I didn’t like what I was reading.

“This could be a problem.” I tapped on the screen.

“What do you mean?” Ether leaned closer to read the loadout.

“For the slimes, you could walk right up to one and just reach in and pull out its core, but you’d badly burn your hand because their acidic bodies eat away biological material.” I looked at her. " But if someone tries to hit them, then their bodies get really hard, and anything less than seven Power won’t do any damage to them.”

“Which means." Ether looked at me. "You, Rix, and Justia are the only ones who can damage them.”

“Magic works too.” I nodded towards Aelin. "Which means Aelin and I both have utility there as well, but what I’m worried about…” I looked at Ether. "Is that your armor isn’t made to defend against slimes.”

“Then, we’ll just have to make sure that I stay away from them.” The white-haired woman crossed her arms.

“I just meant that we might need to try to get you some more appropriate armor before we try the boss fight.”

She eyed me. "Okay, what about the Dispatcher’s Dungeon?”

“Didn’t Mister Vowler tell us to do the Temple Dungeon first?” Justia pulled into the parking lot for Reace Weapons and parked.

“I’ll be back.” Rix got up and opened the door to the RV.

“I’m going with you!” Aelin jumped out of her seat.

Rix stopped at the door and looked at me.

I turned to the blonde. "All she’s doing is picking up her weapon at the front. She’s not doing any browsing.”

Aelin smiled. "But I can look while she’s in line.”

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“I think it’s better if you stay here.” I saw the disappointment on her face. "We’ll have plenty of time to go shopping before we have to go back to the Cathedral.”

Aelin crossed her arms and dropped back into the front seat.

Rix nodded to me and exited the vehicle.

“The Dispatcher’s Dungeon has two different monsters.” She made the screen bigger. "A deer that looks like it does hit-and-run attacks, and a scorpion that’s about two feet tall.” She pointed at it from its legs to the stinger hovering above it.

“You’re really thinking about it?” Justia sounded shocked

“We need Ether to have different armor, and that takes time to adjust, while the only things we have to worry about here.” I motioned at the two monsters. "Is a headbutt and…” I read the line under the scorpion. "Poison.”

“I don’t have Cure Poison.” Justia pointed at the monster. "And I don’t have the All to buy the spell.”

“What does the poison do?” I started reading. "It won’t kill you, but…” I read the line about sweating, dizziness, upset stomach, and vomiting. “It will make you miserable.”

“Exactly." Justia shook her head. "I’ve seen a lot of poisoned people come into the Clinic because they weren’t ready for that dungeon.” She pointed at the slimes. "Yes, we may not have the armor for this fight, but I’d rather replace armor than be sick for a week.”

“I see your point.” I turned to Ether. "We’ll see about getting you some metal armor later.”

The red-eyed woman nodded. "I’ll find a way to manage.” She flipped through what little information we had about the first-floor dungeons in Harror and the Cathedral. “It looks like any of the armor that you would get from here is all biological material.” She shook her head. "We’d need something made from other dungeons.”

I thought about my sword and wondered how well it was going to hold up. "Aelin, it might just be us using spells.”

The blonde perked up. "I can do that.” She looked at Justia. "Can we go shopping for armor later?”

Justia looked at me and I started thinking. I turned to Ether. "How long do you think it will take us to beat the boss?”

“We should be able to beat it today.” The tank didn’t even take time to think about it.

“What about the Dispatcher’s Dungeon?”

“Once we get Justia Cure Poison, it shouldn’t be a problem.” She smiled.

“Now for the bigger question." I saw Rix coming out of the store. "How long is it going to take us to farm enough crystal for her to buy it?”

“It won’t take as long on the second floor, but Trent has that information locked until we beat this boss.” Ether pointed at the icon declaring the information was locked.

“Then the plan is, we beat the boss, then come back here to regroup?” I saw everyone nod.

Rix got in the RV and sat down. "I got it.”