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

by Jonathan Brooks

  “If you’re ready, I think your transportation is waiting for you.” The voice from her side startled her a little bit, and she turned to see the older village Chief, Furbrea, looking at her and pointing towards the stone platform. Perceine was feeling a bit lost now that she wasn’t part of the Warband anymore, so she took the direction without question, followed quickly by the others. As soon as they were all on top of the platform, the sides impossibly folded up to make tiny walls surrounding the perimeter. Before she could comprehend what was happening, she felt a quick shift of the platform that made her need to catch her balance – they were now floating in the air! The flying stone then started to move towards the wastelands she had always heard about but had never seen, though it moved at a speed little better than a fast walk.

  None of the others voiced any complaints or questions because they knew they were at the mercy of whatever was controlling the platform – which she assumed were their new masters, even if they weren’t technically slaves. Mercenaries were what they had been called, and that seemed appropriate enough for the situation.

  Instead of heading towards the south and west, where she knew the Elves lived, the platform took them straight out into the middle of the wasteland. She knew that there were beasts that lived in the wasteland but not much else – hence the name; she wasn’t scared, because they knew they could handle whatever they found out there, but she was confused at what they were doing out there.

  Her confusion was cleared up fairly quickly when they were brought to some sort of open-roofed stone room set in the ground, and she could see that it was lit up without any kind of visible light even in the early morning light. Only one thing would be out here with that kind of lighting as far as she knew: a dungeon.

  Great – we’ve been betrayed.

  However, instead of being attacked, the stone platform floated down to the room and settled on the floor before the sides folded back down so that it was completely flat. The statues moved off suddenly and she tensed with her sword in her hand, but they completely ignored her and the others as they lined up against the far wall.

  “Welcome! I’m sure you have lots of questions,” a voice coming from across the room suddenly called out and she jumped back nervously, annoyed that she could be so distracted that she hadn’t seen the figure of a short person standing in the middle open space. He was short, but not as short as she’d heard Dwarves or Gnomes were, and he didn’t have the pointy ears like an Elf; two nubs on his mouth where she thought tusks might be if they ever grew out indicated to her that he was some sort of Orcish ancestry, but was unsure of what the other part of him was.

  “Now, there’s no need to be alarmed, this is a safe place. As you may have guessed, this is a dungeon – but she’s a friendly dungeon. She’s here to help, though that might be hard to believe. First, though, there is a process that you need to go through in order to start your year as mercenaries, and I’m told that it hurts. I haven’t undergone it myself, but—” the strange man suddenly cut off and looked through them, as if he were seeing or hearing something only he could understand. “You can’t be serious. Are you sure it’s safe?” he asked, though he obviously wasn’t addressing Perceine or the others with her.

  “Fine,” he said, before walking over to a box she hadn’t noticed, which glowed in different colors from whatever was inside. The man bent over and picked out a red and a brown glowing ball of some kind and held them out for the Orcs to see. “Ok, so these are what are called Energy Orbs. What they do is regenerate your elemental energy – yes, I know, that seems impossible, but it’s true. Now, this process that you’ll need to go through will embed them in your palms, but it shouldn’t interfere with holding your weapons, so don’t worry about that. Once you’ve gone through it, it’ll make much more sense. Just be warned, it’s extremely painful for a few seconds; as in, the most pain you’ve ever felt in your life,” he continued, before he sighed and took a deep breath. “Alright, I’m ready.” He held out his hands to show one ball on each palm…and then he screamed.

  It wasn’t just a normal scream of pain, but a primal scream that every Orc with her identified immediately. It was something they’d all heard when their friends, comrades, and fellow Warriors experienced a wound so painful that they all knew they would die from it. It was profoundly unsettling listening to someone screaming like that, though it fortunately only lasted a few seconds.

  The man was on his knees, panting hard. “That…was much more intense than I thought it would be.” He slowly got to his feet and Perceine saw that the colored balls that were on his palms were now in his palms. They appeared as though they were now just a part of his body, and didn’t seem to be sticking out enough to mess with anything he might grip. “Ok, so who’s first.”

  Despite their bravery, their honor, and their strength in battle, none of the others volunteered to go first after witnessing that. Perceine sighed and stepped forward. “I’ll go first. I started us on this path, so I might as well sacrifice myself first.”

  “It’s not a sacrifice, it’s more of…an honor. You’ll see. Now, walk over to the box and pick out whatever colors call out to you.” She didn’t really understand what he meant, but as soon as she got within a few steps of the box, she could immediately feel what he was talking about. All of the yellow glowing balls were drawing her in, and she immediately picked one up and felt a rush of energy flowing through her. She could sense that the small amount of Air elemental energy that she had used instinctively a little earlier to jump out of the way when she was startled was replenished.

  “This is incredible,” she said out loud, wonder infusing her mind. She turned to the others and tried to relay what she was feeling. “My energy is being restored—”

  The next moment, all thoughts of the world were blocked out as an incredible pain washed through her body, making her feel like she had been dipped in flesh-eating acid, her bones broken by some sort of giant, and her mind was being wrenched out of her head with a rusty sword. She didn’t even feel it when her knees hit the floor, and she was practically deafened by her own scream.

  Then, just as abruptly as it had come, the pain stopped and faded to nothing in less than two seconds. She looked up, surprised to find herself on her knees, and then looked at her hand. The yellow ball was now in her hand and she flexed it a couple of times to test the feeling of it; while she could sort of feel it there, it didn’t seem to hinder her movements at all.

  * Welcome, Perceine. Congratulations on being the first of my new mercenaries. *

  Before she could strike out at the unknown voice seemingly coming from everywhere, the man spoke again. “Calm down, that’s Sandra talking in your head. She is the voice of the dungeon and she’s here to make you better fighters. To help with that, she has assembled a…wow…uh, a large quantity of weapons for you to choose from, as well as armor to keep you safe.”

  Perceine was in a bit of a daze as she followed the strange man to a collection of metal weapons on the floor further back into the room, and she was amazed at what she saw. There were swords, of course, but there were also dozens of things she had never seen before or had only heard about. Axes, hammers, knives, and a collection of other instruments of death greeted her, and all of them shone with the polished look of steel – or even titanium, which she had heard Palzerk mention the night before in the sword that he had received.

  * Just look around and pick out what calls to you; keep in mind that you’re not limited to one weapon if you want more. We’ll work it out from there. *

  The voice only startled her for a moment, and she looked over everything, immediately looking at the swords because those were what she was accustomed to using. As opposed to many others in her Warband, her own weapons rarely broke, because she used her Air energy to speed herself up enough to take advantage of its cutting edge to slice monsters apart. She didn’t have quite the same sort of strength to slice them apart with powerful strikes, so she relied on speed and precision to get
the job done.

  With so many things to choose from, however, she looked them all over and – while they looked excellently crafted – none of them really called out to her. Neither did the axes, hammers, and clubs she saw; there was a spear that looked intriguing, but she bypassed that as well because she imagined it would be harder to use with her speed. It was only when she got to a collection of unusual weapons that she’d never even heard of – but could see the potential in – that she saw something that finally called out to her.

  She picked it up and it immediately felt perfect for her. It was what was essentially a double-bladed sword with extremely sharp blades on either end of a leather-wrapped grip; it felt perfectly balanced and she turned it in her hands so that it spun around a few times. She had to use her Air energy to speed her hands up a little so as to not drop it, but it felt natural – and her energy automatically regenerated after she used it.

  She smiled as she looked around, only to hear another primal scream coming from one of the others that came with her. I think this might actually work out.

  Chapter 35

  The next week was a blur of activity for Sandra, but it was a good blur. After the initial group of Orcish mercenaries arrived and were Bonded, they chose surprisingly different weapons, but each of them seemed to suit their style. The Orc that Bonded first chose a double-bladed sword of all things, which seemed to work with her Air elemental energy because she could move quickly. She ended up adding some enchantments to her armor that were also Air-based, which lightened them a little bit so that she was able to move around faster while using her energy. She had plans to add some activation-based enchantments in the future, but for now it would do.

  Three of the mercenaries had Fire as their element, which they used to increase their strength; they went with a spiked club, a mace, and a warhammer as their primary weapons, but they also all wanted hand axes. Not to replace their blunt weapons, but because they wanted to try out throwing them so that they could have some longer-range capabilities. Sandra was all for that, and she enchanted their armor to also make them a little more fleet of foot, allowing them to move faster while wearing the additional pieces they weren’t used to wearing.

  One mercenary had Earth as his element and could make his skin literally rock hard, though a little slower; for his weapon he chose to use the spike-studded gauntlets Sandra had crafted, because when he punched something he could put the weight of heavy stone behind it. His armor got enchanted with runes to strengthen them a little, because he seemed like he was going to need it if he was going to get in close enough to monsters to punch them.

  The last two Orc mercenaries chose swords, though one took a greatsword that was nearly as tall as he was and the other took 2 short swords that he could dual-wield. The dual-wielder had Natural as his elemental energy, and could use it to produce a highly venomous substance that coated his skin, which he could then wipe his sword edges on to transfer them to his weapons. His armor also got some weight reduction, to allow him to move faster and infect whatever he was able to slice apart.

  The Orc with the greatsword could use Holy as his elemental energy, which he could use to heal himself if he got hurt. He professed not to be able to heal anyone else, as he still needed to practice extending his energy out of his body. His armor got extra protection, because he seemed like he would be in the thick of the fight as well.

  The first few hours, the mercenaries got acquainted with their weapons and practiced against each other; a few were injured in the process but were healed by her Repair Drones easily – which only made them fight harder knowing they could be healed of any of their injuries. Their stamina and ferocity in wielding their weapons, as well as their adaptability in using something new was astounding, and by mid-day she knew they were ready enough to go out into the field. They weren’t perfect at their chosen weapons yet, but they were starting to severely hurt each other as they were sparring, almost like it was some sort of game. They needed an outlet.

  * Chryla? I have some…reinforcements for you. *

  “Really? Did Elder Herrlot and Echo finally come back?”

  * No, unfortunately. They aren’t Elven reinforcements… *

  Sandra briefly explained what was going on not only to her, but to the other Rangers as well. They were much more receptive than she thought they would be, but that could also be a result of their slight desperation. “It’s strange, there’s no denying that, but we could use the help. If you would, put them near the beast dungeon, as I can see them being much more useful there. We haven’t seen any indication that another attack is imminent, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing it soon.”

  Chryla was right; seven Mechanical Dire Wolves borrowed from the Dwarves carried the Orcs to the area around the Beast dungeon, where they dropped them off just in time for the start of another, larger exodus of Beasts from the secondary entrance. Sandra barely had time to make introductions before the attack was underway. The Elves had shifted their own around at the arrival of the Orcs, so there were only 5 Rangers there to provide covering fire, though they had additional support in the form of 10 Wyvines and 300 Roaring Blademasters.

  They were barely needed, though, as the Orcs tore through wave after wave of Beasts that emerged with a savagery that astonished Sandra and the Elves. She had provided them all with an additional 5 Energy Orbs of their element, which were strung on a leather cord underneath their chest armor and pressed against their skin; the additional regeneration of their elemental energy was all the difference they needed to go wild. They enhanced their bodies almost constantly as they waded through the monsters with deadly efficiency, the Energy Orbs barely keeping up with their use.

  Most other people probably would’ve dropped in exhaustion from the constant use of energy, but not the Orcs; their endurance and fortitude (as well as their strength) was one of their foremost attributes, and it allowed them to push through the exhaustion. It was only when two of the same green-furred Beasts that were killed by her Mobile Fortification emerged from the entrance that they ran into a problem. As powerful as they were, the few hits they managed to land did almost nothing to the powerful Monsters, and they had barely escaped being sliced in half by the Beasts’ deadly claws.

  * Fall back; we’ll have to let the Mobile Fortification take care of them. *

  The berserk-like battle rage in the Orcs was almost their downfall… and turned out to be their salvation. They refused to listen at first and the warhammer-wielding mercenary tried to go in for another attack, but he was caught by a swipe by one of the Monster’s hands, and just barely missed being sliced in half. Regardless, he flew through the air from the impact and slammed up against a tree, where even all the armor he was wearing couldn’t save him. His broken body fell to the ground, lifeless before he hit the dirt.

  A roar that rivaled one of the Monsters’ emerged from the throats of the other mercenaries, and they all attacked with a greater ferocity than she had seen before. Perceine, the Orc using the double-bladed sword, used her elemental energy to run forward and leap high into the air straight for the Beast’s head, where she rammed her weapon deep into its eye and into what Sandra suspected was its brain, before falling back to the ground bonelessly as the rapid expenditure of Air energy knocked her unconscious. Bones were broken when she impacted the ground, and there were likely internal injuries, but she was alive.

  The others concentrated on the second Beast, where they too expended most or all of their energy in a single or few uses. They increased their strength enough to practically shear through one of the Beast’s legs with their strikes; the Earth-energy mercenary punched a knee so badly that the Monster lost its balance and fell down on its front; the dual-wielder stabbed it in the back and pumped venomous toxin into the wound, paralyzing the Beast, and the Holy-element wielding Orc seemed to shine with an inner light as he swung down his greatsword and cut through half of the Monster’s spine around its neck.

  “Uh…what was that?” Chryla had
been one of the Rangers that had been assisting the mercenaries, and she was astonished at what had happened. One of the Orcs was dead, while the others were unconscious after using all of their elemental energy.

  * It seems as though they can be a little…hard to control at times. Fortunately, it looks like their rage is all focused on the Monsters, so you shouldn’t have any problems from them. *

  “Good to know.”

  They recovered from their unconsciousness fairly quickly, though they were finally exhausted when they woke up. Luckily, there were no other breakouts at that time, so they were able to heal them up via a nearby Repair Drone and then to rest when she sent them back to Grongbak. There, they took possession of one of the huts, and were instructed by Sandra not to mention anything about her dungeon.

  “There won’t be any problems with that. I barely believe it myself, and we are all too grateful for what you’ve provided to want to jeopardize that,” Perceine said as they were getting ready to sleep for the night, their weapons close by in case they were needed.

  * But…one of your friends died today? Are you sure that you’re still grateful? *

  Perceine laughed quietly, not wanting to disturb the others. “He died exactly the way we would all like to die – fighting a monster. It’s the challenge that we crave, what we live for, and you’ve provided exactly what we needed.”

  It was a strange way to look at it, but Sandra thought she understood. She wasn’t going to complain, either, because she’d rather they be grateful than resentful for letting one of their number perish.

  The days blended into one another after that. It took all of one day for more Warbands to come and take the deal of exchanging their members for weapons and armor, providing her with more mercenaries. With the help of her original 7—6, now—it was much easier to get them caught up to speed with their new life, and every single one of them was thoroughly appreciative of the opportunity that she had given them, as well as the Energy Orbs, weapons, and armor. They were especially happy to hear that she was going to let them all keep what they were using after they finished their year helping with mercenary work.