Dungeoneer (The Weight Of It All): A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure Read online

  Jasmine screamed at the top of her lungs. Her eyes became bloodshot as she looked at the three men. Slash was now standing closest to her, with the doctor directly behind him.

  Not to be taken lightly, Jasmine grabbed a health potion she had hidden away in her own Satchel for emergencies. As she reached for the potion, she applied her Rank 4 Skill to each of the men.

  "Propagate!" she yelled, pointing her stump at each of them.

  The Skill enhanced the effects of any poison in the body of her target ten-fold. Constant applications of this Skill had been used to take down the Boss Monster, securing its eventual kill. The Skill was Energy-intensive, but she expended all she had left as she tried to kill the three men.

  And still, they stayed silent.

  Jasmine had killed hundreds of people in her life. When poisoned, everyone would react differently, but they would always react. Blood slowly stopped pouring from her arm as the potion took effect and she thought back on some of the countless lives she had taken in her life.

  She loved watching them beg as they looked up at her, but Jasmine was the only one capable of handling her poisons in full. Even the most robust Affinity users had a difficult time and would die just the same.

  But still, these three stayed silent.

  In fact, as she looked at each of the men, she noticed that the black spots across their bodies were disappearing. 'Propagate' usually blackened the skin thoroughly, but they looked completely healthy.

  The captain took this opportunity to start speaking again. "No, Jasmine, I've made no mistake. I have done many awful things in my life, but you and I are not the same. I know about you and your poisons. We saw what they did to the Dungeon Monsters. You even made the Boss easier to kill. Your most recent service to the Kingdom has been considered in your sentencing, but you underestimated the doctor here. I told him to keep his Rank 4 Skill hidden in case you went against the team. You didn't, but that doesn't detract from the thousands who have died at your hands already."

  "You, snakes! How dare you! I did everything you asked! Screw you! I will kill you all! I will—” Jasmine screamed at them. While raging, she started to edge closer to the water, recognizing that she had no other choice.

  As she reached the edge, she jumped towards the water, trying to get away from the men.

  At that moment, the captain used his incredible speed to dash across the rock and attack her. His body blurred as he reached her falling body. Once there, Jasmine could only watch in shock as he slashed at her neck.

  Within moments, her head separated from her body. She had no opportunity to react or counter as the sword cut through her.

  Jasmine's body fell into the water, followed by her head, as the rock floated away.

  * * * * *

  After a few minutes, someone finally spoke.

  "That was brutal. I hate having to heal my neck. I always have a sore throat afterward." Doc rubbed his neck. "Do we go back for the Inventory Satchel? I bet she was rich! Wouldn't hurt to make a bit more money on this thing."

  "No. We've done enough. Let's go, Rocky." The captain signalled for Rocky to start moving again.

  "Yes, captain."

  The large rock started to rise into the air again. His Rank 5 Skill, Untethered, being put to work.

  The captain let out a sigh. "Thank you for waiting to use your Rank 4 Skill, Doc, but I hope you'll remember to keep this part a secret. As far as you know, teammate Toxic died while fighting the Dungeon Boss."

  "Well, the whole trip is already a secret, so what's one more. As long as I get my orbs, I'm happy."

  "You'll get your orbs and your gold."

  Jasmine's blonde head floated away as the captain, Rocky, and Doc resumed their journey towards the Kingdom.

  Chapter 1 – Stinky and Pinky

  "Sorry, Britta, can you repeat that?" I asked. General Magic Studies had just finished. Zane, Britta, and I were standing on top of the platform. It took so long for Cassie and Britta to come down from the audience after our previous guest speaker finished that most of the class had already left the auditorium.

  "I want you and Zane to come on the hunting trip with me,” Britta said with a smile. “I plan on bringing Jen and Cassie as well."

  Britta's father was planning a hunting trip for her seventeenth birthday. He hadn't told us any details when he announced it at Britta's surprise party, but we knew Britta could bring along another four students. I hadn't expected her to choose me, so I was a little taken aback.

  "B-But, why us? Well, I can understand, Zane, but my sword skills are still pretty terrible."

  "We'd love to come, Britta. Thanks for the invite!" Zane responded, cutting off any additional complaints I might have had at the friendly gesture.

  "That's great. I think it should be a great trip! Dad told me a bit more after you all left last night. Apparently, he's having the team go search for some materials for the shop. He usually plans this stuff, and he convinced them to take us along for more money. We're all going to meet up again next weekend. We've got to get some more details from my dad, plus figure out what materials we want to bring with us. I look forward to having you both with us."

  "O-Okay, sounds good!" I stammered, still unsure how to take the sudden generosity.

  "I don't know why you're so shocked, Ren,” Britta said. “We have Dungeoneering together, we train together all the time, and we love the both of you. I talked about it with Jen and Cassie, and we couldn't think of bringing anyone other than you guys."

  "Don't mind him, Britta. He wants to come, but I think he has issues dealing with people saying nice things about him. Let's go catch up with everyone. I need to eat something before Dungeoneering." Zane started to walk off the platform towards the exit of the auditorium.

  I looked at Britta and Zane as they started to leave. Deciding that I didn't want to look foolish standing there by myself, I followed them as well.

  "I'm just a little shocked. I really do appreciate your invite, Britta. When I heard your dad's offer, I got really excited for you and anyone who could go," I started to say while we walked towards the dining hall. "But like I said, I have no sword Skills, and my Rank 1 Skill doesn't do much. I don't know if I'll be very useful."

  "Don't get too excited," Britta said as she dropped back to walk beside me. "My parents wouldn't send us anywhere too dangerous. My dad wants me to get some exposure to what Dungeoneers do, besides just going into Dungeons. And besides, we're there as tag-alongs. If we fight anything, it'll mean the team made a mistake, and by the sounds of it, that shouldn't happen."

  "What does your dad's shop sell?” Zane asked. “I don't think we've ever asked."

  "My mom decorates the house, so it isn't obvious, but he sells meat and monster parts. And even then, I'd say it's mostly just meat. Anything else he just gets rid of. Sells it to anyone who'll take it."

  "But aren't there farms for that? I know I saw some while we were coming into town on the wagon. I don't think I could imagine your dad as a farmer."

  "Damn, guys, can you hold off on all the questions?” Britta groaned. “We'll talk about it this weekend. And where's Jen when you need her?"

  She generally didn't like to talk for long. Luckily, her friends all loved to talk, which helped balance it out. She reluctantly decided to answer my question.

  "Yes, there are farms,” she admitted. “But they provide one type of service while my dad provides another. My dad will have to explain it to you, but he looks for monsters that have edible parts. He then gets to sell these to restaurants, specialty shops, and other merchants in town for more money. It's actually why we came to Krader in the first place. The town we were in before had fewer monsters, and that's bad for his business."

  "So, your dad pays people to go out and kill the monsters, he harvests them, then he sells them for parts around town?" I asked.

  "Something like that. Oh, look, the Dining Hall, let's go eat with the girls. You can ask them the rest of your questions."

&nb
sp; Britta jogged towards the Dining Hall.

  Zane and I chuckled at how quickly she wanted to get away from us.

  "Just accept it, Ren, you've got friends that like you. Let's go eat, and we'll get more details next weekend when we talk with her dad." Zane patted me on the back and gave me a big smile as he started to walk a little faster to catch up with Britta.

  We grabbed our food quickly and joined the girls at the table. They had already eaten and were just waiting for us to join.

  "So, you told them?" Jen asked as we approached the table. Her black hair still looked amazing despite having spent a chunk of the last class exercising.

  "Yes. I'm going to eat now,” Britta said between mouthfuls. “You answer their questions."

  "Slow down, you ogre, you act like you haven't eaten in days," Cassie said as Britta grabbed another piece of meat and shoveled it into her mouth.

  "Leave her, Cass, she's probably just exhausted," Jen cut Cassie off from saying anything else.

  Zane and I joined them and started to eat our food. Zane responded to Jen's question.

  "She told us, and we said yes. I guess we're all going on a trip together! I may like this place, but I miss traveling. With all the stuff we've been learning, we deserve a break."

  "I wouldn't call it a break," Jen started. "We're technically going on a dangerous monster hunt. We've all got a lot of work to do."

  Jen had taken on the pseudo-leader role in our little group. She always had an idea of what we should be doing and knew how to keep our attention.

  We'd only known each other for only a few months, but we all got along really well.

  I had made other friends at the school, like the twins Noah and Trevor, or their friend Ron, but I really considered these five people at the table my best friends.

  Zane was the first student I met when I first left Huag. He and I talked the entire trip about the world, Affinities, and our lives. For some reason, we bonded really well, and I was happy to consider him my best friend.

  Jen and I had bonded for many nights, training with swords in the Field C building. Both of us would spend most nights of the week working out, swinging a sword, or sparring with Britta and Zane. She was really skilled with a sword, which I had only started to appreciate as we worked together more and more. Her Affinity was SWORD, but unlike some people, her Rank 1 Skill didn't help her learn how to use her sword any better. Everything she did was based on her own abilities and training. Aside from being excellent with her blade and a fantastic leader, she was also beautiful.

  If I'm honest with myself, I have a bit of a crush on Jen, but I wouldn't let that get in the way of our training or school.

  Jen had three best friends who had joined her at Prep: Britta, Cassie, and Trish.

  Britta was strong-willed and also had a strong body. She was about as tall as me and was probably more muscular. Where I used to be a fat kid who lost weight, Britta looked like someone who worked out regularly to gain muscle. It wasn't always intimidating, but sometimes you would look at her and realize she could probably snap a smaller student in half if provoked. She was a bit stubborn, but she was passionate about her friendships, and a really warm-hearted person when she wanted to be.

  Cassie and I hadn't spent a lot of time together, but she always found a way to make me laugh. Despite having the HEAL Affinity, she didn't give off the healing vibe that I expected from a healer. Instead, she was the first to tease us with her dark and sarcastic sense of humour.

  Lastly, Trish, who spent the least amount of time with the group. When we were together, we would geek out over our shared fascination with Dungeons. She spent a lot of time in the library, so we sometimes spent time together while researching for class.

  "Earth to Ren. Terrence, are you listening?" Jen said, taking me out of my musings.

  "Ugh, yeah, sorry." The group laughed. They had gotten used to me getting a bit too involved in my own thoughts.

  "I was just saying how we had a bunch of stuff to do. We need to talk to Britta's dad so we know where we're going, but we also need to buy our own supplies and discuss battle plans if something goes wrong. Even though we'll have Dungeoneers with us, we need to be prepared just in case. So, how about we speak to Britta's dad on Saturday and pool our money to buy anything we need afterward on Sunday?"

  The group agreed and discussed our plans further for the upcoming weekend.

  Eventually, we all finished our meal and decided to start heading to Dungeoneering class. Most of us had this class together since only Trish had decided she didn't want to become a Dungeoneer.

  I had considered bathing, but despite the workout this morning, I wasn't covered in sweat.

  It had been a couple months since I started at Prep, the school for newly assigned Affinity users. In that time, I had gained friends, but more importantly, I had progressed substantially in my WEIGHT Affinity.

  Current Progress.

  Affinity : Weight

  Rank 1 – View Weight – 93%

  Energy : 16/16

  I hadn't asked anyone about their percentage for a few months, but based on how Zane talked about it, my 93% had to be some kind of record. I used my Skill whenever I had Energy available and always tried to use it on different things or people. I also experimented pretty often with my own Internal Energy. I wanted to believe that I was doing something completely different from everyone else. Still, I knew there had to be more to it.

  I just didn't know what that was.

  I chalked it up as a future issue and thanked the Goddess for my good fortune.

  My Energy was completely full after expending it entirely in class, so I decided to use it discretely as we walked to class. Zane and I made it a habit to abuse our Skills whenever we could.

  First, I directed my Energy towards my eyes. Using it in this way alone wouldn't enhance my eyesight in any way. If I wanted to do that, I would need to specifically will for that to happen. As I started to feel my Energy deplete, I used my Skill on myself.

  ‘View Weight’.

  190 pounds!

  My body felt tired, and I gained a slight headache as my Energy was completely drained. The Skill didn't do much, but over time I had learned to appreciate the intricacies of my Skill and what it could mean for the future.

  Since starting here, the time it took to use my Skill had decreased dramatically, with most things now happening instantaneously. This only got better when I used Internal Energy to augment the Skill. On top of that, I could now use it on people sprinting or trying to avoid my gaze. It didn't require the same level of concentration that it had in the past. I still couldn't determine everything's weight, having already tried it with 'Air' itself and the 'Sun' in the sky.

  Both had produced no results, despite all of my Energy being depleted. But either way, large buildings were no longer an issue. Several of the buildings on campus were massive. The numbers were challenging to manage, but thankfully my Skill started to switch to large numbers to compensate.

  Now, when I looked at huge buildings, like my dorm building, it wouldn't show 72,000,000 pounds! Instead, it would show 36,000 tons! Still a large number, but thankfully, more manageable.

  Overall, I was happy with the progress I'd made.

  As I neared Rank 2, my Affinity's progress slowed, but I still hoped to reach Rank 2 before the hunting trip.

  For now, Dungeoneering Class.

  * * * * *

  We reached Dungeoneering class and found a spot on the mats closest to where Renault would start teaching. We talked for a bit, but eventually, the professor walked in, wearing a pair of bright green pants. His outfits were always bright and bold. A few weeks into the class, we made it a game to guess what colour he would wear each week. The losers had to wipe down the mats after training.

  So far, over close to a dozen classes, someone had only won a handful of times. Professor Luke Renault would always throw us off with a new colour.

  "Good, good. Looks like we have everyone, let's get
started. At the end of the last class, I had you look into emergency measures. In a Dungeon, anything can happen. From monster stampedes to roaming Alphas, you always need to be ready to either stand and fight or get away safely.

  “If you'll remember, in a previous class, we talked about preparedness in general. Making sure you get information on the Dungeon beforehand helps. Knowing where monsters usually congregate, having a map of known locations, understanding what things might be edible. All things that you should have some knowledge about before entering a Dungeon.

  “Now, if we talk about emergency measures, we're talking about two things. One, knowing what types of emergencies might happen, and two, knowing how to get out of those emergencies with fewest casualties.”

  He cleared his throat and swept his gaze over us.

  “To start, let's assume you don't have an Inventory Satchel with you. Most of you cannot afford those anyway, so it's a reasonable idea.” He raised a finger. “Can one of you help me in listing a potential emergency that might happen in a Dungeon?"

  Professor Renault smiled and looked at the students as they started to raise their hands. I made a note to ask Zane what an Inventory Satchel was after class.

  Eventually, the professor picked a student.

  "A large group of monsters starts attacking the team."

  "Yes, this happens often, good, good. No two Dungeons are the same, but you can expect this to happen every time. Now, class, what are some things you might do if you see a horde of monsters approaching your position."

  A few people raised their hands and answered.

  "Run."

  "Climb a tree."

  "Stand and fight."

  "Okay, let's start with those three." The professor laced his fingers. "So, first, running. Good answer, and one that is often underestimated. If you can see the monsters coming, this means you hopefully have time to start running.

  “This also relates to our previous discussion on preparedness. If you know the Dungeon layout, you can decide where to run. You might have been traveling for weeks, meaning the Dungeon's entrance isn't easy to get back to. As a result, you should always look for locations you can return to for safety.