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

almost as if they were one, which helped with some of the sharing of responsibilities…and power.  It was the reason why Cobalt hadn’t wanted to break the bond before his Core had been shattered, because both of them were much stronger with that Bond than without.

“Ok, I can understand a little of what you’re saying, but what does that have to do with anything?” she asked slowly, trying to figure out where he was going with it.  “Maybe we should just start with something simple; for instance, what is your name?  Since I already told you mine.”

“You’re missing the whole point of what I’m trying to say.”

“Then what is the point you’re trying to make?!” she screamed out in frustration.  She took a deep breath to calm herself as she was feeling more than a bit dizzy with everything that was happening.  This is definitely not how I pictured this going.

“You look just like my little sister when you throw a tantrum like that…which is why I need to do this.  After spending so much time looking at my current form and the connection that you – and others like you – had tried to establish, I believe this is the only way; with this, I can ensure I can have a chance of seeing her again in another afterlife to apologize for what I did.”

“What are you talking abo—whoa!  What are you doing?”  The Bond between them was going crazy; however, instead of it being broken, it seemed to strengthen through some means she couldn’t even pinpoint.  She had heard about how strong the connection between an Assistant and a Dungeon Core could be when it was built up over years and years of working with each other, and she imagined that this was what it felt like; however, where those were the result of a natural strengthening, this felt…artificial.  If she didn’t know better, she would’ve thought that the Bond was being enhanced by a large helping of Dungeon Force, but that was impossible because since the Core hadn’t even chosen anything, it didn’t really have any Force to use.

“Stop!  Don’t do this!” she shouted at the Core as she realized what it must be that she was feeling.  There was really only one thing that it could be using to fuel the connection so that it almost felt like they were one entity: his very soul.  “Your soul will be destroyed unless you stop now!”  Tacca was starting to believe that she had finally found a Dungeon Core that she could actually Assist, instead of just watch be destroyed; now, however, what he was doing was essentially suicide.

“Exactly, that’s my entire point.  I couldn’t kill myself before, but with this connection I can thin out my…soul…enough that it’ll cease to be.  If it’s destroyed, so be it; if not, then I’m hoping I’ll see my family soon…”

“No!  I refuse to let another Core die when I can do something about it!” She dug into the connection she could feel and tried to yank her portion of the Bond back, but it was like trying to lift the entire dungeon up by herself.  All of the power of the link was in the Core’s possession, and the best she could do was spread herself wider to lessen the amount that was slowly squishing the Core’s soul apart.

“Thank you.  This’ll probably hurt, but I can’t exist here anymore; this is the only way…”  The pressure and resistance coming from the Bond quickly changed, until she felt her own soul split in half; one was occupying her normal Fairy body, while the other was now firmly planted inside the Core.  She panicked as her understanding blossomed to encompass the entire room, and it felt like she could see every inch of the dirt and stone around her…all the while, she was staring intently at the Core through her Dungeon Assistant eyes.

As Tacca’s awareness of the Core’s former inhabitant faded quickly, she started to comprehend what exactly he had done.  He had taken a portion of her soul and used it to replace his; with nowhere else to go, it disappeared – off to wherever souls went when their mortal bodies were no longer able to contain them.  He wasn’t destroyed…just set free.

The last of his consciousness piddled away as if it hadn’t ever been there, and Tacca was alone with her soul split between two forms.  She fluttered her wings and stared at herself through the “eyes” of the Core she now inhabited as well, trying to come to terms with what had just happened.

Then a pain more intense than every single broken Bond she had suffered thus far – combined together – caused a seemingly unending scream of agony to escape from her lips.  After what felt like fourteen eternities, she lost consciousness.

Chapter 9

When Tacca became aware of the world around her, all of the pain she had experienced was but a distant memory; in fact, she couldn’t feel a single thing…which was strange enough that it alerted her to something being wrong.

Welcome …….. and congratulations!

First of all, you died – but that tragic death is only a gateway to another opportunity!  To give you a second chance at life, you have been reincarnated as a Dungeon Core; you will be in charge of designing, creating, and maintaining a dungeon that foreign Raiders will invade to challenge themselves.

It is your duty to comply with all the rules and regulations set out by your Dungeon Assistant, who should be arriving shortly; failure to consistently abide by these rules and regulations could result in your destruction.  When they arrive, please follow their instructions so that you can be set up for success.

For now, though, do not panic, for this is the first day of the start of your new life!

Special Note: Your previous primary Bond has been dissolved and a