Marina showed her the bow, with the shining eyes of a kid that had just received their dream Lego set as a gift.
"This bow and a quiver with twenty arrows. Plus two potions, ten coins, and the second piece of that puzzle. We haven't checked the pouches the kobolds dropped yet."
"You're going to become a real archer, Marina!!"
Ravi shared her excitement with the finding, and Henrique was also happy with it.
"Now you have a proper ranged weapon. That will increase our strength, without a doubt. And that's the first weapon we find in this dungeon."
"Hehehe. Right? Ah, Helo. Do you want to take the slingshot? Then we'll have two ranged units in the party."
"No, thanks, Ma. I… I don't want to. Give it to Ravi, as he is also good with it."
((I don't want to feel that bloodlust ever again. It's too scary. So it's better if I don't hold any weapon with me.))
Heloisa had a complicated expression on her face, but Marina didn't press the issue. Instead, she handed the slingshot to Ravi.
"Here. And take the pebbles as well. It doesn't do much damage, but it's better than nothing."
"Of course! Oh, and what's on the pouches? Did Carlos take them all?"
He looked at Carlos, who was already with them in his hands.
"Yes, they're with me. Let's see…"
There were twenty-one pouches in total, and Carlos emptied them one by one.
There were fifteen copper coins, a sword, a leather armor, a dagger, a shield, three gems like the one they took from the first rat, a yellow potion, and two scrolls.
"Whoa, this loot is so much better than the one from the rats!"
Ravi was exclaiming excitedly every time a new item came from the pouches.
"The rats had food, though. We're in a situation in which we have enough provisions without having to rely on rat meat, but if that wasn't the case, all that meat would be the difference between life and death."
"Yeah, rats dropped food, and kobolds dropped equipment. I wonder what the bloodsuckers will drop. We don't even know what type of creature they are, besides the fact that they suck blood."
Heloisa was back to her rational self, thinking about the survival of the group before anything else, and Carlos was already thinking forward about the next challenge. But it was Henrique who asked the practical question.
"Well, the bow goes to Marina. No complaints there. But what about the rest of the equipment? How do we distribute it?"
Everyone exchanged looks, then stared at the equipment.
All pieces were human-sized, instead of kobold-sized. And the weapons were made out of metal. Even the arrows were metal-tipped.
"I suggest the armor, sword, and shield go to Henrique, as he's our frontliner. Also, he already has some training in them. Then the dagger goes to Ravi, as well as the machete that was with Henrique."
Ravi's eyes shone at Marina's proposal.
"Yeah! I want the dagger! I will hold the dagger in my right hand and the knife in the left one. And I can then switch to the machete when I need to increase my reach. Maybe even use the machete in one hand and the dagger in the other."
"I agree with that as well. Fighting with a shield and armor… I will be able to work better and shield you all. But will that armor fit me?"
Henrique was very tall, almost 1.90 meters. A medium-sized armor wouldn't fit him.
"There's only one way to know… Give it a try!"
Carlos handed him the armor.
He carefully wore it. It was a vest that covered his torso and shoulders. Just enough to protect his vital organs, except for the head.
And it fit perfectly. Though it looked mid-sized, it adjusted to his body, increasing its size to fit him.
He then took the shield in one hand and the sword in the other.
"So, how do I look?"
"Whoa!!! Henrique, you look amazing!!!"
"Very cool, Henrique."
"Haha. Now you look like an RPG character."
"Nice. Very nice."
Henrique hung the sword's sheath on his belt, but the sword was a bit too heavy to always carry around in his hand and too big to handle with the backpack.
"Why don't you try putting it in the magic bag?"
"Oh, great idea, Marina."
He put the shield away in the bag, and it disappeared. Touching the bag, the prompt with the items inside appeared on his head, and the shield was there.
"Nice. If we're attacked, I can just touch the shield and take it out with just a thought, and it will come right to my hand."
"That's very convenient… I wish I had a bag like that as well, because the bow is also a bit unwieldy."
"Guys… these scrolls… I think that I'm able to use them."
Everyone shifted their focus to Carlos, and Ravi asked.
"Huh? Can you read them, Carlos?"
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it 'reading,' as I can't understand a single word from them… but I am able to see that they are spells. I'm pretty confident that I'm able to activate them and cast the spells without using my own mana reserves."
"Oh, and what spells do they have?"
Heloisa was very curious. As a fellow spellcaster, she wanted to understand a bit of magic, even though she knew that the magic of wizards and the divine spells of clerics were of two entirely different natures. Well, at least that's how it works in RPGs.
"Hmm… I'm not very sure about the details… but this one seems to create a fire-type attack, and this other one… seems to be a utility spell, somewhat related to purification."
Carlos was looking at both spells, frowning. There was so much that he needed to learn before being actually useful in combat.
And this time it was Henrique who came with a suggestion based on games.
"Carlos, remember how wizards gather new spells in that RPG we play?"
Carlos thought for a moment when he heard the question, then his expression lightened.
"Of course! We copy scrolls into the grimoire. That spellbook has only one written page with that one spell I cast yesterday. But… would I be able to copy these two scrolls into it? I mean, those white pages really seem to be there to receive new spells, but the writing system..."
"Well, there's only one way to know. Try it. I want to take a look around in their camp to see if I find anything else of interest. And we should take the time to eat and rest before heading to the third nest."
"I agree, Ma. Let's take our time here. I also have a lot of information to process, and I will try to meditate."
Heloisa agreed with Marina. A lot of things happened to her today, and she needed some time to sort it out in her head.
"Good, I will train with this sword and shield."
"Heyyy, weren't we supposed to eat and rest? Why is everyone still going to do active stuff?"
As everyone went their way to focus on their activities, Ravi was left alone near where the chest was before being opened. He got bored after only a minute, but, seeing everyone busying themselves, he refrained from interrupting them.
"Oh, wait! I have a machete and a proper dagger now. I should try and learn how to wield both of them together properly."
So he also found a way to not be idle.