* When I say it’s selfish of me, I mean that in a couple of ways. Ultimately, as you’ve likely seen and heard me talk about, I love to craft; however, being invaded by the different people around here puts a severe damper on that. The Orcs invaded me first, followed by the Elves; it’s only a matter of time before the Dwarves inadvertently learn of my existence and try to destroy me as well. And while your people— *
Sandra said, directly addressing Echo—
* Have agreed to not attack me and hopefully even work with me, the Orcs are likely to attack me if they discover my presence here again and send an even larger force. So, if only for my love of having some peace and quiet to do my crafting, I want to work with the races in their defense against the dungeons. *
“Wouldn’t it just be easier to…well…let the other dungeons kill us all off?” Felbar asked unexpectedly. “Then you wouldn’t have to worry about anyone bothering you.”
It would be like the battle-tested Gnome to point out the easy way to victory. However, Felbar was missing some information that made his question something that she wouldn’t even consider.
* While that is true, at least in principle, I wouldn’t let that happen if I could help it. While I wasn’t a Gnome, or an Elf, or an Orc, or a Dwarf…I was, at one time, Human; it goes against that part of my nature to allow the complete destruction of a nearby race when there is something I can do about it. And more importantly, while it might help me temporarily – if I were to let that happen – it wouldn’t help me in the long run.
* Why? Well, imagine for a moment if the four races around here were wiped out; the resulting dungeons afterwards would probably be extremely powerful and able to extend their reach even farther out. Eventually they would consume every other race in the world, until there was nothing else to destroy…except for me. *
Sandra explained the concept of Dungeon Core contracts and what she knew of the purpose behind dungeons in the first place – to challenge the people of the world and keep their focus internal, rather than wanting to expand and fight nearby races for land. The contract that would normally prevent the other Cores from attacking her wasn’t something that she possessed, so in order to expand into the area her dungeon was located – which was a major driving factor of every contracted Core, apparently – they would have to destroy her.
* And as much as it seems crazy to think so, I believe I was put here by the Creator for this singular purpose: to save you all from extinction. The Creator created you and didn’t want any of you to be destroyed and wiped out, which is what will eventually happen if I don’t intervene before it’s too late. *
They were all silent for a moment, before Echo said, “You sure do think highly of yourself, don’t you?” And then she smiled, before continuing. “Look, I can see exactly what you’re talking about, at least in Symenora; if there is a person in my land that doesn’t think that we’re on the decline, then they’re deluding themselves. It will perhaps be decades or more before it’s really felt, but the end of our people is inevitable without any type of outside help. If what you say is true about the others, then we’re all doomed.
“I’m not going to say that you’re our savior, but even with access to something like this—” she continued, holding up her Air Energy Orb— “it would greatly delay that inevitability. However, I severely doubt that is going to be enough to save us in the end, but I’m willing to go along with whatever you have planned if it means that my people will survive longer. If it requires being a slave, then so be it.”
* For the last time, you’re not a slave. I told you that you’re free to go at any time, but I would love your help in dealing with your people; I have no way to communicate with anyone I haven’t bonded with, so I need a liaison between the Elves and myself.
* But you’re also correct in one thing that you said; these Energy Orbs, even if they provided infinite energy, aren’t enough to turn the tide. For the Gnomes, it might mean they could make more enchantments, but there are only so many of them that can operate their War Machines, and the production of those same constructs are at a standstill because many of their strongest Enchanters are no longer available.
* The Orcs, for their part, are running out of decent weaponry and armor; I had a friend named Kelerim here before you all arrived that is going to do what he can to change that, but he’s just one person. Added to that, they have very little in the way of resources in which to arm their Warbands, so they are gradually being beaten back by the Dungeon Monsters because of their inferior armaments.
* I still have to find out exactly what the issue is with the Dwarves, but from my own observations and from what I’ve been told, they have almost entirely retreated within their mountain stronghold, allowing the dungeons to expand and hold sway over most of their land aboveground. Given enough time, they’ll either be starved out or the Cores will find some way to tunnel underground, breaking into their strongholds – and there’ll be no end of difficulties they’ll face if that happens. *
“So…what are you saying?” Echo asked.
* What I’m trying to say is that everyone has to work together to solve these problems; staying separated into different areas just doesn’t work for everyone here. It might work for some of the other races of the world, like Humans and even the Beastkin, but it clearly doesn’t work here. You’re all too specialized to create a lasting, cohesive defense, and it’s time we changed that. *
“What you’re proposing won’t sit well with our leaders, not to mention the majority of the population – even if it makes sense,” Felbar said, surprising Sandra with his comment. “There is a deep distrust, if not hatred, of the other races that is instilled in us as a people; I can’t speak for any of the others, of course, but I have a feeling they’re very similar. Those of us on the border with the wastelands are probably a little more open-minded than the others because we’re technically closer to the other races, even if we see them very rarely, but even that only goes so far.”
Sandra had definitely seen that, especially when the Gnomes and Echo had first met down in the kitchen and dining area she had created. If that was true – and thinking about Kelerim and how he was treated made her think it was – then she was going to have a hard fight ahead of her. Years of negative thinking towards a people couldn’t be overcome overnight, if it could ever be overcome at all; it was especially hard when there wasn’t any overt threat at their figurative throats. Sure, they would eventually all succumb to the ever-increasing assault of Dungeon Monsters, but for the most part there was no immediate danger.
Regardless of that difficulty, Sandra had to do something…she might just have to stick to her strategy of being the middleman – or middlewoman – a lot longer than she planned.
* That’s understandable – however, I have to try. And the first step is getting more of these Energy Orbs made and distributed to the Elves, since they are the only ones close to us that won’t kill us on sight. After that, we need to somehow get some to the Gnomes, Orcs, and the Dwarves – if we can somehow contact them without starting another invasion of my dungeon. If that is successful – and I’m hoping it will be – then we can move on to something else that will help, and from there something else, and then something else. Eventually, my hope is to give each of the races something that they are lacking, and better equipping them with the tools they need to survive extinction; ultimately, though, I believe cooperation will be the key to continued prosperity. I’m not aiming to be the linchpin that keeps them all alive, because if for some reason I’m not here, then all I’ve done is delay – like you said, Echo – the inevitable. *
Everyone was silent for a while, thinking over what Sandra had said. It was asking a lot for them to take the burden of their people’s survival on their shoulders, but things had to start somewhere. Progress was already being made with the Elves, but there was a long way to go to get to the point where survival wasn’t just a possibility but a certainty.
“So…what’s the plan
?” Violet finally asked.
* Well, there’s a lot that has to get set up for this to work, but for the moment I need your expertise in Enchanting; as for you, Echo, I’m sure that you’re eager to get back to your village to show them that you’re still alive. But first, the two of you who just woke up after a 2-week coma need some rest before you pass out where you’re standing. *
While Felbar looked tired, Echo looked practically asleep on her feet after her run and expenditure of energy. It seemed that although the Energy Orb refilled her elemental energy, it did nothing for her physical energy. Rather than object, they both nodded in acceptance, and Sandra directed them back to their rooms to get some much-needed sleep. Violet joined Felbar as well, because she had been up for a while waiting for the older Gnome to wake up; when they were all down for the night—day, actually—Sandra was alone with her thoughts…so she began to plan.
Chapter 3
The only thing that Sandra needed – if she was going to keep supplying Energy Orbs – was one important resource: Mana. While an influx of ambient Mana was still happening inside her dungeon, her Airborne Mana Absorption Net of Shears (AMANS) was looking a little thin at that point.
Only a few days ago, Sandra had sent over 5,000 flying Animated Shears to their destruction in the Reptile-based dungeon that was bent on attacking the Elven village. They certainly served their purpose in there, but not a single construct she had sent to assault the other Core had managed to survive – including the Shears, which had reduced her AMANS by half. Directly afterwards, she had definitely felt the reduction in Mana absorption; at that point she was only getting approximately 250,000 per day from everything, and the increased cost of replacing the constructs that had been destroyed by the Elites had taken most of that since then.
Even then, she wasn’t able to replace the constructs in each room with what they were previously; ever since she had advanced her Classification to the next Level, all of her constructs had increased in Mana Cost as well. Now, instead of Steel Pythons and Ironclad Apes, she was having to make do with alternatives like Martial Totems, Roaring Blademasters, and even some Large Armored Sentinels – and less of each, because of their cost. While they were all stronger or larger than their predecessors – and likely much deadlier – the higher production expense meant she couldn’t quite fill up each room as much as she wanted.
Over time, she was planning on increasing them bit by bit, especially seeing how relatively ineffective the ones she had defending her dungeon had been against the Elite Elves; she couldn’t help but think that if she had more of these improved constructs at her disposal, even the negation of her traps would still be balanced out by the deadlier abilities of her new Dungeon Monsters. Those advanced Constructs were going to be important, because anything “stronger” than her Multi-access Repair Drone – which she was still curious about, since she hadn’t had the Mana to create one yet – was unavailable with her current Maximum Mana.
Core Selection Menu
Dungeon Classification:
Constructs (Adv. Level 1)
Core Size:
20
Available Mana:
6215/19558
Ambient Mana Absorption:
10/hour
Available Raw Material (RM):
14550/49930
Convert Raw Material to Mana?
14550 RM -- > 582 Mana
Current Dungeon Monsters:
5315
Constructs Creation Options:
17
Advancement Creation Options:
2
Monster Seed Schematics:
182 (8)
Current Traps:
36
Trap Construction Options:
All
Core-specific Skills:
5
Current Visitors:
4
Constructs Creation Options
Name:
Mana Cost:
Clockwork Tarantula
25
Reinforced Animated Shears
50
Hyper Automaton
100
Dividing Rolling Force
125
Lengthy Segmented Millipede
500
Iron-banded Articulated Clockwork Golem
750
Roaring Blademaster
1500
Large Armored Sentinel
2000
Mechanical Jaguar Queen
4000
Mechanical Dire Wolf
5000
Martial Totem
8000
Automated Sharp-bladed Digger
10000
Multi-access Repair Drone
16000
Steelclad Ape Warrior
24000
Titanium Anaconda
32000
Steel-plated Behemoth
40000
Gravitational Devastation Sphere*
15000
Advancement Creation Options
Name:
Mana Cost:
Goblin Foreman
80
Unstable Shapeshifter
16000
There were, of course, two ways to go about affording them: upgrading her Core Size (thereby having a larger Maximum Mana) or using the Advancement System to reduce the Mana Cost of her Dungeon Monsters.
Advancement Options
Current Advancement Points
37
Advancement:
Cost:
--------------
-----
Reduce the Mana cost of Dungeon Monsters by 15% – Cost increases with each purchase (Advancement 0/4)
15
--------------
-----
Upgrading her Core Size was an option that Sandra was reluctant to do at the moment. While it would help her out with increases in everything, none of the other nearby dungeons within her Area of Influence (AOI) were taking advantage of the loophole that allowed them to access her AOI – which meant that they were a higher Core Size than her. That could easily change if she were to increase her own Size; and there was every possibility that all of them were just one size away from that. If that happened, the disaster that would befall the local villages would be something Sandra would have trouble preventing.
Then again, it was also possible none or just one would be able to access her AOI – but she wasn’t willing to gamble on that a risk that was currently unneeded.
Since she didn’t want to risk having another dungeon connect to her, she decided to see about using some of the Advancement Points she had earned from destroying the Reptile-based Dungeon Core; it had been a complete surprise that she had unlocked a new Criteria for Advancement, but it also lined up with what she – and Winxa – suspected the Creator wanted her to do. The amount she received for such an act was also unexpected: 30 Advancement Points (AP).
When she added the freshly gained AP to the 4 Points she hadn’t spent earlier – as well as an additional 3 AP from bonding more sentients as Visitors – she had a total of 37 AP…which wasn’t all that much in the scheme of things. The Advancement option that reduced the Mana Cost was only 15 points, but even with the 15% reduction that would provide, she still wouldn’t be able to create the next Construct on her list – the Steelclad Ape Warrior. The issue she was facing was that she didn’t know how much the next Advancement of that would cost in terms of AP, since the menu said that it would increase in price…but didn’t say by how much.
Winxa, do you have any idea how much the cost will increase if I choose to reduce the Mana Cost of my Dungeon Monsters?
“…hmm…if I remember correctly – and keep in mind that it’s been quite a while since the last time I worked with a dungeon that had access to the Advancement system – the cost doubles each time. So, if it costs 15 points now, it’ll cost 30 next time, then 60, then 120—”
Ok, I understand – thanks, Winxa. If that was indeed how it worked, then Sandra didn’t have eno
ugh to make it worthwhile – she was 8 AP short of obtaining the Advancement twice.
At least…she was currently 8 AP short.
Looking at the possible ways she might obtain more AP, there were a few options to acquire additional Points – though only a few were obtainable at the moment.
Advancement Points (AP)
Source
Criteria
Point Value
Lifetime Earned Points
Lifetime Spent Points
Core Size
Receive AP upon Core Size upgrade (does not count for Core Size 1 nor upgrade stages)
1 per Core Size upgrade
19 AP
(19X Core Size Upgrades)
19/19 AP
Number of Rooms
Receive AP for each distinct dungeon room at least 4,000 cubic feet in size (20ftx20ftx10ft minimum)
1 AP per qualified room
25 AP
(25X Qualifying Rooms)
25/25 AP
The Crafter's Dilemma: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 3) Page 3