《A "Typical" Dungeon Capture》 Chapter 1 It started out as an ordinary peaceful day in the city-state of Lugomaleca, a thriving community deep underground living off the magical power seeping from the earth. However, all that changed one day. Wrislac, a young goblin, was about to head outside the city to forage for food, when suddenly, four intruders suddenly broke through the main gate. Wrislac was too stunned to do anything but try to stutter for help, except one of the intruders fired an arrow at Wrislac, ending her poor life. The four intruders inspected the corpse of Wrislac, stole the few coins she had on her, and continued pushing forward.
Meslocicas was traveling with his adventuring companions, Frehotreha, Slodutraka, and Paprufreci. It was a balanced party, with Meslocicas as the frontline tank, Frehotreha as the party¡¯s healer, Slodutraka doubling as a thief and archer, and finally Paprufreci as the party¡¯s mage. They were wandering around Cadejanocre forest when Slodutraka spotted a suspicious gate on the floor. Naturally, as adventures, they decided to investigate the gate. Slodutraka tried to open the gate with her lockpicking skills. After three minutes, Paprufreci got impatient and told the rest of his party, ¡°Just stand back from the gate. I shall blast it to pieces with my explosive fireball spell!¡± Slodutraka scrambled to get behind Paprufreci as he started chanting. Before long, a blazing red fireball flew toward the gate, and with a bang, the gate flew off, revealing a large opening. ¡°Isn¡¯t this an unexplored dungeon? Report it to the adventure guild. We¡¯re going to be rich!¡± exclaimed Meslocicas, the party leader. ¡°Let¡¯s do a brief investigation first. Just don¡¯t go in too deep. I can heal wounds, but I can¡¯t heal the dead,¡± said Frehotreha. And thus, the party headed into the dungeon. Very quickly, they encountered their first monster, a goblin. When the goblin saw them, it dropped its basket and started making strange noises. Meslocicas told Slodutraka, ¡°Quick! Kill it before it calls for reinforcements!¡± Slodutraka responded by firing a well-placed arrow, piercing the goblin through its heart, instantly killing it. ¡°All right, now let¡¯s see what did it drop¡­. Oh neat, it has a couple of silver coins. That would pay for a couple of beers. Great job, Slodutraka!¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Oh, if it wasn¡¯t for your instructions, I would have been too slow to react.¡± ¡°Stop flirting and get moving. I¡¯d like to get home by dusk,¡± complained Paprufreci. And thus, the party of four pushed forward. After turning a corner, they spotted two lizardmen. ¡°Quick, get into battle formation!¡± exclaimed Meslocicas. ¡°¡±¡±Roger that!¡±¡±¡±
The two lizardmen, Clalu and Mukoc, were doing their usual round as policemen when they heard some commotions in the distance. As per regulations, they had to investigate, even though their shift was almost over. As they headed over to their destination, they detected four individuals heading over their way. ¡°Are those professional robbers from the surface? They don¡¯t pay me enough for this¡­ and we¡¯re too far to call for help now,¡± grumbled Clalu. ¡°Well, I¡¯d rather die fighting to protect myhome than die of old age, so I¡¯m not complaining.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re old and about to die anyway. Oh well, let¡¯s hope we at least injure them enough to prevent them from advancing.¡± As they got into battle formations, with Clalu with his trusty spear in front, and Mukoc with a shortbow in the back, they heard some shouting from the robbers, and they also got into formation. ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can at least snipe the unprotected robbers in the back. You go distract that armored guy in the front.¡± ¡°All right then. I believe in you, Mukoc¡± Clalu proceeded to dash as fast as he could with his spear in front, aiming for the armored robber¡¯s unprotected face. Unfortunately, the robber managed to deflect the spear with his shield. Meanwhile, Mukoc fired an arrow toward the unprotected archer in the back, only for the robber in the robes to deflect the arrow with wind magic. Before Mukoc could load another arrow, the archer fired an arrow and hit Mukoc in the chest. Luckily, the arrow didn¡¯t penetrate through his scales, but it did leave a large bruise. However, before he could do anything else, a fireball flew at him, roasting him alive. Clalu smelt the burning flesh of his coworker, and became enraged. He knew he was outmatched by the interlopers, but he at least wanted to maim one of them before passing. He started wildly stabbing at the armored robber and eventually managed to make a small cut on his cheek, only for one of the criminals in the back to heal the cut. Eventually, the armored robber manage to pierce Clalu in the torso with his sword. As he laid dying, in his final breaths, he uttered, ¡°Sorry, my dear wife, I guess you¡¯ll have to raise the children without me.¡±
Meslocicas watched as the life faded away from the lizardman he just stabbed. ¡°Wow, these dungeon mobs are so bloodthirsty. They even curse at you with their dying breath. Let¡¯s just skin them for their hides, take anything valuable, and leave. It¡¯s getting late. Besides, these monsters aren¡¯t weak. They managed to give me a small cut. We should continue the exploration after getting some reinforcements at the guild.¡± ¡°¡±¡±Alright!¡±¡±¡± The party of four proceeded to take everything they wanted and headed back towards the nearest adventure guild. Chapter 2 At the adventure¡¯s guild three days later: ¡°Excuse me, madam? We would like to report the discovery of a new dungeon located here,¡± Meslocicas said as he pointed to a location on the map. ¡°In the Cadejanocre forest? Let me quickly check to see if there are any reported dungeons there,¡± the guild¡¯s receptionist says while flipping through a thick stack of documents. Moments later, the receptionist replied in a rather monotone voice, ¡°It appears that the dungeon is indeed undiscovered. As per guild policy, you will be given 1% of the value of the goods and materials from that dungeon for the next year, as well as naming rights and the right to be the first to explore the dungeon. Do you have any particular names in mind?¡± ¡°How about ¡®the ******* dungeon¡¯?¡± interjected Paprufreci. ¡°Unfortunately, the adventure¡¯s guild reserves the right to refuse any names deemed inappropriate, and I am afraid that your suggestion falls under that category. Please choose another.¡± ¡°What about ¡®Frielute¡¯ as the name?¡± asked Meslocicas. ¡°That name is acceptable. Then, would you like to claim your rights to be the first to explore the dungeon?¡± ¡°Yes, although we briefly went in the dungeon and the monsters seemed rather strong, so I would like to also invite other parties to explore with us.¡± ¡°Acknowledged. I will put up a recruitment request as soon as possible. What difficulty would you say the dungeon would be? And the estimated number of persons to bring?¡± ¡°Around B rank maybe? I think a group of 64 people should suffice.¡± ¡°Acknowledged. We should be able to assemble the needed persons here by next week. Would a group meeting at the front gate of the town at the second bell on Monday be fine?¡± ¡°Yeah, should be fine.¡± ¡°Then, is there anything else I may do for you?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°Thank you, and have a great day.¡± ¡°¡°¡±You too,¡±¡±¡± said Meslocicas and his party, as they headed towards the exit. ¡°So what do you guys want to do in the meantime?¡± Meslocicas asks his party members.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Drink!¡± exclaims Paprufreci. ¡°Sleep,¡± mutters Slodutraka. ¡°Whatever you want to do. I¡¯ll just follow,¡± says Frehotreha. ¡°Alright, well, make sure you don¡¯t drink too much that you can¡¯t function next week. As for you, please don¡¯t just sleep in the middle of the street like you did last time. And, uh, I was planning to repair our armor and weapons. It¡¯s going to be boring.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, as long as I can be with you.¡± And thus, the party dispersed to do what they wanted to do.
¡°¡­ and may our comrades, Clalu and Mukoc, rest in peace. Please give a moment of silence in honor of them,¡± the police chief officer, Yetal, solemnly declares. ¡°¡±¡±¡­¡±¡±¡± ¡°As you may know, a civilian by the name of Wrislac has also fallen to the hands of these unknown intruders. While Clalu and Mukoc¡¯s valiant struggle may have scared off the intruders, I say we should increase our patrol and have at least two members watching the main gate at all times. Do not let their deaths be in vain. Protect our city-state from all outside harm!¡± ¡°¡±¡°Ho!¡±¡±¡± ¡°Dismissed!¡± Yetal then left the police station and headed over to Clalu¡¯s home to personally inform his family about his passing. When Yetal knocked on the door, he could hear faintly a child¡¯s voice saying, ¡°Mommy, daddy¡¯s boss is at the door!¡± Moments later, a young female lizardman shows up at the door, sees Yetal¡¯s facial expression and nervously asked, ¡°Umm¡­ did something happen to my husband?¡± ¡°I regret to inform you, but your husband has died valiantly during service. We at Lugomaleca¡¯s police force are deeply sorry for your loss.¡± The young female looks down at the floor, and then weakly utters, ¡°Can I see the body? Otherwise, I will still assume that a mistake was made somewhere¡­¡± ¡°Errr, the corpse of your husband has been¡­ somewhat mutilated by whatever attacked him. Although given that his badge and ID was nearby, it is almost certain that is was your husband.¡± ¡°Mutilated? Which sick pervert would do such a thing, disrespecting the dead like that?¡± ¡°We have no hard evidence, but it seems to not be a citizen of Lugomaleca, but rather some foreign invaders. Probably those savage surface dwellers, since no one else would do that.¡± ¡°Have you found the perpetrators?¡± she asked with a strange glint in her eyes. ¡°When we arrived at that crime scene, it seems they have fled outside our main gate, as we saw footsteps heading out. We also saw footprints heading in too, so it makes it even more certain that they are foreigners.¡± ¡°Hmm? How did they even get in? Did they steal the key somewhere?¡± ¡°About that, the gate seemed to have been blown apart by some powerful spell. Probably also their doing¡­. Also, don¡¯t be rash. I can tell you feel like getting revenge, but if they are powerful enough to best your husband in combat and also destroy the gate like that, you should leave it to us. We too are also angry at those invaders. Well, anyways, we¡¯ll keep you informed about the situation as it progresses, but as of now, we have strengthened vigilance around the area just in case those interlopers come again, as they are wont to do.¡± Chapter 3 ¡°¡­ 61, 62, 63. Hey, the second bell rang like a minutes ago. Where is that last person?¡± grumbled Meslocicas. Frehotreha replied, ¡°Hm? But I counted 64 people though.¡± ¡°Here, let me count again. See look there is one, two, three¡­¡± Meslocicas continues to count. ¡°¡­ and 63! I told you that someone hasn¡¯t arrived yet.¡± ¡°And you don¡¯t count as a person? Are you that high and mighty and think you are above us mere mortals?¡± questioned Paprufreci. ¡°Huh? Ahhh¡­ well, I just forgot to count myself. I truly don¡¯t think that, okay?¡± Meslocicas replied, flustered. ¡°You know, I sometimes wonder why you are the leader of our party. Well, anyways, I think you should start leading the rest of these adventurers to the dungeon entrance, now that you are sure everyone is accounted for.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Meslocicas then yelled, ¡°Fellow adventurers, follow me to the entrance of Frielute, where we can get free loot, expand our achievements, and bask in the glory of conquering another dungeon! The plan is to camp for three days, the last day being in front of the dungeon gates. Then in the morning, my party will go through the front and the rest of you follow behind. If there are forks in the path, we split up. Remember, while our party gets first dibs on the loot, there is plenty enough to go around, so no need to backstab each other. Now, without further ado, let us depart!¡± ¡°¡±¡±Aye!¡±¡±¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
¡°Sir Yetal! Our scouts have reported a suspicious group of about sixty surface dwellers camped out about half a mile away from the broken gate! What should we do, chief?¡± ¡°Hmmmm¡­. Contact the direwolf squad and ask them to confirm if the scent of that suspicious group contains that of the invaders from a week before. If it does not, then we try to hide all entrances and be on high alert until they leave. If it does, well, tell me, and I¡¯ll make some plans.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Yetal watched as his subordinate left his office, while thinking, ¡°A group of sixty, eh? Based on usual trends, those wandering robbers rarely group together in more than ten unless they are trying to invade. Still, if those people that blew away our front door aren¡¯t present, we might be able to hide all our entrances and hope that they assume that the information they received was faulty. If they are present though, then a preemptive strike may be the best way to reduce casualties. I really hope it doesn¡¯t come to that.¡± After about an hour, a direwolf burst into Yetal¡¯s office and shouted, ¡°Sir, the scent on the crime scene indeed matches the suspicious group! We must avenge our comrades. Please give the order to attack!¡± ¡°Very well then. I¡¯ll call an emergency meeting and draft up a plan to assault them. Help me spread the word and ask everyone to meet in meeting room number two. I¡¯ll be making some calls in the meantime.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± And thus, the Lugomaleca police force gathered into the room with feelings of anticipation. After getting detailed reports of the area that the adventures were camping at and with an estimate of their strength, Yetal and his police force created an assault plan sixty minutes later. Yetal exclaimed to the gathered force, ¡°Fellow police force members, let us commence this operation, in order to avenge our citizens, but most importantly to protect our home from further invasion, for they will not stop until they have pillaged everything in sight. Now, let¡¯s sally!¡± ¡°¡±¡°Aye!¡±¡±¡± Chapter 4 ¡°What¡¯s the matter Frehotreha? As the leader of the expedition, I feel like it would be a bad idea to exhaust our stamina at this late of a time at night. If you want, we can do it after we capture the dungeon.¡± Frehotreha blushed at his statement, and stammered, ¡°Tha ¨C that¡¯s not what I¡¯m here for! Even though I¡¯d normally be willing¡­.¡± ¡°Then why are you here?¡± ¡°I thought I saw something suspicious in the distance as I went out to uh¡­ water some flowers, and when I casted a light spell I saw something dart away into the nearby bushes when I did so. I thought it would be safer to be near ¨C ¡° ¡°We¡¯re under attack!!!¡± yelled one of the adventurers on watch duty. Meslocicas jumped out of his sleeping bag, grabbed his sword, and rushed out of the tent, with Frehotreha following behind. What greeted his sight was monsters rushing toward their campsite from all sides. Luckily, Paprufreci and some of the other mages erected barriers around the campsite, preventing the charging monsters from entering. Without further ado, Meslocicas began to engage with the nearest horde of monsters, which happened to be a group of direwolves. In order to properly draw aggro to himself, Meslocicas was prepared to shout out loud, but for some reason, the direwolves sniffed the air, made a strange howling noise, and then madly leaped at him. He used his sword to parry the attacks and beheaded many of them, but they just kept coming. Soon enough, he failed to block a vicious bite from a wolf and felt intense pain on his left leg, but before he could scream in pain, a gentle white light enveloped his leg, and an arrow flew past him and struck his assailant dead.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Thanks for the assist!¡± ¡°¡±No problem!¡±¡± After the direwolves were slain, Meslocicas thought that would be the end of it, except various other species of monsters for whatever reason seem to focus their efforts solely on him. ¡°Man, what did I even do for these monsters to focus this intently at me?¡± Meslocicas thought as he continued to defend against the waves of monster attacks. Block. Stab. Slash. Parry. Sidestep. Time passed by quickly as he focused mainly on defense, while his party members and eventually the other adventures helped him kill off the monsters. After about half an hour had past, a loud horn-like sound blasted through the night sky, causing the assailants to pause momentarily, before about three-quarters of them suddenly turned around and fled. The remaining monsters continued their frenzied assault at Meslocicas. Relieved that the number of enemies decreased, he continued fighting with greater vigor, until the last monster was slain. Meslocicas stood there, keenly paying attention to his surroundings, but after a minute, he turned back toward camp. Frehotreha leaped at the blood-covered Meslocicas and cried in a worrying tone, ¡°Are you okay? Is everything all right? Do you need healing anywhere?¡± Meslocicas shook his head and was about to pat her head to calm her down, as usual, except he remembered that his hands were stained with blood and who knows what. He awkwardly withdrew his hand and said in his most confident voice, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ve been through tougher fights than that. I¡¯m perfectly fine thanks to your healing during battle.¡± While the two were deepening their relationship, a young man tapped Meslocicas¡¯s shoulder and asked, ¡°Are you the leader of this expedition?¡± ¡°Yes. What business might have with me?¡± ¡°Sir, reporting on the aftermath of the battle. Aldsoren, who was one of the watchmen on duty tonight has tragically met his end during the initial ambush. Otherwise, there were only some light injuries that have already been healed. As for material goods, two tents and their contents were destroyed in a fire started by a Cerberus, and we didn¡¯t have the manpower to put it out during the battle. Nothing that important was lost at least.¡± ¡°Noted. Thank you for the report,¡± replied Meslocicas in a slightly annoyed voice, as he was unhappy that his time with Frehotreha was interrupted. ¡°Yes sir!¡± the man saluted. Chapter 5 ¡°¡ªand that is the end of the report. Sir Yetal, what shall we do?¡± ¡°We lost a lot more of our police force than intended since a lot of them ignored the retreat command. Not that I¡¯d really blame them though. Mukoc was a well-respected member and having the revenge target right in front of you makes it really hard to resist attacking.¡± Yetal sighed, got out of his chair, and told the scout, ¡°Given how they only lost one person in our surprise attack, we are clearly outmatched. It pains me to have to do this, but the citizens of Lugomaleca must be saved, so the only course left to take is to abandon this land.¡± ¡°Abandon? Lugomaleca is our home! Where can we retreat to?! And you are just going to let those ***** just waltz in and steal our stuff?¡± Yetal cracked a smile and said, ¡°Who said anything about just letting them take our stuff? It would be dishonorable to go down without a fight.¡± ¡°I watched how our comrades got slaughtered. Wouldn¡¯t the same thing just happen again?¡± ¡°I never said we had to have a direct confrontation. This is when we contact the Engineering Association and have them create traps for those robbers. Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have too much time left, since I would assume that the robbers will invade at the crack of dawn. So, I have an important job for you. Go over to the Engineering Association¡¯s headquarters and tell them to make as many traps as possible, and then consult with them on where to place the traps. Meanwhile, I will be organizing our evacuation plan.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± the scout replied and then immediately bolted away. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
A loud siren echoed throughout Lugomaleca, along with the message: ¡°Attention Lugomaleca! We are under attack! Please gather all your valuables that you can carry and follow the instructions of the nearby police officers for evacuation procedures. Please deliver any other valuables that cannot be carried into the designated boxes, where we will do our utmost to hide and guard them. Attention Lugomaleca! We are under attack...¡± Lugomaleca was bustling with activity, as families ran around depositing valuables, as well as arguing over what to bring. Confused and anxious voices resounded throughout the city, as well as the occasional sobs of children and folks who didn¡¯t want to leave home. Those who were ready to leave were escorted to the nearest allied city-state which was an uncomfortable twenty miles away. Children and the elderly had the option to ride some cramped wagons, while the rest were forced to walk or fly themselves. To prevent the robbers from catching wind of their plans, the escape had to be done in complete darkness, and any noisy children were forcibly silenced with anesthetic gases. The escape route was filled with tension. Luckily, the citizens managed to escape successfully after three hours, when the sun was about to rise. All that was left to do was for the engineers to put the finishing touches on their various traps, as well as hiding some of the valuables that it would take a very experienced thief to even notice. For the more expensive and larger items, they were all carefully stowed away where Lugomaleca¡¯s power room was located, since if the power orb is destroyed, Lugomaleca is done for, as all of the ventilation as well as food and water production facilities relied on it. Just in case if the robbers managed to find the well-hidden room, an old stubborn dragon volunteered to guard it with her life, saying that she lived here long enough that she ain¡¯t leaving this place, and if she had to, she¡¯d rather go down with the place. Yetal hoped it won¡¯t ever come to that, since his plan was for the robbers to be distracted or killed by traps while his police force slowly picks them off. In case that the robbers are still too strong, he hoped that they would at least be satisfied by ransacking the place of the few valuables left lying around that they will leave and never come back. Chapter 6 At the crack of dawn, Meslocicas¡¯s party anxiously began preparing for the dungeon invasion. After about half an hour, they were prepared to enter the dungeon. Since people were still nervous over last night¡¯s attack, as the party leader, Meslocicas decided to give a rousing speech to boost morale. ¡°My fellow brethren. Last night, during the ferocious battle, our comrade Aldsoren died a valiant death in battle. Let¡¯s give a moment of silence.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°He was a brave man who sacrificed his life to protect his party members, his countrymen. And today, we will not let his sacrifice go in vain. We will avenge his death and slay all the bloodthirsty murders that dared kill him!¡± ¡°¡°Aye!¡±¡± ¡°And not only that, we all have witnessed firsthand how savage those monsters are. Do you think they will be content with just attacking any stray adventure that comes wandering by? No! Of course not! Once they get wind of where we live, they will come swarming into our villages, our cities, and slaughter our precious countrymen, our families! Brothers and sisters! Let us join arms and protect our loved ones! Onward to victory!¡± ¡°¡°Aye!¡±¡± And thus, the group of adventures, now motivated, began to swarm to the dungeon like locusts after a field of crops. ¡°Where are all the monsters?¡± Meslocicas asked. ¡°Dunno. Maybe we killed them all? That would make this so much easier,¡± replied Slodutraka. At this point, since there were so many forks in the path, the group of 63 has split so now that Meslocicas was only with his original party members. Although they do want to forge ahead as fast as possible to secure the loot, the lack of enemies put the party on edge, as they cautiously advanced.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°STOP!¡± Slodutraka suddenly yelled. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± asked Meslocicas. ¡°That looks like a trap ahead. Let me test it out,¡± Slodutraka replied as she plucked an arrow from her quiver and began to draw her bow. She seemed to have fired at nothing but the ground, but suddenly, the floor in front of them gave way to a pit of sharpened stakes. ¡°Well, looks like there¡¯s probably treasure nearby then. Now where could it be hiding¡­¡± Slodutraka said as she started closely inspecting the walls around her. She tapped on the walls, until she noticed that it sounded hollow. ¡°Aha, a fake wall!¡± ¡°Great,¡± said Meslocicas as he bashed the fake wall in with his sword. Suddenly, a rusty dagger was thrust at his face as soon as the wall came down, but he managed to step back and block it with his sword through instinct. What faced him was a weak, old goblin who was thrown back with the simple parry. Meslocicas quickly beheaded the goblin, and then looked around the room for more potential ambushes. He didn¡¯t see anything, although something else did catch his eye. ¡°Ooh, look at that, a treasure chest. Let¡¯s open it!¡± Meslocicas said as he walked over to open it. ¡°Wait! The chest might also be booby trapped! Let me check¡­. Oh, besides the fact that if you blindly try to lift the clasp, you¡¯d probably prick yourself on a poisoned needle, there¡¯s nothing. And, ei!¡± she said as she exerted some force to lift the heavy lid. ¡°Not a bad haul! There is this expensive looking sword, some flasks of what probably are high grade potions, a Damascus ingot, a gold bar, and a notebook?¡± she said uncertainly as she started flipping through the notebook. ¡°What in tarnation is this? It looks like some kid scribbled in it and tried to write something in a foreign language. And I thought it was some kind of special spell book or something. At least the rest of the loot is nice,¡± she said as she emptied the contents of the chest sans the notebook into her expandable magic bag. ¡°That¡¯s nice of you, leaving that notebook as a consolation prize for anyone coming after us,¡± remarked Paprufreci. ¡°For the quality of the loot, I¡¯d expected a stronger monster guarding it,¡± remarked Frehotreha. ¡°Alright, enough chatter,¡± yelled Meslocicas. ¡°We still have a dungeon to explore and loot.¡± And so they pressed on, diving deeper into the dungeon.