She felt approximately 300 Mana leave her Core and flow into the box she was imagining, and within moments the contents inside of the box started to break up and…well, dematerialize was probably the best word to describe it. In a matter of 10 seconds, and at the cost of 300 Mana as opposed to the 60 it normally would have cost (not to mention no Raw Materials gained from the process), Sandra had made a 50X50X50 empty space. Based on past projects, she estimated that, done normally, that would’ve taken her at least 2 hours or perhaps closer to 3 to finish something like that.
It was certainly a timesaver, despite the higher mana cost. She progressed her Bulk Eliminations downwards at first, essentially making a giant-sized staircase as she systematically dropped the elevation of where she was eliminating the stone and dirt. In each section, she stacked two of the Eliminations on top of each other, making a tunnel that was 50 feet wide and 100 feet tall. That was plenty wide enough, though she might have to make it higher when she tried to have her Aerie Roc walk through it. She wouldn’t use her new technique for that, though – she had something else that would work for smoothing out the edges and making it taller if it came to that.
She already had a few of her Automated Sharp-bladed Diggers standing guard in one of her defensive dungeon rooms, so she moved three of them to her new tunnel and instructed them to dig into the edges of the floor and ceiling of the tunnel she was creating from her cube-shaped Elimination voids, smoothing them out. Once it was deep enough and easily passing beneath the VATS column, Sandra gradually leveled out the slide with her Diggers and a little of her Mana, then had the Roc peek its head into the hole-slide in her Home room. Luckily, it appeared as though the massive bird could bend over enough while it walked such that the height of the tunnel was plenty tall enough, so she wouldn’t have to adjust it any.
From there, and through the next 6 hours, the Dungeon Core continued to expand her tunnel, creating two large rooms that were essentially 200X200X200-foot cubes, allowing for the Roc to turn into another direction. In addition, they were large enough that she could even keep a few Rocs inside of the room if they needed to be kept somewhere safe, or let one wait there if another were trying to pass by. All the time she was creating the tunnel, however, she put her other projects on hold – including her Absorption Net expansion – but once she was done, she started those up again right away.
At about that time, all of the exhausted people that had been at the meeting the night before were waking up, so it was finally time to get moving on some plans.
* * *
“Wh—what is that?” Violet asked as soon as she walked into the room where Sandra’s Core was located. The Journeyman Enchanter Gnome stood there flabbergasted – and she wasn’t the only one. Even Felbar, who was normally the most stoic and brave of Gnomes she knew, stood beside her staring at the massive…bird…that was taking up what felt like half of the room. She’d never seen anything that large before, even though Felbar had mentioned that there were massive monsters even larger inside of the Undead dungeon that they needed to defeat in order to escape. For her, personally, she wasn’t accustomed to seeing something so horrifically enormous; even the giant reptiles that had attacked her village weren’t even a third as large, and at the time those were the largest living things she’d ever seen.
“I’ll tell you what that is,” Gerold said tremulously from her other side, with Sandra translating his words in her head. She had become so accustomed to the mental communication that, at that point, it only felt weird when words weren’t translated automatically so she could understand them. “It’s a Roc; and if it managed to get in here, then we’re in trouble—”
* There’s no need to panic, my friends. While this is indeed an Aerie Roc, it’s also your transportation. *
“If you think I’m crazy enough to ride on the back of that thing, you’ve obviously lost your da—” the Dwarf continued angrily before the translations stopped, and Sandra spoke over him.
* I understand your reluctance, and I already talked to Delarthe about why this was a poor choice for your people; however, this is the best and only solution that I could come up with that would both get you all to your leadership quickly and be able to transport supplies. *
There seemed to be a story behind these “Rocs” and the Dwarven people, though Violet couldn’t even concentrate on that as she stared at the sheer magnificence of the beast before her. While the gigantic bird was a bit intimidating, it had a sleek beauty in its form and coloring; hints of gold streaks running along the shafts of its feathers, and there were strange striations of different shades of light and dark brown running down its entire body. When she stepped back and took in the entire monster, she realized that it would blend in quite well if it were perched on the side of a mountain, though the stone there would have to be brownish in color, instead of the grey she was used to seeing everywhere else.
Something out of the corner of her eye caught Violet’s attention, and she looked over to see Echo unconcernedly walking up to the dungeon monster, completely oblivious to the fact that the bird could peck down with its beak and swallow her up without difficulty.
“This could definitely work to transport us…but how are we supposed to hold on? Unlike Starlight 3, I can’t really sit on its back securely; I have a feeling that I would start sliding off almost immediately,” the Elf said, walking up and running her hands over the Roc’s tail feathers. Fortunately, the monster didn’t even seem to acknowledge she was there; then again, if Sandra was in charge of it, then it wouldn’t do anything she didn’t want it to do.
* You’re absolutely right, Echo. It’s something that I’ve actually been working on while you were all waking up and getting something to eat. In fact, it’s arriving right about…now. *
Violet heard something behind her, and she turned around; tearing her focused gaze away from the giant bird, she saw two of Sandra’s silvery-colored Apes carrying something in between them. When she looked closer, she saw what appeared to be a jumble of stitched-together brown leather with steel loops attached to it. It didn’t take her long to realize that it was some sort of massive harness – for the Roc, no doubt. The two constructs dropped it next to the monstrous avian and started to spread it out on the floor. On the whole, it looked like two loops of leather of different sizes attached on either end of a larger, wider strip of leather. The strip in the middle had much smaller strips of leather attached to it in various places, which she assumed was for whatever or whoever was going to be riding on the humongous bird.
* Echo, Kelerim, do you think you can help carry it up and around? *
Still showing no fear or hesitation, Echo immediately grabbed the smallest loop – which was positioned at the front of the harness – before slinging it over her shoulder and climbing on the back of the Aerie Roc via its tail feathers. Another sense of something moving around her soon showed the Half-Dwarf/Half-Orc walking quite a bit more sensibly – as in, cautiously – towards the enormous bird, though he hurried a little when he saw the Elf struggling under the weight of the harness as she dragged it onto the Roc.
Fortunately for the two, the bird slowly tilted forward so that they weren’t having to walk at an angle; with Kelerim’s help to support the weight of the contraption, Echo soon had the forward loop up next to the Roc’s head. Only now did she take her time, crawling on her hands and knees to the tip of the head, where she dropped the loop over and down, until it was below the bird’s beak. Once it was there, Echo moved back with Kelerim and helped him pull it back, until it was completely around the Roc’s neck and above the wings. It was still loose, though, which was why there was a pair of metal rings used to tighten and loosen the strap woven in between them. It was a simple mechanism, but it worked; Echo and Kelerim worked together to first loosen the straps and then pull the thick leather through until it was thoroughly tightened and wouldn’t shift.
Violet let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding as the two finished up with the neck lo
op. The Gnome wasn’t a great fan of heights, and seeing them over 50 feet up in the air working on the back of the massive bird was a bit nerve-wracking to watch. Just as she thought they were done and safe, Kelerim tripped backwards over a giant feather as he let go of the leather strap. She caught her breath again as he started to plummet to either his death or a lot of pain—
—and was caught by the front of his dirty cloth shirt by Echo before he could fall more than a few feet backwards. “Hey, there; no skipping out on work,” the Elf said, smiling at Kelerim oddly while pulling him close, presumably to make sure he was safe and stable. The strength and speed that Echo used to get to him and lift him back up somehow belied the difficulty she had carrying the harness in the first place.
The contact between them went on uncomfortably long, and the Half-Dwarf/Half-Orc gently extricated himself with a confused expression on his face. “Uh…thank you for saving me. Sometimes I can be a little clumsy.”
“No problem; you’d do the same for me. Besides, I can’t be having my partner fall to his death, right?” Echo responded, still smiling as she navigated her way down the back of the bird, straightening the wide strip so that it sat straight along the spine of the Roc. Only now did she and the others notice that there were some long, blunted metal spikes along the bottom side of that strip, which was strange – almost like they were designed to inflict pain on the bird.
* Those spikes are to ensure that the harness doesn’t shift back and forth while in flight; they are long enough to penetrate the feathers along the Aerie Roc’s back, but not long enough to touch the skin underneath. *
I really wish it didn’t seem like she was reading my mind every few minutes. Regardless of the seeming intrusion, what the Dungeon Core said made sense; the spikes would prevent the strip that she assumed was to carry passengers from moving around, which was probably good while in mid-flight. It didn’t take long for Kelerim and Echo to finish the other loop, though they had to take one strap end out of the rings and feed it around the Roc’s lower body – which Echo lithely jumped down and helped with – before they reconnected it, tightening up that loop as well.
* Thank you so much, Echo; Kelerim. Without utilizing my Unstable Shapeshifters, that would’ve been a lot more complicated and harder than you made it seem. You two make a good team. *
Violet saw the Elf blush a little, and suddenly it all made sense to the young Gnome. Kelerim, however, was completely oblivious; that was more than obvious when all he did was nod and look away vacantly. All thoughts about how Echo was apparently enamored with the Half-Dwarf/Half-Orc went out of her head, however, by Sandra’s next words.
* So…Felbar and Violet – are you ready to leave? *
Chapter 7
To say that the two Gnomes were shocked would be understating their reaction. Sandra thought Violet was going to faint, in fact, as she swooned a bit while looking at the harnessed Aerie Roc. Felbar recovered a lot quicker, however, and started to question the Dungeon Core – along with almost everyone else.
“Wait a minute; I know you mentioned flying, but I thought we were going to be taking the wagon with its supplies, along with the War Machine. What’s the point of going if we’re not bringing those with us?” the older Gnome asked, sounding thoroughly disappointed. Sandra couldn’t blame him; he had become quite attached to the special construct and wouldn’t want to leave it behind.
* You’re partially correct; I have a plan for transporting some of the supplies, though the War Machine might be a bit heavy to move with the Aerie Roc, so we’ll have to test that. Don’t worry, though; hopefully, you’ll be in and out quickly so you can come back and pick it up. *
Felbar looked only somewhat mollified by her words. “But—”
“How come the Gnomes are going back first?” Echo cut him off before he could protest.
* For a couple of reasons. One, they’ve been here much longer than anyone else, and I had already compiled a large stockpile of supplies for them to take back with them. The second reason, and probably the most important, is because I need your help, Echo, as well as Gerold’s to finish up some tasks nearby first. *
“Like what?” the Dwarf asked. “Not that I’m eager to ride on the back of one of those things, but with the village emptied of anyone to cull the nearby dungeons, we’re going to need some help.”
* Exactly. While I need to send both you and Echo back home to recruit that help, the more immediate problem is those same Dungeon Cores. Echo, I need you to warn your village of Avensglen about the changes that have happened; Gerold, I need your help combating the Goblins and Golems that I can already see are running rampant through their Areas of Influence now that there isn’t anything directly opposing them. *
“That…is true. But can’t you just send in your monsters and deal with them? Why do you need our help?”
* Oh, I certainly can send in my constructs and Dungeon Monsters, but I need your expertise in combating what they’re likely to go up against. I was woefully unprepared when I went up against the Undead Monsters, lacking the knowledge to successfully deal with them, and I don’t want to make that mistake again. Besides, I think your Shieldmen need something to do and feel like they’re being productive, because I can tell they are restless already. *
“My Shieldmen? I’m not their leader.”
* You might not think that, but Delarthe – who I thought might be in charge – seems to think you are; you can deny it all you want, but they’re already yours. You might as well act the part. I have some preparations to make before I’ll be able to help, however, so you’ll be largely on your own at first. *
Sandra could see Gerold looking off to the entrance of the Dwarven tunnels, where his people were safe in their rooms. He nodded slowly without saying anything else before he took off towards those same tunnels. The Dungeon Core assumed he was going to start getting his people together now that he had an objective to accomplish. She had a couple of constructs she could spare to help them with their culling, including a Multi-access Repair Drone in case they got hurt, but the eventual culling force she wanted to create was going to take a little bit of time and Mana to assemble.
This was part of what they had discussed the previous night during their meeting – before they all collapsed on their beds in exhaustion – which included the part about flying. Sandra knew they weren’t expecting transport of such epic proportions, but the Aerie Roc was the best choice they had to get everyone to their leadership with plenty of time to spare. Or so she hoped.
At least the harness had been relatively easy to craft with a few of her Steel-clad Apes, using some of her stockpiled leather and metal rings made out of Titanium. The spikes underneath the main strip along the back of the Roc were made of Steel because she had a lot of that material to work with, but she made sure the fastening rings were of stronger metal so that they would hold up longer. She wished she had time to affix the leather with enchantments to increase its strength and durability, but her Unstable Shapeshifters were busy on another project. Regardless, the harness was sturdily crafted and should perform perfectly for the job it was designed to do – namely, hold people and supplies.
“How—” Violet started to ask before her voice cracked. She cleared her throat and went on. “How are you going to be able to control these giant birds all the way to our capital? I thought you mentioned at some point that you lose control of your monsters once they leave your area of influence, and that they’ll be destroyed without your direction.”
“I think I have the answer to that,” Echo cut in before Sandra could explain. “When we were in the other dungeon, Gerold, Felbar, and I were completely cut off from Sandra; that also meant that her monsters were cut off as well. Just before we lost contact, I felt some sort of change abruptly wash over me – and I could control the monsters with just some simple directions. I was also able to transfer over some of that control for specific monsters to Felbar, which helped with the separation of duties. I’m assuming this w
as all because of this ‘bond’ we have with the Dungeon Core, otherwise I can’t explain it.”
That was what Sandra assumed was the case, and it was good that the others had figured that out.
* Precisely. When you were inside that dungeon and the entrance collapsed, it was as if you were entirely out of my Area of Influence, and you were able to control the constructs and Dungeon Monsters with you. That is going to be incredibly important going forward, and not only for transportation; there’ll likely be times when one of you will have to direct some of my creations outside of my AOI to reach other Monsters from the nearby dungeons. *
They were all silent for a while as they digested that information, as well as the repercussions of that knowledge. “This is getting bigger than I really understood,” Felbar suddenly said, looking around at the others. “It’s not just this area around the wastelands anymore; it’s not just us versus a few dungeons around here; and it won’t be just our people against the threat the dungeons present, but a massive undertaking that will require more than just the assistance of Sandra’s constructs and monsters, not to mention supplies like Energy Orbs. I think it will also require us all to work together to survive, because we can’t do it by ourselves.”
The Crafter's Darkness: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 4) Page 8