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

“Ugh, that was a hell of a hit,” he said, shaking his head. “Do you think those voices were the dungeon?”

“I don’t know,” said Sarah. “I guess so. Never heard of a dungeon having two voices though. Come to think of it, the woman did sound like the voice who spoke when we were at the front door.”

“And the man’s voice sounded like the one who spoke when we saw that other scene right at the beginning,” said Todd thoughtfully.

Josh got to his feet, holstering his pistols and retrieving his crossbow. He looked at his companions, looking like his old self again. The healing potions had done their work. “Never mind that,” he said. “We were almost beaten just now. What do you want to do?”

“There’s plenty of loot to be had,” said Todd reluctantly. “We could just harvest this gold and leave…”

“What, and leave these chambers unfought?” said Sarah.

“Hey, you’re not the one who nearly had his face ripped off by fucking icy bastard panthers!”

“Cougars,” Sarah corrected him. “They were cougars, not panthers.”

“Whatever!” Josh said.

“Come on,” said Sarah, “we’ve come all this way, and defeated everything the dungeon’s thrown at us! You want to pussy out now?”

Todd threw up his hands. “I guess… I dunno. I’ve got a few healing potions left, it would be a shame not to use them…” He was looking at the wooden door marked with the number 1.

“Josh, what do you think?” Sarah said, turning on the big crossbowman.

“I want to go on,” he said with a shrug. “We’re the first people to run a dungeon in over a century. I’m not stopping now. Let’s at least run the first room.”

Todd was rearranging his potions in his belt and grinning. “We’re gluttons for punishment here,” he said with a laugh. “All right, fuck it. Let’s do it.”

“Yeah!” roared Josh, and Sarah chuckled. The three of them knocked their fists together and then turned to the ominous door.

“Last time the cougar mob was triggered by us standing in front of the door. Let’s be wary in case we activate a trap or another mob this time,” said Sarah.

They approached the door warily, weapons at the ready, but nothing new appeared. There was a sense of watchfulness in the dungeon, as Sarah reached for the door and pushed it.

To her surprise, it opened immediately, creaking back and thumping against the wall of the narrow corridor that was revealed.

“It was locked before,” said Todd.

“We must have unlocked it by clearing the cougar mob,” Josh figured. He was peering down the corridor. “It’s only wide enough for one at a time down there,” he said doubtfully.

“That means me,” said Sarah. “Todd, gimme a boost. I don’t know what I’m going to come up against down there…”

Todd took a deep breath and said, “Warrior Boost,” to summon his general use spell. Sarah felt the power of the buff run through her, boosting her resistance to damage, her speed, and her response time. Red and green light flickered over her, and then settled to a pale, steady sheen. The light would continue to glow around her as long as the buff was active, fading when the effects started to run out.

Todd pressed a stim vial into her hand.

“Take that as well,” he advised.

“What is it?”

“Magic resist and a single use speed burst. Stacked with the speed and response buff from the spell, you’ll be quicker than anything you come up against.”

She nodded, popping the cap and knocking the sour yellow liquid back. A yellow light joined the green and red one, creating a gentle flickering pattern across her armor and skin.

“Listen,” she said, “whatever’s down there, I’m not going to fight it in there. I’m going to activate it and then get the hell away, back out here. As soon as I’m back out, Josh, you unload on it. Give it everything you’ve got— guns, magic, crossbow, whatever. Todd, be ready to heal me when I appear, but if I don’t heal immediately, use your warhammer to deal as much damage as you can in one or two blows.”

Both of her companions nodded agreement, and Sarah continued. “Once we’re fighting, I want everyone to stick to their roles— Josh, you’re ranged damage, Todd, you stick to buffs and healing spells unless anything gets close to Josh. That fight with the cougars was too close. We need to up our game and make sure we’re working as a team if we want to defeat a real dungeon boss, go it?”

“Got it,” they said in unison.

Sarah, feeling the hectic power of the speed boosts crackling through her, snapped her visor down and switched from longsword to paired short swords. It was going to be close work in the corridor, and she would need room to move.

“Here goes then,” she said grimly, and plunged through the doorway.

The corridor sloped downward, and Sarah moved as quietly as she could, looking for enemies. The fight with the cougar had made her wary— even all their years of fighting in dungeon sims had not prepared them for that, and she had no idea what she was going to face at the end of this corridor.

Torches lit the corridor, stuck in blackened wall sconces on either side of the narrow space. Long shadows flickered and danced on the walls as Sarah made her way, blades drawn, toward her next challenge.

Suddenly, there was a screeching sound, and three goblins came barreling up the corridor toward her. They were small and stupid-looking, and in the close confines of the corridor they could not fan out and try to flank her. They would have to face her one at a time.

Sarah used her speed boost and took a few rapid steps toward them, enjoying the look of shock on their ugly green