Book 5: Chapter 27

Book 5: Chapter 27

Footsteps against stone bricks let out quiet clacking noises as Kay’s party moved into the dungeon. It was an interesting party, comprised of Kay, Eleniah, Kay’s guards who would only be participating in fights if Kay needed help staying alive or if there were enough enemies to make it worth it for everyone to participate, and Miri the mysterious maid, who was following Kay for reasons he wasn’t entirely clear about. He remembered that she’d supposedly been tasked by Alahna or someone else in the palace work hierarchy to be Kay’s guide during his sightseeing tour of the city, but she’d also showed up that morning with breakfast and was now following him into a dungeon. She also might not join them in fights or maybe she would? Kay was unsure about that as well thanks to her unclear answers.

Ignoring the confusing woman, there was a dungeon to clear. Or at clear as much as possible, there were areas they would completely steamroll that weren’t worth going to and the actual boss of the dungeon would be too powerful for even their group. A dedicated team of tier fives with assigned roles was necessary to take down the boss, making this dungeon one of the most difficult to beat under the sole control of a nation. It was also a coveted boss to kill because the high difficulty came with a sweet loot table. The swath they were going to clear their way through was the section that led to the boss, and according to Eleniah’s info they were going to beat at least one of the minibosses before turning back. In addition to it’s powerful final foe, the dungeon was also very long in order to make it a challenge for higher tier adventurers. At least, that’s what everyone assumed since each addition the dungeon had made added stronger enemies, tougher bosses, and longer areas.

Eleniah had deliberately refused to tell him the name of the dungeon and specifically what kind of enemies were within, in order to “not ruin the surprise” and “give him the authentic experience”. So he had no idea what to expect when they turned the corner into a wide open room made of the same dull colored stone bricks and slabs. The room was better lit than the hallway, but only by a little, with the same smokeless torches letting off dim flickering light that made the shadows dance like flittering fairies. A series of stone blocks dotted the room, looking like unfinished pillars or uncarved steles. At the far end was an archway filled with a solid sheet of rock without handles or knobs.

“Alright,” Eleniah whispered to him, “You go first.”

He turned a suspicious look at her. “...Why?”

“Because I’ll give away the surprise if you look at me.” She replied, with “duh” in her tone. “You don’t get to go in as a fresh newbie adventurer so the least I can do is give you a little bit of that feel of exploration and wonder that they get the first time they come into this dungeon.”

“Or, you think it’ll be funny to watch me jump when whatever is in there surprises me.”

“I didn’t say that.”

Kay stared into her eyes before very slowly and deliberately rolling his eyes at her. He let a trickle of blood run out of his nose, then both nostrils. The trickle became a gushing of red liquid that trailed down his face and over his chin. It solidified as it met the edge of his armor and built on top of itself piece by piece like a sand castle made out of droplets of wet sand until it covered his head and smoothed out.

“Ew!”

While the golems were an actual challenge, Kay and Eleniah weren’t losing, which in this case meant they were winning. Limbs were torn off and tossed aside, leaving behind torsos that could do nothing other than lie there unthreateningly. Kay guessed there was a core to aim for and immediately proved himself right as a golem that he speared through the chest dissolved into a small pile of dirt. The golems were numerous, but not unending and as each one died the pile of the defeated grew and the living enemies pressuring the two of them became less.

Shortly after the battle started it ended, even with the lack of coordination the winning pair showed. The final blow was Kay’s and he deliberately grabbed the last golem, raised it over Eleniah’s head with giant hands he made out of blood before making a big drill and piercing the center of the golem to make sure he got the core. The dirt the last enemy became rained down over her dark hair and she turned to glare at him.

“Really?”

“That’s my line. Your big surprise is just an ambush?”

“You weren’t expecting it, were you?”

“I wasn’t, but that’s because its so obvious!”

“And thus my double trickery succeeded! Welcome to the Golem Army’s Citadel!”

“That’s the dungeon’s name?”

“Yeah. It’s all golems, which should be obvious at this point. Now that you’ve been successfully ambushed by mobile rocks, lets go over the different types of enemies to look out for, then we can go get stuck into a real fight!”