The heavy iron door of the warehouse groaned shut, plunging the cavernous space into near-total darkness. For the first time since his arrival, Spartan-001 was in a secure, private location.
"Alright, first base of operations secured. Phase one of the 'Foundation Protocol' is looking good," Cortana's voice chimed in his helmet, her avatar appearing in the corner of his HUD. "Gror seemed sufficiently terrified. I don't think he'll be talking."
"He is a variable under observation," the Spartan stated, his voice a low baritone. He stood motionless in the center of the room, his armor's systems running a structural analysis of the building. "His utility is temporary. The information broker he mentioned is our next priority for local intelligence."
"One step at a time, Chief. According to Gror, acquiring this building will cost at least 300,000 Valis, plus his commission. We're currently at zero." Cortana brought up the mission log. "Objective: acquire currency. Suggestion: The Dungeon. It's the primary economic driver of this city and the only place we can legally harvest resources for conversion into Valis."
He had received System Points from his initial encounter, but they weren't a currency for this world. They were for his own progression. To operate here, he needed local capital.
"A new mission has appeared in the system," Cortana noted.
[NEW SIDE MISSION]
[MISSION: Initial Capital]
[DESCRIPTION: Secure the necessary funds to begin your operations in Orario. Acquire at least 400,000 Valis.]
[REWARD: +5,000 System Points, Unlock Option for Construction Template [Basic Workshop].]
"The system adapts. It has provided a clear objective and a valuable reward. A workshop is our first step toward self-sufficiency," the Spartan analyzed. "We proceed as planned."
He accessed the fabrication menu. He had 9,400 System Points from the initial forest encounter. The UNSC Combat Knife schematic was available.
"Unlocking the schematic will cost 100 points," Cortana confirmed. "Subsequent fabrications will be cheaper."
"Authorize it," he commanded.
[SECTION: FABRICATION / SCHEMATICS]
[ACTION: Unlock Schematic [UNSC Combat Knife]]
[COST: -100 System Points]
[CONFIRM? [Y/N]]
He confirmed the action with a thought. The schematic was now permanently part of his database.
The Spartan held out his hand. A faint shimmer of blue, geometric light coalesced in his palm. In seconds, it solidified into a physical object: a 30-centimeter blade of high-carbon steel, perfectly balanced, with a black, non-slip polymer hilt.
[PHOTO]
"Now for the Dungeon," he said, sheathing the knife magnetically to his armor's chest plate.
"Hold on," Cortana interjected. "We're going in blind. We need an advisor at the Guild, a local expert. My analysis points to Eina Tulle. She's thorough. Let's make her our official point of contact."
"A calculated risk," the Spartan mused. "A single point of contact can become a single point of failure. But it will streamline intelligence gathering."
"Exactly. We'll play the role of the clueless but powerful newcomer. She'll give us the information, and we'll give her a headache she'll never forget."
With their plan set, they left the warehouse.
The journey to the Tower of Babel was a study in contrasts. He moved through the crowds like a warship through a fleet of fishing boats. He reached the base of the tower, a colossal structure that seemed to defy the very laws of physics. The entrance to the Dungeon was a gaping maw in its side, a portal to the world below.
"Energy readings are off the charts," Cortana noted. "The ambient energy here is… strange. Not like anything from a Forerunner installation or a Covenant power source. It feels more biological. Alive."
"The Dungeon is a living entity," the Spartan stated, recalling Gror's fearful descriptions from their journey. "We will treat it as a hostile, thinking opponent."
He bypassed the bustling adventurers at the entrance and began his descent. The first floor was a massive, cavern-like space, illuminated by phosphorescent moss that cast an eerie green glow. The air was cool and damp, thick with the smell of wet earth and a faint, predatory musk. As soon as he stepped fully onto the floor, a new notification flashed in his HUD.
[NEW SIDE MISSION]
[MISSION: First Clear]
[DESCRIPTION: The upper floors are a proving ground. Demonstrate your capabilities by clearing Floor 1 of all hostile entities.]
[HOSTILES REMAINING: 47 (Goblins, Kobolds...)]
[REWARD: +5,000 System Points, Unlock Option for Schematic [UNSC Marine BDU].]
"Forty-seven hostiles, mixed signatures," Cortana remarked. "A target-rich environment. What's the plan, Chief? Go loud with the MA40?"
"Negative," the Spartan replied, his voice a low rumble. He flexed his armored fingers, the sound of servos whining softly. "These threats are primitive. They don't warrant the expenditure of ammunition. This is a baseline assessment. I will engage with close-quarters combat only. We need to establish the upper limits of my unaided performance in this environment."
"Just the knife and your fists against fifty hostiles? That's not a baseline assessment, that's a statement," Cortana quipped. "Alright, John Wayne. Let's dance."
His motion tracker lit up with the first group: a dozen red dots milling around a rocky outcropping. He moved with a practiced stealth that seemed impossible for his size, his armor's systems dampening the sound of his movements until he was little more than a whisper of displaced air.
The goblins, shrieking and squabbling over a piece of carrion, were completely unaware. This was his element: the silent hunt before the storm. He drew his combat knife.
He struck from the shadows. The nearest goblin, a lone sentry, had its throat slit before it could make a sound. Valerius caught the body, lowering it silently to the ground. He flowed to the next, a single, precise thrust of his knife into the base of its skull ending its life just as quietly. He was about to take a third when one of the goblins stumbled and saw him. Its beady eyes went wide with terror, and it opened its mouth to shriek an alarm.
The time for stealth was over.
With a surge of Mjolnir-assisted speed, he crossed the remaining distance in a blur. The goblin's alarm cry was cut short as his armored fist slammed into its face, the impact turning its head into a gruesome spray of blood, bone fragments, and brain matter.
The rest of the pack turned, their surprise quickly morphing into feral rage. Shrieking, they charged as one.
The Spartan met the charge not as a man, but as a force of nature. He grabbed the first goblin by its head, his augmented strength and the armor's amplification allowing him to crush its skull like a rotten fruit, the sound a sickening wet crunch. He used the limp body as a gruesome flail, swinging it in a wide arc that shattered the bones of two more goblins, sending them flying.
A spear thrust at his chest. He ignored it, the primitive weapon scraping uselessly against his armor plating. He grabbed the spear shaft, ripped it from the goblin's hands, and in one fluid motion, snapped it over his knee. He drove the splintered end through the goblin's chest, the makeshift stake bursting out its back in a shower of gore. His movements defied physics, each blow from his armored fists impacting with the force of a vehicle, breaking bodies and sending them airborne in arcs of black blood.
The last few goblins of the pack broke and fled in terror. He didn't let them get far. He picked up a loose rock from the cavern floor, his suit's systems instantly calculating the trajectory. With a flick of his wrist, he threw it. The rock, propelled by Spartan strength, struck one of the fleeing goblins in the back of the head with the force of a cannonball, dropping it instantly. He repeated the action twice more, each throw a lethal, percussive thud echoing in the cavern.
He knelt amidst the corpses, his knife expertly carving out the Magic Stones. He retrieved a simple, rugged pouch from a utility compartment on his armor and began dropping the small, glowing crystals inside.
"Why the bag, Chief?" Cortana's voice echoed in his helmet. "The system inventory is instantaneous. More efficient."
"Negative," he replied, his movements never faltering. "Using a non-physical storage method is an observable anomaly. While rare 'spatial magic' might exist in this world, displaying such an ability marks us as a high-value target for every major power in this city. It's an unnecessary risk while we're still in the intelligence-gathering phase. We conform to local physical laws in public. We do not advertise our advantages."
"OPSEC, even against newbie adventurers. Got it," she quipped. "Paranoid, but professional. I like it."
[MISSION UPDATE]
[MISSION: First Clear]
[HOSTILES REMAINING: 35]
[BONUS OBJECTIVE DETECTED: Clear the floor in under 15 minutes.]
[BONUS REWARD: +2,500 System Points, Unlock Option for [Advanced Material Pack].]
"A time trial. Acknowledged," the Spartan said, his pace quickening.
His motion tracker pinged again. A larger group this time. Twenty contacts, moving in a more coordinated pattern.
"New signatures," Cortana announced. "Designation: Kobold. Canine-like humanoids. Faster than the goblins. Based on their movement, I'd class them as analogues to a Kig-Yar skirmisher pack, but without the energy shields. They'll rely on speed and pack tactics."
He found them in a wider section of the cavern, a snarling pack of dog-faced creatures with crude axes and spears. They spotted him almost immediately, their howls echoing off the stone walls as they spread out, attempting to encircle him.
"A more disciplined enemy," the Spartan noted. "Good."
This time, he didn't wait. He charged them.
He crashed into their line like a freight train, his shoulder tackling a Kobold with enough force to turn it into a biological projectile that knocked down three others. He was a whirlwind of CQC, his fists, elbows, and knees becoming lethal weapons. He grabbed an axe from a Kobold, parried another's strike with it, and then buried the blade in its owner's skull. He ducked under a spear thrust, grabbed the Kobold's arm, and used its own momentum to throw it into a wall, the impact echoing like a dropped side of beef.
Black blood sprayed across his armor, hot and viscous in the cavern's green glow. He moved through them, a titan of grey and blue steel amidst a sea of snarling, dying creatures. The fight was a brutal, bloody ballet of violence that lasted less than a minute.
He collected the stones, his pouches growing heavier. As he moved deeper into the floor, he encountered the last few monsters. A handful of Giant Bats, which he dispatched with thrown knives and rocks, and a lone Dungeon Lizard, a stocky, reptilian beast with thick, scaly hide.
"Threat analysis: Sub-Hunter class. Armor plating appears formidable. Suggest targeting joints or the underbelly," Cortana advised.
The lizard hissed and charged. The Spartan stood his ground. At the last second, he dropped into a slide, his armored form skimming across the stone floor. He came up underneath the creature's charge, his combat knife flashing out in a powerful upward thrust. The blade punched through the softer scales of the lizard's belly, sinking deep into its vitals. The beast let out a final, gurgling roar before collapsing on top of him. With a grunt, he pushed the half-ton carcass off his body and stood up, pulling his knife free.
Finally, a final notification appeared.
[SIDE MISSION COMPLETE]
[MISSION: First Clear (14:21)]
[All hostile entities on Floor 1 have been neutralized.]
[REWARD: +5,000 System Points, Unlock Option for Schematic [UNSC Marine BDU].]
[BONUS OBJECTIVE COMPLETE!]
[BONUS REWARD: +2,500 System Points, Unlock Option for [Advanced Material Pack].]
He stood in the center of a now-silent cavern, his armor slick with the blood of three different species. With methodical efficiency, he finished collecting the last of the Magic Stones, the physical pouches heavy and bulging with his haul.
When he ascended, he walked directly to the counter marked "Magic Stone Exchange," bypassing the long line as adventurers parted for him like water before a ship's prow.
He emptied his pouches onto the counter. A mountain of Magic Stones, a mix of small goblin crystals and larger, deeper-colored kobold stones, cascaded onto the weigh-scale. The clerk was speechless. He frantically weighed and counted, his abacus clicking at a furious pace. The final tally was so high he had to call over a supervisor.
The supervisor, a stern-looking woman, announced the total, her voice filled with disbelief. "Four hundred and twelve thousand, eight hundred Valis."
It was an astronomical sum for a single run on the first floor, a haul that a mid-level party would be proud of after a week in the dungeon. A bag, heavy with coins, was pushed across the counter. The Spartan took it without a word, turned, and walked out, leaving behind a Guild hall buzzing with the birth of a new legend.
Back in the quiet solitude of his warehouse, he placed the heavy bag of Valis on a crate.
[SIDE MISSION COMPLETE]
[MISSION: Initial Capital]
[You have acquired 412,800 / 400,000 Valis.]
[REWARD: +5,000 System Points, Unlock Option for Construction Template [Basic Workshop].]
"Missions complete," Cortana noted. "What's next, Chief?"
"Analysis," the Spartan replied, as a summary of his current status overlaid his vision.
[STATUS]
[NAME: Valerius Steele (Spartan-001)]
[RACE: Human (Spartan-II Augmented)]
[TITLE: The Reclaimer]
[SYSTEM POINTS: 24,300]
[SECTION: FABRICATION / SCHEMATICS]
[-- AVAILABLE TO UNLOCK --]
[ > [Basic Material Scanner] - Unlock Cost: 500 SP ]
[ > [UNSC Marine BDU] - Unlock Cost: 7,000 SP ]
[ > [Advanced Material Pack] - Unlock Cost: 2,000 SP ]
[ > [Construction Template: Basic Workshop] - Unlock Cost: 5,000 SP ]
[-- UNLOCKED SCHEMATICS --]
[ > [UNSC Combat Knife] - Fabrication Cost: 10 SP ]
[SECTION: INVENTORY]
[ > [Basic Material Scanner x1] ]
[SECTION: ACTIVE MISSIONS]
[ > [FOUNDATION PROTOCOL] ]
[ - Objective 3: Establish a base of operations (In Progress) ]
----------------------------------------------
A/N:
Hello everyone, and thank you for joining Spartan-001 on his arrival to this new world!
Your support is the fuel that keeps this ship on course. Every Power Stone you send helps the story grow and reach more readers, and for that, I'm truly grateful.
I love reading your theories, impressions, and reactions to each chapter — they inspire me to keep creating. If you have any suggestions for future chapters, please share them. And if you notice any issues with words or spelling, don't hesitate to let me know so I can make it better for you.
Thank you for being part of this journey, and I look forward to seeing you on the next mission.