Bone Dungeon (Elemental Dungeon #1) - A Dungeon Core LitRPG
Page 27
“You sure know a lot about dungeons,” Jack said. He picked up the skull of one of the fallen skeletal fighters and turned the face towards Karan, working the jaw as he spoke. “Tell me, little miss, how do you know so much about these here dungeons?”
The rest of the group broke out in laughter, and even Ryan found it funny. Jack’s antics were amusing.
“She doesn’t seem to be laughing,” Erin said, and Ryan focused on Karan. Her smile seemed forced, and her eyes betrayed some other emotion. Sorrow? Anger?
“Maybe another time.” Her tone killed the mood in the room, and everyone’s smiles wavered. “For now, how about we get that bounty?”
Her voice was strained, and the smile she put on was less than convincing. Still, Karan’s team members all nodded, and they moved forward.
“So, what do you think the boss is going to be like?” Jack, ever the talkative thief, opened the conversation up, clearing the darkness that was filling the air.
“A new and improved Steve?” Blake offered, grinning back at the thief.
“This time with two arms.” Jack let out a laugh, and the group was smiling as they walked into the second room.
“Mobs,” Blake called.
His words drew the attention of the group, and the knight headed into the room first. Blake easily blocked a strike from the first skeletal fighter, his dark imbued shield easily absorbing the impact. He countered the attack with a swipe of his glowing sword, and the celestial shrouded blade cut easily through Ryan’s mob.
“I mean, he’s cool and all. But is that really fair?” Ryan grumbled, watching as Blake stepped forward to dispatch the next skeleton.
Blake had definitely grown a lot stronger.
“Hmm, he does seem stronger than the other Silver Nine knights we’ve seen.” Erin’s voice had taken on that dreamy tone again. Ugh.
“You know, hun, shouldn’t you be a little repulsed by him, given his darkness affinity too?”
“What can I say? I’ve decided I like those bad boys.” Erin winked. “Besides, did you forget I’m stuck with a darkness affinity dungeon?”
Oh, good point.
“Well, yeah, but, um.” Ryan hated to admit it, but he was starting to feel a bit jealous of Erin’s attitude towards Blake.
“Don’t worry, silly, you’re still my favorite dungeon core.” She giggled as she turned her attention back to Blake’s group. “They’ve made it to the locked door.” Sure enough, the group was standing in the room with the locked door, inspecting its three locks.
“So, what do we do now?” Matt looked from the door to Karan. “Can we break it down?”
Ha! Good luck. A few groups had tried to break through the door, but because it was enforced with dark mana, the door hadn’t even budged.
“Trying to break down locked doors in dungeons is usually a pointless task,” Karan said. “The dungeon has likely reinforced it with dark mana, making it nearly indestructible. It would likely take a low Platinum mage to blast through this door.”
“Well, let’s get going, then.” Jack, surprisingly eager, turned and started walking towards the door to the first key room.
“Just a moment, Jack.” Karan smiled sweetly at the thief.
“Yes, ma’am?” Jack asked.
“Aren’t you a thief?” It was more a statement than a question.
“Well—“
“Doesn’t your class specialize in locked things?” Karan walked towards Jack, her smile growing more sinister. “Shouldn’t you be able to unlock a simple door?”
Jack seemed to be growing uncomfortable. He looked past Karan to the others, his eyes pleading for help.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to deny our group the chance at the experience the other rooms will likely give us.”
Karan’s hand landed gently on Jack’s shoulder, and she looked up into his eyes.
“You never bought a lockpick set,” she said. “Did you?”
Her grip tightened, and Jack winced.
“Well, you see—“ he tried again.
“You misplaced it, perhaps?”
“Remember that gambling problem?“ Jack said, looking like he had just failed the entire team. “It’s to do with that. “
He looked away, and Ryan was certain the thief looked ashamed. He felt bad for him.
With a few groans, the group prepared to head into the next room.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said.
“Don’t sweat it, Jack.” Blake placed a hand on the thief’s shoulder as he passed him. “I’m all for extra experience.”
He offered the thief a smile, and Jack returned it.
“But, I mean, what type of thief doesn’t have, you know, thief tools?” Blake added.
“You know I’m still two ranks higher than you, Blake.” Jack grinned as he pulled out his dagger, twirling it easily between his fingers. “That means I’ve got more points put into my physical attributes than you. I can still hurt you.”
“About that.” Blake shrugged as he glanced back at the group, which was waiting next to the door for Blake and Jack. “Apparently, dual affinities means dual points as well. So I’ve currently got three hundred and twenty points in my physical attributes, and eighty points left over for skills.”
He offered the thief a smile and started walking away.
“That is so unfair,” Jack grumbled as he followed Blake.
Ryan was even more intrigued by the dual affinities now. He could only imagine what it would be like to have twice as many mob points as he did right now. Why couldn’t he be dual affinity?
“Oh, so now Blake is the second strongest in the group,” Ryan said.
“That makes him even more interesting.” Erin traced small shapes on Ryan’s core with her finger. Was she making hearts?
“I really want to see how strong he becomes,” Ryan said, distracted. He was pretty sure she was tracing hearts on his core.
He did his best to ignore Erin’s heart shaped tracings as Blake’s group entered the first pillar room.
This room introduced his skeletal archers. With them, Ryan finally saw Matt take action. Blake blocked the two projectiles fired his way, and the marksman stepped forward, nocking a pair of arrows to his bow.
“Watch and learn,” Matt called out cockily, and he lifted his bow.
With a grin, he drew back, and let fly. A second later, both skeletal archers fell, their skulls destroyed by arrows.
“All right, that was pretty cool.” Jack clapped Matt on the back as Emily applauded for her brother.
“Multi-shot. It costs me a point of mana per extra arrow, up to five.” Matt walked over towards the skeletons, looking down at his broken arrows. “Unfortunately, bone has a tendency to break my arrows.”
He glanced at his quiver and sighed.
“Refilling my quiver after every dungeon run is getting annoying.”
“Well, refilling my dungeon after every dive is annoying,” Ryan mocked Matt, drawing a laugh from Erin.
“You enjoy it,” she chuckled.
“Shhh. They don’t know that.”
“Well, they can’t hear you, silly.”
“Maybe I should make the archers have a chance to drop bone arrows?” Ryan was already mentally assigning them as possible loot.
“That could work. I know some dungeons modify their loot so that different types and classes of mobs drop loot specific to those classes.” Erin landed back atop him. “For instance, ranged mobs like your archers dropping arrows, and melee mobs dropping melee weapons or related armor.”
Ryan could see where Erin was going with this and made a mental note to adjust his loot drops. Previously, he had only been focusing on the rarity of the items he was dropping, but now he realized he could customize it even more.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Now,“ he turned their attention back to the room as Blake reached for the skeletal key, “I bet we get to hear Blake scream.”
Just as Blake’s hand brushed the skeleton key, the sneks leapt
forward, sinking their fangs into his leather-clad arm. He let out a high-pitched cry, leaping backwards, pulling the five bone sneks with him.
“Get ‘em off! Get ‘em off!” Blake waved his arm around, and Ryan found himself laughing as the sneks clung tightly to him.
“Snakes hidden in a pile of bones, how sneaky.” Jack chuckled as he hurried towards Blake, his daggers drawn. “Wonder what they are.“
Jack paused, eyes going wide as he checked the names of the mobs.
“Sneks. Sneaky snakes. I love this dungeon.” Jack let out a roar of laughter as he slashed at the sneks hanging from Blake’s arm.
After a moment, the knight was freed, and Jack was scooping up the loot.
“Gotta say, buddy, that wasn’t very manly of you.” Jack grinned even as Blake held his bleeding arm towards Karan. As the cleric placed her glowing hands over his wound, the knight seemed to shudder, and he shook his head.
“Why did it have to be snakes? I hate snakes,” Blake complained. He continued to mutter under his breath as Jack broke into even more laughter.
Ryan was glad he’d listened in on that one.
“I’m going to remember that, Blake,” Ryan said to himself, his mind already working. If the knight hated snakes, Ryan was sure he could find some new uses for his sneks further down the road.
I love this group.
Chapter Sixty-One
Blake stared at the pillar in the third room – the trapped room – which held the final key. Ryan loved this room.
“All right, so this is the last key,” Blake said.
“A room with a single pillar, and no mobs,” Jack mused aloud. “Totally not a trap.”
He walked into the room, his thumbs looped into his belt.
“Good thing I’m here.” He offered the group a grin, and took a step forward.
“Bad move,” Ryan whispered.
Jack’s step activated the first part of the trap room. The mana-infused stone slammed shut behind them, locking them in.
“Oh, yeah, so glad you’re here,” Blake said dully, looking at the now blocked path. “You are the worst thief I’ve ever heard of.”
Jack offered a sheepish grin and bowed.
“But you have heard of me.”
With a flourish, he did a backflip, landing next to the pillar that held the key. Ryan was impressed.
“He is so cool,” Ryan whispered to Erin.
Jack really seemed to be showing off his acrobatic skills in the dungeon today, and Ryan loved it. He hadn’t seen any adventurers move like Jack did.
“Well, thieves’ main physical trait is their dexterity,” Erin said. “So I’m sure his mana increases his speed and agility, and not his strength and endurance like Blake.”
Ryan nodded, remembering what she had told him of adventurers. It seemed that, depending on the class, their mana amplified certain traits over others. So, while Blake, Matt, and Jack were all physical classes, Blake would be stronger and sturdier, while Matt and Jack were more agile and speedy. It made sense to Ryan and explained how each class brought different aspects to a team. As far as Ryan could tell, Blake’s team was the most balanced.
“Hey, Blake,” Jack called out as he reached for the key. “Watch out for that snek behind you.”
Jack started laughing as Blake spun, his eyes filled with terror. Even as he did, Jack snatched the key with a grin.
“Jack, you—“ Blake’s words turned into a cry as the floor underneath him opened up, dropping him into a bone maiden.
Oops. Ryan‘s jealousy of Erin’s love for Blake may have been more serious than he thought.
The keyhole opened near the cage, along with the cryptic message.
“A key for a life,” Emily read. She looked from Blake, who was staring at the encroaching bone spikes, to Jack.
“Well, crap,” Jack snapped. The thief rushed towards Blake and slammed the key into the slot, disabling the bone maiden and opening the door behind the group. Ryan was used to groups struggling over the dilemma of saving their teammate or taking the key and leaving the room. Never had he seen a group react so fast.
“That was unexpected,” Ryan whispered, his admiration of the group growing.
“Did you really expect them to leave him?” The smile on Erin’s face was a smug one.
She was right. Of all the groups, Blake’s would be the last one to leave someone behind. But still, they hadn’t even been fazed.
“Thanks,” Blake gasped as he dusted himself off. He looked down at the bone maiden they had freed him from. The bone spikes had receded.
“Hey, man, we’re family.” Jack offered him a grin, and his words earned him an approving nod from Karan. The thief noticed the nod and winked back at the cleric.
“Besides, Karan would strip me of my gear if I let you die. And while I don’t mind the thought of her taking off my clothes—" Karan’s smile faltered, and Jack let the comment hang in the air.
“But now we don’t have the third key,” Blake said, dejected.
He looked around the room for a hint. This was the point where the other teams who had sacrificed the key had turned away. Karan pointed towards the open door, leading back the way they had come.
“I doubt the dungeon would create a trap that required you to sacrifice a teammate to continue,” Karan said. “Only an evil dungeon would create such a brutal trap. And I don’t think this dungeon is evil. Besides, if that was the case, the guild would likely seal it off or destroy it the moment word of such a trap got out.”
“Ahh, she gets me,” Ryan said. He felt a flush of happiness run over him. Finally, someone who understood he wasn’t evil. Her words also reminded him of how important dungeon etiquette was, as much as he hated it at times.
“Focus.” Erin slapped his core, and he could tell she was jealous. Served her right.
“So, you think if we head back, we can find the third key?” Blake asked. He lifted his shield and picked up his sword, which he had dropped when the trap had activated.
“I’m pretty sure we will.” Karan nodded at the others. “At the very least, I’d say we should return to the locked door, just to double check.”
The group agreed, and they headed down the hallway, making their way back towards the second pillar room.
“Finally,” Ryan sighed.
He was filled with excitement. This was the second group to not give up after saving their friend. Ryan had started to believe that no one would figure out that his trap didn’t mean they wouldn’t be able to keep progressing.
He quickly summoned the mobs he needed to in the second pillar room, knowing Blake and his team would reach it soon. As an added bonus reward, he summoned the skull of his wolf-deer hybrid and placed the skeleton key in its mouth. He figured it would serve as a slight hint of what was to come.
He admired his work for a moment, having plenty of time to prepare as Blake and his team fought back through the mobs. Originally, he had planned on just summoning four skeletal fighters, for a total of twenty mob points. However, since Blake hated snakes, Ryan couldn’t resist switching it up just to mess with his favorite knight.
The room was now full of twenty sneks. Blake’s screams as they entered the room made the decision worth it, and Ryan found himself chuckling as the team pressed forward. He knew they would find the last key, and it was only a matter of time before they faced Buttercup. Ryan could hardly wait.
Chapter Sixty-Two
Blake’s group stood before the door that led into Buttercup’s room, preparing to take on the boss.
“I’m so excited,” Ryan whispered, his full attention focused on the scene he and Erin were watching.
“Me too.” Erin snuggled atop Ryan’s core, her silk cloth wrapped tightly around her form.
They were both shaking with anticipation. This was the first time a group had prepared to face off against his boss.
“Is everyone rested?” Karan asked. “This is the most the guild allows us to wait between rooms.”
“All ready to get that bounty,” Jack said. He flashed a grin, and the rest of the group broke into smiles. Ryan could practically feel their excitement as well.
“All right. Let’s go over the game plan one more time.” Karan’s words drew a sigh from Jack, but the others nodded. She was being a lot more thorough in planning for this boss fight than ever before. Ryan was curious as to why.
“Before we enter, I’m going to cast divine protection on all of you,” she announced. “This spell will constantly drain mana from me, but will heal wounds as you receive them without me needing to be near you.”
That seemed like a helpful spell, but Ryan was curious how much mana that would drain.
How much mana does a Gold Four cleric have?
“When we go in, Blake, you will need to draw aggro from the boss,” she went on.
“Aggro?” Ryan asked Erin. It was a term he hadn’t heard the adventurers use before.
“It’s adventurer slang for aggression,” Erin explained. “Meaning he is going to get the attention of Buttercup and have our boss focus on him.”
“Oh, seems smart.”
Having the tank draw the attention of the boss definitely made sense.
“I believe knights have a taunt?” Karan asked. Blake nodded, and Karan turned to the others.
“You three, wait until Blake has drawn its aggro, and do your best to damage the boss while avoiding any surprise attacks it may have.” She glared at Jack, who had started to whistle. “That means don’t do anything stupid.”
The thief cracked a smile and shrugged. “I usually don’t try to do stupid things,” he said.
“That’s what scares me,” Karan replied dryly.
The group laughed, and even Ryan and Erin started to chuckle. The tension in the group was lifted, and the air around them was practically buzzing with anticipation. Ryan could barely contain his excitement.