The woman hastily picked up a small crystal device from her desk.
"Hello, this is Acquisitions Manager Number Twenty Seven. I need a warehouse supervisor to escort someone to the scales to weigh an incoming delivery."
She paused, listening to the response on the other end, then set the device back down.
"Someone will be with you in a moment."
A door behind her opened.
A large man stepped out, wearing heavy overalls and thick gloves, his shaggy hair hanging loose around his face.
"Who needs escorting to the scales?"
"Ah, Dan. I'm glad it's you," the woman said. "This man claims he has a large quantity of dungeon materials. Mind taking him to the back and sorting it out?"
Dan looked Rune up and down once, his expression unreadable.
"Alright," he said, voice flat. "Follow me."
As Rune stepped through the back door and into the warehouse, he finally understood the scale of the operation.
It was enormous.
Hundreds of workers moved in constant motion, hauling goods on wheeled pallets, operating levers and pulley systems to lift crates high onto towering shelves. Everything flowed at once, yet nothing collided.
Carts wove past one another with perfect timing, paths crossing and separating as if guided by an unseen schedule.
"Stick close, kid," Dan said without looking back. "Stay right behind me and move when I move."
Dan moved through the organized chaos with practiced precision. He never hesitated, never broke stride, threading through narrow gaps at just the right moments. It was clear he had memorized the rhythm of the place, knowing exactly where everyone would be and when.
Rune followed as best he could, watching in quiet awe.
The warehouse wasn't just busy.
It was choreographed with precision.
They reached the far end of the warehouse, where a massive marble plate was recessed into the floor. Railings bordered three of its sides, worn smooth from constant use.
"That's the scale?"
"Yup," Dan replied. "One material at a time, if you've got multiple."
Rune nodded and began unloading the crystal he had gathered.
Each spider had weighed anywhere from a hundred to four hundred pounds. Between his own rune pouch and the one William had fronted him, Rune was carrying an absurd amount of ore.
Crystal clattered across the marble surface as it piled up.
A number lit up on the wall behind the scale and began to climb.
2000
3000
4000
It kept going.
Dan finally reacted.
For the first time since they had met, his expression changed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his own crystal device, eyes fixed on the rising number as it continued to tick upward.
"This is Dan," he said into the device. "I'm going to need sorting team six here immediately."
Rune let out a quiet laugh at the mention of sorting team six.
A moment later, five men emerged from a side door, each pulling on thick work gloves as they walked.
"What do you need, Dan?"
Dan pointed toward the steady stream of crystal spilling from Rune's pouch.
"That," he said flatly. "I need it sorted. Make sure there's nothing mixed in. No dirt, no stone. Do it properly."
They moved at once.
Like ants in a hive, the team swarmed the pile, sorting by size and color, checking each piece for impurities before setting it aside. The work was fast and methodical.
Within ten minutes, they were finished.
The number on the wall behind the scale settled.
15,639
Dan scribbled the number onto a form as the sorting team moved the crystal off to the side.
"Alright," he said. "Next material."
Rune began pulling out bundled lengths of crystal webbing. He had taken the time to gather all of it during the three clears he had done over the past three days.
The scale ticked up again and settled.
3,222.
Dan whistled softly. "You really put in work down there, kid. You and whoever went with you."
Rune just grinned. "It was all me."
Dan paused. The other workers stopped as well, all of them staring at Rune in disbelief. After a moment, they exchanged glances and went back to work without another word.
"I've got these too," Rune added. "But I don't think you'll need to weigh them."
He reached into his pouch and set the items down. Two double cores. Eight more single cores. Rune was keeping two aside for himself.
Dan finished filling out the form and tore it cleanly from the pad.
"Take this back to the counter," he said. "They'll get you sorted."
He clapped Rune on the back, hard.
Hard enough that, if this had happened when Rune first arrived, it would have cracked bone.
Rune came tumbling back through the door into the main lobby, quickly shutting it behind him before planting his back against it.
"That was hell."
The Acquisitions manager laughed. "Trouble getting out without Dan leading the way?"
"I don't know how he does it," Rune said, shaking his head. "He made it look easy. I felt like my life was on the line just trying to get out of there."
"That's what everyone says." She leaned forward slightly. "You have the paper Dan gave you?"
Rune handed over the slip.
The manager pulled out a pen made of crystal and began writing in the air. Symbols and numbers formed as she worked, hovering briefly before rearranging themselves as she calculated the value of everything Rune had brought in.
"Well, you really did bring in a lot," the manager said as the last symbols faded. "With this, we'll be able to end the dungeon materials bonus early."
She glanced back at Rune.
"I can offer you 23,000 merits for everything."
Rune blinked. "Sorry, merits?" He scratched the back of his head. "I've mostly been dealing with native races. I've been using the old currency. Gold coins and the like."
"Oh, really?" She nodded. "1 gold coin equals 10 merits. A silver coin would be 1 merit."
Rune did the math quickly.
"So… 2,300 gold coins worth," he said. "That's… a lot."
"It is."
"How do merits transfer?" Rune asked.
She pointed to a smooth slab of blue marble embedded into her desk.
"Just place your hand here," she said. "And when transferring person to person, you simply shake hands and focus on the amount you want to send."
Rune placed his hand on the marble.
A message surfaced in his mind.
[Transfer of 24,000 Merits Complete]
"Um… sorry," Rune said. "It says 24,000. Was there a mistake?"
"No mistake. Since you allowed us to close the bonus early, I added a little extra for the speedy delivery. The Ledger appreciates your cooperation."
Before Rune could respond, a loud voice boomed from the entrance, followed by the harsh scrape of something heavy dragging across the floor.
"Out of my way. Crown business. Move."
Rune turned.
The same man from the dungeon entrance was forcing his way inside, shoving people aside as he hauled a large, overstuffed sack across the marble, its weight grinding loudly with every step.