Uno

The humans were slowly advancing, their rogue - Tinna - was taking her time in a few meters left between their temporary camp and the Forge Room. This slow, but the steady pace wasn’t up to everyone's taste.

“You did check for the traps, right?” Asked Charles, while observing his surroundings.

“Yes, sir.”

“Then why are we dilly-dallying? Time is precious.”

“As I said before - while I’ve checked for traps there is a chance that some were overlooked or will react to your mana, sir.” The thief answered respectfully and without scoffing, but I saw her rolling her eyes a little.

“Then you would be guilty of knowingly leading a noble into danger.” He snapped back, clearly unhappy and a bit frightened.

“Which both of us would regret, sir. That’s why we keep a slow pace. Sir.” She answered, clearly unimpressed with his threats. The man only flinched lightly and stopped his nagging.

The rest of the party ignored the contents of their conversation. They were busy focusing on their surroundings. Like a high-strung bowstring, each of them seemed ready to pounce.

Only the red-haired man seemed to be in his own world.

I could see greed in his eyes.

[One day your core will be mine.] I whispered in the shadows and the dungeon shook slightly, the creations responding to my bloodlust.

This, in turn, made their progress even slower, but of course, they arrived at the Forge Room without any complications.

There simply weren’t any traps in the way. Still the idea of a mechanism which would react not to people, but the mana in them was a tempting one.

And yet I had no idea how to implement it.

I had this inner ability to see - to taste - the magical energies flowing through the world, but since my magic was limited at best I had no clue how to create anything that included it. Unless I used the Anima as an intermediary… which was something I wasn’t too keen on doing right now.

Until I understood what was causing these blackouts I should stop using powers I didn’t understand. Barring, of course, the situation when I had no other choice.

My state wasn't growing worse. At least I think so... I was afraid of slavery. Of becoming a puppet to some foreign power. To Gods. To humans. But I was afraid of death even more. It was ironic, really - I already died once, so the great unknown shouldn't be so scary. And yet it was. This feeling of powerlessness was suffocating...

A slave had the ability to rebel. The dead had no such choice.

Not to mention that without more kills I had to focus my attention on the second floor, which was already getting a bit crowded.

That was the problem with having biological lifeforms that breed independently. Soon I would have an overpopulation problem on my hands… Unless the adventurers came in order to cull my monsters somewhat.

Or I could send a few of them to the surface.

I should probably do that.

Yes...

Anyway - the humans already took their first step into my Forge room.

The place itself wasn’t that big, just large enough to contain my electrical forge, the golem, and few desks and containers. Not-so-subtle magic was weaved in a few pieces of furniture, making sure that the metal continued to be created without any impediment and that failures were properly disposed of. An effect of the Anima usage that surprisingly worked without any side effects.

In a sense, it was a perfect room for practicing.

Its only occupant walked around on his sturdy legs, black-grey frame sometimes glinting in the hot-red light of the forge. The Bile-brain Golem looked similar to the robot crossed with a heavily armored knight, a wide-shouldered pile of metal, bone, and stone. While its “flesh” was made from mineral wool I didn’t forget an armor made from iron to cover it. The heat would blast at it each minute it worked the anvil, but the isolation provided by its innards should be perfect.

Of course, when mentioning robots the type I had in mind was like the ones battling Godzilla, not the anime-waifu-capable machines of today.

Wait. Weren’t these mechs with people inside, not robots?

Ah, who cares.

It’s not like there were any people in this world who could appreciate my retro-style. Or correct it. There were no isekai-ed heroes here, according to the Gods. No complete souls.

I was the only one.

And who would even call me a hero.

I was just a dungeon trying its best to survive.

The Forge room was full of noise - mostly the sound of metal striking metal, echoing off the walls every few minutes. My minion was creating something resembling a weapon and quickly discarding it as a failure. Then, with sure steps he wandered towards the ore barrel, choosing another piece and continued his thankless task. Again and again.

The Swords of Hope crowded near the door, mesmerized by a sight of a strange giant working endlessly and without a break.

The only type of metal available in the room was the same kind of iron that people in the Waltzer Castle used, so I wasn’t worried about giving my enemies a powerful weapon. The golem was creating nothing better than crude tools of war.

I was sure of it, especially seeing how the golem desperately tried to smash his unskilled hammer against the heated ore. And how the miracle didn’t happen. Again and again.

A conversation followed this sight.

“How are you sure that it’s a golem?” Charles for once asked a valid question. How did she know?

“Ummm… according to my knowledge, there are only two types of monsters in the dungeons that don’t attack on sight, sir.” She answered hesitantly. Her hand was caressing a dagger sheath. A nervous tick, I suppose.

“She’s right.” Confirmed Agnes, still overseeing the room. “Most of the monsters in the dungeons are alive. As such they have an ingrained instinct to destroy anything and anybody not belonging to the dungeon.” She squinted her eyes, pulling on her short, blonde hair while thinking about something else.

“And what are the exceptions?” Charles stopped harassing the rogue and turned towards the princess.

“The not-alive beings. Which for the dungeon means golems and elementals. The former tend to only attack when the task given to them is interrupted, while the latter will defend their territory and do nothing else.”

“We can exclude the elementals. I already appeared before its face. It didn’t react other than going around me.” Tinna mumbled under her nose.

The rest of the party looked at her like she was insane. In response, she only shrugged. “This room is out of the way. It’s a dead-end too. There was no way in hell that the elementals would be here. They defend their territory, remember? As such they’re used as a blockade. A room that you must walk through.” She snorted lightly. “Besides no elemental looks like this.” The girl pointed towards the golem and I had to agree.

Even though I never saw an elemental.

Not counting computer games of course. But the people raiding my dungeon apparently did.

“You’re right.” Agnes agreed too to her words. The rest of her sentence was however full of suspicion. “But I wonder how a fourth level rogue who never conquered any dungeon knows that?”

“I tried to study hard, in order to feed my siblings.” Tinna scratched her head embarrassingly, but I saw the cold sweat dripping down her back.

“I see. But please remember that this dungeon is different. Crazy. This could be an elemental… and then you would probably end as a stain on the wall.” The princess didn’t press the topic. Nobody in the party reacted to that short conversation, baring the elven priest who looked at the thief with a sudden caution.

“Okay, people!” Agnes clapped her hands and started giving out orders. “The thing in the next room seems to be a type of golem. This means that as long as we won’t try to stop it from doing its task we should be safe!”

“Yup!”

“Neat.”

“Yes.”

The party answered, but her head automatically swiveled towards the biggest troublemaker - the fire mage.

“This means that nobody touches the golem or anything else in the room!” Her expression scrunched. “Understood?”

“Yes, yes, I understand. I’m not stupid, you know?” He answered lacklasidly, only to suddenly flinch, as the princess moved her face right next to his, a blonde hair nearly touching his flushed skin.

“I’m speaking seriously, dear.” She mumbled catishly in his ear, only Charles, Agnes and me hearing the conversation. “Otherwise I’ll just leave you here to go back on your own. Understood?”

“Y-yes!” This time Charles's eyes were wide open as he stumbled on his words.

“Good. Let’s go!”

As the order was given the Swords of Hope entered the room while watching all the angles. Both weapons and magic were readied. The tanks entered first, their shields ready to block any projectiles, the damage dealers behind them and only then - mages.

Of course, nothing happened.

For a few more minutes they just stood there, observing the Bile-brain Golem pacing between three places.

A barrel full of ores.

The strange-looking forge and anvil located near it.

A disposal container.

The party held their collective breath as Tinna once again walked towards the middle of the room, standing the golem’s way. It looked at her from behind his helmet and changed his path slightly. I could nearly hear it sigh at the interruption.

The girl smiled at the rest of the warriors and immediately returned to the formation.

Then came a discussion.

“Now that I see it with my own eyes, there is no doubt. It’s a golem.” The elf, Eve, mumbled just loud enough for the rest of her team to hear it.

“Is it?” Agnes smiled like there was never any question about it.

“Yes. But there is something weird about it.” The lithe healer nodded seriously, her small head tilting. “I just can’t put my finger on it.” She scratched her cheek in wonder.

“It’s the weight.” Boulder answered her with a sour expression.

“What?”

“This golem is not fully made from metal.” He pointed towards the slick armor covering my creation. “The plate armor its wearing is damn heavy, but that’s all. If the insides were full of iron too the sound should be different. Louder. Fuller.” He scoffed. “It is not.”

“I never heard about a golem which wasn’t comprised from just one type of material.” The elf wondered aloud. “There are metal, stone, wood, even clay golems. But to make one from different pieces…” Her gaze turned a bit heated. “Could we…”

“No.” The princess's answer was short and decisive. “Our target is the Floor Guardian. No attacking the non-aggressive creatures to dissect them.” Her voice softened a bit. “We can do that at our next dive.”

“...yes, princess.”

“What do you people think about it?” She turned towards the rest of the party.

“I’m not an expert, but this looks like a smithy to me.” Boulder answered with a smirk. He didn’t relax in the slightest, positioning his tower shield between the golem and the healer. Lone Mountain nodded to his words while keeping watch over the rest of their party.

“Normally I would agree, but what the hell is that forge?!” The earth-shadow mage, Peter pointed towards my electrical forge in exasperation. “Where are the flames? What are these metal rods? How can it even work?!” He shouted.

Oops.

I didn’t think about that.

“Calm yourself.” Agnes scoffed lightly while observing the machine. “It’s clearly using some unknown principle to heat up the metal. Magic, probably. It doesn’t matter.”

“Why? If we sold that unknown principle outside we would be rich!” Of course, it was Charles who answered her, his eyes never leaving his prize.

“Because of two reasons.” The princess shook her head. “Firstly - any magical contraption wrenched out of the dungeon will stop working. That’s why I said it’s useless.”

Oh… it would?

That’s a relief then - no adventurers wrecking my dungeon!

“Secondly.” She continued. “What would you sell? Did you see what garbage this golem produces?” Agnes smirked for a moment. “It may be that it’s just bad, but golems usually are pretty decent when it comes to producing weapons and armor. So… it’s probably this facility that is trash…”

[*beeeep* Nope, it’s the golem’s fault.] I laughed to myself, observing their antics. The room smith seemed to stop for a moment but then continued his work without rest.

Its moves seemed a bit faster though.

“Ancient Smithy is the best example of the golems expertise.” Boulder whispered with a smile on his face. He also used his mace to lightly tap the tower shield to produce a strong and clear sound.

“Yes. The royal family Ancient Smithy has dozens of golems skilled in forging metal.” She nodded towards Boulder. “His weapons and armor were made there after all.” Her attention turned towards the restlessly pacing Bile-brain Golem. “So this forge should be worthless. But a replicating pile of ore…” Her face scrunched in thought. “We can use it.”

“Is that all?” Asked Tinna.

“Yes, please scout our surroundings.”

“I already did. From here there is only a single hallway, with a fork leading to the large room and one going straight with a much smaller room at the end.” She answered. “Which one should I check first, your highness?” The rogue was strangely formal at this moment.

“Go for the large one. It has a higher chance of a boss monster appearing.”

“According to the records.” Whispered Eve.

“Yes, according to the records.” Agreed Agnes.

“Did anything that we encountered in this dungeon behaved according to the records?” The healer smiled.

“I see that you want to be already forgiven.” Mumbled Agnes.

“What?” A slight blush appeared on Eve's face.

“Check the small room first then, Tinna.”

The thief nodded and disappeared from the room.

The boss battle was approaching.

I only hoped that my Soul-hive Guardian was enough for the task. Well… there was the Sacrificial Altar too. Who knows?

Maybe I’ll get my third level today.