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

than eyesight to move about the world.  Of course, if she was able to re-establish them before they arrived, she was planning on boosting their effectiveness a bit – she had access to much more Mana since she had initially set them up.

So, while the traps weren’t present in those two rooms, her constructs certainly were.  In the first room, a dozen Basher Totems were lined up against the walls, along with four Ironclad Apes; they were completely motionless and almost appeared to be statues, except that they followed the incoming Gnomes with subtle turns of their heads – or in the case of her Totems, their entire bodies.  In the second room, two dozen Singing Blademasters were floating in the air at different points, their blades lying limply along their long pole bodies since they weren’t spinning at the moment.

All but the female Gnome in front – Violet – seemed nervous seeing all of the constructs around, though Sandra thought it could also be the fact that they were inside of a dungeon at all that caused them to use one of their hands to grip one of their Steel knives at their sides.  Violet, on the other hand, looked wary but not necessarily afraid or worried; Sandra was starting to like the small woman – her fortitude during the attack and her determination to save her fellow villagers were excellent qualities in a leader.  And a leader she suspected the young Gnome was in actuality, though obviously a reluctant one at that.

In the tunnel leading to the third room, they were turned aside by the stone door that was opened in the side wall, and the Ape holding the old Gnome and the Wolves following them immediately stepped through the doorway.  As soon as they were all inside – including a Repair Drone (the rest had stayed behind or were outside the dungeon again), the pair of Shears that was essentially the gatekeeper swung the door closed silently; it was only when it was locked a noise was made, and it was the first indication to the Gnomes of what was happening.  A few of them looked back nervously at the now-closed entrance as they realized they were trapped inside of a dungeon with no visible way out.  It couldn’t have been the most comfortable of feelings, but she couldn’t explain that it was for their own safety.

A short hallway led to the top of her VATS, with the two holes in the floor: one hole was where you could drop down and the other for when you came up.  Just like Kelerim, these Gnomes were highly confused, though Sandra wasn’t expecting them to move from there yet. Without instruction and the promise that they wouldn’t die if they jumped down, it was unlikely that they would attempt it anyways.

Instead, they were greeted by an Articulated Clockwork Golem…and a good-sized pile of Large Elemental Orbs Sandra had moved up from her “treasury”. It’s time to get to work.

Chapter 19

This was much easier with an unconscious Kelerim, Sandra couldn’t help but think.

She needed to accomplish two things; one, establish a mode of communication; and two, heal the grizzled old Gnome, Felbar.  To do both of those things, however, she needed to use her Dungeon Visitor Bond skill on at least one of the Gnomes to get things started, but it was proving harder to do that than she thought it would be.

With Kelerim, she had needed to try out every Elemental Orb and then combinations of the elements to eventually figure out that he had access to Fire and Earth; of course, that was made so much easier because he couldn’t stop her or question her methods.  Trying to communicate what she wanted to do to the confused and nervous Gnomes was outrageously harder.  Any amount of her Golem’s or her Ape’s pointing and hand-waving wasn’t getting them anywhere after about five minutes where the entire Gnome party started to get more and more agitated.

“I don’t understand what you are trying to say.  What are those small orbs you’re pointing at there?  I’ve never seen anything like them before, but for some reason a few of them…feel…familiar,” the one called Violet said after none of them seemed to understand what Sandra was trying to convey.

Ah…that might be the solution, then.  She had been trying to point towards the pile of Elemental Orbs and then to the chests of the Gnomes, but that was doing absolutely no good.  She had no clue how to improve on her message before, but with Violet’s last statement, she thought she might have an idea.  It was the fact that a few of them felt familiar that led her to try another tact.

From the battle back at the village, Sandra remembered seeing the woman using the Natural element as part of her temporary enchantment on her Steel knife; the quick rune she had etched on it had created three long spiked thorns that erupted from the blade when she struck at one of the lizards attacking her.  It only lasted the one strike, but it was damaging and effective enough that it left an impression on Sandra.

She took control of her Golem and used its clamp hand to pick up one of the Large Natural Elemental Orbs she had in the pile; bringing it over to Violet, she held it out to the Gnome.  After another small bout of confusion, the small woman held out her hand and Sandra let it go, letting it land in Violet’s outstretched hand.  As soon as the orb touched her skin, the Gnome gasped in shock and what appeared to be wonder as she gazed down at the glowing green orb in her hand.

“Th—This is full of Natural elemental energy!” Violet exclaimed, before looking at the elemental orb closer.  “At least, that’s what it feels like, but it’s subtly different,” she