Inside a silent chamber lit by torches, a man stood still. Sweat was visible on his toned body but his wrinkled face betrayed his true age. The man stood before the imposing slab of mithril, his stance relaxed yet purposeful. Torches lining the walls flickered, their light glinting off the gleaming surface of the nearly indestructible metal. A silence hung heavy in the chamber, broken only by the soft rustle of his clothing as he shifted his footing.
The sword in his hand was no ordinary weapon. Its slender, shining blade bore intricate magic symbols that pulsed faintly, their light dancing like the embers of a dying fire. He raised it in a single, fluid motion, his focus narrowing until the entire world seemed to consist of him and the slab before him.
Taking a measured breath, he slid his foot forward, his body coiling like a spring. The next moment, he unleashed a strange thrust- a motion that seemed almost effortless, yet carried an overwhelming force. The blade pierced the mithril with a sharp and resonant sound, the vibrations rippling through the chamber.
A moment later, the result of his strike became clear. A clean, gaping hole punched straight through the mithril slab, the edges smooth and polished as if crafted by a master artisan. The man’s arm remained extended for a moment, the blade of his fencing sword shimmering faintly as residual energy dissipated into the air. He stepped back, lowering his sword and exhaling deeply, his sharp eyes inspecting his handiwork.
The old man exhaled, lowering the blade. The weight of the strike was absent from his posture - his form as balanced and composed as it had been before the attack. His eyes, sharp and unyielding, studied the slab. Satisfied, he took a step back, allowing himself a small smile.
“That makes six. Maybe I should switch to adamantium.”
He murmured, glancing toward a row of identical mithril slabs, each marked by a similar head-sized hole. Most of them were broken and crumbled, weakened by the multiple punctures they had endured. Just then, the chamber door creaked open, and a butler entered, dressed impeccably in black and white. The man turned to face him, his silvery-white hair catching the flickering torchlight, his upper lip adorned with a gentlemanly mustache.
"Your Grace."
The butler intoned, bowing deeply.
"A message has arrived from the Adventurer’s Guild."
“I see, is it that time again?”
The butler nodded silently and presented a letter to his master. The man didn’t bother to dress; instead, he simply grabbed the neatly prepared letter, which had been offered to him on a plate of silvery metal. The envelope was peculiar, embellished with the depiction of a crowned stag. After cutting it open with the provided letter opener, the mustached man began to read.
“Hmmm.”
The butler remained there, his head lowered while the man played around with his mustache. After a minute he placed the letter down and nodded.
“Good, make the preparations and send out the invitations, we still have some time.”
“Yes, your grace.”
It was clear that the butler knew what his master wished. He gave a slight bow, his hands neatly clasped as he retreated from the chamber. His polished shoes tapped softly against the stone floor, the sound fading as he exited through the heavy oaken door. The old man remained behind, his gaze lingering on the mithril slabs. With a sigh, he sheathed the slender fencing sword into its ornate scabbard and turned toward the chamber's single, narrow window.
Stepping closer, he pulled aside the thick velvet drapes, allowing the pale moonlight to illuminate his face. His expression was unreadable, his sharp eyes narrowing as they focused on the distant horizon. Beyond the sprawling grounds of the castle, with its meticulously manicured gardens and towering battlements, loomed a shadowed, ominous peak. A volcano.
Its jagged form dominated the landscape, black smoke curling lazily from its summit, while a faint orange glow illuminated the edges. The sight was both majestic and foreboding, the volcano’s sheer scale dwarfing the massive city below. The old man’s lips pressed into a thin line as he studied it, his fingers drumming against the window frame. His gaze lingered on the strange grayish fog beginning to envelop it…
*****
“Now that I have the full scans, this area will probably be the best spot for the teleportation chamber. The rocks aren’t too hard, and there’s enough foliage to hide the entrance from the monsters.”
Roland nodded as he placed his hand on the dungeon wall. Before leaving this floor, he had left behind a small hole along with several hovering golems. Even in his absence, they had spent days floating through the air, scanning every nook and cranny of the level. Thanks to their efforts, he had discovered a few hidden locations leading to treasure - one of them conveniently close to this spot.
‘These will work nicely to help power the teleportation gate, though it won’t be enough to sustain all of the turrets. Lucky to find a small mana crystal pocket.’
His plan to bring his automatons here to farm the temples was still hampered by the problem of power consumption. However, if he could establish the gate, he could link it temporarily to his workshop and allow him to travel back and forth with no delay. For now, he was focused on expanding the area and he wasn’t working alone.
“...snooff…”
“Agni, your nose is covered in dirt.”
“Woof!”
Agni was a great help when it came to digging. His ruby-crystal wolven form had sharp claws that tore through the hard rock as if it were butter. With Agni’s assistance, Roland could concentrate on reinforcement. Just like with the door leading into this dungeon, encasing everything in metal would prevent the walls from fully fusing back together. As Agni dug, Roland systematically took out the metal plates he had prepared earlier. Each plate was fitted with clasps, designed to lock securely onto the others.
‘A simple rectangular is usually the best…’
It didn’t look impressive, but it worked. Soon, Roland had carved out a space roughly ten meters long, five meters wide, and two and a half meters high - just enough to fit a small teleportation gate. A faint light radiated from the metal plates, which, once carefully positioned, locked into place with surprising force. Each panel was inscribed with runes, their intricate designs serving to stabilize the structure and channel mana into the teleportation gate.
“Good work, Agni. That should be wide enough. Stand guard and take care of any undead that wander over here.”
“Woof!”
Agni shifted into his flaming form, his fiery aura casting flickering light onto the dungeon walls as he stood guard. Meanwhile, Roland continued working, his thoughts branching out beyond the immediate task.
With Armand and Lobelia back, the two could focus on leveling up and gaining more power. Arthur also seemed receptive to the school project Roland had proposed, and even Elodia appeared to be considering it. Funding everything was a concern, but once this endeavor was complete, he felt confident he’d have access to enough resources to ease those worries for a long time.
‘I suppose, I’ll fill this out later and now I should focus on clearing this level.’
Roland nodded in satisfaction as the space had been drilled out and reinforced with his metal plates, forming a sturdy, box-like structure. He hadn’t brought a fully functional teleportation gate with him, but once he finished his preparations, he would assemble it on-site. Once the gate was operational, he could transport the turret materials through it and install them on the dungeon ceiling.
The turrets he had previously installed were still intact but remained depowered due to the lack of batteries. This new setup would address that issue and allow him to secure the area more effectively. Once everything was completed, Roland placed a large rock at the entrance. He had designed the room so that the dungeon would naturally close itself around it, sealing the space inside. The rock was a temporary measure; later, he would construct a proper entrance after clearing the floor.
“Well then, Agni, which one do you want to tackle first - the wind temple or the water temple?”
“Awoo…”
“Not a fan of water, huh?”
Roland watched as Agni snorted, his ruby-hued muzzle wrinkling in clear disapproval
“Alright then, the wind temple it is. Let’s see what surprises this one has for us.”
He activated his glider once more, soaring toward the Green Temple while Agni padded along below, navigating a path that led there. The closer Roland got to the Green Temple, the more intense the air currents became. The winds whipped violently around the structure, carrying with them a faint, eerie howl that reverberated through the cavern.
The carvings on the temple walls depicted fierce storms, twisting tornadoes, and figures cloaked in flowing robes that seemed to merge with the winds. The symbol at the apex was a spiraling vortex that emitted a soft, greenish glow, pulsating with elemental energy. As Roland approached the temple, his visor lit up with warnings about the intensifying mana currents.
“Looks like the winds get stronger the closer you get to the top. This could be a problem for anyone trying to scale it the conventional way.”
His glider buckled under the wind pressure, but he managed to stabilize it by surrounding himself with a shield. He had two options: either enter from the top, as he had done with the Flame Temple, or go through the bottom the proper way. With the turrets disabled and their rune batteries no longer powering them, he would have to rely on his own mana while maneuvering mid-flight. Based on his calculations, this was feasible, but he wanted to experience at least one entry the normal way - to gauge how well he could manage it.
Thus, he decided to land at the bottom and waited for Agni to catch up. Once there, they were greeted by a few undead monsters. The undead patrolling the Green Temple’s entrance were unlike the fiery skeletons from the Red Temple. These creatures appeared to be animated by wind energy, their forms semi-ethereal and cloaked in swirling, greenish mist. Their skeletal figures were thin and elongated, giving them a spectral, unsettling appearance.
| Stormborn Infernal Skeleton Axeman L 193 |
‘That’s certainly a new type but a skeleton is still a skeleton…’
“Agni.”
“Woof!”
His wolven partner jumped forward, his body surrounded by radiant flame energy, the bane of any undead. Even though these monsters had elemental affinities and resistances, all undead were weak against holy mana which he and his wolf could generate. From Agni’s mouth a ray of holy fire energy erupted.
The ray of holy fire engulfed the nearest Stormborn undead, the greenish mist swirling around its form briefly resisting before being overpowered. The skeleton crumbled with a haunting wail, the corrupted energy animating it dispersing into the ether. Agni’s prowess was clear as he moved gracefully, dispatching the undead with precise strikes, his flames leaving nothing behind but faint scorch marks on the ground.
Once the creatures were defeated, they were rewarded accordingly. Just as the Molten Infernal Skeletons had dropped Ignisum ore, these monsters dropped a wind elemental variant. While the armor surrounding them initially appeared to be composed of wind energy, once the monsters were defeated, it began shifting into a solid form - one that was green in color and somewhat brittle.
“This Galeite isn’t good on its own but if fused with a harder metal…”
After pocketing the spoils, Roland took this time to evaluate the entrance. The Green Temple’s gates loomed tall, carved with intricate depictions of whirlwinds and storms. Faint green light pulsed from the cracks in the stone, almost as if the temple itself were alive and breathing. Roland approached cautiously, his visor highlighting the presence of runic symbols embedded in the gates.
“Hmm, this looks simple enough but…”
He was sure that he could affect these runes with his abilities but there was an opening on the side. It seemed to be a perfect fit for the elemental block he retrieved from the other temple and was clearly meant to be socketed here to enter it. It was clear the dungeon wanted adventurers to explore all the temples to gain access to their counterparts. However, he wasn’t one to follow a dungeon’s design willingly.
“I could brute force this… but that might trigger the traps. Not ideal.”
After placing his hand over the socket, he scanned it for potential problems. His visor flickered, displaying information about the device in front of him. He immediately noticed a critical detail: slotting the wrong block into the socket would trigger a trap, summoning several monsters from within the temple. After deciding to proceed cautiously, he retrieved the elemental block from his storage space.
‘It regains its qualities once it’s out in the open, huh?’
This rectangular artifact, taken from the Flame Temple, had lost all its properties as soon as it was placed in his spatial storage rune. However, once reconnected to the dungeon floor, Roland could see it drawing mana from the surroundings, gradually regaining its fiery power.
“Best to take it slow and not waste too much energy on traps, I’ll do it by the book.”
He nodded and inserted the block into the Wind Temple, which reacted instantly. The runes began to shimmer, and the passage forward slowly started to open. Roland used this time to analyze the process; in the future, it might be possible to create other ways to enter this space without him needing to be there.
"Now then, let's go, Agni."
"Woof!"
The two moved forward and entered the temple. Inside, they encountered winding corridors with a sparse amount of monsters - some undead, others of the elemental variety, just like in the previous temple. The fights were uneventful, and with the help of his armor, Roland was able to scan the passages for potential traps and hidden chambers. Just like with the fire elementals, the wind elementals - swirling vortexes with green orbs within - provided them with a new resource, high-quality wind crystals.
‘They use these to generate high winds for airships but I wonder if I could use them for something else?’
These green crystals emitted a humming sound along with a cool breeze. While it was probably not enough to power a windmill, there were ways to enhance wind spells using these crystals. Like the flame ones, they could be sold to alchemists for a lot of gold. This was why he was here - to earn more money and help facilitate his future endeavors, which were starting to cost too much.
The sound of rushing wind grew louder as Roland and Agni moved within the Wind Temple, the gusts becoming more violent with each step. The wind energy inside blew at them with ever-increasing intensity which the elemental monsters within were immune to. It seemed as if the very air itself was alive, shifting and swirling around them, as though the temple were breathing.
Nevertheless, they continued with their journey, slaying monsters, disabling traps and finding hidden treasure in hidden chambers which added up nicely. Once they reached the top the temperature dropped and the faintest hints of storm clouds began to gather in the temple's high, vaulted ceilings.
Previously, when it came to the Flame Temple, he had broken through the upper barrier and ignored all the monsters inside. But now, after taking the more conventional path, he triggered a defensive reaction and found himself facing what appeared to be a mini-boss. This hadn’t happened when he was at the Flame Temple, and he suspected that taking the more straightforward approach might actually be simpler than cutting through from the top.
| High Elemental Storm Eagle L 197 |
The monster guarding the wind elemental block materialized before them. The storm eagle's massive wings spread wide, its feathers shimmering with crackling energy. Its talons gleamed like steel, and its sharp, predatory eyes locked onto Roland and Agni with a piercing, elemental rage. The very air around it seemed to ripple with the force of its presence, the wind spiraling into chaotic gusts, swirling in impossible directions.
“Agni, you might want to hang out in the back for this one.”
“Wooo…”
Agni seemed disappointed but understood the unfavorable matchup. His divine flames would be useless against this elemental bird, as it was not an undead monster. Roland, on the other hand, stepped forward, a large hammer materializing in his hand. He had decided to test his lesser-used skills. Typically, he relied on runic spells and the power of his golems, but the creature before him seemed like an ideal sparring partner for his current abilities - a rare opportunity to practice real combat techniques.
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