The Crafter's Dominion: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 5) by Jonathan Brooks (best english books to read TXT) 📗

rampage across the countryside, killing everything he could find.  He never did, but he still thought about it to this day.

When his last sighting of a Dwarf in their fancy-shmancy armor was over 80 years ago, he had been a little more lax in his hidden agenda.  He now had thousands of his Fallen spread out over his Area of Influence, which now extended nearly 100 miles in every direction.  Before the last month and all of the changes that had come, he had been planning on spending another few decades continually building up his army, until he was sure there was nothing that could stop him.  He could already extend his reach to many of the Dwarven people’s mountain strongholds, and he had been studying them extensively for the best way to breach inside and wipe them out.  It would take a little more in the way of expanding his Area of Influence in order to reach them all, but that time would soon come.

Then…well, then something happened to the southeast, just outside of his Area of Influence.  He had gotten multiple notifications over a few weeks, telling him that someone was destroying Dungeon Cores; this wasn’t anything new, because he was aware of multiple Cores being destroyed in the past, when they suddenly disappeared from his awareness in his Area of Influence.  The biggest difference was that it usually occurred years or decades apart, not so close together.

Not that he was going to complain, because he didn’t really care about the other Cores – and it helped to further his plan with the boosts to his acquisition of Mana.  But then the images started rolling into his mind after the last notification, and it was difficult to ignore them.  He spent most of his time just working on expanding his now-enormous dungeon, adding his 350th room the other day – which was a major accomplishment, if he did say so himself (and he did) – biding his time until he could complete his plan.

Then, out of nowhere, images and spoken words reverberated through the strange communication link he had with all of the other Cores near him, and his mind ground to a screeching halt.  Apparently, one of the Dungeon Cores near a place called “the wasteland” had been under attack – though that wasn’t that big of a deal to him; he expected it and hoped for it, in fact, because of the fact that other Cores had been destroyed.  If more were taken out, that would only increase these “enhancements” he was so enjoying.

But something else happened.  Suddenly there was an image of what appeared to be some sort of Elf riding a winged horse, holding a very interesting gem in her hand – which was touching the Core that was being attacked.  There were the normal ranting and rage-filled images of dismembering the Elf, but that was all interrupted with a chilling voice flowing through the communication, the first coherent and audible sound he had heard since the whole thing started.

“My name is Sandra, and I’m here to help—”

He instantly recognized the whiny voice in the communication, because it was something that he would never forget from his previous life.  He tried to listen for more from the communication link, but it seemed as though any connection with the Core had been severed.

Sandra?  I never did find out her name, but I will remember her voice for the rest of my life as a Dungeon Core.  It was the last one I ever heard, after all.  The overwhelming rage that seemed to characterize most Dungeon Cores started to invade his mind, and he wished to strike out immediately for wherever this “wasteland” was and destroy this Sandra.  How she was still alive after all these years was a mystery—

Or is it?  What if she got turned into a Core as well?  In the end, it didn’t really matter, because he would get his revenge for spoiling…whatever it was he was doing while he was still alive.  He remembered some sort of Holy and Nether Enchantment on a sword, but what exactly it was eluded him.  If he thought about it enough, he might remember, though.

Just like he remembered the very short list of things that mattered most to him: things like the voice of the woman that killed him and his own name – Dramien.  I’ll have to make sure and add the destruction of everything she holds dear to that list.

End of Book 5

Author’s Note

Thank you for reading Book 5 of my Dungeon Crafting series, The Crafter’s Dominion!

This book saw a lot of development, both in terms of the wider world and in Sandra’s dungeon.  With the application of many of the things she’d learned, she was able to see her way out of the darkness her mind was in – while potentially finding a solution for the problems plaguing not only her, but the 4 races of people around her.  While she only has one Dungeon Core Bonded to her at the moment, the dominion she is establishing will be amazing!

Or will it?

You’ll have to wait and see in the 6th and final book in the series, The Crafter’s Dynasty, which I’m hoping to have out in April or May!

Again, thank you for reading and I implore you to consider leaving a review – I love 4 and 5-star ones!  Reviews make it more likely that others will pick up a good book and read it!

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