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

by Konrad Ryan

  “Kid, what do you say we give your magic a shot and see if you can even hurt the slimes. We don’t want to have to take drastic measures,” Gruff’s voice sounded nice, but Tad could feel the edge beneath the feathers. “I know you’re only a civilian rank slayer, but we’re willing to try you out. Few would. We could risk trying to skip the slimes and hope to the creators that the boss isn’t a giant slime, but then we’d have a hoard of hostile slimes behind us. We’d be on a clock. You seem like a smart kid, you get it right.” It wasn’t a question.

  Tad nodded.

  “Whatever you do, don’t touch the slimes. I’ve never fought slimes before, but I don’t think they can move by themselves. Not quickly anyway. If you get caught, they can dissolve you down to your bones. Got it?” Gruff explained so nonchalantly it caught Tad off guard. The man was used to danger. What had Tad gotten himself into?

  With one look from Gruff, the four of them gathered their gear and carefully advanced into the dungeon. It wasn’t long before they saw their first enemy. A transparent green slime about three feet tall. It gently bounced rhythmically as if to some unheard beat.

  “All right. Get’em, tiger. Be careful, once it notices you, it’ll attack.”

  Tad stepped forward, pointing his wand toward the slime, then he stopped dead in his tracks. Tad had learned spells when he picked up the wand, but how was he supposed to cast them? He inspected the slime once again. It was green… In video games green was earth element, usually weak to fire. Tad glanced once more at the expectant looks of his party members behind him as he gathered his courage. Tad pointed his wand at the blob in front of him.

  “FIREBOLT!”

  His voice echoed down the slime-covered corridors. It echoed far longer than it had any right to. His cheeks were on fire. The stunned silence from the rest of his party members was deafening. Tad never knew that silence could be so loud.

  Tad braced himself for the counterattack, but nothing came. Slimes couldn’t hear? They had no ears. Or eyes. What was their existence like?

  Slimes might not hear, but Tad could. He was painfully aware of the stifled laughter from his party members behind him. Suddenly Tad missed the silence. Great. If he failed at dungeon slaying, he could be an entertainer for children’s parties. His embarrassment deepened. Why did he have to learn to cast his spells in front of everyone? It added so much pressure. Tad looked back to his party members once more. Gruff waved his arms encouragingly.

  Tad cleared his throat. The spell hadn’t worked the first time, but standing around wouldn’t get him anywhere.

  “CAST FIREBOLT!”

  The stifled laughter behind him turned to great roars of laughter at his second attempt. Tad looked around for a rock he could crawl under, even a big slimy rock would do. Tad was sure his entire face was bright red at this point. It was hot enough. Just how did magic work?

  “Visualize.” Blondegirl spoke matter-of-factly. “I can heal some, and you have to envision the wounds knitting together.”

  Could it be that simple? Tad extended his wand and pointed it at the slime. He focused his mind and visualized a jet of flame pouring from his wand. Warmth sprung from his head, down to his core, down the length of his arm, and then finally it pooled into the tip of his wand.

  The wand glowed red, gentle at first before it intensified. Tad felt the spell finish charging. He turned toward his party. He pointed to his wand as his heart soared in his chest. “I can cast magic!”

  Gruff, Scar, and Blondegirl moved in an explosion of motion. They pressed against the slimy walls of the dungeon. Gruff looked a little wild in the eyes. “Raekast’s tail, Kid! Don’t point a fully charged wand at us!”

  Tad spun toward the slime, his excitement at his self-discovery stunted. He opened his mouth in protest before he shut it. He hadn’t meant to endanger anybody. If his party just tried to help him rather than laugh at him it wouldn’t have happened in the first place!

  He released the spell with his mind. Nothing happened. What was next?

  “Now try chanting the spell, boy!” Even Gruff sounded angry.

  Ohhhhhh.

  “Firebolt!”

  A jet of hot liquid fire burst from the tip of the wand, just the way Tad envisioned it. For a moment, it completely engulfed the green slime in the flame. About a fifth of the slime melted away, the scent of green apples burst from the damaged slime.

  The slime bounced like mad. The belly of the slime sucked inward before it launched small green spheres directly at Tad. He tried to get out of the way, but the projectiles were too fast to dodge. Tad only had ten life. This was a soldier dungeon. Ten health would disappear instantly. Tad froze as his life was about to end.

  Just before impact a strong arm threw Tad out of the path of the projectiles. Gruff’s muscular form appeared, shield at the ready. He spun his shield, deflecting each of the green blobs in a flash of motion. Tad had never seen anyone move that fast. Not in real life.

  “Nice shot, Kid! Keep em coming.”

  Tad extended his arm past Gruff’s shield, his wand pointed at the green slime. This time, he imagined a huge ball of fire flying from his wand.

  “Firebolt!”

  As envisioned, an enormous ball of white-hot fire exploded into the green slime with a hiss. The spell landed more solidly than the first. Only about half the slime now remained. Even though the form of the spell changed, the damage dealt seemed to be the same. Gruff’s motion was a perpetual blur as he blocked the continuous onslaught of slime. The green slime was even angrier than before as the clangs of Gruff’s shield echoed through the slime caverns. Tad envisioned a third fireball as an error-like beep filled his ears. A small window popped up in front of his face.

  *Not enough mana to cast this skill.*

  Uh oh. The bear-like man glanced back toward Tad between blocking projectiles. What was the delay? How could he tell his new party members that he couldn’t cast another spell? Tad whispered ‘stats’ and tapped the empty mana section.

  *Mana: 0/2. Will completely recharge in 1 hour.*

  Tad turned toward his party, defeated.

  “Guys…”

  * * *

  “Firebolt!”

  Liquid fire poured from Tad’s wand to consume the slime completely. Tad silently thanked the creators the green slime hadn’t regenerated health. It was the longest hour of his life. No one could believe he could only cast the spell twice. Scar had completely lost it, yelling about how they should open a slot for a new party member. Gruff held the man back. Scar made Tad nervous, but Gruff had been growing on him. Gruff was cool headed, even in intense situations. He was a leader Tad could see himself following.

  As the dust of the incinerated slime settled, Tad heard an unfamiliar chime as digital music played in his head. Tad felt a wash of powerful regenerative energy pulse through his body.

  *You have leveled up!*

  Excitement welled in his chest. He raised his fist in the air. He did it! It was probably the slowest battle in history, but he’d won! Albeit, with a lot of help from his teammates. Tad had taken his first step toward getting stronger, toward being able to defend himself.

  Scar wasn’t impressed. “So now we wait another hour before we continue? This is asinine. We’ll be here for weeks!”

  Tad ignored the man. He had other things on his mind. “Stats!” Tad whispered.

  *Tad Harrington

  Class: Voidboy

  Rank: Civilian

  Level: 2

  Health: 10/10

  Mana: 2/2

  Str: 1

  Dex: 1

  Con: 1

  Mag: 1

  Cou: 5

  Cha: -9

  Points to allocate:5*

  The first thing that caught Tad’s eye was that his mana was full. The pulse of energy must have filled it completely. Would it heal him too? He tucked the knowledge away for future use. Tad’s eyes glued to the words at the bottom of his stats. Five whole stat points! it would take him only two leve
ls to get his charisma back to positive values, although it wasn’t the time to waste stat points on something like charisma.

  His maximum health and mana hadn’t increased by leveling up, it often did in games. He’d hoped they increased in actual life too. Tad glanced back at Scar’s rage-filled face, completely incensed at having to wait a second time. Scar might kill him before they got to the end of the dungeon at this rate. Tad wanted to test each of the stats and see their various effects, but in a dungeon where only spells were useful… Tad begrudgingly allocated all of his stat points into magic.

  *Tad Harrington

  Rank: Civilian

  Level: 2

  Health: 10/10

  Mana: 12/12

  Str: 1

  Dex: 1

  Con: 1

  Mag: 6

  Cou: 5

  Cha: -9*

  Wow, Tad hadn’t expected his mana to increase by six fold. He could cast twelve firebolts now! Tad pressed a finger on his mana. Even though he had twelve mana now, it still would replenish fully in an hour! That meant the higher his mana became, the more his mana regeneration would be. If he ever raised his mana to sixty, he would get one mana a minute! But how was he supposed to explain that to his party? That he was just kidding? That they waited an entire hour for nothing? Scar would kill him for sure.

  Everything would work out somehow. Tad would figure out how to tell them later. He was itching to cast more spells. Kill more monsters. Level up again and grow even more powerful. Tad walked down the corridor, deeper into the dungeon, to find his next target.

  “No! Kid, wait! Watch out!”

  Fire exploded across his left shoulder, something hot and heavy landed on him from above. It pinned Tad to the floor, a large red slime atop him. He screamed as the flesh of his arm cooked and bubbled, blisters formed, then popped from the intense heat. Tad struggled to get away, but the slime was too strong. The slime pulsed. Its form warped and grew before it contracted, pulling Tad closer to its center with each pulse. How had it gotten him? Gruff said that slimes couldn’t move!

  Pain wracked his body as he cooked alive. It was hard to concentrate. His own flesh sizzled loudly in his ears. The aroma of cooked flesh forced bile to his throat. Tad fought through the pain to force his mind to think. Red slimes, fire, should be weak to Ice.

  *Warning! Health critically low!*

  Tad was about to die. He didn’t have time to cast four icebolts into the slime. His party members couldn’t help, they were useless against the slimes. Blackness spotted Tad’s vision and a single thought pushed through the panic. Heal! He could use the heal spell! Could he still use it without a healer’s crook? Tad envisioned his flesh repairing. The white blistered skin knitting together.

  “Heal! Heal!”

  Pain pulsed through his body as the burnt skin across his arm and shoulder sloughed off, replaced by fresh skin. Agony. He writhed as the repaired flesh burnt anew.

  But Tad bought himself some time.

  Powerful hands grabbed both his legs as his party members pulled and tried to save him, but it was no use. With a sucking sound, the slime released from the floor but still held its grip on him. Gruff shook Tad through the air, the slime hung onto Tad as it continued to suck him inward. The slime now engulfed his chest as it slowly pulsated up his neck. It would eat his entire head any second. Another wave of pain shot through him as his flesh sizzled. Tad felt like he was about to black out.

  *Warning! Health critically low!*

  “Heal! Heal!”

  Tad was getting low on mana. No one could help him. No one but himself. He had to protect himself! Tad focused and pushed mana into his wand. His thoughts were fuzzy, his body coated in sweat. A bright blue light stung his eyes. His eyes snapped open as they found the source of the light. It was his wand, still clenched in his fist. The spell was ready. He would only have one shot at this. The slime shifted once and completely enveloped his head. Tad stuck his chin out, just far enough to keep his mouth free as he plunged the tip of his wand into the slime.

  “Icebolt! Icebolt! Icebolt! Icebolt!” The words were more a prayer before the slime could finish him.

  The red slime exploded in a vortex of heat and frost as a concussive wave of air tossed him from the explosion. Fresh cool air raced across his blackened body.

  Tad’s vision went black as the darkness took him.

  Chapter 5

  Someone pressed something cool and wet to Tad’s burnt skin. The coolness was a welcome change to the previous inferno. What happened? Tad’s mind spun. Everything had gone wrong so quickly. One second he was looking for monsters to kill, the next, he was unconscious.

  “He’s awake.” It was Blondegirl’s voice. How did she know?

  Healing energy pulsed through Tad. His eyes popped open, jaw clenched in a silent scream. Skin, burnt beyond repair, sloughed off before new skin grew from the surrounding healthy skin. It stretched across his exposed muscle and sinew, like a hoard of ants swarming toward their enemies. Why hadn’t they healed him before when he was unconscious? And why was being healed so painful?

  “Calm down, Terrance. It’s not over. The kid healed without a healer’s crook. He’s a natural healer… maybe he can cast spells without a wand, too.” Gruff’s voice was doubtful.

  “We should have let him die. At least then we could’ve gotten backup. We can’t wait an hour every time he wants to attack the boss. We were dead the second this was a slime dungeon.” Scar sounded closer to losing it than usual.

  Tad sat, his fresh-grown skin stretched in protest. It was unnaturally taut. Could he really not cast his spells without the wand? He hadn’t needed the crook. The level-up program didn’t exactly play by the rules.

  Doubts plagued Tad’s mind. Even if he leveled up more and put all his stats into his magic, he still didn’t think he’d have a big enough mana pool to kill the boss by himself. On that count, at least, Scar was right.

  Gruff’s voice was calm, casual even. “The boss won’t be a slime. Just chill. As long as it’s not a slime Bunta will make quick work of it, as usual. If it is a slime, well… we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

  “The boss will be a slime! It’s a slime dungeon for Tidwell’s sake!”

  Gruff ignored Scar’s words and extended a hand to Tad, helping him to his feet.

  “You all right Kid? Gave us a nasty fright.” Gruff said. There was a lengthy pause as he studied Tad’s face. “Glad you’re not dead, Kid but… how’d you kill it? The last slime took four spells and you could only cast two.”

  Tad looked down. How was he to explain it? His bare chest made him feel suddenly self-conscious. Where had his shirt gone? Next to the deep colors of the slime dungeon, Tad’s pale skin looked even more pale in comparison. He covered his chest in an attempt to hide his naked torso.

  “The slime is dead?” It felt like cotton filled his mouth. He’d never been so thirsty before. “Why did you guys wait so long to heal me? Where did it come from? I thought they couldn’t move… And why did you take off my shirt!” Tad shot Blondegirl an accusatory glare.

  Gruff smirked, unlatched his thick leather armor, and nodded toward a pile of mostly dissolved rags on the ground. Tad’s shirt, or what was left of it. Gruff pulled off his leather armor, followed by his undershirt, which he tossed to Tad. With both of them shirtless, Tad cringed at the comparison. Tad looked like a hairless toothpick where Gruff was a huge, muscle-ridden, hair-covered beast of a man. With that much hair, why did he even wear a shirt?

  Blondegirl leered from where she lounged. “You can’t heal someone who’s incapacitated. Gotta wait until they wake up. I kissed your boo boo’s better while you were sleeping though, just like your mommy.”

  Who was she? Tad decided he did not like this girl, no matter how pretty she was. The butterflies in his stomach were because of his near death experience. Yeah, that was it.

  Gruff’s shirt drowned him, it fell past his knees like when he was a kid and used to wear his da
d’s shirts. Other kids used to make fun of his big billowy shirts. It didn’t help that he would also wear short shorts. The other kids made fun of him for ‘not wearing pants.’ He had been so oblivious as a kid. At least that wasn’t a problem anymore.

  Gruff cleared his throat and pointed toward the ceiling where a bright red trail halted. “The slime. It was waiting up there. When it sensed you it dropped for a meal. I didn’t expect you to run off like that. Stick behind me from now on, I’ll keep them off of you. But seriously, how did you kill it?”

  That question again. Tad wracked his brain for a believable lie. “I think the near death experience heightened my magic. I can probably cast eight to twelve spells now…”

  Gruff nodded at the answer, but looked deep in thought. “Can you still cast spells? Even without the wand? The slime destroyed it in the battle. This is all we could find of it.” Three small burnt wooden slivers rested in Gruff’s oversized hand.

  Did he need a wand to cast spells? If so, their entire party couldn’t hurt the slimes and they were dead meat.

  “Spells.” Tad said the word louder than he would have liked. He could feel the eyes of his party members on him as his eyes scoured the invisible menu that only he could see.

  *Spells:

  Firebolt

  Icebolt

  Thunderbolt

  Heal

  Heal Other*

  Tad let out a sigh of relief. His spells were still there. He could still cast them. He was still useful to the group. Tad met each of his party’s intense gazes. “Don’t worry, I can still feel the spells, I should still be able to cast them.”

  Scar let out a loud harrumph, annoyed. It was the man’s default state. “Well then, what are you waiting for?”

  * * *

  “There’s only the one.”

  A large blue slime slowly glided across the surface, leaving behind a dark blue trail. The cavern was full of brilliant blues, greens, and reds swirled in various patterns across every surface, but the colors never mixed. Each color was as bright and pure as the slimes from which they came. The exit behind the slime opened into a new tunnel that led even deeper into the dungeon. Tad followed the party’s lead as they walked into the middle of the spacious cavern. His feet slipped and squished on the uneven, slimy ground. He’d fallen more than once. His clothes were soaked in slime of various colors.