Violet the dungeon fairy had a big, snail-shaped problem. It turned out that the ravens were not the only natural creatures in the dungeon and they were far from the most dangerous. The acid snail was currently eating a deep pit in the side of the main vine body. If it kept going, it would breach the little hollow area around the dungeon core. The snail might even be strong enough to destroy the core, or it might evolve into a ‘Greater Snail’ which would definitely be strong enough to destroy a core at level 6. If the dungeon core didn’t do something soon, it would be too late.
Unfortunately, Violet had already explained the dangers of natural creatures to the dungeon core and had dropped several hints that the snail should be dealt with. The resulting silence was just so awkward that Violet couldn’t bear the thought of trying to bring up the matter again. If I could handle confrontation better, I could have told mom that I wanted to be a musician instead of a stupid dungeon fairy. Violet thought to himself. I have to figure out how to kill the snail without the dungeon realizing I did anything.
Violet frowned down at his notepad. He had drawn a sketch of the snail and listed some facts.
- Strong defense (shell)
- Strong offense (acid)
- Large
- Avoids poison fruit (annoying)
- Dungeon creatures that can kill it:
o Boss bat (needs water for swimming)
o ???
Tapping his notepad, Violet looked up at the dungeon core. Maybe it thinks of the snail as a pet? It might think that the snail will ignore the core itself and only eat the vine. He thought. The snail would definitely not avoid the core. Animals and people were drawn to dungeons because they could subconsciously sense the extreme magical density of the dungeon core. The snail might be eating into the main vine body specifically because it could sense the core.
I don’t think there is a way to get boss bat here in the main worldlet. He thought. So is there any other creature that could threaten the snail? Violet concentrated and accessed the dungeon information to which he had access as the assigned dungeon fairy. The list of creatures was long and constantly changing, so Violet sorted it by size. He figured that a big problem needed a big solution. There were a couple of snakes and a frog at the top of the list. How would a frog fight a giant snail? It doesn’t have any claws or even teeth. It would probably just try and pull it off the vine with its sticky tongue. The acid would melt the tongue and then the frog’s mouth if it did that. Violet wrote ‘Frog’ on the list and drew a line through it. Snake could be a good option. If it swallowed the snail whole, the snail might die before it burned through the snake’s body. Not a good way to go, but better a snake die than the whole dungeon. The fairy wrote ‘Snake’ on the list and circled it.
Violet spent another hour thinking up plans for getting a snake and the snail together and making them fight. He discarded every plan. Sighing with fatigue and frustration, he pulled out his flute and began to play. He put down the flute and slapped his palm to his forehead. Of course. He should try a basic summoning through his flute music.
I’ll practice the summoning on those butterflies to see if the dungeon notices. Violet lifted the flute and carefully extended his mana as he played. It was more difficult than he expected to cast complicated spells through his music. With an eye on the dungeon core to watch for any response, Violet summoned a butterfly to land on the snail. A red and orange butterfly flew over and settled on the snail. Then a blue butterfly landed on the snail. Then a pink one. Then a black and white one. Violet cancelled the spell and tried not to show his embarrassment. That was way too strong of a summoning. My teachers would have failed me for that. Fortunately, the dungeon core had not reacted in the slightest.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Violet spent a few minutes working through half-remembered mathematical formulas to find the right amount of mana to summon one singular snake. Summoning multiple snakes might backfire if they fought each other, so it was crucial to get only one. He ran through the mental shape of the summoning spell to add an ‘attack’ command. He closed his notepad and tried to settle his nerves. Ironically, he felt he had butterflies in his stomach. He took a deep breath and began to play his flute.
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In the dungeon core mind space, the snake information bundle released the frog bundle and tried to respond to the summoning spell it heard through the flute music. As the snake bundle slithered down the frog tongue, toward the mind space floor, some of the mushroom network fibers broke, releasing sparks of mana data. The remaining fibers tied the frog to the snake’s tail and dragged the frog down to the ground after it. The snake bundle tried to move towards the target of the summoning, the acid snail, but it had no way to leave the dungeon mind space. The snake thrashed around, darting in various directions, still tethered by the connection through the frog and butterfly.
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Violet paused his playing and frowned. He had felt the spell form and call out to a snake, but something clearly hadn’t worked right because no snake appeared. He moved his visual scanner view around the main worldlet, searching for a snake. He wasn’t sure how the spell could succeed but fail to draw in a snake unless the snake was restrained somehow. He didn’t find any snakes of interest in the main worldlet and paused his scanner on an image of the snail. He stood up and swore in sudden panic. The snail had dug the pit much deeper than he expected and he could see the glow of the dungeon core through the remaining vine flesh.
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The snake information bundle lashed its tail (with frog attached) in agitation. It heard the call to attack the snail but could not reach it. Without access to a physical form to reach the snail and without the mental ability to shake off the compulsion, the snake bundle was stuck. As the frog bundle flailed around, it came into sight of the snake bundle. The drive to attack flared in the snake bundle and it shot toward the frog. The motion of the snake’s coils pulled the frog out of the snake’s path and the snake’s mouth impacted a section of the dungeon core instincts. The mana of the summon-attack spell arced into the dungeon core instincts like lightning. The entire dungeon mind space hummed loudly as the power of the spell flowed through instincts and mushroom network fibers.
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Violet swore again as the dungeon core became exceedingly bright. The snail appeared on the visual scanner only as a dark shape in the middle of brightly glowing vine flesh. The dungeon vine began to vibrate. The vibration increased to a violent shaking and Violet was forced to hover in the air so as not to be knocked to the floor. “What’s happening?” He cried. The dungeon core didn’t respond.
The ground next to dungeon vine exploded. The sound of the explosion shook the dungeon fairy and he tumbled in the air. Violet screamed as a spray of dirt, rotting leaves, and torn up vine roots obscured the view on the scanner for a moment. The dungeon vine shook one final time and stopped. Violet could only hear his own frantic breathing as he righted himself and looked around. The wall of the dungeon core hollow was cracked and leaking some green sap. The visual scanner showed that the pit on the side of the vine body was empty. The snail was gone! Violet moved the visual scanner view back from the dungeon vine, just trying to see anything that could explain what had happened.
On the ground next to the dungeon vine was an enormous snake. Violet’s mouth dropped open in shock at the size of the thing. As he stared, a relatively small bulge shifted down the snake’s body, away from the head. Violet found himself unable to think coherently. He looked back and forth between the dungeon core and the image of the huge snake.
The bulge on the snake evened out. The snake lifted its head, tasting the air for a moment. It circled the dungeon vine once, then dove back into the gaping hole it had made in the ground. It disappeared, and the other creatures in the main worldlet slowly recovered from the disruption. A grey bat crept over to the hole and dropped in.
Violet eventually managed to say one thing. “Where did the giant snake come from?”
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_ Successfully Defeated Intruder. Experience Awarded _
_ Core Level Increased to 7. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _
_ Select Dungeon Reward:
- New Material
- Unlock Spawn
- Unlock Treasure
- Entrance Feature
_
_ Random Selection: “Unlock Treasure” Selected. Select From Available Treasure: … _
_ Random Selection: “Pole of Frost” _
_ Anomalous Battle Performance Recognized. Dungeon Spawn Experience Awarded. Dungeon Spawn Marked for Continuous Respawn. _