“You are serious?” Valda asked, horror and amusement warring in her voice.

  I just nodded and gestured for her to stand back as I heaved on the heavy door, which swung open with a protesting squeal of hinges whose grease had long since dried up.

  Glancing through the door into the darkness beyond, I paused for a moment before giving a shrug and mumbling.

  “Well, it can't hurt to try it out since it worked elsewhere. Lights on!”

  “What work—” Valda began to question, only for the scaled woman to flinch and yelp as the lights in the hall suddenly illuminated from concealed panels high on the walls. Ahead of us, large lamps illuminated silently to reveal the armory and the bottom dropped out of my stomach.

  Racks upon racks of weapons marched into the distance of a room that had to be at least a hundred foot square. Some racks held swords, others maces, and still other pole weapons of all kinds.

  Large metallic tanks sat along the back wall, corrosion eating away at them but they appeared intact. Dozens of the flamecasters sat in orderly racks beside them.

  Small mercies, I thought as I swept my gaze over the room and didn’t see anything that resembled a rifle or other projectile weapon more advanced than a crossbow. Though there were a few of the latter that had a dizzying number of gears in their construction that made me worry.

  But what drew my attention the most was a pair of bright silver tubes shaped like three-foot-long cigars locked inside a crystal case in the back corner. Something about those two tubes made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end and was immediately reminded of a line from the System-assigned mission.

  Potential for Disaster-class weapons present in location.

  That singular line echoed in my mind like the reverberations of a cannon firing before I shook it off.

  “Valda, stay here for a moment,” I said tersely. The scaled woman shot me a hard look, but that dropped away when she saw my own expression.

  “As you request, Liam,” Valda responded, her tone neutral. “I can hear the others returning, so I’ll take their report… don’t take too long.”

  “I’m not trying to steal the most valuable of the loot, Valda,” I replied in an equally neutral tone. “But I am under orders to secure some things for your people’s safety.”

  Valda held my eyes for another moment before she gave a terse nod and turned to step around the door, calling out to her soldiers.

  Gonna have to explain more of that to her later, I thought grimly and hurried around the various weapon’s racks to the crystal case at the back of the room.

  The case itself looked like someone had hollowed out a large hunk of quartz before reinforcing it with bands of steel and putting massive magical locks on it. I could feel the energy radiating off the metal straps as soon as I approached and I grimaced as I tried to figure out what to do next.

  “Okay, System,” I murmured aloud as I studied the case and what looked like a pair of tail-less missiles inside it. “Any ideas of how I get these out? You said you didn’t want the DSR involved.”

  I didn’t expect an answer, but I certainly hoped. The System had proved that it was more than just an inter-dimensional super-computer that was managing a massive ‘keep-off-the-grass’ campaign, and it would be nice if it chipped in. But I didn’t expect it.

  So when the System responded a moment later, it still made me jump but not as much as it might have been.

  Assessing Traveler’s coordinates…

  Presence of Disaster-class weapons confirmed.

  Analyzing protections…

  System advises the Traveler to utilize their ability with entropic energies to remove locks.

  Do not contact the containers with anything not sheathed in entropic energy, as that will trigger defensive measures even after the case is opened.

  “Huh,” I murmured to myself before looking inwards at my mana reserves. The fight had drained me down to the dregs of energy, but I had enough that I might be able to do this if I was quick.

  “What about when the case is open?” I muttered after deciding on how I would handle this.

  Traveler is advised to deposit Disaster-class weapons into their personal Dimensional Pocket.

  System will recover and dispose of devices from there.

  Traveler is also advised to not attempt to open or damage Disaster-class weapons, as that may trigger a catastrophic reaction.

  “How catastrophic are we talking here?” I asked, my stomach dropping.

  Planetary extinction is unlikely.

  “But is it still possible?” My stomach continued to fall out the bottom of my shoes at the thought.

  Anything is possible. Targets are designated as a ‘Disaster’-class item for good reason.

  “Okay… Fair. But you don’t have to be snarky about it,” I muttered back.

  The System didn’t respond this time and I turned all of my attention to the strange crystalline case.

  Using Shape-Shifting, I split my arms into four individual limbs, each reminiscent of a scorpion’s tail. The blade on the end of each was hooked like a raptor’s claw, and I set each one before a locking strap.

  Not going to have more than one chance at this, I thought grimly. My mana was low enough that I had to minimize the affected area that I was imbuing with entropic energy. I could probably have created one of the entropy spheres, but they were far less accurate than making use of my rarely-utilized Shape-Shifting (Elemental Alignment) ability.

  Worked well enough earlier on the door, I thought as I took a deep breath to steady myself before pushing on the ability.

  Entropic energy flared along the barbed claws and I struck in unison. The metal locks holding the case shut screamed in protest but they gave under the corrosive presence of the energy. Another flick sent the lid of the case flying open.

  Banishing the energy from my limbs, I quickly tapped a claw onto the side of each of the two cigar-shaped tubes and banished them into my Dimensional Pocket one after the other.

  Just touching the devices made my skin crawl. Something extremely unnatural clawed at the inside of my psyche and then they vanished into the fold of space that was my Dimensional Pocket. My head spun a moment later and I blinked furiously, having fallen on my ass on the ground during the bout of dizziness.

  The awareness I had of the Dimensional Pocket ability was like the awareness you might have of a pocket in your pants. You didn’t need to stick your hand into it to know that there was a phone or your keys there, you could feel it in the pressure it exerted against your skin.

  The two devices were there one moment and then gone the next, as if something had picked my pocket and made off with them.

  Disaster-class weapons secured. Traveler will be credited with their disposal.

  System thanks the Traveler for intercession, and requests that DSR personnel are not informed of this facet of his mission.

  System requests Traveler continue to inspect the facility following mission parameters. If Disaster-class weapons were initially overlooked, then more problems may exist.

  “Got it,” I said, coughing and clearing my throat. It felt like something was lodged in my chest at the moment and blocking my breathing, but the sensation faded after a handful of seconds.

  “Liam, are you okay?” Valda called, sticking her head into the armory. I could see the other three peering about excitedly as they studied the contents of the room over Valda’s shoulders.

  “Yeah,” I called back, brushing myself off and rising from the ground. “It should be okay to come in. Start stripping the racks while I check these tanks.”

  Valda turned to her warriors and gave an order I didn’t catch before striding across the room to meet me by the tanks at the back. The trio of lizard-folk warriors pulled open their own dimensional pouches and began loading weapons into them as quickly and efficiently as possible.

  “What can you tell me?” Valda asked as she came to a stop behind me while I was reading the labels on the large tanks.

  “Storage for the chemicals the flamecasters can use,” I answered without hesitation. I didn’t recognize most of the names, but from the spigots and pipes running from the tanks to smaller ‘filling’ stations, I could take a guess.

  “Are they dangerous?” Valda asked warily as I rapped on one of the tanks, listening to the odd echoes it produced.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Most likely,” I replied with a grimace. “There is no guarantee that the chemicals have degraded if stored properly, and the fact that the tanks aren’t leaking tells me that they’ve remained sealed somehow over the thousands of years.”

  “We need to destroy them, then,” Valda said firmly and I nodded in agreement. The tanks were far too large to leave behind and we couldn’t drain them safely.

  “Start packing up the flamecasters,” I said, nodding to the shelves. “If you have to, cut the wands free of the tanks and take those and damage the tanks. Don’t use your own weapon, use one from the racks.”

  I gestured to the nearby case that held a dozen axes with arrowhead-shaped blades and Valda nodded, setting to work quickly.

  “Gods above,” swore one of the guards that had come with us. “I’m glad they didn’t get in here. Every one of these I touch is vibrating with enchantments, can you imagine what trouble those people would have caused if they got hold of all this?”

  “I’m more concerned with how they got hold of the ones they did,” I shot back, tossing flamecasters whole into the wagon-sized storage space of the dimensional bag I held. I’d already transferred the one I had in my personal Dimensional Pocket into it, leaving my personal pocket for anything special or high-value like books.

  “That’s easy,” replied the female guard. “There was a guard room in one of the side wings. We found the racks for weapons and the like, but it was less than a tenth of what was in here.”

  “Still more than I’d like them to have,” Valda growled as she began piling axes into her bag.

  “Any that we can’t fit, toss here in the back of the room. I plan to breach the tanks and set fire to this whole area. Enchanted or not, they won’t survive the chemicals, fire, and the cave in I intend to trigger.”

  Nods were the only answer I got as we all bent to our tasks.

  <><><>

  It took ten minutes to empty out the armory, and it was only that fast because we were able to simply pile everything into the dimensional bags that we’d brought with us.

  I ignored the fact that each of the guards swapped their personal weapons for one of the human-era enchanted items. I’d been planning to let them do that regardless, as well as split the weapons between Valda’s warriors and Queen Gemma since this was a joint operation, but them picking one out saved a step.

  Even Valda opted to claim a sword, just like she’d mentioned before. Rather than abandoning her original weapon though, she opted to sheathe her old blade and just carry the other one in one hand.

  We only had to leave behind a smattering of the pole weapons, as they took up too much space to bring them all with us. Those were piled by the back of the room before I tossed the ancient wooden racks onto the stack as well. It would only take a few carefully aimed holes in the large storage tanks to get their contents pouring over the room when we were ready to leave.

  A flash of light heralded a message from my girls and I accessed it as I led the others back to the hallway.

  Liam, resistance is growing out here. We are holding the line so far, but the camp itself is burning. Anyone looking this way will see the conflagration as a signal that they need help. We are safe for now in the cleared ground, but we need to get moving soon. We can’t put the fire out, but we are working to keep it from spreading to the forest.

  “Fuck,” I swore before relaying the information to Valda. The Ironclaw princess swore as well but tossed her head to the last room labeled ‘power station’ with a questioning glance my way.

  “I need to check it,” I said with a sigh and plucked the keycard out of my Dimensional Storage.

  I was back in my cat-taur form, the quadrupedal body allowing me to maneuver easier and lift even more while piling up the burnables. So I had to reach a bit higher to find the panel on the door to the power station that opened it.

  The trio of guards gasped in surprise as the door unsealed as if by magic.

  Honestly, it might be magical, I thought wryly as I banished the card once more into the dimensional storage. The card is acting like a keycard from back home, but they don’t have the same level of tech here.

  A shiver ran down my back as I thought of those ominous silver tubes I’d dealt with earlier, but I pushed the thought away.

  I’ll ask the System about it later, I promised myself. Hopefully, it’ll tell me what it was I just fucked with. Worst case, it ignores me.

  As the door swung open, I felt it when the mana pressure in the air abruptly increased. My reservoir, which had been lingering at only a point or two for the last few minutes, began to fill rapidly and I began to cuss loudly.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I swore, pulling the door to a stop only partially open. “You four stay here, I need to confirm something.”

  Not waiting for them to answer me, I ducked into the small room and snarled at what I saw.

  Suspended inside a cracked glass tube in the middle of the room was a familiar construct of metal and pipes. Hovering in midair, suspended by magic I didn’t know and didn’t want to understand, was a dessicated corpse curled into a fetal ball. A corpse with gnarled horns and a trio of empty eye sockets.

  As I watched, a glimmering grain of sand fell from a spout above the corpse to land on the stretched, mummified skin of its back. The sand hissed and vanished, much like the metal had earlier under the touch of my entropic energy. I felt a brief pulse of mana thickening in the air as the pressure had changed with the opening of the door.

  “Must be the cracked glass,” I muttered. “Not as bad as the last one that had a hole in it and was leaking into the facility directly. I need to notify Cari.”

  Suiting words to actions, I immediately hammered out a message to Cariad using the messaging interface in my System window.

  Liam

  URGENT - Cari I have another dead daemon here. Looks like they are being used like that fragment of monster I found a while back as a means to turn physical matter into mana. This area is an active combat zone, and we can’t secure it for long.

  I had barely opened my eyes before my vision flashed and I closed my eyes once more to view Cariad’s response.

  Cariad

  Are you and the girls okay, Liam? I’m on my way to secure the site while Mr. Cerebaton gets security rallied.

  Liam

  I’m fine, Cari. Barely beaten up at all. The girls are what have me worried, they are watching the door to keep the enemy we chased off this location from getting into it. Don’t take too long, but also be careful when you arrive. I’ve got some people who are unaware with me.

  Sending that off, I scanned the room for anything not nailed down that looked important. Not seeing anything, I turned to head back to the door when the glimmer of light through crystal caught my attention along a pipe in one corner of the room.

  The spray of crystals grew from a bend in the pipe and were as clear as glass. I’d missed them at first but the glaring overhead lights had caught them just right.

  I scampered over to check them and as soon as I touched them, I knew what they were. I’d handled enough pure mana crystals to know.

  Not hesitating, I broke the spray of crystals off of the pipe and felt a hiss of mana hit my hand.

  Must have been a leak of concentrated pure mana that made them form, I thought, banishing the crystals into my Dimensional Storage. They’d come in handy later, I was sure.

  That done, I raced to the door in time to see the ripple in reality further down the hallway before Cariad strode through.

  The brilliant overhead light gleamed on her slate-colored skin while both sets of her eyes were open and searching her surroundings. Over her normal office-wear, she had on an armored vest and she carried a gleaming brass staff in one hand that had a polished silver sphere on the end.

  Her electric-blue eyes snapped my way the moment I emerged from the room and I held up a hand to stop her.

  “Valda, she’s with me. I need all four of you to step back and let her through,” I ordered.

  The lizard-folk woman blinked at me in confusion before glancing over her shoulder and flinching when she saw Cariad heading towards us.

  “Liam, show me where it is,” Cariad demanded tersely, her regular set of eyes watching me as her bright red hair bounced behind her.

  The sudden speaking made the other three lizard-folk jump in surprise and whirl, weapons half drawn. But a quick order from Valda froze them in place.

  “Do as he says! Get out of her way.”

  “Thanks, I’ll explain what I can later,” I promised Valda, getting a sharp nod from the woman as the four lizard-folk moved against the wall to get out of the way.

  Leading Cariad into the power-station room, I rapidly filled her in on what we’d found so far. I didn’t mention the weapons that the System had already claimed, as it had asked me not to, but this was something entirely different and I couldn’t help the creeping instinct that said this might be the ‘more problems’ the System had hinted at.

  Cariad listened to me intently, her electric-blue secondary eyes darting all around as they scanned the room. When I got to my plans to rupture the tanks in the armory to ignite and dispose of the chemicals inside, her frown deepened.

  A shout from the hallway had me moving mid-sentence and I ducked out to throw myself between the Ironclaw warriors and a group of daemons in the armor and garb of the DSR with Cerebaton at their head.

  “With me! They are with me!” I barked at both groups, shoving my way bodily between them.

  “Stand down!” Cerebaton snapped over his shoulder to the uniformed daemons at his back. “Where is Miss Davies?” Cerebaton directed the last question at me and I gestured back through the door I’d come through.

  “Who are these people?” Valda asked, her patience clearly running out as she warily eyed the eight-foot-tall green man with horns in riot armor as Cerebaton gestured me out of the way.

  “People in charge,” I answered quickly. “This is important, and they can help us out. Don’t touch them, it’s extremely dangerous to do so. Just let them pass and head up to the next room. I’ll be up in a minute to explain what I can.”

  Valda’s scowl was deepening by the second but she gave the daemon’s another wary look before gesturing her troops to move out.

  Once the two groups were past each other, Cerebaton gestured for his six guards to enter the power station room where Cariad began issuing orders as well.

  “What can you tell me, Liam?” Cerebaton asked, the daemon looming over me as he bent down to speak quietly.

  “I’ve already given Cariad almost everything,” I said, trying to hide the grimace at the fact I was hiding anything from my friends here. “I came here with my contracted to eliminate a threat to the border they were defending. We’ve destroyed or claimed everything we could find that seemed dangerous. The second I found hints this place was meddling with daemons and entropic magic, I called you all. That door,” I gestured to the door to the power station, “has been open for all of five minutes. Here’s the only keycard I know of.”

  I produced the metal card and offered it to Cerebaton. The big man shook his head and pointed at the ground with one shovel-shaped hand.

  “Not wearing gloves, I’d destroy it. Leave it there and we’ll use it to lock this place up.”

  “We aren’t going to be able to hold the facility for long,” I said with a sigh. “This is behind enemy lines at the moment and we need to get our raiding group moving back to safety. I was planning to collapse the tunnels after igniting the flammable chemicals in that room.”

  I gestured towards the armory room and Cerebaton glanced that way before looking back at me thoughtfully.

  “You aren’t claiming these ruins for your contracted?” Cerebaton asked pointedly.

  “No,” I said immediately. “There is no way that we can hold it right now, we are too far from the battle lines and my group isn’t equipped to do that. We need to hit and run. I’d planned to destroy anything we couldn’t take with us, because this is a military depot and I can’t risk our enemies getting hold of anything we left behind.”

  Cerebaton stared at me with his big yellow eyes for several more seconds before nodding once.

  “Leave the keycard,” he said brusquely. “The DSR is not allowed to interfere with the domains of the dimensions we oversee. We are only able to step in on this because you requested it and there is evidence that the owners of this facility have or are working against our kind as a whole.”

  “I am confident they are in league with whatever group had that one we found before in a cage,” I said hurriedly and Cerebaton nodded, making a patting gesture with one hand to reassure me.

  “As before, we can step in and eliminate evidence of our existence and illicit research about daemon kind,” Cerebaton continued in a formal tone. “I am informing you that this facility will unfortunately suffer a rather catastrophic collapse due to the… volatile chemicals in the other room. I would recommend you get your contracted well away from the area.”

  A savage grin crossed Cerebaton’s face as his eyes took on a decidedly malicious twinkle. I found myself returning his smile with an equally vicious one and nodding rapidly.

  “Got it,” I promised before remembering something. “Don’t touch the crystal case in the armory, it’s empty but there is some nasty magic on it that I don’t understand or want to risk.”

  “I have a feeling that volatile magic will be what triggers the reaction,” Cerebaton said with a sage nod before gesturing for me to follow after Valda. “Leave this to us, Liam. We can take it from here. I’d ask you to take a break and not find so much trouble in the future, but I don’t think that’ll happen.”

  “You are right there,” I said with a snort of laughter. “It’s not bad enough for me to say I’m fate’s squeaky-toy, but it is odd I keep falling into mysteries like this.”

  I was turning away from Cerebaton when the glowing purple words burned themselves across my vision.

  Traveler is reminded that nothing happens without reason.

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