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

by Jonathan Brooks

  This is some sort of trap! An ambush!

  Anton thought so as well, stepping out in front of the others as they prepared to defend themselves. An arrow shot from one of his group found its target and instantly killed one of the foxes, followed quickly by another, and another, killing 3 of the monsters before they could even reach the group. A spell from their Caster took out two more, meaning that more than half of them were dead before they had even gotten within 50 feet of their target.

  A fourth arrow just barely missed a fox, but a second spell – which appeared to be a jet of flame that shot across the distance – burned up the sixth fox in mid-stride. The remaining four engaged Anton as he shouted, banging on his shield, and they jumped toward him with intent to harm in their strike. Another of Anton’s party intercepted one of the foxes in its airborne trajectory, slicing it in half with an axe, while the three remaining bounced off Anton’s shield and armor without inflicting any kind of damage. In fact, one of them appeared to have hurt itself as it impacted the shield, as it landed awkwardly, its neck broken.

  A few seconds and some simple slices by Anton and the group member wielding the axe was all it took to finish them off. The corpses of the foxes all disappeared within moments, leaving behind some copper coins that even Sterge could see from up where he was.

  Realization finally occurred to him as everyone stood in hushed silence at what they had just witnessed. “This…this is an arena, isn’t it?” he said unconsciously loud, awe in his voice.

  “That’s what I was thinking, but I couldn’t be sure until I saw it,” Gwenda replied just as loudly, so that other people could hear. “And these different-colored sections are the stands where everyone can watch. This is for our entertainment.”

  Suddenly, the message the dungeon had written made sense. Shouting to be heard on the arena floor, he said, “Ask for something a little harder!” Sterge was positive that the foxes that had come out had been the “least challenging”, and that they could request something more difficult.

  There was a slight hesitation from Anton, before he yelled, “Give us something a little harder!”

  There was another sound of stone striking stone, and from beneath the yellow stands Sterge could see a few Gnolls and what appeared to be hyenas emerging from a slide, rushing towards the group in the middle. The Gnolls had on basic leather armor and were wielding swords, and the hyenas were laughing as they ran, but overall they didn’t appear to be too strong for Anton and his group.

  An arena, indeed.

  Chapter 24

  The arena idea Tacca had designed had been taken with extreme caution by the Raiders at first, but that soon changed to excitement. As they began to explore what it was all about in the first few hours, with different groups cautiously trying it out with some of her weaker or lower-Level creatures, the Dungeon Core reviewed everything to make sure it would all run smoothly, as it would require her attention more than anything else in her dungeon had, if only so that she could respond to their requests of less or more challenges.

  The message she had left for her two Bonded Hill Dwarves had been a bit obtuse, because she didn’t want to spoil the surprise. Nevertheless, they seemed to understand it well enough, or at least well enough that they weren’t entirely shocked about what they had walked into at the end of the tunnel.

  The night before, as soon as everything was settled in the Hall and the town outside, the snow had rushed in to fall in earnest. It wasn’t particularly thick at first, but she knew that within a few days it would be so deep that no one could move, or at least move easily. She wasn’t sure if it would be deep enough where the Hall was located to cover the entrance entirely, especially as it was at the bottom of the mountain range instead of where her own dungeon entrance was situated. It didn’t really matter, though, because even if it were only a few feet, the cold itself could kill those unprepared for it, or if they stayed out in it for more than a few minutes.

  Therefore, once she was sure everything was going well, for the first time ever, Tacca closed her dungeon down. Sealing up both her original and her secondary entrance with stone, she was relieved to have them inaccessible until she opened them up again. The one and only reason she did that at all was because she didn’t want to have to worry about them while her concentration was somewhere else. Stripping them of their defenses would make them practically useless, after all.

  Every creature that had been set up in both sections was absorbed, as well as every trap. She was already feeling like she was getting to the limit of how many traps she could place, with what was inside the two sections, her defensive room, and those that she had placed in the Hall. If she wanted to utilize any inside of the arena, for potential obstacle courses or some of the other ideas that the other Dungeon Assistants had proposed, she’d have some major trouble accomplishing that. Knowing that they would be easy enough to replace later, once she opened back up to the world, it didn’t really bother her to undo all of her hard work.

  All of that was due to needing her full Control Limit back, as she ended up spending most of it to fill the 16 rooms surrounding the arena. For 10 of the rooms, the creatures inside were familiar to the Raiders; the major differences in them were the quantity they would be up against, as well as elevated creature Levels.

  10 Root Foxes (Level: 1)

  7 Frond Coyotes (Level: 1) / 7 Branch Jackals (Level: 1)

  8 Forest Wolves (Level: 2)

  5 Savannah Lions (Level: 3) / 5 Mountain Cougars (Level: 3)

  6 Forest Wolves (Level: 4) / 10 Echoing Hyenas (Level: 4)

  5 Gnoll Warriors (Level: 5) / 8 Echoing Hyenas (Level: 5)

  6 Kitsune Archers (Level: 6) / 10 Root Foxes (Level: 6)

  5 Crag Harpies (Level: 7) / 10 Cliff Lynxes (Level: 7)

  4 Kitsune Archer (Level: 8) / 4 Gnoll Assassins (Level: 8) / 4 Echoing Hyenas (Level: 8) / 4 Root Foxes (Level: 8)

  2 Werewolf Warriors (Level: 10) / 20 Forest Wolves (Level: 1)

  Essentially, they were all creatures that the Raiders had fought against before, though the challengers would have the advantage in this situation. There were no environmental objects for her creations to hide within, nor were there any traps that could be triggered; not only that, but the Raiders had the opportunity to attack from a distance, before the creatures could get close to them. That was one of the two reasons she had upped the number of them to levels they wouldn’t necessarily have to face through her normal dungeon sections; the other was because having more would offer them a better challenge.

  Then there was the fact that she wasn’t limited to opening one room full of creatures at a time. While 10 Root Foxes that were Level 1 or 8 Forest Wolves that were Level 2 might seem easy, if she was to release them both at the same time, that just upped the difficulty a few notches. Opening up a third or fourth – or, technically, all of them – was always an option if they needed even more of a challenge, which was why she hadn’t put a limit on how many Raiders could participate.

  For her 6 other creature rooms, she added something a little different. Since there were some higher-Level Raiders that wouldn’t receive much – if any – of the “Power” they gained from killing her creatures that were much lower Levels than they were, she had filled her 5 of her other rooms with some powerful opponents – most of whom the Raiders hadn’t seen before. The Gnoll Archmage made an appearance, though only Level 16 this time, accompanied by a handful of lower-Level Hyenas.

  After that, she dug into her Semi-human family, using a pair of Minotaur Champions at Level 15. They were nearly 10 feet tall and half that wide, looking like brownish bulls that walked on hooved feet, and wielding 7-foot-long battleaxes in their “human-like” hands. Their horns stuck up so far that they nearly scratched the ceiling of their waiting rooms, while their furry loincloths provided the barest of protection to their bodies. Despite the lack of defense, they were extremely powerful and could somewhat resist most types of elemental magic used against them.

  A trio
of Level 14 Ursinos were next, with each of them a different Variant. One of the 8-foot-tall, black-furred, bear-like creatures was a Brawler, which meant that it primarily used its fists to attack – or more accurately, its deadly claws; it had light leather armor that protected its chest, but that was about it for protection, as it needed to move quickly and aggressively. Another was a Guardian Variant, which was protected by an iron armor breastplate and helmet, wielded a giant mace and a shield half of its size; despite the protection, it was rather slow and was meant for barreling through defenses and protecting its allies.

  Lastly was an Ursino Shaman as part of the trio. Unlike the Archmage, which was a veritable powerhouse of deadly magical abilities, the Shaman used handheld totems to create elemental effects. Some of them were defensive effects, like giving the other Ursinos extra protection against magical spells, or they could be used offensively, usually through area-of-effect spells like walls of flames, icicle rain, or whirlwinds of air. None of them were as powerful as an Archmage, however, which meant that it couldn’t really hold its own against a group of Raiders – hence, being part of a trio.

  Next up was an unusual choice, but one that Tacca thought might be interesting. The Ratunda were rather small compared to a Werewolf, Minotaur, or a Ursino, which also meant that they required much less Dungeon Force or Control Limit to create. While the others depended on brute force for the majority of their attacks, the Ratunda – which were upright-walking rats, basically – were more adept at sneaky attacks and overwhelming with numbers. Therefore, she created 12 of them at Level 15, which cost essentially the same as the trio of Ursinos, all of a single Variant: Sewer Strider.

  The Variant essentially made them extremely fast along with possessing claws that could spread poison through anything they scratched, though they were rather weak in the defensive department. Their swift and relatively intelligent reactions to attacks meant that they were better suited to avoiding long-range attacks, and could go toe-to-toe with some of the Scout-based Raider Classes.

  With two more rooms, one being the unique-sized waiting area for something potentially extra-large, she went with something quite different for the normal-sized one. It was an experiment, which she played around with first before she actually added it, and she was of mixed minds about it.

  So was Shale.

  “I’m not so sure about this. I really don’t think I like the thought of them killing…you know…one of us.”

  It isn’t one of us, Shale. It’s a creature in my dungeon that just happens to look like you or like my previous form; it’s not really alive – you know that.

  “But, it’s…I don’t know…wrong!”

  Well, how do you think they’ll react to fighting against my creatures that look like their Raiders?

  “Which is another thing you probably shouldn’t do, because that could have some highly negative reactions,” her Dungeon Assistant protested. After a moment, though, he sighed. “But if you’re dead set on it, I would advise you to keep it in reserve, as the introduction of a Human, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, or Orc into the arena for the Raiders to fight against might be traumatic.”

  But a Dungeon Fairy is off-limits?

  “…Yes?”

  Tacca understood, she really did; but for some reason the thought of a Dungeon Fairy creature – that she created from Dungeon Force, inside of her dungeon, which wasn’t technically alive – dying at the hands of a Raider wasn’t that big of a deal. She really wanted to use it, too, especially after she learned that it didn’t have Variants, but was instead a Variant of its own.

  Dungeon Fairy

  The Dungeon Fairy is a unique creature that normally isn’t placed within a dungeon’s walls, but is typically there to help the Dungeon Core directly. Despite that, the Dungeon Fairy can certainly be applied as a creature that can fight Raiders directly, though its abilities are limited to whatever the Core has access to – which is normally nothing.

  Cost (Level 20): 60 DF

  Control Requirement (Level 20): 8

  Creation Time (Level 20): 10 Minutes

  Equipment: Mood Clothes (Physical Defense +2)

  Fairy Mana (Level 20): 750

  Fairy Mana Regeneration: 50 per minute

  Physical Attack: 1

  Magical Attack: 20

  Physical Defense: 3

  Ranged Defense: 1

  Elemental Resistance: 25% Death, 25% Nature, 25% Earth

  Specials: Bonus to Fairy Mana regeneration (25%) if located within a dungeon

  Ability Options: Invisibility – 50 FM per minute (+25 DF), Healing Aura – 200 Fairy Mana per minute (+75 DF), Electrified Pacification – 500 FM per minute (+125 DF), Blinding Flash – 250 FM (+50 DF), Light Cage – 600 FM per minute (+200 DF)

  At Level 20, the Dungeon Fairies she could create had a variety of Ability Options, which were similar to what Tacca had access to. However, while she had access to quite a few others, there were some that weren’t even available even at higher creature Levels; she did find that once she got the Dungeon Fairy past Level 30, 40, and 50, the Flame Wall, Shattering Icicle, and Mass Confusion abilities were available to be chosen – but Repellant Shield, Hibernate, Assistant Information Meld, Leadership, Shared Risk, Translocation, Omen Charge, and Bond were not. While it might be possible they were available at even higher Levels of her creature, the cost to produce it would be too high at the moment to make trying worthwhile.

  What was interesting was that, even at Level 20, the base cost of a Dungeon Fairy was only 60 DF and its Control Limit requirement was only 8; it made her feel a little sad that it didn’t require many resources to produce one of her former kind. Regardless, it made them easier to create, even when she tacked on some of the other ability options like Invisibility for 25 extra Dungeon Force, Blinding Flash for 50 extra, or Healing Aura for an extra 75 DF. The expense of each ability’s use was more than she or Shale would spend as far as Fairy Mana that it had access to, but it was still nice to have.

  Her mind made up, she created one each of an Orc Melee, Hill Dwarf Melee, Gnome Scout, Elf Caster, and Human Healer; all of them were Level 15 and had access to all of the simplest of abilities for each Variant she had available. She didn’t provide them with any special armor or weapons more than what they came with, however, because they automatically upgraded at higher Levels. She was a little disappointed that she didn’t have access to any specialized Variants yet, but ever since the attack on her dungeon by those monstrous invaders, she had been extremely hesitant to leave her Core Room to Bond with dying Raiders, thereby unlocking them for her use.

  In addition to the 5 “Raider-like” creatures, she also had a Level 20 Dungeon Fairy with Invisibility, Healing Aura, and Blinding Flash; depending on how it performed, she would see about giving it an upgrade later. That was it for that room – just the 6 of them – but it would be a difficult fight for any Raider groups unprepared for them. Even after she made them, though, Tacca knew that she would hesitate to actually deploy them, unless there was some specific condition that was met; what that condition was, she couldn’t say, but she would know it if she saw it.

  For her last prepared room, which would hold something large, she had just enough Control Limit left (about 300) for something impressive. However, everything she thought about had already been represented in some way; sure, there were some Semi-humans like the Pachyd which could become quite large as it was part elephant, but she found that even at Level 20, it was barely larger than one of her Minotaurs; wider, certainly, but not necessarily larger. No, what she needed was something big, impressive enough on its own without being a Semi-human.

  Tacca nearly went searching for the perfect creature family to unlock, spending more of her accumulated Core Improvement Points, but she held off when she realized she had forgotten one of the creatures she had used in her original dungeon: the Mastiff. Similar in cost to the Dungeon Fairy, since it wasn’t considered necessarily dangerous as much as a Wolf was, she experimented with the massiv
e dog to see what she could come up with.

  Mastiff

  The Mastiff is normally a large, cuddly, friendly companion – but it can be quite deadly if crossed. Typically larger and weighing more than almost any other common dog breed, the Mastiff can cause considerable damage to unprepared victims getting in its way, knocking them down in the process.

  Cost (Level 75): 1500 DF

  Control Requirement (Level 75): 260

  Creation Time (Level 75): 8 Hours

  Equipment: None

  Physical Attack: 75

  Magical Attack: 0

  Physical Defense: 60

  Ranged Defense: 20

  Elemental Resistance: None

  Specials: Charge and knockdown – Charges ahead towards a target, with a chance of knocking it down due to its considerable weight

  Pack Hunter: Bonus to physical attack if in conjunction with others in the Canine family

  The Mastiff she created was pushing the boundaries of what she could spend at one time, but it was worth it. A Level 75 dog didn’t seem all that impressive, especially looking at its information, but actually seeing it was quite an eye-opening experience. The Physical Attack of 75 was probably a little inaccurate, because it didn’t take into account the sheer weight behind the 45-foot-tall, 70-foot-long, greyish-furred beast that eventually emerged after 8 hours of creation time. It was hard for her to judge in her current state, but the monstrous Mastiff probably weighed 5,000 to 6,000 pounds, and if it rammed into someone (or just stepped on them), they were guaranteed to have a very bad day.

  Aside from that, though, its mouth was large but its bite wasn’t technically any deadlier than its smaller form – but sharp, foot-long teeth could still inflict a bit of damage. The same went with its claws, which weren’t enhanced in any way other than being larger, though their points were still sharp enough to cut through leather, at the least.