Dungeon of Chance: Even Odds: A Dungeon Core Novel (Serious Probabilities Book 1) Jonathan Brooks (book recommendations txt) 📖

with “leaves” that were filled with vines, numbering in the hundreds or possibly thousands.  It was hard to tell exactly what was what, but at least he was right about its mobility; as soon as he gave the order, it used its vine-filled fronds to basically roll itself along, moving faster than nearly all of his other monsters.

And with that…it was out of his figurative hands.  He couldn’t see what was happening, nor could he control his monsters anymore; they weren’t really a part of his Core once they passed his awareness, after all, so they were on their own—

Uh…Dwight?

“Yes?”

What happens if they win?

“Well, they should come right back here and—.” She paused.  “Please don’t tell me you forgot to tell them to come back here after the Threat was eliminated.”

Um…okay, I won’t tell you that.

Chapter 33

Jeska was ecstatic to have finally defeated the room that had been a bane of their existence for the last couple of days.  There were just so many moving parts and things that could go wrong that it was difficult to time everything correctly, coordinate plans so that everything was executed in order – all while doing their best to stay alive.  She thought that their whole plan was going to be for nothing as she was caught by the disgusting moves of the Goblin Dancer and frozen in place, but Rosara used her own Skills to save her from being slammed by some sort of projectile or magical effect.  She already knew that most of the ranged attacks from those across the way could kill her in as little as 1 hit, though most took 2 or more.  Her brother called her “squishy”, which was an apt description – especially since he seemed to absorb damage like some sort of sea sponge did water.

Not only did they defeat the Nether Mage Slime, which had been a pain in her aft quarters, but in its Drop Chest was something no one else had seen to that point – a Mage Class Orb Tier 3.  She absorbed it from the Chest in the shocked silence coming from the others, and she smiled as it was absorbed into her body.  Yes!  It’s only a matter of time before we get even more of these, and then we can become more powerful!  Thoughts of moving on to the next room were tempting, but she knew that until they had perfected their Skills in the current room, any contemplation of completing the next room was a bit premature.

Suddenly, in the continued silence as they all looked at each other with the same silly smile she felt on her own face, Jeska felt a shiver run through her entire body.  At first she thought it was a side-effect of her minor healing by the Health Band, but after seeing the others feeling the same thing, she intuitively knew that it didn’t have anything to do with healing.

Heroes!

A Regional Threat has been detected entering the local vicinity; prepare to defend the people in your community!

Warning: This dungeon will be closed in the next 5 minutes; vacate or risk being trapped within, unable to help your people.

She felt like her heart was going to pound right out her chest when she saw the message pop up in front of her face.  She immediately dismissed it when she was finished reading, only to find shocked looks on everyone else’s faces.  “Wha—?” was all she could get out, before Arcen started moving towards the handholds on the side of the wall.

“We need to move – this is what we’ve been preparing for.”

She wanted to argue, to say that they were by no means ready for whatever this Regional Threat was, but everyone – even Kelty, who was usually the most cautious of the group – followed after him.  Sweat popped out all over her body as she made her way over the side of the lava pit, so much so that she worried for a moment that her fingers would slip off.  We’re all going to die, we’re all going to die, we’re all going to die….

The way Arcen strode ahead without hesitation helped to calm her nerves a little; he was always so steady and brave – sometimes foolishly – that she couldn’t help but think she was lucky to have him in her life, as well as being part of their Hero group.  Her brother might not have flashy Skills such as her being able to fling out spells left and right, or dance and sing to affect the people or monsters around him, or sneak into the shadows, or even miraculously heal mortal wounds with a wave of a hand – but their group’s Fighter was the one that kept them all together.  Not to mention voluntarily taking much of the damage meant for them.

She barely saw the rest of the dungeon as they rushed outside, not wanting to be caught inside and unable to escape in time.  Her own breathing had steadied, despite the run, by the time they exited, and Jeska was starting to come to terms that this was really happening.  They immediately angled for Chardelia, hoping to warn everyone there before it was too late.  However, even at a distance it seemed as though the place was in an uproar; there was an audible murmur coming from the city, and Jeska could see that multiple boats were already launching from the docks.

The explanation came a moment later, as one Hero group after another streamed out of the city towards them.  They got the word around fast!  It had only been a few minutes since they had gotten the message, but it only proved the old idiom – ill news spreads apace.  While gossip and other important information was passed around quickly in a city the size of Chardelia, nothing traveled faster than bad news.

And this