Ch 13 Making Money

Leaving the dungeon portal, Lucas and I step through into the morning light. There are a few people around, it being 9am on a Friday. We started walking towards where we parked.

“Think I can get my check this early?” I asked him. He grunts.

“At the shop, yeah.” and gets into his car. As he drives off, I start thinking. What do I need to get? Do I want to keep paying rent? Do I want to enchant a toilet? A complete bathroom? What else do I need to live without a home? Water? Internet? Electricity? I should look up long term camping too. If they're turning the parking garage into a campers world, then they’ll need facilities. Not everyone is going to buy pristine. Can I have an endless shower? What about lights?

As thoughts race through my head, I start driving to the sub shop. I'll bring it up with Mikey to run him through the dungeon this time tomorrow morning. I need to make a few wands to the hospital too. So, I need to get dowels. And look at what skill I can get. How much was enchanting? I can't remember. Should I get something else? A summons or something like it?

Getting to the shop didn’t take long. Kate was already there and had it open for the day. She smiled at seeing me and I gave her a wave.

“Fancy seeing you here so early! I thought you worked this afternoon?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, circumstances have forced me to resign. As I'll be busy every day at 6pm for the next week. I've been using the system and crafting a lot. And dungeon running. So, I'm transitioning to a new start.”

She frowns. “Is it really that big of a deal? It won't let me go in. I tried with a couple of friends.”

I nod. “Everything you could possibly want is for sale through the store. Food, clothes, tech. So, everyone is going to be dungeon running to get items. I was thinking. We should start a guild. Those who work here I mean. I can run solo pretty easily. I ran Lucas through without much trouble too. If I can run Mikey and Maggie through, then we can start a service of running people through to get them started. I'd want your help to keep it organized too. We could use the shop as a base.”

She frowns as I continue. “I know, it's hard not being able to join in, but think of it like this. It will give you time to practice your skills until you're a badass and don’t need the help to solo. As it is, the only reason I can solo is I enchanted weapons, then I sold them to the store. Anyone can buy them and solo too.”

She frowns some more at me. “Anyone? Including the bad guys going around trying to kill people for experience?”

Wait, what? “What do you mean?” I ask.

“You haven't heard? There was a masked group that was super convinced that killing humans would give the most exp. So, they killed a tour bus full of people. They were all shot down when they tried to flee, and the cops got exp for doing their jobs.”

Well shit. That’s depressing. “How many were there?”

“There were five, they were all wearing this black cloak and white mask. Trying to pull some harry potter bullshit, I think. But they killed nearly twenty people. So, they got what they deserved.”

I agreed with her. I hadn't thought people would start fights outside of the dungeon, but I should have expected it. The police getting job exp is new, I think. Sad but not much we can do.

“What do you think on my guild idea? Would you be willing to help? You could recruit other people as well. Like if any of your family wants to.”

She thinks about it for a moment. “I think my older sister would want to. Not sure either of my parents would. They're kinda old school. Think I should go to college, get married, have 2.5 kids, with a white picket fence. The whole deal. Not sure where they got that idea from. Liv is so gay she's a frickin rainbow. Shes really awesome, she works as a medical biller. Shes the only reason I could get a job and not do college. Since she finished high school, just got a certification and got a good job doing it. She might keep her job and work with us part-time. Just run the dungeon once a day or something.” I nod, that’s easy enough to work around.

Lucas comes from the office carrying the checks, handing me mine.

“So, what's the idea with a guild? You want me to run it?” he asks.

“I was thinking, run someone through once or twice, set them up with gear and they pay back the credits. Then they can run someone through once. And pyramid from there. We can charge to run them through and to gear them up. And we can do it for anyone, not just guild members. But guild members would be the ones running others through. And getting paid to do it.” he nods. Thinking about it.

“And what about people that don’t want to fight, but do want credits? How would that work? We make them fight?”

I shake my head. “For guild members they can do other things, like organize and craft. I leveled up and got 10 skill points. I remember it cost 20 to earn enchanting. So, we level them up twice and they can craft for the guild. Or they can just hold onto loaner gear. Like armor. It doesn’t have to be permanently given out. We can resize it for different people.”

He gives a nod. “And those too young?” he points a thumb at Kate. “We just gonna leave them roadside?” again I shake my head.

“No, they can practice their skills and use the message board fine. They can help interact with people to be run through the dungeon. Id imagine Kate as a great front-gal. And Maggie as a great secretary.” he snorts. Kate grins.

“Yeah, I can do that. Like describing how it all works to people. Messaging different people and maybe making flyers so people know what we are doing? I can just walk through the mall and find people that want to be run through. We can charge real money or credits. Maybe both. Depending on how we do.” Kate thinks out loud.

I pause. We might need more people. I still promised the hospital to run them through too. They can be the guinea pigs I suppose.

“I made a deal with DMC to run a couple of people through. To get them set up, to buy equipment for the hospital. Maybe they can spread the word about what we’re doing. I should give them a call and figure out negotiations.” I muse to myself. How many wands did I promise? Did I actually promise a set amount? I don’t think I did. Need to make an actual agreement with them. And a party. It would be better to run one person at a time.

Lucas looks to Kate and sighs. “I suppose it wouldn’t be worth it keeping the store going if I don’t keep getting supplies. I'll keep it going as long as there are still trucks coming though. Not everyone can run the dungeon. As people might just want a sandwich too.” He looks at me. I gave him a nod. I understand. He put his life savings into buying a franchise. It makes more than even so he does have money set aside. But not worth how much the start-up was. It was supposed to be his retirement plan. Having a shop, then selling it when he got too old to work. It really sucks when your life plans have to change without your input.

“I'm sorry. There isn't much we can do. There will be a lot of people coming to Dallas soon though. So, we might be able to get money and credits easily enough by running people through the dungeon. Think you could handle it solo?” I asked him. He grunts at me.

“Maybe, yeah. If there weren’t that many monsters I could. Not sure I could run someone else through though. I'd have to work on it.” he said.

I think a moment. “You could come with me for another run? I plan on running Mikey tomorrow morning, if not him someone from the hospital. It will give you a chance to see how well you fare against more monsters. And if it's not Mikey then we can see how well you do when someone doesn’t pull their weight? I won't be able to run just you for a week, so we won't know if you can run someone alone yet.” he grunts again.

“I can wait a week, or I can run Mikey. Get him set up with the same gear as me. I know he’ll pull his weight. As long as he doesn’t freeze, that is. That boy seems like the type to jump head first though.”

I gave him a nod. That did sound like Mikey. And if Lucas runs him, they’ll see how well they do together. I have high hopes for Mikey being able to run someone through one his own. I'm fairly certain once he gets more comfortable Lucas will be able to as well. He just has to adapt a bit more.

“so, we’re really doing this guild, then? Cuz I wanna figure out a cute outfit to start with. I can purchase it from the store and then maybe customize it myself.” Kate grins at us. Such a kid. I grin. Lucas huffs.

**

I wave them goodbye as I walked out of the store. Going to the bank to get my check cashed. Lucas disliked direct deposit, so we still had paper checks. I didn’t argue with him, since it let me feel like I had actual money for a few moments. Digits on a screen doesn’t really do that.

Sitting in my car, I decided to call DMC. I get the receptionist and tell them who I am.

“Thank you for calling, Mr. Dumar is currently in a meeting and will be available this afternoon at 2pm. Would you be willing to meet him here?” she asks. That I can do. It's just past 10am. I can go buy the dowels and make some wands for the hospital. Maybe hit up a terminal for armor and I can make tags myself for a few people. I think six should be good enough to start for now. Should they each get a gravity and a force bolt wand? And a set of scale mail? I start calculating it in my head. I want to make at least ten of each sealant and ten pristine wands, then six force bolts and six gravity. Twelve auto sizes, maybe twelve sealant tags. Twenty pristine tags? Or twenty-four. So, can they clean up after? This seems like I'm going to be doing a lot of crafting today.

Getting to the bank was simple enough. I walk in and go to the counter. The man behind the desk is professional and I quickly cash my check. As I go to leave someone comes bursting into the lobby, with a flame on their hand.

“This is a robbery! I want all cash and jewelry! No pressing the panic buttons or someone's gonna fry!” they yell. Voice is muffle through a ski mask. Likely male though. Everyone in the lobby freezes. I noticed two security guards, one of them reaching a fist towards ski mask and clenching.

Suddenly ski mask is writhing on the floor. I stood there in shock. Not knowing what was going on. The second security guard came up and zip tied ski masks hands together. And then pulled him up and zip tied him to a chair.

One of the tellers was on the phone, probably with the police. They’ll need to do something with a guy that has fire hands, besides plastic cuffs. Another person came from the office in the back and ushered me into a chair.

“I'm sorry for the delay, but would you mind waiting for the police to give a report?” she asks, quietly. I nod. I'm curious how they're going to deal with him.

Less than ten minutes go by, and the two other customers were sitting with me when police came in. Three men and a woman, all in tac vests. They surround ski mask and handcuff him with metal cuffs. Then they start to pull him to the door. He seems to loll in between two men as they half drag him. The woman comes to us as starts asking questions.

“I'm officer Jones with DPD, what can you tell me about today's events?” she asks

The man in a suit to my right answers first. “I was getting something out of my deposit box when the door was thrown open. The clerk was going to shut the door with us in it. When all of a sudden, he was down on the floor. I don’t know what happened.”

The woman in slacks to his right answered as well. “I was working on getting some papers lined up, when I heard the commotion. The clerk I was with had me sit on the floor under the desk until the guards had him in the chair. I didn’t see anything.”

My turn I suppose. “He came in with his hands on fire. Saying he was going to rob the bank. He was using a system skill, I think. I noticed the guard has a skill that puts him out though. Then they tied him up. That’s all.”

The cop blinks at me. “How would you know it was a system skill?”

“Because he didn’t have any propellant on him. No wires or piping. It was just his hand on fire. It didn’t splutter or sway when he moved his arm, it stayed lit. I think he was trying to throw fireballs but failed to get that skill.”

The cop grimaced. “Yeah, we’ve had a couple people try that.”

“Is there anything else you need of me? I have somewhere to be.” the man in the suit says, as he stands ready to go. The cops give a professional smile.

“No sir. Thank you for your time and patience. Hope you have a better day.” The officer puts away her notebook and turns to leave. I stand and start towards the door. A teller came up to me.

“We are sorry for the commotion today, please know in apology for the disruption to your day. The fees for your account will be waived for the next three months. If there is anything we can do to amend and assuage your worries here at our bank, let us know for the future. We hope you will continue to bank with us.”

Nice spiel. “I don’t think I have any problems with your bank. It's not your fault for being targeted. And your guards took him down fairly fast as well. Thank you for waiving the fees though. That helps.” I told her. She smiles professionally and walks back to the desk area.

I go to my car. And start driving towards the same box store as last time. It's getting close to noon. So, if I want everything done by 2p I need to get a move on.

**

Getting to the store didn’t take long. Going through the isles and grabbing 15 dowels to cut in half was easy. That $30 there. What else did I need for today? Tags and wands are all I need to make by 2p. then I'm meeting up with the guard. Do I want to premade stuff for them? I have enough dowels to make six extra wands. So, I can make three of each force bolt and gravity. I thought for a moment. I should grab some printer paper if I'm making tags too. And another pack of sharpies. That should be all I need for now. I hurry to check out, and start getting home

**

I don’t speed driving home, but only because it was lunch traffic. On a Friday everyone apparently decided they're eating out. Or dungeon running. Either or. Making it home I carry my bags upstairs. Once more I shop at a physical store, I forgot I have an inventory. Setting the bags down I pull the saw from my inventory and start sawing the dowels in half. Less neat this time as I'm on a time limit. Doing them all took me nearly thirty minutes. Its 12.30 now. I need to leave here by 1.30p and I should pristine myself and change into something nicer too. Grabbing a sharpie, I start drawing the glyphs onto the ends of the proto wands. I won't have enough time to carve them now. But I can do at least two pristine. I do so carefully, I know if I rush ill mess up. And no telling what a poor enchantment will do. Grabbing a few sheets of paper, I quickly scissor them into squares. How many did I want to make again? 12? Need twelve auto sizes at least. I quickly scribble them out. Far easier to do now. It just past 1 p.m. now. I can do another wand. I'll make a sealant. I carve it smoothly, not rushing. As soon as I finish. I got to change into my polo, slacks and boots. I scribble two pristines down and apply them to the shirt and slacks. The wrinkles loosen and the shirt looks brighter. I suppose I might have left it on the floor, oops. Taking the finished wands and tags and shoving them into my inventory. I set down the road to the terminal. I select through the screens until I get to the scale mail. I purchased scale mail, six shirts and six leggings. Shoving them into my inventory I rush to my car and head to DMC.

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Where I park and walk into the main building with Dumar waiting for me in the lobby. Shit, am I late? I hope not. I greet him.

“Good afternoon, sir. I hope I'm not late?” I smile professionally.

He smiles in return. “Not late no. I just wanted to be here to show you up to the meeting room is all. There are a few people for you to meet, so I didn’t want you to be nervous. Forewarned is forearmed I like to think.”

My smile strains. Crap, I hope it isn't lawyers. It probably is though. A hospital would have a plethora on hand.

“Anyone who wants to be a part of this should know ahead of time what they're getting into. Whoever you think I should meet, I'll do so gladly.” Remember professional, always service smile.

I get a smirk in return. He’s a bigwig. Knowns exactly what I'm thinking. We headed to the elevator, and he selected the seventh floor. I had thought that all the meeting rooms on the second, but I suppose not. As we step off there are patient rooms lining the hall.

“There are some meeting rooms where we force people to see the patients as we pass. To remind them, the patients are human too. This meeting room just happens to be the only one large enough for the crowd we gathered.” Dumar smirks at me. I try not to shudder. I don’t know what ward we’re on but it's too quiet.

I follow along as we move through the myriad halls. We finally come to a stop outside what appears to be a Drs lounge. He opens the door and gestures me in. There are almost twenty people in the room. Most of them in button ups or suits. I feel a little underdressed now. I stand awkwardly at the foot of the long table centered in the room as Dumar shuts the door and walks forward.

“Thank you all for coming. As I've told you, we’ve had someone come forward with a bit of success in the dungeon. This is Arthur Turner, an enchanter. He tells me he made wands to use as a weapon in the dungeon and wands to clean in the hospital. I offered to buy them from him but was told they were for sale in the store. When we spoke of this, and how I could never run the dungeon. He offered to help run someone through. That is where you all come in. I asked for volunteers to help the hospital buy equipment from the store and you responded. The hospital will purchase the equipment from Arthur, and it will be loaned to you, with the provision that you run or help others run the dungeon as well.”

He looks around the room. It seems these are the people I'll be running. I take a count. 17 isn't too bad. I might be able to run two at once, but not three. I go to speak.

“Hello, thank you for coming. As he said, I'm an enchanter. I've made two wands that can kill the goblins in the dungeon. With these wands I was able to solo the dungeon. My hope is that I get you all up to par then you can solo it too. I don’t know about parties as that is more for exp than for credits, and I don’t believe I can run more than two people at once. I wanted to warn you though. There is gore. You see the viscera and the blood of the monsters. It isn't clean the fighting. If you don’t think you can handle going through the dungeon on a regular basis I need to know now. Because you will be making a commitment to the hospital. The wand I'm selling can register one person. So only one person can use that wand, for good. The wands are 50 credits in the store. A dungeon run nets you 150 credits. No matter the party size it’s always 150 credits. So, I think I'll sell the weaponry wands directly to those I run through the dungeon for 50 credits to be repaid at the end of the run. Then they are yours to keep. And then the hospital isn't losing on they run.”

Dumar gives me a look. He speaks up. “If you would rather pay him in credits that is acceptable. You will be paid in currency for the duration of running dungeons. DMC has made an official system account, to be used for only hospital supplies. We cannot pay people with credits but only with currency, as of yet. The agreement I would like to make is $500 for 100 credits. It is up to you how often and when you run the dungeon. We are working on getting a terminal set up in the lobby. But as of now there is a bus stop on the far side of our west parking lot. In the system window you will select currency and then select pay to DMC, we will then be notified and will direct deposit money into the bank account we have on file. Any questions so far?” he asks the room in general.

A few raise their hands. Dumar points to a woman with a pink shirt.

“Sir, most of us here are regular employees. Are you going to be hiring from outside as well?” she asks. Dumar gives it a thought.

“If any employee-adjunct is willing to dungeon for the hospital we will give them the same deal, except they will have to supply their own gear. As those here we will be supplying armor to loan out.” When he says this, I pull out a scale mail shirt from my inventory and hold it up.

“This is a generic scale mail shirt. It will protect from stabbing and slashing damage. It will soften damage from blunt force. In the store it is worth 30 credits. I have the matching leggings to go with it. I have enough on hand for six people. I also brought with me tags I made. They're auto sizes. To make any wearable item the perfect fit. I have enough of those for six people as well.”

Dumar gives me a nod. “We will need to set up a schedule for the first runs, you will not be exempt from your regular shift unless you take damage in the dungeon. So, I would suggest you do it in your off hours. Or days off.” Dumar turns to me. “When can you take someone through first?” he asks.

“I have previous engagement daily at 6pm. But you can run the dungeon every ten hours. So, between 5am and 9am I can run it every day for a week. After that I'm free so far. Do you want me to run all of them through or get them set up to run each other?” I asked him.

He muses for a moment. “I think six runs should be enough. Then they can start buying their own gear and supplies. You and I need to talk to a lawyer about pay, however. Soon as we finish here, I have a man in my office.” I wince, lawyers. I give a nod.

I speak up to the room. “Tomorrow between 5am and 9am, I can run one or two people. Any volunteers? I can only run you through once a day for now.” I wait to see if anyone is up to it.

A few people raise their hands again. The woman from before doing so.

“Why that specific timeframe? Why once a day?” she asks.

“Previous engagement at 6pm daily runs. You can run every ten hours though. So, I’ll finish before 7pm and need to be finished before 10am.” I speak. Two men standing near the back wall come to the front.

“You can run two people at once, yeah? My brother and I would like to go first.” the one to the left says. They look enough alike to be twins, so I can understand wanting to go together.

“That's fine, what time do you want to meet? We can meet at the dungeon. I'll have everything ready there.” I tell them.

The one on the right speaks this time. “7am good? That’s about an hour after we get off shift. Enough time to go home and change.”

I nod. I pulled out two sets of scale mail. “This is the armor the hospital is buying and loaning out. Shirt and leggings. Wear this tomorrow. You'll want a t shirt or something under the scale mail though.” I pause as I pull out four auto sizes. “Here are the auto sizing tags, when you have the armor on just place these anywhere on the armor. It'll feel weird as it readjusts to you, but it’ll become the perfect fit. I'll bring wands for you both to use as weapons. I assume you'll be running together each time?” they give nods.

“Parties get more exp, but still only 150 credits each. There is a clear reward for the first dungeon run, but after that there is additional exp contribution based. So, you might level up faster if you run together. With three of us running it there will be a horde in each room, so be ready to fight. I suggest bringing a knife or something in case you have to get up close. I have a kbar, that I needed only once.” I get another set of nods.

I look around the room. No one seems to need anything else, so I follow Dumar out the door. We headed to the elevator and down to his office.

“Thank you for supplying them before we made out agreement. Ill count it towards the payment, but it will help to know they aren't going in under prepared.” he tells me. I look at him.

“I wouldn’t take anyone in if they didn’t have a set of wands. I was only able to get through the dungeon because I had them. I don’t care how someone fights on their own. But I want them to fight with the wands when I take them. Because I made them, and I know how they work. I know the damage they deal, and I know they won't fail. I don’t know how well a man with a sword will do, because it's based on how good he is with a sword. I don’t trust that.” I told him.

“it's not about selling my wands. It's about being able to trust whoever I run with is able to fight if I need help. All they have to do is aim and fire. It's like a gun. No training required. To get better at it takes practice. To work with both hands takes practice. But for a first run? All they need to be able to do is point at a cluster and fire.” I continued to explain. There was a reason I said they had to buy the wands themselves and not the hospital. I'm a little worried about the pristine wands too. How they will handle that.

Getting to his office, he opens the door and walks in. There is a man in a suit waiting for us. He has a shark like smile on.

“None of that now Callaway, he's a friendly we want on our side.” Dumar says. The now named Callaway loosens his smile into something more natural. Dumar sits behind his desk and starts speaking.

“We are here to come to an agreement that benefits us both. You said we can purchase the cleaning wands directly from you and you will run our people through the dungeon. As you already made an agreement with some for the dungeon. We need to set a point for that first. I would like to offer you $500 for every person you run through the dungeon. Is that acceptable?” Dumar looks at me. I take a breath for a moment. Trying to reign in my inner greed.

“That's more than fair. For how long do you believe I'll be running your people though?” I ask. There were 17 there, but no telling how many more might join up later.

Dumar sits back. “Honestly, I hadn't considered the family or friends of hospital staff until I was asked about it. I'm reluctant to offer to pay for them however.”

I nod to that. “How about this. For each hospital employee I run, you pay me $300. If someone else wants to run through, you send them my way anyhow. I'm setting up a guild to run people through. For credits and not cash though.” I told him. He looks intrigued, as does Callaway.

“A guild? To run people through the dungeon? How would that work?” Callaway asks me.

“So, it's sort of like you have here. We loan armor, they pay for wands through credits earned on the run. Then we charge them credits for running them through. We haven't quite set it up yet, but we’re working on it.”

Callaway gives Dumar a look. “And what if someone else gets the same idea and does it as well? Are you going to continue on?”

I nod. “There will be a massive population movement here. I'm thinking tens of thousands of people are going to pour into Dallas, just for the dungeon. There's no telling how many are going to stay. Or if they will continue to dungeon run at all. Basically, the first dungeon run someone will break even if they buy two wands. They'll make 50 credits if they buy one. Then they can do another dungeon run. And we make it easy for them. Were all they have to do is walk through after us. Sure, they might see some blood and gore. But they wouldn’t be forced to fight unless necessary. Or they wanted to be able to on their own. Might even off to level them up. Wouldn't take to many runs.” I sit back as I explain.

Dumar looks thoughtful. “So, any non-employees you would like to be send to you for your guild to run through. And we wouldn’t have to pay for them to be run. Is that right?” I nod. “And they would still be set up to run as they like and could still get paid for giving us credits. I like it. If someone was fully geared and ran through each time, they would make 100 credits. If they ran through twice a day, they could sell just once to us and still make enough to live on.” he starts a large smile.

Callaway looks to me. “And what would you be charging to send people to you?”

“Nothing.” I speak. “I'd treat them like any other customer though.” he gave me a nod.

Dumar sits back up. “Now as to the armor you're selling us and the wands you're selling us. You said six sets? Of each?” I nod.

“And auto sizes so the armor fits well. I haven't finished making all of them, but I have two pristine here. And a new wand a sealant. It's like a magical bandage, that will stay on until a wound is healed.” I say as I pull them out. “Do you have people in mind for them? And how many pristines you want?” I ask.

Dumar waves a hand. “As many as you're willing to sell directly. My offer is $1000 per wand. And let the hospital employees purchase them from us. I understand you are selling them in the system store as well?” I nod.

“At a much higher price than the others. Because it wasn’t a lifesaving thing. Like the others were. It’s a nice thing to have but not something everyone needs. Useful for most, but not dire. Unless you're a hospital or immune compromised.” I speak. Callaway looks on. He hasn’t made any sort of notes or anything.

Dumar continues. “Tell me more about sealant. Would it help with extensive wounds? Major trauma?” I nod and start explaining.

“I designed it to hold a wound not quite closed but to prevent more damage and stop blood loss. It's like the ultimate compression bandage. It'll keep everything in pace until it can be healed, or mundanely closed. Some of the goblins use iron swords, so I wanted something that can prevent death from a sword strike. I have sealant tags for sale as well. Those can be lifesaving in the dungeon so I'm selling them at near base cost. The sealant wand as well. I’ll give you the sealant wand as a freebie. And sell you as many sealant tags as you want.”

Callaway looks nearly constipated. Dumar looks speechless.

“You are giving a hospital life saving techniques and equipment you personally made, for free? Do I understand that right?” I smile and nod at him. “Fine. We can agree with this. But I'll pay for more sealant wands. And I want 20 pristine wands. This is a large hospital with a large staff. With multiple shifts. The sealant wand will go to an ambulances, I think. As will sealant tags. We will buy the sealant wands for $1000 each as well. Don’t argue with me on this.” I give him a confused look. “They are worth so much more to us than you can know. I would like a regular supply of tags, however. Both sealant and pristine. Can you make 100 a week? Of each?” He looks at me. I grimace. Not actually sure. I tell him so.

“The most I made in a day was today. As it is I was nearly passing out. I'm not sure how many I can make in a day, but I can find out. I can make tags quickly, but wands last longer. I have a skill that lets me get perfect sleep, but I can't set a timer for it. So, I never know how long I'll sleep at any given moment. For the next few weeks, I plan on running the dungeon twice a day. So, I don’t know how many tags I can make outside of that. But I can sell you all the tags I do make.” I speak.

Dumar nods. “$100 per tag, and you sell to us. As many as you can make. I'll have a standing order for whoever is manning the front desk to certify you brought them in, so you can come in at any time. If you come in daily, I'll have the money deposited daily. How long will it take you to make 20 of each wand? And the sets of six?” he asks me. I wince.

“I can probably finish the six before the mornings run. The sets of 20 no clue. I haven't times yet how long it takes me to recover mana. So I'll just be draining and napping to refill.” I told him.

Dumar gives me a nod. “Acceptable. I would like them within a week. If you cannot please inform the front desk. For now, we have paperwork to file.” As he says this Callaway holds up a sleek black portfolio. There were the written files of everything we talked about. So, he was keeping track, neat.

Dumar reads over it and signs. Then turns it around and hands it to me. As I read over it, I notice there isn't a lot of legalese. I glance at Callaway. Giving him a questioning look.

“It would defeat the purpose to screw you over. Especially with how generous you’ve been.” he tells me. I read on. Its nearly exactly what he says, except there isn't a set limit on the wands or tags. Just says as many as willing to sell. Convenient for me. I'll be willing to sell a lot soon. I signed it and handed it to Callaway. He files it away and stands.

“Well gentlemen, I'm glad there were no mishaps here. If you have need of me, please call my department.” with that he leaves the room.

Dumar snorts. That’s the most normal I've heard him so far. I give him a confused look. “Now we get you set up a type of contractor with DMC and get it set up with the banking system. Which is my department. So, do you have your credentials on hand?” he asks. I blink, confused by the shift in him. Nodding I pull my wallet from my inventory and pull out my license and bank card.

“Need my social or anything? Address?” I ask.

“No, just who you are and how we’re paying you. If you were working on campus, we’d need some type of insurance but you're not. I'm putting your contact information in here as well. So, we can get a hold of you if needed. Are you willing to have your umber given to those you're running through?” he asks. I thought about it for a moment. I shrug.

“I suppose, it will be easier to schedule to meet them if they can call me. If you can set a schedule up with who runs it would be better than if I do it. I'm willing to run with two people a day. Between 5am and 9am. I think I'll keep that time for now. So, I can always do a run at 6pm too. Or shift it a little later maybe. Ill figure it out.” I say, as he types my info into his computer. When he finishes, he says.

“I sent a deposit for $2400. I believe we forgot to add in the armor, so I priced it at $100 per piece. Is that acceptable?” shit, I forgot about it too. I nod, it’s a decent amount. “Then for the tags to go with the armor for the first six is $100 a piece as well. Would you mind leaving them here so we can make sure whoever I'm running is prepared before they meet you?” I nod again and pull the armor and auto sizes from my inventory. I also pulled the two pristine wands.

“I made two pristine wands to bring you. Want them now?” I ask, he gives a nod. Types something else on his computer.

“Another $2000 deposit. I'll have to decide who gets them first.” he says.

I think aloud. “I'd think surgery, ER, ICU, burn ward or janitorial would be the best. I can bring more wands tomorrow too.” Dumar hums at that.

“I do think ER and burn ward would be the best place to start for now. As we get more id like most departments to have at least one per shift. When we have a surplus, I'll start reaching out to other hospitals, but not before then. I'd like to have my fill first.” he tells me. I nod to that. It's fair. I wouldn’t want someone else to swoop in and steal my prize.

“If there isn't anything else you need today, I'll get started on the rest of the tags and wands. I have a bit of time before my next run. I'll let you know when I make something new.” I tell him as I stand to leave.

“Anything you make id be inclined to purchase at least.” He sounds amused.

“I think my next goal is a toilet, so.” I tell him, then he laughs.

“A worthy goal I suppose, especially with so many going to be camping.” he waves me out. As I walk to the elevator, I think to myself. I just made four grand. I don’t have to worry about rent for two months. I laugh a little hysterically to myself. This is so nice. Like a pressing weight is taken from me. Rent is my biggest expense. And I have more than enough. For two months. I don’t have to worry about food with how much I'm dungeon running. I can cut down on my water use. If I empty my fridge and unplug it. If I make lights. I can cut down on my electricity bill. Except for my computer. I can start turning it off when I'm not using it, I suppose. But I hardly ever turn it off. It just seems weird too.

I smile as I leave the hospital. Today is a good day. Mostly.