The high-elf girl hesitated for a fraction of a second, staring at John’s rugged, carbon-knuckled tactical glove. Then, slowly, she reached out from beneath the oversized military poncho, placing her trembling, pale hand into his.
John pulled her up smoothly, his maxed-out Physical Conditioning supporting her featherlight frame without the slightest strain.
"Stay close," John muttered, keeping his FN SCAR-H at a low-ready stance with his right hand while guiding her toward the far side of the platform with his left. "We’re taking the front door."
Together, they stepped across the threshold of the massive, glowing golden gateway.
FLASH!
The concussive boom of collapsing dimensional space tore through the air. The scorched sandstone, the sulfurous haze, and the howling abyss of Floor 5 vanished in a blinding pulse of transcendent light.
RUSTLE... RUSTLE...
The sensation of suffocating dungeon atmosphere dissolved completely. In its place came the crisp, sweet aroma of damp moss, blooming wild jasmine, and pine needles warmed by afternoon sun. Gentle golden daylight poured over John’s ballistic helmet, illuminating vibrant green canopies and ancient, towering oak trees that stretched fifty feet into a crystal-clear blue sky.
Distant birds chirped peacefully in the canopy above.
John took a deep breath, pulling down his tactical mask to let the fresh, open breeze wash over his face.
They were outside. Really outside.
A faint, victorious breath escaped John’s lips. "Finally out of that damn meat grinder."
He turned to the high-elf girl beside him. She was looking up at the sunlight filtering through the canopy, her deep amethyst eyes wide with a mixture of reverence and disbelief. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes as she felt the warm sun on her skin for the first time since who knows when.
"Hey," John said softly, adjusting his plate carrier. "Do you have any idea where we are? Is there a town nearby or—"
Before he could finish the question, the girl’s knees gave out.
The centuries of mana-drain stasis, the shock of the high-intensity combat, and the sudden rush of natural surface air proved too much for her depleted body. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she went completely limp, tumbling straight toward the mossy forest floor.
John’s maxed-out Combat Perception and reflexes reacted instantly.
SWOOSH!
In a fraction of a second, John lunged forward, dropping his SCAR-H to hang on its two-point sling as he caught her in mid-air. He cradled her softly against his chest rig, wrapping an arm securely around her waist to keep her bundled in the heavy military poncho.
"Hey. Stay with me," John said, lightly tapping her cheek with his gloved fingers.
She didn’t respond, her breathing shallow and slow as she slipped into a deep, feverish sleep born of total exhaustion.
John swept his gaze across the dense surrounding forest, scanning the tree line for movement or predator thermal signatures.
"Out of the frying pan..." John muttered with a dry sigh, shifting her light frame into a secure carry. "Guess I’m setting up a field camp first."
But before that, John looked at his updated stats with a silent thought, bringing up his full system overview to assess his total gains from clearing the dungeon and downing the Class-S boss.
The translucent blue interface expanded crisply across his field of vision, shimmering in the midday sunlight.
[Host: John Smith
Level: 58
Cumulative Experience: 1,570,000 / 1,700,000
Mission: Escape the Abyssian Dungeon (Completed)
Troops: N/A
Soul: 1,216 (+400 from Vaelgor)
Troop Limit Composition:
Infantry: 0/2,000 (Expanded)
Special Forces: 0/800 (Expanded)
Non-Combat Personnel: 0/4,000 (Expanded)
Military Hardware Limit Composition:
Weapons:
Land: 250
Air: 180
Navy: 1/80
System Points: 400,500 (280,500 + 120,000 SP)
Inventory: [Standard Infantry Kit, JPC 2.0 Level IV Plate Carrier (Damaged), FAST Ballistic Helmet, AN/PVS-31A NVGs, FN SCAR-H, FN FNX-45 Tactical, Modular Poncho & Fleece Liner]
System Shop]
John let out a low whistle beneath his breath. "Four hundred thousand system points... and enough troop capacity to mobilize a mechanized brigade."
When he had been betrayed and kicked down that bottomless hole, he was an E-rank reject with zero stats and a duffel bag. Now, he was walking out of the deadliest dungeon in the world at Level 58, carrying an arsenal capable of leveling cities and a massive bank of points ready to purchase whatever firepower he needed.
He closed the interface, his eyes hardening with cold, lingering resolve as he looked down at the unconscious high-elf girl in his arms.
Instead of making a camp, John thought of making a base. After all, he has a military system so might as well build a military base. To do that, he needs to scout the area. What area is he in? Is he on a mainland or an island? The only way to know was to summon a drone capable of operating at high altitude, and can be operated by him only.
John gently laid the unconscious high-elf girl down against the wide, mossy roots of an ancient cedar tree. He adjusted the olive-drab poncho around her to keep her warm and comfortable, then stepped back into a small clearing where the thick forest canopy opened slightly to reveal the clear blue sky.
He opened his system interface with a focused thought, navigating directly past small arms and tactical vehicles into the aviation section.
[Military Hardware Limit Composition — Air (0/180)]
[Category: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) / Reconnaissance & Strike]
A neon-blue sub-menu unfurled before his eyes, displaying a wide array of military drones ranging from compact tactical units to massive strategic platforms:
[MQ-9 Reaper — Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) Armed Reconnaissance UAV]
[MQ-1C Gray Eagle — Multi-Mission Tactical UAV]
[RQ-4 Global Hawk — High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) Surveillance Platform]
[RQ-7B Shadow — Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System]
[RQ-20 Puma AE — All-Environment Hand-Launched Tactical UAV]
[ScanEagle — Long-Endurance Low-Altitude Autonomous UAV]
...
John scanned through the options, and was amazed at a variety of options. They even have hunter killer drones, well he’d summon one later.
He scrolled past the heavy fixed-wing aircraft and landed on the tactical hand-launched category. He needed something with high endurance, thermal and optical high-definition payloads, autonomous flight routines, and zero need for a runway.
His eyes locked onto the ideal platform used by Marine and Special Forces recon teams.
[AeroVironment RQ-20B Puma AE II (All-Environment)]
[Type: Hand-Launched Tactical Long-Endurance Reconnaissance UAV]
[Wingspan: 9.1 ft (2.8 m) | Weight: 14 lbs (6.3 kg)]
[Propulsion: Ultra-Quiet Brushless Electric Motor]
[Operational Range: 20+ km (Line-of-Sight Digital DDL Data Link)]
[Service Ceiling: Up to 10,500 ft (3,200 m) MSL]
[Flight Endurance: 3.5+ Hours]
[Payload: Mantis i45 Gimbaled Sensor Suite (Dual 15MP Electro-Optical High-Resolution Cameras, 50x Digital Zoom, MWIR Thermal Imaging, Laser Illuminator)]
[Launch / Recovery: Hand-launched / Deep-stall autonomous skid landing]
[Requirement: Level 25 (Met) | Hardware Slot: Air 1/180 | Cost: 0 SP]
"Nine-foot wingspan, hand-launchable, three-and-a-half-hour loiter time, and a high-resolution Mantis sensor ball capable of scanning up to ten thousand feet," John grinned. "That’s exactly what the doctor ordered."
"System," John commanded. "Summon the RQ-20B Puma AE and its ruggedized Ground Control Station."
FLASH!
A lightweight, matte-drab modular transit case and a Panasonic Toughbook-style ruggedized controller unit materialized on the mossy forest floor beside him.
John knelt down, unlatched the heavy polymer case, and assembled the modular carbon-fiber airframe in less than two minutes. The wings snapped into the fuselage with solid, weather-sealed locks. He secured the battery into the ventral bay and slotted the Mantis i45 electro-optical/infrared gimbal beneath the nose.
He powered up the portable Ground Control Station (GCS). The ruggedized screen blinked to life, establishing a crisp, direct digital link with the drone’s avionics and syncing telemetry straight into John’s tactical HUD.
[RQ-20B Puma AE Initialized]
[GPS / Inertial Navigation System: Calibrated]
[Sensor Array: Nominal]
[Ready for Launch]
John hoisted the fourteen-pound airframe in his right hand, bracing his boots against the damp earth. He throttled the electric motor up on the hand controller.
WHIIIIIRRRRRR!
The two-blade pusher propeller spun up with a soft, whisper-quiet hum. John took two explosive forward steps and hurled the Puma upward through the gap in the forest canopy.
The autonomous flight control took over instantly. The sleek UAV banked smoothly, climbed at a steep thirty-degree angle, and punched through the treetops into the open sky, spiraling upward toward a cruising altitude of four thousand feet.
John sat down against a moss-covered boulder, resting the GCS screen on his lap while keeping his SCAR-H resting across his knees.
On the high-definition split-screen display, the Mantis i45 gimbal rotated downward, locking into an orbital reconnaissance grid. The camera pulled back into a wide-angle topographical scan, stitching together a full-color, high-altitude composite map of the terrain below.
.
"Now let’s see what part of the world we’re dealing with," John muttered, zooming the optics in to get the full lay of the land.