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

that she thought Tacca’s ‘bad luck’ finally caught up with her and ended up killing her instead, though I don’t know how true that is.  I’m not even sure if she believes that, which is probably why I’m here.  Regardless, just know that you’re probably not at fault here – it was all because of Tacca.”

That didn’t really help to make her feel better, mainly because she was beginning to worry that this “bad luck” she was stuck with had transferred to her new form.  Will I end up killing myself inadvertently?  Were my choices influenced by this bad luck, or did it go away when I became a Dungeon Core?  She had no way of knowing, of course, but the theory behind her plan was sound…or at least she hoped so.

“Despite what…Tacca’s…overall objective was, I still think my choices will work.  She explained them thoroughly before I made the decision, and my belief in them is still there.  We’ll just have to see if they pan out the way I hope they will.”

She didn’t have to see his face to know Shale was skeptical.  “I highly doubt that, but I’m interested to see what you can do.  You sound very determined, so I hope for your sake that you can turn this disaster around.”

So do I, so do I…

Chapter 17

Tacca spent the next few weeks creating more tunnels and rooms with Carve Earth, until she had three more spaces that she could utilize for her dungeon; one was 20ft X 30ft and 30ft tall, another looked like a long hallway 20ft wide (as well as tall) and 100ft long, and the last was a small 15ft cube that would be her initial room to her dungeon.  When she got closer to the surface, she could detect with startling certainty how far away it really was; her last room – rather, it was the Raiders’ first – was only a dozen feet away from the outside, which was located a little above its position.  For some reason it almost felt like she had perfectly placed her last room in the side of a hill, because she was able to get fairly close to the surface, which was both above and ahead at that point.

Shale had been surprisingly supportive, even if he didn’t approve of her original choices; then again, there wasn’t much use in being negative because he was stuck with her, so that could’ve been the case too.  Regardless of the reason, he approved of her room shapes and tunneling, as well as her caution about opening up too early.

“Good, you don’t need to open it yet; from what I’ve learned, Raiders tend not to appreciate an empty dungeon that opens up.  You need to put some creatures and traps in here beforehand; don’t forget to put some deadly ones, as well – if you can afford it, at least.”

The one thing that Tacca hadn’t mentioned was her outrageously shortened Countdown; she hadn’t thought of any reasonable explanation for it yet that might make sense, and that – more than anything about her – was different enough to raise some questions.  She knew that it would come up eventually, especially when she removed all of the small Confusion traps she had all over her rooms – which, strangely enough, he hadn’t mentioned…or perhaps even noticed.  The 497 Experience – actually 512 now with her additional rooms she had built – on his Countdown would drop down to 15 when she removed them; he couldn’t “save” any Experience until his year was up, so he would certainly notice those fluctuations…if he was paying attention.

She might be able to get away at the end of her third month by proclaiming it her year being up already, but the next month would be…difficult.  Not only that, but when she was able to use more Dungeon Force than normal, as well as her Control Limit being higher than normal…well, she had no explanation for that.  Shale didn’t seem like he was exceptionally intelligent, nor did he seem stupid; regardless of his smarts, though, Tacca just hoped that he wasn’t observant enough to add everything up.  She herself was obsessed with numbers and strategic planning, so it came naturally to her, but she knew not everyone was like that.

When all of the rooms and tunnels between them were built, that’s when she started to decorate. For the first time, Shale didn’t agree.  “Why are you adding all of this?  From what I learned, most dungeons don’t add any Environmental Objects until they’re much larger and stronger, when they have the luxury of spending Dungeon Force on such…trivialities.”

To Tacca, adding elements of her Forest Environment wasn’t trivial; in fact, they were essential to her plan, and would pair phenomenally well with her creatures.  “It’s all just another element of the plan, Shale.  In light of my Special Characteristics slowing my growth, this is all part of a long-term strategy.”

“What do you mean?  I was never taught about any long-term strategies in school.”

Exactly.  “That’s exactly what Tacca told me when we were discussing future plans.  She mentioned that a lot of what you Dungeon Assistants are taught is focused on quickly progressing, becoming powerful quickly and then just…fizzling out after a period of time.  I wanted something that I could develop that was long-term and would sustain me for years and years – and it needed to be something that would keep me constantly interested.  Tacca mentioned that some Dungeon Cores could exist for centuries, if not thousands of years, and if it isn’t kept fresh and new for me, I figured I would get bored and not care after a while.”

Technically, she wasn’t really worried about being bored herself, mainly because she could just Hibernate as long as she wanted to pass the time; her statement was more of a reflection of Raiders’ viewpoints than her own.  Everything