Ding!

A soft chime echoed in all five minds, and shimmering blue screens popped into view.

LEVEL UP! You are now Level 6. +3 Stat Points Awarded

The group shared quick glances as the message lit up in front of them. But for Zane and Tarni, a second line blinked into view:

Title Bonus Applied: +1 Bonus XP to all Stats granted from "First Blood!" +1 Bonus XP to all Stats granted from "Well, You Were Almost First"

Zane barely finished reading before his voice cut through the anticipation like a machete through kobold hide.

"Alright, nobody talk," he said firmly, authority clear in his tone. "We're not standing around in a pitch-black tunnel, chatting about stats and skills, when we are four minutes away from food, clean water, and a comfy couch."

He gave them all a look, then turned on his heel and started walking toward the golden light spilling through the exit of the Cube.

Tarni started after him but froze as a deep, monstrous growl echoed through the chamber.

Everyone stopped.

Tarni blinked, then clutched his stomach. "That... was me."

Kai stared. "Mate, that wasn't a stomach growl, that was a cave bear waking up after winter."

With a sheepish grin and a dramatic rub of his belly, Tarni replied, "All the more reason to get back, yeah? Beer and bikkies first. System chat later."

Bell chuckled and gave him a gentle shove. "Move it, Grumbleguts."

He was the last to leave the tunnel.

And the second his foot crossed the threshold, the Cube changed.

The moment Tarni was clear, the obsidian-black surface shimmered like oil under sunlight. The tunnel behind them vanished—replaced by a smooth wall. The circular marking reappeared, white and waiting silently for a palm to be pressed against it.

Just like when they'd first arrived.

It was like the dungeon was saying: Come back when you're hungry for more.

No one spoke for a few beats. The tension of the battle was gone, but something about the Cube resealing itself was unsettling—like a door closing behind them with a whisper instead of a slam.

Zane gave it one last glance, then kept walking.

"Come on. I'm not kidding about that couch. I've got a date with some leftover curry and a beer."

Lily wrinkled her nose. "Curry and beer?"

"Curry's still good," Kai added. "Beer's questionable. Might've been warm for three days."

Bell slung her bow over her shoulder and fell into step beside Zane. "Don't care. If it's fizzy and cold-ish, I'll drink it."

Tarni raised a hand as if making a toast. "To warm beer, cold curry, and surviving the first floor!"

"Here here," said Lily, grinning.

They made their way across the dirt clearing surrounding the Cube. The sky was shifting into its late afternoon hues—orange and pink bleeding into deepening blue. Birds were chirping again. The air no longer felt like it wanted to bite them.

And their house, stilted and secure, stood tall in the distance—an island of sanity in a world now part fantasy.

Behind them, the Cube remained silent.

Waiting.

Tarni knew there'd be no hot water. Two showers in the house, no power-heated water, and a whole team covered in dungeon grime? Yeah, not worth the wait.

So, after helping Zane and Kai spend three solid minutes getting the jenny rumbling, to power the water pump, he gave them a cheeky grin, stripped down to his pearly whites, and casually strolled over to the garden hose.

The cold spray hit like a slap to the soul, but Tarni just laughed and scrubbed.

Thankfully, Bell and Lily had already gone inside. Unfortunately for Zane and Kai… they had not.

"Argh! My eyes! They burn!" Kai cried, shielding his face.

"You're completely incurable, mate," Zane groaned, shaking his head and retreating inside before Tarni decided to start singing.

With one look, Bell completely vetoed the leftover curry and dropped it straight into the bin. Like a starving possum, Tarni dove for the bin, protesting that it was still good.

Bell turned toward him with one eyebrow raised.

Tarni froze. After a moment of tense silence, he made a very wise decision: carefully placed the container of curry back into the bin and backed out of the kitchen with his hands held up in surrender.

Two dozen eggs, two loaves of bread, two boxes of Nutri-Grain, four litres of UHT milk, two full packets of family-sized bikkies, and ten steaming cuppas later, the group had finally shaken off the edge of battle-fatigue, post-dungeon adrenaline, and level-up hunger.

Bell had claimed the frying pan early and established dominance over the kitchen with a calm authority that no one dared challenge.

Now seated around the table with full bellies and slightly clearer heads, it was time to get into the thick of it.

"I vote we discuss gear first," Kai said, wiping toast crumbs from his shirt.

"What? I was thinking we do points first, then look at the gear," Zane replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah mate," Tarni chimed in, leaning back in his chair. "Kai's right. We might get a stat boost from some gear that'll change how we wanna spend points."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Bell and Lily, mid-sip of their coffees, both nodded in agreement with Tarni—no words needed.

Zane sighed and muttered, "Fine. Gear it is. But I'm claiming first pick if anyone finds anything with a +10 to Not Getting Flashed By Tarn."

Tarni grinned over his cup. "Mate, you should be thanking me. That view was priceless."

Kai groaned into his hands. "This is going to be a long debrief…"

Lily sat cross-legged on the floor, a notepad balanced on her knee and a pen in hand—both miraculously found in one of the kitchen drawers beside a takeaway menu from 2006 and two dead AA batteries.

"Alright, Dad," she said, clicking the pen dramatically. "Call it out. Let's catalogue our glorious loot."

Zane scratched the back of his head as he surveyed the gear spread out in the middle of the lounge room like a post-apocalyptic garage sale. Everyone gathered around in a loose semicircle, sipping coffee or tea, the air smelling faintly of fried eggs, wet leather, and dungeon grime.

"Right then," Zane began, pointing with his mug. "We've got seven leather vests. Five of 'em have +2 defence, all in different states of wear. One's nearly mint—still has a kobold name stitched on the tag—probably says something like 'Kick Me' in kobold."

Bell snorted.

"Other two are standard—no bonuses," Zane continued. "Might still be worth patching up for spares."

Lily jotted it all down, mumbling under her breath: "Five plus twos, two normal, all dodgy condition."

"Next, three kobold short swords—no stats, but they're serviceable," Zane said, picking one up and giving it a lazy swing. "Won't win any style points, but they'll cut meat if needed."

Tarni took one and flipped it over in his hand. "Better than the butter knives we started with."

"Now," Zane went on, pausing for effect, "the good stuff. The kobold leader's bow."

Everyone leaned forward.

Zane inspected the Bow with his Skill

Glorious Boom-Sting of the Great and Mighty Flame-Sniper Krizzik the Sky-Sunderer, Slayer of Owls and Scorcher of Tall-Folk" (+2 Piercing, +2 Explosive)

Stat requirements.

Strength 12

Dexterity 15

Zane held it up like a relic from a museum exhibit. "This bad boy has +2 Piercing and +2 Explosive. Its name is … nope. I'm calling it the Boomstick Bow—unless someone's got a better name."

"That's perfect," Bell said, instantly giving Tarn the side eye that he wisely saw and kept his mouth shut.

Kai whistled low. "That's serious firepower."

"Yeah, but it comes with Stat requirements. Strength 12 and Dexterity of 15", finished Zane

Lily scribbled furiously. "Boomstick Bow… got it."

As Lily wrote the information down, Bell quickly checked her stats, then let out a breath that she did not know she was holding.

Zane set the weapon down carefully. "Next, we've got two small leather coin pouches—six copper coins in each. Same weird markings—one side has the dungeon entrance with that half-white-sphere thing, the other side's blank."

Tarni poked one of the coins with his finger. "Still reckon they're going to mean more later."

"Probably," Lily agreed. "Mark 'em as Dungeon Currency for now."

Zane nodded. "Last—and definitely not least—we've got this."

He held up the final item: a larger, worn leather bag with gold thread around the top. The whole thing looked deceptively ordinary.

"A bag of holding," Zane announced, holding it high for everyone to see. He read aloud from the glowing blue System message floating in front of him.

Bag of Holding Can hold up to 300 KG In a 2 cubic meter space Exceeding the weight limit will cause the carrier of the bag to be Overcucumbered and have their movement speed locked to Slow. (Bag can be soul-bound)

There was a beat of silence.

"Overcucumbered?" Kai asked, blinking.

"I don't even want to know what that's supposed to mean," Tarni muttered. As he tried to look as innocent as possible.

Lily underlined something in her notes, then looked up at everyone. "There is so much we need to unpack—and talk about—with that and all the other weird shit from the System."

Everyone nodded in agreement, but before the ideas and questions could start tumbling out, Bell raised her hand in front of herself like a stop sign.

"Okay, everyone. Let's not get sidetracked. We'll deal with the System and all its weirdness after we've finished sorting the loot and assigning skill points."

She waited, eyes scanning the group to make sure no one would interrupt, then waved for Zane to continue.

"Right. And apparently, the next dungeon reward is unlocking Crafting Skills," Zane added. "Assuming we live long enough."

Everyone went quiet for a moment, the weight of that sentence settling like mist in the room. The battle had taken a toll—but they'd survived. Together.

Then Lily flipped the page in her notebook.

"Alright. Now that we've listed it, we need to talk distribution."

Zane pointed at the Boomstick Bow. "Well, unless anyone else has both Explosive and Piercing Shot, I reckon Bell gets first dibs."

Bell smiled, accepting the weapon with a reverent nod. "This is going to be very fun."

With the fact that none of them knew how to soul-bind the Bag of Holding—and that everyone could freely add or remove items from it, regardless of who had put them in—the group decided to leave it unbound for now and move the conversation on.

Next topic: Level ups and stat allocation.

Kai spoke up first, rubbing the back of his neck as he sat on the arm of the couch. "I'm thinking two points into Wisdom and one into Intelligence. My healing felt a lot easier and more powerful last time I put points into those."

Everyone talked it over briefly before agreeing that, yeah, that seemed the best path for him.

Kai's New Stats: Intelligence: 19 → 21 Wisdom: 15 → 16

Bell was next. She looked at the Boomstick Bow in her lap, running her fingers across the polished grip. "Well, with the new bow's requirements, I'm going to need at least two into Strength."

After some back-and-forth, she decided that having more than the minimum wouldn't hurt, and might help with drawing heavier strings in the future. She put all three points into Strength.

Bell's New Stats: Strength: 10 → 13

Lily glanced at her notebook, then shrugged. "I don't have a specific build I'm working toward, so… I'm just going to put all three into Constitution for now. Trying to get all my stats to fifteen eventually."

Lily's New Stats: Constitution: 12 → 15

Then Zane and Tarni shared a look. Zane cleared his throat. "Just a reminder that some of us get extra six stat points. Title perks."

Instant groans filled the room.

"Booo!" "Unfair!" "You two are so lucky." "Rigged system!"

Tarni just leaned back in his chair, smirking like a king surveying his realm.

Zane chuckled. "I'm spreading mine out. One each into Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution."

Zane's New Stats: Strength: 14 → 15 Dexterity: 12 → 13 Constitution: 18 → 19

Tarni practically cackled when his turn came. "I don't need more strength. I need to be faster."

He dropped all three of his base points into Dexterity without hesitation.

Tarni's New Stats: Dexterity: 20 → 23

As soon as Tarni applied his new stat points, he jumped up and dashed around the room like a lightning bolt, tapping everyone on the head while yelling, "Duck! Duck! Duck! Goose!"

Then he tore off down the hallway, cackling like a five-year-old who just made off with the last cookie from the jar.

As the cushions, papers, and unfortunate dollies disturbed in his wake slowly fluttered back to the floor, Zane stood blinking at the hallway and shook his head in complete bewilderment.

"Was he a complete blur to you guys too?" he asked.

"Yep," Kai confirmed. "Yes," Lily added without looking up from her notes. "Glad it wasn't just me," Zane muttered.

A second later, there was a crash, followed by the unmistakable sound of a human-shaped object ricocheting off what sounded like the hallway linen cupboard.

"I'm okay!" came Tarni's muffled voice, quickly followed by a groan. "Mostly."

Zane didn't even flinch. "And there it is."

Bell, coffee mug halfway to her lips, sighed. "Ninja rights revoked."

Tarni reappeared around the corner, rubbing his shoulder and looking only mildly sheepish. "Nah, see, that was just a combat roll gone rogue. Part of my new ninja repertoire."

"You faceplanted into the hallway cupboard," Lily said, deadpan.

"Tactically, yes," Tarni insisted, brushing dust and something that looked suspiciously like toilet paper off his shoulder. "But I'm now legally classified as too fast to be seen by standard human eyeballs."

"Mate," Kai said, grinning, "you're one cracked rib away from getting banned from hallway sprints."

Tarni raised a finger in solemn protest. "With great Dexterity comes great ninja rights."

"You said that already," Bell pointed out, arching an eyebrow.

"I will continue saying it until it becomes law," Tarni declared dramatically.

"Better start building a ninja crash helmet while you're at it," Zane muttered, sipping his tea

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