We made it to the RV without incident.
We had also burned through half of our time until Aelin got back. I planned on using some of that to see what type of gun I could purchase. I knew guns weren’t very popular in the dungeon because of the ammunition. In fact, most ranged weapons were looked down upon because of the cost of arrows or bullets. I’d seen Adventurers using the magic arrow spell like Aelin did and supposedly, there were Adventurers that used ammunition weapons when pushing floors, but it was frivolous to spend resources while farming when you didn’t need to.
I opened up the door to the RV and heard the shower going. Rix had gotten up at some point and was enjoying having the bathroom all to herself.
“We should get clean too.” Ether smelled herself, then laughed nervously.
“I’d rather use a full sized one back at the Clinic.” I locked the door and wrapped my arms around the white-haired woman from behind. "Are you going to be okay?”
She kissed the back of my hand. "I’ll be fine, just shaken up, that’s all.” She craned her head back and I kissed her. Not long, but enough to reaffirm that I was here.
“What do you need?” I released her and she went to the refrigerator and started rummaging through it.
“Something to drink.” She took out a bottle of water. "You think Trent has any good stuff stashed in here?”
“Trent can hold thousands of items in his crystal band and you think he’d hide alcohol where one of us could find it?” I chuckled as I sat down at the booth and brought up the Reace site.
“It’s a test I’d be willing to fail right now.”
I looked up. "Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
She opened the water bottle and downed most of it, then stored the rest in her crystal band. She slid into the booth next to me. I shifted so that I was almost sitting diagonally at the back of the booth. Ether grabbed my left arm and pulled it around her and rested the back of her head on my chest. "I just have to calm the nerves.” Her red eyes looked up at me. "This helps.”
I squeezed her closer to me, then turned back to the site. She watched the screen as I navigated through.
My options were basically a rifle or a handgun. A rifle would be more useful against a boss, but when I saw the price tag for a base model, I decided that one hundred All per level was just a little outside my price range.
The handguns weren’t much better. The base model was only fifty All per level, plus more if I wanted it enchanted.
“Who buys this stuff for this at level one?” I moved away from the page to look at other items.
“Nobles who want to keep their newly Mantled children out of danger. Wait!” Ether slapped her hand over mine and moved to a tab.
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It was the chain knife. The white-haired woman scrolled down to the options. It was fifteen All per level.
“Wow.” I was kind of amazed. "Rix’s weapon cost more than my whole set of gear.”
“That’s crazy…” Ether removed her hand. "Alright, you can have it back, I was just curious.”
I messed with her hair, which earned me a glare. I chuckled. "Your death gaze needs more work.”
Ether mumbled something, then shifted on her side looking away from the screen, but holding my arm tight against her.
I heard the water stop while I went back to searching. A crude level one bow cost ten All per level. And that was just the base model up to level nine. I was starting to enjoy the outrageous prices from the Store of Trent.
Rix came walking out in a blue jumpsuit. “How long have you…” She lowered her voice. "Is she asleep?”
I looked down and Ether was breathing slowly with her eyes closed. Even with an ‘easy; day yesterday, the chaos had finally caught up to her. I looked back up at Rix and nodded.
The redhead tied up her hair and slid into the booth across from me. “How’d it go?”
I turned off the console. I only had ten All left and that wasn’t going to buy me anything. I’d just keep using the spell like I had and upgrade when I could. I took the spell out and passed the piece of paper across the table.
“I got this. It should make the second floor boss pretty easy.” I lowered my voice.
Rix read the spell, then pushed it back towards me. “That’ll help a lot.”
I don’t know why, but I stored it instead of learning it. “We also ran into some trouble.”
“Someone called her a demon?”
My eyes widened. "You know about that?”
“I’ve been living in the Outlands, how do you not..?” She snapped her finger, then cringed at the noise “Living in the dungeon.”
I hadn’t actually been living in the dungeon, but what she said was more or less true.
“Just bumps, maybe a bruise.” I shook my head. "I think it got to her a little.”
Rix nodded. "She looks wiped.”
“We did meet a really nice girl." I couldn’t get my arm free to show her the information. "She even gave us her contact information in case we needed her to deliver an ability, so we wouldn’t have to walk into the shopping center.”
The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Pretty?”
“She’s seventeen, so don’t go Aelin on me.” I pointed at Ether. "She even gave her information to Ether!”
That earned me both eyebrows. "Really pretty.”
“I…” I was saved from any more of the conversation by the door to the RV swinging open.
“WE’RE BACK!” Aelin threw her arms out.