LENIN

"Well, I have an idea or two we can use. . ."

"Don't keep me in suspense like that!" Felix chuckled, "What's this grand plan of yours?" 

"Since you say that Plantea beasts are constantly attacking us, that means."

"There must be a dungeon." He answered my sentence for me, and I nodded. 

Felix was deep in thought, "That's going to be pretty dangerous. . . Are you suggesting that we go and claim that territory?" 

As crazy as it sounded to Felix, it was the only way we could get enough Solum and power this place to its total capacity. 

Solum was everything in Vestiga, and we would have to utilise its total capacity to keep this village running. 

"I am, but I'll go by myself."

When dismissed, he immediately waved his hand, "Don't try to go all hero on me. We'll be there to help you."

I smiled softly, "Thanks." 

He stood up from his seat, placing his hand on my shoulder, "We should probably go back to our homes. Wouldn't want to keep the wives waiting?" He chuckled as I nodded. 

"Let's get to it then."

After a long work day, I finally arrived at my new house. 

It was much bigger than our cottage, but it had that cottage vibe. 

I felt a slight tap on my shoulder as I turned around to see a glistening, beautiful, gentle smile that melted my heart. 

WHOOSH!

She giggled lightly as she patted me on the back, "It seems that someone missed me a bit too much." 

I smiled, "What if I did?" I grinned, leaning closer to her face. 

"Then I would say you have every right to miss me." 

I chuckled, sweeping her off the ground, "Is Maro?"

She nodded, "He's asleep as cute as usual." 

"Let me take you to the bed first while I take a quick look at Maro sleeping."

I chuckled as I placed her on the bed in quick succession. Then I looked at Maro in his crib, sleeping soundly, and he was most certainly as cute as ever. 

That was enough looking at my cute son for a day as I slid into the blankets with Kassie.

"So, how was Felix?" 

"Same old same old. . . But seriously, can you believe that he has a daughter?" I chuckled in disbelief. I seriously couldn't get over that. I would never have thought Felix would be able to have a daughter, let alone be with Rachel in the first place. 

"It's the secrets of the world," She smiled, resting her head on my chest.

"Sleep time?"

She yawned, nodding as she drifted away to a peaceful sleep.

——— 

"Alright!" Felix clapped his hands together as the echo echoed throughout the science lab. 

One thing was sure: he was excited to start this day with a great bang. 

"What do you have?" I couldn't help but chuckle as Felix excitedly shared his grand plan.

He placed the map on the table and pointed at it, "The Plantea Beasts always attack from this direction, and that could only mean one thing." He paused momentarily, "That's where the dungeon would be located."

What he said was pretty straightforward, but it made much more sense. 

"So when do we strike?"

Felix's eyes gleamed, "Tomorrow night." 

His plan would be crazy, but if we executed it correctly, the return would outweigh the risk 100-fold. 

"But seriously, thanks for your help, Lenin." He smiles gratefully, "Without you, we wouldn't be able to do half the things we want to in the first place."

"Of course." I nodded happily, "Besides, it's nice seeing you play the role of the chief of the village." 

Felix slightly chuckled to himself, "Times have changed, huh?" 

"It certainly has, but I wouldn't change it for the world." 

We both smiled at one another. 

"I'll catch you later." He patted me on the shoulder. 

With that, I had free time to do whatever I wanted and knew exactly where to go. 

"Has Maro tapped into Solum yet?" I asked beside Kassie as we watched him do the usual antics. 

She shook her head, "No... But it's coming." 

"How do you know that?"

She grinned, "Come on now. If anything, I thought you would've spotted it before me." 

I chuckled, emitting Purpura instantly as I placed it over Maro. There, I could sense it slowly but surely: the Solum was building up inside him bit by bit. 

"He's growing at a pretty fast rate," I muttered. 

Kassie slid her arm against me and looked up at me. "Something tells me that you're not too fond of him growing at the rate he is."

"It's not that," I paused, looking at the ceiling. I don't want him to gain powers that quickly, but he has to," I muttered lowly. 

Kassie did her best to comfort me, and it worked like it always did. 

"You don't seem worried at all," I chuckled lightly, looking at her face. 

She didn't exhibit any stress on her face. I've rarely seen Kassie be worried, let alone stressed. 

Kassie was always calm and composed enough to calm me down. 

When people like us had Solum genetically, others would do anything to take that gift away from us so they could get it themselves. 

It was the harsh reality that we had to face. 

"Well, you should get some sleep before the big day."

"Once again, you're right."

She giggled, looking over her shoulder, "I'm always right."

With that, I was ready for a good night's sleep. 

—

I stood there tall and ready for what was to come.

Today would be a long day, and I knew we would handle this all night if we had to.

I could only assume what was in the Dungeon. Looming were the menacing and gleaming Plantea Beasts, ready to strike for our Solum, but this time, we could surprise those beasts. 

I watched as everyone around me got ready, wearing their gear. I knew that if they were going to wear gear like that, they wouldn't make it out alive. The armour technology they harboured wouldn't even last them 10 minutes in the Dungeon. No matter how good a warrior you were, you couldn't handle those cruel attacks of the Plantea Beasts.

Even if they drank the liquid Solum they had for this battle, it still wouldn't be enough.

By that logic, there was only one thing that I could do.

"Lusan, Tara, Felix." 

Their heads turned around as they approached me.

"What's up?" Felix smiled, but behind those eyes, I could tell he was frightened despite putting up this front to show his comrades that he wasn't scared of what would come.

I emitted Purpura Solum from my palm, placing it over them all.

They looked at their bodies and could feel a renewed strength.

Lusan's eyes widened in disbelief, "This is?"

I nodded, "It's only temporary, but you'll have the same strength as me."

"Holy shit." Felix couldn't help but chuckle, "Is this how you feel daily?"

I sheepishly smiled, shrugging my shoulders, "Just don't use it when you don't need to. You only have a limited supply of this power."

They nodded in unison.

"Alright, lead the way, Felix."

We followed Felix as he led us to where he believed the Dungeon was.

While he was valiantly leading the way, little did he know that I already knew where the Dungeon was located. 

I could feel us getting closer and closer until we were finally there, as expected.

This Dungeon was no joke. . . No reasonable person would even dare to go into it under free will. 

Despite Felix leading the charge, I could tell he was still as nervous as ever, which was more than understandable.

After all, this was his first time having to face such foes.

I placed my hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring nod.

Hopefully, that was enough to calm his nerves.

We continued deep into the cave, hearing nothing but silence. The only sound we could hear was our footsteps.

There was an unsettling shift in the air as we expected something. 

"What's going on?" Lusan asked as he had his eyes on everything, "Aren't there meant to be Plantea beasts waiting to attack us by now?"

I slowly nodded, "There should be." I answered as I looked around our surroundings. Something was off, but I could not figure it out anymore. 

"Tara, what are you doing?" Lusan asked. 

She shrugged her shoulder, "What? I'm using the Solum that Lenin gave me to good use." Tara scoffed and continued to channel the power I had given her.

"Lenin clearly said not to use unless it was necessary." 

"Well?" She scoffed, "I'm putting it to go-"

WHOOSH

"Tara?"

We waited for Tara to finish her sentence, but she never did, as blood was the only thing she could conjure up. 

I quickly looked down at a vine that had burst open her chest as her mouth dripped with blood, dropping onto the ground. 

"Tara!" Lusan reached out with his hand, but I immediately pulled him away, putting myself in danger as I slashed the vine, originally aiming at Lusan and freed Tara from hers. 

I knew we would be attacked by vines in a few seconds. 

"Felix, what do we do?" Lusan asked in desperation, trying to get an answer from Felix, but there was no response. 

He was trembling where he stood and could do nothing to change that. 

"Lusan." I immediately grabbed his attention, "Take Felix and leave the dungeon!"

"B-But what about you?" He stammered with his words. 

"Don't worry about me, " I replied. I'll take care of it, and Lusan... Tara will be alright." 

His eyes lit up with hope and glimmer as he resolved to safely pull the frozen Felix away, as I could no longer see them. 

Now I had more pressing matters to attend to. 

I did my best to heal Tara from her fairly critical injuries, and I knew it was possible. 

WHOOSH! 

I anticipated the vines coming as I dodged and weaved in simple practice. 

I had foresight of where they would hit as more Solum was produced in my body. 

The endless vines seemed never to stop as all I did was slash and weave, but they seemed to continue.

It was obvious what I had to do now to stop this. 

I channelled all the Solum I could conjure up and lifted one finger. 

ZAP!

A beam of light cut down the vines quickly until no more was left. 

It meant that whatever that thing was, it took a decent amount of damage. 

Part of me should think more wisely instead of rash actions. 

But there was no time to think, only time to get things done. 

Soon enough, the vines that desperately tried to get to me had stopped altogether. 

Why was that the case? I had no idea and didn't want to know. 

What mattered to me now was that I could clear out this Dungeon while protecting Tara throughout my journey. 

It got me thinking: was this worth it? But in my mind, I knew I was already far too deep into this Dungeon to stop now. 

There was only one thing I could do: keep moving forward as usual. 

With Tara in my arms, drooped like a sack of potatoes, it would be until she fully recovered. 

As far as I could sense the Dungeon with my Purpura Solumn, I couldn't feel a Plantea beast waiting to pounce on me. 

I would soon find out whether that was a good sign or not. 

It was also clear why we went here in the first place: This Dungeon was something else. The deeper I went into the Dungeon, the more minerals and Solum I found waiting to be cultivated. 

I was surprised that no one had ever considered visiting here, but it was apparent why. 

Anyone stepping foot in this Dungeon would likely not come alive with their limbs intact. This was understandable, but I wasn't normal. 

As I ventured deeper and deeper into the Dungeon with the typical Plantea Beasts slicing them all down, I managed to make it to a beacon of the Dungeon. 

Some would say the Nucleus.

If I didn't know better, I must have been in this Dungeon for at least a day. 

That was how long it took me to clear this dungeon and witness what only a few could ever see for themselves. 

It was none other than a vault. 

I had been lucky enough to see the end of what a dungeon looked like, but this would be the very first time I could clear out a dungeon myself. 

The only problem was that I would have to punch through the Vault myself. 

That was half why I didn't want to clear this Dungeon single-handedly.

The reason why most people went in groups, hell... Most people go with a whole platoon because of this very moment. 

Most of the time, they would all be wiped out before they even made it to the final stage of the Dungeon. But if they ever made it here, they would have to use all their strength to burst open the Vault.

For some, it could take months to open or even years. 

That was just a simple testament to how difficult it was to reach this stage. 

I was a one-person army, but I was more than enough. 

I channelled all of the Purpura Solum in my right hand, ready for it.

BOOM!

Right then and there, I drove my fist straight through the Vault, creating a large enough hole for me to go through.

With all the smoke and dust fading away from that single punch of mine, I squinted my eyes, and there it was. 

Everything that I had imagined. 

Solum.