Jack and Hayes turned the corner of the tunnel and entered the next room side by side. Jack’s nerves were on edge and his muscles tense. If they were gonna betray me, this would be it. Jack would soon be distracted with multiple foes and unable to watch the twins behind him. At any time, they could slice open his neck.

Reflexively, he turned his head to check on the twins. Ayla and Aiden were nowhere in sight. Focus on the battle Jack, he told himself and returned his focus to the fight.

There were five goblin warriors charging toward them. They were all between level seven and nine with no more than 90 health at the most. Jack cast Quicken and distanced himself from Hayes.

Two of the goblins charged the tank, while the other three headed straight for him. Jack had a decision to make, did he keep his distance or go in for the kill?

After a second’s hesitation, he decided. Screw it, I need to trust in my armor.

Jack lowered his halberd and thrust forward into the center goblin’s chest. The point slipped four inches into its chest through the heart, only to be stopped by the axe-head rebounding from ribs. The force of the attack killed the goblin instantly and it fell to the ground, bringing his halberd with it.

Before Jack could disengage his weapon, the left and right goblin swung their swords down onto him from the sides. The left warrior’s sword slammed against his left arm bruising it, but did not cut through the chain. The right goblin’s swing bounced off his chest doing almost zero damage.

Hah! Their attacks can’t get through my double armor, Jack thought as he yanked his weapon out of the dead goblin. In the same motion he spun to his left, polearm extended, knocking the left goblin to the ground.

Anticipating a stab from behind, Jack leaped forward with his enhanced agility toward the grounded warrior. Midair, he placed his spear-point down onto the fallen goblin and pushed off. This extended his vault and sank the spear deep into the goblin.

Once past, Jack twisted midair and brandished his halberd, ready to meet the right goblin’s charge.

“Bravo Jack, bravo!” Eckland clapped, celebrating his gymnastics. The clapping stopped and Jack saw a pebble bounce off the mortally wounded goblin.

The right goblin charged him and was met by Jack's spear-point. The tip sank deep into its chest, halting its rush instantly.

Jack pushed forward and then yanked back on his halberd, clearing the goblin from his spear-point. The warrior fell lifeless to the ground. Am I getting better at fighting, or does six more agility really mean that much? he thought. Eckland whistled his support.

Ayla darted in, slashing her swords into the goblin warrior that Jack had vaulted over. With two quick swipes, the goblin ceased its struggles and died.

She raised her swords above her and crowed, “Hah! I got two goblins, suck it Aiden!”

Aiden protested, “No you didn’t, you stole that one from Jack! It was bleeding out!”

“Well, if you were quicker, you’d have finished it off instead of me!”

Jack ignored the argument and checked on the red-faced tank. Hayes was sitting on the ground, catching his breath. “Are you ok Hayes?”

Between deep breaths he responded, “Yeah… Although… I should… be asking… you… that question.”

Jack checked his status. So, I lost ten health in that battle, nine from the bruise on my arm, and only one from the strike to my chest.

“Yeah I’m fine, I only lost ten health. Actually, if my leather armor covered my arms, I would only have lost two. I think I’ll buy some new leather when we get done. I need something to cover my arms as well,” Jack added.

Eckland interjected, “Actually, you’ll want to get a gambeson like Hayes. The padding doesn’t restrict your movements like stiff leather, and it does a better job of protecting you from blunt damage.”

After looting the last body, Eckland walked back to his pack and retrieved a small vial. “Here take this, it’s a minor healing potion. We don’t have hours for you to heal.”

“Thanks,” said Jack, accepting the vial.

Do I trust them or not? Jack questioned. They’ve had multiple opportunities to attack me and haven’t taken them. I think they might actually be trustworthy. Jack flipped off the cork stopper and downed the potion. Within seconds, he felt a warmth fill his stomach. His health slowly climbed until it was full.

I guess it wasn’t poison, Jack thought with relief and then laughed to himself. They’re too incompetant to be assassins. Hayes would be too scared to attack, Eckland too lazy, and the twins would never stop arguing about who got to attack first.

“All better?” asked Eckland.

“Yep, I’m full health.”

“Good, let’s move on. I think we’ll make it far today.” Eckland slapped Hayes’s armor as he hobbled past. “Get up, we can’t rest all day, there’s goblins to kill.”

With a wicked grin, Eckland turned to Ayla. “For the record, Jack has the most with four kills. The last was already dead when you finished it off, it just didn’t know it yet.”

Her eyes narrowed and her face flushed, “We’ll see about that.”

Aiden laughed at Ayla’s anger. He obviously didn’t care if he won as long as his sister lost.

Eckland led the group to the next room while informing Jack of what to expect. “The next room is a bit different. There are two warriors, and one or two archers as well. I think Hayes should…”

Eckland abruptly stopped talking and hobbled to the edge of the room, bending over with his heavy pack above him.

“Hayes should what?” asked Jack confused.

Aiden laughed, “Don’t bother. When he sees alchemy ingredients, he gets so focused he wouldn’t even notice a fight breaking out. That’s not an exaggeration. He actually walked into a room to harvest Sarinthia, completely ignoring the three warriors charging him. We barely broke the charge, and when we finished, he was still on the ground picking flowers.”

Hayes shook his head with a grin. “That’s our fearless leader.”

Jack felt pangs of loneliness. He’d missed this kind of comradery between friends. His friends would be on voice chat all night, busting each other's balls, competing for the most kills.

Tears welled within his eyes. I miss Carson and Grayson. I wonder what they’re doing right now. Jack snorted, They’re probably sleeping, it isn’t even noon.

Comprehension suddenly struck him. That’s why I was so trusting with Bron’s group. I was so desperate for friendship, I ignored all the signs.

“Excellent!” said Eckland, interrupting his thoughts, “More Ghostroot. Now I just need some Bloodsprout and I can make another batch of lesser potions.”

Jack prodded Eckland, “So, you were talking about what Hayes should do in the next room?”

“Ah yes, as I was saying, Hayes should enter the room first, gaining the archer’s attention. After they fire, the twins can dispatch them while you help Hayes with the warriors. Got it?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Eckland stopped, “Ok, we’re here, do your thing Hayes.”

Hayes paused and breathed deeply for two breaths before shaking his head and turning the corner.

After hearing two thunks, Ayla and Aiden sped off. Jack trailed behind them.

He turned the corner and saw Hayes retreating from two warriors, two arrows sticking out of his shield. Hayes was only able to block the occasional sword thrust, but that was fine, he didn’t need to block them all. His head and neck were his only vulnerable points and as long as those were safe, he’d take no damage.

Jack cast Quicken and flanked the two goblins attacking Hayes. Chopping downwards like cutting wood, his polearm’s axe-head bit deep into the left warrior’s head. Bone cracked. The skull was only strong enough to slow the heavy halberd, not stop it.

“Oooh, that had to hurt!” said Eckland in mock sympathy and tossed a pebble at the other goblin.

The right warrior ignored its partner’s death, intent on the first enemy it saw, Hayes. These truly are stupid creatures.

Jack pried his halberd out of the skull and repeated his actions against the other warrior. After another thunk, both goblins were dead.

“Thanks,” Hayes said between heavy breaths.

“Yes, good job Jack. You’ve made this much easier. What takes three to four strikes with a sword, you can do with a single chop of your heavy club,” said Eckland.

“I win!” shouted Aiden. “Haha, too slow!”

Fueled by frustration, Ayla finished her archer off with a heavy slash to its neck.

Jack did his best to ignore the twin’s byplay, and asked, “Eckland, why don’t you pick up a bow or something. Wouldn’t that do more damage than just tossing pebbles?”

Eckland sighed and bent to loot the two warriors. “Don’t you think I’ve tried? My agility is too low. I’m just as likely to hit one of you as I am a goblin. At least pebbles won’t hurt anyone if I miss.”

“That’s not true.” interjected Aiden, “Remember when you hit me in the face? It distracted me and the hoplite I was fighting turned around and stabbed me in the gut. Slid straight through my leather like it wasn’t there.”

“Stop whining,” Eckland turned to face Jack, “The dungeon gets harder in the next room. The goblins aren’t as mindless and they start using simple tactics. Be careful, this is normally where we start getting injured.”

“By WE, he means Aiden and I. Hayes is pretty much invulnerable, and Eckland gets to sit on his butt and watch from safety.” corrected Ayla.

“Hey, I can get hurt! I got shot in the neck with an arrow, remember!” said Hayes.

“Don’t be such a baby,” said Eckland. “It ricocheted off of your armor and hit you at half speed. It only did twenty damage, I’d hardly call that getting hurt.”

“How about I stab you in the neck for twenty damage and see if YOU think it doesn’t hurt.” threatened Hayes.

This is getting out of hand, I need to get them back on track.

“So Eckland,” Jack quickly interjected. “What’s the strategy for the next room?”

Eckland seemed happy to avoid Hayes’ statement. “Well, we won’t see any more warriors or scouts. The next room should have three hoplites and a few archers. Let’s use the same strategy as before.” Gesturing toward the next turn, he added, “You’re up Hayes.”

“Wait,” said Jack. “Have you guys tried luring them back to this room? The archers should still be mindless right? When they can’t see Hayes, they might come to us.”

Eckland rubbed his chin in thought, “Hmm, I don’t see why we can’t try it.” He grinned and said, “Since it’s your idea, you get to devise the strategy.”

Well crap. Ok, treat it like a video game.

Jack turned to Hayes. “Ok, you should wait right there,” he pointed to a spot in their current room about fifteen feet away from the corridor.

Turning to the twins, he added, “You two stand on each side of the tunnel entrance hidden from view. That way, when the hoplites come through, they don’t see you. Hopefully the archers will follow me into the room and you can attack them from behind.”

When everyone was in position, Jack entered the curving tunnel to the next room and looked back. “Everyone ready?” he called.

He heard a chorus of yeahs in response. Even Eckland responded, his mouth full of snacks. I guess we’re his entertainment.

Shortly before he reached the next room, he cast Quicken. He stepped into the next room for only an instant before turning to flee. Please let this work! His increased speed easily let him outpace the goblins chasing him.

Jack shot out of the tunnel and swerved to his left, away from Hayes. After creating enough space, he stopped in his tracks and turned to brace himself for their charge.

Three level 13 goblin hoplites rushed into the room, passing Ayla and Aiden. Shortly behind the hoplites followed two level 9 archers.

The hoplites were the first goblins Jack had encountered that wore armor. They were fitted with rough leather, round shields, and spears. At 190 health, they had over twice the amount of the archers.

After seeing our ambush, the three hoplites slowed. The lead goblin split off toward Hayes while the other two turned toward Jack.

They slowed their approach even further and split apart. They’re trying to flank me.

Jack retreated until his back was to a wall. The goblins gave up on flanking him and readied their shorter spears.

He jabbed left and right with his halberd toward each goblin and they blocked with their shields. They tried countering with jabs of their own, but Jack easily avoided them with his high agility. However, by splitting his focus between the two, he didn’t have time to utilize the full damage of the polearm. He continued to return short quick jabs with little strength. Last time I needed a potion, let’s see if we can finish this fight flawless.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ayla and Aiden rushing to aid Hayes after finishing off the archers.

Looks like helping their friend takes precedence over the new guy.

Jack continued to stall, neither side able to land a blow. This would be so easy with Paralyze.

Now finished with the first hoplite, the twins converged upon the two assailants from behind. They raised their dual short swords and slashed inwards on the goblin’s exposed necks like giant scissors.

The deep cuts were not enough to kill them instantly. Both hoplites turned to attack their ambushers, blood gushing from their wounds.

They’re tough little buggers.

Jack took advantage of the opening and swung his polearm at the left goblin’s head. A loud crack resounded and the hoplite flew sideways, inadvertently tackling its partner. Both goblins tumbled to the ground.

Before the right goblin could rise, Jack reversed his swing and cleaved into its face. Teeth flew through the air as the axe-head sheared off its jaw. The head actually bounced off the rock floor from the force of the blow.

Neither goblin moved.

The others gaped at the devastation Jack wrought upon the hoplites. Several seconds passed before Eckland broke the silence. “Well, that seemed to work well.”

Jack ended his spell as Eckland rose to his feet and approached the mutilated bodies. While looting, he asked, “So... how did you come up with a plan like that? I’ve never heard of any groups luring goblins into a trap.”

“Uh… where I come from, it’s a common tactic called ‘line of sight pulling’.” At least it is in video games, he thought to himself. In real life, no one’s stupid enough to rush into an obvious trap like that.

Of course, if these goblins were real, the dungeon would be set up entirely different. Instead of getting progressively harder the deeper you go, the highest level goblins would be at the front behind fortifications, protecting the weak from attack.

It’s almost like the dungeon is a training tool, slowly introducing harder and harder challenges.

Eckland interrupted his thoughts with a question, “Where DO you come from, you never mentioned it before.”

“Atlanta.”

“I’ve never heard of Atlanta, is it a small village in the wild?”

“No, it's a large city, it’s just really far away.” Lightyears away, Jack thought. Although, we could still be on Earth, just in a different dimension. He wondered if he’d ever find out the truth.

“Well, continue to share any other tricks you’ve picked up. I think that’s the first time we've gotten through that room with no damage.”

Hayes added, “Yeah, I liked that a lot more than our usual plan!”

“Of course you do, you only had to defend against one goblin instead of five.” retorted Ayla.

“At this rate, I think we’ll make it to the floor boss,” said Eckland with glee. “Were halfway through and still have eight minor potions left.”