No. No luck. No fucking luck left at all.

Jack armed himself, axe and saber, even as part of his mind berated him. Telling him he should have seen this coming. Walking through traps unimpeded? That was lucky. Coming out alive after fighting two guardian golems? A little harder and more draining, but that still counted as lucky. Opening two huge, warded, ancient doors with a trick of the blood? Massive luck drainer.

So why did I fucking think that we would get lucky with whatever that thing is?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw everyone getting into position. Moran drew back and Ava stepped in front of him. Mrk was running to flank Brom. But that was the wrong move. Jack was preparing to shout at them, to tell them both to get back. The doors were big, but that thing was bigger. No way could it fit through the door.

He didn’t get a chance too. Even as he opened his mouth, he felt himself propelled forward. Slowly at first, but gaining in speed. Like falling forwards, like… gravity being manipulated by a spell.

I guess the doors really were trapped.

That was the only thought that passed through his head before he collided with something hard. Rolling about, he finally came to a stop and noticed that he had collided with the floor. The spell or whatever it had been had only worked until they passed the door’s boundary. But the gained momentum had thrown them halfway to the floor in the center of the room.

He stood up quickly, looking for his friends, and noticed they were scattered around him, picking himself up. They had crashed against a series of stone steps. That explained the hurt in his back and ribs. Suddenly, he felt someone… staring at him.

Looking up, he finally saw it up close.

It must have been a construct. A golem like those before. But the differences were like night and day. This golem was… ‘huge’ didn’t do it justice. It towered over them. Even standing up, Jack didn’t think he’d reach even hallway to its knee. And it was made of metal, not only armored with it. What few patches of ‘skin’ Jack saw were the color of iron. But it also wore armor, of a dark metal Jack never saw before.

It was solidly built too since it resembles a giant… dwarf. And like most dwarfs, this one was armed with an axe. It reached towards it, removing it from its back as it fixed them with a stare.

Of fuck me…

“We need to run!” Jack shouted.

Brom had already been running towards him, having been flung the furthest.

“We cannot fight it!” he bellowed. “Make for the door!”

To his relief, though everyone was panicked, nobody froze. They ran, like death was behind them because it was most probably true. They almost made it to the doors when they slammed shut.

Right in their faces.

“No!” somebody shouted.

“Curse my forefathers!” Brom yelled. “Kill us, but don’t mock us!”

He was trying to sink his axe in the line between the two doors, to no avail.

“Brom, I think that thing will just kill us straight if we don’t do something!” Jack pointed.

Indeed, the huge metal golem advanced, by only a few steps, but had already reached them. It had a massive axe in one hand. It didn’t look enchanted, but that didn’t really matter when one strike could pulverize their shield, them and the stone below them.

“Mrk says run!” the ratling yelped.

“Where?!” Ava shouted. “The door’s sh-“

“Run now, think later!” Moran said, taking her by the hand.

He grabbed her and tried to carry her away, but suddenly he fell to his knees. Jack didn’t have time to wonder why he did that when he fell to his knees as well. Looking around, he saw that everyone had kneeled, except for Mrk , who just lay flat on the floor.

He felt like the ground was calling to him. Like the air was pushing down on him. He could barely move.

“Wh- what’s… happening?” he grunted out.

“Embedded spells. Gravity. Like in the door.” Brom said and jerked his head to the construct.

Looking, Jack saw that the dwarf golem had his free hand reached towards them as if it was casting. It was keeping them down. Playing with them. Then, with surprising speed, it thrust its axe forward.

Jack felt his heart skip a beat when he saw it, but the axe head never reached them. Instead, it hovered, just feet away from them. Then, glacially, almost comically slow, the axe started to rise. The golem was preparing itself for the true swing.

“Why it’d do that?” Moran asked, shivering in place. He was still holding on to Ava’s hand.

“To show us it can.” Brom answered. “It seems it was designed to inflict pain. Mental, if not physical.”

“That… the one who made it is a shit! Your people are shits, Brom!” Ava snapped, but tears were coming from her eyes.

“Mrk wants live. Mrk wants run.” The ratling croaked from the ground.

“Guys!” Jack snapped. “We only have seconds. How do we run? Ideas!”

He kept his eyes locked on the giant. He wouldn’t look away. Its axe had almost reached its crescendo. Time was running out.

But nobody said anything. He heard weeping instead. Against himself, he looked away from the golem, at his friends. His heart broke. Ava had managed to throw herself at Moran’s chest and was crying openly, eyes closed shut. Moran was resting his head atop hers, crying too. His eyes weren’t closed, but neither were they looking up.

Mrk and Brom weren’t faring any better.

“I- I made an oath. I made an oath. I can’t fulfill it. I- I’m not an oathbreaker. I’m not. I made an oath. I- I made…”

He was rocking gently in place, as much as the spell allowed him to. His eyes were frantic, moving from place. Lost in his own world.

“Warrens take me home. Please… I wants go home. Let me go HOME!” Mrk shouted, before falling silent.

It was hard to tell, prone on the ground as he was, but the way his small body was convulsing told Jack that his friend had lost himself to tears.

Why are they giving up?! We can still-

Jack looked again at the golem. Its axe was already raised high overhead. The killing blow could come any moment now. It was just waiting. Toying with them.

Oh. Because they can see. There’s no hope. I’m just the last fool standing.

Emotions welled up in Jack. Every hurt, every injustice he had ever felt welled up inside him. He didn’t know who he was. He didn’t know where he came from, what his real name was, what the fucking Dryad saw in him. He didn’t know how to save his friends. And not only the ones beside him. Lola came into his mind, Elia. He glimpsed the faces of people he had never managed to learn the names of. Helmrest. So many questions, so many people to help, to save. Everything he had managed to scrounge up, all the life he managed to build. About to be crushed in an instant.

He snarled and let all his hurt and anger and pain lash out of him. Like a wolf snarling up at a dragon, impotent, but glorious for that last moment of defiance.

“FUCK YOU!” he roared at the golem.

The gigantic axe moved and fell.

But not on top of them. Instead, it fell, along with the hand that held it, alongside the golem’s body. Jack watched on, uncomprehending. The golem’s body groaned, one step making to move, trying to step forward. It too collapsed, taking the construct to its knees. The shock of that landing shook the gargantuan room itself.

…what? That… worked?!

Jack could only look on in disbelief. He didn’t hear any crying now. All his friends must have been watching as well. Their executioner had just had its strings cut. How, he didn’t know. Or care at the moment. He just watched it try to move and fail.

It was shuddering now, rhythmically, like the convulsions of a dying man. It was on its knees, torso tilted back, both hands hanging limply behind it. Only its head was continuing to stare at them. But then, in a few moments, it too tilted back and the massive golem collapsed on its back to the ground, its head coming to rest near the center of the room.

No one said anything. Jack thought they must have been as shocked and him. Who could say anything in a time like this?”

“Brom?” Ava sniffed. “That thing’s not playing dead, right? It’s not going to get up and yell ‘sike’?”

Ava. That’s who.

She got a response, but it wasn’t phrased in words. The dwarf just started laughing. It was odd to see the dwarf laugh. It was completely strange to see him on his knees, holding on to his stomach from the laughter. Tears were streaming down his beard.

“Ahaha. You fools. You utter fools. Ahahaha. Your pride has been your downfall as it’s been your creation’s.”

“Uh… Brom?” Jack asked, cautiously. “Were all happy to be alive, but mind telling us why you’re laughing like that?”

The dwarf simply continued to laugh in response.

It took them a while to regroup. Ava and Moran got up and walked over to Jack, Ava decidedly not looking at Moran while doing it. Mrk picked himself up too, but the ratling seemed to still be lost. Happy to be alive, but not completely trusting they were out of the fire yet.

“Mrk not gets it. Why is we alive?”

“Not… sure. Brom?” Jack tried again.

The dwarf had since calmed himself down a little. Enough to be able to respond anyways, though he was still in the most jubilant mood Jack had ever seen him.

“Time and arrogance. That was why we survive. This dungeon might be a source of magic, but the golems of my kin are notorious for being magic drains. After so much time passed since last being used, this place only had enough magic left to power traps and the lowliest of creations.”

“Brom.” Ava said, uncharacteristically serious. “I can maybe get the mud golems being poor. High dwarf standards and all that. But that thing was not lowly! And it managed to move.”

“True. Whoever built it must have taken measures to ensure it would stay active far longer than the others. I wager… it must even have included a secondary mana battery. To give enough magic to allow it to move for a few seconds, even after all other magic had been depleted. They prepared for the passing of time, for this final guardian. But not for their own arrogance.”

“What do you mean?” Jack asked.

“You noticed it yourself. It was playing with us. Toying. Its creator must have not thought it would keep this behavior while using the secondary source of magic. Or perhaps it never thought it would need to use it. Regardless, it is this which made it consume its own limited resources. Enough that it had nothing left for the killing stroke.”

“Mrk not gets it. Why make it do this? Why play instead kill?”

Brom hummed and stroked his beard.

“Hubris.” He shrugged. “Dwarf artisans… I am unsure whether we are prouder than most races, but I can tell you that pride in our craft is a common occurrence among my kin. As the level increases, pride turns to arrogance. And a master artisan, such as the one capable of creating this golem… without a firm hand keeping him anchored to the ground, I can safely say that he most probably overlooked weak points in his creations, refusing to acknowledge they exist at all.”

It was interesting to Jack. To think that they were all alive right now because of the puffed-up ego of a master dwarf who knew how many years ago. Still. One thing he was acutely aware of.

“I am never calling any one of us unlucky again. Ever!” he said.

That little statement took a load off his chest, but it also provided a much-needed source of amusement. Almost at once, they all started laughing, happy to be alive. The adrenaline in their systems was too much and it needed a way out. Laughter seemed like the safest bet. Even Brom joined in, though he already had his fair share of it.

“So!” Ava started. “Should we get to the loot? Or is the giant golem it? Can we sell it for parts? Not carrying it, by the way.”

“I doubt it.” Brom responded. “We would not be able to carry it. And only dwarfs would be able to repurpose it, I believe.”

“Then I guess we should go to that platform down there. A room like this, that’s probably where the treasure it.” Jack said.

With the others agreeing, they made their way down the stone steps, walking around the giant downed golem. Now that he wasn’t running for his life, Jack took the time to truly observe it. Besides it being massive and covered in metal armor and skin, Jack also noticed just how thick the armor itself was. It looked like someone constructed a house wall out of dark iron.

No way we would have been able to take it out. All of our best tricks combined wouldn’t have been able to even make a dent in this thing.

…

We got lucky with the traps and golems, but our first real encounter almost killed us. We’re not ready for this.

It was a sobering thought. Jack still wanted to grow. He still wanted to develop and carve a place for himself and his friends from this world. But adventuring… might not be the way to do it. Not like this, anyway.

He was pulled out from his thoughts by their arrival on the platform, in the center of the room. There was no light source in sight and yet they could see everything clearly like they were standing in the sun. The platform itself was largely unremarkable, outside of the same superbly polished stone. The only thing of note was a hexagon in the middle of the wide circular floor.

“That is where the treasure is.” Brom said. “It simply needs to be activated.”

“And we’re sure this isn’t another trap, right?” Moran asked. “Because, you know, not a lot of healing potions left.”

“I am. Secondary traps would be superfluous after the golem guardian.”

“Right.” Said Jack. “How do we open it?”

“Hmm. It could be a spoken password. Or perhaps, a specific type of magic. It could also be-“

“Your blood.” Ava cut in. “It could always be your blood. Like it’s been until now.”

Brom sighed and nodded.

“Or it could be my blood.”

He moved forward, but Jack heard him mutter ‘curse my ancestors’ under his breath.

Brom pricked his hand and threw a few droplets of blood inside the hexagon, before standing back. There was no groan or sound as it moved. Smoothly, the hexagon rose, a smooth stone pillar coming out of the floor. It rose to be just higher than Brom was tall before stopping.

The center of it was hollowed out, allowing something to be glimpsed within. It shone with light and they moved forward, flanking Brom to peer at it. What they saw was a thing of beauty. It was a golden helm. Half-helm really, since it only covered the top half of the head, the sides and the nose. And it wasn’t golden… not exactly. It was more like it was made of liquid gold. Jack could see swirls and patterns of the metal constantly changing and moving across its surface. It shone, reflecting more light than it could possibly be receiving. It looked valuable. And powerful.

He had no idea.

“That is the Helm of Vatrir.” Brom said, in a hush.

“Who?” Mrk asked.

“Vatrir Stonespine. Vatrir of the Deep. One of the last dwarven legends.”

While talking, Brom never took his eyes away from the helm. He never raised his voice either. It was as if he was afraid to be in the presence of the artifact, but unwilling to look away.

“Brom.” Jack said gently. “We don’t know your histories. At least, I don’t. Would you mind telling us about this Vatrir? And his helm?”

Only then, did Brom look away from it to gaze at his friends.

“Dwarfs have had heroes and legends, as all races do. One of the last was Vatrir Stonespine. He lived when the world was young… younger. When legends still roamed the earth. None know his exact level or Class, but our elders say he must have been Level 60 at the very least.”

“Level 60?!” Ava shrieked.

“Yes.” Brom nodded. “The ones of old reached higher Levels than we do today. Dwarfs, but other races too. He was a master smith. And a super fighter. He became renowned for continuously forging greater arms and armor and using them to best ever-more dangerous foes. Three times he fought in defense of a dwarfhold. One time, he held the gates by himself.”

Brom looked solemn and… proud. Jack felt a tinge of sadness. He never knew of the human heroes. He wondered if he would feel pride if he ever learned.

“He became… a king, I suppose you can say. He became that after defeating every foe his dwarfhold had. And only then, in peace, did he forge this helm. Part of his greatest and last creation. A suit of armor. The Helm of Vatrir.”

“So there’s more like it?” Jack asked.

“I do not know.” Brom said. “His armor was thought to be lost. Helm included. They were thought to have been lost alongside him.”

“How was he lost?” Moran asked.

“That… is how the received his latest name. Vatrir of the Deep. With all other foes vanquished and his armor completed, Vatrir looked towards one of the ancient dwarf obsessions. Conquering the deep. There are… places in the world. Cracks in stone, buried under mountains. Going down forever. Things come out of those things sometimes. My kin fight them. He went down one of those cracks, never to return.”

“Why?” Ava asked. “Why not just stay and be king forever?”

Brom just shrugged.

“We do not know. Renown perhaps. Dwarfholds that are created deeper are held in higher regard, for though they face tougher issues and monsters, they often mine finer metals and gems. Perhaps he wanted to simply battle what is down there. Or perhaps… he simply wanted to see.”

“See… what?” Jack asked.

“Where the world ends. How deep below can one go.”

They had a moment of silence. They often said humans were mad, in their quest to go anywhere and everywhere. What people seemed to miss was that dwarfs had the same madness. Theirs was simply vertical, instead of horizontal.

“Alright. Vatrir of the Deep. I’m guessing a helm made by a Level 60 king is pretty good, right?” Ava asked.

Brom nodded, turning back to it.

“If the legends are true, this artifact allows the wearer to change his body to any material he or she knows of. Metals, gems, elements. The only limitation is that the material must be pure, not a alloy or an amalgam. In the hands of a dwarf or any learned member of another race, this helm allows one to imbue him or herself with the qualities of that material. Speed, durability, even magical effects.”

He turned to them.

“Vatrir used it to withstand the horrors of the deep. If I had worn it, that dark metal golem would have been nothing but a nuisance.”

Right. So that’s… yeah.

“One question!” Ava hurriedly said. “If you wore that helm, would parts of you that are removed from… well, you. Would they still be made of whatever it is you turned to?”

“I am unsure.” Brom said thoughtfully, after a moment. “Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering, if you were to turn into a diamond, if we could sell your bathroom breaks.”

Brom fixed her with the steadiest glare Jack ever saw him give.

“I do not believe that is how it works.” He grunted.

After that special moment passed, they moved on to retrieve it. Brom was the one to do it since they feared some other trap, but he removed it from its pedestal without issue. They passed it around, to check other races could hold in and found none of them sustained any injuries, to Moran’s great relief.

Brom had the honor of testing its properties. Indeed, after donning it on, they all saw his body turn into diamond. Then steel. Then a silvery metal Brom informed them was called mithril. He changed into a type of ruby after, though Jack could see swirling patterns swishing inside.

As promised, some of the materials provided more benefits than simple toughness. That ruby-like gem allowed Brom to radiate blasts of heat, hot enough to ignite fabrics. Another white metal allowed him to dash from place to place, as if under the effects of a Haste Potion. Indeed, he even changed his body to water, but was the end of the tests, since that reminded them of a crucial fact.

They were nearly out of supplies. Food and water both. With the threat of the fight and the thrill of discovery faded, the five found themselves quickly hurrying back from where they came.

“We should make a better time going out than going in.” Jack said. “We know there are no more threats waiting for us and we also know where the traps are.”

“Yes, but there’s still a long way to go. I don’t think we can make it in one go. Most likely, we’ll have to make camp for the night.”

“How can you even tell if it’s night or day?” Ava said, picking up another glowing gem.

“Is night if Mrk wants to sleep.”

They laughed at that, but they didn’t argue it further. Getting out of the dungeon in one run really wasn’t possible.

***

The group’s mood after waking up was… so and so. On one hand, they had bested a dungeon. Evaded traps, fought golems and lucked out with the final guardian. To be honest, they lucked out through the most of it, but nobody said that out loud. Still, this win was a good thing.

The bad thing was that the paltry provisions they had left barely covered their dinner. Water had gone out by the time they were halfway to the dungeon exit. And by the time they reached the illusion corridor they had finished what they had left of the Stamina Potion too.

“At least the stairs are still down.” Ava said, after entering the corridor. “Jack, does your Skill tell you anything?”

“Mm... no. |Mental Compass| seems to be working fine. North and South stay in one place.”

“Magic gone?” Mrk asked.

“The illusion enchantment may have run out of magic. Or us removing the artifact may have canceled it.” Brom said.

“Good.” Jack said. “I was really not looking forward to dealing with those spikes again.

They made their way through the corridor and out of the dungeon entrance in no time. It seems they arrived just before the crack of dawn. Jack had a much better appreciation for natural light, after spending a few days being illuminated mainly by magical gems.

His thoughts were preoccupied with finding food and water, while they went ahead to find the horses and carriage. Aure’s spell should have ended by now, so there wasn’t an issue of simply bumping into them. Transport, water, food. Should be simple enough.

“Halt! Who goes there?”

Jack froze. Near him, the others did as well.

“Raise your hands! Turn around and do not reach for your weapons. If you do, our archers will shoot you.”

They did and Jack saw an entire group of riders streaming from behind the tall cliff, coming at them from both sides. The one in front seemed to be a sort of leader since he was gesturing at both his riders and at them.

“Who are you?” Jack repeated.

Jack and Brom shared a look and Brom nodded towards Jack.

Great. Really not looking forward to being the spokesperson.

“We’re adventurers.” Jack called back. “This is my team.”

“Adventurers? The Barony’s Adventuring Guild has not been informed of any missions in the area. What is your team’s name?”

Slowly, the group of riders got into line behind the man. Their bows were nocked, but at least they weren’t aiming at them.

“We’re uh… new. We didn’t pick a name yet.” Jack confessed.

The man laughed and spurned his horse to come closer.

“Rookies. You’re not from The Barony, are you? I think I would know of an adventuring team that has four different races in it. What business have you had here?”

Jack let out a breath. He had to give over some information, but they could always claim they had found nothing. Or just hand over Ava’s shiny gems. The leader of this group was somewhat personable, so luck was still with them.

“We, uh, we were in the area. Sir. And we saw a beam of light shoot up from that cliff.” He said, thinking fast. “When we got here, we noticed the doors. We thought ourselves capable of dungeon diving, so we went in.”

“I see. So, it’s a dungeon, is it?” the man asked, turning in his saddle to peer at the doors. “And was it that you found in there?”

“Not much. Just a lot of glowing gems.” He said, gesturing at Ava to pull one out of her bag.

The satyr looked annoyed to do that, but she reluctantly grabbed on and held it up. In dan’s light, the light given off by the gem was barely visible.

“What… what is that?” the man shouted, his tone filled with fear and outrage.

Jack turned to look at the gem in Ava’s hand.

Oh no. Please don’t tell me they’re cursed or poisonous or something.

“What is that monster?!”

What?

“Abomination!” the man shouted, galloping back to his troops. “Prepare for combat! Aim for the horned one. Take them out!”

Horned one. After so long among them, Ava had forgotten her curse. Jack had too, no longer needing to reapply his magic constantly. He and she shared a look. A look of a thousand words. But one most of all.

Fuck.

“Charge!”