Dungeon Master (Karma System)

Max and Anna were sitting on a picnic blanket in the garden of the manor. It had been 3 days since Anna had appeared.

Although Max was busy. He made sure to eat breakfast and dinner with Anna and they set aside at least an hour every day to enjoy each other’s company and get to know one another better.

Anna was a blessing to have at his side. She was great at her job. She took over a few administration tasks. The creatures of the dungeon also enjoyed having her around. She had taken over running the village while Max worked on the lower levels.

He found it difficult to interact with the creatures sometimes because they all treated him with extreme reverence. Sometimes they would ignore minor problems so that they wouldn’t bother him. Anna on the other hand, they had no problem approaching her with their worries and troubles. She had also made a few changes to the village. It prevented a couple of problems that he had overlooked.

They had only been working together a short while, but so far, they were making a great team.

”... and once I helped him get his dog onto the leash, he checked the time and saw he was late. The old guy took off down the street. He made it half a block before he realized that I was still holding his dog’s leash. He came back thanked me and then was off running again.”

”Ha, ha, ha, that’s funny.”

Max nodded with a smile.

”I ran into him a few days later and found out that he was so frazzled because he was running late for his daughter’s birthday dinner.”

The pair was suddenly interrupted.

[4 Adventures have entered level 1]

Anna looked excited and so was Max.

”You go get changed. I will double check the hospital and then meet you in the monitoring room.” She said.

Max nodded. A few minutes later they reconvened in a hidden room under the village. Large monitors displayed what was happening on Level 1. The picture zoomed in on 4 teenagers that were reading the sign before the forest.

///

Rod kept his wits about him while they followed the path through the foggy forest.

”Hold.” Dirk whispered.

The group stopped. Rod didn’t ask what was going on. The archer had much better senses than he and Dirk was standing without moving a muscle.

Almost a minute later they saw something in the fog.

First it was green, then blue, followed by purple, next pink, then orange.

Floating lights were dancing in the air and drawing closer.

Rod listened and it sounded like faint giggles. The lights were just a few feet off the path. They bounced and glided. He could hear a merry tune like it was being hummed in his ear. The soft giggling made it hard to focus on the tune. He closed his eyes and tried to pick it out.

As his foot stepped forward to get closer and listen, he snapped out of it. He found himself several paces off the trail. Dirk and Silvia were still there with their eyes closed. But several paces in front of him, Lana was following the bouncing lights.

Rod bit his tongue, focusing on the pain to distract him from the bewitching sights and sounds. He rushed forward and grabbed Lana around the waist. He didn’t softly question her. He picked her up and dragged her to the others.

The commotion snapped Dirk and Silvia out of their trance. Lana woke from her trance as he was carrying her back.

”Thanks.” She whispered when he set her down.

”This place is dangerous. I don’t care what the system says.” Rod said. ”Make sure not to lose sight of each other. If you close your eyes, grab a buddy first. Dirk, no retreating to high perches where we can’t see you.”

The others nodded. Every one of the four was shaken to their core. That could have ended so badly.

They continued to walk through the forest for another 15 minutes. So far they had seen nothing. They were on edge and extremely confused. This was nothing like the dungeons they had heard of or been to. There were no waves of enemies being sent at them. They weren’t encountering traps they had to bypass.

No, all they did was travel through a terrifying forest. Even Rod, who had the most experience out of them all had never been this afraid in a dungeon. But he was starting to understand the words of his father.

Nothing was as frightening as the unknown.

It was relief that they felt when the group saw firelight up ahead. They didn’t believe for a moment it was a safe place to catch their breath. No, it was a promise of enemies. But at least they now knew where the enemies were.

They crouched down, careful not to disturb the pine trees as they moved closer.

The four slowly looked through the gaps.

A short man with the legs of a goat was clopping around a fire. Forest animals formed a circle around him and the fire. The man had horns curling on his head. A small, short sword was stored at his side, while he held a piccolo in hand. He would blow out a note and then prance around the fire.

”Satyr.” Whispered Lana.

The satyr laughed and danced. Elk, foxes, rabbits, and birds surrounded him. It almost looked like they were cheering for his performance.

The half man half goat suddenly stopped, he was on the other side of the fire, facing away from it. A large shadow was cast on the nearby trees. His small form in person greatly contrasted to the demon like shadow that the fire projected.

He played three notes that rang through the air.

A smooth and melodious voice followed the notes as the satyr spoke. ”It appears we have guests. Bring me the trespassers!”

The animals scattered and the tops of the trees shook as something leapt from them.

Rod realized that once he had seen the fire he hadn’t looked up at all.

An arrow flew past the Axe Master. The satyr rolled out of the way of Dirk’s shot.

Silvia readied her shield.

*Bang*

Something had bounced off and the force had almost knocked her over. Once she steadied her feet she looked to where the thing had landed only to see that it had already scurried away.

The satyr was running around the fire so he could venture into the woods to attack them. With unseen enemies around, Rod decided it would be better to fight with more visibility.

”Towards the fire!” He yelled while jumping into the clearing with his axe overhead.

He struck ground as the satyr bounced out of the way of his strike.

The others quickly followed.

Once Lana entered the clearing, Silvia followed in behind her. She jumped forward and blocked a sword that was coming towards the mage. The Satyr jumped back to the edge of the clearing.

Lana began to chant her incantation.

Something caught Silvia’s attention from the corner of her eye. And it was moving towards her Mistress.

*Twang*

Before Silvia could move. An arrow nailed the creature to a tree.

She got her first good look at it. The creature was maybe a foot tall. Its skin was a twilight blue that sparkled like the night sky. In its small hand was a dagger that it wielded like a sword.

She had no idea what the creature was.

Finishing her incantation Lana shouted out. ”Icey rain!”

Cold rain began to fall. As it hit the Satyr, his movements began to slow.

The creature jumped back after dodging another one of the axe swings, it was surprised when a small hatchet buried into his shoulder. He hadn’t expected the axe master to throw such a thing.

He pulled the hatchet from his shoulder and threw it towards the archer.

Silvia shifted to block it. It bounced off her shield and landed near Rod’s feet.

”AHH!”

She recognized the sound of her Mistress’s voice. She saw a large gash going across the mages’ back.

”Bastards.” Rod yelled. He tried to swing his large axe at the frighteningly fast creatures, but he was far too slow.

A splash of blood landed on the dirt in the firelight. Rod turned to see that the satyr had stabbed his sword through Dirk’s thigh. The young archer didn’t hesitate though. The half goat had a dagger in his stomach.

Rod’s eyes glowed with fury as he raised his axe. When he was about to step forward and bring it down, the Satyr smirked and stopped grimacing in pain. ”To slow.” His body collapsed into a swarm of butterflies.

”Damn it.” He cursed while checking on Dirk.

The bone was fine, but it would be hard for him to travel on that leg in a short time. He used some healing powder to close the wound. They would need a better potion later.

Rod had moved Dirk closer to the fire so he could see the wound better, Silvia had done the same with Lana.

The icy rain had stopped, and their enemies would no longer be slowed when they approached. The 4 became vigilant as they looked around.

When the group heard a small giggling above them, they silently cursed as they quickly looked up.

Up above them bounced 5 colorful fairies.

The small group was holding something, but the foursome realized it wasn’t good when the fairies dropped it into the fire.

With a sizzle hiss and crack, the brown haze filled the clearing.

They let out a groan as they were suddenly feeling dizzy and sleepy. It was so hard to keep their eyes open.

Rod heard a muffled yelp.

[Dirk has been defeated.]

Rod looked up to see his oldest friend and companion laying flat on his back, a knife in his chest.

[Silvia has been defeated.]

He didn’t have time to look. This wasn’t supposed to be like this. It was supposed to only be a low threat in this dungeon. He wanted to cry and scream.

He dropped his axe, picking up his hatchet he swung blindly. He thought he felt something, but it didn’t matter.

[You have been defeated.]

Lana finished her incantation. ”Lightning wave.”

Lightning shot out in every direction; 2 small blue creatures dropped to the ground twitching.

Lana had put all her mana into that spell and fell to the ground exhausted.

A swarm of butterflies congealed as the satyr appeared next to her.

”Good on you girly. You got two of them.” He then ran his sword through her heart.

[You have been defeated.]

[You are the last party member to arrive. Your party is being resurrected in the safe zone.]

All 4 teenagers suddenly sat up abruptly from their beds.

*Bang*

Streamers fell from the ceiling of the hospital room they found themselves in.

A man in strange clothes and woman held open a banner that said.

{Congratulations!}

The man then spoke enthusiastically. ”Congratulations on being the first adventures to die in Crag Dungeon. This is an achievement that will always be owned by you. Take heart in the fact that you have done something no other being has ever done before.”

The woman shot him a smile while she smacked him on the arm. She then turned towards the group.

”Take your time. We will be outside when you are ready.”

She then left with the man.

The 4 each looked around, but it was Lana who spoke first. ”What the fuck!”