The Crafter's Defense: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 2) Jonathan Brooks (large ebook reader TXT) 📖

the south and slightly east; looking at the extensive underground roots of the forest to the east of the Elven village, she could feel it almost as an invisible curved “bubble” that took a slight effort to pass through.

That wasn’t the only one, however; she could feel other ones to the west in the forest separating the Elven and Orcish lands, one to the north and a little east at the border forest between the Orcish and Dwarven territories, and a third far to the east in the forest dividing the Dwarven and Gnomish lands.  It was unusual enough to also note that reaching that far now meant that her Area of Influence had increased dramatically with her last upgrade.  In fact, from what she could tell, it now included the entire wasteland area.

Passing through the “bubbles” didn’t really do anything; as soon as she was through them, she could move her vision anywhere underground that her Influence could reach.  Which wasn’t far even for the closest spot she came across.  Sandra explained where they were located as well as she could to Winxa, who seemed at first shocked and then somehow unsurprised shortly thereafter.

“What you’re detecting is the Area of Influence of another dungeon.  The ‘bubble’ you’re describing is the perimeter of it, just like your own perimeter and how far you can reach.  If you’re able to go far enough, you’re likely to run into the dungeon themselves.”

Why did you look shocked?  I would think this would be very common.

“Well, yes – encountering the border of another Core’s Area of Influence happens all the time; the difference here, though, is your ability to pass through the border.  Only Cores with the same element can actually pass their viewpoint through another’s border, which makes it very rare since the Creator now ensures there aren’t any similar-element dungeons near each other when they are placed.  Dungeon Monsters can pass through any of them, but only a small portion of the ambient Mana or Mana from the deaths of living beings will be absorbed in any overlap – unless, again, they’re the same element, then it is a full 50% split between the two Cores.

“It’s also another reason that Dungeon Monsters don’t typically fight over territory, as it doesn’t matter even if they win – because it wouldn’t get them much in the long run.  Typically, Dungeon Cores are spaced far enough apart that only when they are quite upgraded in Size will they actually encounter the border of another Core – and by that time, the overlap really doesn’t matter because it’s difficult for them to fill their entire territory with Dungeon Monsters, anyway.”

Wait a minute – if they’re so blood-thirsty and willing to kill anything to get stronger, wouldn’t they just try to destroy the other Cores near them and take over the full use of the overlapping Area of Influence?

“If they weren’t constrained by their contract from attacking the dungeon of any other contracted Dungeon Core, I would say you’d be correct.  As it is, though, there’s rarely a reason for them to waste their resources on attacking another dungeon; since they don’t receive any Mana from killing a foreign Dungeon Monster – nor can the Monster Seeds they leave behind be absorbed – there’s very little benefit in it.  Unless, just like the absorption of ambient Mana, they are the same element – then they can actually take the Seed back to their dungeon and absorb it for both Mana and Raw Materials, as well as unlocking the use of it as a Monster Seed if it wasn’t previously accessible,” Winxa answered matter-of-factly, before she cocked her head to the side in thought.

What?

“Oh, nothing – it just occurred to me that your special situation means that essentially any Core’s Area of Influence barrier won’t really hinder you or the other Core, so that you can both pass freely amongst each other’s territory.”

I can see that, but why is that significant?

Winxa spoke slowly, as if she was testing her words to see if they would cause her to be seen as giving advice.  “Well, do you remember what I said about the contract Dungeon Cores have to abide by regarding attacking another Core?”  Sandra indicated that she did.  “Ok, so that only applies to attacking another contracted Core – which, if you remember, you definitely are not.  Therefore, what that means is that it’s entirely possible that they could attack you.”

So, in addition to being concerned about being attacked by the Elves in a couple of weeks, as well as watching out for the Orcs still, I have to worry about the other Cores when they expand their Areas of Influence so that they can reach me?

The Dungeon Fairy hesitated for a moment before she answered.  “Yes…and no.  What I failed to mention before about same-element dungeons being next to each other is the main reason why you don’t find them like that anymore; it hasn’t really happened for at least a millennium, so it didn’t really occur to me until now.  One special aspect of the pairings is that whichever Dungeon Core has the smallest Core Size has access to the entire Area of Influence of the other – though they cannot change anything underground, so you don’t have to worry about them digging a hole all the way to you.  Don’t ask me why this ability exists, because it doesn’t make much sense; the only reason I can think of is if it was some sort of method the Creator had designed to have Cores ‘mentor’ their neighbors, thereby making them more effective.  My guess is that it was too effective and needed to be stopped, which is why it doesn’t occur anymore.”

Uh…so you’re saying that I could be attacked by hordes of Dungeon Monsters at any time?

“Well, not necessarily.  If they are a higher Core Size than you, then