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

a Core that had access to them all…but nothing happened.  She was stumped, until she looked at the warning again.  Specific combination?  Maybe she was looking at it all wrong; what if it didn’t refer to her elemental access, but his?  She thought that, since it was her making the bond, it needed to mirror something in her own makeup or the nature of the bond itself – but now she suspected that it was all about the subject of the bond: the man.

With renewed purpose, Sandra had her Sentinel place different combinations of Orbs on the man’s chest while she tried to create the bond.  There were quite a few possibilities, which worried her if the man had access to three, four, or even five elements – because it would take a while to try them all.  Fortunately, after only about 30 failures, she finally hit upon the combination that worked.

Fire and Earth.

As soon as she thought of forming the Dungeon Visitor Bond with him, she felt a draining on her Core, similar to the effect it had when she was creating something permanent like a stone wall or a crafting station.  Exactly 1,000 units of Mana and 5,000 units of Raw Materials flowed invisibly out from her Core, until the two resources swirled around the man and became visible for the first time.  A bright golden glow started to encompass the man’s entire chest, before fading somewhat and taking on a hue of bright red and deep brown – the colors of the two elements that the man apparently had access to.

The glow became brighter and brighter, which didn’t really affect her constructs, but Sandra had to avert her direct gaze; for the first time since she became a Dungeon Core, her vision caused her a bit of discomfort.  It wasn’t pain, per se, but it was uncomfortable enough that she couldn’t keep watching.

The glow started to quickly fade, and whatever the process had been doing sucked the light into the man’s chest.  When Sandra could see him clearly again, she saw that a massive hole in his shirt and apron had been either burned away or consumed by the bond, leaving his scarred chest bared to the world.  She recognized burn marks from careless blacksmithing work; it was common enough among apprentices to forget to wear an apron while they were working, and when they struck hot metal, they would frequently get burned by the sparks given off.

But those scars weren’t what she was most interested in; spread over the entire front of his torso was a glowing, bronze-colored clockwork gear that appeared like some sort of strange tattoo.  As she watched, the glow faded even more until it disappeared completely; however, the gear tattoo still glittered with a shiny polished appearance.  She found that if she looked at it the right way, she could see tiny flecks of red and brown here and there.

Non-threat Visitors List

Name

Race

Elemental Access

Winxa Flamerider

Dungeon Fairy

Spirit

Kelerim Bloodskull

Half-Orc/Half-Dwarf

Fire, Earth

She watched as the name Kelerim Bloodskull slowly appeared on the Visitors List, along with his race as a half-Orc and half-Dwarf – just like Winxa had guessed.  Also, the Fire and Earth elements were under the Elemental Access heading, which matched up with the two Orbs that were placed on his chest.  Speaking of which, the Orbs had disappeared, just the same as the Mana and Raw Materials that were used in the bonding.

“What the—” Winxa was asking something, but Sandra wasn’t listening – another notification grabbed her attention.

Advancement Source Identified!

Sentient Race Bonding

Criteria: Form a new Dungeon Visitor Bond with a member of a sentient race

Point Value: 1 per bonded sentient

Lifetime Points Earned: 1 (Kelerim Bloodskull)

Points Spent: 0

Dungeon Visitor Bond (Core-specific skill)

The Dungeon Visitor Bond is created between the Dungeon Core and an individual, allowing that specific individual certain protections inside the Core’s dungeon.  This includes, but is not limited to, immunity to automatic attack from the Core’s Dungeon Monsters.  Requirements: Mana, Raw Material, and specific Elemental Orbs.  (Skills are permanent and remain even after a Classification change)

“—idea what that was, but I’ve never seen anything like that before—”

Winxa!

“—and…what?” Winxa cut off what she was saying at Sandra’s mental shout.

I unlocked another Advancement Source and another skill!  The Dungeon Core excitedly told the Fairy about it, and Winxa smiled in satisfaction.

“I knew it!  This means that the plan the Creator has for you—” Winxa started, before she collapsed to the ground in another choking fit, which lasted longer than the other ones lately.  “Never…mind,” she gasped out when she could breathe again.

You should just keep your theories to yourself – I don’t want you to die because you’re trying to help me.  I appreciate your excitement, but I’d rather figure it out on my own.

The Dungeon Fairy was on the ground now, gulping in breaths one after another; when she heard Sandra, all she did was nod in agreement.

While she was distracted by the notification and Winxa’s choking fit, her Repair Drone had hovered over to the man – Kelerim, he has a name now – and its two arms with metal pads emerged from its cylindrical body.  She briefly thought about stopping her construct, but something in her told her to leave it alone and just observe.

The Drone’s metal pad-hands were gently placed on Kelerim’s forehead, and Sandra could see Mana streaming down its arms and into the unconscious man.  The difference, however, was that only the red of Fire and the brown of Earth were represented, instead of every single element.  Regardless of the change, the result was the same; a large bruise that Sandra only now realized existed on Kelerim’s side started to fade as it was repaired, as well as the dark bruise mark on his head, where he had blindly run into her Basher Totem