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

she watched the shapeshifter make some complicated and not-so-complicated runes in the air, though no energy was sent into them.  Which was a good thing, as they likely would’ve exploded with how poorly they were executed.

She recognized some of the runes, but she could sort of understand what the other ones were; regardless, she soon started to divine what she was looking at.  “That’s…that’s…genius!  But do you think it will work?”

* Honestly, I have no idea – but at this point I don’t think it will hurt to try.  Now, excuse my poor enchanting skills – I’ve only been technically doing it for less than a day, you know – but this is how I think they should be strung together… *

Chapter 47

When Sandra looked back on that last half-hour when the group of Elite Elves were tearing through her dungeon like it was a leisurely stroll through the streets of their capital, she honestly thought that she was going to be on the defensive side of the upcoming negotiation.  Fortunately – for Sandra, at least – the sheer ferocity, mass, and defense of her Iron-plated Behemoths turned the tide.

She was just glad that she had been prepared for any eventuality.

If they had broken through her massive constructs and made it to her Home, she had some reinforcements that she had managed to scramble together from the constructs that had been destroyed on the Elves’ descent through her dungeon.  One strange thing she noted – and asked Winxa about – was that she couldn’t absorb any of the Monster Seeds while the Elves were still in the room.

“It allows the sentient races to collect them if they wish to, though these intruders have something other than acquiring ‘loot’ in mind, as you call it.  As for why the other Core was able to absorb it almost instantly when you attacked its dungeon, it’s because Dungeon Monsters aren’t classified as sentient intruders, so the restriction was negated.”  As strange as that sounded, it made sense.  Otherwise there would be no reason to enter a dungeon – from the people’s perspective – unless they were there to destroy the Core.

Just minutes before the Elves entered the final section of the last defensive room, Violet had finally succeeded in enchanting what Sandra was thinking would be her ticket to survival.  And, she secretly hoped, another step in the goal she had made for herself; even though it now felt like it was being pushed on her by the Creator, she still personally desired to help all of the sentient races nearby.  Whether it was through destroying nearby Cores or through her crafting, there were multiple avenues to success that she could see.

She just had to share that vision with those she was hoping to save.

The issue she had been having before with trying to convince the Elves that she wasn’t a danger – and that she was only trying to help – had one major flaw that she only just recognized through her experience as a merchant.  Very few people (or Dungeon Cores, for that matter) did things for free – it was as simple as that.

Sure, there were good Samaritans out there that genuinely helped people that needed help, asking for nothing in return.  But even most of them – but not all, of course (she did believe that some were actually entirely altruistic) – basked in the feeling that helping other people gave them, or the fame that came with it, or just secretly hoped that what they were doing would come around again and benefit them somehow in the future.  This couldn’t be truer of the merchants she and her father had associated with over the years.

She wanted to help the people for multiple reasons, and not all of them were altruistic.  For one, she felt somehow guilty by being associated with the other Dungeon Cores that murdered and slaughtered hundreds or thousands of the races every year.  Two, she wanted to be left alone to do her crafting, and the best way to do that would be to eliminate the threat of the nearby dungeons so that they wouldn’t try to attack her.  Three, she wanted her crafting to make a difference – and all the feelings that went along with that.  And four (and probably the most selfish reason), was that she wanted to be looked on with appreciation and perhaps even a little envy from those around her – which were two traits she had rarely experienced when she was Human.

But nobody else needed to know those reasons, as they may or may not understand them.  What most people understood, however, were the reasons most people did what they did – at least back in Muriel: to make life better.  It could be accumulating money that made life better, or building a larger house, or eating delicious foods; in the case of those lands surrounding her wastelands, it was safety.  Safety against the nearby Dungeon Monster attacks, safety for their family, safety for their people – it was essentially all the same.

Therefore, Sandra was going to start selling that safety.

Selling wasn’t quite the right word, as she didn’t necessarily need anything they could provide – except maybe some rare materials.  Other than that, what Sandra really needed was their Cooperation.

Violet had done a superb job, but even when she was done with the enchantment, Sandra could see some improvements that could be made.  Regardless, the glowing Elemental orb of Spirit Mana was a sight to behold – and it worked!

Using the nearly invisible “cage” surrounding her Core as inspiration, Sandra had devised a way to apply parts of that enchantment to create something that would act in a similar manner – but basically in reverse.  Whereas the enchantment and rune sequences on the “cage” around her were designed to absorb both the ambient Mana and the Mana from the