My Dungeon Life – Chapter 1773-1775

Chapter 1773

“Just what were the clockwork dragons?” I asked. “Actually, where are the real dragons?”

I had been in this world for some time now, and the closest thing I had seen to a dragon other than the clockwork dragon was Gram. They called him a lower-tiered dragon, but he just looked like a lizard to me. I also seemed to recall someone calling himself “the dragon” in the gladiatorial match to seem dangerous. When it came to actual dragons, I had seen no sign of them. In comparison, I had run into more dinosaurs than dragons.

Originally, I had considered it my luck. If this was a video game, dragons would be saved for the late game. Yet, after all of the lore I had absorbed and the various dungeons I had entered, it seemed like I should have encountered at least a few dragons by now. Maybe, I could have even acquired a dragon as a pet, or a dragon lover with an attractive female form. What was I thinking? When did I become the kind of guy who thought about some powerful beast and wondered if it was secretly a cute girl?

“There are some traces and relics of dragons.” Mary explained, “But no one knows what happened to them. They disappeared, and even the dungeon lore doesn’t seem to have any concrete record of them. Only in some ancient tomes from the church does it suggest that dragons used to be more prevalent. I believe they were hunted to extinction though.”

“Extinction?” I thought back and an idea struck me. “They hunted them for their dragon souls?”

I hadn’t understood it at the time, but the clockwork dragon had been my first time truly seeing souls and lore together. The clockwork dragon had been powered by a dragon soul. That soul had also ended up serving as the core for Terra’s dungeon.

Mary nodded. “Anne and her people left the church and went to form their church, so they don’t have access to the church’s original records, but the cathedral in the capital existed from before the schism. I’ve sometimes looked through the old records to understand our history and find ways to restore us to our former glory. That’s where I found information about the guardians, and sent Carmine to Terra’s Dungeon.”

“Guardians?” I asked, feeling Terra shift inside my soul world.

I felt a bit foolish not talking to her more about this before now. Terra had never seemed to care much about her former life though. Like Lydia, she felt her life had started with me. The death of her parents and the destruction of her home were painful subjects, and she didn’t like remembering them.

Mary shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. I heard that Terra was a golem guardian, but I do not know the connection.”

“You do believe they are connected though, right?” I asked.

Mary looked uncertain for a moment. “The ancient records speak of war. It was a deadly war between the church and some unknown enemy.”

“The demons? The fae?” I offered.

She shook her head. “I do not know. They used the clockwork dragons as their means of battle. I believe it was the church that wiped out the dragons, and they converted them into an army. The records of this enemy though have been wiped out.”

“What do you mean, wiped out?”

“It was as if the very lore itself was consumed.”

Something that ate the lore itself? I had seen something like that once before. Down below in the Deep, Twilight consumed every mention of her existence. She even scraped the words from signs and engravings, absorbing every trace. Had something like that happened on the surface once? It was truly a terrifying prospect.

Chapter 1774

“Huh, where are we going?”

I was contemplating Mary’s words, wondering about the nature of lore and this mysterious lore. Mary thought that she might gain some kind of insight into the clockwork dragons here. However, if they had grudged up information from a dungeon, would they let Mary or any of us see it? That was when Dav, who usually remained quiet and watched Pait, let out a few words of surprise.

The vehicle had been traveling for quite some time, and a quick look revealed that rather than entering one of the buildings, we had been driving outside of town.

“We should have already reached our destination. We’re going to be late for the first workshop.” Pait opened up his folder, looking through it with a frown. “We shouldn’t be leaving the city at all.”

“I’m sorry,” I spoke up before they got any more worried. “This might have something to do with me.”

The prompted everyone to glance in my direction, but I could only shrug. I knew that Lady Seeired was going to do something, but I didn’t expect them to move so quickly or to manage something as incognito as that. Furthermore, I wasn’t even certain if that was going on. Unfortunately, these carriages were being driven by a golem. It was much smaller than Terra’s, but it was far from her original body. It also didn’t seem to have the ability to speak. It also didn’t have eyes, so whatever vision it used had to be magical.

“Where are you taking us?” The esmere with the smooth voice demanded.

“Ah, we may be going to the territory of District Four,” I explained. “Lady Seeired agreed to let me see the inside of their golem building workshop.”

“Oh! That’s way better than some presentation!” Sapphire immediately spoke up excitedly.

I could also feel Terra growing excited. She had been trapped in that golem body for far too long, and she was eager to regain her feminine form. She knew as much as everyone that Jespain was her best bet in getting the knowledge to rebuild her body.

“It would have been nice if we were informed about this!” the esmere narrowed his eyes angrily.

“Relax. This is far better than we could have hoped. I seriously suspect the quality of these workshops and at best, we never would have been allowed out of the capital. This is a chance to see the countryside and also enter one of their actual factories. We’re sure to gain far more knowledge about Jespain here than in some scripted conference meeting.” Pait spoke up. “This is something we wouldn’t have gotten a chance to experience on our own without the help of Lord Deekson.”

“Hmph!” The smooth-speaking esmere crossed his arms, still upset but not saying anything more.

I could feel a bit of hostility from him. He didn’t like me very much. Pait gave me a helpless shrug. He could only do so much to smooth things out. He was probably more used to plans getting overturned when I was around.

“Well, I look forward to what could be learned out here.” Mary gave me a gentle smile.

It wasn’t like I had planned it anyway. It all just sort of came out that way.

Chapter 1775

“We’ve arrived.” Pait stated out loud.

We had actually been approaching this building for a while. It was pretty noticeable outside of the city, as it was the only building that had such a size. It was nearly the size of a palace, although the walls weren’t ornate and the whole place seemed built to maximize space. A man was outside waiting for us as we pulled up to the building.

“You must be the foreign lord I was told about.” The man declared.

He seemed slightly annoyed, but he did wave us out of the carriage. We were quickly brought into the factory. He brought us past a security checkpoint and then up into what appeared to be a large workshop with various long tables. There were various tools and parts all around. Some were recognizable as legs or arms. They all seemed to sit around the level of the golem that had driven us to this place. I looked around for something that seemed closer to Terra’s class, but there was nothing in this room. Maybe they had a more secure area for that stuff, and this was just the basic workshop.

“Well, I’ve brought you in. That was all I promised that woman.” He turned and walked away.

The group of us all looked at each other. We were expecting more, but was this all they were offering? Sapphire didn’t seem to notice though, running forward and lifting up one of the tools excitedly. Her eyes were bright like a child in a candy store. Her youthful appearance only seemed to increase that appearance.

“This is a diamond cutter. That’s really top quality.” Sapphire declared. “Ah, but how did you make the diamond cutter?”

“H-hey! Don’t touch that!”

The man noticed Sapphire tinkering with various items. She put the diamond cutter down and then walked over to something else.

“Is this a rock vaporizer? We had considered creating such a tool, but the vaporized metal was too abrasive and always broke from the chambers.”

“Y-you…” He had run back over to where she was, but stopped as she got close. “You’re a dwarf, aren’t you?”

“Ahem… Esmore is a nation filled with dwarves.” The smooth-voiced esmere cut in.

“Dwarves are okay, but you’re a deep dwarf, aren’t you?”

“You know of my kind?” Sapphire asked in surprise.

“Yes! A few deep dwarves managed to make it to Jespain. They were prized citizens. Are there others like yourself?”

“A few of my people made it here…” Sapphire’s expression turned introspective.

“There are!” I cut in. “The last living colony of deep dwarves lives in Chalm.”

The man who was originally dismissive started to look at us with a bit more attention. “The deep dwarves were known for their metal working. Many for the techniques our workshops use were passed on from the deep dwarves who made our country their home.”

“So, a lot of our techniques come from the deep dwarves? They didn’t have any talent in automatons though.” Sapphire said.

“No, the automaton information came from another source.” He responded thoughtfully. “Why have you guys come to my workshop?”

I let out a little breath. I had his interest. Now, I just needed to keep it. I lifted my hand, and Terra appeared suddenly in the middle of the workshop, towering over everyone and making quite the scene. The man took a step back and gasped.

“So, I’m looking for some help.” I declared.