The Gift of Loot Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Chipmunk Fire Dungeon

Read chapter 15 of The Gift of Loot by Jack_Golightly on NovelPedia.

It took until ten o'clock the next morning to find out where Zach had been hanging out. All the while Thomas drove up and down the road and through parks, he cursed himself as an idiot for not getting the guy's phone number to text him. Zach seemed to live a vagabond life, and there was a good chance he had moved on to another town. His mood wasn't helped by the lack of sleep; the nephews were understandably upset about their father's lost hand, and last night Derek seemed to be in a state of shock. No one had done the cooking, so Thomas had sprung for pizza for the boys. Then this morning, he had driven them all to school, as Derek hadn't been up to it. Thomas was just thinking about what he was going to do if Derek didn't snap out of it soon when he finally caught sight of Zach. The fire juggler was walking alongside one of the side roads that led down to the beach. Once again thankful for the lack of tourists, Thomas found a parking spot and pulled over. "Hey, it's Tom the mana man," Zach said, far too loud for Thomas's liking, but his grin was wide and welcoming as he came over. "You got any more Reds for me?" "You went through them already?" Thomas asked. "What can I say? That was good stuff. I've been meditating, and man, I feel strong." Zach flexed some muscle, and Thomas actually saw a little heat haze coming off his arm. What did high-quality fire mana crystals do to a person? He set that question aside for later. "Actually, I had another business opportunity for you. One of my party was injured last night, and just when we found—" he broke off to take another look around to make sure no one was within hearing distance. The area was clear, but just in case, he stepped a little closer and lowered his voice. "We found a dungeon that's not on the list. It's unguarded, and I need help clearing it." Zach's eyebrows went up. "Color me interested." But then he proved he was no fool when he asked, "Did that person in your party go down trying to clear out this mysterious dungeon?" Thomas shook his head. "No, another one. My brother was doing a solo run." He rolled his eyes for emphasis, but then he grew serious again. "He lost his hand in the process." "Yow," Zach winced in sympathy. "Yeah, I'd be interested in running a dungeon, but it would have to be fire." Thomas grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that because that's exactly what it is: fire and... chipmunks." Zach laughed. "That sounds so stupid, I've got to see it. Hold on, let me get my weapon." He was surprisingly into this. If Thomas had been in his shoes, he would have been extremely suspicious, asking a whole bunch of follow-up questions, and likely wondering if he was being set up. But then again... the man could juggle living fire, so maybe he didn't have much to worry about. Zach returned shortly, holding a long... was that a cane? No, Thomas had seen enough martial arts movies to recognize a quarterstaff. "That's your weapon?" he asked, unable to hide his surprise. "Sure is." Zach effortlessly twirled it in his fingers in a fluid motion that made it look easy. "I got into it at my high school Glee club." He grinned at Thomas. "That's where you meet all the ladies. Thomas got the pleasure of seeing Zach's mouth fall open when he came to the doorway of the fire chipmunk dungeon. He turned to Thomas. "Holy shit, it really is a level 2. And there are no guards inside. How did you find this?" The last thing Thomas wanted to do was reveal that he'd found it from a map from a rare drop, so he said, "Rumor from the internet, weirdly enough. I don't know how the government has missed it yet." He shrugged. "Well, it won't stay undiscovered forever. You ready to go?" Zach started to nod, then visibly hesitated. "Uh... well, now that I know this is real, I should tell you that I've never done a level 2 dungeon before." "You haven't?" Thomas was a little surprised. "I thought you were level 2 yourself with your fire tricks and all." "Nah, man." Zach squinted at him. "Wa