We continued to work on the dungeon. Every floor seemed to slow us down a little bit more. The traps, the monsters, and the difficulty all increased. The rewards were great too, making it tempting to take my time. Whatever happened to the king had already happened. He had been missing for months, so even if we did reach the bottom and find him, whether it took another two days or two weeks, I didn’t expect the outcome to change.
At least, that’s how I managed to justify my temptations. Our coffers were filling quickly, and if I had another shot at buying that dwarf Rubee, I probably could have afforded her at this point. A full dungeon one truly was a place filled with wealth. Perhaps, in some ways, I truly had succumbed to my temptations.
About a week and a half passed by, and we had made it down five more floors. We were now on floor 25. A normal party would have been at their weakest at this point, but numerous breaks to Chalm had left us rejuvenated and in good shape. That’s why I was confident in our current fight.
“Get him! He’s running!”
The golem was fast. Its movements were completely unlike any of the previous ones we had battled. It could leap around and even outrun us. It liked to do these kinds of hit and run tactics, and it made defeating him very difficult. We had spent the better part of a day trying to do so. The reason for this? He was made out of pure orichalcum. He was an orichalcum golem!
From what I understood, he wouldn’t dissipate into smoke, and all of that metal could be gathered, just like the rock golems that fell into pieces of rock. That meant that the level 25 boss was worth a great deal. However, he was also very slippery, using the natural traps of the dungeon to impede his own capture.
“Close off his escape!” I called out to Terra, who created walls trying to redirect the golem.
If the golem was truly boxed in, he’d barrel through one of those rock walls. Compared to earth, his orichalcum body could cut through it like butter. We had already learned this the hard way when we lost it the first time. Once he escaped, he’d hide for four or so hours and then return completely healed. This had already happened a few times and we were growing quite agitated. Well, I was at least.
There was no promise on how much orichalcum I’d get from the mine. However, this golem was a guaranteed amount, and enough to build at least a dozen weapons. I could outfit all of my girls with orichalcum weapons! At least, that was the dream.
Thus, this round, we were guiding him, but not blocking him. The route had been laid out. Our party had also separated. I even used the amulet I had recently gotten to fool the golem. It was smart. It recognized who had the most combative strength and would engage or disengage accordingly. To another party, this would have been a truly terrifying foe. To me, it was a white whale that I needed to finish off!
“I’m not greedy,” I muttered to myself. “I just need one. Two max. I’ll stop after three.”