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Squatting in front of an inscription carved in a stone, the Necromancer translated the obscure runes to the rest. "If my understanding is right, the cores inside are Earth, Metal, And Forest attuned. We should start."

"You sure you don’t want more people?" Vincent asked. The Necromancer had been adamant that only three of them should go in. However, going inside a catacomb without much backup was against everything he had learned in the army.

"No. Three people, one for each faction. If you bring more, I will also bring more. Let's go."

The man's impatience was in part justified by the delay. Three days had passed since their verbal agreement. The mayor had insisted the invading armies retreat first, then conducted his own negotiations with other Bogomil chieftains. On his part, Ludwing had to persuade the Mongols and Byzantines to go away. It was unknown how he did that and what deals he made, but he had succeeded.

And now they were in front of a giant slab of rock inside a museum built around the oldest ruins in town. No one knew their original purpose. Pagan temple, church, the agora of a forgotten city? One could only guess. A bit further, the group of Amazons brought from Krivoburg were arguing about who to go with Vincent and the Necromancer. The obvious choice was Barbara, but Vincent had other things in mind. A healer, meaning Ayman, or…

"I want Bee or Jorge," he made up his mind. "Anyone who can fly the drone."

"They have to be part of the third faction," the Necromancer pointed.

"That's simple. Bee, Barbara, Mayor, come here!" Vincent yelled.

The mayor threw Vincent a bad look because he was using a walking stick to move, and his speed was not much higher than a snail's. Vincent advanced to join him, and the rest followed.

"You two are together, right? Like, love each other stuff."

"Y-yes," the youngster blushed.

"He's my hero!" Barbara roared.

"A match made in heaven," Vincent walked his eyes over the giantess and the skinny nerd, a head and a half shorter than her. "The Mayor will marry you. You get double citizenship and come with us. You can divorce later if you don't like it."

"Why would we divorce?" Barbara sneered. "We're meant for each other."

"There's a third party involved," Bee protested. "I don't know if she—"

"Wait here," Vincent said. He put a little distance and texted Jorge to prepare to transfer the drone's controls to Bee's phone and land the machine at their location. After that, he called Irene. "Hi. Bee and Barbara consider marriage. It's important for the quest, but I can't explain it now. Do they have your blessing?"

"What?" Irene blurted at the other end of the call.

"Bee and —"

"I heard it the first time… I was just surprised… I'm not their mother, Vincent; they're free to—"

"I'm glad you're not jealous. Thanks." Vincent hung up and snapped his fingers toward the mayor. "She's OK with it, you can go on. Chop chop: I do, I do, through my powers… c'mon, do I have to spell it for you?"

Rushing a senior citizen like this was beyond impolite, but the waiting had also taken its toll on Vincent's nerves. He wanted to be done with the quest and use the core to build serious defenses around Krivoburg.

The ceremony was nothing like the one he had in mind, but pledges, oaths, and ten minutes later, the three touched the stone slab with their hands. It slid upward, revealing a set of stone stairs descending into semi-darkness. A corridor made of the same material, three yards wide and tall, continued from where the stairs ended.

"I'll go first," the Necromancer said, stepping down.

"Check for traps," Vincent suggested, checking the straps on his heavy backpack.

"That's what I'm doing."

Ten steps ahead, the Necromancer had extracted a few severed hands from a shoulder back, sending them to crawl over the walls, floor, and ceiling. Vincent followed cautiously. Behind, Bee's teeth were chattering, but he stepped onward nevertheless.

You're entering into the Vault of the Three Seeds. Warning: If you continue, this Vault will close, and only after completing its challenge will you be able to exit. Any teleporting-like skill is restricted to the Vault for the duration of the quest.

The slab slid back behind them, and no more light came from the opening. Vincent turned his flashlight on.

"AH!" the Necromancer yelled, covering his eyes. "What are you doing, idiot?"

"You're light sensitive?" Vincent asked, switching off the torch.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"I have the Dark Vision, moron. Shut that damn thing off."

"Oh, cool… But how are we supposed to see?"

"It's a Basic skill, costs one token… everybody has it. Buy it. Now!"

"Yes, sir!" Bee blurted.

Vincent growled but obeyed as well. He was a miser about spending tokens on anything else than the higher-end skill. Nevertheless, the Necromancer had a point there, and Vincent could afford a cheap and useful ability. During the three days of pause, he had gained a few levels, poaching the occasional Dark Knight since there was no official oath to forbid it yet. The undead were dumb and tended to straddle from the main group. Pushing them into precipices was easy.

They had to rest until the new skill settled in, so they squatted near the wall after the Necromancer ensured there were no traps.

"What can you tell us about the cores and this dungeon?" Vincent started the conversation.

"It's not a dungeon, it's a vault," the Necromancer said. "These cores..." He paused, but as the other two stared at him, he continued. "I’ll explain. Dungeon were made for training purposes. You put a core somewhere, and they grow on their own. Then, people train inside."

"Autonomous bots run by AIs," Bee said.

"No idea what you're talking about. The first generation of dungeon cores went rogue, growing without control, making pacts with orcs, goblins, and every deadly monster they could lure in. One particular dungeon took over a planet. They became a danger to everyone."

"What happened?"Vincent asked. "I guess they're not a danger anymore."

The Necromancer nodded. "The System summoned the first Heroes, and they cleared the dungeons and destroyed their cores. Have you seen that asteroid ring? That's the planet that was conquered by a dungeon. The destruction of the core blew it.”

“Really?” Bee gasped with widened eyes, like an old lady scared by some terrible gossip. “What happened to the inhabitants?”

“They emigrated to the Elves’ planet way before that. It was inhabited by the Dwarves. Now, they own the rights to mine the remains.”

Strangely, the man had warmed up bit by bit. Vincent could say he enjoyed telling the tale. "Say, I saw you can melt into the shadows—”

“When?” the Necromancer frowned. “You spied on me?”

“A few days ago, after starting the forest fires. I noticed you through my binoculars. Is that a skill or—"

"It’s a Shadow affinity specific to a branch of the Corvinus family. At first, Ludwing used me to eliminate his rivals. Then, he ordered me to focus on necromancy in his stead. He was supposed to be the Necromancer, but he’s… lazy,” the man whispered the last word, looking around like he was afraid to be heard. “He’s powerful anyway."

"How powerful?" Vincent asked.

"You don't want to know. Let's move on," the Necromancer beckoned, stepping onward on the corridor. "I sent my minions ahead, and they neutralized several traps."

"So this is a dungeon after all," Bee said.

"It's a Vault," the Necromancer insisted. "A dungeon would have an active core and thousands of miles of galleries. This is a storage for baby dungeons, with a few defenses left behind.”

“By who?” Bee asked.

“By the Dungeons, duh. At first, the seeds were kept near their parent and were destroyed along them. When the last six Dungeons realized the war was lost, they hid their seeds in Vaults. Stop!" the man raised a hand. "More traps ahead… I have to do those myself."

The man melted into the shadows, disappearing. Soon, noises began to be heard in the distance. Wooshes, bangs, booms. Arrows, falling rocks, or explosions.

"Bee," Vincent blurted. "How fast can you make an Astral Enchantment?"

"C'mon, dude! It takes at least a day."

Vincent grimaced. "I don't like the guy…”

“Why? Maybe here, Necromancer is a job like any other…”

“It’s not that. He became friendly all of a sudden…"

"And that's bad?"

"Yes, if he tries to make us lower our guard and stab us in the back."

"You're paranoid."

"We don't have anything in writing yet. For all we know, Ludwing could renege."

"You can teleport, Vincent. Why ask me for—"

"Until the quest is finished, I can jump only inside this dungeon…"

"Fuck…" Bee wailed. "If he decides to kill us, we're toast… He's level a hundred… Maybe we should run back and try to open the door?"

"I don't know… If we fail, he'll know we know. Are you sure you can't work something out? Something to cancel his hiding?"

"I don't even know how to figure out such a spell… It's hard stuff, man, runes and all…"

"Does the drone have another redirect stuff like the one you used before?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Never mind. If he comes from behind, it's useless…"

"What about a buff? It's a normal enchantment but strong. Twenty-five percent increase in every stat. You can have it," Bee showed Vincent his right little finger. The pink color of the ring was proof that it came from Vincent's suitcase.

"Give it to me," Vincent forwarded his hand. "It isn't bonded, right?"

"No, all it has to do is to touch your skin. You can hold it on your chest, with a chain, if you want to—"

"Shush… he's coming back."

Vincent put the ring in his pocket and tried to appear relaxed. Heavy steps were approaching, and panting noises. The Necromancer was holding his shoulder, grimacing. "Look, no hands," he said, showing them the empty shoulder bag. "But neither traps," he grinned, displaying pointy teeth. "We're close. The treasure chamber is a hundred yards further. There are three golems. The moment we step inside, they'll activate. I guess we two will do the fighting," he looked at Vincent.

"Bee will take one of the golems out using a flying construct. We'll deal with the other two. What were you saying about those countries activating dungeon cores? How is that done?" Vincent asked as they walked down the hall to gather more information.

"Somebody, usually the king, attunes to the seed core, and then they plant it in their country. The core grows roots and can no longer be removed. It will help that country develop. Simple, yet few know about it."

"And they won't turn into bad stuff, like before?"

"Core seeds are kids, right? They don't want to die… No one spared their lives during the war because everyone hated dungeons. When the situation calmed down, the System found a way. As soon as one exits hibernation, the System offers them a deal. They accept a spell that transforms them into country cores and— Here we are," the Necromancer interrupted his speech, gesturing toward an opening.

They could see a round room about sixty yards wide. The golems were positioned in a triangle around a pedestal holding three round objects. One of the constructs was a humanoid tree, another looked like a metallic armor holding a halberd, and the third was an amorphous blob of clay. All were level one hundred, and Vincent's Inspect plus Insight revealed that the clay was weak to fire, the wood to lightning, and the metal to water.

"You can control fire, right?" he asked the Necromancer.

"As a side effect of… Never mind… I have a torch; I'll take on the earth one."

"Bee, you’re on the metal golem. Use the drone. Stay away from it. I’ll be there if you need help."

They prepared patiently. The Necromancer lighted his torch. Bee took the drone's box out of his backpack and raised the machine in the air, and Vincent equipped his shepherd axe. Axes felled trees, after all. They nodded at each other and entered the room.