Monster Mansion 2 by Dante King (best way to read ebooks .txt) 📗

like a traditional dungeon than the mansion has ever looked. I don’t know what’s going on, and I think we should be very careful.”

“Ah, it can’t be that dangerous, can it?” said Amanda, stepping boldly into the dungeon. She lifted her free hand to her mouth and called out loudly, “Selena! Astrid! Where are you?”

I focused all my attention on sending a tight thought to Kyrine. “It’s a good question,” I said. “Where are Astrid and Selena?”

“They are still in the entrance hall. They will have seen us disappear, and they’ll see a display warning them not to use the main door, since it’s leading somewhere else now.”

“Can we bring them in? Astrid said she wanted a chance to run the dungeon, and she might be able to explain better what’s going on than I can.”

Kyrine seemed to be thinking. Then she said, “yes, I think you should be able to do that. Can you find within yourself your awareness of the mansion?”

I concentrated. “Yes, I can!” I said in surprise.

“Shhh!” said Kyrine. In the portal dungeon, Amanda was speaking to Belinda.

“Did you hear that?” she said.

“Yeah,” said Belinda. “It sounded like Jeremy, but I couldn’t quite make out what he said.”

Kyrine spoke to me, sounding like a voice in my ear. “You need to keep your focus tight on me when you speak, otherwise the agents will hear you. Now, turn your attention to the mansion.”

I did as she instructed, and after a moment of work I found that I could see the mansion’s entranceway. Astrid and Selena were standing in the hall, discussing what had just happened. I reached for Astrid, and without warning I plucked her out of the mansion and placed her in the portal dungeon.

Astrid appeared in the middle of the entrance hall. The shock of my abrupt transferring of her made her buckle to her knees and groan. Amanda and Belinda both raised their guns and pointed them in her direction, before realizing who it was.

“Astrid!” said Belinda, lowering her weapon and rushing forward. “What’s going on? Is everything all right? What is this place?”

Astrid straightened up and waved her hands about the great hall. “This is Jeremy’s first portal dungeon,” she began, and as the other two women moved forward and asked questions, Astrid explained the whole process to them.

It took a bit of time, but once Astrid was done explaining I could see that Belinda and Amanda were both impressed. That felt pretty good.

Belinda looked up and around the dungeon. “It’s amazing!” she marveled, then a thought seemed to strike her. “Jeremy? Can you hear us?”

Kyrine gave me a prod. “Go on,” she said. “If you speak freely, they will hear you.”

“Welcome to the dungeon, adventurers!” I said. My voice boomed off the cavernous walls and rang around the interior of the vaulted space. “Wow!” I thought. “My voice is so loud!”

The women obviously thought so too, because they all crouched and covered their ears.

“Quieter, Jeremy, please!” Astrid hollered, and I chuckled. My laughter rolled around the dungeon like an echo.

“You said you wanted a chance to run the dungeon, Astrid,” I said, more quietly this time. “Are you up for it? Amanda and Belinda? Is that ok with you? We’ll be careful not to harm you, of course, but you can have a go at blasting a few monsters. If now, you may of course leave right now.

“A bit of warning would have been nice,” she said, “but yeah, actually, this is pretty impressive. It would be fun to have a go.”

She turned to Amanda and Belinda. “Do you mind?”

The two women shook their heads, and Amanda rubbed her hands together in anticipation. “I’ve not had a chance for a good fight in ages,” she said. “I’m up for it.”

I was liking this woman already.

“Thank you!” I said. “It’s good for me to get a first practice with friends.”

I withdrew a little, letting them have a look around and explore. They began to find the loot, and Amanda Fallon excitedly pocketed some old Eosorean coins she found on the floor. Astrid, who had not been armed when she entered the dungeon, picked up a battleaxe from where it leaned in a corner.

That was when Belinda triggered the first mob spawn.

The Goblin mixed mob was triggered by laying a hand on a particular chest. The mob was a randomly generated group, and it consisted of four melee goblins and a ranged goblin armed with a crossbow.

They spawned almost on top of the agents, and immediately began to attack. I’d never seen them before, and I was shocked at how dangerous and aggressive they looked. They were greenskins, like the classic Warhammer goblins, with big noses and pointed ears and chins. For armor, they wore an assortment of ragged leather, bits of chain mail, and steel gauntlets. In their hands, they carried big, ugly cleavers.

“’ave at ‘em!” screeched the lead goblin. The four melee goblins charged, cleavers raised, while the crossbow-armed one leaped backward and began to load his crude but effective weapon.

“Shit!” yelled Astrid, dodging a swing from a goblin cleaver. “Take them out, Belinda!”

Belinda didn’t need to be told twice. She didn’t even need to deploy her psycher abilities. She drew a pistol, dropped into a crouching firing position and raised her weapon.

Regular rounds blasted through the cave. One goblin fell with one bullet in his head and one in his chest. The others scattered, screeching, and Belinda’s second and third shots missed.

Amanda Fallon raised her gun, a big, revolver that did not look like it had been issued by any government department. “Eat this, goblin scum!” she yelled, and discharged a storm of firebolts from her weapon.

I realized that Amanda Fallon’s gun must be a magitech enhanced piece. I’d never seen one so powerful!