Head Instructor Lapis was silent as he stared at the Council Leader – along with the half-dozen Fairies in the Council chambers, who were working on various projects. “…What?”
“There’s a bit of a risk, however, as it requires my full capacity of Fairy Mana to activate,” Malachite continued.
“Well, then, you cannot do this; if you use that much Mana all at once, you’ll be—”
“Yes, yes – I know; I’ll be drained and will be highly vulnerable for a short time until my regeneration kicks back in.” The Council Leader knew the risks, not just to the Core (because he wasn’t exactly sure what would happen) but to himself.
Draining that much Fairy Mana from his body in one go would leave him incapacitated for at least an hour. It was one of the downsides of living so long and becoming a Supreme-Ranked Dungeon Assistant; his body was now wholly dependent upon the Fairy Mana inside of his body that expending it all so suddenly was detrimental. It wouldn’t kill him, thankfully, instead just shutting down his mind and body to a state not unlike a coma. Any regenerating Mana over the next hour would be used to revitalize him, and he would be back to normal; that would also be when he could use any available Mana to use on other abilities – like his own personal Translocation so that he could leave from wherever he had collapsed.
It would not be a fun time and it could be extremely dangerous, but it would be worth it if he could save some of these Cores. The balance bar above their map was steadily tilting in favor of the mortal races; it had been relatively stable over the last few months, even with all of the destruction, because many Raiders – and even non-Raiders inside of a few villages and towns that had been attacked and wiped out – had been killed along with the nearby dungeons. However, now that most of the people had been evacuated before they could get caught and die, the balance was being upset again.
“You can’t risk yourself like that, Council Leader,” Lapis pleaded. “Besides, you don’t even know if it would work. Plus, where would they go? Would they even be able to function normally somewhere else? There are too many questions and not enough answers here.”
“Yeah, well, if I don’t try, who will? Besides, if I’m able to save some of these Cores, then perhaps their Dungeon Assistants could re-Bond with them when they are in a safer place.”
That certainly got the attention of the Head Instructor. “You think they could? I am having trouble finding places for many of them, so perhaps that might be the best solution.” Of course, when it came to the well-being and happiness of his charges, Lapis was quite conciliatory. “Of course, that still doesn’t solve the problem of where to put them, does it?”
“Yes, that’s one thing that I haven’t quite worked out yet…but I think I have an idea.”
“What idea is that?”
“Let me see if this ability will work in the first place, and then we’ll figure out where to stash them.” He gave the Head Instructor a wink, but Lapis completely ignored it.
“Well, I still think this is too dangerous, but if you’re determined to put yourself at risk, I’m not going to stop you. I do think you should take some help, though, if you’re going to be vulnerable.”
That was how he ended up a few hours later inside of a dungeon’s Core Room with Aster and Begonia, two Dungeon Assistants who had been formerly Bonded with Cores but had been removed. The Core was located south of the northernmost Cores that were still intact, out of the direct path of the terrifying destruction caused by the mysterious people; since he wasn’t exactly sure what this ability entailed, or how long it would take, he wanted to be a little more cautious for this experiment.
He initiated the Core Bond with the Dungeon Core, and when the connection established he felt an enormous sense of relief pass over him. It had been decades since he had last actually Bonded with a Core, and he realized that he missed being part of a team that wholly relied on and respected each other naturally – and where he didn’t have to deal with uptight Head Instructors that thought they knew everything.
“What is going on? First, I had to dissolve the Bond I had with that hot flying chick Dahlia, and now you show up looking all official ‘n stuff – like when I got sent to the principal’s office in fourth grade. All because I stole Jennifer’s cell from her desk – but she shouldn’t have had a phone at school, anyway, you know? Besides, I was just holding it for her because Mrs. Elsasser was checking stashes and—”
“Whoa, whoa – too much information. I’m not a…principal…nor do I know what a phone is, but that’s not important. You’re Joshua, correct?”
“Yep, born and raised in good ol’ Colorado, you know? I mean, those Donkeys sucked almost every year I was alive, but when you live there you gotta rep the orange and blue, am I right?”
The one thing Malachite had forgotten about Bonding with a new Core were all of the strange colloquialisms and obtuse references from another dimension mentioned by those inhabiting their new forms. Granted, sometimes it was interesting hearing about strange “technology” and other forms of entertainment, but most of the time it was just plain confusing; luckily, these types of rambling conversations usually faded over time as the new Core got adjusted to the world. Joshua, however, seemed to have grown highly bored in the time between being un-Bonded with his Dungeon Assistant and now and was apparently happy for some sort of conversation. It probably didn’t help that his dungeon had been essentially abandoned and he hadn’t had any Raiders visit in weeks.
“My name is Malachite and I have a proposition for you—”
“Whoa! I’m gonna stop you right there; I don’t swing that way, man. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it, of course, but it’s not something I’m into, you know?”
The Council Leader closed his eyes and leaned his head back, letting out a big sigh. “Look, I don’t have time to play around here,” he finally said, exasperated, cutting off anything else the Core was going to say. “I know you heard about the threat coming from the north, which isn’t too far from here. If we don’t do anything, you’re going to be destroyed.”
“Are you threatening me, mother—”
“I have no need to threaten you, Joshua, this is just how it is. Now, I’m here to help you, but I want your permission first.”
There was silence for a moment as the Core obviously thought about what he was saying.
“Help, how? Are you going to kill these things destroying us?”
“I’m working on that, Joshua, but for the time being, what I want to do is move you.”
“What?! You can do that?”
“That’s what I’m here to find out.” Malachite went on to explain what he had in mind, and he could tell right away that Joshua was skeptical.
“How do you know this will work? And is it safe?”
“I have no idea; this is a first for me, too. All I can tell you is that this could be your only chance of surviving. Now, what do you say? Are you in?”
There was a 2-second delay, before Joshua said, “Shoot, dog – count me in. You only die twice, right?”
The Council Leader was confused why he would want to shoot a dog, but he got the gist of the statement. The Dungeon Core was willing to try it. “Alright, here we go….”
Malachite pictured in his mind where he wanted the Core to Translocate to; it was one of the empty dungeons where a Core had been destroyed about half a year ago, though it hadn’t been caused by these mysterious people. Instead, the culprits had been Raiders, at least according to the Dungeon Assistant that had thankfully been able to escape before she had been slaughtered along with her Core. Just before he arrived at Joshua’s dungeon, he had made sure that it was still empty and no new Dungeon Cores had arrived nearby – and found that they were good to go. It was also to the south of the continent’s “girdle”, meaning that it would be a while before it was in the danger zone (as long as the monstrous people didn’t change up their strategy, of course).
With that image of the defunct Core Room in his mind, he reac
hed out to the Core and laid his hands on Joshua’s form. It was a relatively small spheroid crystal, as Joshua had only been around for a few decades and was in his mid-20s in his CI Level, which was quite respectable, all things given. When he had his hands firmly on the Core, he looked back at Aster and Begonia – his “helpers” – as he activated his new, untested ability: Core Translocation.
At first, Malachite didn’t think it was working because nothing happened. A few seconds of keeping everything steady, however, saw a gradual change. Energy—Fairy Mana—started to flow out of his hands to surround the Core in pulsing layers of glowing power, like he was wrapping the crystal object up in multiple blankets. The “blankets” started to merge together as more and more Mana flowed out of him, until he felt like he was being drained dry of all of his life force. In a panic, he nearly let his hands leave the Core – but he knew this would happen, so he left them where they were as he concentrated on staying conscious for as long as possible.
“Malachite? Malachite! I feel like the connection to my dungeon is fading; I can barely see anything but what’s around me right now! What is happen—”
With a last pulse of Fairy Mana, the glowing layers solidified with a *clink*, sounding almost as if it was a thin glass that had just crystalized. As his vision started to fade, Malachite watched the blanket of energy surrounding the Core start to forcefully shrink, and he heard a hollow *crunch* as the crystal form inside was shattered.
That wasn’t the only thing that had broken, as he immediately felt the backlash of a Bond being broken and pain suffused his entire body. Just as he started to fade into unconsciousness from the severe drain on his Fairy Mana and the backlash, his hands were flung off of the object he was touching. As he was knocked backwards through the air, where he had been hovering in front of the Dungeon Core, the pseudo-Core vibrated violently for less than a second and then a *pop* signified its sudden disappearance.
Malachite felt arms holding on to him as his mind and body finally gave in to the siren call of unconsciousness.
When he woke up later, lying comfortably on his bed in the DPRC, he expected to still feel the effects of the severed Bond. However, sitting up, he felt a little weak – but that was all; it was to be expected after draining all of his Fairy Mana in one go.
“Council Leader?”
He looked to his right to see Begonia, who had likely been the one to bring him back after he had been sent into his coma-like state. “Begonia – thank you for helping me back,” he said sincerely, before remembering all that had happened. It was like a bucket of cold ice had been just flung in his face. “I guess that option is out. I can’t believe it would just destroy a Core like that.”
“Sir? It worked.”
He thought he hadn’t heard her right, so Malachite asked her to repeat herself.
“Yes, it worked…sort of.”
“But I heard, saw, and felt the Core being destroyed, and my Bond was forcibly broken,” he insisted. “Wait…what do you mean, ‘sort of’?”
The young Dungeon Assistant hesitated. “Well, the Core was Translocated into the empty dungeon, right where you had pictured it would go. Except…it isn’t quite the same.”
I can only imagine. I mean, I shattered it! “What does that mean? Is it…empty? Is Joshua not there anymore?”
“Oh, no, no – Joshua is fine. Or at least, Joshua is still there. But,” she hesitated again, “his Core isn’t the same as it was before. Where he was Core Improvement Level 26 before, now he’s…not.”
“Well, out with it – what Level is his Core now?”
“One, sir. Level one.”
Great. That’s not good.
Begonia wasn’t done yet. “But that’s not all.”
Malachite just looked at her.
“His Core was…reset. He had to go through the entire initial choosing process again. It was almost as if he was literally reborn into this world. Again.”
Well, that’s not all bad, I guess. Beats being destroyed, I guess.
“Thank you, Begonia. This is something that we’ll have to think about going forward.”
As she fluttered out the door to his room at his unspoken dismissal, Malachite sat on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands. What in the world are we going to do? Is this the solution we needed? Better yet, where are we going to put all of these Cores if we do end up Translocating them all? There’s only so many empty dungeons, after all.
He didn’t have the answers, but he thought he may know who might.
Chapter 15
“It appears as though the word is out, Tacca.”
The Dungeon Core watched through Shale’s eyes as he flew back towards the dungeon, the Assistant watching the random groups of Raiders either heading up or coming down the well-worn pathway up the mountain to her dungeon. He had been listening in on conversations throughout the bustling town that was still nicknamed, “The Village” by its inhabitants and visitors – which meant that Tacca was hearing them all, too, thanks to the Perception Link.
When her Dungeon Assistant flew all the way back up the mountain, surveyed the dual-line system they had set up there (one for each of Tacca’s entrances), and determined that everything was still running smoothly, he flew high up in the air before he Translocated into her Core Room.
I heard. What worries me is that this is just the beginning; according to what we heard, we’ve only seen the leading edges of the evacuation up north. It’ll take weeks or months for most to travel down this far – and only a small portion of them will be Raiders.
“Yes, though even that small portion could be tens of thousands of them, which the town below certainly cannot support,” Shale said from closer by, continuing the discussion now that he was next to her Core. “It’s not quite overcrowded yet, but I can certainly see it heading that way.”
It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for her, because it meant that she would be quite busy, though the demand for access to her dungeons would increase as a result. It was fairly organized right now and the wait of a few weeks wasn’t horrible, but she could barely even fathom what it would be like in the future.
We should really see about talking with Sterge and—
Another *pop* inside of her Core Room precipitated the arrival of someone, followed by two others in rapid succession. Her visitors were an abrupt surprise.
Malachite. This is unexpected.
While she was Bonded to the DPRC leader, she couldn’t communicate with him at long distances like she could her actual Dungeon Assistant through their primary Bond; while inside of the dungeon, though, she could speak with him. That being said, most of the information she had gained from Malachite lately had been through Shale, who could pass on the knowledge of the current situation in the north quite easily – which made his presence in her dungeon not exactly necessary. As it was, this was the first time she had actually seen him in the flesh since she had “come back”.
“Tacca. Shale. How are things going here?”
It certainly wasn’t like the Council Leader to just stop by and see how things were going; Shale made quick daily reports to update them on their situation, usually when things were slow in her dungeon, so there was no need.
Things are fine here, but you should know that already. Who are these others with you?
Malachite waved to the two female Fairies with him that had Translocated shortly after he arrived. “This is Aster and Begonia, my…helpers…for the moment. As you know, we have a surplus of Dungeon Assistants because of the recall, and without a Core to Assist, they’ve been helping me out with something else.”
Something else? Like what?
“Oh, you know, something like Translocating Cores from their dungeons up north to somewhere safer,” Malachite responded nonchalantly, as if it was a common occurrence.
That’s ridiculous; you can’t Translocate Cores—
Tacca stopped herself, because she just remembered her own abilities as a Dungeon Assistant, which st
ill listed Translocation as something she could do. She hadn’t even considered trying it, though, mainly because it cost 1,000 Fairy Mana, and her maximum FM right now was 350.
How?
“Well, it seems as though I received something unexpected from our Bond; you somehow unlocked an ability that had been locked to me for 5,000 years. It’s called Core Translocation – does that sound familiar?”
It didn’t, and it also didn’t explain how she had ended up unlocking it for the Council Leader. If Tacca remembered correctly, the only ability she had granted to Malachite was Core Communication, not something like Core Translocation.
I have no idea what you are talking about, but I do still have Translocation as part of my own abilities.
“Well, then, I’m not exactly sure what is going on. Perhaps it was something that unlocked for me as a result of our Bond on my end? Regardless, I need your help.”
Help how?
“Well, there are only so many empty dungeons available for the Cores that I have to move out of the way of these monstrous people, and I need a place I can safely keep them until this threat has been dealt with. As this is the southernmost part of the continent, I figured this would be as good of a place as any.”
But there aren’t any empty dungeons down here—oh. I get it. You want me to make some for them to inhabit?
“Precisely. Now, I know that I’m asking a lot from you, but this will help us greatly. We can’t afford to lose any more Dungeon Cores, or else the balance will start to weigh heavily in the wrong direction.”
No, it’s fine; I was actually in the middle of trying to figure out what my next step was, anyway, and this will give me a goal. How many do you need? A dozen or so?
The Dungeon Fairy: Three Lives: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 3) Page 14
