Bastion quickly stored the scattered loot in his Inventory as the dungeon worked to repair the damage the Earth Wyrm had left in its wake. Afterward, he rode back to the stairs between the 54th and 55th floors, where he found Elyra cooking a hearty meal to help Lilia and Ariel recover their strength.
"Was it worth it?" Lilia asked, slightly pissed off by the fact that she had almost died.
"You tell me," Bastion replied as he unloaded everything he had collected onto the ground between them.
"Holy mother of brilliance!" Lilia exclaimed, eyes widening at the pile of mana-saturated treasures that was taller than she was. "Rank 3 magic crystals, Rank 3 mana-filled gems, and those catalysts! We could build a castle with these materials."
"So? Was it worth it?" Bastion asked with a knowing smile.
"It's worth it. It's so totally worth it. Actually, can we go again?"
"No," Bastion said, shaking his head. "Dungeon anomalies are beyond rare, not to mention the fact that the dungeon has recently paid out. That means even if we encounter another anomaly, we'd be rewarded far less unless the dungeon has had enough time to accumulate more treasures."
"Bummer."
"Speak for yourself!" Ariel exclaimed. "I don't ever want to go through that again. No amount of treasure is worth nearly dying like that."
"I completely agree," Bastion said. "Which is why we're going to work on our defenses."
"What? Why not just say we should stop taking risks?"
"Because," Bastion said seriously, "the only way for us to grow in power is to risk our lives. If we just coast through life, we won't be able to survive when we encounter a real life-or-death situation."
Ariel sighed heavily, knowing there was no arguing with him. She had lived as an adventurer and should have known better, but her life had been more comfortable than she had realized. Bastion's guns were the ultimate guarantee, preventing her from truly experiencing the dangerous life of an adventurer.
Now that she was experiencing a bit of it from their recent excursion into the Great Forest and this dungeon dive, she suddenly didn't like it. After all, she had so much to live for.
"What did you have in mind?" she asked.
"Lilia already has a Water Barrier skill, while Elyra has her Shadow Rampart to defend herself, so something equivalent for you would be a big help. Perhaps a Rank 2 Wind Barrier," Bastion answered, considering their options further. "I was also thinking of buying Magic Shield and Magic Armor for everyone. Lilia's Water Barrier broke pretty easily, so stacking more defenses might be a better guarantee of survival."
"That sounds expensive," she said, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of spending so much wealth.
"Fortunately, our recent rewards afford us the expenditure," Bastion said with a smile, earning an eye roll from Ariel.
They spent the rest of the day and night recuperating, restoring their health, mana, and stamina, and for Ariel, specifically, her willpower, before continuing their dungeon dive. They still had 15 more floors to go before reaching the end of the dungeon on the 70th floor, where the Rank 3 harpy boss awaited.
A few days later, after blasting through more than 15 floors of harpy armies with Bastion's Diamond Rain–Diamond Shatter combo and Ariel's pinpoint-accurate shooting, they finally reached the 70th floor, only to be met by a fully operational market set up just before the boss chamber entrance.
"Wow," Ariel said, her voice full of awe. "The people here must all be at least Rank 2 to have reached this point in the dungeon."
"Not necessarily. They could have hitched a ride with a powerful Rank 2 party of more than a dozen," Lilia pointed out. "It's impressive that they managed to even set up and maintain this market, though. I wonder how long they've been living here."
The cavern they entered was surprisingly vast for a mine, its walls decorated with crudely painted images of harpies and an opening above that let in fresh air and sunlight. The space felt almost like an underground plaza rather than a typical dungeon corridor.
Tents of all shapes, sizes, and quality were scattered across the cavern floor. Along one side of the far end, stalls lined the area, forming a makeshift, self-contained market complete with food vendors, resource traders, and even a blacksmith and tailor for repairing weapons, clothes, and armor.
At the opposite end from where Bastion and the girls stood were the massive double doors leading to the boss chamber, a line of flags marking a queue. A quick count revealed 15 flags, meaning 15 parties were lined up ahead of them.
It looked like a fully outfitted encampment, built to accommodate adventurers planning to repeatedly challenge the dungeon boss.
"Welcome to the 70th floor," said a man dressed in all-leather rogue attire. "Would you like to skip ahead to 4th place in line? It'll only cost 10 gold coins. Otherwise, you'll have to wait in 16th place, and with an average of 4 hours per fight, that means you won't reach the boss for 2 days and 16 hours."
"We're not interested," Bastion said, shaking his head. "Although, I would like to know why there wasn't a setup like this in the Dungeon of Despair."
"That's because it's a field-type dungeon. Outside of large armies or high endurance party lineups, there's little incentive to rerun it. This dungeon, on the other hand, is consistent every time. The boss is a Rank 3 harpy that relies on song-based debilitation, which can be easily countered with enchanted ear plugs sold over there. Supporting her are a dozen Rank 2s, a hundred Rank 1s, and roughly a thousand Apprentice-Rank harpies.
"At early Rank 2, that lineup averages out to about 1 level up per run. The fights themselves are straightforward too. Harpies are easy to disrupt, especially with sudden, overwhelming noise like the potions being sold over there. For a party your size, it costs around 20 gold per run to reliably secure a level-up, which is an excellent rate at this stage."
Bastion nodded, accepting the information, before tossing a gold coin to the rogue, who thanked him, then retreated.
"So… are we waiting 2 days?" Lilia asked, clearly unhappy at the thought of wasting time.
"No," Bastion replied. "We're heading back. Elyra and I have already reached level 200, so there's no point in continuing the dungeon dive."
[Name]: Bastion Diamondhart
[Age]: 36
[Class]: Armory Knight (Rank 2), Diamond Knight (Rank 3)
[Ability]: Space Node, Diamond Body
[Rank]: Rank 1 (Rank Up Available)
[Level]: 200
[Health]: 1105/1105
[Mana]: 825/825
[Strength]: 82
[Dexterity]: 82.5
[Vitality]: 110.5
[Intelligence]: 82.5
[Wisdom]: 110.5
[Charm]: 56
[Luck]: 90
[Status Points]: 0
[Arts]: Smithing 5, Enchanting 5, Earth Magic 5, Light Magic 5, Shield 5, Sword 5, Whip 4, Heavy Armor 4, Summoning 4, Unarmed 3, Fire Magic 3, Water Magic 3, Dark Magic 3, Wind Magic 3, Riding 3, Cannon 3, Taming 1, Cooking 1, Traps 1
[Skills]: Shield Bash 5, Block 5, Charge 5, Reinforce 5, Amplify 5, Slash 5, Parry 5, Stab 4, Smash 4, Dodge 4, Dash 4, Jump 4, Summon Familiar(Zephy, Pebbles) 4, Diamond Armor 4, Diamond Edge 4, Diamond Shatter 4, Diamond Rain 4, Diamond Steed(Steve) 4, Taunt 3, Inventory 3, Armor Slot 3, Weapon Slot 3, Quick Slot 3, Facility Slot 3, Tame 1
[Skill Points]: 150
Thanks to the Earth Wyrm, Bastion and Elyra had already reached level 200 by the 78th floor. Lilia and Ariel followed close behind, reaching levels 196 and 194, respectively.
"Good, because after spending almost 2 weeks in here, I'm done," Lilia said. "It kinda sucks that I won't reach level 200, though. It would have been nice to just focus on my enchanting until I hit Rank 2. Speaking of which, what are your preparations for the Rank Up?"
"Learn some skills, take everything to level 5, pick out two Classes, one as a gamble and one as a guarantee, and just go for it. There's no point in overpreparing when I don't have a Class in mind to work toward. With my magic being the biggest time sink, it'll probably take me more than a decade."
"I'm glad I'm only planning to focus on water magic," Lilia admitted.
"Same here with wind," Ariel added.
With their goal of getting Bastion and Elyra to level 200 accomplished, the Dungeon of Howling Winds dive was officially over, so they headed to the teleportation circle and returned to Aurenthal, far richer than they had initially expected. As for exploring the market, anyone with half a brain knows the prices were inflated beyond reason, considering the effort it took to get there was factored into the pricing.
Once they returned, they emerged from the back of the Adventurers Guild, where the dungeon was heavily guarded, before presenting their loot to the inspectors. This even included Bastion's Inventory and Elyra's Shadow Home, which was noted on their guild cards. There was simply no escaping taxes when it came to any of the big 10 governments on the continent.
Fortunately, taxes were only applied to common loot found in the dungeon, so any personal belongings found were excluded. In the end, the inspectors took half of the common harpy loot, which was typically found in the dungeon. There was, however, a bit of a complication regarding the loot from the dungeon anomaly.
"Your Grace, may I ask about this very sizable assortment of enchanted armor and weapons in your Inventory?" the inspector asked.
The drops from the anomaly seemed suspicious because they could be mistaken for loot from adventurers who had been killed in cold blood in the dungeon. The fact that Bastion was the duke of the Diamondhart Dukedom certainly didn't excuse him from banditry. Fortunately, he had a very good excuse prepared.
"You may not be able to tell from my guild card, but I have level 5 in Smithing and Enchanting, as well as a skill called Facility Slot, which allows me to craft armor and weapons during my free time. That should explain the excessive amount of armor and weapons you have found," Bastion answered.
"I see…" the inspector said, unsure whether to press further or simply turn a blind eye, before settling on a middle ground. "I will consider them your personal belongings, but I will add a note to your file in the guild."
"That will do."
"Very well. You may take your leave. Have a good rest of your day, Your Grace."
As they walked toward the royal palace, Lilia couldn't help but comment,
"That was close."
"Far from it," Ariel said. "Bastion is a duke, so he managed to land some perks, although I doubt it would work in other kingdoms."
"It'll be fine," Bastion said with a shrug. "We'll use the merchant guild to store our stuff next time to prevent something like this from happening again."
"What if we encounter another dungeon anomaly?" Lilia asked.
"Then we just surrender half like normal adventurers or make something personal out of it before leaving. I highly doubt it's worth having a problem with the Adventurers Guild next time."
When they arrived at the palace, they were ushered into their rooms to freshen up before meeting Seraphina in the garden, where she was having tea with Aurelia.
"You're back!" Seraphina said. "How was the dungeon dive?"
"Surprising," Bastion answered. "I'll tell you all about it later. Did the ambassador from the Central Empire stop by yet?"
"Yes," she said, a conflicted look crossing her face. "There's some good news and bad news."
"Oh? Do tell."
"The good news is they evaluated their findings at well over 10,000 magic crystals."
"That's excellent news. We can almost pay off our debt. What about the bad news?"
"Well…"
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