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

She didn’t let him finish, because the former Fairy Assistant was enjoying herself for once; excitedly talking about species Variants with someone else was something she’d never really been able to do before, so she was taking advantage of her relatively captive audience.  The next creature was just finishing, so she continued her lecture, really getting into it now.

“Next up we have a Frond Coyote, with its distinctive coloring.  If you’ll notice, the dark-green stripes on its back and sides – along with its dirt-brown base color – allow it to blend in with ferns and other small shrubs found in a forest rather well. And just like the fronds of a fern can bend and flex with surprising alacrity, so too can a Frond Coyote; its hind legs are enhanced to the point where it can spring forth from a hiding place and leap up to 15 feet away.  Of course, like the others, the Pack Hunter attribute it also possesses means that it will do more damage when attacking in conjunction with others.”

Shale didn’t even say anything as Tacca kept going, her next creature appearing a few seconds later.  “I’m sure you know about the Forest Wolf, which is just a Variant suited to my particular Environment with a mottled brown and green coloring to its fur.  It has one of the strongest bite forces – and therefore a strong Physical Attack – of all of the Canines and packs of them can tear Raiders apart, though their natural Physical Defense is relatively weak.  What you may not know about this particular Variant, however, is that it possesses a unique ability to freeze itself completely when threats are near.”

Silence still came from Shale, though he finally asked the question Tacca was expecting to hear.  “How is freezing itself completely beneficial—?”

“I’m glad you asked.  What I mean by freezing itself is a complete cessation of its movements – including its breathing.  When it’s in that ‘frozen’ state, it’s nearly indistinguishable from nearby Environmental Objects; it could even pause in the middle of a pathway and be mistaken for a bush or small fern unless it is carefully analyzed.  This ability allows the Forest Wolf to work together with others of its kind to set up an ambush for a group of Raiders, and they would have a hard time even noticing they are there.”

It was fascinating to Tacca how diverse the different Variants were, and how they could really take advantage of the Environment to enhance their own attack skills.  She had loved looking over the descriptions of each and every one while she was still at DAPS, and actually being able to create so many of them was like a dream come true.

“Ok…I can see that I might’ve been wrong. You obviously have had some extensive training from Tacca about your creatures—”

“Hold on, I’m not done yet,” she said, as another creature appeared next to the Forest Wolf.  It barely fit in her Core Room, though, because it was so large; in fact, it was almost as large as a small horse.  “Normally, you might think of domesticated dogs as those that Raiders sometimes use to hunt with or keep as companions – and you’d be fairly accurate in your thinking.  What you may not have come across in your studies, though, is that there are a few Variants of dogs that are bigger, stronger, and can be even deadlier than a wolf.  Take this Mastiff Dog Variant, for example; whereas the Forest Wolf is nearly 90 pounds in weight, this Mastiff is nearly three times that, as well as being almost a foot taller.  Granted, it’s less agile than a wolf or any of my other Canines – as well as having less bite force – but its weight alone can knock down a Raider if used correctly; as you probably know, a Raider on their back is much more vulnerable to other attacks, so it can easily be taken advantage of.  

“There are other Dog Variants that are a little smaller but can still throw their weight around, as well as having almost as much of a bite force as the wolves, though I’m not going to create all of them right now for this demonstration.  Do you know the best thing about these Dog Variants?”

“Uh…no?”

Tacca didn’t think he’d know, because it was kind of obscure information.  “The best thing about these ‘domesticated dogs’ is that they aren’t classified in the same type of overall…category…as the others.  The other Canines are considered to be ‘wild’ and ‘hostile’, which means they consume more of my Control Limit.  This Forest Wolf, for example – despite only being Level 1 – takes up 5 of my Control Limit; the larger, heavier, and potentially deadlier Mastiff, on the other hand, only contributes 2 towards my Control Limit.  Oh, and if you weren’t following what I was saying earlier, even these ‘domesticated dogs’ take advantage of the Pack Hunter bonus, so that makes them even better.”

“I…see.  I guess I still have a lot to learn,” Shale said after about a minute of silence.  “I take back what I said earlier; you’re probably set up better than any other new dungeon I’ve heard of…though I have a feeling you’ll still have some trouble raising the difficulty of your dungeon because of your creature Level handicap.”

The Fairy Assistant had a point.  It was something she was worried about as well, though she was hoping to have a solution for that before it became too much of a problem.  “I’m…well aware of that, and you’re absolutely right.  I have some thoughts on that, but hopefully it won’t be too much of an issue by the time I want – or have to – do that.”

At least, I hope