The Dungeon Slayer: A LitRPG Level-Up Adventure (The Dungeon Slayer Series Book 1)
Page 17
More bugs. He hated bugs. The mosquito boss had been bad enough, but roaches? He had once woken in the dead of the night to a roach skittering across his face and had since been deathly afraid of them. His mom had laughed. ‘Roaches can’t hurt you Tad.’ She never met one of these roaches. If the boss was a roach, Tad thought he might just give up dungeon slaying completely, if they survived.
At the crest of the mountain, Gruff turned to the party and pressed a finger to his lips. Too late. Clicks exploded through the cavern, four roaches danced side by side, their antennae frantically waved back and forth at the discovery of intruders. Gruff leapt down the rest of the mountain, morning star raised high above his head.
“They’re sounding an alarm! Kill them!”
A flurry of arrows found their mark, Becca shot volley after volley, decorating the furthest roach with a deluge of spectral arrows. The rest of the party descended on them in an instant. Green fluid flew from Scar’s mosquito sword and sliced through a roach with little resistance. Tad flung a firebolt.
Gruff fell on the last two roaches. He hammered down with his one-handed mace, carapace crunched wherever the heavy weapon landed. The roaches tried fighting back, but their metal pincers scratched across Gruff’s shield and armor with an ear-shattering screech.
Dead roaches filled the dank cavern. This didn’t look like a dungeon that hadn’t been touched before. It looked like a battle already raged before Tad and his party even got there. Other slayers already failed this dungeon, and now Tad and his party were trapped.
Loud clicks echoed through the tunnels ahead. The sound grew louder and louder. Hundreds of clicks echoed back in response. Gruff wasted no time and dashed toward the tunnel on the far end of the cave. “Block off the cave! We can’t let them swarm us!”
Too late. Roaches poured through the opening and scattered in all directions. Their movements were a blur. They were fast. Faster than Wraithford. Faster than Tad. His eyes struggled to keep track of even just a single roach. They skittered up the walls and across the ceiling as Tad aimed his healer’s crook at the tunnel. If he could cause a cave-in, it would buy them time.
“Firebolt!”
Before Tad could watch the flight of his spell, a shadow loomed above. A weapon whistled through the air toward Tad’s head. He couldn’t dodge the blow. Gruff’s shield slammed into Tad, which knocked him into a gap in the mountain of roach husks, away from the deadly attack. Tad tumbled deep into the roach pile. Everything happened so fast that Tad hadn’t had time to get a peek at his attacker.
“The roaches have riders!” Gruff’s shout sounded alarmed for the first time since entering the dungeon.
“Becca! No!” This time the voice belonged to Scar.
Tad couldn’t just hide in this mountain of roach husks, he had to help! Tad crawled through the roach husks as their sharp metallic mandibles nicked and sliced his flesh. Tad poked his head from the roach pile just in time to see Gruff, Scar, and Bunta disappear into the tunnel on the far side where the roaches had poured in.
“Tad! The riders kidnapped Becca! Catch up if you can or hide until we come back for you!” Gruff sounded desperate.
Gruff charged ahead, using his shield to bash through the swarming roaches. Bunta flew ahead, but three roach riders coordinated an attack that was enough to delay him. Becca disappeared into the tunnel, captured in a metal net. The roach riders were faster than the other roaches. They sped in streaks across Tad’s vision. Bunta’s movements were even faster. Sometimes he even seemed to disappear. But the three outmaneuvered the man across uneven terrain, blocking his attacks and progress. The riders were strong.
Tad gathered the courage to follow his group. Being stuck behind, alone, was by far more dangerous than proceeding together. The roaches wouldn’t be merciful if they found him. But his party moved farther away, and there were over two dozen roaches between them. Tad didn’t have the speed to evade them if he caught their attention. Tad gritted his teeth. He couldn’t go ahead. He would have to hide and stay put, as Gruff had said.
Was he safe here? Couldn’t the roaches… smell him? Did roaches even smell? What were the insects capable of? Their huge antenna must do something!
“Stats!”
*Tad Harrington
Rank: Soldier
Level: 8
Health: 98/110
Mana: 39/42
Str: 1
Dex: 6
Con: 11
Mag: 21
Cou: 5
Cha: -9
Buffs: Healer set +50%
Quest Reward Available!*
Several dozen roaches chased after Gruff and the party as they disappeared into the tunnel ahead as fast as they had poured into the cavern. The cavern darkened as the lightsphere chased behind Gruff. Dozens of roaches tried to climb past each other to chase their prey, clogging the tunnel entrance. Just then a horrible thought hit Tad.
If more roaches were inside the tunnel, then they would assault his party from both sides. Tad scanned the emptying room. Two roaches were eating something off the floor, the rest charged ahead in frenzied pursuit. He had to act now if he were to help his friends.
Tad burst from his hiding place, and ran hard toward the dimly lit tunnel, almost tripping on a dead roach in the darkness. His heart pounded loud in his ears as shadows and shapes scurried in his direction. Tad’s healer’s crook burst into light as his spell charged.
“Firewall!”
Tad angled the spell deep into the tunnel where the roaches fought to climb past each other. The cavern burst alive with orange light as a roach skewered Tad from behind. The metal pincer pierced straight through Tad’s lower abdomen as it flung him backward like a rag doll. Tad scrambled to his feet as blood splurted from the wound. Clicks and screeches of pain filled the cavern as Tad’s firewall burned the roaches alive. Another roach sped toward Tad in a blur. He ran. Ran faster than he ever had in his life. Just before he made it to the mountain of roach husks another roach skewered his leg, the other pincer slammed down, slicing to the bone. Tad fell and twisted and cast a firebolt directly into the face of the roach that held him. It screeched in pain. Tad crawled the rest of the way into a gap in the husk mountain. Electronic chimes played in Tad’s head as a wash of regenerative magic healed his wounds and mana to full.
*You have leveled up!*
*You have leveled up!*
*You have leveled up!*
How many roaches had died in his firewall? Three levels for just casting his firewall in the right place! Tad wriggled deeper into the mountain of roach husks as he forced himself to hold his breath. Sharp metal pincers sliced through the husks as the roaches tried to get at him. Any second, Tad expected clicking sounds to pursue him into the pile of husks, to finish him, and pick his bones clean of his flesh.
But they didn’t come. They above him, their weight made it hard to breathe. But only for a moment before they retreated off the husks. The roaches wouldn’t come deeper. Tad was safe. For now. After two excruciating minutes, the clicking noises grew quiet as they moved farther away. Was this how a rabbit felt, stuck in his den with hungry wolves waiting for him to come out? Tad didn’t like feeling like prey. He wriggled and turned around in the pile of husks, then crawled closer to an exit to peer from his hiding place.
Ten roaches remained in the cavern. Most crowded around the firewall, looking for a way to get past. It was a miracle Tad had made it back to the safety of the husk pile with that many in the room. Some must’ve poured out from the tunnel after it caught fire. They’d moved much faster than Tad thought possible. Thank the creators his party had distracted them.
Sounds of battle echoed through the tunnel. Scar yelled between sword strokes. Gruff shouted commands and all the while intense clicks sounded. He sighed in relief. His firewall hadn’t incinerated his friends. At least this time.
He’d leveled up three times. As much as when they’d defeated the mosquito boss. Was he getting more experience in this dungeon because
the monsters were harder? Or was it because of the sheer number of roaches he’d killed? Tad opened his stats window.
*Tad Harrington
Rank: Soldier
Level: 11
Health: 110/110
Mana: 42/42
Str: 1
Dex: 6
Con: 11
Mag: 21
Cou: 5
Cha: -9
Buffs: 50% Increased Healing
Points to allocate: 15
Quest Reward Available!*
Allocating stat points was by far Tad’s favorite part of dungeon slaying. The effects on his points were instant. His body morphed to meet his stats. But where to put them? Dexterity was a strong contender if he wanted to become a speed demon like Bunta, or even battle the roaches. Tad had also cursed his low strength more than once. What would it be like to be strong? Strong like Scar or Gruff. Dexterity, however, was the obvious choice in Tad’s mind. The roaches were far too quick to attack.
Tad watched the roaches in the cavern. Occasionally one would speed across the room in a blur in the orange light. Tad put one point into dexterity. It didn’t seem to make much difference, but by the third point Tad could see the blurry movements of the bugs solidify. At twelve dexterity Tad could see their movements almost perfectly. He would probably be a suitable match, but it wasn’t enough. Finally, around fifteen dexterity, the roaches looked sluggish.
Six unallocated points still burned a hole in Tad’s mind. He could allocate them if needed, but he didn’t want to be left wanting. He could always pump more into dexterity mid-battle if he needed more speed.
Butterflies twisted inside Tad’s stomach. He might be faster than the roaches , but could he really fight all ten by himself? This wasn’t like the fingerteeth. Where the monsters would die in one hit and likely didn’t do much damage. Each one was a powerful monster. It was like fighting ten toothblenders simultaneously.
With a thought, Tad opened his equipment sheet and swapped his healer’s robe and crook to his leather armor. The loose-fitting robe disappeared into his dungeon pouch on his hip, replaced by the tight leather straps of his armor that wrapped snug around his body. His crook disappeared in a poof of black mist as daggers solidified in his grasp. He was so glad he’d pressed far enough in his soldier trial to earn the equipment system reward. What took Scar and Becca minutes only took Tad less than a second.
Seven roaches waited on the walls near his firewall. Three other roaches were closer to Tad, near the center of the cavern. They faced Tad’s direction. Blood dripped from two of their pincers. They were the ones that attacked him. Tad couldn’t help but feel they were waiting for him. The roaches had some intellect.
Tad burst from the husks. Three roaches darted to meet him. But their movements were slow compared to just moments earlier. No, he was just that fast. Tad flew into the three roaches. He was the wind. Their pincers bit through the air, but Tad dodged with minimal effort. His vision grew sharper. His sight clarified. His body could almost sense the metallic sword-like prongs of the roach blades. Tad’s daggers flashed, but harmlessly bounced off their thick armored shells.
Tad swayed out of the way of another snapping pincer. Using all of his momentum, he stabbed again, this time at a roach’s less-armored underbelly. His dagger scratched across the armored exoskeleton of the roach harmlessly. Tad spun away from two furious attacks as the other two roaches tried to impale him. Tad blocked a third pincer he couldn’t avoid with his dagger, but only for a moment as the sheer power of the roach slammed closed only inches from the top of Tad’s head. Hot sweat poured down his back. These things were powerful! Tad darted away as the three roaches gave chase. The other seven roaches rushed to join the fight. He had to figure out how to kill these roaches quickly or they would overwhelm him!
An idea formed in Tad’s mind. He rolled away from another vicious bite. Tad ran from his pursuers, took two steps up the side of the cavern wall, then kicked off powerfully. He flipped backward over one roach. With a thought, Tad switched his weapons to Wraithford’s axe, summoning it directly beneath him. The tremendous weapon appeared above the roach, the axe head the same length as the entire roach beneath it. Tad flipped on top of the axe, pushing it down with his weight. The axe slammed to the ground, yielding a satisfying crunch. Yellow goo and clear blood splashed across the dungeon floor. Even without the strength to wield Wraithford’s axes, he could find a use for them.
Tad sidestepped another wild bite as he retreated from nine remaining roaches in hot pursuit, the axe abandoned where it fell. He had no time to retrieve it. Tad sprinted ahead, leaving the roaches behind.
The eyes. Tad would attack their eyes. Enormous black eyes the size of soccer balls sat atop their heads, but the thought of plunging his dagger and arm far enough into the roach to kill it made him squeamish.
A roach dropped from above as Tad reacted too late. The metal pincer missed his torso, but slashed downward through the side of Tad’s arm, deflecting off his bone. Tad yelped in pain as he zigzagged from the roach. A glance to the ceiling showed two more roaches above. They hung from the stalactites ready to pounce.
Tad circled away from the group, a wary eye on the ceiling. One roach darted forward, separated from the pack. It was now or never.
Tad shot through the air. His arm trailed behind him as he spun at the last minute, dodging the bite of the roach. He plunged the dagger deep into the roach’s right eye. With a sickening crunch, his dagger punched through the rubbery surface. Tad yelled as he mustered all of his might as his dagger struck true, plunging deeper through the gooey eye into the brain. A silky voice exclaimed in his head.
*Critical hit!*
The roach’s health bar instantly dropped to zero as Tad struggled to yank his dagger out of the goo. It popped out, covered in thick strands of orange gore. Tad leapt over the roach corpse once more at a full sprint. His pursuers chased relentlessly.
There were seven remaining, but Tad knew in that moment that he could win.
Chapter 17
The metalroaches swarmed Tad. While he was faster than an individual roach, all of them together quickly became deadly. Tad dove away from two roaches as they came at him from opposite sides. His daggers scratched their carapace harmlessly as he aimed for the eyes. Two more pushed past his pursuers as they bit wildly at his arms and legs. Tad scrambled from the fray as he searched for a defensible position. Tad darted through an opening as a roach bit at his head. Wind from the attack whooshed through Tad’s hair as he ducked.
The roaches were too big to coordinate their attacks well. They left gaps in their formations that Tad retreated through. Two, three at the most could attack simultaneously before they started running into each other. Tad tried to attack the eyes, but under the assault of the roaches climbing over each other to get to him, the roach eyes were out of reach. They attacked too fast, like a swarm of locusts.
A slice across Tad’s ribs opened. He spun away from an attack from behind. Tad leapt away from another blow, only to scramble up and across a third roach that squirmed to impale him. The roaches first attacked like a rhinoceros. They charged across the battlefield to impale Tad on their metal tusks. Then their ant-like pincers would slam shut, to slice and crush Tad’s body.
Tad spun away from another goring attack. He hadn’t taken too many wounds, but what was with the pain he felt across his body? His entire body screamed in pain. Were their blades poisoned? Something was wrong. He took a quick glance at his health bar in between a zigzag dodge from two pursuing roaches. 43 health remaining. That made no sense. Tad evaded another attack. A roach dropped from the ceiling, tusks first, Tad rolled from the blow.
He had just leveled up! And of the attacks that had landed, only his ribs and arm truly bled. Could the monsters really be that strong that two scratches did 67 points of damage? Tad ducked and rolled past a roach as he threw his neck out of the range of a vicious bite. Momentum from the roll turned into a leap as Tad scrambled up and over the
back of another attacking roach. Tad attacked downward atop the roach. His hands were a blur, but his daggers couldn’t even scratch the carapace. Tad had gone as far as he could with speed alone. He needed strength. Strength to pierce their armored hides. To penetrate their cement-like shells.
Another glance at his health bar. His health was at 38! From what? Nothing had hit him since he last checked! Tad flew past four roaches, slipping bites and slices away from his face, just barely making it to the mountain of roach husks. Tad shot to the top of the husks. He couldn’t afford to dive into that pile of husks and blades. A bad impale could render him unconscious with his health so low.
His pursuers didn’t follow. They stood, clicking animatedly at the base of the husks. Again they hesitated. Why wouldn’t they follow?
It didn’t matter. Tad had a brief reprieve from battle. He would make them regret giving him time. With a thought, Tad’s stats popped open, followed by a wave of surprise. It felt so natural, even though he’d never opened it without the verbal ‘stats’ command.
*Tad Harrington
Rank: Soldier
Level: 11
Health: 36/110
Mana: 42/42
Str: 1
Dex: 15
Con: 11
Mag: 21
Cou: 5
Cha: -9
Debuffs: Weakness
Points to allocate: 6
Quest Reward Available!*
First thing first. With a thought, Tad equipped his healer set and cast heal. His health bar rose to full. Every muscle in his body groaned in pain as the restoration magic did its work. The next moment Tad equipped his leather armor and daggers once again. With his enhanced healing powers, healing to full only cost him eleven mana. The roaches still circled the mountain of husks.
Tad next opened the weakness debuff. He’d never seen that before.
*Weakness: Your muscles are too weak to sustain high-speed combat. Health drains upon movement.*