After they got out of the dungeon, Chris sent Allison, Elizabeth, and the soldiers back to the base and started to open a portal to Nobilis, before pausing and turning to Greg. "This isn't one of those times we're supposed to walk, is it?"

Greg cocked his head. "I'm going to go with no… mostly because I don't want to."

"Oh, really?" Thomas turned to raise an eyebrow at him. "You don't think we're obligated to walk, simply to allow something to happen? We might miss something!" He drawled sarcastically.

"What are you guys talking about?" Kara frowned.

"Whether we should portal back to Nobilis or not." Chris explained.

"Why would you not portal back if you could?" Val asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

"Because something might happen on the trip if we don't." Andrew sighed. "If we portal, we're just there, and nothing will happen."

"I would like to vote for things not happening." Marcus grumbled. "Home sounds good right now." The last week had been one of the most surreal experiences he'd ever had, and all he wanted was a good dose of familiar reality, away from these strange, chaotic people who had turned a simple dungeon run into… he didn't even know what! He knew it wasn't good though. Particularly what they'd done to the boss… Marcus suppressed a shudder.

"What sort of thing do you think might happen?" Val asked curiously.

Andrew shrugged. "Who knows? Could be an attack by some sort of terrifying creature, could be that we come across a town that's under attack, could be we stumbled upon a secret base full of cultists, or any number of crazy scenarios."

"The last time we walked, we found a mostly abandoned base where the military had been developing nukes." Chris added, nodding along to Andrew's explanation.

"Actually, the last time we walked, we spent four days wandering around a Ruin doing a whole lot of nothing." Thomas corrected.

Chris rolled his eyes at him. "Now who's being pedantic."

"What are nukes?" Kara asked curiously.

"Really dangerous bombs." Andrew explained. "Like, world-endingly dangerous, if you use enough of them."

"Isn't anything world-endingly dangerous if you use enough of it?" Greg cocked his head. "Cover the world in cheese and I'm pretty sure people are going to suffer. Wouldn't be able to grow crops, it'd all start molding, rotting around everyone…"

"Fair, but I wouldn't even know where to start getting enough cheese to cover the world, while getting enough nukes to cause significant, long-term damage to the planet is relatively easy." Andrew countered.

Greg blinked at him. "Shit, now I want to bury the world in cheese." He could totally do it. It might take him a while, but it could happen. "You guys ever think our lives would get a whole lot easier if we just said fuck it and turned evil?" Destroying everything would be so much easier than trying to fix it all.

"Greg, no." Andrew groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I don't have the motivation to be evil." Chris shrugged.

"I cause enough problems trying to be good." Thomas snorted.

"So think of how much easier it'd be to just go with it and be evil." Greg chuckled, throwing an arm over Thomas's shoulder, before coughing awkwardly as he noticed several horrified looks from the adventurers. "Ah, not that I think we should be evil… it'd just make things easier if we were."

"That incredibly disconcerting thought aside, I think it'd be best if we just took a portal back to Nobilis." Frank shook his head. "I would rather just get back home than potentially get drawn into some other mess. No need to go looking for trouble unnecessarily."

"Fair enough." Chris nodded, opening a portal to Nobilis.

They all headed through and Frank led them back to the club Chris had first met him at. Kara immediately went to the bar and grabbed a few bottles of booze, waving to the bartender before they all headed up to a private room on the second floor, one with a big table surrounded by a bunch of comfortable looking chairs. A few pictures of the party hung on the walls, causing Chris to raise an eyebrow, turning to Frank. "Your office is above the club where you work?"

"My office is above the club I own." Frank corrected as Kara began handing out the bottles of booze, Marcus grabbing one and taking a long swig as he sat down.

Chris paused. "Well that makes sense."

"Anyway, as agreed, your payment." Frank began, moving to a safe in the corner and pulling out a few wads of cash and handing them over to Chris. "Thank you for your help. It was… interesting, to say the least."

"No problem." Chris shrugged, tossing the money into his world. "If you ever need help with anything else, just…" He trailed off as he remembered they didn't have a reliable form of contact in this World. "Uh, use this." He handed him another blank, white card.

Frank eyed the card with a twisted expression for a moment, before sighing and taking it. "I'll keep you in mind, but if I'm being honest, your methods, while effective, aren't exactly practical."

Chris cocked his head. "How so?"

"Well, you killed ninety-five percent of the mobs using methods that didn't actually count for experience or achievements." Frank shrugged. "It's like running a dungeon using explosives. Yeah, it's effective, but the rewards are shit, so what's the point? For an extermination mission like this one was, it's not the worst thing in the world, but for any dungeon you actually want to benefit from, it's pointless. The only thing we really got out of this was that staff and… well, that's more of a curse than a benefit." Frank finished with a grimace.

"Well, there were also the quest rewards, but… yeah, I see where you're coming from." Chris nodded. "Speaking of the staff… what's the plan there?"

"No matter what, I want to study the staff." Val immediately interjected. "If I could figure out how it grants its user a Domain, it could revolutionize how we create equipment! This could be a breakthrough on the same level as the first adventures to bring back electronics from a dungeon!"

"All the more reason why we should sell it!" Marcus interjected. "We could do it anonymously! Do you really think we're the best people to try and figure this out?!?"

"We kinda are." Chris cocked his head. "Greg has who knows how many crafting skills at the moment, Thomas can see Energy, Andrew can see Essence, and I can analyze the whole thing, which will allow us to make multiples and break it down as much as we like. We may not have the most ideal skill set, but the sheer amount of trial and error we're capable of lets us do things even experts can't."

"Sure, but can you pay us for it?" Marcus retorted.

Frank pinched the bridge of his nose. "Marcus, we've been over this! Selling the staff would put us in too much danger! Using the staff would put us in too much danger! Even disposing of the staff could be trouble! Leaving it to Chris is honestly the safest option for us."

"So we just get nothing from this dungeon run?!?" Marcus threw up his hands in frustration.

"We're still getting paid for the extermination." Val pointed out.

"Plus we did get a few levels." Winston commented.

"And it only took us a week." Val continued. "And we barely used any of our supplies, since Chris provided food and shelter. All this run cost us was a bit of time, some wear and tear on our weapons, and a few cases of bullets for Frank. Arguably we made about ten times the profit we would have based on the time and resources we invested thanks to their help. Giving them a staff that's more trouble than it's worth in exchange for that is more than reasonable. Particularly with the caveat that we still have access to the staff through them if we need it."

"Fine. They can have the stupid staff." Marcus grumbled, crossing his arms petulantly.

Chris handed Val a card of her own. "For whenever you want to come and study the staff."

Val smiled back at him. "Thank you."

"So, we're done then? Y'all don't need anything else?" Greg asked, checking the time. Gloria had another free day, and now that he had some money, he was thinking of taking her out for a date. You know, somewhere other than Chris's world.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"I believe that's all, yes." Frank nodded.

"Alright, then, this was fun, but I have a little lady to show a good time." Greg chuckled, turning to Chris. "If you would?" Chris opened a portal and Greg left to get Gloria.

"I'm going to head back to the base myself." Andrew added. "I have a crapload of attribute points to do something with and I should work on my spell casting. Also figure out what to do with Elizabeth…" He let out a weary sigh.

"You treat her right, or I'm coming for you." Kara warned.

"I know, I know." Andrew waved dismissively, before heading through the portal himself.

"I should take Annie out too, shouldn't I?" Thomas muttered thoughtfully as he walked through the portal as well. "I'll need some cash, though."

"Here." Chris held out a wad of cash for him.

"Think Greg will remember you have all the money?" Thomas smirked.

"I give it fifty-fifty odds." Chris chuckled. "I'll remind him if he tries to walk off without some."

"Or you could not…" Thomas offered tentatively.

"Not with Gloria." Chris shook his head. "Messing with a friend is one thing, messing with their relationship is another."

Thomas sighed. "Yeah, fair. Alright, I'll be back."

Chris nodded, settling in to wait while Thomas and Greg grabbed their girlfriends. Marcus and Winston left to wherever they went to relax after a run, while Frank and Kara began to make their way down to the club, leaving Chris and Val alone in the room. Before she left, Kara gave Val an insistent look, gesturing towards Chris with her head. Val flushed slightly, glancing at Chris hesitantly. "S-so… do you have any plans for the evening?"

Chris cocked his head at her. "Not at the moment. Do you want to do something?"

"I- I suppose I could be convinced to take a break from my experiments for a night." Val agreed awkwardly.

Chris frowned slightly. "Was that just a polite question then? I thought- well, if you'd rather get to your experiments, I can entertain myself." He shrugged.

"N-no, we can do something!" Val quickly insisted. "I was already prepared to put off my experiments for a few more months, what's one more day?"

Chris shook his head. "No, no, I just thought you were suggesting we do something together, I didn't mean to impose. I'm willing to go along with it if you want, but if you aren't interested I'm perfectly happy hanging out by myself."

"I don't mind, really!" Val replied a bit too forcefully. "What would you like to do?" She asked, pushing past the issue before Chris could retort, hoping he would just drop it.

Chris gave her a weird look, before shrugging. "I can do anything." He paused. "Well, except that grindy, club dancing people do… that just makes me uncomfortable."

"You and me both." Val snorted, frowning as she considered their options. She didn't want to do anything too 'date' like… so far Chris was interesting, but the dungeon hadn't exactly provided a lot of opportunities for them to get to know each other, so she wasn't sure whether she wanted to take that step yet. But it still needed to be something that wouldn't get in the way of conversation. "How about… I- need to do some grocery shopping?" She flinched at the pathetic suggestion, but she couldn't think of anything else! It all seemed too date like! Plus, she looked did need to do some grocery shopping. She'd gotten rid of all her perishables due to the dungeon.

Chris raised an eyebrow at her. "I suppose I could join you for that… I wouldn't mind getting a few unique ingredients to add to my world. We can go as soon as the others get back." Val nodded, the two of them sitting in awkward silence as they waited for Greg and Thomas to return. Thankfully they didn't have to wait long, Greg returning a few moments later with Gloria, and Quinn for some reason. "What are you doing here?" Chris asked, giving her a strange look.

Quinn crossed her arms at him. "What, do I need your permission to enjoy a night out?"

Chris paused. "Kinda? But that's mostly because I control the portal. And I can pull you in and out of my world at will… really, you require my permission for a lot of what you do."

Quinn flushed slightly. "Yes, well… ugh, damn it, Chris!" She stomped. "Why'd you have to remind me of all that bullshit when I was just getting used to it!"

"You're the one who brought it up." Chris pointed out.

"Well you didn't have to emphasize it!" Quinn snapped. "It's not like you actually care what I do!"

Chris cocked his head. "Well that's fair. Sorry."

Quinn sighed. "It's okay. Are you up to anything tonight?"

"Going grocery shopping with Val." Chris replied, gesturing towards her with his thumb.

Quinn blinked. "You're going grocery shopping?!? With her!?!" She asked incredulously.

Chris shrugged. "It's what she wanted to do. Plus, I figured I could buy some stuff to add to my world."

Quinn paused, narrowing her eyes at Val who flushed awkwardly, before grinning slightly. "You wouldn't mind if I joined as well, would you? I have some things I wouldn't mind grabbing myself."

"Sure. It's just grocery shopping." Chris agreed.

"W-wait-" Val began to protest, cutting off as she failed to find a reason why this new woman who was apparently rather close to Chris couldn't come. "Are- are you sure this is how you want to spend your night?" She attempted tentatively. "If you don't get out much-"

"Oh, I'll be fine." Quinn assured her with a confident grin that brooked no argument, causing Val to wilt in defeat.

"Hey, guys, I brought Gretchen." Thomas announced as he arrived, gesturing to the green woman who followed Annie through the portal. "Chris, you think-" He cut off as Quinn and Val turned to glare at him. "Uh…"

Annie frowned, taking in the situation for a moment, before grinning as she turned her focus to Chris. "Chris, Gretchen has been cooped up in that base for over a week now! Because of you I might add. Don't you think the least you could do is keep her a little company while she stretches her legs?" She insisted, while Gretchen tugged at her arm, trying to get her to stop while the other two women gave her death glares. Well, Quinn gave her a death glare. Val's glare was more on the pleading side, wondering why it was so hard to get some alone time with the man.

"I already told these two we'd go grocery shopping, but she's free to join us if she likes." Chris offered.

"You're going grocery shopping?" Annie asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow at the other two women. Val flushed while Quinn rolled her eyes. "Well, shopping doesn't take all that long, right? You two could do something fun afterwards, couldn't you?"

Chris cocked his head. "I suppose… sure, why not." He shrugged.

"Great!" Annie clapped, before grabbing Thomas's arm and dragging him towards the door. "Come on, let's go find some place to eat."

"We should probably get going too." Greg agreed, pulling Gloria along as they headed out as well.

"They were fighting over Chris." Gloria muttered incredulously as the door closed behind them. "Why were they fighting over Chris?!?"

"I have no idea." Greg shook his head. "I honestly thought Quinn hated him."

Back in the room, Chris glanced between the three women, Val looking simultaneously embarrassed and frustrated, Quinn exhibiting a sort of confident defiance as if she was daring anyone to question why she was there, and Gretchen who was just nervous and confused, wondering why Annie had insisted on shoving her into this powder keg. "So… to the grocery store?"

*

As the others were setting up their dates, knowingly or not, Andrew turned his focus to his status screen, taking in the four thousand, four hundred and fifty-five attribute points he had to distribute. "Fuck." He muttered in disbelief. Quinn had mentioned how big an advantage a high rank was, but this really drove it home. He wasn't even sure where to start with all this! He considered it for a moment, before deciding to get his Energy up to two thousand. Energy was a universal enhancer, so the more he had the better. Of course, he still needed something to enhance, so he couldn't put all his points into Energy, but it should still be his primary attribute. He sunk point after point into the attribute, until he hit fifteen hundred and one, and something weird happened.

[Energy: 1501 (1500 - capped by Class Rank)]

Andrew blinked, then blinked again. "It's- it's capped?!? There's a freaking attribute cap!?! Quinn!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet and rushing off to find the woman. She wasn't in her room, or the common room, or anywhere in the base as far as he could tell. "Have you seen Quinn?" He asked Allison after looking around for a while.

"I think she went to Nobilis. Why?" Allison asked.

"Why would she-" Andrew began with a frown, before cutting off and shaking his head. "Nevermind. Did you know there's an attribute cap?"

Allison blinked. "An attribute cap? What do you mean?"

"Check it out!" Andrew exclaimed, sending her his status. "It's capped!"

Allison's eyes widened. "How the fuck do you have so many attribute points?!?"

"I have a trait that doubles my race rank." Andrew waved dismissively. "But see! Did you know about this?!?"

Allison frowned. "No. No I didn't. But I don't think there's many people who are capable of having fifteen hundred points in an attribute while they're still at rank three!"

Andrew blinked. "That's- probably fair."

Allison stared at him for a moment as he continued to focus on his status page. "Is that all?"

"Uh… yeah?" Andrew replied, frowning slightly. "Isn't that enough? There's an attribute cap! Isn't that a big deal?"

Allison frowned. "Sure… but the cap is fifteen hundred at rank three. That's just- it's a ridiculous amount, and anyone who has the ability to reach it is going to be able to get to a higher rank easily. It's just- yeah, interesting, but practically, so?"

"But why is there an attribute cap?!?" Andrew retorted.

"Probably so ridiculous people like you can't get infinitely powerful." Allison shrugged. "At least, not without putting in the work to raise your rank."

Andrew hesitated. That made sense… the World probably wouldn't want people cheating their way to power. At least, not to too much power. He… may have overreacted again. At least he hadn't walked in on anyone this time. "Okay, yeah." Andrew sighed. "I'm going to get back to assigning my points."

Allison snorted. "Have fun."

Andrew got back to his room, considering his status once more, considering where he wanted to put his points. Using the points from Thomas's system, he'd been focusing on his mental attributes since those were the attributes he actually used, while his physical attributes had lagged behind. He could double and triple down on his mental attributes, and get all of them up to fifteen hundred, or he could just get them to a thousand, and put five hundred in the physical attributes. Either way he needed to get Sensitivity to fifteen hundred for control. He knew what it was like to be incapable of controlling his own strength and he did not want to go back to that. As he had that thought, he solidified his decision, raising all his mental attributes to fifteen hundred. He'd had his fill of physical power. In this World, he'd focus on mental power.