Naomi said goodbye to a few more people, and the caravan set out. She watched them from the gate until the last person disappeared behind the dunes on the horizon. Only then does she return to her quarters to rest and think about what to do next. And thankfully, she had a few things she needed to take care of. Naomi hoped that getting busy with work would help her with Alduin’s absence and all her emotions.

  The easiest task on the list was building her new golem puppet. It will just take a lot of time to finish it, but time was something she had almost an unlimited amount of. And while it was being built, she could have thought about a convenient way to travel around the world that wouldn't involve many people. This was a tricky question because most modern methods of transportation on Earth require advanced technology to build and maintain. And none of them exist here.

  Her personal goals aside, Naomi began to see something she feared when she decided to create magic guns. People were too fascinated by the prospect of using them. Naomi wasn’t angry at them for that. She even understood them perfectly. A few rifles were enough to turn the tide of a recent battle. Without them, most of the defenders would perish, and instead, it was a cultist who was annihilated.

  So Naomi decided that on the next floor, she would temper adventurers' enthusiasm. The first thing she wondered was if she could make her rifles less lethal. Unlike the airsoft guns a few floors above, the bullet from her rifle had high energy, and ordinary armor stood no chance against it. Metal shields can withstand bullets, but not all knights used them, let alone adventurers or sun elves. The simplest solution was a rubber bullet, but she wasn’t entirely satisfied. Naomi started her work again to create a magic bullet. After many experiments, she finally succeeded. The projectile was made of an enchanted crystal that held a small amount of mana. Upon hitting the target, the projectile disintegrated and the spell activated. Naomi prepared a few versions with different elemental mana. The effect was comparable to a standard advanced-level spell. For adventurers who can reach the seventeenth floor, it wasn’t a lethal attack, but it wasn’t something they could ignore, especially in large quantities. Typically, a spell and its trajectory can be tracked. But to spot a bullet, someone needs specific high-level skills.

  “I really liked the water one.” Naomi heard the familiar voice of the goddess of fun. “It should be funny seeing adventurers hit by them.”

  “I guess,” Naomi answered. “I just tried to make them scary, and not lethal at the same time.”

  “Right. Shame they can’t be used outside the dungeon, also maybe you can add some with things like paint?”

  “I suspect someone sooner or later will make something similar to my magic bullets.” Naomi smiled. “And paint would be hard. Inside the bullet is just elemental mana. But wait, I had one idea. Let’s see if this would work.” She added, picking the goddess's interest. After some trials, Naomi had three more bullets.

  “Ok, time to test them.” She took a rifle and shot the first bullet.

  “Oh. illusin! That was pretty.” Tabitha smiled as she saw the swarm of butterflies.

  “Yes. Now something more difficult. Those bullets need to release the spell before they hit the target.”

  Naomi’s knowledge about runes was exceptional, so everything worked exactly like she intended.

  Tabitha burst out laughing when she saw the spell.

  “I love that! A little old joke, but it's always funny to see it. But it’s a shame it’s an illusion.” She looked at Naomi expectantly.

  “Regretably, I can’t make it real. Instead, I have something more.” Naomi prepared the third bullet and then fired it.

  When Tabitha saw the spell, her eyes went wide, and then she fell to the floor, laughing harder than ever.

  “I can’t breath…ha, ha, ha… my stomach … ha, ha, ha, I can’t … This is great… ha ha ha.” Naomi joined her laugh, too. The effect of her spell was better than she expected, and she couldn't wait to see the shocked faces of adventurers.

  “I need to show this Xicil. He's almost out of ideas, and this is supposed to help him?”

  “Sure. Tell him that I'm waiting for his call when he receives his manaradio.”

  “Ok!” Goddes waywed and vanished, and Naomi returned to her work.

  Now she needed a golem riflemen. And that was a good opportunity for her to refine her own golem. At least some parts of it, that is, but her list was long, so any opportunity to try some improvements was welcome. The first thing was a frame. The new golems needed to be much more flexible and agile. Usual plate armour covering all machinery greatly reduces movements. She experienced that for herself. It was difficult for her to move as she was accustomed to, even though her armor was composed of smaller fragments than other golems. While this was sufficient for everyday use and Naomi was determined to do everything she could to avoid fighting in the future, this method did have one drawback. It cannot be used for the face, because she needs to show some emotion. And the expressionless mask with moving eyes and jaw looked scary. The easiest way is to use leather or natural rubber. However, unlike synthetic materials, they were too delicate, and it was hard to make anything from them that resembled real leather. Naomi was afraid that to cross this off her list, she would need some crazy, magical material, and that meant a lot of studying and experimenting. For now, she decided to try something simpler - chainmail. But not the usual made from the rings, but made from scales. After many changes, she finally managed to create a chainmail shirt she was happy with. All the scales fit tightly together, especially at the curves, and did not hinder any movements. Regrettably, it wasn’t good enough.

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  “Oh well. It’s still good for new armour for the golems. I need to make them much more agile anyway.” Naomi shrugged and finished designing the golem. The final appearance was dark and sinister, like a specter, especially with its black head and no facial features.

  “Good.” She was satisfied with her work. “But let’s make this floor a little more challenging.” Naomi summoned a wolf golem from the fourth floor and began its modernization. Her riflemen were for ranged ambush attacks, and she needed some frontliners. After some time, a beautiful beast stood before her, dressed in an elaborate chainmail of steel dragon scales instead of fur. The most important part was hidden in the ribcage, and chainmail itself was sturdy, so the golem couldn’t be taken down in one hit, even if the armour was much lighter.

  With the hardest part of the work behind her, she could plan the floor layout. She chose an open space, half of which was covered with dense forest, full of ravines and fallen trees. Generally, anything that can be used as cover for riflemen was on the list. The other half would be a nasty surprise.

  Because adventurers would need a lot of time to learn how to deal with this floor, she prepared a bunker at the entrance. It was made of metal and divided into three parts. The central part was where the kitchen, dining hall, and some workshops were placed. On the sides, she prepared sleeping places and bathrooms. One was prepared for men, another one for women. Everything was utilitarian and rather depressing if someone needed to spend too much time inside.

  When everything was in place, Naomi frowned because she had a feeling the floor was lacking something. She decided to take a walk and see everything up close. At first, everything looked right, then she realized. Any competent mage could detect golems lying in ambush. Her constructs were full of mana, clearly visible to the mages. In the confined space of a maze, this is not a problem. The walls blocked a view there, but in the forest, only trees blocked sight, and not all were big enough to hide a golem.

  “So, how to hide you all. I can’t add more magic. That would make you all more visible.” She pondered for a moment and then smiled to herself. “Right, let’s add some fake golems. So what if they could see them? They still would need to guess which is real and which is not.”

  When she finished all her work, she checked if she had enough mana. Like always, all her work took her more than a week. Through those days, she acquired enough mana to place a new floor.

  “Dengeon Mistress! I was starting to get wary of you.” Lisusa ran to Naomi when she entered the tavern.

  “I’m alright.” Naomi smiled weakly. “Indeed, a lot happened recently, but I had some work to do. It’s also the best way for me to calm down and sort my thoughts.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. But now please sit, Dungen Mistress, and let me spoil you with my food and drinks. Having fun and rest is also important.” The tavern keeper told her to bring it to the nearest free table.

  “I agree. And I’m looking forward to what you and your people can do.” Naomi answered, smiling. She decided to let her worries go at least for a few moments, and try to have as much fun as she could.

  Three days after Naomi finished her newest floor, a group of adventurers cleared the sixteenth floor. As usual, most people returned with loot. Only a small team went down to check if a new floor had appeared or if something had changed on the main floor.

  “Yeah. New floor is ready.” One of the adventurers noticed as they entered the metal bunker.

  “Isn’t it a little too early?” Halfling scout asked.

  “Not necessary.” The Paladin accompanying them answered. “If I recollect correctly, Dungeon Mistress was a few months away from acquiring the necessary resources for a new floor. Missing resources could be a reward for slaying a lich.”

  “Oh. That makes sense.” Halfling answered.

  “Anyway, so I guess this is a place for us to stay during an exploration.” Cat kin mage spoke. “I don’t want to be rude to Mistress, but this place is not very welcoming. I hope the rest of the maze won’t be looking like that.”

  “You got spoiled with the luxuries of the previous floor.” Adventurer warrior laughs.

  “Anyway, let us take a look at the rest of the floor. We need to know how to prepare for the new challenges.” Paladin answered.

  Outside surprised them. The short corridor ended in a ditch protected in front by an earthen rampart, and beyond it grew tall trees.

  “Strange.” A warrior looked over the earth wall. Immediately, they heard the characteristic crack of the rifle and whiz of the bullet. Then something hit him square in the face. He fell to the bottom of the trench.

  “Fuck! We need a healing potion!” Scout shouted, seeing all of that.

  “I’m fine,” Adventurer answered. “It was a water bullet.” He explained, trying to sit.

  “But how?” The scout asked.

  “Let me check.” The paladin answered. “Mage, I need your shield.”

  “On it,” The cat kin answered.

  They barely pick over the wall, and a small fireball hits a magical shield.

  “Invisible spells. How bad are they?” Knight asked a mage.

  “Not much. advanced level at worst.”

  “I don’t see the caster. Can you take a look?”

  “Sure,” Mage answered and stepped closer to be able have a better look. But the next moment, he felt a blow against his shield, and then something small with tentacles appeared. The creature landed on his face and disappeared.

  “Aaaaa!” Mage screamed in horror, dropping to his knees and starting spitting and rubbing his face, wanting to remove the wet, slimy feeling.

  Paladin also takes cover because the magical shield disappeared.

  “What was that?” Warrior asked, flabbergasted.

  “He got hit with an octopus!” Halfling was laughing maniacally.

  “To be exact, it was an illusion spell. But the fact that it somehow bypassed the magic shield is disturbing.” The paladin explained. “We need to return.”