I crouched against a wall, as I watched Charles where he sat slumped with a hand held against his side. The same side where he had recently been shot by an arrow made from the material that radiated the putrid sense of the undead.

While defeating the many creatures that barred our way to the final room he had been hurt more than once. Despite no single encounter having caused him much harm, it still added up and by this point his face was pallid and he was smeared in his own blood. Now though, we had the small gems that acted as keys and he was trying to recover as much as possible before taking on the floor guardian.

I had tried to help Charles fight once during our time on this floor, as we encountered a patrol of Golems near the first room where he had killed the hobgoblins. I had not wanted to get close to them and so had chosen to attack using two Ice Lance enchants.

My enchantments had accomplished absolutely nothing, only chipping one of the Golems slightly. Charles on the other hand had rushed in with his glowing sword and destroyed them in moments, which then defined the pattern of our progress; I hid whilst Charles fought for me. I understood that the reward he would receive from the Order for his efforts by far outstripped the risks he took, but it still grated on me.

Not that I had many sensible options, anything I did risked being a distraction possibly causing further injury to Charles or myself. As had been shown, my attacks were not enough to be of assistance, making me a liability. So I had swallowed whatever foolish pride that tried to rear its ugly head and kept myself as safe and out of the way as I could.

Charles drew my attention away from my thoughts by letting out a groan and dragging himself to his feet. He gave me a small grin, before he started placing gems into the sockets on the locked door, behind which the floor guardian should be.

The door slid aside quickly, and Charles rushed inside as soon as there was space. I frowned at what seemed a rather foolish action, but I had no other option than to trust that he knew what he was doing.

As I had done before, I moved a short distance from the door and kept an eye out for any patrols, as that was something I could actually help with.

I was not near enough to sense what happened during the fight between Charles and whatever was in the room, but it took a long time, perhaps as long as it had taken us to go through all the other rooms combined. When the clamor finally died down, I waited for Charles to return for me. As time passed and I heard nothing from him, I slowly started moving back towards the door, worried at what I would find.

As I took in the final room of the floor, I could see what seemed to be the remains of a very large Jade Golem. I spotted two pieces of it that were at least as tall as Charles and probably out-massed him several times over. As there was nothing moving, the Golem having been thoroughly defeated, I hesitantly moved into the room, to search for Charles.

It did not take too long to find him and while my examination showed that he was even more battered and bruised than before, he was alive, albeit unconscious.

As there was not much I could do for him, I took in the room and soon spotted a door on the far side, which I went to investigate. I thought it must lead to the safe room at the end of this floor, but even so, I was very cautious as I pushed it open to peer beyond.

The room on the other side of the door was similar to the first one we had been transported to, though with two sets of stairs and only one door, which I was holding. The thought of being able to leave soon reminded me of both hunger and thirst, as well the slight headache I had contended with for some time now. Having confirmed the room to be what I hoped, I began the slow and rather arduous process of dragging Charles over.

I leaned against the wall as I considered what to do now, while I waited for Charles to come to. If my understanding was correct we were not safe from patrols here. If we wanted to be truly safe to rest we would have to move down to the next floor. But, unless I was mistaken, if I left this floor I could not return to it, as I had not defeated the previous one. Which meant that if I descended to the next floor I would have to defeat a whole new one before I could leave. With Charles now as hurt as he was, and without a quest to entice him to stay with me, that seemed to be a very foolish option. Risking patrols was no doubt the lesser danger.

I looked back into the room with the crushed and battered Golem and wondered how to go about creating one of my own. Getting the parts out of the Dungeon seemed to be a first step, but then what? I had been following Charles' lead on this, but I was starting to wonder if he had given thought to what to do once we defeated the floor.

My brooding was cut short by a high-pitched buzzing sound, as if from a giant insect and I stared at the door on the far side of the guardian's room with worry. But I quickly came to realize that the sound was coming from somewhere much closer, and I searched my environs with a rising sense of panic, until something flew out of my satchel and spun off into the floor guardian's room.

I stood a moment in stunned surprise, Sense the Flow had shown me that the object that flew off was the Core, which was outside of any of my expectations. A glance into my satchel showed that the leather at the bottom had been worn smooth in a small circle where the thing had rested, and that the Glass bead of Light that had been there had been crushed into a strange but uniform pattern.

I moved to the open door to see what had happened with the Core, to see it spinning in the open next to the two largest pieces of jade. There was a whirling tornado of jade around the core, and more was being added to it as pieces were continuously being torn away from the Golem remains.

I hesitantly stepped closer, but stopped once Sense the Flow let me perceive the Mana that attacked the jade, tearing it apart and then adding the material to the whirl around the Core. This went on, creating an ever denser cloud until the Core was eventually lost to sight entirely within the green swirl.

I stood there, fascinated for some time, as the jade cloud began to draw inward and the amount of Mana inside spiked to absolutely staggering amounts. I frowned as I felt some Mana drawing inward, whilst some caused an effect that seemed to push outward, and small pieces of jade began to be ejected from the swirling cloud. Were they being rejected by the process perhaps?

My frown deepened as I considered the contracting and pushing sensation I felt from the cloud, before I turned on my heel and ran for the safe room.

I had enough time to start to feel foolish, standing there with my back against the wall, before I heard an explosion from the other room, and a cloud of Mana-filled jade fragments shot past where I sheltered. I looked over at a green and sparkling Charles where he lay in the middle of the safe room, feeling bad for not having thought of him until now. Warring with curiosity about what had happened with the Core and concern for Charles, I sighed and went to check on him. Other than having a now sparkling coat, he seemed no more injured than before, which admittedly did not mean much. I checked his breathing and noted that he had regained some color, which made him seem healthier.

Having satisfied my concerns, I hastily moved to the Core, to find out what had happened. Where the core had been, was a crouched bent-over figure. It was made up in nuances of green. Its skin was a dark green, it had what looked like short hair which was even darker, going towards shades of black or purple. I took it in, amazed at its body; I could even see collarbones, and some muscle definition. That was when the Golem began to stand up.

I stared into a face I knew very well. It was my own, though made out of jade. I stared into deep green eyes for a moment before I took in the rest of it. Her? As far as I could see, it looked like me, in quite frightening detail. And very nude.

I shook myself out of the shock I found myself in, and I lifted the satchel off my shoulder as I shrugged out of my coat. Somewhere in the back of my head a tiny voice insisted that giving my coat to the Golem only to cover a nudity that was not even truly mine, per se, was foolish and illogical. But, even so, I wanted it covered. Its appearance also played havoc with my perception of it. Was it female? What did that even mean for a Golem?

I walked up to her, my coat in hand and the satchel back on my shoulder, unsure of how to do this. Would she cooperate? Understand what I was trying to do?

"Hi, there. Can you speak?" Sadly, there were no reactions from the Golem.

I raised a hand as I approached, touching its cheek with my fingertips. It was smooth and slightly warm, perhaps from the process that created it?

I gasped in surprise as a jade hand closed around my wrist faster than I could perceive. I felt the fingers close the last bit, locking my hand in place, as my heart beat rapidly for a few moments, before I calmed.

I suspected that with the speed it had shown, if it wanted to hurt me, my wrist could have been pulped. While I was locked firmly in place, the Golem did not seem to mean me harm.

"Could you please release me?" I tried, hoping it would do so but not holding my breath. I got the feeling that communication would take some time to figure out.

At the risk of having both my hands caught, I raised my other hand which held the coat still and pushed slightly against the Golem's chest, to no avail. As it clearly out-muscled and out-massed me, I did not think I could force the Golem to do anything; but I had hoped to convey the meaning that I wanted distance, which seemed to be a failure.

I stood there, confused for some time, until I felt something. I could sense a connection to the Golem. There was a mind somewhere in there and while it did not reach out to me, exactly, it still seemed to be very near. I considered the sensations I experienced; the other mind felt tiny, infantile, I seemed as a giant in comparison. Surprisingly the small flickering thing that was the Golem's awareness made me feel very protective. I tried to reach out, to see if I could understand it or perhaps even communicate.

N/A

Age: 0

Level: 1

Experience: 0/100

Race: Golem (Jade)

Class: Sentient Golem

Strength: 42

Dexterity: 37

Agility: 51

Constitution: N/A

Endurance: N/A

Intelligence: 1

Wisdom: N/A

Willpower: N/A

Perfection: N/A

Charisma: N/A

Health: N/A

Mana: 54325/100000 (195/minute)

Stamina: N/A

Unallocated Attributes: 0

I blinked in surprise as I grappled with the status that came to me. It took me several moments to grasp all the meaning from it. Curious at what it represented I tried for more, and the Order provided me with information on both a Racial Trait and an Ability.

Sentience, rank 1

The first step of awareness.

Effect: The ability to grasp basic concepts. Limited memory and idea of self.

Animation, rank 1

You animate and control the material that you inhabit, forming your body.

Cost: N/A

Cast Time: Instinctual

Range: Self

Upkeep: Variable (152 Mana per minute)

There was so much to consider here that I was unsure of where to start. But one issue still remained. Just how would I make the Golem release my wrist?