The Dungeon Fairy: Three Lives: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 3) by Jonathan Brooks (android pdf ebook reader TXT) 📗

hurt.  It was a shame that they didn’t have any Healers with them, but the Cohort was a bit of an exclusive club; besides, they had more than enough Potions to keep them alive.

“On to the next!  We’ve got to be getting close now!”

Chapter 9

She’d learned about it at DAPS, had some higher-Level Raiders test her dungeon, and heard about how powerful Scouts could be when they gained some experience, but this was her first time really seeing it in action.  At least, seeing it in multiple, because most groups that had come through her dungeon thus far had been much smaller – as in 5 or less.  Now, though, she was witnessing 18 Thieves, Brigands, and Assassins make their way through her second section without too much danger to themselves.

After one of her Gnoll Assassins managed to slit the throat of one of her guests, it was like a switch had been flipped.  All of the luck had been against her again, even when they unknowingly stepped into her defenses.

For instance, take the room with her Kitsune Archers, whose number she had added to before they arrived.  The traps in the room had been Disarmed, but none of them had been expecting an attack from above – and yet her creature had only wounded the initial target!  All because of a leaf, too; she had been watching the Kitsune release the first arrow, and a leaf – which shouldn’t fall from her trees, yet inexplicably did somehow – fell into her face, causing her to miss her first shot.

Surprise was the only thing on their side, unfortunately, and once that was wasted, the fight went poorly.  The thieving Raiders were just too quick, too agile, and too strong to fall to creatures 10 Levels or more below their own.  Even when her Root Foxes managed to surprise the heck out of every attacker, they just couldn’t do enough damage to really bother them; their Physical and Ranged Defense was just too great.

Tacca couldn’t really blame her creatures, either, because that was how she had designed them.  They really shouldn’t be able to harm such powerful Raiders, because then that would mean her defenses were overpowered for what she had planned; if a “normal” group had tackled them, then the lower-Level Raiders would’ve been wiped out without a chance.

Marvus and the other Raiders didn’t appear to be dissuaded from their objective, as they continued to push on.  The room after the Kitsune saw the introduction of Scrub Lions, along with Frond Coyotes and Bush Jackals, in a room with densely packed foliage, including ferns, bushes, and other plant life that allowed them to hide extremely well.  Unfortunately, Thieves and their ilk tended to hide quite well themselves, so the Raiders were either able to spot them beforehand, sneak by without alerting Tacca’s creatures, or attack from range with a seemingly endless supply of throwing knives.

The same “luck” went in the next room, which was an uphill climb up a mountain, though it was flatter than the cliff had been with the Cliff Lynxes earlier.  Instead, large boulders were stationed along the hillside, where Gnoll Scouts were able to utilize the bows she provided for them, firing from cover.  When the Raiders advanced too far, they were able to push and tip over the large stones, which were perched precariously and only required a firm shove to topple over.  The boulders would then roll down the hill, crushing anyone that got in their way.

Unfortunately, the Raiders were too quick to stay in line of the rolling boulders, and the few times they were actually shot, the wounds were superficial.  They slaughtered the Scouts with ease, while other Raiders Disarmed the Obscured Vision Enchantment traps she had placed over the hillside. The traps were designed to blur the sight of anyone affected by them, which would theoretically let them fall victim to a rolling boulder, but she never got the chance to see their effect.

She had high hopes after that in her next room, which she had designed as a long bridge over deep pits on either side.  Tacca had broken up the bridge so that there were 2 large gaps of 10 feet between the sections, and then placed Life-based traps that were similar to the ones in the Kitsune Archer room – which would enhance their jumping ability.  She figured the Raiders would Disarm them automatically, thereby not allowing them to continue on.

Of course, she forgot how acrobatic these Scout Classes could be.  Each of them were easily able to clear the gap with just a simple leap, looking as if they did that all of the time.

With the gaps cleared, her creatures didn’t do much better.  Originally, she had placed 2 Crag Harpies in the room – part woman and part bird-like creatures – but she had upped it to 6 when these Raiders invaded.  Ultimately, it didn’t matter, because throwing knives took them out easily from a distance before they could swoop down and attack, thus failing to knock any of the Raiders off of the bridge.  Tacca had to admit that she took some satisfaction that half of the impaled Harpies fell down into the spiked pits, where their Reward was lost along with their knives.

Also placed on the bridge were 8 Mastiffs, the massive dogs from her Boss Room in her original section.  This time, though, they were Level 10, which made them quite a bit bigger and stronger.  Tacca’s thought on their purpose was to literally slam into the Raiders, hitting them so hard that they knocked the attackers off of the stone bridge.  Naturally, that didn’t happen, as these Raiders were swift enough to avoid being hit, and sometimes even jumping over the Mastiffs as they charged.  The dogs either ended up running off the side of the bridge themselves, or succumbed to the knifework of multiple Raiders, leaving their