Valentine core, p.1
Valentine Core, page 1
part #2 of Holiday Dungeon Core Series
Valentine Core
A Holiday Dungeon Core Novella
Jonathan Brooks
Cover Design: Yvonne Less, Art 4 Artists
Edited by: Ellen Klowden
Copyright ©2022 Jonathan Brooks
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
The following is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, businesses, corporations, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to any actual persons, places, or events is purely coincidental.
Cover Design Copyright ©2022 Yvonne Less, Art 4 Artists
Acknowledgements
To my wife, the love of my life, and my perpetual Valentine.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Author’s Note
Books by Jonathan Brooks
Chapter 1
Elmer Robbins watched the group of Adventurers entering his dungeon, seemingly oblivious to what had just happened a short day ago. The unfamiliar quintet of men and women entered the first room and gasped at the snow blanketing the entrance’s floor, the delight on their faces at such an unexpected discovery bringing a little joy to his soul, as it mirrored his own love of the holidays.
The 6-foot-tall male Adventurer up front was wearing some serious protection, with a full set of stiff leather body armor with plates of what appeared to be thin steel covering his chest, his stomach, his groin, his entire back, his upper and lower arms, and his upper and lower legs. On his head he wore a helmet that reminded Elmer of a movie for which he’d seen a trailer a few years ago… or was it more than a decade ago? 15 years ago? It was so hard for him to remember Earth as much as he used to, especially with all that had happened later.
Regardless, the movie was about the Spartans of Ancient Greece, and this guy’s helmet reminded the old soul of that movie. In that movie, a very small force of Spartans, something like 300 or so, held back a massive army of… whoever they were fighting. He had never actually watched the movie, and history had never been his forte, so he wasn’t sure who they were actually fighting. Anyway, while the helmet looked like the props in the movie, this Adventurer didn’t look anything else like those who were wearing the helmets; he wasn’t half-naked and glistening with sweat, after all, which seemed as though it was the only state in which these Spartans were inclined to fight.
Also unlike that movie, this Adventurer was holding a long-handled, double-bladed battleaxe in his hands, as opposed to a small shield and a short sword. His ensemble was completed with some impressive steel-toed boots, though they were sharpened to a point in the front so as to make them almost like another set of weapons. In fact, when Elmer looked at the man’s elbows, he saw some sharp steel caps on the outside of the joint; he could only imagine how the Adventurer could elbow something and do a significant amount of damage. While the armor hid a lot of the guy’s body, he was large enough that it wouldn’t surprise Elmer if he was as well-defined as a bodybuilder.
Behind the axe-wielding man at the front was a very short woman, no taller than 4-and-a-half feet, wearing a tightly wrapped black cloth outfit that even covered most of her face. The only reason he assumed it was a woman was the fact that her long, bluish-black hair was pulled into a ponytail above her head, where it was neatly wrapped in black ribbons to keep it contained. It certainly could’ve been a man wrapped entirely in cloth, but there was something about the exposed eyes that just told Elmer that it was a woman.
She was holding a pair of unsheathed swords in her hands, the right one longer than the left, and each of them seemed to be painted a matte black. No light reflected off of them, as they practically absorbed any nearby illumination; neither did the belt of knives he saw strapped around her waist, to the point where it was difficult to see that they were actually there. On her back were two empty, black, leather sheaths that appeared to be where her swords were normally stored. All in all, she looked like some sort of ‘70s martial arts movie ninja.
Bringing up the rear were a trio of other Adventurers, two more men and another woman. One of the men stood taller than all of the rest, topping the armored man up front by at least 6 inches, though where the axe-wielder was bulky and built like a truck, this guy was thin-yet-athletic, wearing a light-brown pair of leather pants and dark-green cloth shirt. On his back, sticking up over his head covered in long, dark-brown hair was a quiver of arrows, which just so happened to go with the bow he held in his hands. He was obviously an archer of some sort, and he definitely looked the part.
The third man of the group was wearing light-blue and white robes, cinched at the waist with a fancy-looking silver belt. His short blond hair was arranged neatly atop his head, though his face had a pinched look to it that made him look perpetually constipated. In his right hand he held a spiked mace that looked more like an aluminum baseball bat with sharp protrusions at the head, and it appeared worn but well taken care of. While it wasn’t exactly obvious what he was just by looking at him, Elmer knew that this particular Adventurer was a healer of some sort.
The last member of the group was a woman with long, striking red hair that almost appeared to glow from within; he had seen some people with that shade of hair back on Earth that had dyed it to look that way, but never had he seen it practically illuminate from within. It was strange, though; it seemed as though the red was the woman’s natural hair color, which was unusual to Elmer.
She was wearing a crimson-colored robe cinched around her waist similar to the healer; instead of a silver buckle, however, hers appeared to be made of a dark stone. In her hands was a staff made of what appeared to be a very dark wood, or else stained to be nearly black. The top of the staff seemed to branch off into smaller slivers of wood, straining upwards and curling back on itself, creating a cage of sorts. Inside of the cage, as if the staff were a long arm clutching it in its fist, was a glowing, red, oval-shaped crystal with a black center, as if the reddish color were the only thing keeping the darkness in the middle of the crystal from escaping.
Overall, this group of Adventurers was unlike anything he’d seen thus far in his dungeon. Since he had first arrived, the quality of the individuals challenging themselves inside of his different rooms wasn’t, to put it simply, the most put-together. They hadn’t all been like that, of course, but there were plenty that had beat-up and rusty armor and weapons, as well as threadbare robes and patchy leather. Almost as if they were just barely getting by and were doing everything they could to survive, using their magic to the best of their ability and competency. Frequently, their best wasn’t necessarily enough to keep them alive; these people, on the contrary, appeared to be very competent and confident.
* Is this what you meant by high-Level Adventurers? *
The voice of his helper echoed through his mind even if Elmer’s attention was somewhere else. “Yes, it appears so. Thankfully, they seem to be more curious than anything.”
Elmer pulled his attention back to his helper, observing that the small North Pole Elf seemed more relaxed than the Dungeon Core was at that moment. It had only been a few short days since the events that had nearly led to his destruction, and powerful Adventurers made him a little nervous.
* I guess that makes me feel a little bit better, Keebles. *
“They were bound to show up, eventually,” the Elf continued. “These Adventurers appear prosperous enough that they likely aren’t here to obtain Core shards from destroying you. Instead, I’d use this as an opportunity to see why I have been pressing you to continue expanding, adding more rooms to your dungeon with a higher difficulty.”
* I would think that my Boss was difficult enough. *
Elmer had upgraded his Boss after he had recently gone up a few Core Levels, and where it had been extremely powerful before, now his final protector was nearly invulnerable. Or so he thought.
“We’ll just have to see, won’t we?”
* We certainly will. *
* * *
Having his soul transported to this strange world named Bershia had been an unpleasant experience for Elmer Robbins, considering that he had to die for it to happen. Electrocuted while hanging up Christmas lights in his office, the older gentleman’s next stage of life came in the form of a Dungeon Core; however, he wasn’t alone. His wife, Mary, had passed from the world of Earth approximately a year before Elmer’s untimely death, only for her soul to wind up in the Dungeon Core meant for him, all because they were “Soul-bonded”, or soulmates of sorts. In order to release her soul from where it was buried deep inside of his Core, Elmer needed to increase his Core Level to the point where he could release her, and they could be reunited once again.
With the help of Keebles, who was an appointed Core helper in the shape of a Christmas Elf, the new Dungeon Core had picked “Holiday” as his dungeon theme, because of his love of decorating for the holidays back on Earth. Since it had already been Christmas time back on Earth, and as it was one of his favorite holidays for which to decorate, Elmer ran with the theme in his new
The first of which the powerful group of Adventurers had just entered. Powdery snow filled the entire space, even as Christmas lights hung around the perimeter, as well as on the Christmas trees growing from the ground along the walls. Two large humps were located right near the entrance, and a small hill was located approximately three-quarters of the way to the exit, which led further into Elmer’s dungeon. Other than that, the room was fairly innocuous-looking, just a pretty landscape with a Christmas theme.
“See! I told you, Maron. This is unlike anything we’ve seen before.”
Elmer listened to the group’s conversation as they stood at the threshold, looking inside. The one who had spoken first was the blue-and-white-robed healer, whom the Dungeon Core thought was addressing the battleaxe-wielding Adventurer up front.
“Well, we’ve seen snow before, especially in that Frost Wolf dungeon a few months ago,” the well-armored fighter responded, shivering a little in exaggeration. “That was quite cold, and I’m glad it isn’t common.”
“Yes, but look at those lights! Tell me we’ve seen something like that!”
“True, those are… different. But that doesn’t mean this dungeon is unique. I’ve pretty much given up on finding something new. It feels like it’s all the same, nowadays. Boring.”
That was interesting information to Elmer, who didn’t know enough about the world in which his soul had been transported. He never considered that Adventurers would get bored with the dungeons they fought through, as he would’ve expected the sheer danger inherent with such a risky lifestyle would continue to make things perpetually interesting. He resolved to ask Keebles a little more about it later.
“Well, the Adventurer’s Guild rep outside said that—”
“No! Stop right there, Charley! You know better than to tell me any spoilers,” the man said as he turned around and pointed his axe at the robed healer. He turned back around quickly, though, even as the others in the group chuckled softly. Despite their humor, however, they all had their eyes focused on the room ahead of them, and he could tell that underneath their frivolity, they weren’t messing around.
“Fair enough. Lead on, you crazy Berserker,” Charley said with a gesture toward the room. A second later, he mumbled, “See if I heal you, you nutty bast—”
His mumble was cut off as the larger man passed in between the two snow-covered humps near the entrance, and a pair of large polar bears shook off the white powder that had been hiding them. These weren’t normal bears, however, but Inflatable Polar Bears like the one Elmer used to have outside of his old home he had once shared with his wife back on Earth.
They reached forward to attack, their strong and deadly claws belying the frailty of the rest of their appearance… only to be sliced apart as the axe-wielding Barbarian flowed from immobility to his own attack in less than a second. A horizontal slice of the axe at its full reach cut through not only one of the bear’s upraised paws, but also its chest and neck at the same time. The deflated Inflatable Polar Bear fluttered to the ground even as Maron spun around in continuation of his attack, performed a little hop while in motion to get closer to the other Bear, and proceeded to cut that one in half, as well.
In less than 2 seconds, almost as if it was some sort of graceful dance, the Berserker had killed his two Minions – and he barely even seemed to have exerted himself. Maron turned his head to speak to his group when there was a sharp *tink* *tink* of a few unknown items ricocheting off of the side of his helmet; looking around, the Adventurer spotted two of the North Pole Elf Defenders sneaking out from behind some of the trees, holding their pop guns that had just shot hard starlight mints at the Berserker.
“What the—?” he asked, but before he could say anything else, an arrow was suddenly buried in the eye sockets of both Elves, who fell back on the snow without even getting a chance to reload and attack again. Elmer hadn’t even seen the archer pull his bow back and fire, let alone aim; he was just that good.
* I can see what you mean already. These particular Adventurers are certainly a step up from the normal ones I’ve seen come through. *
“More like a couple of steps up; but yes, they are quite powerful.”
Elmer missed the quick conversation before they actually moved into the room, the Snowflake Storm Defensive Obstacle finally triggering as the Berserker walked far enough inside. The falling snowflakes did very little to disguise the Toy Soldier Troop, which was a cluster of small metal soldiers on horses, that rode over the small hill of snow in the room, charging the Adventurers. They didn’t get very far before the Mage in the group, the woman in red, waved her staff almost negligently at them, and a bloom of superheated flames erupted in a circular area around the Troop. His Minions moved all of another inch before they melted entirely into piles of slag, destroyed before they could even get close.
Elmer had seen other groups eliminate the Troop before it could get in range to attack, especially once they knew they were there, but never with such casual ease.
“Nice job, Miranda, but I was barely able to see them before you melted them with your Hellfire,” Maron pouted with exaggeration – which the Dungeon Core had to admit was an amusing sight on the formidable Berserker.
“Whatever. I was getting bored.” The red-headed woman’s voice was clipped and to the point, though he could see a hint of a smile reflected on her face. She was obviously amused, though amused at what, Elmer didn’t know.
There were no more dangers inside of the room, though they all approached the remainder of their investigation with obvious caution. They located the wrapped presents quite quickly near the exit leading to the next area, and the ninja-looking woman looked them over from a distance, waved her hands in the air as if she was manipulating something he couldn’t see – after sheathing her swords momentarily – and announced, “They’re clean.”
None of them appeared too disappointed even after they only received a couple of Copper Cookie Cutters and a Fruit Cake that would somewhat heal anyone who ate it as their rewards. These Adventurers reminded him a little of what he imagined spoiled, rich kids with expensive clothes and sports cars back on Earth would be like, slumming it down in the bad part of town for a thrill; he was worried that seeing such paltry rewards would be like one of those rich kids getting a few pennies and throwing a fit. Fortunately, to these people, it seemed like the experience of exploring his dungeon was enough of a thrill for them, and they weren’t concerned about the rewards.
The group passed through the very short tunnel connecting the room they just conquered with the next, and there were no more words as they started to systematically clear the challenges in front of them. The ninja woman identified the Pit Wrap in front of the pair of Nutcracker Soldiers, and as a result, Elmer didn’t see anyone fall inside the Defensive Obstacle and get wrapped up in wrapping paper. One of the wooden Nutcrackers was chopped to pieces in seconds by the Berserker, while the other one ignited in another blaze of fire that had it turning to ash within seconds.
Inside of the giant gingerbread house Elmer had constructed, they avoided the Holly Hobble Obstacle near the center of the house (which saved them from being surrounded by strands of holly), and the red-haired woman once again used her area-of-effect spell to char the small figures of the Gingerbread Brigades that charged them from near the oven and behind the knocked-over kitchen table. The Flocking Christmas Cards attacked from atop the fireplace’s mantle, but the archer nocked an arrow, charged up some sort of spell that ran along the length of the arrow, and then released dozens of arrows at the same time, somehow. Each arrow pierced right through a flying card, pinning them to the wall of the gingerbread house.
