The spread of the destroying shadow sped up, and her conscience started to panic when her words didn’t seem to have any more effect. She tried pumping everything she had into her commands, but it just wasn’t enough. She had failed; failed herself, failed her Bonded friends, and failed to craft everything she knew she could if given enough time. Worst of all, she had failed Winxa, to whom Sandra had promised to do everything she could not to become another Wester. The Dungeon Fairy would be so disappointed—
The thought of her friend-guide-assistant brought a quick flash of warmth to her mind, and it took her a moment to really analyze what it was – and where it had come from. Mainly because, in addition to a flash of warmth, it felt as if a jolt of power came with it as well. Not enough to make a real difference, but with more of it, Sandra thought she might just stand a chance.
The withering shadow was already past her Human form’s waist, and she desperately looked around the strange conglomeration of bubbles in her mind space. Thinking of Winxa again, she felt the same sense of warmth and power as before, but she also witnessed the bubble indicating her Visitors’ Bonds (and which held an image of Kelerim, of all things) pulse like a beating heart. Keeping Winxa in her mind, she rapidly thought of each of her other Bonded, including Kelerim, Echo, and all of the Gnomes that had entered her dungeon after their village had been destroyed. A heat suffused her conscience, lending a large influx of power at the same time.
Without waiting for it to dissipate, she directed it towards the insane shadow. STOP!
This time, she finally stopped the advancement of the conversion, though she could tell it was only temporary.
What are you doing?! This is for our own good!
In a short-enough amount of time, the advancement continued, though at a slower pace than before. I need more power! Thinking about her Bonded again, she added in all of the Dwarves, the Elves, and even the Orcish mercenaries, feeling an even bigger influx of power suffuse her conscience before she sent it back out at the darkness enveloping her self-image.
The warmth and energy granted to her from her Bonded slammed into the shadow, stopping it and pushing back its advancement to just below her waist. Yes! I can do this! Her conscience gathered up another helping of Bonded power and sent it out again, pushing the insane encroachment back to her knees.
Noooo!!! This is not how this ends!
Gathering up another helping of energy and feeling victorious, she threw it at the shadow again and expected it to shrink down to her feet – but that wasn’t what happened. Instead, the advancement paused and even faded a tiny bit, though that tiny bit was quickly overshadowed as the insanity renewed its assault. Sandra’s conscience built up another attack and released it, but this one barely made it pause. What’s going on? Did it build up some sort of resistance?
Regardless of the reason, Sandra knew she was in trouble. The withering effect was moving even faster now, as if triumphing over the conscience’s efforts had fueled it for another assault. Each subsequent attack seemed to have less and less effect, until there was absolutely no change when it was hit. What can I do? Looking around the mind-space again, her perception lit upon the other bubbles, but nothing seemed to stand out to her – until she came to her crafting knowledge – and the list of crafts she completed. Hmm…I wonder?
It had helped to keep her sane before, so why not?
Running through her knowledge of crafting created a similar effect, except that it wasn’t warmth she felt, but cold – the cold hard truth of knowledge. The power she received from it was much greater than even her Bonded, and she threw it at the shadowy entity with renewed confidence.
BAM! The withering darkness seemed to waver as it shrunk back, losing over half of its advancement over her body, retreating back down to just over her form’s knees. A horrific screech reverberated through her conscience’s mind, causing her to reel back again in pain. Before she recovered, the darkness seemed to condense, renewing its attack at even greater speed. How? How is it so powerful? There were no words from the insane entity this time, though she could feel some intense emotions from it leaking out; it was so raving mad at that point that it couldn’t even communicate properly.
A few more attacks from her crafting bubbles had similar effects, though in much lesser intensity. Eventually, she was at a stalemate with the encroaching darkness, though it was only a matter of time before she was on the losing end again. Combining her crafting and her Bonded bubbles was the next logical step, which produced much of the same results as before; she gained an upper hand, the shadows regrouped and attacked even more forcefully than before, and she wound up in a stalemate.
Desperate, and with nothing else to lose, she started thinking about all of the bubbles in her mind-space, including her constructs and Dungeon Monsters, her traps, Monster Seeds, and available materials. She thought about all that she had done to save as many people as possible, the mistakes she had made but had learned from, and about the impending doom of the entire world if she didn’t stop herself from destroying these nearby Cores. Anything and everything she could think of concerning her new life as a Human mind inhabiting a Dungeon Core ran through her conscience, creating an almost-painful feeling of conflicting sensations. Which, if she wasn’t mistaken, was what life was: A collection of ups and downs, a maelstrom of conflicting emotions.
Gathering up the immense power her thoughts generated, Sandra’s conscience tossed it all at the insane darkness. It had nearly overtaken her entire body; her head was the only thing unchanged in her form, which looked pained at what had been done to the rest of her. Upon impact, there was an intense flash of light, blocking out her entire perception of the results….
Then the world came crashing back.
Chapter 11
Winxa! Help me!
Sandra was back, more permanently than after the Advancement Level increase she had experienced earlier – but still not fully confident that she had succeeded. Barely audible gibbering in the back of her mind indicated that the insane Core shard entity was still there, if not in control anymore. However, the slightly disoriented Core felt that if she let herself slip into a murderous rage again, she would find her “conscience” shunted off to the far recesses of her mind again in a snap.
“Sandra! What happened?” Winxa was in front of her Core in less than a second, as if she had been waiting for any sort of opportunity. “What can I do to help?” she asked desperately, pleading with her hands clasped in front of her.
Sandra couldn’t help but feel a suffusion of warmth at the Dungeon Fairy’s display of worry; as much as Winxa had been a little flaky and forgetful, the Dungeon Core couldn’t help but recognize that the Fairy was legitimately her friend. She was also more than cognizant that it was thoughts of the diminutive Fairy that had first allowed her to figure out how to stop the withering darkness that personified the insane Core shard, and the depths of her appreciation for the fluttering fae increased to new heights.
I was able to suppress the insane remnants of the destroyed Core shard for a time, but I’m worried that I’ll lose control if something sets me off. I need help keeping my sanity intact.
A small tear escaped the corner of Winxa’s eye, a sparkling gel-like substance that fell to the floor down below. “I’m so glad you’re back, Sandra; I thought that I had lost you for good when ‘your other self’ initiated a Core upgrade.”
Don’t count me out yet, Sandra replied. She hated to see the Fairy cry, even if it was for happy reasons, so it was just another incentive to resist the Core shard and to maintain herself. Although she couldn’t wipe away the tears brimming on the Fairy’s eyelids, she could at least clean up what had fallen already. She absorbed what had fallen and—
New Monster Seed Origination Material found!
Fairy Tear
While a Fairy Tear cannot be directly used as a Monster Seed, it can be used as a binding agent when combined with specific other materials to create a whole new Monster Seed.
What the—? Did you know about this, Winxa?
The Dungeon Fairy sniffed a couple of times, wiping her eyes until they were dry. “Know about what?”
Sandra explained the notification she had received after absorbing the Fairy Tear. What do you think it means that it is a binding agent? What’s so special about your tears?
“I honestly have no idea – to both questions,” Winxa answered. “As far as I know, anything from our realm shouldn’t be substantial, so it’s strange that you were able to absorb it in the first place.” She paused for a moment with a look of concentration on her face. “Maybe it was because they weren’t sad or angry tears, but happy; I can tell you that I wept quite a few times when I used to guide Wester, and nothing like that ever happened before.”
Whatever it was is going to have to wait; I need your help to stave off this shard— It was Sandra’s turn to pause as she thought about the shard. The gibbering she had experienced before was practically non-existent, though not because it was gone. Instead, she realized that as she had been concentrating on the new Monster Seed Origination Material, the insane rambling had been pushed off into the same corner she had been shunted into earlier. I think I need to keep myself busy and concentrating on something else; such as when I was using crafting to stave this off in the first place.
“We can do that…but first you should probably check on the state of things, even if there is a risk of losing your sanity again. I will do everything I can to keep you thinking clearly, but I can’t do anything if we’re overrun by the other Cores’ monsters.”
She had a point. Knowing that it had set her off last time and made her lose the small amount of progress she had made, Sandra looked around her Area of Influence. Starting with the area above the ground, she saw that everything within view of her floating Shears was calm. The 4 dungeons that had caused so many problems were essentially bottled up by contingents of Dwarves and constructs or Elves, Orc mercenaries, and Wyvines. Luckily for them (though not so lucky for their boredom), there were no Dungeon Monsters of any kind roaming about. After the other Cores went into their upgrades – which turned out to be the truth and not some sort of trick – no other Monsters tried to break out. Which reminded her—
Winxa, how long was I out this time?
“What? Why? Is something wrong?”
Uh, no – everything up top looks good, but I want to know approximately how long I have before the other Cores are up and running again.
“I don’t know the precise time, but I think it was about 10 hours or so.”
Sounds about typical then. She had suppressed the notifications from her upgrade while she communicated with Winxa and looked around, but she was planning on getting to it in just a moment. Here we go….
Taking a quick peek at the first of the tunnels connecting her to the Beast-Classification dungeon, she was relieved to see that it was still empty of anything but her own Dungeon Monsters. The other Dungeon Core was still holding all of their Monsters inside their dungeon, and without being actively attacked, the gibbering from the shard in her mind was at a low simmer. Sandra could hear it more when she looked at the object of its hatred and revenge, but it wasn’t even close to overwhelming. Expecting the same as she observed the other 3 tunnels, she wasn’t disappointed to see them equally safe and empty.
We’re good – nothing is attacking us. If timelines stayed the same for the other Cores during their upgrades, she figured that she might have at least another 14 to 18 hours before another attack. It was something she knew she had to plan for, too, because as irresponsible as upgrading her Core during a veritable siege by 4 different nearby Cores was, Sandra had to admit that the overall reasoning was sound. The Core upgrades for her opposition would increase the danger they represented, if only because it allowed them access to larger Mana and Raw Material maximums.
Speaking of that, it was about time to look at what her own had to offer.
Core Size Upgrade Stage complete!
16/16 Completed
Your Core has grown!
Current Size: 24
Mana Capacity increased!
Raw Material Capacity increased!
New Constructs option!
Through your repeated use of your internal self-actualization module, your acquisition of a binding agent, and your current Advancement Level, you have also learned the Dungeon Monster Creation skill!
Core Selection Menu
Dungeon Classification:
Constructs (Adv. Level 2)
Core Size:
24
Available Mana:
39250/47748
Available Raw Material (RM):
15225/103535
Constructs Creation Options:
20
Advancement Creation Options:
8
Custom Creation Options:
0
As expected, Sandra’s maximum Mana and RM totals increased, giving her enough to create nearly any construct and nearly every Monster Seed available. The only major thing out of her reach was still the new Steel Colossus at 60,000 Mana, but everything else was available – including the Expanded Mobile Fortification, the newly upgraded Mobile Fortification as a result of her Advancement Level increase.
In addition to that promising information, she also obtained a new construct, bringing her up to a total of 20 constructs available.
Constructs Creation Options
Name:
Mana Cost: (60% Reduction)
-----
-----
Weighted Rolling Force
100
Seed Converter Drake
200
Iron-mandible Segmented Millipede
400
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It took Sandra a moment to find the new Construct on her list, because almost every other time she had gained access to another construct, it had always been more expensive Mana-wise. Not that she could afford it right now, of course, but she had expected something more expensive than the Steel Colossus – but that was far from the fact.
For a total of 200 Mana and sandwiched between the Weighted Rolling Force and Iron-mandible Segmented Millipede in terms of cost, the new Seed Converter Drake didn’t sound very intimidating. Nor did Sandra figure it was a worthy unlock upon reaching Core Size 24. At that cost, I should’ve received it back when I was Core Size 6 or 7, if not before.
Regardless, it was something she would check out – after she investigated the last thing her upgrade had imparted to her. It was a new, unexpected skill, and it appeared as though it was an afterthought; as she was looking at the results of her upgrade, it slowly appeared as if she earned it after the actual upgrade. Because of the “binding agent” it referenced, Sandra figured that was indeed the case; I guess it’s good that I didn’t even look at these notifications until later. In fact, it made her curious as to whether she had actually increased her resource maximums before she looked at the notification, or if it waited until she acknowledged their increase. Her Area of Influence changed immediately, she knew, but as she usually didn’t look at her Core Selection Menu until she had read the messages, it was a bit of a mystery.
Dungeon Monster Creation
(Core-specific Skill)
Dungeon Monster Creation allows the Dungeon Core to use various Monster Seeds and Monster Seed Origination Materials to create new or alter existing Dungeon Monsters. Likelihood of viable creation is dependent on Seeds and Origination Materials used. Requirements: Mana, Monster Seeds, Monster Seed Origination Materials, binding agent. (Skills are permanent and remain even after a Classification change)
Sandra was nearly speechless when she saw her new skill. Dungeon Monster Creation was a bit confusing at first, because she wasn’t sure what exactly it meant; she could already create Dungeon Monsters, right? But as she read through the description, the Dungeon Core finally understood what a boon it could be to be able to create or alter Dungeon Monsters. It was something she ha
d thought about from the beginning, but never had a way to do it before this skill dropped into her lap.
“What? What is it?” Winxa asked worriedly, fluttering in front of her Core as if to catch her attention before she lost control. “You went quiet all of a sudden.”
Sorry; there’s this new skill I just acquired, but I’m torn as to what I should do now. Should I pursue what this skill can grant me, or concentrate on getting out of this mess I got myself in?
The Fairy thought about it for a moment. “Well, will this new skill of yours help you to accomplish your other goal?”
Uh…maybe? If I can figure it out in time, then it’s entirely possible; then again, if it’s something that consumes a lot of resources, it could end up being a total waste of time and put me further behind.
“I don’t even know what it is, but I can hear the excitement in your voice; that tells me it has to do with crafting or something similar, which means that you have to decide if pursuing this will benefit you now.”
That was some good non-advice from Winxa, even if it didn’t initially sound beneficial. Even if all she said was essentially “figure it out yourself”, that was precisely what Sandra needed to hear. As much as she wanted to indulge herself in exploring her new Skill, she couldn’t guarantee that it would solve her problem – as in, 4 dangerous nearby Dungeon Cores bent on her destruction. That, and figuring out how to keep the insane Core shard in her mind at bay while she tried to survive.
What I need is some way to ensure that there isn’t any more threat from those Cores. I could seal up the tunnels with large plugs of Steel or Titanium, thereby making it fairly impossible to dig through; those could be circumvented by just digging around them, however.
The Crafter's Dominion: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 5) Page 12
