Rise of the Living Forge

Chapter 45: Crystal

After a few minutes of sitting around to recover their energy, the group crept down the hall. It had been long enough since their last fight that it didn’t seem likely anything else had overheard it, but there was no point taking chances.

They crept down the dark hall, following its curves deeper into the earth. The scent of mildew grew stronger with every step, and a faint mist greeted them, prickling against their skin. It was mostly concentrated around their feet, sending wisps of swirling white up with every step they took.

The Mesh prickled at Arwin’s skin, telling him that there was faint power stored within the mist – or, more likely, whatever had created it.

After a few more minutes of walking, they reached the end of the hall. A stone door sat before them, its surface flush with the walls around it. It was plain, aside from a small green crystal jutting out from one side of it like a doorknob.

“That’s not suspicious at all,” Rodrick said, squinting at the door. “Something nasty past this, you think?”

“Probably,” Arwin said with a nod. “I’d say the mist is coming from beyond the door. It’s probably something a little stronger than what we’ve faced before.”

“What are the chances it’s waiting on the other end of the door to attack us?”

“Nonzero,” Arwin admitted. “But this mist could be a good sign. If we can take out whatever is waiting for us, I’d be willing to bet we’ll be able to get some good stuff from the victory.”

“I’d be willing to try. I’m topped up on magic right now, so as long as nobody gets hurt too seriously, I can keep everyone patched up for a while,” Anna supplied.

“Can we just poke our heads in there and see what we’re up against? Or will it chase us?” Rodrick asked.

“No clue. Depends on what’s there,” Arwin replied. He idly ran a finger along the damage to his armor. “Not every monster is the same. I think it’s worth a try, though. We can always use the door as a choke point if it’s a real threat. Most monsters won’t throw their lives away trying to kill you, so it’ll try to run if we injure it enough. We’re not that deep into the dungeon yet anyway, so I think we can handle it.”

“Let’s go, then,” Reya said. She paused, then cleared her throat. “You first though, please.”

Arwin snorted and stepped toward the door. He wrapped his hand around the crystal and pulled. The door didn’t budge, so he pushed instead. It swung open silently, gliding across the stone without a noise.

More mist poured out of the room, rolling past their feet and going up to their waist. The sound of rushing water accompanied it. A small waterfall poured from an outcropping of rocks at the far right of the room, its blueish-green water making a river that traveled across the ground and disappeared into a hole.

Glistening teal gemstones jutted out of the walls and disrupted the flow of the river, sending faint flickers of light dancing across the walls and ceiling. Compared to the rest of the dungeon, it was shockingly beautiful.

A pile of strangely shaped rocks and gemstones about seven feet tall caught Arwin’s eye as the familiar tingle of the Mesh greeted him. He focused on it more intently and was rewarded by a swirl of golden letters.

[Crystal Golem – Journeyman 3]

“Over there,” Arwin whispered. The golem didn’t seem to have noticed them yet – or perhaps it simply didn’t care about their presence. Not every monster in a dungeon was always hostile, though they usually didn’t appreciate getting bothered.

“That thing is huge,” Reya muttered. “Can we really fight it?”

“Smaller than the Wyrm,” Rodrick whispered.

“We had to run from that,” Reya pointed out. “It’s just… sitting there. What is it waiting for?”

“Us, probably,” Arwin replied. He adjusted his grip on his hammer. He’d fought golems before. They were a rather interesting kind of monster, as they weren’t naturally born. Instead, they formed when the environment had so much magical energy sitting around that it got infused.

Most of the time, Golems tended to guard whatever it was that had formed them. They were occasionally aggressive, but most of the time they didn’t care about anyone unless they got near whatever it was they happened to be protecting. “There might be something good in this room,” Arwin said. “Golems are protectors, but I don’t know what it’s guarding. I have to say that I’m a little tempted to try and harvest some of these crystals.”

“What are the chances that it’s going to take offense to that?” Reya asked.

“Almost one hundred percent,” Arwin admitted. “Up to you all.”

“If you think we can handle it, I’m willing to give it a shot,” Rodrick said. “Never fought a giant pile of rocks before, but I’m always willing to try new experiences.”

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“The strategy for this should be pretty straight forward, then. Golems tend to embody the traits of whatever it is they’re made of. Crystal and stone, in this case, so it’ll probably be heavy and strong. Don’t get hit. Focus on chipping away at it until we reveal its core. Once that gets shattered, it’ll die,” Arwin said.

“Understood,” Rodrick said. “I guess we just smack at it and Reya waits to use her power until one of us are about to get hit or we see it’s core?”

“Exactly,” Arwin said with a nod. “And Anna will sit at the back and quickly heal anyone that does get hit. This should be a short fight, but it can go badly pretty fast if the golem lands a good strike on us and we can’t get away in time. Sound good to everyone?”

“I’ll sit here and provide moral support,” Lillia said with a grin. Arwin snorted, but he couldn’t exactly ask her to do anything else. Unless they had absolutely no choice, it was better to keep her powers concealed.

“I feel like it’s more of a curse than a support with that tentacle you’re carrying around,” Rodrick grumbled. “I keep seeing it out of the corner of my eye and shuddering.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Lillia said defensively. “It’s going to taste great.”

“I’ll believe it when I see someone else try it.”

“Let’s just kill this thing already, shall we?” Anna asked. “The mist is tingly. I don’t like it. I know it’s not doing anything, but it kind of feels like I’ve got ants trying to crawl up my pants.”

Arwin grimaced at that thought, then hoisted his hammer and started toward the golem, Rodrick at his side. The monster didn’t respond to their approach, and Arwin kept his guard up to make sure nothing else was lurking in the shadows.

Golems were pretty non-confrontational so long as they weren’t annoyed, so it was very possible for another monster to be in the room. But, at least as far as he could tell, there wasn’t anything else in the area. He wasn’t even sure where the door to the next room was – though he would have bet a fair sum of gold it was probably behind the waterfall.

Dungeons always liked sticking things behind waterfalls.

As they grew closer to the golem, a dull grinding noise echoed through the room. The golem’s head shifted up, dim green lighting in the sockets that made up its eyes. It hadn’t attacked yet, but it was watching them.

“I think it sees us,” Rodrick said.

“I don’t know if sees is the right word,” Arwin said. “It doesn’t actually have eyes. It’s just magic manifest. Golems don’t process information or thought like we do, as far as I’m aware.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means I don’t have to feel bad about this,” Arwin replied, rearing back and swinging his hammer, empowering the blow with [Scourge]. The hammer slammed into the side of the golem’s head with a resounding crash, sending a spray of stone fragments flying everywhere.

The monster staggered, catching itself on the ground with an arm. It shoved itself upright, stone screeching against crystal as it stood upright. Rock flew from the ground, filling the crater Arwin had made in it.

“I think you pissed it off,” Rodrick said, taking a step back as a dull hum filled the air. The translucent green crystals covering the monster started to pulsate, their light reflecting in the mist around them.

“So I did,” Arwin agreed. “The core isn’t on the left side of its head, in case you were wondering.”

The golem lurched forward, bringing a large, rocky hand the size of Arwin’s upper body down toward him. He dove to the side and the ground shook behind him from the force of the golem’s blow.

Rodrick darted at the monster and slammed the butt of his sword down into the top of its arm, cracking the stone slightly. His eyes went wide and he skipped back, avoiding the golem’s other hand as it swept at him.

“Nine Underlands, that thing is really hard to crack. How’d you damage it so easily?”

“I’ve got a bloody hammer,” Arwin replied.

And an ability that lets me grow far more powerful than I normally am. Just a small buff, really. Definitely not a big deal.

The golem rumbled toward them, raising a hand. Crystals shifted across its body, gathering in its palm and forming into a large, jagged sword. It swept the blade and Arwin dropped to the ground, just barely ducking under the powerful blow in time.

The rush of wind from its passing buffeted his hair, and Rodrick let out a slew of curses from behind him. There hadn’t been a loud crunch, so the warrior must have avoided the attack as well.

As the golem went to pull the sword back for another swing, Arwin attacked once more. He brought his hammer hurtling toward the other side of its head like a meteor, slamming it into the stone with all the force his body could muster.

Another loud crash echoed through the room. The force of his blow, empowered by [Scourge], sent the golem staggering several feet to the side. Rubble rained down from the huge crater, but there was still no core to be seen.

The wound quickly started to patch over. Arwin went to attack again, but he was forced to abandon the attempt as the golem nearly impaled him with its enormous crystal sword. He twisted at the last second, letting the weapon scrape across his armor with a loud screech.

“You okay?” Rodrick yelled.

“Fine,” Arwin replied with a grimace. The golem was a bit faster than he’d expected – or perhaps he was just slower than he’d once been. It was probably a mixture of the two. “The golem’s core isn’t in its head. Let’s go for the body, around the heart area.”

“I’ll distract it,” Rodrick said, running up and smacking the golem on the arm before Arwin could respond. It turned toward him, bringing the crystal sword whistling for Rodrick’s head.

A blue glow enveloped the golem, slowing its movements for just an instant. Rodrick leapt back and the sword whiffed him. Arwin’s hammer shot out and caught the golem in the shoulder with another spray of stone. A resounding chime rang out as he struck some of the crystal, and a tremor raced down his arms with such intensity that Arwin was forced to drop his hammer.

He hopped back, cursing and shaking his arms off. Whatever the crystals were made out of, it was really strong. Arwin used [Arsenal] to summon his hammer back into his hands. The golem reached out for him, and Rodrick unleashed several rapid – but largely ineffective – attacks into its back.

This time, the golem completely ignored him. It had clearly registered that Rodrick didn’t have a good way to injure it, and Arwin was the greater threat.

“Over here, you overgrown lump!” Rodrick called, racing past the golem to stand where it had risen. “You’re protecting something, right? Sure would be a shame if I–”

Rodrick didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. The golem spun with such speed that its hand caught Arwin by surprise, striking him in the shoulder and sending him tumbling across the ground.

He slammed into a wall and the world flashed around him as the air was knocked from his lungs. The golem lunged for Rodrick. A flash of blue light enveloped it, but it wasn’t enough to stop the monster.

Its weapon came crashing down, on a collision course for Rodrick – and the warrior wasn’t anywhere near fast enough to dodge it in time.