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

by Konrad Ryan

  “Hang on, Kid, I’m on my way!” Gruff kicked off the wall to dislodge his sword and fell toward the cobblestone floor beneath, out of view.

  The walls were too far away from the anvil to jump to. Maybe Scar would’ve been able to make the jump. Tad felt sick at the thought. Gruff would have to climb the same rope that suspended Bunta. Tad forced himself to look at the intimidating figure in the center of the anvil. One glance at the boss’s physique told him Gruff wouldn’t make it in time.

  The lizard’s fanged maw opened as an ear-shattering roar filled the smithy. In one swift, elegant motion, the beast brought up its enormous hammer and smashed it into the center of the anvil. The ground underneath Tad’s feet rippled and pitched under the force of the blow. The giant anvil broke in half at the center. Tad dropped to his hands and knees as the floor beneath him tilted upward, even as it fell backward.

  With a sudden jolt the anvil stopped, now at a 45-degree angle. Tad slid downward, as he scrambled to regain his footing, only able to stop an arm’s length from the now-bottom of the anvil, the rope tied around Bunta’s feet was visible. Tad had to get away from here. Bunta was dead if the boss caught sight of him.

  Tad scrambled up the incline on all fours. Just as he reached the top, the lizard boss bounded across to the opposite side of the crevasse, two sets of eyes focused on Tad. The giant crevasse below looked like two mirrored anvil halves. Jagged iron spikes jutted from both sides of the broken edges of the chasm. Hammer overhead, the lizard soared through the air toward Tad, insane grin growing as the distance between the two shrunk.

  Tad threw himself down into the fissure. He flew downward nimbly from iron spike to spike, trying to keep something, anything, between the two. Fighting atop the anvil was certain death. From the elegance the lizard showed, he was probably much quicker than Tad. The constrained, spiked space might be a tougher terrain for the lizard to fight in, since his body was so large. At least, that’d been the plan.

  Swifter than a snake, the lizard followed. He expertly slithered through the iron spikes at an unbelievable speed. Tad gulped at the realization. Kothar-wa-Khasis’s body moved through these spikes like his body was made for it. The lizard had made its ideal battle ground, and Tad willingly entered its lair. Fallen for his ploy. Tad didn’t even have time to curse himself. The lizard slithered impossibly fast. He cornered Tad, giant hammer raised. This was it. This was how Tad would die. Entering the crevasse was a fatal mistake, although after seeing the unknown powers of the lizard, he was sure he was dead no matter where he had taken the fight.

  Giant muscles powerfully contracted as the hammer sped toward Tad’s face. An inch before the blow landed, the hammer stopped. Time stopped. Tad tried to flinch away, but he couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. It was the same as when he had fought the roach queen. He would be summoned back to that place once more. Could he only enter it on the precipice of death?

  The now-too familiar darkness took Tad.

  * * *

  Tad floated in darkness, weightless, annoyed. He already rejected the being in the darkness, and it tried to kill him for it. Its offer had been underwhelming. Tad didn’t want some ancient curse hanging over his head, or to be beholden to some failed void, whatever it was.

  Black mist pressed Tad on all sides. The thick mist was hard to breathe through. It pressed in from all angles. Almost like a fabric. Like it was touching him. Wait. A sudden memory of King Wraithford’s cloak passed through Tad’s mind. Was this physical darkness?

  “Use Void!” The deep voice reverberated through his skull. “Void can save thee. Unleash Void.”

  “This again? Are you going to do this every time I’m in a life and death scenario?”

  Whatever was hiding in the darkness seemed to hesitate at Tad’s snark. Hiding. The realization hit Tad like Kothar-wa-Khasis’s hammer was about to hit his face. The thing was hiding from him. Why was it scared of him? It hadn’t been able to kill him like it promised. It had expected him to die against the roach queen. If it feared him, that meant it had cause to fear him.

  Tad reached out, almost like he had done it a thousand times. His fingers grasped the darkness. It felt cold. And slimy. The texture in his hand surprised him. It didn’t feel like that at all when it pressed against his skin.

  “No! Stop! Unleash Void!”

  In the darkness, Tad grinned as he pulled. He pulled almost the same way as when he summoned a weapon from the void. The figure in the darkness grasped desperately, trying to hold the darkness in its current form, but it was too weak to resist Tad’s power. The darkness condensed into fabric, silky soft, yet he could feel each fiber woven into a complex weave. A last pull stripped the darkness from the room. It settled into a pile, like cloth, floating in front of Tad. Weightless.

  The magical darkness removed from the space, only regular darkness remained. Tad’s passive stealth vision activated. In the corner of the dark space, Tad noticed a lump in the non-darkness. Tad recognized the shape and screamed. His heart pounded like a hammer striking an anvil. His voice was a few octaves higher than he would have liked.

  It was a mummy. Or a corpse. Whatever it was, it looked like every drop of moisture had been sucked from its body. Its skin looked like thin leather; eyes were missing from their sockets. Only two clumps of hair still attached to its head.

  Tad surveyed the space next. The room was compact, much smaller than Tad would have first guessed. Perfectly cubed, the room looked like the inside of a box.

  “What are you!” Tad’s skin crawled as the mummy’s lips moved.

  “Void is Void, same as thee. Or Void was. Void is thy future, but from the past. Void is Zero, yet to become. Void is just like thee. Void can save thee, unleash Void.” The last two words came as a desperate plea. Despite the moving lips, the voice spoke in Tad’s mind, like the lizard boss had.

  What on earth was it talking about?

  “I will not let you free. Let me out of here.”

  The thing laughed.

  “Thou canst not beat that monster. Thou needs void. Unleash Void.” The voice coughed. The wet sound of phlegm reverberated through Tad’s mind.

  “That’s disgusting. Now let me out.” How had it wheezed a wet, phlegmy cough inside Tad’s mind when there was not even moisture left in its body? Anger flared as Tad reached for the creature. His hand passed right through the creature’s wrist.

  “Thou canst not harm void.” The creature laughed. “And Void won’t let thee leave until thou dost accept void. Zero waits for Void in Titan. Zero summoned Void. Summoned! Void must go. Unleash Void.” It said the last two words almost like an afterthought.

  Perhaps Tad wasn’t the first voidboy.

  Tad couldn’t touch the spectre in front of him. His hand moved through it like it moved through monster essence. Tad might not touch monster essence, but he knew a blade that could. With a thought, Raekast’s Fang appeared in his hand. The figure’s face stretched tight in surprise. Genuine fear crossed its horrifying visage as it futilely tried to crawl away. Like an infant it sprawled across the floor, wriggled to get away.

  “Impossible! Thou canst not bring that here! Did thou earn the equipment aspect? Impossible! Unleash Void!”

  “You’re not leaving me much choice. Last chance, let me out.”

  “Void can’t. Void’s last strength brought thee here. Mercy! Have mercy! Unleash Void!” The creature turned toward Tad. Black tears of darkness streamed down the thing’s face. Pitch-black beads of moisture appearing on its brow. Was it sweating darkness?

  If this was a voidboy, like Tad, maybe it had some answers to Tad’s many questions.

  “I might let you live. If you answer my questions.” Tad waited for effect. The creature didn’t move. “How did you end up here?”

  “Void told thee before, Void stayed when certain death awaited. Like it looms over thee now. Unleash Void.”

  “What is this true Zero you talked about?”

  “Zero is Void, but improved. Zero is th
ou but complete. Zero we aim to become. Greater than creators. Potential fulfilled. Perfection consumed. But it traps Zero. Trapped within Titan. Trapped by the council. Zero summoned Void. Appeared before Void. He chose Void. Unleash Void!”

  Chills ran down Tad’s arms, gooseflesh prickled in its path. The being as he entered the dungeon. In the black space, similar to this one. The being that held all power. Infinite power. Power that almost broke Tad’s mind, almost scorched it beyond repair. That was Zero? That was what lived in the deadliest dungeon known to man, from which no slayer had returned?

  Tad only had one question left.

  “Why did you fail? What would you have done differently?”

  “Thou chose correct. Void failed to earn the equipment aspect. Failed to earn the elective rewards. Opportunities close when thou abandon premature. When cowardice overwhelms thy drive for power. Void pressed as far as Void could press. Thou canst not become elect while abandoning the electives.”

  Tad gulped. He hadn’t earned all the elective rewards. He skipped the permanent two-times stat bonus. Had he not, he might be a match for Kothar-wa-Khasis. He would be twice as fast and twice as strong. Twice as much magic. The only thing he had right now was twice as much regret.

  “Thank you. I won’t make the same mistakes. But we have unfinished business.” Tad spoke softly. The apparition’s sweat intensified. “You tried to kill me. You took my health and mana away and then sent me back to die to the queen roach. I can’t risk that again.”

  “No! Mercy, please. Void wants to live! Unleash Void!”

  “You died the day you refused to leave this place.”

  Tad drove Raekast’s Fang through the apparition. The now too familiar scream reverberated through his mind as the blade absorbed the failed void. The first ten times absorbing essence had been uncomfortable, but now that he’d done it over a hundred times, he was used to it. Well, as used to the screams of the damned as you could become.

  The rotted wooden handle of Raekast’s Fang became loose underhand. Tad inspected the wood. It fell off like rotten tree bark, then dissolved into black mist. A smooth black spike now served as the hilt.

  In the apparition’s place, a miniature titanspawn-version of the spectre remained. It danced in the air in front of Tad for a few seconds before it dissolved. Dissolved into the thick darkness of before. Physical darkness. Tad sat, stunned at the revelation.

  The pool of physical darkness from the creature’s essence floated toward the cloth that Tad had made. It joined with it. Twisted into strands of fabric that reinforced the cloth.

  Great. Tad had a piece of cloth made from the souls of failed beings. Of titanspawn. Titanspawn was physical darkness, still bound to its previous form. What caused the titanspawn to dissolve into physical darkness? Was it this strange place? Were the laws different here?

  Tad reached out, and as if summoned, the cloth flew to his hand. He was the master here. Here, in this tiny box, Tad could command physical darkness.

  Did that make him a dark lord? Dark lord of the box! Tad laughed at the thought as he pulled up the recipe for King Wraithford’s ‘shadow cloak.’ He needed all the help he could get. Made from the titanspawn or not.

  *Shadow Cloak:

  Physical Darkness 1/1

  Monster essence 0/100*

  With a thought, Tad tried to access his dungeon pouch, still attached to his body. A small sphere of darkness opened in front of him, exposing the contents of his dungeon pouch. This place was strange. Tad reached in and pulled out the soul lantern that contained hundreds of roaches. An alert popped up before his eyes.

  *Would you like to create a ‘shadow cloak?’*

  “Yes.”

  *Choose two properties to instill in the cloak.*

  He could choose? What could he use most now? Speed. The lizard was too fast. Tad needed to be faster. Fast enough to land Raekast’s bite. But would it do enough damage? What if he could double it… double it with backstab? Decided, Tad spoke into the darkness.

  “Speed. And stealth.”

  The shadow cloth swirled in place as roach essence after roach essence turned into a golden streak that passed across the surface of the cloth. Like thread, the monster essence sewed itself into the edges, containing the darkness, giving it physical form and dimension. Just like Wraithford’s shadow cloak, the golden essence swirled into strange symbols which were sewed in place by more roach essence.

  Tad held the cloak in his hands.

  *Cloak of the Void: Formed from darkness by Tad Harrington.

  Darkness Passive: Stealth requires no mana.

  Active skills:

  Shadow Burst. Charges 1/1. The shadow essence of your cloak disperses into a cloud of physical darkness for 10 seconds.

  Brilliant Burst. Charges 1/1. The golden essence of your cloak absorbs the surrounding light, fueled by the power of the light you gain 50% speed for 60 seconds.

  All charges refill at midnight.*

  Tad’s heart skip a beat. What a cloak! It was kind of embarrassing that his name was in the description. If anyone else found this cloak, they’d wonder who he was. Although, maybe it would disappear and just teach the craft, like it had with Wraithford. With a thought he equipped the cloak and had to double check that it was hanging off his back since the fabric floated behind him, weightless.

  Fifty percent more speed. It wasn’t a dexterity increase like Bunta’s ring, so it shouldn’t activate the weakness debuff. Theoretically. This cloak was incredible. Put on Bunta, he would be fast. Wicked fast. On Tad, it might just give him the edge he needed against Kothar-wa-Khasis. Maybe.

  Tad opened his stats.

  “Stats.”

  *Tad Harrington

  Rank: Soldier

  Level: 22

  Health: 172/400

  Mana: 42/42

  Str: 15

  Dex: 28

  Con: 30

  Mag: 21

  Cou: 33

  Cha: 1

  Buffs: Cloak of Courage*

  Wait. His mana was full! Had he really been in here more than an hour? Or did his mana recharge faster here? If an hour passed, then ‘Cloak of Courage’ should have run out. It hadn’t. Tad didn’t even pretend to know the laws that governed this tiny black void, but he was more than happy to exploit it. Tad cast heal. His life shot almost to full as his mana drained completely. That was one negative of having such a gigantic life pool. It was harder to heal. But it didn’t matter. Not here. Not in this void. With any luck, Tad would be more than ready for the fight with the lizard boss.

  Tad settled down even further and waited for his mana to be full again.

  * * *

  Tad stood in the darkness, frustrated. He had been here forever; it felt like. He’d tried everything he could think of to escape and nothing worked. Why hadn’t he asked the void trapped in here how to leave? Tad had imagined getting out, like casting a spell, but that hadn’t worked. He’d tried stabbing the walls of the void with Raekast’s Fang. Shouted many words like ‘exit’ and ‘leave.’ Even a colorful string of curse words had no effect. How long could he stay in here before Kothar-wa-Khasis’s hammer smashed into his face and painted the room in his brains?

  He’d been here so long he’d started to talk to himself. “Don’t worry, Tad. In several millennia, when your skin is all desiccated and your eyeballs fall out, you’ll haunt someone else. Maybe then they’ll stab you too and turn you into a cloak!” Speaking out loud helped him feel like he wasn’t losing his grip on reality. He mimicked the spectre’s voice. “Yeah, you’ll sit in the corner and pester someone over and over saying ‘Unleash Void-’”

  Icy steel smashed into Tad’s face as the lizard brought the hammer down in full fury. Red numbers floated in front of his eyes. *-260 Health.* His vision went black, not from some mysterious being summoning him to a dark realm, but from the pure concussive force of the steel as it smashed into his face. Tad flew down farther into the crevasse, his ribs broke across the sides of several
protruding spikes. He felt dizzy. Felt rocks in his mouth. He spat them out. Several broken teeth fell, connected by strands of blood.

  “Those better grow back.”

  Tad cursed himself. Of course the key word to escape that place had been ‘Unleash Void!’ It seemed so obvious in retrospect. How many times had the spectre said it? Just about every time he opened his mouth! He hadn’t been commanding Tad to release him, he had been trying to get out himself.

  He shook his head. No time to be mad at himself. Tad searched, trying to locate the muscular lizard. The boss approached rapidly, slithering through and around iron spikes. Tad followed its movements through the maze of crude iron spikes as he raised his hammer high for a second attack. Tad imagined a cloud of ice swirling around the reptilian specimen.

  “Ice vortex!”

  A cloud of ice appeared around the massive reptile as its speed dropped by twenty percent. Sixty seconds. Tad had to finish this in sixty seconds or it was all over. Tad cast heal as he poured his remaining twenty-two mana into health.

  *Health: 240/400

  Mana: 0/42*

  Only 240 health remaining. Raekast’s bite. Would his health be enough? The active skill was his best chance. But first, Tad would activate his cloak’s speed skill!

  “Brilliant Burst!”

  The cloak behind Tad grew bright. Orange light reflected off the dull iron of the anvil all around him. Tad kicked off the wall and grabbed onto an iron spike. He threw himself out of the path of the hammer. The lizard turned and gave chase. Tad’s muscles groaned as he grabbed another one of the protruding spikes to change direction midair to fly past and behind the dungeon boss, both daggers poofed into his hands as he sliced through the abdomen of the giant beast. Its health bar barely dropped.

  With the extra speed of his new cloak, Tad nimbly shot across the two walls of the broken anvil like a pinball. He never moved so fast! With ice vortex cast on the boss, slowing it down, their speed was evenly matched, but his size gave him the advantage. Tad darted past the lizard over and over. From various angles, daggers found flesh at each pass. Tad spun past the two-handed hammer, Raekast’s Fang sliced deep into the boss’s thigh, deep green blood oozed from the wound. Kothar-wa-Khasis’s health dropped below six percent. Its heavy hammer too big, too unwieldy, to hit Tad as he raced past the boss. The battleground that had been perfect for Kothar suddenly used against him by a smaller foe. Desperation grew on the lizard’s visage, despite his devilish smile. But time was ticking. Tad wasn’t doing enough damage. Kothar had too much life. Ice vortex would end, and then Tad’s chances would end with it. He was barely faster than the boss, even with all of his buffs. It took every shred of concentration to avoid Kothar’s brutal attacks. Kothar’s health must have increased with his transformation, or maybe his defense improved. Either way, Tad just didn’t do enough damage.