Spirit Taming

Chapter 297: Chased By Metal

"Weird spiked metal things?" Both Clark, Maria, and Reese responded to this with the same confused question. But they all looked up at where Brad had been looking. Brad already had his shield up ready to defend without hesitation. And for good reason.

'Metal marionette- rare

Also known as metal guardians, these spiked metal beasts are created by rune carvers and very gifted golem creators. They are a beast from the past and are mostly lost today since the technology was forgotten long ago in a disaster.

They serve as the guardians of workshops and have caused many explorers a great deal of trouble. They were made with unique runes and other techniques to come to life using metal from living weapons. They can trap intruders within them and bring them to their masters.

These metal guardians have lost their masters many years ago and now attempt to defend the workshops without the bonds they used to have to their creators. It is a sad existence but they lack emotions in comparison to most beasts. They are incredibly tough to beat even with spiritual attacks since they were made to resist many things as the guards of important workshops. They are slow, however.

The best recommendation is to avoid rhythm at all costs since they will chase relentlessly throughout the area they guard. They have been known to chase the tamers off the fifth floor to random locations if they do not catch them. A few tamers boast that they are a blessing in disguise since they have chased them to places that were unexplored on the fifth floor.'

This was not a good thing at all. Clark stopped Brad from stepping forward to do battle. His hand on Brad's shoulder told the rest of the group everything. "We should run."

"We can't though, there are two more behind us. We have to go down the other passage." Reese and Maria watched as two more climbed up from a spot in the ground. They had seemingly been guarding this pathway. It was clear that instead of being fought, every tamer would run from them to avoid the trouble.

"Then we go that way." This seemed to be too annoying. Tamers had just ignored these beasts because they were hard to fight. Even the experienced veteran tamers had avoided the annoyance which spoke volumes about the tough resistances that the system had just told him about.

In his mind, Clark wanted to put this together. How could he have gotten to the fifth floor and messed this up? But also faced beasts known for trapping people. The workshops were guarded too. But why did the system mention that these beasts would make people run to unknown areas? It seemed like the system was being sneaky.

Hiding something but also hinting.

Since this appeared to be the case, Clark didn't hesitate to start moving as the screeching metal bodies of the metal marionettes approached. Maria and Reese took up the rear watching the slower movements. "They are kind of rusted so they are slow. We can stay ahead of them. But what are they?" Maria waited to hear what Clark thought.

"Metal marionettes. They are a man made beasts but can't be made any more since the techniques were lost years ago. They're tough and ignored by tamers. But the rumor I heard about them is that they chase people anywhere and even have chased people to secret passageways accidentally. They are bad guards for that reason."

The new theory that had grown in Clark's mind was that he did not take the wrong path. What apprentice carver would go to the fourth floor and risk dealing with the ants? They must have gone to the fifth floor to deal with the crafting basements. That would be the best place for them to find secret knowledge like these marionette's creation methods.

Something that would put them at the top and make them a master in no time.

The only question was, how did they get back to the fourth floor from there? Did they get chased to a secret staircase to a separate room that was on the same level as the fourth floor? Or did they find something else? There were too many questions to worry about this. Clark couldn't do much but focus on moving since he could hear the metal sounds growing behind them.

"There might be more than four now." Brad was increasing his pace with the others but had stopped them from going down a branching passageway in to another room. It was clear that he had seen another metal marionette.

"And we aren't going down the pathways that have a lot of footprints anymore. What if we hit a dead end?" Reese had a growing sense of stress as well. He was not planning to be trapped in some corner and beaten to death by some rusted forgotten beasts.

"Hm?" Clark stopped suddenly looking at the dusty rock floor. He saw that there were only a few footprints that seemed old and fading because the dust had settled on them again. He smiled a little seeing this as he let the analysis work on them with a single hope.

'Faded footprints

These faded footprints are a month old. They are from work boots normally used by those that work in forges. They appear rushed as if they were being chased by a surprise.'

There was not much to go on but Clark believed that Reese had just pointed out a golden find. The footprints were rushed by a panicked individual and were made by work boots, not reinforced shoes of a tamer. That could mean they were on the right track.

"The two at the main entrance seemed too rusted. Do you think someone set off a trap and released more of the metal marionettes to attack people?" Maria didn't have all the information but since Clark had said that they were man made beasts, she was sure this was the case. It seemed too perfect.

"Yes! That's it. There must have been a trap and someone went digging. The normal path to the next floor was blocked and the rune carver we are looking for must have been chased this way. Keep going!" Clark's enthusiasm caused them all to rush after him. He had forged ahead on the path with a lot more vigor than before but didn't fully explain himself.

Not that there was time since the metallic screeching was getting closer.

"We came so late that we haven't had to follow the larger groups. They could have easily pushed their way through to get to the floors they wanted to hint. Small groups like us would stay on the first two or three floors to handle the weaker beasts." Clark felt that he had made a great discovery. His slightly breathless voice was explaining things while he charged along.

But as he reached a run in the path, he was stopped on the spot. He saw a twisted metal body appear but it was not normal. The twisted metal seemed to have been broken by time yet not destroyed. Small parts of the metal marionette had fallen off leaving it slower than the others.

"Brad, Charge it!" Clark watched Brad keep up his pace and brush by him. The metal hitting metal was ear piercing but the metal marionette bent even more. Upon slamming it in to the wall, Brad looked around to see that the pieces falling off it were all around the area.

"This thing has already taken a beating. Maybe we will find someone else down here?" This was a good theory to have since it seemed to be true. Why else would this marionette be broken while the others had not?

"I would say that group came down here." Maria was the one to catch this. But the reason she did was not a good one.

Ahead of them was another room. In that room there were a few notable things that stood out. The main one being the spikes in the floor which had pierced fourth corpses. A trap had been left along with the metal marionette.

Pieces of the marionette had been caught in the trap as well explaining the initial damage. The twisting had come from a rock like beast stabbed and long dead on the spike.

The other three bodies were clearly humans that had explored this before. "A group came down here and triggered this trap. But why are there traps here and not earlier? Does that mean good stuff is here?" Reese was holding himself back from looking at the dead human bodies. It was hard to accept that this was a common thing in dungeons when he was seeing it for real.

Surprisingly, Brad was immune to this. He knew they could die here and that was something he accepted when he became a tamer. Anyone could die anywhere. A good mentality to have in life when going to pursue a dangerous path. "Whatever it is, we could be careful." That was the proper way to proceed as distance metal screeching grew and the twisted marionette struggled to move against Brad's shield.