“Wait, so you want to…isn’t that, like, cheating or stealing or whatever?”
Probably, but I’m going to try it anyway. He’s going to die either way.
With only another moment’s hesitation, she activated her Bond Fairy Ability and targeted the rapidly dying Human in the spike-filled pit. As 50 Fairy Mana left her Core, an invisible tendril snaked out of it and latched onto the Raider, making his body twitch even in his unconsciousness. A momentary pause in her concentration occurred in Tacca’s mind while the connection established, but it passed much faster than it had when she had done the same thing with the 2 Hill Dwarves.
Bond Results:
Bonded Targets: 1
Abilities(s) Obtained: None
Abilities(s) Granted: Dungeon Sight, Power Boost +50%
Creature Type Unlocked: Human
Hmm…that’s strange. She shared the results of the Bond she performed on the dying Raider with Shale, even as she felt the tenuous connection between them now. It wasn’t strong enough for her to want to save the Human, at least, but she was more than aware that it was there. Less than a minute later, she felt that connection abruptly sever itself as the Raider died, and an additional 5 CIPs was added to her Countdown total.
“I’m assuming that you didn’t receive any other Abilities because these Raiders were all the same Class as that Hill Dwarf you Bonded to before – and therefore had the same Abilities,” Shale mused. “It looks as though you can probably create a Human as one of your creatures, though.”
Indeed, that was true when she went to look. The biggest difference between the Human and Hill Dwarf, though, was the fact that she only had access to the “Fighter” Variant for the Human, as opposed to having both that and the “Caster” for the Hill Dwarf. I assume that I need to acquire all of the different Classes, or Variants, for each race in order to use them.
“Wait…does that mean what I think it means? You’re going to keep doing this?”
Absolutely – I don’t see any reason not to. That doesn’t mean that I’m necessarily going to use them as creatures right now, because I’m not sure how the Raiders will react…but who knows what could come up in the future? It might be something of which I have a need, and I can see it being very beneficial to acquire additional Abilities for my “normal” creatures that can use them. I just have to make sure that I only Bond those who are going to die here, because I don’t want hundreds or thousands of Bonded Raiders running around.
“…Why not?”
That question surprised her, coming from Shale of all people. He seemed to be a stickler for rules and regulations, and doing something so out of the ordinary should’ve raised some red flags. Though, to be fair, the reasoning behind her reluctance to do that wasn’t necessarily anything to do with rules and regulations – but was more selfish on her part.
It’s because of that Dungeon Sight Ability that they would acquire; being able to see the locations of all of the traps, creatures, and environmental objects inside of my dungeon. The element of surprise is an important factor to successfully defending my separate rooms; take that away, and there is no challenge left. It’s bad enough that they make maps of the dungeon to sell to those who can afford it, but I can always move things around to change it up a little. With that Ability, however, any type of surprise change would be basically useless, if they can identify it right away.
“I see. So, what about those two Hill Dwarves who have it?”
A few with the Ability is fine – I just don’t want to eventually end up with every other Raider walking in here being able to pinpoint all of the dangers ahead of time. Not to mention, from the description I heard, Dungeon Sight can be used in any dungeon, not just my own; I would be handicapping all of the other Cores out there by doing them such a disservice.
“I can understand that! My Mentor for one would be quite angry if something like that were to happen—oh, sorry.” His tone turned apologetic, after remembering what happened to Tacca’s Mentor.
Nothing to be sorry about. It happened, and the past is the past. Now…how long do you think it’ll be until the next group arrives? And do you want to take bets on how long it’ll take for the news about the new exit tunnel to get around?
“Ha! No bet here; I have a feeling that Raider that escaped has already been shouting his lungs out at anyone who would listen to him.”
I have no doubt you’re correct. Now that her dungeon was finally being visited by groups that could really take advantage of her easier difficulty, Tacca was excited to see what was in store for her in the coming days.
Chapter 6
It turned out that Raiders had a very disturbing sense of humor. The morning that saw the first organized groups heading up to the dungeon, Sterge was already at work completing the finishing touches on the Inn when the sole survivor of the very first group came back to The Village yelling and screaming about how his friends were all ripped apart by wolves. The Hill Dwarf thought the deaths of the first Raiders – who weren’t far over-Leveled for the dungeon – would lead many of the others who had signed up to delve through the dungeon to think twice. However, the laughter from the throng of Raiders that greeted the grim news was surprising to most of the villagers, including Sterge.
“They were so drunk last night that I doubt they could even walk straight this morning. They got what they deserved for delving through a dungeon in that condition,” he overheard from some of the Raider crowd, who looked at the lone survivor with disdain rather than sympathy.
It was the disheveled-looking Raider’s surprise news, however, which actually garnered some attention – especially from the next group that was scheduled to delve through in a few minutes. Apparently, the only reason the survivor made it out alive when the rest of his group had perished was because he found a secret passageway through a room full of flowers, which led directly to the surface – and safety. Sterge recognized the description of the room as the same one that had miraculously healed them halfway through their delve, and he didn’t remember there being any secret passageways. Then again, he didn’t even know to look for them, so it was entirely possible that they were there the entire time.
After the fifth Inn was completely done, Sterge and the others working construction – now including some bored Raiders who weren’t afraid of some manual labor and willing to do it to make the tiny bit they offered as recompense – got started on the sixth and seventh Inns. Even that wouldn’t be enough for the amount of people currently congregating around The Village, but it was a start – until additional waves of Raiders started to arrive every other hour. Oh, well – it looks like I’ll be busy for a while yet.
The prospect of having to wait 3 or 4 months to delve through the dungeon – which was what the waiting list was at currently – didn’t seem to deter many of those that came. Very few left after hearing the news, instead electing to wait around and help with odd jobs, such as the aforementioned construction, until they could get their turn. It helped that the rent that was charged at the Inns was relatively inexpensive, and the food was still plentiful and cheap because the first harvests were coming in (again, with help from some Raiders looking to make a little coin). Most of those who had already arrived didn’t appear to have very much to their names, either in coinage or equipment, so it wasn’t likely that they had many other prospects for a place in which to improve their Raider Level. Or at least, that was the impression that he got after listening in on numerous conversations while he did his work around The Village.
It didn’t take more than a day for those visiting the dungeon to discover that there were “secret” passageways on a wall of every room except the first inside the dungeon. They also discovered that when they ventured inside, they couldn’t get back in after the wall closed up after about half a minute – which caused there to be a few angry Raiders who investigated the passageways before they were completely done delving through. Once they had exited, the Clan had strict rules about trying to cheat and go
through again right away, so they had to leave with only half of their dungeon delve complete.
Halfway through the second day, an excited and anxious group couldn’t wait any longer and had gone up before their appointed time – which caused a bit of a stir. It was a Raider Delving Clan rule that they had to wait a minimum of 2 hours after the last group left their delve (though Sterge overheard that some dungeons required a full day or two) so as to give the dungeon time to restock its monsters and traps – and loot, of course. The group in question, however, was new and either didn’t know this or refused to wait anymore, because they arrived only 30 minutes after the last group left.
Reportedly, the dungeon was ready for them.
Therefore, instead of getting in severe trouble, the group of new Raiders was let off the hook without punishment, as it was discovered that they didn’t have to wait as long as they used to between delves. Not only that, but instead of having to guess whether or not the dungeon was ready, something else happened that caused a stir in the entire Raider Clan community: One of the monsters inside of the dungeon, a brown fox from the first room if Sterge remembered correctly, was seen just inside the entrance for a moment before rushing back inside at the first glimpse of a Raider.
Jesper had taken to stationing one of the higher-Leveled Raiders inside the mountains outside of the dungeon with 4 or 5 groups that were next up on the list. Whenever the little brown fox was seen, another group would venture inside; every single time, the dungeon was completely ready for them, despite the last group not coming out yet. It apparently worked, though, because all of the groups were told to use the new “secret” passageways to exit rather than come back up through the entire dungeon. It was an incredible timesaver, which helped to cut back the wait time from over 6 months at that time down to only about a month or less.
What was even more amazing was the fact that the dungeon was telling them that it was ready. More than a few Raiders remarked on that, as it was something that hadn’t ever been seen before. Sterge knew that the dungeon was at least semi-intelligent, however, because it had written a poem of sorts warning him and Gwenda not to reveal the special Abilities they had picked up while they were there.
As more loot and coinage flowed out of the dungeon, so too did more flow into The Village’s coffers. They still weren’t charging a lot for staying and even eating in one of the Inns – at least compared to many of the larger towns and cities, from what he remembered – but business at the Delving Supply Store was booming. Merchandise such as armor and weapons, healing potions, and various other supplies that helped the Raiders stay safer and more efficient while they delved through the dungeon flowed in and out of the small store, which always seemed to be crowded. Sterge stayed far away from any of that because it was too confusing to him, though Gwenda seemed to revel in sticking her nose into the business of everyone in The Village.
“We’re doing phenomenally well right now, and all of our investments have already paid for themselves. The steady income from our visitors has allowed us to hire many of them to harvest and even plant our newest crop, and I’m sure you’ve appreciated the extra help,” she told him approximately a week after the first disastrous delve by the group of drunk Humans. Sterge couldn’t believe that so much had happened in just the 2 weeks since he and Gwenda had delved through that same dungeon.
Since then, there had been perhaps a dozen or so casualties; he didn’t really have an accurate count because, well, it wasn’t really any of his business. That, and he thought that being interested enough to go about asking how many people had died so far would probably be frowned upon. It didn’t seem to bother any of the other Raiders, however, so he figured that the casualty rate was either “normal” or better than “normal”.
“I certainly do appreciate it, as well as the fact that I didn’t have to try to harvest and plant anything myself. Though, I have to say that it feels like a long way off before we get a handle on all of these people,” Sterge told her, shaking his head at the seemingly vast number of people still hanging out in tents – or nothing at all.
“Don’t worry, you’re actually making extremely good progress; I’d say that another few weeks of construction will get us there.”
Sterge couldn’t help but look at Gwenda skeptically, which received an explanation. “Oh, I don’t think we need to be able to house everyone here; I’m sure you’ve noticed that many of those who arrived don’t really have any funds to spend on accommodations. I’ve spoken to quite a few of them, and they’ve said that they would rather save up by sleeping outside; that way, they could eventually purchase some things that would help them with delving.”
“That seems strange, but whatever works for them is fine with me.” Gwenda knew more about that kind of stuff than he did, so if she thought it was fine then he wasn’t going to argue.
She placed her hand on his arm companionably and laughed at the expression on his face. “Oh Sterge, I know exactly what you’re thinking. That big heart of yours wants to put a roof over all of their heads, even for free; but you have to remember that it is their decision. Many of them are too proud to accept charity like that, and this way they can feel like they’ve suffered through all of the hard parts when they’re finished with this dungeon and can move on.”
“Move…on?”
“Of course! This is a beginning dungeon, after all. After fully delving through perhaps 6 or 7 times, from the information I’ve gathered, they’ll be too high of a Raider Level to really benefit from it any more. At that point, they would move on to some other dungeon that is tougher and more dangerous; hence the reason they would want to save up for better equipment.”
That made sense; Sterge just hadn’t really thought about it before. Regardless, it appeared as though Gwenda’s plan was working. They were now bringing in enough money to support themselves and keep their farms running, which was just a benefit of the whole thing. It wasn’t ideal, because now there were thousands of Raiders hanging around their village, but they weren’t just surviving – they were thriving.
At least, that was the case before the Ministry of Merchants made their presence known.
They arrived in the late afternoon one day, a large procession of gaudily painted wagons and scary-looking guards lined up protecting them. There were also hundreds more low-Level Raiders that came with them, though you couldn’t really tell that by looking at their attire; they were outfitted with beautifully crafted armor made from leather and different types of metal, which all looked custom-made. The weapons they carried appeared to be newly forged steel or better material, instead of the rusty and used iron weapons most of the new Raiders nearby tended to have at the beginning of their career. The only thing missing from them was a visible sense of experience and comfortableness while wearing all of their gear. Even the small amount of time around the few veteran Raiders staying in The Village had allowed Sterge to see the obvious difference between someone brand-new (in which category he considered himself) and someone who had at least a few dungeon delves under their belt.
“Who are they?” he couldn’t help himself from asking while he watched them arrive and set up just outside The Village. They circled their wagons, forming a perimeter of an area that encompassed the small amount of empty space near the village center, while also ruining almost an acre of Blinchy’s wheat crop that was growing nearby. Very little of the fields surrounding the village center had been trampled up to that point – which was amazing all by itself – because everyone seemed to know and honor that those fields were being used to feed everyone staying there. Apparently, whoever this was didn’t know that…or didn’t care.
Blinchy, one of the Gnomes that lived and worked in their village, saw it happening and rushed out to stop them, but he was snagged by Jesper, who happened to be walking nearby. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to grab you like that,” the red-clad Clan representative said as he put the diminutive Blinchy down. “But I would seriously advise against that.”
> “Why? They’re ruining my crops! We’re going to need those crops, come another month or so,” the Gnome said, crossing his arms and staring in horror as the half-grown wheat was trampled by horses and crushed by wagon wheels – not to mention the thousand or so people who were walking or riding nearby.
“Because those are merchants, and it looks like one of them might even be one of the Ministry, if I’m not mistaken, by the emblem I saw on one of the wagons,” Jesper said without any inflection in his voice. Sterge could tell that he wasn’t happy, however.
“So? If they’re merchants, then they should have more than enough money to pay for what they are doing to my land!” Blinchy started to march towards them again, but Gwenda caught him this time before he could go far.
“Hold on, hold on – let me handle this. From what I understand, we don’t want to start off on the wrong terms with these people.”
Jesper snorted from behind everyone, before saying, “The only right terms with a merchant are no terms. Be careful, girl; they’ll try to take everything from you and give you a copper coin in return – and you’ll somehow end up thanking them for it. At least, that’s been my experience with them.”
“Thanks, Jesper. I’ll keep that in mind,” Gwenda said sincerely, waving Sterge forward. “Would you mind coming with me while I go talk to them?”
“Of course not,” Sterge said as he joined her on her mission to talk to the merchants. When they were halfway to the new camp still being set up and away from everyone else, he couldn’t help but ask, “Are you sure you need me here? I don’t know anything about these merchant types.”
“Absolutely, Sterge. I have a feeling I’m going to need your support while talking to them, even if it’s just your presence there. I really appreciate you accompanying me; I know this isn’t really your type of thing,” she said, putting her hand on his arm again companionably as they walked.
The Dungeon Fairy: Two Choices: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 2) Page 7
