We had a fairly quick breakfast. I wasn’t exactly the slowest eater in general and now I was even faster than usual due to the anticipation I was experiencing.

Should I be worried about turning into a psychopath?

One of the benefits we were currently experiencing now that we had plenty of money built up was that these meals at the guild were insanely cheap. The matter of who was paying was never brought up, we really felt like it was unimportant at this point. More often than not Velariah just dug into her pouch and pulled out a silver coin or two, tipping generously in the process.

We finished our business inside and prepared to move out. I did my usual check, in silence, to make sure we had everything. Draco carried the bulk of the supplies and Velariah and Seralyn each carried their share of potions. I believe Velariah brought one of the paralytic mushrooms with her. I wondered if we would have a use for it.

After I concluded we’d forgotten nothing, we checked with the Lore keeper for the exact location of the cave in question and soon left the building.

We could have Nira scout if necessary but that’s something we’d rather avoid, considering what happened last time.

We exited the eastern gate and followed the dirt trail towards the forest.

“Nira?” I asked.

She was already starting to struggle to keep up with her talons.

“Yes?” She asked timidly.

“You know the deal. Want a ride?”

She nodded. “If you don’t mind.”

“Oh, me too, me too!” Velariah said excitedly.

“You’re walking, for now,” I said. “Can’t have you getting fat from being carried around all day.” I smiled.

“I’m not fat!” She said.

“That’s not what I said.”

“Aww, our first lovers’ quarrel,” Seralyn commented with a grin.

“Shut it!” Velariah and I both said at the same time.

I grinned at that. That, and Nira’s expression were hilarious.

Fortunately, Nira and Draco weren’t the inquisitive types.

I lowered myself so the harpy could easily hop on top of me. With a swift motion and a flap of her wings, she got on top and sat down on my abdomen with her claws around my midsection.

We reached the checkpoint and I smiled as we passed the guards, who were looking at our party with curiosity.

It made me wonder who our next party member would be. Having another ranged damage dealer, preferably with magic, would be a great asset.

“Velariah?” I asked the elf, who was walking a bit too close next to me.

“Hm?”

“What happened to the recruitment post we left at the guild?”

“No idea. Draco?”

“It’s still open,” Draco replied. “If Nira decides to stay with us, we will cancel it. Until then, people are still free to apply.”

“And we didn’t get any new applications in the meantime?” I asked.

The lizardman shook his head. “Afraid not.”

“Not sure if that’s something you should be afraid of. I’d rather stick with Nira. She is great.”

“That she is,” Draco commented.

“Have you guys put any thought into looking for another ranged damage dealer?”

“My arrows not good enough for you?” Seralyn commented.

I saw she wasn’t being entirely serious when I looked at her face.

“I was thinking a mage would be great to have, in addition to your arrows, Seralyn.”

“You may be right,” Velariah said. “But our party is starting to grow fairly large, don’t you think?”

She had a point there.

“I would agree. However, having a mage would allow us to fill our last weakness. I’m pretty sure there are monsters out there that are resistant to normal attacks, correct?”

“That would be correct.” Draco filled us in. “While this dragon-blessed steel is wonderful, we cannot rely on its effect to trigger consistently.”

“Agreed,” Velariah added.

“We should open recruitment for a mage then. When we return, that is.”

“I thought you’d be scared to death by mages,” Seralyn commented. “And no, I didn’t mean that in a mean way.”

I shrugged. “As long as they don’t try to roast me, I guess I’d be alright with them.”

“Not getting roasted sounds like a good idea,” Velariah said. “Crispy spider isn’t exactly my thing.”

“You’re implying that spiders are totally your thing,” Seralyn giggled.

“Maybe they are,” Velariah said in a serious tone.

I sped up my pace slightly so I was ahead of the others. I didn’t need them to be able to see my face, which I was sure was red at this time.

“Are you alright, Elania?” Nira asked me.

I didn’t answer and waited until my face took on a more normal color. I stopped for a bit and allowed the others to catch up.

“Thought I’d seen something.” I lied.

Velariah didn’t reply and walked back next to me with a broad smile.

I couldn’t believe how carefree she was.

A few minutes later, we reached the forest’s edge, which forced us to be more careful. From there we walked southeast, the opposite direction to the witch’s abode.

We ran into the occasional goblin which was killed off by Seralyn without a sound. They were easy to take care of when you could shoot them from afar with deadly accuracy. The lush vegetation was a blessing - it made it quite easy for us to hide.

There was only one time where we hadn’t spotted a goblin before it spotted us. Its skin color camouflaged it pretty well. He had been sleeping in the vegetation, likely hiding from his kin, and I stepped on him. He had eyed me in shock before being finished off by an axe blow from Draco.

“Hold up,” Velariah whispered. “I have the feeling there are more around here.”

I looked around, but I couldn’t see any. It was unsettling.

“I’ll go ahead,” I said.

If anyone would be able to resist ambushes, it would be me. I wouldn’t fall to their poisoned arrows and I was confident my armor would protect my vulnerable parts.

I had Nira dismount.

I held one of the shields in front of my head as I slowly made my way out of the brush into a more open area where the ground consisted of hardened dirt.

I could see why Velariah said she expected more. This dirt didn’t harden by itself. I was fairly certain there were old footprints covering the floor as well.

Moments later, I felt something poke my rear. I looked behind me to see a small arrow sticking into my spider abdomen.

Why did they keep aiming there? Did they not know their arrows didn’t actually penetrate my exoskeleton?

I imagined they did it because it was a large target.

Stupid, but beneficial to me.

Several goblins jumped out into the open, each of them carrying melee weapons. I counted five but there was no telling how many more hid in the vegetation around this area.

I looked around and found the archer that had hit me. He let loose another arrow, which ricocheted off my midsection. Another arrow flew from the same direction, hitting me in my abdomen, but the arrow fell out after only penetrating superficially.

Two archers.

I looked around for a second but I couldn’t spot any more. I decided to take them out first.

Just as I thought that, I felt heat on my rear. I looked around to see another fireball fly my way from the opposite side of the clearing. I dodged it with a quick sidestep.

Screw that. That mage is my priority target.

I ran in the direction from which the fireball was cast and was met with another one head-on. I easily blocked it with a shield before it could hit my head.

I jumped into the vegetation and was met with five more goblins with spears.

It would appear they had tried to draw me into an ambush.

Emphasis on tried to.

I charged forward and found the goblin mage, easily made out due to a staff with an orange orb on top of it. I pinned him down and delivered a lethal dose of venom while the other goblins screamed and charged from behind.

I took a quick look at their weapons but found no ranged weapons that could actually reach my head.

I charged through the group of goblins with their crude weapons with my blades at my sides and cut through two of them while piercing one further out with my long spear.

I let the momentum run out and turned around to see three more goblins with daggers had appeared.

I ran through them and slashed all of them. Their blood covered my blades as I turned around yet again and finished off the last few, who’d given up and started running. With more awaiting me in the clearing, I didn’t have the luxury of taking any captives so, painful as it was, I was forced into killing them off.

I gave them quick deaths with my venom. That was the least I could do.

I then quickly made my way back over to the clearing and charged straight to the opposite side, taking the archers by surprise. Each one of my blades killed one of them.

Finally, I ran towards the group of melee-orientated goblins and fought in a more hand-to-hand style. My blades cut through their spears like hot blades through butter. I stabbed a goblin with both of my blades while, at the same time, piercing one with my spear. Another one of them found themselves in front of me and I pinned him down with my legs before injecting him with venom.

A couple more of them appeared from the nearby vegetation but they were already too late. This battle was over before it even began. If they didn’t manage to take me out immediately, I would simply be able to cut through each one of them.

I decapitated one and stabbed the other in the chest. The two remaining goblins ran into the clearing where they were struck down by arrows - one of those caught fire.

“Holy crap, Elania. That was beyond brutal.” Seralyn said as she approached, with the others.

I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. Velariah, could I borrow you for a sec?” I pointed to the arrow in my abdomen which was out of reach of my arms.

I guessed I could get it out with my spear, but I’d rather not cause unnecessary damage.

“No problem.” She walked up to me and carefully took out the arrow.

Nira was eager to use her healing magic and did so, but it didn’t prove to do much. There was hardly any damage.

I thought for a few moments about the slaughter I’d just caused. I didn’t think I would ever get used to killing sentient beings like this…

I hoped that meant I’d not lost all my humanity.

“You okay?” Velariah asked me with worry in her voice.

I nodded. “I’m happy these new weapons do what they are supposed to do but, you know...”

I couldn’t believe I was looking forward to this earlier.

“I get what you mean. I’m not sure what to say about it, either.” Velariah patted my back. “But we still have a mission to complete. Let’s continue, we’re nowhere near our destination yet.”

“You’re right. I can’t lose focus right now.”

I hoped this would get easier with time, but somewhere deep inside of me, I hoped it wouldn’t.

We regrouped and checked for any worthwhile loot. Besides the staff that the goblin mage used, there really wasn’t anything of value. A few silvers in total was all that was worth taking. We simply deposited all looted items in my saddlebags before continuing.

I cleaned my weapons on the nearby trees and bushes as we marched forward once more. Nira was seated on my back again and I was leading the way.

We walked for hours and, eventually, I took pity on Velariah and allowed her to hop on my back, something for which she was more than grateful.

According to Draco, we would reach our destination soon and we decided to take a break before that. He handed me a canteen, from which I started drinking while circling around our temporary camp.

I doubted we would be in trouble from a goblin ambush at this point, but there was no harm in making sure the perimeter was secured.

It made me wonder if I could spin a thread around our camp like a tripwire and then hold my leg on it to sense vibrations from possible intruders. That’s how spiders did it, right?

I had no idea how they did it, just that they did something like it. Velariah and I would have to look into that someday. I was curious now.

I emptied the canteen and circled once more.

Velariah came walking up to me while chewing on an apple.

“You doing alright, El?”

“I’m fine, I’m just anxious. I just don’t like this place. I can’t help but feel we’re being watched all the time.”

“Yeah, no kidding. I can’t wait until we’re done here, either. We’re almost there, will you be fine?”

I nodded. “Let’s make this quick.”

“El?” Velariah asked softly.

“Yes?”

“Please stay safe, will you?”

“I will.”

She finished her apple and we approached the others again. I handed my now empty canteen to Draco before I continued to lead the way.

I wasn’t sure what Draco meant when he said we were almost there. It took us half an hour before we ran into more goblins. Seralyn and Nira took care of a couple of patrolling goblins before our destination came into sight.

From the bushes surrounding our target, we were observing a cave that seemed to lead into a hill that was overgrown with grass. I could vaguely make out rocky walls leading into the darkness of a cave.

In front of said cave were several seemingly better-armored goblins. They still had shabby weapons from the looks of it, but they wore more than a simple loincloth.

I doubted leather would help them much, though.

The others observed our destination with us. It seemed they had several archers positioned above the entrance on the hill.

“How do you guys want to go about this?” I spoke quietly. “Surprise attack or careful extermination?”

“I count five archers,” Seralyn added. “You could take them out yourself or let me handle them, up to you.”

I thought about the best course of action. There were a fair amount of goblins patrolling the area outside the cave and I had no information on what waited inside.

“It would be foolish to rush into there without knowing what’s inside.” Velariah joined the conversation. “I suggest we take out whatever is outside quickly and then converge at the entrance. Set up a defensive line with Draco in the front while Elania takes out the archers. After they are taken out, Nira can take to the skies to warn us of more incoming enemies.”

“I’m okay with that,” Draco said. “Nira?”

“I’m not sure...” The harpy started. “If I fly here I might draw unwanted attention.”

“You could help taking out some of the less well-armed goblins,” I suggested. “I doubt you’re unable to handle daggers.” I smiled.

“So Draco and I rush to the entrance while Elania takes out the archers. Seralyn and Nira clear the surroundings while I support them. That’s the plan?”

We all nodded.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Velariah said.

Seralyn took aim and I waited for her shot before beginning my sprint. I held a shield in front of my face between me and the goblin archers, and another at my side. I intended to slice a few goblins with it on my way to the foot of the hill.

Seralyn’s arrow flew true and hit one of the goblins to our left in the head. I made a run for it and slashed a goblin before they even knew what happened. Another goblin that was in my way received a lethal cut as well and I even managed to severely injure one to my left with a swipe from my spear while holding the shield in front of my head.

The arrows soon started to rain on me, five at a time. After killing the last goblin in the way between me and the rangers, I held my other shield up as well and hid all my arms behind them.

I couldn’t see what was going on down below as I ran up the hill. All I noticed were arrows scattering on my shield or my carapace. Only one managed to hit me, and it hit my spider abdomen, doing zero damage.

I held my right shield up as I ran past the goblins, who were still neatly standing in a line.

My momentum carried my blade through four of them, I finished off the last one with a stab to the heart.

After I made sure they were dead I looked at what was going on down below.

Draco had already reached the entrance and casually parried a spear before decapitating a goblin with his other shield axe. I believe I saw Nira almost ripping a goblin in half with her large talons and Seralyn was racking up a killing spree as arrow after arrow mowed down goblins that came to reinforce.

Velariah supported where necessary. She was currently making sure none of them would reach Seralyn. I quickly ran down the hill to aid Seralyn. Draco seemed to need some assistance soon.

“Velariah, go help Draco.” I shouted.

There was a stream of goblins converging on Seralyn’s position, but the circumstances for me were ideal.

I rushed down the small hill and ran through the stream of goblins with the blades at my side. I didn’t stop until I couldn’t see any more goblins coming from the front.

When no more seemed to appear I turned around.

What was behind me was nothing short of a massacre. About fifteen goblins lay dead or dying on the ground. Goblin blood started to soak the ground around them.

I really wouldn’t get used to this.

Unable to stand the suffering, I ended two goblins’ lives that were already at death’s door.

I made my way back to Seralyn, who had joined Velariah and Draco and was shooting at whatever was in the cave. Nira was standing behind them.

“You guys alright here?” I asked while I scanned the surroundings.

“We seem to be in an okay position here,” Draco answered.

It seemed Draco had ignited a torch and tossed it into the cave to provide us with visibility of what was going on near the entrance. Several goblins already lay dead at their feet.

“We going?” I asked cautiously.

“Hold on a second,” Seralyn said. “Something’s coming.”