And I’ll definitely be asking for that favor, Council Leader.
He just smiled sadly and flew off a little way from her Core, before Translocating away. Soon enough, she was left all alone with Shale, who had barely said a word the entire time the other two were there. Those two were a bit intimidating with their presence alone, so she could quite understand.
“You aren’t mad at me, are you?”
What? No, of course not. This was probably the best outcome, when I really think about it. As much as it felt a little naughty keeping these types of things from the Council, it feels better about getting it all out in the open. Well, most of it, anyway.
He looked relieved and a little confused. “What did you keep back? It sounded to me like you told them everything.”
Not much, honestly. Mainly just the fact that when I Bonded with them I acquired a Dungeon Fairy as a creature I can create now, as well as 17 different Abilities.
His eyes practically popped out of his head. “17 Abilities? What are they?”
I’m not sure yet; they say they’re “Locked”, so I may not be able to use them yet. Regardless, I’m bound to discover what they are in the future.
He just shrugged, before he smiled softly at her Core. “Thank you for keeping your promise and staying alive, Tacca. I missed you these last four months.”
Four months? I was gone that long? It seemed like a lot less than that.
“Yes, it was quite aggravating, if fact – feeling that you were still alive and not being able to find or communicate with you. It was made even worse when the countdown toward my Rank increase completely stopped – as if our Bond was suspended in time or something. I even flew in here when you were gone, hoping to find you, but there was nothing here; it was just a dark, empty cave like the rest of your dungeon had been,” he said sadly. Then he perked up a bit. “So, what’s the plan?”
Plan? Well, I guess it’s time to rebuild. Maybe make a few improvements on what I had already, but I think the basic structure I already had in place worked well enough.
“What are you going to do with all of those CIPs you acquired?” Tacca had explained to the Head Instructor and the Council Leader how much she had obtained from the deaths of the six-armed invaders, and they were equally worried that they weren’t worth more.
I’ll probably save most of it until I can figure out what I’m going to do after the section I was working on is done. Just using enough of it to fully stock and maintain everything without too much difficulty.
“Sounds good. When do we start?”
I guess now is as good a time as any….
Chapter 31
Sterge walked slowly up the mountainside, Gwenda at his side with a determined hitch in her stride. She was using her staff as a walking stick, as she had since they arrived back at The Village earlier that week – just in case, she had said. He had given in and worn his armor and was carrying his shield and mace, even though he doubted they would need it; when his best friend asked him to do something that didn’t really matter one way or another, however, he was more than happy to oblige. What is a little more sweat nowadays, anyway?
After the disastrous events more than 6 months ago, when dozens of Raiders had been slaughtered by some unknown enemy upon the mountainside and a full group had been killed inside the dungeon, the entire village had been evacuated. It caused some angry protests from those who were next up on the list to delve through the dungeon, but when it was revealed that the dungeon’s Core had been destroyed by someone or something, and that the mysterious entity was theoretically still around, the protests stopped quickly enough. The ones whom Sterge felt the worst about forcing to leave were his fellow villagers, because they were going to have to uproot their lives – once again – and move away from what they had built.
All of the funds that they had accumulated over the months that the dungeon had actually been in operation were divided amongst all of the village members, at least – and it wasn’t a small sum, either. They had more than enough to move somewhere quiet and settle down for the rest of their lives – as long as they didn’t live extravagantly. Despite the money, they weren’t necessarily happy about it, but there really wasn’t anything they could do; by decree of the crown – when news of what had happened reached royal ears – no one was allowed south of Heftington for the next 6 months.
While it still seemed a bit too close for comfort, Gwenda convinced Sterge to stick around Heftington until the ban was lifted. He could certainly understand her wanting to stay close by, though, because the lease from the crown was still active. Before the other villagers left to settle down elsewhere, they signed over their part of the lease to her for another small payment; they considered the land to be basically worthless to them now, since they were afraid to go back because of the danger. While it didn’t beggar them to acquire the lease for themselves, Sterge and Gwenda had been forced to live a bit lean for more than a month.
Until their payment from the Raider Delving Clan came in. Since the dungeon was no longer there, the arrangement for a tenth of a percent of the 5% loot tax was closed and the final (and only) payment was delivered: 15 silvers and 8 copper. It was actually quite a large haul considering that the dungeon hadn’t even been open that long, but with the quantity of Raiders going through every day, it added up quickly. With that amount of money, and scrimping on a few things, they were able to live comfortably in Heftington without having to do more than help out with some work every now and again to supplement their savings.
“So, tell me again why you wanted to keep this land?” he remembered asking her about a month after they had evacuated. “I’m beginning to doubt we’re going to find very many volunteers to come there and help us farm. And with the dungeon gone, there’s not much draw for anyone else to visit – so those Inns are going to sit empty.”
“Well, for one, we don’t need to work the entire land to keep the lease from the crown,” she had told him, referencing the clause that the land had to be used for some purpose and not left empty – the ban notwithstanding. “The two of us can work the land like we used to.”
“Yes, well, what about us being Raiders now? We already lost the rest of our group when we decided to stay here in Heftington – which I completely understood at the time and don’t fault them for leaving – but with our…uh…Abilities…I’m sure we can make some good money delving through a few other dungeons.”
He remembered that she had shaken her head with a little smile on her face. “No, I’d rather not leave right now. For some reason I can’t explain, I have this need to stay nearby the dungeon. I know it’s silly, but I can’t help but think this isn’t over.”
He had felt something as well, but he had put it down to sorrow in having to leave their home – once again – and not because of something else. “That seems unlikely, Gwenda. The dungeon was destroyed and it’s not coming back.”
“I know, but…” she sighed heavily, before going on, “this connection we had—have—with this dungeon – it’s not gone. I feel it in my bones, in my soul; if it isn’t gone, that means that the dungeon isn’t gone.”
Sterge hadn’t known what to say to that, especially when he thought he felt something, too. He honestly didn’t think it was because the dungeon was still there, but he would humor her since she seemed very determined to prove herself right.
Which was why they were climbing up the mountain right now, following the overgrown path up the hillside and up into the small pass where the dungeon entrance was located. They had come back almost as soon as they were allowed to, just the two of them, and had spent nearly a week getting things in order. They had planted a brand-new crop after clearing the remains of the thickly grown dead plants that had frozen over the month-long winter, and they had fixed up one of the Inns that had taken some damage from the weather to live in – since it was much more comfortable than their old houses and even their “Town Hall”. Once that was done, and only when that was done, did Sterge a
gree to visit the mountain again to see what was going on up there near the old dungeon.
“It looks like some animals got to the remains out here,” he couldn’t help but remark when he saw the bones scattered all over the ground outside of the dungeon entrance. The hike up the trail had been a little scary, since the last time they had been there was under some stressful circumstances, but so far nothing had jumped out at them. The scariest thing they encountered were the unburied bones, torn gear, and unrecognizable scraps of flesh still near the waiting area.
There were many less than he had been expecting, especially since no one had been there; originally, a group of higher-Level Raiders was supposed to come to investigate even further, but Trevelyan, the Clan Outpost Leader in Heftington, had told them that it was too much of a risk. The powerful Elf had volunteered to check it out, but had been called away for some other issue further north for some reason. Obviously, our problem here is of little importance anymore.
Gwenda still had her determined look on her face despite the macabre scene – though it was much less horrifying now than it had been 6 months ago – and marched past the bones and scraps without even looking at them. Instead, she was aiming right for the dungeon entrance that they knew so well—and then she stopped suddenly with a gasp, causing Sterge to look back at her to make sure she was alright.
She was; in fact, she had a smile on her face as she looked ahead. Sterge whipped around to stare at where his best friend was now pointing.
Inside the familiar dungeon entrance was an equally familiar small brown fox, just waiting for them to arrive. His heart skipped a beat in surprise, and he was so shocked that it took him a moment to realize that there was something different about the wall flanking the entrance on the right side. Instead of the blank mountainside it used to be, there was the shape of a stylized skull carved into the stone – and he could’ve sworn it was grinning at him.
What the—?
“Look over there.” Gwenda’s words tore his attention away from the skull and the fox standing in the entranceway, to see where she was pointing now. About 50 feet to the left of the entrance with the fox was another entrance cut into the stone wall of the mountainside, this time with 2 stylized skulls carved to the right of the opening.
What was even more amazing was that there was a figure standing in the second tunnel leading inside. Instead of a fox, this appeared to be a person—except that it wasn’t. It was wearing armor and appeared to be holding a sling in its right hand, but it certainly wasn’t a Hill Dwarf, a Human, an Elf, a Gnome, or an Orc. It had fur all over the exposed parts of its body, sort of an orange-brown color, with spots speckled over it. Its mouth and nose looked more like the jaws of an animal—
“I think that’s a Gnoll,” Gwenda interrupted his perusal of the figure. Sterge had vague recollections of Gnolls, from some of the stories he heard some of the veteran Raiders recount, but he couldn’t say for sure that was what it was – though it looked fairly similar to what he remembered hearing.
“How?” was all he could say. Sterge just couldn’t get any more words out of his throat.
“I don’t know – but I was right, wasn’t I. This isn’t over.”
Now it was his turn to shake his head, because he just couldn’t comprehend it. He had seen the dungeon die before his eyes, with everything disappearing as if it had never been there. Now…now he didn’t know what to believe anymore.
“So, it looks like we have two choices,” she said with a peppy lilt to her voice. “Door number 1 or door number 2? What do you think we should choose?”
Is she serious? “Uh, I think we should choose option number three – go back and find some more group members.”
Gwenda just laughed at that. “Oh, you’re just being silly; where’s the fun in that?” Then she walked towards the door with the supposed Gnoll, who almost seemed to be waving them in invitingly.
Ugh. Here we go again….
The End of Book 2
Final Stats
Dungeon Core Status (Before Rebuilding)
Dungeon Core Name:
Tacca GloomLily
Core Improvement (CI) Level:
12
Core Improvement Points (CIP):
1749/2300
Core Improvement Pending/Countdown:
26600 in 15 days
Special Characteristic Points (SCP):
50
Current Primary Assistant Bond:
Shale IronSchist
Dungeon Force (DF):
2000/2000
Dungeon Force Regeneration:
28 per minute
Reward Tier:
2
Control Limit:
0/400
Core Options:
Carve Earth
Targetable
5 DF per minute
Place Environmental Object
Targetable
Variable
Teleport
Instant
40 DF
Dissolve Assistant Bond
Instant
1 DF
Create Creature
Targetable
Variable
Create Trap
Targetable
Variable
Core Access:
Creature(s):
Canine Family, Feline Family, Semi-human Family, Hill Dwarves, Humans, Elves, Gnomes, Orcs, Dungeon Fairy
Variant(s):
All
Trap Specialization(s):
Enchantment, Life
Environmental Access:
Forest, Mountain
Permanent Assistant Sub-bond:
Tacca GloomLily
Special Characteristics:
Access all Variants for available dungeon creatures
All
Dungeon Assistant Information (Before Rebuilding)
Assistant Name:
Tacca GloomLily
Assistant Rank:
Adept
Assistant Stage:
1/5
Experience:
471/1000
Experience Pending/Countdown:
36953 in 135 days
Fairy Mana (FM):
350/350
Fairy Mana Regeneration:
15 per minute
Abilities:
Bond
Instant – Multiple
50+ FM
Translocation
Instant
1000 FM
Assistant Information Meld
Sustainable
1 FM per minute
Electrified Pacification
Sustainable
250 FM per minute
Healing Aura
Sustainable
20 FM per minute
Hibernate
Sustainable
1 FM per minute
Invisibility
Sustainable
3 FM per minute
Repellant Shield
Sustainable
2 FM per minute
Locked (17)
Variable
Variable
Dungeon Assistant Information (Before Rebuilding)
Assistant Name:
Shale IronSchist
Assistant Rank:
Novice
Assistant Stage:
1/5
Experience:
0/100
Experience Pending/Countdown:
53459 in 49 days
Fairy Mana (FM):
100/100
Fairy Mana Regeneration:
5 per minute
Abilities:
Core Bond
Instant
50 FM
Translocation
Instant
70 FM
Hibernate
Sustainable
1 FM per minute
Invisibility
Sustainable
3 FM per minute
Repellant Shield
Sustainable
2 FM per minute
/>
Raider Status
Name:
Sterge Stonewell
Class:
Melee
Raider Level:
6
Power:
0/600
Physical Attack:
7 (10)
Physical Defense:
6 (11)
Ranged Attack:
0
Ranged Defense:
4
Magical Attack:
0
Magical Defense:
3
Resistances:
Physical 4
Mental 3
Earth 1
Fire 0
Water 0
Air 0
Nature 0
Life 0
Death 0
Skills:
Blade 1 (32%)
Blunt 4 (81%)
Two-handed 1 (0%)
Block 4 (12%)
Light Armor 2 (54%)
Heavy Armor 1 (0%)
Abilities:
Forceful Smash (Blunt)
Slam (Shield)
Analyze (Targeted)
The Dungeon Fairy: Two Choices: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 2) Page 35
