CHAPTER 63: 63. THE SUNKEN CITADEL

He tried out different designs for the next three days. The first attempt made two mirrors that showed each other’s reflections no matter how far apart they were. This was nice, but it wasn’t exactly what they needed. The second time, they made a set of bells that rang at the same time, but they were too loud and woke up everyone in the village.

"Goddammit! Why is it so frustrating this time!?" Greg starts stressing out, but he didn’t want to give up because this is something that he wanted.

When he tries again for the third time, though. The third time was the charm. "I’ll fucking do it, even if it means I have to sacrifice everything, just like when I made the Guardian!"

Greg held up two small crystals, each about the size of a coin, in a simple silver frame that could be worn as a necklace. One made his voice sound perfectly clear when he spoke into it.

[Item Made: 20 Crystal of Eternal Connection]

[Quality: SSS]

[Properties: Can talk to anyone anywhere at any time, works through any interference, connects to all other crystals in the set, has an emergency beacon function, can share visual information if needed, is powered by the user’s life force so it never runs out, and can translate any language]

[Note: You just made up magical phones. The gods are writing things down.]

"Oh my god!!! This is perfect, a real masterpiece indeed!" Marina said after testing one of the crystals.

"And now... I think I can say that you’re not just a blacksmith but also an inventor!"

"Blacksmith is enough..." Greg crossed both his arms.

Greg’s matching crystal picked up her voice perfectly. "Greg, this could change the way adventurers do things. No more parties that are lost and never come back."

Greg said, "That’s the idea."

"Everyone on the expedition gets one. If someone gets into trouble, they just talk into it, and everyone else can hear it."

"The emergency beacon will also turn on by itself if the person wearing it is unconscious or in serious danger."

Marina said softly, "You’re going to save so many lives with this." There was something in her face that made Greg’s chest tight.

He looked away and said, "Just trying to keep my friends alive."

"Before I can make fun of you for what you said at the Crystal Coast, I can’t let you die in some hole in the ground."

"I didn’t say anything that made me look bad at the Crystal Coast!" Marina starts pouting.

"Of course you didn’t." Greg giggled.

...

They were almost done by the third week. The workshop table was full of finished items, each one glowing softly with magic. It was an impressive and a little scary show of skill from the legendary blacksmith himself.

Kael looked at the pile and said, "Let me get this straight."

"You made twenty lanterns, twenty ropes, twenty pairs of gloves, twenty pairs of boots, twenty backpacks, twenty compasses, twenty first-aid kits, and twenty communication crystals."

"And all of them are SSS-rank..."

"...in just three weeks."

"And some extra stuff," Bork said, pointing to a different pile. "Emergency food that never goes bad and tastes like what you want."

"Tablets that clean water and work on just about anything, even lava. Sleeping bags that let you sleep well no matter where you are. Additionally, there are unusual folding shovels designed to break through solid rock."

Greg said, "Elwen came up with the idea for the shovels."

"She said that sometimes the best way to get out of a dungeon is to go straight up."

"And of course, you all should not use it to dig straight down!" Elwen added while raising her finger.

Denna said, "This is too much," but she was smiling.

"Excessively wonderful and beautiful. Our guild leader for the expedition is going to go crazy when he sees all of this that he could even cry like a baby."

Marina said, "Speaking of which," as she took out a map and spread it out on the table. "We should probably tell you more about where we’re really going."

"Alright, that’s what we’ve all been waiting for!" Bork said it with a little excitement. Everyone came together as Marina pointed to a spot on the map deep in the mountains east of Ferndale.

She said, "This is the Sunken Citadel."

"An old fort that fell into a huge underground cave system about 500 years ago. It’s been a dungeon ever since, full of monsters that keep coming back and adventurers who think they can clear it."

"Has anyone done it?" Greg asked.

"Not all the way," Ryn said. "The fifth level is the deepest anyone has ever gotten. There are at least ten confirmed levels in the dungeon, and there may be more."

"The monsters get stronger the deeper you go, and the traps get more complicated."

"What kind of monsters are we talking about?" Greg asked.

"Everything," Kael said with a frown. "On the upper levels, there are goblins and slimes. There are undead and cursed structures in the middle levels."

"There are only a few reports from the fifth level that talk about demons and strange things that shouldn’t be there."

Greg asked, "Are you really planning to go deeper than anyone has ever gone before, with only twenty people?"

Marina said, "The guild has been getting ready for this trip for two years."

"We have some of the best explorers on the continent. A lot of S-rank parties, healers, and mages who are good at finding their way around dungeons."

"This is the most organized effort that has ever been made."

"And you want my tools to help you."

"We want your tools to give us a chance," Marina said. "The Sunken Citadel isn’t just scary because of the monsters."

"In some way, the dungeon is alive. It moves and changes, blocks off ways out, and keeps people apart. People go in and never come out again, not because they died, but because they got lost in passages that shouldn’t be there."

"One of our objectives is to try to save those who were trapped there even though we didn’t know whether they’re still alive or not..."

Greg looked at the pile of gear he had made and understood why Marina had been so pushy. This wasn’t just about having good gear. This was about survival against odds that had defeated everyone who’d tried before.

"When do you leave?" he asked quietly.

"Three days from now," Marina said. "The expedition assembles at the guild hall in the capital, then we travel to the dungeon entrance. The actual delve starts a month from now."

"That doesn’t give us much time."

"No," Marina agreed. "Which is why we need to start distributing this equipment and training people how to use it."

"Some of these items are so powerful that improper use could be dangerous."