The Dungeon Fairy: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 1) by Jonathan Brooks (great novels to read txt) 📗

wearing his leather armor – but Gwenda thought it would be appropriate to be wearing their “official” Raider gear when they got to the Clan outpost.  She wanted to look as convincing as possible as they presented their story and descriptions of where the dungeon was located.

Sterge figured it would just be easier to present the maps and drawings that the Elf had made, as it showed where it was perfectly.  Gwenda nixed that idea, though, as she was worried that someone would recognize the handiwork of the dead Ranger and accuse them of theft – and possibly even murder again.  He grudgingly agreed that she had a point, and they already had a taste of being locked up; whatever they could do to avoid being inadvertently punished for something they didn’t do was probably for the best.

What they were bringing with them was the magical stone tracker that the Elf had been carrying.  Their story was that they found it in their field while they were planting their newest crops – after they had already delivered the corpse; since they were new Raiders and were “ignorant” of what it really was, they didn’t think to turn it in.  Instead, they investigated what it seemed like the stone was pointing to and found the tunnel leading further into the mountain.  It was a simple enough explanation that they concocted on their way to town, which Sterge practiced reciting repeatedly so he wouldn’t forget.

All of that work of exploring the dungeon, traveling to Heftington, and rehearsing their story worked.  As soon as they got into town, they immediately went to the outpost and asked for the Raider in charge; when the incredibly intimidating Elven woman finally saw fit to see them, they explained their story without a problem and described everything that would be needed to find the new dungeon…before asking for their finder’s fee.

“Two gold pieces,” said the Clan Outpost Leader without hesitation.

That didn’t seem right.  “Whoa, hold on now.  We’re talking about a new dungeon here that hasn’t been discovered before.  And returning this stone thing here to you has got to be worth quite a bit, right?” Sterge asked after hearing the ridiculous amount that the superbly armored Outpost Leader was going to give them.  He wanted to say some other things that were probably not the smartest, but the massive sword she carried – which was larger and possibly even heavier than his own Dwarven body – and casually set down next to her made him more than a bit cautious.

“That’s true, these trackers are valuable, all right.  That’s why you’re getting two gold instead of only one.”

It was Gwenda’s turn to speak, because Sterge just felt his mouth open and close in disbelief.  “So the finder’s fee is only one gold piece?  I thought I remember hearing somewhere that the reward for finding a new dungeon was a lot more than that.”

“Again, you’re right.  Well, half-right, at least.  The normal maximum finder’s fee for finding a new dungeon is 50,000 gold; unfortunately, you don’t qualify for the ‘normal’ finder’s fee.”

“What?  Why not?”

The Outpost Leader – who he still didn’t know the name of – sighed heavily, as if what she was going to say was distasteful.  “Well, the maximum finder’s fee only applies to Raiders who have achieved their 20th Raider Level, have registered with any Clan Outpost as an official search participant, and can also back up their find with maps and drawings of the area.  Then, a higher-Level Raider group is called in to confirm the existence of said dungeon; when they make their report confirming its location, only then will they be paid the maximum finder’s fee.  For any other Raider informing the Clan of a potentially new dungeon, their finder’s fee is equal to their Raider Level in gold pieces.”

“But…we both achieved Raider Level 2—”

Sterge stopped talking as he felt as though something was looking deep inside of him, like his soul was laid bare for the world to see.  It only lasted a moment, but that was enough to make him shiver in confusion.

As soon as it stopped, the Outpost Leader said, “So you are.  Three gold then; two for your Raider Level and one for returning this tracker.”

“What…was that?”

The Elven woman looked confused as well before she smiled at him.  “Oh, I was just using my Analyze Ability on you; I guess you’ve never felt that before, am I right?”

“Uh…no?”

“I’m sorry, I should’ve warned you.  All it does is see your Raider Level and Class, which allowed me to see that you were telling the truth.”

Sterge didn’t like it, but if it allowed them to get another gold piece then he guessed the strange feeling was worth the temporary discomfort.  “So, six gold pieces total for the both of us?”

“No, three gold pieces for your group to share.  Since it seems as though you’re a group of two, then that won’t be too hard to split up,” the Elf said, pulling three flashy gold coins from her belt pouch.

He looked at Gwenda and shrugged.  It was completely unfair after all they had gone through that they didn’t even qualify for more of a reward, but he assumed that if they had been part of the Raider Delving Clan before their recent joining that they would’ve known those rules.  There was so much they didn’t know about what they were doing that they could only blame themselves for not asking. At least they would still be getting some sort of reward; three gold pieces was still a lot of money for a pair of farmers.

Of course, they had been planning on spreading the reward around to the rest of the people in their village, as the coming days would likely be hard on them with the influx of Raiders that were sure to be heading their way.  Three gold