Just as Lefty tabbed out of his character sheet, Feathers waddled up beside him. With a flap of his wings, the duck hopped up, perched itself atop a rock, and began to preen himself.

“So does the duck, like, level up as well? Or no?” Calista asked.

Feathers paused to quack and returned to his preening.

“He says he already did,” Lefty replied.

“Alright then,” Calista rubbed her hands as she examined the dead centipede, “let’s see what kind of loot this thing has.”

As Calista leaned over the dead insect, Lefty reflected on how absurd it was for a giant centipede to actually possess anything beyond its own body parts. Then again, who was he to say life in a game world was strange in the first place? It wasn’t like he could actually remember anything from his past life. Besides, aside from the dangers and suffering, there was actually a lot of rather cool things about his current life. Not only did he have the ability to shoot fire from his finger tips, he also had the ability to communicate with magical waterfowl. So really, why wouldn’t the centipede have valid loot?

It was then that Calista’s eyes opened with a start. “Wow, look at this!”

The delver sat back just as the sound of bubbles bursting was followed by a pair of shining bronze boxes that appeared in the air and landed on the ground beside Calista.

Lefty was taken aback, “What are those?”

“Loot boxes!” Calista exclaimed.

The boxes were clearly special. Their bronze exteriors shone bright in the afternoon sun and he could see glittering silver inlays lining the lids. There were also the keyholes carved from blue gemstones that sat at the center of the boxes.

Lefty scratched his head, “So, forgive me if this sounds stupid, but what’s a loot box?”

Calista appeared confused. “What? You really don’t know?”

“I don’t know if you remember this, but back when we first met, I had only just started playing,” Lefty explained.

“Oh, you’re right. I don’t remember that,” Calista said.

Now it was Grumner’s turn to explain, “Right, so as far as these loot boxes go, they’re something you get above and beyond the normal loot for a monster or a challenge. Did the centipede have anything else?”

“Just a few coins, a dented skull cap, and some goo.” Calista reached into her pack. “Here,” she flipped a gold coin to each of them. “Do either of you want either the skull cap or the goo?”

Grumner raised an eyebrow, “You took the goo?”

“Yeah, why? You want it?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ll take the goo,” the dwarf replied.

Calista tilted her head, “Really? You want the goo?”

Grumner sounded defensive, “Yeah, I want the goo, okay? I’m a ranger. It could come in handy for something later, alright?”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Calista looked miffed, but reached into her inventory and pulled out what looked like an animal intestine shaped into a pouch. Its insides were sloshing with some sort of purple liquid. She grumbled as she handed it over, “I guess I was kinda thinking the same thing.”

“Well there you go!” Grumner said as he accepted the goo-filled intestine.

“Why did you even offer it?” Lefty asked.

“Well maybe I won’t next time,” Calista grumbled.

The pouch disappeared into Grumner’s inventory. “Well you better, because I want my goo.”

Feathers quacked impatiently.

Calista turned to Lefty, “What’s he asking?”

Lefty translated, “He’s asking if you guys are done. He wants to know what’s inside the loot boxes.”

“I don’t know …” Calista paused, “… I thought it might be a good idea if we decided on a system of dividing things up before we opened them.”

“What? I don’t see why the loot boxes need to be any different from what we just did,” Lefty said.

Grumner patted the top of a box. “Because these are going to contain more valuable things than goo and dented armor. If I remember right, this is usually how you get the really good stuff.”

“Grumner’s correct,” Calista nodded. “There’s a reason these are the first loot boxes we’ve seen since we’ve been stuck here. They usually only drop from bosses or high level monsters.”

Lefty considered this information. They had a point. It made sense to have a system where by they could divvy up the loot in a manner that didn’t have them at odds in the case that something universally valuable showed up.

“What do you think?” He asked Feathers.

The duck warbled, stomped his feet a few times, and then let out an assertive quack.

“That’s what I was thinking too,” Lefty agreed.

Grumner raised an eyebrow that seemed to ask why the duck seemed to be in charge.

Calista chimed in next, “What? What are you thinking?”

Lefty explained, “Feathers says we’re three distinctly different classes and that we should just divide the loot according to who can use it the best unless there’s something two or more of us want, in which case we can just play paper-rock-scissors.”

Calista turned to the dwarf, “That actually sounds pretty reasonable.”

“Sure,” Grumner agreed.

“Alright, here we go!” Calista said as a brass key appeared in her hand. Placing the key into the gemstone lock, she unlocked the first box. There was a flash of light as the lid popped open and a pair of holographic images appeared shining in the air. The first was of a wooden buckler shield that glowed with a magical blue aura. The second was of a card that had a black back with silver etching that said ‘Sable Unlimited’ on one side and a blank face on the other.

“I suppose Grumner should take the shield, if he wants it,” Calista said.

“I’ll take it,” Grumner said as he reached into the box and pulled out the shield. It fit nicely on his arm. Wooden with iron banding and a nasty spike at the center, the buckler was painted blue with a white bird of prey centered around the spike.

Lefty felt a slight pang of jealousy. “That actually looks pretty badass.”

“Why thank you,” Grumner smiled.

Feathers then spoke up with a pair of quacks.

“He says he doesn’t want the card,” Lefty interpreted.

“Oh,” Calista said as if she hadn’t considered the duck. “I suppose I’ll face you for it then?”

“Yeah, uh …” Lefty looked at the card floating in the air. “Before we start, what exactly does that thing do?”

“That’s the point. We don’t know. We won’t know until someone claims it. They’re always something good, but usually temporary. Like an XP boost or a temporary skill bonus or something. Occasionally you might get something that permanently gives you an ability or an item, but then there’s usually a catch, like something you have to do to earn it.”

“Okay, sure.” Lefty raised his hands.

Calista raised her hands and said, “One-two-three-shoot.”

As their hands fell, scissors beat paper and Lefty cursed.

“Damn.”

Calista reached up and plucked the card out of the air. As she turned it over, Grumner asked her what it said.

Calista read out loud, “Adrenaline. Grants +6 to constitution and speed attributes as well as all sight-based perception checks for twenty minutes.”

Now Lefty was getting really jealous. He wanted something cool. This next box better not disappoint, he thought as he watched Calista press the key into the gemstone lock. Again, a bright glow escaped as the lid opened and then two items popped up where they stood rotating in the air.

Lefty’s jaw dropped. What is that?

At first glance, he had no idea what either of the items were. Then, as he took a closer look, he realized the only reason he didn’t recognize either of the items right away was because they were both so mundane. Floating to his left was a small gray-green egg, while floating to his right was a piece of string.

He shook his head, “What?”

Calista looked sheepish, “Ah … I don’t … uhm … maybe they’re magical?”

“Right,” Lefty drew himself up and made the proper signals in the air as he said, “Dephendicus magicae.”

As the detect magic spell took hold, Lefty’s eyes glowed for a moment and then settled in on the string and the egg. To his mild surprise, only the string had a faint magical aura while the egg was entirely mundane. What exactly would a magical string do? And what is an egg doing in a loot box?

He looked down to duck at his feet. “Which one do you like?”

Feathers replied that he wasn’t sure yet.

After a moment of staring at the two items, Lefty finally reached his decision. Reaching toward the string, he said to Feathers, “Do you mind?”

The duck warbled that he didn’t. So Lefty plucked the string out of the air and held it in his hand. After rolling it against his palm, he then picked it up and held it before him as a text box sprang up in the air [Unknown String].

“What’s it do?” Calista asked.

“I don’t know,” Lefty answered.

Grumner then cut in, his voice concerned, “Where’d the egg go?”

Feathers quorked.

Lefty answered, “He says it’s in his inventory.”

“And what does it do?” Grumner asked.

Feathers quacked twice as he walked away.

Lefty explained, “He says that’s for him to know and for you to not know and that you probably wouldn’t want it anyway.”