Return to Dungeon_A Monster MC LitRPG

by MJ Kaltenbrunner

  “Drat!” she shouted while diving down beside the thing to distract it. It was brilliant show of bravery, because a creature as small as her could have easily been squashed by something as big as whatever was below them.

  “It’s a grid bug!” she shouted.

  “What” replied Selena and Kek at once. Kek had never heard of such a thing, and he wasn't sure what grids had to do with a dungeon.

  “I'm going to fly out through this level entrance and chase me. Trust me, you two don't stand a chance against this thing in this confined space. Come out after it and take it down before it alerts the others. What kind of crazy-butts use a grid bug to protect youngsters?” Fate shouted as she darted away, followed by the big creature.

  As Kek got down to the ground he looked out and saw the back of what vaguely resembled a bear, but it wasn't hairy at all. Many of its features were beetle-like. He could swear that he heard a faint crackling coming from somewhere, and it moved away from them as the grid bug followed Faye. There was a sharp tangy scent in the air, like when there were thunderstorms.

  “Go on, dog-man. I can't go after it and help your fairy friend if you're in my way!” Selena was right behind him, and it took every inch of Kek’s strength to pull himself away from the cloud of her glorious pheromones.

  But his will to save Faye was stronger. He ran after the thing. “Get ready to throw that spear!” he shouted back at Selena.

  “When did you decide you were in charge?” she shouted back at him. But she didn't argue.

  Kek was starting to wish he been given some sort of attack spell, or that he had a bow and arrow with him. Not that he knew how to use a bow and arrow, but maybe he would be able to learn it as a skill if he wanted to try. All he had was that pathetic little knife. “I'm gonna back stab this thing,” he said to Selena, and sprinted as fast as he could. The good thing about being a dog-man was that he had a great speed nearly as powerful as a large dog. He held his knife between his generously-sized teeth and got down on all fours so he was running on his hands and feet. He quickly chased down the giant monster as it tried to capture the elusive fairy that taunted it.

  The room they were in was the same size as the hatchery had been, but there was nothing in there except for walls lined with weapons racks and shelves for storage, as well as chest. It was some storage facility, or perhaps a loot room. Wait, weapons? Excellent! Kek desperately hoped to be able to go through them after they dealt with this thing, but he would have to use his knife at least one more time. Now wasn’t the time to get distracted.

  As he was just about to close the distance between himself and the grid bug, Selena’s spear whizzed by and was so close to the top of his head that it brushed his fur with its barbed tip. It hit the back of the grid bug, and the creature to roared with anger and pain.

  Kek was just about to perform his back stab move as that happened, but now the grid bug turned around and laid its eyes directly on him. It was clear that the monster assumed Kek had injured it. The spear shaft swung around with it and remained sticking out of its flesh. The grid bug looked like it was just about to lunge and grab Kek, but stopped to remove the spear from its back.

  While it had been roughly the size and shape as a bear from behind, the front was an entirely different story. The grid bug clearly earned its name by having a vague resemblance to a large dung beetle, except it didn't have the bigger horns on its head. That bear-like back was some sort of carapace, and the front part was a lot more intricate. That meant the front looked much more vulnerable to damage.

  “Shit. I should've waited till it turned around!” shouted Selena.

  As the grid bug used its claw-like hands and strangely bendable arms to reach behind it and pull free the spear, the siren started to yank at the line that was attached to its shaft. The spear was firmly stuck, and even her best tugs didn't even make the giant creature budge, let alone retrieve her weapon.

  Faye appeared out of the shadows and shouted to Selena, “That line of yours is just rope right?”

  “What?” said Selena in an almost undignified way. “Do you think I’d risk my best spear by using common rope to keep it with me? No, it's made from the finest steel thread, of course. It's unbreakable.”

  “You better let go of that right now!”

  The line was more like a very thin chain, but not so thin that it would cut the person pulling it.

  That was when Kek realized exactly why the smell in this room had reminded him of lightning storms. And what that strange crackling sound had been. “Let go!” he shouted to Selena, once again charging at her. She hadn't intended to listen to them, but when Kek hit her, she turned her fists on him. There was a good chance she knew exactly who he was and had fully intended to strike him.

  “Get off!” Selena yelled as the line of her spear slipped from her hands during the tumble. Just as it happened, she was silenced from reprimanding him any further. A bolt of electricity flew along the line, shooting out from the grid bug. The thing had the power to shock, and it was seriously potent.

  “You all right?” Faye said to them. “You almost got turned into crispy roasted siren,” she said with a chuckle. And then she started to laugh uncontrollably. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that really isn't funny. I didn't mean to say it that way. I didn't think it would be so funny.” She almost started to ramble again, but her attention was drawn by the roaring grid bug that had gotten the spear free and had dropped it on the stone floor. It was charging them.

  “Why don't they call them shock bugs or lightning bugs?” asked Selena. “What the hell do they have to do with a grid?”

  “I don't know, I think it's meant to have something to do with the layout of traditional dungeons. Don't ask me. It doesn't matter right now!” Faye said as she quickly disappeared into the shadows again.

  24

  Kek turned and saw the thing charging toward him. It was about to grab him with his giant clawed hands, but he rolled to the side and stuck out his foot to trip it. It fell with a grand crash on the stone and continued sliding along on its front for a distance.

  Now was the best time to attack it. Even though it's carapace on its back covered much of its body in that position, there were exposed areas around where its neck met its shoulders on the sides. Kek ran toward it and had the intention of stabbing it in the neck or head. But he realized that he would probably get electrocuted if he did. He looked around and couldn't see Faye, and Selena was still flabbergasted. And she was completely armless too.

  Kek ran as fast as he could and grabbed her spear. He almost threw it to her before catching his mistake. He ran over to her as quickly as possible and said, “Here Selena! This is the only way we can kill him without touching him.”

  Selena took it and smiled at him, giving another wink before charging toward the grid bug and getting as close as possible. She threw the spear right into the thing’s head. And it was a good thing she hadn't actually stabbed it with the spear still in her hands. When the spear pierced the head, the grid bug released a burst of electricity. The smell of roast meat filled the air.

  Kek was not planning to let the two women know that he would happily eat the roasted grid bug, so he just stood there and pretended that the smell made him sick as it did his two comrades. The thing continued to release electricity around itself until it was nothing more than a crispy fried husk, blackened with ash.

  “Well then,” said Selena. “I will certainly remember that my spear’s line is highly conductive of electricity. And I'll also hope that never comes up in the future.” She pulled the spear from things head and wiped it off on the charred remains as best as she could. But all that seemed to do was cause bits of ash and charred flesh to stick to the spear. “Shit,” she said.

  Faye fluttered back out of the shadows and was beaming. “I can't believe we did it,” she said. “I had complete faith in us, otherwise I would never have led us down here. Yes… Oh, come here!” She said emphatically and darted at Kek, wrapping her arms around hi
s upper shoulders where his neck met them.

  Kek wanted to hug her back, but her wings were flapping so quickly that he wasn't quite sure where they began and ended. He didn’t want to accidentally damage her frail wings. Instead, he simply let himself enjoy her embrace and her snuggling her face into his fur. It was good to have a friend who really cared about him. And it didn’t hurt that she was a sexy little elf either.

  That's when he remembered of the equipment that had been stored around the walls of the low, wide room. “I'm very happy,” he said, but do you think it would be okay if I took something better than this little knife I have? I'm not going to loot everything in sight. Maybe some clothes that aren’t made of old rags would be good too.”

  “Of course, go ahead,” said Faye. “I'm going to see if I can find anything stylish that will actually fit me. Maybe a magical item too!”

  Selena had already started walking toward the wall where all the equipment was lined up. There was one clear area that contained weapons racks and chests that looked like they held something valuable. Most of the other areas and barrels and sacks probably contained food and water. Kek thought that would be a good idea to check out after they'd secured some decent equipment.

  While enjoying is hug from Faye and the idea of getting some equipment, he’d completely overlooked that he’d just leveled up! He didn't have to think about which skill he was going to choose. He was on a quest to sneak into the dungeon lord’s territory and take back people who had been enslaved. He chose the skill Fade to Black without consulting Faye. He wanted to take charge of it this time. “I just leveled up!” he shouted to Faye, who was fluttering around with glee and looking through containers and shelves.

  “That's great!” she called back.

  “I hope you chose something useful, dog-man!” added Selena. Their voices echoed from their respective places around the large room.

  Kek found himself a short sword, which was well-made but not particularly fancy. It had a nice feel to it and the blade was very sharp. It also came with a sheath. He found a leather belt and wrap that around his waist, but he had no belt loops in his pants. They were just held up by some old twine. He went and rummaged around for some of the chests and found pair of short pants that stopped about halfway down his furry calves. There were baggy so that he could move freely. He put the belt through the loops in the pants, and attached the sword’s sheath on his left, so his right hand could quickly grab it. He then went and found a leather vest. There was steel armor around the place, but none of it was really made for his size. It didn't matter so much with the softer clothing, but wearing armor that was too big would be heavy and cumbersome. At least now he had a leather top that would stop minor injuries from weapons. And he could still move and sneak very easily.

  Dexterity was his main attribute, so it didn't make sense for him to wear steel armor. He wanted a bow, but again, they were all much too big for him. And the crossbows required a taller person to draw them back. He ended up settling for a leather band that he could tie across his chest, which had three throwing knives in it. He didn't know how to throw knives, but maybe they would come in useful, and he could always hope to get the skill later.

  He had a feeling that he wasn't going to get many more levels before they reached where they were going, which meant he might have to face whatever had moved his kobold people before he gained any more skills. That was a sobering thought.

  Selena approached. She wore different clothing. It was much more revealing than the robe. The outfit consisted of a black corset tightly hugging her hourglass figure. It was completed with a short, red skirt. The plunging neckline went halfway down her torso, leaving very little to the imagination. She still didn’t wear any shoes. As she said, “I figure that many of these minions are probably male. I know my powers work on them, so why not show my goods and hope that they'll get distracted while I stick my spear in their guts?”

  Faye appeared out of the shadows and look extremely excited. “Look, look, look!” she called. “Can you believe it was right here this whole time? This must be where they keep all the loot they take from people who come down to the dungeons, people like my fairy ancestors. I really don't know what they were doing in here, but it looks like they dropped the shard somewhere the minions could pick it up. And look—look!” She was holding out her hands. There was nothing in them.

  “Did you get hit on the head back there?” asked Selena.

  Kek suddenly remembered that Faye’s crystal shard was only visible to her people. “Did you find your shard?” he asked.

  Faye nodded her head so fast it almost become as blurry as her fluttering wings. “I did! Look, I mean… Well I know you can't see it, but you just have to trust me that it's absolutely beautiful. The power that I can feel coming from is amazing. I feel like I could do anything. And it's even on this nifty chain so I won't lose it.” She made the motion putting something around her neck.

  “Oh, does that mean you need to get back to the other muck fairies right away?” Kek asked. His heart sank at the thought of her leaving him at all, let alone when he still needed her so much. Although, being left alone with Selena could have a fun outcome.

  “Are you kidding me? My parents would never let me live it down if I were to abandon you just because I had what I wanted. I'm in on this quest with you until everybody has what they want.”

  Selena said, “And so am I. Although I don't actually know what I want out of this. I guess I'm just along for the ride, right?”

  “I thought you were trying to help us because you're so good now.” Faye put her hands on her lovely little hips and tilted her head to the side with a look of incredulity.

  “It's a good thing you two got some more equipment, because we don't have an awful lot of levels left before we get to where the other kobolds are. Only wish I knew more about what we were going to encounter next. I guess my people only get enough intel to tell them where they could find the shard. I don't know why we waited so long, but I suppose nobody really wanted to go. Then you showed up, and it seemed like a sign from a greater force than us.”

  Kek had never thought of himself as a sign of anything, but the idea was humbling, and felt kind of nice.

  25

  “Okay then,” Kek said, “shall we continue? Will you lead the way, please?”

  Naturally, Faye was happy to oblige, and they went and found another spiral pathway. They were used to the drill now, with Selena heading up the front so that she could spear attack anything that popped up, Faye in the middle so that she would be protected while she guided them and tried to sense anything coming, and Kek at the rear so he could keep an eye out for danger and watch his comrades. He was happy to have a short sword now and felt much more useful in combat.

  This spiral pathway didn't and in a large room like the others had. When it finally did stop spiraling, it continued in a narrow walkway. They came to an intersection with three different ways they could go, and Faye had to stop and have a long think about where they should head.

  “I'll admit that we are just a little bit lost at the moment, and I mean just a teensy-weensy bit lost at the most. I don’t suppose that arrow in your HUD is telling us which way we should go, Kek?

  Kek had been ignoring the arrow since learning it would only point in a straight line toward his destination and not actually tell him how to get there.

  “Yes,” he said. “I guess this thing is finally coming in useful again. It's saying we should go down this way.” He pointed to the center pathway, and they all went that way.

  After walking for a while, Faye said that she could sense some evil overhead. "But there are some creatures eviler than others. And I could swear there are some non-evil creatures among them, but they're not fighting each other."

  Kek began to sniff the air. It was very familiar. It was like something he remembered from long ago but had never actually encountered. Suddenly the world seemed to be clashing with his dreams, and reality felt like it could
come tumbling down on top of him. “I smell kobolds,” he said. “I don't know how I know that since I've never met any others. I just know.”

  “Just remember that they are dungeon minions and they might not be interested in talking.” Faye was trying to sugarcoat the fact that they might have to kill them or be killed.

  “I don't plan on waiting around to see if they want to have a chat,” said Selena. She clenched the spear and then continued walking. “We should go ahead to meet them instead of letting them get the drop on us.” She was right.

  “I'm going to cast my Fairy Spite spell if I need to. I'm sorry, but I don't have any other attack spells.”

  Nodding, Kek drew his short sword slowly so that still didn't make a lot of noise. He kept his knife out of some sort of stupid sentimentality, but now it was attached to his belt at his back. He decided that he would throw some knives if he got the chance and hope that he’d learn the new skill by doing so. After all, he learned Back Stab by stabbing a creature in the back, even though he had leveled up in order to earn the skill. Faye’s light spell lit up the area now that Selena’s magic lantern had been ditched in the maze of dark mirrors.

  The creatures grunted little squealing and breathing sounds as they moved. It was again like being around fine creatures, but these were not the kind that would be at a petting zoo. They were full grown adults.

  “I'm detecting goblins, cathards, and some kobolds,” the muck fairy said. Seeing that Kek was unsure about something, she added, “Cathards are cat people. Don't let the aesthetic appeal fool you. They are deadly.”

  The group of shadow-clad monsters must have noticed Kek and his two comrades, because they all stopped suddenly and became silent. Whispering could be heard, as the dungeon minions were making a plan, no doubt.