Ch 10 Oh Shit, Ranks
We approached the bus stop, and I started describing the current armor I knew of. “I like the chainmail because it had the best description for what it cost and because hide was using the words crudely made.” I pulled out my chainmail shirt and showed it to them. “This only cost 30 credits, it should stop any cutting edges and reduce blunt damage. I've only run the dungeon once, but I didn’t take any hits. So, I don’t know if that's what ya’ll would prefer. Or if you want something else? The store is pretty simplistic. But it seems to be changing so.”
Sorko gave me a nod. “Chainmail shirt is good enough for us. Is there only medieval armor?”
I shook my head and show him my boots. “Under clothing I got these boots. I had to auto size them, but they are the most comfortable thing I've ever owned so far. Just need a little breaking in. I was going to buy clothes that I could enchant but haven't gotten to it yet. Ill likely do it after dungeon run today.”
Retil gives me a look. “So, you're more of a crafter than a dungeoneer then? Or are you just focused on crafting since we can't dungeon run that much?”
I shake my head. “Dungeon running is for the experience, not the credits. I make more just from selling the wands. If I come up with three more needed enchants, I can just stop working on live on the credits without dungeon running. All I need currency for right now is supplies. But I might be able to get those from the store soon as well to.”
They both side eye me. Then to each other. “Any chance of donating to the cause of military funding? We could make an arrangement of getting you through the dungeon and getting you the clear rewards.”
I shake my head. “I have a better idea. You know how there are 9 dungeons in the US? What do you think all the people without dungeons are going to do?” He gives me a look. “they’ll go to where the dungeons are.”
He nods. “we’ve been preparing for mass transient movement. Making a large campground not far from here. With tent spaces and bathrooms. Not much, but better than having people sleeping under bridges, have enough of that already.”
I smile. “Have you looked at what's available in the store for housing and camping? There should be some nice stuff. I’m honestly considering getting rid of my apartment and getting a camper van. I just need to figure out how to enchant a toilet. My pristine tags are better than any shower already.”
They both grimace at me. Retil makes a sound. “How? Doesn’t it leave behind a film of soap or something?”
“Nope, removes all grime and soil and dead skin. Cleanest I've ever been. And it doesn’t take any scrubbing at all.” They both glance at me.
I motion to the terminal. We have been standing here just talking. “Tell me what you need in leg armor, front and back covered? Just front? Sides? Chain too heavy?”
Retil gives it a moment's thought. “If it's going medieval maybe something like scale mail? Doesn’t that have leggings? Along with a skirt to protect your groin if I remember right. Been awhile since I played D&D.”
I looked at Retil again, maybe there was a reason he was the one going on the dungeon run instead. Could be worse then.
“Let me check and see.” I click through the screens. I find it under medium armor just as I thought. “it's here under medium armor. Is that what you both want? Do you want that instead of chain?”
Retil nods. “Full set would be better to match up. I don’t think it will provide bonuses or anything, but it would cover better and meet together better if they match. Besides. Makeshift always looks like you're a noob.” he laughs to himself.
I'm not entirely sure what he's talking about, but I let it slide. Scale mail shirts are also 30, so I purchased two. I pull them from my inventory and hand them over.
“After I get the leggings, I buy you both auto sizes so they will fit you better. But then you won't be able to loan them to others. That, ok?”
Sorko responds. “If we can get enough people through to get everyone equipped, then I'll be keeping these myself. Everyone else will be able to do the same after a while.”
I nod to him. I click through to leg armor. It shows the same as medium armor so again I select scale mail and purchase two. Again just 30 credits. I don’t really want leggings as of yet. I pull them from my inventory. Looks like there isn't an attached skirt to these.
“One sec. Do either of you want a wand for yourself? To show anyone else what they do? Or the sealant tag? The pristine tag? If I'm doing this all on a line of credit might as well, go all out.” I ask them
Retil looks like he wants to start bulk ordering, but Sorko puts a stop to it.
“You said the tags are one time use? And the wands?”
“Tags are one time use. Auto size tag is 15, pristine tag is 15, pristine wand is 100, for sealant the tag is 20 and the wand is 30. The system gives you a suggested price. Which is how much they take from each sale. I haven't made that many enchantments yet. But anyone can buy them through the store. The force bolt wand and the gravity wand are both 50 each.”
Sorko gives me a nod. “We are already at 180 credits out of 300. We need to make enough to get someone else outfitted as well. So that’s another 90 credits. 90 credits per person to get outfitted. So, sealant wand is 30 credits?”
I nod at him. “But the thing about the wands is, they can only register one person. So only one person can use that particular wand. But one person can have as many wands as they want.” I explain. They both grimace.
Retil gives Sorko a look. “I'll take it. And be on dungeon runs. I can run at least one person through every time. It'll be a little hard, but if we have enough of the men with me. We can make it back soon enough.”
Sorko nods to him. “Sealant wand then. That will be the full 300. That doesn’t include the clear reward. Because we have only run the dungeon once each, so don’t know what the second clear reward is.”
I nod to him. “that's fair. I don’t either so we’re even. I haven't made enough yet to buy the first clear reward either so.”
They both grimace. “Are you even close? That would take a solid month of running through to get that much.” Retil says in distaste. “crafters” he mutters low.
I snicker. “Yeah, the wands sell well, and since I posted about it to the message board, they’ve been selling better. I'm hoping by this time next week I'll be able to get the reward and found out what it actually does.”
They both stare at me. Retil snorts and Sorko sighs.
“let's just get to the dungeon then. Any particular way you need to set up?” Sorko asks me.
I quickly bought the auto sizes and the sealant wand. Handing them over, I instruct them on the use. “After putting the gear on just place the tags anywhere. It'll feel odd as it readjusts to fit you, be aware it'll fit you as you are now, with everything you're wearing. So, make sure you're only wearing what you would take into the dungeon as you are.”
They both pause and start shifting items about. They both have vests on with a multitude of pockets. “Yeah, we need to leave gear somewhere.” Retil says to me. They start walking back to the parking garage.
On the far side from the dungeon there is a series of mobile buildings and tents. They go into the third tent, a series of cots there. They start stripping gear off. Going back and forth on what they might or might not need.
I started to explain. “The dungeon scales with the party. As a soloer I had it pretty easy, as a party of three we can expect three times as many. I don’t know how the boss fight will happen, but you will likely need a good knife and armor. I'm going to be taking care of most of the goblins. What have ya’ll been using to kill them so far?”
Retil snorts at me. “She bought a goddam sword and has been passing it around. So, every time a squad goes in, they take it with them. Guns don’t work so we’ve just been using knives. The goblins aren't really strong, it's just that there are so many compared to the squad. And sometimes they have weapons. But we usually take those.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I snort. A sword is useless if you don’t know how to not kill yourself. Passing it around like a trophy is pretty funny though.
“I'll show you how my wands work, and you can get a couple next run. If your higher ups want to buy them, I can run a couple of people through like this again. But besides credits there is something else I want.”
Sorko gives me a hard look. “Besides credits to pay back?”
I nod. “Not this time. This time is to show off what I made. The next time I run a dungeon with you.”
He stares. “You mean to do this again? Why?”
I pause, didn’t he realize the dungeon is replacing everything? I suppose not yet.
“Because one time won't be enough to get you started. Next run ill buy you wands on credit and let you kill everything. The run after that can be with someone else. To get them gear and they can kill everything. I think you'd need at least 6, maybe or 10? Parties of at least four people running the dungeon twice a day to get everyone equipment sometime in the next month. Enough people with wands and the dungeon is a breeze. Enough people with equipment they can solo run it. Enough people that can solo it? They can start running civilians through.”
Sorko stares at me. I'm not sure why he hasn’t thought about this yet. Fine, I'll explain.
“The store sells currency. Which means the money we use? Will be worthless at some point. Everything we need? It is for sale in the store. So, everyone will need to run the dungeon to get supplies. A meal for four people? Costs 6 credits. One dungeon run? That’s 25 platters at 6 portions each. So, 150 credits? Equals 150 meals. That’s 50 days' worth of food. For a single dungeon run. Family of four? Not quite two weeks. A single dungeon run.”
They both stare at me, as well as a few surrounding men. I clear my throat.
“The world as we know it will change, I don’t know how. But everything we rely on? Is for sale in the store. Every shopping mall will close, every fast-food place will close. Every mom-and-pop store will close. Because everything is for sale in the store. “
A few people shudder. I feel my spine tingle. Did people not realize it yet? Our civilization is ending as we stand.
“I want as many people capable of running the dungeon as can be. I don’t care if they're military, civilian or even geriatrics. If they can walk through it, point and aim. They can get to the fourth room. Which will net them 100 credits. There are only 9 dungeons in the US. The population can be supported on the dungeons alone.”
Retil lets out a shuddering breath. I think he begins to see it. Sorko looks like he stares into the distance. I suddenly hear clapping behind me.
“a good speech, for someone who doesn’t have to live with the consequences.”
Every single person in the tent jumps to attention. I stare. I don’t know ranks or insignia, but I'd take a guess he's higher up there. His uniform is crips and clean. Two connecting bars on the shoulder.
“Maybe, not overall consequences, but we all have to deal with the fall of everything we know.” I tell him, standing straight. Feeling like I'm in front of my high school principal just before getting suspended.
“That may well be true. But we have to deal with the civilians running amuck. And the logistics of people coming and going at all hours. What have you done?” He questions me. My spine stiffens against my will. I breathe deeply, focusing my thoughts.
“I crafted. What I think will help people. Because that is what I chose as my skills. As I didn’t know we would have dungeons, or that there would be monsters to fight. I chose to improve daily lives.”
He gives me a sharp nod, somehow approving. I nearly faltered. This is not what I was expecting.
“Good, I was told you had a demonstration for us. Anything to be shown outside of the dungeon?” He questions me. I pause. I could show gravity. I glance around. Spying a metal box, I walk over.
“Can I empty this? And destroy it?” the high rank nods to me. I started piling things out of it. And set them aside. I pull the box away from everything. Making sure nothing else is in the area of effect or close to it.
“I made this wand with the force of gravity. It has an area of effect to use with multiple mobs in mind. Since the goblins are smaller, I got three of them at a time in it. When I tried to get four, I only got part of two of them.” I pull out my gravity wand from my inventory. As I continue to explain.
“The wand is registered to a single person, when its first used that person has to register a trigger word. I use the same word for all my wands because I call tell them apart as I made them.” I point to the box and say “Riposte.” The box crashes to the ground with a shriek of screaming metal. It looks like someone has crushed a giant soda can.
“As you can see, gravity is enacted when I point and aim. Id suggested using a fairly rare word as a trigger. I don’t know the calculations for how much the gravity increases in the area but it's enough to destroy just about everything so far.”
The ranker gives me a hard look. “And you can do this how many times?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I haven't fully tested the wands. I cast it only four, five times? But I haven't seen the end of it yet.”
He harrumphs at me. “Sergeant, you are running the dungeon with him to get credits, correct?”
Sorko jumps at being called front. Saluting, “yes sir, captain! We were given armor on loan to be repaid, backed by the system agreement. After this dungeon run, he stated he was willing to complete more dungeon runs. As long as we are willing to try and run civilians though.”
The captain gives a nod. Turning to me. “How many times are you willing to run the dungeon with us? We can set up in shifts to run every twelve hours.”
I think a moment. I can easily run twice a day, but do I want to do all my runs with them? What about Lucas and them? Could I get them through the dungeon as well?
“Once a day for the next week at least, I have a previous commitment to the hospital to get them started with a dungeon team as well. They don’t have people set up to go yet, but I'm going to get them set up with wands and gear.” I glance at the clock, 6.40 pm. “I can be here at 6pm daily to run with whoever you want. I’ll do a loan for the party I'm with the be repaid after the dungeon run for that day. So, they don’t necessarily have to have gear yet, but if you want them to be able to get more things. Even if it's just three wands. If I'm running with someone who already has a wand, we can maybe run a party of six. I don’t know yet. But I'd like to keep it to two or three people for now.”
He grimaces at that. And then thinks for a moment. “What if they don’t have armor but buy each a wand before the dungeon run. Five people would make 750 credits.”
I nod at him. “If the party has at least three wands I'll do it, yeah. I'd prefer it if everyone had armor at that point though. I don’t know what the boss looks like outside of soloing. No one has said.”
He grins at me. “Then we have a deal. 6pm for a week. Starting today. Sorko, pick four to take with you. I don’t care who gets a wand, but I want at least three. One piece of armor each, we can set up for tomorrow as well.”
With that he walks out of the tent. Everyone starts to relax and go back to what they were doing. Two men start dragging the crushed box outside.
Sorko looks around for a moment. “Retil, we still have the previous agreement so you're still going. Taylor, Williams, Moore. You’re coming with us now. Strip to bare gear, well get you set up. Just bring a knife.”
Three men hurried to strip off gear. Retil stands beside me, pulling on the scale mail. “Should I take my pants off for these you think?” he asks me.
My brain has to catch up with his question. I'm still stiff from the captain.
“Yeah, otherwise your pants will be too baggy to move with you.” I told him. So, he strips out of his pants and belt. And pulls the leggings on. I watch as he places the auto size on the leggings, and they resize to him. He jumps about a little and jogs in place, getting used to the feel I suppose.
“Not too tight, not really loose. Pretty damn comfy too. Your right, I don’t want to take them off now.” he grins at me. A full-on smile. I wasn’t expecting cheeriness after being questioned by his superior.
Sorko snorts and repeats the actions, taking off his pants and pulling the leggings on. He pulls a shirt on and then the scale mail shirt, auto sizing it. He also tests the moves and fit of it.
“He's certainly right about it. Easy to move in and I'm not going to have to worry about it catching on anything. Let's get these three with shirts at least and then the wands. I think they get the wands, so we don’t violate our prior agreement.”
I nod to him. That’s fair, if I was still running just the two of them the wands wouldn't the affordable. But with the new three. Especially if they aren't getting leggings as well.
The three men and wearing pants, shirts, boots and holsters with knives. Not a gun in sight. It seems weird all the military and no guns. But they don’t work in the dungeon.
They looked as ready as could be, so I started walking back to the bus stop.
“Scale mail shirts, yeah?” I look to Sorko. He is still the highest rank.
He nods to me. So, I purchased three and another three auto sizes. I hand them over to the new men. They all look to Retil and he explains to them what the tags are for.
“So, I showed gravity wand, which is area of effect, there is also force bolt, which is single target, but it one shot a goblin and seriously impacts a hobgoblin. If my math is right, you could get two of each?” I look to Sorko. “You wouldn’t have enough to outfit anyone else, but four wands could get you four soloers. I think. Or two soloers definitely.”
He gives me a look. “I could not outfit anybody and get eight wands.”
I pause, and nod to him. I look to Retil and the other three. “They could each be a soloer. Or run someone through. With just two wands.”
He snorts. “Fine, whatever, eight wands. I'll be filing paperwork for the next week anyway.”
I go through the store and purchase four of each weaponry wand. They look more well done than when I first sold them. More polished than just a set of dowels with carvings. There was even a handle now. I hand one of each to the men.
“If you didn’t catch what I said, it registers to you. It needs a trigger word. I'd suggest something rare to say. Rare to hear is even better. Using a foreign language might be a bad idea though. Except English is weird.”
Retil snorts a little at me. “Yeah, riposte, really? Isn't that a fencing term?”
I shrug. “it's not something I hear a lot, but it’s a word I know. It means return parry.”
I hear a couple of snickers. We started walking towards the dungeon, so I pulled out my gear. This time I'm prepared. I made a duct tape holster to my belt and set wands on each side. I only need one gravity wand, but I have two bolt wands. My kbar is along my thigh now. I hear more snickers.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I keep forgetting to make or get holsters. This works though. I can pull them off easily as I need. Maybe I should Velcro them.” I think a moment. Velcro them to my pants. Just tag them back as I don’t need them. Maybe. The only thing I'd put back is a bolt wand or a gravity wand.
It's time to head into the dungeon.