The Dungeon Fairy: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 1) Jonathan Brooks (the dot read aloud TXT) 📖

“Fair enough, let’s go!”  He couldn’t help but be amazed at her enthusiasm after all that had happened to the both of them, but he had to also admit that he was curious what was farther down the dungeon.  Not that he was planning in any way, shape, or form of actually going any further that day, but looking and then leaving seemed innocent enough.

After gathering up all of the coins that were dropped, replacing his leather chestpiece with the new one that fit amazingly well and was in better condition than his original one, and equipping Gwenda with her new, dark-red colored robe that wasn’t torn or bloodstained (at least he didn’t think the red color was blood), Sterge led the way down the next – and last – tunnel in the dungeon they were going to see that day.

As he approached the next room, he made sure that Gwenda was staying far back from him just in case, while he also had his weighted stick and ball out and shield ready to go.  He wasn’t planning on using them, but even the few hours they had been in the dungeon had taught him that he couldn’t be too careful.

The room was lit up fairly well from what he could see when he got close enough, but the size of it was also bigger than anything he had seen so far.  There were really tall trees both lining the walls, as well as dotting the middle of the room – which was different from any other room with trees.  He could still see towards the end of the room, if he looked a specific way, though he couldn’t see any tunnel leading farther down.  Maybe the lack of an exit means this is the last room?  Sterge really didn’t know the answer to that and doubted Gwenda knew either, as neither of them had much information about dungeons other than what they randomly overheard from Raiders – and now their personal experiences, of course.

There were also a few ferns and bushes scattered around, but not really enough to provide much in the way of cover; apparently they weren’t really meant to, as the creatures inside weren’t hiding like they were in the other room.  Instead, they were more than obvious to anyone’s eye as they stared at him in the tunnel as if daring him to set foot inside the room.  Uh, no – there’s no chance of that happening.

Sterge counted six of the brown foxes hanging out at the bottom of two different tree roots, four of the green-striped beasts that liked to hide behind ferns, six of the dog-wolf thingies that jumped down from the branches of the trees, and four of the wolves that he had faced in the fifth room.  Those four would’ve been bad enough, as they were extremely deadly; with all of the others joining in on an attack, he had no chance – even with his increased Raider Level and new Abilities.

That wasn’t even all there was, in fact; behind all of the others was a massive beast three times larger than even the wolves, though for some reason it didn’t look as ferocious.  The giant beast had shaggy grey fur, had paws bigger than his head, and had to weigh at least twice as much as he did even with all of his armor and weapons weighing him down; for all of that, he looked at it and thought the beast just looked like some sort of gentle fluffy dog.  Its bared teeth in a silent growl changed his opinion rather quickly, however, and he didn’t want to attempt to pet it.

Worst of all, there wasn’t just one of those behemoth – there were five.

He felt Gwenda slowly coming up behind him as he stared at what was arrayed against them.  “Yep, this is the end right here.  Time to go!”

“As much as I was hoping it would be easier, I have to agree that this is the end…for today,” she said behind him, a smile obvious in her voice even if he couldn’t see her.

Sterge let the tip of his stick and ball drop to the ground in exasperation; the weight of the weapon was too great to keep aloft for long unless he was actively using it – even with his new improved strength – and the prospect of finally leaving made his exhaustion come back full force.  He might be healed, but he was still tired after the long day so far.  “Seriously?  You want to come back here?” he asked as he turned around towards his best friend.

Unfortunately, the spiked tip of his weapon had dug into the ground, so when he went to turn it stuck, which caused him to bump into it with his leg, drop it from his hand, and then get it caught between his legs.  Sterge was still in the act of turning, and as such he became unbalanced and tripped…forward – right into the room with all of the scary beasts staring at him.

He was able to untangle his legs from his weapon fairly quickly, but then he heard a cacophony of roars coming from the room.  He looked up to see that the foxes, green-striped dog-beasts, the tree colored dog-wolf thingies, the actual wolves, and the massive grey dogs were all starting to run in his direction or jump down from the trees.  The green-striped fern-hiders even sprang into the air towards him, as if they wanted to have the opportunity to eat his face first.

“Run, Gwenda, run!” he shouted, grabbing his weapon and standing up moments before the wave of beasts hit him.

This just keeps getting better; what happened to all of that luck from earlier?

Chapter 27

Obviously, their luck took a turn for the worse. 

If she could shake her head in disappointment, she