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

that could trip them up, and they would all attack while everyone was still blinded.  The lizard-like humanoid monster tended to move even after being blinded, but the others stayed in place until their blindness ran out, affording them all an opportunity to take them out.

It took the deaths of three of her group – herself included – to finally kill the monster, which Arcen managed to luckily corner and knock into the light of one of the torches.  After that, despite the 2-Star-rated Gloom Kobold being a deadlier adversary, her brother and Pascale were able to take the monster out.

They didn’t bother to move on further into the dungeon at that point, because they didn’t have a full group with Bands anymore.  It wasn’t until Jeska found something in a Drop Chest as they made their way through the first room on the next run that everything changed.

Drop Chest

Contents:

1X Skillbook – Darkvision Tier 1

[Scout Classes] (Unbound)

“What is that?” Pascale asked, intrigued.  Without hesitation, Jeska stepped back and gestured for him to take it.  As soon as he did, he used it, and the familiar book appeared in front of him floating in the air.  When the process of absorbing the knowledge was complete, Pascale smiled at them all in a way she was beginning to recognize as him planning something devious.

“I think it’s time to teach that stupid Kobold a lesson.”

And a lesson they did teach.  Pascale could activate his new Skill, Darkvision, and then – as the name implied – see in the dark.  It only lasted 20 seconds, with a 2-minute cooldown, but that was enough for him to point out where the holes in the floor were as well as the monsters lying in wait.  It took some effort to follow his directions and attack the monsters before they could attack in turn, but they quickly got the hang of it.  Jeska’s Dazzle Skill was useful in finally killing the Gloom Kobold; she would blind it while Pascale looked away, and when it tried to move, their Scout would use his Darkvision to hunt it down and kill it.

Overall, it took 3 of their 4 hours from their 5th shift to finally pass through the 3rd room without anyone dying, and it had been profitable.  From just that day’s efforts, they had acquired:

3 Mage Class Orb Tier 1

1 Fighter Class Orb Tier 1

2 Support Class Orb Tier 1

1 Skillbook – Darkvision (Scout)

2 Minor Health Potion Tier 1

1 Minor Cooldown Potion Tier 1

1 Hollow Iron Mace +1 Clarity (Healer) Tier 1

1 Belt of Minor Intellect +1 Intellect (Mage) Tier 1

1 Helmet of Minor Defense +1 Toughness (Fighter) Tier 1

1 Iron-spiked Boots +1 Power (Fighter) Tier 1

1 Cracked Harp +1 Charm (Support) Tier 1

It was strange how the bonuses on the weapons and armor worked.  For things like Kelty’s Hollow Iron Mace, it added +1 to her Clarity stat – which was apparently what Healers used as the primary source of their power, just like her own Intellect; with that bonus, she was able to heal Arcen with her healing Skill for an additional point of Health.  With her own bonuses, it was hard to tell if it actually helped to do more damage, but once she had two pieces of armor with bonuses, she found that the cooldown on each of her Skills was reduced by an entire second!

For Rosara as a Support Class, Charm helped to extend the time her Skills would last.  “Plus, I think it will help with monsters that are more dangerous, so that my effects don’t wear off as fast,” Rosara added when Jeska asked about her new “weapon”, the Cracked Harp.  It was a musical instrument, not a weapon by any definition, but when she strummed on the – admittedly out of tune – strings, the sound it made seemed to join in and enhance either her song or her sexy dance.

Then there were the Scout stats. Speed lived up to its name, of course; Reflexes was a bit harder to ascertain, but it appeared to help with Pascale’s ability to strike monsters in just the right spot to deal maximum damage.

Finally, Arcen benefitted from Power and Toughness stats.  Power helped him to deal even more damage, almost like a boost to his strength; Jeska had felt it herself due to Rosara’s song skill that increased her Power, but it was essentially wasted on her now that she primarily stayed near the back of the group and flung out spells.  Toughness was the opposite side of the coin, as it allowed Arcen to shrug off many wounds; it both somehow made his skin a little thicker and lessened the pain from any attacks he actually did suffer.  He was still wounded, of course, but it didn’t hurt him quite as much.

Of course, they had all decided not to use anything but their base weapons and armor when they were tackling rooms that they hadn’t defeated without anyone dying before, just so they wouldn’t lose any of them when they resurrected.  It made things more difficult in defeating new rooms, but it sure helped to get them through the easier ones; they would just use them through the point where they knew they might die and then unequip them.  After a point, it almost felt like they were cheating as they zipped through the first 2 – and now the first 3 – rooms without too much trouble.

“Are you all ready to check out the 4th room?” Jeska asked excitedly, after their second time finishing the 3rd room – this time without dying.  The drop from the Chest coming from the Kobold was disappointing both times, with just some junk instead of anything good, but they were well aware by that point that the drop rate of trash items was fairly high.

“Oh, you’re