The Dungeon Fairy: Three Lives: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 3) by Jonathan Brooks (the false prince TXT) 📕

up the mountain, surveyed the dual-line system they had set up there (one for each of Tacca’s entrances), and determined that everything was still running smoothly, he flew high up in the air before he Translocated into her Core Room.

I heard.  What worries me is that this is just the beginning; according to what we heard, we’ve only seen the leading edges of the evacuation up north.  It’ll take weeks or months for most to travel down this far – and only a small portion of them will be Raiders.

“Yes, though even that small portion could be tens of thousands of them, which the town below certainly cannot support,” Shale said from closer by, continuing the discussion now that he was next to her Core.  “It’s not quite overcrowded yet, but I can certainly see it heading that way.”

It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for her, because it meant that she would be quite busy, though the demand for access to her dungeons would increase as a result.  It was fairly organized right now and the wait of a few weeks wasn’t horrible, but she could barely even fathom what it would be like in the future.

We should really see about talking with Sterge and—

Another *pop* inside of her Core Room precipitated the arrival of someone, followed by two others in rapid succession.  Her visitors were an abrupt surprise.

Malachite.  This is unexpected.

While she was Bonded to the DPRC leader, she couldn’t communicate with him at long distances like she could her actual Dungeon Assistant through their primary Bond; while inside of the dungeon, though, she could speak with him.  That being said, most of the information she had gained from Malachite lately had been through Shale, who could pass on the knowledge of the current situation in the north quite easily – which made his presence in her dungeon not exactly necessary.  As it was, this was the first time she had actually seen him in the flesh since she had “come back”.

“Tacca.  Shale.  How are things going here?”

It certainly wasn’t like the Council Leader to just stop by and see how things were going; Shale made quick daily reports to update them on their situation, usually when things were slow in her dungeon, so there was no need.

Things are fine here, but you should know that already.  Who are these others with you?

Malachite waved to the two female Fairies with him that had Translocated shortly after he arrived.  “This is Aster and Begonia, my…helpers…for the moment.  As you know, we have a surplus of Dungeon Assistants because of the recall, and without a Core to Assist, they’ve been helping me out with something else.”

Something else?  Like what?

“Oh, you know, something like Translocating Cores from their dungeons up north to somewhere safer,” Malachite responded nonchalantly, as if it was a common occurrence.

That’s ridiculous; you can’t Translocate Cores—

Tacca stopped herself, because she just remembered her own abilities as a Dungeon Assistant, which still listed Translocation as something she could do.  She hadn’t even considered trying it, though, mainly because it cost 1,000 Fairy Mana, and her maximum FM right now was 350.

How?

“Well, it seems as though I received something unexpected from our Bond; you somehow unlocked an ability that had been locked to me for 5,000 years.  It’s called Core Translocation – does that sound familiar?”

It didn’t, and it also didn’t explain how she had ended up unlocking it for the Council Leader.  If Tacca remembered correctly, the only ability she had granted to Malachite was Core Communication, not something like Core Translocation.

I have no idea what you are talking about, but I do still have Translocation as part of my own abilities.

“Well, then, I’m not exactly sure what is going on.  Perhaps it was something that unlocked for me as a result of our Bond on my end?  Regardless, I need your help.”

Help how?

“Well, there are only so many empty dungeons available for the Cores that I have to move out of the way of these monstrous people, and I need a place I can safely keep them until this threat has been dealt with.  As this is the southernmost part of the continent, I figured this would be as good of a place as any.”

But there aren’t any empty dungeons down here—oh.  I get it.  You want me to make some for them to inhabit?

“Precisely.  Now, I know that I’m asking a lot from you, but this will help us greatly.  We can’t afford to lose any more Dungeon Cores, or else the balance will start to weigh heavily in the wrong direction.”

No, it’s fine; I was actually in the middle of trying to figure out what my next step was, anyway, and this will give me a goal.  How many do you need?  A dozen or so?

Malachite was silent for a moment, before he hesitantly said, “Uh, well, 132, actually.”

132!  Are you out of your mind?!

“That’s how many are in the direct path of these monsters, and that is what is left after I fill in any vacant dungeons out there.  And they don’t have to be that large; a small room will do, deep down, in order to keep them safe.”

Why?  They’ll just be able to bust out in a few days, putting them back in danger.

“Well…not precisely.”  Malachite stopped and cleared his throat while he looked away from her Core, as if he was embarrassed about something.  “Something happens to the Cores that I’m able to Translocate from their current positions.  They…well, they get reset back down to Core Improvement Level 1 and have to go through the selection process again.”

Ha ha – very funny.  Wait…you’re serious, aren’t you?

“Deadly serious, I’m afraid.  It’s either move them now or let them get destroyed – though I’m at least giving them a choice first; it’s quite