The Crafter's Darkness: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 4) by Jonathan Brooks (e book reading free txt) 📕

N

Dragon’s Eye

Fire Cube (Large/8),

Earth Cube (Large/6),

Nether Cube (Large/4),

Natural Cube (Large/2)

0/50000000

Dragon Glass (Average/5)

Platinum (Large/20)

Orichalcum (Average/10)

N

Magistone

?????

0/100000000

?????

N

Fruit-producing Tree Seeds

Coconut

Spirit Cube (Small/4)

0/100000

Ironwood (Large/6)

N

Elderfruit

Natural Cube (Large/5),

Holy Cube (Large/5),

Spirit Cube (Large/5),

Air Cube (Large/5)

0/1000000

Elderoak (Large/10)

N

Ambrosia

?????

0/25000000

?????

N

Assorted Minerals

Sulfur

N/A

N/A

N/A

Y

Magnetite

N/A

N/A

N/A

Y

Quartz Sand

Earth Orb (Average/4)

0/10000

Nickel (Average/3)

N

Jade

Natural Orb (Large/6)

0/150000

Lead (Large/3)

N

Obsidian

Nether Orb (Large/8)

0/200000

Iron (Large/4)

N

Cinnabar

Fire Orb (Large/10)

0/300000

Bronze (Large/6)

Soulstone

Spirit Cube (Large/10)

Nether Cube (Large/8)

Earth Cube (Large/6)

0/10000000

Steel (Large/5)

Titanium (Large/8)

Platinum (Large/10)

N

Weightonite

?????

0/50000000

?????

N

Right away, she knew she wanted Quartz Sand unlocked for her use.  Quartz Sand could be heated up to extremely high temperatures and turned into glass.  Unlike Dragon Glass – which wasn’t technically glass and was hard to work with – she could think of hundreds of uses for using glass made from Sand in crafting.

Before something else came up to change her mind, Sandra used some of the Mana from the plundered Monster Seeds to unlock the Quartz Sand, fulfilling the requirements easily.  The other options under the new category on her Transmutation Menu would take a little bit longer to unlock, and the appearance of something called Soulstone and Weightonite were unknown to her.  Regardless, there were other, more important options to consider when she had the extra Mana.

Options such as Platinum and Elderoak, which were two materials she was looking forward to working with.  However, unlocking those would take literally millions of Mana between the pure Mana requirements and the components, which she didn’t really have to spare right now.  They were for the future, though there were some that were much more affordable: Coconut, Bamboo Seed, Ramie Seed, Ball Clay, Fire Clay, and Kaolin Clay.  She would like to add each of them to her available material and Seed repertoire…as soon as she got a handle on her Mana situation.

Sandra went ahead and absorbed most of the smaller Monster Seeds and used most of the Mana to create more Elemental Orbs, which she was planning on converting to Energy Orbs when her Unstable Shapeshifters had a chance to enchant them.  For the moment, she had them stored in a simple Oak chest inside of her treasury; she had found that it was easier to keep them in something that could be transported easily if the need arose, as it was difficult for her constructs to carry more than a few of the spherical objects at one time.

The rest of the Mana was used to expand the construct force that the Dwarves were using to keep the Goblin and Golem numbers down – which quickly became even more important as she felt the Golem-Classification Dungeon Core finish its upgrade when her Animated Slab was only about a third of the way to Grongbak.  A quick message to Delarthe about the change and a heads-up about more constructs coming their way was all she had time for, however.

The Beast and Slime-Classification dungeons near the Elves completed their own upgrades within minutes of each other.  If it weren’t for the Goblin and Golem Cores finishing their own upgrades at different times, she would’ve thought that they were somehow working with each other, but she put it down to coincidence again.  Because such a thing should be impossible…right?

“Well…while there is no way for them to actually communicate, when two Dungeon Cores’ Areas of Influence are near each other, they can perceive a little of what is going on with the other,” Winxa explained when Sandra asked about the potential for communicating with the other Cores – which she had never thought about doing before.  She had thought it was impossible, and therefore didn’t try to negotiate with the two Cores that had been destroyed.  “There are no thoughts, emotions, or ideas exchanged, though; just a general sense of what they are about.  I’m assuming you haven’t experienced this with any of the other Cores?”

No, not at all.  Does this sensing give them any advantages?

“Nope; it’s mainly just so that the Cores can acknowledge that the other dungeon’s Area of Influence is there, so they know not to infringe on the other’s territory.  That way, they can concentrate on what they do best – expanding and killing people for their Mana,” she said with a bit of disgust.  The Dungeon Fairy had already made plain her distaste for what the Dungeon Cores were designed for, while still recognizing their necessity; Sandra felt the same way, even though she was a Dungeon Core herself.

With that worry resolved, she located and contacted Chryla from the Elven Rangers, as she had been her main point of contact with them ever since Echo had left.  She let her know, after the usual startlement on the behalf of the Elf at the sudden voice in her head, about the change in the two dungeons.

* Be warned, both the Beast and the Slime dungeons have expanded their Areas of Influence, which now extend to within 200 feet of your village on either side. *

“That’s not good – we’re not going to be able to contain them if they keep expanding like that.  Is there anything you can do?”

Sandra gave her the same explanation she had given Delarthe and the Dwarven Shieldmen, but in the Elves’ case, there was even more danger.  If the Dungeon Cores continued to expand, then their village would be caught in between the two AOIs and be vulnerable to direct attack – similar to how the Gnomes and Dwarves had been killed and chased out of their own villages.  It was only a matter of time before that happened, but Sandra was determined to keep them safe there for