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

the shards helped to fulfill the Mana requirements for her next Upgrade Stage, they were also used to significantly speed up the entire Upgrading process; quite a boon, of course, but doing so had some unforeseen consequences.  The insanity that permeated the Core shards she absorbed was somehow transferring vestiges of that mental state to Sandra, though at a much-reduced level.  During one of her subsequent Upgrades, her normal dislike and fear of the helplessness during the Upgrade was amplified, causing her to temporarily lose control of her actions after the process was complete.

From then on, Sandra had to be careful not to react too strongly to her newly raw emotions, using crafting in different forms to help stabilize her mental state.  This resulted in creating new enchantments, constructing a brewery and distillery for the Dwarves, and even developing glass and glasswork.  Winxa was also there to help monitor the crafty Dungeon Core, helpfully suggesting ways for her to keep her sanity for as long as possible.

Unfortunately, the equilibrium she had achieved with her inner mind was shattered when Wyrlin, an Elven Ranger who had spurned Echo after her experiences in Sandra’s dungeon, arrived at her dungeon – along with dozens of other Elves, a handful of Elites…and over 3,000 Orc Warriors, including Kelerim’s father.  They were there to put an end to Sandra and the threat they thought she represented, and when one of her Orcish mercenaries was killed trying to get Rothgar Bloodskull – Kelerim’s Warlord father – to see reason, the unstable Dungeon Core lost most of the stability she had been holding onto.

Her own forces participated in the slaughter of the massive army of Orcish Warriors outside of her dungeon, alongside the Monsters from the surrounding Cores – which she then turned on and destroyed.  At the same time, her large, excavated tunnel was invaded by a much smaller party of Orcs and Elven Elites; as they progressed through her dungeon, they were whittled down through the use of traps and unique applications of her Dungeon Monsters, until there were only a handful left when they arrived at her Boss Room.

Nearly all of the invaders were killed, including Wyrlin and the rest of the Elite Elves, and only Kelerim’s Warlord father was left alive as a significant threat.  Through the use of multiple Mobile Fortifications, Aerie Rocs, and a wave of Shears brought in from outside of her dungeon, Sandra was able to defeat the powerful Warlord, ending the immediate threat arrayed against her dungeon.

But not everything was a success.  Firstly, Sandra had lost most of the control over her mental faculties, even refusing to listen to her assistant, Winxa.  She had enough awareness over her dominion to prevent her from slaughtering all of the people inside her Area of Influence – including the nearby Elven village, the Orcish Mercenaries contracted to assist with the defenses, and the Dwarves operating in and out of her dungeon – but as far as she was concerned, anyone else was fair game.

Secondly, the battle against the invading Orcs outside of her dungeon was not only beneficial Mana-wise to her, but to the other nearby Dungeon Cores.  They were already striving to reach her Core, and the additional Mana could potentially provide her foes with the push they needed to finish the job.

Lastly, there was no sign of her friends – Violet, Felbar, Echo, and Gerold – who Winxa desperately hoped would arrive to bring Sandra back to normalcy.

Any one of these factors could spell disaster for the crafty Dungeon Core, but all of them together could doom the entire world….

Chapter 1

“Sandra?  What should we do?”

Winxa stared down at Delarthe, the leader of the Dwarven Shieldmen once Gerold had left for their mountain Kingdom, as he paced the floor of Sandra’s Home room.  Next to him was Chryla, the Elven Ranger that had been the Dungeon Core’s contact with the nearby Elven village and the defenders within.  Both of them, as well as the handful of other people in the room, appeared understandably worried.

As they should.

Winxa was essentially invisible to anyone that she didn’t wish to see her, so she wasn’t really worried about the small group of Dwarven Shieldmen, Elven Rangers, and Orcish Mercenaries staring up at Sandra’s non-responsive Dungeon Core spotting her hovering above.  For everything that the former merchant had done after becoming a Core, this right here went to show how special she was.  In far less than a year, she had managed to cobble together representatives from the nearby races, the Gnomes notwithstanding, to work together towards a common goal.

Granted, she had basically “purchased” volunteers via an exchange of weapons and armor from the Orcs to use as mercenaries as she saw fit, the Elves were relying on the miraculous Energy Orbs that Sandra had created to fight back against the nearby dungeons, and the Dwarves had lost their village as a result of what the Core had done and had no other place to stay – but that didn’t diminish the current circumstances.  She had brought them together to fight against common enemies, and only through her interactions with them had they come to that point.

Unfortunately, Sandra’s mental state had slipped more and more towards insanity.  The absorption of the broken shards of the nearby Dungeon Cores had likely transferred some of their former madness to her in the process, and when Kelerim’s father – along with a contingent of Elven Elites and Rangers, including Wyrlin – had attacked her dungeon and killed one of her Orcish mercenaries, she had effectively lost most of the control she had over her actions.  Fortunately, it was only most – but not all.

“She’s not answering,” Chryla said, to the nods of everyone else.

It wasn’t just the people in the room Sandra wasn’t answering, however, because Winxa was left to herself as well.  In fact, the only reactions from the Core