While I expected a lot of options to show, I did not quite expect as many. Not only did the menu show me the options of the lower qualities like the rare, the common, and the uncommon evolutions, but even those epic evolutions were so numerous that I was momentarily stunned by the sheer volume options.

  There was an evolution for wings like the ones that XIla had and many other wing types, but there were a lot of others as well. An evolution that would make my body stronger, something that would make my arms have claws on the end of my fingers, something that would prolong my legs.

  I was so stunned that I just froze, looked at it a little more and then closed the menu. Yeah… I would wait for Mark for help with that. Sighing I opened my inventory deciding to actually spend my time by looking at something I could understand at least a bit.

  The fight with the dragon gave me quite a lot of items. I knew that already, but I didn’t understand quite how MANY before. I continued scrolling through them, and there were so many that I actually had to sort by recent acquisition.

  There were a lot of items that did go into the equipment category, but there were a lot of others that also focused on things like alchemy or crafting. One of those was the scales, while something else was also in my inventory - the weird chemical compound that the dragon used to breathe the black fire. I wondered if it would just explode if I took it out of the inventory, and decided not to risk it for the time being. I could leave the boring stuff to Mark and Crudia.

  And so instead I looked at the equipment. There were several items that interested me, but none of those were the same quality as the item I locked my previous friends in on the end of the last floor. However, I did see more raided items in my inventory than ever before. I quickly began to scan them over, and although I couldn't really use all of them, I already knew that this was one of the best days for my equipment so far.

  In the end, there were four items that I could really equip and use from now on. I went to equip one of them in my equipment menu, but something stopped me there for a little bit. I looked, and my shields, which were previously the basic quality—were now, as I've mentioned, common. I didn't know what made this change occur, but I knew immediately that something about them changed from just a little icon I could see in the menu.

  I decided to ask Mark about that later and instead inspected the 4 new items again as I equipped them. They would make me so powerful. I could barely wait the few fractions of a second before the first registered.

  The ring of Vitality

  Rarity: Uncommon

  This item boosts your regenerative abilities. Yeah, it's just that, fucker. What did you expect? Did you expect it to make you godly? It's an uncommon item, dude. Anyway, all it does is more HP and better regen. You're also a little bit less likely to catch all of the diseases on the second floor, so appreciate this.

  Gives +(X) constitution. What’s X? Oh, you want to know what the X is? We’ll let you figure that out. Or, alternatively, you can pretend it’s completely random.

  I just rolled my eyes, looking over at the item as I equipped it. I immediately saw my constitution go up by 5 points, which was kind of surprising, and somehow, a little pressure I didn’t realize was there lifted off me. The text about the diseases came back to me, ominous. Surely I wouldn’t get sick in a damned death tournament!

  The item was strangely useful for the fact it took one of my least important equipment slots, though. If just one ring could do so much, what stopped me from equipping 10 of them or maybe 20 if I use all of those tootsies I had on my feet? Surely someone was abusing these rings already.

  I looked at the next item, listed as being a strange red tank top, and I shuddered at the thought of wearing just red on top of my skin. I had so many colors, and red was one of them already! Why did this stupid tournament want me to wear red only?! I LIVED for being vibrant. Even had a skill named after that!

  I sighed and even though it was a pain to admit, I knew that I would have to wear it. If only there was a way to make it invisible.

  The YEPRO tank top.

  Rarity: Rare

  This tank top makes you look like an average Californian dude. That means that you look like you're about to smash your fists into someone that looked at you a little funny or someone that dared to take your beach bench press. Oh yeah, because you want to show off your muscles to everyone, you, of course, are going to have to wear this one for as long as you want the stats of it. No invisibility allowed.

  What this tank top does, though, is that it allows you to actually take some damage. Yeah, that sounds nice, right? You will be able to choose one resistance type per day, and it will stay on for as long as you want.

  The best part? It also does changes color depending on the resistance. We started you off with a fire resist, and it’s red. Great, right? Let’s call it… a reward for the dragon fight. You might have won a god some massive dough, after all.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  So don't you dare say anything bad about us again. We’ll be watching, like we always are. It also gives you some Constitution and actually counts as armor, so no, you cannot wear a vest over it. Or can you? Eh, we'll let your guide tell you about that one.

  I was at a loss for words. Wow, I could actually change the colors on it? Okay, scratch everything I've said until now. I was going to wear this. Immediately, I equipped it, looked it over, thought about which colors I could possibly color it in, then considered which colors would actually look good with the skin that was showing off through the neck and the armholes. And then with the last sigh, I looked at the other two items that were left.

  The Doctor Mertens boots.

  Rarity: Rare.

  Okay, you see those boots? You look silly wearing them.

  You only have some weird pants and tank top after all. Maybe some people that will see you on the street will look at you a bit funny, but we reckon it's not a new thing for you.

  This item gives you +3 to dexterity and gives you the passive [Wall bounce]. One of the goddesses also said they look like they could cause a copyright problem, and that we are for some reason ripping off the earthlings. But I don't agree. They just look kind of silly, just like you do. No copying occurred! 100% god made!

  Okay, now go away. We'll let you figure out how to use them. They are kind of boring, just like you are.

  I ignored the insults. Praising me in one text then making me feel stupid in the other. How much like them, these gods.

  I looked up the ability that the boots gave me, and I found myself quite lost on their actual usage. The ability allowed me to cling to a wall for 5 seconds, and that was it. It had a 1-hour cooldown. I didn't really see much use of it, but maybe if I combined it with [Wall up] a bit, I'd be able to do something great!

  With that done, I looked at the last item. I didn't quite understand what it was when I looted it, but now that I looked at it really close, the knowledge in my head finally let me know what this was. A tattoo. A tattoo in the form of a sticker. But something told me that this one wouldn't come off.

  The rebels tattoo

  Rarity: Epic

  You might be thinking that we were just too nice in rewarding you with so many items. Well, let us have a laugh as well. You see, tattooing is something that we think you might not be as prone to do, and that’s why we’ll let you have this dilemma.

  The item will give your punching attacks and anything that counts as an unarmed attack have some extra oomph to it.

  How much extra?

  Well, we'll let you figure that part out. The price of using it will only be a permanent tattoo that will stay on your skin as long as you live.

  Seems worth it, right?

  I shuddered looking it over; it was basically drawing on a piece of paper, but I knew how to activate it somehow. I knew that if I just tore a piece of it, it would automatically attach to a part of my skin.

  The drawing itself wasn't that bad, though - it was black ink showing a picture of a boxing glove and a shrimp holding it. Not a mantis shrimp, of course, but a regular, ocean dwelling, defenseless shrimp.

  I considered it for a moment, and then tore it. The last few days showed me I’d need all the power I could get. The drawing flew into the air, hovering in front of me for a span of a few seconds, and then, with a sudden burst of speed, speared right into my shoulder.

  Not only did the black ink start appearing painlessly on my shoulder, but my red parts of my skin started prolonging as if it was some kind of growing tumor that decided to spread its tendrils as I watched.

  It only took a few moments for my whole visage to look a bit different than before. While I still didn't like the ink on my shoulder and that silly drawing on it, my hope was that I would be able to cover it up somehow.

  What was really cool, though, was that while I was still blue and turquoise, the red parts of my skin getting bigger made me look a bit more… intimidating. More handsome.

  I still wasn't sure how much I liked it, but maybe a change of visage was due after all. I looked at the others, Crudia looking over her items, and Mark and Talisha discussing something—probably him just ranting about the new rules.

  I walked toward them, grabbing their attention. "Hey Mark! Look! New items! And a new look!" I said, my hands stretched at my sides to show off my new coloration. The new items were at full display, and I even summoned my shields. They looked quite a bit different.

  While before they had strange, prolonged, and kind of slim shape, the blunt part was shorted now, and the shields themselves were a bit thicker, making them lose a bit of their unique shape. My fists would be connecting more often than the shields now, I knew.

  Though if that was a detriment or a bonus, I wasn't sure.

  “Whatever you've done, I dig it.” Talisha remarked, looking at me from head to toe.

  “I see the loot was pretty good. Good stuff. That will be helpful.” Mark glimpsed at me looking at my weapons more than my new colors. “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention your weapons will change up quite a bit as you move on. It's a new rarity upgrade each floor, and that's why you can't exchange them.” He scratched his chin. “Couldn't tell that you on the first floor, but I can tell you now, so make the best of it, I guess.”

  I didn’t need him to tell me that. I already was doing my best of it. This was the best loot I've gotten yet, and the fact that it even made me look better was such a good thing that I was almost as happy as Crudia looked 90% the time.

  She didn't change much about herself or her own equipment,, but I did see some new items on her; a piercing in the shape of a small ring in her nose and a small scarf draped over her shoulders and neck.

  Whatever they've done, she didn't think it worthwhile explaining. She still had the strained face of someone deep in thought, not paying attention to anything around her. I supposed there was still a bit to check on, and with a little excitement, I went to check on my new skills. Sadly, I didn't even get to do that before Mark clapped his hands and looked at all of us.

  "Okay, everyone, listen up," he said, his eyes going from one of us to the other. "I've caught Talisha up to speed, so let's go through our plans. I probably shouldn't even ask, since I think I know the answer, but how good are all of you at diplomacy?"