Ch 18 Into the Dungeon once more
Getting home after stuffing everything into my inventory took way too long. After 2am long. I laid down for a nap and woke up at 6.40 am. Not horrid but I had a missed call. Pulling it up a gave a call back.
“Hello this is Arthur, I’m sorry I missed your call.”
“Hello this is Diane. We are supposed to run the dungeon this morning? I wanted to know what time we should meet up? You said before 9 and I work at 8.”
“I can be there in ten minutes, if you still want to run this morning? If not, I can run, you tomorrow?” I say into the phone. I'm not sure she’ll have enough time this morning.
“I’m at the dungeon now, so I still want to run this morning. Can you bring the equipment I need with you? There are quite a few people here already.” I hear.
“I’ll be there shortly. Did DMC give you armor and auto sizes?” I ask.
“They did, it fits well enough. They said I need wands?”
“Yes, I'll provide those, however. You only need to recompense for them.” I say.
“Alright I’ll wait near the guardhouse.”
“I’ll be there soon.” She hangs up.
Well, that went well. I quickly threw on my dungeon outfit. And draw out a few pristines. Putting my boots on. “Raven, I need a force wand and a gravity wand please. And two full meals, any potato soup.”
“Confirmed. Deposited into inventory.” I nod. Thinking of my porting panel. I quickly think of button #2 and press it.
**
Opening my eyes I'm at the parking garage. I walk fast to where I see a certain redhead from the meeting.
“Diane?” I call to her.
“Yes, do you have the wand?” she asks me.
“I have two, do you want just one or both? Do you want to go solo or run someone else? They are 50 credits each and can be bought in the system store. The reward for clearing the dungeon is 150 credits every time.”
She blinks at me. “There are different ones? I thought there was only one kind?”
“Yes, one is a single shot one kill, the other is an area of effect killer. If you only bought one, I’d sell you the single shot as that is more likely to help you. If you bought both I’d instruct you on how to use both. I’d like for you to buy both so you can solo the dungeon easily.” I tell her.
She blinks at me, apparently not expecting a spiel at 7am. “I'll get both and pay back at the end of the run then. If you show me how to use them both. And teach me how to solo.” She gives me a sharp smile. I grin at her.
I handed over the two wands raven had just bought and started giving the spiel on how to use them. And how to not point them at humans. And that they work better in dungeons due to mana. It truly was a good spiel by now.
We line up to go into the dungeon. I wave at the guard giving his speech and taking our names. Diane looked a little green after hearing what's going on, however.
We walk through the haze of green and orange, once more the feeling of chill comes over me, once more my thoughts clear.
“Okay, so there will be guts and gore. I know I said that in the meeting. There is a chance the guts and gore could be yours. With the wands there is less of that chance, however. Which is why I insist people have them. You, ok?” I look at her. She gives me a hard nod.
We walk down the first hall. “Do you want to try this one? You can use the gravity wand and get both of them.” I tell her.
She nods and steps forth. “Bargle!” she shouts. And both goblins are crushed to the floor. She looks a little clammy now. I pull out my water bottle and hand it to her and explain what it is.
“Feel better?” I ask.
She nods. Swallowing the juice and hands me back the bottle.
“I didn't think it would be so real. I played games online before, but I always knew it was fake, so I thought I could handle this better. I'm a nurse so I'm used to dealing with blood.” she tells me.
“I know the feeling. The first time I was here I threw up. But I have a mental skill that helps me dealing with it. I’ve never had to deal with someone’s innards, then to see it up close was a shock.” I say. She gives me a serious look.
“What kind of mental skill? Like is it effecting the way you think?”
I shake my head. “No, it helps me think, it's easier to focus and clear my thoughts. It's literally called organized thoughts. I can deal with things in front of me without worrying about what's coming until I need to deal with it. It seriously helps with general anxiety too.”
She pauses. “That sounds like ADHD medication. But tied to you specifically. I wonder if others could get it?” she asked out loud
“One of the things you get when you level up is skill points. Organized thoughts was only ten, which you get at lvl 1.” I say
She glances at me. And thinks about it.
“Let's keep going. You want to take the lead and I'll play back up where you need it?” I ask her. She gives me a nod.
We continue like that for the next two rooms. Four and six goblins she handled. Then I had to step in when it was eight.
“Let's take a break for a bit and have something to eat. I got potato soup.” I say as I pull out the chairs and little table, along with spoons. Setting the water bottle on the table as she settles into her chair I hand her a bowl of soup.
“So, what made you want o dungeon run?” I ask her
“We need hospital equipment, more than anything especially if it's for sale in the system store.” she says seriously.
I nod. “there's more for sale than what we’ve made. I could buy a laptop that wouldn’t have been made for 20 years. So, you should look into what's in development now and see where it could go. We might have a cure for cancer in 20 years. It would likely be under potions I think.”
She stares at me. “What did you say?”
“That we can buy tech humans haven't made. Based on our level alien tech will be available. Thats why we need people to run the dungeon, so the dungeon will lvl up too.” I tell her. Just as serious as she was. I should tell the guard this too.
She stares at the soup. Barely eating. “Maybe we can cure everything we have now?” I ask her. “Or in the future we won't even have health problems?” i speak quietly.
She gives a soft smile at the thought.
**
We finish eating and get ready for the bosses. Two hobs and three gobs. I walk her through on how to take them down. Telling her the best spots to aim for and such.
We go through and easily beat them. Diane doesn't even look shaken anymore. I tell her about the clear reward. We step outside the dungeon.
She gives me 100 credits for the wands and speaks. “Thanks for letting me take the lead, most guys would have gone all macho on me.”
“No big, this is about you going on your own. The boss for solo is a single hob and two gobs, it's good to know your limits beforehand. I think DMC has a deal to walk more people through but if not hit me up. I’m setting up a guild just to walk people through. If you wanted to make some credits, you could be one of our walkers. Do it in your spare time I mean. Then spend or sell the credits as you like. The way I'm setting it up is that a person has to buy at least one wand and we loan them armor. We will charge 50 credits to be walked through one person at a time. We will walk them as many times as they want, but 50 credits each time. Guilds’ name is Wands &Words, working out of subway on 23rd right now. Drop buy if you'd like to.” I gave her my new spiel. We need walkers and she handled herself well.
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She gave me a look. I smiled in response. She had my number she could call me anytime. She huffed at me.
“I need to get to work. Thanks though.” I wave goodbye as she walks off.
Now what. It's not even 8am. Should probably talk to the guard first though.
**
Heading to the guardhouse, I wait for a break in the line. He gives me a look. “Didn't you just run?” I nod. “What do you need?”
I grin. “Found knowledge that someone needs to know. Can you radio sergeant Sorko? Tell him Turner is back with more news?” I asked him. He shrugs and pulls out his radio to do as asked.
I stand to the side and wait for Sorko. I didn't have to wait long. He came jogging up to me.
“What's so important you had to tell me at 8am?” he bristles at me. Must have been asleep. Poor him.
“Based on competence lvl humans can buy alien tech. Currently can buy something that wouldn't be available for 20 years.” I say.
He full stops. And stares at me. Then starts cursing a blue streak. “And when exactly did this come to your attention?”
“Last night when I went to buy a laptop from the system. A currently available high-end model is 700 credits. A future tech model that isn't available for 20 years is 2500 credits. Both are customizable.” I tell him.
He blankly stares at me. I just grin at him. “Thought you ought to know.” he glares. Then sighs.
“I'll pass it up that we need to look more in-depth into the system store. Again. Anything else you need to speak up about?”
“I leveled twice. And got skill points both times. Had to sleep to lvl. Realized I could live in the dungeon. I'm going on a crafting montage in the dungeon. I don't know for how long. But I'm lvl 2 now, and can dungeon run every 6 hours.”
He blinks. “What?”
“Yeah, having an independent system interface linked with you is super helpful at giving you all these little tips and tricks. You should try it.”
“You mean you got the first clear reward? And leveled?”
“Yup. Making some credits selling wands. Especially since i posted about it on the message board.” I grin.
He sighs again at me. “Fine. Fine. We can handle this.” he rubs his face. “we’ll still see you tonight?”
I nod. “Should be same time same place. And I'll have lots of new goodies to share.”
He grins at this. “I hope you do.” He jogs off with a wave.
I grin and port back home.
**
After porting home, I pulled up which stores are open now. I need a home improvement store first. Finding one I got into my car to go. Taking half an hour to get there in the early morning traffic isn't too bad, parking I go inside. grabbing a cart, I wonder around until I found the wooden dowels. Grinning to myself I find the right width and start chucking them into the cart. All of them. Everything length. Every one. Even the ones ten feet long I grab. Then I go for hand saws. Because these should work better than camping ones, I think. For the hell of it I go look at shower heads and sink faucets. Grabbing ten various sets of each. And a few more toilet seats. I’ll likely need a second cart here too. What else to get here.
Don't have to worry about lights in the dungeon. Or bugs. Maybe better chairs? I head to the outdoor section. A variety of camping gear greets me. I pick out a comfy looking lounger for my first grab. Then a few folding chairs. Then a couple of nicer camping chairs. If I'm going to be in the dungeon awhile I don't want to have to keep moving the chairs about. I wonder if I could carry a kiddie pool?
searching for the pool section I find a small one. A foot high and three feet around. Enough for a comfy soak. I pick it up one handed. A little heavy but it should work, its light plastic, just unwieldy.
What else. More pavers? More caulk? What do I need to enchant metal? Soldering? Would they have that here? I go to find someone to ask. Turns out they have kits for it. I get three. And more supplies for it. Maybe I need a generator?
I head to electrical isle. These are pricier than I thought, the cheapest being 300 or 400 hundred. “Raven are there any electrical generator available in store?”
“Negative. There is not yet any electrical generator that runs on mana.”
So, yet another thing for me to make, joy. I look at the cheapest smallest generators. They're gas powered. So, if I can switch from gas to say water or straight mana id be fine. Or skip the generator entirely. Which seems a much better plan. I leave that isle. Maybe I could make batteries that absorb mana and use it like electricity. Or just have my stuff run on mana. Make a mana battery. That sounds good too.
**
After checking out it was nearly 10am. I could hit up another store. I finished my morning run around 8 am so I could run again at 2pm. So, four or so hours to shop and get home. What else do I want. So far everything has fit into my inventory. I have things to do. “Raven, spend 2000 credits on full meals. Do it with various meals please. Store them.”
“Processing. Confirmed. 1000 meals deposited in inventory.”
“Ok, what's the status of my inventory? Like how much space do I have left?”
“Processing. Open slots counted. 8533”
Woah. Thats a lot. What's my skill lvl? I call skills.
Skill
Lvl
Exp Gain
Inventory
12
3%
Already lvl 12? When did that happen? Cool though. Would explain why I have so much space too. Don't need to worry about that for a while.
Back to shopping though. Have tents, a bed, chairs, things to do, food. Still need to buy a laptop and stuff on it though. I can do that at home. Have to think if I want the fanciest laptop too.
I still want rugs dammit. To the home decor store I go.
**
So much color. I've never been in a home decor store. I've never had the money to spend. Now here I am with 2 grand and no plan to save. First things, rugs. I head to bedroom area. I stop when I see there is an entire section dedicated to rugs. The only rugs I've ever had were fluffy bathmats. I thought that's what I would get here too, but I realize I could get actual rugs, and not walk on bare grounds of the dungeon. Realizing they were sorted by size I start with the smallest. Deciding that was a bad idea I move onto rugs that are 5x7, looking for colors. Goodness knows the dungeons doesn't have any. I chose my few, two floral, two striped, three geometric and one solid blue. All were predominantly blue or green. Now for my fluffy bathroom rugs for the bedroom. I grab a large dark green one. Easily 1500 just for rugs
Now what else do I need for my dungeon stay? Chair cushions? Floor cushions in case I feel like sitting on the floor? I can put a rug under all my tables so don't have to worry about that. I go looking for cushions now. And not the outdoor ones. But the good ones. Hunting around I find them. I start squishing them for testing purposes. Finding a set, I like I buy two sets of four. Then look for pillows. Might need back support. Do I want bed pillows or throw pillows? Do I even know the difference? Throw pillows go on the couch, so they have more support, right? Getting to the isles of pillows. It's organized by color. I guess its more about design than anything. I start squishing. I'm given several looks of varying quality from the staff. I giggle to myself. Finding several squishy pillows and several firm pillows in the oranges and yellows I toss the four on top of the cart. The rugs taking all the room. This should probably be enough from here for now. I’ll go check out.
**
Checking my poor bank account going from $5367 to a measly $623 had to hurt, but it was worth it, I think. I literally started last week with 86 dollars in it. So, what should I do with my last 600? That I can't do with system store? For some reason my brain told me lotion. No clue why. It's not quite 11.30pm. time to hit a different big box store than last night. Getting into my car I pull out my phone for directions.
This time I started in fabrics. Same as last time I started pulling all the colors I wanted and piling them on the table. Eventually a worker came by and asked why I was reorganizing the fabrics. I chuckled at that.
“Sorry sir, I actually want to purchase them all.”
He blinked at me, then transferred to customer service. “And how much of each would you like to buy, young man?”
“All of them, each one. I want so much fabric you can't imagine.” he blinks at me again.
“Hope you know what you're doing with it at least.” and starts measuring.
Grinning, I stop pulling fabric. And go to the threads and start pulling from there, buttons and zippers follow. Maybe I should have grabbed a second cart again. I go embroidering supplies and get so many hoops. Nearly clearing out the stock. Seeing a few new things, such as grommets and a puncher I grabbed that too. Reading it, I realized it was for jean buttons. Seeing a mat with measured squares he grabbed one of those. Having an epiphany. I need to go get a pattern for bags! Heading to the pattern section. I searched for several bags. A classic backpack, a fanny pack and a messenger bag should work for now. To try for bags of holding.
I head back to the table where he was still measuring the fabric. It hadn't been that long, not even ten minutes. I go to look at yarn for some reason, thinking it would be a good idea to have some on hand. I stare at a gall, it looks soft. I feel it. It's so soft. Now I want it just for that. Didn't I get a knitting kit? I check my inventory. It's there, two of them in fact, one of which uses a loom. Maybe I should get another loom. I certainly need more yarn. I start feeling the yarn up. I start googling how much yarn I need for projects. Then I start checking the weights of the yarns. 20 skeins? At 10 dollars each? 200 to make a blanket yourself? Or 40 skeins of tiny yarn? Je-sus. Some people are dedicated. Suddenly unsure of my spending spree on fabric. I put the yarn down.
Going back to the table where he's nearly done measuring, I start checking prices. Most of them are fairly cheap, 20 or 40 for the yards of fabric. There's just quite a few of them. I start organizing them into prices. Yeah, I may be overspending. Wait a sec. Checking my inventory. Maybe I could sell a bunch of tags real fast?
Setting to the side of the fabric on the table I pull a sheet of paper and start scribbling sealants. Making 24 in about four minutes is pretty good for me. I google DMC’s number for the receptionist.
“Dallas Medical Center Reception, where can I direct your call?”
“To you actually. My name is Arthur Turner. I’m supposed to deliver all tags and wands to the front desk, problem is, I've got the tags on me but need money before I get there. Could you send me enough for 24 tags then I can swing by in about an hour with them?” I ask politely
“Hmm, that is an unusual request, but we do have you on file to deliver them. In quantity even. If you bring them today, I'll let this happen. But if not then from now on it has to be delivered in person first. Fair?”
“Fair, thanks a bunch. Was shopping for supplies, but my eyes got bigger than my wallet. I’ve the tags set to go I'll drop them off ASAP.”
“Thank you very much, my name is Carla Carillo, you’ll be dealing with me primarily. Be seeing you soon.” With that she hangs up.
I grin and check my bank account. Just over three grand, much better. I start piling the fabric into the cart. The sealants already into the inventory. Giving the worker a nod, I head back to the yarn.
Seeing all the different needles and hooks, I grab a full set of each. Then a couple of looms. Then I start once more feeling up the yarn balls. Blankets sound nice so I'll focus on that. Maybe a sweater? Picking out four blues of blanket material, I gather six of each. Selecting three greens of medium weight, I pick six. That should give me plenty to do. Then I randomly grab three purple skeins in different weights.
It's getting closer to 1pm so I need to hurry up my shopping if I want to make it to the dungeon by 2pm. Then again. If I'm going to DMC on the regular, I can make a port spot there too. Yeah, that sounds good. Finish shopping and head home then.