—— ? ——

  A Pop rang out, and Simon’s outstretched hand closed on cool metal. He stared at the guitar-like instrument. The thing was heavy. Rippling streaks of silver and red flowed through a pure jet black metal. The instrument's body formed a circle, creating a key-like shape. Simon experimentally spun it, and the silvery strings hummed as they whirled through the air.

  “Where the hell have you been?” His eyes watched the tunnel on the far side of the cavern. “About damn time I got something suited for the way I use this stupid skill,” he whispered to himself nervously.

  The wailing grew with every moment, metallic clanging accompanying it. The sound changed, becoming more distinct.

  It's in the tunnel. Simon crouched, hiding in the shadows. Should be… oh shit.

  Sound exploded into the cavern as the metal creature blurred into sight. Simon ducked further.

  What the fuck.

  Fear clawed at Simon’s mind as his heart felt frozen. This monster had gone from one end of the tunnel to the other in less than a second. His body had become a statue, frozen in terror.

  The metal construct that emerged was similar to the others they had fought. But where the earlier ones had been composed of some type of bronze, this one glistened in a golden luster. Molten metal shimmered, reflecting the dim light of the cavern. Its body was more defined and detailed. Dazzling plates of gold adorned it, covering it from head to toe. While the bronze constructs had been massive, this one towered over even them. Wider, taller, and terrifying.

  Simon watched in frozen horror as it came to a halt in the room and searched it with glowing golden eyes. His jaw clenched as its gaze came to him, then passed over. Had it not spotted him?

  Then it moved. The creature's silhouette blurred as it sprinted across the room. Simon could only watch as it moved at a speed he had no hope of matching. But luckily, it wasn’t headed for him. The creature’s gaze had locked onto the golden pool. The monster’s feet screeched as it came to a stop at the pool’s edge and stared into it, eyes locked. Grinding metal screeched as it let out a discordant roar.

  Simon carefully backed further into the tunnel, changing his vantage point. He could barely see the construct as he watched.

  The creature took a step into the molten gold. The grinding sound changed to a hissing scream of pain. After a few steps, its arms descended into the pool. After a moment of searching, its arms broke the surface, holding a familiar chunk of metal. A scraping, indignant roar echoed out as it hurled the remains of the drum across the cavern.

  Not good. Simon grimaced and then moved out of sight. The creature's roar grew louder. Simon could feel the anger layered in each blast of sound. He needed to get out of here. This thing was pissed off.

  Then the sounds stopped. Simon froze as time slowed to a crawl.

  A moment passed.

  Two.

  Come on… Come on… Don’t check the tunnel. Simon prayed.

  Simon watched the mouth of the tunnel; his heartbeat drumming in his head. He crouched, legs coiled like steel as he prepared to make one final run for his life.

  Agonizing silence.

  The sound exploded as indignant rage bellowed out, followed by loud clanging steps that drew closer.

  Simon was about to sprint when his eyes widened in fear. A blur of gold practically teleported from one side of the tunnel mouth to the other. Cold sweat dripped off his face as his mind tried to catch up to what had just happened.

  It hadn’t come into the tunnel, just passed it.

  Then a clang mixed with a similar soft tone rang out. The ground beneath Simon trembled as pounding metal slammed just outside the tunnel. A rhythmic sound of metal on metal, interrupted by the whistling rage of the construct.

  Was… it… hitting something? Simon’s brain tried to reason.

  A subtle sensation hit Simon, making him blink. Where had he felt that?

  A screeching, twisted roar of victory echoed down the tunnel, followed by the fading clang of retreating steps.

  The creature was leaving? Confusion flooded Simon. Why was it leaving?

  The tunnel grew silent, but Simon refused to move. A minute passed, followed by another, then another. Relief descended on Simon like a wave as nothing came down the tunnel.

  In his hand, his metal bass guitar shimmered out of existence. It had been over five minutes, and the golden monstrosity hadn’t returned.

  Simon crept forward, cautiously peering into the cavern. The room had no death machine waiting to pounce. His eyes scanned the room, trying to figure out what had happened.

  Glittering gold left a trail from where the monster had hurled the remains from the pool. Golden material left large footprints from the pool to the tunnel entrance. The footprints went right past the entrance, inches from entering it. They led a few steps away, where gold pooled into a depression in the ground.

  That hadn’t been there before.

  Simon took a tentative step towards it and bit his lip. The floor had been caved in by the creature. It looked like someone had pounded the spot with an oversized sledgehammer.

  Just how strong is that thing? His eyes studied the depression. Not complaining, but what the hell did the ground do to it?

  His eyes flicked around the room. It was completely empty.

  “Well, besides those,” he muttered, looking at the corpse of the bronze construct. His eyes followed the path of the creature from where it had taught the ground a lesson to the other tunnel.

  It had left. Just like that.

  He looked back at the dent. A thought passed through his mind, then he gave a soft smile.

  “Good job, buddy. Your brother would be proud.” He said affectionately to the newest addition to the room’s list of pools. If his skill ever let him summon instruments permanently, he knew what he would do. A certain pair of hand-sized drums was going to become a keepsake. That little drum had somehow gained the ire of the golden monster.

  Simon would never forget its sacrifice.

  He moved back to the mouth of the tunnel, peering down it.

  In the distance, a crouched figure was creeping forward. Simon waved in the dim light, getting Kaelalin’s attention.

  Seeing his grinning face, the inventor stood up and hurried forward.

  “What happened?” she said, confusion in her voice. “I heard the noise, then silence. When those roars blasted down the tunnel, I expected you to come flying down the tunnel. But nothing came.” Kaelalin’s eyes searched the room, then she hissed. “Did it do that?”

  Her finger pointed at the dented depression.

  “Yeah,” Simon replied, voice low. “I’m going to be honest, Kaelalin. I don’t think we can fight that thing. It's a miracle it didn’t see me.” He nodded at the pooling gold. “That’s where I left a drum. We are lucky it took out its anger on that. What that monster lacks in the brain department is more than compensated by how fast and strong it is.” He shook his head in disbelief.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Kaelalin stared at the aftermath of the creature's rage.

  “How fast?” She whispered.

  “Maybe it was just the moment, but I’m pretty sure it made it up that tunnel in less than a second.”

  Kaelalin’s eyes widened. “By the gods…”

  They both fell into their thoughts as they stared at the devastation. Simon had been feeling confident, even with the two bronze constructs. The first room had been terrifying, but they had managed. He had no idea how they were going to deal with this thing.

  “I don’t think we can fight that thing,” Simon said, breaking the silence.

  Kaelalin looked at him, her face filled with worry.

  “I wish I could disagree with you.” She said, looking over at the pounded ground. “But that is terrifying. We were already at our limit with the two bronze ones. But this?”

  She let her words hang as her gaze followed the path of the monster.

  “This isn’t something I know how to deal with.” Kaelalin looked back at Simon. “So. What do you want to do?”

  Simon blinked at her. “Huh? What do I want to do? Why are you asking me that?”

  “Because if I leave here with nothing, I go back to my lab.” Kaelalin crossed her arms. “It would be a shame to give up the rewards, but I will be fine.”” She gave him a pointed look. “You, on the other hand? This impacts you the most. If we leave, you will be right back ?where you started. So, what do you want to do?”

  Simon looked at her, then back to the cavern. This was insane. That construct had basically teleported across the cavern, and the floor showed just how strong the thing was. He couldn’t fight the damn thing, that was for sure.

  “Just give me a moment okay.” he said.

  Kaelalin nodded. She turned away and walked through the room with care. Her steps avoided the glittering drops scattered around the room. She bent down and studied the pool, then moved and examined the footsteps.

  Simon didn’t have the power to fight the monster. Hell, he barely had a weapon–no disrespect meant to his new favorites. Besides the summoning skill, his only other abilities were to be stubborn and run away. Unfortunately, that was an excellent summary of his time in the valley. Stubborn choices and feverish escapes.

  He sat down, back to the wall, its warm heat comforting his thoughts despite everything.

  If he left… he’d be alive. That was better than the alternative, right?

  But then what?

  Wait for another quest? Another opportunity? Or would another god descend just to screw him over?

  What was he supposed to do?

  He leaned his head back against the wall. This all sucked. At least it wasn’t Tuesday.

  Simon blinked, mentally going through the days. He let out a sigh of relief. It definitely wasn’t Tuesday, at least he had that going for him.

  His head turned, and he looked up the tunnel that led to the entrance of this forsaken realm. Soft glowing lights pulsed along it. Kaelalin had left her mines armed. Probably a good idea.

  Simon exhaled slowly.

  There was a path out of here. One that led away from almost certain death. It would be an easy one to take.

  And Simon hated it.

  But it was the smart choice. Simon turned and looked at the pulverized floor, the golden steps, and his companion, who had pulled a magical device from her pocket. Simon snorted. She certainly had gotten over her fear quickly. Kaelalin was back to being herself, eyes gleaming as she observed the device.

  Simon pushed himself to his feet. He crossed the floor carefully, mindful of the golden flecks.

  Kaelalin glanced up at him. “Decide what you want to do?”

  “Yeah, I think we need to call it.” He said, giving her a disheartened smile. “We can come back later. I’ll be stronger then.”

  Kaelalin stood, then reached out and patted his shoulder. “It will be okay. Think about it; my theory about your skill was right! You have more potential than you realize. Just think, once you master its ability to charge up, that monster won’t stand a chance.”

  She looked behind her at the corpse of the bronze construct. “Think you can help me with that? We can at least leave with something.”

  Simon nodded and followed her to the remains. Kaelalin used her magic to solidify chunks of it and Simon helped her put them in different bags.

  When he tried putting it into the first bag she gave him, it refused to go in. Kaelalin frowned and handed him another, and it wouldn’t go into that one either.

  “Strange,” she muttered, handing Simon a third bag. It easily disappeared into that one.

  “Whats up with the bags?” Simon said as he picked up another cooled chunk.

  “It should have gone into the first two. It doesn’t make any sense.” She eyed a piece of the construct. “I have seen some miners shove hundreds of pounds of material into these things. They are made for raw materials. Hmmm…” Kaelalin searched her person but didn’t find what she was looking for. She moved to her pack, and then after a moment came back with a device, which she used on a cooled piece.

  “Well, that's horrifying.” She said simply.

  “What?”

  “This device detects Anima.” Kaelalin said. Simon gave her a blank stare.

  She rolled her eyes. “Anima is related to your soul. Like how mana is connected to your mind and stamina is connected to your body.” She gestured at the device. “This shows that the metal is infused with Anima. However, that level should be decreasing. It’s extremely difficult to make it stay in anything but specialized containers.”

  She thoughtfully tapped the metal. “But, it's not going down. That means this metal is an excellent container for Anima. Or…” She frowned, her words dying.

  “Or?” Simon asked. He had stopped picking up cooled pieces and eyed them warily.

  Kaelalin stared at the device, then locked eyes with Simon. “Based on what I just told you, why do you think that its anima level isn’t changing?”

  Simon stared at her, then at the construct. “Uh… you said you need a specialized container, right?” he rolled the question in his mind. “And this energy comes from the soul? Does that mean someone's soul is a container? This thing's soul is still in there?”

  Kaelalin shook her head.

  “Doubtful. Souls should separate from the body when it dies. This thing is strange, but that rule should be working.” She reached into a pocket and pulled a dull heart from her bag. Kaelalin waved the device over it, then nodded. “These things are basically inert. Some traces, but they’re in line with what you would expect.”

  Kaelalin looked thoughtful as she checked the chunk of metal again. “Still the same level as before… I wonder.”

  Simon had a horrible thought. “Hey, Kaelalin.”

  “Yes?”

  “Could we go check that golden pool?” Simon said. Kaelalin’s eyebrows rose, then she looked across the cavern.

  “Sure,” she said.

  They made their way through the room and carefully approached the molten mass. Kaelalin got as close as she dared, then held out the device. She gasped, taking in a dry, hot lungful of air.

  She stepped back to Simon, her eyes filled with worry.

  “Well?” he asked.

  “It… that… it shouldn’t be possible… Kaelalin stammered, then said. “The whole pool is radiating Anima. Nothing about this makes sense.”

  What the hell happened to this place? Simon remembered he might have an answer to that unspoken question. He pulled up the quest description in his mind.

  —-—-—-—-—-—-

  > Name: Metallurgic Mayhem

  > Objective: Stabilize the sub-realm.

  > Description: This shattered place was once a realm of fire, metal, and magic. Over countless ages, its mass condensed beyond its limit. The realm fractured, leaving behind molten chaos and a few remaining strongholds.

  —-—-—-—-—-—-

  “Kaelalin, the system called this place a sub-realm. What does that mean?” Simon said

  “Sub-realms are places that are grafted into the main universe by the system. They can be small pockets of reality, sections of another realm, or a realm itself that is being connected.” Kaelalin said, giving him a quizzical look. “Why?”

  Simon stared at the golden luster of the pool. It no longer looked alluring to him, a feeling of revulsion rising.

  “Do…” he said slowly. “Sub-realms have people in them?”

  Kaelalin cocked her head. “Of course they do. The reason it's called a ‘sub-realm’ is more related to its status of connecting to system-controlled space.” She looked up in thought. “Technically, I think the worlds we were from were sub-realms during the integration.”

  Simon shuddered. “You said souls separate when the body dies. But what if the whole world dies all at once? What if there’s no time to separate?”

  Kaelalin’s brows furrowed. “That would depend. I’m not an expert on this; I’m working on limited information. Souls should separate and pass on from a being's body.”

  “But you said there were things that could contain Anima, right? Do you know what those are made of?” Simon said.

  “I’m not really sure. Something magical in nature that is heavily infused to contain it.”

  “What about trapping a soul?” Simon pressed.

  “That I know nothing about. Maybe something even stronger?” Kaelalin looked around, clearly not making the connection. “What are you getting at?”

  Simon took a deep breath. “Maybe I’m wrong. But what if an entire being was swallowed in magically infused metal?”

  Kaelalin went still. Simon continued. “Would that trap someone's soul?”

  She didn’t respond at first. Her eyes drifted to the golden pool, then to the construct's footprints that shimmered in the dark. A shimmering light that didn’t seem to have a source.

  “I… I don’t know,” she admitted. “I wish I could tell you more, but this is just so far out of my knowledge. I only know what we learned in the events.” She looked down at her device, then back at Simon.

  He could see her face filled with growing horror and doubt.

  “But if my idea is right?” Simon said quietly.

  Kaelalin was silent for a long time. “Then it would explain where the Anima is coming from. But… if that's true… those poor people.”

  Simon looked back at the pool, his jaw tightening. “I think it gets worse.”

  “How could it be worse?” Kaelalin said.

  “In the other room I saw a bronze construct wade into a pool like this.” He gestured, his mind filling with disgust and anger.

  “Then it fed on it.”

  —— ? ——

  — AUTHOR NOTICE —

  If you like the story so far, don't forget to hit those buttons and rate / follow / favorite, whatever you so desire.

  I met some really great people during LitRPG con and they read parts of the story and gave feedback and suggestions.

  So if the chapter number repeats, don't worry, I'm not re-releasing a chapter.

  ~TheBusyBard

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