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

by Konrad Ryan

  Scar’s clanking pulled Tad from his thoughts. Scar glared at the three around the fire.

  “How can you be so casual? Laughing and yucking it up while Becca is fighting for her life!”

  The air stiffened at the accusation. Tad hated confrontation. He had never been good at resolving it. Everything he said always seemed to make it worse.

  Gruff was the one to break the silence. “There’s nothing more we can do for her. We are out of resurrection vials. We should bind and hide her until we kill the bastard that did this to her. If we kill him, she might return to normal.”

  The answer seemed to incense Scar even further. “What if she bleeds out and dies in the meantime? What if we hide her only for her to get eaten by a roach? I won’t let you abandon her. Not like you abandoned Tomas!”

  Gruff stood, chest puffed out. He didn’t seem to appreciate being challenged. Scar puffed out his own chest and got in Gruff’s face. Nose to nose. Gruff’s voice a dangerous whisper. “Back off, Terrance. I’m not having this conversation again. There was nothing we could do for Tomas. Tomas respected me as the dungeon leader, same as you. Inside a dungeon, my word is law. There is too much danger, too much we don’t know.”

  Tad never heard Gruff’s voice sound so sharp, dangerous. But Scar wouldn’t be cowed.

  “That’s not enough, Brando. Not for me. You’ll have to do better than that.”

  “How can I? What else do you want me to do? I can’t bring Tomas back any more than I can bring back Becca. This isn’t the first time we’ve lost people. Just look at her, will you? She’s got two extra bloody eyes. That insane smile on her face even while she sleeps! Do you really want her conscious? You didn’t see her like we did. Becca’s gone! She’s a monster now. We have no other option.”

  Scar’s eyes bulged, his anger flared, but something inside him seemed to break. But his pride didn’t allow for defeat. “I won’t move an inch unless she comes with us. We can’t leave her bound as easy dinner for a passing roach.”

  “Look at this!” Gruff held the black spike in hand, wires protruded at all angles. “This is inside her head!” Gruff roared, his eyes on fire. “This thing, whatever it is, has taken over her brain. Hijacked it. The Becca you know is not coming back!”

  Gruff’s voice turned deadly serious. “If you go against my decision, Terrance, you know that means death. We work together, or die alone, by my hands. We can’t afford the liability.”

  “Just let me bring her along then! We at least need her to open the boss room!”

  Scar had him there. The door wouldn’t open without five.

  “She will be a hindrance. What if the boss can heal her and use her like a puppet? We can’t fight her and the boss both. She was strong, Terrance. Hide her. Kill her. I don’t care what you do with her, but you aren’t bringing her into the boss room.”

  “Kill me then.” Scar dropped to his knees as he met Gruff’s stare. “I won’t go further without her.”

  The crackling of Gruff’s magic fire was deafening in the silence. Tad couldn’t breathe, the atmosphere was too tense. Was Gruff really going to kill Scar over this? Legally he had complete power to do so. This was rebellion against the dungeon leader. Gruff was the captain of the ship with full power to decide life and death should their members become a threat to the mission.

  Gruff was right. Taking an unconscious person controlled by an unknown entity into the boss fight was too risky. But one look at Gruff’s face told Tad this wasn’t the time to interject. This was between Gruff and Scar.

  Time passed. Gruff’s face didn’t betray even a single thought. His face was stone. After an eternity, Gruff reached a hand behind his head and pulled out his mace. A thick piece of metal with a flanged head. Roach guts covered its surface. Bunta sucked air into his throat at the motion. Tad couldn’t look away. Scar would be executed. Right in front of him.

  Gruff raised the mace high into the air above his head. This was a dungeon leader. This was for the greater good. Tad agreed. Scar needed to die. He was unstable. Unpredictable. They stood a better chance without him.

  Scar’s eyes held Gruff’s gaze. Scar wouldn’t back down.

  Almost imperceptibly, Gruff gave a nod.

  Scar had won.

  Scar visibly relaxed as the tension drained from his body. He slumped against the ground, face hidden. His powerful frame shook softly. Was he crying? Despite not liking the man, despite just condemning the man to death in his own mind, Tad couldn’t help but admire his courage. Gruff’s decision could’ve gone the other way. And Scar would be dead.

  Courageous or not, Tad couldn’t help but think Gruff had made the wrong choice. Had he let his friendship taint his decision?

  Gruff broke the silence. “We need you to open the door. Even with her liability, you’re worth more to us alive. You fight for us first. You keep her safe second.”

  Face still in the dirt, Scar nodded his agreement.

  Gruff’s mood transformed. “Something is wrong with this dungeon. The puppeteer symbol. We know what that means now.”

  “That knight… was a warrior rank slayer, like me. He was strong.” Bunta said.

  Gruff looked alarmed at Bunta’s declaration.

  “If their party couldn’t clear the dungeon with a warrior rank slayer, then what chance do we have?” Gruff’s words hung in the air.

  Bunta nodded his understanding.

  “They might not have been that strong before… those eyes. Becca was stronger too. I’ve never seen her shoot over twenty spectral arrows before, but she was shooting hundreds.”

  Silence took the group. Each lost in his own thoughts. Gruff sat back down in front of the fire. Eventually, everyone could relax.

  Tad waited until each of his party members seemed distracted. He collected his silver dagger he lost in the fight with Becca. One more glance to each of his party members to make sure no one was watching him. They weren’t. Silently, Tad slipped away and melted into the shadows.

  * * *

  Tad crept back through the dungeon tunnels, toward the caverns filled with roaches. Their party was down a man, and Scar didn’t seem reliable in his current mental state. Tad needed to get stronger. They needed every ounce of strength Tad could muster in the upcoming boss fight. Stealth easily let him sneak past his three party members. Hopefully, they wouldn’t notice for some time.

  Tad opened his skill menu and pulled up more information on his ‘backstab’ skill.

  *Backstab: Attacks to the back of creatures deal double damage when using stealth.*

  Tad had thought it strange that his first attack to Becca had done so much damage. But what was with that sinister laughing sound Tad heard when he’d received the skill? That only happened once before: when Tad learned about the dungeon’s hidden mods. Musical chimes had announced new skills up to this point. Tad had also learned the skill at the exact moment he’d plunged his dagger into the back of his own party member. The thought made his skin crawl.

  Maybe this skill wasn’t safe to use. His level-up program was trying to tell him something. Had he done an evil action by harming a friend? Could you learn unique skills by doing evil acts? Tad had so many questions.

  Whatever. Backstab was a powerful skill. If the person, or thing, behind Tad’s level-up program was an enemy, then Tad would make them regret giving him backstab.

  “Stats.”

  *Tad Harrington

  Rank: Soldier

  Level: 14

  Health: 110/110

  Mana: 32/42

  Str: 5

  Dex: 22

  Con: 11

  Mag: 21

  Cou: 5

  Cha: -9

  Debuffs: Weakness

  Points to allocate: 10*

  Tad stared at his stats. Three points into strength later, Tad felt his weakness debuff disappear once more. He brought his strength to ten for good measure. Muscles bulged as power shot through them. His body no longer looked chubby. Fit and muscular, sleek and de
adly, Tad looked like he could do a lot of damage. Where to place his last five points though? Speed was vital. He still wanted to test both courage and charisma, but it just wasn’t the right place for testing. Not yet. Tad promised himself he’d increase those stats after the boss fight. But It didn’t matter how much charisma or courage Tad had, if he hadn’t been fast enough to contend with that knight, he would’ve died. More dexterity would make him fast. Fast and deadly.

  *Tad Harrington

  Rank: Soldier

  Level: 14

  Health: 110/110

  Mana: 32/42

  Str: 10

  Dex: 27

  Con: 11

  Mag: 21

  Cou: 5

  Cha: -9*

  Now that he’d settled his stats, Tad pulled and his weapon ‘Raekast’s Fang’ materialized in a cloud of black mist. Tad waited until he was alone to identify it. The black mist that poured from the blade had been alarming. Different from usual identification attempts. Plus, he didn’t want to have to explain what it did to the others.

  Tad held out the dagger in front of him. Hands trembled with excitement. This was the first weapon reward he’d gotten from his level-up program. It could be immensely powerful.

  “Identify.”

  The rotten wood handle of the blade rose into the air before a black mist consumed the weapon in its entirety. The blade of the dagger pulsed with beams of red light that broke through the mist. The red light intensified, until it illuminated the tunnel, light spilled out into the cavern beyond filled with roaches. Excited hisses and clicks from inside exploded in the far cavern.

  Tad reached out and grabbed the blade from the air. He’d seen nothing identified in such a manner. Previously, the light had always been white.

  His stomach dropped as he read the description of the blade. What did it mean?

  This could be terrible.

  Chapter 21

  Tad reread the text for the umpteenth time.

  *Raekast’s Fang:

  Soulbound. Set 1 of 3. This dagger created from the left-upper canine of Raekast Dungeonshifter. The icy grip of this weapon is immune to disarm. Ignores armor.

  Damage done is equal to dexterity.

  Raekast’s Vessel: Occupied.

  Vessel Contract: Not made.

  This weapon has a trans-dimensional space. Raekast’s Fang grows in strength, dependent on the power of its occupant.

  Absorb 100 monster essence to unlock active skill.*

  Tad blinked. Someone occupied the dagger? Some dude lived inside of it? Or some monster? How long had it been in there? Something that fueled the weapon’s strength. He hoped it wouldn’t start trying to talk to him. He had enough going on. He didn’t need another voice in his head.

  The clicks from the cavern ahead quieted. Were the roaches afraid of the dagger? Did they share a similar energy or origin that they recognized? Tad felt lost. It seemed the deeper he got into this mess, the more confused he became. He just had more questions, never answers.

  Tad activated stealth for just a moment to survey the room as he crept to the cavern entrance. There were at least a hundred roaches in this room. The roaches dug frantically. They seemed agitated, angry even, as they tore through dirt with their metal pincers.

  Suddenly a second group of roaches burst from the ground and attacked the digging roaches. These roaches had no metal pincers and were much smaller, almost half the size of the metalroaches. The battle ended quickly. The metalroaches tore the regular roaches into bits before they resumed their digging. Why were they fighting each other?

  Tad’s stomach bubbled with excitement. Could he really do this alone? He was much stronger now, with a weapon that did more damage. His other daggers had done four to six damage. Raekast’s Fang did damage equal to his dexterity, so twenty-seven damage. He would likely dispatch each metalroach in one or two strikes. This battle would differ from the one in that first cavern, where Tad ran from his enemies. He could do it. The reward of stat points and levels blazed before his eyes.

  The darkness clung to Tad like a film as he strode into the room. Just how far could he push this sneak skill? He wove himself through the roaches, careful not to touch them. He came so close to the face of a roach he was sure that it would feel or see him, but it didn’t. Tad was practically invisible.

  Sneak was convenient. Tad wrapped around the large roach and pulled. His new dagger, Raekast’s Fang, appeared in his hand. He had to know exactly what this weapon did. What was a contract, and how did he make one? He needed one hundred monster essence to unlock an active ability. This room seemed the perfect opportunity.

  Tad positioned himself directly behind the roach. Time to test out his new skill. Backstab. With force, he plunged the obsidian dagger down through its carapace. This time there was no sinister laugh, just a musical beep as the notification popped up.

  *Backstab!*

  Without a crunch Tad’s arm sunk deep into the innards of the roach, the warm ichor splattered past his elbow. The dagger had sliced through the roach’s carapace effortlessly. Oh right! It ignored armor! The roach died in an instant. Movement exploded as roaches skittered in all directions in the darkness.

  Tad summoned the lightsphere from his pouch to his hand. His equipment system was the best! It was so useful, anything he had on him could be a weapon. Tad tossed the lightsphere into the air.

  “Illuminate!” The orb burst into white light as it reached its zenith. The orb floated in midair. Tad’s eyes stung from the sudden flood of light. Roaches scattered to the edges of the cavern at the sudden explosion of light.

  Tad blinked rapidly to adjust his eyes to the light as a roach attacked from behind. Tad spun to meet his attacker and poofed Raekast’s Fang back into its misty equipment slot. The roach looked like it attacked through molasses. Had these really been faster than him? Tad caught the biting pincers with both hands. His muscles shook with the effort as he forced the jaws open further until they gave with a sickening snap. The weaponless roach turned to flee, orange blood poured from the wounds on its face. Tad spun to match pace with the roach and drove his empty hands downward. Both daggers appeared in a puff of black mist and they drove deep into the roach’s head. It spasmed once before it dropped to the floor, still.

  The roaches swarmed as they caught up with the first, but their numbers didn’t matter. Tad dodged and ducked to avoid the bites, counter attacking with his daggers. His arms moved so fast they were a blur in his vision. Roach after roach fell upon his blade. Tad dodged, spun, and flipped away from attacks as they touched his skin. These roaches couldn’t hurt Tad anymore. Tad dispensed death wherever he fell upon them.

  More and more roaches sprang from the ground. They were everywhere! Tad had completely underestimated the sheer numbers of roaches in this room. There had to be hundreds. Roach blades scraped across the hairs of Tad’s forearms as he flipped over his new attackers. Tad spun sideways in midair to avoid more damage as his daggers slashed down across the face of the attacking roach. Huge wounds opened wherever Raekast’s Fang landed, much larger than the tiny puncture wounds from the silvery dagger he’d bought. It was like the dagger amplified his power and speed to release the stored energy of his attack into one explosive point. Roach heads exploded, carapace shattered and orange blood splattered wherever it landed.

  Despite his ferocious attack, the roaches were uncowed. They attacked in swarms as they jumped and climbed over each other, but Tad increased his speed. He dropped roaches by the dozen as his weapons flashed in the lightsphere’s light. Tad glanced at his health bar between attacks.

  *Health: 110/110

  Mana: 35/42*

  The roaches couldn’t touch him. The battle might rage for a while, but Tad was in good shape. Tad dropped low, kicked off the ground. He flew like an arrow as he slashed Raekast’s Fang deep through the entire length of a roach. The roach didn’t even have time to react before it split in two. More metalroaches exploded into motion. They doggedly pursued Tad.<
br />
  Tad was getting faster and faster. His speed was still the same, but he was getting used to this high-speed combat thing. The shifting of momentum. Smooth transitions from attacks to dodges. His motions weren’t just a blur, they were fluid. And the roaches were predictable. The roaches in front used feints and bluff charges, while the other roaches, like cougars, only attacked from behind. Tad flew through the roaches like a killing machine. He spun, dodged, sliced, and stabbed roaches wherever he passed. He moved in semicircles, baiting the roaches within striking range only to dispatch them in an instant.

  Tad sucked in huge gulps of air, which fueled his body faster and faster. Roach after roach fell upon Tad’s daggers, but with each roach defeated a new metalroach with crude iron pincers took its place. How many had he killed? Fifty? Sixty? Why hadn’t he leveled up yet? In the slaughter’s midst, the ground shook.

  A huge section of earth in front of Tad rippled, like a stone thrown into a pool. The roaches fled. Tad stood dumbly as he watched a massive roach climb from the dirt. Finally, a challenge.

  An alarm blared inside Tad’s head.

  *Warning! Queen of Roaches miniboss approaches! You cannot level up in her presence! Roaches double their strength and speed in the presence of their queen.*

  Uh oh.

  The Queen of Roaches climbed from the earth. Metal pincers notably absent on her face. A black aura pulsed from the queen in waves. Dozens of roaches poured from beneath her. None of these roaches had metal pincers either. Roach and metalroach alike sped up as the black aura of the queen seemed to coat their carapace. It looked remarkably like when the black mist kissed Tad’s skin when he activated stealth.

  Black roaches and metalroaches dashed into the fray. Some attacked each other, some went straight for the queen, but most of the metalroaches attacked Tad. They no longer moved like they swam through molasses. Their movements were sharp, their iron pincers gleamed in the light.

  Tad spun to avoid the first roach, but two more attacks burst from behind. Tad leapt into the air to avoid the attack. Two were waiting for him on the ceiling. What was with their coordination? The two roaches spiraled downward, pincers first. Tad was a sitting duck. Tad pulled. Wraithford’s axe appeared above Tad in a huge puff of black mist. The roaches smashed into it a second later, but Tad had already flipped upside down and propelled himself back toward the earth. A moment later the enormous axe smashed into the earth below, crushing several roaches under its immense weight. More roaches swarmed. Tad stretched himself to the limit. The roaches used the same strategies as before, but they attacked faster, from new angles. From above.