Arlie had barely registered her outfit and that of the twins when she heard Horon exclaim, “this is awesome. We get to stare at boobs and ass all day!”

She shot the idiot a glare and he wisely shut up. She was glad he did as she didn’t want to waste any of her mana on teaching him a lesson. She was also regretting not making him a girl earlier when she had the chance. Maybe he would be more respectful of women if he had some experience as one. Not that there was any point worrying about it. She was more worried about this dungeon run. She had never challenged a dungeon before, but she had heard about them.

Dungeons were created by the gods, and for those who braved them powerful rewards awaited them. Assuming they could survive the dangers that is. Most dungeons contained a challenge from the gods, and others were sacred rights of passage for the locals. Of course, then there were the natural dungeons that differed from those made by the gods. Natural ones spawned near lay line nexuses and were actually a breed of monster. Still worth challenging however as valuable treasures can form in their mana dense halls. A natural dungeon had a lifespan of about five thousand years and when it dies the monsters in its halls are unleashed upon the surroundings. They were effectively breeding dens for monsters, so adventurers regularly challenged them both for the riches, but also to cull the monsters within.

This one was made by the gods, so it was very different. It had special rules, and the rewards were greater. The creatures within were likely tougher, but they weren’t going to be unleashed upon the countryside. What had her most concerned was that she was effectively had no choice but to challenge the dungeon in nothing but a flimsy shift.

She found a nice spot on the ground, and said, “Before we go in, let's take a moment to plan.”

Thron just stared blankly at her chest making her very aware of how poorly the shift covered it, and Horon scoffed and said something about not having enough information to make a plan. The twins, however, sat down on the floor near her so that they could look at each other.

“We can at least make plans for how to deal with the monsters,” said Rose as she sat down responding to Horon’s poorly thought out comment.

“Alright, the guardian said we will face either fire or earth element golems. Personally, I would prefer fire golems first. The reason being that earth golems are extremely resistant to lightning damage. While fire isn’t that much better. Fire golems, on the other hand, are resistant to fire, but they don’t resist lightning. The good news is that I do know a simple earth spell that will be effective against both, but I’m not as good with the earth element as Lightning or fire.” said Arlie. Earth really was the best element she could use for fighting these golems, but she didn’t have the best affinity for earth magic. As such, she needed more mana for earth spells than a comparable lightning or fire spell. Honestly water or ice magic would have been best here, but she had a big fat zero affinity for those elements. Which meant she couldn’t cast ice or water spells at all. Its why she had to use a rain stone to put out fires.

“How can lightning hurt a fire golem? Isn’t it made of fire?” asked Rose with a cute frown.

“Fire golems aren’t made entirely of fire. True they are constantly on fire, but like any golem they have a crystalline core that is their weakness. Destroying the core is the fastest way to kill a golem. Fire golems while quite destructive have exposed cores which are easily targeted. Earth golems, on the other hand, are extremely sturdy and have good power, but are slow-moving,” said Arlie referencing her knowledge on basic golems. Unfortunately she didn’t know much about the more advanced kinds of golems.

“So when facing a golem we need to go for the core?” asked Lily for clarification. While she moved a stray hair out of her face.

“Yes. Fortunately, cores are supposed to be fragile so it won’t take much to destroy a core. It is exposing the core, so that we can deal the fatal blow is that is the tricky part. The cores are usually in the head, chest or belly. To reach the core we will have to smash the shell, but in the case of fire golems, there is no shell to smash. Their flames are rather intense though so I wouldn’t recommend getting close, and normal arrows aren’t going to be very effective,” said Arlie.

“Well we don’t have weapons, so dealing with either is going to be hard,” said Lily. Arlie nodded and said, “I know until we find some weapons in the dungeon, I am going to have to deal with them using magic.”

Rose was staring at the door, when she said, “It is kind of difficult to make plans when we don’t really know what to expect.”

Arlie shifted her position to be a bit more comfortable and tried to ignore that Thron was staring at her. While Horon wasn’t even hiding the fact that he was staring at the twins who were squirming uncomfortably. “If I had known we were going to challenging a god-made dungeon I would have read up more on them. I am sorry to say that I don’t know much about dungeons. Nothing beyond the basics that is, but that is no more than anyone else knows,” said Arlie.

Rose looked back at Arlie, “I was afraid of that. Still, I know you love reading, so you must have an idea beyond what the guardian told us.”

Arlie shook her head, and replied, “Not really. I’m sorry, but the gods have very few limits and since they made this dungeon anything can happen in there.”

Elsewhere watching them plan, the guardian spoke to a winged woman beside it. “It is nice to see that she still has her head even after all these incarnations.”

The winged woman frowned, “I would be surprised if she lost it.”

Looking at the winged woman, it said, “are you sure this is a good idea? Those seals exist for a reason.”

“I know I helped him place them, but the signs are everywhere it is time they are released,” replied the winged woman.

“Then I will alert the others then,” said the guardian as he left.

Ultimately they couldn’t make much of a plan beyond what to do when they encounter the monsters. They didn’t have a rogue to look for traps as was standard in adventurer parties, but they did have a pair of huntresses. Being hunters the twins knew a fair bit about traps, and what to look for. Arlie didn’t think they could spot magical traps, but she figured they would be able to find the mundane traps. She was placed in the middle of the formation with Thron playing rearguard, and Horon out front to help the girls in case he was needed.

The lack of weapons though meant he wouldn’t be all that useful. At least until they found something to use. As they entered the dungeon and were greeted with a long stone corridor, Arlie stared at her hands. They were currently empty of the rings she normally used to help focus her magic. Not having a focus didn’t prevent her from casting a spell, but it did make casting harder. It also meant it would take longer, and she would be unable to cast her more powerful spells. Although that didn’t change a thing for her best spells. Lightning Storm and Solar Burst both required access to an open sky to cast. She couldn’t use those spells indoors or underground. Which meant they would be of no use in the dungeon.

The first tunnel was empty but it opened into a room guarded by a pair of golems. They were fire golems both of them. Arlie told her friends to hang back and began to chant a spell. One of the golems turned towards Lily who was closest to it and unleashed a jet of flame.

The golems were two and a half meters tall and looked roughly like a flaming crystal skeleton with a perfect sphere embedded behind the lumpy crystal plate that served as its equivalent of ribs. The head was a misshapen crystal lump that didn’t even look vaguely human. The flames shot from the misshapen crystal tubes that served as its arms. Lily seeing the attack coming easily danced out of the path.

The other tried to attack Horon, who while not as graceful managed to dodge the attack. Well barely, it came within centimeters of setting his ass on fire. Arlie having just finished her chant unleashed her Lightning Bolt spell. A bolt of lightning arced from her fingers and slammed into the chest of the golem that attacked Lily. Its crystal chest plate shattered and its core fractured on impact. An instant later the flames extinguished and its lumpy crystal skeleton broke apart. Collapsing into a pile of crystalline dust and shards.

She didn’t have time to celebrate, and her attack had drawn the attention of the other golem. Golems were fairly stupid and always attacked whatever was dealing the most damage. In this case that would be her, as the others couldn’t even harm the thing.

A jet of flame flew towards her, and she rolled out of the way and started to chant again. Because she was being forced to move and she didn’t have her focus she was forced to use the full chant of the spell for the first time in years. She had jump and dodge two more flame jets before she finished the chant, and then she had to dodge another jet of flames, by rolling away to left. Getting back on to her feet she aimed at the golem and unleashed her spell. The bolt of lightning slammed into its side near the all-important core. Like the first one it collapsed into a pile of dust.

Before she could even take stock of their situation both piles vanished in a flash of light. Where they stood two objects appeared. Arlie was actually a little surprised by this, but she was glad that the gods had rewarded her efforts. The first object was a shortsword, it was not in the best shape as the metal was a bit rusty, and the handle was worn with age. The other item was a spear. The spearhead was rusty and dull. The handle was not wood as was normal, but instead was a rusty metal and wrapped in old worn leather.

Arlie picked up the sword and studied it. It was sized almost perfectly for her hand, and she experimentally channeled a bit of her mana into it and found it could be used as a focus. A poor quality one, but still better than trying to channel it without a focus. She doubted the sword could take her stronger spells so she was still stuck using basic ones like lightning bolt. Then she gave it a few experimental swings, and found it was very well balanced. If it was cleaned up it would be a good weapon.

Looking up she found Horon was inspecting the spear, while Thron was staring at the sword in her hand with a bit of desire, but she had already decided that she was going to use this sword. Besides, it was better suited to her small frame. With his size, it would be comical for him to wield it. The twins were looking down the two other paths that branched off the room. Horon noticed her gaze and said, “It is a bit worn and rusty but otherwise a solid weapon. While not my preference I can work with a spear, and its length will help with fighting these fire golems.”

Arlie flicked her wrist and the rust on her new sword simply flaked off, “I can help with the rust.” Then she started to inspect the worn blade now that it was free of rust. She noted quickly that it was in need of a good sharpening.

“Go ahead, and I guess you want to keep that sword,” said Horon. She walked over, took the spear and flicked it, the rust then fell onto the ground in flakes and she replied, “I’m the only one here who even knows how to use a shortsword. Thron may be a natural with swords, but he prefers longswords. It is nice that the gods rewarded us for that fight, but we need to give the equipment to who can use it best.”

Horon nodded and took the spear back to inspect. A moment later they debated which route to take. Ultimately it didn’t matter which way the went, so they chose to go left first. Lily and Rose kept an eye out for traps but didn’t see any. Horon stayed close to them just in case, and Arlie observed the tunnel. It was nice and wide with a smooth polished stone floor. The walls were made of large stone blocks. The ceiling was high she guessed around ten meters, and at regular intervals were spaced exquisitely carved columns each one covered with fancy artwork. No two columns had the same artwork, and all of the depicted scenes from stories she had heard from the priestesses when visiting the temple. She also couldn’t help but notice the lack of clothing in the scenes. It reminded her of the outfit she was wearing. As it wasn’t much of an outfit, and she felt naked in it.

Suddenly there was a shout from Thron, she whirled and saw a pair of golems appear in a flash of light. She shifted her shortsword to a ready position, and began to chant a spell. In the same instant, Thron rolled to the right and dodged a jet of flame. Her spell only took a moment to ready and she unleashed a lightning bolt into the one on the left. It crumbled into a pile of dust and crystal shards. Then she saw Horon rush past, he ducked under a flame jet and then thrust his spear through the other one’s chest. He damaged the core, but failed to kill it.

The golem swung its arms at him, but he leaned out of the arc, and made another thrust into the golem. This time the core shattered and the golem crumbled. A few moments later the piles vanished in a flash of light, and in their place only a single object was left behind. A large and heavy-looking hammer. Horon knelt to inspect it, and experimentally tried to lift it. 

“Looks to be a fairly decent Steel Warhammer, and it has quite the weight to it,” said Horon. Arlie glanced at it, and then looked at Thron. He had quite the muscle on his frame, a fact that was painfully obvious thanks to the thin shift he was wearing. It also did little to hide his bulge, but she didn’t care about that. “Give it to Thron. He has the muscle for it, and I think it best if you keep the spear for now,” said Arlie.

Thron stared at the hammer, and answered, “Hell no, I’m not using a hammer. I don’t even know how to use one.”

Arlie gave him a cute smile and said, “Oh it's easy just hit em with the heavy end.”

She knew she was manipulating him a bit, but here was not the best place for an argument. Behind her, she heard Horon mutter about it being a bit harder than that, but she figured Thron could figure it out. Besides the weapon wasn’t going to be of much use against a fire golem, but it would serve them quite nicely against earth golems. After a moment’s more of hesitation, Thron took the weapon and they resumed their walk.

A few minutes later the corridor emptied out into a large room. On the far side of the room, a raised dais with three large chests on it. To the left was a steel grate blocking the only path deeper into the dungeon. In the center of the room were five fire golems, and in the middle was a larger golem. It was also of the fire element, but it stood at nearly five meters tall. Its crystal skeleton was much thicker, and its core was larger. It had the same misshapen structure as its smaller counterparts, however. Arlie and the two boys shifted their weapons into a ready stance, while the twins moved out of the way. Without weapons, they wouldn’t be of much help in the fight.

JCountry

Hey guys I hope you are enjoying my story so far. Next chapter will be out in a few days, and if you are enjoying it please or comment I would like to know how I am doing.