The Crafter's Defense: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 2) by Jonathan Brooks (top 10 novels txt) 📗

The Crafter’s Defense

A Dungeon Core Novel

Dungeon Crafting – Book 2

Jonathan Brooks

Cover Design: Yvonne Less, Art 4 Artists

Edited by: Celestian Rince

Copyright ©2019 Jonathan Brooks

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The following is a work of fiction.  Any names, characters, businesses, corporations, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.  Any resemblance to any actual persons, places, or events is purely coincidental.

Cover Design Copyright ©2019 Yvonne Less, Art 4 Artists

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all my friends and family who have supported me on my writer’s journey, as well as providing much-needed encouragement.  You’re the best!

This book wouldn’t be as wonderful as it is without the support and assistance of my beta-readers, in addition to Patreon comments as it was being written.  Your feedback and comments helped to develop and shape the story to where it is today!

Aaron Wiley

Alexander Canavan

Brian O’Neil

Dakota Lee Manchette

Damion Spearman

Dann Douglas

Emerald

Emma Baker

Gary York

Grant Harrell

James Carter

Kelly Padgett

Michael Harrington

Michael Katz

Nate Martin

Neil Stalker

Ryan Adams

Sean Hall

Steven Genskay

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Recap

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Author’s Note

Books by Jonathan Brooks

Recap

Sandra was born a merchant and died a merchant – but that wasn’t the end of her existence.  She was born with crippled hands that prevented her from crafting all but the most basic materials; because of this – and the ability to see but not manipulate all of the elements – she spent most of her life learning everything she could about her fascination with crafting. After indulging in her hobby a little too much, she over-reached and ended up being sacrificed to fuel an enchantment from the very person she was hoping to learn it from.

Reborn as a Dungeon Core – centuries in the future – in a place uninhabited by Humans, Sandra was thrust into an underground space without a clue of what she was and why she was there.  With the help of a Dungeon Fairy named Winxa, however, she was able to learn how to create Monster Seeds, Dungeon Monsters, rooms, tunnels, and even traps.

Her new incarnation wasn’t without its own dangers, however.  Soon after she started to increase her Core Size, she was incessantly attacked by Territory Ants that tried to destroy her Core.  Without another option, she was forced to use her Constructs-based Dungeon Monsters to completely eliminate the threat.

From then on, though, Sandra was able to expand her dungeon all the way to the surface, filling a dozen rooms with traps and increasingly powerful Dungeon Monsters to protect herself from the outside world.  Not only that, but she was able to finally do what she had never been able to do when she was a Human: Craft.  Using her abilities as a Dungeon Core, she created multiple rooms for different crafting trades, including a forge, a textile shop, leatherworking workshop, and even a jeweler’s station.  Unfortunately, she didn’t have the correct materials to make many of the things she wanted, but she had plenty to occupy her time.

Although, that time rapidly disappeared when a Half-Orc/Half-Dwarf named Kelerim appeared at her entrance chased by huge Bearlings.  Sandra ended up killing a few of the monstrous beasts before they retreated, and she saved the person who had inadvertently brought them inside. With some application of her Core abilities, she was able to designate Kelerim as a “Visitor” and started to teach him the correct way to blacksmith, fixing and improving his meager skills so that he could go back and help the land of Orcrim against the pervasive attacks of the nearby “normal” dungeons.

Fate had other plans as Kelerim’s previously unknown half-brother Razochek Bloodskull stumbled upon Sandra’s dungeon while hunting the Bearlings.  Not willing to risk letting the new dungeon expand and threaten the village of Grongbak and – eventually – the entire Orc homeland of Orcrim, the Warband Leader fought his way through the dungeon with the intent to destroy Sandra’s Dungeon Core.  Kelerim wouldn’t allow his half-brother to destroy what he saw as Orcrim’s salvation, however, and fought against Razochek, killing him with some help from more of Sandra’s Dungeon Monsters.

Affected by the slaying of his own flesh and blood, Kelerim set off to find his father and to start his own smithy, bringing much-needed quality to the progressively poor work done by the existing Orcish blacksmiths.  This, of course, left Sandra all alone – with just Winxa as company…

Chapter 1

Saving the world not only takes work, but it’s rather boring, too, Sandra thought. 

It had only been a couple of hours since Kelerim had left, and the loneliness brought on by his absence was in no way filled by Winxa, her Dungeon Fairy.  It was nothing against her frequently absent friend who was forbidden to give her advice for some reason by The Creator; on the contrary, Winxa was a vital reason Sandra hadn’t gone crazy from her new existence as a Dungeon Core over the last few months.  In fact, she didn’t know what would’ve happened if the diminutive