The Dungeon Slayer: A LitRPG Level-Up Adventure (The Dungeon Slayer Series Book 1)

by Konrad Ryan

  And then it was over.

  Silence, thick as molasses, was sweeter than anything Tad had ever experienced. Sweat pooled in great puddles across the sheets of his bed. He wanted to cry, to whimper, but that required effort. It was easier to just lie there. In the blackness. The cool darkness.

  Some time later, Tad opened his eyes to words that floated in the darkness.

  *Installation successful. ‘Stats’ command now available.*

  What on earth was that? His mouth was dry, his entire body covered in beads of sweat. Surely he was dehydrated. His throat felt raw, as if he’d been screaming for hours. Besides the ache from the eternal pain, nothing felt different. The installation was successful… Tad hoped his computer didn’t feel this way after each program he installed.

  “Stats,” Tad barely found his voice.

  A window with various information appeared in front of Tad’s eyes. Almost as if on a pane of invisible glass.

  *Tad Harrington

  Class: Voidboy

  Rank: Civilian

  Level: 1

  Health: 10/10

  Mana: 2/2

  Strength: 1

  Dexterity: 1

  Constitution: 1

  Magic: 1

  Courage: 5

  Charisma: -9

  You have a new quest! ‘Path to Power.’*

  Voidboy! Tad sat up in bed. He regretted the motion instantly as his stiff body protested in pain. Tad gingerly reached out. The pane of invisible glass was cool to the touch as he pressed the word ‘Voidboy.’ A smaller window appeared in front of the first with additional information.

  *A nickname found on an internet forum attributed to Tad Harrington after his rebirth.*

  That’s stupid! How did the nickname he read online get attributed to his class? And just what exactly was the level-up program? Where did it come from? Tad looked in the darkness of his bedroom. It felt like someone was watching him. Like a thousand eyes peered from the shadows in his room.

  Curiosity at the rest of the stats replaced his outrage. His suspicion forgotten, he finished reading his stats. Path to power? He had a new quest. He paused, his finger hovered over the notification, thoughts of his sore body left far behind.

  *Complete your first dungeon!*

  Dungeons. A wave of tingles shot through his entire body. He’d thought this opportunity was closed to him. With zero power score, there was no way he could survive in a dungeon. There were no civilian dungeons, so he would have to enter a dungeon for soldiers. Soldier dungeons had a fifty percent mortality rate. For every two soldier rank slayers who entered, only one came out. And Tad would have to do it as a civilian, no, worse than a civilian. He would have to do it as a zero. A voidboy. It was suicide.

  *What would you give for power?*

  Tad remembered the words that started his level-up program. A chill ran down his spine. ‘Everything’ had been his response. He would have to put everything on the line, risk everything, if he wanted power. It felt real. Dangerous. But if he could get stronger, strong enough to protect himself… then the risk might be worth it. It might be strange to some, but Tad would rather die in pursuit of strength, than be at the mercy of others.

  A musical chime played inside Tad’s head. He jumped at the sudden intrusion of his thoughts as words scrolled across his vision.

  *Courage has reached 5! You have learned the following passive skill: ‘Pain Resistance 1.*

  *Pain cannot render you unconscious.*

  Tad sat stunned at the announcement. He would feel pain greater than the human limit and couldn’t black out from it. That would be useful in dungeons, but heaven forbid if someone ever tortured him. There would be no release, no avoidance of pain. Courage. He’d never seen that stat before, not in any game he’d ever played.

  A wave of indignation passed through Tad as he read the rest of his stats. Why did he have negative nine charisma! Was that why he was bullied wherever he went? Why bullies could sniff him out no matter how hard he tried to fit in? Because of his negative charisma? Had he been born that way? Starting life with such a tremendous disadvantage didn’t seem fair! Not fair at all. Suddenly his life made sense. His low charisma score must have attracted bullies.

  Was this also why he was so terrible at everything? He had ‘1’ in every useful stat. Strength, dexterity, even in constitution. Was this why he was so bad at sports? Why he was slow? Why he was weak? His rebirth hadn’t done anything! It hadn’t unlocked any potential, just revealed his current state!

  Tad lay back on his bed. Defeated. It was all so unfair. He wasn’t blessed with strength, or speed, but a high courage score to withstand the negative effects of his low charisma. Or had Tad trained his courage stat because of his adversity? Because he’d been picked on and bullied? He didn’t know the answer.

  Tad pressed on his health and mana sections.

  *Health: Your life pool. Increases with constitution. When health drops to zero you become incapacitated.*

  *Mana: Cast spells by consuming this resource. Increases with magic.*

  Tad pressed on strength and dexterity, but the level-up program offered no additional information. He would have to increase them to find out what they did. Some seemed self-explanatory, others less so. Finally Tad pressed on the section that said ‘Level one.’

  *Kill monsters in dungeons to gain experience and level up!*

  Did this mean he could increase his stats if he leveled up? How many stats would he get when he leveled up? In a few levels, he could raise his charisma high enough to be normal. No, even higher than that! Could he really make friends that easily? Maybe even get a girlfriend? Being likable was a defense. Bullies wouldn’t pick on him if he was normal.

  But that didn’t seem like enough. You couldn’t count on someone to leave you alone as your only defense. Cruel people didn’t need a reason to hurt others. Tad wanted the strength to repel, to defend himself. He’d become strong enough that he wouldn’t be at the mercy of small-minded people.

  Tad’s emotions were out of control. They swelled until tears formed once more. Tad didn’t have to be a burden on his mom. Could he really raid dungeons even if he was a voidboy? Could he progress from civilian to soldier? Rebirth was supposed to unlock a person’s maximum potential. Stuck in the rank one was reborn to. There were very few exceptions. Someone could improve their strength to stand at the top of their rank, but the gaps in power between the slayer ranks were too large to cross with effort alone.

  But if Tad could climb the ladder of power, from civilian to soldier, warrior, champion, warlord and even to creator… his potential might be limitless. Might be greater even than a creator’s. Greater than Brad. Was that possible? There was only one way to find out.

  Wait. How would he even go about getting inside a dungeon to begin with? Especially with a power score lower than a civilian. No one would want to take him along; he was a liability.

  He opened the browser on his computer and navigated to the Department of Dungeon Defense website. Because he’d been reborn, he could access it. Tad typed in his credentials and registered his account. From there, he could print off his slayer’s license.

  Tad blinked in surprise as a digital version of his dungeon license popped up. He’d receive the official one in the mail in a couple weeks, but he could print off a temporary license in the meantime.

  Where Tad expected to see a big fat zero, a power score of ten was written on his license. Maybe their system couldn’t account for a zero. It was probably outside the realm of expectation.

  He printed his license with the mistaken power score. Then printed four more copies. After that he saved a local copy on three different hard drives. If the DDD fixed the problem someday, he wouldn’t get this chance again to have an official license without a big fat zero on the front.

  With that, maybe he could join a dungeon raid… It was unlikely. He was a burden as a civilian, but it wasn’t unheard of for civilians to enter dungeons… it was just unlikely for them
to come back out. Tad clicked through the site and navigated to the classified section. After scrolling for a bit he found what he was looking for, the lowest rank dungeon, a soldier dungeon, located close to his town that had a single vacancy.

  Two days from now, on a Thursday.

  Tad decided. He’d enter dungeons, kill monsters, and get stronger. Climb as high as he could go. Climb to the top. Beyond the top. Where no one could hurt him. Where he could protect himself.

  For the first time in Tad’s recent memory, the voices in his head were hopeful as he drifted to sleep.

  Chapter 3

  Tad woke to a knock at the door.

  “What?”

  “Someone is at the door for you.”

  Tad couldn’t recall ever having a visitor.

  “Who is it?”

  “He said his name was Gerald Smith… He is the elderly man who gave the orientation speech at your rebirth ceremony yesterday.”

  Tad’s stomach sank. What could he want? Did the old man know about his level-up program? With Tad leaving so suddenly, perhaps he’d missed something. Tad changed his clothes. He’d fallen asleep still fully dressed. He threw on his favorite tan shirt that was a little frayed at the edges and equally ragged jean shorts, then made his way downstairs.

  Looking out of place, a sharp-dressed old man with long white hair and even longer white eyebrows sat on their drab couch. Upon seeing Tad, the old man stood up, hand extended.

  “Ah, let me introduce myself. I’m Gerald Smith, the Regional Director of the Department of Dungeon Defense or better known as the DDD. I also volunteer at the rebirth center, which is why I was there last night.”

  Tad reached out and shook his hand. Despite the man’s age, his handshake was impossibly strong. Tad’s own hand felt cold and clammy.

  “I was told you received a zero on your rebirth, is that correct?”

  Tad nodded slowly. Fear the old man might know about his level-up program rose again in his chest.

  “I would like to talk to you about a sensitive matter. Alone if possible.”

  Tad looked back to his mom by the door, who turned to make herself scarce.

  “I’m afraid that’s not enough. I wish to speak to you where no curious ears may overhear. My vehicle is equipped for such a conversation. Would that be all right with you?”

  Tad studied the old man in front of him. Why would the Regional Director of the DDD need to speak with him in the first place, not to mention about a sensitive matter for his ears only? Tad almost rejected the offer, but his curiosity got the best of him.

  “Ma’am, we’ll just be a few minutes, I will return your son to you shortly.”

  Tad followed until Gerald opened the door to his black SUV. Tad stepped through the door and froze. He wasn’t in a car at all, but in a fully furnished office. Tad craned his neck to look out of the car where he could still see his house. Gerald ushered him farther inside and closed the door, before seating himself in a comfy-looking leather chair.

  “Where did the car go?” That was a question he thought he’d never ask while standing inside of a car.

  “Oh, yes. Sorry, I’m so used to it I forget how odd it is to first-timers. This is a dungeon. To be more precise, its creation utilizes the same technology as the dungeons. We’ve been able to replicate them with varying success. A recent discovery. The important thing is, no one will hear our conversation here, no matter how powerful a slayer they are.”

  Tad nodded dumbly. His first dungeon… it wasn’t really the experience he’d been hoping for. This one didn’t count. Gerald gestured for Tad to take a seat.

  “Now the matter at hand. Have you experienced anything odd? Increases in abilities, strength, or endurance? Anything like that?”

  Tad stiffened and averted his eyes from the other man’s piercing blue gaze. So the old man knew about Tad’s level-up program. Maybe there were other zeros after all. Maybe Tad wasn’t the first.

  “I see I’ve startled you. Be at ease, you aren’t in trouble. Most people at the bureau wouldn’t have even felt the need for this meeting, but I’m more curious than I ought to be. We’ve never seen a rebirth result in a zero before. Ever. In the known history of rebirth ceremonies. It’s rather peculiar.”

  Relief flooded Tad as he released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Gerald didn’t know about the level-up program, he was just curious about the zero power score. As suspected, Tad’s power score was unique in its lack. Gerald seemed to take his silence as agreement.

  “If it’s all right with you, I’ve prepared a brief presentation to help explain my curiosities.” Gerald turned toward the wall directly behind him as the lights dimmed, and an image appeared, automatically. “Here’s a picture of several rebirth candidates, one of each possible rank.”

  The image showed six people with their hands on the familiar golden orbs. The last image was of Brad, smiling confidently with the gold-white light that shone from the globe.

  “As you can see, for each rank the orb changes color according to their strength. Brown for civilians, red for soldiers, blue for warriors, green for champions, violet for warlords, and finally, a golden or white light for creators.” Gerald turned from the presentation to lock eyes with Tad. Apparently satisfied that Tad was following his logic, he continued. “Now alone, this isn’t interesting, but let’s look at a few dungeons.”

  The slide changed. Tad looked at the picture of a dungeon. A large cobblestone structure jutted from the ground. The door appeared to be wooden, with crude iron rings that served as handles. Red light glowed from the stones as long red tentacles sprouted from the entire dungeon surface like quills on a porcupine. They reached for something unseen. A steady stream of black titanspawn climbed from the top of the dungeon into the atmosphere.

  “The color of the dungeon approximates the difficulty. One for each rank of slayer it would seem.”

  The slide changed, and the next dungeon came on the screen. The dungeon was a deep azure. Where the previous dungeon had been cobblestone and wood, the second dungeon was made from miniature jewels. Sapphires sparkled in the sun’s light. The blue glow was more intense, the tendrils thick and many. The stream of titanspawn was fuller, where the red dungeon had been a small rope, this one was a deep stream. Almost like a river. Despite the ugly black thread of titanspawn that climbed into the sky, Tad couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the dungeon. Next to the dungeon was a picture of the blonde girl from the night before. Her hands rested on the golden spheres, the center orb glowed the same blue hue of the dungeon.

  “There are other dungeons, but I don’t want to bore you. I’ll get right to the point.”

  The image on the wall changed once more. Tad with both of his hands placed on the two golden spheres from his rebirth. The large orb in the center was a deep black, not brown like a civilian’s ought to be. A large zero plastered in the middle of the globe. A second picture was next to that one. A dungeon so gruesome Tad almost jumped out of his seat. Instead of beautiful rocks or gems, jagged bones formed the frame, black sludge oozed between the ivory bones, the contrast sharp and eerie. It was tar, or rotted gore, or some other substance; but it seemed alive. Tad’s skin crawled with a thousand termites.

  The entire sky above this dungeon was titanspawn. The little critters took all forms. Animal-hybrids, manlike form. Some grotesque, alien-like creatures, but each were modified. Weapons and blades replaced limbs, quills dripping with some sort of liquid, surely venom, replaced hair and fur. The sight was unbelievable. Wriggling black tendrils sprouted from the exterior of the dungeon. But they didn’t stop there. They emerged from the ground itself and even appeared mid-air. Goosebumps climbed Tad’s arms and back. He didn’t enjoy looking at this dungeon. Gerald, however, grinned.

  “Flawlessly black. Just like your orb. You now understand my curiosity.” The old man traced his long eyebrow with a finger.

  Tad nodded, the implication was chilling.

  “Is that a strong dung
eon?”

  Gerald nodded deliberately.

  “That is Titan.”

  The air thickened. It was like he’d been plunged under ice water. It was hard to breathe. Titan was the dungeon that strangled the planet. The dungeon that claimed the life of the greatest creator known to mankind, Charles Tidwell. Not to mention the other four creators who had entered with him. No one returned from Titan’s grasp. And Titan matched the color of Tad’s rebirth globe. Gerald’s piercing gaze watched him like a hawk.

  “If we continue the color association, then you, and you alone should be a match for Titan. But I sense nothing special from you. Nothing at all. The stronger you are, the more sensitive you become. I can feel the life surge through the fern next to my desk. The life of the tiny ant that stowed away on your left shoe.”

  Tad slapped the ant from his foot. Had the man really felt that? It seemed impossible.

  Gerald leaned forward across his desk. “But from you, I feel nothing. I see you with my eyes, but my senses say the space you occupy should be empty. That’s impossible. A score of zero, theoretically, shouldn’t be able to breathe for lack of strength.” Gerald was so close to Tad now that he sat, paralyzed. The man seemed so big! So imposing.

  “So I’ll ask again Tad, have you experienced anything odd? Anything at all?”

  Gerald’s gaze skewered him to the chair. Would the man even believe him if he told him he had some special program installed in his person? It sounded mad! And what would be the repercussions of telling him? The risk was too great.

  Tad almost imperceptibly shook his head. Gerald let out an exasperated sigh.

  “I was afraid of that. I knew it was a longshot.” Gerald collected some papers in front of him and threw them into a folder. He sounded more disappointed than Tad would have thought.

  Gerald leaned down and pulled out a miniature black globe from behind his desk. It looked identical to the rebirth ceremony globe, except for its size and silver orbs for handholds instead of gold.