“Gwenda! Wake up! We’re alive…somehow,” he said, shaking her shoulder gently. Just like he had, Gwenda woke up abruptly – though with a scream already at her lips. This isn’t good for her to be waking up screaming in a dungeon so much; it’s already been twice today in the last few hours. It was a random thought that really had no point to it and wasn’t funny in any way; nevertheless, it made him laugh a little.
“What are you laughing at? We almost died…actually, why aren’t we dead?” she asked as she sat up when he started to giggle, which at least had the benefit of stopping her screaming. He had no answer, though, other than to laugh harder. Eventually his best friend started giggling, for no other reason than the fact that he was laughing so hard he had trouble breathing and his eyes were crying involuntarily. All he knew was that it felt good to laugh like that; it had been entirely too long that he had gone without a little humor in his life – even if there was nothing humorous about their situation.
When they both calmed down from their laughing fit, he tried to look seriously at her, but he was interrupted by random rounds of giggling. “I have no idea why we’re still alive…but we are. Our clothes are basically scraps of fabric, though – but at least we have our health.”
At the mention of clothes, Gwenda looked down at her body for the first time and gasped in shock. She attempted to cover herself up with the rags but gave up after a few moments with a big sigh. “Whatever. It’s a shame, because I kind of liked this new robe; I wonder if my original one is still in the previous room?”
“It might be, but I already looked around for my armor and it’s nowhere to be seen. I think we’re lucky to have survived…that,” he shivered a little at the memory of the bites and his tearing flesh. All the humor that had stemmed from the incident had wilted. “I think we better leave before something else happens; I think our luck has been used up for the rest of our lives.”
It was certainly still a mystery of what had happened to save them both from death, but Sterge wasn’t going to question their good fortune. There was no sign of any of the beasts, but there were a few piles of coins inside the large room that previously held them. He vaguely remembered actually killing a few of his attackers before he was taken down, and it appeared as though Gwenda had stayed and killed a few with her spells instead of leaving. The brief thought of collecting the money crossed through his mind but was immediately shut down. Uh…no. Not worth it.
Gwenda apparently thought the same thing because she didn’t even mention trying to collect it as they readied to leave. Sterge collected his weapons but was forced to carry them; his belt and sword sheath, along with all of his armor, had disappeared just as quickly from the attack. Fortunately, the pack that Gwenda had brought with her was still intact – which held all of their rewards so far – so it wasn’t a total loss.
They didn’t say a word as they cautiously backtracked through the dungeon – after checking unsuccessfully for her old robe, of course – and found that it was completely empty. No beasts, no traps (or at least none that they triggered), and no sign that they had ever traversed it in the first place. Sterge thought it was strange that nothing they passed through showed evidence of their journey down into the dungeon, as even the wildflowers that they previously trampled through on their way through the fourth room appeared completely undisturbed.
It was when they were passing through the second room with all the ferns that Gwenda let out a gasp of surprise. Sterge immediately turned to protect her from whatever the threat was, but she was just staring blankly ahead. “I was curious if we had received more Power from that last fight, when I saw…this,” she said at his inquiry.
He brought up his Raider Status as well and saw that they had indeed received some Power – 18 total – from killing a few of the beasts. Knowing that wasn’t what made her stop in surprise, he kept looking…and found something strange on the bottom of his Status.
Abilities:
Forceful Smash (Blunt)
Slam (Shield)
Dungeon Sight (Enhancement)
Power Boost +50% (Permanent)
“Where did those come from?” he asked out loud. Just like how they worked before, though, when he concentrated on each of the new abilities he received some information about them. He felt himself just about to recite it out loud, but Gwenda beat him to it.
“Dungeon Sight allows the user to temporarily pinpoint the locations of nearby creatures, traps, and environmental objects inside of a room at the expense of large amounts of stamina. Power Boost +50% grants an extra 50% increase in the amount of Power received from killing creatures inside of a dungeon for the owner of this Ability and anyone within their group; this is a permanent Ability and does not need to be activated.”
They just stood there, silently looking at each other in shock and wonder for what felt like hours. A rumble in Sterge’s stomach signaled that he was starting to get hungry, however, and he broke up their impromptu staring contest. “Well, we can look into this later; for now, let’s go back to the village. I’m practically starving after all of this almost dying stuff.”
“Heh, I guess you’re right. I’m hungry too, so let’s go.”
It took a bare fraction of the time they had spent making their way through the dungeon to reach the entrance; the small hint of sunlight streaming in from the tunnel leading outside was a welcome sight and Sterge breathed a huge sigh of relief. That relieved sigh turned questioning as he saw two piles of something on the ground next to each of the trees flanking the tunnel.
“That looks like a new robe for me and…leather armor for you?” Gwenda said curiously as she stepped closer. She didn’t touch them yet, though, which he approved of; there had been entirely too many surprises in the dungeon to trust that they weren’t trapped or dangerous in some way.
Sterge tore his eyes away from the pile of “new” worn-looking leather armor pieces – still better than his original set, however – as an irregularity in the floor caught his attention. “Hold on, there’s something written in the soil.”
“These items are yours to replace what was lost,
Your survival today comes with a cost.
Share the news of this dungeon’s location,
And reap the rewards of your chosen vocation.
A word of warning this dungeon passes to you though,
A cautionary hint that it suggests you follow.
Sharing details of your adventures here is unwise,
If you wish to continue to reach for the skies.
Your Abilities are yours and yours alone, of course,
You can continue to use them for better or worse.
Fellow ‘friends’, however, may see it with greed,
Which may result in an untimely final deed.”
“I’m no expert on poetry, but that is…not great. And what is that supposed to mean?” Gwenda asked him after she read it with him. He just shook his head in confusion, because he only understood what he thought was the important part: the dungeon had saved them and given them gifts of the armor and Gwenda’s robe so that they could tell everyone of its location. He’d never heard of a dungeon communicating with anyone before, but he was also learning that there were a lot of things about dungeons and Raider life that he didn’t know before.
“I have no idea; it appears as though this stuff was meant for us, though,” he replied, before strapping on the pile of leather armor on the floor. His best friend wasn’t too far behind him as she slipped off her rags and slid the new robe over her form while Sterge was looking the other way.
Without another word, they walked through the tunnel and greeted the near mid-day sun; judging by its location in the sky, he estimated that they spent only about three hours inside the dungeon – though it seemed like a lot longer. So much had happened that seemed unreal, but the armor he was wearing, the stick-and-ball weapon he was carrying, and the shield strapped to his left arm were all proof that it happened – not to mention the pouch full of coin
s hanging off of Gwenda’s shoulder.
It wasn’t quite what he expected when he woke up that morning; nevertheless, he felt fulfilled for some reason. He’d never really thought about becoming a Raider delving through dungeons before almost a month ago, but he could see the appeal; the only drawback he saw was that it would take time away from his farming if he decided to continue on this path with Gwenda – which seemed likely if he understood her intentions correctly. Well, that, and he guessed the horrible pain and agony he was likely to face again if he came back to the dungeon was also a drawback if he really considered it.
As they walked down the mountain, the exhaustion caused him to slow down a bit – though it could be because of the blood-loss from multiple injuries. Sterge could see that his best friend was also lagging behind, though, so it didn’t really matter. Eventually, halfway to the foothills below the mountain range itself, Gwenda spoke. “I’ve been thinking about that horrible poem that was obviously left for us. I think it was saying that we shouldn’t tell anyone about what we saw inside there. Not only that, but I think it was cautioning against telling anyone of these new Abilities we somehow acquired.”
“Ok, I can kind of understand that based on what we read…but why?”
“I assume that what we experienced wasn’t, let’s say, ‘normal’. I’ve never heard of a dungeon sparing and then healing anyone, have you?”
“Well, no,” he said with a shrug. He really wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
She seemed to ponder for a moment as they walked. “It could’ve done all of those things because we were the first people to go into the dungeon, or maybe because it really wanted us to live and spread around its location; regardless, I can see why we might not want to share that if it won’t happen for everyone. These strange Abilities seem quite valuable too, so I can imagine that others might get jealous or ‘greedy’ about them; I don’t know what that would necessarily mean for us, but I do know that I really don’t want to find out.”
He hadn’t really thought about it that way, but it was commonly known that Raiders were a greedy lot most of the time. Also that they didn’t really value the lives of those that were weaker than them, though there were rules in place that prevented them from just rampaging around killing people; most of those rules were self-regulated by the Raider Delving Clan itself, however, which made their village a great place to live most of the time. There were rarely ever any Raiders that passed through or even near them – so most of the fear that the rest of the continent had to endure from their presence was practically nonexistent.
Of course, he was technically a Raider now, but Sterge couldn’t imagine being like the ones he had seen in the past or heard stories about. He just wanted to live his life peacefully where he could farm and have a little piece of the world as his own…but delving through dungeons could be a fun side job, too.
“Well then, if that’s what the dungeon wants us to do, then I’m all for doing that. Or not doing that, as it were. It could’ve killed us in there and it didn’t, so I think that we owe it that much to at least consider its warning,” he agreed. Gwenda just nodded her head and continued walking, but Sterge could almost imagine her mind spinning its wheels.
“So…do we go to Heftington today or tomorrow?” he finally asked.
“As much as I would like to rest and take the rest of the day off, I think we need to go today. If we want that finder’s fee, then I think we need to do it before anyone else finds the dungeon; it’s only a matter of time before it’s found, and it’s also quite possible that someone saw us head up into the mountains all geared up as Raiders – or will see us coming back down,” she said, determination fighting her weariness in her voice. “I’d like to rest for at least a few minutes when we get back to the village and get something to eat, though.”
His loud rumbling stomach voiced its agreement without Sterge even having to say a word.
Chapter 29
Tacca didn’t really care for the way the two Raiders ridiculed her poem, though she had to admit that it wasn’t her best. Still, coming up with something “mysterious” and not a direct communication with the two Hill Dwarves within a few minutes was hard, and she did the best she could. She hadn’t been planning on doing that at all – at least until she heard them talking and describing the Abilities they had received as part of their Bond with her Core. When she found out what they really were, she feared for their safety.
Because the Abilities were way too beneficial to the right people and they might be taken advantage of…against their will. She’d heard of Raiders using less-powerful members of their Clan being used as tools and sent ahead to test for traps before, though it was rare and didn’t happen for long when it was found; nevertheless, it did happen, and for even one of the Abilities that they both now possessed, she could see them being chained up for years and dragged along by groups of Raiders, used to further their own development. If they went around blabbing their mouths to anyone who could listen about what abilities they now possessed, she might not ever see them again.
That thought made her…sad? Maybe not sad; disappointed sounds a little better.
Regardless, she felt a tiny bit responsible for that outcome if it did happen, though now it was on them if they didn’t keep their mouths shut. She did what she could to warn them with her “not so great” poem that she used her Carve Earth Option to quickly write in the dirt near her entrance, and that was about all she could do. Tacca was just glad that Shale hadn’t been anywhere near to see it, because any types of communication between Cores and Raiders were considered against the regulations she was supposed to abide by.
She never understood the restriction herself, but she had dutifully learned it and was planning on following it with all of her Cores she Assisted. Now that she was a Core, it made sense; the type of personal attention that was needed to communicate with a Raider meant that there was some sort of “connection” between them. A “connection” wasn’t anything near what she felt with her Bond, of course, but just like what had happened here, it could lead to a reluctance to kill them. Killing Raiders was a natural part of her existence and was expected from a Core – on both sides of the field; a dungeon that didn’t kill was considered too soft and therefore not challenging enough…therefore it deserved death, at least in the eyes of the Raiders. It was a twisted way to look at the situation, but again, the punishment made unfortunate sense when you looked at it from their perspective.
“You’ve got some massive explaining to do, Tamara,” Shale said with a serious expression on his face. He had followed her into the Core Room as soon as she was able to Teleport back and was trying to force her to tell him exactly what was going on with her actions; he was acting tough, but his Mood Clothes betrayed his anxiety, fear, and confusion with a riot of colors. “You told me to wait while all of that was going on, so tell me, already. Please?”
He sounded almost like he was pleading with her for information, which was quite possible; his mind must’ve been so confused after what he had seen that he was having trouble holding it all together. Seeing his Bonded Dungeon Core Teleport into danger, use two Abilities that only Dungeon Assistant Fairies could use, and then let the two Raiders go free without any explanation was nowhere in the realm of “normal”. Maybe I can convince him that it was just another strange quirk of mine, sort of like how my Core keeps cracking when I use too much Dungeon Force.
“C’mon, I saw the notification after you did something I’ve never heard of before. What is this Bond thing you did with the two Raiders? And what does it mean that you can now create Hill Dwarves?”
He saw that? The thought of trying to trick him into believing that she had some more quirks was quickly dashed. In a panic, she considered dissolving his Bond with her so that she wouldn’t have to explain herself, but she stopped when she remembered how horrible it felt when it was done to her. It wasn’t nearly as bad as when her Bond was forcefully broken, but it had enough impact on h
er that she didn’t want to inflict that on him. Am I going soft? Is this why I didn’t want those Raiders to die? She internally resolved to squash those feelings of empathy towards those who were invading her dungeon in the future, because that wouldn’t be good for anyone.
But she couldn’t squash her feelings towards Shale. She had been in his position too many times to remember, with a Core that wasn’t playing by the rules; too many things were adding up concerning her behavior, which indicated that something was seriously wrong, and she was honestly tired of hiding who she was anyway. Tacca was pretty sure that it was the stupidest decision she could make, but that day had already been full of stupid decisions…and really, what was one more?
So, she told him…almost everything.
She explained her experiences with the other Cores, how her “bad luck” seemed to follow her everywhere she went, the circumstances that led to her current state of being, and finally about the unique Bond Ability that she came to acquire. The only thing she left out from her admission was her communication with the two Raiders, because that was “technically” the only thing that she had done that was against regulations for a Core to do. She assumed that lying about how her former body had really died was probably against some sort of regulation as well, but since it was hers, she didn’t feel that bad about it.
Shale stayed quiet through her entire explanation, not even asking questions, and when she was done with her story he continued to be silent. His Mood Clothes had gradually drifted towards a pure white about halfway through her monologue, which she had never actually seen before. It continued that way even after she was done, and he just fluttered in front of her Core with his white Clothes and a blank expression on his face. I think I broke him.
The Dungeon Fairy: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 1) Page 28
