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

sounded too…authoritarian, too controlling of the population, and the thought didn’t sit well with her.  Memories of the ways various people had reacted to the Bond’s mark on those she had Bonded, calling them slaves or being under her influence, came to her mind; while it was ridiculous, as she couldn’t control anything, such a sentiment was indicative of how the wider population would react.  Using the things she created was fine, but such an intimate Bond was too much and would likely be suspicious; looking at it from their perspective, she couldn’t say that she wouldn’t feel the same if she were in their shoes.

No, that’s not what I want.  In all seriousness, I really don’t know where it will stop, but I have to limit it somewhere.  Just…not yet, not until I’m sure everything is as safe as it can get, and I can focus on my crafting.  Sandra really didn’t know where she needed to stop, but it wasn’t any time soon; there were too many dangers to all of the races right now that she couldn’t let up with what she was doing.  The benefits of her access with the Orcs was all well and good, but without knowing how the other races stood, she was going to have to use everything at her disposal to keep things from spiraling out of control.  As to her own mind not spiraling out of control….  Ok, enough of that – I have the itch to do some crafting!

Now that she was adequately defended against the resurgence of the nearby Dungeon Cores – for the moment, at least – and she had her Mana influx steadily growing, there wasn’t anything preventing her from sinking her concentration into crafting again.

“What are you going to craft?” Winxa asked with excited interest, which helped to lighten up the mood after their serious talk.  “I can’t imagine that there are many things you haven’t dabbled in one way or another; not that I’m an expert, but I have no idea what else you might be able to craft.”

There are a lot of different crafts that I haven’t even approached yet, though very few of them would help me out right now.  I need to focus my efforts – even if I’m enjoying myself applying my knowledge to craft something new – on things that will eventually accomplish my goal of making the people under my care safe, eventually making them self-sufficient in their own defense.  For instance, let’s look at what I’ve done here and around the wasteland.

I’ve created weapons of different types, melee-distance and even ranged, and even enchanted them for my Orc mercenaries to use to kill dungeon monsters.  I’ve crafted armor that is also enchanted to help protect them even further, enhancing their capabilities to survive longer.

The War Machine and Deep Divers I’ve made for the Gnomes were excellent displays of my enchanting knowledge – to which I have to admit that I’m still learning – as well as my woodworking and blacksmithing skills. 

I’ve helped to provide food, cloth for clothing, leather for various goods, and even glasswork to contain the alcohol brewed and distilled for the Dwarven villagers living in my dungeon.  Not only that, but I’ve figured out a way to provide them a means of perpetual storage with the Stasis Boxes, and providing food and supplies to Grongbak – and even Avensglen, if they need it – is something that we, working together, are more than capable of achieving. 

Quite a lot, granted, but apart from learning the secret to how the Dwarves produce their special armor for their Shieldmen – a grumble started coming from the Shard in her mind at Gerold’s absence, but she hushed it…and it shut up, amazingly – there isn’t much that I can’t reproduce in some fashion or other.  I’ve applied some of the enchantments that the Gnomes prefer to use in their endeavors; I’ve created the Energy Orbs to help the Elves cast more spells; and I’ve applied all my knowledge to come as close as I can to duplicating what the Dwarves do with weapons and armor.  But the one thing I haven’t been able to copy – yet – is what the Orcish people do with relation to their elemental energy.

Winxa seemed perplexed.  “And by that, you mean…?”

Directly altering their bodies, of course.  Everything I’ve done so far has been external, affecting things either directly or indirectly through the use of enchantments.  The closest thing I have that directly affects a person’s body are my Repair Drones, and I remember Violet mentioning that they had Healing Amulets.  But, for everything that I’ve crafted, I’ve yet to affect a person’s body like the Orcs seem to do naturally – and I’m aiming to change that.

“And you know how to do that?

Sandra had to think over all of her knowledge, contemplating what she knew and what she currently had available as far as material.  Yes, yes I do.  If she’d had a face, she’d have been grinning from ear to ear.

Chapter 29

The problem with some enchantments, especially when they were directed toward manipulating something in the Human body (which was what her knowledge was based upon), was that they had limited usefulness.  Not that they weren’t powerful in their own right, but there were only a few Enchanters back in Muriel that had created them.  Those that did create them, sold them at exorbitant prices, which only some of the best Heroes could afford.  Her father had managed to acquire only 1 item that had a Personal Enhancement Enchantment (PEE) on it over all of the years he had been a merchant, and he managed to sell it for nearly double what he paid for it.

Now, based on that, one would think that PEE Enchanters would hoard their secrets of enchanting so that no one could compete with them.  Luckily for Sandra, that was