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

cause of your strange location, I don’t believe that to be so.  Do you remember me telling you how long it takes for a Dungeon Core to be formed?”

Uh…hundreds of years?

“Precisely.  And from what I know, Cores cannot be moved from their location of origination, so the Core you now inhabit had likely been forming for a while now.  And, historically, Dungeon Cores have shown up in places in response to external threats.  Emergence, which is what the inhabiting of a new Dungeon Core is called, usually occurs before Cores are known to be needed.  Occasionally, it happens afterwards, but that is also rare.”

It took Clay only a second—okay, more like 5 seconds—to understand what Dwight meant.  You’re saying that I’m here in response to a threat that hasn’t happened yet?  And I can only assume by “threat”, you mean World Threat?

“Exactly.”

That was a lot to put on his shoulders.  It was a responsibility he didn’t want, knowing that he was there to help these people prepare for a future calamity – and he had no idea how to go about it!  How…how long do we have?

“There is no set time, unfortunately.  The fact that there hasn’t been a World Threat here on this island yet means that you didn’t show up after the fact, but there is no way to tell how long before this threat shows up.  Could be 50 years away; could be next week.”

So, I’m supposed to be some sort of savior to these people?

“No, Clay.  You’re a Dungeon Core; you’re here to help these people become Heroes that turn into saviors.”

But if there aren’t any Heroes here on the island, how am I supposed to do that?

The baby dragonling was silent, apparently not having a good answer.  At least, not one that encouraged him.  “I don’t know, Clay.  I don’t know.”

That makes two of us.

Chapter 7

This mysterious cave was becoming more and more strange, especially when she thought it might be a dungeon.  Not that she was an expert in dungeons, but she’d heard the tales of them from the few Heroes she had met over the years.  A series of rooms filled with traps, monsters, and apparently governed by their own rules sounded like an adventure to a young Jeska; as she grew older, however, they sounded like old fishermen’s fancy tales designed to make the world a more exciting place.

She had her doubts that this was a dungeon after Arcen and Rosara both mentioned there not being any dungeons on Sunfall Island, as well as there not being any Heroes born there.  Those things she already knew, of course, but she couldn’t think of any other explanation for the sudden appearance of an obviously newly constructed cave system; nor could she explain the magical illusion torches that were permanently attached to the walls and gave off no heat.

“Fine.  You’re probably both right, but what else could this place be?” she finally asked, after her brother also pointed out that there were no monsters inside the “dungeon”.

For once, Rosara wasn’t all over Arcen, but instead stood inside the room looking thoughtful.  As much as she liked to portray that she was all “beauty” instead of “brains” – which seemed to attract most men to her like sharks to chum – Jeska knew the Mayor’s daughter had a fairly smart head on her shoulders.  “I don’t know, but if we can somehow figure out how these torches work, we could make a fortune.  When the sun goes down in the evening, it feels like our villa shuts down; keeping the place illuminated with flames and fires – even inside lanterns – makes it unbearably hot.  I know my father would pay good money to have a few of these heatless torches – and he wouldn’t be the only one.”

Jeska had to agree, though she was thinking of fishing vessels.  Fire on board a boat was practically a death sentence if it wasn’t handled right away.  For those venturing out over the ocean on longer journeys to better fishing spots, lanterns were a good way to illuminate the deck of their boat; if there was heavy weather, though, the chance of those lanterns breaking, spilling the Jujera Whale oil over the wood construction of the boat, and catching fire was a real concern.  She’d heard of a few vessels catching fire and burning down to their keels even in a sky-shattering rainstorm, as the oil-fueled fire spread uncontrollably.

“Yeah, I can see the potential for these, but how they were made is still a mystery.  We should continue looking to see if we can find out any more information.”  Arcen tried to sound as if he was willing to investigate the cave further because he wanted to find out the secret to the torches, but she knew the real reason.  Mainly because she felt it, too.

“You still feel an urge to walk deeper into this place, don’t you?” she asked, but was surprised when both her brother and Rosara nodded.

“I can’t explain it, but it feels like I need to keep going, too,” Rosara said after a moment.  She was looking around at the cave as if confused why she should feel that way; Jeska could sympathize, which was a strange feeling when it came to the Mayor’s daughter.

“I…feel the same way, strangely,” she admitted, and now it was Arcen’s turn to look surprised.  “Not that any of this is a good idea, of course.  We still don’t know what is further inside here; what if it’s a Siren calling us to our deaths?”  Stories of ships full of men running aground near scattered islands came back to her; she shivered at the thought of their watery deaths.  It was one of the reasons why most sailing vessels had nearly a 50/50 split between male and female sailors, so as to prevent that from happening