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

“Thank you, Shale.  I really appreciate you doing that for me.”

“Honestly, it’s more for selfish reasons; I really don’t want to have to convince them that I’m not lying or describe all of…this…in detail.  Besides, I think this might actually be fun being Bonded to you; I have a feeling there won’t be a boring day with you from here on out.”

Regardless of his motivations, Tacca was still appreciative.  “When are you leaving?”

“I don’t really see any reason to rush, so I might leave in a couple of hours.  I want to be back before those two alert the rest of the Raiders of your presence here and the rush comes.  That is, of course, if they allow me to come back at all.”

Tacca had thought of that, which was certainly a real possibility.  She felt bad for Shale because he’d have to get to know a brand-new Dungeon Core to be an Assistant to, which she knew from too much experience was always hard.  As for herself, if she wasn’t to have a Dungeon Assistant anymore…she’d manage; she would certainly miss being able to talk to someone about everything in her dungeon, especially now that she wasn’t keeping many secrets.  “Just know, if that happens, you’re always welcome here.”

“Thanks, Tama—Tacca,” he said, stumbling over her name.  “I’m not sure how long it’s going to take to get used to calling you by your real name.  You should’ve told me all of this from the beginning – that would’ve made this much easier.”  Shale shook his finger at her in mock anger.

“Do you really think you’d have believed me or been so supportive if I had told you when we first met?”

It didn’t take him long to answer.  “No, probably not.  I guess this was the best outcome, after all – as much as I don’t like you lying to me.”

“Sorry about that – it was for your own good.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he said with a smile and the coloring of his Clothes started to change to a lighter blue of calmness and interest.  “What I really want to know – while we have some time before I leave – is what all of this Bond business is that you did with those Raiders.”

Tacca was curious as well.  She hadn’t told Shale yet about what she had overheard from the Hill Dwarves, so she spent a few moments describing the Abilities they had received.  “…and all I know is that they gained a lot from the Bond, which could cause them problems in the future.  I just hope they know not to advertise their Abilities to everyone, otherwise they could be in trouble.”  A further explanation of what exactly she meant was required, because Shale wasn’t up on the whole sociology of Raider interaction like she was.

“Ok…but what did you get from the exchange?  I mean, I saw what you obtained on that notification, but it didn’t really explain anything.”

The first place to start investigating, she thought, was the easiest to check: her new “creatures”.  She had trouble thinking of Hill Dwarves as creatures to be used in her dungeon; she just thought of them as one of the Raider races such as Humans, Elves, Mountain Dwarves, Gnomes, Orcs, and a smattering of bestial Humanoid-hybrids.  Regardless of her thoughts about their former place in the Raider hierarchy, they were indeed in her list of creatures.

Hill Dwarf

Hill Dwarves are a hardy race that predominantly lives above ground, as opposed to their Mountain Dwarf cousins who spend most of their lives underneath the surface.  While shorter than many of the other races, Hill Dwarves are hardy individuals and have a bonus to their stamina for the use of Abilities.

Known Variants:

Fighter

Caster

Hill Dwarf Fighter

Cost (Level 1): 100 DF

Control Requirement (Level 1): 6

Creation Time (Level 1): 40 Minutes

Equipment: Rusty Iron Shortsword (Physical Attack +3) or Rusty Iron Mace (Physical Attack +3), Small Battered Oak Shield (Physical Defense +1), Ragged Leather Armor – Full Set (Physical Defense +4)

Stamina: 60

Stamina Regeneration: 5 per Minute

Physical Attack: 4

Ranged Attack: 0

Physical Defense: 6

Ranged Defense: 2

Elemental Resistance: +10% Earth

Specials: Bonus stamina for use of Abilities

Ability Options: [Blunt Weapon Required] Forceful Smash – 20 Stamina (+50 DF), [Shield Required] Slam – 15 Stamina (+30 DF)

Hill Dwarf Caster

Cost (Level 1): 100 DF

Control Requirement (Level 1): 6

Creation Time (Level 1): 40 Minutes

Equipment: Cracked Maple Staff (Physical Attack +1), Basic Cotton Robe (Physical Defense +0)

Stamina: 60

Stamina Regeneration: 5 per Minute

Physical Attack: 2

Ranged Attack: 0

Physical Defense: 1

Ranged Defense: 1

Elemental Resistance: +10% Earth

Specials: Bonus stamina for use of Abilities

Ability Options: [Focusing Weapon Required] Magistrike – 10 Stamina (+35 DF), Sapping Fog – 25 Stamina (+40 DF), Magibarrier – 15 Stamina (+35 DF)

Tacca slowly conveyed what she was seeing to Shale, at the same time trying to comprehend what she was looking at; it appeared as though she could create either a Hill Dwarf Fighter or a Caster, but that was all.  Her Special Characteristic that allowed her to access all of the Variants didn’t work for the Hill Dwarves, because it only applied to known Variants.  Since they didn’t already exist in her Dungeon Core’s system, they didn’t exist.

Not only that, but she could create each of the Variants and give them Abilities for extra Dungeon Force – which was unheard of.  Normally, creating something like a Goblin Mage gave them access to a single spell that couldn’t be changed; when they were upgraded in Level, of course, they would unlock other spells automatically.  Still, though, there was no choice in what they acquired – it was all set out automatically.  This, however, was saying that she had a choice of what spells she wanted to give her Hill Dwarf