The Crafter's Dilemma: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 3) Read online

  The Crafter’s Dilemma

  A Dungeon Core Novel

  Dungeon Crafting – Book 3

  Jonathan Brooks

  Cover Design: Yvonne Less, Art 4 Artists

  Edited by: Celestian Rince

  Copyright ©2020 Jonathan Brooks

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  The following is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, businesses, corporations, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to any actual persons, places, or events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design Copyright ©2020 Yvonne Less, Art 4 Artists

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank all my friends and family who have supported me on my writer’s journey, as well as providing much-needed encouragement. You’re the best!

  In addition, this book wouldn’t as great as it is without the help of my Patrons on Patreon and my beta-readers!

  Aaron Wiley

  Alex Canavan

  Brian O’Neil

  Brian Oles

  Drew Welcher

  Emma Baker

  Glen Shepard

  Grant Harrell

  John Debnam

  Joshua Chausse

  Kevin Caffrey

  Kilsharion Deborah Land

  Nate Martin

  Paul S.

  Rei S

  Rickie Brown

  Ricky Kukowski

  Sean Hall

  Steven Genskay

  Tania Bay

  Tom Davidson

  Tyller James

  Zack Devney

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Recap

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Author’s Note

  Books by Jonathan Brooks

  Recap

  Sandra was born a merchant and died a merchant – but that wasn’t the end of her existence. She was born with crippled hands that prevented her from crafting all but the most basic materials; because of this – and the ability to see but not manipulate all of the elements – she spent most of her life learning as much as she could about anything associated with crafting. After indulging in her hobby a little too much, she over-reached and ended up being sacrificed to fuel an enchantment from the very person she was hoping to learn it from.

  Reborn as a Dungeon Core – centuries in the future – in a place uninhabited by Humans, Sandra was thrust into a small, hollowed-out underground space without a clue of what she was and why she was there. With the help of a Dungeon Fairy named Winxa, however, she was able to learn how to create Monster Seeds, Dungeon Monsters, rooms, tunnels, and even traps.

  After building her dungeon and practicing as much crafting as she could manage, a Half-Orc/Half-Dwarf appeared at her entrance chased by huge Bearlings. Sandra managed to save Kelerim with her dungeon, and through a unique application of her Core abilities she was able to designate Kelerim as a “Visitor”. Over time, she taught him the correct way to blacksmith, fixing and improving his meager skills so that he could go back and help the land of Orcrim against the pervasive attacks of the nearby “normal” dungeons.

  Fate had other plans as Kelerim’s previously unknown half-brother Razochek Bloodskull – an Orcish Warband Leader – stumbled upon Sandra’s dungeon while hunting Bearlings near the Orc village of Grongbak. Sandra – with Kelerim’s help – fought against Razochek, and the Half-Orc/Half-Dwarf killed him with some help from her unusual Dungeon Monster constructs.

  Affected by the slaying of his own flesh and blood, Kelerim set off to find his father and to start his own smithy, bringing much-needed quality to the progressively poor work done by the existing Orcish blacksmiths. As soon as he left, Sandra was able to finally concentrate on crafting – or so she thought.

  In an effort to acquire additional crafting material – wood, specifically – her dungeon was inadvertently discovered by the nearby Elven village. When Echo – a relatively young Elf Ranger in Elven society – discovered that Sandra had multiple elements at her disposal, the Elven village of Avensglen called in an Elite dungeon-destroying team from the Elven capital. With limited time until they arrived, Sandra used her resources to upgrade her Core Size, opening up additional avenues of defense – and accidentally causing problems at the same time elsewhere.

  Because of her expanded Area of Influence, one of the local Dungeon Cores was able to exploit a loophole; by possessing an identical element and having a smaller Core Size, the reptile-based Core was able to use Sandra’s Area of Influence as if it was its own. As a result, an army of reptiles assaulted the nearby Gnome village of Glimmerton, killing most of its residents in the process. Sandra sent her constructs to save the Gnomes and destroy the reptiles, but unfortunately only managed to save a handful of them.

  In order to heal one of the wounded Gnomes, Felbar Warmaster, Sandra needed to bond with him – which placed him in a temporary coma. In the meantime, she also bonded with the others, before sending most of them back to Gnomeria – the land of the Gnomes – with a wagon full of raw materials; Violet – an Apprentice Enchanter – helped to enchant a Hauler with her specialized knowledge, as well as helping Sandra set up a Repository that helped preserve how enchantments were created.

  Meanwhile, Echo – the Elf who first found Sandra’s dungeon and who was tasked to watch her – nearly died because of a snakebite and was only saved by a last-minute bond with Sandra and her Repair Drones. While Echo recovered in a bond-induced coma, Sandra upgraded her Core Size to 20, unlocking the Advancement System; using the Advancement Points she had accumulated, the crafty Dungeon Core upgraded her Classification and acquired an Unstable Shapeshifter in an attempt to find something that could craft better than her Constructs – as well as being able to communicate with the Elves. While the Shapeshifter could finally manipulate elemental energy for use in enchantments, she still wasn’t able to verbally communicate.

  Unfortunately, the Reptile-based Dungeon Core that had destroyed Glimmerton had its sights set on the Elven village Avensglen. With no way to communicate with the elves, she couldn’t warn them of the approaching Reptile army, so Sandra decided to destroy the attacking Core herself. She ended up sending just under half of her Constructs to assault the foreign dungeon and managed to keep enough of them alive to make it all the way through it, destroying the Core in charge – but that didn’t end the threat. The reptile army was following its last directive, which was to kill everyone in the Elven village; there might’ve
been a group strong enough to repel them, but the Elite Elves had arrived and were in the process of assaulting Sandra’s own dungeon.

  Using a special technique to negate the traps inside her defensive dungeon rooms, making them practically useless, the Elite Elves tore through her Constructs with ease. It was only towards the last of her rooms that they started to run out of elemental energy; before they could be killed by one of Sandra’s Iron-plated Behemoths in the last room, Violet stopped them. Offering them a compromise, as well as a newly crafted Energy Orb that gradually restored their elemental energy, the Elite Elves had their lives spared and were sent away to defend the village – on the condition that they would help in a future endeavor regarding cooperation with the other races.

  With her dungeon and the people inside of it – as well as the Elven village – now safe, Felbar and Echo woke up to find that their world had changed drastically while they were out…

  Chapter 1

  “…and this place is…what? A garden of some sort?” Echo asked, still confused at her current situation – but starting to understand that the dungeon she found herself in was quite a bit different from any she had heard of before. While it had been obvious that it was unusual from her previous observations, the voice in her head was trying to explain just how unusual it was.

  * Sort of…it’s my Growing Room, where I can rapidly produce different types of plants and trees at a rapidly accelerated rate. Those Apple, Pear, Peach, and Orange trees, for instance, were grown and matured in a matter of hours instead of the years it would normally take. I was also able to grow Flax, Cotton, and even an Oak Tree inside here – all so that I could obtain the proper materials I needed to craft what I wanted. *

  That’s definitely…strange. The dungeon – whose name was “Sandra”, apparently – had explained what happened in the outside world while she was in some sort of healing coma; she really didn’t remember anything after being bit by that blasted snake, so an update of what was going on was much appreciated. That was, of course, if she could trust the voice in her head; the dungeon’s believability was still in question – at least concerning the circumstances. Waking up alone and surrounded by stone walls had been a shock to say the least, but what was even more shocking was the “Visitor’s Bond” she had apparently been subjected to without her permission. Though, if it keeps me alive and allows me to communicate with the voice in my head…unless the poison from that snake is making me lose my mind. That’s definitely still a possibility.

  A little of the information “Sandra” had told her she had already known – like the devastation of the nearby Gnome village – but most of it was new. The arrival of the Elite team from the capital in Avensglen, their assault on the dungeon where she now found herself, and how they were almost killed – which was honestly unbelievable in and of itself. She had heard stories of Porthel and Alanthia before, and the fact that such a new dungeon could defeat them seemed impossible; again, if the dungeon could be believed, that impossibility had actually occurred.

  Then there was the fact that they were spared; not only that, but they were sent back to Avensglen to protect it from being destroyed by a force of the same reptilian monsters she had seen wipe out the Gnome town. The dungeon had been a little sketchy on the details regarding the deal it made with the Elites, only briefly mentioning that something was provided to them as an incentive. What that could possibly be, though – Echo had no clue what a dungeon could give them to make them turn away from their sworn duty of destroying Dungeon Hearts.

  Or, rather, Dungeon “Cores”, which was what the dungeon evidently called them. That was only mentioned when Sandra purportedly destroyed the Heart—Core—of the reptilian dungeon that attacked the Gnomes and her village. One dungeon destroying another is the hardest to believe, I think.

  “So, you like to…craft?” As crazy as the other things that she was told sounded, a dungeon using its own dungeon loot to craft things was relatively…normal.

  * I definitely do! In my previous life, crafting was my passion and with the ability to craft anything I want – as long as I have the materials and proper tools – it has been an interesting experience. Of course, it would be even better if people weren’t trying to destroy me every few weeks, but I’ll take what I can. *

  From an outsider’s perspective, Sandra seemed to be just a dungeon that wanted to be left alone so she could craft to her Dungeon Heart’s content; in that context, Echo felt a little bad about being the source of the Elites attacking the dungeon. However, whether or not there was an ulterior motive behind all of the “crafting” still had to be determined. Just because those stronger than her were convinced of the dungeon’s benevolence, that didn’t mean there wasn’t something sinister going on.

  For the moment, though, Echo was inclined to believe most – if not all – of the information she had been given; not only was she alive when she should probably be dead, but she was also told that she wasn’t a prisoner and could leave at any time. At least, that was what this “Sandra” had told her, though how the young Elf was supposed to find her way out of the strange place she found herself in was something else entirely.

  The “tour” she took around the dungeon inadvertently helped to expand her knowledge of her whereabouts; after eating what she could of fruit from the trees inside the Growing Room, she was shown different workshops that seemed capable of making hundreds or thousands of different items. Not only that, but she was shown a storage room of sorts that held a myriad of different finished products; the sheer amount of knowledge needed to make the different types of weapons and few pieces of armor she saw was impressive enough, but she was also told that Sandra had produced many other items from their most basic, raw forms – like thread, cloth, and wood.

  The workstations themselves were unique in the fact that they could apparently function and operate with the use of an elemental power that the dungeon called Mana; she was shown a forge that could heat up without having to use any type of visible energy source, the finishing station had grinding wheels that spun automatically, and even a crude saw connected to a table would rotate without any obvious means so that it could be used to cut and shape wood. There were other things in the rooms she was shown that she had no idea their importance even after having them explained to her, but they obviously did what they were intended for.

  The only thing that was missing – which she thought odd – was any sight of the unique dungeon monsters that Sandra possessed. There was currently no one – or no thing – working at the crafting workstations, despite the dungeon…Core’s…obvious enthusiasm over every part of her production rooms. Echo had to admit that what was built underground in the wastelands was impressive, but she was starting to have serious doubts about the truthfulness of the dungeon…because there didn’t seem to be any crafting going on.

  At least, not until she arrived at a room that made her stomach growl before she even entered. Echo inhaled the delicious smell of cooking meat that had a unique scent accompanying it; fortunately, “unique” didn’t mean bad, just different. When she finally arrived in what appeared to be some sort of cooking area, she got her first glimpse of a dungeon monster – and it was unlike anything she had seen before.

  It was approximately three feet tall and looked vaguely like a person; it had a head, two arms, two legs, and a torso – but that was where the similarities ended. Just like the others she had seen outside of the dungeon, it appeared to be made completely out of metal and moved smoothly without any apparent source of energy – though its range of motion was more limited than a living person’s. Despite that, it was easily moving a few copper pans – and well-made copper pans at that – around on top of an obviously heated cooking surface. In one, she could see – and smell – a fairly good-sized hunk of meat that appeared almost done cooking; in the other were two, smaller chunks of meat that smelled just as delicious.

  * Go ahead and take a seat; the food will be done soon. *

  Tearing her
gaze away from the dungeon monster that was cooking – which was something that she never thought she would see – she saw that there was a rather short table on the other side of the room made completely out of stone. Accompanying the table were three chairs, two of which were small – as if made for children; the other seemed more normal-sized, though still on the small side. Probably so it can fit under the table, which also seems a bit small for my liking. Echo didn’t mind, though, because her stomach growled loudly again; apparently it didn’t care where she sat, as long as it was getting food.

  Immediately after she took her seat, Echo started to stare at the strange dungeon monster cooking food; however, before more than a half a minute passed, she heard voices over the sizzling meat sounds coming from a tunnel she hadn’t been down yet. She tensed up when she didn’t recognize the language they were speaking, though for some reason it almost sounded familiar – but she couldn’t place it.

  * Calm down, relax, and don’t worry – it’s just Violet and Felbar coming to eat with you…I did tell you about them, didn’t I? *

  Sandra sounded genuinely confused, as if she was sure she mentioned them. “No, you certainly did not. Who are they?” As soon as she spoke aloud, the voices coming down from the tunnel stopped, though her keen hearing could pinpoint whoever owned them still walking closer. Echo went to grab the dagger at her side, but she belatedly realized she was completely unarmed; instead, she snatched one of the sharp steel knives that were on the table, which she assumed were there to help cut the meat the dungeon monster was cooking.

  * Oh, they’re two of the— *

  “Gnomes,” she finished for the dungeon, as two small figures walked into the room suspiciously. One was a young-looking woman that seemed harmless, while the other was a grizzled older man that appeared to have seen his share of battle. She vaguely recognized them from the battle inside the Gnome village and their subsequent retreat towards the dungeon in the wastelands.