The Beast Deck Emperor

004: Into The Darkness

Tyrone looked at the gaping maw of death in front of him and seriously considered if perhaps he should rethink this whole lost but found prince shit. It was crazy really, but when the general had spoken of dungeon diving he thought that he would be protected, shown the ropes so that he could understand exactly what he was dealing with. But unlike how it was for nobles or those who were lucky enough to attend any sort of educational or organizational institution in the kingdom;

These people who are led and protected by higher leveled individuals while they explored and mastered the terrains of any dungeon they would now be diving. It was crazy but the death toll in dungeons especially for those who would be diving into them for the first time, was as high as 90% which means 9 in 10 people die the first time they enter a dungeon. And he was given a weapon he had no idea how to use and without even a shred of training to go along with it.

“You should stop looking at that sword like that boy, or so help me I will tan your hides in more ways than one, treason be damned. As a man and a member of the royal family you will have to uphold tradition to the utmost and flimsy dagger is only good for cut throats, thieves, assassins and back alley braggarts with no hope in life… it is not during my time that such disgrace will befall the royal household.”

Tyrone snorted in annoyance as he took a long glance at the single sharp edge and one blunt edge longsword. Normally this would be considered a sabre, but the Kingdom had a surplus of sword skill cards that required a sword made to such specifications. The sword itself was just under a meter long, it was weighted in such a way that every swing would lean in whatever direction you swung the blade in. more like a hammer or axe than a sword.

However it was only this way because he did not have as much strength to wield the blade properly. Segun had insisted on making this as hard as possible for him, so Tyrone would not even be fighting with any advantage as the weapon was not just unfamiliar for him but also unwieldy. But never the less he didn’t mind, Segun was not so heartless, Tyrone got a very good dagger… or perhaps it would be better to call it a short sword.

Its blade length was from his elbow to his wrist, and given that Tyrone was quite tall, this mean that the blade was of significant length. It was also slightly curved and was serrated as the tip where it curved a bit, making for a very deadly cutting weapon. Tyrone liked it, he liked it a lot, with the sword this should be enough to keep a bunch of level 1 monsters of him.

“This dungeon is an epic ranked dungeon, it’s the only one in the kingdom, but beyond that it is also extremely large covering two thirds of the entire kingdom’s sub terrain. It is our main source of income being responsible for at least 60% of the empire’s economy. Ores, skin, pelt, food, treasures, and most especially cards are sourced from within its depths, however unlike how things used to be over 50 years ago when all people with the proper qualification and veto from the Kingdom’s adventurer guild would be able to dive the dungeons, now only those with kingdom certified pass can get in.

And I will not sugarcoat it, those passes are issued by the noble families and the regent as these are people who have aces to the 28 entrances of the dungeon. This entrance is a hidden 29th, there’s rumors of a 30th entrance that till date has not be found, even though many say the location is somewhere in the capital. Never the less the entrance is in full control of the (Iri) hence why it is in a fort. You are not to leave that dungeon until you make it to Level 10, and make sure you have completed a deck and all the cards cannot be any lesser than the rare rarity, you are royalty, but unlike the others I would like for you to earn your power. Now make your final preparations and get going.”

If Tyrone could roll his eyes any more than he could right now then he would? But never the less the old man was right, Tyrone has never once believed in handouts his entire life. The only thing that could truly ever be of value to a person are the things that they obtain by themselves. Handouts just mean that someone could not have a hold over you and frankly speaking that was not the kind of life that Tyrone wanted for himself. He looked at the equipment that he had been given, apparently he was not allowed to go in with anything other than the weapons he had been given and the clothes on his back.

So it was now up to his wits, skills, cards and a shit ton of luck. He had heard it being whispered last night after their arrival that he was being sent on the same trial given to those who were chose to join the (Iri). They would be fed to the dungeon and not allowed back until they have achieved level 10 or higher. Tyrone shuddered, he did not like the idea of being ‘Fed’ to a dungeon. He shifted his attention to his gear or rather his two weapons and skills.

[One Edge-Double edged Long Sword (U): +7 to Body, +2 to Control. (Locked To Level 10)]

[Rabid Fang Dagger(R): +15 to Control, +3 to Body. (Locked to Level 10)]

Tyrone wanted to curse out in annoyance, all of his weapons were pretty much useless to him unless he made it to level 10. But that was if he made it to level 10. This dungeon had floors that went down to the hundreds, and all experience to level up would be slow to gain from level 1 creatures or 2 or 3 depending on how deep he went to gain his tenth level. In the end he guessed he would not be breezing through this test or whatever the fuck it was with superior weapons.

He was seriously beginning to doubt that he was the so called lost prince at all, but standing there and thinking too long about it would not solve any issues. So he moved forwards, ignoring all of the eyes that were upon him as he headed to the entrance of the dungeon, which by this point was just an elaborate arch that had been carved into a massive rock, however instead of seeing a path all he could see was an inky blackness threatening to swallow him. Which was pretty much why he called it the toothy maw of death.

“Move your ass boy!” he heard Segun bark from behind, prompting him to take an involuntary running start forward. And it was an action that was taken mainly for himself and not because he was startled. Tyrone drew closer to the entrance of the dungeon, his heart pounding heavily within his chest, and then he was true, staring right into the face and falling into the embrace of the abyss.

[New User Detected! Welcome to Konga Ashiri! The Dungeon of the Hidden Well. User Is Being Transported to 1st Floor]

Tyrone stumbled forwards as he fell to the ground hard. Loose gravel dug into his chest as he groaned and got back up to his feet, the place that he found himself in was not as brightly lit as he would have wanted it to be, he really couldn’t see as much, but there was a single crystal illuminating the area he had found himself in.

He was in a circular chamber and behind him was a set of stairs that led up into a bright white light that someone could mistake for daylight at a distance, but to Tyrone he could see it was no different from the arch of blackness he just walked through to get here, it was ironic but it made sense. Now it was just about time for him to start moving forwards and seeing just what exactly this dungeons had in store for him.