[I’m back!] Prometheus said, hurling his miniscule weight against a pile of trinkets larger than he was. The pile slid a few inches through the doorway, coming to a stop just outside.

  Prometheus clambered over the top, then wiped a paw against his tiny brow. [Whew! I wasn’t sure I was going to manage all of that in one trip. Somehow, I made it, but I sure worked up a sweat!]

  I glanced down at him and raised an eyebrow. [Do rats sweat? I thought that was only humans.] I frowned as additional knowledge filtered up unwanted to the surface of my brain. [... And pigs.]

  [Lots of animals sweat! Just in different ways. I only do a little through my paws.] He held them up, showing the tiny pink pads underneath. [Mostly I use my tail to regulate my temperature. But enough of that! Come look over what I have for you!]

  He laid out the pieces between us one by one. I started scanning them, but even without reading the descriptions I immediately spotted a problem.

  [Uh, Prometheus?] I waved over the items with my paw. [All of these are sized specifically for rats. I don’t think I’m going to be able to equip them.]

  Just to verify, I tried to pick up the hat. Immediately an angry message appeared in my vision.

  [Yeah, these are all out.]

  [Have no fear!] The rat continued laying out items, but he started sorting the ones that were obviously rat garments into a separate pile. [There are several in here that aren’t specifically listed for rats.]

  [Okay, but I’m still not sure about the rest of this.] I nosed at another item and inspected it.

  I stared at the description for a solid minute, then looked down at the weapon. It was a pin. A hat pin, to be specific. I shook my head and sighed.

  The items continued to grow, most of them of similar variety, even if their quality was clearly better.

  Staff of Lightning was an ornately decorated chopstick.

  Buckler of Regeneration appeared to be a bottlecap glued to a leather strap.

  And Axe of the Mighty was a perfectly ordinary looking axe—except for being only about four inches long.

  Just when I was starting to despair there would be anything of use, I caught sight of Prometheus tossing another clothing item in the pile. [What about that one?]

  [This?] He pulled it back out. [It says it’s rat sized.]

  [Let me see.] I nosed at the item, which was quite obviously a small red bandanna. An information box popped up.

  Then, before I could even read the description, the text wavered and changed.

  My eyebrows rose appreciably. It was the most stat improvement that any piece of equipment had offered me thus far, a massive eight! And it was in the Mind stat, which I needed to improve so that my stun spell held more than a few measly seconds.

  I quickly added it to my inventory, then equipped it to my remaining hind leg slot. The bandana appeared on me, tied into a simple but visually pleasing bow.

  [That worked,] I said. Prometheus scrunched his eyes up and gave me an adorable little rat smile.

  [And you’re certain you can’t use any more equipment than the one? There’s no rush.]

  [I’m certain. I like my other gear.] Though admittedly I hadn’t gotten much opportunity to use my bracelet yet, I doubted there was anything in the rat pile that would be able to compare.

  [Suit yourself.] With a shrug, Prometheus turned to the pile of garments he’d already sorted through and waved his paw. They disappeared in a flash of light. I thought perhaps he’d added them to his inventory, but when the light faded, a small pile of cores were left sitting in their place.

  While I gaped, the rat turned to the unsorted pile. [Hmm. Might as well convert these, too. Not like I’ll be taking anything further, either.]

  He waved his paw again. Another flash of light, and an even bigger pile of cores. He turned back to me and gestured to a few of the items laid out between us. [Mind if I clear these away? I’ll divvy up the cores afterwards.]

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  [Wha... what did you just do?]

  [I converted the items into cores.] His little whiskers twitched. [It’s a good way to repurpose old items you no longer have a use for. You usually don’t get much more than a single common core, but once I...]

  He trailed off, perhaps noticing my expression. [Oh! You don’t know about that. Right. Should have realized.]

  [I didn’t.] Not that I’d had extra equipment to experiment on yet, but still. [How did you manage to figure that out on your own?]

  Prometheus waved a paw dismissively. [I didn’t. My skill told me, same way I learned about our equipment not being visible outside of a party.]

  [Skill?]

  [My Treasure Seeker skill! It... Well, actually, it might be easier just to show you. Send me a party invite.]

  [Yeah, I don’t know what that is,] I said, rolling my eyes. Then I paused. Why in the heck had I just done that?

  While I pondered if this was a sign of the system’s further influence on my psyche, another notification appeared.

  Sure, why not? I thought to myself. I braced for whatever oddities this one might contain as I accepted. Even then, I still wasn’t prepared.

  Uhh...

  I was seriously starting to wonder about these tutorials. It felt as if I was listening in to a private conversation.

  I finished reading the last message and dismissed it, only to find Prometheus watching me. [You get the tutorial?]

  [Yeah. That one was... strange.]

  The rat shrugged. [Some of the others are even stranger, if you ask me. Also, I don’t think they were meant for rats.]

  [Dogs, either.] I concentrated on Prometheus. His name appeared again, and a moment later, another notification popped up.

  I accepted. Across from me, Prometheus gave a little jump.

  [I got it! Alright, here we go! Next, try and bring up my personal interface. You should be able to see everything about me from there.]

  In the corner of my vision, I noticed there was a new little square. It was too small to read, but as soon as I focused on it, the tab grew until it was legible.

  A quick confirmation, and my vision filled with information.

  This was a lot of information to take in, so I started out by focusing on the section that had been what initiated this whole conversation in the first place.

  Huh. Those descriptions were both shorter and more clinical than the ones I’d received. Did it have something to do with the fact that I was looking at someone else’s skills rather than my own? I’d have to quiz Prometheus later on exact wording to find out.

  Also, something about his abilities irked me, and it took a second to figure out what it was: most of these were significantly better than what I had received. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was a rat. After all, even with a load of higher-level equipment, he still only had a Power and Presence stat of 1.

  [Yeah, you’re going to need to explain more about this manual to me,] I told him. [That description didn’t really go over what it specifically...]

  I trailed off. Prometheus stood before me, only it wasn’t the same rat as before. Now, he wore a tiny brown shirt and pants, the latter of which was cinched tight with a string belt. Around his shoulders tumbled a cloak of a shimmering gray so dark it might as well have been black, and in one of his hands he held a miniature knife, no more than an inch long. He twitched his nose as he studied me in turn.

  [Hmm. Not that different, now that I can see you properly! I was expecting more... well, more, I guess. Then again, I suppose a dog in pants would look rather strange, wouldn’t it?]

  [No more than a rat does,] I said back, tongue lolling. Even on hind legs, Prometheus did look rather silly. [So, care to tell me about this manual?]

  [Oh, it’s quite simple, really. It contains all the most basic information about how loot boxes and their accompanying items function. That’s how I learned about our hidden equipment, about converting items to cores, and best of all, how to upgrade my gear to improve its potential!]

  [Do what now?] I asked, not sure I’d heard him right.

  [Upgrade equipment, of course!] Prometheus looked me up and down again, more appraisingly this time. [Which, if we’re going to be facing off against the goblin horde, you need to do, pronto. Luckily, I happen to have this pile of cores just for such an occasion!]

  He turned back to the cores. As he did, something flickered at the edge of my vision. At first, I didn’t pay any mind, until I registered what it was. A yellow dot. Moving closer.

  Then another dot appeared. And another. And another.

  [Uh, Prometheus?]

  The rat looked up. [Yes?]

  [I think we may be facing that goblin horde sooner than you think.]