The Crafter's Defense: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 2)

by Jonathan Brooks

  Well…that’s…not good.

  Chapter 27

  Violet woke up with the smell of rotting carcasses in her nose; or at least, the rancid remains of an ill-prepared leather hide that wasn’t cured properly to maintain its “freshness”. She wasn’t an expert on tanning and leathermaking, but when she looked at what she was lying on as she sat up, she saw that it appeared well done, but it was lacking the finishing touches that preserved it for longer. What those were, exactly, she didn’t know, but she knew that some sort of substance was supposed to help with the process.

  Regardless of the smell, the bed was actually quite comfortable; she didn’t remember waking up at all after she lay down…last night? It was impossible to tell, unfortunately, because the light in the rooms was the steady source-less illumination she was told that all dungeons had in each room. From what she could tell, it might’ve been only hours since she fell asleep, or it could’ve been days – it was impossible to tell; judging by how refreshed she was, she figured she had slept 8-9 hours straight.

  Violet peered around the room at the others still sleeping, passed out from the night before and looking like they had fallen into bed and not moved since then – almost like they had passed on and joined the Creator. She suddenly remembered all of those that had perished because of a sudden dungeon raid just the day before, and that everyone she saw there were the only ones left. Well, not everybody; Felbar wasn’t in the room, but she supposed he was still lying unconscious in the other room. Next to an Elf, to boot – he’s going to rant and rave as soon as he finds out he was sleeping with an Elf!

  * Good morning, Violet. Did you sleep well? *

  The voice in her head startled her, as she had momentarily forgotten the voice of the dungeon, Sandra. Everything else about yesterday came flooding back, and she straightened up on her bed as she tried to comprehend where she was and what it meant that they were still alive in the dungeon. She half-expected – even after all the Dungeon Core had demonstrated to them – that she wouldn’t wake up in the morning…or whenever it was.

  “Yes, I did actually. I’m hungry again, though,” Violet whispered, not wanting to wake the others up if they weren’t ready to get up yet. Let them sleep – yesterday was a day none of us want to remember. Of course, her attempt at being quiet didn’t work too well, as it was completely silent in the room and it woke one of them up.

  She couldn’t blame Saryn, honestly, for waking up screaming; the horrors of the previous day were enough to want to do the same thing. She just wished he wasn’t so loud that everyone else woke up screaming and looking around in fright. At that moment, of course, one of the metal monkeys walked into their room carrying a tray full of food.

  Jortor immediately stopped screaming when he smelled the cooked meat and halved oranges on the large tray. “Ooh, don’t mind if I do.”

  Jortor and his food, Violet couldn’t help but inwardly chuckle at his overwhelming love of eating. Though, you couldn’t tell by looking at him; for as much as he ate, he sometimes looked like he was half-starving.

  * Sorry about that, everyone – I didn’t mean to startle you. Here, eat up. We have a long day ahead of us. *

  Everyone had stopped screaming by that point, and she dug into the meal just as quickly as the others; she didn’t think she’d be that starved after just eating the night before, but she was practically ravenous. Or it could be because everything smelled so fresh and delicious, whereas they usually had to get food like what they were eating delivered to them from the capital.

  “What do you mean about a long day? What are you going to do with us?” Violet asked, concerned.

  * Don’t worry, it’s nothing too strenuous, at least I don’t hope so. I have need of your enchanting abilities. When you’re finished, we’ll talk about what you’re going to do today as you follow my Ironclad Ape, and what I can do to help you. *

  That was something she could do at least. Violet finished stuffing her face around the same time as the others and followed the Ape out of the room. The air felt fresher as soon as she stepped out and she was thankful that the rotting smell of leather was confined to the other room; with a sniff at her clothes, however, she realized that some was going to linger on her for a little while. They passed through the blacksmith’s forge and to the kitchen-type room where she saw Felbar and the Elf unconscious side-by-side, a Repair Drone – if she got the name right – hovering nearby both of them.

  “How long did you say he’s going to be out?” she asked, worried that his condition hadn’t changed even a little bit.

  * The last time something like this happened, Kelerim was unconscious for approximately two weeks. His injury was to his head, however, so I don’t know if that played a factor in the length of time or not. *

  Sandra had mentioned Kelerim at some point the night before, but Violet was still too scatter-brained at the moment to recall it properly. She guessed that it didn’t really matter in the long run, though, so she put it out of her mind. I hope he isn’t out that long. I could really use his guidance – the sooner, the better.

  They passed through some semi-familiar rooms on the way to the growing room where they had seen orange trees grow in a matter of hours instead of years – and then went past it to someplace new. The next room looked to be some sort of pottery-making space with a kiln and everything set up, though it didn’t look like it had really been used yet. After that was a woodworking workshop, filled with strange cutting implements and the smell of sawdust in the air.

  All the while they were heading downwards, Violet and the others were having a conversation with the voice in their heads.

  * First, we’re going to a new room that I just created; once we get there, I’ll explain what’s going on with it and what I need all of your help with. Until then, I have a few questions for you. The most important one, for me at least, is: do any of you know how to speak or write in Elven? *

  That’s an odd question. Violet looked at the others with a question in her gaze, though she thought she already knew the answer. They all shook their heads in response – it was just as she thought. “No, none of us do. It’s possible that Felbar might, as he’s been around longer than any of us, and it always seems there’s no end to his knowledge. Why do you want someone to speak Elven?”

  Violet actually thought she heard the Dungeon Core sigh in her head before she heard a response.

  * Well, I’m pretty sure the Elven village nearby thinks I’ve either killed Echo – the unconscious Elf lying near Felbar – or have her captive here. I have no way of communicating what had actually happened, and this just makes the likelihood of them attacking when the Elites arrive more of a certainty. *

  “Why don’t you just have one of your…constructs?...bring her back?” That seemed like the most logical solution to Violet.

  * I’m worried what will happen to her outside my dungeon after she leaves; the Visitor Bond I was forced to create with her might not be fully complete yet, which is why I think she – and Felbar – are still unconscious. My Repair Drone is also keeping them both alive, as well, because they can’t eat or drink anything right now. If I return her, there’s a good possibility that she could die if they can’t sustain her body during this process. *

  Violet thought that made sense; it wouldn’t be good to return the Elf with strange markings on her face – very similar to the ones Violet had on her hands – only to have her waste away and die within a week or two. “Okay. So, what’s your plan, then?”

  * Well, I was wondering if any of you would volunteer to go to the Elven village and speak to them for me. To tell them that Echo is alright and that she is recovering, as well as that I’m not a threat to them and that they don’t need to attack me. My hope is that someone there speaks Gnome, as they are quite long-lived and are likely to know other languages. *

  Of course, none of them volunteered. Even the prospect of leaving the dungeon wasn’t enough for them to risk going into another peoples’ territory;
everyone knew that the Elves killed any intruders to their lands. “We’ll see. I don’t know if it will be safe to go, and it’ll probably take half a day just to walk there,” Violet said uncertainly.

  * Don’t worry about that; whoever goes can ride one of my Mechanical Wolves to get there much faster. That’s all for a little later, anyway, so we can see if we have any volunteers then. Before we get to the new Enchantment Repository, I want to tell you what I can do to help you all out. I want to provide you with whatever supplies your people need to continue to fight against the other Dungeon Monsters throughout your land. You’ve already seen that I can provide pure Steel, but I can provide various woods, Linen and Cotton thread, and various other materials. The only problem would be transportation. *

  “That sounds wonderful; those supplies will really help out, especially since Glimmerton…no longer exists,” Violet choked out, the memory of dozens of her friends dying in the field flashing through her mind. “But what do you mean about transportation? You can just have one of your monsters pull a simple wagon and—”

  * Unfortunately, my constructs can only travel a little bit past your village, as my Area of Influence only extends that far. *

  That certainly wouldn’t work, then. Violet felt like they had just discovered a massive cache of valuable materials…but couldn’t bring it back home because it was too much and too heavy to carry. What they could carry on their backs would barely be what the village could harvest in a week and transporting it by foot would take forever – even if they were able to obtain a ride to the village. If only they had some Haulers…

  “Wait – I think I have an idea. It’s going to take a bit of work, but if you really can help with the crafting part of it, I think I may have a solution. We use special Haulers to move large shipments of materials; if you can help make one of them, I think I can figure out how to enchant it. It uses a basic input feedback system, which I was just starting to learn when…” Violet trailed off as she remembered the devastation she had come back to after the complete destruction of the ELA. So much tragedy has happened to me over the last few years that I’m not sure if I can handle any more.

  * That would help immensely; all I would need is some idea of what it needs to look like, and I can help with that part. Which brings up another question – how many different enchanted machines do your people use? *

  “Oh, we use quite a few, though only a few of them are big enough to transport people/goods or to fight for us against the monster scourge. The War Machines you saw before are used primarily for culling and harvesting materials outside of a dungeon; they aren’t the largest, either – but they are…were…suitable for what we needed near here. We also use a much smaller version called a Deep Delver for…uh…destroying dungeons, as the larger War Machines wouldn’t be able to fit inside the rooms and tunnels. We have very few of them left, unfortunately, as many of them were destroyed unpiloted at the ELA when it fell, as they were undergoing routine maintenance at the time. There are a few others, but along with the Haulers, that is the majority of the ones we use,” Lankas spoke up for the first time.

  Violet looked at him in thanks, as she didn’t want to mention the destruction of the ELA again. Each of the others that had survived the fall of Glimmerton had a little something to do with the normal maintenance of the War Machines and had to deal with Haulers frequently as they helped to receive supplies and ship out the village’s harvested materials. While they didn’t necessarily build the machines, they knew their forms fairly well; their enchantments, however, fell under Violet’s purview.

  * One last question before you arrive at the Enchantment Repository: Violet, do you know how to create a Preservation Barrier? *

  “A Preservation Barrier? Is that like a Stasis Field? As in, a field that will keep most objects inside it from experiencing the passage of time?” Violet asked, confused by the terminology. The Stasis Field was a common enchantment, used commonly even in transporting foodstuffs, as it prevented the food from rotting and was kept as fresh as it was when it was put inside the Field. It only worked on non-living objects, though, so plants, animals, and Gnomes wouldn’t be affected by the Field.

  After Sandra confirmed that they were one and the same, Violet said, “Well, yes – I can make one of them. But what do you want to use it on? Based on what I saw yesterday, I doubt you want to preserve food for any length of time, as you can just make more of it with…whatever you’re using to do that.”

  Following the metal monkey, they passed into another room that had racks and piles of weapons of every discernable shape and size, collections of full-metal armor pieces, and other things she didn’t even recognize. There was enough weaponry there to practically outfit an armory, and most of it looked to be extremely well-made – if not masterwork quality.

  * This is my display and storage room – I think I told you that I like to craft, and this is a result of a couple of weeks of crafting. Anyway, we’re almost to our destination; you’ll see what the…Stasis Field…will be used for in just a moment. *

  She could barely tear her eyes away from the insane number of weapons in the dungeon’s armory, but when she did, they were already walking through another tunnel. When they finally emerged into another, larger room, she looked at the multi-armed cylinders made from different materials scattered around the space.

  * Alright, here we are. Let me explain how this is going to work… *

  Chapter 28

  Sandra was relieved that Violet was able to create the Protection Barrier – or Stasis Field – enchantment, otherwise none of what she had planned in the Enchantment Repository would work. Yet, at least; Sandra still planned on eventually acquiring a monster from another Classification that would allow her to craft enchantments herself. Still, the fact that Violet could do it would make the whole process much easier.

  She explained what the purpose of the room was, how it was to work, and how she desired for it to be a sort of “library” of enchantment knowledge that could be used to teach others. While the Gnomes were able to create enchantments as easy as breathing, they didn’t always have the learning and experience needed to make everything; from what was explained to her through a combination of speaking to Winxa and conversing with Violet, most Gnomes knew maybe five to ten enchantments using their specific elemental energy, with half of those being only temporary. The rest that they knew were permanent utility enchantments ranging from a simple rune that would repel dust off of a surface to a slightly more complex rune that would keep pests away from a building.

  “That’s…quite genius, actually. I can see how that would work to preserve even the temporary enchantments, while also not letting them activate in the first place because of the Stasis Field. However, I’m worried that a Field the size you need will consume quite a bit of energy; I can set four or five up quite easily, but I don’t have enough Spirit energy to finish the rest. That, and the Stasis enchantments will only last I’d say…hmm…about a week, give or take a day.”

  That was going to be a problem, especially since she wanted to keep the RRPs around for a long time to preserve that knowledge. The only Preservation Barriers she had personal experience with were much smaller, though, which was probably why she had thought they would last for years or decades; apparently, the bigger they were, the more energy they consumed to maintain the Barrier – or Field. I guess it makes sense why something like this wasn’t ever done back when I was Human; from what I remember, the Barriers can’t be recharged once they are formed, though an additional one can be formed over the previous enchantment. While that was an option, forming another Stasis Field would disrupt the first one and it would take a few seconds for the new Field to establish itself. It didn’t matter too much for things like food to be out of the field for a few seconds, but she wasn’t sure what it would do for the enchantments – especially the temporary ones. That, and the Field would suspend the rune and prevent it from activating; any disruption would possibly cause dozens of encha
ntments – or more – to activate at the same time, which could be harmless…or catastrophic.

  * We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, if you could craft a Stasis Field on the Steel cylinder right there, I would love to see if it will work. *

  Violet shrugged her shoulders and walked over to Sandra’s multi-armed Steel RRP and started the process of creating a Stasis Field. It was a Spirit-based enchantment, so Sandra had figured that the Gnome had knowledge of it – and she was glad she was right. She watched, fascinated, as Violet worked quickly and efficiently. Sandra always enjoyed watching crafters at work, and enchanting was no exception.

  A line of light-grey glowing Spirit energy seemed to spill out of Violet’s right finger as she traced a large circle on the floor that encompassed the entire RRP, including the arms extending outward. It was slightly larger than necessary, probably, but it appeared that the Gnome was ensuring that if the cylinder was shifted even an inch that it would still contain everything that was currently inside the Field.

  Once the circle was drawn on the ground, she extended her hands above her head and drew another circle in the middle of the air, tracing the same path the circle on the floor followed. When she was done with that, she started to create simple runes that floated in the air at about chest height on her, again following the same circular path as the circles before. The runes were two-dimensional, though they weren’t necessarily flat; they curved slightly, as if they were drawn on the side of a large cylinder similar to the Steel one inside the field.