The two warriors pulled themselves upwards, crawling out of the holes in the walls, back into the centre of the cavernous room. They were offered no cheers, instead, a dull silence fell upon the cavern, the knight's wall had widened, the only sounds now being that of a shifting step or gauntlet clanking as one of the paladin's would re-adjust their shield. In the centre of them, a great empty patch of floor was left, occupied only by The Speaker, and the two unmoving men, lay side-by-side on the floor, wooden shafts being pulled with surprising dexterity from their bodies with gauntleted hands.

Hard's small stature seemed to grow smaller as he and Steal closed in on the group. His voice as gruff as ever, but not as commanding, wavering slightly as he spoke to one of the paladin's as the duo passed through the circle of them.

"Who... who did we lose?"

"Damien and Myron... sir."

Hard moved forwards to The Speaker, Steal followed behind, though he gave the man a few feet of space, Adolfus now clung to his back, peering out over his shoulder as they moved.

The crest-helmed figure rose to his feet as he set the last of the arrows aside gently. He turned and spoke, his voice soft, warm and melodic. "Jackson, Korda, I ask that you take Damien and Myron back, out of this dungeon, we cannot allow this place to take their bodies. Their family will want their bodies, it's the least we could do for them. Prepare the gratuities as well, we'll deliver them home after we-" the melodic voice paused for a moment, body tensing slightly and metal scraping as one of his gauntlet's clenched tight "-purge this place."

With that, the paladin's filed out again, preparing to press further onwards. Though still, they moved a little slower, a little tenser. As the group marched forward, Kor'Ak and The Speaker hung behind, whilst Hard went to rejoin his men, barking out instruction with less fervour than before. Steal stayed with Kor'Ak, watching as the two paladins, Jackson and Korda hefted the bodies of their fallen over there backs and began trudging back off towards the surface. The two were stopped for a brief moment, metal hands resting on their free shoulders, the hands of The Speaker, his voice even softer as he spoke again. "Take care of yourselves, Solaria bless you."

The two replied in unison "We will, Solaria bless you"

Slowly, the metal hands of The Speaker released them and they began there march anew.

Kor'Ak turned to Steal, the goblin looked up to meet his eyes, the Djaalic man's face showed a conflict in its expressions, the twitch of his lips and the slight glisten of his eyes as he looked down on the goblin showed that he was certainly relieved, but that same twitch showed Steal that with the two fallen, Kor'Ak dare not offer the goblin a smile or clear sign of happiness in Steal's safe return and display of strength. Instead, his arm reached down, tightening slightly on the goblin's shoulder. "You did well."

Steal met the slight praise with a fanged smile, hefting his weapon back onto his shoulder as Kor'Ak motioned for them to follow on behind the rest of the Paladin's as they pressed down deeper into the dungeon. The Speaker had left ahead of them, already following up behind his men as Kor'Ak and Steal hurriedly moved to join them.

The wide, circular room had quickly narrowed at its exit, returning to the same design as the tunnels before it, narrow, rocky and dark. Much the same, the Knights Of Solaria returned to their previous formation, two men stood side by side to make two long columns that covered the entirety of the dark tunnel's width, light provided by the warm ball of sunlight that The Speaker guided ahead of them. This formation was now two rows thinner. Excluding, Steal, Kor'Ak and The Speaker, only twenty knights remained.

Still, they continued on, cutting down the few skeletons's that guarded the ever-winding rocky tunnels that seemed to only go deeper into the earth. Slowly, the decline of the path's settled until it became a flat surface, with only one, long, straight hallway ahead that stretched into the darkness. As they pressed on further, Steal felt something settle on his tongue, fill his nose and run through his blood. The air was thick with something here, but he couldn't tell what, and considering the lack of reaction from the men ahead of him, it seemed like they didn't sense anything at all. Steal only realised what permeated the air and filled his body when a previously unseen status box flashed through his mind.

Area Effect: MP/m +5%

Cause: High Mana Concentration

Quickly, to confirm the change, Steal mumbled for his status in his garbled, goblin-tongue.

STATUS General Attributes Jobs/Classes Name Steal STR 31 Goblin 8 25/1709 XP Race Goblin DEX 51 Hunter 7 203/1139 XP Age 5 Days AGI 40 Warlock 4 71/506 XP HP 107/133 (3.4/m) FRT 34 MP 41/103 (3.15/m) INT 34 Affiliation N/A WIS 37 ADVANCED STATUS Traits Skills Spells/Martial Arts Trait Level Skill Level Spell/Art Level School David 2 Sword Expertise 1 Daemon Bolt 2 Undermagic Fleet-Of-Foot 1 Trapping 1 Summon Familiar 1 Undermagic Wyrmslayer 1 Polearm Expertise 2 Magical Aptitude

(Minor) MAX Target Locked 1 Daemon-Tongue 1 Unholy Communion 1 Aptitude (Warlock) 1 Bloodfuel 1 Daemon-Touched Mace Expertise 1 Unholy Mark (Maal)

The colouration of his mana regeneration caught his attention for a moment, perhaps it was because of the mana in the air causing it to be higher than it should be. Without pause, the paladin's continued to press forward, the mana in the air only seemed to stop growing as the knights came to a slightly wider room, marking a sudden change in the aesthetic of the area surrounding them.

Warm, wooden flooring covered the ground ahead of them, torches fixed to the walls burned brightly, their light dancing across the room, illumination the long table that took possession of the centre of the room, platters of food, from still-steaming slices of turkey to roasted potatoes, heaped upon a ceramic platter. Two velvet-cushioned chairs were at either head of the table, though the space between them was more than enough to seat a family or three with room to spare, and the amount of fresh food that littered the table was enough to generously feed far more than that.

Walls of smooth, stone brick penned the room in, and on the other side of the room, breaking up the stone was a simple wooden door, a lion-headed door knocker was affixed at head height, the rest of the door was reinforced with iron, though the most notable thing about the door was the complete lack of a doorknob, lock or handle.

Steal's eyes looked over the door, though they quickly returned to what interested him the most, the still-steaming food that piled upon the table. The goblin sloppily wiped a trickle of drool from his lips, moving to climb onto the table and feast with great ferocity. A cold hand grabbed the scruff off his neck and heaved him up as Kor'Ak lifted him from the ground, turning Steal to look at him, eye's at equal heights now as the Djaal simply shook his head and set him back down.

Steal was still.

Kor'Ak moved forwards, standing beside The Speaker as the Knights filed out into the room, each casting wary glances at the food upon the table, and warier ones upon the door before them. The Djaal was the first to speak. "Knocking seems... inadvisable."

Hard moved back beside Kor'Ak, gesturing for a number of the knights to move the table to one side of the room, out of the way of the door. "Aye, that's right" The dwarf hefted his mace "We won't be knockin." The sergeant rose his shield ahead of him, his legs tensed and charged forwards with seemingly impossible speed, his shield crunched against the wood, the door splintered and shook under the impact, but it did not break, it did not give way, nor did it break from its hinges.

The sergeant clattered to the floor after the impact, he merely shook his head, picked himself up, and struck his mace into the wood instead. A number of other paladins moved in to do the same, the collective group hacking away at the door blowing away at chunks of the door, blasting strips of wood with each strike. Though before their strikes made much progress, a dull click came from the door, and slowly, it swung open. Quickly, the paladin's filed into the room ahead, Hard taking the lead as The Speaker moved in, Steal and Kor'Ak following behind.

They found themselves in a gargantuan bedroom, perhaps a hundred feet to either side. Much of the wooden floor was empty space, though a few things caught Steal's attention. First, a square pillar rose from the centre of the room constructed from uncountable numbers of black, charred bones. Ashen skulls looking out in every direction from the jagged tower of bone, with a glowing crystal orb sitting atop it, glowing with the various arcane runes that danced along its pearlescent surface.

Just beyond that, a king-sized bed lay, two suits of armour standingto either side of it's elaborate, flower-engraved wooden headboard. Silken sheets wrapped hastily around the young woman that sat open it, pale-white flesh visible where the scarlet sheets didn't cover. She seemed to peer cluelessly at the men as they took up positions in the room. When she spoke, her voice seemed dainty, yet it echoed throughout the room, voice bouncing off the walls and ceiling twenty feet above their heads. "You sure took your time getting here, and you didn't even knock properly" her face made an expression somewhere between insulted and pouting "Rude."