The Crafter's Dilemma: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 3) by Jonathan Brooks (english readers txt) 📗

much all the information I have at this point.  We’ve got two choices: leave the Undead dungeon and its Core alone and attempt to contain it so it doesn’t expand even further, including the extra Enhancement it’ll receive over the next 50 days, or destroy it and make every other dungeon within 100 miles or more that much more powerful.  Though, if the Orcs do succeed in destroying the Avian dungeon that they just entered, it could make the whole situation even worse. *

“If that does happen, I think we’ll have no choice.  If what you said is true—” Violet said – and Sandra translated for everyone else— “then it will become more powerful no matter what you try to do to contain it.  So will every other dungeon, though it will happen a little more gradually; regardless, the issue isn’t really what will happen immediately, but what will happen in the future if these ‘enhancements’ continue to grow more powerful.”

“I know for a fact – because I was one of the ones doing it—” Echo chimed in— “that we were maintaining a comfortable balance in the nearby dungeons, and this change will already upset that precipitously.  What you said about not destroying dungeons too close to each other and in rapid succession is true, as that has been passed down to us for as long as even our elders can remember.  I thought it was true everywhere, though I also thought that since Sandra was doing it that the rule didn’t apply…I was obviously wrong.”

The Shieldmen and Felbar acknowledged that they had also heard that rule, so it was apparent that the limitations had been in place for quite a while everywhere.  Sandra was sure it was the same with her former race as well, even if she hadn’t heard of it before; Violet and most of the villagers seemed not to know about it, so that kind of information might’ve only been necessary to pass on to those that actually had to abide by the rules.

“As much as I want to destroy that dungeon for what it did,” Gerold finally added, which garnered nods from the other Shieldmen, “I say wait and see what happens with the Orcs; the situation is probably barely manageable right now, and I fear what will happen if you start something that could have serious implications not only to my people, but every race nearby.”

The others reluctantly nodded, even Echo – who was naturally predetermined to want all Undead dungeons to be wiped off the face of the land.

* I guess that settles it, then.  I’m already starting to mop up many of the scattered Undead that emerged during and after the battle in Nurboldar, though I can’t reach nearly all of them.  It will require an upgrade to my Core Size to accomplish that, which I can’t afford to be down for right now; once we find out what happened to the Orcs— *

They didn’t have to wait long, as Sandra could feel the collapse of another Area of Influence.  Sending her attention there immediately, she roamed the now-destroyed Avian dungeon rooms, seeing hundreds of Orc corpses, some lying on top of each other and ripped to shreds.  In the final room, the Avian’s Core Room, there were only about 50 Orcs left alive, though even they were wobbling around on their feet unsteadily from multiple wounds.  Not a single one had an intact sword, though most of them had some sort of dagger or destroyed sword in their hands.

They ran as fast as they could through the rooms, the dungeon collapsing behind them, striving to make it out before the entire thing buried them.  A few minutes later 45 of them emerged, leaving 5 of them that had fallen behind to suffer the fate of being crushed by tons of falling dirt and rock.

* It looks like our choice has been made for us. *

Temporary Dungeon Core Enhancements

(Your Core is not currently eligible for any enhancements)

Current Nearby Dungeon Cores Destroyed:

3

Current Distance Threshold:

110.0 Miles

Current New Core Threshold:

Core Size 22

Previous Temporary Enhancement for 2 destroyed Cores:

Area of Influence is increased by a total of 50% over the course of 50 days and stays until the current New Core Threshold is reached.

Current Temporary Enhancements for 3 destroyed Cores:

Includes all previous Temporary Enhancements, plus: Ambient Mana Absorption directly by the Core is increased by 10000%, Area of Influence is increased by an additional 10% over the course of 10 days, Distance Threshold is increased by 10%, New Core Threshold is increased by 2 Core Sizes

Next Temporary Enhancements for 4 destroyed Cores:

Includes all previous Temporary Enhancements, plus: Mana Cost to upgrade Core Size is decreased by 25%, Mana Cost of all Dungeon Monsters decreased by 25%, Ambient Mana Absorption within the Core’s dungeon is increased by 2500%, Area of Influence is increased by an additional 25% over the course of 25 days, Distance Threshold is increased by 25%, New Core Threshold is increased by 3 Core Sizes

Chapter 31

By the next morning, the undead that Sandra’s Dungeon Monsters could locate, and reach of course, had been wiped out – though she suspected that there were again hundreds hiding out in the Undead Core’s AOI that she couldn’t see.  There hadn’t been any large gatherings of Undead like they had done before, but she was starting to learn how the other Core went about their strategies; making her have to hunt down the Monsters was a delaying tactic and only temporarily kept her from doing what she needed to do.  Whether it was because there was some other sort of attack planned or perhaps because the Core already had enough Mana to upgrade again, Sandra didn’t know.

It didn’t matter though, because she currently couldn’t move any faster; there were people coming along that needed sleep to function properly unlike her Dungeon