- Box Opening!

"What kind of things can we expect from these boxes?" Joel asked, with a rare hint of curiosity in his voice.

"Are we going to see some cool weapons, or some armour, or something else like that?" Connor asked enthusiastically.

"You know I haven't like, actually seen inside one of these yet, right?" Gus asked. "This is as new to me as it is to you."

"Okay then. Do you think we're going to see some cool weapons, or cool armour, or something else like that?" Connor said, altering his question slightly.

"As much as I would like that, and trust me when I say I would like it quite a fair amount, it just doesn't seem feasible. When I first got a box, I was told by this system that they would be items that help me right now, and that they would scale with my level. So, if I had to guess I would say they'll both be pretty underwhelming, but will help me a ton."

Gus opened the main menu of the system, and was rather surprised to see that the inventory had been added to the front of the system.

*Stats*

*Skills*

*Points*

*Store*

*Milestones*

*Inventory*

He had thought it strange that he did not see it there when he first opened the system at level one, but now that thought came back to the front of his mind. The system had said it was so he did not have access to it, but it easily displayed the store and milestones, both of which he had no access to.

*The inventory may have been mistakenly missed when creating the initial menu for you. I apologise.*

'Hang on. Did this thing just formulate an actual sentence? And not just technical stuff, either. Like, an actual sentence? Actually, didn't it mention something like that last time, too?'

"Gus, are you alright? What's going on?"

"You don't look so good. Is this something to do with it?"

Gus's confusion grew out of control as he saw that message. After a few minutes of seeing nothing else, he chalked it down to a hallucination and promptly forgot about it. Shaking his head, he proceeded to open the inventory.

*Level Up Box [2]*

*Level Up Box [3]*

Gus selected the level 2 box, which caused a small wooden box to appear in his hands. It was very basic in its design, with four sides, a bottom and a removable top. Taking off the lid to reveal the contents, he saw a small, badge like item that, upon taking it out of the box, fit snugly in the palm of his hand. From the back, it looked like something that you would pin to the front of your shirt. From the front, it appeared to be similar to something like a badge used by police as a form of identification. Initially, it was dark, but as he turned it over he saw that it lit up and displayed a number, thirty.

'Thirty?' Gus thought.

*Unboxed: 30 minutes double EXP.*

"Wait… what?" Gus exclaimed loudly.

"What is it?" Connor asked, eager to find out what the item was.

"Is it anything good?" Joel asked, surprisingly matching his eagerness.

"Unless this thing is playing a trick on me…"

'Which there is a good chance it is, if I was right about that message,' he thought.

"…Then it's a thing worth thirty minutes of double EXP."

"Thirty minutes…" Joel repeated.

"… Of double… EXP? That's good, right?" Connor asked.

Gus nodded in response. "It's very good. It's just a shame my missions just grant me the rewards once I finish them, unless there's a way to change that?" he said hopefully.

*There is no way to stockpile mission rewards for use with an EXP multiplying item.*

"Ah, thought not," Gus said. Instead of feeling saddened by that, though, the system's word choice seemed to imply something amazing.

If there was merely double EXP items available, then the system would have said that. But the use of the words 'EXP multiplying item,' implied other bonuses were available. Triple EXP, perhaps. Maybe even five times EXP. If he was lucky, perhaps triple or even quadruple EXP items. Perhaps even higher, but Gus dared not think about that at risk of jinxing himself.

Excited for the next item, he immediately summoned the level three box from his inventory. The design of this one was largely the same, but the wood that it was made of was a slightly different shade, a difference so discreet that it was only noticed by virtue of the fact that there were three pairs of eyes staring intently at it.

Without hesitation, Gus popped the lid off and took out the item inside.

"Uhh… socks?" Joel asked.

"At least your feet will be warm, I guess?" Connor asked.

While Gus could understand their disappointment at what they saw as something simple, he knew the truth of the item.

*Warrior's Basic Socks. When both are worn, wearer gains [+1] to all stats.*

*Gives five pairs of the Warrior's Basic Socks. Each pair will be cleaned after twenty four hours of storage in the inventory.*

Reading the information, Gus could not help but smile. This was the equivalent of almost ten levels worth of stat points, and he had got it out of a simple box he had earned for growing to level three. Not only that, he had so many of them that he would be able to have the stats as a permanent upgrade, at least until he found socks with better stats on them.

Noticing his surprisingly pleased expression, Joel and Connor felt the need to question him.

"Why are you so happy with that?"

"What's so good about socks?"

Gus explained to them that the socks actually gave him increases in stats when he wore them, and that he had enough pairs to essentially always have the stat increases.

"What do the increases actually do?" Joel asked.

Gus thought for a moment. "I don't know, honestly. I don't feel any different with what I've unlocked so far. Although I haven't unlocked anything to do with strength yet, so maybe it's more noticeable than I think."