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

B-But he exploded! 

“Not quite; it was his Band that exploded, which cannot be worn by a non-Hero.  Otherwise, it does…that.  If he had proclaimed his desire not to be a Hero anymore outside of the dungeon, he simply would have passed away in his sleep the next night.”

That’s insane!  All he wanted was not to be a Hero – what’s the harm in that?

“Yes, it’s not fair, but the world isn’t always fair, Clay.  There is something that you may not know, as it isn’t thoroughly known in the Hero community,” she continued, still speaking softly.  “There can only be a limited number of Heroes in the world at one time, and when someone chooses to become a Hero and then renounces their calling, they are…eliminated…so that another one will be able to take their place.”

So…he was killed to make room for another?  That is…that is…I don’t even have words for it!  Who made all of these rules?

“I do not possess that information.  What matters is that this was his choice, even if he didn’t know the consequences at the time.”

Clay was silent, as he processed everything that had happened.  Listening to the baby dragonling’s reasoning, he could see the purpose behind the practice, but it didn’t sit well with him.  It seemed like too harsh of a punishment for changing your mind, as it seemed simpler to just remove the Herohood from whoever wanted to leave their new profession.  As the 4 remaining Heroes woke up and questioned each other over the absence of Crade, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.  They had died unexpectedly, their group member had died permanently – and none of it had been their choice.

Can they still visit my dungeon?

“Yes; technically, groups of any size 5 and fewer can visit your dungeon – though that is not well-known and is generally discouraged.  Anyone trying to exceed that limit, however, will be expelled immediately.”

There was that at least.

“Look, Clay, I know that was a traumatic experience, but I’ve thought about what you said earlier.”

It took him a few seconds to remember what they had been talking about before…all that had happened.  What about it?

“There is a way that you might be able to speed up the process of training, and it also has to do with your previous question.”

Clay was so scatterbrained at the moment that he couldn’t understand what she was talking about.  Huh?

“It’s a major risk to you and your Core, especially right now with your Core Structure Health being so low, so it is entirely up to you whether you want to chance it.  No other Dungeon Core would risk this in your position – and it has never actually been done before – so you have a unique opportunity to be the first.”

Out with it – what are you talking about?

She told him, and he took some time to think about it.  Meanwhile, it appeared as though the group of Heroes – minus 1 now – had finally decided to continue their efforts to gather items.  Weeping and arguing were involved, but after about 15 minutes, they finally came to their inevitable conclusion.

“There’s nothing else for it now; unless we want to end up like Crade, this is what we have to do.  I still believe this is what we were meant to do, and I’m going to throw myself into this wholeheartedly.”  It surprised Clay that it wasn’t the leader, Percy, doing the talking; it was one of the others who had previously objected to moving on.  Whether or not they had a genuine change of heart, or were now resigned to being what they had chosen to be because they had died and been resurrected, the Dungeon Core didn’t know.  He assumed it wouldn’t matter in the end, though, because according to Dwight, it was either do this – or actually die.

He still didn’t like it – and he assumed that the Heroes that had seen one of their number explode didn’t like it either – but he understood it.

They had a little more difficulty killing all of the monsters in the first room with just 4 group members, but they had done it enough that they weren’t in too much danger.  With Percy outfitted with his Fighter Class, he was able to withstand more damage somehow and had a simple bronze short sword as part of his basic kit. Therefore, it wasn’t necessarily as easy as it had been, but they were able to clear the room without too many issues.

Needless to say, they didn’t even attempt the second room.  All they did was collect their items from the Drop Chests, leave, and then come back inside to do it all again.

Three weeks.  I want to see how they do before I act on what you suggested.

The dragonling nodded her head in confirmation.  “Very prudent of you, and it will allow them to acquire the basics of what they need, at least.  Plus, it will give you the opportunity to prepare for it by raising your Core Stage – which shouldn’t take long if the other groups are like the first.”

That was undoubtedly true.  Already that day, the Heroes in Jeska’s group had died 30 times over the 4-hour period; he had expected to receive 750 Crystal Chips from those deaths, but it was 125 Chips more than that.

“You were only getting 25 Crystal Chips from the deaths of the Tier 0 Heroes; they had a Support Class Tier 1, remember, and you received double that amount.  This will only increase as they get stronger and increase in Tiers.”

Ah, ok.  Regardless, he nearly had enough to increase his Core Stage again (which required 1,000 Chips) or go on a shopping spree of Spawn Egg buying; he expected that by the