After leaving the Union building, Leon and Vozk walked toward the dungeon, which was in a lower part of the city. Leon was now equipped with two long knives strapped to his belt, a rifle on his back, and a human-sized dimensional hip bag from Priya, all courtesy of the Union.
"Where's the dungeon?" Leon asked.
"Down below, there's a building just for teleporting. We go in and come out at a teleportation point outside the city, right in front of some ancient ruins. That's where we can mine, hunt monsters, or look for treasure maps to find magic stones," Vozk explained.
"I see. So you found me outside the city?" Leon asked.
"Yeah, right in front of the teleport," Vozk replied.
"Hmm... got it," Leon said.
"But before we go, I want to stop by my favorite Orb shop. The owner told me he has a cheap Elemental Orb. If the price is right, I want to buy it and install it right away. They also have a place to test weapons," Vozk said, glancing at Leon's rifle and the two ordinary long knives on his hips.
"Oh, so I can test my new weapons there?" Leon asked, grabbing the rifle he had just gotten from the Union and slung on his back.
"Yeah, but don't use up all the ammo. Bullets and cartridges are expensive. That's why scavengers use two types of weapons," Vozk said.
"Hmm... understood," Leon replied. "Good. I want to test the weapons I made last night."
"And... why are you following us, Ernod?" Vozk asked, looking over his shoulder.
"Ah... hahaha... I want to join your team, I told you that already," Ernod said, revealing that he had been behind Vozk and Leon the whole time.
"What about you, Kara?" Vozk asked, turning to see Kara walking beside Ernod.
"I'm keeping an eye on him so he pays his debt... or at least so I can evaluate and confiscate any magic stones he finds. Don't worry, I have no intention of joining your team. I just want to make sure this guy doesn't run off," Kara said, pointing to Ernod's face.
"Tsk... I'm trying to work to pay you back, what's your problem?" Ernod grumbled.
"Ugh... fine, but we're stopping by my buddy's shop first," Vozk said.
"Don't sweat it, bro, no problem," Ernod replied.
"Hmph," Kara said, crossing her arms.
"This is going to be interesting," Leon thought to himself.
A moment later, they arrived at a shop with a crooked, worn-out neon sign. The front wall had a lot of empty display cases, and the door was rusty. Screeech. The iron door seemed to struggle as it opened. Vozk went inside, followed by Leon, Ernod, and Kara, who had her arms folded across her chest the whole time.
Inside, they saw a bunch of magic stones of different colors scattered all over the floor, as well as crystal balls of various colors, like a fortune teller's, displayed in a case. Leon looked at the display, where he saw a label in front of a crystal ball the size of a ping pong ball.
"Hmm... Sword Mastery Rank B... so this is what an Orb looks like," Leon mumbled, examining the crystal ball.
Then Leon saw Vozk talking to a short, chubby, bearded man from the Dwarf race, who was wearing a leather apron, black gloves, and a white, doctor-like coat. He was holding a black Orb and seemed to be explaining it to Vozk. Leon walked closer to Vozk because he was curious.
"Come on, Thalin, cut me a deal. I know 100,000 CC is cheap, but can't you do 80,000 CC for a friend?" Vozk asked.
"It's because you're a friend that I'm only offering you 100,000 CC. With anyone else, I'd sell it for more. How about this: 100,000 CC with free installation? I'll put it on you right now," Thalin replied.
"Ugh... fine, I want it so bad I can't say no," Vozk said, holding out his Gen Decoder.
Thalin held out his arm and touched his Gen Decoder to Vozk's, and "bip," the money was transferred. After seeing the amount on his Gen Decoder increase, Thalin smiled and looked at Vozk.
"Let's go to the operating room," Thalin said, then looked at Leon, Ernod, and Kara standing next to Vozk. "You guys can go ahead and practice downstairs. The installation will take about 30 minutes," he said, pointing to a steel door on the side.
"Wait for me, okay? We'll go to the dungeon after this," Vozk said, winking at Leon, looking pleased.
"Okay, take your time," Leon replied.
Thalin led Vozk through a door behind the counter. Leon looked at the steel door on the side that Thalin had pointed to, then walked toward it. He opened the door and saw stairs leading down, lit by neon lights. He walked down, and when he got to the bottom, he saw a large underground room set up like a shooting range with booths and targets far in front of him.
"Hmm... just like in my world... in the movies, I mean," Leon thought to himself.
He walked into a booth and looked back. It seemed Ernod and Kara hadn't followed him down. Feeling alone, he took out the abyss rifle from the tattoo on his back and held it. Calmly, he aimed the rifle at a target.
"Okay... let's try this," Leon muttered happily.
Blam... blam. He used his Double Shot skill, and then blaaar... grrrrrrk. Leon's face went blank. His mouth hung open, and his eyes widened. What he'd fired was a huge ball of purple flame energy that flew like a bullet, twice, ripping through the steel wall and digging into the ground behind it, causing a tremor and an explosion. Leon looked down at the sci-fi-looking rifle in his hands, slowly examining his weapon.
"W-what kind of rifle is this?" Leon asked, staring at the sci-fi rifle in his hands.
Leon felt someone behind him. Slowly, he turned around and saw Ernod and Kara with wide eyes and gaping mouths, stunned behind him. Leon immediately turned back and hid the rifle behind his back, but it was too late.
"W-what was that weapon?" Ernod asked, pointing at Leon's rifle.
"Y-yeah, for real, where did you get that purple flame elemental Orb and that weapon?" Kara asked.
"Oh man... this is bad," Leon thought to himself.
Leon couldn't answer. He immediately stored the rifle, making Ernod and Kara even more confused as they saw the rifle turn into purple fire that vanished into Leon's back.
"Are you human, or what?" they both asked at the same time.
"I'm sorry... I have amnesia and don't remember anything," Leon said, sweat pouring down his face.