The more I dwell on matters the more I understand that the dwarven technology hidden away in the depths of this place is the key to everything. If this is the case, then why would the gods refuse to elaborate? There are too many unanswered questions. I praise all when I say that I will be the one who uncovers the answers! --83.4 Seconds Post-Integration.

  Clark spent the rest of the day practicing his magic missile technique. Wanting the overtime, in fact, he and the group even participated in a skirmish on a nearby floor. It wasn't a challenge to them by any means. All the skirmish amounted to was hunting some monsters that managed to break through the Containment Department's siege of a store block impacted by the monstrous offensive.

  Her and he both would have used their newly found missile use if they had a proper weapon. One with a magical center.

  But they didn't and had to make use instead with whatever handy-me-down blades the League official for the area had on hand. Clark wanted to rant about how he couldn't believe the higher ranked fighters got first dibs on the good weapons, the ones with the magic centers. When he thought about it, though, it was fully believable. Of course, command would prioritize the elites over the grunts, like him.

  Over the next couple of days, Clark and team's labor consisted of either practicing their skills or helping the defense forces hold their own against the monster incursions. On occasion, he performed typical retail duties, even climbed a couple of floors.

  "That's it!" he grunted. "We all need real weapons..." Remembering Theo's weapons were already magically inclined, he adjusted. "You and I, Hera, need real weapons. We can't keep using these crap leftover gear bits. We need to buy our own League-approved weapons."

  "I agree. I am already spending a small fortune on hockey sticks and baseball bats because they break too easily with the amount of fighting we've been doing. At this point, I think my Augustford Account must think I am starting a sports team!" Hera laughed. "Where should we go to buy such weapons? The League office, I guess?"

  Not actually knowing where they should go, he shrugged. "I supposed. Let's get over and hope they don't screw us."

  Theo tagged along with them just to see what the League stuff was all about. Ever since the offensive, he and Theo hadn't been able to spend much time together. He missed those rare moments when they could hang out together. He would need to rectify that post-haste!

  "Hello! How may I help you?" the chipper clerk asked. One silver lining to the monster offensive, if it could even be called a 'silver lining,' was that the clerks at the League no longer had their dreary, blase attitude. They were all smiles and effort, now. Clark wondered if it was because their supervisors were getting hard on their bums for recruitment reasons.

  "Hi... she and I are both Leaguers and we want to buy our own League made weapons. Can we do that?" he asked.

  "Sure, you can buy some weapons! What do you need?" the clerk said, happy, but their eyes dull.

  "I would like a shorts word. Hera?"

  Hera considered her options. "I would like a quarterstaff, if you have one."

  The clerk brought them to a back room filled with new weapons on display racks. From daggers to two-handed broadswords, and even armor to boot, the backroom had it all. Clark was tempted to buy more than a weapon.

  "Sir. One handed or two handed?"

  "One handed, please. If you have a buckler or a shield, I could also buy that would be awesome."

  The clerk nodded and directed his attention to a rack containing many weapon sizes. The clerk pulled from the rack a blade and rattled off a few facts about the blade. "Standard model made from steel. It has been lightly blessed with holy oils and is ready for combat. This model is one-hundred credits."

  Clark whistled. "More expensive than I thought... and this model has a magified center, correct?"

  "No, sir. As I said, this is the standard model. All standard models lack a magified center. This model," the clerk put the standard blade away and pulled out another blade, this one nearly identical but shinier. "Is the same model but with a magified center. The price is three-hundred credits."

  This time, Clark didn't whistle. "Three-hundred credits? And the buckler?"

  "Oh, yeah. Sorry... the buckler is an additional hundred credits. Two hundred if you want the buckler with a magified center as well."

  "So... five hundred credits in total?" He had the money, but the real question was, did he want to spend it?

  The clerk ruffled around on their device for a moment. "Actually, we are doing a sale today. You can get the blade and buckler -- with the magified centers -- for a discounted total of three-hundred Standard Credits."

  "Okay. Well, that's better, I guess..." Clark had to think if he wanted to spend that amount of money when he was supposed to be saving up for a Multi-Tool. Was it really a question, though? He needed a reliable weapon to defend himself, same for the shield.

  While he decided on if he wanted to take the deal, Hera was shown the quarterstaff. Like his own maybe-purchases, the staff with the magified center was overpriced. Five-hundred credits!

  Hera seemed unphased by the price, though. "I will take it. Thank you. And please, if at all possible, I would like the staff reinforced with additional Blessings."

  "Very good, ma'am. I can do that for you. Have you come to a decision yet, sir?" the clerk asked, not looking up from their tablet.

  "I have. I will also take the sword and buckler."

  "With the magical center, I presume?"

  "Of course. Thank you -- but before the transaction complete, is there any chance at all I can get a discount as the Dungeon Champion?" Clark knew the clerk would say 'no,' but he had to ask.

  "Dungeon... champion?" the clerk said slowly. Still without looking up from their tablet, the clerk madly pinged and touched the device. A moment later they finally looked up. "Yes, you do, actually. I have never before heard of this 'dungeon champion' thing. Huh! You and your Work Detail receive a modest discount for purchases over a certain amount. Together, the reinforced quarterstaff, along with the buckler and sword, all with the magified center, will come to eight-hundred Standard Credits. With your mysterious discount, I can sell you the items for seven-hundred credits."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Part of him wanted to pitch a fit and demand a steeper discount. A bigger part of him denied that smaller part and smiled. He was surprised he even got a discount. Best not to push his luck. "That would be great. Thanks."

  Clark opted to pay for the whole amount after Hera said she would reimburse him. [Transaction Complete: -700 Credits].

  "Thank you for your patronage! Please give me a few moments to take your staff out back and have one of our on-site enhancers imbue your weapon with the extra-blessing you ordered, ma'am," the clerk announced.

  The wait ended up being closer to a half-hour than a couple of moments, but that was beside the point.

  Hera sat next to him as they waited. "Thank you for covering my staff. I will compensate you right now. Just... one... second!"

  [Banking Notification: Deposit Received: +500 Standard Credits]

  "Neat. But don't mention it. I've been raking in the money from my Specialty Departments. Plus, I know you're good for it. I just can't with these weapons, though. We spent nearly a full thousand! For two low grade pieces of gear, too. Sure, yours had a little enhancement, but what should that really cost?" Clark raised his hands in a futile gesture. "I can only imagine what a high-grade, top-of-the-line weapon would cost. Probably more than I make in a month!"

  "It's because of the conflict. That's why prices are so high. I guess not even the one and only purveyor of gear is immune to price gouging. People like that... ugh! They rub me the wrong way. Let's just leave it at that!"

  "I imagine the Wastes were no stranger to resource competition. You have my sympathies, Clark. It must have been hard for you growing up."

  Was it hard for him? It wasn't easy, that was for sure. He had a loving family, though. Aside from a few bad seeds who were too concerned looking out for themselves before the community, his hometown was safe and protective. He couldn't say the same about the wild beasts which roamed outside the town's limits, of course; the same creatures who, on occasion, would raid the village, carrying away precious foods and livestock.

  The clerk returned with their purchased gear. "Here you go! Thank you for waiting!"

  Clark and Hera were given their respective purchases. Clark shoved his buckler onto his left arm right away. It was small. Only about the size of a large dinner plate -- the fancy kind, such as the kind the mayor had in their hut -- but it would block enough monster attacks, he knew. Because he wasn't expecting trouble, he kept the blade sheathed and tied to his waist via a leather holster thrown in as part of the promotion. He wasn't expecting a freebie, but he was happy for it as the leather belt looked of a good quality.

  Hera kept her staff on hand as a walking stick. Clever. She would be able to use it anytime it was needed and without any hesitation.

  "You look snazzy," Hera said once they were out of the League storefront. "A lot like my son back in the day."

  "I didn't know you had a son."

  "Of course you wouldn't know -- I never told you!" Hera laughed. "He's a lot like you. Except for all the ways you two are different, that is!"

  It wasn't like Hera to joke. What positive mood had gotten into her, today? "Does he work for Augustford?"

  "Heavens, no! He's a trader. Has his own business in niche specialty goods Augustford doesn't touch. I don't ask many questions about his trade. We only talk rarely."

  For a moment, Clark had an urge to talk to Hera about her son but decided against it. It was too personal a question. She felt close enough to him to broach the subject, but he didn't want to appear entitled. "I understand. I won't press but do know you can always come to me and chit-chat."

  "I know, Clark. Don't worry, though. I doubt I will need the ear of a youngling like yourself. I do appreciate the gesture, though. I actually cannot stand around and talk. I have prior commitments."

  "Of course... well, until later, then."

  Hera hadn't left for even a minute before SIMP injected themselves: "Fortuitous timing. Clark. I think it's time for us to return to Plague Central."

  At first, he had been worried over returning to Plague Central. So much rot already contaminated the area and with the monstrous offensive driving up more rot, Clark had been concerned over more powerful monsters perhaps occupying the space. SIMP told him they did not detect any stronger foes than last time. "All monstrous signatures remain at levels comparable to your last expedition."

  Through the deep dark, Clark retraced his steps. He had been finding with each expedition into the Dungeon's Interior, that monsters regrew or found their way into the routes he had already cleared. Although his trek through the Interior could be long, it was mostly uneventful.

  When he made his way into uncleansed territory, it was easy to tell as the floor again crew sticky with the plague rot. It had been days since he last had been inside the interior, cleansing the rot as he gradually charted the zone in an effort to locate another node within the corrupted network. SIMP told him they had pinpointed the next node during a penetrative scan the previous night; SIMP said the more corruption he cleaned, the better they could work in locating nodes.

  "Okay. There's the node." He was at the top of a ridge overlooking another open space. Though he was confused about why such open spaces existed in the Interior, SIMP told him such areas were akin to severs, where a lot of information was kept in storage.

  "There is a lot of monsters down there. They are protecting something. The node is definitely here."

  How do I want to do this? Clark considered using his fancy new sword. That would give him more experience using actual League weapons and heaven knew that would be useful during the trials to come. When he thought about what he needed most in the moment -- battle experience or perhaps magic missile experience, he had to go with the latter.

  Clark asked SIMP if there were any bits of debris around. They directed his attention to a few chunks of the Interior which he immediately focused his attention on, building that connection in the mind. He called forth his aura then gradually brought him arm forward and pointed at the piece of sediment. With a Manipulation dandy drunk, and the connection forged between he and it, the piece levitated into the air.

  Again and again, he twirled around the rock, having it gain momentum. As he did this, he gained another piece into his orbit, then another. Once several more Interior chunks were zipping through the air alongside the two starting pieces, was when he began the assault. A hard flick of his fingers and the chunks slammed into the monsters, eliminating them instantly.

  Now! Run, run, get there fast! The 'there' was the node, a black lump buried under how many inches thick of rot.

  Clark dead ran to the node. He skidded to a halt before it like he was a cartoon character. No time to waste! He knew the next batch of monsters would materialize and he had to get as much of the rot coating removed before then as possible. With my new sword, that should be easy!

  Before he had ventured into the Interior at SIMP's behest, Clark had dropped by a Green Guild storefront. He bought ten dandies for each of the four core uses -- Blessing, Defense, Stamina, and Manipulation. It set him back two-hundred credits, but it was worth it.

  He hastily poured a whole Blessing dandy over his sword, the open bottle on its tip, so all of the liquid coated the blade. Satisfied his tool was good and wet, he thrust forward and struck clean through inches of sedimented plague goop. He tugged his blade to the side and dislodged it, sending heaps of bleeding fungal-like slabs to the floor.

  Clark repeated the process on the node's other side. Stab, side-yank, release.

  He looked at the node. Nearly half of the dungeon machinery underneath was visible.

  SIMP gave warning of the next monster cluster forming. Letting his blade drop to the ground for a moment so he could uncap another Blessing dandy, he hastily dumped the dandy over the node, letting the holy liquid sizzle into the node's tight spots. He picked his sword up just as several rot slabs sloughed off the node.

  "Large Slimes have materialized," SIMP warned. "Cluster incoming."

  Clark turned away from the node. He had to address the monster problem.

  Once more with SIMP's help, he located some projectiles-to-be. Aura -- flushed; Connection -- forged; debris in the air!

  Though he broke into a sweat as he brought the debris against the monsters, he noticed it was remarkably easier than when he first learned. Before the monsters got too close, he had the time to twirl and slam a second round into the monsters, destroying over half the mini horde. Of those monsters which remained, Clark made their lives short with due help from his bladed buddy.

  Fine. Back to the business at hand! With the monsters slain, he used his blessed blade to hack at the rest of the node's rotted coating. In moments, the machinery underneath was free, and he plugged his System Link toggle into the node, allowing SIMP to inject themselves into it and purify.

  Per the norm, SIMP's presence within the node resulted in a large burst of light from within the machine. He sniffed: decay, incinerated. His body, splattered with goop.

  He sighed. "Okay. Another node purified. Ready for more cleansing?"

  "I'm already having a field day," was SIMP's reply. "Boy! This node excites me! It's buried underneath heaps of slow, rot data, but I see information relating to the Dwarven structure!"