It didn’t take him long to return to the cavern that contained the round pedestal and was adorned with wall drawings. He approached the center of the area where the pedestal was situated. Lowering to one knee, he reached out with one hand and inserted the oval-shaped key into the indentation. It set into place with a gentle click. Immediately after that, the pedestal began emitting a soft hum, and a white beam of magical light shot from its top. Rising to his feet, Jake took a step backward. The beam of light was as wide as the pedestal and tall enough to touch the high ceiling. The pedestal hummed quietly now, filling the air with a faint electric charge. He watched it for a few moments, but nothing more occurred.
The magical pedestal was ready for use, but what was its purpose? Jake glanced at the ancient murals once again. They depicted various battle scenes in which the mysterious warrior took down different kinds of monsters with equal ease. In one of them, he even single-handedly defeated a dragon. Undoubtedly, the warrior was incredibly strong. Jake paused to think. The helmet atop the warrior’s head bore a striking resemblance to the one fused with the head of the crystal golem he had recently defeated. It surely had to have some significance. He decided to bring the helmet to the shaft of light and see what would happen.
He navigated through the web-covered tunnels and caverns, dispatching any spiders that crossed his path until he finally reached the room where he had defeated the crystal golem. The remnants of the creature lay scattered across the floor, but the golem’s head, fused with the helmet, was intact. Crossing the room, Jake picked it up with both hands—his right arm had regrown by that time. He then made his way back to the cavern adorned with the wall drawings. Since he was retracing his steps, he encountered no enemies on the way back. Once he arrived, he approached the pedestal and extended the golem’s head toward it.
Nothing happened at first. However, when he stepped so close to the pedestal that the golem’s head entered the shaft of light, he felt an invisible force tugging at his hands. He released the golem’s head, and it began to drift slowly several feet upward. Taking a few steps back, Jake watched as the head was lifted by the stream of magical energy coursing through the shaft of light. The golem’s head gradually disappeared as if dissolving into the magical light until it was completely gone. Then, the upward motion ceased, and the helmet—now entirely free of the golem’s crystalline flesh—came to a motionless hover a few feet above the surface of the pedestal. Jake stared at the helmet for a moment.
The warrior depicted in the drawings was clad in armor from head to toe, covering every inch of its body. So far, Jake had only found the helmet. Initially, after defeating the crystal golem, he hadn’t thought much of it. However, witnessing the shaft of light take the helmet from his hands made him realize he needed to find the rest of the armor set and bring all the pieces here. Although he hadn’t discovered any additional pieces yet, he still hadn’t explored the deeper sections of this floor. Perhaps the remaining armor was hidden away in various chests, or maybe there were more crystal golems lurking in the deeper parts of the floor, each one wearing a different piece of the armor set.
He didn’t know what would happen after he collected the entire armor set and brought it to the magical pedestal. Perhaps, as a reward, he would be granted the strength of the warrior depicted in the wall drawings. Or maybe he would need to wear the armor to gain the power of the warrior and be able to piece the destroyed portal back together. He wasn’t sure what would happen once he collected the armor set, but there was no point in guessing. He turned and left the chamber, determined to find the remaining pieces of armor.
He ventured into the unexplored sections of the floor, slaying all the spiders he encountered. Eventually, he entered a cavern with another crystal golem inside. It looked exactly like the previous one he had defeated, with only one different detail—instead of a helmet, the creature had spiked shoulder plates that seemed fused with its body. The two shoulder armor plates looked exactly like those worn by the warrior in the murals. Jake attacked the crystal golem, using the successful tactic he had previously employed in battle against the first golem. He circled the golem, punching it with his smashfists while evading its powerful strikes. Every strike he delivered caused a network of cracks to ripple across the golem’s surface. Finally, he dealt the last strike to the golem, delivering a blow that reverberated throughout the cavern. The creature erupted into a dazzling explosion of shards, scattering its crystalline form all around. When the dust of crystal particles settled, Jake saw that the two shoulder plates remained unscathed, glinting in the dim light of the mushrooms, with remnants of crystalline flesh still attached.
Jake carried the shoulder plates back to the cavern adorned with the ancient wall drawings and placed them into the radiant shaft of light. Instantly, the plates began to ascend, their crystalline remnants slowly dissolving into shimmering particles. They adjusted their position, settling gracefully on either side of the helmet and slightly below it. As he pulled his attention away from the three floating pieces of armor, Jake looked at one of the intricate wall murals. The warrior was clad in armor from head to toe, indicating that he still needed to find quite a few pieces. Without lingering, Jake left the cavern and continued his search.
One by one, he encountered several more crystal golems. Each one had a different piece of armor embedded in its body: one had gloves, a second one had boots, yet another wore bracelets, and so on. Jake meticulously dealt with every crystal golem and brought the recovered pieces of armor back to the cavern adorned with the wall drawings. Eventually, he assembled the complete armor set. All the pieces floated motionlessly inside the shaft of light in their respective places. However, something was still missing. There were gaps between the pieces in numerous places: the bracelets weren’t connected to the shoulder plates, the boots weren’t linked to the leg armor, the helmet wasn’t joined to the chest armor, and so on. The warrior depicted in the murals, however, was completely encased in armor with not a trace of skin visible anywhere on his body.
Some parts were still missing, so Jake needed to locate them. He left the cavern and proceeded to explore the sections of the floor that he hadn’t yet visited. At one point, after clearing another cavern of spiders and inspecting a chest against one wall, he discovered several items that resembled metal gears. He appraised them with a thought, and a single line of text surfaced in his mind.
Jake wasn’t entirely sure what the gears were for, but it was clear they had something to do with the armor set he had been collecting. He stashed the items in his Inventory to bring them later to the shaft of light. After that, he continued to navigate through the dungeon. Eventually, he explored every nook and cranny on the third floor and eliminated every spider he encountered. From various chests, he gathered several dozens of mechanical parts, stashing them away in his Inventory. Fortunately, they only occupied a single slot.
After that, he returned to the cavern with the wall murals. Retrieving the mechanical parts from his Inventory, he placed them inside the shaft of light. As he did, he noticed something fascinating happening within. Every mechanical part he inserted melted into a liquid form, flowing into the gaps between the pieces of armor. They then reshaped, taking the necessary forms to connect the various parts of the armor set. Some parts melted into a faceplate, which seamlessly integrated with the helmet. The entire process took less than a minute, and soon the fully encased armor set floated within the shaft of light.
The moment the process concluded, the armor descended gracefully until the soles of its feet made contact with the pedestal’s top surface. Then it suddenly came alive. The armored figure stepped out from the shaft of light, jumping down from the pedestal and landing on the ground with a resounding thud. Turning to face Jake, the animated armor began to stride toward him with remarkable vigor.