Timeline 882-Alpha - The Northern MountainsDay 10 (One Week Later)
The mountains were quiet. Too quiet.
For seven days, Dante trained.
The System, realizing its host was biologically inferior to the threats he faced, had initiated an Accelerated Conditioning Protocol.
[Daily Routine][04:00 - 08:00: Calisthenics (Weighted).][08:00 - 12:00: Combat Simulation (Neural Link).][12:00 - 18:00: Resource Management/Fabrication.][18:00 - 22:00: Anaerobic Endurance.]
Dante stood shirtless in the snow, steam rising from his skin. His muscles, once lean and wiry, were now defined, hard as ironwood.
[Host Status Updated][Strength: 15 (+11)][Agility: 18 (+13)][Endurance: 20 (MAX for current Level)]
He turned to Elara. She stood near the tree line, holding a heavy cloak. Kaelen and the bandits were miles back at Blackcrag, forbidden from entering the zone.
"Stay here," Dante ordered. "Do not engage. Do not heal me unless I am missing a limb."
"You're going alone to fight that Dragon?" Elara asked, her voice tight with worry.
"I don't need an army," Dante said, pulling a heavy, metallic tube from his inventory.
He walked up the slope toward the glowing green cave entrance.
The air tasted of copper and death. The radiation counter in his HUD ticked steadily.
Click-click-click.
"Wake up, ugly," Dante shouted, stopping fifty meters from the cave mouth.
He raised the weapon on his shoulder.
[Weapon: RPG-7 (High Explosive Anti-Tank)][Cost: 150 Gold.][Damage Potential: High Kinetic/Thermal.]
A roar shook the mountain.
The Radium Dragon burst from the cave. It was exactly as he remembered—massive, green-scaled, leaking corrosive gas. Its eyes burned with hate.
It saw Dante and lunged, faster than a freight train.
Dante didn't flinch.
"Weapon 1: Standard Explosive Ordinance."
He pulled the trigger.
WHOOSH.
The rocket streaked across the gap, leaving a trail of grey smoke. It impacted dead center on the Wyrm's chest.
BOOM.
The explosion was impressive. Fire and shrapnel enveloped the beast. The Wyrm roared in pain, skidding to a halt.
But when the smoke cleared... it was still standing.
A few scales were cracked. There was a scorch mark. But the creature shook its head, enraged rather than crippled.
[Damage Report: Minimal.][Target Armor Rating: Exceeds standard ballistics.]
Dante discarded the empty launcher tube into the snow. "Reload time is four seconds. Projectile velocity is too slow. Penetration is insufficient."
The Wyrm opened its mouth. A jet of green acid shot toward him.
Dante moved. His new Agility stat kicked in. He side-stepped the acid stream with a fluidity that felt unnatural, the corrosive liquid sizzling on the rocks where he had stood a second ago.
"Weapon 2," Dante said, his eyes glowing blue. "Energy weapon. Directed Plasma."
He raised his hands.
[Conceptual Fabrication: Active.][Blueprint: Experimental Fusion Rifle (Covenant Pattern).][Cost: 800 Gold.]
The air warped. A sleek, purple and silver weapon materialized in his grip. It hummed with a high-pitched whine, the core glowing with unstable plasma.
The Wyrm charged again, closing the distance. 30 meters. 20 meters.
Dante leveled the rifle.
He pulled the trigger.
ZIAOW.
A beam of superheated plasma, slashed through the air.
It melted through the Wyrm.
The beam struck the Wyrm's left shoulder. There was no explosion. Just the sound of instant cauterization. The thick, mana-hardened scales vanished. The muscle beneath evaporated.
The Wyrm screamed—a high, shrieking sound—as its left leg was severed cleanly from its body. It crashed into the snow, thrashing, blue blood boiling instantly from the heat.
[Damage Report: Critical.][Target Mobility: Compromised.]
Dante walked forward, the fusion rifle humming in his hands. He looked at the thrashing beast.
"The cooling cycle is too long. Sustained fire would melt the barrel."
He aimed at the creature's head.
"Time to try Weapon 3."