The Dungeon Fairy: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 1) by Jonathan Brooks (read novel full .txt) 📕

Yet…it had been destroyed, nevertheless.

What she had hoped was an isolated incident, however, was turning into a bit of an epidemic; three other Dungeon Cores of middling power had been destroyed over the last few months, for no discernable reason.  Fortunately, their Dungeon Assistants survived because the Cores dissolved the Bonds connecting them before it was too late, so…at least there was that?  Their shortage of Assistants was at least getting better, but now the balance that she was thinking about earlier was starting to shift in favor of the Raiders.  That rarely happened, but it wasn’t unheard of; it usually occurred temporarily when a particularly powerful Dungeon Core was destroyed, but it also worked itself out within a couple of decades as other Cores grew stronger.

This situation, however, was disconcerting.  If it didn’t stop happening soon, then the balance could tip too far in one direction and it would be difficult to correct it; regulating Dungeon Cores was within her purview and it was relatively easy to fix things on this side of the equation, but she had no control over what the Raiders did.

At least Tacca has been shunted away somewhere safe for now; the last thing we need is her hastening the destruction of any powerful dungeons...

Chapter 8

When Tacca popped into the small space where her new assignment was located, she worried for a moment that the shockwave from her Translocation would accidentally destroy the Core; fortunately, experience had shown her that Dungeon Cores were essentially immune from the effects of her ability, and this was no exception.  Of course, the surrounding stone and dirt space encapsulating her new charge was a different matter, and she shook a few small stones loose, causing them to fall and narrowly miss hitting the Core.

Phew…that would’ve taken the record for my shortest assignment. 

There wasn’t a lot to the small space – she would barely classify it as a cave – just a roughly ovoid hole approximately 5 feet across in the middle of a bunch of dirt and stones.  It was roughly formed, as if whatever had created it had dug it out with a giant fork instead of a large scoop, but otherwise it was fairly consistent in its squashed sphere shape.  Right in the middle of the room was the Dungeon Core she was there to Bond with, looking smaller than she’d ever seen one before – and less bright.  Even Jeremy, who had practically used every drop of Dungeon Force in his panic to break through to the surface, had glowed with more strength than the one she was looking at, which only confirmed Lily’s information regarding the new Core: it hadn’t activated any of its Dungeon-based systems yet, so it was essentially dormant.

Tacca stared at it as she waited for her Mana to regenerate, which didn’t take long considering that she hadn’t bothered to activate her Repellant Shield or Invisibility; there was nothing to fear as far as she could tell, because the Core’s space was basically closed off from every threat – and it was inactive, so she didn’t have to worry about any unnoticed traps or creatures that might attack her.  A few minutes went by as she got the 50 Mana she needed to establish the Bond; as soon as she had it, she fluttered her way over – almost an entire foot away – and placed her hands on the strangely cool Dungeon Core.

She activated the Bond and she felt a connection form with the floating crystal-like Core…and almost as soon as it was established it was cut, causing her to rebound backwards in shock.  The time between having a Bond and having it dissolved was so quick that it was hard to tell if it actually happened, but she was sure it did; the Core had just reacted so quickly that it was making her head spin.

After deciding to sit back against the nearest wall while she waited for her Fairy Mana to raise enough to try again, she felt an emotion from the Dungeon Core for the first time.  It was hard to classify it at first, but what Tacca eventually settled on was the feeling of…indifference.  The Core that had so quickly broken the Bond seemed not to care that she was there, and it apparently didn’t want anything to do with her.  She waited until she had enough Mana to Bond and tried again – only to end up with the same result.

That’s it – I need a break.  Even though having a Bond cut voluntarily by a Core didn’t hurt nearly as much as it did when they were destroyed, it was still shocking and uncomfortable.  With her last violent Bond-breaking having been done not too long ago, she was spent; curling up along the floor underneath the Dungeon Core, she laid her head on her hands and closed her eyes.

When she woke up, she didn’t know how long it had been, but it didn’t feel like more than a day.  A day, though, was quite a long time to sleep for one of her kind, but she had discovered that she slept slightly longer after each assignment; the breaking of Bonds was so traumatic that it was taking a toll on her body.  She stretched as she sat up, and her hand involuntarily touched the Core above her.

It didn’t feel much different than it did before she fell asleep, but the indifferent emotion she had felt was tinged with a slight hint of something else.  She thought it might be curiosity, but she couldn’t be entirely sure.  Regardless, the change was heartening, as it meant that she might eventually be able to get through to the Dungeon Core…somehow.

That tiny sliver of “curiosity” faded almost immediately, especially when she attempted to Bond again; she was kicked out of the Bond immediately, at the same