The charging teddy bears were different sizes, ranging from under a foot to two feet tall, and came in different colors. Dark brown, yellow, pink, red, snow white, and green, with large mouths full of shark-like teeth.
Terrified, Jeremy grabbed his leather pack and ran, staying close to the wall so the bears couldn't surround him. He could barely kill one of those things without getting his foot bitten off. How was he supposed to kill six? Going through the exit wasn't an option because they might follow him, and who knew what else might be waiting for him there? This must be how the Rogue that Boggan had shown him earlier felt running for its life. He looked around desperately for anything he could use to help himself.
The only thing that looked promising was the stone archway above the cave's only exit. It protruded maybe half a foot from the cavern wall. If he could climb to the top of the archway, he would have a high-ground advantage and maybe a chance. His run turned into a sprint along the cavern wall as he tried to reach the archway. The monster teddy bears moved to intercept him.
When they got within 15 feet of him, he stopped and feinted, pretending to run in the opposite direction. The pack of monster teddy bears changed course to follow him. Then he turned around and charged them, making the longest running jump of his life. He sailed over the six teddy bears and sprinted for the archway, feeling their teeth nipping at his heels the entire way.
He reached the archway and jumped. His foot slipped on the smooth stone. There was a sharp pain in his calf as he got bitten. He screamed, kicking the teddy bear away. Fear helped him to somehow find purchase with his other foot. He pulled himself to the top of the five-foot-high stone archway. With the stone cavern wall behind him, the only way he could avoid falling off was to sit on the ledge, tucking in his feet to prevent them from being bitten again.
The monster teddy bears climbed after him. A large brown bear, almost two feet tall, climbed the archway and bit into Jeremy's knife when he stabbed it, missing his fingers by millimeters. He flung the bear back into the cavern as an orange bear came at him from the other side, biting into his dungeon pack. He frantically stabbed it with his knife, driving that bear back just in time for the brown bear to climb the archway again.
The fight went on forever. The archway he sat on grew slippery from his sweat and both his and their blood. He prayed he didn't fall. If he did, he doubted he could get back up on the arch again. The bears bit his arms and legs, hanging on until he used his knife or pack to stab them or beat them off. He almost fell off the archway multiple times. He kept a tight grip on the green goo-covered knife to prevent it from slipping out of his hand. And leather armor was hot! None of the games he'd played mentioned this. Sweat poured down his face and dripped into his eyes, making them burn. Monster teddy bears kept charging up the archway to attack him, and he kept using his knife and backpack to drive them off. His knife stayed sharp, even covered with green goo, making it worth the dungeon coin he'd paid.
Finally, only one bear could climb the arch to get at him. Jeremy made short work of it, stabbing its belly, cutting it open so green blood and guts came pouring out, sending the last bear back into the cavern.
With trembling arms and legs, he slid off the archway. A wounded teddy bear was still moving, attempting to come after him. He used his knife to finish it off.
Then there were none.
The fight was over.
He sagged in relief. His body shook from stress and exhaustion as he watched the bears' bodies vanish, absorbed by the dungeon.
“I don't suppose I could purchase a first aid kit?” He asked the empty cavern, kicking himself for not asking about it earlier.
There was no answer.
He used the roll of soft paper from his now torn and battered backpack to staunch the bleeding from the bite on his calf. Not seeing many options, he used his knife to cut a strip from his T-shirt. He wrapped the strip around his calf and tied it off as tightly as he could, hoping this would prevent bleeding and infection.
He had several injuries on his arms and legs, but they were scratches and shallow cuts. His leather armor had protected him. Mostly. But in addition to monster bites, he was bruised, sore, and exhausted.
After taking care of his wounded calf, he collapsed on the stone floor, too tired to move.
His stat sheet flashed at him.
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YOU HAVE LEVELED UP!
You have gained 0.35 dungeon coin!. Yay! Your first monster loot! One day in the distant future, you'll look back on this moment with pride, assuming you live long enough.
Name: Jeremy Wilkins
Race: Human
Sex: Boy
Age: 10
Character Class: Child-Rogue
Level: 1 (3/150)
Health: 5
Attributes:
Strength: 5
Endurance: 5
Vitality: 6
Dexterity: 5
Agility: 6
Perception: 5
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 5
Will Power: 4
Charisma: 4
Extra point: 1 - Add to the Attribute of your choice.
Mana: 1
Active Skills:
Identify: 0
Sneak: 0
Detect Traps: 0
Passive Skills:
None
Spells:
None
Dungeon Account:
12.35dc
“Hey! Don't I get a heal with my level up?” he shouted into the dungeon cavern. The cavern responded with tomb-like silence.
So he was now a Level 1 Child Rogue. He must have made 14 or 15 experience points per monster bear, which didn't seem like much. He didn't feel any different, except for being sore and exhausted, but he'd gained a point in Agility, Dexterity, and Perception and a fourth point he could do with what he wanted. He also had three skills from before he didn't know what to do with, and he'd gained 0.35dc.
When he stopped shaking, he pulled out his water bottle and drank some stale-tasting water. After he finished drinking, the bottle's water level rose again. He tried a dungeon ration, removing what seemed like a paper wrapper, and took a bite of the small bar that looked like particleboard. Unfortunately, it tasted like particleboard, or maybe particleboard mixed with chalk dust. He drank some more stale water to get the taste from his mouth. He'd kill another monster for a Pepsi right now.
He wondered again if this was a bizarre nightmare. He'd never had a nightmare that hurt this much.
He had food, water, and a blanket. What would happen if he camped out at the entrance? Would anyone rescue him? It was possible, though unlikely, that someone was working on rescuing him right now. He checked his watch. It had been 5:46 PM when he'd arrived in the dungeon, and the time on his watch hadn't changed. Great.
He wondered if Mom had gotten home. She'd probably assume he was at a friend's house and not start worrying until tomorrow. He wished his mom was here, or anyone who might know what to do. Andrew could be a jerk, but pushing his little brother into a dungeon portal? That was low even for him. Going to him had been a huge mistake.
“Mom!” he shouted. “Help! I'm trapped down here!”
The only response was a slight echo.
“Police! Anyone!”
Nothing.
What if he could run past the monsters? He could be home by tonight. It wasn't like he wanted to fight. He'd be happy to live and let live if the monsters gave him a choice.
He'd gained three active skills: Identify, Sneak, and Detect Traps. Could he put them to use? He looked at his half-eaten dungeon ration. “Identify.”
Nothing happened. “Identify,” louder this time.
Nothing. Okay, now what? He focused on the lousy tasting half eaten meal-bar in his hand, trying to feel and understand what it was. After a minute of experimentation, he felt an insubstantial energy force leave his body and a moment of exhaustion.
The words appeared in front of him.
“Dungeon Ration. Low quality with strength bonuses. Eat it. It's good for you.”
The words dissipated.
He checked his stat sheet, where his mana had been 1. Now it was 0.
Interesting.
His single mana point returned in maybe 5 minutes. This time, he used Identify on the roll of soft paper from his pack.
“Roll of Soft Paper. Multiple uses, including you-know-what.”
An hour later, he'd identified everything he had. His non-working watch was “New World Timepiece. Nonfunctional.”
His leather pack was now “Dungeon Backpack. Damaged. Low quality,” and what he'd thought was a blanket turned out to be a Cloak. Low quality. He put the cloak on. It looked nice but was too hot to wear.
His Identify 0 turned into Identify 1, and his mana increased to 2.
He tried Detect Traps. His mana dropped, but nothing happened. Either there weren't any traps in the cavern, or his skill wasn't working.
He remembered Boggan saying his dungeon survival kit was endless. He used his knife to cut a strip of cloth from his cloak and watched as the cloak slowly repaired itself, returning to its original form while leaving him with a strip of fabric. He cut several more strips from the cloak and used the fabric to bandage the rest of his wounds.
Neat. He could tie strips of cloak together and create a makeshift rope if he needed to.
He got to his feet and put on his pack. He could wait here for a rescue he suspected would never come, or he could take the red path and hope it wasn't as scary and dangerous as Boggan made it seem.
In the end, Jeremy's legs and feet moved of their own accord, one step after another, taking him under the archway, and into the first floor of the dungeon.
