“Friends, glad am I that I met thee. We have ended this evil fiend and saved the land from its machinations. Thank you for your service to the Court of Daford. Let us see if anything else is within the mausoleum.” Yes, let’s go get the loot, Pepe thought. They walked behind the knight into the mausoleum. He was looking much better after some healing from Bobby, though his armor still had the dents in it and would need a smith to restore it to its former glory.

  The inside looked like it had belonged to someone wealthy. Various marble statues were around the room. It was also very dusty. Large footprints and lines from where the monster had dragged itself out could be seen on the floor. The casket itself was carved out of marble; the top was now on the floor, cracked in half. Lucky for them, no more zombies were walking around. He looked around but saw no loot chests. Where were they? He looked behind the casket, then went forward and looked inside. There they were. Found them.

  He didn’t really want to reach in and get them out; they were large and probably heavy. Sir Urthor solved the dilemma by reaching in and bringing one out, then the other, placing both on the floor. He didn’t open them; he just looked around more, making sure there were no hidden doors or anything.

  They allowed him to do his thing while they took care of opening the first chest. As usual, Josh took charge of that. He opened it and took out its contents. Pepe saw that it was an armor chest piece. It looked heavy and clearly was made for his cousin. It was a dull gray and looked like it was made of overlapping scales.

  Awesome. Manuel was really going to like that one. Pepe was happy for his cousin; this item would greatly increase his tankiness. The Stamina boost meant higher health points, and the Defence bonus was crazy—at least, Pepe thought so. How was Defense even calculated for tanks? Well, it was good either way. Pepe wouldn’t be able to use something like that regardless, unless there was a way to change classes. But he really liked Thief, and he was looking forward to learning more about it. He felt he was sorely lacking in skills. The ones he currently had were alright, but he needed to be able to do more damage, especially against the darn zombies.

  It was time to open the second chest. Before that, though, there was no two ways about it. Josh handed the armor over to their tank. “Gracias, amigo. I’m going to go put this on right now,” Manuel said. He went off to the side, taking off his old chest piece, which was still from the starter set and had no bonuses. The Stamina and plus Defense were a great upgrade for his cousin, and Pepe saw that he was eager to try it on.

  Josh moved over to the other chest and opened it. He took out its contents. Pepe saw that it was a cream-colored cloth, very light from the looks of it. Josh unrolled it. It was a gown—or, Pepe guessed, in this case, a robe—in other words, caster gear.

  Yup, definitely caster gear. This would be good for either Josh or Bobby; they would both benefit from it. That was as far as Pepe went with evaluating the piece. It wasn’t Thief gear, so he didn’t need to think more about it. He would be happy for whoever got the gear, as it would make the party stronger. He was ready to move on to the next floor.

  “All looks in order, friends. Shall we leave this place behind?” Sir Urthor asked. Yes, let’s leave this place behind. It gave Pepe the creeps as it was; he didn’t like being inside the mausoleum at all. Had he mentioned how much he disliked the undead?

  They followed Sir Urthor. As they exited the crypt, they looked up. It had stopped raining. Good, he hated being wet. Through a break in the clouds, a ray of sunlight could be seen. It looked as if the rain would finally stop for a while. They made their way to the exit of the place, not wanting to explore the creepy-looking mansion in the background. The knight’s horse was still tied up, awaiting its master’s return. Well, at least the zombies only liked humanoid people and not horses.

  They followed him out the gate. He looked at them. “Again, I offer thee my thanks and that of the Court. As for the reward, it shall be sent to thee, as I still need to make a report of the situation. May I ask to whom we should send it?” Maybe naming themselves Wolfpack was a little silly, Pepe thought, but that is what they called themselves as a party.

  Josh looked up at the knight. He looked a bit embarrassed. “We are Wolfpack.”

  “Pack of the Wolf—interesting company name, but I have heard worse. Friends, I fare thee well. Until we meet again, I shall praise your bravery. Goodbye.” The sun was out; only a few of the dark clouds were still lingering. It would be dark soon, as the sun was beginning to set. Pepe looked at the knight as he rode away, the sun setting, the knight raising his arm in one final farewell. Would they meet the knight again? He had been an interesting NPC. Maybe the nodes would use him again in another story?

  When the knight was out of sight, the outline of a rectangle appeared. Then a beat-up wooden door materialized, complete with its rope handle and the rusted knocker. It was time for them to head back to the locker room. Josh opened the door, the fluorescent lights shining out. Pepe was happy to leave the floor—no more zombies, no more rain. Again, a beach resort would be great, but he doubts the nodes would comply with that wish.

  They stepped through one by one. Pepe looked back at where they had come from for just one last look. There was a man standing in the middle of the road. The man looked as if he were in some form of servant livery. He was semitransparent and bowed. A wind blew, and like smoke, he was gone. What the heck was that? Pepe shook his head. Probably imagining things, letting his imagination of the creepy place get to him. He stepped through, and once he was through, he turned, and the door was simply gone. He shivered. Was it a ghost?

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The lockers were the same, and their gear was still stored away. There was an addition: a purple hat with his name on it. Pepe was still miserably wet. He grabbed his gear and the hat to change; he wasn’t going to stay in these wet clothes. Lucky for them, the changing rooms were back once more. Good job, nodes. He stepped in and drew the cloth curtain closed so he could have some privacy. Upon closing it, a warm wind came. It was like a giant air dryer; in mere minutes, he was dry once again. But he was still going to change; he was tired of the coveralls and the green shirt.

  He put on his old starter gear but decided to keep the tacky purple hat. He checked the GUI to see if he had lost the skills the uniform provided, and yes they were gone. But there was a new skill, probably related to the hat, he would look at it later. It was a good thing the hat was there; his hair, after the giant dryer, was all over the place.

  He stepped out of the changing room. His friends were grabbing their things and heading into the little changing area. They saw that he was dry. “Wait, how did you get all dry?” They were still soaked from their little foray into Floor 2. He told them about the giant dryer effect from the changing room, and they quickly went in. He heard them say, “Oh, that’s nice,” and it had been.

  Michelle, not one to dawdle, had already gone in as well. Pepe was out there by himself. He thought back to the weird ghost he had seen. Why was it there? Was it thanking them for what they had done? Sneaky nodes, leaving him with a cliffhanger. One after the other, his friends came out. They had the same idea and had done as he: the coveralls and the green shirt were gone, and they were back in their starter gear. Like him, they were sporting their new caps.

  Josh clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, everyone, we need to divide the loot. Since it’s taking a bit more time than expected, we won’t wait to return to town. Maria, is there a fair way to do this? Draw straws, dice, or a Wheel of Fortune type thing?”

  “User Josh, we have a roll system that can be used to do it fairly. Would you like to roll for the first item?” Maria responded. Well, it may not have been the best way to do it, but it was better than what they could come up with.

  “Yes, please. The [Chestpiece of the Cunning Tiger (M)] first,” Josh said. He hoped he would win it but wasn’t sure if he would.

  “Will roll with a 100,” Maria stated. Pepe had heard about this. He hadn’t been into those tabletop games; instead, they had played on their computers or on their game systems. And this was something they had seen in games when they were in a group.

  Dang, a 24—he would likely lose, but it was alright. Let’s see what the RNGesus had in store for Erin.

  Erin just nodded, and the roll for him began.

  Ah, well, I guess Erin gets this one. With his low roll, Pepe figured he would lose, and he had been right. Josh handed the chest piece over to Erin.

  “Ready to roll for the leg guards?” Josh asked. Pepe didn’t want to lose out on the leg guards; the +1% to daggers was really good for him, as he primarily used daggers.

  “No need. I don’t think I’ll be using daggers, so it’s kind of a waste. Congratulations, Pepe,” Erin said, smiling at him.

  “Thanks, bud,” Pepe replied, smiling back at his friend. He was glad that Erin wasn’t going to be training in daggers.

  Next, the roll was between Bobby and Josh. Who would get the robe? Bobby went first.

  An 81, that was a really good roll, would Joshes roll be higher?

  “Congratulations Bobby!” Handing the robe to Bobby.

  Now that the loot was handed out, the winners had gone off to change into their new gear. Pepe put on his new leg piece. It was nice and soft on the inside; on the outside, they were rougher and looked like they could take a beating. He didn’t really feel much different with them on. The Charisma increase didn’t really seem to do anything. He was naturally charismatic, at least that’s how he felt about himself, even before coming here. And as far as the dagger damage output, he wouldn’t be able to see that until they fought something.

  He came out sporting his new leg guards, feeling all stylish. The new pants looked much nicer than the starter set. The only thing was that he was mismatched. He would need to get a chest piece to match the leg piece. Not that he was at all coordinated in his wardrobe back home; he normally just threw on whatever he hadn’t worn too much and looked less wrinkled. His fashion sense, which he doubted he had, wasn’t really that concerning to him back home. A little embarrassing, but most of the time he had just allowed his mom to pick some clothes for him.

  Erin looked good in the chest piece. While it would have been great if Pepe had won the roll, he wasn’t selfish and was glad his friend had won. He looked over at Bobby, whose new off-white robe had a silver stripe down one side, the same at the hem and at the cuffs. There also seemed to be strange symbols at the cuffs and the hem above the line.

  All the gear fit them perfectly, the rules being broken once again. It seemed that the world just knew what it needed to give out. The new pants were just right—not too long or short, wide enough, not baggy. Overall, they felt like a second skin. Whoever the crafter was, he was great at his job.

  While they were getting dry and changing, a new door materialized. Above it, a sign read “Dungeon Store.” Where did the doors come from? No point in asking the questions, though. Pepe was sure it was some other rule-breaking thing of this world. The new door in question was what you would expect in a modern-day superstore at a mall. It was glass with an aluminum frame. The glass was tinted black; he couldn’t see in at all. Guess it was shopping time. “Guys, another door.” They had been sitting down. Michelle was still in the changing room, and Pepe just happened to turn and saw the door—a door that hadn’t been there before, or they would have seen it as they walked back out of the changing room.

  They had all gathered by the door and were waiting for Michelle; she came out her hair in perfect order under the hat with her name on it. How did she do that? Pepe’s hair was a mess under the hat, and he looked at his friends the hair he could see was a mess as well. No time to try and figure out how she did that right now, they had a store to explore.

  “What is that?” She looked up and read the sign, “Shopping time!” She pushed them out of the way and went into the store, the boys right behind her, Erin was closest to the door, so he went in after, followed by the rest.

  Pepe looked around the store, the place was small, not as large as the one in Starter Town, there were a few items on display. There was a counter and behind the counter our two buddies the Dungeon Nodes, this time the hats were different, one of them wearing a cowboy hat, with a leather band around it and a little plaque with the number 1337. The other node had a blue beanie on with you guessed it a number 1 on it. What was up with these nodes and their hats, Pepe was partial to the beanie, but he would not be caught dead in a cowboy hat, even though he had grown up in Texas he was not into the cowboy look.

  “Welcome to the Dungeon Shop. While we have many things for sale you only have access to a small amount at this point. As you advance and collect more [Dungeon Tokens] you will have access to a greater number of items.” Wait what were they talking about, Dungeon Tokens? And what was it about the limited items, why? This world and their rules again, it made no sense, not that he had any idea about any of it.

  “Maria que es Dungeon Tokens?” They had their own version of Goggle even though it seemed to be limited.

  He had twelve of them. He hadn’t really paid attention to all the notifications as they had progressed through the dungeon. What could he buy with what he had? And wow, only a very low chance that they would get access to the shops—that sucked.

  “Maria, can you show me what is available in the shop currently?” he asked. He had been concentrating on himself and hadn’t paid much attention to his friends. Each one looked like they were looking at the same thing, though.

  Did he need to look at the rest? Nah not really, he was only interested in the items he could use.

  The list was mostly potions and jewelry. He had some potions; they tended to be a little expensive, but he had two of each, so he was fine with those. The first ring was something good for him; his Agility was one of his main stats, and it would help him become a better thief. The amulet was good, too; you never knew when simply hiding or sneaking through a place would be useful.

  What was up with the [Ring of Love], though? Four extra Charisma points were good, but the ring was expensive. It wouldn’t give him many benefits—well, it would, but still, it would be better for someone like Josh, who did most of the talking. It wasn’t like he could afford all of them; the Charisma ring alone would take up all the tokens. He would go with the Agility ring and the amulet and save the other tokens for later. Besides, according to the nodes, they would open up more items as time went on and they earned more tokens.

  He brought up the rest of the items in the shop just so he could see what the others might buy.

  There were a lot of good options for his friends, some of which he thought might even work for him, like the [Ring of the Intuitive Eye]. That one seemed like a good option. But just like the [Ring of Love], the cost was too high. Again, maybe it would be something he could buy later.

  He went to the nodes and purchased the Agility ring and the amulet he had been looking at. Maybe in the future, he could buy ten rings; ten additional Agility points would be crazy. He put on the ring and the pendant. Both items were cool-looking. The pendant was a simple silver chain with a larger yellowish-brown stone hanging from it. The ring itself was made of a simple silver band, with the same type of stone, except it looked like an eye was looking at you.

  He brought up his GUI but wasn’t sure how to bring up the equipment screen. He hadn’t really needed to do so before. “Maria, how do I bring up the Equipment GUI?” he asked.

  “User Pepe, it is very simple. Once the GUI is up, many pages can be viewed; you just have to do a swipe motion with your fingers,” she explained. He recalled a futuristic movie where they did that—oh, and of course, the superhero movies; they did it all the time.

  “Thank you!” He brought up the GUI and swiped left, and just as she had indicated, a new page was displayed. It showed his currently equipped items, and there it was. He could only wear a ring on each hand; any other rings would do nothing for him. Ah, well, he would just have to see what the best item was that he could get his hands on.

  He swiped left again, and another page appeared. It had more information on his level and all his stats, as well as the modifiers from the equipment he was now wearing

  He was so close to level 6 he could feel it. His Agility was at a decent level, but he was lacking in Stamina and Strength; he would need to invest in those stats in the next few levels. The low health points meant a critical hit could easily knock him out. His Agility helped in the Dodge category, so it would help him avoid critical hits, he hoped. He wasn’t planning on getting hit anyway, but plans didn’t always work out as expected.

  He was ready to go, now to wait for his friends. But some of them weren’t done. He went over to look at the items the nodes had on display, even though he couldn’t buy them. One could always window-shop and try to figure out what to save up for. Next stop: Floor number 3 and the final floor for the dungeon. It was taking longer than expected, but the gains were good, so why would he complain?