The City of Adventurers was a bustling citadel. Surrounded by a deep and wide moat, as well as tall walls and dozens of towers, with a few thousand soldiers guarding it all the time. Over one hundred years, there were countless battles with the forces of Arch Warlock, who tried to conquer this city. However, in the heart of the city was a most famous dungeon, The Ancient One. Despite the name, it wasn’t older than other dungeons. But this dungeon master was a protege of the god Trinus, the god of war.
His name was Riley Duncan, and he was an officer in British SAS forces. Before he died in a car accident, he was a teacher at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and he taught history. No one besides the commander and a few other high-ranking officers in the school knew what he was doing before. He was part of the special forces responsible for fighting terrorists. Missions he was part of won’t be known anytime soon, if at all. Despite formidable physical prowess and a sharp mind at the age of forty-seven, he had retired from active duty. He knew it would eventually happen if he were lucky enough, but he was prepared for that too. He was a walking encyclopedia on warfare, from Roman times to the modern day. Outside the army, he will be called a nerd. In the military, this granted an extra officer rank after he finished his studies. After retirement, he easily got the position as a history teacher. And after arriving at the Theneya, he wasn’t entirely lost. More importantly, his knowledge greatly aided in organizing the line of citadels and forts, thereby protecting the north against the undead.
On the twelfth floor of his dungeon, there was a restricted area. Only Head priests, the adventurers' guild master, and generals commanding armies were allowed to enter. A platoon of palladins stationed there permanently was checking all approaching that part of the floor. They were ordered to arrest anyone not allowed to be there, without asking any questions. There were rumors that some fooling around adventurers were never seen again. However, these exaggerated safety measures were necessary. People talk and gossip, and behind the doors was a war room. In the central part of the chamber stood a dozen-meter-long table with a detailed map of the whole north, from the western to the eastern coast. There were carved mountains and valleys, painted roads, towns, and villages. Each road had a number indicating the time it took a soldier to march from one point to another. There were also marked citadels, forts, and hidden outposts, which guard the world against the undead.
Next to this was a round table with only ten yards in diameter. There was a model of the city and the surrounding area. Every defense of the city was planned and coordinated here. Through dungeon magic, Riley was able to create holographic images of anything that happened on the battlefield.
As formidable as his work was, there were many unresolved issues, which made the line of citadels less powerful than most people think. Supplies were one such issue, for example. Undead don’t need to eat while soldiers do. Communications was another one. There were heliographs and fires, and he modified the Morse code to fit the local alphabet, but even a little bit of bad weather, and everything falls apart. He decided to introduce modern technology, and the craftsmen working under his leadership managed to recreate firearms. However, he wasn’t an engineer but a historian and soldier, and he lacked the necessary knowledge for anything else. Guns were easy. He disassembled and assembled various models countless times, so he knew how they looked and worked. But turns out they can’t be implemented in a magical battlefield. Black powder can be triggered by any spark of fire, and fire spells are usually a common occurrence during a fight. For something much harder to trigger, they need an advanced chemistry industry, and it was hard to say how useful they would be anyway.
Recently, he started receiving some interesting news. Gods hired a new dungeon mistress. And according to the letters he received, she could be someone who could help fill some of those gaps. A special shipment arrived today straight from the On Taram oasis. It should contain a golem from the second floor, and also any useful information gathered by the head priests and the commander of palladins.
After thoroughly checking people who appeared on the twelfth floor and the contents of the crate and two chests, everyone was allowed to enter the war room.
“Finally, let's see what all this ruckus is all about.” A giant human wearing a blacksmith outfit said. His name was Gunnar, and he was a local Grand Forge Master.
“Let’s see.” Riley agreed. With a wave of his hand, a crate disappeared, revealing a golem rat and a small chest. In the chest were three thick scrolls and a set of wrenches for disassembling the golem.
“It doesn’t look impressive.” He observed. After one hundred years of seeing countless different treasures made by a grand masters, this artifact looks underwhelming.
“Yes. Something around master level.” The Grand Forge Master agrees.
“Because it’s her first creation, and also built by hand.” The Grand Scholar said while still reading one of the scrolls. Her name was Melaniphi, and she was a dryad.
“What, do you mean by hand?” Asked Railey.
“It’s written that Dungeon Mistress designed every part, then made molds for them, and finally cast them. Then she assembled the whole artifact, correcting any mistakes she found in the process. At the end, she designed an array hidden inside the head of the golem. She does that through dungeon magic, of course.” She explained what was written in the scroll.
All gathered look at her, then at the golem.
“It’s true. I see traces of all that work on every part.” Gunnar shakes his head in disbelief.
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“Why does she do that?” General Ururs asked.
“Simple. We can’t summon anything that doesn’t exist in this world.” Railey answered. “Question is why she does all of that instead of summoning some animals.”
“I have the answer.” Vianola, the elven Grand Priestess of the Sun, raised her hand. She was reading another scroll from one big chest. “Dungeon Mistress, do that for her core floor. There are animal guardians there. However, she hates bloodshed, and for her, summoned creatures are too real. Because of that, she built golems to substitute living beings.”
“She hates bloodshed? But it’s an everyday occurrence in the dungeon?” The general couldn’t understand.
“In my world, for people from the most developed countries, violence is usually something you hear about in stories. That's why many people falsely believe that you can negotiate any dispute, no matter how small or big. And many, because of that, even hate violence. Of course, some people experienced violence, and because of that, they are against it. Without talking to her, it’s hard to guess why she hates bloodshed.” Railey explained.
“I think it could be the second one.” Another person said after reading yet another scroll. He was the Guild Master of the merchants' guild.
“Ama-sin, what do you find?” Railey asked.
“Just a description of her floors. And what I see, she may be someone who doesn’t like violence, but is fully aware she should be preperd. Listen to this. Her first floor is on the ground level, and it’s a safe floor. It’s an oasis with everything needed for caravans and nomads. However, she surrounded everything with thick and tall walls, and she built gate houses. Normally, no big deal, but she is the only source of drinkable water in a week's radius, and we are talking about the great desert. Even if, for some reason, there wasn’t anyone to build an outpost there, nomads and especially sun elves would make their permanent camp.”
“And even without them, without water, you are dead.” The general nodded.
“About that. Turns out someone tried that anyway.” The Guild Mistress of the tavern keepers' guild said. “Some warlock drugged band of bandits and sent them to see what happens. They had zero chances to succeed because they trailed the first expedition. Oh, Dungeon Mistress intervened? She…” The woman's eyes went wide, and she started laughing hysterically.
Asmatarta, priestess of the god of Trinus, grabbed the scroll dropped by her. Soon she also laughed.
“Ha, ha, ha! Turns out, this young Dungeon Mistress tongue is sharp as a sword!”
The scroll started changing hands, and all ended laughing.
“That was a good one.” The Grand Forge Master said after they calmed down. “Sir, if I may ask you. Can you add this golem to your dungeon? One is not enough to discover its secrets, and ordering more of them from the On Taram is impossible.”
“I was thinking the same. It will make things more interesting for adventurers, too.” Railey nodded. He already checked the list of things that can be summoned, but turns out golems weren’t there. So he decided to immortalize it. To his disbelief, he barely made it.
“Oh gods.” He gasped when the process ended.
“Sir? Everything is all right?” Priestess of the Sun asked.
“Yes. I was just surprised how difficult it was.”
“Difficult?” The Priestess was stunned. This dungeon master was known for his vast knowledge.
“Yes. I needed to recall everything I knew. This golem may have looked rough, but I’m sure she put her everything into building it.” Railey said.
“It’s more than that.” The Adventurers Guild Master said, His name was Enzo, and he was an elf. “I found this scroll stored in a separate chest with the label urgent. It says that Dungeon Mistress, during the construction of her dungeon, accidentally discovered a higher version of magic.”
“The what?” Melaniphi almost shouted.
“It’s written that she doesn’t visualize process or object, but she does both simultaneously. Also, every grand master can do it too. There is a warning that higher-level spells cost much more than usual, and mages need to train a lot before using them.”
First was Raily, who tried it. He summoned a fireball, but besides imagining fire, he added all his chemistry knowledge. The new ball of fire became bright blue and so hot that everyone stepped back.
“Who's next?” He asked calmly. However, inside he wasn’t. That was a huge discovery. If people of this world could do it, there is a chance of gaining the upper hand.
Melaniphi was next. She tried the ice shard spell. After a few failed attempts, she managed to cast it. Railey created a simple wooden target for her, and the effect of the impact was shocking for everyone.
“We need to teach everyone,” Melaniphi said.
“It’s already done.” Enzo said, ” It’s written that this message was sent everywhere.”
“That was a bad idea. We should keep it a secret. Now cultists also know this, and we lost our chance to stop them.” The general wasn’t pleased.
“According to the letter, and this short trial, we don’t lose anything.” Priestess of the Sun said.
“How so?”
“You need to be at grand master level. Necromancers and warlocks lack people on that level. And it’s hard to cast. You need a lot of mana and a deeper understanding of magic. And we all know how it ends for anyone too talented or ambitious in the cultist ranks.”
“They are killed,” The general nodded. “But they still have a few grand liches and grand warlocks.”
“True. But they all rarely show up. Especially warlocks. And our problems aren’t they, but zombies, and orcs. We need something that helps kill undead more efficiently. This grand magic will help. And we usually have more than one hundred mages for each citadel. And most of them are on grand master level.”
“Agree.” Minotaur priests of the god Trinus said.
“We need to be sure that magic reaches every citadel, fort, and outpost on the border. I will be counting on you, Priestess Vianola, and your paladins to have an eye on anyone who will be fighting against it.” Railey said.
“I will inform my commander immediately. The nobility are petty and may try to do something if they begin to feel they are losing power to the common folk.”
“Let them try. We will burn that rot.” Asmatarta growled.
