Chapter 81

Later

Atop a hill, Outskirts of Kuō Town

"Haa … haa … whew." Issei panted as he leaned against one of the small outcropping of trees at the top of the hill. That had been a bit more tiring than he'd expected, mostly thanks to the team of Gutter Runners that had ambushed him halfway up the hill. He'd tried his hand at going at it barehanded and it was a lot harder than he'd thought it would be, so he'd equipped his [Aegis of Isis] and then used both the [Boosted Gear] and [Gamer's Gear] to level the playing field.

[Aegis of Isis]

A pure white mantle emblazoned with the ankh symbol of Isis in gold. Isis was a goddess of magic in Ancient Egypt, connected to the Goddess Heku, who embodied magic to the Ancient Egyptians. Isis' symbol, the ankh, acts as a form of apotropaic magic, warding off the magic from enemies in order to prevent them from detecting the wearer, as well as giving a minor form of protection from offensive spells.

- Has no effect if worn by someone over Level 50.

- Grants the Wearer the skills [High-Level Scrying Concealment], [High-Level Spiritual Detection Concealment], [High-Level Chi Detection Concealment], [High-Level T ō ki Concealment] and [Low-Level Magic Resistance] while worn.

He was so glad that he's splurged on the [Aegis of Isis] rather than a couple of the weaker options…even if it and the [Base Core] had drained him of all his cash. Still, he'd gotten a good pot of Yen from the Gutter Runners and selling their equipment, so he wasn't completely broke anymore.

"OK, so…where to place it?" Issei mused as he headed into the middle of the small grove of trees. Just setting it up anywhere seemed … stupid, really. He'd looked at the instructions before setting out and to activate the [Base Core] was laughably simple; just put it down, empty your MP into it and voila, one hidden underground base ready for use.

Still, it would be better if he had some idea of what would happen if he placed it in any given location. Were some spots better than others? Worse? He had no way of telling.

"Screw it." Issei huffed as he took the [Base Core] from his inventory. It was an orb about the size of a basketball, coloured blue, with a large white spot on one side that made it look like a giant eyeball. Looking around, Issei placed it atop a largish rock near the base of a tree and then placed his hand atop it.

[Base Core Setup] Do you wish to infuse the [Base Core] with all of your MP?

[Warning]

Once the process is started, it cannot be stopped!

Y|N

Hitting 'Y' with his free hand, Issei groaned as all of his MP was sucked out of him through his hand. Removing it from the [Base Core], he pulled out his very last MP Potion and chugged it down. Hmm…had the stuff always tasted like blueberry muffins?

[DING!] Hearing an incredibly obnoxious sound that made him wince, Issei looked around, vaguely expecting to see a Windows '95 PC making that noise for some reason. Then he spotted the pop-up.

[Congratulations!]

Your [Base Core] has absorbed all of your MP and is able to make a hidden base in the hill beneath you! Please select the layout that you wish your base to have.

There were twenty possible choices, with the one at the top resembling the layout of the base you saw in XCOM. While that would be nice, Issei having always had something of a liking for that game, it always presupposed that the enemy either couldn't find the base or that there were sufficient numbers of people to fight off any attackers. At the moment, Issei was all on his own, so he had to give that one a hard pass.

The one he ended up choosing was a setup the created an almost dungeon-like environment, several layers of underground labyrinths to protect an inner sanctum. There would be no direct access into the base; instead, he could teleport in and out, Anyone other than him, or any other person on the approved list, who tried to enter via magical means would find themselves landing at the start of the topmost level of the labyrinth and have the choice of either retreating from there or trying to pass through the labyrinth and get their asses kicked.

And, of course, if he was away from it, he would be notified of anyone trying to break into his base.

Unfortunately, just his meagre six-hundred-plus-change-MP would only barely be enough to build a small core room, teleporters and one layer of the labyrinth, to say nothing of stocking it with monsters and traps. That was something of a shame, but the base would draw in any ambient magic and add it to the [Base Core] and its reservoir, allowing the base to slowly grow and expand. He could also sacrifice his own MP at regular intervals to speed up the process, but he could only do that once a week without risking overloading the core.

Hitting the final button, Issei blinked as he was surrounded in blue for a moment before he was surrounded by bare wooden walls and standing on tatami. "I'm…in a six-mat room?!" he muttered in disbelief. A six-mat room was the smallest room-size that could still be considered a habitable dwelling, in Japan anyway. Floating in the centre was the Base Core, looking once again like a giant eye.

Sourly, Issei deduced that his MP must have been really at the absolute lowest minimum to create a base. Otherwise he would probably have something more like an actual base than the cheapest room-size in Japan.

Without a prompt, a screen appeared in front of him, displaying the stats for his base.

Base Name: (NONE)

Base Level: 1 Reservoir Status: 0/10,000,000 MP

MP Gathering Rate: 50 MP/Half Hour

Base Upgrades: [Gaia's Blessing]

Inner Sanctum Size: Six-Mat Room.

First Floor Size: 3570 Meters Squared.

First Floor Type: Maze.

First Floor non-existent.

Defensibility:

Practically

First Floor Traps: None.

First Floor Monsters: None. So it was worse…OK, a LOT worse than he had expected. There was that upgrade that he didn't remember buying or being offered, but first things first…

Tapping the 'Base Name' tab, he entered a new name into it. Keeping it just to [Lair of the Sekiryūtei] was more than enough to fulfil the quest…he hoped.

[Quest Complete!]

Here be the Dragon's Den … : You have founded the beginnings of what could be a very nice base to suit your status as the Sekiry ūtei. It is, quite frankly, trash-tier right now, but it is said that great things come from small beginnings. Quest Completion Reward: +3000 EXP, ¥10,000, Special Status: [Blessing of the Dragon Emperor], +5 AP.

"You can stop quoting Uncharted at me, dammit." Issei grumbled as he swiped away the screen. "Sic Parvis Magna indeed."

Settling down, Issei decided to see what his new Special Status did. He was very curious.

[Blessing of the Dragon Emperor] (Passive)

You have been blessed by the Red Dragon Emperor, Ddraig the Welsh Dragon. Known for his immense power and might, he has been sealed up in the [Boosted Gear] for thousands of years since the Great War of the Three Biblical Factions. One of the best known facts of Ddraig is that his flames were the most powerful and fierce among any Dragon that has existed in the mortal realm, utterly consuming any who stood in his way, from devils to gods, the great and terrible [Blazing Inferno of Scorching Flames]. Although sealed by Ddraig himself, his blessing still grants you an incredibly strong affinity for Fire-type magic, as well as a resistance against fire of any sort, whether it be mundane or magical.

- +20% Effect to all [Fire] Magic spells.

- Grants a permanent +15% Resistance to any and all damage taken from fire of any sort, magical, mundane or chi.

"Whew…man, I guess that there's a lot I don't know about Ddraig." The Sekiryūtei whistled, impressed. "I have to say, [Blazing Inferno of Scorching Flames] is a pretty badass name." A warm feeling in his left arm made Issei look down and see that the [Boosted Gear] had manifested all on its own and that the gem on the back of his hand was glowing bright green. Then the gauntlet vanished again.

Evidently Ddraig approved of Issei praising his strongest attack.

"Uh-huh…so that just happened." The boy said with a shake of his head. Then he manifested the [Gamer's Gear] on his right arm. "Time to test out this [Dungeon Locator] of mine…"

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