War Room

“And then he fell out from the sky!?” said one peasant.

“Yes! And then he beat all those lizards back to their caves!” replied the other.

A roar of awe surged through the tavern.

Would you look at that. I became the talk of town.

“I mean it’s fine…” muttered Sybille. “It is fine that I didn’t need to do anything… when I got there, it was all over. I mean, it's fine, right?”

She circled the edge of her mug as she kept on talking to herself. I was sitting on the ground next to her table, accompanying her, but I did not have anything for myself.

“Ah, what a bore!” said Sybille. “And then we have to get to that noble…”

She let herself go flat across the table and groaned.

Yep. She was drunk. Super drunk.

“Hey, Bastion!” she said, pointing her mug at me. “Have something to drink! Come on, it is all lonely drinking alone!”

“I do not have taste receptors.”

“I dun care! Have some!”

“Give me taste receptors and the ability to get drunk, and I will,” I responded.

“No fair!” said Sybille. “I will have to get permission from da Master! And then…”

She lowered her mug, and let her head rest against her outstretched arm.

“And then?”

“He will want you to do more dangerous things,” she said. “He is not the kind to ever do something without expecting something in return.”

“The way I see it, I already have my work cut out for me. I’ve been training to kill monsters, so that is what I am going to do.”

Sybille diverted her gaze away from mine.

“But is that something you want to do?” she said.

“I don’t really see any other choice.”

I did not waste any time answering her.

“I s’ppose not,” she said, lament in her voice.

The captain of the guard came into the tavern and looked around. As soon as he saw me, he walked over to our table.

“Huh?” said Sybille. “You are…”

The captain made a salute.

“My name is Captain Randolph,” he said. “I am here to call for both of you.”

“Both of us?”

“Yes, Miss Sybille,” said the guard, “and Sir Bastion as well. Master Croghan has arrived at the castle and is calling for both of you.”

Sybille jolted her back up straight.

“He’s here?!” she said.

Captain Randolph nodded.

“He is making a deal with Count Heath, and wants you both to attend,” he said.

Sybille groaned with woe. She picked up her staff and tapped the ground twice with it.

“Purify,” she said, casting a bright blue light on herself.

Her composure took on a more solid figure, and her eyes focused. Just like that, she was not drunk anymore.

“What is the deal about?” I asked him.

Captain Randolph looked towards me.

“It’s a deal to order a raid on a dungeon,” he answered.

***

The tall, oaken door opened before us into a spacious blue room around twice my height and illuminated by candles.

“Is that…” said a middle-aged man sitting by the center table. He was well-dressed, but with his face marked with a scar.

“Yes, Count Heath,” said Master Croghan. “This right here is the ReConstruct. It and my apprentice will be at your disposal to be rid of the dungeon at your doorstep. It will be an easy task for them.”

The count clenched his hands.

He stood up and walked close to me, scanning me up and down.

“It’s not just a golem, is it?” he said.

“Far from it,” said Master Croghan. “It is an otherworlder soul merged into the body of a construct. As I have said, it is the ideal material for a warrior needed in these times. Come, now, Number BS-8, say something intelligent.”

I looked back at Master Croghan and gave it a thought.

“Pineapple should never be put on pizza,” I said.

Count Heath stared at me with confusion, while Master Croghan sighed with exasperation.

“Master Croghan,” said the count. “What is a pizza?”

He said WHAT?!

“It is a dish from the world of Gaia,” said Master Croghan. “Bear with the ReConstruct, please, it is not yet accustomed to this world.”

They don’t have pizza. I feel so sorry for them. Not that I can taste pizza anymore, though.

“I see,” said Count Heath. “But can you guarantee its strength?”

“You can ask your town guard,” said Master Croghan. “I myself heard mighty tales.”

Count Heath turned towards the captain of the guard.

“Well?” he said.

The captain made a formal salute.

“It is true, esteemed count,” said Captain Randolph. “The help of the golem here was undoubtedly what allowed us to withstand the siege. Though we all fought with the best of our ability, the gate was breached by the cannons. Had it not been for the arrival of the golem, the monsters would have entered the city, without a doubt.”

Count Heath sank into his seat.

“Well?” said Master Croghan. “Do we have a deal?”

“We have it,” said the count. “But after that, I do not want to hear anything about the dungeon reviving, do you understand?”

“Of course,” said Master Croghan. “It will not happen. Your enemies will be destroyed, down to the last.”

***

Scrying had suggested the path from where the monsters had arrived to attack Whiteriver. Monsters were beings made mana manifestations and were more like living sand monsters than anything else. And, just like sand, they leave traces behind wherever they go. This meant that there was a trail to the source of the attack.

Of course, any attacker does not want to be found, so they try to minimize the trails left behind by their monsters, but there is only so much that they can do. Some give them shoes, others give them armor, but in the end, some traces leak through.

Finding this dungeon was nothing short of chasing after breadcrumbs for miles on end. However, Master Croghan did it.

“It is thanks to this,” he explained to us.

We were in the war room when he showed us some kind of blue, crystal orb with an eye-like appearance. It levitated around and moved to his whim’s commands and circled around in the room.

“What is that?” said Count Heath.

“It’s a surveyor,” said Master Croghan. “It lets me see through it as though it were a third eye. It can also detect mana, no matter how faint. With it I tracked down the source of the invasion… to here.”

Master Croghan pointed with his bony fingers at someplace in the mountains.

“The old watchtower?” said Count Heath.

“You should have hired a priest to purify it,” said Master Croghan. “At least a druid if you are cheap. That watchtower is deep in the Wrothgan Mountains and is a focal point for the leylines. Mana was bound to accumulate there no matter what.”

“That watchtower’s placement was essential,” said Count Heath. “It allowed us to oversee the activities of the Ranolkian Empire on the other side of the border. However…”

“Your soldiers began turning to monsters,” said Master Croghan.

“Yes.”

I turned towards Master Croghan. So, people could turn into monsters too...

“That is what happens when a dungeon starts to form,” said Master Croghan. “First, mana accumulates. Then, the animals and people there start mutating. Then, the land itself changes. Give it time, and it becomes a nest for monsters. Give it more, and it becomes a dungeon.”

I stepped forward.

“How can we destroy it?” I asked.

“You have to destroy the core,” said Master Croghan. He produced a large chunk of crystal from his coat and put it on the table. “This is a fragment of one. They are usually around as big as you, ReConstruct. You will find it at the deepest part of the dungeon, most of the time. Destroy it, and the mana will dissipate. That will stop the monsters from appearing.”

Count Heath blew out a cloud of smoke from his pipe.

“Problem is getting there,” he said. “That place was taken over by the Ranolkians. I will bet that they fortified it too.”

“They probably just used it as a staging ground and left,” said Master Croghan. “They’d do so for the same reasons as you. They don’t want their soldiers to turn into monsters, after all. They probably just sent some mages to take over the place and weaponize the monsters against you, then went about their business.”

Sybille focused her sight on the roads of the map.

“So, to get there, what about this road?” she said.

Her finger was laying across a path that would lead to the dungeon through the mountains. It was relatively direct, but optimistic. There seemed to be lots of ups and downs in that path she laid out.

“That is hardly a road,” said Count Heath. “Why can’t you just fly there with the griffin?”

“It would lose the hypnotic effect we have on it,” said Master Croghan. “We cannot let it get close to the dungeon.”

Sybille nodded.

“We could go the traditional route, the one that was used before,” said Sybille, “but if the Ranolkian Empire expects us to cross there, then they’d rig the place with traps. Don’t you think so?”

Count Heath stroked his chin.

“That makes sense,” he said. “That path you mentioned would not overlap with the original road at all. But still, no human climber would even attempt going through that. One missed step, and…”

I stepped forward.

“You have a not-so-human climber at your disposal,” I said. “One who would be more than eager to help out, if needed.”