Chapter 47: Enter the Dungeon

All ten Goblins started chasing him across the grove. Geth laughed even louder. To his compatriots hiding in the brush, he looked like a madman!

Geth would occasionally cast State Change, causing some of the Goblins to fall behind. The Swordsmen were faster than him and the Mages. Once they regained their footing, they quickly ran past the Mages and caught up to him.

'Perfect,' He thought. The Mages were almost in a single file line further behind while he took some hits from the Swordsmen on his bareback.

The moment he passed into the last section of the grove, he briefly saw an arrow arch high above the trees. It struck the Goblin trailing the furthest behind directly in the top of the head.

'Wow, impressive.' Geth mused. 'He arched the arrow over the trees instead of shooting straight at the creature.' To be accurate in that fashion was quite imposing.

Four more arrows found their targets in the same style. The last arrow shot straight from the trees and plunged its way directly through the Mages left eye.

This time, the Swordsmen didn't miss the action. They stopped their pursuit and turned to see the bodies of the dead Goblins laying in a trail.

They tried to run back, but it was too late. Geth cast State Change beneath the group and quickly moved himself to block their path.

As agreed, Hulk and his two men jumped out of the brush and rushed the trapped Goblins. Geth planned to try to push Level 25 this Dungeon, but he wanted to make sure these guys became strong.

He wouldn't leave one of his branches to be run by weaklings, but he also couldn't have them as strong as his main force. There had to be a proper balance for his plans to work.

With Geth blocking the Goblins' path, the trio quickly took them out. Hulk took the head off of one and plunged his sword through the next one's back before the other two could even kill their one.

'The guy seems to be a natural in swordplay. Seems like he may have been a good choice after all.' Geth pondered for a moment.

They looted the equipment from the Goblins. Geth intended to see if Bruce could melt down the weapons. He also wondered if the elemental-powered staves could be recycled somehow in the future.

Zolis and Filthy walked out of the woods, nodding in satisfaction. They'd agreed that if the trio wasn't comfortable pursuing and killing the Goblins then they couldn't be a part of the raid.

They knew that the trio had killed to protect their families, but it was different when it came to hunting and killing the creatures of one's own volition. If they couldn't handle that, Geth wouldn't allow them to run the place.

Being soft would get you killed.

The party moved on to the Dungeon entrance and stood, looking down into the dimly lit tunnel. This wasn't like the Slime Dungeon, which had Mana Stones occasionally embedded in the walls.

This Dungeon was completely dark, though Filthy pointed out a few crude torches that it looked like the guards had used. He took some stones out of his pocket, striking them together until a spark lit one of the torches.

"We will just keep one burning for now, and light the next one when it's about to go out." Filthy suggested, holding the torch above his head. No one disagreed.

Geth was the first to walk into the Dungeon, the trio behind him, and then Zolis followed by Filthy. This was the best setup, since Geth was both the tank, and could see with the glow from his staff.

"Why is this tunnel so big?" Hulk asked. "The Goblins are barely four feet tall, yet this tunnel is close to 20 feet. It's almost as tall as a two-story house!"

The trio just glanced at him, Zolis was the first to answer. "You haven't seen a Hobgoblin yet, have you?" She responded, thinking of the ones that Geth had guarding their home.

The fact that he'd fought those creatures angered her a bit, he really didn't care for his own safety. She couldn't imagine how she'd feel if he never came home.

Zolis gripped her hammer tighter, thinking about smacking him in the head with it. Hulk looked back at her and noticed her quickly changing expressions. He picked up his pace and walked closer to Geth.

The group remained quiet for most of the trip, for Geth and Zolis this was their second Dungeon. Even then, this thing was on a much larger scale than their home!

After walking for a solid half-hour, they managed to reach a large cavern. The smell coming from the opening was enough to peel one's skin back.

Filthy flitted forward and peeked through the entrance while Zolis and the trio were making retching noises. He came back quickly and made a report.

"There aren't many enemies, but the situation is... odd." Filthy stated. "There are twelve Hobgoblins and one massive Goblin hanging out in the center.

The smell is coming from hundreds of Swordsmen and Mage corpses lying around on the floor. The biggest Goblin is holding a large staff. From the looks of the corpses.... they've been eating them.."

The other four had a brief look of shock while Geth just frowned a bit. 'It's a bit how the Slimes were Leveling up.' Geth thought briefly. "Did you see anything else?"

Filthy continued, "Several small tunnels are leading out of the cavern and two more large tunnels. Likely, these aren't the only enemies. The small ones are probably scattered throughout the tunnels, while the big ones wait for them to come out looking for food."

Geth nodded. "Very well then." He turned towards the others, "Here's the plan.."

***

Geth was standing ahead of the rest of the group. He glanced back at them, "Are you ready?" He asked. One by one, they all nodded at him. "Good, then let's begin."

The rest of the group ran far back down the tunnel, putting on their cloaks and merging into the shadows. Geth waited for 120 seconds and once he thought they would be in place, he peeked his head around the corner to confirm the situation.