"I'm telling you, that golem was strange! It must have been at least as strong as those big golems."

"Hah! How could that be? You must just be weak."

Everyone is currently sitting in a circle, discussing my little... uh... escapade. As soon as they started discussing it, Mama happened to hear, and almost immediately her gaze locked onto me. Now she has me in her lap, and is petting me rather forcefully.

'So unfair. Why does she even think that I did it? There's not even any proof!'

Ruth interjects, "I don't think it was as strong as one of them, but it wasn't too far off."

Green Horn and Constrictor both look satisfied by her statement, and look at Trista. Iron Keep, along with everyone else, looks at Trista as well.

Trista shakes her head, "I had no information on this. I have read all of the records my sect has of this dungeon, and not a single one mentioned a golem such as that. Unless..."

Green Horn tilts his head, "Unless?"

"No... no, it is nothing."

"She must be thinking about a dungeon evolution." suddenly, Iron Keep starts talking.

Everyone's eyes drift towards him as he continues, "I read it in a book once. A dungeon has a lifespan, just like a living creature does, it's just much longer. And just like any creature, they don't stay the same their whole life. They go through different phases, each stronger and more dangerous than the last."

Trista nods her head, "But it should not be that. Every recorded instance of a dungeon evolving that I have read about happened all at the same time."

Ruth strokes her chin, "What if the evolution is happening right now, as we're clearing the dungeon?"

Everyone goes silent.

After a moment, Trista starts talking again, "If that is the case, we have to make a decision. Do we continue and risk getting wiped out, or do we leave now?"

Iron Keep immediately smacks his chest, "Do you think I'm a coward? So what if they become stronger, it's all the same to me!"

Ruth nods her head, "I am confident that I won't die."

The Lei couple don't say anything, as per usual, while Mucky edges closer to me and Mama. Constrictor, on the other hand, is pretty vocal about her oppositions.

"This isn't worth it. Even that golem could have killed us. If one of the bigger ones gets stronger, there's no way we're going to be able to kill it!"

Green Horn chimes in, "I agree, we should leave while we still have a chance to."

Trista thinks for a moment, then sweeps her gaze over everyone present, "We will continue to the next room, and see what state the golems are in. Anyone who comes along will be paid in full, even if we fail." Her gaze hardens, "If anyone does not want to follow, then they can just leave now. I will still pay a quarter of the original price, so you will not have to worry about leaving empty handed."

Constrictor shakes her head, "Eight hundred spirit stones aren't worth risking my life! Just give me the two hundred and I'll leave."

Trista nods her head, "Do you have a storage device?"

Constrictor shakes her head. Suddenly, a small black rock appears on Trista's hand.

"This has two hundred spirit stones in it. Be careful, its space is not very stable. It will likely start destabilizing within a month."

Constrictor grabs the small symbol-covered stone and bites her finger, dripping some blood on it. She then nods her head, turns around, and starts heading out of the dungeon without another word.

I turn around, "Hey Mama, that thing looked..."

The rest of the words get stuck in my throat as soon as I see her face. She's flat out glaring at me now.

'Come on, what if what they're saying is true? What if the dungeon really is evolving? How do you know I did it?!'

"Does anyone else want to leave?"

Green horn seems to hesitate, but in the end, nobody else decides to go.

"Alright, if-"

Before Trista can say much, Iron Keep interjects, "If it's more dangerous, shouldn't we get paid more?"

Trista glares at him, "I would appreciate it if you would let me finish my sentences. If this dungeon is evolving, there is no way we will clear it. We will leave as soon as a golem we cannot defeat appears, and that will be that. If the dungeon is not evolving, then we should have little trouble clearing it. Either way, I do not see a reason to pay you any more than the agreed upon amount."

Iron Keep crosses his arms and huffs.

Trista looks around, "Does anybody else have something to add? No? Good."

She then walks off, sits down, and starts meditating. Mucky smiles awkwardly at Mama and I, then walks over to Trista and starts meditating beside her. Everyone else splits up as well, including Mama, who picks me up and walks to an empty area.

As she sits down and places me in her lap, she asks, "Did you do it?"

Almost instinctively, I answer, "Yes."

She looks at me sternly, "In my experience, allies are very hard to come by. You should not attack them."

"Yes Mama."

"Good."

'That's all? The way she was glaring at me, I thought I was in a lot of trouble...'

"Lyna."

Her sudden addition makes me jump, "Yes Mama?"

She smiles, "You are getting stronger, I am proud of you. I may not agree with what you did, but being able to control those golems is pretty awesome."

Before I can respond, she laughs and closes her eyes, entering meditation and effectively ending the conversation. I can't prevent a proud smile from creeping up my face, stretching nearly to my ears.

"Hehehe..."

It takes me a couple minutes to collect myself after that emotional rollercoaster, but soon, I start noticing something. Everyone is split up, which isn't in itself odd, but they seem to be sitting farther away from each other than normal. Even though they're all meditating, it feels like the tension in the room has increased by several fold.

I decide to try and ignore them as I enter my consciousness. Controlling that golem has given me several new insights, which I plan on incorporating into my little golems. I also want to experiment around with other symbols, to see how much I really know about them.

"Everyone ready?"

I'm woken from my experimenting as Trista voices her question, which once again goes unanswered.

"Mama, how long did they take to meditate this time?"

Mama looks down at me, "Not much longer than usual. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

This time as well, it feels like much more time has passed. Something must be happening. Maybe my mind is processing information faster, making time seem slower? I continue imagining more possibilities as we head to the next room, but that stops as soon as I see what's inside. I feel like everyone else is as surprised as I am as we gaze through the doorway.

In every room thus far, excluding the first, there have been at least two types of golem. But in front of us are just three golems, all of the large variety. Now, I wouldn't be so shocked if that was all, but it's not.

Unlike the bronze colored golems I've become used to, these three are all silver. Not only that, they are also completely covered in metal plates, unlike all of the golems I've seen so far, which were maybe half covered at best. They look much more clean and symmetrical, almost like giant suits of armor.

"They look a lot different. Are they any stronger than the normal golems?" asks Ruth.

Trista nods her head, "The silver color is normal. Assuming the dungeon is not evolving, they should be slightly stronger than the others, but not by much."

Iron Keep snorts, "It doesn't matter if they're stronger, I'll take one of them."

The Lei couple speak up as well, both talking simultaneously as usual, "I will fight one."

Trista nods, "Everyone else will fight the third."

Everybody nods, and we walk through to the next room in three groups. The golems almost seem to sense our intentions, as each one moves in to attack Iron Keep, the Lei couple, and the rest of us respectively. The one moving towards us is wielding a massive cleaver, which still seems tiny when compared to the well over ten foot tall golem.

"Come on, Mucky!" shouts Trista, as she lifts her sword and approaches the golem.

Mucky nods his head and follows behind her in a practiced manner. As the golem swings its cleaver down, Trista takes the brunt of the blow, after which Mucky attacks, pushing it back a couple inches. Trista then follows up with an attack of her own.

I release my soul and start studying these new golems, while also retaining enough of my consciousness to fight. All around, they aren't all that much stronger than the bronze golems. The symbols aren't much different either, though there are a few new things I can learn from them.

The battle goes pretty smoothly; our group winds up defeating the first golem. Neither Iron Keep nor the Lei couple look like they want any help, so I decide to sit down and put all of my effort into examining the remaining golems. Eventually Iron Keep destroys his golem, the Lei couple downing theirs not long after.

As soon as the last golem falls, Mama walks into the room, picking me up and sitting down in the middle of the room. Everyone else starts sitting down beside us, a few casting somewhat unfriendly gazes at each other. Eventually everyone is sitting in a circle, and Trista starts talking.

"From what I can tell, the dungeon is not evolving."

Her statement is met with unanimous agreement. After a few more empty words are said, the subject of dungeon evolution passes, and Green Horn brings up a new one.

"How much further until the last room? I'm not sure how long we can keep going if things continue to progress like this."

To answer his question, Trista simply points toward the next room.

"That is...?"

"The last room. Look inside."

It's hard to see inside from our current vantage point, so I, along with everyone else, walk over to the doorway. All of the rooms we've been through so far have been long and rectangular in shape, though they constantly curve in one direction. I can only assume they were spiraling towards this room, which seems to be the center of this dungeon.

Its ceiling reaches a bit higher than the normal rooms', curving up into a dome. Interestingly, the ceiling actually has numerous symbols on it, most of which seem to be concentrated at the top. The room itself is very circular, with no apparent corners or edges save for those created by the doorway and the floor. Saving the best for last, I finally allow my gaze to drift toward the golem standing in the middle of the room.

Unlike the pattern the golems have been following up to this point, this one isn't any bigger than the large golems. Rather, it's about the size of one of the small golems, similar in size to a normal human. Its body is covered in shimmering golden plating, which is honestly a bit harsh on the eyes. And not just the plating; its entire body seems to be golden. From its joints, through which I can see golden gears, to its excessively gaudy sword, covered in fancy patterns, all the way to its surprisingly human looking face.

Trista starts narrating, "Its strength is similar to a peak mid Qi Manipulation cultivator. Its body is very strong, but its attacking strength should not be anything special. I have never read any records of one wielding a sword, but I doubt that will be a worry. As long as we coordinate with each other, there should be no problems."

"Where is the treasure?" asks Iron Keep.

Trista furrows her brows, "I will worry about that. It has nothing to do with you."

Everything is quiet for a few seconds, until Ruth starts talking, "Everyone should recover their qi. If that thing is as strong as you say, then this is going to be a tough battle."

And so everyone splits up, sitting down in different parts of the room. Mucky is meditating beside his sister again, leaving me and Mama by ourselves.

"Lyna?"

As soon as we both sit down, Mama calls me.

"Yeah?"

"Is that person still waiting outside the dungeon?"

"Oh, let me check real quick."

It occurs to me that I haven't checked on him for quite some time now. It also occurs to me that Constrictor just left the dungeon not long ago.

'I wonder if they noticed each other?'

I send my soul through each consecutive room, all the way to the entrance of the dungeon.

"Mama."

"Yes?"

"There are a lot more people out there now."

Outside the dungeon, there are about half a dozen people that are at least in early Qi Manipulation. I say at least, because I'm not sure if they're able to hide their strength or not. Aside from them, there's also a group of a couple dozen others, who all seem to be in different stages of Qi Awakening.

And finally, standing beside the man who was originally following us, is Constrictor. They appear to be talking, and while they're standing a fair distance from each other, they don't seem to be acting at all hostile. I might even say that they're acting friendly.