We spend the next three days skirting the edges of the facility and hitting hatcheries as we go. It is important that we remove the hatcheries along the borders, or we will be overwhelmed as they all push in towards the center. We are now at 13/25 hatcheries destroyed, but those were merely the easy ones.

  The demons are definitely a lot more dangerous, and not just because of the higher levels. One time we were about to head to sleep and as soon as we curled up, they attacked. They aren't just strong, but smart too. Of course, their tactics aren't some legendary gambit, just very simple common sense. But I can guess that they get smarter as the ranks go up.

  Which is fine, if they want to be smart, we will simply have to be smarter.

  “We are near the first data cache.” Stephen says, pointing to a large red circle on the map. “It seems it is hidden inside an old cataclysm shelter, but the entire area is swarming with monsters. They must be drawn to the energy signature, but are unable to get inside.”

  “Sounds Moxie darling and I am going to be busy then.” Liv tries to wrap her arm around Moxie, but is dodged. Poor Liv, the only one that can’t escape from her is Stephen. Or wait, should I be sad for Stephen instead? Oh well, the guy should learn how to move a bit faster anyways, it’s good for training.

  “Don’t you worry, Ms. One Woman Army and I will be there to assist.” I glance over at Violet, and she twitches ever so slightly at my comment.

  “Well then, let's go slay some monsters.” Stephen commands, and we are more than happy to oblige.

  Violet and I take point, which consists of me chasing after her as she tries to stay away from me. It’s a futile effort, as we run at about the same speed. I activate my Trace Clues and manage to spot a few tracks, moments later I notice a bolt of lightning streak out from a side alleyway right towards Violet.

  I instantly Blink in between the attack and Violet and deflect the attack with a bit of darkness. A small group of demons emerges from the alley and Violet wastes no time leaping into the fray and slaughtering them.

  As she is wiping off her blade I walk up next to her. “You’re welcome.”

  “I did not thank you, nor ask for your help.” She replies curtly with that cute scowl of hers.

  “Well, that doesn't mean I can't take credit. After all, wouldn't want that lovely hair of yours to get burned.”

  “I am wearing a helmet, imbecile.” She starts walking away from me. She may not have thanked me, but her mere words are thanks enough for me.

  “Just the possibility is horrifying.”

  She clicks her tongue and runs to catch up with the others – who couldn’t even be bothered to stop and wait for us. Battle junkies all of them, not that I am any different.

  “Ah shit.” Liv says as we look over the area containing the bunker.

  “Ah shit indeed.” Stephen says as he takes a look at the one thousand or so monsters that are swarming the place. Tons of em of all different types. There are even a few [Demon Necromancer Lvl 150] that we haven't seen yet.

  I create a large Fireball in my hand and push a bunch of mana into it. “Welp, nothing else too it, let's get to work, shall we?”

  “Idiot, those are my kills, do not steal them.” Violet jumps down from the roof, right into the middle of the monsters. I quickly lose sight of her and can only identify her position by the clash of aetherium on aetherium and the sound of explosions.

  I launch my fireball and it incinerates a handful, but most of it gets blocked by one of the damn paladins. Not to be outshone by Violet, I jump into the fray. I focus on targeting the mages, and leave the paladins to Violet. The brawlers are easily taken care of by Stephen, Moxie and Liv who create a circle of absolute death to any that come near.

  Just as I take out a group of mages, I notice one of the necromancers nearby. They are sickening creatures, even more so than normal. Their hunchbacks make them look tiny, and they lean on a pitch black staff. It's super creepy and I move in to take it out.

  Before I can do so, its staff starts glowing, and suddenly a dozen of the mages I just slew start to reform and start trying to melee attack me in sort of berserk rage. Just great, they can now resurrect their fallen soldiers, at least to a lesser capacity.

  Being smart, I Blink past the revived demons and leap straight towards the necromancer. It stands no chance against my blades which cut into its armor, which is surprisingly sturdy. But it is nothing I can’t handle.

  The moment the necromancer disintegrates, all of the revived demons do as well.

  I really hate these monsters.

  Luckily, there are still plenty left for me to slay. I focus back on the fight and target the necromancers as soon as I see them. No chance they are going to revive anything while I am on the battlefield.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  I glance over and it seems Violet has a similar idea as she leaps over the hordes and takes out the necromancers before focusing on the other monsters. She is such a badass, and in my fascination with her awesomeness I almost let a few attacks hit me. Oh well, it's worth it to watch Violet in action.

  I suffer a few burns and cuts here and there, and I even see Violet get a bruise or two. But all is quickly healed by the ever helpful Moxie whenever she gets a break from healing Liv. Stephen is a genius as he guides us from his perch and helps us find targets. His new level 100 commander skill allows him to easily pinpoint important targets among large hordes, super useful as he can either relay it to us, or snipe them from afar.

  “Maka! Stop daydreaming about rice balls and get back in there” Stephen shouts at me as I stare off into the sky.

  “Ah right, sorry commander.”

  To be fair to myself, I was thinking about those delicious kebabs and not rice balls.

  I end up in a tight alleyway as I track down a bunch of demons that tried to run away. It’s important that we clear out as many of the deserters as possible, because they can integrate into other groups and become a problem later.

  Naturally, we can't get them all, not with just me able to reliably track them down. But every bit helps.

  Liv collapses to the ground as we clear out the last monster from the area. The FAUD immediately appears from wherever it was hiding and walks to a random intersection. A mechanical arm appears out of its back and pushes into the ground.

  The ground shakes as one of the nearby buildings lifts up several meters and reveals a large bunker door that has a faint shield pulsing over it. It bears a faded logo that says ‘Veredi Corporation.’

  “Wait, didn't the Veredi corporation go out of business nearly a century ago?” I ask.

  “Yes, they faced several scandals and ended up being ruined.” Violet replies. She walks up to the door and runs her fingers against the shield, and it flickers and turns off under the faint pressure. “This thing must be ancient, over two centuries old.”

  “Well, nothing else to do but crack the bad boy open.” Liv stands up, her exhaustion gone as she walks up to the door and swings her sword in a large arc.

  With a loud clang and crack, the door crumples inwards and a rush of cold air pours out as the carefully sealed atmosphere leaks out. Whatever is in there must’ve been somewhat important.

  After Liv gets a brief scolding from Stephen about being more careful. We enter the bunker and are met with a large elevator that is still functioning. There are faint red emergency lights that are still powered by something. Most likely a type of RTG, as nothing else would have continued to provide power for so long.

  The elevator is quite smooth, for being two centuries old. We descend for several minutes, sinking what must be about two hundred meters below ground. The moment the doors open, someone screams.

  Before us is a large open space, easily thirty meters high, fifty meters wide and several hundred deep. But that isn't what caused the scream.

  Lined up in dozens of neat rows and stacked high into the sky are cryopods. There must be around ten thousand of them. The rest of the room is scattered with lots of robots that are long non-functional.

  I step into the room and approach one of the cryopods and look through the glass. A skeleton stares back at me and I recoil.

  A bit aways, Stephen speaks and his voice echoes around the entire room. “They are all dead. The pods seem to have lasted only about a century.”

  Everyone goes silent as the scene before us sinks in.

  The FAUD clambers over a bunch of the debris and disappears into the back of the stacks. After a few minutes it emerges carrying a large crate in its arm, it has a faint yellow aura that can only mean aether.

  “What the fuck is an aether device doing buried all the way down here?” I ask.

  "No one knows. They simply appear like this.” Stephen says, grabbing the crate from the FAUD. “One of the great unexplained mysteries of the system and monsters. One of far too many.”

  Stephen is right. Humanity likes to pretend that we understand the system, dragons and how it all works. But in truth, we are fucking clueless as to most of it. The dragons don't seem to know either, or at least they hide it and refuse to share their information.

  He presses a button on the side of the cube and a message appears.

  [Data Cache Recovered]

  [Praetorian Location Revealed on Map]

  [Praetorian level lowered by 20]

  [Bonus Reward Upon Hive Completion: +1 Gear Crate]

  “Woah, that's sick. Not only do we get a bonus reward, but it also makes the next praetorian easier.” Liv exclaims.

  “Yeah, it's definitely worth collecting all these caches. At least until we are a bit more confident in our abilities.” I add. We are still inexperienced and don’t have many powerful skills. Also, none of us have been able to reliably make use of our dragon’s abilities. So it's best to take any buff and play it safe for now. Plus a bit of money from selling spare gear and augments wouldn’t hurt. It's not like we can solely rely on Violet to fund everything.

  We are all exhausted, so we decide to rest in the bunker, ignoring the literal skeletons that are surrounding us. It may be creepy, but they have been dead since long before we were born. There is absolutely nothing we could’ve done for them. It is strange though, this place is a tomb for people that likely didn't even know what was happening. Yet here we are, a bunch of cadets with fancy dragons and a system that no one really understands just waltzing in.

  Despite that, I doze off while leaning against a ruined robot that seems to have been some sort of heavy hauling drone. It is basically primitive, ancient technology sure is strange.

  [Scout has leveled up! Lvl 136 -> Lvl 152]

  [Mage has leveled up! Lvl 132 -> Lvl 148]

  [Average Level is now 150]

  [Lemon has leveled up! Lvl 110 -> Lvl 127]

  [Blink has leveled up! Lvl 20 -> Lvl 21]

  [Trace Clues has leveled up! Lvl 4 -> Lvl 8]

  Next Chapter: That's A Big Hammer You've Got There

  If you are enjoying the book, I would really appreciate it if you dropped a follow, comment or even a rating!

  Checkout the official

  ?? Even gods need to be held sometimes

  What to Expect:

  - An epic, multi-book space opera with a large found family and multiple POVs.

  - A powerful but emotionally vulnerable protagonist with chaotic powers he struggles to control.

  - Strong, capable, and sometimes morally gray women.

  - High stakes, cosmic threats, and detailed world-building.

  What NOT to Expect:

  - LitRPG/System elements

  - Lone wolf power fantasy

  - A story that is only about romance

  This story contains mature themes, explicit sexual content, and graphic violence. It is not suitable for readers under the age of 18.

  90+ Chapters in the first month

  500,000+ words already written and backlogged