I opened a catalog for ships that Dmitry had given me.

Used shuttles ran 280,000 to 500,000 GC based on specs. But their range was only about 50,000 km. I needed a spacecraft. The cheapest was a courier. A courier was a small spacecraft with a crew of up to 6. No power for weapons though and a used one started at 3,000,000 GC. It had an excellent range and 60 day operational capacity. Spacecraft with weapons cost 3-4 times as much so 3 million GC should be my goal and if I could find 2-3 people to help it might be manageable in 90 days.

Tomorrow I would go scout that dungeon. I slept restlessly and the cats decided the floor would give them less disturbed sleep. I woke early and stopped by Dmitry’s for info on raising the cats level. He said as companions they got 90% experience from their own kills, 10% went to me. Or I could transfer my personal experience to them to level them. I 'pushed' 200 exp into each of them and it worked. They seemed to grow slightly before my eyes and leaned out.

Unfortunately my own level dropped. Shit. But I didn’t lose my 2 agility points I got from leveling. Dmitry explained even though I lost my level the gains from leveling did not leave but I would have to surpass the lost level to start getting benefits again. Good to know. Both cats phased out of existence. I panicked for a second before they reappeared. Dmitry smiled, “they are gaining their skills.” Skills…yes they had stealth from psionic and Aether. This must be the beginning. They didn’t fit nicely in their bag anymore. I purchased a digital copy of an idiots guide to dungeons and left.

As we travelled through the woods collecting flora the cats went to hunting using their stealth skill. They targeted small animals like rabbits and squirrels and birds. They ate the organs and some meat from each kill, not wasting their efforts. I guessed their leveling allowed them to metabolize the protein. I was even getting 1 experience for every 2 or so small animals they caught. I was vigilant making sure to keep an eye on any threats. It took 15 hours to get to the dungeon location but I had a large stockpile of ingredients for potions.

The entrance was in the side of a hill. It was a 3 meter high door made of a blue veined metal. There was engraved writing on the door as well. I pulled up my idiots guide to translate. The writing indicated it was a level 5 dungeon which I already knew. The rest of the information, 4 levels deep, a single instance, and the creatures inside were mechanical in nature. This all translated to the following: only one group could be inside at once, once the fourth level was completed it would disappear and not reset, the creatures inside would be tech based, and there were 4 levels, meaning 4 bosses. Well no time to waste. I put my hand on the door and a prompt appeared: Enter Fanjellom Silver Mines? Y/N? I clicked Y and a slight pop sound echoed in my ears. My vision shifted and a was in a well lit rocky chamber. The cats were looking around for danger on high alert. The guide said the entrance area was a safe zone. I pulled out my shelter and got inside with the cats. It was time to eat and rest. It was safe as no one could enter the mines while my group occupied it. An instance closed to others after 5 minutes so no one had followed me. I made potions to generate sufficient mental fatigue to go to sleep. After a few hours I laid down in one of the beds and the cats curled next to me.

I woke with one of the cats on my chest purring. I stared at the cat and my analyze skill from my device activated.

Callie (companion) Level 2 Ballium Nightstalker Experience 327 Strength 4 Constitution 5 Stamina 3 Agility 6 Speed 8 Intellect 5 Aether 6 Channeling 2 Charisma 7 Luck 5 Skills Stalk (7), Sprint (2), Leap (3), Sneak (5), Awareness (6), Dodge (3), Claw (3), Bite (1) Abilities Psionic Bond (2), Psionic Sense (3), Invisibility (2), Psionic Stun (4)

I studied her sheet while she opened one eye and looked at me. It was impressive for an animal that was only a few days old. I was able to click on her level and it displayed:

173 experience to level 3

Stat Points per level +1 Strength, +1 Constitution; +2 Agility, +2 Speed; +4 unassigned

Skill Points per Level +1 Awareness, +2 unassigned

Ability Points per Level +2 unassigned

Wow! 10 stats a level! These kittens would be stronger than me at equal level. I suddenly had a new appreciation of the cats beyond companionship. And I also got an inkling on why Dmitry thought the cats were so valuable. I scanned Cassie at my feet.

Cassie (companion) Level 2 Ballium Nightstalker Experience 341 Strength 5 Constitution 5 Stamina 5 Agility 5 Speed 7 Intellect 7 Aether 6 Channeling 3 Charisma 6 Luck 5 Skills Stalk (8), Sprint (2), Leap (4), Sneak (5), Awareness (6), Dodge (2), Claw (3), Bite (3) Abilities Psionic Bond (2), Psionic Sense (4), Invisibility (2), Psionic Stun (4)

They were not copies of each other. Interesting. If I could get them to level they would be formable allies. I got up and made breakfast. Cassie and Callie pawed the protein paste and gave me a look that said, “What the hell is this?” but they eventually ate it, albeit reluctantly. I would have to get something they would enjoy more from Dmitry when we got back to the outpost. I put out the nutia-milk which they still seemed to enjoy. Callie even belched showing her appreciation. I ate my cheeseburger and then got up. I left the shelter set up and headed down the only corridor into the mines.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Rifle ready, I moved slowly with the cats behind me practicing their stalking and invisibility. The first encounter was two man sized metallic beetles. They were occupied eating the wall. I aimed and fired at distance hoping not engage in melee. I swore as a shield flashed and my shot did no damage. I started firing steadily while the two beasts turned and came at me. It took 4 shots before the shield failed and another two before the automaton fell. I only got two shots into the shield of the other one before it was on me. It knocked me down with its weight as my shield flared. Grinding metallic maw tried to get at me face. I managed to get out from under the beast before my shield failed and drew my sword. The creature righted itself and charged again. The sword got through the shield but only took off a small chunk. I failed to dodge and my leg was caught and ground in its maw. I screamed in unbelievable pain but managed to hack twice more to kill it. I fumbled to pour a nanite vial on my mangled leg.

The dead creatures faded leaving their loot behind. Ah yes these instances were different than the real world. More like a video game controlled by the system. If I died here I would just respawn at the entrance without my gear except my comp. It was a big reason I had decided to try the dungeon but perhaps I was overmatched?

The cats were pawing the loot. It took a few minutes for my leg to be completely restored to normal. My skinsuit now had a hole in it as well. This was not going as planned. Well at least there was loot. The first creature yielded 12 silver bars, 1 minor power core, and 1 minor sensor unit. The second had 9 silver bars and 3 pieces of metal scrap. I wondered if my method of killing affected the loot? I checked my experience, +100. That’s it? 50 experience each. My merchantile knowledge let me estimate the value of the silver bars at 50 GC each, the power core at 250 GC, the sensor at 100 GC and the scrap at 10 GC each. Almost 1500 GC, well that was a good haul. But I worried overkill may just produce scrap. I decided to continue.

I came to some intersections and selected my direction randomly. I eventually came to two more mining beetles and decided to analyze them this time.

Scarab Mining Bot, Level 5

I decided to use a grenade this time. I set the proximity backed up then fired a shot to bring them running. The grenade did its damage and it took just a single shot to finish both scarabs. Unfortunately the loot sucked, 15 silver bars and 7 pieces of scrap metal. So overkill wrecked components.

The next group I came upon had 4 scarabs. All were level 5. I used another grenade and after a few well placed shots got my experience and loot, 9 metal scraps, minor sensor unit and 30 silver bars. The cats looked bored and frustrated having stayed behind me invisible during the encounters, knowing they would not be able to help. I also had just regained level 7.

I continued onward and found an open cavern with a dozen of the scarabs and two much larger units. I analyzed.

Scarab Tunneling Bot, Level 7

The large bots seemed inactive but obviously still alive. I opened my map interface. I still had dozens of passages I hadn’t explored yet. I left the cavern and decided to map what I could. I ran into single units of the mining bots and decided to engage with my sword after using my rifle to drain their shields a bit. Of the three single bots I engaged I got a bunch of bars, two power cores, a metal processing unit and 6 pieces scrap metal.

Ok I had 716 experience. I decided to level Cassie and Callie. I pushed enough experience into them and they definitely grew again, Cassie roared, well it was an attempt at a roar. Minus 532 experience and I dropped back to level 6. Well I hoped the level 3 cats would be more of a help. If not they would be able to start hunting bigger prey outside. I bought 3 ranks in molecular sword as it had shown to be an effective weapon for getting better loot.

I came upon two scarabs next. I decided to try to blow one with the rifle an engage the other with the sword. As they both turned to me one started sparking and moving jerkily even though I had not hit it. I finished off my original target and moved with my sword but I noticed Cassie and Callie were visible and focused on the other bot. Sparks continued to fly and the machine trudged towards us. I refocused and finished it off with my sword. “ok you kitties have some explaining to do.” They just looked at me with big eyes. I analyzed both of them.

Cassie (companion) Level 3 Ballium Nightstalker Experience 605 Strength 7 Constitution 6 Stamina 5 Agility 7 Speed 9 Intellect 10 Aether 7 Channeling 4 Charisma 6 Luck 5 Skills Stalk (8), Sprint (2), Leap (4), Sneak (5), Awareness (6), Dodge (2), Claw (5), Bite (3) Abilities Psionic Bond (2), Psionic Sense (4), Invisibility (2), Psionic Stun (4), Psionic Force Dart (5)

Callie (companion) Level 3 Ballium Nightstalker Experience 605 Strength 5 Constitution 6 Stamina 3 Agility 12 Speed 10 Intellect 6 Aether 6 Channeling 2 Charisma 7 Luck 5 Skills Stalk (9), Sprint (2), Leap (3), Sneak (5), Awareness (7), Dodge (3), Claw (3), Bite (1) Abilities Psionic Bond (2), Psionic Sense (3), Invisibility (2), Psionic Stun (7), Psionic Electric Surge (2)

The cats were diverting in their development. And the new abilities? Looking them up…psionic force dart was a focused impact attack. Psionic electric surge was an advanced stun attack that could affect mechanical creatures. It disrupted shields and acted to slow creatures and could stun if it was powerful enough. Guess the cats were tired of sitting on the sidelines. The cats got 5 experience each. I received the other 90. Ok here comes the loot train! A power core and more silver bars and one shield emitter and 3 pieces of scrap.

We found a single miner in a side corridor and I let the cats have it. They ran out of psionic strength before they could bring it down. I finished it with a single swing. They held the bot for about 90 seconds and both leveled their skills. This would work I thought as I looted the bot. We spent the next few hours taking out 1,2 and 3 groups of the miners. We cleared all the passages so only the main chamber remained. Cassie’s force dart got more powerful, it actually put dents in the bots now. Callie's electric attack seemed to slightly improve as well and was quite effective.

We returned to the tent and rested. I had raised my molecular sword skill to 7 with practice and some experience points which gave me the skilled note and +1 to my strength score. My loot in my DS was almost full. So I needed to decide if I should try to clear the final chamber or return and cash out. If I exited the dungeon instance would reset.