Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!

—Thirty Minutes Later—

"Hello, is anyone here?", I called out, standing in the lobby of the Guild Outpost, "I have an approval letter from the Guildmaster to enter the dungeon. If memory serves, I need a Guild Representative to remove the barrier. Is that accurate, or can I do it myself?"

Having pushed my ship to its limit to reach this island as quickly as possible, the last obstacle in my way now was the damn barrier. Having already caused Nicholas enough problems by having him approve my request, I wanted to avoid causing a stir by breaking the barrier unless I had to. Lucoa had once told me the barriers on dungeons like this were an early alarm system for the Adventurer's Guild. If I carelessly broke it, it would trigger all sorts of alarms back at the capital and potentially cause widespread chaos.

"Hello!!", I shouted, becoming increasingly impatient, "If you are busy, just say so!"

Giving the representative a few moments to respond, I gave up waiting on them and went into the storeroom. Expecting to find some lazy man or woman back there, my demeanor changed when I discovered a mutilated body and a ransacked storeroom. Seeing nothing but barren shelves around me, not even a bullet or crumb had been left behind. Turning to the bloated corpse, the word "Pirates" was written in blood beside it.

'I guess they do not check in on their staff that often.', I thought, saying a silent prayer for the poor soul, 'Still though, we are about an hour from the capital at normal speed. It is surprising to see pirates so close to our nation's capital. Tripping the barrier now might be a good thing.'

Seeing no reason to hang around now, I left a note on the counter for whoever they sent to investigate and headed toward the dungeon. Unlike the normal rock-face dungeons I was accustomed to seeing, the entrance to this particular dungeon was a large gash in the side of an ancient transport ship. Feeling an eerie aura radiating from the vessel, I was not the least bit surprised how they came up with the name.

"Dispel Barrier.", I chanted, removing the minor hindrance from my path.

As the barrier disappeared, an ominous wind blew out of the ship sending a shiver down my spine. Smelling the pungent aroma of death, I activated the air filter system in my helmet to alleviate my urge to puke. Pulling my lightsaber off my hip and turning it on, I took a deep breath and cautiously entered the dungeon. Slipping through the thin veil that separated the dungeon from the outside world, a contingent of Death Knights greeted me with rusty swords and armor.

"Well, this is a great way to start off the dive…", I complained, raising my hand toward them, "Divine Smite!!"

Vaporizing them in an instant, all that remained of them was piles of ashes on the floor. Letting out a sigh, I was relieved that my magic was able to defeat them instantly. That said, I understood now why this place had so much infamy around it. Wondering what other foes awaited me in the depths of this hellhole, I refused to turn back after that little run-in.

"Computer, engage Trap Detection Protocol.", I ordered.

Using the wide array of sensors affixed to my armor, I wrote a program that would automatically detect traps for me and mark them on my HUD. Having tested the program extensively since I found the suit, aside from the first few tests, it had not failed me. Giving the suit a moment to bring everything online, a dozen spots along the floor and walls turned red. Confirming there were no traps around the piles of ash, I dug through them and retrieved the Magic Cores the monsters dropped.

"I assume these cores are valuable, given how dangerous Death Knights are, but are they worth taking the time to collect all of them?", I muttered, "Damn it, when this is all over I am going to make a digital copy of the guild's pricing book so I know what to keep and what to walk away from. For this dive, I will take everything I can get my hands on as every dia counts here. Time for my inner Loot Goblin to come out because I need money!"

Stowing the cores in my Item Box, I turned my attention back to the path ahead of me. Certain that I was in for the ride of my life, I pressed forward ready to face whatever this place had to throw at me.

—Two Days Later, Floor Fifty—

Reaching the Mid-Boss Room on my second day here, I passed out for a few hours from exhaustion. Having been in almost nonstop combat since entering this place, up till now, I had not found a Safe Zone to hunker down and recharge myself. Forced to continue fighting with no food and little water, if I had not reached this Safe Zone when I did, I would have joined the First King's Party in the afterlife.

"Note to self, I need some sort of device to keep monsters away from me when I need a break.", I said, writing it down in my journal while munching on a sandwich, "Monster Repellent does not work on high-ranking monsters, and Barrier Magic does not prevent monsters from spawning inside when in a dungeon. I am sure I could make a spell that could do it, but it is simpler to have a piece of equipment do it. If by some misfortune I am knocked out, Lucoa and Roxanne need to be able to deploy it themselves."

While I was having a meal and drinking some water, my Power Armor was performing a system diagnostic test to verify everything was in working order. Having pushed the suit harder than I probably should have, everything needed to be working before I entered the next room. During the boss fight, any minor issue with the suit could have a cascading effect that ultimately results in my death.

"Thank you.", I replied, scarfing down the rest of my sandwich, "Guess I will clean my laser pistol and rifle, suit up, then head in to get this over with."

Having used my firearms to beat enemies to death on multiple occasions, both my armor and guns were caked in putrid blood and guts. Having no issue with the armor being dirty, the guns had to be cleaned as they had begun to misfire a few floors back. With blood and guts jammed into the internals of the weapons, I had to use Purification Magic to clean them out. Once they were working normally again, I staggered to my feet and slipped into the power armor.

"Computer, what is the current charge on the fusion core?", I inquired.

'Alright, I still have plenty of power to get me through this dungeon.', I thought, locking the release hatch, "Time to press forward and face the Mid-Boss."

Pushing the door open, with a good amount of effort, a large amount of water began rushing into the Safe Room. Unsure what was going on, I began to panic a bit as this suit was not designed with aquatic combat in mind. Staying where I stood, waiting to see if I would have to fight without my armor, eventually the water stopped flowing once it reached my knees. Happy that I would still be able to use my armor, the issue now was that my mobility had been cut in half. Even with the boost this armor gave me, trudging around in knee-deep water was not going to be easy.

Doing a once over on the grappling hook I had installed on my suit's right arm, I made sure everything was greased up and on standby. In the event I need to quickly get out of the way, the grappling hook would be my only way of doing so without ejecting from the power armor. Satisfied that it was as good as I could make it, I slowly made my way into the gigantic arena that was easily the size of ten football fields. Watching the summoning circle begin to form as the door closed behind me, I pulled my blue lightsaber off my hip and turned it on.

'Alright, show me what you got!', I thought, as the ground beneath my feet began to shake violently.

Shooting out of the magic circle at breakneck speeds, a sixty-foot Leviathan appeared before me covering a good portion of the room with its body. Immediately locking its eyes on me, the serpent took to the air and began darting around the room.

(AN: The photo will be posted in my Discord Group)

"Son of a bitch, that is not right!!", I shouted, upset that it was able to fly, "Since when does Leviathan fly?! You are supposed to be an aquatic monster, not an aerial one!!"

Ignoring my comment, the serpent raced toward me with its mouth opened wide. Realizing it was trying to swallow me whole, I flung my lightsaber at the creature and rapidly began to spin it in midair. Thinking that my weapon was not going to hurt it, the monster did not change course till the lightsaber cut cleanly through the right side of its jaw. Bellowing loudly as it swerved off course, its head slammed into the wall twenty yards to my right. Writhing around in pain, I was forced to dive out of the way as part of its body slammed into the wall behind me with a great deal of force.

"That is right you cheeky bastard, I am not going down easily!!", I mocked it, pulling my lightsaber back to my right hand, "Now suck on this you overgrown lizard!"

Pulling a Plasma Grenade out of my Item Box, I removed the safety pin and lobbed it at the creature. Much more wary of my movements now, the Leviathan attempted to avoid the grenade but it ended up getting wedged in between some of its scales. Detonating a few moments later, the plasma ate through its armored scales and flesh severing the last twenty feet of the beast's body. Letting out an ear-piercing roar in response to this, the noise was so loud that it blew speakers out in my helmet and cracked the glass my HUD projected onto.

While the beast flew off to the opposite side of the room to assess the damage, I glanced over at the still wriggling piece it left behind. Feeling a bit sad that I could not bring it back with me, an idea suddenly popped into my head. Pulling it over to me, using the Force, once it was within range I attempted to stow it away in my Item Box. Watching the part disappear and reappear in my Item Box, a smile crept onto my face.

'It worked…that means I can stow monsters I kill in dungeons away and summon their corpses outside. This is going to make me a very wealthy individual!', I thought, looking back at the Leviathan with an evil smile, 'As a legendary monster, your body is going to fetch me a very pretty penny. Not only that, mounting your head in my future airship workshop is going to be so fucking cool!!'

Pissed off and unwilling to get close to me now, the creature collected a large amount of purple liquid in its mouth and spat it at me. Sensing that I should not touch that liquid, I used the grappling hook to yank me out of the splash zone which turned out to be the right move. As soon as it collided with the wall, the purple liquid began eating through the stone at an alarming rate.

"So not only do you fly, but you also spit acid. What kind of fucking Leviathan are you!?", I spat, wondering what other abilities it was hiding.

Stowing my lightsaber, as it was way too far out of range, I pulled my laser rifle out and began blasting it. Unable to dodge my barrage of laser fire, the monster mixed it up a bit and turned to more primitive tactics. Throwing its body against the ceiling with its full strength, it managed to start shaking loose large chunks of stone off the ceiling. Initially wanting to push the boulders away with the Force, I realized that I had a better option than that. Catching several larger boulders in mid-air, I flung them at the creature while it continued throwing itself into the ceiling.

Too focused on what it was doing to notice the boulders flying at it, the creature ended up taking my attack head-on. Listening to thousands of its armored scales shattering under the blows, the behemoth came crashing down to the floor and ended up pinned to the ground under more rubble it had broken loose. Wriggling around trying to get free, I pulled out another Plasma Grenade and prepared to throw it. Recognizing what I was about to do, it stopped trying to break free and switched to attacking me with magic.

Activating a large-scale ice spell, the water in the room began to rapidly freeze leaving me nowhere to run. Attempting to use my grapple hook to get off the ground, this time my anchor point did not hold and ended up breaking loose before I could get off the ground. Before I could reload and try again, the ice began encasing my legs forcing me to eject from my suit. Just as my legs slipped out of the suit, a loud crunching noise rang out as the armor-plating buckled and caved in. Putting it back in my Item Box, as it was now useless to me, I glared at the serpent who appeared seemingly pleased with itself.

"Listen lizard, you are even more trapped now so I would not be laughing if I were you.", I reminded it, as it had inadvertently frozen most of its body to the floor now, "Batter up!!"

Using my Laser Rifle like a baseball bat, I hit the grenade as hard as I could and sent it flying at the beast. Thrashing around as it tried to break free, the grenade ended up underneath it just before detonating. When the grenade went off, the plasma again managed to cut roughly in half. This time though, blood began pouring out of its body by the gallon. Discovering that I had heavily damaged a vital organ, I used the Force to seize its top half and pulled it toward me.

Squeezing it as tightly as I could, blood began to spray out of its body by the bucket. Feeling it grow weaker and weaker as it lost more and more blood, eventually, the creature went limp and died. Dashing over to the corpse and stowing it away before it despawned, the ice beneath my feet suddenly vanished leaving dry ground behind. In the center of the room, a large metal crate appeared which differed from the normal loot chests I was used to.

Walking up to the crate, the words "Property of Stark Industries" were printed in bold, black letters across the top. Feeling my heart begin to race with excitement, as this was my first true piece of high-tech equipment, I pressed the unlock button on the crate causing the massive doors to slide open for me. Inside the crate was a single metal briefcase and an array of armament for a suit of Iron Man armor.

"Oh fuck yes!!", I shouted, quickly pulling the briefcase out, "Please be Extremis or Bleeding Edge, either would really help me out here!!"

Finding nothing printed on the first side, I turned the case around and found the text I was looking for.

"Model 42 Test Bench…", I read aloud, a bit disappointed that it was not combat armor, "Beggars cannot be choosers I guess."

Popping the briefcase open, I discovered that half of the briefcase was filled with black, liquid metal while the other half contained a skin-tight bodysuit. Assuming that I had to wear the bodysuit before the liquid metal would do anything, I slipped into the suit and let it adjust to my body. Feeling a bit weird, as the bodysuit moved around on my bare skin, once it was done, the liquefied metal burst out of its container and clung to my body. Forming the Iron Man Armor around me in less than a minute, a familiar voice spoke to me through the helmet's speakers.

"Jarvis, it is nice to hear a familiar voice in this hellhole.", I remarked, feeling a bit relieved having someone to talk to, "Before we get rolling, are you willing to work with me? I am not your original creator so I am just making sure."

"My name is Leon Fou Bartfort.", I told him, "Now when you say my biological profile is within acceptable parameters, do you mean I have Old Human DNA?"

Relieved to hear that, as Luxion might not attempt to kill me when I went to collect him, I turned my attention back to the weapon's crate.

"Are you able to connect all of this equipment to the armor?", I inquired.

Watching several tendrils of liquid metal reach out and retrieve the equipment. Jarvis took care of positioning everything and hooking everything up for me. Observing what he was doing, in case I needed to do the same in the future, he wrapped up the installation process in just a few minutes.

"Perfect, thank you Jarvis.", I said, before pulling my T-45 Power Armor out, "One last thing, can you please import my Trap Detection program from this unit? We are currently located in a dungeon, and I want to avoid triggering hidden dangers."

Plugging a tendril into the base of the helmet, Jarvis began to download my program while I looked through the list of weapons I had onboard. In addition to the standard repulsors and unibeam, the additional armaments Jarvis installed gave me Wrist-mounted Missile Launchers, UV Lasers, and Repulsor mini-guns.

'Add in the augmented back-thrusters and hacking units, and I am in great shape for future conflicts involving technology.', I thought, feeling a bit better about the armor's usefulness.

Instantly bringing up the overlay, I was pleased to see that he had no issues processing it. Stowing both the crate and power armor in my Item Box, I looked toward the doorway that led to Floor Fifty-One.

"Okay Jarvis, let me get you up on my current predicament.", I said, walking toward the exit, "The reason I ended up here is because of my bitch stepmother…"