Regardless of official opinion on how easy Naomi Orc golems were, the truth was that it wasn’t as easy as adventurers were telling. During a one-on-one fight, they were easy. Even two golems on one adventurer was doable, but he needed to fight seriously. However, Naomi ensures that there are at least five golems in the group, and they could be bands, numbering over twenty. Adventurers often need to retreat or seek shelter in one of the houses. And the golems had no qualms about chasing them and trying to break into the barricaded house. Their lack of normal legs prevents them from braking in successfully, but they still try regardless. Fortunately, the golems' armor was not thick, and there were also gaps between the joints. Mages and even archers could finally show what they can do.

  The most significant issue with this floor was that it required finding three different keys to open the doors blocking the stairs further down. At first, they looked everywhere. Under the pots, in chests, in cracks between the floor planks. They went through dozens of homes in the first days of the expedition, when suddenly someone shouted.

  “I found the key!” The adventurer was surrounded by the rest of her team and demanded that she tell them where he was hidden.

  “The key was just on the table. It wasn’t hidden at all.” She answered.

  They believed her, but it doesn’t make sense. The keys need to be hidden. However, the next day in another home, they found the second key, which was placed on the cupboard, also on the plain sought.

  “I don’t make sense. The keys should be hidden.” Wed from the Jilax team said when adventurers gathered in the tower in the center of town.

  “Dungeon Mistress, reminds us that the most important things are always near us, in plain sight. “ The commander Serator said.

  “Also, those keys were hidden in a way. We were looking for them for days. I wouldn't be surprised if we missed one.” Scout Thora from the Crall team observed.

  “Right. It’s our first expedition, so who knows what else we will find. Let’s try to find two more keys before our return.” Nurmela said.

  “But we have two already. We need one more.” Nonisa protested.

  “It’s the same key. Look at the engraving.” Nurmela pointed. Indeed, there was the same silhouette of a paladin standing on guard.

  “Gods. That means we need to search half of this town for a set of keys.”Nonisa gasped.

  “Yes. This floor is deceptively simple. Golems that can be smashed easily, but could overwhelm you with numbers. Beautiful town, which mesmerizes you, but in reality it’s a deadly trap.” The lady Itylara said.

  The two days after Naomi finished the twelfth floor, a new expedition was formed. This time, they prepared for a longer stay than the few days necessary for exploring the eleventh floor. Also, the next floor should be much more challenging. Dungeon Mistress confirmed herself.

  “Please, gods, let this new floor be without the keys to find.” Nonisa prayed before the fight with the champion.

  “Or any puzzles,” Wed added.

  “Right, puzzles too.” Nonisa agreed.

  The fight with the champion of the tenth floor went smoothly. Just five people get wounded, and only one needs to stay. The finding set of keys took three days. Throughout the last months, before Dungeon Mistress built the twelfth floor, adventurers created a tactic that allowed them to acquire the keys fast. Scouts were running over the roofs and sneaking into houses in search of them. At the same time, warriors keep golems occupied. The porters waited until each skirmish ended so they could run to nearby homes and recover anything of value.

  This exploration focused on finding the keys as quickly as possible to access the next floor. Still, it took them four days to find all the keys. They went down to the lower floor with only half the porters and without several adventurers who were wounded or had their armor destroyed. All of them return with backpacks full of goods. Regardless of the outcome of the exploration of the twelfth floor, the expedition team earns some money.

  When they descended, they stood for the moment confused. The twelfth floor looked underwhelming. The general layout was similar to the town on the upper floor. The central column where the stairs were, and the city around it. There were some differences. For example, the city was no longer a labyrinth. The buildings were constructed in a much more orderly manner, with a dozen or so wind-catching towers and chimneys.

  “Gods. Dungeon Mistress didn’t joke that she made them uglier.” Crall spat on one of the golems after their fight.

  “And they are also much faster.” One paladin added.

  “Not only that. They are smart too. They tried attacking us from the sides, while we were occupied with the fight.” The sun elf officer observed.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Well, it’s normal to watch each other's backs while fighting. We have to do as always, and everything will be fine.” Crall shrugged.

  Other teams of adventurers join in to get a taste of the fight with improved golem orcs. At the start, the fights were chaotic and full of dangerous situations. However, they soon found the best way to fight them. This doesn't mean they started destroying golems by the dozens. On the contrary, even the sun elves, who have no major problems fighting them, do not rush forward. While the warriors were learning how to fight with a new golem, scouts, meanwhile, were trying to learn more about the town, and maybe even found a staircase to the next floor. This time, Dungeon Mistress hides them somewhere, not like before, placing them in the basement of the tower.

  Late in the afternoon, after dinner, all the expedition leaders gathered to discuss the conclusions of the first day.

  “Let me begin.” Lady Itylara started. “The golems are improved like Dungeon Mistress promised. They are faster and smarter. We need to watch ourselves here. Ambushes and attacks from behind could be possible.”

  “Right, those buggers are serious trouble.” Crall agrees.

  “I wouldn't exaggerate about their intelligence. They are not smarter than some animals.” Nurmela said. “We need to watch ourselves when fighting them, but outsmarting them should be doable.”

  “True. We do that every day in the north. With paladins, we could try some proven methods.” Crall said, and Paladin Lieutenant nodded. Indeed, in the north, skirmishes and sometimes even full-scale battles were fought every year. Citadels were able to stop full-scale invasion, but there were still hidden or dangerous paths high in the mountains or beneath the earth. Too risky for humans, but warlocks and necromancers don't care about their slaves.

  “And how went the scouting mission?” The lady Itylara asked.

  “My Lady.” Thora, who became the leader of this scouting mission, begins. “Regretably, we didn’t manage to scout too much. Aleys between buildings are in many places too wide to jump over, and on the ground, golems are everywhere. We didn’t find anything that stands out.”

  “It’s the first day. Whatever Dungeon Mistress hides on this floor, it’s unlikely to be found just like that.” Nurmela said.

  “There is something else,” Thora spoke up. “And all scouts agreed on that. This floor looks unfinished.”

  “Unfinished? How?” The paladin officer asked.

  “Compare this floor to the eleventh. There are perhaps half as many buildings on this floor as on the previous floor, and most of them are single-story. Just a few have the second floor. And inside is rarely a place for people to live. Most of the buildings are shops, luxury taverns, and so on.”

  “Wind caching towers.” Nurmela realized. “In the basement could be the rest of the town.”

  “Something like a dwarven city. It makes sense. Our permanent homes are also carved into the rocks. Inside is a pleasant cold regardless of the heat of the day.” The Lady Itylara said.

  “Here, it will be just a spacious basement at best. You can’t dig too deep in the sand.” Nurmela shakes her head.

  “Yes. That’s why we chose rocky cliffs, and don’t dig.” The Lady Itylara confirmed.

  The next day, they chose two teams to explore the basement and see if they would find anything there. A team of Nurmela and sun elves was chosen to conduct the reconnaissance. Crall decided to stay to try some northern methods of dealing with orcs. Those golems acted very similarly to the real orc, so there was a chance they would work.

  “Gives us one hour. After that, start to worry.” Nurmela said to Crall.

  “Sun elves will accompany you. If there is something that bad, I should run in the opposite direction instead.” He laughed.

  “Fuck, you are right,” Nurmela swore, and both laughed.

  The interior of the inn was empty. Like scouts observed yesterday, there wasn’t even a tiniest room prepared for everyday living. There was only the kitchen and a hall with benches.

  “Fancy stairs,” Iason observed.

  “Agree. They don't look like they were made for kitchen staff.” The elven scout nodded.

  “Let’s see what’s there.”

  “How deep is this basement?” Iason wondered aloud after climbing a few stairs.

  “We are about six meters underground. I counted plates.” The elven scout whispered.

  “There are two more flights, I think. So about ten meters deep. That’s not a typical basement.” Iason answered quietly.

  The small rabbit companion of the elf scout returns.

  “There are five orcs there. Big chamber.” The sun elf said after scooping it from the ground and petting it a little.

  “Understood.” Nurmela nodded. “Elandor, with me in front. Mages, ready something nasty. After the first salvo, we rush in and make a space. The rest will follow.” Nurmela decided.

  The plan went better than expected. Nonisa's ice shard and stone spear of the elven mage destroy two nearest golems, and throw them at the third, which falls on the floor. Two other circled heaps of metal scrap made them an easy target.

  “Nice work, let’s see what we have here,” Nurmela said.

  This place was also a tavern, but had a much larger kitchen and sleeping areas. And more steps leading down the back. The wall opposite the counter was covered in white curtains with painted floral patterns. When they carefully crossed them to see what was on the other side, they just stopped, not believing their eyes. There was a dwarven city. Light up by magical plants and mana stones. There were also birds flying around.

  Nurmela dropped to her knees and started crying.

  “Nurmela, what happened?” Nonisa immediately grabbed her by the shoulders.

  “Lost… hick…city…” She managed to say between sobs.

  “Lost city?” Mage asked.

  “I believe she refers to ancient towns built for the first people by the gods.” The Elven commander said. “Most of them have fallen to ruin, and those who still exist have lost their past splendor. This place fits perfectly with myths about them.”

  “Thank you,” Nonisa answered, and the commander nodded.

  “Well. This place is beautiful, no question here. But finding exiti here will be like looking for nidle in the haystack.” Iason said.

  “Indeed.” The elven commander agreed.

  “We need to go back. Nurmela is unable to fight, and the time for a reset is approaching.” Nonisa said to the gathered.

  “Yes. We need to retreat.” The elven commander answered.