He looked around.
“No sign of loot yet. Definitely a new dungeon.” Sean walked through the tunnel, leaving the others to chase after him.
The next tunnel headed slightly deeper underground, a gentle yet noticeable descent. Blake was still shaking with excitement, but his mood had dropped. He had been hoping this dungeon would serve as the starting point for his career as an adventurer, but if the mage was right, it was going to be destroyed when they reached the end.
“Blake, take point.” His father’s voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he jogged forward, drawing his sword.
“Yes, sir.” He rushed past his dad, but in his hurry, and due to the dim lighting in the tunnel, failed to see the uneven ground at his feet. He suddenly found himself flying forward, sword leaping from his hand. The weapon clattered to a halt just inside the next room.
“The noob is going to get himself killed.” The mage was laughing hysterically behind him.
“Go get your sword, Blake.” Sean’s voice had a touch of anger, and Blake knew he had embarrassed his father.
He stood and went after his blade, this time paying attention to the ground. All Blake wanted to do was make his father proud.
Blake entered the next room, smiling as he neared his sword. He would prove himself to his dad. He leaned down, but as he grabbed his blade, he noticed a strange motion in the darkness near him. A sharp pain erupted from his ankle. His cry of agony turned to one of horror as he saw a decaying rat clamped tightly to his leg.
“Zombie!” He swung his sword down, the blade slicing the rotting creature in half.
To Blake’s horror, the front half continued to claw at his ankle, the mouth still biting down. He kicked his leg wildly, eyes scanning the room for more enemies as his father and the others rushed in after him.
“Oh, that bites.” The mage laughed at his own joke, and moments later the zombie on Blake’s ankle was blasted by a fireball from the mage, causing it to erupt in flames before it fell away and died.
Chaos broke out around them as a mass of skeletal creatures attacked. For the next few moments, the group swiftly dispatched the creatures, sending bones dancing all around the room. Another zombie rat tried to attack Blake while the others were killing the skeletal beasts, but this time Blake was ready. He thrust his sword through the creature’s skull, and it died instantly.
Blake looked around, noticing the movement from the others had slowed down, and he realized in the time it took him to kill one mob, the others had slain… ten?
“You all right?” his father asked gruffly as he looked around the room, scanning for any other enemies.
“Yeah, though that first one managed to get a good bite on me.” He looked down at his wound. It could have been the poor lighting, but it seemed the blood oozing from it had a strange, dark color.
“That’s going to turn nasty if we don’t heal it.” The cleric walked up and knelt by his ankle, placing a hand on his wound.
Golden light surged around his ankle, sending warmth into Blake, and suddenly, the wound closed.
“Zombies are resilient, but their biggest threat comes from the diseases their attacks spread into the blood. Left unattended, even a high-level adventurer would succumb.”
Blake nodded at the cleric, thankful for his help.
“I’m guessing, since this is a new dungeon, the next room will have the boss.” Sean walked towards the tunnel at the end of the room. “Be careful in this next fight, Blake. Even brand-new dungeon boss mobs are dangerous. Judging from how you did in here, it’ll be too much for you to handle.”
Blake could practically feel his father’s disappointment. His first dungeon dive was a failure.
Chapter Eleven
“Are all adventurers this strong?” Ryan asked as they watched the group decimate his second room. He had been excited when his rat bit the youngest one; Ryan had even sent his second zombie after him. The others, though, seemed way too powerful for him.
“No, I think this group is just checking your dungeon out. Adventurers usually send a scouting party to determine the type of dungeon, and whether it should be destroyed.” Erin’s eyes were glancing around at the group. “If they decide not to destroy you, we will likely be seeing more adventurers like the young one soon.”
“That’s good, because they really aren’t helping my self-esteem right now.” He watched as the man in the white robes healed the young one.
“They’ve been making quick work of your mobs.” Erin paused as the group began moving again.
“Oh, at least we get to see how my boss does.” Ryan still had no idea how his boss actually worked. He was curious what the bones floating in darkness were for.
“Mm-hmm.” Erin pressed herself closer to him as they watched the group enter the room.
The man in the armor – a paladin, Erin had called him literally glowed with golden light. He was definitely the strongest of the group, and mana radiated from him in waves.
“Here it goes.” Ryan sent his excitement through the bond, as the group hesitated upon entering the dark room.
The skeleton turned towards the group, towering over even the paladin. The bones in the dark mana of its missing arm elongated, sharpened into points, and then, without warning, shot toward the group.
“What the—” Ryan laughed at the mage’s startled cry, but his humor faded as the bones smashed against a shimmering barrier in front of the paladin. He was projecting some sort of mana shield that prevented any attempts to damage him.
How annoying.
The bones, instead of falling to the ground, were pulled back towards the skeleton and re-attached to it by the dark mana tendrils. That’s actually pretty cool.
“Keep Blake safe,” the paladin called to the others as he walked slowly towards the skeleton. From the way the cleric and mage moved in front of the younger adventurer, Ryan could only guess that was Blake.
“This paladin really is overpowered,” Ryan said.
His skeleton slashed at the paladin, and the man raised his silver sword to block the strike. When bone and blade met, a flash of golden light filled the room. The bones shattered.
“Yeah, that’s Sean.” Erin’s voice had taken on a dreamy tone. “He’s a Platinum-level paladin to the Goddess. He’s like a minor celebrity among us celestials.”
Great. She had a little crush on the guy decimating his boss.
“Well, your boyfriend is about to kill our last mob,” Ryan replied, annoyed.
Sheesh, talk about having your priorities wrong. Didn’t she care that their boss was being so easily defeated? Ryan winced as Sean brought his sword down on the skeleton, white light arcing through its form. The bones collapsed, and as they hit the ground, Ryan knew his boss was dead.
“Aannd that just happened.” He sighed.
He had been so excited about his first encounter with adventurers. Needless to say, he was very disappointed in himself.
“Shhh. Sean’s talking.” Erin had her ear pressed against Ryan’s core, and he brought his attention back to the group.
“So, that boss would actually prove a decent fight for new adventurers,” Sean said as he sheathed his sword.
“Aye. Formidable, with both a ranged attack and good melee potential.” The cleric leaned down, investigating the large glowing bones.
“This dungeon is crap. No traps, no loot, lame mobs,” argued the mage.
That mage was just being hurtful. Wait. Traps? Loot?
“He makes a good point. Why didn’t you have any traps?” Erin questioned.
“If I knew what traps were, I would have them.”
Sheesh. He was new at this; couldn’t she cut him some slack?
Sean was speaking again. “Yes, sadly, I think we may have to destroy this dungeon.” Sean looked at the group. His words sent a sinking feeling through Ryan.
“Darkness dungeons are a danger in and of themselves. Even more so with the rumors of a necromancer to the south,” Sean said. “T
he last time a necromancer and a darkness dungeon came together, the church barely managed to defeat them. Without any loot, I don’t think we can justify keeping this dungeon alive.”
Ryan did not like the sound of that. Was this it for his short dungeon-hood?
The mage nodded at Sean as he spoke, while Blake looked downcast. The cleric was still looking at the boss mob’s bones. Why?
“Say, Sean,” the cleric said to the paladin. “Did you notice all of the mobs seem to have been created by the dungeon?”
His words made the paladin pause.
“Hmmm.” Sean stared down at the still-glowing bones. Ryan had been just about to absorb his boss so he could learn the pattern to recreate him.
“That is interesting. Even brand-new darkness dungeons are usually filled with undead mobs raised by the dungeon, not created by them.” Sean’s face was thoughtful, but then he shook his head. “However, even if this dungeon hasn’t raised the dead just yet, that doesn’t redeem it enough to let it survive. The risk just isn’t worth the reward, especially with the lack of loot.”
“What’s this loot he keeps talking about?” Ryan could feel Erin jump as she pressed her palm to her face.
“Loot is what mobs are supposed to drop. It can range from common items – in your case, a bone or two – to armor, weapons, and precious metals.”
Oh.
He had plenty of precious metals.
“Loot is what makes a dungeon worth fighting. It’s the reward that makes the risk to life worth it.” She shook her head. “But we didn’t drop any loot for them the entire time.”
Sean closed his eyes and raised his hand, turning towards where Ryan was hidden. A golden light began to form in his hand.
“So, should we drop some loot now?” Ryan was panicking. Sean was certainly about to destroy them.
“Drop everything.” Erin was panicking as well.
Ryan focused inward, thinking of anything he may have absorbed that the adventurers might want. He dropped chunks of copper, iron, and gold. He summoned one of the plants he’d absorbed. Hell, he even absorbed his boss so he could drop one of the bladed arm bones.
The paladin opened his eyes, looking at the pile of loot growing, and for a second the light wavered. In his panic, Ryan summoned one last item, hoping it would stop the paladin. That was all he could do — he was out of mana.
A single, glowing feather drifted down between the adventurers. It drained a surprising amount of his mana to do so.
“What is that?” Erin’s voice echoed in his mind as the adventurers all asked the same question.
“One of your feathers. I absorbed it accidentally when I scorched you on our first day.” Ryan watched as Sean lowered his hand, the light fading. Ryan was saved.
“Oh. Oh, no,” Erin barely whispered, a sense of dread coming across the bond.
“What?”
Why wasn’t she happy? Sean was no longer trying to kill them. Instead, he was holding the feather in his hand as the cleric stared at it.
“A celestial feather?” The cleric’s voice filled with awe. The way he looked at it, Ryan suddenly didn’t feel so good about dropping that as loot.
“I never thought I would see one,” the cleric said. “This must be a sign from the Goddess. She wants this dungeon to be saved. How else would a brand-new dungeon, much less a darkness dungeon, have such a treasure?”
The cleric reached out towards it tenderly, reverently. Before his fingers could brush it, though, the room was suddenly bathed in flames.
“Hand it over, or the boy dies.”
Chapter Twelve
“Uh, what’s going on?” Ryan couldn’t help asking as he watched the scene unfolding before him in awe.
The mage had grabbed Blake and was holding an arm around the young man’s neck, a fireball in his hand. Both Sean and the cleric stood still, looking from the feather to the mage.
“Let my son go,” the paladin growled, but the moment he moved, the flames grew brighter.
“You may be Platinum, but we both know my flames can incinerate your son before you can kill me.” The flames cast eerie shadows across the mage’s face.
“Celestial feathers are one of the rarest items in the world. Only angels and celestial fairies have them,” Erin said to me.
Oops. Probably shouldn’t have dropped it.
“They can heal any wound, and even save someone from the brink of death,” she went on. “But they can only be used once.”
So, Ryan had given them something extremely powerful and now they were fighting about it. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for Blake.
“Anything we can do to help?” He scanned the room, noting the fear on Blake’s face, and Sean’s obvious internal conflict.
“Their mana will keep you from spawning new mobs in that room,” Erin said. “Have you absorbed all of the mobs in the rest of the dungeon?”
“Yup, already did that.”
“Okay, so if you look at your level triangle, what is your mob count at?” She was watching the scene before them. The mage’s eyes were crazed, and his hands were shaking, bringing the flames closer to Blake, making the young man sweat.
Ryan summoned his triangle and frowned. He had absorbed all of his mobs; why was he only at twenty-seven?
“Hey Erin, how come I am only back up to twenty-seven points?” he asked. “All my mobs are dead.”
“Ah, that’s another mechanic of dungeons. It seems whatever strange powers govern dungeons decided it would be unfair for you to just instantly keep spawning wave after wave of mobs on adventurers.”
Ryan couldn’t help but imagine fifty skeletal squirrels running at adventurers repeatedly. That would get a bit old.
“As such, you are refunded a small amount of your points the moment you reabsorb your mobs, and then the rest of the points are returned after a set amount of time, depending on the type, and cost, of the mob slain.”
“All right, so, in the essence of time,” Ryan groaned, “I’m going to say I understand that. What shall we do with the twenty-seven – oh, now twenty-eight – points?”
He really wanted to help Blake now. The poor guy was obviously new to all of this. Plus, that mage had said some hurtful things about Ryan.
Erin spoke again. “Well, you can’t summon mobs in the room with the adventurers. Their mana will prevent you from interfering in there. However, you can summon mobs in the second room.”
Ryan could guess where this was going.
“Boss mob?” He could summon one; he had enough points. And with its ranged attack…
“Boss mob.” Erin smiled a mischievous smile.
Ryan summoned his monstrosity, forming it instantly now that he had the pattern for it. Erin had said the mob would follow his orders, so now he was going to try it out.
He pushed his consciousness into it, ordering the boss mob to quietly approach the group from behind, and to attack the mage when he was in range. In his commands, Ryan stressed the point that Blake was not to be hurt. He figured Sean wouldn’t forgive him if Blake died, and Ryan was afraid of the paladin.
“I hope this works.” The fairy was trembling, and the scene in the boss room didn’t look promising.
Sean, torn, handed the feather to the cleric.
“Give this to him and get my son.” The paladin spoke, and the cleric carried the feather to the mage.
The crazed mage took the feather but held on to Blake.
“I’ll release him once I get out of here. Otherwise, I know you’ll just kill me the moment I let him go.” His flames grew brighter, making Blake cry out in pain.
However, even as Sean prepared to move, he froze, his eyes fixed on the darkness behind the mage. The cleric too was frozen, staring into the darkness. For some reason, the darkness was staring back.
“Ha,” Ryan whispered.
The boss mob, now visible in the tunnel thanks to the mage’s flames, launched his attack. Bone spikes suddenly protruded from the mage’s body, and his
flames died instantly. The boss mob pulled the mage’s body, frozen with shock, towards himself. As the mage got closer, Ryan’s boss mob slashed into him with the bladed bones of his other hand. At the same time, Sean darted forward, skewering the mage through the stomach.
The helpless man let out a single, agonized scream before he died.
The moment he passed, multiple things happened. First, a rush Ryan could only guess was from experience gain filled Ryan. Second, the mana that had been keeping him from absorbing anything near the mage vanished. As a result, Ryan quickly reabsorbed his boss mob, the mage, and of course the celestial feather. He figured he should take that particular item away before any other strange things happened.
“Did the dungeon just save Blake?” Sean held his son, looking at the cleric.
“I think… I think it did.” The cleric shook his head, looking from Sean to Blake. Ryan could see his disappointment that the feather was gone. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think we have found a darkness dungeon we can allow to exist.”
His words brought a smile to Blake’s face, and Sean nodded in agreement, letting go of his son.
“I think we have. Might as well make our reports so we can start getting some of these new adventurers training.” He patted Blake on the back, smiling.
The cleric smiled and nodded as well. He pulled out a crystal. “I wonder what other surprises this dungeon has. A darkness dungeon blessed by the Goddess,” the cleric muttered under his breath. The crystal in his hand glowed, and suddenly the trio were gone.
Chapter Thirteen
“So, what should we do first?” Ryan and Erin sat in the core room, which was filled with almost visible levels of excitement.
After the adventurers had departed, Ryan had been able to check his triangles. The mage had provided him with enough experience to gain four levels. It had taken Erin nearly ten minutes to calm him down to the point of coherence.
Now, Ryan was a Bronze Seven dungeon, and he was eyeing the seventy mob points on his triangle hungrily. Much better than his paltry fifty earlier.
Bone Dungeon (Elemental Dungeon #1) - A Dungeon Core LitRPG Page 5
