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

should’ve been impossible; knowing that every dungeon around her homeland wouldn’t be doing the same and attacking everyone at once took a little weight off her shoulders.  That didn’t excuse what had happened, though, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

If the dungeon intelligence could be believed – she was still accepting the fact that it was intelligent and could communicate with them – then what had happened was unintentional, and that Sandra had done what she could to rectify the situation.  That in no way excused the deaths of 71 of her fellow villagers.

* I understand completely after learning about all of this if you wish to leave and I will in no way stop you.  In fact, if you do want to leave, I’ll even send you back out with transportation from my Mechanical Wolves again, as well as some supplies. *

That was also a relief to know that they weren’t prisoners in the dungeon; despite the assurances when she had first communicated with Sandra, Violet wasn’t wholly convinced that this all wasn’t some sort of ploy meant to lull them into compliance.  Compliance into what, she didn’t know, but her knowledge and experience regarding dungeons in general was quite limited.

“Where would we go?  Glimmerton is destroyed and there are only a few of us left.  If this dungeon is to be believed, then those lizards could be back to attack at any time and we don’t have any more War Machines left that are operational.  I’m sure we could repair the basic shell of one of them, but without a Master Enchanter—” Kasdon looked apologetically at Violet— “we can’t completely repair the runes to get it to work.”

That was a sore spot for her; Violet had been one of the “lucky” ones that had been away from the ELA when it was overrun by the nearby dungeon.  She had just started her training in the art of War Machine rune-making, but the Academy had been destroyed before she could learn more than the most basic enchantments.  When many of the Apprentices, Adepts, and Master Enchanters were killed, much of the knowledge was lost with them.  That wasn’t the only thing that was lost; her parents – Master Enchanters themselves and essentially all of the family she had left – had also fallen as part of the attack.

There were still a few retired Master Enchanters living elsewhere that were attempting to pass on their knowledge, but everyone was worried that they would die of old age before they could teach everything they knew.  It took nearly a decade of study and constant practice before one could become a Master Enchanter, and there were very few Gnomes left anywhere that had the necessary elemental affinities to learn how to maintain, repair, and craft new War Machines – their ultimate defense against the dungeon monsters encroaching on their lands.  The loss of three Machines was a significant tragedy; production had essentially stopped after the ELA fell, so what they had now was – potentially – all they had for the future.

Since Violet herself could maintain them and repair the most common rune problems on the War Machines, she had been sent to Glimmerton to ensure they were in top working order.  The supply of steel and other metals – which were dropped by the lizards, crocodiles, and turtles when they were culled – was important to maintain those same War Machines, as well as providing material to craft other weapons like the defensive crossbows they had used to defend the village.  With new War Machine production stalled, other weapons – using those same materials – were being designed and created to help them against the monsters getting closer to their settlements every day.  Of course, they weren’t nearly as effective as the powerful Machines, but they were doing what they could.

“Even if we were to repair one of them, if those massive lizards are still there, it would just be smashed apart again.  With the threat of them there in the forest, there’s no chance of culling the monsters for loot anymore; which in turn means that the entire point of the village being there is lost,” Jortor contributed, gloominess in his voice as he commented.  “I suppose we could go back to the capital, but then what?  We were supposed to be in Glimmerton for years, supplying much-needed material, and I don’t know of any other dungeons nearby that would be able to provide what we’ve just lost.”  He looked extremely downcast, and Violet couldn’t blame him – she felt the same way.

There didn’t sound like there was a good solution anywhere; even ignoring the fault of Sandra in the role she played in killing so many of her friends and the destruction of the village, that didn’t change the fact that it happened.  They couldn’t change the past and she needed to look towards the future; not only their future – herself and the others with her in the dungeon – but the future of the entire Gnome race.  The loss of Glimmerton and the materials it gathered and supplied was significant and would put a major dent in their weapon production; she couldn’t see any way to recover from that without years of work and establishing another outpost elsewhere – if a suitable dungeon supplying what they needed could even be found.

* If you do decide to stay, at least for a while, I can help you. *

Help?  What could a dungeon do to help?  And why would we want help from someone who has done so much harm to us already?  Angry and sorrowful thoughts flowed through her head as she remembered dozens of her friends being cut down outside of Glimmerton’s walls earlier that day in the fields, after being overrun by the surprise attack by the dungeon’s monsters. However, reason and curiosity cut through those thoughts as she thought about