Aster Loka

Chapter 18

Another awkward ride, another half hour spent running in circles casting out mana pings, and Levi finally found the Control dungeon as evening began to fall.

He’d only been in a handful of these in the past, and that handful had been more than enough.

Control weren't one of the standard elemental types, which had well-documented strengths. Control seemed to somewhere in the vicinity of light or illusion, or perhaps mental manipulation. Due to their intensely disorienting nature,...

Chapter 17

“No pets allowed,” grumbled Levi’s uber driver. “I don’t want your…” he squinted at Gremlin Two. Gremlin Two waved and grinned, showing his too-pointy teeth. “I don’t want it making a mess in my car. I’m not sure I want it near my car.”

Levi made a mental note to stick Two in the bag with Skarm’s body next time. “He’s very well trained, doesn’t shed, and will sit on my lap the entire time. I promise we won’t cause any damage. And I’ll add an extra tip f...

Chapter 16

They found two more gremlins skulking down side routes, but nothing more.

As they walked, Levi tried to decide how best to handle his upcoming quest. He could move slowly, as there were three more dungeons roughly in the line between him and the treasure map’s destination. Or, he could make the most of still having a working phone, hire an uber, and make the multi-day trek in an hour and a half.

By the time they reached the entrance, he still hadn’t reached a decision - though...

Chapter 15

It took another ten minutes, but in the end Levi and Gremlin Two prevailed.

Staff shattered, health reduced to 1%, the goblin shaman lay helpless and vulnerable, pinned beneath Levi’s foot. Of course it still bit, clawed, snarled, and would invoke its magical aura in another 40 seconds, but for the moment it was contained.

“Serve me,” ordered Levi, activating Tame. His mana and stamina pools dipped, but the skill returned a different message than when he’d tamed Gremlin Tw...

Chapter 14

Though a boss monster, ostensibly a great threat able to annihilate a half-dozen unwary delvers within moments, the goblin shaman did have one major disadvantage.

It was still a goblin.

A large goblin, with exceptional magical abilities, yes. But large for a goblin still meant… it came a little above Levi’s waist. More than twice the size of the not-quite knee-high gremlins, but far from the oversized ogre.

And while the more mana and other stats a creature had, the less...

Chapter 13

Levi sprinted into the boss room and shouted in defiance, drawing the goblin shaman’s attention. It immediately raised its glowing staff, bones rattling as it began casting a spell.

Gremlin Two scampered in behind, gleefully clutching Levi’s dagger in both his spindly hands.  For a moment Levi worried the overeager gremlin might neglect the plan and charge straight in, but his minion resisted the temptation successfully. Gremlin Two ran around the edges of the room with at leas...

Chapter 12

The second dungeon bore almost no resemblance to the first. This one was swamp-themed, and had those frustrating sinking hillocks that you had to jump from one to the next as they slowly vanished into the corrosive sludge beneath.

Worse, several times it happened that the next one he jumped to turned out to be a pile of slimy stones only barely held together by the drapery of moss. These wouldn't sink, but shifted under his foot and scattered apart, giving him only split seconds to make...

Chapter 11

For some reason, Levi’s first instinct was to hide Skarm’s body behind his back. But that would only make him look more suspicious.

“What is wrong with you?” the woman hissed, setting down a grocery bag so she could put a hand on her hip. “Lurking around a park, doing things like this?” She waved the hand still carrying milk to indicate Levi. “You think it’s fun to terrorize people, is that it?”

“No, not at all.”

“Levi? What’s going on?” Gordon’...

Chapter 10

Streetlights - working streetlights! - greeted Levi as he exited the dungeon, lighting the park in a warm and comfortable glow.

He stared out in wonder at the cozy, relaxed, peaceful scene. How long had it been since he’d seen real streetlights, not the pale mana ones that barely did the job?

For a long moment he simply stood and watched the flow of city life, letting the peace of the area flow over him. The distant hum of cars. The soft murmur of voices. No horns signalling the...

Chapter 9

The pillar crashed atop the ogre, knocking it to the ground, and sprayed it - and Levi - with its bubbling orange goo.

Level 1+
(Cave Ogre)
Health 2%

The enraged aura around the ogre faded as it went into recovery mode. In better circumstances, this would be where Levi went berserk on it in turn, slashing through its health with his team.

But his team was dead, and he was limited to one-legged crawling.

“I don�...

Chapter 8

Then things changed. With a roar of fury, the ogre smashed its manablade cleaver down - not on Levi, but through one of the pillars.

Chunks of stone scattered like shrapnel from the impact and dust rose in a cloud. The ogre rampaged on past heedlessly while the pillar dropped, tilted slowly, then toppled to the ground with a thunderous crash. Corrosive orange goo splashed out in every direction from the depression at its top, far more than Levi would have imagined it could hold.

S...

Chapter 7

Levi took in the layout at a glance. Eleven pillars in no particular pattern. They were the same dark pitted material as the rest of the dungeon, but each pillar was topped by a bowl-like impression of boiling orange goo, the overflow from which slowly made its way down the pillars, gathering at random spots into the explosive globules that would spray the corrosive substance when approached.

The hulking figure, he recognized at once as an ogre. While he’d never seen one as a boss, on...

Chapter 6

If this were a Light or Control dungeon, Levi would have worried the treasure room was an illusion or trap. But for the vast majority of dungeons, they followed a static, predictable, and dependable pattern. Treasure rooms were a safe zone. You could rest up, trade loot with fellow dungeon delvers, even sleep the night if necessary, and no dungeon creature or trap would disturb you.

Even the most powerful, deceitful, and relentless dungeons respected the sanctity of treasure rooms. Thou...

Chapter 5

Levi tucked Skarm under one arm and broke into a run, jumping the puddles of acidic goo on the floor and dodging away from the largest globs of corrosive on the walls. As he’d anticipated, they started bursting as he neared, but his calculated route kept him just out of reach. The ooze splashed off the walls and floor just behind him, never quite reaching him.

Unfortunately, his calculated route couldn’t prevent his minimally-recovered stamina running out again. Stamina allowed him ...

Chapter 4

Levi pondered the question for long minutes, turning the situation over and over in his head. Should he stay and train, or hurry home as soon as possible? He had a level 1 dungeon all to himself. He could grind it for a few days, power level himself before moving on.

Or he could go back, face the world so far removed from his experience, and rush back to Irene and Peter just as he was. Maybe he could find another baby dungeon and they could level together. After all, what better way to ...

Hello World!

Howdy everyone, Aster here. I'm just getting started, so there's not a whole lot of content up yet. But I've been hard at work on my story for about a month now, just need to go over a few things and I should have lots of chapters up in a week or so. 

Thanks for stopping by! Check back soon for lots of system apocalypse dungeon fun!