*To prevent them from even getting to that stage, periodic culling of the dungeon itself will need to be performed, just as what has been done for centuries outside of the dungeons. If we can manage to do this Bonding with all of the dungeons, everyone will be that much safer. *
They all looked at each other, and Sandra could see that they were considering all that she said. “I can see the benefits of this to our people, but delving through a dungeon is dangerous,” King Mynag went on. “How can we possibly do that without risking our lives to the monsters and traps located throughout them? We, for one, don’t have any ability to nullify traps like the Elves do, which can mean the difference between success and failure – even with these Energy Orbs you’re providing.”
“I agree with the King.” Princess Celeste gestured to the Dwarven Royal personage, still in her Deep Diver suit. “While we can produce some powerful enchantments, and potentially even learn how to make these Deep Divers again even without our Master Enchanters, we don’t really have the ability to handle problems from long range, especially not with anything portable enough to be accessible.”
“That goes for us as well,” Palzerk grunted hesitatingly. “While we’re not ones for pointing out our flaws, there were many times in that last dungeon where we would’ve died if it hadn’t been for the Dwarves – and the Princess, of course – keeping the Goblins from overwhelming us. That, and trying to reach the back line of long-range fighters is difficult without some backup of our own. If it wasn’t obvious, we prefer to be a little more up close and personal.”
“We would have to add our agreement,” the Elven Queen commented. It was only when she spoke that Sandra realized that she – and Echo – had both been healed by a Repair Drone while they were waiting for the Dungeon Core’s undivided attention. “While our spellcasting is powerful, there are things out there that even we cannot defeat. We have a few dedicated Elite delving teams that we utilize to eliminate problematic dungeons, but there is no way that we can manage to maintain the monster levels in the dungeons throughout Symenora. It’s just not possible, and would likely end up with many more casualties than we can afford.”
She could certainly see their point, but they were missing what was right there in front of them.
* I see. And what is to prevent you from convening dungeon delving groups, assembled from members of each of your people, thereby making an effective team that can handle this culling? *
“Because it’s just not done, Sandra,” First-shield Parten insisted.
* Of that, you’re quite wrong. Take a look around, are you not part of such a group right now? *
The epiphany finally seemed to arise among all of them as they realized what they had just done. They had worked together with representatives of 3 other races, and they had succeeded in accomplishing their goal; Sandra had doubts that any equal-sized party of people from a singular race would’ve done as well, perhaps even ending in failure.
“I see your point,” Parten continued reluctantly. “The fact remains, though, that we really aren’t prepared to do that right now. Our strongholds are under siege, and until we get back and assess the situation, we cannot promise our help. And no—” he said sternly, looking at his King— “we cannot promise more help than who is already here right now, because I know the state of our Shieldmen better than you do. Sire.” The King just shrugged, not arguing for once.
The same went for all of the others as they couldn’t promise their assistance in one way or another. The Princess needed to find out the state of affairs in Gnomeria, though it was hopeful that they had made some progress after the successful repelling of the ambush. The Elves were a little thin on Elites, and the King and Queen couldn’t promise anything other than who was already nearby in the Avensglen. Palzerk had a fairly legitimate excuse, because he technically wasn’t in charge of anything other than his Warband – but hopefully that would change soon.
* I entirely understand, and I was expecting all of that. But it’s something that we can strive for in the future, through a lot of hard work and hardship, perseverance and cooperation. We will succeed in saving all of your people, one way or another. And don’t forget about your secret weapon. *
“Secret weapon?”
* Me and my dungeon, obviously. I’ll be there every step of the way, expanding and Bonding with Dungeon Cores in order to make them safer for those nearby. *
The thought of expanding her Area of Influence, connecting with nearby Dungeon Cores, and essentially exerting her dominance over them in order to control their anger and rage, reminded her a little of what the Palzerk had said earlier – though he was referring to the secret of the Mithril alloy:
“Your own use? So you can use it against us? Is that the game you’re playing? To conquer us and fold our people into your dominion?”
It wasn’t her intention to conquer anyone; but to fold them into her dominion? Well, she thought that notion certainly had a nice ring to it.
Chapter 49
Communication among the Dungeon Cores affected by the beneficial enhancement was at times sporadic, obtuse, or downright frustrating – but he was already used to it by that point. Ever since the random images started to appear in his mind, the focused Dungeon Core had largely ignored them. They didn’t really matter to him, their plans and insane image-rambling of death and destruction heaped upon the masses of people out there, especially upon the Dwarven communities living nearby. Though, he had to admit, he sort of wished that he had gotten in on some raids on the nearby Dwarven village before all of its inhabitants disappeared nearly a century ago.
That wasn’t in his plans, however. He had developed a strategy entirely different from what he figured was “typical” of other Dungeon Cores shortly after he was reincarnated back into the world. He had drained as much knowledge as he could from his so-called Dungeon Fairy over the weeks and months he was constructing his massive dungeon, pretending that he actually cared what she thought or wanted. The information she gave him about Cores was invaluable, and she probably shared more than she normally would because he had learned that most Cores were quite insane – and he, clearly, was not. He attributed his ability to keep his wits after his death to his thoughts of revenge on the one that had ended his life; that, and according to the fairy, he was in that liminal netherworld for fewer than 20 years, as opposed to 50 years or more like the other Cores.
That essentially meant he wasn’t crazy. Then again, he was “crazy” enough to try to absorb her when she was of no more use to him; in truth, he attempted to do it just because he was tired of her hanging around. Of course, as he knew it would, his attempt had failed, which caused the stupid flying gnat to leave through one of her portals in tears. Which still made him smile to this day, even 200 years later.
Since then, he had been playing the long game. The contracts he had made with the Creator in order to obtain this piece of real estate in the ground were more flexible than most Cores probably realized. While he had an urge and need to expand his dungeon – to gain as much Mana as possible to upgrade his Core Size – there was technically no clear method or timeframe that had to be achieved. He found that as long as he had a clear plan in mind and worked constantly to fulfill that plan, it satisfied his needs.
Not that he didn’t desire to cause some wanton destruction every once in a while, as well as killing everything that got in his way. He was no stranger to death, at least from what he remembered from his old life (which seemed like an eternity ago), so that wasn’t what kept him from doing it; no, it was because it wasn’t in the plan.
A plan to go unnoticed as long as possible, grow as large and powerful as he could, and then – and only then – would he strike, sending out the overwhelming forces of his Fallen until they blanketed the world. It took a lot of restraint to keep his Monsters out of sight while they funneled Mana into him, avoiding Dwarves as they hunted down and killed other Monsters by the scores from other dungeons. But never once in the 100 years when
there were people around did they see one of his Monsters, even if they were only a dozen feet away; not that they were invisible – far from it – but he made sure to keep them out of sight. Nor did they ever find either one of his entrances, because he made sure to conceal them as well as he could, even if he couldn’t close them up entirely.
But oh, how tempting it was to just let loose and rampage across the countryside, killing everything he could find. He never did, but he still thought about it to this day.
When his last sighting of a Dwarf in their fancy-shmancy armor was over 80 years ago, he had been a little more lax in his hidden agenda. He now had thousands of his Fallen spread out over his Area of Influence, which now extended nearly 100 miles in every direction. Before the last month and all of the changes that had come, he had been planning on spending another few decades continually building up his army, until he was sure there was nothing that could stop him. He could already extend his reach to many of the Dwarven people’s mountain strongholds, and he had been studying them extensively for the best way to breach inside and wipe them out. It would take a little more in the way of expanding his Area of Influence in order to reach them all, but that time would soon come.
Then…well, then something happened to the southeast, just outside of his Area of Influence. He had gotten multiple notifications over a few weeks, telling him that someone was destroying Dungeon Cores; this wasn’t anything new, because he was aware of multiple Cores being destroyed in the past, when they suddenly disappeared from his awareness in his Area of Influence. The biggest difference was that it usually occurred years or decades apart, not so close together.
Not that he was going to complain, because he didn’t really care about the other Cores – and it helped to further his plan with the boosts to his acquisition of Mana. But then the images started rolling into his mind after the last notification, and it was difficult to ignore them. He spent most of his time just working on expanding his now-enormous dungeon, adding his 350th room the other day – which was a major accomplishment, if he did say so himself (and he did) – biding his time until he could complete his plan.
Then, out of nowhere, images and spoken words reverberated through the strange communication link he had with all of the other Cores near him, and his mind ground to a screeching halt. Apparently, one of the Dungeon Cores near a place called “the wasteland” had been under attack – though that wasn’t that big of a deal to him; he expected it and hoped for it, in fact, because of the fact that other Cores had been destroyed. If more were taken out, that would only increase these “enhancements” he was so enjoying.
But something else happened. Suddenly there was an image of what appeared to be some sort of Elf riding a winged horse, holding a very interesting gem in her hand – which was touching the Core that was being attacked. There were the normal ranting and rage-filled images of dismembering the Elf, but that was all interrupted with a chilling voice flowing through the communication, the first coherent and audible sound he had heard since the whole thing started.
“My name is Sandra, and I’m here to help—”
He instantly recognized the whiny voice in the communication, because it was something that he would never forget from his previous life. He tried to listen for more from the communication link, but it seemed as though any connection with the Core had been severed.
Sandra? I never did find out her name, but I will remember her voice for the rest of my life as a Dungeon Core. It was the last one I ever heard, after all. The overwhelming rage that seemed to characterize most Dungeon Cores started to invade his mind, and he wished to strike out immediately for wherever this “wasteland” was and destroy this Sandra. How she was still alive after all these years was a mystery—
Or is it? What if she got turned into a Core as well? In the end, it didn’t really matter, because he would get his revenge for spoiling…whatever it was he was doing while he was still alive. He remembered some sort of Holy and Nether Enchantment on a sword, but what exactly it was eluded him. If he thought about it enough, he might remember, though.
Just like he remembered the very short list of things that mattered most to him: things like the voice of the woman that killed him and his own name – Dramien. I’ll have to make sure and add the destruction of everything she holds dear to that list.
End of Book 5
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Book 5 of my Dungeon Crafting series, The Crafter’s Dominion!
This book saw a lot of development, both in terms of the wider world and in Sandra’s dungeon. With the application of many of the things she’d learned, she was able to see her way out of the darkness her mind was in – while potentially finding a solution for the problems plaguing not only her, but the 4 races of people around her. While she only has one Dungeon Core Bonded to her at the moment, the dominion she is establishing will be amazing!
Or will it?
You’ll have to wait and see in the 6th and final book in the series, The Crafter’s Dynasty, which I’m hoping to have out in April or May!
Again, thank you for reading and I implore you to consider leaving a review – I love 4 and 5-star ones! Reviews make it more likely that others will pick up a good book and read it!
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Books by Jonathan Brooks
Glendaria Awakens Trilogy
Dungeon Player (Audiobook available)
Dungeon Crisis (Audiobook available)
Dungeon Guild (Audiobook coming soon)
Glendaria Awakens Trilogy Compilation w/bonus material
Uniworld Online Trilogy (2nd Edition)
The Song Maiden (Audiobook available)
The Song Mistress (Audiobook available)
The Song Matron (Audiobook coming soon)
Uniworld Online Trilogy Compilation
Station Cores Series
The Station Core (Audiobook available)
The Quizard Mountains (Audiobook available)
The Guardian Guild (Audiobook available)
The Kingdom Rises (Audiobook available)
The Other Core (Audiobook available)
Station Cores Compilation Complete: Books 1-5 (Audiobook available)
Spirit Cores Series
Core of Fear (Audiobook available)
Children of Fear (Audiobook available)
Carnival of Fear (Audiobook co
ming soon)
Dungeon World Series
Dungeon World (Audiobook available)
Dungeon World 2 (Audiobook available)
Dungeon World 3 (Audiobook available)
Dungeon World 4 (Audiobook available)
Dungeon World 5 (Audiobook available)
Dungeon World Box Set: Books 1-5
Dungeon Crafting Series
The Crafter’s Dungeon (Audiobook available)
The Crafter’s Defense (Audiobook available)
The Crafter’s Dilemma (Audiobook available)
The Crafter’s Darkness (Audiobook available)
The Crafter’s Dominion
Dungeon Crafting Series: Books 1 – 3 (Audiobook coming soon)
The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Series
The Dungeon Fairy (Audiobook available)
The Dungeon Fairy: Two Choices (Audiobook available)
The Dungeon Fairy: (Book 3) – February 2021
Serious Probabilities Series
Dungeon of Chance: Even Odds (Audiobook available)
Dungeon of Chance Book 2 – April/May 2021
The Body’s Dungeon (with Jeffrey “Falcon” Logue)
Bio Dungeon: Symbiote (Audiobook available)
Bio Dungeon: Parasyte (Audiobook available)
Bio Dungeon: (Book 3) – March/April 2021
Tales of Dungeons Anthology
Tales of Dungeons Vol. 2
Tales of Dungeons Vol. 3
The Crafter's Dominion: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 5) Page 49
