Wayne woke up, bleary eyed and aching. A brick was stuck in the middle of his back making him arch his spine painfully. Clumsily, Wayne flopped over and dragged himself to his feet.

“I’m alive?” Wayne asked himself.

He patted his body, as if to make sure it wasn’t a dream. Everything hurt when he touched it, so Wayne took that to mean he hadn’t been crushed to paste. He glanced around with unfocused eyes, looking back and forth repeatedly before his scrambled brain could make sense of it.

Bricks were scattered around haphazardly, some of the hundred pound blocks cast all the way across the immense chamber. One lay no further than two feet from where Wayne’s head had been. Thankfully, no other pillar’s had collapsed as collateral with the golem, and the structural integrity of the cavern remained.

The construct itself was almost completely buried under the rubble, only its single fist remaining entirely visible. For a long time, Wayne stood there on shaky feet under the shadow of the great foe he had defeated. Eventually, he found his breathe evening out and the strength in his legs rallying.

Wayne had made a plan. He had felt confident in it before he walked back into the room, confident enough to bet everything on it. Still, a not so small part of Wayne had been convinced he was walking back to his death. But here he was, still alive and looking at the fallen form of his adversary. It was a sight Wayne didn’t think he could ever forget.

“Alright, let’s get Homer.”

Wayne turned and began walking away without sparing another glance. There were important things to do, starting with helping Homer make it to this cavern, so Wayne could continue questing forwards without abandoning his friend.

The new Legionnaire barely dragged his aching body back through the tunnels he came from. Wayne tripped over his own feet at points, his head not as clear as he had thought. Once, it all became too much and he vomited a surprising amount of bile and a strange sludge, which must be what the ration cube became in his stomach. Wayne was thankful he had a head injury after that, as he hoped it would help him forget the rancid smell it wafted.

All this was to say, when Wayne shambolically stumbled into Homer’s view, he looked like a returning war hero to the other boy.

“You glorious fool. Were those tremors your doing?” Homer asked, a hint of awe in his voice.

Wayne stopped across the well of energy, and did his best to keep the smirk off his face. Then, he nodded once.

“By the sun in the sky…”

Wayne couldn’t help himself and let a smile break loose, just before a misplaced step almost brought him tumbling into the pit of light, wiping his face clean again.

“Uh… give me a second to ah, catch my breath. The fight was a close one.”

“No… no, it's alright, I made it across by myself, I can make it back.” Homer said across the pit.

“That’s good. I might… I might just take a seat here for a second.”

Wayne leaned up against the wall before sliding down. He winced slightly at the bruises on his back, but was too tired to care much. By the time Homer managed to hobble his way around the edge of the pit, his saviour was asleep. The boy shook his head silently as he watched Wayne snore faintly.

“He actually intends to get out of here alive, doesn’t he?” Homer asked no one in particular.

* * * * *

Wayne woke again with a start.

“Finally ready to get moving, hero?” Homer asked him from across the hallway.

“Uh, yes, actually.”

Wayne felt miraculously better after having slept. It felt too good to be true, but when he examined spots on his arms where Wayne knew he had bruises earlier, they were clear of blemish.

“Impressive, right?”

Wayne looked up at Homer, then gestured to his arms.

“Did you do this?” Wayne asked.

The other boy looked proud of himself. Homer held his hands up, a golden light softly emanating from them.

“Yep. Always been a deft hand with the Healing Hands Form, and I got plenty of practice as Johnathan’s attendant.”

“You’re a godsend, that's what you are.”

Wayne stood up, and stretched out fully. He was still sore, but it was the soreness of physical exertion, not injury. Flexing his arms, Wayne felt strong. Victorious. Hoisting Homer to his feet, Wayne pulled the other boy’s arm across his shoulders and supported him.

“Come on, I’ll show you the way I’ve gone so far.”

“Alright, but you have to tell me about your battle while we walk.”

Together, the two of them slowly made their way back again through the corridors, with Wayne embellishing his recent impressive escapade to even grander proportions.

“...And then I ducked out of the way of another punch, and the ground almost shook out from underneath me! But then, I was under the construct, and it couldn’t touch me at all.”

“You’ll see. We’re almost there.”

“Alright, I can be patient, I guess…”

Stolen novel; please report.

They walked down the final corridor, minutes of companionable silence between them. Like Wayne had said, it wasn’t long before they arrived at the cavern where he had defeated the golem.

“Woah…” Homer exclaimed.

The opening of the doorway allowed him to see into the cavern beyond even before the Legionnaires entered it. Now that Wayne was witnessing it relatively relaxed, he had to admit the cavern itself was truly awe inspiring. The huge open ceiling covered in greenery and vines, supported by dozens of pillars that stretched over a hundred strides in the air made one almost forget they were deep beneath the earth. The two walked in, and then Homer saw the remains of the golem.

The other boy pointed at the fist protruding from the rubble and debris around it. Homer looked at Wayne incredulously.

“You… did that?”

Wayne smugly stared back and nodded. Homer turned back to the construct’s impromptu grave.

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

Wayne was still supporting Homer as he examined the golem, so he noticed when the other boy’s expression turned pensive. For a moment, the other boy stared intently at the outstretched arm, then muttered something under his breath that Wayne couldn’t make out.

“What was that?”

“Ah, it’s nothin- Mhm. No, sorry, it's not nothing. Definitely something.” Homer responded.

He turned his gaze to Wayne, as if considering something. Then he continued.

“Can you bring me closer to the arm for a moment.”

“Sure… I guess.”

Wayne didn’t really know what his new friend was thinking, but he didn’t see the harm in going closer. The construct hadn’t moved an inch since it shut down, so Wayne assumed it was immobilized.

They hobbled over to the rubble together, where Wayne helped Homer make his way up to the metal and stone appendage. He brought Homer to the last step, then let the other boy lean against the construct. Homer went so far as to press his face up against the metal that was exposed beneath the stone shell around it.

Wayne took a step back and let him do… whatever he was doing. There was a lot Wayne didn’t know after all so even though this looked very strange, he could afford to give his new friend the benefit of the doubt.

Homer puttered there for several seconds, moving his hands and head around slightly. At several points, Homer slapped the metal, making a low thumping noise that sounded different than Wayne would have guessed. It was slightly deeper, and more resonant than expected.

“Mhhhmmm, it’s a pretty solid alloy…” Homer muttered to himself, still pressed against the golem.

“What are you up to, Homer?” Wayne asked.

Even if Wayne trusted him, at this point he was just plain curious.

“Oh, I’m… actually, just give a second and you’ll see. I can do some impressive things too.”

Homer went back to messing with the metal for a few more seconds, before he seemed ready to begin.

“Alright, watch this.”

At those words, Homer pulled back slightly, then plunged his fists into the solid metal. The other boy's fingers were instantly submerged, and soon everything up to his elbow was buried in the golem.

“I can feel you in there… stop hiding, ugh, and come… out!”

With a mighty heave Homer yanked his arms free, a stream of silver being pulled from the metal along with them. Wayne watched entranced, as the brilliant substance flowed out of the golem like a liquid, leaving the remnant metal dull and lackluster. Meanwhile the tendrils quested down Homer’s arms, pooling on his chest before moving as one down his left side.

Soon, the mass of silver had reached its destination, and began forming into a familiar shape. Homer had managed to forge himself a replacement foot from the golem’s material components.

“Wha… How?” Wayne asked, slack jawed.

“Mmm.” Homer hummed proudly.

“I have a Metal Affinity, or more specifically, a Silver Affinity. I can manipulate any alloy with a high enough concentration, but pure Silver like this…” Homer said while gesturing to his new leg.

“Well, this is simplicity itself. It's… this is me.”

He said the last part quietly, like it was a revelation Homer was making for himself. Wayne was speechless for a few moments, but eventually managed to spit something out to acknowledge the admission.

“I didn’t know. You never wore an armband during training.”

Homer’s expression instantly soured.

“Johnathan and his family’s doing. They thought it would be a strong hidden ace for their son’s closest attendant to have a ‘secret’ Affinity to rely on. I have barely been able to use my gift for so many years… No more.”

“Oh.” Wayne said.

He had wondered why Homer seemed to hold such animosity towards Johnathan, despite seemingly being the Lord’s closest confidant. However, having your Shaping being restricted felt almost barbaric. Wayne thought of Klaw for a moment, and what he must be enduring every day without end in his cell.

“It’s alright. When we make it back I’ll be no use without a leg, so I’m sure the Heirdt’s will see the value in letting me announce my true talents.” Homer said, seeing the look on Wayne’s face.

“Yeah… Hopefully.” Wayne said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

“I was going to have you stay here, but if your new leg will hold- ” With a nod from Homer, Wayne continued, “Let’s get going, then.”

* * * * *

Wayne hadn’t examined the hallway beyond the golem in much detail before, but now as he and Homer began exploring he could tell it was built of a different style than the previous sections. It was still ancient beyond belief and strange, but it was a strangeness of another nature entirely. The floor and walls were worn and smooth except for the engraved Runes, to the point there were no seams in the stonework. Beyond that, there was none of the build up of flora that the other sections had.

It made walking down the corridor eerie, especially as the rubble behind them denoting the exit grew further and further away. Everything looked the same, even the Runes were repeating over and over endlessly.

Still, nothing seemed to be truly amiss with the hallway, being Wayne’s nerves. So he did his best to ignore the feeling in his gut as the two of them continued forwards. The sounds of their footsteps echoed back and forth, almost reminding Wayne of the golem.

“So… what’s your favorite food?” Wayne asked to break the silence.

“Well personally, I’ve always had a preference towards lumbda, when it’s well cooked, the way it just explodes with flavor, mmm, just the best. And, I do love my mother’s pecan pie she makes. It isn’t the best, but I would give anything to have it right now. It’s been a long time.”

“That sounds really good. I’ve never heard of pecan pie before, is it sweet or savory?” Wayne asked.

“Oh, it's one of the sweetest things you’ll ever have the pleasure of tasting. I’ll need to get you some at some point. You simply have to try it. But, ah, what’s your favorite food Wayne?

“Well, the poren belly at the Cafeteria remin-” Wayne started before Homer turned his head in alert and raised a hand.

“Shhh! I hear something.” Homer hissed.

The two Legionnaires dropped into ready positions and prepared for combat, although it was several more seconds before Wayne also heard the noise that Homer had picked up. It was a skittering that sounded like the time a hailstorm had almost knocked the orphanage's roof down. Wayne casually Shaped the Dragon’s Eye and stared down the monotonous tunnel.

It soon became apparent the acoustics of the passage let the sound travel much faster than, as it was more than a minute before the boys saw their adversaries. If the noise wasn’t progressively getting louder, they may have even dismissed it.

Instead, the two of them found themselves staring down a horde of scittering metallic knee height spiders. The click-clack of the dozens of thin needle-like legs pinging against the ground was what had alerted them to the trouble. Wayne was worried about surviving against so many opponents, but Homer stepped forwards confidently.

“It’s my turn to fight this time, hero. Leave this to me.”

Without any hesitation he pushed off with his silver leg towards the arachnid constructs. Homer blitzed the metal monsters, crushing the distance between them to nothing and throwing himself into their midst. The enemies were slow to react, letting his friend lash out with precise kicks that crushed two of their number.

By then though, the spiders had more than enough time and several launched themselves at Homer in large leaps. However, all Homer needed was a duck and a quick spin to evade five of the seven remaining enemies as they converged. His efficient movements brought him over one of the two constructs that had hung back, and he quickly stomped it into oblivion, its metallic legs no longer even twitching.

Unfortunately for Wayne though, the rest of the arachnids were not content to focus entirely on Homer and a pair broke off from their dog pile to harass him. Wayne nervously put his hands in the air, but before they could attack him the entire tunnel started quaking violently.

The ground shifted out from beneath him, and Wayne spilled onto his back. A flash of metal gleamed in front of him leaving Wayne with barely enough time to raise his arms up between them as one of the spiders took advantage of his collapse.

Its sharp limbs raked across his forearms, leaving bloody gashes behind with each movement. Wayne tried to shove the spider off, but it had too much leverage above him. As the pain escalated, Wayne closed his eyes and shouted.

“Ahhhh!”

Then, relief came. The weight of the construct disappeared from Wayne’s chest, leaving just the warm throbbing and flowing blood of his arms. Wayne gingerly moved his arms to his side while he thanked Homer.

“Thanks, Hom- Wait, Johnathan? Why are you here?”

Instead of finding his new friend, the heir to the northern archdukedom stood above him, with the remnants of the spider in his hands and both Jayna and August flanking him on either side.

“I’m here to save my best friend, of course.”