The Crafter's Dominion: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 5) by Jonathan Brooks (e ink epub reader .txt) 📕

Master Blacksmith was enough to shut the First-shield up, as Jespin was one of the few other than the King that demanded respect.

“What do you mean?” he finally asked.

The Master was silent for a few moments, before he sighed and started to talk.  “Well, as it seems we have some time, I might as well share a few details with you….”

Chapter 28

It didn’t take long to convince Palzerk to accept the Visitor’s Bond with Sandra, for which he was pleasantly surprised at how incredibly fast his energy seemed to return to him – and how he actually had access to 2 elemental energies, as opposed to just the Water that she had seen him use before; he had access to Air as well.  No wonder he flowed so smoothly through the battle against those Dire Wolves; it was as if he was meant to glide through battle effortlessly.  When she considered that he had only gotten hurt because he was trying to save one of his Warband, she could see how powerful he really was.

While the other Orcs prided themselves on how physically strong they were, Palzerk was swift and deadly.  She thought that was the reason he was also a great leader, because he didn’t think with his muscles; instead, he thought about how to best solve a problem with the minimum of movement, finding a solution that went with the flow of efficiency.  It was something that Sandra could entirely understand and relate to, and the fact that the potential Warlord seemed to genuinely care about his Warriors was a refreshing change from what she knew most other Warband Leaders felt about their own.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for Sandra, Kelerim (whom she fetched from the site of the battle after the wounded Orcs had been dropped off), and Owchet to convince Palzerk to accept the position of Warlord of the Bloodskull Clan, though of course it wasn’t as simple as that.  He was going to have to fight for his place against any challengers to the placement, which would’ve been difficult before he met the Dungeon Core; not only did he have Energy Orbs embedded in his palms to help with energy regeneration, but he was sent away with similar weapons and armor that she reserved for her mercenaries, fully enchanted to help speed up his already-impressive attack style, making him extra effective in a fight.  She hoped it was enough.

He also didn’t go back without some gifts for his Warband.  They already had some upgraded equipment, and Sandra didn’t currently have much extra in the superior enchanted gear she had for her mercenaries at the moment, but there was one thing that she could produce quite rapidly: Energy Orbs.  Now that she had the Mana flowing into her, when she wasn’t actively spending it on something, she was producing Elemental Orbs of all the different types, and then using her stable of a full dozen Unstable Shapeshifters enchanting them with the correct rune sequences to create Energy Orbs.

By the time she had finished speaking with Palzerk, she sent him on his way with a box of 80 Orbs (10 of each element) for his Warband, as well as any others he crossed paths with; Sandra eventually wanted to equip many of the Warbands with Energy Orbs, and it didn’t hurt to have the prospective Warlord handing them out as incentives to support him in his bid for the position.  Her days as a Human reminded her that an occasional contribution to certain people in a place of particular influence could open some doors that would otherwise be closed.  Not only as a merchant, where “bribes” would occasionally allow them access to a city that they wouldn’t normally be allowed near; no, it had helped her numerous times when learning all she could about crafting.  Many a master crafter didn’t have time to teach a crippled young woman about the finer points of their craft, but a little gold could smooth the way to knowledge.

That wasn’t the only thing she sent with him, either; using a little more of her incoming Mana, she created an Unobtrusive Multi-access Repair Drone.  While Palzerk had been healed, there were still multiple members of his Warband that had been wounded during the fight with the Dire Wolves, and her new Drone could help heal their wounds.  Since it was “multi-access”, they didn’t have to be Bonded to Sandra, and Palzerk could keep it as he traveled – since he did have a Bond and could issue it orders.

In addition to the Drone, she also took a risk and offered him something else.  She wasn’t sure if it would be accepted, because of the recent attack and how he had been wounded – but he was ecstatic.

“This is a gift worthy of a Warlord, Sandra.”

 

* Well, if everything works out the way we want it to, you will be a Warlord, Palzerk. *

The Powered Sabre Wolf sat obediently by his side as he prepared to climb onto the High Peak Roc that was going to take him back to his Warband.  With a few repairs, the harness that Kelerim and the other Orcs had managed to place on the massive bird when she went to pick him up was prepared to transport Palzerk, the Repair Drone, and the brand-new Wolf construct with him.  The Powered Sabre Wolf was smaller than her older Mechanical Dire Wolves, but the lack of bulk was a trade-off for how much more…sleek it was.

Similar to how Palzerk was more about finesse, speed, and conservation of movement, the new Wolf was all of that and more.  Instead of a skeletal frame of metal that composed the former Mechanical Dire Wolves, the Sabre Wolf was closer in appearance to a real wolf.  It lacked the fur, but it had a solid-but-flexible form similar to her Apes, which gave it better range of movement; as