The Crafter's Dungeon: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 1) Jonathan Brooks (sites to read books for free .TXT) 📖

“You probably wouldn’t, as it’s a term that’s only really used if you’re in the business of Dungeons like I am.  You might know it better as ‘dungeon loot’ – the various objects left behind after a dungeon monster is killed.”

Now that was a term she’d heard before!  In fact, “dungeon loot” was a big business throughout the land of Muriel; depending upon what it was, the loot that Heroes brought back from even one of their expeditions could feed a small village for a year or more.  And that was just some of the less-sought-after loot.

The reason for that was that the material acquired from the culled monsters was pure – through and through.  A chunk of “dungeon loot” iron the size of her fist was stronger, denser, and easier to craft with than another chunk pulled out of the ground – by exponential degrees.  Loot brought back from Heroes produced higher-quality products, held enchantments better, and were much more durable than their “natural” counterparts.  For instance, that same “dungeon loot” chunk of iron could be forged into a simple knife that could take much more abuse before breaking and would keep an edge ten times longer than its “natural” cousin – and would enhance any enchantments placed upon it five-fold.

Yes, Sandra knew dungeon loot material very well; if her father wasn’t buying and selling the raw material, he was dealing with weapons and armor made from the valuable resource.  And it wasn’t just different types of metal that could be found from killing dungeon monsters; special woods, plants, gems, hides, and any number of other items used in crafting could be found.  The loot gathered from the culling or “farming” dungeons and the monsters surrounding them was one of the reasons that members of the Order of Heroes were so important.  They not only supplied many of the crafting professions with valuable material, but they held back the dungeons who constantly encroached on nearby towns and villages.

That didn’t mean that a dungeon was immune from destruction just because they had some valuable loot, however.  Although the Order did their best to keep up with the constant need to cull the nearby dungeon monsters, there always seemed to be more than they could handle; as a result, elite teams of Heroes were sent out to destroy dungeons that caused the most problems or were encroaching on nearby settlements.  It made sense in the long run to protect the lives of normal citizens, but sometimes the shortage of material from a certain dungeon could put a pinch on the local economy.

Years of buying, selling, and bartering throughout the land of Muriel had taught Sandra all that and more, which made her interested to see what how the “dungeon loot” or monster “seeds” system worked.

Winxa pulled out from a pouch at her side a spherical object that she held in the palm of her hand.  When Sandra got a good look at it, she was slightly disappointed because it wasn’t quite what she had hoped for.  Oh, well – have to start somewhere, I guess.

“That’s right, this is what you have to start with.  I can see those thoughts flickering through that Core of yours, and as much as you’d like to have something more impressive like steel or mithril or emerald oak, the mana requirements for creating even your smallest monster using a ‘seed’ like that is astronomical.  As your Core grows larger and your Mana Capacity increases, you’ll be able to move on from this tiny copper orb.”

The Dungeon Fairy placed the small copper bead on the floor of Sandra’s cave and walked back from it.  Winxa rubbed her hands together in anticipation.  “Alright, let’s do this!” she said excitedly.  Then she looked at the Dungeon Core and frowned, before saying, “Well…as soon as you’re done.”

Sandra could sense that the Raw Material was almost finished converting, and she was almost as eager to get started as the Dungeon Fairy.  After another minute, she felt the last of it convert and her natural glow brightened the cave once again.

Let’s do this!

Chapter 7

Making a dungeon monster was easier said than done, especially with Winxa trying to explain how to do something that should’ve been second nature to a Core, but they managed somehow.

“Ok, now pull up your Core Selection Menu again and…look for something that says Monster Creation?  Or Dungeon Monster Selection?  Something like that.”

Core Selection Menu

Dungeon Classification:

Constructs

Core Size:

1

Available Mana:

7/10

Ambient Mana Absorption:

.01/hour

Available Raw Material (RM):

0/100

Convert Raw Material to Mana?

N/A

Constructs Creation Options:

2

Monster Seed Schematics:

1

There were two new things on her Menu that either weren’t there before or were overlooked: Constructs Creation Options and Monster Seed Schematics.  Figuring that was what she wanted, Sandra focused on the Constructs Creation Options, and another screen – greenish this time – popped up in place of the Core Selection Menu.

Constructs Creation Options

Name:

Mana Cost:

Clockwork Spider

5

Small Animated Shears

10

 There were only two options available for her, and only one of them that Sandra could afford with her present Mana total.  She supposed that she could always “eat” a little more of the nearby cave wall, but she didn’t want to wait to convert it to more Mana.  Therefore, she mentally selected the Clockwork Spider option.

Select Monster Seed

Name:

Quantity:

Min. Mana:

Max. Mana:

Tiny Copper Orb

1

5

10

Now with just the one option, Sandra chose the Tiny Copper Orb and every screen disappeared from her view.  That was fortunate, because otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to see the transformation of the small monster “seed”; even though the screens were semi-transparent, she didn’t want to miss even a moment of what was to be her first creation.

A large, transparent, multi-colored fog about half the size of Winxa immediately surrounded the copper bead.  At the