The two golems hadn't moved all this time, but he nudged them with his foot just to make sure they were really dead. When they didn't make a noise or rise back up, Quinten let out the breath he was holding and proceeded to turn the first one onto its back. The weight made it difficult and, while the useless arm debuff was gone, the pain still remained so only had one reliable arm to use. After a full two minutes of effort, Quinten finally managed to turn it over and could finally inspect the bullet holes. The shattered stone plate on the left side had fallen away to reveal an internal mass of copper wires coated in some sort of shiny, translucent resin. The bundle of wires followed along metal rods originating from a central column that appeared to act as a pseudo-spine. The opposite end disappeared into the metal casing of the arm. Quinten could see a small corner of some internal frame poking out from underneath the central plate right where the final bullet had pierced it. Curious, he forced a finger in through the opening and wrapped it around the frame and attempted to pull. The frame wiggled minutely but remained. He thread a second finger alongside the first and braced himself to pull harder. With effort and a grunt, Quinten managed to yank the metal frame out with it a bundle of wires connecting it to an unseen point inside the robot golem. Inside the frame was what appeared to be a small, banded sphere layered with runes, not too dissimilar to the runes he'd noticed on the teleportation formation. The metal of the bands appeared to be made from a thin gold plate and the runes were delicately carved across each and every band. Along one of the sides, a crack split apart where the bullet grazed it and dull glow emanated from within. Quinten turned it around and found that a crystal, similar to the ones he'd extracted from the Mooger and Terrorbun, but a muddy brown in color, was suspended in the center by tethers of thin golden threads. Before opening it up, Quinten remembered the pictures he was supposed to take and brought out his phone. He quickly snapped several pictures of the golems, the core and even remembered to take some pictures of the battle scenes on the wall of the tunnel. Satisfied with the images, Quinten went about carefully cannibalizing the two golems for any parts he could carry in his bag. The small haul amounted to the two gold golem cores and several bundles of the wire. Everything else was too firmly attached and impossible to get to without the correct tools. After finishing up, Quinten packed away the spoils and cautiously headed deeper into the tunnels. After another bend in the hallway, Quinten noticed some changes in the combat mural. The final scenes, just before the bend, depicted the dwarven warrior in combat with a particularly nasty looking enemy. Almost 5 times bigger than the dwarf, a massive quadrupedal golem wreathed in flames stood between him and an ornately designed throne. The dwarf's armor had long been destroyed and what little remained of his clothes were nothing more than tattered scraps. In his hand, he held a long metal rod reminiscent of the back support Quinten had seen in both of the golems. The dwarf fought valiantly, his attacks strong enough to produce visible damage on the armor of the golem, yet in the final panel, the heroic dwarf laid defeated under the foot of the golem, never to rise again. Quinten shuddered at the scene. He had a sneaking suspicion a similar fate awaited him at the end of this dungeon. The built-up fear from the last hour, coupled with this haunting scene, started to develop into terror. The prospect of death was never something he'd fully comprehended back in his relatively safe life on Earth. A small car accident here or a mild pandemic there, but nothing that caused him this amount of visceral panic before. It felt to Quinten like a panic attack cranked up to max. He started to hyperventilate and a cold fire burned through his chest and up into his throat. Just as his body was about to succumb to his base 'flight' response, a warm feeling washed over his mind, clearing it enough for more rational thought to prevail. Quinten latched on to that, almost external seeming, sensation and committed to the breathing technique he'd learned during a meditation class his ex-roommate brought him to long ago. Five seconds in, three-second hold, five seconds out, three-second hold, then repeat. Eyes closed, for five minutes Quinten let his panic-filled thoughts flow past and out of his conscious mind as he repeated the breathing process over and over. In, hold, out, hold. In, hold, out, hold. Finally, when his body returned to a more relaxed state, another popup box appeared and disappeared, surprising him. 'A meditation type skill maybe? Wonder what it does...' He thought to himself, still a bit wary of speaking out loud to attract any more robot golem things. With a sigh and a shudder, Quinten took a step forward, then another and another and finally rounded the corner to continue forward to find the exit and leave this place. Once past the bend, a new series of battle scenes started on the opposite side of the wall. This time it was a group of three. Two tall, robed heroes stood side by side with another armored dwarf carrying a strange weapon he'd never seen before. On the end of a medium-length pole was what looked like a half pickaxe, half hammer tool. The hammer side was shaped like a rather large ball-peen hammer while the pickaxe side was a long, curved piece of metal ending in a very sharp point. The top of the weapon held three sharp spikes flaring out to the sides. It was an odd-looking tool but the dwarf held it confidently as if he'd been born holding it. The two robed fellows held weapons a bit less ornate. The one in a plain robe on the left held a crooked and gnarled staff, looking as if it was freshly cut from a tree. The only detail on it was a small set of runes carved around the top. It was interesting enough to warrant a picture so Quinten grabbed his camera and snapped a couple of shots to collect the runes for later. The final robed man was dressed in finer clothing with trim and accents all along the edges. The details of the carving seemed to allow the fabric to shimmer as if flowing in a small breeze. In his hand, he held a thin wand with a small gem resting in his palm. The opposite end terminated in a fine point with a small golden cap As usual, the detail and craftsmanship of the scenes were beyond compare. Not a hint of wear could be seen and each panel gleamed as if someone freshly polished it each and every day. The current scene showed them standing in front of the same obelisk he himself had stood in front of. The two robed figures kept a hand on the shoulder of the dwarf while the dwarf held his hand on the formation. Continuing on, a similar series of battles told the story of their progress through the dungeon with the only difference seeming to be an increase in the golem type monsters and a decrease in beast type ones. The magic users had more difficulty with the golem types, their spells bouncing off more times than not. 'They must have an innate resistance to magic. Good thing I have this baby.' Quinten patted the holstered Glock as he walked down the hallway, watching the battle scenes pass by while remembering to keep an eye out for any rooms or branching hallways. After a few minutes of walking, the tunnel split off, one direction continuing forward and one perpendicular to the current one. Quinten stopped and peered off into the distance down both tunnels. The main one continued forward into the distance without much change, while the right tunnel held several side passages. There was no mosaic of battle scenes down the side tunnel so he concluded it was a branch, while the forward direction would take him towards the end. The years of experience with MMO dungeons told Quinten to clear out all the side passages, but the small pool of fear whispered to him, urging him on towards the exit. While he was deliberating which to listen to, a grinding rumble echoed down the hallway from the side passage. The sound startled Quinten and he looked towards the source. A group of boulders, roughly the size and shape of a large wolf, lumbered out and stared out him. With a grinding howl, it charged towards him and he broke out in a cold sweat. ------ Demi's game was left on pause, the current battle completely forgotten as she nervously watched Quinten's screen with rapt attention. Another battle was about to commence. He still had less than full health so the situation was less than ideal. "You can do it Quin!" Her hopeful cheering alleviating some of the nervous energy filling her stomach. She knew she chose the perfect person for the epic story about to play out, but even she didn't know how the ending would go. Demi knew she wasn't born powerful with rare gifts like foresight or the ability to influence chance and destiny. Now that her stockpiled Divine energy was used upbringing Quinten to Arya, and giving her vassal, Gerhardt, the tool to either help or hinder Quinten, she was left with nothing but her passive ability to facilitate change within Arya. Relegated to the role of observer, Demi was an audience of one meant to witness the tale of Quinten Locke, the hero of Arya. He would live or die by his own actions, and she would be there to see it all.