“Shit.” Allistor bowed his head, the motion slow and gentle so as not to make himself dizzy again.  “I’m sorry, guys.  I should have found a better way.”

“Bullshit!” McCoy’s voice was husky.  “Those were friends of mine.  They knew what they were getting into when they stepped forward.  They didn’t need you or anyone else to protect them.  They died as friggin’ heroes!”

Andrea nodded once.  “You had a good plan, Allistor. And you fought like a madman.  If it weren’t for you, we’d have all died down here.”  Every head in the corridor nodded at him.

“Thanks, guys.” Allistor didn’t feel any better about the deaths on his watch, but he wasn’t going to whine about it in front of his troops.  “If one of you can give me a hand up, we’ll go loot the boss.” He gave them his best possible grin and watched as their eyes lit up.  Everybody loved to loot the boss.

Helen supported him again as they assisted both him and Weiss back into the cavern.  The dragon’s corpse wasn’t far from the door, and Allistor leaned against it as he placed his hand on its head to loot.   The others all did the same.

He received five hundred klax, one Fire Drake Heart, five stacks of tainted drake meat, two dragon claws, and two stacks of Crimson Drake Hide, the description of which was in bold purple letters.  Allistor assumed that made it some kind of rare crafting item.

He sat back down as Helen directed the whole crew in skinning the thick scaly leather from the drake’s corpse.  They each took their standard issue Ka-Bar knives and went to work.  Bjurstrom was actually giggling at the thought of having crimson dragonscale armor.

Allistor took a minute to review all the notifications he’d waved away upon waking up.  The first one wasn’t a surprise after clearing a dungeon’s worth of mobs and a dragon boss.

Level Up!  You are now Level 11.  You have earned two attribute points.

The next few made him smile.

Attribute Increase: Constitution +1

For repeatedly enduring and surviving physical abuse at the hands of your enemies, your Constitution Attribute has increased by +1

Skill Level Up!  Your Improvisation Skill has increased by one point.

Skill Level Up!  Your Improvisation Skill has increased by one point.

Your proficiency with the Mind Spike spell has increased to level two.

Your proficiency with the Nature’s Boon spell has increased to level three.

Your proficiency with the Flame Shot spell has increased to level three.

Congratulations!  You have created and secured your third Stronghold!

You have chosen to name this Stronghold ‘The Silo’.  Please see your Stronghold tab for more information and options.

There were other less important notifications, like increases in his sword and spear skills, the fact that Fuzzy had leveled up twice, etc.  He passed over them quickly.