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

had gone from what felt like a dead sleep to fully awake – and she couldn’t figure out why.  Was it a bad dream?  She couldn’t remember dreaming about anything, in fact – it was like she was so tired she didn’t have any energy left to dream with.

* Violet?  Oh good, you’re up!  I need your help with something. *

So that’s what it was – mystery solved.  She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and immediately wished that she had slept longer, but she had at least gotten enough to feel relatively rested.  More importantly, however, was that her elemental energy reserves were at least mostly recovered.

“What’s so important that you had to wake me up?” she asked, slightly irritated – but who wouldn’t be after being woken up so abruptly?

* Sorry about that, but it’s a bit of an emergency.  The Elite Elves arrived already and are attacking my dungeon with the intent to kill me. *

“What?  I thought you said they weren’t due for at least a couple of days?” Violet said, throwing herself off the bed and steadying herself before she fell on her face – because she wasn’t fully coordinated yet.  If Sandra’s dungeon really was under attack, then she could be in danger herself – not to mention Felbar.

* They apparently decided that I was quite the threat and quickened their pace to reach here ahead of schedule – and then didn’t have the decency to wait until morning.  It’s not going so well, by the way. *

Now that didn’t sound good.  “Why?  I’ve seen your…constructs…and they seem quite formidable to me.”  If the Elves were able to easily tear through Sandra’s monsters as it seemed they were, then that didn’t bode well for Violet’s own safety.

* Well…about that… *

Sandra proceeded to tell her what had happened with the dungeon that had attacked and destroyed her own village, how it had expanded enough to find the Elves, and then what she did to try to stop them.  Violet actually agreed with her decision to destroy the other Core, as she didn’t want the same thing to happen to the Elven village as what happened to Glimmerton; unfortunately, many of the monsters that Sandra could’ve used to defend the dungeon were no longer present to do their jobs as a result.

“As much as I applaud your efforts, it sounds like you’ve dug yourself a hole here.  I’ve come to appreciate your decisions to help save us, but it looks like I need to take Felbar and get out of here.  No disrespect intended, but if you’re going down, I don’t want to be brought down with you,” she said with slight regret.  She really did appreciate all that Sandra had done to save their lives and provide them with supplies, but she still couldn’t quite forgive the dungeon for the role she played in the deaths of her friend.  Nevertheless, things didn’t sound good for Sandra’s survival.

* Hold on – don’t give up on me yet.  I have an idea that might work to prevent them from destroying me, but I’m going to need your help.  I promise that if things are looking bad, I’ll get you out safely.  In fact, I’ve already moved Felbar up to the Assembly and Storage room up above, with one of my constructs there to help get him to safety if things don’t work out. *

Violet thought about that for a few seconds.  If Felbar is at least safe, then all I have to do is worry about myself.  I’ve trusted Sandra this far, so I might as well see what this is all about.  She had stayed behind out of an obligation to make sure Felbar was taken care of; with him assured of safety – if the dungeon was to be believed – then she thought it was worth the risk to herself to see what Sandra had in mind.

“Fine, but if it looks like we’re all going to die, I’m out of here.  Where do you want me to go?” she asked, finally interested in what was actually happening instead of just wanting to escape.

* Just head back down to where you saw my Core and I’ll explain it upon the way. *

So, that’s what Violet did; she stopped off by where the trees had been grown and pulled off an orange for a little late-night snack – because it was apparently still night-time, according to Sandra.  She couldn’t tell that herself, of course, because she hadn’t seen the sky in nearly two weeks.

* So, I realized that I was going about this situation with the Elves, and perhaps every other race, all wrong.  I was thinking of everything going on – and reasonably so, given my current form – in terms of Dungeon Cores and Dungeon Monsters versus Heroes or Elites or Warbands or Warmasters; I was so worried about trying to prove that I wasn’t going to harm them and I only wanted to help that it blinded me to other avenues.  What I should’ve been concentrating on all along was my background, my knowledge of crafting, and, above all, the one thing I have the most actual experience in. *

“And what is that?” Violet asked, interested in spite of the situation about where Sandra was going with all of this.

* My parents were merchants most of their lives, so naturally I joined the family business.  It may not have been my choice of professions, necessarily, but to say I didn’t learn from them would be a lie.  It was only when I looked at this situation from that perspective, using the knowledge I learned from my father from a young age, that I came up with a solution. Tell me, what would be the biggest obstacle keeping you from becoming a Master Enchanter – if, say, you were given the knowledge you needed?