While adventurers slowly started exploring the new floor, Naomi observed people working on the dig site. Even the Grand Forge Master decided to rebuild his workshop using metal plates.

  “I will become a laughingstock and lose my title the same day word gets out that my workshop looks like a shack.” He said.

  The dig site was the busiest place of all. After digging out a meter-deep trench and building the first row of metal wall, builders need to find a way to dig deeper without risking being buried alive by the sand. The first try was to secure the wall with thick planks. The first issue was that they would need to drive them very deep. It was impossible. They got the idea to cover the lower end of each plank with metal. It has a sharp end and a protruding flat part. Hitting protrusion with wooden mallets drives the whole plank into the ground. It was a slow process, and they needed to stop when they hit the hidden stone in the ground to dig it out, but it worked.

  Meanwhile, blacksmiths were preparing metal plates and beams. The beams were the most time-consuming. Unlike on Earth, where steel mills could produce beams of any size and shape, they had to be built from long strips of metal and the individual parts riveted, as was done in the 19th century.

  The carpenters were building a crane over the edge of the shaft for lifting large buckets of sand. Because moving wheelbarrows over the sand was impossible, one dwarven miner suggested using carts like in the mines. That added a lot of work for carpenters, because carts and railroads would be built from the wood.

  Naomi, of course, volunteered to help with some of the work. She owned a forge, and she was a blacksmith.

  “I’m not some entitled noble lady to sit on my ass and watch how people work. If there is a job that requires swinging the hammer in the forge, I will do it.” She declared. For her, it was a way to gain a glimpse of what was really happening there. Watching all the hustle and bustle and hearing stories wasn’t enough. Her statement had an unexpected side effect. Workers genuinely respected her, especially when they saw the quality of her work.

  “You look happy, Dungeon Mistress.” The Grand Forge Master observed while visiting her to collect a finished section of the beam.

  “Because I'm.” She smiled. “I participate in something that will serve a lot of people. Imagine all those people who will find a home there. I’m so excited. Only if I could see all of this myself.” She sighed, and her smile vanished.

  “It’s one of those things that just are, and cannot be changed, regardless of our wishes and efforts. However, I promise to you, Dungeon Mistress, that I will keep an eye on everything.”

  “I know.” Naomi smiled again. “Wait! Eye! That’s it!” She screamed, drawing the attention of the people in the forge to her.

  “Dungeon Mistress, are you planning something crazy again?” Eriser asked.

  “Yes,” Naomi replied shamelessly. “You see. I can’t go there to see what’s outside the dungeon. I can only watch the world from my walls, but if something is hidden over the dune or horizon, I wouldn’t be able to see it. But what if I found a way to look through the golem's eyes? I will hire an adventurer, give him the golem eye, and ask him to go to different towns.” Naomi was excited.

  “More like an army. That kind of artifact will be worth more than a hundred gold even if I build it. Built by you, Dungeon Mistress, will be worth all the gold of the world.” The dwarven priest shakes his head.

  “Oh. Right, again that nonsense. But it should be ok around here.” Naomi doesn’t intend to give up because of that.

  However, adventurers in the forge sighted with relief. Refusing the Dungeon Mistress's request will be difficult, but no one will want that kind of responsibility, no matter how high the reward is.

  In the far north, the winter months were slowly coming to an end. Snowstorms calmed down, and there were moments when you could see the sun through the clouds. Messenger again began delivering news to the Citadel of Unded and the Arch Warlock fortress. And this year, there was only bad news.

  Before the throne of Arch Lich, prostrated necromancer, chosen to deliver them.

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  “My undying lord. We just received terrible news from the south. There is rebellion among our ranks.” His voice trembled with fear of what might happen to him.

  “Rebellion?” Arch Lich blinked, surprised. “Explain!” He shouted.

  “The traitors are killing your loyal men or exposing them to the followers of false gods. The exact reason isn’t clear, but according to the news, they want the spoils of war all for themself.”

  “Spoils of war? What war?” Arch Lich couldn’t understand what this necromancer was saying.

  “The future war that frees us all from the shackles of false gods, my lord. The war, when your legions finally crush those wretched heretics.”

  “Do they forget that I will be deciding who and what will receive after the war?” Arch Lich asked.

  “Aparatly yes, my Undying Lord.”

  “I want each traitor captured and brought here. If that is impossible, let his death be a warning to others.”

  “It will be done, Great Lord!”

  A similar conversation took place in the Arch Warlock Fortress. The main difference was that he became furious when he learn about golem orcs.

  “I’m telling you, we need to deal with tha bich immediately!” He shouted during a conversation with Arch Lich. The necromancer operating the zombie was trembling from fear. His skills may be valuable, but that doesn't mean he won't die if he does something wrong while his master is raging.

  “Which bich?” Arch Lich asked.

  “From the desert. She somehow built robot orcs, and she is using them as training dummies for adventurers. This is theft of intellectual rights. It was I who created them, and not some nobody from the desert.”

  “We can’t attack her. We don’t even know what is going on there. All my spays were killed. And there is that rebellion. You planned to weaken followers of false gods, while we start attacking their castles in the north. Now it fell apart.”

  “I saw reports, too. And I’m telling you it’s her work too. I’m sure of it.”

  “I think it was more of an Inquisition plan. They borrowed her name to hide themselves. That could also explain why this new dungeon is in the middle of nowhere. They could do whatever they want there, and no one will see anything.”

  “Maybe you are right? But that doesn’t change anything. We have to do something about this place. The longer it stands, the more damage to our plans it will cause.”

  “Maybe. But I remind you, it was your plan in the first place. It was you who told me that we need a way to destroy their sources of supplies.”

  “I know. And it was a good plan. But if we do nothing, we will lose everything.” Arch Warlock answered.

  “What is your proposition?”

  “Let us start the war. It will take some time to break through their fortifications, but we have the numerical advantage. We need to find one or two weak points. When we break through, nothing will stop us.”

  “I’m ready for that for some time, but are you sure? Time doesn’t matter for us. We can wait a decade or two and rebuild our forces in the south.”

  “It won’t work again. They probably know enough to understand what we were trying to do. It was a good plan, and it will make everything much easier for us, but sometimes you need to do things the hard way.”

  “Ok. The spring has just started, so we have some time to prepare. We could launch an offensive in early summer. By winter, we could have a few citadels in our control.”

  “Agree. I will concentrate my forces on the adventurers' town and the surrounding area.”

  “Are you planning to conquer the dungeon there?” Arch Lich asked.

  “No. It will be a waste of time. I wanted to take control of the city. The old gezer will need to sit there and watch as everything burns.”

  “Let’s do that with all dungeons. When the war ends, then we will see what's next. Maybe they vanish when we banish false gods.”

  Their plans to conquer the world, strictly speaking, weren’t bad. They understood the importance of preparation and ensuring that the men commanding their armies were loyal and skilled. The problem was their lack of knowledge about the war. Arch Lich was a teenager when he died on Earth, and Arch Warlock was a twenty-five-year-old nobody with a big ego. The last century didn’t change that because, as the dungeon cores, they can’t leave their dungeons. They read scrolls and sometimes listen to people who have something to say. But both sources were flawed. Scrolls talk about past battles, and people who join the cultist ranks rarely know anything useful. Most of them were disgraced, arrogant nobles, or expelled officers. Corruption, embezzling army funds, or reckless orders that ended in disaster, to name a few.

  Meanwhile, on the other side of the front line, the situation was exactly opposite. Generals and officers were competent, and Riley Duncan, dungeon master from the city of adventurers, who coordinated everything, was also a highly experienced officer. Commanders of every citadel were prepared for a prolonged siege, and they got reports about golem orcs. There was debate about how strong the response to this provocation would be, but overall, officers and soldiers in fortresses were looking forward to the attacks.

  “Finally, they will crawl from the hiding holes. I hate the patrols. Usually it’s just a waste of time.”

  “I can’t wait to see what my siege magic can do. Shooting the targets is fine, but shooting zombies is what gives you real experience."

  “I hope they don’t run away too quickly, like they usually do.”

  These were the most common opinions among the defenders.