase going from level one to two which if I'm being honest wasn't bad.

melee damage: 70

defense: 40

survival: 48

armor piercing: 40

damage resistance: 46 (2)

explosion resistance: 20

fire resistance: 20

intimidation: 20

charm: 20

???

"Excuse me Master Derek what's the difference between damage resistance and the other resistances wouldn't it all be damage?" Regina said looking over my shoulder at my stats, "and what is defense when you consider that you already have damage resistance."

"I think damage resistance is for any kind of physical injury like getting shot or stabbed and other resistances must be for specific scenarios, but I think defense is more about how much damage I can block with a shield or a weapon of some kind because it seems to go up when I acquire shields." I say closing my status screen, "The one thing I'm confused about here is why some of them are hidden because I originally figured that they were there from the get-go but if they were why would they be hidden."

"Good point but can we get out of this basement It's a little stuffy in here."

I nod and the two of us walk out of the basement and back up to the dock where I see potential trouble walking in from the warehouse.