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

by Jonathan Smidt

  I need more time.

  Ryan’s consciousness raced around his dungeon, and he made two swift realizations.

  First, Buttercup was too large to leave through the door to his room, so Ryan quickly absorbed the boss mob. Second, he realized his skeletal fight club mobs were still trapped below. That was eighty-eight points of mobs that had not joined the fray.

  He couldn’t send fight club level two; it would take too long, as the human skeleton mobs were slower than his beast mobs. Plus, level two existed under his second floor; he didn’t have the time. However, he could definitely make use of skeletal fight club level one.

  How had Ryan forgotten about fight club? Maybe he followed rule number one too literally.

  Well, rules are meant to be broken.

  “And now I’m going to cut you apart, piece by piece,” Viktor said, his eyes glowing with malevolence. “Perhaps I might make you my manservant. Normally, trying to bring back someone with a celestial affinity doesn’t end well, but with your darkness affinity...”

  The scythe rose again, preparing to swing.

  “I can’t watch,” Erin shrieked, covering her eyes. Ryan, however, had every intention of watching.

  Even as the scythe fell, the floor in front of Blake opened up, and a heavily armored mob blocked the massive scythe. Whereas Viktor’s scythe had blasted his earlier mobs apart, this new mob withstood the blow.

  The fruits of fight club had joined the battle. Ryan had unleashed the final evolutions of his skrats and skuirrels.

  “What is that?” both Viktor and Erin exclaimed, though in greatly different tones. Ryan couldn’t help but beam with pride, and snicker at their reactions.

  “That, Rin, is a plated skrat, the final evolution of a skrat. It costs five points and is covered completely in thick bone plates earned from countless battles.”

  Even as the scythe smashed into the creature again, destroying it, another took its place. At the same time, white blurs leapt from more holes, launching themselves at the necromancer. They moved so swiftly his dark mana spikes actually missed.

  “And those are bladed skuirrels. They also take five points, and have increased speed and agility, as well as lethal bone blades all along their body.”

  These were the results of his months of skeletal fight club. These mobs were the secret weapon he had forgotten to unleash on Viktor. Where his other mobs had failed, these mobs were able to do exactly what he needed them to. These mobs bought him time.

  “You will pay for this, dungeon,” Viktor spat as the ebony energy surrounding him pulsated. His bone scythe instantly became clad in darkness, and it ripped through three plated skrats at once. His black spikes grew thinner and more numerous, piercing through the fast-moving bladed skuirrels.

  Psh, I can keep this up all day.

  That technically wasn’t true, but thanks to the absorption of Buttercup and skeletal fight club level two, Ryan was able to keep summoning these mobs even as they were getting destroyed, not to mention the mob points refunded to him from Steve and the bone army’s destruction.

  “This cannot kill me.” Viktor let out a defiant laugh, and all of Ryan’s mobs in the room shattered apart. It appeared the necromancer had turned the broken pieces of bones from the plated skrats and bladed skuirrels into a mass of projectiles, and now used these fragments like sling stones, shattering mobs as fast as they spawned.

  No duh.

  Ryan wasn’t stupid. He knew his plan wouldn’t kill the necromancer, though he had been slightly wishing it could. No, this was a diversion.

  For while Viktor was distracted, Ryan opened up the floor below Blake, dropping the mortally wounded knight into a bone maiden, minus the bone spikes, sealing him in. Ryan was not going to let Viktor have the boy.

  “You know what, dungeon?” Viktor turned towards where Blake had been and paused.

  At the same time, Ryan dropped a ceiling layer on top of him. With Blake safe, contingency plan one was back on the table. Viktor’s form became encased in a spinning wall of bones just as a ton of rock fell on his head. As the dust settled, Viktor’s form remained.

  “Your silly games are tiresome,” the necromancer’s voice said.

  In response, Ryan opened the floor below Viktor, hoping to drop him into a massive bone maiden. However, the necromancer simply glanced down, floating easily above it.

  How is that even fair?

  Viktor let out a dark laugh, and raised both hands, summoning all of the bones around him. They began taking shape, forming a lance even larger than before.

  “You are not going to survive this—“ Viktor paused, letting his hands drop, as he turned his head back towards the entrance.

  Ryan glanced outside, and could see lights in the distance, moving towards the dungeon.

  “Tsk, it seems my time here is at an end.” Viktor turned towards where Blake had been. “I’ll let you keep him for now. Perhaps you can make him into a mob that will amuse me when I return.”

  Viktor’s darkness surrounded him once again, completely hiding him.

  “For the next time I return, I will destroy you.”

  And with that, he disappeared.

  Viktor

  Viktor’s hand moved away from the pendant around his neck as he let his darkness fade away. He was mad he had let the boy’s body, as well as the dungeon, escape his grasp.

  But the mana he had left at the outside of the village, to alert him of possible movement towards the dungeon, had been triggered. He wasn’t going to wait around to be ambushed in a hostile dungeon. Next time, though, he would destroy everything.

  “Do you have the ring?” A female voice caused Viktor to flinch, and he turned to watch as a robed woman approached.

  “Of course I do.” He held out the boy’s hand towards the female, smirking as her eyes widened at the sight of him. She had never seen his true form before.

  “You are so vile.” Her voice seethed with distaste as she took the hand from Viktor.

  Viktor took great pleasure in his form. It was his greatest achievement. By slowly transforming his body, he had become nearly indestructible.

  “Always a pleasure.” He turned his rotting palm towards her. “And my reward?”

  “The Exalted One will have the crown to you within the month. Obviously, obtaining such a powerful object, which has been sealed by the church, will take a little time.”

  She turned and began walking away. For a split second, Viktor imagined what she would be like as a zombie. The thought flew from his mind, though. The Exalted One had purposefully sent her this time, and Viktor knew she could kill him instantly if he tried to attack her.

  He may have bolstered his powers through taboo means, but hers were bolstered by something even more sinister: chaos.

  Instead, he watched her teleport from his castle, likely to return the ring to the Exalted One. Perhaps after he used the Crown of Sorrows on the town, and killed the dungeon, he would pay her and her cult a visit.

  Killing the dungeon would add another dungeon core to his collection, amplifying his power even further.

  Slaughtering that cult would give him an army of chaotic affinity minions. With both, he would be unstoppable.

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  “Where did those come from?” Erin sobbed. She was nearly hysterical as Ryan absorbed all of his bladed skuirrels and plated skrats.

  “Skeletal fight club.” His nerves were so frayed from the encounter with the necromancer, he spoke without thinking.

  “Skeletal what?” Erin’s voice was filled with questions, but Ryan didn’t have time to explain right now.

  “Not now.”

  He reabsorbed all the fallen debris and brought Blake’s body back to the surface of the room. The poor knight was losing blood fast, and Ryan could tell his aura was fading.

  “We need to save him.” The lights were drawing closer, but Ryan could tell Blake would be dead by the time help arrived.

  “I, we, uh…” Erin’s face
was filled with pain as she tried to speak.

  “A celestial feather can heal him, right?” Ryan asked, frantic.

  Blake was unconscious. There was no way he could use the item. But if Erin flew out there and used one on him, that could save him.

  Erin broke down in tears, shaking her head.

  “We can’t,” she sobbed, continuing to shake her head.

  “Yes, we can.” Ryan’s tone was harsh. “It’s easy. You fly out there, I summon a celestial feather. What’s the problem here?”

  Why is she fighting me? Blake is dying, and we can save him.

  “It’s against the rules.” Her voice was shrill as she broke down in more tears.

  “What rules?”

  “The Dungeon Master’s rules. The Goddess’s rules. Celestial feathers are legendary. Only the Goddess’s dungeon is supposed to drop them, and even then, she has to choose who to give each feather to.”

  “I don’t care,” Ryan growled, and he turned back to Blake. The adventurer had so little time left. They needed to do something.

  “Ryan, you know I want to save him too. But I can’t. It will upset the balance of the world.”

  Ryan really didn’t care about the balance of the world. His favorite adventurer was about to die because of that necromancer. Ryan wouldn’t forgive himself if Blake died. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t—

  Ryan’s thoughts froze as a brilliant light erupted from Erin’s body. Her eyes filled with golden light and a strange, serene look appeared on her face.

  “It isn’t just, for him to die here.” The voice coming from Erin wasn’t her voice. Ryan was certain he had heard it before, though.

  “Greetings, dungeon.” The not-Erin turned its glowing eyes towards his core. “I am the Goddess of Justice.”

  Well, this is unexpected.

  Ryan tried to speak, but his mind couldn’t process what was going on right now.

  “This is highly unorthodox, and if the balance were not in peril, this would not be happening.” Erin’s form disappeared and reappeared besides Blake. “However, forces are at work to disrupt the entire balance of the world, a world I have worked so hard to preserve.”

  The Goddess pulled one of Erin’s feathers from her wing and held it over Blake’s forehead.

  “This young man, just like you, shall be given another chance by me. A chance to help me keep the balance in the world.” The feather glowed brightly, and golden light engulfed Blake’s form. “I believe in you, dungeon. Do not let me down.”

  Even as the light surrounding Blake faded, so too did the golden light that had been enveloping Erin. The fairy fell onto Blake’s lap, even as the knight began to regain consciousness.

  Blake opened his eyes and saw Erin, whose eyes were also open and staring directly into his. Before the knight could open his mouth, Erin let out a scream and quickly flew off, zipping far away from him.

  “What have you done?” Erin demanded of Ryan. Apparently, when the Goddess took over her body, Erin had not been aware of what was going on.

  “Um, well, the Goddess possessed you, and saved Blake.”

  “She what?” Erin’s voice was shrill through their bond. All the while, Blake was staring at Erin’s fluttering form, confusion on his face.

  “What happened?” he asked groggily. He slowly raised his left arm to his head and stared blankly at the spot where his hand should have been.

  “My hand…”

  The way he spoke left no doubt in Ryan’s mind that he was still in shock.

  “Why didn’t the celestial feather heal his hand?” Ryan asked through the bond.

  He could feel Erin slowly calming down as the fairy came to terms with the fact the Goddess had intervened.

  “Celestial feathers can bring adventurers back from the brink of death and heal their wounds. It does not regenerate limbs, though.”

  Well, that made the item just a little less powerful, but it was still easy to see why they were legendary.

  “What’s going on?” Blake cried out.

  They needed to explain the situation to Blake. But what should they tell him?

  “You were almost slain by a necromancer,” Erin explained, cutting to the chase. “The Goddess of Justice saved you.”

  Blake looked around, noting the scatterings of bones, and then his eyes rested on Squeaker’s decimated form.

  “Can we save Todd?” Blake’s eyes were filling with tears, and Ryan couldn’t help but feel even more impressed with the knight. He had almost been killed, and now he was asking if he could still save his friend.

  Erin shook her head, flying closer to Blake’s face. “We can’t.”

  “But you saved me.” Blake looked at her, his eyes pleading.

  “You were only mostly dead,” Erin started, and she landed lightly on Blake’s lap. “We cannot bring the dead back.”

  “Well, technically,” Ryan started, then stopped. He really did have a bad habit of saying stupid things when he was so mentally distraught.

  I could absorb Squeaker and bring him back as a zombie. But that’s not what Blake wants.

  “So… were you sent by the Goddess to save me?” Blake looked down at Erin, and the fairy turned away, looking, Ryan knew, towards him – as if he knew what they should do in this situation. Sheesh.

  “What do you want me to do?” he asked through their bond. It was apparent Erin wanted him to talk to Blake, but it wasn’t like he could just communicate with the adventurer. The only reason he could talk with Erin was because of their link.

  “Talk to him,” she sent through their bond.

  Like I didn’t think of that.

  “And how exactly would I do that?” Ryan asked, wishing he had eyes to roll.

  Erin huffed and looked from Blake to Ryan, and back to Blake. As she glanced at him, her eyes moved towards his neck, where his pendant sat. Her eyes filled with excitement as she turned back to Ryan.

  “Can you make one of those pendants, and communicate with him through it?”

  Ryan stared for a moment at Erin. If he had a face, it would have been full of surprise. That actually seemed like a good idea. He knew the adventurers used those to communicate with each other.

  Having absorbed more than a few, Ryan was sure he could mimic that ability. He created a crystal pendant in the room before Blake and sent a pulse of his mana into the pendant, linking it to himself, before Blake grabbed it.

  The knight picked up the pendant and held it up, examining it.

  “Can you hear me?” Ryan sent his thoughts into the pendant and was delighted to hear his voice resonate from it.

  Blake nearly dropped the crystal in surprise.

  “Ye…yes.“

  “Good.” Ryan was ecstatic. Now he could speak to someone other than Erin.

  “Is this the dungeon?” Blake asked hesitantly.

  “No, this is Ryan.” He broke out laughing, glad he had a new person to torment with his jokes.

  “Focus, Ryan!” Erin yelled at him out loud, drawing a smile from Blake.

  “Sorry,” he apologized through the crystal. “Yes, this is the dungeon.”

  “And you are named Ryan?” Blake put the pendant around his neck, his face full of confusion.

  “Yes, I’m Ryan the Darkness Dungeon, and that is my celestial fairy, Erin.”

  Erin did a small curtsey, spreading her wings as she smiled up at Blake. Ryan figured if the Goddess trusted Blake, that gave him the okay to tell Blake about what Erin was.

  “A dark dungeon, and a celestial fairy.” Blake whispered the words, but Ryan could hear them. “So that’s what she meant.”

  She who?

  Ryan made a mental note to ask Blake about that later.

  “Do you have any idea why that necromancer wanted your ring?” Ryan asked, conscious of the approaching lights. Viktor scared him, and he had no idea why the necromancer would focus on Blake.

  Blake shook his head, looking down at his stump.

  “My f
ather gave it to me. It was passed to him from his father. But it was just a silver ring.”

  “Well, whatever he wanted it for, Viktor got it.”

  “Viktor?” Blake asked.

  “The necromancer.” Ryan sighed. He had hoped Blake would be able to help shed some light on what the necromancer was up to. Oh, well.

  “So, what happens now?” Blake looked from the pendant down to Erin.

  “The Goddess said you and I are supposed to help keep the balance,” Ryan said. Whatever that means.

  “So, I guess we should just both get stronger?” Blake asked. “Until she tells us more?”

  That seemed to be the correct path in Ryan’s mind. The stronger he got, the more unlikely it was that people like Viktor could threaten him.

  “My hand,” Blake groaned as he looked down at his stump again. That was his shield arm. Without his hand, Ryan guessed he would have trouble using his shield. If only that feather had given him his hand back. It wasn’t like Blake could just grow a new—

  Duh.

  “I can make you a new one.” Ryan quickly began shifting through his bone collection.

  Too small. Too big. Oh, just right.

  He found a skeletal hand that matched Blake’s proportions, and quickly summoned it next to Blake. The knight screamed.

  “What is that?” Blake grimaced with disgust at the hand.

  “Seriously. You’ve been in my dungeon how many times? It’s a bone. More precisely, it’s a skeletal hand.”

  “Well. Yeah.” Blake looked at Erin questioningly. The fairy simply shrugged.

  “Do I have to hold your hand as I walk you through this?” Ryan laughed even as Erin groaned.

  That was a good one.

  “You have darkness mana, right, Blake?” Ryan asked.

  The knight nodded.

  “Well, if you use it, you should be able to manipulate that hand as if it were your own.”

  Blake glanced once more from Erin to the hand.

  “How?” he asked.

  “Well, uh...”

  That was a good question. Ryan just willed the mana into the bones, and then they did as he wished. He had no idea how mana worked for humans.

  “Um, try pushing your dark mana into it,” Ryan suggested.