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

was small in comparison to what other Dungeon Cores could likely produce, but as a start…it wasn’t bad. At least in his own estimation.

Clay recognized the three who had visited his dungeon the night before, despite their changed clothes, and he was pleased to see that they didn’t look any worse for wear.  He had been worried that he had done some sort of irreparable damage to them, based on how they appeared when they had left without saying a word – along with their vacant gazes, and the appearance of no one being inside their heads.  He was also pleased to see that they had all become Heroes, though of all the people assembled in front of his entrance, he instinctively knew that those 3 probably had been the most likely to have been chosen because of what they had done.  The probability factors were weighed heavily in their favor.

Once the trio of familiar Heroes arrived at his dungeon, their conversation was enlightening…and disappointing.  Dwight was correct in assuming that the 3 of them didn’t know what they were doing. Their awareness of their surroundings were so poor that they didn’t even notice the fourth person sneaking up on them.  Clay wasn’t sure if the three he recognized – Jeska, Arcen, and Rosara, if he remembered correctly – were in danger, but it seemed as if the extra person was just there to check out his dungeon.

The revelation that he had previously been a thief was a surprise, but Clay realized that, just as his own past did not limit him – now that he was a Dungeon Core – this person’s former occupation did not define him, now that he was a Hero.  Moreover, maybe there would be some advantages: In the same way that Clay’s hours calculating expenses for the grocery store helped him acclimate to the Dungeon Core math, perhaps some aspect of stealth and cunning required to survive as a pilferer would give this individual a boost in his dungeon exploration.

Clay had been so excited all evening that he actually felt disappointed when they left.  He understood, though; one of the non-Heroes had mentioned, loud enough for Clay to overhear, that every group venturing into his dungeon would need to consist of precisely 5 Heroes – just as his first room needed to provide exactly 5 monsters – and this crew, thus far, had only 4. Still, as they left, he couldn’t help but want them to return so that he could see how his monsters would fare against them.

“Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time for that.  Now, I suggest you shutter your Core until the morning and take advantage of this period of inactivity.  You don’t technically need to sleep – and you are not physically able to, even if you wanted to – but since, unlike all the other Cores, you haven’t trained your mind to withstand the normal rigors of being a Hero, it’s going to be a little more difficult for you to adjust to everything.”

Now that she mentioned it, he realized he had been going for more than a full day at that point – and yet, he didn’t feel sleepy.  In fact, like she had mentioned, sleep didn’t seem possible for him, as the unique visual and audible stimuli of his dungeon were constantly being fed into him.  He could sense where all of his monsters were without having to actually look at them, the sounds of the ocean wafted inside of his dungeon from outside, and his mind seemed as if it were on high alert the entire time.

After asking what the baby dragonling meant by “shuttering” his mind, he learned that he could mentally place a block that seemed to shroud his mind, shielding him from all but the tiniest trickle connecting him to his dungeon.  And it was, to put it succinctly, divine.  He hadn’t realized that his mind was being bombarded by so much information until it was curtailed, and having so much less stimuli bombarding his attention was almost as good as getting some sleep.  Even Dwight was shut away, leaving him stranded all alone with his own thoughts, but it was a welcome relief.

Clay tried to mute even that trickle still feeding through to him, but he couldn’t; upon investigation of what it was, he quickly learned that it was the tiniest thread connecting to his dungeon awareness.  He intuitively determined that if he were able to figure out a way to sever it, he would lose all connection to his dungeon – which he posited would be a very bad idea.  Luckily, it wasn’t enough to really distract him in the void of his own thoughts, and he sensed that it would also serve to warn him if something entered his dungeon.

Now that he had some time to himself, he found that all he wanted to do was…nothing.  The dragonling was right; I need some time to relax before all of the excitement tomorrow morning.  As he blanked out all of his thoughts and gave in to the general lack of sensations, time seemed to pass in a flash.

Faster than he expected, the little trickle of awareness connecting him to his dungeon alerted him to a change that he needed to address.  “Unshuttering” his mind, the world crashed back into him all at once, disorienting him for a few seconds.  I should probably do that a little more gradually next time.

“Welcome back, Clay! And I agree, there isn’t a need to release the shutter so quickly next time.  Now that you’re aware of the world again, though, you’ll be happy to know that your first group of Heroes has arrived!”  Dwight seemed annoyingly chipper to him, especially as he was still trying to get his bearings after his little “nap”.

Once he could orient himself again, he focused on his entrance, which currently had 5 Heroes