Chapter 74: The Rusted Shallows

KRRRRR—AAAAAANNNK!

The massive steel doors of the Great Iron Labyrinth groaned as we pushed them open.

The hinges shrieked as they were shedding centuries of built up rust and hardened ash.

The moment the four of us crossed the threshold, the sheer weight of the doors forced them shut behind us.

Boom!

A dim orange glow illuminated the first layer of the dungeon.

This was the Rusted Shallows, the first strata of the planetary forge.

The environment was a mechanical nightmare. The walls were not made of stone or dirt.

They were constructed from interlocking plates of heavy iron and brass gears.

The corridor stretched out before us.

GNNNNNNNNRRRRR...

Every few minutes, a deep groan would vibrate through the floor, and sections of the hallway would physically shift.

Walls slid into the floor. Ceilings lowered. The Labyrinth was blindly solving itself over and over again.

"The ambient mana here is suffocating," Nyssa whispered.

She pulled a glowing green crystal from her satchel to provide us with extra light.

"It feels chaotic. Like the magic itself is angry."

"Keep your eyes forward," Kaelith commanded softly, her twin curved blades already drawn.

"The shadows are moving."

A horde of low tier mechanical drones scurried across the ceiling.

Tchk!

They looked like massive metallic spiders.

Their red optical lenses locked onto our heat signatures.

"Let me take the front, Boss," Rolf growled. His Vanguard armor hummed as he slammed his massive, clawed fists together.

"I can feel the threshold. I am right on the edge of the breakthrough. I just need a little more blood."

I nodded. "Clear the path."

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

The drones dropped from the ceiling in a swarm of snapping pincers and grinding gears.

THUD! CRACK!

Rolf met them with absolute, brutal force. He did not bother dodging.

He let their metallic claws scrape uselessly against his heavy Vanguard plating while he grabbed them by their mechanical joints and ripped them apart.

SKRRRAAASH!

He was a force of pure, untamed nature let loose in a factory.

As I watched my First Knight obliterate the swarm and soak up the System EXP, a sharp, piercing spike of static suddenly erupted inside my skull.

I flinched, my brass Vanguard Arm twitching as I instinctively reached for my head.

"Kzzzt... Seeker of the deep... the iron rots from within..."

This voice was directly transmitted into my mind through the system.

It sounded profoundly ancient. But the transmission was severely degraded.

’Who is this? Is this perhaps a mental attack?!’

The words were skipped and fractured, corrupted by centuries of decay.

"The children of the forge... we wove the metal flesh... kkhh... but the heart went mad. Traveler... do you hear the weeping stone?"

I stopped walking, letting my Verdant aura flare. Nyssa and Kaelith immediately fell back to my sides, sensing my shift in demeanor.

"My Lord?" Kaelith asked, her pitch black eyes scanning the empty corridor.

"What is it?"

VRRRRNNNN!

Before I could answer, the floor beneath us shuddered violently.

A deafening, mechanical roar echoed from the walls. The Labyrinth was shifting again, but this time, it was an active trap.

GRRRRRRRAAAANG!

The massive iron walls on our left and right suddenly unlocked from their tracks and began sliding rapidly inward.

The corridor was going to crush us into paste.

"Run!" Rolf barked.

We bolted down the shifting hallway, but the walls were closing too fast.

The gears ground together with terrifying speed.

’This can be pretty dangerous! What should I do?’

We were running out of space.

"Kzzzt... false path... the iron is blind here... strike the bleeding vein..."

The broken voice echoed in my mind again.

A glowing blue waypoint suddenly materialized on my System interface, highlighting to my right.

"Brace yourselves!" I roared.

I did not hesitate.

I planted my boots into the metal floor, pulled my brass Vanguard Arm back, and channeled a massive surge of B Grade strength into my shoulder.

I punched the highlighted bulkhead with everything I had.

CRASH!

The rusted iron shattered like brittle glass.

The sheer force of the blow tore a massive hole into the hidden architecture of the Labyrinth.

I grabbed Lysandra by her tunic and threw her through the gap, with Nyssa, Kaelith, and Rolf diving in right behind her.

I stepped through just as the two corridor walls slammed together behind us with a world shaking boom.

We collapsed onto the floor of a new room, coughing as centuries of undisturbed dust plumed into the air.

"Is everyone intact?" I asked, pushing myself up to my feet.

"We are fine," Nyssa gasped.

She held up her green crystal, illuminating the chamber. Her emerald eyes widened in absolute awe.

"Grik. Look at this place."

We were standing inside a massive, pristine chamber.

Unlike the chaotic, rusted hallways outside, this room was perfectly preserved. At the center of the room stood a holotable.

"It is an Overseer’s Control Room," Nyssa breathed, running her hands over the ancient, dust covered machinery.

"This is preindustrial Gnome and Dwarven architecture. It has been sealed since the fall of their civilization."

I walked toward the central holotable. As my boots neared the console, my System interface flared violently.

"Administrator access... kzzzt... recognized."

Hummm..!!

The room suddenly hummed to life.

The consoles booted up and casted a soft, blue light across the chamber.

A massive, three dimensional holographic map projected from the central table, displaying the intricate, shifting layout of Strata 1.

But the map was not the only thing that appeared.

A flickering, translucent hologram of a mystical figure projected at the head of the table.

The figure was draped in heavy robes and their was face hidden behind a forged iron mask.

"I am the Architect," the glitching, ethereal voice echoed.

"A phantom bound to the brass. If you have breached this sanctum, it means the surface world still lives."

Lysandra backed away as her glowing pink eyes widen with shock.

Rolf gripped his weapon tightly.

"We dug too deep," the profound ancestor continued.

"We sought to harness the planetary core to build a forge of infinite creation. But the subterranean mana was chaotic. It corrupted the network. Our creations turned upon us. Everything was destroyed. Our hard work. All gone!"

He paused.

"The Great Iron Labyrinth is not a dungeon. It is a bleeding heart which is blindly manufacturing a mechanical plague."

The hologram turned its masked face directly toward me.

"You hold the Administrator’s mark. The upper stratas are already lost. But you must go deeper. You must take this map and descend to the Core Chamber." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Help me severe the final connection. If the forge is not silenced... the iron will eventually consume the continent."

The Architect pointed a ghostly finger at the center of the console. A small reinforced glass cylinder rose from the table.

Inside it hovered a pure, glowing orb. It was the localized Origin Mana core that had kept this room sealed and powered for centuries.

"Take the control key. Descend. Avenge the children of stone."

The hologram flickered one final time and vanished.

It left behind the glowing map and the blindingly bright Origin Mana core.

The air in the room was suddenly thick, heavy, and intoxicating.

’The purity of the ancient magic radiating from that core is overwhelming. This is quite a predicament. A part of history that I did not want to get involved in.’

"Hrk!"

Behind me, Rolf let out a choked, guttural gasp.

I turned around.

Rolf was on his knees, clutching his chest.

His Vanguard armor was clinking violently as his muscles expanded and contracted with terrifying speed.

The incredibly dense, ancient ambient mana in this control room was flooding his system, acting as the final catalyst his body needed.

"Rolf!" Kaelith shouted, moving toward him.

"Stay back!" I ordered.

"His core is breaking. He is evolving."

"AAAUUUUURRRGHHHH!"

Rolf threw his head back and unleashed a deafening, bone rattling howl.

The sound was so powerful it shook the dust from the ceiling.

’His C Grade core is shattering and reforming. It is being flooded by the ancient magic of the planetary forge.’

My System interface expanded rapidly in my vision, blocking out the blue light of the room.

A massive golden notification appeared.

[Pack Member ’Rolf’ has reached Level 20.]

[Stage 2 Evolution Initiated.]

The System paused, waiting for my input.

Three distinct, highly specialized evolutionary paths generated on the screen, each one fundamentally changing the destiny of my First Knight.

[Path 1: Ironclad Lycan]

[A path of absolute defense. His fur will permanently fuse with organic iron plating. He will become an immovable, unkillable Vanguard tank.]

[Path 2: Shadow Stalker Fenrir]

[A path of lethal stealth. He will trade all heavy defense for blinding agility, gaining the ability to blend into shadows and assassinate high tier targets.]

[Path 3: Alpha General]

[A path of absolute command. He will become a true general. His aura will provide massive combat buffs to his allies and paralyze his enemies with deep, primal fear.]

Rolf’s body continued to convulse on the floor, waiting for the ambient mana to permanently reshape his flesh.

’The choice of his future is completely in my hands.’