BKAWK

Back inside the Gate, Steven couldn't help but laugh at what he found next.

"...You've got to be kidding me."

Pecking around one of the brass platforms was a flock of mechanical chickens.

Actual chickens.

Each one was barely knee-high, built from polished copper and brass plates with tiny steam vents puffing from beneath their wings. Their eyes glowed faintly blue, and every few seconds one would let out an enthusiastic metallic...

"B'KAWK!"

Steven shook his head, smiling.

"...This place is ridiculous."

One of the little constructs noticed him and aggressively charged, its tiny piston-driven legs pumping furiously.

Steven casually raised his Mana Pistol.

PEW!

The mana bolt punched straight through its chest.

The mechanical chicken exploded into springs, screws, and thin brass feathers.

+2 EXP

"...Seriously?"

No loot.

No crafting materials.

Nothing.

Just a tiny bit of experience.

Steven shrugged.

"Experience is experience."

Over the next little while he became the terror of every mechanical chicken unfortunate enough to cross his path.

One shot.

One kill.

They simply weren't durable enough to survive a single mana round.

Their experience rewards were pitiful, but they eventually added up.

By the time the last one fell...

Level Up!

Steven grinned.

"Free experience."

The chickens hadn't been enough to carry him much farther, though.

Continuing deeper into the Gate, he encountered several more varieties of clockwork constructs.

A four-legged mechanical ram that lowered its brass horns before charging.

A spider-like machine that skittered across walls and ceilings.

And a floating orb covered in rotating lenses that fired tiny bursts of compressed steam.

None of the fights proved particularly difficult.

His Intelligence, endless supply of mana potions, and ability to fight safely at range made quick work of each encounter.

Little by little...

The experience accumulated.

Eventually another familiar notification appeared.

Level Up!

Steven smiled.

"Now we're talking."

A few minutes later, while exploring another section of the Gate, he reached what looked like a dead end.

Embedded into the wall was an enormous metal door nearly twenty feet tall.

Mounted beside it sat a large circular mechanism.

Except...

One gear was missing.

Steven froze.

"...Wait..."

His eyes widened.

"The gear!"

He reached into his Inventory and pulled out the Clockwork Gear he'd found earlier.

Holding it up beside the mechanism...

It matched perfectly.

"...No way."

He carefully inserted it into the empty space.

CLUNK.

The gear locked into place.

A deep mechanical rumble echoed throughout the walls.

One gear began turning.

Which turned another.

Then another.

The sound spread throughout the entire mechanism.

THUNK.

THUNK.

THUNK.

The massive door began sliding apart, each half slowly disappearing into the surrounding walls.

Painfully...

Almost comically...

Slowly.

Steven watched for a few seconds before sighing.

"...Guess I've got time."

He opened his Status window.

From the two levels he'd gained, he had ten Status Points waiting to be assigned.

Without hesitation he invested five into Intelligence.

Five into Wisdom.

His stats updated.

Strength: 14

Dexterity: 6

Constitution: 10

Intelligence: 17

Wisdom: 19

Charisma: 6

Luck: 4

He nodded approvingly.

"Very nice."

His maximum mana jumped noticeably.

His mana shots would also hit harder thanks to the Intelligence increase.

Next he opened his Skills.

He still had a single Skill Point available.

He invested it into Mana Circulation.

The skill immediately advanced to Level 2.

Its healing efficiency doubled.

"Perfect."

Steven closed the windows just as the giant door finally finished opening.

"...About damn time."

He stepped through the doorway...

And immediately stopped.

His jaw slowly dropped.

Beyond wasn't another hallway.

It was an enormous workshop.

The chamber was easily the size of an aircraft hangar.

Towering furnaces lined the left wall, their chimneys disappearing high into darkness.

Massive forging hammers hung suspended above anvils large enough to flatten a car.

Rows of precision lathes, presses, drill machines, and strange clockwork devices filled the center of the room, all connected by belts and rotating shafts powered by the Gate's endless machinery.

Copper pipes crisscrossed the ceiling, periodically releasing clouds of steam.

Everything looked abandoned.

A thin layer of dust covered every workbench and tool, suggesting no one had worked here in an incredibly long time.

The room branched in several directions.

To the left, a wide hallway disappeared behind towering shelves stacked with crates, barrels, and mechanical parts.

Straight ahead stood a pair of enormous reinforced double doors engraved with intricate gearwork far more elaborate than the entrance outside.

To the right, a narrower corridor stretched into darkness, lit only by softly glowing blue lamps mounted along the walls.

Near the rear of the workshop, an iron staircase spiraled upward onto a second-floor catwalk overlooking the entire room.

The catwalk led into a glass-walled office filled with drafting tables, rolled blueprints, and shelves overflowing with old books and journals.

Dominating the center of everything was an unfinished construct suspended from the ceiling by massive chains.

Nearly thirty feet tall.

Humanoid.

One arm fully assembled.

The other little more than an exposed framework of gears and pistons.

Its chest cavity remained open and empty, clearly designed to house some enormous power source that had never been installed.

Its expressionless face stared silently upward.

Frozen in time.

Steven slowly turned, taking in every detail.

A grin spread across his face.

"...This isn't just some dungeon."

He looked around the silent workshop once more.

"This was somebody's masterpiece."