This time, it was Crall’s turn to command the expedition.

  “For now, everything is going as usual.” He said that when they prepared the camp on the seventh floor. “We have two artisans with us. I say we give them one full day to play with turtles. On the second day, we grab the water stone and see if something in that serpent is worth all the hassle. On the third day, Nurmela’s, Jilax’s, and my team will go to see what Dungeon Mistress cooked on the eighth floor.”

  “Hopefully not literally. Being roasted in a volcano is enough for me.” Jilax said.

  “Agree. After each run there, I want to go back to the north, to see ice.” Crall laughed.

  The next days went without any serious problems. There were some injuries, but healers accompanying the expedition patched unlucky adventurers immediately, and no one died. Inside the golem snake, they found the usual: mana stones and gears. Artisans disassembled a few interesting parts and noted any other items that could be useful in the future. The following day, adventurers packed everything they had found and returned to the surface. On the seventh floor, only three teams remained, chosen to see for the first time a new floor. Avoiding the turtles was easy. You just needed to shoot them from a distance, and he was hiding in the shell for a few minutes. Adventurers were still watching around for other turtles hiding in the tall grass. The volcano area was much harder. Even if they don’t need to fight the guardian of the fire stone to enter the eighth floor, there are still a lot of golem lizards on the way. And the heat. When they reached the stairs to the lower floor where the temperature drops, they slumped on the steps for a rest.

  “I think we can go and see what's there.” Crall stood after a whole hour of resting.

  They exited the cave, guarded by cat statues. One was still intact, although barely visible due to all the vines and moss.

  “The jungle, huh. It's still hot and humid, but beats the volcano,” Jilax commented.

  “And a perfect place for traps and ambushes,” Nurmela answered.

  “The scouts will finally have something to do. They are bored after the last floor.” Crall shrugs.

  “And about the traps. One is already before us.” Thora pointed to the wide pathway in front of them.

  “Really?” Crall asked, surprised, seeing nothing. He was no scout, but despite his image as a brute, he was intelligent and experienced. He was able to spot simple traps.

  “It’s a magical trap. I can’t say much. But it’s there.” She answered.

  “She is right. There is something like a cloud of mana hiding something.” Hiki confirmed, and other mages nodded.

  “Then let’s see what is there. Shields up, weapons ready. And Nonisa. You like shooting things, so shoot it.” Crall ordered.

  “With pleasure.” Sorceress smiled.

  When her generic ice shard was about to hit the cloud of mana, it disappeared, revealing a golem cat. Polished brass gleamed under the sun. It was almost a piece of art. The golem didn’t wait to be hit and evaded projectiles gracefully.

  “Golem cat? And the only one? That will be easy.” Hemir said.

  Before anyone could say anything about how stupid he was, the golem shot a ball of mana straight at him. He readied his shield to brace for impact, but instead of an explosion, his shield just vanished.

  “What…” He unclenched his hand holding his shield. Movement breaks an invisibility spell, but Hemir was without a shield, and the golem was about to land on him. The cat only knocked him, however, and retreated.

  “That golem cast illusion spells! If something disappears, just shake it to break the spell!” Hranfast shouted. It was easy to say but harder to do. And even if you managed not to drop your shield or weapon, you will get distracted enough to miss your opportunity to strike or properly defend.

  “Who was so stupid as to say it will be an easy fight?” Nurmela looked at Hemir.

  “Not my fault this golem was cheating.”

  “Two things. We are in a dungeon, and the Dungeon Mistress is learning from Paoli how to fight. And Paoli believes in cheating.” Nurmela answered.

  “And about cheating, look at that.” Wed pointed at the big tree that was growing in the middle of a collapsed building. They need a moment to find the golem cat. Despite his polished armor, and because he wasn’t moving, he was hard to spot. And there was one more thing that made it difficult to find. He was in the wrong place. He doesn’t sit on the branch. He sits on the underside of it, ignoring gravity.

  “How?” Someone whispered.

  “Magic,” Nonisa replied with shining eyes and a broad smile. Illusion magic was cute, not exactly for her. However, magic that defies gravity was unheard of.

  Until they reached the plaza next to the pyramid, which was a safe zone, they encountered two more golems. One was able to cast lightning. Nothing dangerous, but enough to knock you, and there wasn’t a way to defend against it. Metal parts of armour and weapons attract lightning. The other one was able to shoot a beam of something. It wasn’t a fire, more like light, but it burns like fire.

  “Gods. I have enough for today.” Jilax slumped on the grass next to the small fountain with fresh water.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “And that was just four golems. Imagine what we will need to do next week when we start seriously exploring this floor.” Nurmela said.

  “Exit is near, so in the future we can skip this floor.” Crall pointed at the entrance to the pyramid.

  “But that means out there is something that can be worth a lot of gold,” Nurmela answered him.

  “Magic! We need to go there!” Nonisa shouted. She doesn’t have the mana or strength to do anything, but she was so happy. And she needed to see more. She got a wild idea. “I need to settle down here.”

  “Ok. We need to return. She caught dungeon sickness.” Iefer said, worried about his friend from the team. Dungeon sickness, or dungeon madness, was a broad term. Usually, obsessive greed for rare treasure, or just gold. Sometimes, it was a need for vengeance for fallen comrades or lovers. Those were apprehended by paladins on the spot. Going solo to any dungeon was a suicide, but there was always a chance of hurting the dungeon master.

  “Let’s go through the final floor. We will have something to brag about.” Crall laughed, pointing at the pyramid. Jilax looked at Nurmela, but she shrugged.

  “I don’t see a reason not to. Having something to brag about is good, and confirmation that nothing changed on the final floor is worth some money.”

  “I guess,” Jilax answered.

  An hour later, they moved through the maze inside the pyramid.

  “Those traps are strange,” Crall said after scouts disarmed one more trap. In general, it was a usual set of spears, blades, and even one boulder. But they were crude and easy to spot and evade.

  “They are probably meant to work in tandem with all those spiders,” Thora answered.

  “I agree that those spiders are annoying, but that is why we have fire magic.” Crall pointed out.

  “This is an exit to the lower floor. I bet Dungeon Mistress does all that just for fun.” Nurmela shrugged.

  “Definitely for fun,” Iason said when they entered the big chamber.

  “Dead end? Where are the stairs?” Nonisa asked.

  “Somewhere in the jungle.” Crall laughed.

  “And what do we do about that?” Hemir approached an altar.

  “If I see correctly, inside is some kind of treasure. We need to find four sculptures and place them on the altar.” Hiki said after looking at some paintings on the walls.

  “So the puzzle then. Let's return. I bet you will need to run for days to find even one sculpture.” Crall gives up.

  “I will stay and try to figure things out. There should be some clues.” Nonisa said.

  “No one stays behind and alone,” Nurmela said. “We can do it in a nice way or not so nice.” She stepped forward.

  “You won’t do that. We are friends. Right?” Nonisa stepped back and bumped into someone. She turns her head to see smiling Iason. He put his arms around her waist and shouted.

  “Kansas!” Both vanish.

  “You brute!” Nonisa shouted when they appeared on the surface.

  “What is going on?” Pinera asked.

  “Dungeon sickness. She needs a few days of rest.” Nurmela, who appeared immediately after, explained.

  “I’m fine. I need to go back.” Sorceress protested.

  “Listen. You will go with the healers and rest for a few days. Next week, we will all go together to the eighth floor. Or I will talk with Dungeon Mistress, and she will ban you from entering.” Nurmela said seriously.

  “But…” Nonisa started, but Nurmela interrupted her.

  “Listen. Do you want to study this crazy magic? Fine with me. But do you have the scrolls and ink for taking notes? I don’t think so. Let’s make a deal. Get a rest, organize things, and next week we go again.”

  “Fine.” Nonisa sighted.

  Late evening, the same day, Nurmela was sitting in the forge on the fifth floor. Sounds of the workshop soothed her dwarven soul.

  “So how was it?” Naomi sat next to her, not to obstruct a view.

  “Not bad, Dungeon Mistress. You surprised us with this weird magic.” Nurmela sips ale.

  “Nothing serious happened?”

  “Nah. Only some bruises. And Nonisa got sick, but a few days of rest and she should be fine.”

  “Sick?” Naomi was surprised. She doesn’t put anything there that could make someone sick.

  “Dungeon sickness, Mistress. It happens sometimes. For Nonisa, it was your magical golems that caused it.”

  “Oh no! Where is she? I need to talk with her.”

  “In healer's temple, Dungeon Mistress. So you will need to wait a day or two until she is well rested.”

  “Ok. Thank you.” Naomi ran somewhere.

  “Shit.” Nurmela swerved, but decided to finish her ale first.

  When she entered the tavern, praying that someone saw or heard where Dungeon Mistress ran, she saw her standing next to the counter.

  “Dungeon Mistress. Nonisa is fine. You don’t need to worry about her.” Nurmela said.

  “I understand. Don’t worry. I don’t plan anything crazy. Like an enormous banner on the tower with writing on it, ‘Get well’.” Noami laughed.

  “I like that idea.” Nurmela grinned. “It should teach her a lesson.”

  “Then we use it next time.” Naomi agreed.

  Adventurers who were in the tavern and heard that decided maybe thinking twice before doing something crazy is not a bad idea. Attracting the attention of the dungeon master always means a lot of trouble. For example, palladins and inquisitors don’t like it when someone bothers the dungeon master.

  “So, Dungeon Mistress, what other crazy idea do you get?”

  “Nothing crazy. I ordered a common sweet bun. And I write this small note.” On a small piece of paper was written ‘I hope you get well soon. Dungeon Mistress.’

  “I can take it to her.” Nurmela offered.

  “Thank you. I was thinking who I can ask for that.”

  An hour later, Nurmela was carrying a small plate with one bun on it. It was slowly getting dark outside, so she hastened her walk.

  “Nonisa, are you sleeping?” She asked when she entered a part of the healer's temple where light injuries were treated.

  “No, I can’t stop thinking about what I saw there.” Sorcerers confessed. “Thank you for not forgetting about me.”

  “I almost did. That is for you.” Nurmela gives her plate.

  “Of gods. You don’t need to.” She immediately takes a bite. “Sweet.” She was delighted.

  “It wasn’t my idea. It was Dungeon Mistress.” She grinned and pointed at a piece of paper.

  Nonisa takes it and reads it.

  “I’m in trouble?” She asked, really scared.

  “Nah, that is just a warning. But next time, you will get a banner on the tower.” Nurmela laughed at the pale sorceress.