Chapter 31

The Goblin’s Retreat dungeon stretched out in front of Crimson. It was a valley with a larger-than-should-be-possible mansion in the center. It looked like it was built for giants, not people.

“Is that really a mansion?”

“Not sure, it’s way too big to be one.” Cherish responded, “Every hallway is big enough for me to use my axe without any problems.”

He glanced at the axe she had pulled out as she spoke. …It’s almost as tall as she is…and with the reach that her height gives her…that, is a big mansion.

If it was really that big inside he wouldn’t have any problems with his short Katana.

He took another look at the valley: it was coated with grass and he could see goblins wandering around on it. Hmm…according to [System Insight] the ones wandering the plains have levels that range from 1 to 5. Why is this thing working anyway? He glanced around for Lena and didn’t see her. Where is she???

Skill: [Lena] deactivated while in a dungeon.

Crap.

He felt a bit of panic run through him. What if the skill being deactivated hurt Lena? What if she suffered memory loss? What if it hurt? These questions raced through his head feeding the panic that he felt running through him.

Then, he stopped and took a deep breath. [System Insight X] had stepped in again, if he wanted Lena’s skill to remain active while he was in a dungeon he’d have to evolve it; but for now he needed to check on Lena-make sure there weren’t any negative side affects from the skill’s deactivation.

“Cherish.”

“What’s up?”

“I need to step outside the dungeon for a sec. When I entered it forcibly deactivated one of my skills and I’m worried that something might have gone wrong with it.”

She looked at him with concern, “I’ve never heard of a skill being forcibly deactivated in a dungeon. What kind of skill is it?”

“It’s a [Guide] skill.”

Cherish looked at the sky for a moment then gestured to the three yahoos with them to stay put. “You three wait here, I’ll go back with Crimson.”

“It shouldn’t take long, if entering deactivated the skill then exiting should reactivate it.”

Crimson and Cherish stepped through the fog once again and upon exiting a message popped up:

Skill: [Lena] reactivating…

“Could I have a minute alone Cherish? My guide is self aware and I want to make sure the deactivation didn’t hurt.”

She waved him off, “Do what you need to, but don’t take too long. We need to get you to Level 2 today.”

He nodded and walked to the edge of the courtyard-away from everyone else.

Skill: [Lena] has finished reactivating…

Skill: [Lena] Reforming…

Skill: [Lena] Reformed

Like the very first time he met her Lena appeared in a bubble of light in the air; he cupped his hands under her and caught her like the very first time.

“Are you okay Lena? Is there anything wrong?”

She opened her eyes and looked at him, “No master, there is nothing wrong. Why are you panicking? Did something happen?”

“Yeah, when I entered the dungeon your Skill was automatically deactivated. I was worried that it would hurt you.”

She froze for a second, then slowly nodded. “I’m fine master, as far as I know we entered the fog, then I woke up in your hands. I remember everything just fine and I don’t hurt.”

He sighed in relief. I don’t like that she has to ‘sleep’ while I’m in a dungeon, but I can’t do anything until I evolve her…thinking of which:

Skill: Level Up [Lena V]

He was a bit torn, he didn’t like that she could get further away from him, but he got closer to evolving her Skill.

“Lena, I need to return to the dungeon…”

“It’s okay master, I’ll be fine. Go get stronger, kill a few goblins for me!”

He smiled at her and nodded, “Will do.”

He walked back to Cherish, who noticed that he was smiling. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, no problems.”

“Great, let’s go in.”

“Before we enter I have a quick question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Why don’t Dale, Drake, or David talk? Are they mute?”

“I’ll tell you later, after we kill a few goblins. They won’t mind if I tell you so there’s no need to keep it a secret. For now, just know that they don’t speak for religious reasons.”

“Understood.”

They walked back through the fog again- this time Crimson paid attention and noticed when Lena disappeared from his shoulder. He saw the same alert-the one that told him that her skill was deactivated.

Cherish waved to the religious trio and they fell in step behind her. She led them down the stairs that led from the fog to the base of the valley. She turned and faced Crimson. “I’m going to make you the same offer that was made to me when I first started training: you get to pick where we’ll go for today.”

Crimson nodded in surprise and looked around. The mansion is an obvious choice, if I want to get my skull caved in within a minute. I suppose that just leaves left, or right. He looked to the sides trying to see if there was any difference, there was. The grass to the right looked thinner, like many people had walked through it. The left was much thicker.

From what [System Insight told me the levels of the Goblin’s increase the closer to the mansion I get, meaning that there shouldn’t be any difference in the difficulty of the enemies no matter which choice I make. Which means that I should go left. That way I don’t have to ‘fight’ other people for hunting spots.

He pointed to the left, “I say we go that way.”

Cherish glanced at him with a raised eyebrow then, grunted and nodded. “We go that way then. Get into formation!”

Dale stood in the center with Drake behind him and David in front of him. Cherish stood on his right side. She instructed Crimson to stand on Dale’s left side.

“This is one of the basic party formations. Clearly this one isn’t perfect, but you don’t have enough experience to be a rear guard or front guard on you own, yet. For our team it’ll have to do for now.”

“Understood.”

They stalked through the ‘tall’ grass, it came up to Crimson’s ankles, and kept a sharp eye out for goblins. It didn’t take long to spot one wandering the field.

When David spotted it he used his short sword to hit the large shield on his left arm. The shield glowed a slight golden color, and the goblin’s head snapped around to stare at the mute [Guardian]. The goblin stood stock still for a second, then charged at David.

It was a small thing, about 4 feet tall, and had pale green skin. It had a bulbous nose, large ears, huge-round eyes, and was bald. It was bare handed and was only wearing a loincloth for coverage. Crimson fervently prayed in is mind that it would remain firmly in place. ‘That’ wasn’t a sight he wanted to see.

It ran closer and close to David, it was really slow, and when it got within arm’s reach of the man he performed a quick shield bash. It staggered back and held it’s head and Cherish called for Crimson to kill it.

He had unsheathed his katana when the had gotten into formation and held it at the ready. Even if it’s level 1 I’m probably too weak to kill it in one blow, so I’ll go for a crippling strike-reduce it’s movement. He slid up to the goblin as it wobbled around, holding its head, and performed a quick strike to slash the back of its legs. He was only able to cut one of them and it wasn’t a deep cut, but the goblin did fall over with a screech.

Crimson backed off to make sure that it wouldn’t hit him if it flailed around, which it did, and waited for an opening. It only took a few seconds for the goblin to roll onto its side and grab its leg-leaving it’s back wide open and facing him.

He stepped forward again and stabbed it in the back, once, twice. It died after the second strike, which hit the back of it’s neck. He could tell it died because its body evaporated, and left behind a wispy blue smoke that twisted up into the air.

He turned around and faced his party leader. She’d probably have notes for him.