The Dungeon Fairy: Three Lives: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 3) Jonathan Brooks (read me like a book .txt) 📖

if you’ve looked at your Point Awards lately, but…well, it speaks for itself, I would say.”

Tacca had been so focused on the battle that she hadn’t even registered the accumulation of Core Improvement Points from so many deaths.  Afterwards, she had been involved in the cleanup of everything, as well as preparing some new defenses, that it had all slipped her mind; that, and there were more important things to consider at the time.

Core Improvement Point Awards

Type

Variable Conditions

Potential CIP

Current

Rooms Constructed

Size

1 – 50

565

Traps Installed

Complexity

1 – 20

1260

Monsters Created

Levels

1 – 20

985

Rewards Placed

Valuation

1 – 50

625

Raider Presence

Time

1 – 5

26560

Raider Deaths

Quality

100 – 10000

500570

Uh…what?

“I’ve done some calculations based on an average Quality rating of 122 per Raider Death, based on their approximate Levels.  I’ve determined, in addition to correlating the information you imparted about your last experience with these invaders, that each of the blue-colored ones were worth 5,000 Points, the purple were worth 6,000, and the larger red one was worth 8,000.  Naturally, there is a margin of error of approximately + or – 133.33 Points, but I’m fairly confident in my evaluation.” 

The way Regina could talk about so many deaths was a little disturbing, but Tacca could understand that sometimes it was easier to deal with so much gruesome activity by considering it in the abstract, instead of putting faces to those numbers.  Regardless, if she was correct, then—

“You’re saying that there is something out there that might be even stronger than that red-skinned invader?” Shale asked, seeing the problem right away.  If it was only worth 8,000 Points…was there another invader worth 9,000?  10,000?  What would they even look like?  For all she knew, there were very few Raiders that had died inside dungeons that were ever recorded to top even 3,000; that didn’t mean they didn’t exist, of course, but only that they hadn’t died inside of a dungeon.  It hurt her mind even contemplating something more difficult than the eight-armed invader.

“Quite likely.”

Regardless of whether that was true, Tacca had to admit that the Points that she had earned seemed outrageous, but with over 3,000 Raiders dying in the dungeon – along with the invaders, of course – it made sense.  She had already earned quite a bit from Raider Presence alone, as well as from the creation of so many rooms, traps, and creatures, but earning over half a million Points from Deaths was almost sickening.  Then again, it would certainly be beneficial once she hit her yearly countdown – though that was months into the future.

The others, though, would be taking advantage of the windfall in less than a month, due to their altered countdowns from Tacca’s Shared Risk ability.  That alone could spell the difference between destruction and success in the future, as long as they were able to survive that long, of course.

Looking at her Awards from so many Raider Deaths wasn’t the only thing she had put off, though.  During the battle, as the tide had turned in favor of the Raiders, Tacca had risked taking advantage of the situation to do one more thing.

Bond Results:

Bonded Targets: 3

Abilities(s) Obtained: <error> Incompatible

Abilities(s) Granted: <error> Incompatible

Creature Type Unlocked: (Interdimensional Being) H%l#?t*^!p% <error>

Variants Unlocked: Fodder, Soldier, Elite

That was certainly unexpected.  She’d never seen an <error> before on any of her notifications.   The fact that any Abilities Obtained or Gained were “Incompatible” was likely due to the Creature Type she had unlocked: Interdimensional Being.

I guess that proves that they aren’t from our dimension, doesn’t it?

She shared what she had done with everyone else, as they already knew she could Bond with Raiders.

“What concerns me are those Variants you unlocked.  Fodder, as far as I remember from the games I’ve played in the past, usually means that they were expendable.  I’m assuming that was from one of the blue-skinned invaders?”

Yes, I Bonded with each color right before they died, including the red-skinned one – which I’m assuming is an Elite.

“Then that will probably mean that there are many more where they came from, which again is worrying.  And while the ‘Elite’ Variant meant that it was powerful, it certainly doesn’t mean that it was the most powerful Variant there is.  At least, according to my knowledge, which may or may not apply here.”

David had been relatively accurate in his guesses so far, so she had no reason to doubt him.  It was better to plan for potential threats beforehand rather than have to worry about them in the moment; if it turned out he was wrong, then it wouldn’t harm them in any way.

“This is all nearly too much for me,” Tulip abruptly whined.  “How did we go from Assisting Dungeon Cores to defending against interdimensional attacks?”

It was a good question – and one that no one had an answer to.

“I think,” Shale began, “that it’s about time to involve the Head Instructor and anyone else with experience in all of this.  What’s done is done, and it really doesn’t matter if he knows, but I believe that we’re going to need all of the help we can get in the future.”

 Tacca wanted to immediately disagree, but she held her opinion.  It wasn’t just about her dislike for Lapis anymore, it was about all of them and their need for help.  What kind of help he might contribute, she wasn’t sure, but she had to reluctantly agree that it was probably best to seek out some advice.

Fine.  I guess I agree, even if I have personal feelings that make me want to say no. 

She thought about the upcoming confrontation, and something about it made her feel a bit mischievous.

So, since I really don’t like speaking to him, who wants to be the one