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

“Well…if I had the knowledge I needed, then I’d say that the biggest issue would be having enough elemental energy to even attempt some of the master-level enchantments and rune sequences,” Violet answered.  “Even if I had the knowledge of how to do it perfectly right now, most of them would require more energy to enchant than I currently have access to.”  She was more than halfway down to the bottom where Sandra’s strange-looking crystal body floated in the middle of the room – but she was also fully confused at where the Core was going with her questions.

* And what is preventing you from acquiring more elemental energy reserves? *

She had to think about that for a moment.  Everyone knew that killing a dungeon’s monsters was the fastest way to increase your available pool of elemental energy; there was something about killing them that released some sort of power that was absorbed by anyone nearby.  However, her people had also learned over centuries of testing that you could also hone your energy use by months of endless repetition and increase your actual energy reserves by using vast quantities of energy over a short period of time.

This was dangerous, however, as it could potentially damage your ability to manipulate the energy if you consistently “bottomed-out” – which meant essentially using every last drop of your supply.  You usually passed out before that happened if you did it too fast, though, but it was possible to push through and do it.  It was still extremely dangerous.

She had heard a rumor that the other races could get stronger like that as well, though they rarely – or never – used their elemental energy to create enchantments.  They used them in different ways, which was fine for them; Violet was much more inclined to trust in enchantments than by flinging dangerous elements around willy-nilly like the Elves or enhance her body like the Orcs reportedly did.

“Time and ability, mostly.  I don’t have time to repeatedly create one enchantment over and over, honing my skills in enchanting and maybe increasing my energy reserves by a small fraction.  And I don’t have the ability to take on and kill monsters, which would help but would still take a while.  That, and draining myself completely is way too dangerous, because we’re not meant to live for long without some sort of elemental energy in our body,” she finally replied honestly.  That was the main reason people either damaged their ability to manipulate elemental energy or even died when pushing themselves too hard; the energy was a vital part of your body and being without it was akin to being severely dehydrated or starved for days on end.

It was a shame that the only way to fill it up again was to rest and sleep; if there were some other way to fill it up quickly, she would do almost anything to find it.

* What if there was a way to regenerate that energy without having to sleep? *

Is she reading my mind?  Violet wouldn’t have put it past the Core, given that the Gnome didn’t know exactly what the strange “bond” she had agreed to actually did.  Then the import of what Sandra said hit her and she stopped in her tracks.  “You’ve got to be kidding…that’s what this is about?  Everyone knows that it can’t be done; other than a few fruits and other edible items like that impossibly rare Ambrosia you and Jortor were talking about – that can temporarily boost your energy reserve – there is nothing that has ever been found that can actually restore energy other than rest and sleep.”

* Ah, but what if there was?  How valuable would something like that be? *

“I don’t think you’d even be able to put a price on something like that—wait a minute, you’re serious, aren’t you?”

* Absolutely.  Which is why I need your help.  I’m still not quite practiced enough to do as intricate an enchantment as I need, so I need you to do it for me. *

Violet couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but she picked up her pace in her descent towards Sandra’s room – just in case it wasn’t too good to be true.  Sandra wouldn’t explain any more until the Gnome got there.  When she finally arrived, she found that the room was partially filled with about two dozen of Sandra’s larger constructs, though they were congregated near the other, larger entrance.  She asked about it earlier and was told that it led to the actual defensive dungeon rooms, so she assumed that they were gathered there as some sort of final defense of the Core.

Directly below the glowing crystal that was Sandra was her old friend the crazy multi-colored shapeshifter.  And near that was a pile of colored orbs that looked awfully familiar.  As she moved towards them, she heard the sounds of metal banging around and other unfamiliar noises coming from the tunnel leading to the defensive dungeon rooms.

* We’re going to have to hurry – they are almost here.  Though, I’m going to have to change my plans with them a little bit; don’t worry, though, I think it will be for the better. *

Violet had no idea what Sandra was talking about, but that didn’t matter because she had finally recognized the colored orbs in a haphazard pile.  They were representative of all of the elements and what had been used to bond with the Core nearly two weeks ago – and the grey and green ones still called to her.

She looked over at the shapeshifter to see that it wasn’t there anymore; instead she was looking at a copy of her naked self again.

* I apologize, but this will only be temporary until I can show you the enchantments I need. *

She bit back her anger at the appearance of her naked copy as