Alex poured the health potion over James’ torn body.
“Shit-shit-shit, come on man,” he urged, knowing his friend was gone.
Diane was the only one who kept watch over their surroundings in case the wolves came back. She spotted something shimmering on the ground next to Yosk. It was a simple brown sack, perhaps made of leather. But once every few seconds, a small light wrapped around it in a slow pulse.
“Guys,” she started, earning glares from her teammates. “He’s gone. Let’s grab the loot, get out and regroup.”
The confusion showed on their faces so she trotted over to Stella, who was the closest slain minion, and found an identical leather sack to the one Yosk had near him. She held it up for everyone to see. For a moment they forgot their friend as greed filled their eyes. One word filled all of their minds. Loot.
Alex spoke up, “Right. Diane — grab the loot, we’ll get James out of here.”
“Oh no you won’t,” Rick scoffed and absorbed James and his gear.
The group stared at the now empty spot where James had been.
“This is so fucked up,” Grady mumbled.
Sarah nodded, “It is. But Diane’s right. Let’s grab the loot and get the fuck out of here.”
The rest of them seemed to agree and went to get the sacks from Yosk and Finn. Diane stayed back and couldn’t resist the temptation of opening the sack. A roll of toilet paper, larger than the sack, popped out and bounced lightly on the ground.
The whole group was startled when they received an Alert as she opened it.
“I just got 50 Credits. Anyone else?” Diane asked. They all nodded in confirmation. “Cool,” she said with a shrug and picked up the roll of toilet paper. Absentmindedly, she also plucked a couple of the Red Clovers and put them in her pocket.
Alex opened the sack from Yosk. A brick of Warming Stone thunked to the ground, nearly landing on his foot. Another 50 Credits were deposited into each of their System accounts.
Sarah opened the one from Finn and a travel kit of soap, shampoo, toothbrush, and toothpaste popped out. They were scented for men’s tastes but she was happy.
“You know, this is as good as gold,” Sarah said holding up the travel pack.
They looked at it wide eyed and Alex piped up, “Dibs on the toothbrush.”
This elicited their first argument over loot as a team until Grady bellowed out, “Everyone shut the fuck up!” he seethed. “Our friend, James, has just died and we’re arguing over a fucking toothbrush. Get your shit together and let’s go. We’ll talk about this outside. Those wolves and god knows what else are still out there and probably coming back at any moment.”
Rick chuckled to himself as he watched the Ceaseless Wolves creeping back into position. Billy was still busying himself with his little building project, waiting for them to advance. Elza continued to watch from the hill.
The remaining group members looked down in shame after Grady’s scolding and quickly set after the door. Upon their exit, the leaderboard was updated.
Leaderboard
1: Spell & Sword
2: Chris Carpenter
3: Adam
4: Erica Sanders
5: Adam Grieves
6: Stanley Barnstorf
7: Hans Morgan
8: Deandre Booker
The group took up the top spot. Rather than an individual name, they appeared by what they must call themselves. The only reason the golfer, Chris, was above Adam was that he had killed both Billy and Finn by himself while Adam only killed Billy. The Spell & Sword group hadn’t killed Billy, but they had killed Yosk and higher-level wolves than Chris had.
The Leaderboard was still a bit of a mystery to Rick. Sure, it was cool that they were ranked, but what benefit other than bragging rights did they get from it? This was something he’d have to ask Jimmy. Perhaps his Dungeon Lore had more information on it.
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“I bet there will be a lot more of these nerds starting to come out of the woodwork. They were made for this new world,” Rick said. He was mostly talking to himself, but Billy was always willing to lend an ear.
“There will be more like them?” Billy asked excitedly.
“Oh yeah, lots of people liked to play games that revolved around dungeon diving. With the broadcast thing, we’ll probably see them come in droves now if they aren’t too scared.”
“Excellent. Shall we have pizza to celebrate a successful Challenge battle?” Billy asked.
“You didn’t even do anything, but sure,” Rick said and made some pizza for the floor boss.
“Yes, but now other Challengers won’t even know I’m here. I could feel many eyes watching through my own, but I only focussed on my project. For all they know, I’m just a simple dungeon worker.”
“Damn. Good thinking, Billy. You’re a sinister little shit, you know that?”
Billy smiled, “I do it all for you, dungeon.”
“Alright, now you’re just getting weird. Get ready for the next group, ok?”
The gunslinger nodded and got back to work on his house.
Rick looked over what he had absorbed from James with a bit of giddiness.
Of course, the experience and handful of CP were nice, but the real prize was what the wizard wannabe was carrying.
Healing Huff:
Heals minor wounds (4 of 5 charges remaining)
Channeling Wand:
A simple, Common quality wand. Assists with mana control and refines spells.
Common Robe of Mana:
Grants +20 to maximum Mana
“Oh yeah, these are going in with the assigned loot.”
Rick thought about how useful it would be to supply the Cartel with the Healing Huff if they were going to try for round two against the Eagle Empire. Hopefully, the little mechanical hummingbirds Jimmy set loose would find his parents and maybe a weakness they could exploit against Gus and his small army.
Kara interrupted his thoughts, “I think I’m going to go out there with Jimmy. Any chance you could summon some food, or whatever it is that you do?”
She looked around hopefully. Rick had absorbed some eggs and veggies from the trash a while ago and decided to make her an omelet with cheese, green peppers, mushrooms, and spinach. When it materialized in front of her, steaming, she looked close to tears.
“Thanks, Rick. I could use a fork, but I’ll eat this with my hands if I have to.”
“Oh yeah. Things like forks kind of slip my mind these days,” he said, knowing she couldn’t hear him, and gave her a plastic fork.
She smiled and began to devour the omelet. Rick gave her a glass of cold water as well. He was never this hospitable as a human, but it made him feel good to be able to provide so easily for his friends.
Kara wasn’t exactly a friend, but Jimmy cared for her so he would do what he could to help keep her around. She really was good for Jimmy. Since their bond had grown, he had seen his friend become more responsible and determined. When Kara was injured, all of that was threatened to unravel.
“She might not like the look, but maybe she can use it,” he said to himself and produced the mana robe along with a handful of the Healing Huff.
Kara looked at the robe quizzically at first, then down at herself. Her clothes were brittle with dried blood along with holes and tears in the fabric. She gave another smile as she changed into the robe and inspected the Healing Huff.
Rick quickly burned up her old clothes for a bit of Energy. When she changed in front of him, he didn’t think anything of it. She was a human and didn’t interest him in that way anymore.
After she cleaned her plate of the omelet, she sat in contentment for a moment, savoring the meal and the feeling of fresh clothes.
“Thanks again, Rick. Really. I’ll be back in a bit,” she said, jumping to her feet and leaving the dungeon.
Soon, the minions respawned and went about their days while Rick began to burn trash and water from the lake while he fell into a minor trance of using Spacial Expansion on the 2nd floor where Luca lived. He vaguely listened to his minions while he worked, happy that they were all becoming more than shells of real creatures, developing their own lives and personalities.
When Yosk respawned, Rick listened in, wondering what the hell had gone through the Builder’s mind when he charged the group by himself.
“My sacrifice brings us great honor,” Yosk lisped to Elza.
The female drake tried not to laugh at Yosk who was standing proud before her. “I admit that your foolish attack distracted the Challengers enough for the wolves to strike.”
“Foolish?” Yosk’s tongue flicked erratically. “It was brave,” he said, pounding a scaled fist against his chest.
“Yes, very brave,” Elza said, hiding her reptilian smile behind a clawed hand.
Rick chuckled. She clearly liked Yosk, despite him not being the brightest bulb in the box. No wonder they’re one of the more prolific races out there, he thought.
The lizardfolk continued to banter while Yosk built a shelter and Elza made more of those pressure plate spike traps.
“Why make those so close to our lodging? I have already forgotten the location of some of them,” Yosk said with narrowed eyes.
“Because I like hearing you talk. I also need the practice. These aren’t very effective against Challengers that can heal themselves,” she said.
“Well I better not step on any,” Yosk grumbled.
“Then try to remember where they are, silly. Plus, if you step on one, you won’t be able to run straight toward certain death,” she giggled.
Yosk waved a clawed hand, “It’s called an honorable sacrifice!”
For the next few hours, Rick continued to watch his minions scurry about like busy bees. Jimmy, Kara, and Challengers alike left the dungeon alone for now. It felt nice for Rick to have a break and focus on himself for a bit.