For the last two months, adventurers and the sun elves were slowly testing the champion of the tenth floor for its weak spots. One was well known, and even Dungeon Mistress confirmed it.
“Yes.” She said one day, when someone asked her to clarify his suspicions. “ I ordered the golems to hold back. They could only attack to disarm or disable you.”
“Dungeon Mistress, while the difficulty of your first fifteen or twenty floors should be moderate, you still should prioritise your safety.” The Grand Forge Master lectured her.
“With all respect, Grand Forge Master, all those adventurers are good people, and they don’t deserve meaningless death in my halls. Secondly, accidents will happen regardless, and some injuries are as bad as death. And most importantly, there is the law of hospitality, sir. So when that time comes, which I hope never comes, they will show how dangerous they truly are. The only problem is that I’m not prepared for the carnage that will happen.”
After that statement, everyone began to look at the golems differently. It does not stop adventurers from taking advantage of the clumsiness of dungeon guardians, but they keep a close eye so as not to be surprised.
The guardian of the tenth floor also had another obvious weakness. It was big. And while it could move easily and was able to respond immediately to an attack, it couldn’t outrun anyone. And adventurers never face him alone. Dungeon Mistress was visibly aware of that, so she gave the golem thick armour and long and heavy pincers to fight back.
Now, when the Dungeon Mistress finished the eleventh floor, it was time to get serious. The next day after her return from a two-week absence, on the tenth floor, an impressive expedition was gathered. It was also an expedition like never before. Side by side stood adventurers, paladins, and sun elves. All had assigned roles and knew their role. Later, when stories about this expedition and other similar occurrences reach the outside world, no one will believe them.
The fight was long and brutal. Paladins in heavy armour were blocking the moves of the giant crab. From behind them, mages were launching salvos of grand magic spells to crack the armour of the golem. Sun elves and their companions were looking for weak spots in joints and cracks in the armour to weaken the guardian. And adventurers were everywhere. Some stood with paladins, others cast spells or attacked directly. There was also a special group tasked with taking away anyone wounded to the healers waiting nearby. The General Serator and the Lady Itylara coordinated everything.
Finally, after more than an hour of constant fighting, they managed to defeat it. To Naomi, relief that no one died this time. There were nine seriously injured people, two even unconscious, but nothing life-threatening.
A team of artisans, helped by a few adventurers, started examining and disassembling the golem. They have forty-five, maybe fifty minutes at best to disassemble the guardian.
At the same time, almost one hundred people moved to see the new floor for the first time. The General and Lady Itylara went as their commanders and were accompanied by all grand priests. They decided they needed to see for themselves what had happened there, rather than rely on the accounts of adventurers, no matter how accurate they might be.
There was nothing special about the second floor of the tower. It was simply a place prepared for a stay. The glass in the windows was dimmed, so it was hard to see anything outside. They assume that the Dungeon Mistress did that to hide some secrets of the floor. On the first floor, the windows are made of clear glass. For the first time, they saw golems of this floor.
“People? But dungeons can’t summon people to be their defenders.” Pinera said.
“Yes. But there is something wrong with them. And I don’t mean obvious lack of typical legs or tail.” The Grand Forge Master nodded.
“From the ground level, we will be able to see them better.” The General decided.
Three teams were sent outside first to secure the perimeter and see what they needed to deal with. I tas team of the Lady Itylara, paladins commanded by The General Serator himself, and Achille and his men. They were immediately surrounded by thirty or so golems, who rushed into the plaza. Dealing with them wasn’t easy. The problem was not in the number, armour, or strength of golems. They were carrying weapons and shields and looked like…
“Orcs!” One adventurer shouted with hatred. The initial shock of what they look like, and a need to change the way of fighting, were the main problems.
“How is it possible that there are orcs here?” One of the sun elf officers asked, after the fight ended.
“Because they are not orcs.” The Grand Forge Master answered.
“And they are clear for any taint.” The minotaur Grand Priest said, and the Grand Priest of the sun elves agrees with him.
“So, Dungeon Mistress builds them alone. That is great, but why?” Achille asked.
“I’m probably partially responsible for that.” The Lady Itylara said. “During our training, I mentioned that there is a big difference between fighting people and fighting monsters.”
“And, Dungeon Mistress got an idea to create training puppets for us. But because dungeon masters are forbidden to summon people to be their guards, she built golem orcs. And because no law predicted them, it’s up to us to decide.” Juthar concluded.
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“I’m voting yes.” Crall stepped forward while playing with the head of the destroyed golem. “Dungeon Mistress builds them for us to train, so let’s use them. Only the dungeon master from the Adventurers City has something similar, but it’s more for paladins and soldiers. We adventurers, besides some occasional fight with bandits, don’t have a place for a fight with that kind opponent.” Most adventurers agreed with him. A few were hesitant, but none were against.
“The same goes for paladins.” The General Serator said. “While it’s true we have floors in there prepared for some of our needs, they are for teaching officers how to command soldiers. Those golems could be useful for paladins, too.”
“I also see potential in them.” The Lady Itylara said. “Regretably, they are a little too simple to be of use.”
“My lady, you can be sure refining the golems will be the first thing the Dungeon Mistress will do if we say we want more.” The dwarven Forge Master laughs.
“I’m curious about what face warlocks will make when they learn that monsters they are so proud of are turned into training dummies.” Crall jouked to Achille.
“I bet we will hear their screams even here.” He answered, laughing.
“Right. We need to warn Dungeon Mistress. Worlocks will want revenge for that."
“I will send the message to all border patrols to watch for any attempts at invasion.” The Lady Itylara agreed with him.
“Scouts are back. Let’s hear what they have to say. Maybe they found something important.” The General pointed to the three people jumping from the roof of nearby homes.
“What did you find?” he asked.
“It’s a maze. This city was built without any supervision of its growth. Streets bend unexpectedly, or vanish entirely without reason. And those orc golems are everywhere.” The elven scout started.
“And this city is beautiful. I didn’t see or hear of anything similar.” Danae from the Achille team said, and the elven scout agrees.
“And note for scouts or anyone wanting to climb on the buildings. They are entirely made from metal, and in this sun, they will burn your hands if touched. So gloves and boots will be necessary, but without metal parts, because you will alert all the golems in the area.” The paladin archer said.
“They are from metal?” The Grand Forge Master rushed to the nearest building to check this revelation. And indeed, what he saw surprised him. Buildings were built from metal plates riveted together. Similar to the tavern on the fifth floor, there was an external and internal part connected with wood, seen in the door and window frames. And everything was painted white and decorated.
“Grand Forge Master, we need to go. Time is almost up. Soon, there will be a reset.” The General Serator interrupted his examination.
“Right. I guess I will stay here a little longer to examine the golems and those buildings personally.” The Grand Forge Master answered.
In the oasis next to the return ring, Naomi was waiting nervously for anyone from the eleventh floor. The priests waiting for injured adventurers try to calm her down, but she wasn’t able to do that, regardless of their words. At least no one died there.
Finally, three people appeared in the middle of the ring. It was the Grand Priest Juthar, Elven Grand Priest Tarron, and Grand Priestess Pinera.
“Uff. You are back. I was starting to worry if something had happened down there. I know no one dies, but accidents and injuries can happen.” Naomi started talking nervously.
“Don’t worry, Dungeon Mistress. Everyone is safe and accounted for. We were just deeply moved by the beauty of your work, and needed time.” Pinera smiled gently.
“Oh, yes. It turns out much better than I planned. Raw metal is cold and unwelcoming, so I added paint and art to make it nice.” Naomi confirmed, but also downplayed the scope of her work. “But that’s irrelevant. What about the golems?”
The minotaur Grand Priest stepped forward.
“Dungeon Mistress. While we have some mixed feelings about the golem orcs, we recognise your will to help us. We also see new possibilities they could give us.” He announced.
“However, Dungeon Mistress.” The elven Grand Priest spoke. “While we don’t want to be rude, and don’t know if this is possible, we want to ask you about some additional work on them. For now, they are a little too easy, especially for more experienced warriors.”
“Uff.” Naomi exhaled, relieved. “I was so worried about your reaction. And the improvements I've already planned, the golems on the twelfth floor should prove to be a bigger challenge. The legs are tricky, so I probably will need a little more time for that.”
“Take your time, Dungeon Mistress.” The minotaur Grand Priest answered. “However, we need to warn you, Dungeon Mistress. Worlocks and cultists in general could take it personally that you are using their monsters as training dummies for adventurers.”
“Oh gods, I didn’t think about that!” Naomi got pale.
“Do not worry, Dungeon Mistress. They won’t be able to do anything serious. However, you must be ready for spies and assassins. Some of them are quite formidable opponents, and they could reach your oasis.” The elven Grand Priest said.
“Understand, but please warn all caravan commanders, and anyone who could be attacked too. They could try targeting adventurers coming here instead of me.” Naomi said.
“We will do that immediately, Dungeon Mistress,” Juthar answered. They were planning that anyway. They have some time to warn and prepare for eventual attacks before news reaches cultists, but every day counts.
The news spread fast in the oasis. When Naomi entered the tavern, the adventurers were talking about only one thing: orcs.
One adventurer whistled loudly when Naomi entered the tavern.
“Everyone, Dungeon Mistress is here!”
“Hello. Something happened?”
“We heard, Dungeon Mistress, you have orcs down there.” One of the bravest adventurers stepped forward and asked.
“Oh. No, they are not orcs.” Naomi shakes her head, amused. “They are a golem that looks like one. I take armour and instead of a normal helmet, I put a sculpted head of the orc on the top.”
“So like those scarecrows for archers?” Another asked.
“Yes. But my can move, fight back, and look ugly.”
“That is a description of an orc.” Someone on the back shouted, and all started laughing.
“Anyway, wait a few days for the expedition to return. Then we will all know more. I’m also curious about your friend's opinion about orc golems.” Naomi said. The atmosphere immediately calmed down, and adventurers started sharing stories among themself about their encounters with orcs.
