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

“Keep it up, I think it’s almost dead!” the big man shouted with encouragement.  Clay seemed to think he was correct, but then something unexpected happened.

“Hey, why is this thing called an ‘Explosive Sham—‘?” Jeska suddenly asked…and then the monster EXPLODED.  And not just a little explosion, as if it had just burst and fallen apart, flinging a few body parts around.  No, it was an enormous ball of fire that started in its chest and then expanded outwards with tremendous force, completely obliterating the monster in the process.  The Heroes didn’t fare much better, unfortunately; as the wave of the explosion hit them, they were practically torn apart as their skin melted away in places, legs and arms were detached, and their heads snapped back so quickly that he could see the former pickpocket’s neck snap in the process.

Their bodies (or what was left of them) shot out and impacted the walls and even the ceiling of the room with enough force that their bones crumpled inside their mangled flesh.  Their corpses lined the walls of his dungeon, scattered pieces of them burning up as the webs and fabric were incinerated from the explosion, and all that could be heard was the sound of crackling as one web near the entrance continued to burn away.

What happened?  I killed them?  How is that supposed to help anyone?  I thought that I was here to help train them with potentially deadly scenarios, so that they could get stronger—

“Yes, absolutely.  It’s unfortunate that they didn’t have very good armor; if they had Tier 2 – and even some Tier 1, perhaps – gear, they probably would’ve survived the explosion.  Then again, if they had better weapons, they probably would’ve killed your monster before it exploded, so….”  Dwight shrugged her baby dragonling shoulders as if it wasn’t a big deal.

Clay couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  But…but THEY’RE DEAD!  I killed them!  I don’t understand how this helps—

“What are you so bent out of shape about?  So what if they died?” she asked, completely confused.  “That’s just a normal part of being a Hero, after all.  Besides, they’re fine.  A little disoriented – which is only natural, I suppose – but fine, nonetheless.  Look.”

Chapter 19

Things seemed to be going from bad to worse in the second dungeon room.  After being attacked by some sort of large spider, there was now so much pain in her face that she wondered why she was still conscious; not only that, but her left eye was numb and dark – not a good sign.  Jeska wanted to inspect it to see if it was actually missing completely, or if it was just a little injured, but she didn’t have time for that.  She wiped her right eye to clear the blood from it enough to see (hopefully) and she was rewarded by a partial return of her vision.

Looking around, she saw the most disgusting thing she thought she’d ever see: A walking corpse.  It was right behind Arcen and reaching out like it wanted to strangle the life out of her brother, though at the moment it was frozen into immobility by the song Rosara had sung a moment ago.  I cannot believe her skills are singing and dancing!  What’s next?  She didn’t really have time to contemplate that any further, however, because she needed to help her brother, who seemed like all of his strength had drained out of him.  Above his head, she could see that he was still okay on Health, but there was something called a “Debuff” affecting him.  It seemed as though the enhancement from Rosara’s dance “Buff” was being suppressed somehow.

Health: 7/10

Buff: Dance of Strength +1 (Suppressed by Debuff)

Debuff: Weakness

Jeska ignored that for the moment as she got behind her brother and helped him to his feet, when there was a hissing behind her.  Seeing that the undead creature was starting to move toward them again, and the sudden Weakness “Debuff” fading from Arcen, they attacked the monster with all they had.  It was probably foolish because they should’ve just run away, but other than her own wounds putting her at 6/10, they were relatively unhurt and they both still had their “Buff” from Rosara’s ridiculous sexy dance. After a few seconds of fighting through the pain still stinging her face, she couldn’t help but think, this thing is much harder to kill than the others.  That was when she looked up above its head for the first time.

Explosive Shambler ★★

Attack Type: Melee, Magical

Element: Fire

Oh, this thing has 2 Stars next to its name; I wonder if that makes a difference.  Then she really looked at the name, and a bout of concern flitted through her head.  “Hey, why is this thing called an ‘Explosive Sham—‘?” was all she was able to get out before the monster seemed to burn from the inside at a rapid pace.  The next few moments were a blur of sharp pain, unbearable heat, and…nothingness.

What happened?  Am I dead?  Jeska couldn’t feel anything, and it felt like her consciousness was just floating around in some sort of void.  Everything around her was devoid of color; not black, necessarily, but almost like it was completely clear like the stillest ocean, though there was nothing behind the clearness – as if it went on forever.  Well, no one can say we didn’t at least try—

With no warning, she felt a wrench in her consciousness as if it had been picked up and shoved inside somewhere that there wasn’t enough space.  It didn’t take long for sensations to come back, and they were familiar and strange at the same time.  She opened the eyes that she just realized she had and looked up at the roof of a