The corridors weren't that big either, only big enough for two people walking side by side. I quickly assumed that it was designed to make the golems have an easy time fighting the enemies.

After walking for around one hundred meters in a straight line, I felt the ground shaking a bit, but nothing aside from that. I kept my guard up, but only found the path turning to the right side… my dormant instincts were warning me of the danger ahead.

When I reached that turn, I heard the sound of something crossing the air… I barely had time to Lower my head and avoid a stone smashing my head. When I looked to the side, I saw a golem with its left arm being pointed at me.

The round golem was a pretty bulky, tough-looking figure, its stone body formed from an intricate network of interlocking segments. Each segment looked like a polished, slightly weathered puzzle piece, with smooth edges that fit seamlessly together, yet still allowing movement as it shifts. The golem's large, spherical torso forms the core of its structure, with pieces jutting out at various angles to create thick limbs, each resembling thick columns. Its legs were short but sturdy, designed for stability, while its arms were more elongated, featuring hand-like formations of smaller, rounded puzzle pieces that can clench and grasp.

The golem's head is a smaller, rounded stone, set neatly into the body without any visible neck. The face was minimalist simple indentations served as eyes, glowing faintly with a magical hue, giving it an eerie, ancient presence. Though its surface was mostly smooth, there were patches where the stone showed cracks and wear, like a relic of forgotten ages. The puzzle-piece nature of the golem makes it appear as though its entire body could shift and reassemble at will, though it remains a towering and cohesive mass when idle.

The creature lowered his left arm and then raised the other, but before it could attack, I fired the last arrow I made at the crystal in the middle of its chest. The creature trembled a bit, and soon fell on the ground and fell apart.

You received 07 experience points.

“Not bad, I guess… but the fact that they can use magic too is a bit dangerous.”

I already could tell that they would keep showing up like that, in places where I couldn't see them. I had bought some knives to fight them at close range if I had to, but it would be dangerous to approach them like that. They didn't even have to swing their arms with some desire to smash me, just being half-assed would do the trick.

When I approached the pile of stones, I found the destroyed operational core, but no signs of the mana core. I didn't have anything with me to smash the stones, so I decided to leave it behind.

I looked around and then I found those lines on the walls… as expected, I could tell why they existed. The eyeball bats could appear on some spots, but the golems were probably created behind those walls and when someone approached, the walls would move and make the golems leave and defend the dungeon. That made me wonder... could the golems be created faster and faster if no one comes to clear the dungeon?

In any case, I decided to hurry up since I didn't have to look for the mana cores, which would make me gain some time. However, the path ahead still would be pretty long. The same thing happened several times, a tremor before I found the corridor turning and then a golem ready to ambush me. Still, nothing of notice happened… aside from the fact that I found the entrance to the next floor fifteen minutes later.

‘There was only one path available and it was quite short… why?’

That was suspicious… The eleventh floor was supposed to be bigger than the ninth… unless the sizes of the floors reset after a boss chamber. I didn't hear anything about that. Still, it was a bit too soon to celebrate since I knew that conquering some dungeons from the start was quite a long deal, some of them take months even when the whole place is already mapped.

On the next floor, I didn't notice anything odd with the terrain… the corridors didn't seem bigger either, so the fights would still remain one-on-one. Still, soon enough, I noticed that the corridors were a bit shorter than before… that meant more golems waiting to ambush me.

‘A war of attrition, huh? Come to think of it, this must be because some of the guys headed South to the new dungeon.’

Exploring the second part of the dungeon could be profitable, the stone of the golems' bodies could be used to make high-quality brick, but carrying all that would be a massive pain in the ass. The adventurers in the town could still obtain some savings in the first half of the dungeon.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

There was no point in worrying about that, I had already made up my mind… things will be hard, but I will be rewarded accordingly after all those fights. It was time to focus and then do another dungeon cleaning by myself.

… …

In the end, Klaus and Fran decided to follow with the plan and then contact the person in the town that was responsible for the reward. The guy was the captain of the guards in the town, and he asked all the information they had about him. Still, they didn’t know much about it aside from the fact that he was a skilled archer and that he didn’t talk much.

The captain asked them if they had seen his ears, but they shook their head, he made sure to keep it hidden all the time. Eventually, they headed to the guild and asked the receptionist the name of the kid. Only one knew it and she still recalled because the kid stood a bit in the last few days.

“His name was Regis.”

The captain soon realized that the kid was as smart as the intel he got about him. Skilled using a bow, he dyed his hair and kept his ears hidden. At the same time, he chose a name that was similar to his original since it would be hard to get used to a different one. Not to mention, it was clear that he had an anti-identification relic. Those were hard to find and Regulus got one without anyone’s support.

While they were at the guild, Klaus and Fran felt the reproaching eyes of the other members… their life in the town was pretty much over. They might not be attacked by the other adventures, but they certainly would be harassed for selling out one of their own. Still, some of the adventurers didn’t care since they also hated vampires and those who had mixed blood.

“We have the orders to bring him home unscathed, but we don’t know if he will come unwillingly. So, you two will have to lead the path to make him drop his guard, the guards of the dungeon and I will follow you two from behind. Here is half of the money, you will get the other half when we find him.”

They received a bag of coins that felt weirdly heavy… now that they received the money, they couldn’t give up on that task anymore. They went to the dungeon ready to do what had to be done… The reason the twins needed money was to buy the freedom of their mother. Just as Regulus had speculated, they were bastard kids between a baron and one of his servants.

Thanks to that, they had the chance to enter some dungeons and obtain battle-oriented classes, but soon enough, their father fell ill and his eldest son took over the family, and their mother was taken over as a prisoner… nothing would happen to her if they kept their mouths shut about their origin, but in a whim, the new head said to them that they could buy her freedom for five Ignis coins.

They kept telling themselves that and guided the guards to the dungeon after confirming that Regulus hadn’t left the dungeon since he entered the place three days ago. At first, Klaus and Fran thought that the Dawnshield family didn’t think much of Regulus, but considering that all the ten guards that guarded the dungeon began to move to secure him, it became clear that his family valued him to some extent. They also had met Rayner once from a distance and he seemed like a respectable man… he wouldn’t be mistreated once he was taken home, or so they kept telling themselves.

The guards had given the map to the twins, so they headed in a straight line to the second part of the dungeon. However, the boss was there blocking their way and the guards had to step up to make things end faster. They didn’t have a hard time disposing of the beast.

Thanks to the lack of breaks, the twins were getting pretty tired… eventually, they slowed down on their fighting speed thanks to that. Without any other choice, the guards lent them their enchanted gear. A sword that could burn anything that touched and a spear that could fire a burst of wind in the shape of a spear. Still, they soon realized that they might not have to use those weapons since as soon as they arrived on the eleventh floor, they found a pile of stones. The body of a golem…

“Their bodies turn into sand after six hours, so he shouln’t be too far ahead, keep going.”

The twins nodded after hearing the captain… Still, they felt that something was wrong. Even if Regulus had come alone so far, they imagined with his skill and resourcefulness, he should have been far ahead, perhaps even on the final floor. Still, there was no point in saying that when they had no basis for it.

They only confirmed their mistake when they reached the thirteenth floor… the first golem appeared in front of them without having any signs of bodies of fallen golems around.

“Return immediately! We passed by him!”

The guards looked at each other wondering how was that possible… it shouldn’t. There was only one path and if the boss of the tenth floor was alive, then it was clear that Regulus hadn’t passed by that point yet. Moreover, he shouldn’t know that he was being looked for.

… …

When I reached the twentieth floor, what I found was a golem taller than the others and with a body much more streamlined. I could tell that fighting such a creature would be pretty hard. My guess was confirmed when I saw the creature running at me and then firing stone bullets at me as well.

'Well, aren't you skilled... you must be the version 2.0.'

I ran to the side and jumped when the stones were about to hit me… the creature could run, but thanks to its massive weight and size, it wouldn’t win any competitions. In any case, when I slid on the ground and nocked an arrow to hit the core in the middle of the chest of the creature, the monster raised its arms to protect its core.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance and I gave up on the shot and resumed my run. The creature kept firing stone bullets like it didn’t care about its mana reserves. According to what I heard, the bosses of the dungeons tend to be two times stronger than the previous one. So, I imagined that this one would have two times the mana pool, but maybe that was the wrong way to see things…

All of a sudden, I stopped moving and then used Rapid Shot making three arrows fly toward the beast… I fired another arrow at the core of the creature, but one of the arms failed to create a protective shield on the core.