Austronesia Empire, Imperial Majahapit, Jayapura Papua, Jayapura Mining Facility
1st Year of God, New Sabbath, 1st Week, 3rd Month Of Abraham.
The next day, Odysseus exited his workshop and looked at his surroundings. Other than the lingering smell, the mining outpost appeared neat and orderly.
He made his way to a large sign with an arrow labeled "Army" and entered the designated building, where a human corporal with stripes on his uniform was sitting on duty behind a desk in the lobby.
"Sir Odysseus, how can I help you," The corporal stood up in attention.
"I'm here for a meeting," Odysseus replied, handing over his orders printed in a sheet of paper over the corporal, who gave it a quick glance before directing him to the top floor.
The elf nodded and headed over to upstairs, but as he approached the stairs, he noticed the armory, where a couple of soldiers were dropping off their rifles, single-action revolvers, melee weapons, and ammunition before climbing the stairs up to the third floor. There, he entered a large room filled with chairs set out in rows enough for a hundred people.
Some of the seats were already occupied, but he found an empty one and sat on it. He then noticed a woman with shortly cropped red hair seated next to him.
"Hello, are you Sir Odysseus? I've heard about you," the woman said, glancing up at him as he settled in. "I must admit, this is the first time I've seen an elf."
"I understand," Odysseus replied with a friendly smile. "And you are? Are you the researcher I've heard mentioned?"
"Yes, I'm Dr. Penelope," she smiled back. "I'm a researcher and a professor at Universitas Gadjah Mada most of the time."
"Oh, what subjects do you teach?" Odysseus asked.
"Mathematics and history," Penelope answered. "I also assist with archaeology."
Odysseus gave a low whistle. "Impressive. So, Professor Penelope, what brings you here?" he asked, gesturing around the meeting room.
"It's related to the dungeon the media has been buzzing about all week," Penelope sighed, her tone shifting to one of sadness. "My job is to study the things within the dungeon, but... I'm not sure if I can face another cave again. The last time I was in one was during the New Year Tragedy, where my colleagues and I were trapped in a cave for days while a storm flooded it. I was the only survivor... and the nightmares haven't stopped since."
Odysseus' eyes widened, "And yet you accepted the offer?"
Penelope nodded with determination in her eyes. "I want to confront my trauma. The memories won't stop haunting me, so I decided to face them head-on."
Odysseus was taken aback but impressed. "I understand what you're going through. But don't worry, humans. This time, you'll have nearly a hundred soldiers and me by your side! Plus, it'll be like those Role Playing Games you humans enjoy! Going in, killing monsters, and finding treasure!"
Penelope chuckled softly. "What's with you men always about killing and treasure?"
Before Odysseus could respond, the door opened, and several people entered the room. Among them were Director Letif and Lieutenant Colonel Ciaphas Cahyono.
"Attention!"
The dozing military personnel woke up almost immediately and shot up to their feet in unison and saluted as one.
The Lieutenant Colonel saluted back, "At ease, men."
As the director of the mining station remained standing by the door, the rest of the crowd found their seats, and the room settled into silence.
"Alright, I've called you here for an important mission," Cahyono began the brief. "By now, everyone has heard about the dungeon, correct?" Nods of acknowledgment were returned from the group. "We're going to explore it."
"Right now, over 100 people will join this expedition, and they will be divided into two teams. The first team will be under the command of Sergeant Dice, with Professor Penelope providing support," Cahyono continued, beginning to assign team roles. "The second party will be led by Specialist Sergeant Eurylochus and supported by Sir Odysseus."
The seated soldiers nodded at the Lieutenant Colonel's instructions while Penelope's face fell.
"Now, this dungeon is something most of us are new to," Cahyono went on, "Sir Odysseus will give you a brief of roughly what you can expect to find inside. Sir Odysseus?" he invited the elf up.
"Thank you, Sir," Odysseus stood up and faced the group seated. "Well, I've entered two dungeons back in my days," He began with a wry smile, "What can we expect inside? For one, monsters, but what types or species? We won't know till we explore the place," he explained, "Next, traps. There might be some, or there might not be any, it all depends on the dungeon."
"For this dungeon, we estimated using ground-penetrating radar that it will be roughly thirteen levels deep according to the government's intelligence," Cahyono added, "The levels vary in size, but they're approximately an acre each. The radar could only pick up rough patches of subsurface objects and changes in material properties, so we don't have a clear layout of the tunnels and rooms."
"So, we will start by exploring and mapping out the first level and see what is inside first," Odysseus continued. "The monsters grow stronger as the level deepens, so it should be easy for us to clear the first level."
"Okay? Any questions?" Cahyono asked.
Penelope raised her hand, "Sir, why am I needed here again?"
"I want you on the team because of your archaeological experience, and because you've proven you can keep a cool head under fire," Cahyono responded with a smile. "Additionally, you're authorized to use deadly force, though it's up to the team leaders to decide when necessary. Collect any materials you find on the monsters for research purposes. You will be carrying your standard weapons, but team leaders will be issued armor-piercing rockets, just in case when facing a threat with higher resilience."
"Any other questions?" Cahyono asked, scanning the room. "No? Alright then, you'll set off tomorrow morning at 0900 hours. Gather in the Ops room by 0700 for a final briefing. Team leaders meet at 0600 hours. Clear?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" The men chorused and broke up into their respective teams.
Sergeant Eurylochus, a Nigerian male, stood in one corner as his team gathered around him. He looked over at the three soldiers who greeted him.
"Sergeant Eurylochus, you were one of our instructors at Team 1," one soldier said with a grin.
"Great!" Eurylochus grinned back. "Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Sergeant 2nd Class Eurylochus Bone."
"I'm Specialist Sergeant 3rd Class Tyler Sedoll."
"Corporal Dorry Nickel."
"Private Travis Kanwe."
"Professor Penelope Perry, from Universitas Gadjah Mada," Penelope chimed in and introduced herself, "I specialize in studying ancient ruins, which is why I'm here."
All eyes then turned to the last member of the team, the elf.
The elf bowed with a warm smile. "Odysseus von Aston. Though, sorry to ask, but… why do you seem so dark?" he asked, pointing to Eurylochus.
"I'm sorry… what?" Eurylochus replied, caught off guard by the question
"I've encountered Dark Elves before, and most of the people in this nation I see are brown-skinned, white, or somewhere in between. You, however, are so dark you might blend in perfectly at night."
Odysseus' comment left Eurylochus and the others baffled. They exchanged glances, reflecting on the different kinds of discrimination between their world and this one. In their world, prejudice was often based on race within the same species, while here, it revolved around whether someone could wield mana or not.
For the people in this world, that type of discrimination of judging someone based on skin color is kinda dumb.
"Umm… it's because I'm of African descent, from a different continent where my ancestors lived," Eurylochus explained, still a bit unsettled by the question.
"Hmmm… interesting. It seems your humans developed different skin colors and characteristics based on the continents you were born on. Very interesting indeed. Most humans here are more uniform, similar to those Europeans in your world?"
"Alllllright… yeah. Let's move on from this conversation," Eurylochus said, eager to shift gears. "How about we take a break before meeting up again later to discuss the dungeon after lunch? How does that sound?"
Everyone agreed and nodded. "So where should we meet up? The cafeteria?" one soldier suggested.
"Sure, why not?" Another soldier replied. They were all new to the area and didn't know where else to go.
But Odysseus stopped them. "Why not come to my workshop? It's quieter there and easier to talk."
"Wait, you have a workshop here?" Eurylochus raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, I work here."
"Great! Then let's go there instead!" Eurylochus declared, getting Odysseus to give the location. "Workshop No. 4? Alright, let's meet there later!"
Two hours later, the whole group gathered outside a large building with a huge number 4 painted on the side with Odysseus standing at the entrance, waving them over with a welcoming smile.
As they entered, Eurylochus looked around until his eyes caught on two towering rock sculptures in the middle of the room, surrounded by intricate markings on the floor.
"Why do they call you 'Sir'?" he asked.
Odysseus glanced at the sculptures before answering, "Erm, I think they started calling me that as a form of respect after I helped some of the miners during a cave-in. I told them not to, but they insisted."
"I see," Eurylochus nodded, while the others curiously explored the brightly lit workshop. At one side of the room, a human sat behind a bank of computers, typing away at his keypad with some music playing softly from a nearby radio.
"Is sculpting your hobby?" Penelope asked, examining the featureless faces of the rock statues. "Is this workshop where you make sculptures?"
The soldiers chuckled at her question.
"Ma'am, I possess Earth Magic," Odysseus explained with a smile. "These sculptures are actually golems, think of them as puppets. We'll be bringing these two upgraded golems with us tomorrow to act as our support."
"Wait, what?" Eurylochus cried out, staring at the statues in disbelief. "You mean these rock sculptures can move?"
"Of course, Sergeant!" a voice suddenly cut into their conversation, and an Asian man with glasses stepped forward. He was the human that had been working at the computers at the corner earlier now joined them with a wide grin on his face. "This is the apex of magic and human ingenuity!"
He continued with enthusiasm, "Using modern robotics science and mixing with Sir Odysseus' control of Earth Magic, we are able to create pseudo-robots with basic AI without the need of complex machinery or wires!"
The Asian male appeared to be raving at this point as he launched into an explanation which most of them couldn't understand.
Penelope leaned closer to Odysseus and whispered, "Is he alright?"
Odysseus sighed, "He's fine, just… overly passionate. That's Yoshiyuki Tomino, the 'sis-term' support for the mining operation. Everyone here calls him an 'Oh-ta-Ku' or something like that."
He continued, half speaking over Yoshiyuki enthusiastic rambling, which everyone was ignoring now, "He did, however, been teaching me and showed me some images and videos about the human anatomy, particularly how joints like arms and legs move. This has allowed me to visualize a better way for the golems to move, thus increasing their agility and speed of movements. I'm building the golems' skeletons first, and then we'll add armor to the body, which Yoshiyuki is helping with on his 'corn-pu-er'."
The soldiers, especially Eurylochus, looked completely baffled.
"Holy shit," Eurylochus muttered, eyes wide with amazement. "Are we seriously getting armored support?!"