Treasures of the Lost World: A Men’s Adventure LitRPG, page 14
I paused in my digging, considering this. “That's a fair point. From an engineering perspective, using marble for everything would be asking for structural failure.”
“That's exactly why Forge was offended,” Naomi said, striking the wall with particular emphasis. “The king ignored the fundamental nature of his materials in favor of vanity.”
“Okay, but… how do you know it was Forge? I mean if marble is bad for building entire palaces like that, couldn’t it have collapsed normally?”
“It could, yes,” Naomi said. “But the myth is very clear in the full version. The stone did not just collapse.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning when they found King Vaeloth, he wasn't just crushed. The marble formed a perfect sphere around him, covered in fracture lines that spelled out his names.”
I winced slightly. “Okay, that's definitely a cautionary tale worth remembering. No marble palaces for us.”
“I don't know,” Kyrela said with a wicked grin. “It might be worth the risk if we could make one impressive enough to anger a goddess. Imagine the stories they'd tell about us.”
“Let's stick to angering the Emperor of Broken Flesh instead,” I said. “At least he's already trying to kill us. We can try to take a goddess in a month or two.”
“Fair point,” she conceded, returning to her digging.
We worked for another hour, the tunnel stretching steadily toward our golden target. The cramped conditions continued to challenge Kyrela and Naomi, but they adapted with the fluid grace that seemed to come naturally to both women.
“My shoulders are going to be so sore tomorrow,” Kyrela said, rolling them to work out the tension.
“I'll give you a massage,” I offered. “Consider it payment for all this hard work.”
“I'll hold you to that,” she said, her eyes brightening with interest. “And I might have some suggestions for how to make it more... thorough.”
“Of course you would,” Naomi said, trying and failing to sound like she wasn’t interested. “Everything becomes a proposition.”
“Not everything,” Kyrela saod. “Just the fun things.”
“Which is everything,” I said.
“Exactly!” She grinned and struck the wall with particular vigor. “Life's too short not to enjoy it.”
I was about to respond when Kyrela's pickaxe suddenly broke through the stone with a different sound, less of a crack and more of a hollow thump. Her tool disappeared into the wall completely before she could pull it back.
“Wait,” she said, lowering her pickaxe and peering at the wall. “I think I just opened a hole into something.”
I stopped digging and moved closer, Naomi right behind me. Where Kyrela had been working, there was now a gap in the stone large enough to fit a fist through. Cool air drifted from the opening, carrying unfamiliar scents.
“Is it connected to the Deepwoods?” Naomi asked, pressing her face close to the opening.
“I don't think so,” Kyrela said, sniffing at the air currents. “No bioluminescent fungi smell. This is something else.”
I pulled off my goggles, letting my eyes readjust to normal vision. The sudden shift from enhanced sight back to regular perception always left me feeling slightly disoriented, like stepping out of a bright room into darkness.
“Let me get a better look,” I said, accessing my inventory and pulling out one of my magical torches. The enchanted flame came to life immediately, casting dancing shadows across the tunnel walls.
I held the torch up to the hole and peered through.
The opening led into a large natural cavern, far bigger than our carved tunnel. The torch light revealed rough stone walls that curved away into darkness, stalactites hanging like stone teeth from an invisible ceiling. The space felt ancient, untouched by the corruption that had spread through so much of the underground.
And then the torch light reflected off something that made my blood freeze.
Eyes. Dozens of them, scattered throughout the cavern like stars in a dark sky. They caught the light and threw it back in brilliant flashes of green, gold, amber, and deep red. Some were large as dinner plates, others no bigger than coins, but all of them were focused directly on our small opening in the wall.
All of them were watching us.
The eyes blinked in unison, and suddenly the cavern erupted into motion.
“Cave bats!” Kyrela said as dozens of furry shapes launched themselves toward our tunnel opening. She let loose a burst of flame, driving them back.
No more words were needed. This fight would be straightforward.
I dropped the torch and drew Cyclone from my inventory. The chainsaw sword roared to life, its teeth spinning with violent enthusiasm. Kyrela launched herself through the opening, her dragon wings beating powerfully as she twisted between the attacking bats. Naomi followed immediately, her white wings carrying her gracefully into the chaos.
I fired my grappling hooks into the cavern ceiling. The hooks caught on a sturdy stalactite, and I swung through the opening. The cavern opened up around me, easily fifty feet across and twice as tall, with natural stone formations providing perfect anchor points for aerial maneuvers.
A bat the size of a small dog dove toward my head. I brought Cyclone around in a wide arc, the spinning teeth catching the creature and sending it tumbling toward the far wall in several pieces.
Kyrela spun through a cluster of bats, frost-blue light crackling from the mana pistols in her hands. The electric bolts sent creatures tumbling through the air, their wings spasming from the shock. She rolled through a barrel turn, wings folding and extending in perfect synchronization as she avoided another cluster before opening her mouth to release a controlled stream of dragonfire.
Naomi channeled natural energy through her staff, creating barriers of thorny vines that caught several bats in mid-flight. She used her flight abilities to stay just out of reach while picking off targets, each blast of concentrated energy sending groups of bats spiraling away.
I released my grappling hooks and fired them again, catching a rock formation on the opposite side of the cavern. The hooks pulled me through the air just as a particularly large bat swooped through the space where I'd been hovering. I swung Cyclone in a vertical slash that caught three bats in one stroke.
Kyrela switched tactics, holstering one mana pistol and extending her claws. The razor-sharp talons cut through wing membranes while her tail whipped around to catch bats trying to attack from behind. She executed a perfect barrel roll between two massive stalactites, her wings missing the stone formations by inches, then breathed another stream of flame that cleared a wide swath through the swarm.
The cavern filled with motion. Chainsaw teeth spinning, wings beating, the crack of electric energy, the whoosh of dragonfire. Naomi had created a small forest of thorny vines around herself, turning her section of the cavern into a mobile fortress. Her staff glowed as she channeled bursts of natural energy, animated roots sprouting from the cavern walls to entangle any bat that ventured too close.
I caught myself on another stalactite formation, using my mechanical arms to swat away a bat that had gotten too close. Kyrela switched her mana pistol to frost mode, sending icy bolts that froze wings solid and sent bats tumbling harmlessly to the cavern floor.
A cluster of bats converged on my position. I swung between two massive stalagmites, Cyclone carving through the air in wide arcs. The creatures were numerous but individually weak, more nuisance than genuine threat.
Kyrela landed briefly on a stone ledge, both mana pistols firing in rapid succession. Electric bolts and frost attacks created a deadly crossfire that sent bats scattering in all directions. She pushed off immediately, wings carrying her into another aerial maneuver that showcased every bit of her natural flying ability.
Naomi's connection to the natural world had turned the entire cavern into her ally. Vines twisted through the air, roots provided landing platforms, and concentrated bursts of energy cleared her immediate airspace of threats. She moved with growing confidence, her earlier shyness forgotten in the flow of combat.
The initial swarm of dozens had been steadily reduced. The surviving bats began clustering near the far end of the cavern where the shadows were deepest, their chittering taking on a more frustrated tone.
I stored Cyclone back in my inventory as the last few creatures vanished into cracks and crevices in the cavern walls. Kyrela landed gracefully on a wide stone ledge, holstering her mana pistols with obvious satisfaction. Naomi settled beside her, wings folding as the thorny vines retreated back into the stone.
“They're starting to retreat,” Naomi called out. “I think we're winning the war of attrition.”
She was right. The initial swarm of dozens had been reduced to perhaps a dozen survivors, and those were beginning to cluster near the far end of the cavern, where the shadows were deepest.
“Should we finish them off?” I asked, catching myself on another stalactite formation.
“Let them go,” Kyrela said, landing gracefully on a wide stone ledge while holstering her mana pistols. “They'll find somewhere else to roost, and we've made our point.”
“Besides,” Naomi added, settling beside her with obvious relief, “they were probably just defending their territory. We're the invaders here.”
The remaining bats seemed to sense our decision. With a final chorus of irritated chittering, they vanished into cracks and crevices in the cavern walls, disappearing as quickly as they'd appeared.
“Well, that was invigorating,” I said, storing Cyclone back in my inventory as I rappelled down to the cavern floor.
“Much better than being cramped in that tunnel,” Naomi said, flexing her wings experimentally.
“Don’t get too excited,” I pointed out, gesturing ahead to the wall where more gold waited. “We can always go back to digging.”
“After we explore this place properly,” Kyrela said, her eyes already scanning the cavern's deeper recesses.
I pulled my goggles back on and checked the distance to our target. The golden glow blazed through the stone, noticeably closer now.
“I don’t think we’ll need to,” I said, adjusting the opacity settings to get a better read on the surrounding geology. “The gold is only about two hundred meters that way now.” I pointed toward the far end of the cavern. “If there’s a natural passage, we’ll still need a straight line for the train. I’m going to use some of the stone we’ve scooped up so far to make a bridge.”
“Works for me,” Kyrela said, moving to stand beside me. “After that little warm-up, I’m feeling good with whatever.”
“Warm-up?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “That was barely a real fight.”
“Exactly,” she said with a grin that showed her pointed teeth. “Just enough to get the blood flowing without any real danger. Should let out steam one way or another - you two interested.”
“You're incorrigible,” Naomi said, though she was smiling as she said it.
“And you love it,” Kyrela replied confidently.
“Maybe a little,” Naomi admitted, her blush deepening.
“As fun as that sounds, I think we should probably not have a threesome in the middle of a cave. The bats don’t have far to retreat too, we’re not connected to the Deepwoods so the bats may come back. I’ll just make sure this track has a turret car on it to keep the train clear.” I started to get to work. “Of course, if we clear the cave fully-”
“You two are trying to see if you can make me explode by blushing,” Naomi said. “That’s the only explanation.”
“We’ll help you explode, that’s for certain,” Kyrela said.
Naomi let out a high-pitched sound, although she was clearly more amused than anything else, and I laid the next block in place with a pleased grin.
Chapter 16
The stone blocks flowed from my inventory in steady succession, each piece fitting perfectly into place as I built our bridge across the cavern.
The bridge stretched steadily across the cavern floor, a straight line of worked stone that would support our eventual rail connection. I kept the construction simple, solid blocks for the foundation, standard rails on top, space for a turret car to handle any returning bats.
“Almost done,” I said, placing the final support pillar. “Just need to-”
I stopped mid-sentence as I caught sight of something through my peripheral vision. The goggles had been set to filter out natural stone, which meant I'd been seeing mostly empty space around us. But now, as I glanced downward while checking the bridge alignment, something massive came into view far below.
“What the hell?” I said, immediately adjusting the goggles' settings to get a better look.
“What is it?” Kyrela asked, moving closer with concern in her voice.
I fine-tuned the opacity controls, filtering out different material types until the image became clear. What I saw made my breath catch in my throat.
Far beneath us, deeper than seemed possible, lay an enormous artificial structure. Not caves, not natural formations. This was built architecture on a scale that dwarfed anything I'd ever imagined. The construction stretched away in all directions, disappearing beyond even the enhanced range of my Mark II goggles.
“There's something down there,” I said, my voice filled with awe. “Something huge.”
“How huge?” Naomi asked, moving to my other side.
I adjusted the controls again, trying to get a sense of scale. The structure featured regular geometric patterns, straight corridors, vast chambers connected by passages that ran for miles.
“It's the size of a large island,” I said slowly. “Maybe bigger. The thing could span a huge chunk of the continent, and I can't even see where it ends.”
Kyrela's eyes widened. “That's impossible. Nothing built could be that large.”
“Apparently something could,” I said, continuing to study the layout through my enhanced vision. “The whole thing is artificial. Carved corridors, constructed chambers, straight lines that nature rarely produces.”
Naomi peered over my shoulder as if she could somehow see what I was seeing. “Do you think it’s the ruins?”
“No,” I said, adjusting the controls to focus on different sections. “This is too organized, too purposeful. And it's intact, not ruined. Whatever built this is still maintaining it.”
“Not those ruins,” Naomi said.
The realization hit. “It's the elemental boss. This is its domain.”
“The whole thing?” Kyrela asked, her voice filled with disbelief.
“The whole thing,” I confirmed. “It’s converted all the stone in its influence. I expected it to be large but seeing it… this is a fortress. A city. An empire built underground.”
The scope of what we were facing began to sink in. We'd defeated bosses before, but they'd operated from relatively small territories. Lairs, hunting grounds, defined regions that could be mapped and understood. This was something else entirely, a vast artificial realm that might house thousands of creatures.
“We need to get the others before we investigate,” Naomi said, her voice tight with concern. “This changes everything.”
“Hold on,” I said, still studying the structure. “Let me see what else I can learn.”
I adjusted the goggles to focus on different depths, mapping out what I could see of the layout. The structure seemed to be built in layers, with different levels connected by spiral ramps and vertical shafts. Some chambers were enormous, large enough to hold our entire base several times over. Others were more modest, perhaps the size of a typical building.
“The construction looks... like was saw,” I said, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. “Not decorative, not artistic. Generated, but not grown.” It reminded me of procedural generation from games back home, arranged but not clear.
“We need a name for it,” Kyrela said.
“It's a dungeon,” I said without hesitation. “That's the only term that makes sense. A massive, artificial dungeon built by the elemental boss.”
“Dungeon?” Naomi asked.
“A constructed underground complex designed for defense and specific purposes,” I said. “From my world, we use the term for fortified underground structures. Usually prisons, but sometimes much more. And the term is a good catch all we use for ‘place full of monsters’. Please don’t ask why we have a term for that when we don’t have monsters, it would take a long time to explain the history of video games to you.”
“So we're dealing with an architect as well as a boss-level creature,” Kyrela said, her tone shifting from concern to something approaching excitement. “This could be very interesting.”
“Interesting is one word for it,” I said, finally pulling my attention away from the structure below. “We need to set up the mining operation first, then figure out how to approach this thing.”
I returned to my work. The gold deposit we'd come to mine seemed almost trivial compared to what we'd discovered. But we still needed that gold. Ava's Tier 4 upgrade cards were essential if we wanted to properly analyze the materials we'd been collecting.
And I had a feeling we’d need some major upgrades to really tackle that place.
“So what's the plan?” Naomi asked as I placed the final rail segment.
“First, we get this mining operation running,” I said, accessing my inventory and pulling out the components I'd need. “Drills, conveyor belts, storage systems. The usual setup.”
The work felt routine after all our previous mining operations. I positioned three drills to target the gold vein, angled them for optimal extraction, then connected them to a network of conveyor belts that would sort and transport the ore. Storage chests went in next, followed by the framework for a proper train loading station.
“No power here,” I said, checking the connections. “We'll need to run track all the way back to connect with the main grid. But I can get everything positioned now. Do me a favor and lay some tracks back to the main line while I get the basics set up, and place wires on the way back?”
