The Dungeon Fairy: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 1)

by Jonathan Brooks

  After a while, the creation of new rooms, traps, and creatures for each countdown period was eclipsed from Points gained by the presence of Raiders constantly invading the dungeon, but for now she had limited options. She had more than enough time to create 100 more creatures, giving her another 100 Points, but then she’d have to find some way to get 97 more. Normally, that would be easy by making at least 20 traps, which typically gave at least 5 CIPs for each one placed; with her reduction of 95%, though, the most she’d get would be 2 – and that would be for a fairly complex and powerful trap that cost more Dungeon Force than she could afford. Therefore, she’d have to place 97 traps inside her small dungeon, which would be difficult – but not impossible.

  While there was a listing of the types of traps that could be placed, it was up to the individual Dungeon Cores to customize them to suit their own purposes. Most of the time this really just meant things like determining the size, the trigger mechanism, or how powerful/deadly they were; what could also be done was to combine two or more traps to create complex traps that would do more than one thing. These types of traps were usually used by considerably more powerful Dungeon Cores, mainly because they cost a lot of Dungeon Force. In school, Tacca had spent some free time combining traps together to see what would work well together and the lowest-cost complex trap she had designed was at a minimum of 4,000 DF – well out of range at the moment.

  Size (known as the activation range) – along with strength and duration – was a major determining factor in how much Dungeon Force a single, non-complex trap cost; this was fortunate for her because of her Trap Specialization, which was another reason she had chosen Enchantment.

  Confusion Enchantment Trap

  The Confusion Enchantment Trap can be placed on any surface and triggered by proximity. Any living being passing through the activation range will experience a level of confusion – determined by the strength of the trap – for a limited duration of time. Victims inflicted with confusion cannot retrigger additional Confusion Enchantment Traps until the duration has expired. All traps can be disabled with high enough Disarm Trap skills.

  Cost: 4 DF (-60% Enchantment Specialization)

  Replacement Cost: 1 (-75% off current cost/Enchantment Specialization)

  Creation Time: 2 Minutes

  Disarm Trap Resistance: 0

  Activation Range: 1.0ft X 1.0ft X 1.0ft

  Trigger Proximity: 0.5 ft

  Strength: 1.0

  Duration: 1.0 second

  Resistance Category: Mental

  Special Effects: Causes the mind of a victim passing through the Activation Range to become confused and may attack allies

  Her problem was easily solved by using the Confusion Enchantment Trap, at least. Enchantments – unlike many of the other trap types, could be created extremely small, and since they were inherently non-lethal, their costs were in general less than the others. To make a trap that would cause very minor confusion to whoever passed with a half foot of its 1ft X 1ft X 1ft Activation Range for an entire second would normally cost 10 Dungeon Force; with her Specialization, it only cost her 4 DF.

  This, of course, was an extremely weak trap that had no chance to do anything to a Raider; if they had a Mental Resistance of at least 1.0, then they wouldn’t be affected by it at all. Even if they didn’t – which was wildly improbable – a second’s worth of confusion would barely be registered to the victim’s mind before it was gone. However, if the trap was scaled upwards to affect a larger area, had a greater strength to overcome average Mental Resistances, and lasted for a longer duration, it could be quite effective – and cost a whole lot more DF as well.

  For Tacca’s purpose, though, it was perfect. Her natural Dungeon Force Regeneration meant that she could place three of them every minute – if she stopped her Carve Earth – so she stopped her expansion long enough to get her latest room filled with small Confusion Enchantment Traps. To her surprise, each of the traps appeared like transparent cubes a foot wide on each side to her vision, with a glow that extended another half foot – which she assumed indicated its trigger range.

  It was the first thing since she had become a Dungeon Core that she hadn’t known about before; either Cores didn’t really think it was worth mentioning, or she had missed it during her schooling. To a Dungeon Assistant, traps were essentially invisible; she’d heard, though – and even slightly experienced – that once a Fairy was accustomed to a particular dungeon for a long time, they could sense exactly where each one was.

  When she was done, her latest room – which was 20 feet in length and width – had the entire floor covered in traps, as well as a good portion of three walls. She found that she had to place them a foot away from each other because of their Trigger Proximity, which couldn’t overlap; because of that, less of them fit than she was expecting, but she still had plenty of space in the room to add another few dozen – especially if she went to the ceiling.

  Looking at it with a critical eye, it was probably the least effective room full of traps in the history of dungeons, despite there being 97 distinct traps coating the surface. Tacca checked her current CIPs and saw that her endeavors were successful: she now had exactly 100 Core Improvement Points. In fact, it was so easy that she figured she might as well continue the trend instead of creating any creatures; it was both faster and cost a little bit less than even a Fox, and now that she had plenty of room to place them in her other constructed rooms, she thought she might even be able to get to 500 CIPs. It would require 200 for advancing her to Core Improvement Level 3, and then an additional 300 to get her to Level 4.

  I probably should have done this before, instead of creating all of those Foxes. When she looked back on it, however, she was glad she had made so many creatures at the time because it was a full-scale proof of concept; she hadn’t really known that her “All Variants” plan had worked, and it felt good to prove that she hadn’t made a mistake. Now, however, she knew that it was working, so there was no need to create them when the small traps worked just as well or better.

  Tacca had just started on placing more traps when the sudden sound of a Translocation popping into existence near her Core disturbed her. It only surprised her momentarily with its suddenness, because she was expecting someone to return at some point; to her trepidation, it was the same Fairy from earlier – Shale.

  The dark-brownish-reddish-skinned Fairy looked around her Core Room with nervousness before he immediately turned his Invisibility and Repellant Shield on; luckily for her, she was still able to follow him through either her Core or Fairy senses – she wasn’t exactly sure on that point – so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Shale didn’t say anything as he waited for a few minutes (probably for his Fairy Mana to regenerate, she thought), before fluttering his dark-red and grey-striped wings to bring him closer to her Core. As he reached out his hand to touch her spherical form, she noticed for the first time (once he was close enough that the Invisibility faded a little bit from proximity) that his “Mood” clothes – his skin-tight shirt and trousers – were a deep yellow in color, interspersed with streaks of black throughout.

  He was almost scared out of his mind and despairing at the same time.

  I wonder if he thinks I killed myself. I guess…when you look at it a certain way…I did, but it wasn’t intentional. Tacca couldn’t help but let a little amusement leak out of her Core, which made Shale hesitate before he placed his hand on her side. She was expecting to feel it pressing against her…but nothing happened. Instead, she could look from outside and vaguely see him with his hand there; past that, it was as if he didn’t really exist.

  Quicker than she expected it, she could feel the Bond start to form between them; as soon as it firmed into existence, then she could feel his hand against her Core, like a warm brand pressing against her surface. Tacca didn’t consider it invasive or awkward, instead it felt natural and welcoming.

  Unlike the first words out of Shale’s mouth.

  “Tell me why y
ou killed Tacca, now!”

  She was a little taken aback by his forcefulness, though she was also warmed a little that he seemed to actually…care. Tacca responded with only the slightest hesitation; while she had already considered what she would say was the reason for “her” death, the recognition of her voice was still a worry.

  “I didn’t kill her – I would never do that. One day she started complaining about some sort of power building up in her body, and before I knew it she fell out of the air, hit the ground, and died. I tried to wake her up, but there was nothing I could do; she had been such a great…you call them Dungeon Assistants, right? Anyway, she had been such a great Assistant that I didn’t want to just absorb her, so I buried her in a place of honor in my Core Room. When you came, I figured you could bring her back to her family so that she could be respectfully honored by those who loved her.”

  Strangely, as the words flowed out of her and were transferred to Shale, she could hear the tone of them change subtly. If she hadn’t known her voice so well, she probably wouldn’t have noticed it; as it was, she sounded nothing like herself. That’s a relief.

  Her explanation made Shale pause and soften his angry expression, which – according to what she could see of his Mood Clothes – was all a front; he was still scared and not in the least actually angry. As she watched, the deep yellow lightened up, only to be replaced by a pale orange. Hmm…I confused him.

  As for Tacca, she held her emotions in check and kept them inside her Core as much as she could. It was actually easier than she had thought when she applied herself, which meant that every other time she felt emotions from Dungeon Cores in the past it was either deliberate or they just didn’t care about what they were sending out into the world.

  “Yes, well, I had to ask. We can’t have Dungeon Cores going around killing their Assistants, after all – there’s too few of us as it is. I’m not sure the Council will accept that explanation, however, but that’s what I’ll report back to them.” He paused. “Uh…in the meantime, before they make a decision regarding you, I’m to be your new Dungeon Assistant. My name is Shale…and who might you be?”

  If she were still a Fairy, she’d probably be hyperventilating by this point. Despite all the time she had to come up with a story to tell about her “death”, Tacca didn’t even think about what her name would be; obviously, she couldn’t use her actual name, because that would probably negate everything she was trying to do with the misdirection of her corpse. For all her smarts and perceived knowledge, she couldn’t think of a proper name.

  Shale was staring at her in suspicion, so she started to blurt out her name, changing it at the last moment. “Ta-mara. Tamara, my name is Tamara.” She knew she sounded stupid, but Shale seemed not to notice anything wrong with it.

  “Nice to meet you, Tamara. I have to admit that I’m a little nervous about being your Assistant.”

  Tacca/Tamara spoke without thinking. “Why? Because you think I killed the previous Fairy?”

  Shale’s face lost a lot of its color, which made him look odd. “N-no, not because of that, but now that you mention it I’m even more nervous now,” he said with a stutter. Taking a deep breath – she assumed to calm himself down – he continued. “Actually, I’m nervous because you’re my first Dungeon Core that I’ve been Bonded to. I just finished my training – actually, I got pulled out a little early – and got sent straight here to retrieve Tacca and take over for her. So, if I seem a little hesitant, I apologize; I have the knowledge, but this is my first time actually speaking and interacting with a Core.”

  She told him that was fine, and that she was actually doing fine without him. His face fell at her words, so she tried to explain; she didn’t want to hurt him unnecessarily, but she also didn’t want him to stick around if she could help it. “Tacca explained a lot to me and I think I have a really good grasp on how all this ‘Dungeon Core’ stuff works. It was amazing how much she seemed to know about even the smallest things; we used to talk late into the night about the best strategies to use for my development. I’ll miss her dearly…but she set me up for success quite well and I don’t really need any help from here. You said that you…Dungeon Assistants…are in short supply, so I can certainly Dismiss your Bond and you can go help someone that really needs it.”

  His face was a complex up-and-down of emotions as she spoke. First he looked hurt that she didn’t need him, then happy when she said he could leave and go somewhere else, followed by sadness and disappointment. “Thank you for the offer, but I have specific orders to stay here just under a year by the Lead Placement Council Member.”

  “Lily?”

  He looked shocked. “What?”

  Whoops. “Uh…I said, ‘Really?’ I think if you go back to this…uh…Council Member…and explain the situation to her—him—whoever—that they’ll let you go somewhere else. I have this well in hand here, so I’m not too worried.”

  Again he looked suspicious, but he obviously wanted out bad enough that he didn’t question his good fortune. “I need to go back and make a quick report, and I guess it couldn’t hurt to ask…as long as you’re alright with that? I don’t want to leave you if you really need some help.”

  “Nope – I’ll be fine.”

  “Good, I’ll be back to let you know their decision and we can break the Bond if they’re sending me somewhere else. Talk to you later…Tamara.”

  Without saying anything else, Shale fluttered away from her Core and activated his Translocation Ability. Seconds later he was gone and Tacca was alone again – which was just how she wanted it. She could still feel the Bond with the other Dungeon Assistant, however, and knew that she could communicate with him if she had need.

  Not that I need him, of course; I hope he can convince Lily that I can be left alone and be sent somewhere else. I have a feeling, though, that I’m not going to be that lucky – because that has worked out for me so far…

  Chapter 16

  Tacca didn’t see any sign of Shale over the next two days, nor was his Bond broken by the Council; she wasn’t sure what was going on, but when he didn’t return almost immediately she held out hope that he was in the process of being reassigned. At least, she hoped that’s what it meant instead of something more sinister – though she couldn’t imagine what that might be.

  Regardless, it gave her time to finish trapping every available space of her four rooms, placing an additional 400 small Confusion Enchantment Traps on the floors, walls, and even the ceilings until she nearly ran out of room. She could see a spot in her boss room for another few dozen, but that was about it as far as space was concerned. Just in case Shale came back – which could theoretically be at any time – she didn’t trap any of her Core Room; while he should theoretically be safe as long as he had his Invisibility activated (most traps used a visual trigger mechanism), there was the possibility that he might forget to turn it on. It wouldn’t necessarily hurt him, but she didn’t want to scare him any more than he already seemed to be around her.

  Shale still hadn’t returned – nor had he communicated with Tacca/Tamara even though he could from a distance – by the time her second month as a Dungeon Core was up.

  Congratulations, Tacca GloomLily!

  You have reached Core Improvement Level: 3

  You have reached Core Improvement Level: 4

  Current CIP Countdown: 0/400 in 30 days

  Core Improvement Points earned: 500 (500)

  Special Characteristic Points earned: 50 (75)

  Congratulations, Tacca GloomLily!

  You have reached Assistant Rank: Novice

  You have reached Assistant Stage: 4

  Current Experience Countdown: 0/400 in 30 days

  Maximum Fairy Mana: +100

  Fairy Mana Regeneration: +4 per minute

  New Ability: Healing Aura

  That’s what I’m talking about! The shortened countdown from a year to a month made a massive difference in accumulating enough Core Improvement Points t
o improve her Level – and her Assistant Rank as well. The rapid growth was going to end soon, however, as once she reached Core Improvement Level 5, the amount needed to grow to the next Level increased by 200 instead of by just 100, and would only increase even more every 5 Levels; not only that, but when she needed to progress to the Adept Assistant Rank, the amount needed to ascend to that Rank doubled – and then increased by 200 for subsequent stages. Therefore, she could get to Novice Stage 5 for 400 Experience, but then it would require 800 to become an Adept Stage 1, then 1000 for Stage 2, and so on. She didn’t even want to think about what it took to get to the Expert Rank, because that was going to be nearly impossible based on her current situation. After that, the requirements increased significantly – as well as taking a lot longer for the countdown.

  She could Improve her Core a bit faster than her Assistant Rank over the next couple of months, but unless she got her dungeon up and running soon, she’d hit a wall in the amount she could squeeze by with. There was no way she was going to attempt to put more than 800 Confusion Enchantment Traps in her current dungeon, which was why she needed to finish it soon and open it up for Raiders to invade. She’d receive CIPs just by having them inside her dungeon – depending on the amount of time spent there – and if she somehow killed one, then she would receive even more – though with the 95% reduction, Raider deaths wouldn’t benefit her as much as they would normally.

  Regardless of what would happen in the future, she now had some choices to make on how to spend her Core Improvement Points. What she chose now would shape the immediate future of her dungeon, especially since she probably wasn’t going to have many more CIPs until she opened up completely.

  Core Improvements