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

useful in different situations.  For dungeons that used Gnolls as a primary creature, the different Variants covered pretty much every type of defense imaginable. There were Gnolls that had Physical ranged attacks – such as the Scout; Variants that used weapons or no weapons in Physical attacks up close – like the Warrior, Brawler, and Guardian; others that could cast spells like the Mage, Shaman, and Archmage; a healing-capable option in the Gnoll Cleric; and a powerful Boss-type Variant in the Gnoll Champion, which dabbled in a bit of everything but Physical ranged attacks.  It could fight up close, cast a variety of spells, and even heal itself if necessary.

The more powerful Variants, however, inevitably cost more in terms of Dungeon Force to create and required a larger chunk of her Control Limit, as well as taking longer to create.  She wanted to check them out later, of course, to see what might be a good fit for her current project, but for now all she needed was a basic Gnoll.  The two least expensive Variants were the Gnoll Scout and Gnoll Brawler, so she chose the former because that was the one she had originally thought to use for her dungeon, and it held a special place in her mind because of that.

The downside of using Gnolls compared to her Canines and Felines wasn’t apparent until she had to wait over a half hour for it to form – 35 minutes to be exact, and that was at Level 1!  Most of her Canines, in comparison, took anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes depending on what they were, which allowed her to restock her dungeon quickly enough to keep Raiders delving through it almost constantly.  The difference in restocking time for her new dungeon was significant enough to cause some delay in constantly keeping it fully stocked, but she had some thoughts on that.  Whether or not it would work was a problem for another day.

“What is it doing?” her Dungeon Assistant asked, breaking Tacca out of her mental tackling of future problems.  Her new Gnoll Scout had finally finished forming right next to her Echoing Hyena, and it took less than a second for Tacca to realize what he was talking about.

In between the two creatures – who were standing completely still in the middle of the room, awaiting orders – there was a strange, glowing band of blue light that seemed to connect the Gnoll and Hyena.

I have no idea—

Suddenly, the blue light intensified, growing brighter and brighter.  Uh…evacuate, Shale!  She wasn’t sure what was happening, but it would be just her luck if her new creatures decided to blow up and destroy her.  Just before she Teleported herself to her old Core Room, she watched as her Dungeon Assistant disappeared from sight with a faint *pop* as he Translocated somewhere.  He was nowhere she could sense within her dungeon, which worried her a little bit, but his mental voice in her mind quickly assuaged that worry.

“I Translocated high above the mountain range here just to make sure.  What’s happening?”

Tacca looked inside the room she just Teleported away from and was nearly blinded by the light coming from the two creatures.  The light is growing brighter, and I can’t even see—

An explosion centering on the light coming from the Gnoll and Hyena shook the room, sending out a shockwave of invisible force that she could feel even in her old Core Room.  Thankfully, she was far enough away from its epicenter that all it did was shake her Core around a little bit; the rest of the dungeon and its inhabitants had different results.  The group of Raiders delving through her upper rooms – along with the Frond Coyotes they were fighting – paused for a few seconds in confusion as the shockwave passed through them; there was no damage or anything to indicate that they were otherwise affected, so both sides started attacking each other again.

The rest of her creatures up there were fine, if visibly disoriented for a few moments before going back to normal.  Her creatures below, however, weren’t so lucky.  The Human, Elf, Hill Dwarf, and Gnome wearing the enchanted armor nearby were blown off their feet; by the time she checked in with them, all 5 of them had faded away after dying, leaving behind the armor lying on the ground as if they had never existed.  As for her traps in the same room, they appeared to be remarkably fine.

The other Canines and Felines she had created temporarily down below to help boost her CIPs up to the required amount were all gone as well, with no trace of them anywhere.  As for the Gnoll and Hyena, well—

“Tacca?  Are you okay?  I think I felt a little something even way up here.  What happened?”

Shale’s voice was like an anchor for the rattled Dungeon Core, and she kept an eye on the two creatures that seemed perfectly fine while she answered him.  I’m fine, but all my creatures nearby that explosion have been completely destroyed.  I think it’s safe now, though; I’m Teleporting back into my new Core Room down below.

Her Dungeon Assistant said that he would be there soon, as he needed to fly through the dungeon to reach her; his Fairy Mana was still regenerating, and he couldn’t Translocate quite yet.  Tacca had more than enough to Teleport down, though, and she had a feeling that the danger had passed.  A quick look at her Core confirmed that she was fine, though there was a small crack that hadn’t been there before.

I had no idea that would happen, Shale.  I’m glad we left when we did; I’m almost positive that the explosion of force would’ve shattered me and possibly killed you as well.  Considering that it killed my creatures wearing that armor, which was enchanted against nearly everything that could’ve killed them, I have