Bone Dungeon (Elemental Dungeon #1) - A Dungeon Core LitRPG

by Jonathan Smidt

  “Jack?’

  Karan’s voice broke the stillness that had filled the room following Steve’s attack. The thief was breathing heavily, and Ryan could see blood dripping from his nose.

  “May have used a tad too much mana.” Jack’s daggers dropped from his hands as he fell to the ground, coughing up blood. “Don’t mind me, guys. ‘tis but a flesh wound.” He chuckled and groaned. “Just do something about the boss.” He spat more blood as he spoke. “Sooner rather than later,” he managed.

  His words snapped the rest of the group out of their surprised state, and with a cry, Blake charged Steve. At the same time, Matt began loosing arrow after arrow at Steve. Unfortunately for the archer, basic arrows really did nothing against an eight-foot skeleton that was reinforced with dark mana.

  Blake was having a little more success. It seemed he had been practicing his sword work, and Ryan had to admit Blake seemed to know what to do with his shield. He was successfully blocking Steve’s blows and landing a few counter blows of his own.

  However, his shield was quickly being turned into splinters, and he wasn’t chipping bone away fast enough to take Steve down any time soon.

  “Any help here?” he called out, breathless as he absorbed another blow from Steve.

  The skeleton’s bladed arm bit deep into the wood of the shield, and as Steve tried to pull his arm free, he pulled Blake with him.

  “Ha,” Ryan laughed as Blake was lifted off the ground.

  Steve stared down at his arm, which now had a human attached.

  “Have you tried sticking it with the pointy end?” Jack gasped.

  Ryan noticed now that Karan was at the thief’s side, her hands glowing gold as she healed him. It seemed humans took quite a bit of internal damage from using too much mana.

  “Not helpful,” Blake called back as he kicked Steve. His foot got stuck in Steve’s ribcage, making Ryan laugh even harder.

  “Emily? Matt?” Blake was a sight to see, his body strangely twisted and held in midair.

  Blake’s sword flailed about wildly now, and it seemed Matt had finally decided arrows were useless. The archer rushed forward with his bow and smashed it against Steve. That was actually less effective than his arrows, as all it resulted in was his bow cracking in half.

  “Seriously? I’ve had that thing for years.” Matt cursed as he let the pieces fall, and started to try and free Blake instead. Blake, in the meantime, worked on keeping Steve’s bladed arm away from himself and the archer.

  “Em, blast its skull,” Matt growled.

  “But… I’m not… I can’t…” Emily shook her head and stuttered, her wand wavering in the air. “You know I don’t have good aim, that’s why I just overload the spell with mana.”

  So Emily had blasted those two skuirrels with brute force, not finesse. That was suddenly a lot less impressive. Ryan started to wonder how this group had made it this far.

  “Just fire on three,” Matt called out as he braced himself. “One.” He tugged at Blake’s foot, freeing it. “Two,” he grunted as he tried to pull Blake free. “Let go of your shield, you dolt,” he cursed.

  As realization crossed Blake’s face and he let go of his shield, Matt called out, “Three!”

  An eruption of force blasted into Steve, sending bone shards flying through the air. Blake and Matt tumbled backwards, crashing against a wall.

  “Ha! He’s still a bone slinger,” Jack called out, wincing as he rose to his feet.

  Where Steve’s body had been, only thousands of pieces of bone remained, along with a neatly folded silk robe.

  “Oh, nice loot.” Jack whistled as he walked slowly towards the robe.

  Matt and Blake struggled to their feet, groaning as they dusted dirt and bone powder from their clothes.

  “I think we need a new plan for that fight,” Blake commented as he looked around. His shield had been completely shattered by Emily’s spell.

  “Same.” Matt picked up his broken bow, looking at his sister. “At least no one got injured.”

  “Hey, I got pretty hurt.” Jack was already holding the robes, looking them over and muttering.

  “Well, no one that matters,” Blake joked halfheartedly, and the group broke out laughing.

  Watching them laughing, victorious, Ryan couldn’t help but smile to himself. He really was glad to see Blake and his group hadn’t fallen to his dungeon, and he had to admit, it seemed they got a lot more enjoyment out of it than the other groups that had been through.

  Maybe making the dungeon easier on them wasn’t doing them a favor. Maybe he should just let the adventurers test their skills.

  “You all did well, and I’m proud of all of you,” Karan said, standing near the exit. She smiled brightly at her teammates. They were beaten, and battered, and missing two pieces of gear, but they had all survived. “Now, let’s get out of the dungeon and see just how much we gained today.”

  And with that, the group turned and left Ryan’s boss room.

  “I like them,” Ryan whispered to Erin as they made their way back through his dungeon.

  “Me too,” Erin said, preparing her silk cloth bed atop him and letting out a yawn. “Hopefully some of the groups tomorrow are just like them.”

  She stretched and pulled her cloth over herself.

  “I had a lot of fun today,” she said.

  “So did I.”

  Ryan sat in silence – save for Erin’s snoring – for a long while after Blake’s team left. With their departure, everyone outside of the dungeon left as well, leaving Ryan’s entrance empty.

  The night was quickly approaching, casting long shadows and making his dungeon’s entrance almost seem to come to life. As he thought back to Blake’s team and their dungeon dive, Ryan found himself strangely content and happy.

  Maybe, just maybe, he could get used to life as a dungeon.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Spirits were high as the team made their way back to town. They had done it. They had defeated the dungeon.

  “You know, Jack, those robes are for a mage class.” Karan prodded the thief, who was still clutching the robes, as they neared the town. The robes were the only loot they had gained that wasn’t simple coin, and Blake was curious as to how they would split it.

  Luckily, the guild tax only applied to the coin they received in the dungeon, so the cost of the robes wasn’t taken into account. If they had been, everyone’s coin would have gone to the tax, and they still wouldn’t have had enough to cover the robes.

  “Are you sure?” Jack asked. “I’m sure there has to have been at least one thief that has decided to wear robes instead of leathers.” He looked at the group, and everyone knew what he was thinking. He just didn’t want to admit it.

  “Positive. Robes are mage class armor.” Karan shot Jack a wicked smile. “Now, why don’t you continue your chivalrous nature, and give them to Emily?”

  At her words, Emily suddenly turned bright red, and began looking everywhere other than in Jack’s direction.

  “It’s… no, he… he did enough.” She glanced shyly at Jack. Everyone had been surprised at the lengths he had gone to in order to save Emily. Mana exhaustion was a very real risk, and had Karan not been in the group, Jack could have been in grave danger.

  “I know it’s not much, Jack, but can I buy you a drink? For saving Em?” Matt placed a hand gently on the thief’s shoulder and shot him a smile.

  Blake could tell Jack’s action had changed everyone’s perspective of him, even Karan’s. Maybe not all thieves were bad. Maybe Jack was an exception.

  “Sure, and then perhaps we can discuss how Em can get the robes from me?’ He shot her a wink and a grin, causing her to blush even more.

  All right, maybe Jack isn’t an exception.

  “You know, Jack, I didn’t want to have to do this.” Karan pulled out her pendant, and with a wicked grin, pointed it at Jack. Her pendant glowed red, and Jack fell to the ground, gasping.

  “As team leader, I’m ab
le to enforce a few guild laws.” She walked over to the gasping Jack. “One of which is the difference between ‘need’ and ‘want’ on loot.”

  Karan knelt down and grabbed the robes from Jack.

  “Emily needs these robes. You just want them. Therefore, she gets them.”

  The glow from her pendant faded, and Jack stood shakily to his feet.

  “Do I at least still get a drink, Matt?” he asked the archer, who was glaring at him.

  “Not after that comment,” Matt said.

  “Well, can’t fault a thief for trying.” Jack shot Blake a smile. “How about you, buddy? Gonna give me any reward for being awesome?”

  Blake chuckled as he returned the smile. “I’m Bronze Eleven. I’m pretty sure I have the least amount to offer here.”

  “Oh ho, my dear friend.” The thief draped his arm around Blake’s neck. “You have information. How about you tell me about that super awesome item the dungeon dropped?”

  “You know I can’t.” Blake’s voice took on a tinge of sorrow. He really liked his teammates and wished he could tell them. And they definitely seemed trustworthy. Jack had literally risked his life to save Emily on their first dive. But Blake knew better.

  “I can give you the copper coins I got today, if you want.” Blake reached into his pocket and pulled them out. He would already have to wait a month for a new shield; he could give the thief his share for the day. If anyone had earned it, it had been Jack.

  “You should save the coin you gained tonight, to begin preparing for class gear.” Karan was looking at the two, observing the exchange. “Having full class gear once you hit Silver is really important. Only fools don’t save up for their class gear.”

  Class gear was gear adventurers could get from the guild shops once they reached Silver and chose their class. The armor was infused with neutral mana and served to slightly augment the adventurer who was equipped with it. The more pieces of class gear an adventurer had, the more they would benefit. However, even with the guild discount, the gear was still rather pricey.

  “That reminds me, Jack. Why don’t you have any class gear?” Karan asked.

  Her comment made the thief wince before he answered sheepishly.

  “I may have a slight problem.”

  “Gambling or drinking?” she asked.

  “Can you really have just one?” He grinned.

  “Typical thief,” Karan said, and the rest of the group laughed, even as Jack just shook his head helplessly.

  “Tell you what, Jack.” Karan paused just outside the gates to the dungeon town. “For saving Emily, I’ll buy your gear.”

  “Wha—“

  Karan held up her hand, silencing him.

  “But you will need to continue to do your best in the dungeon, and help me keep the team alive and growing.”

  “Of cour—“

  “And, if you keep up your thief-like greedy antics, I may just take the armor back, and charge you interest.”

  “Deal.”

  Jack held out a hand to Karan, a genuine smile spread across his face. Karan took his hand and shook it, smiling back at him. Blake could tell Karan really cared about making sure their team not only survived the dungeon but grew together. He couldn’t help but wonder why she hadn’t been a part of a team or serving as one of the guild’s healers before forming their current party.

  “Good. As for the rest of you,” Karan glanced at Blake and Matt, “I’ll replace your shield and bow, just this once.”

  Blake’s mouth dropped open.

  How much coin does Karan have?

  They had walked away from their dungeon dive with only a handful of copper coins, split among the five of them. Blake had resigned himself to having to fight shieldless for at least a month.

  “But please do treat your gear better in the future. Your gear is your life. An adventurer, no matter how strong, is a lot weaker without their gear.”

  “Thank you,” Matt and Blake responded in unison, bowing their heads to Karan.

  The cleric smiled at them, though Blake was certain he saw a hint of sadness in her eyes. Now he really was curious to learn more about her.

  “All right. With all of that said, how about we go have a celebratory round at the inn? On me.”

  “Huzzah.” Jack jumped up, his fist shooting into the air.

  “Except for you, Jack. I’m not going to enable you.”

  The group laughed as they all walked towards the inn. Even in the torch-lit town, the inn was easy to find. It was the loudest, most populated place. Adventurers really did love to drink.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “So, have you guys checked your experience triangles?” Karan asked.

  Blake’s team sat around a wooden table, each with a mug of strong liquor in front of them. Except for Jack, who was begrudgingly sipping on a hot chocolate drink. At least Karan had bought him something other than water.

  “Oh, I completely forgot,” Blake said, holding out his right hand, palm up.

  The others all did the same, willing their triangles into existence. Golden lines danced across Blake’s hand, forming an inverted triangle. The bottom triangle was filled with golden energy, and the outline of a ‘3’ was visible inside of it.

  “Wow, three levels?” Blake had barely gained any experience with his father on the first dungeon dive, likely because they hadn’t been linked as he was now, with his team.

  “What, you got three levels? Man, I didn’t get any experience.” Jack, already in a foul mood, took a sip of his hot chocolate. Blake tried to take the thief’s anger seriously, but as Jack pulled his mug away, leaving a dark chocolate mustache, Blake couldn’t help but snort.

  “Hmm, I only gained… maybe a fifth of a level?” Matt said, looking down at his palm.

  “I got at least a level,” Emily said with a smile.

  “As I told all of you before, our experience is going to be split to ensure we all grow at the same rate. That means until you are all Silver, Jack won’t get any experience. I won’t start gaining experience until all of you are Gold.”

  “No experience, couldn’t even keep my loot, this suc—“

  “You’re getting free class armor and get the joy of helping train three new adventurers.” Jack’s comment was met with Karan’s hand on his shoulder. Judging by the look on Jack’s face, Karan was applying some pressure.

  “You’re right. Sorry, great for all of you. I can’t wait for you guys to grow into Silver, so I can start leveling again.” He muttered the last part, but the group laughed at his comment nonetheless.

  “Go ahead and pour your experience into your level,” Karan urged them all, with a smile on her face.

  “Here goes nothing,” Blake said.

  He had never leveled up before. What would it be like?

  He remembered when he first joined the guild and became a Bronze Eleven adventurer. The rush of mana in his body had been exhilarating. He could feel the mana flowing through him, and when he mentally assigned eighty percent of it to his body, as his father instructed, the rush of power had been amazing. Everything had seemed to suddenly enhance: his speed, his strength, even all of his senses. And that was just at Bronze Eleven.

  Full of excitement, Blake pulled up his level triangle on his left palm and clasped the two glowing triangles together. Bright light enveloped his fist as his experience pushed into his level triangle. As each level was unlocked, Blake could feel his body pulling more and more mana from the air around him.

  When the light faded, he separated his palms, and looked at his left hand. Bronze Eight, which meant he now had sixty-five mana points he could use, instead of his previous fifty. He mentally assigned eighty percent to his body, feeling it surge through him. While it wasn’t as large a gain as the first time, he could definitely tell there was an improvement.

  “Good, now Blake’s Bronze Eight, Emily is Bronze Seven, and Matt is on his way to Bronze One,” Karan said, smiling kindly at the team. “In about a month, I’m
sure each of you will be ready to ascend to Silver.”

  “You know, this is so unfair.” Jack was back to complaining. “It took me years to reach Silver, just running around town, slaving away for the smallest amount of experience here or there. Now, just because there is a new dungeon, these guys get to jump to Silver in a month. Ugh.”

  “Don’t fault them for your misfortune, Jack. New dungeons are rare, and they prove a great opportunity to quickly grow the members of the Adventurers’ Guild. That being said, this dungeon will likely kill more than a few adventurers who are just starting out. Your path may have been slow, but it wasn’t a constant life-or-death fight. Their path is more dangerous and difficult than yours has been.”

  “Yeah, yeah, you’re right, as always.”

  Jack’s mood really was sour, and Blake had to wonder if the thief was really mad about the whole situation, or just his lack of liquor. Judging from his longing looks at Blake’s drink, he guessed it was the liquor.

  “Now, how about we all enjoy the rest of the night, and then get some rest?” Karan said. “We have three days before it is our turn in the dungeon again, and in that time I want all of you fully rested and geared.”

  Karan smiled at the table and raised her mug in the air.

  “Here’s to a successful first run, and many more to follow.”

  They raised their mugs and met hers in the air, even Jack.

  “Huzzah!”

  The rest of the night devolved into more drinks than Blake could count, and as he stumbled towards his tent from the inn, he was certain he was going to regret it in the morning.

  However, even after he got in his tent, world spinning, Blake found himself smiling. Or at least, he thought he was smiling. Maybe he was frowning upside down?

  “I’m going to make you proud, Father,” he slurred. He closed his eyes, and darkness called to him.

  Chapter Thirty-Six