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

by Jonathan Brooks

  New Monster Seed Origination Material found!

  Paralyzing Spider Venom

  While the Paralyzing Venom cannot be directly used as a Monster Seed, it can be combined with specific other materials to create a whole new Monster Seed.

  What? That is…interesting.

  She wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but the informational notification looked very similar to when she obtained the Territory Ant Eggs from the colony near her Core.

  Winxa, is this starting to make any sense now? I can’t even imagine how I could use Paralyzing Spider Venom or a Territory Ant Egg to create a whole new Monster Seed.

  The Dungeon Fairy had been relatively silent and unobtrusive lately, and Sandra was beginning to worry about her guide. Upon reflection, however, it was obvious that Winxa was feeling a little lost because her Dungeon Core was figuring out things all by herself – and didn’t necessarily need her help. The question perked her up a little bit, even if she didn’t really have an answer that satisfied Sandra.

  “Like I said before, I have no idea; you could always try combining it with some of your other materials, but as you said, I can’t imagine what you could create. It could be that it’s for something that you can do but haven’t figured out yet.”

  That definitely didn’t help. If it was true that it was for something she didn’t even know she could do, then that just meant a whole lot more experimenting – which she didn’t currently have time for. Pushing that to the back of her mind – and to the bottom of her list of things to work on/experiment with after things calmed down a little – she continued to absorb the Spider corpses that were delivered, as well as gathering up the Monster Seeds from her destroyed constructs. She was starting to rebuild her treasury near her Home up again, and they were welcome additions to the growing stacks of Orbs and Cubes.

  She also converted a lot of the Raw Materials she was receiving from the battle’s aftermath into crafting materials, including stacks of Iron, Steel, and Titanium bars; creating wood or cloth and storing it away wasn’t always the best for those kinds of materials, so she stuck with things that could exist for years and years without deteriorating. She knew that as soon as she got to the point where her treasury was at an “acceptable” level – it was never going to be at a perfect amount, because she could always use more – she was going to start unlocking more materials via her Organic/Inorganic Material Elemental Transmutation Menu.

  There’s almost always more to do!

  Speaking of more to do, Sandra had already started her extermination force towards their next target; since they didn’t need to rest – and the Repair Drone only needed a few minutes to repair some damage to a few constructs from the battle with the Desolate Spiders – they were well-equipped to keep going. Next on the list was a Bearling lair that was located just off the pathway the Gnomes had taken to leave a few weeks ago; they fortunately hadn’t been attacked at the time because most of the Bearlings had been gone – off hunting somewhere, Sandra assumed. Now, however, they were a threat to future travel.

  There were two dozen of the Bearlings in their cave, and they somehow detected her constructs before they got within 100 feet of their entrance; they poured out of their lair, and immediately went on the attack – only to get pelted by heavy metal pieces as Sandra’s Dividing Rolling Forces split and launched themselves at the larger beasts. Unlike the damage they did to the Spiders, the results were less than spectacular; a few of the large fur-covered creatures seemed dazed as they were hit on the head by multiple slices of her constructs, but for the most part they shrugged off the attack.

  Their counterattack, though, did some horrendous damage to the Rolling Forces; with ultra-sharp claws that could cut through stone, hundreds of her constructs’ pieces were swiped at with large paws that gouged out large chunks of them – if not sliced completely in half. She lost half of her Rolling Forces in the first few seconds of battle as they lost many of their components, causing them to be destroyed and dissolve into the ground.

  Luckily, Sandra wasn’t counting on them to make much of an impact; just like they were against the Spiders, they were primarily there as a distraction. As another few dozen were sliced apart, her other constructs fell upon the Bearlings and systematically tore them apart while bashing in their heads. The Ape Warriors leapt and slammed their heavy Steelclad bodies on the backs or necks of the dangerous beasts, snapping bones and causing heavy damage with their fists. The dozen Mechanical Dire Wolves acted almost like pack hunters, picking off those Bearlings at the edge of the melee; they would surge forward essentially as one and latch onto different parts of the beast with their powerful jaws, and then literally rip them apart.

  It was – Sandra had to admit – quite disgusting.

  The Jaguar Queens weren’t much better, though they pounced and sliced open vulnerable spots on the Bearlings’ bodies – using their claws that were probably sharper than the beasts’ own claws – letting them bleed out and weaken before they went in for the actual kill. It was an effective strategy, mainly because they were so quick and could avoid being caught…most of the time. One of the Jaguar Queens didn’t scurry away fast enough and lost a leg from a sudden paw swipe from a Bearling it was attacking. It collapsed to the dirt, unable to move effectively on only three limbs – and its skeletal metal head was crushed in between a Bearling’s jaws.

  A Dire Wolf also lost a back foot as it was sliced apart while trying to grab onto a Bearling, but it managed to drag itself away from the fight – where Sandra’s Multi-Access Repair Drone got ahold of it and started to restore the amputated appendage.

  By the time they were done, all but two dozen of her Rolling Forces had been lost; from her main attackers, though, only the one Queen was destroyed – though there were a ton of little injuries that would take a few hours to fully repair. To cut that time in half, Sandra created and sent another Repair Drone along with the other replacements, using the Mana from the Bearlings’ deaths. Overall, it was a very successful operation.

  One thing that she noted during the battle – and which disgusted her even more – was when she saw one of her Steelclad Ape Warriors pick up a dismembered Bearling leg (from the Dire Wolves’ handiwork) and use it as a makeshift weapon to break the leg of another Bearling, before tossing it away when it was destroyed in the process. Does that mean…they can use weapons?

  “I don’t see why not; many other Dungeon Monsters – such as some of the Bipedals, Giants, and Goblins – can use weapons,” Winxa responded unasked to her mental question. “Most come equipped with them when they are created, but there shouldn’t be any reason why they couldn’t pick up another one somewhere and use it. And the name change does kind of hint at that, doesn’t it?”

  Steelclad Ape Warrior did indicate that it was different from the previous Ape – so that was what it probably meant. While the Ironclad apes could pick up a hammer and use it to craft, they weren’t made to use weapons in a fight; they could certainly use them, but they didn’t have the necessary experience to use them properly. It was like giving a wooden switch to a toddler; the Ironclad Apes would use a master-crafted longsword like a stick and smash things with it, instead of using the sword how it was intended. Perhaps these Warriors are different.

  On that thought, Sandra used her Hyper Automatons that were heading towards the new battle site to carry four Steel longswords she had crafted a while ago, along with four Steel warhammers; she wasn’t sure based on the little she saw if they were skilled enough to use a sword effectively, or if they just liked to bash things.

  It turned out it was the latter, as they all immediately picked up a warhammer and stood upright with them positioned against their shoulders. Sandra thought it was strange to see them wielding weapons like that, but after a few minutes it started to look normal – as if they were meant to be armed the entire time. With their decision made, a group of Automatons brought the longswords back to the dungeon, along with two Bearling corpses; it took approximately
60 of her little constructs working together to lift and carry each intact body, and the remaining few assisted each other in carrying…limbs that were ripped off.

  With the extra Raw Materials from the Bearlings’ bodies, the Mana she gained from killing them, and the Seeds left behind by her all deceased constructs, Sandra was able to increase the amount of stored Monster Seeds and material even more – to the point where it surpassed the most she had ever possessed. She had so many, in fact, that there was hardly room for her older Tiny Automatons – which helped to transport all of the Monster Seeds she created – to maneuver anymore. I think that is sufficient…for now; she could always expand the room and add more later, but there was currently enough stored in there to replace all of the constructs in her dungeon at least once over.

  Instead, the overflow she had from the last battle she used on adding more constructs to her extermination force. That turned out to be a good idea when she sent them against the nearest Crag Hounds, as the stone-furred wolf-like creatures were fairly resistant to the slicing attack of the Jaguar Queens, as well as not allowing the Dire Wolves much purchase with their jaws to rip them apart. Well, that, and there were many more than Sandra expected to be on the side of one of the mini-mountains – almost double the amount that she had actually seen, in fact. They really camouflaged themselves well, and many of them were hiding under the ones she saw on top.

  If it weren’t for the extra two Steelclad Ape Warriors she sent to reinforce them, her entire force might’ve been lost; the Crag Hounds were as deadly as the Bearlings with super-sharp teeth and claws – but they were also three times faster and more agile, despite being essentially covered in rock. Sandra’s Rolling Forces did absolutely nothing against the Hounds and were completely ignored; her Jaguar and Wolves managed to do a little damage, but they were outmatched and outnumbered, and more than half of them fell before the Apes came to save the day.

  They swung their Steel Warhammers like an extension of themselves, hitting the Crag Hounds so hard they were practically obliterated. The first one she saw get smacked by one of their weapons surprised her, because she had thought that only their fur was stone-like; it turned out that their fur, skin, and at least three inches of flesh were also made of stone, leaving only the middle of their bodies vulnerable to serious damage. Fortunately, they weren’t strong enough to withstand a super-strong Ape Warrior bashing them apart with a warhammer specially made for that kind of thing, so they didn’t last long against her powerful constructs.

  Despite their ability to kill them quickly and efficiently, there were only 6 of the Ape Warriors against ten times their number; all but 2 of the Apes were destroyed when they were overwhelmed, joining the 21 Jaguars and Wolves that didn’t survive. Sandra’s Repair Drones were able to save the rest – which were all damaged in some way – so it wasn’t a complete loss; the construct that took the least casualties was her Rolling Forces for a change – because they were completely ignored.

  The amount of Mana she received from the Crag Hounds’ deaths was equal or more than the Bearlings, however, and it was more than sufficient to replace every single one that was lost, though there wasn’t much left over. She had to use some of her treasury of Monster Seeds to do so, but they were easily replaced later when the corpses of the Hounds arrived at her dungeon. She also received another bonus from absorbing them – and more questions.

  New Monster Seed found!

  Raw Crag Hound Meat

  You now have access to:

  Slice of Raw Crag Hound Meat

  Origination Raw Material Cost: 400

  Origination Mana Cost: 100

  Monster Min. Mana: 120

  Monster Max. Mana: 720

  New Monster Seed Origination Material found!

  Crag Hound Stone Carapace

  While the Crag Hound Stone Carapace cannot be directly used as a Monster Seed, it can be combined with specific other materials to create a whole new Monster Seed.

  The fact that the outer fur, skin, and flesh was called a carapace confused Sandra, because she thought that was for things like turtles or even spiders – which raised the question: was the Crag Hound misnamed? The fact that it came up described that way in the notification said that it wasn’t, but it was a confusing mystery. Added to that, it was another origination material she didn’t have any clue how to use in any way, joining the Ant Egg and Spider Venom. Something tickled the back of her mind when she thought of it all, but the more she tried to drill down into it, the less it made sense.

  The Crag Hound Meat was a nice surprise, because it gave her some variety from the Bearling meat. It was more expensive Raw Material and Mana-wise, which she hoped meant that it was better – but only one of her Gnome visitors would probably be able to tell her that when she cooked one up.

  When her extermination force was fully replenished – with even a few extras – she turned towards eliminating the others around the wasteland, not even stopping at night because she could see well enough by the light of the moon above. While she didn’t control them all directly, she transferred her knowledge from the previous battles to try to cut down on casualties – which worked for the most part. Everything was easily replaced when her constructs were destroyed, and soon there were only some of the so-called Rock Toads left aboveground.

  They were the easiest to kill out of all of the dangerous beasts, it turned out; she had one of her Apes trigger its attack – and then her construct practically ripped it apart from the inside. The Toad didn’t last long against a Steel-made Dungeon Monster, and apart from hundreds of scratches and a few dented places on its body, her Ape was largely unhurt – and required less than a minute from a Repair Drone to be back to normal.

  Just like the other creatures she had brought back, this one had something extra to it – and she was finally able to learn its real name.

  New Monster Seed Origination Material found!

  Solitary Broat Mass

  While the Solitary Broat Mass cannot be directly used as a Monster Seed, it can be combined with specific other materials to create a whole new Monster Seed.

  The Territory Ant Colonies took a slightly different approach, because they couldn’t be destroyed without digging down sometimes hundreds of feet below the surface. Instead, Sandra stored her victorious extermination force inside her Workshop – which was getting a little crowded – and sent in over a hundred Lengthy Segmented Millipedes. Her newer version of the Segmented Centipedes were ten times the length of the original, but not much different, otherwise. They were more than enough to wipe out each colony she identified, however, and by the end of the second day of her extermination focus…the wasteland was essentially empty of threat.

  Chapter 9

  Flushed with success at freeing the wastelands from all visible threats, she was finally able to turn back to her dungeon and focus on more important matters – and Sandra considered crafting to be much more important. She had accumulated quite a bit of Mana and Raw Materials from the entire venture; not only that, but she had also gained what she was seeking from the beginning: Advancement Points (AP).

  It was just after dawn out in the world when Sandra contacted Echo in the village to let her know that travel was now “safe” again in the wastelands; she couldn’t ever be entirely sure because of many of the dangerous beasts’ penchant for camouflage, but her constructs had done a good job scouring the barren lands looking for potential threats. If there were any more creatures out there, they were very well hidden.

  Before she arrived, Sandra took stock of her current situation. Her creature threat extermination force was currently slowly roaming the area around her dungeon; it had expanded greatly since its first inception, and now it was something she was confident could go up against just about anything it came up against. There were now a dozen Apes equipped with Steel warhammers, three dozen each of her Jaguar Queens and Dire Wolves, 500 Dividing Rolling Forces, 200 Lengthy Segmented Millipedes, and 4 of her new Repair Drones wandering a
round basically at random – though staying together as a cohesive unit. She made sure they stayed far out of sight of any of the remaining villages on the border, but even then they were able to cover quite a bit of territory.

  They also absorbed and funneled ambient Mana to Sandra; it wasn’t nearly as much as her AMANS, but it was enough to be significant. In fact, when she did some quick calculations, she found that she was gaining approximately 25,000 Mana every hour from everything, which equated to 600,000 per day; she couldn’t help but think that if she were focused on upgrading her Core Size, she could be at 30 or beyond in no time. Now that she had a significantly powerful – and sizable – force of constructs, she was tempted to do just that…but decided to hold off until she was sure she could help protect all of the nearby villages at the same time, if that became necessary.

  As far as resources went, Sandra spent about an hour the night before taking inventory of her treasury. She felt a little like a greedy moneylender that liked to obsessively count all the gold pieces in their vault, but she knew it was a good idea to know what she was sitting on rather than hope that it was enough for the future. As much as it might’ve been “fun” to count every single thing in her now-full treasury, she only counted the most important things.

  1600 Large Elemental Orbs (200 of each element)

  30 Tiny Faceted Sapphire Spheres

  12 Small Faceted Sapphire Spheres

  10 Small Dragon Glass Slivers

  50 Large Steel Orbs

  100 Large Iron Orbs

  150 Average Steel Orbs

  Approximately 1,500 smaller Monster Seeds of various sizes