Chapter 23

Lawrence stood on the exit to floor six. He cracked his neck and flexed, feeling the power running through his body. It had been hard, starting out on floor one with no gear and nothing but his prison jumpsuit, but with the small team that he’d formed with the others in the exercise yard, they’d successfully broken out of prison.

For now, at least. He wasn’t certain what would happen if they retreated. There wasn’t exactly a ‘layout’ for the dungeon, since it seemed to be teleporting everyone from one area to the next when a floor was cleared, but perhaps when he did have a return to surface option—so far that had been lacking—they’d be able to choose another location.

A new location, a change of clothes, and it would be like he was just an average Joe. Not someone convicted to six lifetimes in prison.

He grinned. Or they could just drop him back in prison and let him figure out his own way out of there. He was level was raising slowly, but each level came with an increase in strength and lethality. Soon, he’d be the perfect warrior, able to—

“Oy, enough. My turn on the toilet,” one of his compatriots said to one of his other compatriots. “Or just stay where you’re at and get wet.”

Lawrence sighed and stopped his self-reflection. He knew better than to plan too far in advance. Right now the team he’d put together was following him. But there were tensions, and he might have to do something about the idiots who thought that this was a democracy eventually.

Possibly he’d have to do something about them permanently, but that wasn’t something he’d shy away from.

He had eight idiots following him. How many of those idiots did he really need ? He sighed and began thinking about interpersonal dynamics and how to stay on top of the game.

Then he called the others together and they discussed how to tackle the latest floor.

~~~~~~~

The mood was subdued in the conference room, and in conference rooms like it across the globe. With somber expressions, the people in power realized that things were coming apart at the seams.

The realization that the system targetted young children differently had come too late, and now a sizeable chunk of the nation’s youth were already trapped in a dungeon without parental supervision.

And the realization that the dungeons came to you whereever you were meant that the prisons were empty as the criminal element of the world decided to band together and delve rather than continue to meekly serve their sentences.

The army had launched their own probes into the dungeons immediately after they had opened, but the information from the forward teams was spotty. Only those teams who had reported casualties returned to the surface, everyone else was following orders and pushing forward, but they had no communications with their commanders.

And then there was the unrest on the surface. The threat of monster spawns drawing closer more rapidly than anyone had expected—the timer that had initially seemed so far away would occasionally loose five or six hours at random interval. And it wasn’t like the government could hide the missing people from those who remained.

So that left them with … what exactly? How did they maintain order during these chaotic times?

Every one in the conference room had an interface at this point. They were all healthier and stronger than they’d ever been, having received abilities beyond their understanding. But they continued to rely on the power of the old world.

Which is why the power of the new world fell from their grasp.

~~~~~~~~

Eli woke suddenly and sat up. He looked around and saw that someone had covered him up with his sleeping bag after he’d lost consciousness. Probably his mom, he reflected. He hadn’t been expecting the sudden feinting spell, but when he checked the time remaining on their mandatory rest period he saw that he’d only lost about four hours.

Some of the others were resting, others were talking quietly in a corner. Gabri floated over to him and thunked him on the head.

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“You’re lucky that your friends and family aren’t the sort to rob you blind while you’re unconscious,” the faerie informed him. “But I can’t say that was a stupid purchase. Now hurry up and spend the rest of your credits before time runs out and this SafeZone disappears.”

“You think it will disappear?” Eli asked.

“I think that it’s always better to assume that things will get worse,” Gabri answered. “But no, not really. I think once the mandatory rest period is over you’ll be forced to complete the floor’s challenge, which will be different than the ones before it. I don’t know, this environment isn’t one I’ve seen before. Is it from your world?”

“Yeah. This is a school,” Eli explained.

“ This is a school? ” the faerie asked, its expression turning into one of distaste.

“You don’t like schools?” Eli asked.

“I like schools. It’s just...where’s the trees? Where’s the art? Where’s the beauty?”

“Oh. Maybe we have a more utilitarian view on what a school should be than faerie kind?” Eli suggested. “There are some beautiful schools out there but most of them look something like this one.”

Gabri muttered something and plopped himself down on the desk next to Eli as the boy resumed browsing through the items that the store had available. Gabri quietly updated Eli on the items that the others had purchased which would be made available to them at the end of the rest period.

John Sr. and Junior had purchased enough materials to make another dozen Molotov cocktails, as well as proper caltrops instead of the improvised ones they’d been using. They also purchased a variety of new crossbow bolts which had extra wide arrowheads for increased bleeding, but which should still fit their crossbows.

Elaine had purchased more ammo for her service pistol, which she was in one corner cleaning quietly.

Luke had purchased an oak staff that was polished and covered with runes that were supposed to increase the mage’s magical potency.

Erik Estabon – Eli still thought of him as Mister Estabon half the time – had purchased a short sword. One that was actually made for combat rather than cleaning foliage. He had placed his old machete on the auction to test how the system works. The warriors of the group, Peter and Mattie, and the knight, Maia, had all purchased new gear.

Peter had replaced his baseball bat with a longsword, but he continued to wear his football gear while he saved up for better armor than was presently available.

Eli’s mother had traded in her crowbar for an iron bo staff with etchings on it. She continued to wear her exercise gi, although she had put on a bullet proof vest that she had gotten from the system store and was wearing it underneath.

Maia, like Peter with his football gear, continued to wear the hockey padding that her parents had purchased for her when the world had begun to end, and had switched from the spiked club that had dropped at the end of floor 1 to a proper short sword with a buckler on the other hand.

Overall, Eli thought that the groups lethality had gone up a notch thanks to the access to the shop. However, the switch from blunt weapons to bladed left him at a crossroads of his own; so far he had mostly contributed to combat by enchanting the weapons of the melee fighters. How could he continue to do that when they had switched from bludgeoning damage to bladed? Did he need to buy and enchant a sword to continue to support the others?

So he asked Gabri, and Gabri had scoffed.

“I’m surprised you don’t already have an enchanted knife to pass off ‘Enhance Sharpness.’ You don’t need a sword, just something with a sharp edge,” the faerie had answered. “Why not buy that delightful weapon that your former teacher was using before? It has a nice broad blade to make the necessary etchings onto.”

So Eli had woken Erik and requested the use of the machete, then bothered Junior to get the Tinkerer’s assistance in etching the scholar enchantment onto the weapon quickly before the end of the rest period.

The tinkerer had several ideas about how to do a better job, should he have access to some shop tools, but said that all he really needed was a nail. Eli drew the required markings onto the blade, then stood back and watched the tinkerer work. Junior drew … not mana, Eli realized. It was Stamina. But he drew it into the point of the nail and scratched out an etching on the good steel of the machete with a simple iron nail.

Junior had actually laughed at that. “I shouldn’t be able to scratch the steel of this knife but somehow it’s like carving butter.”

Eli nodded and thanked the older boy when the process was complete, activating the enchant to make certain that it worked. He tried cutting the edge of the desk with the knife to test its effectiveness, and was surprised when the corner of the desk was easily shaved away.

“Huh,” he said, and he was glad that he hadn’t tried to touch the edge of the blade to test how sharp it was. He might have lost a finger.

Satisfied, he pulled out one of this new books and blinked in surprise as he could actually read the cover. “Musings on the Functions of Mana Control and Rune Literacy. Intermediary Primer volume 2.”

He promptly opened the book. The writing hadn’t changed. But the symbols made sense to him now, almost as clearly as if they were written in English. He pulled the book onto his lap and began to read.

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