Valknar

Poll 1 - 9th Floor

Floor eight has been written. Now it is time to talk bout the next floor. The monster will be Lions... But what type.

Oh... there will be a second poll shortly and both will run for a week.

Chapter 101

Vicdrum Searider was looking at the old-style Cythian watchtower.

It did not look like much, but such things would get you killed in his line of work. The Guild had sent him to be this place to be the [Dungeon Assessor]. The previous one had been promoted to run the Guild in the local town.

Vicdrum was not impressed with the communit...

Chapter 100

Minvar had just left Elian’s office. She was leaning back in her chair, looking at the ceiling rafters. The report from the Minoar’s team that had just returned from the Dungeon. They had recovered a Moonlight Rose, which will be sold to the Merchant Guild today.

The report of the battle with the single occupant of the sixth floor. She...

Chapter 99

Minvar watched her team as they checked themselves over one last time before descending to the sixth floor. This Dungeon was strange and they were no longer treating it like it was beneath them. The two floors they had passed through were presented a marked escalation in danger.

The stair room was well-lit by blue moss. Seeing everyone in ...

Chapter 98

“Are you sure?” Elain had never heard Albrot so concerned before. But what they had just been told had unsettled him, and she was right there with him. Just the hint of the implications was starting to scare her.

“Yes, Guild Master. We have recovered a moonlight rose from the seventh floor.” Sliva was just back from the Dungeon and...

Chapter 97

“What happened?” Albrot demanded as he and Elain rushed into the healer's building.

Ranus had created a large building in which numerous healers and priests worked. As they entered, they found it a hive of activity. Nimora stood in the centre of the main room as others rushed around her. She looked shocked, confused and lost. Albrot’...

New Midian - 2

Authors note - Here is the second part. The rest will be released with these chapters closer to the end of January on Royal Road. They will be released quickly as I plan to publish fast the first book. Paterons will see the other chapters in the first and second tiers before that. As always thoughts and feedback is welcome.

Chapter...

New Midian

Authors note - This is a side project I have been working on. I am publishing the first few chapters for all to see and would welcome any thoughts and feedback. Count this as a warning s well if you are easily offended I do not hold back from difficult subjects!

Prologue

2040

Two fighter jets tore through the clear sky, ...

Chapter 96

Winter swept through the valley, announced by five straight days of blizzards that stopped anyone from coming to the Dungeon. That was a shame, as things were coming close to level seven.  Late autumn had seen another uptick of deaths as the greedy tried for the sixth-floor guardian.

“5% that it! That’s all I need!”

The fi...

Chapter 95

Authors note - Two chapters tday plus something extra.

The daily routine continued. Ranus had not contacted me and I had settled back into the everyday grind. Days had passed, and I was seeing fewer adventurers as the days shortened. More rain was coming through the area.

“Winter will be here soon.”

I spoke to Larry,...

Chapter 94

Ranus leaned back in his chair. He had contacted the Dungeon during a break in his daily schedule. He found it hard to deal with the intelligence on the other side of the crystal connection. It sounded male and its words reinforced this. But the way it talked and approached questions was so… strange.

Yes, the note he received with the cr...

Chapter 93

Things were moving forward slowly. The ogre was taking shape in my head. I had spent the last few weeks alternating between Core Refining and experimentation. It produced some excellent results that I factored into my plans.

I opened my character sheet and looked at the important part right now.

Name Bhaldor

Essence 58%<...

Chapter 92

Folly’s End was an interesting piece of geography. Rivers surrounded the hills. To the north, a river came to the hills and split around both sides of them. These then meet another river to the south. The rivers were wide and deep, making them excellent defensive features. Any noble would love them as they were a source of food, defence and tr...

Chapter 91

The sun was soon coming within an hour.

The past night had been another night of experimentation.  I was getting ready for the seventh floor and putting ideas into testing. I had learned a few things. Ogres were to be the minion type. I leaned towards a single total fitted out with the best I could supply.

“What will the hook ...

Chapter 90

Ranus closed the door as he left. Outside in the dark, he found Elian and Albrot approaching the doors. Both stopped walking when they saw him. Ranus was too tired and confused to question this, so he nodded to them and started walking back home.

His head hurt.

He did not see the worried look that passed between the other two before ...

Chaptr 89

Shezar flew again across the town's roofs to the Lord’s home. The chimneys were all producing smoke, forcing her to fly around them. She did not want to get covered in smoke and soot for her next meeting.

The building came into view. The sun had set, and the town was lit in different areas with lanterns. Below, in the streets, people wer...

Chapter 88

“Five paladins are not a small force, Arbiter Nextom.” Ranus spoke to the group before him.

“Lord Goldwind, the churches are concerned with the appearance of twisted monsters in the valley and the threat they pose to the community and Dungeon.” Nextom was calm as he talked.

“I respect that view, Arbiter. What has me concern...

Chapter 87

Amya was walking through the town now, seriously thinking about how to end the contract she was under.

She could perform the job she was hired for and ruin Lord Ranus Goldwind. It would not be quick or easy, but it could be done. She was near finishing a plan to do this, but things had changed.

Paladins.

She was aware of the pr...

Chapter 86

Kyiarin was running the Guild access to the Dungeon today. This was his first taste of significant responsibility. He was young and had joined the Guild when he reached the town shortly after it had been established. He was lucky to have a basic reading and writing ability that helped him advance. The Guild had supplied him with a list of advent...

Chapter 85

“It was only a bat, Larry.”

He was strutting around the front room after killing a bat that had entered the tower and tried to sleep there. I had sent him up to kill it, and he managed to do it after a few attempts. After the kill, I gained a new design for the bat, but it was a 1 CP creature that was bad at best.

He had returned...

Chapter 83

In a Dungeon, the Core is king/master/God.

That does not protect it from its greatest enemy…. Boredom.

“Waiting for floor seven is going to be a pain!”

I pull open my character sheet to see the damage.

Name Bhaldor

Essence 17%

Race Dungeon Core

CP 50(800) 7.3 phr

Level 6

Corrupti...

New Cover :)

Chapter 82

Authors note - Here marks the end of the second book/arc.

There were countless plots and schemes worldwide—actions taken by individuals or groups. The town of Shadow Vales was seeing far more and their effects rippled out, affecting others in ways known and unknown. This was no different from the last few years since the town was ...

Chapter 81

Ranus was standing once again on the docks, awaiting a ship to arrive.

He looked around this time, far more nervous than when getting a significant visitor. The last few prominent human and non-human visitors had been stressful, but this one made him want to run from his position.

Shi’Tan.

The one race that he never wanted to...

Chapter 80

The team that first cleared the sixth floor had just left and I was thinking about the results of their work.

I had started on the floor but changed my mind as my CP restrictions came into play. I had to rearrange a few things to make things work. The first thing was moving the first four snakes to the second cavern. First, I placed three ...

Chapter 79

The next floor was earth and rock.

The floor below was nature and this one was about rock. The worms were similar to the snakes as ambushers but, ironically, were tougher than the snakes but not as fast. This forced a slight change of tactics, with the melee fighters taking more of the lead.

The group moved through the first cavern, ...

Chapter 78

“Time to move.” Nimora called out.

The group quickly moved, with Xerack heading northwards. He led them into another cavern, the same as the ones before. He slowed as he entered, looking around for signs of the expected snakes.

They moved with slow, steady and careful steps. The grass around them was still with no signs of moveme...

Chapter 77

The descent went without issue, as everyone they spoke to had told them it would. Nimora and her team found the bottom of the stairwell and were standing in a room that looked like a half-finished construction site. Checking a compass, she got a sense of direction. To the east was an open-door portal and to the north was a large, sturdy-looking ...

Chapter 76

“Eerwww”

I came back to awareness and the hangover feeling. I had made it to level six, which made me happy. The death of three teams in a single day had pushed me across the threshold. You must love overeager/greedy adventures and the stupid things they did to get killed. I decided to open an alert flashing in the corner of my vision ...

Chapter 75

Authors note - Two chapters today as I had a computer issue that prevented Wednesdays upload.

The runner entered the Adventurer Guild at full speed, narrowly missing a few and colliding with others. Yells and curses followed him as he pushed through to the receptionist's desk. She looked up in frustration at his actions. He reached ...