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

I’m…not sure, he responded truthfully.  I can sense that it will eventually arrive, but I can’t tell you when.  Just that your timetable isn’t going to work for everyone.

Dwight was silent for a while after his revelation, so Clay watched the new group in action in his first room.  Just as they had the day before, they easily killed his monsters and only suffered some minor injuries in the process.  After they were done and finished picking up their drops (which had a single Skillbook for a Support Class as the only non-Trash drop), there was a discussion among all of the group members that got a little heated.

“No, I don’t think we should keep going, Percy.  I really don’t want to die,” whined one of the male Heroes, sounding quite un-Heroic at the moment.

“But we’ll be resurrected – you all know that!  I don’t see the harm in at least seeing if we can kill—

“I’ve heard things, Percy!  If we die, things will change!”

Percy – who Clay was assuming was the leader of the group based on how the others deferred to him – looked confused.  “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t see how people reacted to most of the others last night and this morning, Percy,” the other man scoffed.  “Even the Mayor looked distressed about being near his own daughter, and I could’ve sworn he looked frightened of her!”

The group leader just shook his head.  “You’re being ridiculous, Crade.  I think you’re misinterpreting things.”

“I think he’s right – I’ve heard some things, too.”  This came from one of the women in the group, who looked legitimately scared.

“Look, I don’t care what you’ve heard; there is no way we can get stronger unless we take some risks.  I’ve already gotten my Fighter Class, and it’s only a matter of time before you all get yours.  Do you think we’ll just continue killing these rats and plants for the rest of our lives?  We’re Heroes, so we better act like it!  All those people who you’re worried about being scared of us will die if we aren’t ready when a Threat appears.”

The others looked ashamed for a moment – all except for Crade, the one who started the argument.  “You knew about this, didn’t you?”

Percy was silent for a bit too long, and even Clay could tell it was an admission of guilt.

“I knew it!  What was your plan, Percy?  Were you going to lure us into the second room and then let the monsters kill us all?”

“NO!  That’s ridiculous!” the leader shouted.  “I had no plans for any of us to die, but we need to do this if we are going to be Heroes.  There isn’t any other choice – this is just the way it is.”

The others in the group looked resigned, but Crade was having none of it.  “I don’t think so – I’m not living the rest of my life this way!  I wish I had never become a Hero in the first place!”

That was apparently the worst thing he should’ve said, because what happened next disturbed Clay more than he wanted to admit, especially after the death he had witnessed from the previous group.  Crade suddenly started to shake uncontrollably, his face becoming dark red at the same time, and he lifted off the ground a few inches.

“Crade, what’s wrong?  Did he have a Class Orb I didn’t know about?”  Percy and the others tried to pull him back down and stop his shaking, but even with 4 of them helping it didn’t do any good.  Clay had to admit that it looked similar to the Class change he had seen undergone by a few Heroes by that point, but it was all wrong.

It was almost like the Hero process was reversing, instead of progressing like the others.  And it felt wrong, as if there was something unnatural about the whole thing.  As he watched, he noticed that the shaking of the man stopped, his face went back to normal, and then he drifted back down to the room’s floor.  When Clay looked at him with his Dungeon Core senses, he couldn’t see anything above his head like he could with the others, where the information he could see denoted their Hero Tier.

No, I was wrong – there is something there.  It was a few numbers that kept counting down, starting with 0:10, then 0:09, then 0:08—oh, no.

“Crade, are you okay?  What happened?”

He looked groggy, like he had just woken up from a long nap.  “I don’t…know.  I…it feels like something just got sucked out of my entire body…my Hero Status is gone!  Do you know what this means?”

“No, what?”

“I’m no longer a—”

Crade didn’t get a chance to finish his statement, because the Health Band that was still on his wrist flared up brightly; instead of white like it had been before, this time it was deep red.  Before anyone could react, Clay saw the red Band flare up, similar to how the Explosive Shamblers detonated from the inside; the next moment, the former Hero was blown to pieces starting near his wrist.

The explosion was great enough that it slammed into and killed the rest of the group, sending pieces of them all around the room, painting the once-green ferns in the room red with flames and blood.  Clay watched in shock as their bodies and bodily fluids were removed automatically by his dungeon, and he saw them resurrect in the entrance hallway moments later…missing one former Hero, however.

Dwight!  Clay had trouble even articulating a question; he was in more shock than even watching Jeska’s group resurrect for the first time.

“Being a Hero is an all-or-nothing duty to the world, Clay,” the baby dragonling said softly.  “There’s no going back once the decision has