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

thing that was different about her.  From what he knew, every Dungeon Core had at least one room in their dungeon that had its ambient light turned down all the way, so it was almost expected nowadays that Raiders would have to bring a torch or Amulet.  Though, with how much flammable vegetation is in here, asking to bring a torch might not be such a great idea.  He knew it would just grow back if it was burnt, but the flames from an entire room of ferns on fire, for example, would probably kill every Coyote in there without much effort.

The two Hill Dwarves walked cautiously into the third room, which Shale thought was only prudent when invading a dungeon; he was glad to see that even though the Raiders were obviously just starting out, they were conscious enough of the danger a place like this would pose that they were taking precautions.  Not that it would likely do them much good, but it was nice to see.

One thing that he had learned about the Enchantment traps that Tamara liked to use that he hadn’t known about before was the Trigger Proximity.  It wasn’t that he didn’t know what the Trigger Proximity was (it was obvious how it worked by the name alone), he just hadn’t known that it could go negative.

Normally, the Trigger was just outside of the trap – especially with physical ones like pit traps, wall spikes, and other various traps like those – because it was impossible for the trigger to be inside the trap itself; with Enchantments, however, there was no physical aspect of it, so the trigger really could be inside its Activation Range.  So, instead of having a 10ft X 10ft area that would activate as soon as someone got close to the edge of it (like most traps), the Trigger could be sent towards the center with a negative Proximity.  The concept was a little difficult for Shale to wrap his head around, but he understood it in principle…and now it was his chance to see it in action.

The shortsword-wielding Raider worked his way through the shrub bushes a few feet ahead of the spell-casting Hill Dwarf, who was peering around the room and looking for any threats.  When the shabby leather-armored Raider reached the middle of the room, Shale heard him call out, “I feel a little tingly—”, but it was too late.

The Fear Enchantment Trap was triggered by a small 2ft square section of the dirt near the middle of the room, positioned in between two bushes.  It was quite possible to avoid triggering the Enchantment altogether if the two Hill Dwarves had taken another route through the room, but by taking the most obvious pathway, it was almost unavoidable.  The 12ft cube Activation Range of the trap hit both Raiders simultaneously, causing them to freeze and shake in uncontrollable fright.

It was that moment when six Branch Jackals jumped down from the surrounding trees and slammed into both figures, knocking them to the ground.  Shale heard them both scream hysterically and flail ineffectually at their attackers with their weapons, but they were being savaged by three Jackals each.  Tamara had been right about the Pack Hunter bonus being particularly deadly, as the bites from the creatures were even puncturing through the male Raider’s leather armor in places, drawing bits of blood in the process.

Luckily for them, the two Raiders were fiercely protecting their faces and necks in the fright-induced panic, swinging either their staff or sword well enough to knock the Jackals away from their particularly vulnerable areas.  One of Tamara’s creatures managed to get impaled by a random sword swipe and was launched into a second as it slid off the swinging blade, sending both tumbling away.  The third one attacking the leather-wearing Hill Dwarf was accidentally smashed hard in the face with a shield as the Raider continued to scream and flail around uncontrollably, getting lucky shots in while still on his back.

The female Hill Dwarf wasn’t as lucky, as one of the Jackals managed to grab one of her frantically kicking legs and held on, and Shale could hear a crack as her leg bone was snapped with a powerful jerk from the creature.  A second Jackal grabbed her left wrist in its jaws and crunched down hard, cracking bones and eliciting an even louder scream as she experienced herself being almost ripped apart.

“Maybe I should do something—” Tamara said to Shale’s mind, but she stopped herself as the spell-casting Raider fought back.

Apparently, the pain was impactful enough to at least partially cut through the Enchantment-induced fear, and the Hill Dwarf started casting what she called her “Magistrike” spell, sending streaks of powerful concentrations of force towards the three Jackals surrounding her.  Each of Tamara’s creatures got hit by two of the blasts in quick succession, sending them flying and smacking against either a nearby tree or the stone wall of the room, where they hit with painful-sounding impacts.  It was obviously really painful, because as soon as each one hit the ground they disappeared, leaving a reward behind.

The rapid expenditure of her magical power, however, was obviously great enough that it completely exhausted the female Hill Dwarf, and Shale watched as she passed out – completely unconscious within seconds of casting her last spell.  Even the pain and fear wasn’t enough to keep her awake, as her body and mind shut down from the overuse of her magic.

Fortunately for the other Raider, the Enchantment’s effects came to an end, and he looked like he was waking up from a dream – or a nightmare.  Shale saw that his first reaction was to look over to where the other Raider was even as he kicked a Jackal away from him and…the Hill Dwarf appeared to lose his mind.  If the Dungeon Assistant didn’t know better, he would’ve thought another Rage Enchantment had been triggered,