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

Would you like to absorb Class Orb Tier 0?

Yes / No

Warning: This Class Orb Tier 0 is keyed to you, and you alone; this Orb cannot be absorbed by anyone other than yourself.

A Class Orb?  Jeska had heard of them from a few of the Heroes who rarely visited their island, but she had never actually seen one before.  She had heard that there was a fairly large trade of a specific type of Class Orb on the mainland, but there was no market for them on Sunfall Island.  There were no Heroes who called the island home, and none of those who visited stayed more than a few days, if that.

Except that now there is one…me.

But did she want to become a Hero?  Of course not.  Sure, it sounded like some sort of wonderful opportunity on the surface, but all of the Heroes she had met (which, admittedly, weren’t very many) said that it was a lot of work; not only that, but they were constantly on the move.  One of them had mentioned that they hadn’t been home in years, and even when they had gotten the opportunity, it was only just for a brief visit.

Family meant everything to her.  Since there weren’t any dungeons or Heroes on Sunfall Island, Jeska figured she would have to leave to become a stronger Hero – if that was what she decided, of course – and it was possible that she might never come back.  That alone was something she didn’t think she could live with, so it was with more than a little reluctance that she—

A loud *thump* from the other side of the house shook her room a little bit.  Jeska smiled, knowing that Arcen was awake; his favorite way of waking up was to literally roll out of bed and fall to the floor.  He said it ensured he woke up, because otherwise he was likely to sleep way past when he should probably get out of bed.

She heard him mumble something, his deep voice relatively audible even through the multiple walls in between her room and his.  Just as she turned back to the Class Orb in her hand so as to say “No” to absorbing it, Jeska heard Arcen shout in surprise, followed quickly by stomping footsteps running in the direction of her room.  Quickly, she covered up the glowing ball of light with her other hand; she didn’t want it known that she had declined becoming a Hero, because she wasn’t sure how her brother and father would receive that kind of news.  Better that no one but me knows.

Her door slammed open – Arcen’s normal disregard for her privacy evident when he didn’t even knock – and he rushed into the room, a look of wonder on his face.

And a glowing ball of light floating above his right palm.

Huh.  Despite the fact that Jeska had been planning on denying her call to become a Hero, she now felt a bit cheated.  I thought I was the only one; now it doesn’t feel as…special.  As crazy as that sounds, especially since I wasn’t going to—

“Jeska!  Look!  It’s a Class Orb that will allow me to become a Hero!  I found it next to my bed when I rolled out.”

Jeska sighed and started to uncover her own Class Orb, but Arcen wasn’t done yet.  “I’m going to do it, sis.  It will suck royally to have to leave, but this is an opportunity I can’t pass up.”

“Wait, hold on—” she started to say, but suddenly the light orb floating above her brother’s hand drifted down toward his palm and seemed to melt into it.  In less than a second, it was gone, having been absorbed by the impulsive fool, and Jeska waited to see what it would do.  Will he look different?  Is there some sort of mark that identifies him as a Hero?

While there wasn’t any obvious mark or immediate difference in his appearance, something did happen to him.  Arcen’s eyes opened wide as if he were looking at something only he could see, and then he started to twitch and shake violently. Luckily, it didn’t seem to last long, so Jeska had just barely begun to be concerned when he stopped.  Her brother sagged in place, looking exhausted…but he was smiling.

“That…was intense,” he finally said after a few moments, his voice a little hoarse.  “I don’t think I can even explain what just happened—but it looks like I don’t have to.”

Jeska was confused at what he was talking about, but then she saw where he was looking.  In her shock over what he had done – and the aftereffects, of course – she had uncovered her own Class Orb, leaving it floating above her hand.  Ah.  Whoops.

“But I’m not sure I should—”

“Sis, you should do it.  I—” Arcen said, cutting her off, before uncharacteristically hesitating in what he was about to say.  “I think, for some reason, that this is more important than just you and me, or even Father.”

What does he mean by that?  Family was all they had, especially after their mother had passed away when Jeska was very young.  She nearly shook her head and denied the calling to become a Hero despite her brother’s insistence, but one look at his eyes changed her mind.  It wasn’t often that he was serious about something, since he liked to joke around a lot (she did as well, so she figured it must be a family trait). Right now, though, she saw deep sincerity in his eyes.  It was in that moment, the moment when she knew her life was going to change forever, that she couldn’t help but get in one last dig.

“Fine.  Someone has to keep you out of trouble, after all.  You’d probably be lost without my help, anyway – even if we