They stared at each other for a moment, neither side giving into the other. Finally, Kelerim glanced at the swords in the warband leader’s hands. “You’re holding the proof of my claims right there, Razochek Bloodskull. Where do you think those steel swords came from? Right here, is where – from the dungeon that made them. We have plans to provide enough quality swords to arm every Orcish Warrior in Orcrim; not only that, but we can produce armor and other crafts as well, making our survival a much more likely outcome. And from there, we can help the other races fight against—”
“I see now. You’ve been sucked into this dungeon’s conspiracy to reach all the races, where it can kill all of us and take over. I don’t know how it’s managed to brainwash you, but I suspect it means to make slaves of all of us to do its bidding. Do you think it would just give us weapons out of the goodness of its own nature? I know dungeons, and a dungeon’s nature is to kill and get more powerful; this one also seems to have figured out how to lie to you and turn you against your own people!” Razochek shouted back.
Confusion and worry crossed Kelerim’s face, but Sandra was back in her head as something finally clicked. Bloodskull! That was the name her friend used for the warband leader, but why did it seem so familiar? It only took a few moments of contemplation, when she remembered it from the Dungeon Visitors List where Kelerim’s name was added.
Kelerim Bloodskull.
* Why does he share your same surname? *
The confusion replaced any sense of worry on Kelerim’s face. “Umm…what?”
“I said that you’ve been brain-washed—” the warband leader repeated, before being interrupted.
“I wasn’t talking to you; I was talking to—you know what? Never mind.”
* You both have Bloodskull as your surname. I can see it plain as day on my Visitors List, and it seems to know things that I wouldn’t have any clue about. *
“If you’re done talking to yourself, then get out of my way—”
Kelerim seemed to enjoy cutting the larger Orc off in their conversation. “Are you related to me? You’re entirely too young to be my father, so that must mean you’re my…what? Brother?”
The look of shock on Razochek’s face was all the confirmation that Sandra needed, and she could see that same shock soon reflected on Kelerim’s face. “…Why? Why did you do all this to me?”
The warband leader recovered from his shock quickly. “Because you never should’ve been born! You’re an abomination, and our father falling in love with a weak Dwarf woman goes against everything our family stands for. It’s only out of respect for him that I didn’t kill you as soon as I learned of your existence, but you don’t deserve to live in the same land as his greatness. At the first opportunity, I ensured that you were pushed back out to the wasteland where you came from – but without the stigma of fratricide stuck to me.”
Sandra was speechless, and so was Kelerim. To do that to your own brother was something she just couldn’t understand. She had always wished to have a sibling, but her mother died before it could happen; and now Razochek was talking about essentially sending his brother out to the wasteland to die – it was unfathomable to her. And all because of who his mother was.
“But now…I don’t think I care about any such stigmas. You’re in my way and intentionally keeping me from destroying this dangerous dungeon!” Razochek shouted, before he sprang forward, aiming directly for Kelerim.
The warband leader was intercepted by her Ironclad Apes, however, and he stopped to face them as they got in his way of his objective. Despite being wounded earlier, Razochek practically danced around the clumsy-looking swipes of her constructs, and the two Steel short swords in his hands – which looked like knives in proportion to him – flicked out with elemental energy-enhanced strength, which used the weapon’s superior material to cut through the joints of her Apes’ arms, knees, and necks. None of that actually destroyed her constructs, but a veteran of as many battles as he seemed to be learned quickly the vulnerabilities of his opponents.
The glowing energy source inside her Ironclad Apes were what animated their heavy metallic appendages, and Razochek quickly learned that if he struck that glowing light, it would stop them from moving, and they would collapse and dissolve soon thereafter. Her constructs fell one after another, and the ease at which he survived the brutal assault was astonishing.
Of course, it was still seven against the solitary warband leader, and he didn’t get through the fight unscathed. A blow to the side of his right knee that he couldn’t avoid practically crippled the joint, and his left forearm had crumpled under a joint attack by two of the Apes before their internal glowing energy source was stabbed. Down to only one hand that could hold a sword, and favoring one of his knees, he still managed to come up on top.
That was when Kelerim finally entered the fray, but his inexperience immediately showed. He had a long Steel sword with a better reach, so he should’ve had an advantage over the marginally crippled warband leader, but on his first strike he missed and over-extended, bringing him in range of Razochek’s shorter Steel sword.
Kelerim’s life was saved by the vambrace on his arm, which the Blacksmith raised by happenstance as he was falling forward from his over-extension. The strike he unknowingly blocked was so powerful, though, that it bent the Steel armor and sent Kelerim’s arm into his face and shoving him to the side and slightly backwards. Razochek took advantage of the situation and jumped off his good leg towards the stumbling Blacksmith, knocking him to the ground and landing on top of him.
Sandra held her figurative breath as the warband leader raised himself off Kelerim far enough to bring his Steel short sword up in preparation to strike. As he brought his hand down to end her friend’s life, her Steel Python shot out like a blur from across the room and wrapped itself around both Razochek’s neck and descending arm, preventing it from completing its fateful arc. Sandra could see the strain as the Orc strained to move his arm, and her Python started to stretch unnaturally (as much as a metal snake is natural) as he forced his hand downwards.
Kelerim wasn’t taking the threat to his life lying down – other than lying down underneath the larger warband leader, of course. He pulled out a simple Iron knife from the side of his belt, the first he had ever completed in his new forge inside the dungeon. It wasn’t as sharp or as balanced as the ones he had eventually learned to make, but it was sharp enough to punch through the armpit of the Orc holding him down and just long enough to pierce his brother’s right lung and heart.
Razochek’s eyes opened in surprise, and as he looked down at the knife sticking out of his armpit, blood started to froth out of his mouth. He coughed up more blood as he mumbled, “A coward’s weapon…I should’ve known…” before he slumped to the side, all strength leaving his body as his eyes closed in death.
Kelerim had tears in his own eyes as he struggled to push the heavy body of his hate-filled brother off of him and to the side. With the warband leader’s death, Sandra could feel the restrictions put in place by the invader’s presence disappear, though she didn’t do anything immediately. She was more concerned about her friend; he was still lying there on the floor with tears silently streaming down his face.
Sandra couldn’t even imagine how he felt. After learning who his father was – and that he had a brother – he had been forced to choose between family and…her. And it wasn’t only that difficult choice that he had to make, but he had to kill his new-found brother – which made everything even worse.
A portal opened up in the room above Kelerim and Winxa popped out unexpectedly. Sandra looked around her Home and noticed that the Dungeon Fairy had left her room unnoticed, only to appear looking down at the Blacksmith in contemplation.
“Ok…I think I trust him now.”
* * *
* Are you sure you have to leave? Are you coming back? *
Kelerim started to nod automatically, before he stopped himself as he considered it. Am I coming back? Do I want
to? Honestly, he didn’t know – and that was what he told Sandra.
“I don’t know, Sandra. All I know is that the last few days here since Razochek…died… haven’t been the same. I appreciate all that you’ve done for me, but I need to find my father. I need to tell him about…you know.” He didn’t like thinking about what he had been forced to do, but he knew that he would have to face the consequences of it when he finally met the Orc that sired him. Hearing from his brother that his father had actually been in love with his Dwarven mother was welcome news, as it was likely that the head of the powerful Bloodskull family wasn’t as prejudiced against other races as most everyone else was.
He tried to go on like nothing had happened, but the urge to go back to Orcrim was too strong. True to her word, Sandra wasn’t going to keep him in the dungeon, and she even went out of her way to provide as many supplies as she could for his journey. He now had as much gold and silver coins as he could carry – which were copied by Sandra from the few examples the Orcs had in their pockets – so he wasn’t worried about buying what he needed along the way. He’d never actually handled any money before, as growing up he had had to rely on handouts and working odd jobs for a place to stay and something to eat.
He had also explained to Sandra his original thoughts about just staying in the dungeon and helping her craft and supply all sorts of weapons and armor for the people of Orcrim, as she deserved to know why he had acted the way he had at the village. However, it wasn’t long before he realized that he didn’t want to stay anymore, at least not at the moment; which was one of the reasons he was leaving. He would like to come back to learn some more, but he had other things on his mind now.
* I…understand. Getting to know your father is important; I know I wouldn’t be the woman – or Dungeon Core – I am today without the love and support of my own, so I respect your choice. Just know that you are always welcome here, and I hope you at least come back to visit! There is still a lot that I can teach you, but I think you’ll do well when you start your own smithy. Maybe we can still do that supplying the Orcish race with weapons and armor thing from here, but you’ll have to set that up for me. As you know, I’m kind of stuck here and my constructs aren’t the most talkative. *
She had a point; he still wanted to help her out with saving the Orcish race, and she couldn’t do it on her own. He only had a singular contact in the village of Grongbak, however, and there was no way he was going back there right now because Razochek’s old warband were probably still there. They had come to investigate his disappearance when he didn’t arrive and found the skins and quickly rotting meat left outside, but they hadn’t found the entrance to the dungeon – thankfully. Kelerim didn’t want any more deaths on his conscience as it was.
“I’ll do what I can, Sandra. I want to thank you again for everything you’ve done for me, and not just for saving my life. This was the first time I ever felt like I fit in somewhere and had my work valued at the same time. I appreciate the time you took to teach me, and…maybe someday I’ll be back to learn some more from you,” he told the empty air near the dungeon entrance tunnel.
* I’ll look forward to that day. Goodbye, Kelerim. *
He waved to the air and said, “Goodbye, Sandra.” Kelerim hitched the leather pack higher on his back, the sheer weight of everything inside weighing him down a little. He didn’t mind, though, because he needed everything in there if he was going to succeed in his quest to find his father.
And with a final look back into the dungeon that changed his life, he set off to make his way in the world.
* * *
Sandra watched as Kelerim walked out the entrance, where she lost him until he showed up in her Mechanical Jaguar’s sight up above. She saw him travel back towards Orcrim, and his step was surprisingly sprightly for someone heading into a relatively unknown situation. After only about 20 minutes, his figure was lost to the horizon as the heat from the day blurred his shape.
“It’s a shame that he left; he was just starting to grow on me. What are you going to do now?” Winxa hesitantly asked after Sandra told her Kelerim was gone.
I’m sure I’ll see him again. In the meantime, though, I have some projects to see to – saving the world takes work, you know!
The Dungeon Fairy smiled, the expression on her face plainly one of relief.
End of Book 1
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading The Crafter’s Dungeon!
I wrote this book because I love to read about two things: dungeon cores and crafting. Most books about dungeon cores have a bit of crafting in them, of course, even if it’s just the core creating rooms in their dungeon or putting together traps and monsters – but I wanted more than that. I enjoy digging deeper into the normal “player” or “hero” crafting process, and I’m fascinated on how many things can be made with just basic materials.
In the future, Sandra will be crafting some unique things as well, including when she finally achieves Core Size 20 and can access the Advancement system – and then all bets are off!
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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Books by Jonathan Brooks
Glendaria Awakens Trilogy
Dungeon Player
Dungeon Crisis
Dungeon Guild
Glendaria Awakens Trilogy Compilation w/bonus material
Uniworld Online Trilogy
The Song Maiden
The Song Mistress
The Song Matron
Uniworld Online Trilogy Compilation
Station Cores Series
The Station Core
The Quizard Mountains
The Guardian Guild
The Kingdom Rises
Spirit Cores Series
Core of Fear
Dungeon World Series
Dungeon World
Dungeon World 2
Dungeon Crafting
The Crafter’s Dungeon
The Crafter's Dungeon: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 1) Page 31