“Friends, glad am I that I met thee. We have ended this evil fiend and save the land from its machination. Thank you for your service to the Court of Daford. Let us see if anything else is within in the mausoleum.” Yes, let’s go get the loot thought Pepe, they walked behind the Knight into the mausoleum. He was looking much better after some healing love from Bobby, though his armor still had the dents in it and would need a smith to get it back to its former glory.

The inside looked like it had belonged to someone with means, various marble statues were around the room. It was also very dusty, large footprints and lines from where the monster dragged itself out could be seen on the floor. The casket itself was carved out of marble; the top now on the floor cracked in half. Lucky for them no more zombies were walking around. He looked around but saw no loot chest, where were they? He looked behind the casket then went forward and looked inside, there they were, “Found them.”

He did not really want to reach in and get them out, they were larger and probably heavy, Sir Urthor solved the dilemma as he reached in and brought one then the other out placing both on the floor. He did not open them just looked around more making sure there were no hidden doors or anything.

They allowed him to do his thing while they took care of opening the first chest. As usual Josh took charge of that, he opened it and took out its contents. Pepe saw that it was an armor chest piece, it looked heavy and clearly was made for his cousin. It was a dull grey and it looked like it was made of overlapping scales.

Loot Information

Name: [Chestpiece of the Armadillo]

Stats: +2 STA, +10% Defense

Role: Tank

Lv: 5

Awesome, Manuel is really going to like that one. He was happy for his cousin; this thing would greatly increase his Tankiness. The Stamina boost meant higher health points, and the defiance bonus was crazy, at least he thought so, how was Def even calculated for Tanks? Well, it was good either way, he would not be able to use something like that regardless, unless there was a way to change classes. But he really liked Thief and he was looking forward to learning more about it. He felt he was sorely lacking in skills, the ones he currently had were alright, but he needed to be able to do more damage, especially against the darn zombies.

It was time to open the second chest, before that though there was no two ways about it, Josh handed the armor over to their Tank, “Gracias amigo, I am going to go put this one right now.” He went off to the side taking off his old chest piece which was still from the starter set that had no bonuses. The stamina and plus Defense were a great upgrade for his cousin and he saw that he was eager to try it on.

Josh moved over to the other chest and opened it, he took out its content, Pepe saw that it was a cream-colored cloth, very light from the looks of things. Josh unrolled it, it was a gown or Pepe guess in this case a robe, in other words caster gear.

Loot Information

Name: [Robe of the Order of Ineris]

Stats: +2 INT, +10% Mana Regeneration

Role: Caster

Lv: 5

Yup all the way caster gear, this would be good for either Josh or Bobby they would both benefit from it. That is as far as he went with evaluating the piece, it was not Thief gear, so he did not need to think more about it. He would be happy for whoever got the gear as it would make them a better party. He was ready to move on to the next floor.

“All looks in order friends, shall we leave this place behind?” Yes, let’s leave the place behind, it gave him the creeps as it was, he did not like being inside the mausoleum at all. Had he mentioned how much he disliked the undead?

They followed Sir Urthor, as they exited the crypt they looked up, it had stopped raining, good he hated being wet. Through a break in the clouds a ray of sunlight could be seen, it looked as if the rain would finally stop for a while. They made their ways to the exit of the place, not wanting to explore the creepy looking mansion in the background. The knight’s horse was still tied up awaiting its master’s return, well at least the zombies only liked humanoid people and not horses.

They followed him out the gate, he looked at them, “Again I offer thee my thanks and that of the Courts. As for the reward, it shall be sent to thee, as I still need to make a report of the situation. May I ask who we should send it to?” Maybe naming themselves Wolfpack was a little silly thought Pepe but that is what they called themselves as a party.

Josh looked up at the Knight, he looked a bit embarrassed, “We are Wolfpack.”

“Pack of the Wolf interesting company name, but I have heard worse. Friends I fare thee well. Until we meet again, I shall praise your bravery. Goodbye.” The sun was out, only a few of the dark clouds still trying to hold out, it would be dark soon as the sun was beginning to set. Pepe looked at the knight as he rode away, the sun setting, the knight raising his arm in one final farewell. Would they meet the knight again, he had been an interesting NPP, maybe the nodes would use him again in another story?

When the knight was out of sight the outline of a rectangle appeared, then a beat-up wooden door came to be with its rope handle and the rusted knocker. It was time for them to head back to the locker room, Josh opened the door, the fluorescent lights shining out. Pepe was happy to leave the floor, no more zombies, no more rain, again a Beach Resort would be great, but he doubts the nodes would comply with that wish.

They stepped through one by one, Pepe looked back where they had come from just one last look, there was a man standing in the middle of the road. The man looked like it was in some form of servant livery, he was semitransparent and bowed, a wind blew and like smoke it was gone. What the heck was that? He shook his head, probably imagining things, letting his imagination of the creepy place get to him. He stepped through and once he was through, he turned, and the door was just gone. He shivered was it a ghost?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lockers were the same and their gear was still stored away, there was an addition a green hat with his name on it. Pepe was still miserably wet; he grabbed his gear and the hat to change he was not going to stay in these wet clothes. Lucky for them the changing rooms were back once more, good job nodes. He stepped in drew the cloth curtain close so he could have some privacy. Upon closing it a warm wind came, it was like a giant air dryer, in mere minutes he was dry once again. But he was still going to change, he was tired of the coveralls and the green shirt.

He had put on his old starter gear but decided to keep the gloves, boots and added the hat. He checked the GUI to see if he had lost the skills the uniform gave, but they were still present, he guessed having the three pieces there provided the same benefits. It was a good thing the hat was there, his hair after the giant dryers was all over the place.

He stepped out of the change room, his friends were grabbing their things and were heading into the little change area. They saw that he was dry, “Wait how you get all dry?” they were still soaked from their little foray into Floor 2. He told them about the giant dryer affect from the change room, they quickly went in. Hear them say oh that’s nice, and it had been.

Michelle not one to doddle had already gone in as well, he was out there by himself. He thought back at the weird ghost he had seen, why was it there? Was it thanking them for what they had done? Sneaky nodes leaving him with a cliff hanger. One after the other if his friends came out, they had the same idea and had done as he, the coveralls and the green shirt were gone, and they were back in their starter gear. Like him they had kept the gloves, the boots and sporting their new cap.

“Josh, should we doll out the gear now?” Manuel was sporting his new Armadillo chest piece but the Tiger and Ineris gear needed to be handed out.

“Sure. But how do we do this?” Yes, how did they do it? They needed a way to fairly give out the gear. “Maria how would we do it fairly?” She was a Knowledge Node after all.

“User Josh, we have a roll system that can be used to do it fairly. Would you like to roll for the first item” Well, it may not have been the best way to do it, but it was better than what they could come up with.

“Yes please, the [Chestpiece of the Cunning Tiger (M)] first.” He hoped he would win it but was not sure if he would.

“Will roll with a 100.” Pepe had heard about this, he had not been into them tabletop games, instead they had played on their computers or on their game systems. And this was something that they had seen on the games when they were in a group.

Rolling the Dice……

Roll Results: 24

Dang a 24 likely he would lose, but it was alright, let’s see what the RNGesus had for Erin.

Erin just nodded and the roll for him began.

Rolling….

Roll Results: 93

Ah well I guess Erin gets this one, with his low roll he figured he would lose, and he had been right. Josh handed the Chest piece over to Erin.

“Ready to roll for the Leg Guards?” He did not want to lose out to the Leg Guards the +1% to daggers was really good for him as he primarily used daggers.

“No need, I don’t think I will be using daggers, so kind of a waste. Congratulations Pepe.” Erin smiled at him, thanks bud. He smiled back at his friend; he was glad that Erin was not going to be training in daggers.

Next the roll was between Bobby and Josh, who would get the Robe? Bobby went first.

Rolling….

Roll Results: 81

An 81, that was a really good roll, would Joshes roll be higher?

Rolling….

Roll Results: 66

“Dang it, oh well looks like you got it Bobby. Congratulations!” He handed the robe to Bobby.

Now that the loot was handed out the winners had gone off to change into their new gear. Pepe put on his new leg piece, it was nice and soft in the inside, outside they were rougher and looked like they could take a beating. He did not really feel much different with them on, charisma increase did not really seem to do anything. He as naturally charismatic, at least that is how he felt about himself even before coming here. And as far as the dagger damage output he would not be able to see that until they fought something.

He came out sporting his new Leg Guard feeling all stylish, the new pants looked much nicer than the Starter set. The only thing is that he was mismatched, he would need to get a chest piece to match the leg piece. Not that he was at all coordinated in his wardrove back home, he normally just threw on whatever he had not worn too much and looked less wrinkled. His fashion sense which he doubted he had was not really that concerning to him back home. A little embarrassing but most of the time he had just allowed his mom to pick some clothes for him

Erin looked good in the chest piece while it would have been great if he would have won the roll, he was not selfish and was glad his friend had won. He looked over at Bobby, his new off-white robe, had a silver stripe down one side, the same at the hem and at the cuffs. There also seemed to be strange symbols at the cuffs and the hem above the line.

All the gear fit them perfectly, the rules being broken once again, it seemed that the world just knew what it needed to give out. The new pants were just right, not too long, or short, wide enough, not baggy overall they felt like a second skin. Whoever the crafter was he was great at his job.

While they were at getting dry and changing a new door came to be, above it a sign that read ‘Dungeon Store,’ where did the doors come from? No point in asking the questions though, Pepe was sure it was some other rule breaking thing of this world. The new door in question was what you would expect in a modern-day super store at a mall, it was glass and an aluminum frame. The glass a tinted black color he could not see in at all. Guess it was shopping time, “Guys, another door.” They had been sitting down, Michelle was still in the changing room and Pepe just happened to turn and saw the door. A door that had not been there before or they would have seen it as they walked back out of the changing room.

They had gathered by the door and were waiting for Michelle; she came out her hair in perfect order under the hat with her name on it. How did she do that? Pepe’s hair was a mess under the hat, and he looked at his friends the hair he could see was a mess as well. No time to try and figure out how she did that right now, they had a store to explore.

“What is that?” She looked up and read the sign, “Shopping time!” She pushed them out of the way and went into the store, the boys right behind her, Erin was closest to the door, so he went in after, followed by the rest.

Pepe looked around the store, the place was small, not as large as the one in Starter Town, there were a few items on display. There was a counter and behind the counter our two buddies the Dungeon Nodes, this time the hats were different, one of them wearing a cowboy hat, with a leather band around it and a little plaque with the number 1337. The other node had a blue beanie on with you guessed it a number 1 on it. What was up with these nodes and their hats, Pepe was partial to the beanie, but he would not be caught dead in a cowboy hat, even though he had grown up in Texas he was not into the cowboy look.

“Welcome to the Dungeon Shop. While we have many things for sale you only have access to a small amount at this point. As you advance and collect more [Dungeon Tokens] you will have access to a greater number of items.” Wait what were they talking about, Dungeon Tokens? And what was it about the limited items, why? This world and their rules again, it made no sense, not that he had any idea about any of it.

“Maria que es Dungeon Tokens?” They had their own version of Goggle even though it seemed to be limited.

Translating…. Analyzing Request….

[Dungeon Tokens]: tokens that can be earned in dungeons, serve as monetary tender that can be used throughout Dungeon Shops that may appear during Dungeon runs. Low percentage of Dungeon Shops appearing, approximately 3.14159% chance.

[Dungeon Tokens] currently acquired: 12

He had twelve of them, he had not really paid attention to all the notification as they had done the dungeon, what could he buy with what he had? And wow only very low chance that they would get access to the shops, that sucked.

“Maria, can you show me what is available in the shop currently?” He had been concentrating on himself and had not paid much attention to his friends, each one looked like they were looking at the same thing though.

Requesting Current Inventory…. Request Granted

Would you like to see all items or only those that are available to your role and level?

Did he need to look at the rest? Nah not really, he was only interested in the items he could use.

Name

Description

DTs

Minor Health Potion

A potion created by Alchemist that give back a small amount of Health. Recover 50 HP.

1

Minor Mana/AP Potion

A potion created by Alchemist that give back a small amount of Mana/AP. Recover 50 Mana/AP

1

[Ring of the Eye of the Tiger]

A simple ring with a Tigers Eye gemstone as the center piece. Comes with an accompanying musical piece to encourage the user. Lv 4; +1 AGI

4

[Amulet of Shadows]

Amulet with a dark stone as its center. Harder for humanoids to see you when hidden. Lv5; +Hide Skill

6

[Ring of Love]

A simple ring with a Rose Quarts as the center piece. It is said that the Rose Quarts encourages love. Lv 3; +4 CHA

12

The list was mostly potions and jewelry, he had some potions, they tended to be a little expensive, but he had two of each of them, so he was fine with those. The first ring was something good for him, his agility was one of his main stats and it would help him become a better thief. The Amulet was good too, you never knew when just hiding or sneaking through a place was useful.

What was up with the [Ring of Love] though, four extra charismas were good, but the ring was expensive. It would not give him many benefits, well it would but still, it would be better for someone like Josh who would do the talking. It was not like he could afford all of them; the charisma ring alone would take up all the tokens. He would go with the AGI ring and the amulet and save the other points for later. Besides according to the nodes, they would open more items as time went on and they earned more tokens.

He brought up the rest of the items in the shop just so that he could see what the others might buy.

Name

Description

DTs

[Ring of the Illuminator]

A simple ring with a Rutilated Quartz gemstone as the center piece. Lv 4; +1 STR

4

[Amulet of the Illuminator]

Amulet with a Rutilated Quartz gemstone as its center. Lv5; +Defense Skill

6

[Ring of Protection]

A simple ring with a Shungite Stone as the center piece. Lv 4; +5% Decrease Incoming Damage

9

[Energizer Ring]

A simple ring with a Garnet gemstone as the center piece. This ring is said to keep going and going. Lv 4; +Damage Spell increase

4

[Amulet of the Magician]

Amulet with a Labradorite stone as its center. It both brings good sleep and packs a punch. Lv5; +Fire Damage Spells

6

[Ring of the Light Maker]

A simple ring with a Citrine Stone as the center piece. Lv 3; Radius Increase to Illumination Spells

5

[Ring of Regeneration]

A simple ring with a Serpentine gemstone as the center piece. Lv 4; +1 INT, Regen increase 5s

4

[Amulet of the Rainbow]

Amulet with a Rainbow Obsidian crystal as its center. The stone is considered a healing stone. Lv5; +Healing Skill

6

[Ring of the Master Healer]

A simple ring with a Turquoise Stone as the center piece. Lv 3; +1 CHA

12

[Arrow Amulet]

Amulet with a dark stone as its center. An amulet meant for rangers. Lv5; +Damage with Projectiles

6

[Ring of the Tranquilizer]

A simple ring with an Aquamarine as the center piece. Calms beast making them more docile. Lv 3; +3 CHA when dealing with beast.

12

[Ring of the Intuitive Eye]

A simple ring with an Amethyst as the center piece. It is said that the Ring allows you to see what is hidden. Lv 3; Increase in Awareness

12

There were a lot of good options for his friends, some he thought it might even work for him, like [Ring of the Intuitive Eye] that one seemed like it was a good option. But just like the [Ring of Love] the cost was too high, again maybe it would be something he could buy later.

He went to the nodes and purchased the AGI ring and the Amulet he had been looking at. Maybe in the future he could buy ten rings, ten additional agility would be crazy. He put on the ring and the pendent both items were cool looking, the pendant a simple silver chain with the larger yellowish and brown stone hanging from it. The ring itself was made of a simple silver band, with the same type of stone except it looked like an eye was looking at you.

He brought up his GUI, but was not sure how to bring up the equipment, he had not really needed to do so before, “Maria how do I bring up the Equipment GUI?”

“User Pepe it is very simple once GUI is up, many pages can be looked at, you just have to do a swipe motion with your fingers.” He recalled this futuristic movie where they did that oh and of course the superhero movies they did it all the time.

“Thank you!” He brought up the GUI and swiped left and just as she had indicated a new page was shown to him. It showed his current equipped items, and there it was, he could only wear a ring on each hand, any other rings would do nothing for him. Ah well he would just have to see what the best item was he could get his hands on.

He swiped again to the left and another page came up, it had more information on his level and what all his stats were, as well as the modifier for the equipment that he was now wearing.

Name

Role

LV

STA

STR

AGI

INT

CHAR

HP

MP

AP

XP

Next Lv

Pepe

Thief

5

11

10

19(2)

9

16

33

0

38

990

1012

He was so close to LV6 he could feel it, his agility was at a decent place, but he was lacking on the stamina and strength side he would need to invest in them in the next few levels. The health points area could mean a critical hit would easily lay him out. His agility helped in the dodge category, so it would help him avoid critical hits, he hoped. He was not planning on getting hit anyways but plans did not always work out as expected.

He was ready to go, now to wait for his friends, but some of them were not done, he went over to look at the items the nodes had on display even though he could not buy it. One could always window shop and try and figure out what one should save up for. Nest stop Floor number 3 and the final floor for the dungeon, it was taking longer than expected but the gains were good so why would he complain?