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

the dungeons that they can’t afford the luxury of having slaves that may or may not help fight,” the Dungeon Fairy answered.

Filing that information away, Sandra used the Golem to touch the gear tattoo on Felbar’s chest, followed by his mouth, and then to his temple.  She was trying to convey that the bond would allow her to talk to his mind, but she wasn’t sure how successful she was at it.

“This…will allow you to talk to us?” Violet said, pointing towards the bronze gear.

I guess I was more successful than I thought.  Sandra again waved her Golem’s arms up and down in affirmation.

“Ok…then do it,” the small woman said.

“What?!  No, don’t do it, Violet – you don’t know what it will do to you!” said one of the other Gnomes, who tried to move her away from Felbar as if the gear on his chest was some sort of disease that could be spread.  Violet shook him off and repeated her request for Sandra to do it.

Before the Gnome woman could change her mind, Sandra initiated the Bond again and felt Mana and Raw Materials stream out of her.  To her surprise, only 100 of the former and 500 of the latter was needed to complete the Visitor Bond; neither she nor Winxa had any explanation for the difference, though the Fairy mentioned that it might have something to do with the Gnome’s willingness and her lack of unconsciousness.

The same light blinded everyone again and Sandra heard Violet scream out in pain; fortunately, it was over just as fast as it began, and she saw the Gnome woman blinking her eyes and trying to stare at her hands.  The Natural and Spirit Elemental Orbs were gone – as Sandra had expected – but in their place were two bronze-colored gears on either palm.  They were similar in appearance to the larger one on Felbar, but of course a bit smaller; on one, Sandra could see flecks of green; on the other, she saw flecks of yellow.

The Repair Drone moved over to Violet and did its whole healing thing again, though this time with green and yellow energy streams pumping into her.  The Gnome seemed to be frozen during the process, but it was only temporary; within seconds, the Drone was done, and it moved off after putting its arms away.

“Thank you – I can see again,” Violet said absently, now able to see her palms and was staring at them in shock.  “Wh—what was that?  What are these things?”

* Sorry about the pain – I haven’t created a bond with someone conscious before and didn’t know. *

Violet looked around wildly at Sandra’s voice, though she recovered much faster from the shock of hearing a voice inside her head than Kelerim had.  “Who are you?  What did you do to me?”

Sandra started by explaining that she was the dungeon and that she was there to help and not harm them all.  She followed that up with what she thought was the reason Felbar was still unconscious, but that he would wake up eventually (she hoped). Then, with another few quick thoughts toward the woman, she described the bond that allowed her to speak to the Gnome and also explained that they were not “slave marks” or anything of the kind – and that they were free to leave at any time they wanted.  However, she stressed the need to hurry and convince the others to agree to the bond as well.

* I need you to convince the others of the need to perform the Visitor Bond as well, otherwise my hands are tied when it comes to changing the dungeon around while there is an ‘intruder’ inside.  I was forced to do it for Felbar there without his permission to save his life, but I won’t do it for anyone unwilling.  However, if they don’t agree, they’ll have to leave – at least temporarily; the other Dungeon Core’s reptile army is about an hour away, so there is time to escape if they want to.  Escape to where, I honestly don’t know – it’ll be highly dangerous anywhere they go. *

Sandra heard Violet start to explain what was going on to the other Gnomes, who had been staring at her essentially talking to herself; fortunately, instead of thinking she had lost her mind, they listened raptly to her words.  Apparently, the Gnome woman held a greater position in their village than she had thought, as the others all agreed to the bond.  Most of them still seemed reluctant, but they still gave their permission.

Rather than doing them one at a time, Sandra did a mass bonding on the other seven, concentrating on each of them and holding the Dungeon Visitor Bond at the forefront of her mind.  Just as Violet’s bonding had been, the Mana and Raw Materials were much less than Felbar’s and it only confirmed that being willing and conscious probably had a lot to do with the amount she needed to spend to form the Bond.

And, just like Violet, they were all slightly blinded from the light, which was quickly fixed by Sandra’s Repair Drone going from one to another.  Unlike Violet, however, they only had one bronze-colored gear on a single palm – depending on where they were holding the Elemental Orb that matched their affinity.  Sandra spoke to each of them individually and then as a group, and by the time they had gotten over the strangeness of her voice in their heads, the inevitable question came up.

“Why are you doing this?  Better yet, what are you going to do with us?”

* That’s a bit of a long explanation that we don’t have time for right now; I need to prepare for the small army of lizards, crocodiles, and giant turtles about to descend on my dungeon.  Rest assured that I mean you no harm and