Chapter 13

It took some time before Jack got a wolf’s body, but when Jack did he set to work right away to make his new boss. When the process was done Jack was actually giddy at the sight of the it. It really was a thing of beauty and he was very excited to see when people would get their first look of the beast. There was just one itty bitty problem…

He was allowed to have only one boss per layer.

Jack had been slumped in his throne after putting in all that work. He found a work around because he was just that awesome. The problem was he had no way to test it to see if it worked. If it worked properly the dungeon boss was supposed to spawn a good three or five minutes after everyone entered the clearing. Once they entered the surrounding the foliage would rise up to prevent people from running the way they came to shoot at it. No sir, there was no cheating in his dungeon allowed.

When the party would beat the boss random loot item would drop. Too keep it fair and interesting, Jack made it so that the loot dropped was randomized and that it would alternate between items and coins. But again, he can’t be sure it works until someone actually does it. A few of the gremlins had offered to set it off while Aegisthal guarded them. Gods bless them. Since they were residents of the dungeon however it didn’t allow them to explore the dungeon like anyone else. Since they were protected by the mobs, and there for the boss, were supposed to protect them.

No, there was only one way to really test it…

“Frizzy…” Jack groaned miserably while slumping in his throne. “Make the call. Let that guy know we are officially open…”

Frizzy came closer with the book tucked under her arm as she gave Jack a concerned side eyed stare.

“You don’t sound excited Teacher. Care to share your thoughts?” She asked while coming to his side. “You have been excited to get people to visit the dungeon. Now you sound like you’re dreading it. What happened?”

“It’s just… I don’t like the idea of inviting people to challenge the dungeon before it’s even ready. It’s like one of the rules of any craftsman. Don’t say something is ready unless you know for certain that it is. Otherwise you’ll just look like an ass.” He huffed while crossing his arms. “I can’t test anything so we have no choice other than hoping for the best…”

“Oh… that does sound frustrating…” she said as her ears drooped down. “Is there anything I can get you before I call Faldor?”

“No…” Jack said while pouting.

“How about a blanket?” She tried asking.

“… A heavy one?” Jack asked, turning his head slightly to look towards Frizzy.

“Sure teacher, I’ll ask Clicka if they made any heavy blankets.” She said with her ears perking up a little. Happy that there was something she and her clan might be able to help brighten Jack’s mood.

“Thank Frizzy… I’m going to just pout for a while.”

***

Faldor was sitting in the guild hall of Altico nursing an ale in his hands with different kit set up. Today he was using a short sword instead of his normal broadsword. He wore reinforced leather armor with metal plates plated in key areas and had the leather boiled in glue. Further strengthening it without adding more weight than needed. While sitting at the table, a group of ‘B’ listed adventurers lying about unconscious around him on the guild’s floor. He wasn’t sure when it became a thing for other adventurers to try and challenge him. If anything, it was getting rather annoying. Why someone wanted bragging rights to say they fought him, he didn’t know. Still, despite the infrequent irritation that was the occasional idiot talked into fighting him by their friends. Faldor was actually enjoying himself.

The guild hall was lively with music and food. Grizzled vets and big named ‘A’ rankers were about. Some even having just come back from a successful job and buying a round for all present. Then there were the newbies who were trying to find their own glory or just really needed the money.

Faldor taught both of the latter. Even had a few veterans come by every so often to ask for his advice. For his words of advice he usually asked for a drink or a meal in exchange. If it was the guild asking though he would charge his normal fee of five gold coins. He cared about his fellow adventurers sure. But if there was gold to be made then he was going to take it from those who can afford it. He might have been soft spot but he was still a professional and professionals get paid.

As he reminisced, Faldor took a quick glance around the guild hall to find his two other party members. Enjoying he sights of the multiple tables with parties and solos eating and bragging to each other of past glories. A couple adventurers in the corner slugging it out while a band played on stage. A large hearth fire burned with a crackled and the quester’s reception desk not too far from the notice board. Even the rafters overhead had a few a adventurers hanging about.

After glancing about the hall and found no sigh of his party members. Thinking that they were likely off doing their own thing since it was their time off. Which was fine by Faldor since everyone had their own wants and desires. A little time apart wasn’t a bad thing. After traveling the roads together for a while, even with close friends, tensions can rise.

Just when he was thinking about how he was going to do with the rest of his day off, he heard a faint tone from his pocket. Reaching in, he pulled out the metal plate he had been given by the gremlin. The moment it was free the gremlin’s face formed out of a small cloud of smoke just above the plate.

“Hello Faldor.” She said plainly. “My teacher is ready to tell you the location of the dungeon. The first level is ready. Please find a quiet place alone with a quill and paper ready.”

At those words, Faldor felt his heart freeze for a moment from shock. Then it started to beat faster and strong with a small smile spreading across his face.

A new adventure awaits.

***

In the elven city of Elamornis, a Marchioness by the name of Sylvanis Windwelkyr. Or the Mistress of Secrets as some like to call her. Well, they would If only they knew that the mistress was actually her. There were only three people who knew what she actually did. Everyone else only knew that the mistress was a woman and that was it. People dug far too much if there was no information at all. If there was some, well people got less curious. The king of course knew who she actually was. Then there was the captain of the Veiled Talons, the kings secret guard who the… morally questionable get back in line.

She enjoyed her position. Yes, she had to put on the airs of a being pompous elitist. Yes, she also had to tolerate when some upstart had to chew her ears with another long-winded speech about how their family was important. Despite the headaches, there were many perks she enjoyed from the unsee. One of which she enjoyed was seeing some criminal dragged in chains. The other she enjoyed, rather greatly at that, was seeing the kingdom flourish.

Thanks to her efforts she was able to find weasel out imbursement cases, traitors, and those who abused their power. Her reward for her efforts? Children with filled bellies and promising futures. Families staying together with roofs over their heads. And the biggest reward was that the kingdom was a peace with the other races. Aside from the toothless skirmishes that happened once in a blue moon, there was peace.

She sat at her desk as she sipped her glass of brandy. Allowing herself a minor calibration at the latest news she received.

Not a few hours earlier, she received some news that was rather exciting. Thanks to one of her informants in the Adventurer’s Guild that there was a discovered a new dungeon. New dungeons of course were always in demand yet hard to find. That however was not what had her excited. What made her want to celebrate was that it was found in the first town her kin’s man attacked. In the first fallen town of during the great betrayal. Ever since she had heard from her predecessor how their people had betrayed the ancients… it left a foul taste in her mouth.

They had been a young race at the time but their place in the world was unmistakable. Because they have been neutral in most political events, they were the intermediaries for between the various races. but that was a trifle of what they could do. The dwarves might be master craftsman, the elves were wise sages, orcs were fearsome warriors and so on. But the Ancients… the humans as they called themselves were the masters of innovation and invention. Even to this day, few came close to replicating the wonders the Ancients could make. Even then those imitators couldn’t match the inventions of old.

Lost in her thought she let out a small sad sigh as she sat on her desk. On it was a box with a small bronze key. A toy that had been past to her by her great, great grandmother. Lifting the lid and three turns of the key, Sylvanis smile while watching the tiny dancer rise up from the box. A sweat simple melody played, reminding Sylvanis of her time as a young girl. Listening to her grandmother’s tales of the ancients and how she got the music box from her own mother. A gift from the one of the ancients. Telling her of how their family had been family friends to a family of ancients and the adventures they had shared.

The world had truly lost a great deal with the ancients. Now a dungeon was had formed in the first town that had fallen.

She’ll have to watch this dungeon and see what it would become. She’ll make sure the territory will remain neutral if for no other reason than to pay respect to that tomb her people help make.

***

Ufeas sat in the council hall along with many elders from multiple clans. The news they got from one when they had an informant sneak through the adventurer’s guild records was startling to say the least. A new dungeon was found! Normally this would be cause for celebration and there would be a feast with dark beer all around. When they heard where it was though… it chilled even the most hot headed of their kin.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

The forsaken ruins from the war of betrayal.

There isn’t a dwarf who hasn’t heard of that place. The former home of the ancients. Friends and brothers in arms they had betrayed. First out of greed they burned that town, then out of fear they helped kill all they could find.

Their reward for betraying their belief of honor and murdering their friends?

Hundreds of years of lost trade, the inventions they became dependent on stopped being made, and the loss of a friend a loyal friend who absence was still felt.

They deserved the stain on their honor and they deserved it. They had more than earned the black mark on their history.

Now the start of their shame was coming to life once more. Only now there are dungeon mobs taking residence in the mass grave they helped make. Had their been a necromancer to summon they spirits of the dead, they would hear the mocking laughter from beyond the grave.

"Wha’ are we gonna do ‘bout this, eh?" one of the elders rumbled, breakin’ the weighty silence. "We all know others’ll be pokin’ their noses there, but after what happened... d'we even deserve ta go? We know those lands ain’t gonna take kindly ta our kind."

Ufeas nodded to this as did many other members of the council.

"Aye, ye’re right. The ghost o’ that town’ll remember what our kin did... they won’t be happy ta see us, and I can’t blame ‘em," another elder muttered, runnin’ his fingers through his thick, brown beard streaked with gray. "But we ought to go. If for naught else, to keep that place neutral. It’s the least we can do... maybe make amends ta those who lived there durin’ the Great Betrayal."

"It’s a right poor gift fer such a heavy debt..." another councilor sighed, his brow furrowed. "Let’s just hope a vengeful spirit ain’t lingerin’ there."

Ufeas nodded then banged his hammer on the table in front of him. Gaining everyone’s attention before he placed the hammer that had been passed down to him by his father. A hammer that was made by the ancients and one of the finest in the kingdom.

"Then we know what we’ve gotta do," Ufeas, king of the northern mountain range, boomed in a loud, clear voice. "All in favor of handin' the dungeon and its lands over to the Adventurer’s Guild, so it stays neutral, say 'aye!'"

Almost as one they all said ‘Aye’ and thumped fists on the table.

There was no need to ask if anyone was against it.

***

It was a month… a fucking… month… since Jack asked Frizzy to send out the message.

“Frizzzzzzzzzzzy.” Jack called out as he looked around for his apprentice in the tower. “Where are you FrizyYAAAAAAH!”

Unaware of the trap, Jack stepped in the trap his apprentice made that sent him falling to the ground before being strung up to hand by his ankle. Only then did his apprentice make her appearance known. Removing the tarp she had over herself that blended with his curtains. She approached him ominously with a hammer in hand.

“Teacher, glad I caught you.” She said with false cheer. “Since your are hanging around I thought we need a talk. Do you have a second?” she asked, Jack was about to answer before she cut him off. “Great! So let’s talk about you teaching me about how to make magic items. Not to mention the more important thing of you TAKING A GODS DAMNED BREAK!”

She barked at him in frustration. Flipping her hammer over to whack him with the handle.

“OW!” Jack said, using his boney arms to protect himself. “Why are you hitting me!? OW!”

“To knock some sense in you through that thick skull!” she barked before whacking him again. “And because I am frustrated!”

“Why are you, OW! Made at me!” Jack protested as he tried to do a sit up to avoid the tiny woman’s wrath.

“Because! You have been dumb stuff because you’re bored!” she jumped while swinging at him. “That last experiement blew up and I lost some hair! You are clearly bored and won’t sit still!” she shouted before running to get a chair to reach him. “And you keep whining about stuff we can’t change! Take a freaking break!” she snapped while the chair.

“Aegisthal!” Jack pleaded to the golem who was standing to the side. Watching the whole thing. “Save me!”

“Apologies, General, but I cannot comply. Your life is not under threat, and she is a resident of this dungeon. Additionally, in her current state, she presents a formidable risk. I have no desire to lose a limb over this.”

“Worst bodyguard ever!”

Not having the time to further whine at the golem, Jack did the only sensible thing he could at the moment. Throw money at the problem! Or in this case upgrade points!

With a quick glance through the upgrade menu, Jack found what he was looking for as he shot a stone needle at the leg of the chair to make it fall. Buying himself a few seconds before she grabbed another chair.

He wasn’t planning on upgrading himself because of the cost. But cost be damned now!

Quickly confirming his purchase with the needed points, Jack started laugh as he got the confirmation notification.

“Ha! You fool! Now your attacks with mean nothing to me!” he laughed as Frizzy was busy sliding over another chair. “Now I will be… ow… the fuck? Ow! Why in the hells does this hurt?”

Looking over the notification, he re-read the notification to see why this upgrade was painful.

At seeing her teacher twisting and flinch from some unseen force, her frustration was immediately forgotten. Rushing over to him to see if he was ok, knowing full well that she wasn’t whacking him hard enough to actually hurt him. to see him in actual pain made her switch near instantly from frustrated to worried.

Attention!

You have purchased the dungeon upgrade:

Reinforced Frame (Cost: 40 Points)

Notice!

The dungeon avatar will now begin to develop Frame Reinforcement by forming bio-metal connective tissue. This will result in the body of the avatar to become stranger and less likely to have parts separate from the body.

As the pain gradually grew, and with that pain something else came up. A nagging feeling that numbed the pain and discomfort he felt. It was familiar yet he found he didn’t like this familiarity.

Metal tendons grew out of the joints, connecting one bone to the next. His skeleton body now decorated with silver gray metal on each of his joints. Making his body less bare as the pain still lingered. Yet none of that mattered to Jack.

His mind was desperately trying to hold on to that sensation. That nagging feeling in the back of his mind yet it was already starting to fade. Desperate, Jack reopened the upgrade menu and purchased the Hardened Bones option.

Once he got the notification, he felt the pain return. His bones slowly taking on a metallic sheen that was a darker tone to the new tendons. Heat could be seen radiating off of him as smoke started to come off his cloths. Instead of panicking, Jack embraced the pain. Needing to understand why this was familiar. Why that nagging feeling, that shrouded memory. That was when something woke up.

Deep inside, something that had been asleep had started to wake.

Flashes of memory darted across his non-existent eyes. Scenes of him in a prison cell. His limbs restrained as he was beaten. Elves and dwarves standing over him as they tormented him. Pitiless stares, mocking smiles, empty promises of salvation if he gave them what they wanted. Broken images of an elder man appeared. A profound sense of loss struck him as he watched the come and fade before his vision. Scenes of a town that was once alive and full of people fading and reappearing with scenes of the same areas on fire bodies littering the streets. Explosion and the sounds of screams interchanged with the scenes of a peaceful and lively town. Back and for the images came with the appearances of elves, and dwarves mixed in the crowd. Switching from trade, debate and friendship so those same people killing and slaughtering without remorse. Constructs meant to defend the town laid low and broken before they ever had a chance to activate. The changing scenes of an imperfect but peaceful town full of life and the scene of pitiless slaughter further.

“NO!” Jack roared, unaware that the heat of the glow metal now coating his bones had burned through the rope around his ankle and his gifted cloths.

Standing up, Jack found himself awash in pain yet his ignored it in favor of the next set of broken images.

Flashes of his view from a prison cell, a torture chamber, and the mocking smiles of his captors. Flashes of pain came with each image, words of them cursing him and taunting remarks for the murdered. Hopelessness engulfed him in these visions. Emptiness filled him as they joked about how people, defenseless people, had been killed. Then came the laughter…

Images of his tormentor’s laughter filled his mind. Laughter of how they killed his people. Laughter at how they tormented his body. Laughter at his misery. Laughter at how they took everything because they could with only one last thing left to take.

Bathed in the broken visions, the fractured memories of emotions that threatened to consume him. A new thought interrupted it all, silencing it all at once.

~They took everything. I had nothing left.~

New images filled his mind at this thought. Images of faces, faces of the gremlins he had come to know. The elders of the clan who spoke with him on how the community was developing. The adults who worked to build a future. The kids who pestered him for toys and skeleton rat pets. Frizzy his apprentice being his first and finest apprentice. All of them looking at him with hope.

~I have something to lose again.~

Panic and desperation overwhelmed Jack at this revelation. He had people he cared about. They were vulnerable. People could come and take them from him again. The very idea of that happening sickened him, enraged him. Who were they to come and take his people. Who were they to threaten HIS people? Who were THEY to FUCK with what HIS?!

The memory of Frizzy going out with Aegisthal to meet with Faldor took the for front of his mind. How that little piece of shit opening suggest they kill her and take what they want.

Rage, desperation, fear, spite, and disgust filled him at the memory.

~What will you do to protect them?~

With that question proposed, Jack’s mind became still. The visions of broken fragmented memories stopped all at once. Giving Jack clarity of thought to see that Frizzy and Aegisthal were both watching him intently.

Frizzy showed open worry as she looked up to him. Clearly wanting to say something, to do something to give him comfort. To help him through whatever it was that was happening to him. a desperate need to make sure he was ok, not just because he was her teacher. But because he was her friend. Aegisthal stared at hime as well. Though his face was unreadable as was his body language. Jack felt through the link that his shield and sword was concerned. Looking for information, trying to understand what was happening. A soldier looking to their commander for guidance.

“Jack?” Frizzy asked hesitantly. “Are you… ok?”

“No. I’m not. I was about to make the same mistake twice.” Jack said coldly. “Time to fix it before it becomes a mistake.”

Jack summoned one hundred tons of Bronze before casting the two spells he was having the most practice in. He knew what he was about to do wasn’t the right way to do it. But he didn’t care. Time was not on their side and it needed to be done now. Using the Fefinement spell, and the Form and Function spell in conjunction. Jack shaped and crafted the parts assembled them to make one bronze golem at a time. Days of work taking place in the span of seconds while burning though his mana reserves. In minutes he had ten bronze warriors ready and made with a sword, shield and spear for each one.

“Aegisthal. Take command of your first soldiers. Awaken them.” Jack said as he felt something at the edge of his consciousness. Signaling that someone who wasn’t a resident of his dungeon was in his territory. “Get them ready. We have our first explorers.”

***

Frizzy watched her teacher going through his transformation with bated breath as it happened. Watching like some useless bystander as he went through a torment that went beyond the physical discomfort of the change. When he fell to the ground from her trap. Watched as his cloths burned away from the glowing hot metal that now coated his bones. When he stood up with the metal slowly cooling, he looked not like the teacher she knew. The man that was carefree, excitable, laughing and up to some mad scheme as now replaced with something much… scarier. There was a terrible focus to him now. One that saw a problem she was blind to that had to be removed. She had almost forgotten that the ancients for all the tales of their wonder and talents. There were also tales of the terrors and weapons that they made that the other races feared.

Teacher, please be ok. Frizzy silently prayed.

***

Aegisthal observed as the General was captured by his second-in-command, Frizzy. It was commendable—Frizzy had successfully outmaneuvered the General. Yet Aegisthal suspected the General had allowed this to happen, a calculated move to encourage Frizzy’s growth. The ensuing antics appeared similarly orchestrated, a means of amusement in the absence of other demands. Aegisthal understood this well; a General’s mind required constant stimulation, just as a soldier accustomed to battle requires activity to stay sharp. Interference in this exercise would be unnecessary.

However, when the General’s demeanor shifted, Aegisthal grew concerned. He knew his General’s strength, but through their link, he sensed an unfamiliar pain and distress. Images flickered across their bond, fragments of the General’s vision reaching Aegisthal. While he lacked full context, what he glimpsed was enough to make him still—a scene incomprehensibly vile, one that demanded justice. This, Aegisthal understood. What the General had seen was a crime beyond description, an abomination that should not be named or repeated.

When the new golems were created and fresh orders issued, Aegisthal understood his path forward.

“Your orders are heard, my General,” Aegisthal stated, placing a fist over his chest in salute. “They will be done.”