The Dungeon Fairy: Three Lives: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 3)

by Jonathan Brooks

  “Do you truly believe this dungeon will help? It seems both far-fetched and risky, you know.” William was against the plan from the start, if only because he was a lot more cautious than any of the others. Speaking of the others, they followed Sterge and Gwenda up the mountain, having just arrived about a week ago from other parts of Abenlure.

  I’m very glad they got our messages; it’s a shame that we hadn’t been able to do anything together until now, though. Sterge glanced back at Evy, Mordecai, and William, smiling at them in reassurance. “We can but try; I’m hoping that it can and will, because otherwise we’ll have a lot of needless deaths coming up.”

  Their Healer, William – now a Battle Medic – just shrugged and didn’t say anything else. All three of their returned group members had been a little quiet since they had arrived, but Sterge had learned from them why that was.

  They had joined up with another pair of Raiders after they had left The Village, progressing steadily until they reached Raider Level 10, where they had obtained the ability to choose another Class. William chose to become a Battle Medic, which had more healing spells that were designed for quicker casting, though lesser effectiveness. He also mentioned that he had a spell that could be used offensively, which would allow him to poison the blood of anyone he touched with his hand – but that would likely only be used as a last resort, because if their healer was that close to a monster, then they were all in trouble.

  Evy, their other Melee Class, was now a Sword Dancer, who used her inherent speed as an Elf to “dance” around her opponents and strike out with her sword with deadly efficiency. Unfortunately, she lost some of the rugged physical defensiveness that a Melee Class usually had (which Sterge still possessed), so she wasn’t necessarily what could be classified as a “tank” anymore, but she still had some lightweight leather armor that provided some protection.

  Mordecai the Gnome, their knife-throwing Scout Class, was now a Trickster. Sterge still wasn’t exactly sure what this meant, but apparently it helped him with his knife-throwing skills, and he had some interesting abilities to stay hidden or “trick” the enemy into attacking someone other than himself. Either way, it seemed to fit the Gnome quite well, and Sterge was fairly certain his skills would come in handy.

  Unfortunately, after they had all acquired their new Classes (including their two new group members), their confidence grew entirely out of proportion to their Raider Level. Emboldened by their new skills, they had attempted a dungeon that was way too hard for them, and their new partners had sadly lost their lives as a result. Since then, they had been wandering around, beating themselves up over their failure, and were unable to find a new group without breaking themselves up to go alone. They were just about on the verge of doing that, apparently, when the message Trevelyan wrote for Sterge and Gwenda reached them.

  So, Sterge could empathize with Evy and the others, and he understood why they were quiet. He had personally seen – from all of the Raiders in The Village – how the loss of a member could affect the morale of a group, and the fact that they hadn’t been inside of a dungeon since that day seemed to weigh on them quite a bit.

  They eventually arrived at the gathering place in front of the two entrances, where there were a little more than 50 Raiders arranged in two main groups. One group of 25 (comprised of 5 parties of 5 Raiders each) was lined up in front of the easier dungeon entrance, which Sterge was the most familiar with, and they were visually the weaker of the two groups. The second, which Sterge and the others were heading for, were better armed and armored, and there was an air of confidence about them that said that they had some experience with delving through dungeons.

  “Hey there, Yervan. We’re here for our delve we cleared with Jesper last night.”

  Yervan, one of Jesper’s helpers in charge of regulating the groups going inside the dungeon, checked her list after Gwenda spoke to her and marked something off. “That’s fine, you’ll be the next up. The previous group went in about an hour ago, and judging by their higher Levels, it shouldn’t be too long.”

  Sterge and the others went towards the front of the line, eliciting a few grumbles from those further back. He could understand it, though, because the wait was a bit longer for the new section than the original one the Hill Dwarf was used to; it was both more dangerous and longer, which took a lot more time.

  “Hey! You can’t just cut in line! We’ve been here for hours already waiting for our turn.”

  Sterge and the others were physically stopped by the presence of the group at the front of the line, who saw them coming and stepped in to intercept them. From their appearance and attitudes, the Hill Dwarf thought they were likely to be heading into the harder portion of the new dungeon, whereas he and his friends were going to tackle the easier portion. Meaning, obviously, that Sterge did not want to tussle with these people, because they were all much higher Levels than his own party.

  “We’ve secured this spot already from Jesper, so if you want to take it up with someone, take it up with him,” Evy responded, stepping in front of Sterge protectively. He didn’t really desire her protection, but given the situation, he let her do as she would because hopefully it would be enough to diffuse the mounting hostilities.

  It wasn’t.

  “I don’t care; you weren’t on the schedule yesterday afternoon – I know, because I’ve been keeping up with it every single day in order to determine how quickly our turn would come – so the only way you could’ve gotten on the list was some sort of bribe,” the angry Raider spit out at them, plainly disgusted. “What did you give him? I wasn’t aware that the Clan rep was so corruptible, but I guess the right thing hadn’t been offered yet. Does he like Elves, perhaps?”

  Sterge had to hold Evy back from attacking the other Raider, which was actually quite tough; their Level difference made her quite strong, and it was only with Mordecai’s help that they were able to prevent her from attacking. This is getting way out of hand; maybe if I step in and explain—

  “That’s enough! Do you even know who this is?” Yervan strode up, getting in between the two groups. She was one of the few higher-Level Raiders in the area at Level 32, as most of them were up north, so she commanded some respect. Especially since – as a Barbarian Class – she was large and powerful enough to pound any one of them into the ground with just her fists.

  “Doesn’t matter, unless they’re some sort of royalty—”

  “Which is precisely who they are, at least as far as you’re concerned.”

  Sterge wanted to fade unobtrusively into the background, because he didn’t like where this was going.

  “…What?”

  “Do you know who built all of those inns, stores, and residences down the mountain? These two—” Yervan pointed towards Sterge and Gwenda— “that’s who. More than that, they were the ones who found this dungeon, and you should know what that means. As this is the first time they have been here since it reopened, I think you should be a little more patient and respectful of who you talk to. If you can’t, I can and will remove your group from the list and you can reapply.”

  “You don’t have the authority!”

  “Oh, yes, I do. I’ve never had to exert that authority, thankfully, but I certainly possess the ability. So, be good, and don’t test me.”

  There was some very uncomfortable staring after that, as Yervan attempted to cow the belligerent group with her presence and authority. Sterge wanted to disappear, as he was feeling a bit out of his depth here; it was one thing when he and his group had been cutting in line in front of the weaker Raider groups, but this was something else. At his strength and Level, he almost felt like some sort of child waiting for his parents to stop arguing about whether or not he was allowed to do something, and the pretentious feeling of being called “royalty” only made the matter worse. Neither he nor Gwenda were ones to take advantage of their privileges of being in charge of The Village very often (other than to help run everything), and the situation deali
ng with the dungeon only made them feel even more uncomfortable.

  “Fine, they can go in. I’ll be speaking with Jesper after this, though,” the angry Raider snarled, before stepping out of the way, pulling his group with him. They also looked a bit disgruntled, though not at the same level as the instigator.

  I have to learn his name later – and make sure we all avoid him and his group in the future.

  Thankfully, their wait for their chance to go inside wasn’t that long, as 5 minutes later they were able to leave the stares of hatred coming from those behind Sterge’s group. They followed the Gnoll that had appeared to let them know the dungeon was ready, and then slid down the long slide to the bottom. As before, Gwenda loved it and wanted to go again, as did Evy for some reason, but that would have to wait until the next time. Though, with the response that we had this time, I think we should just add our names to the list normally, instead of taking advantage of our status.

  There was no large stone placard this time, which made sense, though Sterge had to admit that he was a little disappointed. He could see that Gwenda was also eagerly looking forward to another communication with the dungeon, and when it wasn’t there she appeared a little down. Regardless, that wasn’t really what they were there for.

  At least, not yet.

  Chapter 17

  The advantages that Sterge and Gwenda possessed were quite powerful, especially now that Tacca could see them in action against a dungeon that was much more difficult than her previous section. Not their Class skills, of course, because they were relatively basic – being low-Level Raiders without any Specialized Class – but the ones they had gained from her Bonding were proving themselves quite useful.

  In her original section, activating a trap would be detrimental, but it wouldn’t necessarily kill someone – other than her Spiked Pit Traps, naturally. In her new section, the traps were stronger and certainly could result in death, especially if they were on the side of a cliff face or stone bridge, where falling off and plummeting to their death – if they were, for example, extremely dizzy – was a distinct possibility. Combined with the presence of her creatures, who would take advantage of those sorts of situations, the risks were certainly heightened.

  Not that many who delved through now succumbed to her traps, as the majority of them “luckily” avoided the worst of the results, but a few certainly did. Most of the time, though, even if they accidentally activated a detrimental trap, they miraculously fell down against a cliff face instead of off of it, or ran scared as a result of a Fear-inducing trap in the opposite direction where danger lurked, or even bent over from extreme nausea, right when an arrow would’ve skewered them in the throat.

  Sterge, Gwenda, and their group didn’t have to worry about any of that, however. The pulse from their Dungeon Sight ability allowed them to not only see the traps Tacca had placed around her dungeon, but the creatures as well. Therefore, in the first room with the Cliff Lynxes hiding along the cliff face, they were able to start picking off her creatures from a long distance away, either from thrown knives sent out by their Scout Class or from some simple spells coming from Gwenda. While they didn’t necessarily kill any of the Lynxes immediately with one shot, like the group of strong Thieves led by Marvus had accomplished a while ago, they were usually able to follow it up with a 2nd or 3rd knife or spell before they could even get close. By that point, all they had to do was carefully navigate their way around her traps – and they were done.

  The second room was nearly a repeat of the first, as knowing where all of the threats were located was proving to be most advantageous. It required a bit more melee action against the Wolves and Cougars than the previous room, but the 3 other group members showed that they were a bit more powerful than they had been the last time they were inside of her dungeon. Her Bonded, having spent most of the time Tacca had been “gone” in the nearby town, had stagnated in terms of their Levels, while their groupmates had obviously improved somewhat.

  “I must say, having experienced going through a few dungeons without your…abilities…you two are more powerful than you realize,” the Elf, who Tacca remembered was named Evy, said after they had slaughtered their way through the maze in the third room.

  Gwenda was the one to answer. “How so?”

  “Because,” Evy said with exasperation, “while there are Scout types that detect and disarm traps, it isn’t always foolproof.”

  “Yes, and it takes a lot of practice and building up of the skill in order for them to be useful for anything but the weakest of traps,” Mordecai, the Gnome, added.

  Tacca knew that for a fact, both from her schooling and from witnessing the 20-strong group of Thieving Raiders in action. In fact, in her defensive room, only one of those that had come with them could accurately differentiate between all of her traps, let alone disarm them.

  “And then there’s your ability to see where all of the monsters are located, which is something I’ve never heard of before for any Class. There are some that can detect the general area of life forces, and others that can detect sounds and movement nearby, but there’s nothing like what you two can do. When you add them together, it’s almost like…cheating, if I’m being honest.”

  “Not that we’re complaining, of course, because it makes it much safer for us,” their healer, William, said hastily. “But I couldn’t help but wonder if Ricardo and Evonne would’ve been alive if we’d had access to something like that.” Tacca had no idea who Ricardo and Evonne were, but the three higher-Level group members looked quite melancholy at the mention of their names.

  Gwenda said softly, “I’m sorry about them, and I too wish we could’ve been there with you, but…well…we had some responsibilities.”

  “Oh, we know, and we don’t hold it against you. Frankly, we’re just glad to be back. To put it lightly, it was difficult out there to live and survive, never knowing if you’re going to be alive to stay at the inn where you just rented a room, or if you would be able to find more group members to visit a dungeon that is too strong for your current Level. This, though…this feels like home, somehow, despite it being a dungeon.”

  The others nodded their agreement – and Tacca was honestly confounded. Home? Here? What even does that mean?

  The Dungeon Core didn’t get any more answers to that as she watched them steadily progress through her dungeon, as they had all gone relatively silent throughout the rest of the rooms. There were a few close calls where one or another became injured through the sheer numbers of creatures arrayed against them, such as an arrow through an arm or leg from a Kitsune Archer or scratches from a large Feline, but overall they performed remarkably well – as if they hadn’t been away for as long as they had been.

  When they finally approached the Boss Room, Tacca became worried for them for the first time. The Werewolf Warrior inside was nearly twice the Hill Dwarves’ Level, as Sterge and Gwenda had increased theirs to Level 7 from all of the creatures that had been killed up to that point, and had proven to be quite formidable. Alone, her Boss was responsible for approximately 75% of all the Raider deaths since the section had been fully explored – but the Rewards were too great for many to pass up without at least trying.

  She needn’t have worried, however. The three others in the group – who she now learned were Raider Level 11 after they too went up a Level during their foray into her dungeon – were more than a match for the room. While Sterge did his best to defend against the Werewolf, getting essentially beat up in the process from her creature’s enormous strength, the Elf and Gnome systematically destroyed the individual Forest Wolves swarming around them. The healer kept Sterge alive with short bursts of healing, which nearly proved the Human’s undoing as he ticked off the Werewolf, but Gwenda kept him alive with her Magibarrier spell and slowed it down with her Sapping Fog. Once all of the smaller Wolves were dead, they concentrated on taking down the upright wolf hybrid without too much trouble.

  Still, almost everyone had been wounded in
one way or another, and were exhausted from the fight. The Rewards they gained from defeating the entire section were obviously appreciated, but they didn’t leave right away.

  “Dungeon? I’m not sure if you can hear us, but we’ve come to you for some help.”

  Tacca had overheard them mention something about needing some help when they had been outside – thanks to Shale spying on them – but had forgotten it while she enjoyed herself watching them delve through her dungeon. Now she was intrigued and wished she could answer, but doing anything inside of the room they were in was relatively impossible. Thankfully, she didn’t have to communicate with Gwenda for the Hill Dwarf to go on.

  “You see, with the arrival of so many people down here, we’re worried about the future….”

  Tacca listened to the small Caster to explain the problems they were going to be facing soon, as far as food and shelter for so many people during the winter month coming up. The Dungeon Core knew exactly what the Hill Dwarf was talking about, because it was something that Tacca knew all too well. She vividly remembered opening up her dungeon to the outside world almost a year ago, and the sight of snow covering the mountains was incredible. She also knew that the temperature out there was so low that anyone caught outside for more than a short amount of time would freeze to death.

  But what am I supposed to do about that?

  “I don’t know, Tacca. Technically, you shouldn’t do anything about it, as a Dungeon Core.” Shale was right, she knew, because that would be like trying to manipulate things outside of her dungeon, which was a definite no-no. It was bad enough that she was communicating with some of the mortal races, Raiders no less, but to actively engage in helping them? She supposed that it was better than actively engaging in trying to kill them, but having that kind of influence outside of a dungeon was not only bad, but was impossible as well.