"I can't believe you ate that thing!" Brea exclaimed in disgust.
"It doesn't taste bad at all," Arthur shrugged, to which Don and Luice scrunched their noses.
The effects, however, were pretty obvious. The more Monster Cores you consume, the stronger you get; this goes for both Espers and normal people alike. And if you're lucky enough, you might become an Esper. Arthur explained this whilst ignoring Chris, who was popping Monster Cores like candy. Despite their disgust, they knew he was right—remaining weak in this world would make you easy prey, and monsters weren't the only predators out there.
"Fine, but do we really have to go into those... dungeons?" Brea asked hesitantly.
"Risk and opportunity, Miss. Don't worry, we'll protect you. If not, you can use Chris as a human shield," Arthur smiled handsomely.
"Hey!" Chris exclaimed.
Their banter was cut short by a group of Kobolds coming up the staircase. They roared as they charged, only to be nailed down and executed. The nail guns now functioned more like industrial SMGs with standard scopes for aim-assist. They dug out the Monster Cores and continued on. Their journey was far easier now with the upgrades and modded gear—almost relaxing, in fact.
"I remember seeing the Kobold dungeon at the south parking lot," Don mumbled, already tired from walking so much despite eating nearly a dozen cores.
"You mean those stone gate things the monsters came out from?" Riva asked.
"Yep."
"And we're going *in* one of those?"
"Yep."
"I wanna go home..." Riva trailed off.
Arthur chuckled. Riva teased him, "Bastard, got a new eye and suddenly you're in a mood."
Chris punched him playfully. It was true; he had upgraded the Artificial Eye. Not only had he regained his vision, but his visual prowess had jumped drastically. If 4K was the highest definition, then his sight was now 8K, maybe more.
The three mods—**Magnification, Analysis, and Movement Detector**—allowed him to see further, calculate trajectories, and visualize mana around him. The fourth mod, **Threat Detection**, would allow him to predict threats in advance, but it required special resources that halted his search for upgrades. Truthfully, his organic right eye felt inferior now; given the chance, he'd definitely replace it with a **Hyper Optic**.
The Hyper Optic looked like any normal eye with a pure white sclera, but the iris was such a stark blue that it looked as though it was glowing—which, in a way, it was. Arthur wasn't a cripple anymore. Not only was his **MSA-II** the strongest weapon in the group, but with his Hyper Optic's visual prowess, he was a downright monster in marksmanship.
The only pain had been the heavy dose of morphine and the three-hour knockout required to implant the Hyper Optic.
### The Parking Lot Massacre
Cutting through a group of Kobolds, they finally made it to the south parking lot. Upon arriving, Arthur was so angered he punched a hole through a wall. Every vehicle within the lot was completely wrecked, including his Pontiac—which technically wasn't legal for him to drive due to his previous handicap.
"I'm gonna kill them all," Arthur growled. With his Combat Axe in one hand and the Rapid Nail Gun in the other, he walked right toward the crowds of Kobolds guarding the dungeon entrance.
"He's worked up!" Chris rushed forward to catch up.
"Sigh... still got that temper of his," Don sighed. "Fatty, you follow them. We'll provide rear support. Just make sure to stick as close to the two of them as possible."
"I got this," Luice followed the raging cyborg and the battle-maniac into the fray.
Arthur shot down the approaching crowd of Kobolds one after another until they finally got close, then he switched to the red combat axe at his waist. The single swing provided by his MSA was so powerful he cut through three Kobolds in one go without the slightest resistance.
Next to him, a hum sounded as the sword-like chainsaw Chris wielded swung wide, eliminating two Kobolds and leaving a large, deep slash in a nearby car. It was messy. Luice was actually getting the most kills as his fired nails curved through the air, finding their targets at odd angles. He didn't even need to worry about defense with Chris and Arthur on the front lines; any sneak attacks were taken care of by Don, Brea, and Riva.
To no surprise, the over 100 Kobolds were killed within six minutes. Due to the strength of their equipment, they had practically bullied the Kobolds.
"You guys collect the monster cores, and I'll collect the car wreckage. These are all trashed, so we might as well make use of them," Arthur said. He used **Decomposition** on the car beside him, turning it into pure materials that he transferred to his inventory. The parking lot had several dozen vehicles, so it took quite an effort. Nearly an hour passed before he cleared the entire lot and the cores had been gathered.
This only left the 8-by-3-foot stone dungeon entrance in the middle of the lot.
"You guys ready?" Arthur asked.
"Nope," Brea and Riva denied. Don shrugged, while Luice and Chris nodded.
"Let's go. Combat mode is on."
Arthur pushed open the stone doors and entered the cave-like cavern with the group following behind. The door remained opened, though. "Secure the area and exit at any time we want," Arthur said. Their words were transmitted via **Telepathy** within the group.
**[New Data Detected! Scanning… Done! Updating System… Update Complete!]**
**[New Upgrades and Mods are now available. New Function unlocked: Repair]**
> **{Repair: Allows rapid repair of items with the supplement of necessary resources.}**
>
Arthur couldn't help but sigh in relief. This was one of his biggest defects he'd never mentioned, but thanks to the update, that problem was gone. Fortunately, he hadn't decomposed his Pontiac and had left it in the inventory, so he could repair it later.
"Yeah, my mana readings are spiking, but it's still in the green zone," Don said.
"Same here," Luice affirmed.
"Let's be a bit vigilant, shall we?" Arthur warned.
They walked through the cave vigilantly, only to turn a bend and find large groups of **Kobold Minions**. Even more so, they discovered amongst them a couple of taller Kobolds at adult human height. These guys actually had partial armor and weapons like rusty bows and spears.
**{Kobold Trooper (Tier 2)}**
"Luice, we gotta be more careful now. Target the archers first, then the rest of the Troopers. Don, you and the ladies are in charge of keeping the Minions at bay," Arthur ordered.
All these orders were transmitted via Telepathy so not a sound was made, and the Kobolds remained oblivious. Arthur nodded to Luice, who took a brace and aimed with most of his body hidden behind a rock.
*Twi-twi-tui!* Three rapid-fire nails whizzed through the air, hitting critical areas on the bow-wielding Kobold Troopers. The group of Kobolds panicked and searched for the enemy, but by the time they discovered their hunters, the archers were taken down. Luice noticed the cost-priced and curved rapid-fire on the Kobolds before charging in for melee.
Those Tier 2 Kobolds were a real pain to deal with and were pretty fast on their feet. Unfortunately for them, Arthur and Luice easily kept up with their movements, and it was nearly impossible to escape Chris's range in full swing.
The Tier 2 monster cores they dropped were only slightly bigger than the Tier 1s, but they contained denser and more mana within them. It was only after clearing this section that Arthur noticed the glowing blue crystals embedded in the walls.
**{Mana Crystals (Inferior): Pure condensed mana produced in small-scale dungeons.}**