Proofread by Thomas F
"It feels oppressive," commented Garzong. I couldn't help but nod as I looked at the building.
The building rose from the cavern floor like a colossal black monolith, its tapering silhouette narrowing toward a crown of countless spires that vanished into the darkness above.
Built from dark stone and reinforced with deep crimson silver-bronze, every vertical rib and buttress seemed to draw the eye upward, giving the structure an overwhelming sense of height and permanence.
Dominating its front stood a massive nine-story gate of polished silver-bronze, engraved with intricate geometric runes and the emblem of Tarragon's Forge.
A warm, golden light escaped through the seams of the sealed doors, promising fortune as well as ruin.
"It is."
It does not give me a feeling of danger, but projects such oppressiveness that I want to summon my blade into my hand, and I am not the only one.
I could see Zela gripping her staff tightly while Garzong's and Jon's hands repeatedly moved toward their weapons before they stopped themselves.
It is without doubt that this building has something, or they wouldn't give it such a design.
It is more than a building.
We stopped in front of its silvery bronze door, which was as oppressive as the building; it was thick with the massive emblem of tarragon's forge carved on it.
"Forge Base Ninety-Four," read Mage Aldridge, the text above the gate.
"If just one of the bases is so oppressive and magnificent, I can't imagine what their headquarters would have been," said Jon, and I couldn't help but nod.
Looking at the numbers, they had at least 100 bases, maybe more.
If each could produce Golems as we fought. Then what kind of terrifying organization was Tarragon's Forge, and it wasn't the only one in the whole alliance.
This is a force that could help them easily conquer the continent, but they could barely survive the incursion.
Just thinking about it sent shudders through my soul, and I am not the only one thinking about that.
While I was lost in thought, Garzong appeared before me. Seeing that, I smiled, since we came here. I had not given him a chance to act as bodyguard at all.
"It would be better if you all took a step back. We don't know what we would find."
I wanted to laugh, but seeing his serious face, I did not.
"If they wanted to kill us, they would have," I replied, but still took a few steps back. Seeing it, he finally turned to the door and placed both of his hands on it before pushing it inward.
There didn't seem to be any resistance as they opened smoothly.
Inside, we saw a grand hall; it was massive and empty, aside from the red key floating in the center. It was red and twice the size of my palm.
We walked toward the hall and saw another thing: a large black slate with blue text upon it.
While Aldridge read, I walked toward the key, then grabbed it. For a few seconds, nothing happened before it lit up and information flooded my mind.
It stopped a few seconds later, and I sighed before I pushed my aura inside it.
My head began to hurt immediately, but it was the only way to bind this key. Blood binding is most common, but aura is more secure.
One could replicate the blood, but it's nearly impossible to do that with aura.
It needed an aura; those without it could not bind it.
It shone once more before I stopped my aura; it dimmed, and I let go of it, but now there is a mark of the key behind my hand, which disappeared a moment later.
I got temporary authority over the forge base; I will get permanent authority when the third challenge is cleared.
It will also open the upper three floors of the forge base, which are currently locked.
I barely thought about them, as six floors already seemed more than enough given what was in them. They hold the key to changing the fate of my dominion.
They could make it a power that could stand on its own or destroy it before it did that. The thought sent a cold shiver through my heart.
"What does it say?" Jon asked Mage Aldridge, breaking me out of my despairing thoughts.
"It's a list of the floors," the old man replied.
"First Floor: Grand Lobby. Second Floor: Hall of Knowledge. Third Floor: Artisans' Foundry. Fourth Floor: Forge Complex. Fifth Floor: Assembly Hall. Sixth Floor: Core Sanctum."
He stated all the floors. I am not surprised; the key had informed me about them and a few more things.
"Let's check them out."
There are no elevators in here, just stairs. They are large and seem to be carved from stone. We climbed through them until we reached the floor above.
"My god!"
Zela and Aldridge gasped in shock. Forget them; even I am shocked looking at it.
There are massive rows in front of us, each filled with books, scrolls, parchments, and other things. Each shelf contained thousands of books, and there were hundreds of shelves in here.
I walked inside and saw each shelf packed with books. I could not see a single space.
"They all seemed to be in Galaid," Jon commented as he took the book out to read it. Yes, most of them are, but a small minority are in other languages as well.
I walked by shelf after shelf. I didn't take out any books; I can't read them.
Still, I couldn't help but marvel at their condition. The books and the whole building were in some kind of temporal stasis that preserved them.
It is a level of magic that feels unreal even in this world, but here is proof of it.
I turned and saw the old man reading the book. He stopped and turned as he sensed me. "You are going to have a very busy day ahead, Mage Aldridge," I said to the man.
"Which I am richly looking forward to, my lord."
He is excited, and I hope he will remain as such in the coming days and months, because he will have to teach the language and even translate the books for others.
It will not be an easy task, considering he is likely the only person in the dominion with knowledge of Galaid.
An hour had passed when, once more, everybody gathered at the stairs, and we climbed up again. Reaching the third floor, the artisan's foundry.
"Every enchanter and artisan is going to be jealous of this place," said the old man, and I couldn't help but nod.
It is one of the work floors; it is where enchantments and other delicate work are done. There are tools here that would take anyone's breath away.
Eva, along with many of my store owners and their artists, will sell their souls for it.
Unfortunately, this place is going to be highly restricted. There will be very few people who will have access to it. I can't let the information spread about it before I am ready.
I also know that I won't be able to keep the lid on it forever. A few months more and things would leak out.
I have to make preparations before that, or this place will be the cause of my destruction. Instead of helping me.
A plan is already forming, and it's risky, but I have to take the risk; yes, it is a massive risk. The biggest I have ever taken. So I could survive along with my dominion.
Soon, we reached the fourth floor, the forge complex. It is where the heavy pieces of the golems are forged.
The tools are there, and I could not recognize any aside from a large anvil and something that looked like an MRI machine covered in dense runes.
There are many other tools and rooms on this floor, each for a different purpose.
These tools are for forging golems, but artifacts have also been forged here. The key had sent a lot of information, some of which I am yet to fully comprehend.
Half an hour later, we reached the fifth floor, the assembly hall.
It is where the golem is assembled, which might seem like a small task, but it is as complex as forging the pieces. Even more complex than that.
Forty minutes later, we reached the sixth floor; the last open floor and, most important of all, the floors.
It is where the core of the golem is forged and integrated into the golem. It is the most important part of the construct. This is not a normal core; I am talking about a neural core that connects directly to the master's brain.
It is the hardest and most difficult piece to forge.
Even if we gathered every material we needed, and even if we used these incredible tools and all the knowledge preserved here, there was still a good chance we could not forge one—not even in a hundred years.
Neural golems were the hardest to forge, but they were not the only kind of golems.
I was still taking it all in when the old man appeared beside me. "I hope you will protect this, my lord," he said.
I felt his gaze on me, along with everyone else's. None of them were fools. They all understood what we held: something powerful enough to save us—or destroy us.
Yet there was hope as well: the hope of the tremendous change this place could bring.
"I am going to try with everything I have," I replied, my voice filled with conviction. We had fought for it. We had bled for it. There was no way in hell I would let anyone take it from me.