"I've never even seen some of these runes before. I mean, I'm no artificer but I know most runes and these are just new." The elf says as she inspects the tablets that I copied those runes from the well room onto.

"And the ones you do know?" I ask

"Well there's the basic ones, heat, chill, strengthen, deflect, and weigh. Those are the ones that I've seen in use anyway, there's a few I know I've seen but I can't quite remember what they do and those ones that i don't recognise.

"Ok, I saw your captain hit the deflect one when I tried to push him back and it came back way stronger. how did it work, and why was it so strong?"

"Well a rune is activated by touch and the strength is based on how much mana it's imbued with, as well as the precision of the rune itself. Being the captain, his runes have a lot of mana and are very well made."the elf explains.

"How do you imbue a rune?"

"Ah, that's a very difficult question, every artificer has their own way of doing it but most require complete focus, and many hours of dedicated meditation. The process can take a very long time, but runes can last up to years before needing to be imbued again."

"Mhm, like this?" I ask as I pour some mana into the deflect rune, making it glow a brilliant lilac. The mage goes slack jawed for a moment before snapping out of it.

"Yeah.. that's exactly right. Uh, now just touch it to activate." I touch a stone finger to the symbol, causing the entire slab to glow a brilliant violet. I hit it against the floor a few times and it doesn't chip or crack at all. I tap the rune again to deactivate and power and power the chill rune the same way I did the last. Once again the tablet glows a vibrant lilac and a frost forms over the surface. I tap the protection run and the frost thaws.

"Can you not have more than one at once?" I ask.

"No, well, technically yes, but I don't know how. Only the wizards of the world tree have figured it out and they don't share that knowledge.

"Alright, I'll solve that challenge after I've made my home safe. Oh and I never got your name?"

"Ah, It's krása of pigádia, but just krása is fine. And you?"

"Wika of… not here." I say, as the elf adjusts her silvery robes, matching her shining silver hair, pulled into a loose ponytail. I realize I've been staring for a while as I meet her amber eyes and quickly move on.

"A-anyway, you can move around from here to the basement. I'll make you a room near there, don't try to leave, be nice, and I might give you back your staff."

She nods in agreement, and I let her out of the pit, leaving my big golem which I've named Rupert to watch her.

I pop up to the kids to make sure they're still doing well, they seem to be doing much better but they still need rest, so I have Giovanni stop by to l cook something for when they wake up and set out to check all the runes and put them to use.

I decide the well room is a good place to experiment, so I use up some mana powering all the runes on the tablets, surprisingly it doesn't take as much as I thought. It's still a bit pricey with my current mana intake but I would have thought they would cost more.

The strengthen, deflect, heat, and chill all work how I expected, those are all on the first tablet along with one more, touching this one makes it glow a bright white but does nothing else, on the second tablet are four more runes, the first two do nothing at all, glowing like normal but with seemingly no effect. The third makes a loud snap boring a hole straight through the tablet, destroying the rune. I remake it but it's no longer powered. Finally I tap the last one and the tablet disappears from my hand, reappearing right where it was a minute later and falling to the floor.

Alright, time for traps. They want a dungeon, I'll give them one. I start with some more deadfalls in each doorway. I'm not pulling any punches when those soldiers come back so I add some sharp stone spikes at the bottom. I remake all the doors and add strengthen runes so they can't just be kicked down like before. I also change the layout of the dungeon, moving the staircases so that you'd have to walk through every room on each level to reach the next.

In the first room after the basement, I make a much larger heat rune on the ceiling, it takes about as much mana as five smaller runes but tapping it instantly makes the air boil. A couple golems with strengthen runes fit well behind a half wall for them to hide behind. In the next room I put a large deflect rune on the floor, as I hoped, activating it makes the room act like a trampoline. Every footfall is thrown back with more strength making it almost impossible to walk. I make a few golems connected to the ceiling ane give them both dart guns, the darts don't take too much metal so I make a lot, and dip them all in poison extracted from the mushrooms and berries that weren't good for eating.

In the last room on this level, I took some inspiration from a game I used to play. I use some metal to make a large spring like you'd find in a hair clip and add a strengthen rune and use that to springload a wall of spikes that is activated by stepping on a pressure plate. I make sure to add a deflect rune to the wall it will hit in order to reset it, and a strengthen to the spikes. That's looking good for now and I'm running very low on mana, so I pop up to the kids to see that they've already eaten and gone back to bed. I float over in my ethereal form and rest above them. Nothing will hurt them again. I'll make sure of that.

My eyes shoot open when I sense a presence enter my domain, two actually. I pop out to the courtyard to find two men at the gate. They aren't dressed like the soldiers but they are well prepared with backpacks, rope, and tools. I watch them trying to get the lock open but I didn't make a keyhole since I can open it with mana so they're just hacking at the mechanism.

I notice two things about the men. One, these guys aren't elves. The shorter man with a smaller pack and clothes more suited to a hot climate is covered head to toe in fur, and the much taller and broader man is a deep forest green, with menacing teeth and a large ax.

The second thing I notice is that I'm getting an insane amount of mana flaking off of them, much more than both the kids combined. Oddly their mana is a reddish orange but given the amount, I don't just wanna run them out of here, and they don't seem to be working for the so called 'king', so I decide to see what they want.

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The gate that Gelzeig and I had been trying to get past suddenly swings inwards on its own, making me jump back. "Looks like we've caught its attention." He states, before walking fearlessly past the long spikes. I have to run to catch up with him when we both stop to see a beautiful woman walk out of the small home inside the wall. "Hark! Are you a creature of this dungeon?" I ask from a distance, and flinch slightly as her piercing gaze meets mine.

"I am the heart of this place, and you are trespassing. What do you want?" The woman speaks up, though her voice sounds as if it's coming from all directions and I can now see that her body, even her clothes, are made from solid rock.

Gelzeig speaks up in his usual soft and trustworthy tone. "My name is Gelzeig, this is my partner, Penzie. We're from the adventurers guild, here to collect medicinal plants and minerals. We offer these mana crystals as compensation and payment for a low difficulty delve." He explains, putting down the five small, pale blue stones and backing away a few feet.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The stones float into the air and towards the woman who inspects them, waving her stone staff over one which dissipates. Her stoic demeanor is lost for a moment as surprise is evident on her face. The elven woman quickly pulls herself together and says in a less defensive tone, "I accept your payment, you may collect whatever plants you wish here and descend the well to mine, do not open any locked doors, and don't hurt anyone. Or I will destroy you.

With that, she absorbs the rest of the mana crystals and returns to the home. I give Gelzeig a nod as the large wooden door slams shut on its squeaky hinges and set to work collecting the herbs and roots which only grow within dungeon space while he descends the rope into the well.

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I had no idea those crystals had so much mana, I summon the few that I've mined and absorb those too, I'm basically swimming in mana now. Its almost painful. I pop outside and resurrect Shadow, the good boy deserves a reward for being so brave, so I summon a big leg bone from the kitchen and let him gnaw on it while he watches the cat man to make sure he doesn't do anything funny.

I pop down to the well room in time to see the green guy finish his descent. I summon a few short pitfalls to slow him down a bit to get more of that mana but after the first short drop opens underneath him he starts moving more carefully to avoid them. I in turn make the passages narrow a bit as they go. As he makes his way to the descent, I pop over to krása to fill her in. I find her lounging on a stone chair in her room connected to the basement, reading one of my books.

I don't bother bringing my stone form from the cottage and just start talking. "Hey, we've got company, it's not those knights but these guys paid to have an easier delve to gather some resources. This could be a good step towards establishing trade. if you don't want to interact just keep your door locked but if someone gets hurt i might need your help."

"Oh, yeah sure thing. Just call out if you need me!" She almost yells, having been surprised to hear my voice.

I pop back out to see Gelzeig looking around the basement before heading down the stairs. He descends, encountering a little resistance from my golems as I've ordered them to go easy. but he hurries past them, deflecting arrows and spears while incapacitating the ones that get in his way. I try out the deflecting floor and to my amusement he bounces around like it's a bouncy castle. Caught off guard by the sudden shift, he uses the walls and ceiling to slow himself to a stop, and slowly starts to crawl to the next room, taking a few arrows to his thin armor, but continuing slowly until he makes it to the boundary and hurrying down to the bottom.

I decide to leave the challenge there but I think some puzzles would be nice for this kind of thing. He tries the door to the core room but turns when he finds that it's locked. Looking around, he finds a vein of ore that he seems happy with and starts picking at it with a chisel and the flat end of his ax.

I pop back up to the cottage to check on the children and Salem tells me that they're doing well. I float over a damp cloth and dab their foreheads. They don't have bad fevers but they are a bit warm. I'm starting to feel a bit off, myself. which is concerning, so I pop to the small space where I hid my core and find that it has completely taken up the entire space and is straining against the walls. It's roughly the diameter of a car tire so I open up the space to make a nice room and the odd feeling goes away. I lift it onto a short pedestal and make sure it has room to grow. I even add some carvings of little mushrooms and bunnies just for some decor.

I pop back up to the dungeon in time to see Gelzeig hoisting a sack of ore over his shoulder and make his way back to the well, past the golems pretending to be knocked out. Once he gets to the well, he places the sack in the bucket and climbs up before hoisting up the bucket and meeting back up with his partner who has a sizable bag of forage as well. I pop back into my stone form and meet up with them.

"Gelzeig, Penzie. I'm glad there were no issues. Did you both get what you needed?"

"Oh, yes ma'am. Your fungal elemental was very helpful in gathering the best quality plants. Thank you very much again." Penzie says.

"Glad mush could help. If you two don't mind, I'd like to ask some questions."

"Okay." Gelzeig says "I'd be glad to answer anything you need to know!" Penzie jumps in

"Great, so you said you're from the adventurers guild. What do they do and what are the other guilds?"

"Well the adventurers guild is responsible for collecting resources from dungeons and making sure that non-guild delvers don't get hurt. As well as to form good relationships with dungeons. Many chapters of the dungeons guild were dissolved when the dungeons they delved were destroyed by the puritanical 'king' that stole power when the plagues started. Many of the other guilds fell to those same plagues, but the adventurers guild, the crafters guild, the foragers guild, the healer's guild, and the mages guild still have chapters in evenwall."

"I see. If you could send someone from the crafters guild, I would be open to trade."

"Oh course! Mason was planning on coming anyway once we get back, I'll let him know. Also, if you have any food you could part with, the farmers guild had to shut down due to crop failures and our livestock were all taken by the 'king' so all our food is coming from the foragers guild and it isn't enough. Anything you could trade would be a big help, if that isn't too much to ask."

"I'll see what I can do. I also wanted to ask what kind of things other dungeons have, traps and puzzles and such."

Gelzeig is the one to respond this time, in a low yet friendly voice "to be honest, your dungeon is a bit lacking. The geometry is good and I've never seen that use of runes, but easy runs typically consist of puzzles and physical challenges. While normal runs have all of that as well as dangerous monsters. I'd recommend doing something similar. Though I'd love to see what unique things you could come up with. You are developing strangely compared to simiar dungeons."

"Thats very helpful, thank you. I was planning something similar. And speaking of other dungeons, if you could get me some information about any nearby, Id appreciate it."

"I have a book that should have that info. I'll pass it to mason when he comes by. One last thing. I'm aware that you were attacked by the advance scouts of the 'king'. I hope they didn't taint your view of delvers too much. And I'm grateful that you allowed us into your dungeon. The scouts have made camp in an outpost outside the village. They'll probably attack in a week or so when their report reaches their leaders and they receive their orders. If you can repel or defeat them, more will be unable to come until spring, when it becomes warm enough to cross the eastern mountains. Please use those mana stones we gave you to build your defenses. I fear that if you become a mana mine for the 'king' that we will not survive another winter."

"Thank you for the information, and the mana. I won't lose."

"I hope you do not. Goodbye Wica" Penzie adds, before taking Gelzeig's hand and leaving through the gate which closes behind them. Time to really prepare. These defenses are nice, but I saw the way that monster kicked down stone like nothing. I'll need more if I don't want to be a slave to that false king. I summon a new pack of wolves for shadow to lead, and forge out some iron armor for them all with repulsion runes. Those arrows will bounce right off, and they look absolutely adorable. They don't look vicious playing with each other now, but once it's time to fight, I know that they'll be ferocious.

Next up Giovanni's sous chefs, he'll need to feed an army so I make ten. And it looks like mush has found a use for those scraps as he breaks them down into fertilizer. Even with the chill in the air, I can see my crops growing without any mana input from me. The wolves get to work hunting game while the chefs make the most of it. I also make some smaller mushroom golems to harvest the produce and take it to the kitchen though they aren't as cute or smart as mushy.

Back to the defenses, I place runes inside the wall itself to strengthen it. It's finally time for real monsters, they take quite a bit more mana than animals or golems, but I form ten goblins along the wall, giving each one a bow and arrows. They're a lot more buff than in the movies but they seem just as dumb. In any case they all get some armor, same as the wolves. I let them wander around and socialize, with a few keeping lookout since I don't expect an attack right now. They chatter amongst themselves. They're almost cute in a very ugly sort of way.

I figure they need a leader so I pick the biggest one out of the group. I didn't intend to make them all different, I guess that just happens. Anyway with the biggest one i pour some more mana into her brain and she looks around as if she's seeing things for the first time.

"Okay, your name is krilna, you and the rest of the goblins are our first line of defense when we get attacked. Make sure everyone can fight." With that, I summon some targets at one end of the wall for archery practice and leave her to train with the rest. I've still got tons of mana to burn so it's time to reinforce the dungeon. I've got some good puzzle ideas for real delvers but they can wait until I'm not in mortal danger.

First off, spiders. Giant spiders with huge fangs right at the entrance room of the dungeon proper. I make plenty of large cracks in the walls for them to hide in and leave them to start webbing up the place, both for aesthetic and to slow intruders. I make a door of solid iron with a lock and reinforce the walls with rebar. I'd love to see that elf break this down after I add the reinforcement rune. I make a key for this one and put it around Salem's neck. This should also be good for delvers who will have to gain his trust or catch him.

Through the door I merge the two next rooms to make a much larger room and expand it further. I leave the runes where they are and lower the rest of the floor around them, leaving small towers in a deep pit. I also move the runes to the backs of each one so they can't be seen, though the slight glow remains.

In the spirit of some of my favorite video games, I forge four giant ax blades, using up all my iron, and connect them to the middle of the ceiling with rope so that they'll swing across the room, I make a few indentations where they'll hit the walls and put some small golems in them to hold the blades and make sure they don't slow down. I also cut down a tree on the surface and cut the trunk into four logs and do the same with them, using the soft bark to make more rope. For normal runs I'll just use the logs but for the invaders I'll use both. I form a ladder closest to the door that can be pulled into the wall for when real delvers fall in. I should also fill this with water at the bottom after the soldiers are gone.

I feel like I'm doing better at this now that I've had the time to focus, and after Gelzeig went through. I feel like I should put more into each floor so I make a few more medium sized rooms to fill in the available space, and move the staircase down to the end of the chain. As I'm digging the rooms I wish I had a better storage space, the big pile up top can't really handle so much. And the stone I was moving disappears. I'm startled for a moment but I summon it back and make it disappear again. It takes a bit more mana than moving it to the surface but this is super convenient. I wish I found this earlier. I put all the rest of my spare stone into this 'storage' space and finish excavating the floor. In the end I have seven rooms, not counting the well room, two of which branch off at different points, so it isn't just a straight line.

I'm happy with this for today so I'll continue tomorrow. It's getting pretty late now anyway. I process all the ore I got from excavating and put it in the storage space, before popping back to the cottage. The kids are sipping some broth while Salem keeps watch, wearing his new key collar.

"Hey kids, how are you feeling?"

"Tired, but my head doesn't hurt anymore." Said Aulos.

"Me too. Who were those people outside? And are the soldiers going to come back?" Lyre asks.

"They were delvers from the adventurers guild. And yes, but I'll be ready this time, don't worry."

"I've met them once. Father delved with them a few times. I doubt they would remember me though, it was a long time ago." Aulos says, a bit solemn.

"Maybe next time they come by, you can talk to them."

"Maybe. I think I'll go to bed now." He says

"All right. Good night kids." I say as I tuck them both in and cover up the small light orbs that krása made.

"Good night, mom." Lyre says, already asleep.

I turn as I start to tear up. I didn't really realize exactly how much I care about them, but hearing that, my resolve to protect them is renewed. I'll make this entire world a place that they can grow up in. No matter what.