Waiting for the women to complete the search of the second cave, James moved closer to the third cave. This one was just like the first two. Considering how the women fought, he figured that using his bow would be more practical. Doris was not very fast as a melee fighter, but the goblins at the front were easy pickings. Being blind meant that the damage they took was more significant. The two at the back would be more dangerous as they could scramble for cover. James was ready by the time the three women came over to where he was standing. He left his backpack on the ground and secured his shield to his weapon belt. With bow in hand and quiver on hip, he was pretty confident they could clear the third cave quickly.

CAVE 3

The women didn't seem to object to his idea and crept up to the cave entrance. Doris was nowhere near as quiet as Barbara, but James was happy that she wasn't quieter than him. Barbara disarmed the trap, and Connie started the fight with a flash of light. James moved forward with an arrow already nocked and fired it at the first goblin. The arrow struck the goblin with the spear in the chest, causing it to stagger a couple of steps backwards. The second arrow, he fired at a goblin with a sling, but the shot went wide and bounced off the cave's back wall. Barbara killed her goblin with a sling with her second shot. Doris killed the first goblin with another split down the middle, then moved to finish off the goblin James had shot in the chest. James lined up his third arrow and caught the last goblin in the shoulder, while Barbara caught it in the leg. Neither shot was fatal, but it stopped moving when James walked over and stabbed it in the throat with his sword. Collecting their arrows, they started searching the cave for valuables.

After gathering the loot, James gave everything to Connie. It was agreed upon that she would carry all the coin, having none of her own on her, and divide that night at dinner. Anything found would go to that person who needed it the most. Anything Enchanted would be dealt with separately. Not that they were expecting to find anything more than potions and scrolls. This cave didn't even have that. Checking his notifications, James grinned when he saw the flashing notification.

Agility +1

Dexterity +1

"This next cave is a little larger than the previous cave," Connie explained, pulling James' attention away from his screen. "There are six goblins in this cave, and they are all in the same room. There are two goblins at the entrance with spears. Two with slings, and then two with javelins and axes."

"We normally start the same way as before," Barbara continued, "I disarm the trap, Connie casts her spell, Doris kills the two at the entrance, and I finish the slingers. Then I take the furthest javelin thrower, and Doris moves around the cave wall and kills the other."

"Why along the wall, another trap?" James asked.

Barbara nodded, "A small hole with spikes on the bottom. Never in the same place twice, so it is easier to just walk around the edge."

James turned to Connie, "Do you only have one spell?"

"Oh no, but it is a lot faster to recover Stamina than to recover Mana. So I cast just the one spell, and then I have a backup in case things go bad." Connie explained.

"Copy that," James agreed. The women looked at each other until Doris shrugged, "Just kill the gobs with javelins, and everyone gets to kill."

"Oh, and James, this cave is a bit bigger, so sometimes my Flash Spell doesn't always catch the slingers or javelin throwers in the area of effect. So, keep an eye open for ones that are not blinded and kill them first. We had to run a few times because of bad luck." Connie blushed as she said that last part.

"As long as we are alive at the end, it is all good, " James said with a smile.

Following Doris up the grade to the next cave, Rocko piped up, "James, have you been using Analyze or Inspect?" James shook his head.

"Please remember to use them when you can to increase those Skills. They will help when they get to level 10."

CAVE 4

The fourth cave was just like the women described. Barbara disarmed the trap. Connie's Flash Spell went off. James and Doris stepped forward to clear the room. James checked to make sure that all the goblins appeared to be blinded. James used Inspect on the goblin near the entrance and was not surprised to see the creature's poor stats.

Name: ? Race: Goblin - Spearman Level: 4 Damage Range: 1d6 + 9 Damage Type: Piercing Armour Rating: 8 Special: Melee - Thrust

James found the goblins with the Javelins and released the first arrow. It was low and caught the goblin in the gut, dropping it to the ground with a scream. His second arrow was fired at the second goblin with a javelin, just as it threw it at Doris. James' arrow pierced its leg and caused it to fall to the ground next to the first one. Doris didn't see the javelin coming as it bounced off the ceiling and struck her leg.

Letting out a grunt, she dropped her axe and picked up the javelin from the ground. Using it as a club, she beat the second goblin at the entrance to death. James scanned the rest of the chamber and was pleased to see that Barbara had killed the two slingers. James scanned the room. His Darkvision and Perception Skill allowed him to spot the pit trap in the middle of the cave with ease. It just had some grass thrown over it. Moving around the trap and into the room, James approached his two targets and pulled out his sword. Both goblins were seriously hurt and could not protect themselves as he thrust his blade into their throats.

"You should have shot the one that could see before he could throw his javelin, moron!" Doris shouted from the entrance.

"They were both blind," James remarked, "It was nothing more than a lucky hit. You saw that it bounced off the ceiling."

"Still, you need to shoot the one that will hit me."

James turned to Barbara when he heard her laugh, "Right, like James has magical powers that let him tell the future and know which one will hit you with more luck than it deserves?"

Doris didn't like being mocked, but James was glad it was Barbara and not him. Doris seemed to have a hate for everyone and everything. A lot of pent-up anger. But at least she was nice to her sisters.

"Bitch," Doris muttered as she limped out of the cave. Well, nicer to her sisters than anyone else, James thought. James helped the two women loot the room as he took the time to use Analyze and Inspect. As expected, the items were garbage. James ignored the weapons, but he did collect both of his arrows. The goblins themselves were also interesting.

Name: ? Race: Goblin - ? Level: 6 Damage Range: 1d8 + 18 Damage Type: Blunt Armour Rating: 8 Special: Ranged, Melee - Slash Name: ? Race: Goblin - Slinger Level: 5 Damage Range: 2d4 + 10 Damage Type: Blunt Armour Rating: 12 Special: Ranged

The notifications were not as spectacular this time around.

Melee - Sword +1

Critical Strike - Sword +1

Inspect +1

CAVE 5

The next cave was the same as forth cave. It was here that James discovered that the Flash Spell had a duration of only ten seconds. While he was killing one of the goblins with a javelin, the other goblin started stabbing him. It was his own fault for not paying attention and relying too much on the Spell. The weapon only did minor damage, but he still scolded himself no losing focus. When the battle was over, there were a couple of notifications; one of which was flashing.

Armour - Medium +1 Name: James Gleason Race: Glrick Class: Shadow Knight Specialization: Level: 6 XP to next level: 16% Armour Rating: 31 Age: 42 Health: 225 Unarmed Damage: 11 Stamina: 85 Steel Sword:

21-26

Mana: 200 Bow of Piercing 31-41 PSI: 330 PSI Regen/Min 5.50 ATTRIBUTES Unspent Attribute Pts: 11 Strength 11 Agility 16 Dexterity 12 Endurance 11 Willpower 14 Intelligence 19 Charm 10 Luck 7 SKILLS Unspent Skill Pts: 5 Analyze 8 Armour – Medium 3 Astral Navigation 7 Crit Strike – Sword 3 Evasion (M) 5 Info Gathering 1 Inspect 7 Meditation 5 Melee – Glrick (M) 2 Melee – Sword 2 Negotiation 1 PSI – Targeted 6 Ranged – Short Bow 1 Perception (M) 3 Res – Mental 1 Res – Pain 3 Res – Poison 5 Shield 1 Stealth 8 Unspent Advantage Pts 10

"Your spell only lasts ten seconds?" James asked Connie as they moved to the next cave.

"Yes, sorry, forgot to mention. Also, you need to be careful, because with the larger caves, it doesn't always blind all the goblins." she said with a shrug. It wasn't a big deal, but it would have still been nice to know in advance.

Cave 6

The next cave was identical to the previous two and it was finished the same way. Having the goblins blinded by the Flash Spell made them easy targets, James just needed to be mindful of the time limit. Luck was on their side as the Flash Spell had worked every time so far. Although James didn't gain as much in the way of skills as he usually did, he did still earn a few points in Attribute and Skills.

Strength +1

Ranged - Bow +1

Stealth +1

His Physical Attributes were back to where they were before the incident with the dagger. His Skills improved slowly, and he also noticed that one of the Goblin - Fighters was level 6 and 7 in the last cave. The difficulty was increasing. With six caves cleared, they were now halfway.

"The next two caves are the same. There are eight goblins in a series of two caves. The first cave is like the first cave you cleared," Connie explained again, "This time, it is with two goblins with stone axes and wicker shields. The two slingers are the same, just a little better with their slings. They will also call for help, which will draw the other group of four goblins. Those four are all the same with javelins and stone axes."

"The trap at the entrance is a pit trap, so we just have to find it and avoid it or disarm it. Again, it is never in the same place twice. In the first cave, there is another pit trap. And then one in the tunnel leading to the second cave." Barbara stated.

Doris smiled, "The second cave usually has some good loot."

James nodded to each of their statements. The women had only ever cleared up to the first eight caves. It made sense, progressively harder caves until you reach the last one.

"I have to water a tree," James said, "I will be right back."

Rocko followed but made sure he stayed behind him. "What do you plan on doing?"

"I wonder if I should loan Barbara my bow. It is better than the one she has." James whispered.

"Of course it is. It is Enchanted," Rocko sighed, "You would be taking a huge risk making them aware you have something Enchanted."

"I hate not trusting people," James grumbled.

CAVE 7

When Connie activated her Flash Spell, James rushed in. The goblin at the entrance was dazed and rubbed its eyes with one grubby little hand. With a backhanded slash, James slashed into the creature's throat and wrist simultaneously. Moving further into the room, James was able to see a trap in the middle of the cave. It was a simple tripwire that ran across the middle of the cave. James also saw another trap in front of the entrance to the tunnel at the back of the cave.

Doris cursed James as she split her goblin in twain and then moved to finish off the one he had left to bleed out. Barbara hit one of the goblin slingers with her arrows before James reached the other slinger. The lone goblin slinger was still blinking to clear its vision. It could tell when James got close enough to it to dodge his first attack. Unfortunately, it was too slow to avoid the follow-up thrust to the chest.

James heard running footsteps from the tunnel as he stepped in front of the trap and waited. Doris moved to flank the door, and Connie and Barbara moved to the other side but far enough away for Barbara to shoot the goblins with arrows. James smirked as he noticed the lead goblin avoid the pit trap and try to come at James from around the trap. Unfortunately for it, that was the side Doris was on, and her axe made him a head shorter for his troubles. The other three goblins decided to go the other way around the trap, only for one of them to be hit by one of Barbara's arrows. The poor sod staggered under the shot and fell into the pit trap. James didn't waste any time and immediately went on the offensive, as the two remaining goblins were momentarily distracted by their comrade stumbling into the spiked pit. James slammed his shield into the goblin on the left while thrusting his sword at the one on the right. The one on the left staggered backwards towards Doris, while the one on the right raised its shield to block my thrust. It was not fast enough as my blade caught it in the shoulder.

Doris saw her chance as she raced around the pit. The last goblin made a break for the cave entrance but took an arrow to the back before tripping over the wire. James moved over to it and stabbed it through the neck. The one James had knocked back with his shield dropped its weapon and tried to surrender, but Doris wasn't taking prisoners.

When the fight was over, James looked around at the dead goblins, "That went well"

"How long have you been fighting with that weapon?" Barbara asked him.

"Not long. Why?"

"You suck," Barbara remarked. James sighed. Rocko laughed.