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

was going; from what he understood, the information was less like an actual “picture” of the place and more of a representation of how it looked from the viewpoint of the Dungeon Core. Shale wasn’t an expert or anything, but this one appeared strange with a weird-looking stone hump on the floor of the Core Room.

Whatever – let’s just get this over with. He wasn’t enthused about talking with Tacca, especially if he had to convince her to return to the DPRC for another placement; he’d do it, though, because that was his job and he wasn’t in any position to do anything about it, anyway.  Lily walked him out and he immediately took off from the Council Headquarters, flying high up into the air before activating his Translocation Ability.  It took most of his Fairy Mana, because as much as the Mentor training had been helpful and informative, he couldn’t actually Bond with the Dungeon Core – and therefore didn’t receive any Rank Experience.  Even after 10 months, he was essentially still the same as when he had graduated, except for being a little more confident in his future Dungeon Assistant duties.

It didn’t take long for him to arrive in a burst of air to where he was heading, though the whole Translocation process was still a bit disorienting; he’d technically only used it three times now, and while each application of the Ability made it easier, it was still new enough that it took him a few seconds to get his bearings.  When he did, he found that he had arrived at the dungeon he was aiming for, and it was obvious that at least something had been done in there – which meant that the Dungeon Core was active.  Shale saw hardened stone walls in the circular-shaped space, and he arrived at an angle facing towards a good-sized tunnel leading outward from the Core Room.  He couldn’t see what was at the end of the passageway – he assumed it was another room – though there was no time to explore at the moment.

Because he needed to find Tacca and somehow convince her to leave.

Shale looked around the room first, hoping she was there waiting for him, so that his duty could be done quickly.  Of course, she isn’t here – making this a bit harder.  I guess I’m going to have to explore anyway to find her.  He wasn’t opposed to that – especially if he was going to be taking over the duties as Dungeon Assistant there – but the less time he spent in the vicinity of The Deliverer, the better.

“Tacca?  Are you here?” he asked inside the Core Room, hoping she was just outside so that he didn’t have to go far to find her.  He didn’t hear anything, but he felt a strong emotion of surprise and what he thought might be worry coming from behind him, before it abruptly ceased altogether.  Turning around, Shale saw the Dungeon Core floating in the middle of the room, glowing brightly with what he now knew meant that it was completely full of Dungeon Force.  The Core looked about what he expected, though something caught his attention when he went to turn away.

There were some small, hair-thin fractures along the outside of the Core’s glass-like form, which he’d never heard of before.  Sure, he’d learned that Dungeon Cores were relatively fragile and could be broken easily, but usually if they were damaged it was because some Raiders did the deed – and if Raiders were close enough to do that, then why they didn’t finish the process was a mystery.  Some forgotten memory of learning about cracks in a Core flashed through his mind from his schooling, but he had to admit that he hadn’t been paying too much attention at the time, so the thought flitted away before it actually told him anything.

I wonder how those cracks happened?  He flew a little closer and examined them from a better vantagepoint, but he immediately felt some sort of complex emotion coming from the Core that he couldn’t identify – so he backed off.  Whatever, I guess I’ll find out later.  He looked around the room again and sighed heavily, not seeing anything that would indicate that The Deliverer was near.  “I guess I’ll have to go look for her, then—” he said out loud, before something caught his eye.

The weird hump on the floor began to change; Shale recognized the appearance of Dungeon Force at work on it, as the hardened stone began to melt and disappear.  It wasn’t long before he determined that the hump wasn’t solid but was actually some sort of dome or bubble containing something underneath.  He immediately activated his Invisibility and Repellant Shield, berating himself that he hadn’t done it as soon as he arrived; he was so used to the undead dungeon he had trained in that he hadn’t needed to really activate them in months, so it wasn’t quite routine for him yet.

Shale was expecting some sort of trap to go off or a creature to emerge, but a few minutes later he was proven wrong.  It wasn’t either of those…it was the corpse of a Fairy – and one whom he immediately recognized.

Tacca GloomLily, The Deliverer, was dead.

He froze for what felt like an eternity, waiting for the corpse to magically arise in death as his experience in the undead dungeon was influencing his expectations.  When she didn’t move, he fluttered a little closer and saw that the young Fairy had obviously been dead a long time, based on her appearance.  He hadn’t seen a lot of dead bodies – the three Raiders notwithstanding – but some instinct told him that she had been that way for…weeks, if not months.

“What happened?” he asked, looking towards the Core – though he wasn’t expecting any type of answer.  There were no words, but there was