It didn’t take long for the elf and the knight to make it to the entrance of the dungeon. The non-imprisoned adventurers waved as they passed, a little weary of the mountain of metal that was the Knight but willing to let it slide due to its companion.

  They stood before the massive wrought iron door. “Do you see anything?” Theoden asked Armand.

  “Yes, I’m surprised that I never noticed it.” The metal figure walked over to the door and rubbed his hand gently across the rust. The rust gave way, revealing sheening metal. Several Readers joined in getting to the places that the suit of armor could not reach.

  Soon, the massive door was gleaming like new, and he could finally see the magic circle inscribed upon it. “What do you think?” Theoden nodded but after a momentary squint, it was quickly followed by shaking his head.

  “While this is a dimensional anchor, it is not for this dungeon.” The elf confidently replied.

  “How so?” Armand asked.

  “I recognize the mark; this is the one for the material plane.” The elf clarified, “The mark for this dungeon would be different.” Stuck again.

  “Where do you think it is then?” The metal figure asked; he really wanted to create some more entrances to expand his little empire and newly founded faith.

  “I have a thought.” The elf started, “I think it is outside the dungeon.”

  “On the door in the material plane?” Armand asked; he was momentarily disappointed till he still saw the expectant expression of the elf. Oh yeah! He was not alone. “Could you investigate it for me?”

  “Of course; however, I will need paper and something to write with.” The elf requested.

  “That is easily arranged, but considering the state of the door on this side, I think you will also be in need of some cleaning supplies.” The Knight construct was suggested.

  “Most likely, I can also enlist some men to speed up the task.” Spoke Theoden as he rushed to collect volunteers, Armand swiftly summoned the necessary supplies. The oddest-equipped crew of adventurers soon navigated their way outside the dungeon.

  Armand waited patiently but it still took several hours before they returned; luckily, his original body could indulge in reading while the knight stood waiting for their return.

  The door opened, and in stepped the elf and his band of now very dirty adventurers. Theoden had not been spared either: “You really make it look easy.” The elf lamented but inevitably handed a scroll over; he unfurled it and could finally gaze upon the magic circle that led to his home.

  While it was nothing more than a series of circles and lines, this embodied a connection to the outside world, and he was thrilled to have it. “Good work! Clean up and meet me back in the inner chambers,” the knight said while nodding. “You know where to go, right?” he asked rhetorically as he began to return carefully, clutching the scroll as if it were a newborn child.

  He quickly made it to his workshop, where his original body was. The construct handed the scroll to himself and the goblin then spread the scroll out upon one of the tables. He considered what the dungeon door looked like and how he was going to replicate this connection.

  Trial and error would be required to do so; after all, he was able to change the size of the doorway from within the dungeon but he was not sure if that would be applicable to any new doorways.

  As he theory crafted, his construct counterpart was greeted by Theoden; the elf had hurriedly bathed and practically ran to participate in what was about to happen. The construct guided the elf to the workshop; other than Isolde, he unknowingly became the second surviving person to come close to the dungeon core.

  The elf entered the workshop and laid eyes upon the goblin standing before a large door; he was rabidly carving grooves upon the door. Theoden looked around the workshop and saw several sentinels, watchers, and readers in several pieces all over the place. Several beast-like constructs lying inertly on the ground.

  Theoden then focused in on the tools upon the table; they would make the finest physicians jealous. Scalpels, chisels, and hammers all made from mithril and enchanted. “You’re a busy man…” He cleared his throat. “I mean goblin.”

  “I have had a lot of time and a lot of able hands,” the goblin replied without looking from his work; he was working quite quickly but the elf ended up sitting there twiddling his thumbs. “How are you at enchanting? ” The goblin couldn’t help but ask.

  “I know my way around a chisel,” the elf replied. Armand nodded in response and summoned a small, almost hand-sized door. “Would you attempt to carve a smaller model? I want to try multiple-sized doorways.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  The elf picked up a thin-ended chisel and began to work; while he was not as fast as Armand, he was just as precise. The two worked in tandem, creating a set of regular-sized doors and smaller doors.

  Each set consisted of one door with the dimensional anchor for his dungeon and the other to the mundane world. “My only worry is if the doors create new openings versus connecting to the same spot.” Lamented the goblin to the elf.

  “That is a good concern,” said Thoeden as he wiped the accumulated sweat from his brow. “Why don’t we test the smaller model just outside the doorway? ” he suggested as he threaded alchemical gold through the groves.

  “Not a terrible suggestion.” Armand nodded. “You make an excellent assistant.” The elf beamed with pride at the compliment.

  “It has been wonderful watching an expert of your caliber; your technique is exquisite,” Theoden responded with a compliment in kind.

  “We will probably need to test this tomorrow.” The goblin could feel the exhaustion in his bones. The elf couldn’t help but nod in agreement. The duo stood up and headed out, passing the knight who was standing guard between the workshop and the core.

  They began moving to the main room; Isolde and Gideon were already there. However, their arms were occupied with something; only as they closed in did they see that something was wriggling. “Now what is this?” The goblin asked as he closed in.

  “One of my guards was attacked by a wolf; he defended himself but soon realized that he had accidentally neared too close to its burrow.” She shifted her arms and a little face poked out.

  “I see…” The goblin leaned and examined the little thing; it was a wolf pup. He tried to ignore what happened in the caves but nature was undoubtedly cruel sometimes. In this case a young lady saved the day for these abandoned pups.

  There were about a dozen of them, and she also had a bottle in her grasp. “Can you taste this and make more? ” she said as she shook the bottle in the goblin’s face.

  He in turn shrugged and took a sip, creamy and sweet. The goblin nodded and snapped his finger and several more bottles appeared on the table, along with a full dinner. “Shall we?” he asked as he waved at the table.

  “Almost,” Isolde replied. “Could you get me some leather and a sewing needle? ” The goblin did as she asked, and he created a basket full of cloth as well. “Thank you,” she said as she and Gideon laid the squiggling mass into the warm rags.

  They dug in; after the initial inhaling of food, they finally moved into polite dinner conversation. Isolde, Gideon, and Jomead talked about their visit to the cells. They were furious at them but appreciative that their minions were still mostly alive.

  After a long beratement, the imprisoned guards resigned themselves to their fate. They then went to check out the facilities of the dungeon, exploring the gardens and swimming in the lake. Jomead didn’t say it directly but the vibe of him being a third wheel was palpable.

  “Perhaps you would like to try out my forge tomorrow? ” the goblin suggested, not that he enjoyed giving Isolde and Gideon more private time but he felt bad for the guy.

  “I would enjoy that! ” The dwarf replied; his originally slightly sour mood had improved. While they were talking, Isolde had begun to fashion the leather into a pouch, with many small buds coming off of it. She poked holes into the end of the buds.

  She then took the milk the goblin had summoned and poured it into the makeshift milk dispenser. Satisfied, she then transferred it to the cloth basket and the wolf pups instinctively began to nurse.

  “How did you know how to do that? ” Gideon asked; this was not something that someone did on a whim.

  “Back at my parent’s tavern we raised many a stray pup,” she replied with a nostalgic smile. She picked up the basket and headed to her room. The others soon followed suit. The night was uneventful other than Isolde panically rousing the goblin from his sleep because one of the pups had stopped moving.

  When he inspected it, there was still a touch of life so he quickly summoned some healing tonic and forced it down the little guy's throat. The warmth returned to the little guy and it wriggled contentedly before falling back to sleep.

  After that disruption, he went back to sleep, only waking when morning came around. He read for a while till his guests awoke. After indulging in breakfast and morning pleasantries, the knight construct and Theoden moved to the dungeon entrance, while the goblin and Jomead headed to the forge.

  Armand handed the small dungeon gate with his dungeon coordinates to Theoden, who then took it outside; while that was going on, he put the corresponding door in a distant hall.

  He then felt something; it felt like a distant calling. He then sent mana into the corresponding door inside the dungeon. To his excitement the doors connected, and a minute stream of mana began to pour through.

  A few minutes later, Theoden came in. “I tried closing the door like we planned but once the connection came into existence, I couldn’t damage the magic circle…”

  “Most curious,” The metal construct replied, and he then imagined the doorway growing in size but unlike his first door, this one remained as it was. “I also cannot increase the size of the door.”

  “Unfortunately, that means we are going to have to haul the larger set of doors home,” the elf lamented.

  “Oh, don’t be a wimp,” Armand replied. “Let’s just go back and play around with potential doorway shapes.”

  Meanwhile, the original body and dwarf were working together on another project. They surrounded a table, staring down at a sheet of paper. “What do you think of this shape?” The goblin asked as he pointed.

  “I think it would work but why don’t you elongate the blade a bit then?” Jomead counter asked.

  “I’m not used to fighting with something that long but it may be possible. Let’s try a prototype.” The goblin summoned some iron, they pulled out the tools, and they began to hammer away. After hammering away for a while, the final result came into being. It looked like a spear with a shorter handle and a longer blade.

  “What do you think now?” Jomead asked the goblin.

  “It combines the functionality of a magic staff and a spear.” The goblin surmised. “It is perfect!” He exclaimed. Armand was so engrossed in the twin projects being done by him, the dwarf, and the elf that he failed to notice Isolde and Gideon bonding over taking care of the wolf pups.