Having returned to the dungeon, I immediately teleported into the Artificial Realm to meet with Lorelei. It was time to set the next part of the plan into motion; everything had been planned accordingly.

Suffice to say, one such preparation included making more stronger golems. Golems purchased through the menu had such bad cost performance, and therefore I made another type of golem myself: iron golems. Of course, mine differed from the one on the menu in that they were hollow inside and had a smoother appearance than even the self-improvised clay golems, not unlike that of a sci-fi robot (with almost no conspicuous parts) — it was all in order to save up materials and made them lightweight.

“Master, you’re back!”

The first one to come and greet me inside was Fuku, who was just standing on a grass field learning and casting magic. I had entrusted her to Lorelei since I realized her hidden immense potential in magic, especially thanks to her unique Vocation that could even detect subtle magical energy (mana) everywhere — including dungeon traps.

“Master? Who told you to call me that?” I already had my doubts, but this was just to make sure.

“Mistress Lorelei told Fuku so…?” She tilted her head.

She was no longer in her old, tattered clothes and now wearing a white dress with a red hem, as well as white stockings and boots. Over her simple dress were two long black cloth adorned with two white and blue ribbons each and a flower on their edges, which led to a larger ribbon with a necktie just below her neck.

Fuku had rather long hair and a thick bushy tail, so having clothes that wouldn’t get in her way would be practical. This was something that I came up with after looking at the collection of outfits on my phone and the menu.

So it was indeed Lorelei’s ploy… And what’s with the term ‘mistress’? I was starting to regret leaving her under Lorelei’s teachings.

“Call me by my name, will you?” I tried to correct her, but it seemed to be too late by now.

“Mm! Then, Vin… Master Vincent?” She lowered her gaze while being all jittery like she had done something wrong.

I couldn’t stand the sight of her cute actions, so I patted her head in return. She responded positively to my hand, her long, thickly furred, fluffy tail swished to and fro behind her in joy; she liked to be given a head pat more than anyone — causing my strange habit of patting someone’s head to burn all the wilder.

Somehow, I felt a pair of reproachful eyes were fixed on me. Turning around, Lorelei was already standing not far from us.

“Lolicon.”

“What, do you think I’m some sort of lewd animal?” I quickly retorted, frowning. Where the heck did she learn that from?

“You’re not?” Her matter-of-factly voice just made it sound like I was.

“Of course not! Duh!”

“What is a ‘lolicon’?” Fuku pulled the hem of my clothes, asking.

“It’s nothing. Ahem…! Anyway, enough with the frivolity. I believe that Blizzard has returned early with the goods.”

“Sure, she did. So, when will we begin with the plan?”

“As soon as possible. What’s the situation with the phantoms?”

Previously, I had sent out the five phantoms to locate the Axiom Order’s base. Since the phantoms I summoned were humanoid ghosts, they possessed a certain level of intelligence, so they worked well as scouts.

“They have located several relay points that lead to the mountaintop, including several abandoned mines where kidnapped people are kept. Not surprisingly, Fuku’s clansmen are placed in one of the mines.”

Fuku’s eyes turned dead serious at the mention of her people, and she affirmed, “Fuku wants to help. Fuku has trained hard for this day.”

“Uh-huh. I’m sure you can do it.” It wasn’t a lie; she had become well-versed in manipulating magical power inside her body better than I was. “Then, we’ll strike the mine where Fuku’s clansmen are at.”

“I can see the reason for you prioritizing that place, but why not attack at several locations simultaneously? That way, we can hunt them as much as possible before they can respond effectively,” stated Lorelei nonchalantly.

“No, I want them to know about me and gather in a single location.” Based on what I’d prepared, to maximize the result, I must corner them into one secluded place.

“Understood.” Lorelei suddenly commented, “By the way, I don’t see your coat. Did you lose it?”

“Ah, that…”

There was an enigmatic glint in her eyes; what was she planning?

“It’s a long story; I’ll tell you later. For now…” This time, I would change my appearance again, and what I meant was my outfit.

If I were to wear the same clothes when appearing in front of them, my real identity would be revealed out to the open. Using the Mask of Anonymous was an option, but that would be missing the whole purpose — as then I wouldn’t be known by the kidnapped people.

Although, there was one thing that I needed to take care of now before continuing there.

“Oh yeah, first off,” I turned to look at Fuku, specifically the collar on her neck, and said, “I’ve determined that breaking that thing on your neck with my power will not cause any adverse effect. Fuku wants to be free from the collar, right?”

Usually, to break off a slave collar, or collar of submission, even an inactive one like the on Fuku’s neck, would require them to be skilled in Enslavement Magic. Coincidentally, such magic was a subdivision of Contract Magic, similar to how Anemo Elemental Magic correlated to Elemental Magic.

Basically, Enslavement Magic placed on a collar would activate and kill the slave that wore it if it was forcibly removed, even an inactive one as well. But such worry was unnecessary when my Vocation — {Programming} — came into play since I had a way or two.

It was tough to gather all this information without garnering at least a suspicious look or two from the other party, though I averted such cases from happening, fortunately.

Contrary to my expectation, there was hesitation in her eyes, and she uttered, “Does Master want to cast away Fuku?”

“No, no, I have no such intention,” I quickly denied her assumption. “Just that…”

If I, a person that would become a “savior,” were to come out and have her as my slave, what would make me different than the slavers and the Axiom Order? None. Thus, the reason.

“How about this, I will give you something even better.”

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“Something better?” Her ears perked up as she glanced at me with anticipation.

“Uh-huh, I promise.”

“Okay!” she agreed without a second thought.

There was this one worry where she would divulge the secret without the collar, but this would be where that thing would come into play. Of course, it didn’t work like the slave collar where it would hurt her and instead prevented her from being able to divulge any information in the first place. I wasn’t worried she would betray me any time soon, but this would come in handy as a precaution if she were to be captured and brainwashed by an unknown party, nor would I let that happen.

With that out of the way, I used [Programming] on her collar, which made it lose all magical properties before turning the hard metal into a soft material while lowering its melting point on a certain spot. Soon, the collar began to melt on that spot like a boiled chocolate bar, which then I removed with much ease. I could have made the collar brittle and taken it off easier, but the shards might hurt her in the process.

“Done. Now, this thing is no more.” I tossed away the collar without giving it a second glance.

“Thank you, Master!”

“Mm. You can go back practicing magic till the time.”

“Yes!” Then, she went back into the field to practice magic with Lorelei.

That said, I purchased an outfit fitting for a figure that I would be impersonating: [Grand Leisurewear Set (1080 CP)]. It was extremely expensive for just an outfit, but I needed this to exert the best impression ever.

These past ten days or so, Blizzard had gone to great lengths to hunt more creatures in the depth of the forest. As most creatures near this place weren’t the opponent of her evolutionary state, she was able to gather a substantial amount of CP — being well over 20,000. What a very reliable source of inco— I mean… familiar?

I was very appreciative of Blizzard’s contribution to the dungeon; I decided to reward her with lots of meat. Having her felt like our progress speed was given a set of wings. There was even leftover for finally converting the rest of the second floor into the dungeon with what she gathered. (Including the small rooms adjacent to the maze area and even a path leading down to the planned third floor.)

After wearing the whole set, I looked at myself in the mirror. My new attire was elegant and form-fitting, consisting of a white beige dress shirt, a white and blue waistcoat, slim gray trousers, black dress boots, and black gloves with twin silver archer rings on the thumbs. Over everything, there was a long silver tailcoat with elaborate line patterns and glittering rhombus symbols spread about evenly.

“Yup, looking good. Even though it looks a bit over the top for me.” In a way, it was the complete opposite of my old set of clothes which had a black and brown theme.

Grand Leisure Wear (modified)

Sumptuous and stylish leisurewear. Its silver and white theme blends well and exhibits great charm. Had been imbued with [Programming] according to the conditions below:

1. Provide movement support to the wearer according to the stored "memory".

2. Harden whenever an object hits or presses against the clothes.

3. Provide additional thrust when the wearer exerts a “certain” amount of force.

4. Provide heat and cold resistance.

5. Provide instant thrust whenever willed by the wearer.

I had copied and even added two more conditions other than the original. With these extra two, I would be able to exert its capability in many situations.

While I was at it, I inspected my status through [Developer Interface].

Name: Vincent Anderson

Species: Human (otherworlder)

Sex: Male

Age: 20 years old

Height: 176 cm

Occupation: Programmer student, adventurer

Title: [Humanoid] Dungeon Master

Vocation: [Programming] [Developer Interface]

Stats:

* STR: F+ (19)

* AGI: F+ (18)

* VIT: F+ (16)

* MAG: E- (25)

* SPR: F+ (17)

Accumulation Points: 12 [F+]

I had been training all day every day, seizing every chance. Continuing to cast magic spells increased my MAG stat a lot. Moreover, I’d been creating more and more golems, causing my SPR to soar sharply as well. Still, it wasn’t enough to propel my evaluation into E. What a dilemma.

Once I finished dressing up, I prepared the gift for Fuku — it was an ear choker. Being a fox beastkin, she had a larger and softer earlobe, so an accessory like a thin metal choker around her ear would fit perfectly. And this would be a protective gear in case…

When I inspected the field, I saw a flame arrow smashing a thick boulder, leaving a medium-sized spiderweb crack on it.

“Look, Master! Fuku can now cast {Flame Arrow} without chanting.” Fuku came running toward me, looking like a pet expecting a pat from its owner

“That’s good!” I ruffled her silky hair. “Here, take this ear choker as a present.”

“Yay!” She took the choker and quickly wore it. Now there was a big, beautiful ring that circumvented the base of her ear.

Thinking back, she had only been practicing for a few days, but she was already proficient at using Pyro Elemental Magic. Well, Pyro was an element she was the most adept at compared to other elements.

Incidentally, we didn’t have any other source of magic spells other than from the Geo elementalist, so I tried to procure more. But instead of purchasing more spell books from the menu, I went to the Magic Guild, all while gathering knowledge about the slave collar. However, I was only able to get my hands on a Low-tier spell book at most, and even that was priced so steeply at ten thousand Zernial each — annoyingly, the book was thin and contained few spells. To add insult to injury, with the capital we had now, except for the Bottom-tier, I was only able to purchase a single Low-tier Pyro spell book.

While there was an option of selling things from the Dungeon Menu, buying things with CP to sell for money would be missing the whole point of doing all this. So, I got to think of something sooner rather than later.

Anyway, I was quite curious about her progress, so I checked her status screen.

Name: Fuku Aureum

Species: Fox beastkin (beastman)

Sex: Female

Age: 11 years old

Height: 143 cm

Occupation: Member of the golden fox tribe (Aureum clan), Lorelei’s student

Vocation: [Magical Sight]

Stats:

* STR: F (13)

* AGI: F+ (20)

* VIT: F (12)

* MAG: F+ (16)

* SPR: F (13)

Accumulation Points: 10 [F+]

She had been malnourished prior to coming here, but now that she ate adequately, even her constitution was getting better. Nevertheless, with how fast she progressed, it would be a matter of time before her MAG stat exceeded mine.

“My, that’s quite impressive, I say. But not even come close to what I’m capable of,” Lorelei chimed in, a trace of smugness was hidden in her words.

Hmm… What about her status, then?

Name: Lorelei Argentum

Species: Dungeon Core (human)

Sex: Female

Age: 1 year old (16)

Height: 158 cm

Occupation: A Dungeon Core of an unknown dungeon, Fuku’s mentor

Stats:

* STR: F (8)

* AGI: F (7)

* VIT: F (7)

* MAG: E+ (40)

* SPR: F (7)

Accumulation Points: 12 [F+]

Holy crap! She’s able to keep up with me even while I have been training ceaselessly… The dungeon’s buff sure is overpowered. Alas, my accomplishment so far amounted to nothing…

“How rude. You must be thinking ‘How can she become so strong,’ right? Even I train my magic, you know.” Lorelei crossed her arms.

“Uh, you got me there.”

“Say,” Lorelei approached me, stroked my tailcoat with her hand, and said, “you look more magnificent in this, but it’s a bit too dazzling for your appearance.”

“Oh you, shut it.” I wondered why she would always get on my back. “Anyway, how are the preparations?”

“All done — the golems, the weapons, the tunnel, and whatnot. We can start anytime.”

“Good, let’s sortie tomorrow morning!”

“Yes!”

“Of course.”

Fuku and Lorelei both nodded their heads at the same time.