[table] [row][cell][h2] H A N N A H & Z O E[/h2][/cell] [cell][right]7 days and counting to floor collapse Floor 1 Viewers: 0 | Followers: 0 | Favorites: 0[/right][/cell][/row] [/table] [hr] Hannah stood from the chair she had been sitting at, as the goblin advised them to focus on the dungeon. It was basically a pick yourself up by the bootstraps peptalk. She watched the others, and was guiltily glad everyone looked a little frazzled and disheveled. The pair had entered on the opposite side of Hannah and fourth crawler. She caught the eye of the woman, who was apparently the crawler she was bonded with. Hannah had lived her whole life as the smallest person in the room... and she felt like it still, even with Igva being there. She watched the woman, Loralie, open her boxes. Then with Igva's instructions opened her own boxes. She only had two, but they were of good quality. Igva was especially happy with the platinum boxes potential. The boxes showed up in her vision, the first was a large metal crate with electricity crackling across it's polished silver body. The crate behind it, was golden, and had the skulls with glowing eyes atop it. The platinum crate opened with confetti, and two items jumped out. A ring, and a book. Invaluable grinned, as Hannah grabbed one in each hand. The system didn't waste anytime telling her about the items. [Table][row] [Cell]Ring of +1 intellegence [hr] Does exactly what you think it does. +1 to your intelligence. [/cell] [Cell]Spell Tome of Arc Lightning [hr] Spell: Lightning arcs from your hand, or focus, to the chosen target. At greater levels, this spell will have multiple bolts and will be able to arc between targets.[/cell] [/row][/table] "Both good. You'll find a lot of this basic jewelry. To boost your stats now... later the good stuff will come." The goblin said, then looked over to the book. "That spell is basic, but... it's highly upgradeable, it could be the thing to craft around." [hr] Next was the golden box, a killstreak box. It popped open with a jingle of notes, and all that came out was a round piece of golden metal, which she quickly realized was a circlet. She read the description as the AI read it to her. It was called, Crown of the Overflowing Chalice. Igva who had been reading along, grinned. "That is a good item. I'm not surprised, the AI is probably over compensating a little. The soulbound rule is a bit of a double edged sword, I think, especially early in the dungeon... when you crawlers are vulnerable. Your loot on this floor will probably be above average." This crown had two effects, and both were kind of crazy. If this was an RPG, which Hannah played often, she would think this item was broken. [Center][Table][row][cell] The Crown of the Overflowing Chalice [hr] +2 to Intelligence | Overflow | While wearing this your spells cost 50% more mana. Your spell are cast with +2 spell levels. | Mana Vacuum | Your Mana can be filled to 200% of your maximum, but will only naturally regenerate to your max. If one of your spells strikes down an enemy, gain 5 Mana points. [/cell][/row][/table][/center] She put the circlet on, as Igva instructed. With the ring, that put her at 8 intelligence. Which gave her 8 mana points, with a pool of potentially 16, her only spell cost 2 mana points, but the circlet made that 3. If it killed something, she could get 5 points back! Which meant if she could one shot a mob with her spell, which was easier due to the spell being cast at a higher level... she had infinite mana? "That crown is good for small spells, I can see the thinking going on in there. The overflow tax isn't optional, so if you have 2 mana... you won't be able to cast arc lightning, without removing the crown." This whole thing gave Hannah a lot to think about. She looked up as Igva moved on, and found Loralie there. She sat back down in her chair, beside the woman. "I'm from Nebraska, Omaha to be specific. I was a pharmacy tech, and student." She said, she was unable to make eye contact... she kind of hoped Loralie didn't take it personally, the day was just too overwhelming already... "I got a spell, it's kind of crazy we will be able to cast magic. The description makes it sound like sith lightning. I also got a ring, and this circlet. I think, the loot is setting me up to be a caster..." She paused looking at her stats in her menu. "I am a little concerned about being a glass cannon, when our lives are on the line." "This whole thing is crazy... it was the middle of the night, I was only outside walking to my car after class. I go to night school." She explained in her soft voice. "I dont think anyone I knew... I have been thinking about it, I dont think anyone I knew would have been outside." It wasn't long before Igva was pushing them out the door. Grind, level-up, find a saferoom. As Sharod and Loralie left, that left Hannah and Zoe. Hannah really felt intimidated by the woman, but... she smiled, and moved to introduce herself. "Hello, my name is Hannah. I think we might have entered from the same door." [hr] Zoe was finishing up with her boxes. She had 5 boxes... the single bronze chest, had a very sharp but completely ordinary chef's knife in it. Zoe was not complaining, this was better than the "weapons" she had looted from the Wilys. The costume box had a pair of jeans, exactly her size. Fuck. Yes. The other silver box, had a pair of health potions, a mana biscuit, and two tiny little throwing knives. The two gold boxes. First was the cutting edge box, and Zoe was almost disappointed. As a cheap looking knife sharper popped out, like one of those from late-night TV. Then the Skywalker box, left her kind of shocked. [Table][row] [Cell] Perma-Sharp Knife Enhancement Kit [hr] This Knife sharpening kit will imbue a Knife with a random special enhancement. This kit has 2 uses remaining. [/cell] [Cell] Eye of the Blood-Ruby Basilisk [hr] +2 to Constitution | Blood Seeker | Thrown weapons that target a bleeding enemy, will seek their target maliciously. Automatically targeting vitals and inflicting a venom that makes their bleeding accelerate.[/cell][/row][/table] She was used to wearing a prosthesis eye, and this was basically just like the one she wore daily. Igva showed her how to equip items through the inventory. They spent a few minutes talking about the knife enhancement kit. They decided it would be best used later. Zoe wanted a knife that was more suited for combat, like a dagger... something with a little heft. Zoe looked up as the smallest crawler approached her. The other two had just left, "My name is Zoe, did you fight some lizard bastards, too?" She asked, trying to keep her voice friendly. This girl looked ready to bolt. "Yeah, they were about this tall... and looked ready for a day at the beach." She said, with chuckle. "The AI called them Wet Wilys for some reason. I think they are weak to electricity, cause my tazer was killing them." "I think they have guards that pat around their territory." Zoe said, running a hand through her brown curls. Hannah perked up, that was gamer jargon. "Cause they last few groups I fought had weapons." "We should try to skirt around their territory, Igva said to avoid elites." Hannah said as Zoe stood, and made her way to the door. "But Elites are probably where all the good stuff is." She motioned for Hannah to follow, and she did. Zoe opened the door, and Hannah peeked outside before stepping into the dungeon. [hr] "So you game?" Hannah asked after they started down the hallway. "Yeah, mostly World of Warcraft." Zoe said, "I hope some of the knowledge is transferable." The older woman watched as Hannah peeked around a corner. She had a good foot of height on Hannah, "I played a little, but most MMOs have similar jargon." She said with a smile, "There is a group there." She said softly, weapons like you said. "I can open with Arc Lightning, and we can ambush them from the corner with an LoS?" Zoe peeked the corner, seeing 5 lizards. These were a bit wider and more muscular, and more crocodilian than the other Wilys... but they were still considered Wet Wilys. "Do these look buffer?" Zoe asked quietly. Hannah nodded, and spoke "Well we are moving into their territory. These might be elites." Zoe made a hmm of agreement. "Maybe we shouldn't? I mean you haven't even leveled up." "Yeah, but what does leveling even do... you said we can't put the stats in until floor 3. So levels are kind of meaningless, until then." Hannah said, "I think, I can kill or seriously maim one before the fight starts." She looked down at the Wily sword in her hand... it was a chipped rough looking metal with a patina look. It looked almost like a sword in her hand... but really it was like a huge dagger. "Let's do it." Zoe said, still sounding a bit reluctant. Hannah reached a hand around the corner, and cast Arc Lightning. She felt the mana gather and then blast from her palm with a Crack of lightning. She grinned, that would be so cool... if she wasnt in a death dungeon. The one she hit, screeched and slumped over nearly dead... the others turned and charged. Hannah blasted the almost dead one again, and felt the rush of mana returning to her. "They are coming." She said as the first one rounded the corner. She jumped back as Zoe leapt forward. These were almost as tall as Hannah, they hadnt looked that big. Zoe slashed at the first one with her knife, using the surprise of her being there to kick it in the stomach. Hannah zapped it arc lightning, it's health dove but it didn't die. Damn. She had 4 mana left. She needed to kill it, and she really couldn't miss another kills hot. Zoe dodged the next lizard, as Hannah loosed another bolt, killing the nearly dead one. Returning to 6 mana, she grinned. The rest of the lizards came around the corner, Zoe fought two... the third charged Hannah. Zoe slashed at one, and stepped back quickly and badly tossing one of the throwing knives at it. It didn't matter the dagger corrected itself by making a 90° turn mid-air and slamming into the lizards throat. Hannah tried to dodge the swing, but it clipped her side! She screamed, and cast arc lightning while pushing the lizard away. Casting heal would use up mana she needed to cast another lightning... but she was cut pretty bad. Fuck. She cast heal. Leaving her at 2 mana. If she took off the circlet to cast Arc bolt... then she wouldn't get refunded, and the spell would be weaker. She blocked the next swing with her weapon, barely... the monster's swing broke her weapon, and nearly cut into her again. She reached up pulling the circlet off and cast arc lightning again, the bolt of electric energy slammed into her target killing it. "I'm oom!" She called to Zoe, who was down to just one lizards. The older crawler had obviously cast heal on herself. "One left!" Zoe called, as Hannah moved to help. They made quick work of it, Hannah distracting while Zoe slammed her knife into the soft scales on it's side. "These mob weapons suck." Hannah said, as they looted. Holding up another Wily sword... " Mine got cleaved in two like butter." They looted coins, and 1 health potion... "I get a mana points about every 20 minutes... like an hour before I can cast again." Hannah said softly, as they walked. "I need to find some mana potions..."