Soft.

That was the first word that popped into my head as I slowly regained consciousness. My entire body had been enveloped in a soft, silky material. I felt more comfortable than I had since falling into the Abyss. I didn't want to move, but that wasn't really an issue because I found that I couldn't. There was a weight bearing down on my chest. Not a bad one, it was actually quite pleasant. Speaking of pleasant, my hand was resting on something else that was soft. And warm.

"Hmm…" A familiar voice hummed pleasantly as I gently squeezed, making me freeze.

"Yue?" I asked hesitantly. I tried opening my eyes, but nothing happened. There was something covering them, wrapped tightly around my head. "Yue, is that you?" I asked. Really, I didn't need to. I could sense her presence, mana, and body heat. Combine them, and I could tell it was Yue. "Why the hell am I naked?" I asked out loud, knowing the sleepy vampire wouldn't answer. Fuck, she was naked too. My hand was on her ass! "Yueeee!" I practically whine.

"Hmmm… Jack… " She hummed some more in her sleep, hugging me tightly.

"Yue, please wake up…" I sighed tiredly. She didn't respond, utterly content in her current position. "Alright that's it." I said blankly as lightning ignited from my hand. "Wake the fuck up you damned blood-sucking temptress!" I growled, electrocuting her.

"Gagagagagaaaaah!" She squealed as the electricity coursed through her body. Finally, her weight lifted off of me, and I was able to sit up and feel what was on my face. Bandages. That's what was wrapped around my eyes. I guessed it was for a good reason, because I just noticed that they hurt like hell. "Jack?" Yue's sleepy voice asked as I felt her shift next to me.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." I said dryly, making sure I was covered by the blanket.

"You're OK!" She cried as hugged me tightly. I was taken aback at the pure joy and relief I heard in her voice. That was more emotion than I'd ever seen from her. Well, 'seen.'

"Yeah, I'm OK." I assured her as I hugged her back. "I wasn't about to die to some overgrown Nope Rope." She held on tightly for a long moment before pulling back. "So, can you tell me where we are? And where in the hell did this bed come from?" I asked.

"We're in the Maverick's Lair." She said.

"Seriously?" My eyes would have widened if they could. "We made it?"

"Yep. The bottom of the Abyss." She confirmed. "You were completely unconscious, so I dragged you through the door. I found this place, and the bed was the first thing I saw. I lifted you up onto it, and gave you as much holy water as I could." She hung her head slightly. "My mana was completely depleted. It was all I could do."

"You saved my ass again." I said, placing my hand on her head affectionately. "I owe you." I could hear her smile. "Now, mind telling me why I'm starkers right now?" I asked blandly.

"You were dirty, so I washed you." She smiled again.

"Did you just lick your lips?" I asked, hearing the tell-tale sound. All I got in response was a giggle. "That laugh was very suspicious!" She just hugged me. "And now you're scaring me!" I sighed as she continued to laugh, nuzzling into me. "Ok, with that out of the way, do you mind telling me what the situation with my eyes is?" I asked. She froze, pulling back slightly, her body stiff.

"I… well, I…" She hesitated, shuffling in front of me.

"Yue?" I asked, a little scared by her reaction.

"...gone…" She mumbled under her breath.

"Excuse me?" I asked, tilting my head to lean an ear closer to her.

"Your eyes are gone." She whispered, sniffling.

"Gone, like…" I swallowed a thick lump in my throat. "Damaged? Or…"

"Gone." She repeated, a little more firmly, but still sounding like she wanted to cry. "The blast from the hydra completely destroyed them. There's nothing but two empty holes in your head!" She all but screamed in despair.

I was stunned into silence. Not just because of the revelation that I was well and truly blind, not just injured, but also because of Yue's sudden shift in demeanour. I could feel her trembling against me.

"I see…" I said after a moment, processing the information.

"Jack, I'm so s-" She started, but I stopped her with a finger on her lips.

"Don't." I said firmly. "That blast would have killed you. Next to that, losing my eyes is nothing, understand?" I asked.

"But-" I stopped her again, this time with a kiss.

"I don't regret saving your life, and I never will. So I don't want to hear any apologies, and I don't want you fixating on this either, you feel me?" I asked. She sniffled for a moment before pouncing on me, burying her face in my chest as she wailed. I just held her, knowing she needed this.

"What did you do, raid an entire wardrobe?" I asked as I combed through the pile of clothing that Yue brought over.

"Pretty much." She responded, having slipped into something herself. Not sure what though.

"This Maverick must have been a man if all we have are collared shirts and pants." I said as I struggled to put the pants on. They were a touch tight in the waist area, but I took what I could get. I refused to let Yue try to help me. After that suspicious lip licking and giggling, I wasn't in a trusting mood.

"It's a big place." Yue commented as I finally managed to get a shirt on.

"How big are we talking?" I asked, tying a holster to my hip and holstering the pepperbox.

"There's a mansion, with a large garden, and an outdoor bath." She said, surprising me.

"A mansion? Seriously? Is that where we are?" I asked. Why would someone build a mansion here?

"No, we're outside." Yue responded nonchalantly.

"Outside?"

"Yeah."

"On a bed?"

"Yeah. Under a gazebo."

"A bed under a gazebo…" I repeated, my hand on my forehead. "You know what? It doesn't matter. I just want to find out what the deal with this place is, and how to get out of this god-forsaken Labyrinth." I gave a light stretch. "Do you mind guiding me?" I asked, holding out my arm.

"Of course not!" Yue's smile was audible once again as she practically hugged my arm, guiding me down the walkway to the mansion.

"Is that sunlight I'm feeling on my face?" I asked.

"Yep. There's an artificial sky too. It gets dark at night. And there's a breeze every now and then."

I chose not to question it.

So the artificial environment was actually pretty nice, not to mention impressive. Soil, grass, flowers, bushes, the works. It was like a completely isolated spot of nature. Yue and I even found that outdoor bath she mentioned. It was in pristine condition, just like everything else. One would think a bed or a bath would crumble apart after thousands of years, but not these. This Maverick must have been a damned good mage. Yue tried to convince me to hop into the bath, and I was sorely tempted, but then she suggested we bathed together, and I shot that idea down.

From a single kiss, straight to bathing together? That was a jump I didn't think was a good idea, no matter how tempting it was.

"Wow, this place is huge." I commented as we entered. I could hear the echoes of our footsteps as we walked. "You said you did some exploring?" I asked, getting an affirmative hum in response. "Find anything interesting?"

"Not really. Just the clothes and a whole lot of locked doors." Yue said, still hugging my arm.

"Can you take me to one?" I asked. She hummed again and guided me to one of the doors. Sure enough, I could sense the mana swirling through the door. There was definitely some kind of spell there. "Transmute." I placed my hand on the door handle. My mana flexed, but the spell pushed back, preventing any change. Not like when metal resists, though. This was more like the door just flat out said 'No' in response to my attempt. "Strange." I said with a frown.

"Very." Yue agreed.

"Let's keep our guard up. We don't know what's in here, and people don't magically lock doors unless they have something to protect." I said as we continued.

"Should we try the second floor?" Yue suggested.

"May as well." I nodded. Going up the stairs with no eyes was no picnic, let me tell you. I tried Transmute on the first door we came across. "Still nothing. I think it's safe to assume that all of the doors are like this." I gave a hum of thought.

"There's one on the third floor I haven't checked yet." Yue mentioned.

"Really? Just one?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Interesting." I said thoughtfully. "Let's go see. I have a sneaking suspicion that there is something to find here, but I get the sense there's something we're missing. If there's only one room on the third floor, I'm guessing that's where we need to go." I told her.

"Kay." She responded, ever nonchalant as she guided me up to the third floor. Sure enough, the singular door we found had no enchantment, and no lock. It just opened like a normal door. "How did you know it would open?" Yue asked, surprised.

"Call it a hunch." I shrugged as we walked through. I kept my hand on the pepperbox, ready to draw it if needed as we entered the room. As we walked, I became aware of several small mana signatures. Crystals, which lit up as we entered, surrounding the room. At the end of the room, I could feel a very old and very dead presence. It was tiny, but it was there. I probably wouldn;t have picked it up if I wasn't pushing my Sense skills into overdrive to compensate for my eyes. "Yue, is there a dead body in front of us?" I asked.

"A skeleton." She informed me, walking over to it. As she did so, I felt a sudden shift of mana. I immediately reached for the pepperbox as a large magic circle appeared under my feet. "Jack!" She made to leap towards me, but I stopped her by taking my hand off of the pepperbox and holding up my hand.

"This doesn't feel malicious." I said, relaxing my posture. I carefully observed the flow of mana through my Sense Mana skill. This was a very complex magic circle I was standing on. I couldn't quite tell what it did, but there were easier ways to kill people than that. "What are you up to?" I asked as the flow of mana pulsated through the skeleton. I could feel the spell being put into action, and a new presence made itself known. It felt nearly identical to the skeleton's miniscule presence, but it was… Hollow, for lack of a better term. "Yue, what is that?" I asked.

"It looks like a person." She said, her mana priming to attack.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain coursing through my head. I hissed in pain, clutching the side of my head as I felt my heartbeat echo through my skull. Images flashed through my mind. Images of my time in the Labyrinth. The bear eating my arm, the giant shark I harvested teeth from for a knife, the Cyclops' that guarded Yue's cell, the scorpion that tried to kill us, the parasitic flowers, and the Hydra too. All these images, and dozens more in between, flashing through my mind's eye like a high speed slide show. And then, just as soon as it started, it ended.

"Jack! What happened?" Yue cried, her concern palpable.

"I'm okay." I promised her, breathing heavily. "I'm okay." I placed my hand on my chest, feeling my raging heartbeat.

"Hello there, traveler." A new voice suddenly spoke. It came from that strange, hollow presence. "My name is Oscar Orcus, and I am the architect of this Labyrinth." He introduced himself. "Allow me to offer you my congratulations on surviving all 200 floors of my trials." He went on.

"200." I repeated in a whisper. That explained that at least. I fell 35 floors off of that bridge. How did I survive?

"I am assuming the term 'Maverick' is familiar to you. I am indeed the one of which those legends speak." He explained. "I regret to inform you that what you see before you is only an illusion, a recording, so I am unable to answer any queries you might have." I see. A holographic message. That explains the hollow presence. "Instead, I will pass along a hidden truth to you, one that details the history of our war-torn world." I heard a hint of sorrow in his tone. "One that inspired myself and others like me to take a stand against what we believed to be this world's greatest evil." The sorrow shifted to resolution.

"What kind of truth?" I wondered aloud.

"I don't know who you are, nor what compelled you to challenge my Labyrinth, but I do know that you fought hard to survive my trials, and you came far." He sounded like he was smiling. "And so I will also bequeath upon you my power. You may use it as you see fit, along with any materials or artifacts you might find in my manor. I only make one request: please don't use what you've earned here today for evil." He said sincerely.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"With that, I bid you farewell. You will understand more in a few moments." His presence started to fade. "I wish you the best, and I hope that your destiny will always be yours to command."

"Wait! What's this about a truth about-" I tried to call out to him as his presence faded, even if I knew it was futile, but I stopped when I felt the magic circle activate a second layer of magic. "What in the fuck?" I asked. Just then, pain shot through my head once again, but this time, it was more direct. "Wh-what is this?!" I asked through gritted teeth as images and information made its way into my mind. I continued to grit my teeth, clutching my skull as the magic worked its way through me, until finally, it ended. It took all of a few seconds, but it was intense. "Holy fuck…" I whispered as I fell to my knees and the magic circle faded.

"Jack!" Yue finally ran over to me now that the magic circle was gone. "What happened?" Worry was thick in her voice as she knelt beside me.

"The Mavericks weren't evil." I whispered. "They called themselves the Liberators. They weren't trying to destroy the world, they were trying to save it!"

"From what?" Yue asked, taken aback by the revelation.

"From God." I whispered. "From the very beginning this war between the Beastmen, Demons, and Humans has been nothing but entertainment for God, purposefully pitting them against each other for his own amusement." I shook my head at the sheer absurdity. "Oscar and the other Mavericks, the Liberators, stood up to fight against this ploy, but God turned the people against them." I stood up with a grunt of effort. "That's why they built the Labyrinths. To pass on their power to someone who could continue their fight. Ingenious, I must admit." I said as I stared at my hand. Redundant, since I couldn't see, I know, but it felt right.

"So… What are you going to do?" Yue asked as she hugged my arm again.

"I already told you. All I want is to become as strong as possible. Strong enough to ensure nobody ever challenges me." I reminded her. "I feel no attachment or responsibility to this world, or its people." I gave a scowl. "All that matters is finding a way to traverse the worlds, so I can go home when it suits me, and learn the secrets of the multiverse." I said with finality. "I'd like you there with me." I said honestly, making her look at me. "Do you feel differently?" I asked.

"No." She shook her head, holding my arm closer. "Wherever you go, that's home to me." She said sincerely, making my chest tighten.

"A-anyway, I think I learned a new branch of magic." I tried to change the topic. I got the feeling Yue was smiling at the unsubtle shift. "That circle taught me some kind of Ancient Magic called Creation Magic." I explained.

"Creation Magic?" She asked.

"Yeah, it lets me enchant ores and minerals with energy, giving them unique and special properties to create new things." I summarised.

"You're saying you can create artifacts?" She asked, surprised.

"Apparently." I shrugged. "You know, you could probably learn it too, if you'd like." I gesture to the circle.

"Really? But I can't use Transmute." She responded.

"Good point." I conceded. "Ah well, we can revisit it later down the line if it becomes necessary." I suggest with a shrug. Yue agreed. "Anyway, the mansion is ours now. I think we should give Oscar a proper burial." I said, turning my head to Oscar's skeleton. The miniscule presence was gone. It must have been what was fuelling the message he left behind.

With Oscar Orcus buried and hopefully resting in peace, Yue and I decided to explore some more. We found a small office with a desk and numerous bookshelves. Yue opened the singular book that was left on the desk, a notebook of Oscar's, reading it aloud for me since, well, you know. I couldn't see.

"So we can leave anytime through the magic circle then?" I summarised.

"Just about." Yue agreed, closing the book and stepping over to the bookshelf. "But we'll need Orcus' ring." She noted.

"Got you covered." I held up the ring in question. "I could feel the magic on it, so I decided to take it when we buried him." I said, pocketing the ring again.

"It also says that his workshop is fully stocked. It's filled to the brim with artifacts and materials. could be useful." She said as she approached with another book in hand.

"Agreed. We'll have to peruse through them later." I nodded. Suddenly, Yue made herself comfortable on my lap, opening the book she held. "Please, make yourself comfortable." I said dryly, prompting a giggle. "So what did you find?"

"It's a lot, but basically, I think it means that if we find the other Labyrinths, we can learn other Ancient Magics." She said as she flipped through pages.

"More Ancient Magics?" I asked, my interest piqued. "Could be great for getting stronger."

"And you might find a way to traverse the worlds too." Yue added.

"Maybe." I agreed. "Keep that one aside, will you? I'd like to go through it word-for-word later, if you don't mind."

"Sure." She got up and placed it on the desk.

"So, if we're going to complete more Labyrinths, we're going to need better equipment." I said with a thoughtful frown. "Did you manage to get my backpack?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's by the bed." Yue confirmed.

"Good. I'd hate to lose the Divinity Crystal." I leaned back thoughtfully. "The notebook said Oscar had a whole bunch of artifacts and materials stored away. Why don't we go take a look?" I suggested. Yue agreed, guiding me to one of the locked doors. With Oscar's ring, the magic that was locking the door came undone. Yue looked around as we entered. "And? What do you see?" I asked.

"Rocks." She said simply. "Ores, metals, gems, and other things like that."

"Can you pass me one?" I asked, holding out my hand. There was a bit of shuffling and then a weight in my hand. A small stone, about the size of a golf ball. "Read for me?" I asked, handing her my status plate as I used Appraisal on the stone.

"Spirit Stone." She read. "Capable of absorbing large quantities of mana. When two or more of them absorb the same kind of mana, they can be remotely controlled through the connection."

"Interesting." I said thoughtfully. I could probably make something very useful with that. "So, I've been thinking…" I trail off.

"Yeah?" She asked as

"It might be a good idea to stay here for a while." I said with a thoughtful frown. "I'm not going to be in fighting shape for a long time, and as much as I'd like to get back to the surface, there's a lot to learn here about Creation Magic. Plus, with all these materials, I can take the time to really arm us with a practical arsenal of weapons."

"I'm fine with anything as long as I'm with you." Yue said with a smile in her tone.

"Promise you're not saying that because of my eyes?" I asked.

"Promise." She gripped my hand, squeezing tightly.

"Then I guess we should get to moving in." I smiled.

"Haaaaah~" I let out a groan of pleasure as I sank into the hot water of the outdoor bath. "This is the best thing I've done since coming to this world." I let out a content sigh as I sank down to my neck. As much as I wanted to submerge my whole body in the hot water, I didn't want to get my bandages wet and risk an infection in my empty eye sockets. I also noticed my stump was feeling better. I never noticed how much it was aching until I got in the water. I guess the muscles were finally starting to relax. They were finally able to relax, like I was. After a bellyful of Hydra meat, this was exactly what I needed.

Skills: Limit Break

Very nice.

It wasn't just the meat I harvested. That thing's hide was prime for leather.

Hydra leather.

Yep, the silver snake's corpse was still intact. Since it wasn't disintegrated like the other six, the Hydra's hide was ripe for the taking. Unfortunately, Creation Magic didn't work on organic matter like leather or bone, so I could only enchant metal components, which I was fine with. With Transmute, I turned some of the Hydra's hide into a highly durable, shiny, silver leather, which I would use later down the line.

My quiet contentment didn't last, however. Just as soon as I felt her presence, I could hear Yue's footsteps as she approached.

"Yue? What are you doing?" I asked as she stopped at the edge.

"I'm joining you. Duh." She said as she stepped. "So warm~" She sighed happily.

"I think I recall saying that I specifically wanted to bathe alone." I said with a sigh. "You're completely naked, aren't you?" I asked redundantly. If I could see, this would be a lot more awkward.

"Well yeah. You're supposed to bathe naked." She said as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Well, at least I can't see." I mumbled, shaking my head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I could hear her pouting. "Don't you think I'm pretty?"

"I didn't say that." I rebuffed. I would have rolled my eyes if I could. "You're stunning, but that's not the-" I stopped when she made herself comfortable on my lap. "Yue?" I asked, a lump in my throat.

"I'm glad." She whispered, kissing my jawline. I thought she was trying to go for my blood, she'd done that naked before, but this was very different.

"Oh God, I feel it." I whispered in a hoarse voice. I was not prepared for this. It'd been a while for me, and I'd not expected her to be so forward.

"Feel what?" Yue asked innocently. I couldn't tell if she was genuine, or teasing me with that statement. "All of me is yours, Jack." She licked my neck, sending a jolt down my spine. "So there's no reason to hesitate." She planted a fierce kiss on my lips.

I'd like to say I fought harder, that I resisted, that I hesitated because of her stature, but I'd be lying. There was a little bit of, shall we say, 'performance anxiety' in the beginning, but Yue was able to take care of that in ways I don't feel comfortable repeating verbally. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that she did most of the work, but with one arm and no eyes, it would have been difficult for me to do much. It would have been a blow to my masculinity if I hadn't been thoroughly pacified by the end of it.

"I think that'll do the trick." I said as I felt the spherical orb of polished metal in my hand. I was sitting at a workbench in one of Oscar's storage rooms. With all the materials I needed at hand, I got to work on trying to solve the biggest of my issues. I spent the past two days working on what I was holding.

"You think it'll work?" Yue asked.

"One way to find out." I said, undoing the bandages from my head. Exposing only the left eye socket, I gently slipped the orb into the cavity. With a tiny flex of mana, the prosthetic eye activated, and…

Being blind wasn't what I expected. I had expected everything to just be pitch black, but that wasn't the case. It didn't look like darkness, it looked like… nothingness. I think the best way to describe it would be if blurry vision were turned up to max, where nothing in your field of vision could be differentiated, no matter the light, colour, or size of any object. When the prosthetic eye went in, the blur focussed. Slowly, but…

"Yue…" I whispered as I looked at the girl in front of me. "You need to brush your hair." I said with a wry grin, seeing her messy bed head.

"Jack!" She cried out in happiness, hugging me. I hugged her right back. After two days of relying on her for almost everything, I could see again. I could see her. "It worked!" She looked up at me with teary eyes.

"It worked." I grinned widely. Truth be told, it wasn't perfect, but it was good. It was like the highest HD screen I'd ever seen had been draped over my field of vision. The difference was negligible, I admit, but it would take some getting used to. And it would be a constant reminder of what I lost, but I wasn't going to tell Yue that. And either way, I could always figure out a way to refine them later. "Does it look OK?" I asked as we separated.

"Yeah." She said, grabbing the mirror she'd brought just for the occasion and holding it up for me as she sat in my lap. Well, she was right, it looked OK. It looked badass really. It just didn't look natural.

The 'sclera' of the eye was pitch black. This was still just a prototype, so I wasn't too fazed about it looking natural. I'd intended to make the iris my normal, original blue, but Yue had pouted, saying she liked my amethyst eyes, so I caved and made the iris the same luminous amethyst they were after mutating, complete with the wide slitted pupil. It was even more luminous now thanks to the Divinity Crystal in the centre. And with the black sclera, and it was really unnatural. If I didn't look like a demon before, I did now.

Heh, I bet this is what a child between Geralt and Yennefer would look like.

"Well then, I'll get to work on another." I said, prompting Yue to get up off of me. "Thanks for all your help Yue." I said sincerely.

"Of course!" She smiled widely, a smile that quickly turned mischievous as she skipped out of the room. I had a feeling what that smile was about. Now that I could see, she'd probably want me to see everything, if you get my meaning.

Shaking my head of those distracting, though not altogether unappealing, thoughts, I got to work on making my second eye.

I started with a chunk of the Holy Crystal, transmuted to a sphere about the size of a my first thumb digit, and used the Fusion skill to add a Spirit Stone into its mass. This would act as the core. I then created a paper-thin casing, the correct shape and size for a human eyeball, out of an alloy of Azantium and Shtar, which is why the sclera was black. I filled the casing with a fluid containing retina cells from the Hydra's eyes, yes, you read that right, and propped the Holy/Spirit Crystal inside, sealing the casing. I then attached a second, smaller Holy/Spirit Crystal to the outside of the casing. Finally, I fused another Holy/Spirit Crystal with a purple pearl, yes, a pearl, to create the luminous amethyst iris that I attached on the opposite end.

That's how it was constructed, but to make it work required Creation Magic. From what I could understand, Creation Magic basically gave me the ability to imbue enchantments onto ores and minerals. I could either weave enchantments the same way magic circles are created, or I could use my skills as a shortcut, which is what I did with my new eyes.

First, I imbued the core with Mana Manipulation, Lightning Field, and Telepathy, a unique combination that, when applied delicately enough, was exactly what I needed to be able to see. With both of the stones possessing the attributes of a Holy Crystal and a Spirit Stone, they connected to each other flawlessly, as did the iris. The Holy/Spirit Pearl acted as the cornea, using the Sense Heat skill and other enchantments I'd weaved to perceive light, since light and heat typically go hand in hand, then using the connection to send it to the core. The core, utilising the trio of skills from earlier, would process the light into electric signals and images using the retina fluid, and then send them to the crystal attached to my optic nerve, which used the same skills to transmit these signals into my brain.

The best part was that all of this was happening automatically thanks to the Telepathy skill. With that in place, the stones would pick up on my brain waves as regular eyes do, and thus they functioned as regular eyes do. I could even move them from side to side, and up and down with no issue. Add in Farsight, Sense Mana, Sense Presence, and Night Vision, I had a seriously badass pair of eyes. I could have used something more natural for the coating so I didn't have black sclerae, but that would have required more effort than I really cared to give, so I chose not to.

"Now to start on a new hand." I said, looking around the workshop. Now that I had my sight back, the real work could begin.

"Ja-ack~" Yue's voice echoed through the halls. I knew what that tone meant.

Work could wait.

Yue and I spent the next two months shacked up in the mansion, and I really took the time to practice, experiment, and understand this new power.

Yue tried to learn it, and she succeeded, but we found she couldn't properly use it. It was a shame, but in the grand scheme of things, wasn't really an issue.

On a more pleasant note, I'd finally found a work-around to my problem with transmuting metals. The answer was Shtar ore. I'd done this with the Star-tower Crossbow; fusing Shtar ore and Taur stone to make what I've been calling Star-tower. By fusing the organic Shtar ore with metals and stones, I could include the Shtar ore's organic properties in the new alloy, opening up a whole new world of possibilities. Synergist-esque possibilities.

I cursed myself out something fierce for not realising this back when I first found the stuff. I'd even actually done this with the bloody crossbow and the upgrades to the pepperboxes. I should have made the connection then, but I was an idiot.

Well, the important thing to keep in mind is that if I just made sure I had an appropriate amount of Shtar ore in all of the metal components of anything I might want to build, I'd be able to Transmute the metals almost as smoothly as I could with bone.

The only downside was that I only had so much Shtar ore from the scorpion on me, but Oscar had some stocked up, so I wasn't too worried about that in the beginning.

Anyway, on to business.

The first thing I did after completing my new eyes was make a new hand.

The bear had cut my arm off right above the elbow, so I needed to make an elbow joint, forearm, and hand. I started with an internal 'skeletal' system for the arm, which I made from an Azantium/Shtar alloy. I then took the bear's skull, which I'd kept as a souvenir, reinforced it, and transmuted it into plating that would act as the chassis for the prosthetic arm. It seemed fitting, the bear ate my arm, and I used its skull to replace said arm. Poetic justice at its finest.

With the skeletal structure of the arm done, I added several mechanisms that would make it far more badass than a simple replacement. A blade that burst out of the wrist, Assassin's Creed style, tiny needle-shooting mechanisms in the fingers, and a grappling hook that shot out from the back of the wrist, just to name a few. And a fair number of enchantments as well.

That took care of the internals, which brought me to the chassis. After making sure that none of the internals obstructed the arm's mobility as a limb, I placed the bone plating. By the time I was done, it actually looked somewhat like Iron Man's arm, except the red and gold external plating was replaced with pure white bone. It was an awesome sight, I had to admit.

I could write again, thank God. It's just my luck that I had to survive the Abyss without my dominant hand.

The next project I tackled: weapons.

Whilst I had grown attached to the pepperboxes, I wasn't really a gun person. I spent years going to an archery range every weekend before I moved to Japan, shooting bows and crossbows alike. I was by no means an expert archer, Oliver Queen I am not, but with my mutated body and enhanced capabilities, I could be very quickly. So, I made myself a compound bow.

I used a flexible and powerful composite alloy of Taur stone, Azantium, and Shtar ore to create a handle, and then two thin rods of the same material that I encased in bone from the Hydra for the limbs. The powerful limbs coupled with the bowstring I made from some incredibly tough sinew I also harvested from the Hydra, and the idler wheels on each limb, I was able to bring the draw weight to a comfortable 100 kilograms. Well, comfortable to me, at least.

The shafts of the arrows were made from Azantium/Shtar, and I decided to make the arrowheads from compressed chunks of the Hydra's teeth, just to add some variety to my arsenal. I used thin strips of leather to make the fletching. As an added feature, I imbued the shafts of the arrows with the Quick Step and Lightning Field skills, so when they were fired, with a bit of mana channelled into them, they would fly much faster than an arrow normally would, even for a 100kg draw weight, and they'd electrocute whatever they hit if I so chose. With those two features, the arrow's speed would probably reach upwards of Mach 2 if I wanted it to.

I made a lot of those arrows, and a fair number of weird and wonderful trick arrows too.

Next was a sidearm. I may not be a gun person, but I couldn't deny how useful they were in high stress situations. I had a new appreciation for them now.

With Shtar and other metals now at my disposal, making a gun with more moving parts than the pepperbox would be easy. I went with a glock. Glocks were notorious for being simple and reliable. Pulling the trigger would push the firing pin forward, striking the cartridge, and firing the bullet. The recoil would force the slide over the barrel back, allowing the empty shell to automatically be discarded, and when the recoil spring below the barrel brings the slide forward again, a small pin would pull the next bullet in place, ready to fire. By itself, it was powerful enough. With a dose of Lightning Field thrown in, it would probably rival an anti-material rifle.

I was even a little fancy with it, giving it a grip made from leftover bear bones.

Despite such a simple mechanism, I never would have been able to make it without combining the metals with Shtar ore.

My glock was made from the same composite of Shtar, Azantium, and Taur that I used for my bow, only this alloy was tougher and stronger; more solid and less flexible. The bullets still used powdered Blastrock, with the shells and bullets made from Star-tower. With a magazine that carried 17 bullets, it would be a lot more efficient than the pepperbox, and it would be easier to reload, especially with two hands.

As an extra, I made a small pistol crossbow that could fire multiple shots. It used a revolver-esque mechanism that could be detached from the bottom of the frame. The cylindrical chamber would be loaded with 12 bolts, attached to the bottom of the frame, and when they ran out, the entire chamber would be removed and replaced. In order to fire the bolts in succession, I added a small mechanism that would automatically pull the string back with electromagnetism after each shot. It would be useful in tighter spaces where I didn't want to use the Glock.

I also took the time to make a replacement for the Star-tower Crossbow. Since I now had two hands to carry the thing with, this one was longer and stronger. The previous one was about the same strength as my new compound bow. Taking into account the magnetised rods and enchantments, this one was much stronger. I had to include a lever to pull the bowstring back because the draw weight was so high, even I couldn't do it by hand.

Now, where was I storing all this you might ask? I'm glad you asked!

One of Oscar's artifacts was called the Treasure Trove. It was a golden ring with a 1cm gem embedded on it. It was enchanted with a unique magic that created a pocket dimension where one could store just about anything. In other words, it was an Inventory. 'Treasure Trove' was a mouthful, so I decided to just call it the Inventory. I practically squealed when I found it, immediately expanding the ring's size to fit my middle finger and not just my pinky. It's basically what led me to going pretty stir crazy with my crafting; knowing I could carry it all.

And I really did go a little crazy.

An Assault Rifle made of pure Shtar ore, condensed to be as strong as possible and filled with as much mana as it could take. Instead of bullets, however, it shot a concentrated beam of Lightning Field that would disintegrate a human being that came into direct contact if it was strong enough.

A ballista that used railgun magnetism and incredibly powerful limbs, enhanced with torsion cables made from Hydra sinew, to fire bolts made of compressed bone with a Star-tower rod down the middle, which I then coated in a thin layer of Azantium/Shtar, making it just shy of unbreakable. These bolts had streamlined tips, almost like bullets, but I did make broadhead ones too. Both the broadheads and the streamlined tips were made from the Hydra's teeth.

I even put a paper-thin coating of Azantium/Shtar/Taur alloy on the blade of my bayonet, making it incredibly sharp and durable.

I really needed to come up with new names for the alloys I made.

It wasn't just weapons that I went crazy on.

I actually made a working car and motorcycle. Yes, you heard me, a car, and a motorcycle. The motorcycle's design was inspired by an old school Harley V-rod, complete with a dark chrome chassis and the long handlebars. And since it ran on mana, the engine was almost completely silent, not like the douchebags who usually rode these things. The same could be said for the car, which I modelled after a 70s style Mustang. And just to be fancy, I made it convertible. What was really cool was that these vehicles were completely safe for off-road travel. Since there were no tar roads here, I had to make sure I could drive on dirt roads. Then I figured why not just go ahead and make them full off-road?

That's when I got the idea for a Jeep. Like I said, I went crazy.

I was halfway through building it when Yue scolded me for wasting materials on things we didn't need, and that the two vehicles we had were enough. I conceded that she was right and pressed pause on the Jeep. She did make a good point though. I'd almost completely run out of Shtar ore before I realised it, meaning no more easily Transmuting metals. So, with Yue's assent, we went back into the Labyrinth, up to the 150th floor, where her cell was.

The plan was to harvest the rest of the scorpion's exoskeleton to replenish the Shtar ore. It was unpleasant, dealing with the smell of the rotting scorpion, but after we killed off all the scavenging monsters that had been feasting on the rancid meat, I quickly put every last piece of the exoskeleton in the Inventory. According to Oscar's notes, the Inventory would preserve what was being held inside it, so I could worry about cleaning the exoskeleton when I actually needed it. While we were at it, I made sure to harvest every last piece of the Hydra's as well; the hide, the meat, the bones, and all of its teeth as well, storing them in the Inventory.

To make it up to Yue, having to go back there, I made her a cute circular pendant that I textured to look like the moon, and I included a carved gem from the Divinity Crystal to act as both a mana storage tank, and a mana booster for her. It was practical, and cute. She was very happy with it, as is evident by her barging into the workshop wearing nothing but the pendant.

I drew her like my French girls. Heh…

Finally, I made us some clothes. I'm embarrassed to admit that the thought didn't occur to me until just a few days before we left. Yue didn't mind, since she didn't wear clothes all that much around the mansion. Her words, not mine.

For Yue, I used some of the Hydra's hide to make her some flexible thigh-high leather boots, under which she wore a pair of black stockings I made from silk that I'd harvest from a moth monster, and a practical miniskirt that wouldn't impede her movement. For her top, I simply used Transmute to resize the collared shirt of Oscar's that she'd used whenever she did wear anything, making it a nice fit for her. And I wasn't sure when, but she'd started putting a black bow in her hair at some point. It must have been before I made my new eyes.

As for me, I went with something a bit more… formal. Correction: though it looked formal, it was made with combat in mind. What I wore was basically a black British suit with a red tie, and a pair of highly durable Doc Marten style boots that I made from Hydra leather, dyed black, and put a plate of Azantium in the sole so I could enchant them later if I wanted. I also replaced the suit's blazer with a gothic-style trench coat, also made from Hydra Leather, and reinforced it with some twine that I'd transmuted from Shtar/Azantium alloy. Though I did darken it a little bit, I kept the dark metallic silver shine of the Hydra's hide, because I loved it.

I basically looked like John Constantine with weapons.

My glock was strapped to my right thigh, my bow and quiver stored in the Inventory until I needed them, and though I hadn't been using it much lately, I had my bayonet strapped to the left side of my belt.

With one final sweep of the mansion, I made sure that I'd gathered up everything of use I could find in there; be it a craftable material, a plant that I could use in alchemy, any artifact that Oscar left behind, and every book I could find. I had no idea if or when I'd be able to return to this place, so it was best just grab it all. I also made sure I had everything I'd gathered throughout the Labyrinth. My leftover pepperbox bullets could be repurposed, I could still use the bones and mana crystals I'd collected, and I even wanted to keep the bear's pelt. I was going to have that draped in the living room of my house one day.

I triple checked that I had everything before we even considered leaving.

"Well, I think that's everything." I said as Yue and I stood in the centre of the magic circle. "We're armed, dangerous, and ready to roll, and I don't think I'll be able to get anymore skills from the monsters in the Labyrinth." I said as the circle lit up. "After two months, I think we're as ready as we can be." I said, looking at my prosthetic hand.

"Yeah." Yue agreed with a nod.

"Also, even if the way we look doesn't draw attention, our weapons and powers will. Particularly from the church. I'm not sure who we can trust." I warned her. "And if the Gods were to come after us, it'd probably be us against the whole world." I said grimly. "If the Maverick's couldn't beat them, I'm not sure we can."

"Maybe not." Yue responded with a nonchalant shrug. I had to smile, appreciative of her cool demeanor.

"You watch my back, I'll watch yours?" I asked.

"Sounds good." She nodded again.

"Then I'm sure we'll be just fine." I grinned. And with that, the magic circle activated, sending us away.

OK, so I'm very proud of my 'inventions' in this chapter. I chose to go with a bow instead of the guns because I want to distinguish him from Hajime more. From the beginning, I had the idea of using the bear's bones to replace his arm. My initial thought was to use them as the skeletal structure and then cover them with metal, but I figured it would be more fitting if I used its skull, and put the bones on the outside as the plating.

The eyes were the biggest hurdle. I must have changed them a dozen times since I first finished this chapter. I tried to make them as plausible as I could, but they're still going to require a little bit of suspension of disbelief. I even included a bit of the hydra's eyes in them, tying into the whole 'Alchemist' thing. Either way, who doesn't love black sclerae, huh?

Finally got the AI to create an image for Jack that I liked. It took way longer than it should have. Very annoying.

Still very interested to hear any thoughts or ideas for inventions or tools to use.