Another location we decided to explore further was the Foothold, the dungeon beneath Cheyenne Mountain. Once again, we were moving as a group of five, first to see if the dungeon was replenished between subsequent explorations, and if it was, we had a bit of hope of getting additional materials from it. The big thing, at least to Lia and Alex, were the various metals they had found inside, all of which they had used in their Alchemy to refine some interesting alloys. At least, that was what they told me. They hadn't given me any of their products, mostly because they had been focused on setting up their laboratory and making better equipment. By now, they were starting to create poultices, potions and poisons alongside the usual grenades and explosives. They had shared some of that stuff with us, and I had to give it to them. When it came to bottling mayhem, they were far beyond anything I could do.

However, regardless of the reasons, our return to the Foothold was met with mixed results, very mixed results. It turned out that the dungeon could apparently only be attempted every two months, maybe every month, we didn't have all that accurate information on that, but it changed. After our initial foray into it, when we were met with the strange snake guts and their alien technology, we expected something similar on our second run, only to be met with something completely different. Up top, we were met with a completely bald child, simply telling us that we should turn back but not engaging us in any other way, so we let the kid be given that there seemed to be no danger and the boy was a measly level ten, nothing to be concerned about. Additionally, given that we had met those soldiers before but failed to rescue them, I was a little curious about how human this boy was beneath the surface and was planning to investigate deeper into it once we were done here.

So, we ventured deeper into the facility, this time without any initial resistance, until we were attacked from ambush, one we hadn't seen coming. Now, instead of being met with humanoid soldiers, we were met with fairly large insects that might come straight out of some sci-fi novel or film, some off-brand Zerg or maybe a close relative of the Aliens from the movie carrying their name. Some six feet tall, stocky, with sharp, scythe-like claws and, maybe most important and annoyingly, the ability to turn invisible and move through walls. Because, if there was one thing any respectable alien ambush predator must be able to do, it was get at people even if they were careful.

On the bright side, while their ability to ambush and strike from the shadows was incredibly dangerous, it was their only truly dangerous ability. Sure, it allowed them to avoid physical attacks with ease, unless the attack was made with an enchanted weapon, making them similar to the Shadow Hounds we had faced before, but that was all there was to them. As it turned out, being able to turn incorporeal didn't do a whole lot when faced with an opponent who was able to perceive their Minds and Souls, allowing me to wreak havoc on them even if they were able to protect their bodies.

And wreak havoc, I did. With ease and slightly malicious glee, I continued to turn their minds to mush, slaying them by the dozen as their individual minds were incredibly weak. Most likely, from the way they collectively reared back when I singled one of them out to destroy, their minds were all connected in a hive-mind, giving them collectively somewhat impressive abilities but those didn't help when I went after a singular one, they couldn't stop me.

Thus, one Re'etu, as the system told us they were called, after the other fell, slowly but surely donating their lives to the Morgana-Family EXP-Fund and when we arrived at the bottom of the facility, where we were met once again with a special kind of enemy standing in front of a glowing portal, I managed to massacre my way up to level hundred-nine with just a little bit to go until I reached the big one-ten.

That little bit came courtesy of the big alien, and compared to the rest of the facility, that one was a doozy. Physically, it wasn't all that different from the other aliens we had encountered on the way down, but mentally, the difference was night and day. The other aliens were candles, while their boss was a wildfire.

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With the previously used way to deal with them, namely brutal mental assault, largely neutered as the alien was strong enough to withstand repeated blows while showing only minor signs of inconvenience, things devolved into a frenzied melee, where claws, blades and scythe-arms clashed. I tried to use other forms of magic, especially my Death Magic was something I put some hope in, but I quickly realised that supporting my allies, especially Lia and Silva with Blood Magic so they were faster and stronger was the better option. Otherwise, the alien might have been able to overcome and kill them before I managed to burn through its prodigious vitality with my Death Magic.

Luckily, their phasing effect turned out to be an all-or-nothing effect, meaning they either phased everything or nothing, allowing us to work together so we could get swift counters in while the thing tried to kill one of us. It was brutal, painful and utterly exhausting but by the end of our battle, the thing was lying dead and we were alive. Wounded but alive. And I reached level hundred-ten off it. So, maybe it wasn't all that bad.

Once we had completed a quick check of the remaining area to the best of our ability, which didn't say much given that we were dealing with alien bugs capable of phasing through solid matter and turning invisible, we dealt with the various wounds we had and generally relaxed a little. The fight had been incredibly stressful, partially because we had dealt with the other insects using Mind Magic. This meant we all had little exposure to their tactics and physical capabilities, leading to a few far-too-close calls.

Luckily, things had worked out and now it was time for me to check my notifications, especially those regarding the level-up.

With level hundred-ten came the usual attribute points and with them came new traits for reaching attribute milestones, namely, one hundred-fifteen points in Intelligence, seventy-five points in Intuition and, once I put the two free attribute points I gained every five levels into Intuition, I reached eighty Intuition, giving me yet another trait.

The Intelligence trait was a little boring. It was just another iteration of the Astral Potency trait, adding yet another multiplier to the strength of my magic. At that thought, I had to grin to myself, realising that I had become a little spoiled. Once upon a time, I would have seen the trait as an incredible gift, allowing me to push everything I could do with my magic up another notch. Now, I could only shrug at it, somewhat inured by the things I had accomplished.

Similarly, the trait I gained for eighty Intuition was a little boring, too. Mundane Perception did exactly what it said on the tin, improving my natural senses, though given that I was a Firn Elf, that should also improve my dark vision. It's not too bad and most certainly useful, but sadly, nothing truly interesting.

The trait gained for seventy-five Intuition, on the other hand, was a fascinating one. What Filtered Perception lacked in its somewhat boring name, it made up for in the sheer utility it provided, allowing me to filter out strong sensations so I could focus on the rest. So, even while standing next to a jet engine, I should be able to filter out its noise and be able to hear the ticking of a nearby clock or something along those lines. When staring at some powerful source of magic, I would now be able to ignore the powerful source and find out if there was another one nearby.

Additionally, if I wasn't mistaken, that wasn't all the trait should be able to do. After all, pain was just another sensation, so if I read the trait correctly, I should be able to filter out my pain and possibly improve another sense at the same time, though that would need some testing I wasn't looking forward to.

While I was looking at my traits, the others checked the bodies we had created, only to come away with stuff only Alex and Lia would want to use in their Alchemy: insect eyes, some strange glands and things like that, nothing I wanted to actively touch.

Regardless of the lack of loot from our enemies, we explored the rest of the dungeon, hoping for some fancy metals as we had found on our first trip, only to come up disappointed. Maybe those had been a first-time bonus or something like that. Either way, we only found a few golden coins of indeterminate origin, which was nothing we could actively make use of. Still, it had been worth our time, if only for the large amount of EXP we gained.

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