It took the three of us a few hours to cover the desert and reach the edge of the swamp where the land became dry enough to camp. I had to ride on the back of Martin's quad because it was faster. I knew Bella would be grumpy about being stuck in her cage but I would let her out as soon as we got the tent set up.

Setting up didn't take long, I had to thank the convenience of storage rings for that. The tent was already assembled as I popped it out of my ring and onto the ground. It only needed four stakes and it was done.

Bella was now snacking on a chunk of something she caught as the rest of us lounged near a small fire.

Martin and I were going over the notifications we earned.

Congratulations you are the first group to clear this dungeon. For this epic feat, you have been awarded 1 free skill slot

For being the first group to clear this dungeon your team has been awarded 3000 credits

Your team has earned the title Bane of Arthropods 15% additional damage when fighting hard-shelled insects

Additional rewards are being calculated based on waves you survived before clearing the dungeon

Calculating...

Your team survived 357 waves

For surviving more than 50 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the lowest level individual

For surviving more than 100 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 150 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 200 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 250 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 300 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 350 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

Unfortunately, Fiona had been right, the system didn't recognize her as an eligible party member. That left Martin with four points and me with three. Five would have been better but I couldn't complain. We arrived with little to no prep. Next time, assuming there was a next time, I would pack some potions to ward off exhaustion or a shield that we could rest behind to recover.

I also didn't get a new title as I already had that title from my first foray into a horde dungeon. Martin was ecstatic about the rewards, and who could blame him.

At his level four stat points was a huge boost, speaking of level, he had gained another during our fighting. Now he was level nine, probably halfway to level ten with the amount of fighting we had done.

I sat back against an old log as Martin looked at the skills he wanted to pick. All in all, it was a good haul. The 1500 credits I got, helped, now I wasn't flat broke. There were also the acid sacks that the scorpions dropped as well as the chitin plates. The large claws of the matriarch as well as the matriarch's mana heart. Martin let me have the mana heart for crafting.

It was slightly larger than the first one I had ever gotten but not as large as the one in my armor. That gave me a good idea of just what level of beast mine came from as well as the massive one Martin had purchased for me.

Most of the credits would have to go to Martin's greedy sister. That was fine, I should be finished before any more payments came due.

Our trip back was uneventful, we arrived near dark to avoid any additional headaches. The gate guard gave Martin an odd look but was downright hostile with the glare he sent my way.

"It seems your sister has been hard at work turning the town against me while we were away," I said, loud enough for the guard to hear as we passed.

"Yeah, I noticed. It doesn't seem like she will be happy until you are driven from the town."

I had to chuckle at that. "She's wasting her breath, I'll leave when I'm damn good and ready to."

Martin simply nodded, aware of my plans.

We headed around the back of my shop. I liked thinking of it as mine, it gave me something to hold onto. The door was still locked, which didn't surprise me. Anyone smart enough to unlock the door could re-lock it when they left.

"Go ahead and relax, I gotta check on a few things."

"Alright," Martin replied, collapsing on the comfortable couch in the waiting room.

I walked to the front door and checked the lock. It was also still locked. What wasn't in place was a small string I set on the inner jam of the door. It was laying on the floor.

'So... she had broken in.'

I made my way upstairs, checking each room. Every room had been checked as the strings had fallen to the floor unnoticed. The only room that hadn't been disturbed was the room I stored the large plates in. That told me she didn't want me to know she had someone snooping around my house.

That was fine, I already had an idea to keep her and her cronies out.

Work began in earnest the following day. I prepped all the plates by carving the required runes into them. It was time-consuming work to carve the pattern into the massive plates.

A few people came by to have me do some "work" for them. I decided to turn everyone away. I didn't have any outstanding debts and most of the remaining people in town probably owed their allegiance to Constable Sally.

'Fuck em,' I thought with a wry smile.

Two days later I finished the plates. This included me pumping massive amounts of mana into the mithril to restrengthen it. I was glad to have learned this trick, otherwise, it would have cost a significant amount of credits to have someone in the Bazaar do it for me. I didn't want people asking more questions or seeing the design.

Now that the plates were complete I could begin mounting them to the underside of the house. This wasn't as hard as I had feared. Being a southern-built house, near a flood area, it was on stilts.

The crawlspace under the house was about three feet high, not ideal for my tall frame but I would make it work.

I had to have Martin help me lever the unwieldy plates into position as I used a bottle jack and some wood to jack the plates against the underside. I used large bolts Martin had procured from a home supply shop in Biloxi to attach the plates to the floor joists.

There were twelve plates in all. I had to guess the amount I would need but I figured eight were enough for my plan. The rest were just for redundancy.

I referred to these plates as the pusher plates. I had eight other plates that were directional control plates that would need to be mounted on each face and each corner. Then I needed to add the reinforcing along the outer walls.

Martin did his best to keep his sister out of my hair while I worked on the exterior plates. I started with the backyard and sides of the house while it was dark. I stopped and moved to the inside.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Each plate had a thin strip of rune-etched mithril going to it. All of this mithril ran to a small storage closet I had cleared out. In the center stood an obsidian plinth with the large mana heart inset into it. All of the silvery lines running up the black material reminded me of a circuit board.

I fed mana into the gem until I ran low. This was a daily exercise as time permitted. I didn't need to worry about the power rushing out into the lines of mithril as I had added a control panel of sorts. It allowed me to do a few things. One was to feed power into the levitator plates, with a simple sliding power scale that allowed me to slowly ramp up or down the power. It wouldn't be good to be at max height and come crashing down.

The next control was for an energy shield, similar to the one Frathsar had used to protect his wagon. It was unused as of yet. That was one of the items I had to cut as we ran short of material. The other was the last control function I had added, although, there was room for more in the future. That control was for a stealth field. I didn't actually know if I could get it to work but I was optimistic. Hell, if I could get an entire house to float, making it invisible should be easy.

As for the shield array, that I had already tested with a simple steel plate. That could have been part of my power draw issue but I wouldn't know until I fully implemented it. Right now we had four mana generators prepped to supply power to a shield that protected the front of my building. I expected there to be an altercation once Martin's sister saw my building changes.

I was proven right the day after when I was completing the front of the building. I, of course, had started well before dawn to avoid any attention for as long as possible. I was attaching the last directional plate and getting ready to add the mithril strengthening strips when I spotted an angry woman storming down the street toward me.

I sighed and slid down the ladder, heading inside. I flipped on the generators and grabbed the remotes that came with them, shoving them into the pocket of my ratty hoodie. The thing was barely holding together but I couldn't part with the single remaining piece of my old life. I knew it was ridiculous but I didn't care.

I heard yelling from outside, "Paul, get out here now!"

I opened the front door and stood at the edge of the porch. "Howdy, Sally, what brings you here on such a fine day?"

I watched with an amused smile on my face as the woman's face turned bright red in anger.

"You aren't allowed to make changes to your house without approval from an official," she forced out through clenched teeth.

"Hmm," I said, scratching my chin. "I don't recall that rule being brought up before."

"It's new as of last week," she replied, building up steam for an argument.

"Well, then I apologize, I was not informed."

Her argument fizzled out at my acknowledgment. "Wha-" she spluttered.

She recovered quickly, "then you need to take down the changes you made."

"No."

"No?"

"Did I stutter? I said no," I replied, looking the fuming woman in the eyes.

A slow smile replaced the angry grimace that seemed to be perpetually stamped onto the woman's face when she wasn't trying to pretend. "Then with the power given to me by the system as Constable of Arman, I declare you a criminal. You are under arrest," she added with a triumphant smile.

I rolled my eyes, I was surprised she even bothered but not at the message that popped up.

You have earned the title Criminal of Arman. All citizens of the city can see this status and with have a 50% damage bonus against you

"Well, you seem to have finally got your wish, not like I can do anything now," I said, slowly pulling my hands from my hoodie pocket and holding them out in front of me, ready to be cuffed. "Well, you going to take me in or what?"

"If you try anything your life will be forfeit," she replied.

I simply nodded, looking at the large group of people gathered to "assist" her.

She fairly skipped across the sidewalk and toward the stairs to my house. The self-satisfied smile was wiped from her face when she ran face-first into the shield, falling on her ass.

I laughed, a deep belly laugh at the confused woman. Nervous mumbling from her sycophants stopped abruptly as she turned an angry gaze upon them.

"Paul, you son of a bitch," she screeched.

I gave her a two-finger salute as I laughed my way back into the house. The shield wouldn't keep her away for long but I had added other countermeasures to the house. It would keep them scratching their heads long enough for night to fall and for us to leave.

"You really got her riled up," Martin said, glancing out one of the side windows.

I shrugged, walking over to the mana generators and topping them off. It would give the shield another minute. 'Let the woman pound away uselessly at it.'

She did more than pound away at it as magic slammed into the shield causing it to drain much faster.

It was going to be a long few hours.

The shield failed a minute later as a blast rocked the house. Of course, that energy was converted by the large mana heart tied into the structure. I picked up on that nifty trick when trying to free Fiona. They would need to pump over a hundred thousand mana into the building before the gem gave out. These weren't the defenders of the city so with their relatively low levels that would take them days at best.

One man ran up the stairs and tried to bash my glass door with an item I had crafted personally. It did not turn out well for him. I had added a stipulation after my first round of items, that stated they could not be used against me in any way, shape, or form. Seems this man forgot.

The System did not. It saw his attack as a direct attack on something that belonged rightfully to me. The man started screaming as he dropped the mace, clutching his face as blood streamed from his eyes, ears, and nose.

It seems the locals thought this was some effect of my house and half bolted. A few brave souls, rescued the man from my front porch as the others milled about outside, unsure of what to do.

Sally had given up trying to break into the house. She probably figured she could starve us out and left ten people to guard the perimeter. Nobody seemed ready to risk my wrath, not that I would even bother. They weren't worth the trouble.

Luckily my backyard was still closed off by a tall wooden fence that blocked the view. I had one more thing to do before we left.

I snuck out the back door and slid under the house, forming a saw using Earth Fist. I used this to cut the supports for the foundation. I cut them as close to the ground and level as possible. They would be my landing struts until I could replace them with something better. The thick wooden beams took an hour to cut through but nobody disturbed me.

Fiona was watching from the roof to make sure the townsfolk kept away.

Time ticked down as I stepped upon the third story balcony. The town was almost pitch black as the moon was obscured by clouds.

Fiona floated down beside me. "Is it time?"

"Yes," I replied, a wide grin spreading upon my face. I wish I could see them when they realized I was gone.

I cast Shroud, watching the area become covered by the obscuring mist. It wasn't rare for the town to get fog rolling in from the swamps at night but it would take them a bit to realize it wasn't natural.

I stepped back inside, using my new tattoo to clear away the spell for me. Martin was still sitting on the couch waiting.

"You may want to hold onto something," I said, "the house may rock a bit at first."

"Is this a bad time to tell you I get motion sick," he replied, feeling his way to a doorway.

"Please, try not to puke."

The man grunted in reply.

I shook my head and walked into the control closet. The glow from the gem cut into the haze of my spell. Not that I needed the glow to find my target.

I pressed my hand into the control panel, activating the runic design with my palm. Light flashed as the conduits surged to life. Ever so slowly I increased the output to the levitator panels. I had to pause as the house lurched and I heard crunching wood.

"Sorry," I called out. "Seems I forgot to cut the stairs free."

The house settled after the stairs had been torn free or off. I would have to check the damage after we landed.

After the house settled I began to increase the power again. Slowly at first, then a bit quicker. I stopped when Fiona flew down.

"We're above the spell."

"Good, time to leave. Hold on."

I turned off my sight tattoo as I pressed the arrow indicating the direction the house would fly in. Fly was a relative term here, drift was probably more accurate. It was by no means a fast process with only one directional plate applying thrust.

"Let me know when we are about to clear the end of the fog, I'll cast another."

Fiona nodded and floated through the wall, keeping ahead of the house.

I had to wait a full minute before she came back. "Now," she said simply.

I cast another Shroud, obscuring us from the ground further. I would only be able to cast one more before I would need to wait for the two-hour cooldown.

We floated just above the other buildings as we headed west out of town. There was a dense swamp in that direction that would prevent anyone from pursuing us if they noticed the flying building.

I got a surprising prompt after a few minutes.

Congratulations, the Mana System has recognized your unique achievement and unlocked the second tier of your intelligence attribute

I laughed, a happy laugh, probably the first happy laugh I had had in a long time. I had held onto the points thinking about what to use them for or how to unlock the next level. Now I didn't need to hold onto them, I stuck two points into intelligence and one into endurance. Then I looked at my stats.

Paul Fuller | Mantra Enchanter | Level 16

Strength: 13(+2) modifier x17

Endurance: 19 modifier x35

Agility: 15(+2) modifier x17

Perception: 17 modifier x17

Intelligence: 22 modifier x35

Wisdom: 14 modifier x17

Charisma: 11 modifier x17

Luck: 14 modifier x17

HP: 665(732)

Mana: 770

Mana Regen(M): 238

***

"What do you mean they're gone?" Sally said angrily.

She finally had that pompous outsider right where she wanted him and these idiots let him escape.

"Well, you have to see it to believe it," Thomas said, running beside her.

The two rounded a corner to see a crowd standing around looking at a vacant lot. A vacant lot that should have held a three-story building with a tattoo parlor.

"What the fuck?" she exclaimed, coming to a stop.

"We think they teleported or something during the night, the fog was so thick we couldn't see what was happening. One man reported hearing wood being wrenched apart, then utter silence. When the fog lifted ten minutes later it was too dark to see. The men were too afraid to approach, after what happened to John. So they didn't notice the building was gone until the sun started to rise."

Sally balled her fists tight and shook with rage. The man had fooled them all yet again.