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

Her dungeon couldn’t house all the people in all the lands, after all.  Elves, especially, probably wouldn’t appreciate living underground like the Dwarves did, so she would have to see about what she could do to prevent them from having to flee.

* …therefore, there’s not much we can do to prevent them from expanding again.  I’ll work on some ideas of what we can do to protect your village, but in the meantime I might be able to help you and the other Rangers. *

“How?  You’ve already done so much with these other gifts,” Chryla said, pointing to her palms where the Energy Orbs were embedded, as well as holding up her bow.  The Rangers had quickly learned how to shoot the new composite bows effectively and adjusted them to their own style – and were practically destroying all of the Dungeon Monsters they were coming up against in the forest.  There were even a few more Crocatiles that popped up here and there, which required two or three Rangers to handle, but no one had been hurt…yet.  She noticed that some of the Elves culling the Monsters were getting a little low on their explosive bolts, so she made a mental note to start producing more for them – as well as possibly adding other types of enchantments that might be effective.

* The Dwarven Shieldmen are using some of my constructs to hunt and destroy the Goblins and Golems near their village and I’d like to help you out that way as well.  However, based on what I’ve seen of how you all operate, it looks like you tend to prefer stealth and attacking from concealed locations to prevent getting hurt – which is smart.  I’m not sure if my constructs would be right for you in that situation, because they tend to be heavy and noisy when they move. *

“Yes, that doesn’t sound like that would work that well.  The element of surprise is our most effective weapon, and taking that away could put us in even more danger; unless we’re traveling with an army of your constructs, I don’t think that would work.”

* Ok, then.  How about this; of all the Monsters in the world that you can think of or have heard about, what would be the best, the most ideal, and the greatest help to you?  You wouldn’t be able to see what it sees or anything, but you’d be able to give it simple commands that are shaped by your intention. *

That gave the Ranger some pause as she considered what Sandra was asking.  After just over a minute, she shook her head in obvious frustration.  “I’ve never thought of that before, and I have no idea.  I’m going to have to ask the others to see if they have any thoughts about that; it’s such an unusual question that I can’t even imagine what would be ideal.”

* That’s easy enough to do right now.  I’ll ask the others and see what they think, then I’ll come back to you. *

“What?  Me?  Why?  I’m not nearly the most senior here, you know.”

* I like you, that’s why.  You remind me a little of myself. *

Sandra didn’t mention that the reminder was of herself being a little clumsy, which she definitely was when she was Human.  Regardless, that seemed to satisfy Chryla.

The Dungeon Core asked the other Rangers one by one, to see if they had any suggestions.  Like Chryla, most of them said they needed to think about it; however, there was one that had an idea that they thought would work perfectly.  Sandra mentioned it to the others and Chryla, of course, and while some hesitated and even shivered a little when they heard the name, all of them said they were willing to give it a try.  The only problem was that what they had chosen wasn’t something that she recognized.

Therefore, after checking on her supply transport – which was now halfway to Grongbak – and seeing no issues, Sandra dove into her Advancement System and searched for what the Rangers suggested.  Based on a vague description, she finally found it under a Fire and Nether-based Classification called Shadow Beasts – which was an interesting combination.  Using 5 of her 60 Advancement Points (after gaining more AP from a variety of sources), she went ahead and purchased it.

New Dungeon Monster unlocked through Advancement!

Shadow Beasts (Fire/Nether):

Wyvine now available!

Wyvine

Mana Cost: 8000 Mana

Luckily, the Wyvine wasn’t an Advanced Classification, which meant that it didn’t cost much Mana to create – at least compared to some of her other constructs and Dungeon Monsters.  In all, with the reductions in the cost of both the Monster and Monster Seed, each one would only cost her 5500 Mana total; the Raw Materials needed for the Seed were essentially negligible, since she was still taking from the condensed sphere – though even that was starting to shrink rapidly with all of the Materials she had used lately.  Fortunately, she had a lot of alternatives, as she had been turning everything she had absorbed lately into bars of Titanium that she was placing in her treasury.

It didn’t take long to make one of the new Wyvines and as soon as she did, Winxa freaked out a little bit.

“I said no dragons!  Wait…no…from what I can see, that almost looks more like a lizard than anything else,” the Dungeon Fairy said, before flying closer to inspect the new Dungeon Monster.

Sandra thought that Winxa was half right; the Wyvine was certainly lizard-like, with its scaly skin and long tail, which reminded the Dungeon Core a little of the Reptiles from the now-destroyed dungeon.  However, apart from the scaly skin, the Monster also had the general shape of a large cat and was at least 10 feet long from nose to the tip of its tail,