Dungeon of Chance: Even Odds: A Dungeon Core Novel (Serious Probabilities Book 1) by Jonathan Brooks (interesting books to read TXT) 📕

the monsters in a room, as long as there are 5 or more; for example, if you had all Fire-Affinity monsters, you would create an Elemental Resonance called Flame Explosion, which would increase the Damage of those monsters by 40%.

“The second needs to have at least 6 monsters in a room, and having an exact 50/50 split between two Elements; this would only work if you had 6, 8, 10, or any other even-numbered amount of monsters together in the same space.  An example of this is the Resonance called Unholy Radiance – which is composed of half Dark and half Light monsters – that increases Skill Effects and Defense by 20%.”

This…is way too complicated.  Clay decided that he would dig into that more when he had time, but a quick look outside of his dungeon showed that was something he was quickly running out of.  There had been a large group meeting between all of the new Heroes and the group that had just died and then departed his dungeon, but it seemed to be breaking up.  Now it appeared as though there was a brand-new group coming inside, and they looked extremely nervous.

Before he ran out of time, Clay looked to his first room and took out his River Rat, quickly replacing it with another Bilge Rat.  When he let his focus go to see if it had worked, he found that the aura around the room had disappeared, meaning that there was no longer an Elemental Resonance to worry about.  Good; hopefully, this means I won’t have to worry about them dying.

“Don’t be too sure about that, Clay,” the baby dragonling warned him as the group started to enter his dungeon.  “Accidents do happen, but there is only so much you can do as a Dungeon Core to prepare them for any eventuality.”

True.  As he watched the Heroes pause in uncertainty before stepping into his first room, he thought a little more about the immediate future.  After I make a few changes to the second room tonight, what do I do after that?

“I don’t think you’ll have to wait for too long, Clay.  You’re already progressing.”

…er, what do you mean?

“Have you checked your Transcribed Status lately?”

No, hold on.

 

Core Assessment and Transcribed Status

Core Name:

Clayburnside “The Denominator” Shuntwise

Core Stage:

1

Core Structure Health:

5/20

Crystal Chips:

164 (500 to next Core Stage)

Star Limit for Placement:

15

Available Monsters:

37/50

Available Traps:

2 (No Limit)

Available Dungeon Spells:

0 (No Limit)

Summoning Portal

Dungeon Interface

Sacrificial Altar

Right away, he saw that his Core Structure Health had gone up, which had happened sometime during the night before; 24 hours had passed, and his accumulation had repaired some of the damage he had done to his Core by using it to convert them into Chips.  However, he also saw something surprising.

How did I get…what?...150 more Crystal Chips?

“You didn’t notice it at the time, because you were a bit…distraught at the Heroes dying, but you received them when they perished – 25 Chips apiece, since they were Tier 0.  For the Support Hero, since they were Tier 1, you received 50 Crystal Chips.”

Ah…so that’s how this works.

“Precisely.  They come into your dungeon to get stronger, and when they die – which they inevitably will as they push themselves – they help contribute to your development.  Now, are you ready to see how much these new Heroes will contribute?”  The baby dragonling looked excited, and Clay couldn’t help but be infected by her enthusiasm.

Absolutely.

Chapter 21

The next group of Heroes entered Clay’s dungeon, proceeding cautiously down the hallway to the first room.  They were all wearing clothing identical to that of the first group, and brandishing weapons akin to theirs. They had one benefit over Jeska and the others, however: Knowledge.

Knowing what they would face, and what his monsters could and would do, was a major advantage.  After looking inside of the room from the entrance, the 4 women and 1 man had a quick discussion, readying their weapons as they prepared to attack.

“It looks exactly how Arcen described it,” one of the women mentioned in a whisper.  Why she was whispering was a mystery, since Clay could hear them no matter how low they whispered; and if it were for the benefit of not alerting his monsters to their presence, that really didn’t matter since his Rats and Ferns wouldn’t attack or even acknowledge their presence until they stepped foot inside the room.

“I concur; are we prepared for this course of action?” the man asked, the lilt and sophistication to his voice – even in a whisper – suggesting a higher social status to the Dungeon Core.

“Yes, we’s know da plan,” said another one of the women, her vocal tone and accent the complete opposite of the man’s.  It’s interesting how there doesn’t seem to be any particular contention between them; being a Hero must eliminate many of those social hierarchies, since they are all equal now. 

“Alright, let’s do it,” said the fourth member of the group, just before she took the lead.  When she was in position, with the others in tight formation behind her, she slowly counted down from 3.  “3…2…1…GO!” she shouted, before rushing inside.

She dodged around one of the normal ferns in the room even as Clay’s Rats started moving towards her position, and his Stone-tipped Fern let a wave of sharp stone shards fly.  Likely aided by the knowledge gained from the previous group, the leader knew the attack was coming; she tried to avoid the stone barrage by moving off to the left as quickly as she could, but was unable to avoid them all.

“Ow!  Ow!  That hurts!” she screamed – but didn’t stop.  There were 2 stone shards embedded in her side, having cut through her tunic and penetrated a few inches into