Chapter 21
A new party entered the dungeon.
Ethan observed them through his constructs, noting their coordination. Five adventurers—two in heavy armor, a robed figure in the middle, and two more agile-looking fighters taking the flanks.
Unlike the previous groups, they didn’t hesitate at the entrance. The swordswoman in front, a tall woman with short-cropped hair and a confident stance, strode forward without fear. “Stay sharp. We know this thing fights smart.”
Ethan’s core pulsed in mild interest. At least they weren’t idiots.
The first room—a Simple Golem Gauntlet—tested them immediately. Two Mark I Combat Striders lunged from hidden alcoves, claws scraping against stone as they rushed in.
“Contact!” the shield-bearer called, intercepting one of the Striders with his heavy tower shield. The impact sent him sliding back, but he dug his feet in, forcing the golem to halt.
The second Strider darted for the robed figure. The mage flicked a wrist, and a pulse of concussive energy knocked it sideways. “They’re faster than I expected,” he muttered.
Ethan hummed. This was already going differently than the last few runs.
The rogue of the group moved in quickly, twin daggers flashing as he found a weak spot in a Strider’s joint, severing a connection. The construct collapsed, sparking as its systems failed. The second one fell soon after, crushed under the shield-bearer’s heavy swing.
Efficient.
They pushed forward, past early traps and into the Illusion Corridor.
“Mirages,” the archer muttered. “Watch for the patterns.”
So they had encountered illusion traps before. That would make things harder for him.
The mage chanted something under his breath, releasing a wave of mana that dispelled some of the distortions. Not all of them, but enough to give them a path forward.
Chip flickered beside Ethan. “Well, that’s annoying.”
Ethan didn’t disagree.
But he wasn’t done yet.
__
Corwin adjusted his grip on his tower shield, his stance firm as he scanned the dimly lit corridor ahead. His party stood behind him, weapons ready, watching the eerie mechanical constructs that skittered just out of reach.
“Alright,” he murmured, keeping his voice low. “First impressions?”
“They move weird,” Lena muttered, sword in hand. “Not like normal dungeon creatures. Too precise.”
Renna frowned, her fingers twitching as she prepared a spell. “They’re machines. I don’t know if illusions will even work on them.”
Derric crouched beside Osric, both studying the constructs. “There’s a rhythm to their movement,” the rogue noted. “Like a patrol pattern.”
Osric nodded. “That means we can exploit it.”
They had encountered animated constructs before, but these weren’t simple enchanted suits of armor or reanimated golems. These things were calculated, deliberate, and worse—they learned.
The moment Corwin took a single step forward, the constructs reacted. The nearest Scavenger Golem whirred, its segmented body shifting as it let out a sharp, clicking sound. A ripple passed through the group of machines, and then they moved.
Fast.
Corwin barely had time to brace before one lunged at him, metal claws flashing. His shield took the hit with a resonant clang, the force rattling his arm. Behind him, Lena moved, her sword flashing as she severed a construct’s leg in one clean strike.
“Watch the flanks!” Osric called, loosing an arrow. It hit a golem’s eye-like sensor, making it jerk violently before collapsing.
Derric vanished into the shadows, reappearing behind another golem. His daggers found the weak points in its joints, carving through cables and internal mechanisms. Sparks flew as it collapsed.
Renna finished her spell. With a sharp word, a wave of force blasted the remaining constructs backward, slamming them against the walls. Metal crunched, and the hallway fell silent.
Corwin exhaled, lowering his shield.
“That was… different,” Lena muttered, nudging a golem’s broken frame with her boot.
Osric knelt beside one of the downed constructs, inspecting its remains. “These things are too intricate for a normal dungeon. There’s something more at work here.”
Corwin agreed. This place wasn’t just another monster-filled gauntlet. It was something else. And whatever was running it…
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It was watching them.
___
Ethan watched through his constructs’ eyes as Corwin’s group finished off the last of his scavenger golems. The adventurers were competent—efficient even. Unlike the blundering Bronze-ranks who had stumbled into his dungeon before, these five actually worked as a unit.
He exhaled through his core, mana pulsing slightly as he shifted his focus to Chip. “So? What do you think?”
Chip’s avatar flickered into view, smirking as he floated lazily beside Ethan’s core. “Well, they’re not idiots, which is already a step up. Your golems actually had to work for that fight.”
Ethan’s irritation flared. “They were basic scavengers. That was never meant to be a real challenge.”
“Exactly,” Chip pointed out. “Which is why we should see how they handle an actual challenge. Maybe now’s a good time to introduce them to your little experiment?”
Ethan considered it. His dungeon had been evolving constantly, but he hadn’t had the chance to properly field-test his latest construct—his first attempt at a mini-boss.
The Mark I Heavy.
It wasn’t revolutionary in terms of construction. It was still fundamentally a Mark I Combat Golem, which meant it had the usual limitations—stiff movement, outdated design compared to his newer models, and a hefty mana upkeep. But Ethan had modified it, integrating two major advancements.
First, it had a hybrid scanner array, combining the targeting capabilities of his Scout Golems and the Omni Golem’s multi-directional sensor suite. The result was something that could not only track enemies but predict movement patterns in real time, adjusting its aim accordingly.
Second, he had armed it with a miniaturized version of the Ballista Golem’s ranged weapon. It wasn’t quite as powerful as the real thing, but it packed enough force to punch through most standard adventurer armor if they weren’t careful.
And now, Corwin’s party would be the first to face it.
Ethan’s core pulsed with anticipation as he gave the order.
Deep within the dungeon, the stone walls rumbled.
__
The air grew heavier as they pressed forward, the previous encounter still lingering in their minds.
Osric moved ahead, stepping lightly as he examined the stonework. “Something’s different here,” he muttered. “This isn’t just another passage.”
Corwin frowned. He could feel it too. The dungeon seemed… expectant.
Lena gripped her sword tighter. “It’s watching us,” she murmured.
Before anyone could respond, the ground trembled. Then, with the sound of shifting mechanisms, the wall ahead of them split open.
From the darkness beyond, something stepped out.
It was massive—at least a full head taller than Corwin. Unlike the previous constructs, which had been built for mobility and numbers, this one was built for war.
Heavy plating covered its frame, reinforced to withstand punishment. Its head was sleek, with a single glowing sensor that flickered through different colors as it scanned the group. Most notably, a large, compacted weapon was mounted on its right arm, its design unfamiliar but immediately threatening.
For a moment, it simply stood there, its scanner flickering across them.
Then, in a mechanical voice, it spoke.
“Evaluation: Capable combatants detected. Proceeding with engagement.”
Then it moved.
…
Ethan watched closely as the fight erupted.
The Mark I Heavy was performing exactly as intended.
It had studied them in seconds, recognizing Corwin as the shieldbearer and immediately pivoting to avoid engaging him head-on. Instead, it fired a compressed mana bolt directly at Renna, attempting to disrupt their formation.
She barely had time to react, throwing up a concussive force spell. The impact sent her skidding backward, and Ethan could already see how the team adjusted.
Derric vanished into the shadows. Osric notched an arrow. Lena moved to flank.
The Mark I Heavy predicted all of it.
Its scanner flickered, registering movement. A rapid shift of its stance, and in an instant, its left arm detached, revealing a hidden clawed appendage that lashed out mid-motion, forcing Derric to abort his sneak attack.
Chip let out a whistle. “Oh, you really went all out on this one.”
Ethan smirked. “Had to. These guys are different.”
___
The Mark I Heavy lunged forward, its reinforced frame moving with surprising speed for its bulk. Corwin barely had time to raise his shield before the golem's massive arm swung down like a hammer.
CLANG!
The impact sent a deep, metallic ring through the chamber. Corwin dug his heels in, gritting his teeth as he absorbed the force. The sheer power behind the blow was staggering—this thing wasn’t like the earlier constructs.
Lena was already in motion. She darted in from the side, her sword aimed for the golem’s joints. But just as she struck, the construct twisted its upper body unnaturally, using its left arm to intercept and deflect her blade before driving a knee forward to knock her back.
Osric loosed an arrow aimed for its head, but the construct’s scanner flickered, tracking the projectile—its right arm shot up, blocking the shot with its armored plating.
Then it fired.
The weapon mounted on its arm let out a deep mechanical hum, before a projectile—a compacted iron bolt—launched at Osric. He barely rolled away in time, the bolt slamming into the stone wall behind him and sending shards of rock scattering.
Derric, taking advantage of the chaos, vanished into the shadows, circling around for a critical strike.
Renna muttered a quick incantation, her hands weaving a distortion into the air. The next moment, the construct staggered, its balance thrown off as an illusionary ripple distorted its perception of the battlefield.
Corwin seized the moment.
He bashed forward, ramming his shield into the golem's chest. The impact forced it back a step—just enough for Lena to recover and slash deep across its plating. Sparks flew as her sword scraped against metal, leaving a noticeable dent.
The construct analyzed the damage—its scanner flickered red for a moment. Then it adjusted.
Rather than trying to push Corwin back again, it abruptly pivoted, swinging its entire body to use its sheer weight as a weapon. Corwin barely managed to brace as the massive construct slammed into him, sending him staggering.
But that opening was exactly what Derric had been waiting for.
From behind, he drove both daggers into the back of the golem's knee joints, targeting the weakest points in its plating. The effect was immediate—one of its legs gave out, forcing the construct to stabilize itself.
Osric fired another arrow, this time aimed at the crack in its armor that Lena had created. The arrow punched through, lodging itself deep inside.
The construct’s scanner flickered wildly, its movements becoming sluggish.
Corwin took one last step forward and slammed his shield into it with all his might.
The Mark I Heavy toppled backward, crashing into the ground with a deafening BOOM.
Then, silence.
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