The Crafter's Dungeon: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 1) Jonathan Brooks (sites to read books for free .TXT) 📖

killed yet was encouraging, but his luck lately hadn’t been the best.  Still, he was holding out hope that he’d be able to survive long enough to escape before he was trapped there forever.

The “Ironclad Ape” – or at least that was what he thought the voice called it – turned into the tunnel and quickly moved down it a short distance.  Kelerim couldn’t move that fast, though, so he only arrived as a portion of the tunnel swung outward, revealing another tunnel intersecting it.  The Ape loped inside without hesitation, with the Iron metal parts that it was entirely comprised of rubbing against each other, creating a very odd combination of screeches and squeals.

With only a slight hesitation on his own part, he followed the Ape further into the dungeon.

Chapter 31

The door swung back into place after Kelerim entered, closing so softly that all he heard was a little click as it settled into place.  He looked over his shoulder to see his way out blocked by seemingly solid stone, and it was only when he looked closer that he saw the miniscule lines that indicated where the door once existed.

Movement above his head made him jerk back in surprise, as he saw what appeared to be a pair of small shears floating near the doorway.  It didn’t make any threatening move in his direction, so he tried to ignore the sharp implement poised above his head and continued after the Ape.

* Those doors were a pain to make, but I’d say the entire day I worked on them was worth it.  Multiple Steel hinges support the reinforced hollow stone door shells, making them super lightweight – and practically invisible from the outside tunnel!  In fact, my Small Animated Shears are able to open and close the doors all by themselves, as well as being able to lock them so that no one can get in here if I don’t want them to. *

Animated Shears?  He supposed that was a good name for the implement floating above the doorway, but everything he saw just engendered more questions.  One of the new ones had to do with the different “monsters” he had seen already; he had never heard of anything remotely like them, though he had to admit that he wasn’t an expert or anything.  Still, he would’ve thought the knowledge of seeing a metal monkey roaming around would’ve spread around a little.

He slowly followed his guide down a short tunnel, before he arrived at a room with curved walls, making another cylindrical shape.  What’s with the cylinders in this place?  There were two holes in the floor – each of them approximately 5 feet across – but what they were there for was a mystery.

At least until he watched the Ape that he was following jump down one.

Kelerim rushed over – as much as his body would let him – to the hole and looked down, expecting to see the metal monkey in pieces down below; unexpectedly, he watched as the Ape gently slowed down the closer it got to the ground, alighting with barely a bump as it touched down into a similar-seeming room below.  The former Blacksmith’s beard and hair were rustled by a rush of air from down below, before it died away.

* Okay.  I realize it might look a little…unsafe…but I assure you I’ve tested it with as many different weights as I could reasonably find, and everything has worked perfectly since I made the necessary changes.  There shouldn’t be any reason to think that it wouldn’t work for a living, breathing creature the same as it does for my constructs.”

The phrasing of that last statement caused him to step back in trepidation.  Is she saying that she hasn’t tried this on a “living” creature before?  The fact that he was not only the first person, but the first thing that was actually alive made him take a few more steps backwards.  The distance appeared to be at least 40 feet down, and while that might not kill him outright, it would certainly hurt – as well as do some serious damage to his body.

* Go on, it will be okay. I told you, it should be perfectly safe. *

When he still hesitated, her voice took on a bit of an edge to it.

* Believe me, if I wanted to kill you, I’ve had plenty of chances before this.  Jump in now, or you’ll starve to death up here. *

Ugh…that’s not much of a choice.  It was either a slow death by dehydration and starvation, or a quick death from impact – or possibly an excruciatingly painful impact followed by hours of suffering from broken bones.  He had a fairly hardy constitution, thanks to his Dwarven parentage, but something like that would be hard to walk away from.

It was an easy choice, because he hated being hungry; he had been a day or two away from complete starvation too many times to count during his early years living in Orcrim.  If he was going to choose the way he was going out, it was going to be (hopefully) the quick way.  Kelerim only hesitated another few moments before he resolutely walked toward the hole the Ape had jumped down.  Instead of stopping at the edge and losing his nerve, he continued walking until he felt his foot hit dead air and he dropped through the hole.

The first few feet down through the hole was enclosed on all sides, like he was going through a tunnel, and he fell without any resistance.  As soon as he passed through into the room below, however, he felt some air pushing up against him from below.  The air pushing up against him soon became powerful enough that he had to close his eyes – lest they painfully dry out – which actually helped push down the scream that threatened to