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

rare, and anyone that finds them first receives a massive finder’s fee; that’s the only reason I’m here in this hole in the ground you call a village.”

That…seems strange.  From all that I know, there’s never been any dungeons closer than 30 miles from here, and none near the Wentrylock Mountains.  “I don’t want to say you’re wrong, but there’s never been any dungeons around here.”  He paused, then something occurred to him.  “Uh…why are you telling me this if there’s a finder’s fee?  Not that I have any desire to go looking for a dungeon, but aren’t you afraid I’ll find it first and claim the reward?”

Dark laughter met his question, which made Sterge shrink back.  “Ha!  What, you?  I could kill you in the blink of an eye and no one would even question me,” the Elf said, causing the Hill Dwarf to take a step back and look around in panic.  “I have no need to do that, though, because the reward can only be given to a Raider, not some random dirty Hill Dwarf.  Besides, I’m not worried about you finding this dungeon first, because from what my tracker says it hasn’t even emerged yet.  I only told you that as a bit of a warning, because if what this tells me is accurate, your little world around here is going to change dramatically over the next few years once word of this place gets out.”

That didn’t sound good; most of those that inhabited The Village and farmed for a living there were those looking for a simpler life away from all of the Raiders and the Delving Clan that seemed to inundate everyday life in the towns and villages across the whole world of Gairth.  “Uh…why would things change?” he asked, but he feared he knew why.

“Because weak, starting dungeons are extremely hard to find; most of the dungeons we know about are much more difficult because they’ve been around for centuries already.  Like I said before, brand-new dungeons are a rarity, so finding one and reporting it can set me up for life with the finder’s fee.  Having a relatively ‘safe’ place for inexperienced Raiders to extract Power to improve themselves is literally unheard-of around here.  Most newbies need to delve with stronger teams to gain any sort of Power from their dungeon dives, though those willing to take a weak person along is rare – or requires a hefty payment in advance.”

“So that means…?”

The Elf was obviously now extremely irritated by his questions, as he huffed and gave him a snapped-out explanation as he started walking away.  “Because thousands of Raiders are going to flock here for a chance to go through this new dungeon.  I don’t have time to talk anymore, I’ve got to find this dungeon before anyone else happens to have a tracker and sees it.”  The Elf began quickly walking directly towards the Wentrylock Mountains, continuing his route from earlier before Sterge interrupted him.

“Uh, you may want to bring some heavy clothing with you if you’re going up there for long; the winter storm is less than two weeks away—” Sterge shouted after him in warning.

“Mind your business, peasant!  I’m a Ranger and I know what I’m doing; I don’t need you getting all up in my business,” he shouted back, without even turning around.  Within minutes, the Ranger had traveled halfway to the sparse foothills of the mountain range, where he disappeared behind two hills.

“What was that all about?” a voice asked from behind, startling Sterge until he recognized who it was.  He turned around to see Gwenda looking towards where the Elf had disappeared with a worried look upon her face.

“It seems as though there might be a new dungeon around here,” he told his oldest friend in the world, before he explained his conversation with the Elf Raider.  “This could change everything, Gwenda,” he finished sadly.  They were making a great life for themselves there and the introduction of a new element to their lives was likely to have drastic consequences.

Gwenda was silent for almost a minute before she said anything, and it wasn’t what he expected her to say.  “Why would that Elf go up into the mountains right now?  Doesn’t he know that the storm is less than two weeks away?”

Sterge laughed sadly.  “I don’t think he’s from around here; I doubt he knows how cold it can get up there.  I tried to warn him, but he didn’t want to listen to me,” he said, before turning to Gwenda seriously.  “What are we going to do if this turns out to be true?”

She shook her head.  “I don’t know, honestly.  I guess we’ll deal with it if what he said comes to pass, just like we’ve dealt with everything else over the last few years.”

Sterge could only nod in agreement…because that was all he could do.

Picking the plow up so that Gussie and him could get started on another row, he clucked to the oxen and the big beast started to move, positioning exactly where he wanted her to go.  Smart oxen, strange Raider appearances, and potential dungeon sightings – what next?

 

*          *          *

 

They managed to plant, harvest, and secure every cabin and livestock pen in the village before the frigid cold swept down from the mountains exactly 13 days later.  Looking at the Wentrylock mountain range through the tiniest crack in his normally well-insulated wood cabin, Sterge could see that they were already covered in thick blankets of snow; luckily, none of the snow made it past the foothills, but the cold temperature that flowed down from there could freeze the parts off a person if they were left uncovered for more than a few seconds. For an entire month, everyone in the village was essentially confined to their cabins and the livestock to their covered and insulated pens.  Once a day,