"Mister, it's your turn to take watch." One of the guards knocked on the door to the carriage was max in. Max opened the carriage, he then walked out, and sat around the campfire. They were already halfway through. Fortunately the travel wasn't that bad. There were some goblins and wolves, but it was typical danger, but there were too many of them.
"Maybe some monster tried to attack ruler of that region, and monster are running away. Or they are looking for better breeding place, because there are too many of them. Either way I need to report this, after trip ends." Max said to himself.
...
The sword flew in the air, and instructor started to clap.
"Amazing Aura. You are a genius." He said.
"It's nothing teacher. I'm still powerless." Aura shook her head.
"It's good to be humble, but you should understand your capabilities. You defeated a lot of people, and even now you were able to hold your ground against me." Instructor praised Aura once again. Aura nodded.
"Thank you" She bowed her head. Instructor smiled.
"So who's next? We don't have an entire day." Instructor said." And you Aura, you can go to your room. You finished today training." Aura nodded and went to her room. When she entered, she laid on her bed and was looking blankly on her ceiling.
"That power is amazing. I don't need to worry about anything. I don't have battle experience, but my power alone is worth a lot. I can do anything I want." Greed and hatred appeared on Aura's face. "These bitches and all people who bullied me will see, what I can do." Aura started to laugh maniacally.
....
"We arrived at the Stone City" Max woke up from the sleep. He opened the door of the carriage, and looked outside. He saw city made from stone. Everything from roads to buildings, and roofs were made from polished stone. This city lives from their mines, where they mine building or decorative stone, and other resources. Max needed to found person, who issued the quest. He found the owner of the caravan.
"Do you know where the Luke's Mines are located?" He asked. The owner nodded, and pointed towards east gate.
"It's near the east gate, it's easy to find it, because there is a huge sign."
"Thank you." Max nodded, owner extended his hand.
"It was a pleasure to meet you." Owner smiled, and Max shook hands with him.
....
"Wait a minute. Repeat what you just say." Elizabeth stopped the doll from talking.
"Well men on Earth, give their lover a ring as a sign of love, and as symbol of engagement. They mostly use a diamond, for it." Doll repeated. Elizabeth was in middle of learning about Earth. 'Why didn't he give me a ring then? I know he loves me and all, but I want that.'
....
Jax was sitting in dark place, and right now he received, a memory from the doll. He smiled at this.
"I knew this will happen, don't worry you will get it. Well now I need to finish my project." In front of Jax hologram panel appeared. The hologram panel displayed enormous amount of data. Jax started to read all of it, and make changes or adding something.
"I hope Beast Federation, will agree to my terms. Otherwise, they will become my guinea pigs."
.....
Max found Luke's Mines headquarters. Headquarters were made from high quality stone, like marble. Max went inside, and walked towards receptionist.
"I'm here for the commission." Max showed his golden plate. The receptionist saw it, and nodded. He then yelled, at worker to inform higher ups.
"Wait there. It will take some time." Receptionist said, and pointed towards the door inside. Max nodded and went there. The room was very decorated. There was a table made from high quality wood, and sofa made from monster skin.
"They want to show their power, by showing how rich they are. Easy way and effective one." Max said. He waited few minutes, and there he heard that someone is opening the doors.
"Chairman invite you, to meet him." Worker bowed to Max.
"I understand" Max stood up, and worker gestured for him to follow him. They walked upstairs. 'More and more riches. Paintings, probably, everything enchanted.' Worker stopped in front of the door.
"Please enter this room." Max opened the door and went in. He saw a middle age man sitting at the desk. He was wearing black suit. Man smiled at Max and gestured him to sit down.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm grateful you offered your help. I'm Luke. What is your name?" Luke asked.
"I'm Max. Can you tell me about the situation?" Luke sighed.
"During excavation, my people found some empty space. They checked it, until they were attacked by golem. Unfortunately few died, but others were fine."
"Did they described it?" Luke shook his head.
"They only said that a big pile of rocks and stone, attacked them. We weren't able to know if it's artificial or natural one." Luke answered with apologetic tone. Golems can form naturally, or can be created. The easiest way to tell, if one is artificial or natural is how they look like. Natural golem's body is imperfect. It has a lot of cracks, some places are too massive etc. Artificial one is made using handcrafted pieces that fit perfectly. Max shook his head.
"You don't need to apologise. Your people live is more important. But I need to you do something for me." Luke snapped his fingers, and few moments later a woman walked into the room. 'Sand elf' Max thought. The woman was young. She had dark skin and hair in colour of sand. Her eyes were dark brown. She also had sceptre made from stone in her hands.
"You need earth mage right?" Luke smiled and Max nodded." I knew it, and I made preparations. Could you introduce yourself?" Luke looked at the woman.
"I'm Sela" Sela's voice was devoid from any emotions.
"Don't mind her. Sela doesn't show her emotions. Do you need anything else?" Luke asked.
"Guide, and all information you gathered from survivors." Luke nodded.
....
"We are near the entrance to the empty space. Sir, are you sure about it? Can you really beat it?" The guide asked. He was one of the survivors. Although his fear was great, his hatred towards golem who killed his friends was bigger.
"Normally yes, I'm sure I can. But if there is some accident, I am not sure." Fooling himself into believing that everything will be fine is stupid.
"I understand. If you can please kill that bastard." Max nodded. Some time later they arrived at the entrance.
"Go back. I remember the path back." Max said to the guide.
"Good luck." Man said and went back. Max turned around to look at Sela.
"First help me check if it's artificial or natural. If it's natural your duty is to monitor status of the cave. And in case of artificial you should also monitor status of the cave, and help me when I say." Sela nodded. Max and Sela went into the entrance. It was quite narrow at the beginning, but few minutes later they found themselves in big open space.
"It's unnatural." Max stated, because the space was bright. Normally caves in Stone City, were practically dark. In some places special stones could light up the surroundings, but here there are none of them. 'It should increase the chances of the artificial one.' Max wanted the golem to be artificial, because they can't use magic. The natural golems can use earth magic, but artificial aren't able to do that. Also, the big advantage in fighting against artificial one, is that the core is most cases located in the chest. Natural one can have it, in any place, in rare cases core could be split into two.
They explored the space, and they found the bodies of the deceased. Max kneeled and examined them.
"They don't look like killed by magic, only brute force." He then turned towards Sela." Can you feel any magic from that corpses?" Sela closed her eyes. Minute later she opened them.
"None. You are right, only brute force." Sela said. They went deeper, but they couldn't find anything. They wanted to walk in different direction, but then they felt that something big is approaching.
"Prepare yourself." Max said to Sela.