The next day, early in the morning, the first exploration team gathered next to the entrance to the underground. The guild master was the leader, his wife was one of the frontline warriors. In this particular situation, it wasn't nepotism. Lucius wanted her to be on another team, but she wanted to go with him. It ended with a family quarrel, which ended in a duel in a draw. Because of that, no one had an issue with her being on the team. The shieldmaiden was Nurmela, a proud dwarf whose skills were recommended by the Grand Forgemaster Eriser. The main scout was Iason, he was human and he was a trap master. Nonisa was their mage. She was a human female and very respected for her skills because, she achieved a level of grand mastery, at the age of twenty-five. With them goes a three-person support team. Elven healer Iefyr, and two master scholars Cipac, and Mori make as many notes as they can.

  "Everyone ready?" Asked Lucius, and all gathered confirmed.

  "We are going slowly and steadily. The rest of the room happens after a full hour, so we have some time to look and take some notes, but no more than fifteen minutes. We will go in that manner, for the next few days, until we have a general picture of the floor. After that, we start normal runs, and any new findings I want to be reported immediately." He repeated for the last time. "Let's go." He said, seeing no objections.

  The first room goes smoothly, and the Dungeon Mistress doesn’t change anything.

  "Any findings?" Lucius asked.

  "Dungeon Mistress used some new measurement unit. It’s not a yard."

  "We need to go through notes to make sure of it, but we are sure of it." Said a pair of scholars.

  "What about this tile?" Mage pointed to the central tile on the floor with gold writing "1/13".

  "Maybe it indicates the number of rooms?" Nurmela guessed. "But that doesn't make sense. The Dungeon Mistress should be secretive about how big her floor is."

  "True." Nod Lucius. "Note this and we go forward."

  "Not today. Only the right doors are open." Said Iason.

  "Interesting. Get ready."

  The corridor was bent and looked like a new room would be next to a room with spears. In the corners were four vertical columns, that didn't support the ceiling. They were only around 4 inches thick. At the height of the man's waist and head were four arms with chains ending in blades and balls of solid iron.

  "Looks quite obvious." Said Paeli. "We step in and those things start spinning."

  "Yes." Agree Lucius. "Iason, are you ready?"

  "Yes. I play with similar things in one or two dungeons. Well, they were spinning from the start. The trigger is most likely in the center and a few places close to the walls. It could be dangerous for fresh adventurers especially if they start panicking. For me, it is just good exercise. However Nonisa, I don’t see anything magical here, and you?"

  "Me too. These rotating traps and the room itself are devoid of magic. I don’t see traces of where eventual mana can go through."

  "Great. One worry less." Nod Iason.

  "Don’t be overconfident. Dungeon Mistress is a clever one." Said Guild Master.

  "Yes, I know." Nod scout and carefully proceed to the center of the room where the release mechanism would be. He didn't try to sneak alongside the walls, because there wasn't a place to dodge. The center of the room will be much safer. After some wait when blades will be spinning at full speed, he will need to crawl under them or wait for them to stop. Just like everyone was thinking, a trap sprung when he was in the middle of the room. Chains started spinning, but it wasn't all.

  "Run!" Commanded Lucius seeing some panels in the ceiling move aside, and something big, started slowly descending.

  Iason saw it at the same moment. He was the grand master, after all. He smiled, waited, until there was enough space under the blades, and crawled back.

  "Very clever." He said smiling when he was back. "I can't wait to see more."

  "And nothing for novices." Said Paeli.

  "True." Agree Iason. "But if you will not panic you are safe. See how slow this boulder descends? You have a lot of time to calm down, lie on the floor, and crawl to safety. I bet that all traps here are similar. Don't rush things, and you can go through relatively unharmed."

  "But shouldn't traps be deadly?" Asked Nurmela.

  "For a decent team of adventurers maybe they are not. However, have you ever met or heard about smart bandits or cultists?" Asked Lucius. "They will try to rush through the rooms wasting their men, monsters, and mana."

  "And time." Added Mori. "Rooms resets after one hour."

  "And about time. When this iron block hits the floor, the blades should stop." Said Nonisa. Just a moment later with a loud bang boulder land and blades stops.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "Good. We can go in." Nod Guild Master. "Remember we have only fifteen minutes. Cipac watch your time on a mana clock." Mana clocks were simple disks with a few mana stones on them. Depending on the size of the gems and the enchantments used, they can show different periods. The user pushes mana into stones until all are full, at the beginning. Over time, their mana disappears and one by one they stop glowing. Cipac had a clock with four stones, in which one jewel could shine for about fifteen minutes.

  According to the number on the side of the iron boulder, it was room number two. It was a huge rectangular block with diagonal measurements, equal to the corridor's width. It was hung on two heavy, thick steel chains. At the beginning, they couldn't find a prize for this room. It sometimes happens but everyone was counting on some extra cash. Then Nurmela asked to help her climb up on a boulder.

  "Someone help me. I want to see how Mistress built this trap," She said pointing to a boulder.

  When she climbed to the top of the block she started laughing. "I found a prize! Catch." She throws a silver coin to Iason. Then she climbs on a chain to see what is there. They hear her mumbling and laughing like a child. When she got back she was grinning happy.

  "Dwarfs from the forge temple will have,e a lot of fun here." She stated. "This block of iron dragged those chains wounded up on two drums. Those drums move some gears to move those spinning blades. There are also some interesting mechanisms on which a boulder hangs before someone enters the room."

  "I understand, that you don’t see anything hidden?" Asked Lucius.

  "No, nothing."

  "Good, let's go."

  The next room was straight ahead. The sixth room trap was also obvious.

  "Great, arrows or something this time. Said Iason seeing three rows of holes in the walls. The first hole was around knee height, the next waist, and the third head. "Well, at least this type of trap is a one-time use, and the door to the next room is already open. We have to go to the altar for the prize, and then to the door."

  "Nonisa, cast shield on Iason," Lucius ordered.

  "Nice. Let's see what would happen." Said Iason, and pressed the press first tile with his sword. Something clicked, the tile sank a little and a volley of small iron balls flew from both sides. That could hurt."

  "Yeh. At least the first tile is clear." Said Nurmela.

  "Most likely the whole row. At least for tiles in front of the door." Said Iason.

  "Time is running." The leader reminded him.

  "I will clear this room in no time." He assured him, pressing the tile in the second row. Each tile was rectangular and one foot wide. When he wanted to reach the tile in the third row to trigger it, he stood on the first tile. He registered when it sank a little, he was prepared for that. He wasn't ready for a volley of iron balls. Only his skill and experience helped him avoid being hit.

  "You said they would only fire once." Said leader.

  "They have always been." Iason was a little shocked.

  The leader pressed the first tile and a new volley was shot.

  "Fuck. We go with a shield wall." Lucius decided.

  "And use your swords to keep stepped tiles pressed. It could help." Added Iason.

  "I like that idea." Said Nonisa, who will be required to protect everyone with a magic shield.

  Going to the pillar with the prize and then to the door took them almost a half hour. Even though they had been working together for several years, they had never been forced to such a high level of teamwork. They needed to closely watch the steps before them to keep the tiles pressed. And they needed to hold a tight formation to be protected by shields.

  In the middle of the next room stood, three feet in diameter, a column with deep spiral groves. And this time with a round pedestal. On it was number nine. There were also four small altars in the corners with symbols of different natural elements, fire water, earth, and air. On them, was placed something that had a golden shine.

  "That is nasty." Smiled Iason. "I bet that trap will get triggered when someone gets near the altar."

  "And we need to do that to open next door." Nod Guild Master. "Are you ready?"

  "Always." He smiled. He liked this place more and more. He saw some complicated traps, but they always had sharp blades, deep pits, or poisons. Usually, you trigger them, dodge, outrun, or wait some time. Here, you know it's a trap and even see where it is, and if you want to go further you will trigger it anyway. And room before? You better have a good team or you are dead.

  He slowly moved to the altar in the left corner. The trap was triggered when the altar and the golden object were within reach. This time, the whole ceiling slowly started to descend. Also for some reason, the columns were rotating. He grabs a gold circle, throws it to the guild master, and runs to the opposite corner.

  "Paoli, another opposite corner!" Lucius ordered and she ran immediately. He got another one from the right side. All the adventurers met in the center.

  "What next?" Asked Paoli, looking at the pedestal and golden gear she got from the altar. On the pedestal, there was a round place for it.

  "We need to put them in those round holes." Said Iason.

  Paoli nod and try but it doesn't fit.

  "It doesn't fit. I need a rectangular hole in the middle and this one has a triangular one. But the symbol matches."

  "Try the opposite element." Said Nonisa. "What you have?"

  "Water. Who has fire?"

  "I have it." Said Lucius and gave her the right gear.

  "It fits." She said, and after fast reshuffling, all gears found their place.

  "What next?" Asked Paoli, after seeing that the ceiling was descending still.

  "Here is an arrow on the edge of the pedestal." Pointed Nurmela. "Let's try to move it."

  They tried and indeed this was it. After half of the turn, something clicked and everything stopped.

  "Gods bless smart people." Paoli laughed.

  The prize was hidden inside the pedestal. Nurmela discovered that the gold gears were not made of gold. They were steel ones just painted with gold paint.

  "It will be a nasty surprise when someone will take them thinking he found a few bars of gold." She starts laughing.

  "That depends if you can take them outside." Said Nonisa.

  "I bet you can." The dwarf woman shook her head. "this dungeon, and definitely, this floor is for smart people. Stupid, greedy, or blind ones will get their asses kicked by a Dungeon Mistress."

  "It looks that way." Agreed Guild Master. "I will need to issue an official warning about that."

  "I’m curious how many people still will fall for that anyway." Mused Iason.

  "If they do, it will be a good lesson for them. Dungeons are treacherous places. Even if the dungeon master is a decent person." Said Lucius. "Anyway, time to go."