Further messages filled my vision, but I ignored them for the moment, instead releasing my hold on Brad’s corpse and letting myself collapse to one side. Now that the battle was over, everything ached, and I wondered how I’d even managed to walk out of the bank, let alone run at full tilt towards my doom.

[Boss, Boss!] Zapper appeared at my side. The dog had a few scrapes on his face from his little fling with the dirt, but otherwise he didn’t appear too worse for wear.

At least that made one of us.

[You going to be alright, Boss?]

[Yeah, yeah, Zapper... Just a... minute...] With some mental struggle, I managed to pull open my interface, and then my inventory. I could feel myself bleeding from a half dozen different spots. Two rebirths had gone a long way to restoring my overall good health, but that final scrap with Brad had left its mark.

Besides, I was also just exhausted.

-Inventory-

(52) Common Cores

(2) Uncommon Cores

(10) Waterproof Matches

(3) Safe Zone Generator

(2) MREs

(6) Potion of Effervescence

(4) Scrolls of Magic Missile Barrage

(1) Advanced Desperado Bounty Ticket

(10) Desperado Bounty Tickets

Chainmail of Icicle (lv 9) (+1)

Wand Of Float (lv 5)

Dang. All that effort, and only ten desperado tickets to show for it? Though I supposed I didn’t recall seeing any messages when Brad killed one of his own men. Almost half his forces had died to his bombs and guns. Which had been the whole point of our strategy, after all.

Unfortunately, now I was seeing the downside to that particular choice.

A spasm ran through me, bringing my attention back to more urgent matters. Right. Selecting one of my uncommon cores, I applied it to myself.

Maybe I could have gotten by with a common, but since we were limited to one use per floor, I didn’t feel like taking any chances.

You have been granted the following random blessing: Limber (6 hours)

Ah, good old Limber. It was almost like an old friend now. And while I’d be sad to see Glancing Shield go, I felt as if I’d pushed my luck with that particular blessing enough for the moment.

With my wounds knitting shut and Limber putting an extra spring in my step, I rolled over and climbed to my feet. Zapper watched, wagging his tail happily. [We did it, Boss! We beat the baddies and saved the town!]

[I sure hope so, Zapper.] Twisting around, I surveyed the area. Several buildings were on fire, but it didn’t appear to be spreading. Still, the town was in rough shape compared to when we’d arrived.

As I watched, spider-people began to emerge from the buildings. Some stood there, surveying the damage in shock, while others began rushing about, organizing a bucket brigade to put out the fires. Even more began moving amongst the dead, dragging away the desperados and collecting fallen weapons.

One of the townsfolk stopped next to us. “Thanks for your service, gunslingers. We’ll take it from here. You should probably check in with the sheriff. I imagine he’s got a reward or two for you.”

[Uh, sure.] We stood there another moment as the fellow ran off to join the others before I turned and started making my way towards the saloon. With any luck, the sheriff was still in residence, but that wasn’t actually my top priority right now.

Because now that the battle was over, I had only one thing on my mind.

Lunch.

We made our way towards the saloon, which had survived the battle largely unscathed. None of the buildings around it were on fire, at least. I nosed open the swinging doors as Zapper slipped underneath.

“Well, aren’t you two a sight for sore eyes,” the bartender said from where he stood polishing the counter’s surface. “Not that I doubted your abilities, of course. Why, from what I’ve seen in the records, you two—”

He gave a quick spasm, recovered, then glowered up at the ceiling. “I get it!”

Sighing, he turned back to us. “Imagine you boys are famished. Give me a minute to rustle up that grub I promised.”

[That would be appreciated.] As he made his way into a back room, I felt someone step closer behind me. I turned, hackles coming up on instinct.

“Whoa there.” The sheriff held his hands up in a placating gesture. Immediately my hackles dropped. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sneak up on you. Just wanted to come thank you personally for your service. The town owes you two a great deal for saving our lives like that at risk of your own.”

[I’m glad to hear that,] I said. [Though I admit I was expecting something a bit more...]

“A bit more in the form of monetary compensation?” The sheriff gave a grin. “Don’t worry, that’s coming too. Just give my deputies a few minutes to take a headcount of the survivors, and we’ll see about paying out your share of the bounty on those there bandits.

[Are they bandits or desperados?] Zapper asked as the sheriff turned away. I cocked my head and thought about it for a moment.

[I’m not sure there’s much of a difference,] I said at last. [At least, not one that the system is providing in my head. Maybe it has to do with differences in local language, socioeconomic status, and individual preconceived notions.]

[Ohhhh. Uh huh. That makes sense.] Zapper was silent for a moment. Then, [Boss? What’s ‘socioeconomic’ mean?]

I opened my mouth to reply, but fortunately was saved the trouble of scrambling for an answer by the return of the saloon barman, who skittered his way unsteadily towards us, arms wobbling under the weight of a dozen or more plates.

“Alright, I think you boys are going to enjoy this. I rustled up a bit of just about every animal the village has to offer. We’ve got cow, chicken, goat, sheep, javalina, rattlesnake, jackalope, road runner, desert hare—you name it, I’ve probably got a plate of it.”

[Uh, thanks,] I said, eyeing the plates surreptitiously and wondering which one was the rattlesnake.

“Don’t mention it. They say there’s no such thing as a free meal, and you two certainly earned this here chow with the way you risked life and limb for our poor town."

[Not to mention the actual cores we paid for the meal beforehand,] I reminded him, as Zapper started gnawing on an enormous leg bone that was probably from a cow.

“Right. You did pay, didn’t you?” The bartender looked rather embarrassed and scratched idly at his arm. “Sorry, sometimes it’s easy to get locked into the prepackaged dialogue the system tries to feed me.”

[Right, the system. I think you were about to tell us a bit more about what you know before we were pulled away, weren’t you?]

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“Maybe.” A pained expression came over the bartender’s face. The next instant it was gone again. “However, while you were out there fighting the good fight, the system and I had a palaver. Seems I need to be extra careful with anything I choose to divulge, lest I spoil some of the surprises it has waiting for you up the road, so to speak.”

He went silent. Taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I nibbled on a nearby dish, decided that I didn’t care if it was rattlesnake or not, and dug in. Several slurping seconds later, I licked the plate clean. Then I turned my attention back to the hovering spider-man.

[So what can you tell us? Anything useful? Even a few hints would be greatly appreciated.]

“Oh, sure, I can offer loads of advice. For starters, that fight you two had out there with Brad-the-slightly-less-bad-now-that-he’s-dead? Didn’t have to happen.”

[Whar dor that mern?] Zapper asked, face still half-buried in a plate. The barman frowned down at him.

[Zapper, please don’t talk with your mouth full,] I chastised. Glancing back up, I translated, [What does that mean?]

“Oh, just that you never had to fight him. You could have offered him some cores and he would have departed happy as a bloodsucking clam. Or any treasure, really. I don’t think he was scripted to be particularly particular.” The barman winced, though whether that was from further system chastisement or due to his terrible wordplay, I didn’t know. A moment later, he continued, “Most dungeon levels are like that. If you look hard enough, or ask the right questions, you can usually find a non-combat alternative to fighting your way through. Now, the rewards aren’t always as good, such as in this case, but if you’re running low on resources or simply don’t want to risk further injury, well, time to start considering what other avenues the system has left for you.”

I considered his words as I worked my way through another plate of meat. If we hadn’t guessed wrong on the first floor, we could have cleared the slime challenge without a single battle. Doing the same here hadn’t even occurred to me.

[I’ll keep that in mind,] I said finally.

“See that you do. Next, you should never underestimate the advantages of a strategic retreat. Not just from a particular battle, but from the dungeon entirely.”

[But I thought we couldn’t leave the dungeon,] Zapper said, glancing up. While he was still continuing to stuff his face, his pace had slowed noticeably. Of course, his belly was also nearly rubbing the floor now, too.

“True, but you have a safe room to retreat to, correct? Do not discount the value of taking time for your wounds to heal and your abilities to restore themselves. I would go even further and caution that while you might continue on from here to the third floor, do not attempt to continue higher until you are fully refreshed.”

[Thanks, we’ll keep that in mind,] I said, licking my lips clean and sitting back with a satisfied sigh. [Any other advice?]

“Hmm, sadly no. That is all I think I will be able to say without suffering debilitating pain. Pity. I was rather looking forward to telling you about—” The bartender froze, mouth pulling back into a rictus of suffering. He twitched, shook himself, then immediately stopped. He gave a wry smiled. “Sorry, a small attempt at humor on my part. It appears the system does not appreciate bold statements, even in jest.”

Zapper and I glanced at each other. Finally, I said, [Well, thanks for what advice you could think of. We’ll check back with you again later if we get the chance.]

Now that the town was clear, I was giving Zapper’s suggestion about bringing Riley here more serious consideration. It would be good to have a few people minding her, even if they were more spider-people than anything.

The bartender looked at me with a sad expression. “Unfortunately, I do not think that will be possible.”

[What do you mean?]

He winced even before he had a chance to speak. “It will make sense when you return to the first floor, I think. That’s all I can say on the matter. But look, here comes the sheriff now. I imagine he has your reward tallied.”

Sure enough, the portly sheriff sauntered in and made a beeline for us, his swagger at complete odds with the terrified man from a few hours earlier. He gave a little nod as he stopped next to us.

“Headcount is complete. Seems that a total of two hundred and seventeen citizens survived the battle with Brad. That’s more than I could have hoped for, strangers.”

[Really?] Only two hundred and seventeen? I thought back to the sign we’d seen upon entering Redemption and realized that meant around twenty-six people had died during our battle. I hadn’t even seen any of them.

A similar thought must have occurred to Zapper, as the little dog wore a rather forlorn expression. I tried to give him a reassuring smile. [Remember, it’s all pretend, Zapper. They’re just creations of the system.]

[I suppose you’re right, Boss.] The tension in Zapper’s face eased. Across from us, the bartender snorted.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, I suppose.”

[What’s that’s supposed to mean?]

“Oh, nothing, nothing.” He idly waved my question away and glanced at the sheriff. “Don’t you have some rewards to issue?”

“Right, guess I do. Mind if I have your bounty tickets, gentlemen?”

Zapper and I both summoned the tickets from our inventory, letting them flutter to the floorboards at our feet. The sheriff swooped them up with a well-placed swipe.

“Thank you, thank you, let me just get a count here... alright. Based on your tickets and the number of survivors, it looks as if you boys are owed a total of four hundred and forty-seven common cores. That sound about right?”

[I guess? Nobody ever told us what the tickets would be worth.]

“A regular desperado is worth about ten common cores, while Brad himself was worth a solid hundred.” The sheriff grinned. “Not bad pay for an afternoon of work.”

[I guess...] My mind went back momentarily to the bartender’s words, and how we could have avoided so much suffering. Was all the pain and death I endured worth a couple hundred cores?

Then I had another thought. [Is that four hundred each?]

“Afraid that’s total.” The sheriff dropped a bulging sack at our feet. “I’ll leave you boys to divvy them up however you like. After that, you’re welcome to enjoy the town’s hospitality for however long you wish to stay. Redemption owes you both a great debt.”

With that, he turned and lumbered out of the saloon. I glanced at Zapper.

[Split them evenly?]

[I dunno, Boss. You beat up a lot more of those desperados than I did. You should probably take most of the cores.]

While the other dog’s offer was tempting, I shook my head after a moment’s consideration. [We’re not planning on splitting up any time soon, so it’s not as if we can can’t shift them about between us later. For now, you need them for upgrading your stats more than I do.]

[Hmm, okay, Boss! I guess that makes sense.] Zapper nosed the bag, and it noticeably deflated. Once he backed up, I pulled the rest into my own inventory.

That left me with a crazy large pile of common cores once again. I’d have to take some time to convert them to higher grade versions, but that could wait for later. Right now, Zapper and I ate a bit more, said our goodbyes to the bartender, and made our way out of Redemption.

While the sheriff’s offer to linger was tempting, we weren’t likely to find anything more of use on this level right now. It was time to ascend again.

As we made our way back across the arid plains, Zapper and I discussed the aftereffects of the battle. Thanks to the 2,000 experience that we’d each gotten for completing the quest, Zapper was now level nine, same as myself. Meanwhile, I was only eleven hundred experience away from level ten. It was so close I could taste it.

I didn’t know what might happen when I got there, but something told me that level ten would be significant somehow. Maybe I’d finally experience one of those evolutions the tutorials had hinted at?

A dog could hope. At the moment, however, I’d simply take some more fighting utility. Because if the battle with Brad had driven anything home to me, it was that my abilities were horribly limited at the moment, especially against large numbers. I could hit hard and fast right at the beginning, but the minute all my weapons and skills were on cooldown, I was functionally useless.

So I needed something to mitigate those issues, at least, if not eliminate them entirely. With luck, my next level might offer me something like that.

The walk back across the prairie didn’t feel nearly as bad as the trip in. Part of me wanted to think it was because we were rejuvenated from our meal, but I suspect the answer was much simpler: it actually was a shorter distance.

Especially when I glanced back from the mouth of the canyon and saw that Redemption lay just a short jaunt away. Much more visible than it had been the first time.

I pointed this out to Zapper, and the little dog spent a long moment frowning back the way we’d come. [Do you think it means anything?]

[Honestly? Not really. Probably just another weird quirk of this place. Or maybe the system is intentionally trying to make life easier for us.]

Whatever the cause, the answer eluded us, so we eventually loped our way through the canyon and back to the little building housing the dungeon elevator. As I stepped inside, I noted that the button panel now showed a light behind the number three. We had our ticket to the next floor.

[What do you think is waiting for us up there?] Zapper asked after pressing the button. The whole elevator gave a shudder, then began to rapidly ascend. [We’ve fought slimes, and spider people. Ooh! Maybe next it’s ninja monkeys! Or shark pirates! Or bears that shoot bees out of their mouths!!!]

[Zapper, why would—] I stopped myself before I could join him in his madness. [I doubt it’ll be any of those things. The bartender back in Redemption said we were safe to go up another floor before resting, remember? So it should be relatively safe.]

[Right! Good point, Boss! Plus, didn’t the dungeon tutorial say something about a—] The little dog cut off as the elevator shuddered to a halt and the doors slid open. At the same time, a message appeared in my vision.

CGI — Oakland Branch

Level 3 of 5 — Dungeon Shop

My lips pulled back into a doggy grin as I read the words. Well, talk about perfect timing. Already I could feel all those shiny new cores burning a hole in my proverbial inventory pocket.

Dismissing the message, I turned toward my companion. [So, how do you feel about a little shopping spree?]