“Iron elementals are sons of bitches to fight,” Hans said, speaking to the Apprentices just inside the dungeon entrance where the cacophony of hammers and tradesmen cursing outside couldn’t disrupt them. Bel and Lee, Theneesa’s Silver-ranked adventurers, joined the session as well.

Hans continued, saying, “They’re big, they’re strong, and they have natural armor, so thank the gods they’re slow.”

Hans explained that all iron elementals had the same kill spot: the elemental equivalent of a heart. Wild magic had been measured and observed in areas where elementals were plentiful. The prevailing theory for how elementals came to be was that wild magic enabled the “spirit” of a material to cross over from the elemental plane. In the case of iron elementals, they had an enchanted piece of iron–the heart or spirit of the beast–whose removal would kill the elemental instantly.

“All iron elementals will be some combination of iron, rock, and dirt, but no two will be exactly alike,” Hans said. “One might be almost all iron while another has only small chunks, so the difficulty of getting to the heart will vary.”

The first objective when hunting iron elementals, according to Hans, was to not get hit. The Apprentices would only be fighting iron elementals–and not greater iron elementals–but one solid strike could end an adventurer for good. At best, the shield and the arm it was attached to would be ruined.

“The best approach I’ve found is two warriors with maces attacking with a pincer formation. Iron elementals are basically just earth elementals, so they aren’t very nimble. With someone on either side of one, you can alternate bashing it until it’s dead.”

If the elemental’s heart was covered only by dirt and not thick iron, Hans recommended their efforts focus exclusively on blows to that heart. If the heart was harder to access, he said they should pick a leg and break it off at the knee or hip. With one leg, the elemental would be even less mobile, making the finish that much easier.

Chisel, the Apprentice White Mage, raised a long arm. When Hans called on her, she asked, “I’m guessing they’re immune to Sleep, so what will Honronk and I contribute?”

“You left out Buru,” Yotuli interjected. “Druids are kind of like mages.”

“I assumed the big man would be comfortable with a mace.”

The group looked to Buru to see his reaction. The hulking tusk nodded slightly and said, “I can use a mace.”

“See?” Chisel said.

Hans quieted the group. “Mages only love elementals that are on their side. Otherwise, they are pretty frustrating. A fire specialist stumbling into a fight with a water elemental… Well, wizards get sad about that kind of thing.”

He continued, saying that at the moment, neither Apprentice mage could contribute much in a battle against iron elementals. That was common at the lower ranks for mages. As their prey got smarter and more skilled with magic and abilities, they would encounter monsters that were bad matchups for a melee weapon but were vulnerable to magic.

Chisel and Honronk were both working on offensive spells. Chisel neared mastery of the spell Slow, and Honronk closed in on Magic Mallet. The former would make iron elementals less mobile, and the latter would send a flying hammer made from mana to attack, swinging as if wielded by a person while keeping the caster well away from danger.

“Any other questions?” Hans asked.

Quentin asked, “What rank are iron elementals?”

“A solo iron elemental is an Iron-ranked encounter. Two or three of them in a group pushes that to Bronze. Anything more than that is Silver.”

“One iron elemental shouldn’t be too bad,” Quentin mused.

“You are correct, but the job I’m basing this on was Silver-ranked. There will definitely be more than one iron elemental to deal with.”

***

The dungeon core accepted Hans’ suggestions for recreating the Forgeborne Mine as well as for where in the dungeon it should appear. Not wanting a day-long hike between fighting iron elementals and delivering their ore to the surface, he thought deeply about the iron elemental section being attached to the first main hallway, not far from the dungeon entrance.

The suggestions were accepted, and like the core did with the Bone Goblins, this new part of the dungeon was appended to the existing corridors with no transition. The cinder-colored walls of the original hallways opened abruptly into an off-shoot, a solid line between familiar gray brick and the carved tunnels of a dwarven mining operation.

Hans remembered marveling at the mine tunnels when he first saw them for real, and running his hand over them again revived that sense of wonder. The precision of a dwarven extraction operation left walls as smooth as sanded wood with perfect right angles where the walls connected to floor and ceiling. The thick timber beams spaced every fifteen feet were constructed with the same precision and reinforced with Hardening spells.

The torches on the walls were actually small scepters with Summon Light enchantments, making their bright glow consistent and permanent without the hassle of fire and fuel. Hans read somewhere that Summon Light had the same benefits of sunlight, a great bonus for a life spent underground.

The first long stretch followed a minecart track straight into a cavernous staging area. Still carved by hand, this room had the dimensions of a commercial warehouse with vaulted ceilings and thick stone pillars spaced evenly throughout. The minecart track connected to two others, forming a crossroads where each offshoot disappeared into its own tunnel. Where Hans saw several carts filled with unprocessed ore in his original visit, he found nothing but empty carts. Any of the pallets and crates in the room were empty as well, proving again that the dungeon core did not accept suggestions for lootable objects.

Hans, however, wanted to continue testing that as finding a workaround for getting the dungeon to grow something valuable would be far more convenient than killing monsters.

Flanking the entrance tunnel on either side were two structures built from perfectly mortared bricks. One building was a foreman’s office, and the other was a dormitory attached to a cafeteria for workers. No occupants stirred within either structure, but they looked as though someone had only recently stepped away and would return soon. The beds had blankets and mattresses. The cafeteria had plates and silverware. The foreman’s office had a desk and bookshelves and lobby seating for appointments.

Every surface sparkled, a product of the dwarven tradition for cleanliness. As consummate crafters, they would not allow a perfectly constructed object or building to be marred by dust and clutter, detracting from the beauty of craftsmanship.

“This place is spookier than the Bone Goblins,” Sven said, taking in the dormitory sights.

Yotuli agreed. “It feels like some kind of tomb, like I’m aware of how many dwarves used to be here.”

Terry sat on one of the mattresses. “Pretty comfortable tomb, though,” he said, pressing his hand down to test the cushion.

“We can explore when we’ve cleared the dungeon,” Hans said, calling for the Apprentices in the foreman’s office and in the dormitory to rejoin him in the staging area. “We’re taking the east passage. Bel and Lee will lead and fight the first iron elemental while we watch and learn from their experience. Everyone else, keep your maces ready just in case.”

“It’s close?” Bel asked.

“Forty yards or so, then behind a locked gate.”

Kane wrinkled his brow. “How far underground did you say this mine was? The original, I mean.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Boden said a mile, but I don’t know how exact that is.”

“Why would they lock a gate all the way down here?”

Lee patted Kane on the back. “When you dig this deep, you don’t want something to follow you out of the mine and back to your family.”

“That happens a lot?”

Lee nodded. “Whole dwarven cities have disappeared because of it. A mining crew busts through a wall not realizing a colony of dire centipedes is on the other side, then the monsters eat dwarf after dwarf like they’re a living breadcrumb trail.”

Hans said that Lee was correct. “Any modern mining operation will have various checkpoints like this one. In this case, they helped keep the incursion from being even more tragic. Elementals are territorial, so they don’t seek out prey the way a predator would. Still bad if one showed up in the middle of your city, though.”

Sven picked the lock to the gate. Bel and Lee went through first so the Apprentices could watch how seasoned Silver-ranked adventurers took on iron elementals.

The mine tunnels were a precise ten feet wide and six feet tall. The first iron elemental was alone, its head dragging against the ceiling creating sparks and horrendous screeches with every movement. As soon as the adventurers came through the gate, the mass of rock, dirt, and iron lumbered toward them. The cart tracks beneath its feet bent and splintered when it stepped.

Lee went first, armed only with a mace. She put herself in front of the iron elemental and bent her knees, crouching as if she were a coiled spring. The iron elemental kept its pace, pulling back its right arm like it was about to throw a haymaker when it came within range.

The monster stepped forward with its swing, a looping strike that Lee ducked handily before diving into a roll. She returned to her feet with the same finesse, taking up position behind the elemental. For a moment, the iron elemental continued forward, appearing to target Bel, but a thundering crack of Lee’s mace shifted its attention back to the Spellword.

The strike, bolstered by what Hans presumed was the Push spell, crashed into the elemental’s hip, staggering the monster sideways into the tunnel wall. A cloud of dust rose from the impact, bits of stone and dirt breaking off and falling to the floor.

The hole the mace left made its leg look like a half-felled tree, still standing but missing huge chunks of the body that kept it upright.

The monster’s lumbering movements devolved into shaky lurches. The elemental turned, its wounded leg collapsing partially as it did. The same arm that first attacked Lee swung back around, a backfist with the reach of a spear. Lee shifted smoothly backward to avoid damage.

As soon as the elemental exposed its back to Bel, the wizard shot a projectile from her hands. Shaped like a narrow cylinder, the Force Bolt had no physical form but rather was defined by a distortion of light, like a blur with sharp edges.

The iron elemental’s back exploded in a spray of dirt and stone. The monster stiffened and fell forward, the magic that gave its body form blinking out, leaving behind a humanoid-shaped mound of rubble. The Apprentices clapped.

“That level of coordination is why it’s a good idea to stick with a party,” Hans said. “Bel and Lee understand the roles they play in battle and are so used to working together that their thoughts are synced.”

Bel and Lee both inclined their heads to express gratitude for the compliment.

“Did everyone see how Lee set up the pincer formation? She drew out the first attack and gave herself plenty of space to maneuver. Then she waited for the elemental to shift its attention to Bel before going after its mobility. Once that leg was damaged, it was only a matter of time before Lee or Bel took out the heart. Did anyone see something they could improve?”

All of the Apprentices shook their heads, as did the Silvers.

“Pincer formations are relatively rare for adventurers,” Hans said. “Since we’re usually fighting as a unit, we don’t get a lot of practice with battles like that, which can make it easy to overlook what happens after you cast a spell like Force Bolt. Bel, you couldn’t see Lee when you cast, right?”

Bel nodded that Hans was correct.

“Same for you seeing Bel, right?”

Lee nodded as well.

“Archers and mages kill their party members by accident all the time in scenarios like this. We get so used to aiming at a target that we don’t think about what we might hit behind the target. Lee wasn’t in danger of a direct hit, but she was close enough to the line of fire that if the Force Bolt missed or went through the elemental she could lose an arm or a leg.

“Every party member is responsible for avoiding mistakes like that. If you can’t see an ally behind a monster, cut an angle so you can. If an angle isn’t possible, adjust your attack with the assumption that if you don’t, your party member will go down by your hand. Lee and Bel both could have side stepped to recover that visibility, or Bel could have angled her attack by aiming for a leg or casting in such a way that the tunnel wall was on the other side of the projectile rather than Lee.”

If Hans’ memory was right, they would have four more solo encounters before the iron elementals came in groups of three to five. He broke the Apprentices into their usual parties of three–Sven, Honronk, and Terry in one group with Yotuli, Chisel, and Buru in the other. For this run, Kane and Quentin grouped with Hans.

The first few encounters with iron elementals were awkward for the Apprentices. They hesitated at times, and initially struggled to adapt to the reach of the monsters. Though there were two close calls, both involving the frontliners Terry and Yotuli, no one took a direct hit. As they went deeper and faced more than one elemental at a time, Hans shouted assignments to each party.

Chisel cast Repel on Yotuli’s and Buru’s maces to boost the effect of their strikes, but otherwise, her and Honronk stood on the edges of battle making calls for their parties. With three battles happening at once, those calls helped to keep adventurers from running into one another or getting brained by an elemental from behind.

The final battle occurred in a void, a natural open cavern at the end of a dwarf-made tunnel. Building-sized stalagmites rose from sloping expanses of stone, Honronk’s Summon Light spell casting harsh shadows throughout the relatively level room. Hans warned that chasms were nearby–though he asked the dungeon core to make them much more shallow–so while they should use the open terrain to their advantage, they should also watch their steps.

Bel and Lee went in first, drawing the group of six elementals to one side so the Apprentices could spread out and target individual monsters. Other than Buru accidentally stepping on Quentin, the battle went as smoothly as Hans could have hoped. With a few more runs, their confidence would grow, making their tactics more seamless and precise. This was a good start.

When the battle ended, the adventurers caught their breath and drank from waterskins.

As it was with the Regenerating Castle, stepping into one of his memories formed a chimera-like monster out of nostalgia, deja vu, and melancholy. After this job, Boden went a whole month without being sober. Hans joined him for part of that run but couldn’t keep up with the dwarf.

On one of those nights, Hans remembered Gret ranting about the Adventures’ Guild culpability in the tragedy. That region was not covered by the Adventures’ Guild because it was outside the kingdom. They had adventurers, sure, but Gret argued that they could have–and should have–had their own Diamonds, but the Guild controlled access to Diamond quests and refused to share.

Terry looked around at the piles of dead iron elementals. “How close was this to the real thing?” He asked Hans.

“Relatively.”

“What happened for real that we’re missing out on?”

Hans pointed toward the tunnel where they entered the void. “The miners took their stand over there. Part of the crew held their ground to give the rest time to run. By the time we got here, they were a pile of pulverized flesh. We couldn’t even count the bodies, and some of the elementals wandered away with pieces of dwarf stuck to their legs and arms, so we found little bits of miner all over.”

Terry paled. “I wasn’t trying to make light of people suffering.”

“I know, and I didn’t take it that way,” Hans assured Terry. “I partied with a dwarf named Boden for a while. He invited us to join him and his family for a birthday celebration, so me, Mazo, and Gret happily accepted a vacation in a dwarven city. It was Gret’s first time traveling in a dwarven kingdom, actually.”

“Some birthday.”

“Yeah… We had been in town for two or three days when we got word that one of the mining operations encountered iron elementals. Boden grew up with a lot of the men and women who worked this mine, so one minute we’re watching a play–dwarves love romantic comedies for some reason–and the next we’re riding into battle on minecarts.”

Terry sighed. “I like your stories with funny endings better.”

“Me too.”

***

Open Quests (Ordered from Old to New):

Progress from Gold-ranked to Diamond-ranked.

Mend the rift with Devon.

Using a pen name, complete the manuscript for "The Next Generation: A Teaching Methodology for Training Adventurers."

Expand the dungeon with resource-specific monsters for each of Gomi’s major trades.

Decide whether or not to pursue silent walking and snow walking.

Suggest growing mandrake elementals to the dungeon core.

Secure interior dungeon doors without trapping adventurers inside.

Find a way for Gomi adventurers to benefit from their rightful ranks in the Adventurers’ Guild.

Build a rest area in the dungeon to improve adventurer recovery.

Secure a way to use surplus dungeon inventory for good.