Frank decided to turn back if he didn’t see a change in scenery soon. With so little to orient himself with he could go further into diversions than he intended, and end up in a situation where basic rules of reality no longer applied. The odds that anything early on would vary so strongly were low, but given the diminishing returns of traveling further out, there was no value to risking it.

It was fortunate then, that not two minutes later the end of the walkway became visible. In the distance, a giant edifice loomed, emerging out of horizon. It stretched as far as Frank could see. Emerald green and slightly reflective, the entire surface gleamed.

Frank continued to walk towards it. As it got larger, an opening gradually came into view. Level with the path he walked along, was a giant staircase, tapering up like a triangle, flanked by two statues. Each statue was roughly the form of a spear wielding human, but without any detail, and all made of angular lines, similarly gargantuan.

He approached it, the minutes passing as it loomed ever larger and more impressive. By the time he reached the beginning of the stairs, wide enough he couldn’t easily see either end, the diversion had changed again. The spears were replaced with swords. The statues were kneeling. The stone no longer shone.

He approached the steps. Each was too large to walk up normally, instead requiring him jump up to the next one. He reached the top, the stairs narrowing to a single doorway. The doorway opened into a room that looked suspiciously like the tutorial hall, with wooden, slightly springy floors, and white stone walls. It was much smaller, however. In one corner of the room was a small opening in the wall, only enough space to crawl through.

In the center, was a simple end table. On it was a single longsword, straight bladed with a simple hilt wrapped in leather, about a meter long.

Sword of a Virtuous Jarl STR +2, WIS +2 This utilitarian sword was the weapon of a lord known both for his martial prowess and his compassion.

Frank felt his arms tingle a little bit in anticipation. He finally had something for Bill or Rina. He realized then that he’d already made a decision on Maria, though he hadn’t consciously thought it out. He would get her her potion and let her go her way.

Before any of that though, he had to get the sword. Grabbing it was an obvious trigger for something to happen. Frank readied himself, took a stance, then briefly lifted the sword up with his shield hand before swiveling about and examining the room.

As expected, there was an enemy present.

Dapper Three Piece Suit Animated by a Forgery of the Flame of Strength

Level 1

Was a three piece suit more powerful than a two piece? The only visible difference was the presence of a vest. Like the others, it held a rapier. It assumed a graceful pose. Frank moved on it without hesitation.

The first strike of the rapier occured the moment Frank was within his opponents range of attack. A lunging thrust was anticipated and dodged easily. Both the armour and the suits had similar behaviour. They always made a move the moment that he was in range to be hit.

Frank dodged by stepping left and in. His own counterattack was similarly dodged by the suit, who gracefully stepped aside. Frank then blocked a slash from the rapier, grunting under the force of the blow. It momentarily forced him to brace, and he was left immobile for half a step.

The suit continued its assault, using that gap to take another half step away from Frank’s center. Frank had no choice but to pivot and react, the fact that the suit was moving across his body away from his sword left him with no way to seize initiative immediately.

Frank briefly contemplated a shield bash, but given that this was a suit of strength, he found it unlikely he could do much to it with that kind of strike. Instead, he focused entirely on getting back into the proper position relative his opponent, and on cleanly slipping next blow aside.

The suit was right handed, Frank was left handed. Facing the inverse of your own stance was both good and bad. If they were on your weapon side then you could attack without letting them attack back. But if they got across your body they could attack you while you were not in position to easily strike back. Frank wanted to change the situation as quickly as possible.

The suit didn’t relent. It stabbed out low and accurate. Frank dodged on reflex, uneasy about the prospect of trying to turn aside a stab from something with augmented strength. A sword to the thigh would be a catastrophe. This helped neither his position or his ability to defend.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Frank decided to make his move before his guard was broken. A stab came aimed at his waist, and he responded with his shield taking the blow at an agle on it. A little fleck of wood chipped off it, such was the strength of the blow. Ultimately though, the force generated was limited by the thinness of the weapon and Frank was able to shunt it off to the side of him. He then stepped forward, abandoning his own guard to put his sword in range of the suit.

The suit dodged back, out of range of Frank’s swing. That was within Frank’s expectations, as he continued to move forward, swinging as he did. He caught it with a slice to the waist, and the thin cut he made in the layers of fabric ended up proving the difference. As if there was muscle beneath, the cut completely crippled the thing, and Frank finished it off shortly thereafter.

Dapper Three Piece Suit Animated by a Forgery of the Flame of Strength(Level 1) defeated. Frank awarded 225 EXP. Frank awarded

The message trailed off without resolution. In front of his feet, a pink shopping bag with unknown runes on it had appeared. Frank looked inside it. Another white mask, this time evoking the expression of a proud old man at his grandson’s graduation. Beside it, a sling and a scorched looking leather pouch.

Pouch of Shocking

This sturdy pouch has been struck by lightning and survived. Any ammo stored inside will become charged with a mild electric shock.

Frank placed the latter two in his pack, leaving the mask behind. He then grabbed the new sword, strapping it to his backpack.

Ignoring the tunnel in the corner, Frank returned back down the stairs, and then walked briskly down the path spanning the chasm. He resisted the urge to break into a jog. He’d found weapons for the others. That was a big deal.

The walk back took over half an hour, due to the immense length of the path. Frank strode back into the starting room.

“I found weapons.” he stated upon entering.

All three of them stood up.

“I’ve got a sword here for Bill. A sling and pouch for Rina. Check the descriptions.”

Frank took off his pack and handed the items over to their recipients.

“Nothing for me?” asked Maria.

“Only found the two. If I find another one I’ll give it to you.” Frank answered.

Maria looked visibly disappointed, and walked over to her pack to fiddle with it.

“I’m going to show Bill how to use his sword. Watch if you want, it might prove helpful later.”

“And my sling?” asked Rina.

“I’ve never used a sling before.” Frank said bluntly. “You’ll have to figure it out.”

Frank proceeded to demonstrate to Bill the very basics of swordfighting. He was more skilled with a sword than a spear or quarterstaff; he’d even rate himself as competent. It still wasn’t his best weapon though. Bill took to the footwork simply enough, and was soon practicing his swings

“I’m going to rest for a moment. There’s a place I want to look at before we do it, but we are going to have to go gather some stones from outside for Rina to practice with.”

Frank said, and sat down by his stuff. His hand had a small blister forming from his scimitar, now that he no longer had gloves. Other than that though, he had come through the last excursion with only a shallow cut to his calf. He carefully disinfected and cleaned it, just in case. His pant leg had already begun to mend itself.

Frank rested, considering the next step. He’d check out the oddity of the path in the first room, then get Rina some ammo. Once that was accomplished Bill and her could potentially help him in these fights.

Bill practiced with his new sword for a while, but eventually stopped, pondering something. “Hey, Frank. How does the plus to stats on this sword work?” He asked? “Is it like, only when I hold it?”

Frank looked over at him. “If you possess it and it’s your main weapon you’ll get the stat boosts. Don’t ask me how that works, the system handles it. If you lose possession of it you lose the boosts, same if you walk away without it. But if you merely put it down beside you to sleep the boosts stay, same if it’s put away on your back or hip. If you have another weapon you use more you won’t get the boosts.” he explained.

Bill shrugged at the explanation. Frank went back to thinking. His mind went to the prompt he’d received in his last fight. He’d never seen anything like it before. The shopping bag was the same as on the first floor as well. For all that dungeons were unnatural and beyond his understanding, they’d always been so in a consistent way. He had been able to rely on his prior knowledge to know what to expect, even if he had no understanding of how or why.

The bag was aberrant. Could the masks have meaning? In the context of the normal nonsense presented by the dungeon, they meant nothing. But when given to him alongside a broken system prompt, his acquired acceptance of the incomprehensible was broken. They could be meaningful. They could be purposeful.

That thought shook him. Only a little bit, but it did. The idea of the system actively attempting to communicate with him, or someone being able to use the system to communicate was a bigger reframing of his worldview than the acceptance of time travel. It put every single action he’d taken, at least since he traveled back to the beginning, and potentially before then, in a context where everything the system had stated or awarded him might have been given to him deliberately and for a reason.

It may even have been that the unfinished message was presented as it was in order to make him consider the possibility. Frank frowned, but focused on a question that felt more solvable. Did this change any of his plans?