The Crafter's Dilemma: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 3) Jonathan Brooks (me reader TXT) 📖

her convalescence through some unusual means, treated like a guest in someone’s home, and fed a delicious meal (even if she could only eat a few bites)…she still wasn’t entirely sure she could trust the dungeon.  Being near the surface in case she needed to escape would be beneficial; listening to what Sandra had to say would likely be worthwhile, because now her curiosity was piqued.

As they got up from the table, the stone plates, cups, eating utensils, and even the uneaten food disappeared as if it had never been there.  She jumped when she saw that, partly startled, and smiled at the grizzled old Gnome when she saw that he did the same.  Maybe we can escape together if this dungeon turns out to be deceiving us – I’d hate to leave anyone in this place if I have the means to help them.

With that thought buried in the back of her mind for the future, because she wasn’t exactly sure if being “bonded” to the dungeon meant that it—she—could read her mind, Echo followed Violet out of the room as she seemed to know where she was going.  As she watched the young Gnome enter another room and walk to a delineated spot on the floor, she stepped back in surprise as a massive gust of air shot her small form upwards through a hole in the ceiling.

Echo shared an incredulous look with the old battle-hardened Gnome, who shrugged and walked without hesitation to the same spot.  As he too shot upwards, the astonished Elf couldn’t help but shake her head in wonder.

This could be more interesting than I thought…

Chapter 2

Sandra was glad that her guests – despite being different races – were getting along.  Well, getting along might be too strong of a phrase; tolerating each other might be better.  Regardless, they didn’t appear to want to kill each other, though it could be because Felbar and Echo were both still a bit wary of Sandra and the dungeon, so they were grasping at anything living nearby that seemed normal.  At least the older Gnome had Violet to help ease him into the situation, but the Elf only had Sandra’s voice in her head to explain things.

Not for the first time she wished that they could speak a common language, but even when the Elites (who were quite a bit older than many of the other Elves) were being addressed by Violet, only one of them was actually able to understand the Gnomish language; having the ability to speak foreign languages was obviously a bit of a rarity. It was too much to hope that Echo – who was reportedly much younger – would have that kind of knowledge, especially considering that there really hadn’t been much contact between most of the races for a lengthy period of time.

Regardless of the language barrier, Sandra could at least mentally communicate with everyone and translate where it was needed; there hadn’t been much need yet, but she was sure it would eventually be vital towards cooperation between the different races.

The newly awakened “Visitors” navigated their way through the Vertical Air-trap Transportation System (VATS) without too much trouble; it was only the first one that they temporarily balked at before Violet showed them that it wasn’t harmful.  After a few minutes they arrived at the large workshop located near the first couple of rooms, where Sandra had assembled – and Violet had enchanted – the Hauler and wagon a relatively short time ago.  For the moment, however, it was relatively empty of projects or supplies; in fact, there was a small open-topped stone box in the corner and three of Sandra’s Dungeon Monsters in the room.

One of them was the large Mechanical Jaguar Queen lying down in another corner of the room, which had returned to the workshop after delivering the Elites to the Elven town about a day and a half ago; the other two were a pair of Unstable Shapeshifters, who waited by the edge of the room in their multi-colored amorphous shape that apparently hurt Violet’s head if she stared at it for too long.

“What is this place?” Felbar asked, as he – with only the slightest hesitation – walked over to the Jaguar Queen to take a better look at it.  To Sandra it only made sense; the Warmaster was used to large constructs as part of their lands’ defense, and the large metallic cat was similar – though quite different, of course – enough that it was undoubtedly fascinating to look at.  The small, battle-hardened Gnome showed no fear towards Sandra’s construct, which was likely the result of his general nature and personality; though, when she thought about it for a moment, it could also be because he knew that he was relatively safe in the dungeon.  If Sandra had wanted to kill him, she had plenty of opportunity before now.

The Dungeon Core explained to everyone what the workshop had been used for previously (specifically the Hauler and wagon) – though Violet already knew, obviously – and then went on to describe what she had been using it for…and eventually her plans for the future.

* I’ve been using it lately for enchanting purposes, because it’s far enough away from my Core that I’m not too worried about harming anything vital; I’m still learning to adapt my knowledge to practical applications, and there have been a few…let’s just say, “oops” moments that likely would’ve damaged something if they weren’t inside here. *

That last statement was obvious to see – there were a few spots on the floor that she hadn’t quite yet had time to repair from an explosion of raw Mana.  Sandra had gotten overconfident in her fledgling enchanting skills and had tried to change something in the new Energy Orbs she had been working on; the result was an uncontrolled explosion that practically rocked the room and vaporized