The Crafter's Dungeon: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 1)

by Jonathan Brooks

  Sandra supposed that made sense, and it wasn’t like she had anything better to do. Everyone she knew had been dead for more than two centuries at least, and even if they weren’t, they were reportedly halfway across the world. She didn’t remember hearing much about the lands of the Orcs or Gnomes, so she supposed they were so far away that it was possible that they didn’t know much about Humans. So, what do I do first?

  Winxa scratched her head and thought about it. “Well…I guess the best thing to do is to see if you can access your Core Selection Menu. Despite not having the infused knowledge, you’re still a Dungeon Core, so it should work the same way. Uh…maybe think ‘Core Selection Menu’ and hopefully it’ll come up.”

  Warning!

  You have not selected your base Dungeon Classification yet! Only after choosing your base Dungeon Classification will you be able to proceed to your Core Selection Menu.

  Choose a base Dungeon Classification? Yes/No

  Caution: While you are not permanently locked into a base Dungeon Classification, changing it in the future will mean any progress towards or achieved advanced Classifications are eliminated. In addition, all accumulated Core Mana – as well as any non-permanent objects containing Mana or is fueled by it – will be sacrificed to fuel the change.

  Suddenly, a semi-transparent red screen popped up and displayed in front of every single viewpoint Sandra possessed. She could still see vaguely through it to the cave and Winxa beyond, but it was quite distracting. After reading it, she directed her thoughts toward the Dungeon Fairy. It says I have to select a “Dungeon Classification” first and is asking if I would like to choose one.

  “You don’t have a—of course not. Ok, that should hopefully be easy, as even an insane mind can make that kind of decision. From what I understand, when you select your Classification, your options are limited to what elements you were able to see and/or access while you were alive. It doesn’t even matter if you know what they were or not, as the Dungeon Core system knows what they are automatically. Go ahead and think Yes, and it will hopefully bring you to a screen where you can choose from two or possibly three choices.”

  Class Selection (Base)

  Air Elemental (Air)

  Avian (Air)

  Dragonlings (Air/Fire)

  Earth Elemental (Earth)

  Golems (Earth)

  Giants (Earth/Fire)

  Fire Elemental (Fire)

  Beasts (Fire)

  Bipedal (Fire/Natural)

  Water Elemental (Water)

  Reptiles (Water)

  Leviathan (Water/Earth)

  Holy Elemental (Holy)

  Unicorns (Holy)

  Phoenix (Holy/Fire)

  Nether Elemental (Nether)

  Undead (Nether)

  Corrupted (Nether/Natural)

  Natural Elemental (Natural)

  Fungal (Natural)

  Slimes (Natural/Water)

  Spirit Elemental (Spirit)

  Fey (Spirit)

  Goblinoids (Spirit/Fire)

  Prismatic Elemental (All)

  Constructs (All)

  Primordial (All)

  Just like before, a screen appeared in her vision, but instead of an angry red color, the screen was a pleasant blue. And unlike what her Dungeon Fairy had said, she had more than just two or three choices. She could see all of the different elements she knew of and had learned about during her studies of enchanting; she figured her expanded choice list had something to do with her ability to see every different elemental energy, even if she had none accessible to herself.

  Looking down the list, there were a few that she knew right off that she didn’t want, like any of the ones that involved primarily Nether or even Holy elemental energy – the fact that those two elements were involved in her demise probably had something to do with that. Other than those, though, the rest were possibilities that she needed to consider.

  Uh…what do I do if there are too many choices?

  “What do you mean? Were you lucky enough in your past life to be able to manipulate more than one? I thought you were just a merchant.”

  I was just merchant, but I liked to learn all I could about crafting – which included enchanting. I wasn’t able to access or manipulate any element even in the slightest, however. Despite that, I was able to at least see them all.

  “What are you talking about? No one can see them all – the Creator specifically designed every sentient to only have a limited…number of…” Winxa trailed off as she cocked her head to the side again, like she just had a thought. “The Creator did this. I don’t know what the plan is quite yet, but all the pieces are starting to come together.”

  What do you mean?

  Winxa ticked off the items on her fingers as she talked. “For one, you obviously aren’t the typical candidate for a Dungeon Core. Two, you aren’t constrained by a contract. Three, you were born with the ability to access all of the elements, but not actually use them. Four, the placement of your dungeon here is unusual and doesn’t really serve any obvious purpose. Five, the timing of your appearance is impeccable – I thought it was just coincidence that I was next in line to be assigned to a Core, but now I’m not so sure.”

  Sandra could see the Dungeon Fairy’s reasoning, but like Winxa, she couldn’t see what the main purpose behind her being stuck into a dungeon core. Why was your being next in line important?

  Her question snapped the Fairy out of whatever she was contemplating. Her expression went from curious to serious in an instant. “Because I’m the only Dungeon Fairy that has taught a Dungeon Core that had access to more than three elements. Only once in our history has a Core had access to all of the basic elements of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water – and it almost destroyed an entire race.”

  Chapter 6

  With that ominous announcement, Sandra felt a little worried. What…happened?

  “I don’t really like to talk about it. It took me decades to get over the guilt of being instrumental in the deaths of countless sentients – far, far more than a normal dungeon should ever have the ability to accomplish. Suffice it to say, it was only through the temporary intervention of the Elves, Orcs, and Dwarves that the Gnomish race was saved from extinction. Fortunately, it was early on in the Creator’s Dungeon Core experience, and there hasn’t been any more like that.”

  Is that what’s going to happen to me? I don’t want to destroy a race – in fact, I don’t want to hurt anything! Maybe sending me back to that plane of oblivion would be better for everyone…

  “No, there’s no going back to that place for you. The transition to a Dungeon Core is a one-way journey for your existence; if your Core is destroyed, your soul will be lost. I think your best chance of surviving is to lay low and take it easy – which should be fairly easy as I doubt there is a sentient within a day’s journey or more. I’ll have to see if I can investigate a little, since I haven’t seen this area in about half a millennia, but it can’t have changed that much.

  “For now, though, you still need to make a choice of what kind of dungeon you’d like to be. I’m forbidden for giving specific advice on what choices you should make; the sole purpose of a Dungeon Fairy is to teach and not necessarily to advise. So, unfortunately, you’ll have to make the decision on your own,” Winxa said regretfully. The Fairy hesitated a moment before adding, “But I can tell you this, at least: if you are serious about not wanting to hurt anything – which flies in opposition to some of the constraints a contract would impose – then think about what you want to do instead.”

  What I want to do instead? I…have no idea. All of Sandra’s previous life had been consumed with either traveling the land with her father, selling merchandise to everyone who had coin, or her own hobby of learning about crafting. None of which seemed like something she could do now, though she was still so new at this Dungeon Core thing that she wasn’t so sure of that.

  She looked over the list of available Classifications again and started crossing things off t
hat didn’t interest her. Beasts, Dragonlings, Reptiles, Giants, Golems, Leviathan, and even Avian monsters sounded like they were more suited for killing and destruction than she wanted. And since she already knew she didn’t want anything to do with Nether and Holy elemental energy, there were only a few choices that she really considered.

  In the Natural realm of choices, she liked the idea of slimes or some sort of fungal monsters, but in the end, they didn’t sound very exciting. If the area she was in was indeed not overly populated, then she couldn’t imagine staring at a mushroom or a blob of slime for the next few years or centuries. There was nothing wrong with them, but they just weren’t for her.

  Bipedal and Goblinoids were another choice, as they were at least similar in shape to a human, but she wasn’t exactly sure how similar they were. Fortunately, when Sandra concentrated on both options, she was able to get a better understanding of them.

  Bipedal

  (Fire/Natural)

  The Bipedal Dungeon Classification includes access to monsters including, but not limited to: Gnolls, Kobolds, Ogres, and Trolls

  Goblinoids

  (Spirit/Fire)

  The Goblinoid Dungeon Classification includes access to monsters including, but not limited to: Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Bugbears

  As much as those seemed interesting, Sandra…didn’t like them. In fact, even though they were humanoid in shape at least, their monstrous appearance led her to dismiss them as a possibility. Which left the options that were most likely unique to her, since she had access to every element.

  Constructs

  (All)

  The Constructs Dungeon Classification includes access to monsters including, but not limited to: Clockworks, Animated Objects, and Automatons

  Primordial

  (All)

  The Primordial Dungeon Classification includes access to monsters including, but not limited to: Prismatic Beasts, Shifters

  Now, these were much more interesting. While she wasn’t sure she cared about the Beasts that the Prismatic Classification had available, the Shifter option was intriguing. Sandra was tempted to choose that one just to try it out, but it didn’t quite call to her like the other one did.

  The Construct Classification seemed much more suited to her personality. While not “crafted” in the traditional sense, they seemed more like inventions and designs than actual “monsters” – which is exactly why it appealed to her.

  With just the barest hesitation, Sandra selected Constructs for her Classification and felt a sort of wrenching inside her mind. Fortunately, it wasn’t painful and didn’t last long, but as soon as whatever it was finished, she felt different than before. Not bad, necessarily – just… “whole” would probably be the most accurate word.

  “So, what did you choose?”

  Sandra told Winxa what she had selected, and the Dungeon Fairy looked confused. “Constructs? I’ve never heard of them before – but I’m excited to see what you can do.”

  Same here.

  “Ok, now getting back to where we were before, try to bring your Core Selection Menu up and then we can get to work.”

  Sandra did as she was told and attempted to bring it up again – and it wasn’t blocked by an angry red warning box this time.

  Core Selection Menu

  Dungeon Classification:

  Constructs

  Core Size:

  1

  Available Mana:

  4/10

  Ambient Mana Absorption:

  .01/hour

  Available Raw Material (RM):

  75/100

  Convert Raw Material to Mana?

  75 RM -- > 3 Mana

  Ok, I got it up.

  “Now, you should be able to convert what you had absorbed from the wall to Mana; if you remember, I told you that your core automatically converted your previous ‘meal’ to Mana when you were completely full, so you should already have a little bit in reserve. Go ahead and convert the rest of what you have and while it’s doing that, I’ll explain the next part.”

  Sandra selected the option to convert her Raw Material into Mana – which didn’t seem like a great conversion rate when she was able to look at it closer – and she felt herself dim like she had before. What the…?

  “Don’t be alarmed – while your Core is converting what you ‘ate’, the process takes most of its attention and you’ll not be able to do anything else. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about being attacked right now – as you’re practically invisible to the outside world – but keep that information in mind later on when you’re more vulnerable. There’s a reason why almost all dungeons rely on their monsters to accumulate Ambient Mana as opposed to ‘eating’ it from their nearby surroundings – the transfer of Mana from your creatures is nearly instantaneous and you can do other things while it’s happening.”

  Sandra thought that made sense; if Cores were vulnerable every time that they tried to acquire more Mana, then they probably wouldn’t last that long.

  “Like I said, we’ll use this time to teach you about your monsters, how they’re created, and about your monster seeds,” Winxa continued her lesson.

  Monster “seeds”? It sounds like I should know it, but I’ve never heard that term before.

  “You probably wouldn’t, as it’s a term that’s only really used if you’re in the business of Dungeons like I am. You might know it better as ‘dungeon loot’ – the various objects left behind after a dungeon monster is killed.”

  Now that was a term she’d heard before! In fact, “dungeon loot” was a big business throughout the land of Muriel; depending upon what it was, the loot that Heroes brought back from even one of their expeditions could feed a small village for a year or more. And that was just some of the less-sought-after loot.

  The reason for that was that the material acquired from the culled monsters was pure – through and through. A chunk of “dungeon loot” iron the size of her fist was stronger, denser, and easier to craft with than another chunk pulled out of the ground – by exponential degrees. Loot brought back from Heroes produced higher-quality products, held enchantments better, and were much more durable than their “natural” counterparts. For instance, that same “dungeon loot” chunk of iron could be forged into a simple knife that could take much more abuse before breaking and would keep an edge ten times longer than its “natural” cousin – and would enhance any enchantments placed upon it five-fold.

  Yes, Sandra knew dungeon loot material very well; if her father wasn’t buying and selling the raw material, he was dealing with weapons and armor made from the valuable resource. And it wasn’t just different types of metal that could be found from killing dungeon monsters; special woods, plants, gems, hides, and any number of other items used in crafting could be found. The loot gathered from the culling or “farming” dungeons and the monsters surrounding them was one of the reasons that members of the Order of Heroes were so important. They not only supplied many of the crafting professions with valuable material, but they held back the dungeons who constantly encroached on nearby towns and villages.

  That didn’t mean that a dungeon was immune from destruction just because they had some valuable loot, however. Although the Order did their best to keep up with the constant need to cull the nearby dungeon monsters, there always seemed to be more than they could handle; as a result, elite teams of Heroes were sent out to destroy dungeons that caused the most problems or were encroaching on nearby settlements. It made sense in the long run to protect the lives of normal citizens, but sometimes the shortage of material from a certain dungeon could put a pinch on the local economy.

  Years of buying, selling, and bartering throughout the land of Muriel had taught Sandra all that and more, which made her interested to see what how the “dungeon loot” or monster “seeds” system worked.

  Winxa pulled out from a pouch at her side a spherical object that she held in the palm of her hand. When Sandra got a good look at it, she was slightly disappointe
d because it wasn’t quite what she had hoped for. Oh, well – have to start somewhere, I guess.

  “That’s right, this is what you have to start with. I can see those thoughts flickering through that Core of yours, and as much as you’d like to have something more impressive like steel or mithril or emerald oak, the mana requirements for creating even your smallest monster using a ‘seed’ like that is astronomical. As your Core grows larger and your Mana Capacity increases, you’ll be able to move on from this tiny copper orb.”

  The Dungeon Fairy placed the small copper bead on the floor of Sandra’s cave and walked back from it. Winxa rubbed her hands together in anticipation. “Alright, let’s do this!” she said excitedly. Then she looked at the Dungeon Core and frowned, before saying, “Well…as soon as you’re done.”

  Sandra could sense that the Raw Material was almost finished converting, and she was almost as eager to get started as the Dungeon Fairy. After another minute, she felt the last of it convert and her natural glow brightened the cave once again.

  Let’s do this!

  Chapter 7

  Making a dungeon monster was easier said than done, especially with Winxa trying to explain how to do something that should’ve been second nature to a Core, but they managed somehow.

  “Ok, now pull up your Core Selection Menu again and…look for something that says Monster Creation? Or Dungeon Monster Selection? Something like that.”