Guards on the western wall of the City of Light were visibly nervous. A few days ago runner brought news about people with the task from gods, and the need to speak with the archpriest. That was a serious matter in itself. Even if they were some random nomads from the great desert. Panic almost breaks out, because they are escorted by a team of sun elves in royal colors. Adventurers, holy knights, and city guards ran everywhere to ensure the road was safe from bandits and monsters. Now they are waiting.

  “They are here!” Someone shouted. Indeed you could see first people from the caravan on the road. A few dozen minutes later they stop at the gate. Chief issued a few orders about breaking camp. Next, he and the shaman accompanied by the sun elves' warriors approach the gate.

  “Good day. I’m Juntur chief of this tribe, and this is my path.”

  “Good day. I’m Durtar shaman of our tribe and this is my path.”

  “Welcome travelers. I’m Ilrune archpriest of the god of the Sun. This is Gustav, Grand Marshal of holy knights. He will be responsible for your safety during your stay in the City of Light. And you sir?” He asked the sun elf standing next to them.

  “I’m Quildor. My king tasked me to escort messengers to the city and confirm they would fulfill their task. And I did that. Also, my king tasked me to check if the prophecy given by the Dungeon Mistress of On Taram Oasis reached the Citadel of the Sun.”

  “Yes. Around two weeks ago we received it.” Archpriest confirms.

  “Good. My tasks are fulfilled, then.”

  “Yes, they are. May the sun always shine on you and your warriors.” Archpriest said.

  Quildor bowed slightly, turned around, and started walking away. The rest of the elven warriors immediately followed him.

  “Dear gusts. Please follow me. I’m afraid before us is a little lengthy road, because we prepared quarters for you on the fifth floor of the citadel.” Archpriest said a moment later.

  “Understood. And it's no problem.” Answered Juntur.

  They reach the fifth floor late at night. The meeting was scheduled for tomorrow.

  In the morning they were led to Archpriest rooms.

  “good morning. I hope you were able to rest properly.” Archpriest grated them.

  “Good morning. We are indeed well rested.” Shaman confirms.

  “Splendid. Let me introduce Dungeon Mistress of the Citadel of Light.” The Elven priest pointed at the young woman in the priest's robe.

  “Good morning Lady.” Gusts bowed.

  “Welcome to my Citadel.” Mistress bowed slightly.

  “And Great Marshal you met yesterday. Let's start with breakfast. After that, we will speak about your task.”

  “Thank you for your hospitality,” Chief answered.

  “Now then. Tell us your story. What happened to you that you got chosen by gods?” Archpriest asked.

  “Thankfully nothing bad. On the contrary. We were witnesses of a miracle. Dungeon Mistress of the On Taram oasis brought one of our women back to life.” Shaman explained. “I know what you are thinking. Necromancy. But no. She shows me how to reignite the fading spark of life.” He gives a scroll to the Archpriest. “Dungeon Mistress writes on this scroll, all her knowledge about this new healing technique.”

  Dungeon Mistress of the Citadel immediately starts reading it.

  “It’s true. She did it.” Her eyes went wide.

  “She did what?” Elven priest asked.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “It is what we call in my world the CPR. A few of us, dungeon masters, know about it, but regrettably not in detail. But she knows. Not only that. She combined it with magic.”

  “Understood.” Archpriest noded. “And then I guess The Lady or god Junos sent you to us,” he said to the shaman.

  “No. It was god Nedo and god Varo. They descend and give us this task.” Duratur shakes his head.

  “I have a question.” Marshal breaks the silence. “Do you know anything about sun elves staying in the oasis?”

  “Not much. Sun elves are respectful, to us, people of the desert, but they keep their distance. However, we overheard a few things. It turns out Dungeon Mistress somehow was able to impress the elven king. Elven warriors were discussing the possibility of marriage between their king and Dungeon Mistress.” Juntar said.

  “Marriage!” Chino shouted. “I’m sorry.” She immediately added embraced.

  A few days later a small flotilla of twenty ships set sail for the coast of the continent of Auos. Ten of them were true warships. Size and overall shape were similar to man-of-war sailship from fifteen century Earth. However, they don’t carry guns. Not because they don't know about gunpowder. Alchemists know about a few exploding mixtures, and with the help of dungeon cores real guns and muskets were built. No one uses them because of magic. However not because magic was more convenient. You don’t want to be near a barrel of gunpowder when an enemy mage can make it explode with a fireball. A typical ship carried many barrels of gunpowder. Instead on the top gundeck ballistae were installed. The number of soldiers was around one hundred, and many were fire mages. Typically crews concentrated on destroying the sails, and masts of the opponents. Crews fighting with fire were easy to board if needed.

  The rest of the sailships were smaller or bigger merchant ships. They also had a few ballistae and a team or two dedicated mages and warriors for protection. Merchants always aim for the sails of pirate ships, which helps them escape.

  “So gods decided we should travel together a little more.” Thunder smiled at priestess Shewa. They both stood on the main deck of the flagship Gods' might. They admire the Citadel of Light.

  “Yes. It is an interesting coincidence.” She answered hesitantly after a moment. “You know how it is. Gods always give us tasks to fulfill and we must do our best.”

  “Ay. I know something about that.” He laughs. “I carry prophecy, and you are the gods’ messenger.”

  “My commander is the true messenger.”

  “Details.”

  They stood for some time in silence until the citadel disappeared over the horizon.

  In the meantime, Naomi starts designing the fifth floor. In any other dungeon, they are simple. Some space for adventurers to rest, and check their equipment, and supplies. In the safe part of the floor is also a teleportation ring, a shortcut to the surface. There is also a place for the champion of the floor who guards the stairs to the lower floors. And you need to beet him whenever you want to explore deeper parts of the dungeon. The safe part usually had only the most necessary things for adventurers. A few dungeon masters added some luxuries like nice camping grounds with a pond full of fish. The most extravagant but also something that had a lot of sense, were quarters for holy knights on the fifth floor of the Citadel of Light.

  But Naomi needed to step further. She had plans, and two promises to fulfill. Coincidentally she can do both of them at the same time. So she starts with place. Naomi designed a spherical cavern four kilometers wide and five hundred meters tall. In a few places stood granite columns to support celling. Yes, floors weren’t in the real world, but they reacted like they were there. It’s a lot of pressure for an enormous cavern. She could go full magic but it would be costly. A few pillars make a big difference and are ideal places for birds. The owls, hawks, eagles, and vultures are the most common. Naomi in the central and biggest column placed the nest of Roc. And it wasn’t just big bird, she gave him access to storm magic. At the edge of the cave, she placed giant scorpions, basilisks, and snakes several meters long. Between them runs smaller animals like horned desert rabbits or foxes. But the center of the floor was most spectacular. It was a city. The city was built from metal glass and stone. Buildings were as tall as her towers above ground. And everything was in ruins, reclaimed by nature. Around half-broken fountains could be found with dry grass and some bushes. Others intact were now waterholes for dozens of big and small animals. All of them hide and nest in ruined buildings. To deepen the mystery she added a few vertical windmills that slowly still rotate and inside buildings, she discarded destroyed gears and parts of golems. It takes her a whole week just for that. She was aware that she cheated with all these animals. Yes, they are indifferent to adventurers because it is a safe floor, however, there was a law of hospitality. Any cultist, necromancer, or whatever will find a nasty surprise here. It was a big plus for Naomi who was seriously scared after she learned about what happened in the north, in the past.

  When she was satisfied with the ruins she started designing the golem guardian. Her choice was a gorilla. She enlarged its body and now it was as tall as an average human. The inside mechanism was made extra sturdy and with one important change. Hands were fully functional. Golem from now on can grab things. Exit from the floor will be in the center of the ruined city in the biggest tower built around a central stone pillar. She placed the golem in the tree-story high hall. On ground level were spacious corridors with six alcoves. Five were empty, and only in one stood golem. There was also an upper floor. Naomi planned it as a place for adventurers to observe the fight. She placed a dozen baboon golems in random seats to ensure no one would interfere from the upper floor. Usually, they were designed to jump and make the noise, when someone decided to challenge the champion. But they could fight if someone interfered with the fight in the corridor.

  “Good.” Naomi nodded pleased with her work so far. “Adventurers have a place to fight. Time for a place where they can rest and have some fun.”