The Dungeon Fairy: Two Choices: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 2) by Jonathan Brooks (free e books to read .txt) 📗

than dogs, so it is part of the Feline family.  Another few strange creatures in the Feline family are the mongoose and civet, though they are typically a lot smaller – so I don’t plan on using them for anything…at least for the moment.  Who knows if that will change in the future?

Creature List (Select for Variants)

Fox

Jackal

Dog

Coyote

Wolf

Lion

Tiger

Panther

Cheetah

Cougar

Civet

Lynx

Hyena

Mongoose

Cat

Looking at her Creature list, it had practically tripled in the number of options she had available, especially when she added in all of the Variants.  Like she had told Shale, though, the Hyena in particular was what she was interested in – and for a singular reason.  It wasn’t because the Echoing Hyena Variant worked as a pack to emit a cackling sound that echoed and reverberated inside of a room, confusing and frightening Raiders with a Mental assault – though that was certainly useful.  It wasn’t the literal bone-crunching force of the creature’s jaws in any Variant, though that certainly helped.  In reality, it wasn’t necessarily the Variant of the Hyena that mattered at all – only that it was a Hyena.

“Okay, I guess I can see that even if it doesn’t make sense to me in particular.  However…why?”

Good question.  Well, you know how I wanted to include some creatures that can use some of the Abilities that I’ve acquired through Bonding with the Raiders?  Ones that aren’t Human or Elf or any of the other creature races I’ve acquired, of course – since using those right now would probably be a bad idea, at least based on the previous reaction to them. 

“Well, sure; you had mentioned that you wanted to include some of those with your new section, but I assumed you meant something like Goblins.”

Nope.  Originally, my thought about how I would guide a brand-new Dungeon Core included a creature and Variant that seemed perfectly suited to a well-defended dungeon: the Gnoll Scout.  I almost went with that, too, when it came time to choose for myself, but I decided to take a risk and go with Canines instead – and I’m glad that I did.

“That’s a good choice, and one that I’m surprised you didn’t go with first.  They have ranged damage, can use melee attacks when pressed – though aren’t nearly as deadly when up close – and have better defenses than most starting creatures.”  Those were certainly all reasons she had chosen that as the ideal creature to begin with, but there was a secondary reason as well – which came into play right now.

Absolutely.  There is something else about the Gnolls that comes into play, though, which was definitely not common knowledge at DAPS – though I never understood why.  It isn’t even listed on the descriptions of either the Gnoll or the Hyena, but my research done at DAPS says that it exists.

“What, exactly, are you talking about?  This is getting confusing.”

I was just getting to that.  Do you know how the Gnoll looks very similar to the Hyena?  It’s because the Bipedal creature was originally developed to be a smarter, “more-evolved” form of the four-legged Hyena.  If I’m correct, and I believe I am, then they share a close family relationship – and therefore the Pack Hunter trait will apply to both of them.  Not only that, but there was a reference in an old tome about sharing some sort of “synergy” because of their natures.  Unfortunately, that’s all of the information I could learn about it.

“Wait.  This is all just conjecture?”

…Well…yes.  But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong – just untested.  Either way, it’s not like I have a lot to lose, do I?

Shale shrugged.  “I guess not.  Even if this ‘synergy’ or even the Pack Hunter trait doesn’t work, the Gnolls will still be useful.”

True.  We’ll have to wait to see if it works, though, until I can select another creature.  For now, let’s play with some fun cats. 

“Fun?  I guess so – just make sure they’re not a fan of trying to catch Fairies,” the Dungeon Fairy laughed, smiling at Tacca’s Core. It was a legitimate concern; cats tended to be able to leap quite high when they needed to, and Fairies seemed to be a popular target outside of dungeons.  Not as much with Dungeon Fairies, as they were used to all sorts of different creatures and could use their Repellant Shield to avoid being hurt.

Will do.  Now, what to start with…

Chapter 22

Malachite was beyond exhausted.  Over the last few months, the leader of the Dungeon Placement and Regulatory Council had been trying desperately to hold everything together, both personally and professionally – with mixed results.

After coming back from the Conclave of Sages, where he had discovered them all slaughtered in their Conclave chambers by some powerful entity or force, he had found that every single Fairy in the DPRC headquarters was gone.  Not necessarily dead, because there had been no bodies to find, but just…gone.  Disappeared into thin air without a trace.

After being around for so long, and having developed his Abilities as a Dungeon Fairy and Assistant over many, many years, he – as well as the senior members of the Council – could sense and even track Translocation occurrences.  Malachite had only been away for a relatively short time at the Conclave, so those traces of Translocations taking place would still have been there had they occurred; they might have been faint and hard to actually track, but they still should’ve been there.  Yet, there was nothing – no sign of any Translocations that had happened in at least the last day.  There were a few very faded ones outside and above the mountain where the Council headquarters was located, but they were likely from those visiting before the leader had even left for the Conclave.

Since then, he