Congratulations! You’ve found a Magical Item. Magical Items are powerful tools that can shift the balance of a fight, pushing you beyond what your level and race should be able to accomplish. From flaming weapons to unbreakable armor, the possibilities are limitless—but beware. Once you equip a magical item, it cannot be used by another person.
Magical Item Slots Available: 3/3
Congratulations! By defeating the tutorial dungeon’s sub-boss, you’ve unlocked your basic interspatial inventory. This inventory can store up to [1.23781 metric tons] of crafting items. Simply think about storing an item to place it in storage, and think about withdrawing it to retrieve it.
The magical item sat on the ground, right in the middle of the room. It looked a lot like a glowing pillar of light; this one was a sickly green color not too different from the experience orbs the monsters kept dropping when they died. Since I couldn’t see what it was from here, I reached out and touched it.
You received Lock-Grip Gloves (Common)
+1 Body
The wearer can lock their melee weapons to their hands, preventing disarmament and dropped weapons until unlocked.
Equip? Yes/No
My first instinct was to equip it. The locked weapon effect felt pretty mediocre, but the stat point in Body…that was worth it. I’d really felt my stats in that last fight—especially when the Tunnel Lord had skewered me like a marshmallow at a cookout and I’d been able to keep fighting. Pre-stats Hal wouldn’t have been able to handle that.
Not that it didn’t still hurt. But it wasn’t life-threatening, and it didn’t feel infected.
Still, the more I thought about the Lock-Grip Gloves, the more of a plan I made for them. I didn’t want to use any more stat points on Body if I could help it; now that I was tough enough to take hits and keep fighting, I needed more insights into my enemies—and into the tools I was making. I put four of my six points in Awareness. The other two went into Mana. When I opened my stats, they’d changed to the following:
[Hal Riley] [Class - N/A] [Level - 10]
[Stats]
►Body - 13
►Awareness - 16
►Mana - 8
Stat Points Available: 0
Spell: Lightning Bolt
[Class Skill - N/A]
Items
►Open Slot
►Open Slot
►Open Slot
I hadn’t learned a new spell. That was both disappointing and unsurprising since it wasn’t a base-five number. But when I readied my Lightning Bolt, the storm around my hand looked more animated. I grinned; between the weak spot highlight and the increased magic power, things were looking up.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Wherever she was, Tori had just gotten a bunch of stat points, and so had Calvin. I might be able to direct him toward something useful for us all. If he wouldn’t fight, I needed to make sure he’d pick something that could help us out of combat—like healing magic or a map. I was worried about Tori, but she’d do what she did, and I’d have to deal with it later. If she was still alive.
I grabbed the Lock-Grip Gloves and shoved them into my inventory, then turned to leave the cave.
The portcullis was gone. So was the fog wall. I didn’t see a single Rat Man waiting in the tunnels leading to the boss arena, either. In fact, I didn’t see much of anything until I left the cave.
Calvin was waiting outside.
“So, you got it?”
I nodded. “Did you spend your points?”
“Yep. Don’t worry about me— I can take care of myself,” he said.
“Listen, I was hoping—“
Calvin cut me off. “You were hoping I’d go back to being a medic. That ain’t happening. I’ve had enough of that, magic or not. You ever had someone die in your arms? I have—over and over. It ain’t fun. If you want to avoid that, you’d better get moving.”
I opened my mouth, ready to argue. But…he was right. Instead of fighting, I closed my mouth.
“Alright, good kid,” Calvin said. “Why don’t we spend one hour getting your gear together? See if there’s anything other than bombs that’s worth taking from that tool shop. They’ll be great until they run out, but you don’t want to be out of ammo in a firefight. You need something reliable.”
“I should get going,” I said, falling back on the farm accent and Midwest politeness again. “Tori’s out there, and I’ve got to find her.
“No, you don’t. Not yet. Instead, focus on making sure that when you find your friend, you’re good to go until you’re both safe.” Calvin shook his head slowly. “You can’t just be a hero. You’ve got to survive first.”
----------------------------------------
The new Inventory system was going to be a lifesaver—assuming that I could convince Calvin I had everything I needed and get moving before Tori got herself killed.
Calvin might not have been military since the ‘70s, but as it turned out, those instincts didn’t ever go away.
“You’ve got plenty of space in your inventory, Hal. Take a second sledgehammer.”
“Hal, focus. You’re going into unknown, hostile territory, so you’re going to bring 1.2 metric tons of crap you might need.”
“At least you’re not carrying it all like I had to.”
Right now, we were working on unwrapping table saw blades; Calvin thought they’d be good weapons, or parts of weapons, or something. In addition to the sledgehammers, I had another sharpened shovel, a couple of wood-splitting axes, and a half-dozen different spears we’d made by lashing an iron spike to a rake handle with wire. They didn’t fly well at all, but they’d let me save my energy for Lightning Bolts when I needed them most.
I’d also had an idea, and so an electric brush trimmer sat in my inventory, too, along with a half-dozen knives. Once I found a power source that actually worked, I’d be in business. If I found a power source, that was.
I was itching to head for the door and get moving; I only had two days to track down Tori, and right now, I didn’t even know if she was still alive. Every minute might count.
“Alright, listen up,” Calvin said as I tore the last blade’s packaging open and shoved it into my inventory. He held the filthy Army ballcap in his hands, wringing it like a wet rag. “You’re on a rescue mission. That means you’ve gotta be thorough, but quick. Hit as many stations as you can, as fast as you can, but don’t worry about clearing every single monster. Just figure out if she’s there. If she is, get her. If not, move on.”
“Got it,” I said.
“The biggest thing will be finding her without getting hurt yourself. If she’s hurt, that’s not a big deal. If you get hurt, no one’s coming for you. I don’t have the levels, and there’s no one else. So move fast, but be careful, soldier. Check your back, don’t rush into anything, and get your ass back here in one piece.”
Something about his body language had shifted. He still looked like a long-term rider, but he wasn’t acting like one. “Hal, I’m going to be honest with you. You might not find her. If it gets down to a few hours, you’re gonna have to take a shot at the Redline Wyrm—if you want out of here, that is. I’ll get things organized back here in case you find her. That way, we can put together a battle plan. But getting out of here should be your priority if it comes down to it, not finding your friend.”
“Thanks, Calvin,” I said. I held out a hand, and he grabbed it. One shake, firm squeeze, release—just like Dad had taught me.
“No problem. Now, get going, soldier.”
I nodded. The Redline Wyrm had just passed, so if I was fast, I could get to Monroe Station before the next cycle.