Naomi sighed heavily after approaching the counter in the tavern.

  “I need something strong.” She said, placing a few coins. One of Lisusa's workers, some time ago, started brewing wines and experimenting with distillation. She doesn't have all the necessary equipment yet, but she still managed to make some samples.

  “Oh my. I heard something is going on, Dungeon Mistress. Can you tell me what happened?” Naga asked, placing a tankard.

  “I like this one. What a shame I can’t get drunk.” Naomi said after taking a few sips. “And about that. There were cultist spies.”

  There was silence in the hall.

  “Please tell me they get caught,” Lisusa whispered, scared.

  “One of them. The rest are dead.”

  “I’m sorry, Dungeon Mistress, for saying that, but thanks the gods.”

  “No problem. After all the stories people told me, I understand your hatred.”

  “Thank you, Dungeon Mistress, for your understanding. I pray that you never see what they really could do. Thankfully, we have one of the best palladins guarding your dungeon, Mistress.”

  “They are good. I’m sure of it, too.”

  “Can you tell me what happened?”

  “Thank the gods, I was too late to see that,” Naomi said. “I was just walking with paladins who were tasked with searching dunes, when the deputy commander stopped us. He said that sun elves showed up and killed them.”

  There was silence in the tavern.

  “Sun elves are here?” Lisusa asked with a shaking voice.

  “Yes. They are just making their camp upstairs. It’s hard to talk to them because of their noble attitude, but they are ok.”

  “Well, if it's one of the side families, then maybe.” The tavern keeper agreed reluctantly.

  “I have never met anyone from the side families, so I don’t have a comparison.”

  “Oh. Wait. Dungeon Mistress, are you saying it’s one of the main families up there?” Lisusa almost shouted.

  “Yes.”

  “And, Mistress, you are saying you met them before?”

  “Yes, they drop by before the expedition arrives. But it was their king, not this Lady.”

  Lisusa looked at her for a moment and started laughing.

  “Oh goddess! This place is crazy! I love this place!”

  Older adventurers, who spend some time in the oasis, don’t react at all. This dungeon was crazy, and Dungeon Mistress doesn’t have even an ounce of common sense at all, and those who arrived recently and saw nothing yet started eying their ale with suspicion.

  At the same time, on the surface, Alessia entered the Adventurers Guild. All adventurers stopped doing everything.

  “Greatings, my lady.” Lucius immediately approached her. He got news about the sun elves, and he was waiting for someone to show up. “I’m the guild master of this adventurers' guild. I prepared a set of scrolls about the floors of this dungeon. Each scroll describes everything we know. Recently, Dungeon Mistress built her ninth floor, but it has not been explored yet. Also in this scroll is knowledge about the grand magic. I’m not sure how useful it will be knowing sun elves excel in magic.”

  Alessia nodded politely, receiving a quiet big chest.

  “If I may suggest,” Lucius said, “You should visit the grand forge. There are samples of golems that guard the floors. They are described in the scrolls, but still they are something unseen before.”

  Alessia was thinking for a moment. She was sure she had properly memorized most common beasts, but she couldn’t recall that kind of monster. It was most likely some animal twisted by mana. It happens around places where mana gathers. She was on one such hunt. Poor beasts were raging from pain, and didn’t understand what was happening to them. She nodded in agreement. At worst, she will have something to joke about with other girls.

  “Let me guide you then.” The guild master answered.

  When they entered the temple, the Grand Forge Master was already waiting for them.

  “Greatings, lady,” Eriser said. “You came to see the golems?”

  Alessia nodded.

  “Those are golems.” He pointed to a sculpture of a giant rat and a big wolf. “They are not sculptures. They are mechanical constructs powered by magic. They imitate their living counterparts. You can take a closer look. They won’t move. We don’t know how to do that yet.”

  Alessia placed the chest on the ground and examined both sculptures. Through gaps between plates of armour, she saw machinery inside, just like Grand Priest said. But for her, the most important were battle scars. She immediately recognized the marks of hits from blunt weapons. It makes sense. This beast was made from metal with thick armour. Blade cannot harm it. More importantly, those marks suggested a real battle, not hitting a motionless sculpture.

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  “I need to take one with me.” She said, surprising all present.

  “No problem. I think a wolf will be a better choice.” The Grand Forge Master answered. “You two, help the lady and carry it to the oasis.” He ordered two of his workers.

  Alessia nodded politely, thanking them for the help.

  “A polite sun elf. Impossible. I need to drink.” Eriser muttered when a small procession entered the gate.

  At the gate, Alessia was stopped by paladins asking about her path. Normally, she would refuse, but there was an order to be polite to the Dungeon Mistress and her guardians. So she obeyed and showed her path.

  “Thank you, lady,” The guardsman said politely and stepped aside. She didn't have to wait for her helpers because another paladin checked them.

  Her entrance to the camp caused everyone to stare at her and the strange sculpture. She pointed at the ground, ordering helpers to leave the sculpture, and dismissed them. They bowed respectfully and hastily retreated.

  “Young Alessia, for what reason do you bring this sculpture?” The lady Itylara asked.

  “My Lady. It’s not a sculpture. Dungeon Mistress built these magical artifacts to guard her floors. After seeing one, I decided to bring one for an inspection. In scrolls, there should be a description of them, but it’s anything like I remember from my lessons, and I wasn’t sure how rare this monster could be.”

  “It could move?”

  “According to the locals, my lady.”

  “We need to see those scrolls. I need the camp ready immediately. We can’t waste too much daylight.” She ordered, and everyone started moving with haste.

  When the sun almost set, Lady Itylara sighed resignedly. This dungeon Mistress was worthy of the attention of so many gods.

  “What is your opinion?” She asked her commanders.

  “This dungeon is like nothing we've seen or heard. We need to be careful.” One said.

  “At least ot the beginning.” Another one added. “After one or two expeditions, all warriors should know how to fight those golems.”

  “Young Alessia made the right choice by bringing one with her. Scrolls are detailed but also don’t make any sense.” A female elf added.

  “What about the grand magic?” The Lady asked.

  “It’s our Ancient magic, but with much more details. Combining that with the opportunity for observation of different elements, it will push everyone's levels.” The commander responsible for overseeing mages reported. All sun elves were mages, but some a little more than others.

  “And I confirm that everything in this dungeon was built with ancient magic.” The Grand Priest of the Sun added.

  “We will do tomorrow like we planned before, but we will go through the floors slowly. If it takes us two days, so be it. I will lead the first team, Grand Priest, also Keerla, Zelphar, and Traeliorn will go with me.” Lady Itylara decided, and all nodded.

  They were ready at first light and entered ahead of the adventurers.

  “I like those traps,” Kerala said when they reached the last room. “They are a nice warm-up.”

  “And also completely new. Just like in the scroll was written.” Zelphar nodded.

  “And this is the rumored return amulet.” Traelion took out jewelry from the chest. “What to do with it?” He asked.

  “Let’s use it like an expensive elixir. The Grand Priest will have it for someone who is seriously wounded. Also, the first one to fall will run ten laps around the oasis,” Lady Itylara proposed. Her commanders smiled. They liked that idea very much.

  When they descended to the second floor, they found their first golem.

  “Exactly as in the scrolls,” Zephyr observed.

  “Week magic signature, but it’s not a living being.” The Grand Priest nodded.

  “Let’s see how it moves.” Lady Itylara readied her mace.

  When they enter, the golem rises and gets ready for a fight. Elves take their time to destroy it. It was still two times faster than what adventurers can do. They took their time because this was something completely new and only a fool would rush into danger carelessly.

  “Interesting. Simple and crude but interesting.” Keerla said.

  “Move almost like a real one. But I guess, all that metal hinders its movements.” Traeliorn mused.

  “Looks like our Dungeon Mistress spilled some blood,” The Lady said, after reading the plate on the floor.

  “Bandits? How in the name of all gods did they manage to reach this oasis, not mentioning entering the dungeon?” Zelphar was shocked.

  “We need to ask Dungeon Mistress. Those paladins could not be as good as we were thinking.” The Lady Itylara decided.

  The rest of the floor went much faster. Even bigger groups of golems weren’t a problem.

  The third floor took a little more of their time. They didn’t bring a map and were only relying on what they remembered. But around noon, they descended on the fourth floor. After destroying the first wolf, they don’t stop to rest. Fighting a whole day nonstop was the norm for them. They also identified the golems' most easily spotted weaknesses. While traversing the fourth floor, they don’t use the paths but go through the woods to see how hard it will be to traverse it. They were pleased with what they saw. There was almost everything to obstruct a walk or even trip someone. Because they were wondering, they accidentally bumped into some adventurers who were getting ready for a fight with a group of two wolves.

  “So we do it like usual. The shield bearers will attract their attention, and three of us will try to destroy them as quickly as possible. Lana, are you ready for emergency healing?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then…” He stopped talking because sun elves emerged from the woods. The wolf golems immediately jumped on them, but they evaded attacks easily, and with a few precise hits, the golems were destroyed. One woman glanced at them, and all adventurers immediately bowed. Elves, however, leave clearing without words.

  “That were fucking sun elves.” One adventurer whispered.

  “Where do they come from?” Lana asked, shocked.

  “From the woods?” Their scout answered.

  “Do you think we can take a look to see if they left something worth taking?”

  “Are you stupid?” Their leader went pale. “It’s normally a bad thing. And taking without permission from the sun elves will surely result in death in the next second.”

  “I know, I know. I was asking just like that.” The adventurer raised his hands, giving up.

  Sun elves were hearing every word of the adventurers, but they didn’t bother to do anything. They know who the ruler of the desert was. All that talk was mostly amusing for the sun elves.

  The final fight with the five wolves was something that made them smile. Those golems were more agile than the rats, and even worked together a little against them.

  “Much better.” Lady Itylara said, pleased.

  “Agree. Dungeon Mistress isn’t too soft. She knows how to stage a proper challenge.” Zelphar agreed.

  “Time to see a promised trial ground.” The grand priest said, checking his armor and robe.

  “I’m curious, how much exaggerated was the description in the scroll?” Keerla mused.

  “It’s unlikely. Until now, everything was accurate.” Traeliorn answered.

  “Let’s see for ourselves.” Lady Itylara smiled