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

those enchantment pillars you have in that room above and there wasn’t really anything else for me to do.  Felbar and that Elf are still unconscious, though I’ve at least seen Felbar shifting around a little.  I came to see if something had happened to you and whether you can tell if one of the others will be waking up soon,” Violet responded.

A quick look at the Enchantment Repository showed that Violet had indeed finished setting up the Fields on Sandra’s RRPs, and that another twenty or so smaller enchantments had been added here and there, which was likely a good portion of what the Gnome had knowledge of.  She was glad to see that the Gnome had kept herself busy, though she couldn’t blame her for wanting to explore and find out what happened to Sandra – she was also glad that the flame wall trap had been taken down, otherwise there was a good chance Violet would’ve gotten burnt to ashes within seconds.

Another look at Felbar and Echo showed no outward change in them, but Sandra had a distinct feeling that they wouldn’t stay that way for long.  Especially since it had only been about two weeks before Kelerim had woken up, and if she added the time she was blacked out to her upgrade, then—

Wait a minute, Winxa – did you say I was down a week?

“Yes, and quite a boring week it was, too.  I didn’t leave for fear that you would come back when I was gone, and I wanted to make sure I was here—”

Sandra blocked out the rest of what the Dungeon Fairy was saying as she sent her awareness out to the borders of her Area of Influence, connecting with the Small Animated Shears she had out keeping watch on all of the villages and dungeons (where they were hiding in safe spots and weren’t in a position to be attacked by some of the flight-capable Dungeon Monsters).  She mentally exhaled a giant sigh of relief as nothing seemed too much out of the ordinary.  Even paying special attention to the Elven village – and the area around it –  didn’t show any signs of the Elites that were coming to destroy her; she still wasn’t sure what she was going to do about them, though she had thought she was going to have some more time to come up with something.  I guess I’ll just have to hope that they stay away until Echo wakes up.

 Other than their visit looming over her head like an axe poised to strike her figurative head off, the only thing that worried her was the new Area of Influence that Sandra could perceive from the reptilian-based Core.  It had expanded significantly since she had last seen it, until it extended just past the edge of the forest nearest the Elves.  It wasn’t yet a significant danger to them, fortunately, but it was something that could potentially be a problem in the future.

Pulling her attention back to her Home room, she realized that both Violet and Winxa had been trying to talk to her.

* I didn’t hear anything of what you were saying; I was checking the borders of my Area of Influence, making sure that none of the villages nearest the wastelands were in danger.  Being gone so long made me worried for their welfare from the other Dungeon Cores, especially the reptile one that attacked your village, Violet. *

She communicated that to both of them, trying to apologize for ignoring them but explaining that it was for a better cause.  Winxa understood right away, of course, but Violet looked confused.

“What do you mean the…reptile one?  It already destroyed my village and it is way too far away from the nearest town deep inside Gnomeria,” the Gnome stated, which was actually the first time Sandra had heard what their land was named.

* To be blunt, I’m not too concerned about…Gnomeria for the moment.  It’s the Elves that are in danger; the Core that attacked your village gained a lot of resources and expanded where it could reach quite a bit since then and is almost able to reach the nearby Elven village.  They can’t reach it yet, but it might only be a matter of time.  If they were to expand again – which could take anywhere from a few months to a few years – then they could wipe out that village just as quickly.  And if that were to happen, they would gain even more resources to expand again and again, until they could finally reach far enough into your land to attack another town.  Do you understand why I’m worried, now? *

Violet looked horrified at Sandra’s explanation, which was honestly mirrored by the Dungeon Core herself.

* Hopefully, we have a while until that happens; given enough time, I can help the nearby villages enough through crafting or other support until they can adequately defend themselves.  Of course, I need to survive that long – which I may not if those Elites arrive and try to kill me. *

Everyone was silent as they considered Sandra’s words.  Finally, Violet broke the silence.  “If you want, I can try talking to them.”

Sandra immediately shut that idea down – she had almost lost Junipar to the unprovoked attack by that Elven man that found Echo’s bow, and she didn’t believe that another visit would be any more effective.  Nothing had really changed since she first learned about the pending attack; she still had the same barriers to communication that she had previously, with no real solution to prevent it from happening.

The only hope she had, unfortunately, was if there was something in her Advancement Options that would help.  A Gnoll, Kobold, Ember Giant, Cyclops, Nymph, Dryad, Shadow Goblin, Hobgoblin, and even a Crystal Golem were all available now, but none of them seemed any more suited for communicating and stopping