The Crafter's Darkness: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 4) by Jonathan Brooks (ebook reader with android os TXT) 📗

Core upgraded her Classification and acquired an Unstable Shapeshifter in an attempt to find something that could craft better than her Constructs – as well as being able to communicate with the Elves.  While the Shapeshifter could finally manipulate elemental energy for use in enchantments, she still wasn’t able to verbally communicate.

Unfortunately, the Reptile-based Dungeon Core that had destroyed Glimmerton had its sights set on the Elven village Avensglen. With no way to communicate with the elves, she couldn’t warn them of the approaching Reptile army, so Sandra decided to destroy the attacking Core herself.  She ended up sending just under half of her Constructs to assault the foreign dungeon and managed to keep enough of them alive to make it all the way through it, destroying the Core in charge – but that didn’t end the threat.  The reptile army was following its last directive, which was to kill everyone in the Elven village; there might’ve been a group strong enough to repel them, but the Elite Elves had arrived and were in the process of assaulting Sandra’s dungeon.

Using a special technique to negate the traps inside her defensive dungeon rooms, making them practically useless, the Elite Elves tore through her Constructs with ease.  It was only towards the last of her rooms that they started to run out of elemental energy; before they could be killed by one of Sandra’s Iron-plated Behemoths in the last room, Violet stopped them.  Offering them a compromise, as well as a newly crafted Energy Orb that gradually restored their elemental energy, the Elite Elves had their lives spared and were sent away to defend the village – on the condition that they would help in a future endeavor regarding cooperation with the other races.

Felbar and Echo finally woke up from their forced comas from the Visitor’s Bonding with Sandra, only to find that their world had changed from what they remembered.  Not only were they inside of a dungeon, but they had the voice of that dungeon inside of their heads; luckily, Felbar had Violet to help with the adjustment, while the young Elf only had Sandra’s assurances that she wasn’t a prisoner and that she was safe.

Unlike the two Gnomes – whose village was destroyed – Echo was able to go back to her own people, bringing Energy Orbs with her to be distributed to those amongst her people who needed it.  Unfortunately, she was now treated as a bit of an outsider to some or as a way to increase their own power through Echo’s association with the powerful dungeon. Not only that, but one Elf Ranger in particular, Wyrlin, was so incensed at her “slavery” to the dungeon, that he left the village altogether; it was later rumored that he was gathering like-minded individuals to his cause of seeing to an end of Sandra’s corruptive influence.

In order to get Felbar and Violet back to their own lands, the Dungeon Core and the two Gnomes worked together to create a massive War Machine, an enchanted Gnome construct made from wood and metal.  In order to do that, however, Sandra had to make use of a special enchantment rune called a Limiter, which helped to regulate energy flow.  Discovery of how to use it effectively with Energy Orbs – and later, Energy Cubes (a larger variety) – was difficult, but not impossible, and it was quickly used to ensure years of power to the Rune Repository Pillars in her Enchantment Repository, as well as a power source for the large Gnomish construct.  The Limiter rune was also able to be used to create enchantments that could be used on weaponry, enhancing the power and force behind them, making them especially deadly.

All of those improvements were necessary – because the world didn’t stop while Sandra was having fun crafting.  Without the Gnome village working to cull the Undead-based dungeon nearby, the Nether Core quickly expanded without opposition.  By the time Sandra discovered its expansion, it was too late to contain it; her first serious battle against the Undead ended in failure, and any hope that she could pick up the duties of culling them like the Gnomes had been doing was dashed.

Especially as the Nether Core expanded enough to attack Sandra’s dungeon.

The resulting assault by a horde of Undead wasn’t so much of an attack as an attempt to keep Sandra’s own Dungeon Monsters bottled up in her dungeon so they couldn’t interfere with the Nether Core’s plans.  To counter this, Sandra utilized her Gravitational Devastation Sphere, which caused an incredible amount of damage and completely destroyed every undead sent against her.  It was uncontrollable and highly dangerous, however, which was proven when a curious Dwarf Shieldman from the local Dwarven village of Nurboldar came to investigate at the wrong time – and almost got sucked up into the Sphere’s gravitational pull.

After healing him, Gerold became the latest Visitor to Sandra’s dungeon, but the Bond he obtained was a little different; by using Energy Orbs instead of just Elemental Orbs for the Bond, the Energy Orbs were absorbed into the Dwarf’s palms, where they would continuously regenerate his Water and Nether energy – for as long as he was inside of Sandra’s Area of Influence.

The Undead weren’t done there, as they soon expanded enough to attack the Dwarven village in the middle of the night.  Through the timely intervention of Felbar in his larger War Machine and Gerold in a smaller, Deep Diver construct, they were able to save all of the villagers – though all but 10 of the Shieldmen were killed, including their powerful leader, Bregan.  With their homes no longer safe, they retreated towards Sandra’s dungeon, only finding out after they arrived and acquired a Visitor’s Bond that they were actually inside a dungeon.

Kelerim showed up shortly afterwards, fleeing for his life from an army of Orcs sent by his father.  Sandra managed to bring him