The Crafter's Dungeon: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 1) by Jonathan Brooks (literature books to read TXT) 📕

spider could do.  That didn’t matter too much to her, though, because she was just fascinated to see how its clockwork mechanisms enabled it to get around in the first place.

Little-by-little, Sandra noticed that she was starting to feel something being funneled into her from the Spider.  It wasn’t visible or tangible, but she could nevertheless sense the ambient Mana from the air being absorbed and sent directly toward her.  A quick look at her Core Selection Menu showed her Available Mana – which used to be at 2 after creating the construct – was slowly ticking upwards.  It slowed even more after about five minutes, but it managed to tick over to 5 before it stopped completely.

As if she could sense it – which Sandra thought was entirely possible because she still didn’t know much about Dungeon Fairies – Winxa said, “The ambient Mana in here is just about depleted now, so I’m hoping that you have at least five Mana available.”  With a quick affirmation from Sandra, she continued.  “Now, I want you to extend your senses out and ‘eat’ some of the wall again until you have at least 50 units of Raw Material available.  And don’t worry about the room collapsing, or the walls caving in; your natural presence alone will automatically stabilize anything that you have direct access to.  This is especially important once you start expanding your dungeon, because otherwise you might have issues keeping your construction intact.”

Sandra paused in the act of ‘eating’ more of the nearby cave wall.  I didn’t even think of that!  She had watched carpenters and stonemasons plying their trade to construct buildings before, but nothing in her previous life had prepared her for a life underground and the dangers therein.  Fortunately, it didn’t seem that she had to worry about burying and damaging herself from a cave-in.

She quickly absorbed the Raw Material from the nearest wall until she had 61 units – more than was needed, but she had been…hungry.  Either way, she apparently now had what she needed to create another monster seed.  Without prompting, Sandra opened her Core Selection Menu again and focused on the Monster Seed Schematics option.  I think I’m getting the hang of this.

Monster Seed Origination

Name:

Raw Material Cost:

Mana Cost:

Min. Mana:

Max. Mana:

Tiny Copper Orb

50

5

5

10

Easy enough to understand.  Sandra mentally selected the Tiny Copper Orb and she felt the same siphon of Mana from her core like she had when she made the Clockwork Spider, but this time it was accompanied by some Raw Material.  All of it flowed towards a spot on the floor, which soon showed a small misty fog that quickly compressed into an orb-like shape.  Less than ten seconds after she had chosen to create the “seed”, it was done.

The Tiny Copper Orb looked identical to the previous one; the only difference between the two that Sandra could identify was…that she had made it!

“Very nice, Sandra!  I should’ve known that you’d figure this out pretty quickly, especially based on your previous hobby.  You’ll be able to find more types of seeds as you explore and expand, which will give you access to even more powerful monsters.  And that’s about all I can teach you right now until you get a little bigger and stronger.  You should be safe in here for quite a while, so you shouldn’t have to worry about any danger to your core for…probably months or more.  Now, like I said, I’ll be back – so don’t have too much fun without me!”

Wait!  What do I do now?!

Winxa was already opening another hole in the middle of the air with a negligent wave of her hand, but she took the time to turn back to the new Dungeon Core.  “Why, expand and grow – what else would you want to do?”

With that, Sandra’s Dungeon Fairy – the only source of information and socialization – walked through the circular portal and left her all alone.

Well, that sucks.

Chapter 8

Left to her own devices and without anyone to tell her what to do for the first time in her life – or “afterlife”, as it were – Sandra was frozen in indecision.  Always before, she had a definitive plan that she followed; if it wasn’t traveling around the land of Muriel selling merchandise, it was tracking down an elusive crafter that she wished to learn from.  It was familiar and safe, and yet a bit confining at the same time.

And now she was free.

Sandra now had no obligations to anyone, not even to herself; she didn’t need to earn money to make a living, she didn’t need to sell weapons or other items to feed herself and her father – in fact, she didn’t even need to eat anymore.  Or, at least, she assumed she didn’t need to eat; Winxa didn’t really explain much other than the basics to her.

So, with her newfound freedom from responsibility and time on her hands, Sandra was ready to do…what?  She honestly didn’t know.  The merchant life she had led before was really no more than a job to her, it was more of a means to an end.  She stuck with her father because the two of them were all the family they had in the world and she loved him, but she didn’t love the profession he had chosen to pursue.

Crafting, on the other hand, was something that she enjoyed – even if it was just learning about it.  The Dungeon Fairy hadn’t been too far off, however, calling it her hobby; without the chance to perform nearly all of the crafting she had learned about with her own two hands or innate magical ability, it was more of a spectator activity than anything else.  But that didn’t lessen her enthusiasm one bit.

And now that she had some time, options, and unique abilities,