The Crafter's Darkness: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 4)

by Jonathan Brooks

  As soon as Violet’s fingers touched the right spot to activate the enchantment, she felt the cold air blasting into her suddenly disappear, though she could still hear the wind rushing by. She opened her eyes as she felt a burning in her extremities, and she suddenly worried that she was on fire. Fortunately, it was only her body thawing as the air around her warmed up instantly, and her mind thawed enough to realize what was happening. The Fire-based enchantment maintained a stable ambient temperature around her in a small bubble, and the Air-based enchantment created a wedge-shaped blockage of hardened air that caused the rushing wind to divert around her.

  “Finally! I’ve been trying to shout for you, but I don’t think you could hear me with all of this wind.” Violet looked over at Felbar and saw him looking at her in concern, and he looked warm and comfortable. I can’t believe that he remembered to activate the enchantment and I didn’t! What kind of Enchanter am I that I forgot something like that? She felt more than a little foolish, and it was only as she was feeling that way that she realized that she wasn’t even scared anymore. Of course, sitting up and looking over what she could see of the ground beneath the upper edge of the wing was enough to bring some of that fear back, but it wasn’t as bad as it was before.

  When it felt like her body had completely thawed, Violet shouted over to Felbar. “That…that was…intense. Did you take over control for me?”

  “No; it’s been following your last command, which I’m guessing was to fly high up into the sky. We should probably bring it down a little and you can practice controlling it a little more.”

  Without the fear and cold air blasting into her at the same time, Violet was a whole lot calmer as she directed the Roc to descend, which was an interesting experience in itself as she lifted off the leather strip she was connected to a little, making her feel a little weightless. Slowing down the descent helped more than a little bit, and after a few minutes she felt like she was getting used to controlling the massive bird.

  * Nice job, Violet. If you can, bring the Roc back down to right outside the workshop; I have a surprise for you. *

  The young Gnome did as she was asked, finding it much easier to just give simple directions to the Roc instead of controlling every single movement. The monster was obviously smart enough to perform those simple actions and movements, and it could do it much faster and smoother than if she had tried to control everything – and it didn’t hurt her head at all, which she belatedly realized was happening when it disappeared after a while.

  Before she knew it, they were descending, and the Roc started to hover over the ground, gradually decreasing in altitude until they touched down more gently than she expected. That the massive bird could lift off and descend from a vertical position was a surprise, and Violet figured that she was the one that imagined the bird having to take off with a running start before – when it obviously didn’t need that.

  In front of the workshop was the War Machine in all its glory, crouched down into an oblong ball-shape and ready for…something. Violet didn’t ask how it got out there, though she did catch the barest sight of a naked Felbar copy running back into the workshop.

  * Now we can see if this Aerie Roc can lift this thing and still fly. I’m going to take over control of it at the moment, because you might not be able to see what is going on from your position to see if it was successful. Hold on just a moment. *

  Violet and Felbar waited patiently, and the Enchanter looked over at the grizzled Warmaster to see the first bit of genuine worry on his face. It took her a moment to figure out that he was worried that the Roc wouldn’t be able to pick up and carry the War Machine; if it wasn’t able to do it, then it would probably be like having to leave your child behind.

  The next thing she knew, the Roc was flapping its wings again rapidly, gaining a bit of altitude while moving closer to the War Machine on the ground. She couldn’t see what exactly was happening, but she heard the screech of what could only be a claw scraping against the outer shell of the Machine, and she saw Felbar wince at the sound. After another few seconds and another few screeches, they started to ascend, though it was a bit slower than she thought it should be.

  * That War Machine is extremely heavy, but it appears as though the Roc can handle it. It’ll be a little slow gaining enough altitude to fly, but once you’re moving it should be fine. Don’t forget to instruct it to let the construct go once you arrive at your destination, otherwise the Roc might crush it. *

  That was smart, and Violet was sure that Felbar would have that on his mind the entire journey home—

  Wait…we’re going home now? This is it?

  * One last thing; you both know what is at stake here, not just for all of Gnomekind, but for everyone around here. Whatever you can do to convince your leadership to join with me to survive is paramount to anything else right now. And, unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of time in which to get that done. Good luck, and may the Creator bless you in your endeavors. *

  With those last words, Violet felt the control of the Aerie Roc revert back to her as the connection she had worked so hard to establish snapped back. A minute later, they had gained enough height to be able to start on their journey. With one last look back at what she could see of the ground, she felt a little disappointed at leaving Sandra’s dungeon, where she had learned so much and knew there was plenty more she could learn there, given enough time.

  I’ll be back soon, one way or another.

  * * *

  “The Creator, huh? When did you start blessing by the Creator’s name?” Winxa asked with an amused expression on her face.

  I figured it couldn’t hurt. As it becomes more and more likely that I’m here by the Creator’s whim, I might as well embrace it.

  The Dungeon Fairy just shrugged and looked away, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth that she didn’t bother to hide. Sandra turned her own attention away, keeping an eye on the Aerie Roc flying out of her Area of Influence. She was right about the giant bird being fast; it was already almost at the extent of her reach, and she could feel it growing close to the edge. She held her figurative breath as it passed the threshold and…nothing. Well, not nothing, because with a pair of Animated Shears she had following she could see that it was still flying along, seemingly unconcerned that it had just left Sandra’s realm of control.

  In all honesty, she was only 99% sure that it would work, and the Dungeon Monster wouldn’t just dissolve into a Monster Seed as soon as it passed beyond her AOI. She hadn’t been able to check that beforehand because she couldn’t send her constructs out of her Area of Influence – they just stopped at the edge. Thankfully, that 1% of doubt was dashed away as the Roc flew on its way with its supplies intact and passengers alive. It was a risk, but a calculated risk that she was very confident of the outcome.

  Now, let’s get these Dungeon Monsters around here taken care of, then we can look to the future. So thinking, Sandra concentrated on the workshop again, where her available crafting constructs were creating another Deep Diver suit for Gerold. It was much easier to craft the parts and enchant than the War Machine, and she had helped to do it twice before; even with that experience, making one of the suit constructs was still difficult but not impossible – or even challenging. All it took was a lot of concentration – and Unstable Shapeshifters to do the enchanting, of course.

  After that…well, there was a figurative book full of things she wanted to get done. Only time would tell if she would be able to get them completed, though, before the surrounding lands blew up in her face.

  Chapter 9

  Sandra was pleased at how enthusiastic Gerold and the remaining Dwarven Shieldmen were about being able to “get back to work”. In spite of all that had happened and their changed circumstances, their original duty had been to protect their land against the Dungeon Monsters that roamed the area. With the extreme threat that the Undead Core had represented now eliminated, they could get back to what they were meant to do – albeit with a
bit of help from another Dungeon Core.

  After looking at the Areas of Influence projected by the Golem and Goblin-based Dungeon Cores near the abandoned Dwarven village, Sandra was happy to see that they hadn’t expanded since the last time she had seen them, though she knew that it was inevitable that they would – and likely soon. In fact, she thought that they might even be going through a Core Size upgrade at that moment, so they needed to be prepared for that to happen. The overall problem wasn’t that they would expand their AOI, but that the number of Dungeon Monsters roaming around would increase by the hour if they weren’t culled regularly.

  That number, currently, wasn’t outrageously horrible – but it would be soon if Gerold and his Shieldmen didn’t help to cut them down. Utilizing dozens of newly created Reinforced Animated Shears that she diverted from her sky-bound AMANS, Sandra was able to sweep them through the forests where the two dungeons were located; the Golems roaming around were to the east of her dungeon as well as being southeast of the Dwarven village of Nurboldar, while the Goblins were primarily to the north and a little east of her location. Similar to the Undead dungeon, there was a sliver of the other Cores’ AOIs that she couldn’t view because hers didn’t extend that far, but indications throughout what she could see said that Dungeon Monster density was starting to reach a critical point – for both Cores.

  Approximately 8 hours after the two Gnomes left on their journey back to their capital, Gerold and the others were ready to go. It was getting later in the afternoon when they started out for their culling duties, but there was no time to waste; starting the next morning would, of course, allow Sandra to build up even more of her forces for the job, except that if they waited that long, it was possible that they would be fighting an uphill battle that might not be won.

  In addition to the enchanted Deep Diver suit that Sandra crafted for Gerold, which only took a few hours, she had also used three-quarters of her incoming Mana to create more constructs and other Dungeon Monsters to accompany them. The other quarter of the Mana flowing in was constantly being used to add to her two Absorption Nets outside of her dungeon, which was steadily increasing in size and scope, bringing in more and more Mana every hour. After she had moved her Shears Net high above her dungeon, that – as well as her other Net of Tarantulas and various constructs roaming around – gave her about 250,000 Mana a day coming in; now, approximately 24 hours later, she had increased that by about 100,000, which was great – but not nearly enough yet. She estimated that it would take about a week to get where she wanted it to be at: 1,000,000 Mana per day…or even more than that, if possible.

  As long as they all survived through the next couple of days, she thought that was more than achievable. To survive that long, though, a successful culling of the soon-to-be-overrun countryside would need to be done; to get that done, she had needed to learn all she could about what the Dwarves were going to face.

  * What is the best strategy against the Golems and Goblins, Gerold? Delarthe? *

  “Well, I spent more time among the Golems than I did the Goblins there, so I can probably help with them,” Gerold started. “The Golems from the dungeon nearby are all made of different forms of Earth as well as being different sizes. Other than size being a factor, they mostly range in difficulty depending on what material they are made from; there are Mud Golems, Dirt Golems, Sand Golems, Pebble Golems, Rock Golems, and Stone Golems. I haven’t seen any myself, but I’ve heard that inside of more-powerful Golem dungeons, there are even some made from harder material like diamonds.

  “From what I understand, the golems can come in almost any shape, though all that I have seen have looked like a large person with two arms, two legs, and a head. The only way I know of fighting and killing them is to dismember them completely, while at the same time ensuring that they cannot heal. If you allow them time and don’t do anything to prevent their reformation (which will happen eventually), it can take a long time and effort to completely destroy them.”

  * I see. So, some sort of enchantment or elemental energy process is needed to make sure they don’t come back together to attack you. Is that about right? *

  “Yes; for instance, when I would delimb them, I would apply some of my Nether energy to my axe, which sealed the ends of its ‘stumps’ with necrotic energy, preventing them from forming together again. Other Shieldmen have used other elements to do something similar, but I’m not as familiar with them,” Gerold finished apologetically.

  “I, for one, cauterize their ‘wounds’ with a bit of Fire elemental energy applied to my axe, which usually acts well enough to prevent them from reforming,” Delarthe added when Gerold seemed not to have anything else to add. “Thelon uses the most effective method, though, because he has access to Air elemental energy; all it takes is a layer of hardened Air energy on his own axe, and it acts as some sort of poison that completely shuts down the regenerative process immediately. I’m not sure exactly how that works, nor does he from what he’s said, but it seems as though some intrinsic part of the Golems can’t deal with the touch of that kind of energy.”

  Thelon spoke up for the first time since he had advocated for the continued presence of the Aerie Roc the night before. “That’s true; all I have to do is make sure I have the Air energy on the blade of my weapon, and that does the trick.”

  * Hmm…it sounds like the Golems utilize some sort of regenerative process that is canceled out by its opposite element. Very good to know. *

  “As for Goblins,” Delarthe continued, “they are both easier to kill and much harder to do it successfully. As opposed to Golems, which are solitary monsters roaming around the forest, the Goblins tend to roam in small bands of up to 10 individuals. There are some that travel around by themselves, which we call Scouts, but for the most part they stick together to present a more difficult opponent. When there are enough of the small green-and-brown buggers, they can certainly pose a danger; on top of that, despite being scrawny and fairly weak, they can move with surprising agility and will run circles around you if you’re not ready.

  “The ones we typically see come armed with rusty or broken weaponry that is a part of their forms – they don’t drop after the Goblins are killed, and dissolve just like the rest of their body. Closer to the dungeon entrance, there are armored ones that can dish out a little more damage if pressed, as well as archers that like to hide amongst the tree branches. Don’t worry, though, because they are horrible shots – and even if they are able to hit one of us, our armor is enough to deflect their poorly made projectiles.

  “The best way to combat these Goblins is to attack them with pairs or trios of Shieldmen so that they can watch each other’s back. Killing them is fairly simple, because they usually only use the most basic of tactics – which typically means trying to sneak up and stab you in the back. Our armor protects us pretty well, but those nuisances tend to like to jump around and find the cracks in our defense, before jabbing their little knives or shortswords into our unprotected areas.

  “Each band is usually led by a more powerful Goblin like a Hobgoblin or something equally as fierce, though they are usually still easy enough to defeat. From what Bregan told me…before he heroically fell in the line of duty—” Delarthe said, his voice breaking a little before recovering quickly— “there have been a few times when a larger band would emerge led by something even more dangerous, but he never explained what that was. Nor did I ever see one myself over the last year I was helping to defend Nurboldar.”

  That was all good information to have concerning the two different Cores and their Dungeon Monsters, which Sandra immediately put to use in arming her constructs and deciding what would be the best ones to send. For the Goblins, it would be pretty straightforward and quite easy; the metal weapons and arrows wielded by these monsters would be nearly useless against most of her constructs. Nearly anything she sent would work, but there were some that would be more effective than the others.

  What she really needed to help augment
the Dwarves was something fast, at least according to what Delarthe mentioned and her own observations via her Shears. She briefly thought about her Roaring Blademasters, since the Goblins were “flesh and blood” and could be sliced apart; however, while the Blademasters were powerful and could float through the air, they didn’t move or even turn nearly as fast as something like her Shears. Sandra could just imagine the Goblins running around them easily, with her constructs not being able to catch the small and agile Monsters. Her Steelclad Ape Warriors were also a potential choice, because they were a force to be reckoned with, but again, they weren’t the fastest of the bunch.

  Therefore, she had three main choices in which to select from. Two were very similar in form – the Mechanical Jaguar Queen and Mechanical Dire Wolf; watching them fight against the Undead, they weren’t very effective…but they were certainly fast enough in their attacks that they had some success. Against Goblins, they would be highly effective if they were allowed to tear into them, biting and shredding them with their powerful teeth and sharp-bladed claws. In addition, they would be ideal conveyances for the Dwarves, who could ride on their backs and get to their targets much faster than having to walk everywhere. It wouldn’t necessarily be comfortable for the Shieldmen, but it would work. Because of all that, Sandra created 5 of each construct, which took a total of 24,750 for the Mana Cost alone, with just over half of that for the Mana Seeds that needed to be created for them.

  The other choice was the Titanium Anaconda, which was now something she could create because of the reduction in Mana Cost she recently purchased as an Advancement. It was still expensive at 17,600 Mana, but Sandra thought that it would be worth having as an additional fighter on the front lines. The Steel Anaconda was the fastest ground-based construct she had of all her Dungeon Monsters (her Shears and her Roc were fairly similar in speed in the air), and when she decided to create one to go with the Shieldmen, the Titanium version lived up to its predecessor handily – and more.