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

concentrated on each of the new abilities he received some information about them.  He felt himself just about to recite it out loud, but Gwenda beat him to it.

“Dungeon Sight allows the user to temporarily pinpoint the locations of nearby creatures, traps, and environmental objects inside of a room at the expense of large amounts of stamina.  Power Boost +50% grants an extra 50% increase in the amount of Power received from killing creatures inside of a dungeon for the owner of this Ability and anyone within their group; this is a permanent Ability and does not need to be activated.”

They just stood there, silently looking at each other in shock and wonder for what felt like hours.  A rumble in Sterge’s stomach signaled that he was starting to get hungry, however, and he broke up their impromptu staring contest.  “Well, we can look into this later; for now, let’s go back to the village.  I’m practically starving after all of this almost dying stuff.”

“Heh, I guess you’re right.  I’m hungry too, so let’s go.”

It took a bare fraction of the time they had spent making their way through the dungeon to reach the entrance; the small hint of sunlight streaming in from the tunnel leading outside was a welcome sight and Sterge breathed a huge sigh of relief.  That relieved sigh turned questioning as he saw two piles of something on the ground next to each of the trees flanking the tunnel.

“That looks like a new robe for me and…leather armor for you?” Gwenda said curiously as she stepped closer.  She didn’t touch them yet, though, which he approved of; there had been entirely too many surprises in the dungeon to trust that they weren’t trapped or dangerous in some way.

Sterge tore his eyes away from the pile of “new” worn-looking leather armor pieces – still better than his original set, however – as an irregularity in the floor caught his attention.  “Hold on, there’s something written in the soil.”

“These items are yours to replace what was lost,

Your survival today comes with a cost.

Share the news of this dungeon’s location,

And reap the rewards of your chosen vocation.

 

A word of warning this dungeon passes to you though,

A cautionary hint that it suggests you follow.

Sharing details of your adventures here is unwise,

If you wish to continue to reach for the skies.

 

Your Abilities are yours and yours alone, of course,

You can continue to use them for better or worse.

Fellow ‘friends’, however, may see it with greed,

Which may result in an untimely final deed.”

 

“I’m no expert on poetry, but that is…not great.  And what is that supposed to mean?” Gwenda asked him after she read it with him.  He just shook his head in confusion, because he only understood what he thought was the important part: the dungeon had saved them and given them gifts of the armor and Gwenda’s robe so that they could tell everyone of its location.  He’d never heard of a dungeon communicating with anyone before, but he was also learning that there were a lot of things about dungeons and Raider life that he didn’t know before.

“I have no idea; it appears as though this stuff was meant for us, though,” he replied, before strapping on the pile of leather armor on the floor.  His best friend wasn’t too far behind him as she slipped off her rags and slid the new robe over her form while Sterge was looking the other way.

Without another word, they walked through the tunnel and greeted the near mid-day sun; judging by its location in the sky, he estimated that they spent only about three hours inside the dungeon – though it seemed like a lot longer.  So much had happened that seemed unreal, but the armor he was wearing, the stick-and-ball weapon he was carrying, and the shield strapped to his left arm were all proof that it happened – not to mention the pouch full of coins hanging off of Gwenda’s shoulder.

It wasn’t quite what he expected when he woke up that morning; nevertheless, he felt fulfilled for some reason.  He’d never really thought about becoming a Raider delving through dungeons before almost a month ago, but he could see the appeal; the only drawback he saw was that it would take time away from his farming if he decided to continue on this path with Gwenda – which seemed likely if he understood her intentions correctly.  Well, that, and he guessed the horrible pain and agony he was likely to face again if he came back to the dungeon was also a drawback if he really considered it.

As they walked down the mountain, the exhaustion caused him to slow down a bit – though it could be because of the blood-loss from multiple injuries.  Sterge could see that his best friend was also lagging behind, though, so it didn’t really matter.  Eventually, halfway to the foothills below the mountain range itself, Gwenda spoke.  “I’ve been thinking about that horrible poem that was obviously left for us.  I think it was saying that we shouldn’t tell anyone about what we saw inside there.  Not only that, but I think it was cautioning against telling anyone of these new Abilities we somehow acquired.”

“Ok, I can kind of understand that based on what we read…but why?”

“I assume that what we experienced wasn’t, let’s say, ‘normal’.  I’ve never heard of a dungeon sparing and then healing anyone, have you?”

“Well, no,” he said with a shrug.  He really wasn’t sure where she was going with this.

She seemed to ponder for a moment as they walked.  “It could’ve done all of those things because we were the first people to go into the dungeon, or maybe because it really wanted us to live and spread around its location; regardless, I can see why we