When James woke, he felt refreshed and relaxed. The smell of dried blood and other unpleasantness soured his mood. Opening his eyes again, he noticed that it was quiet. James shifted his body, making noise as his armour moved. Moving his head from side to side, he found Connie and Barbara chatting quietly, and Doris was standing a few feet down the tunnel to keep watch.

"He's awake," Doris stated. Connie and Barbara got to their feet and moved over to stand over James.

"Feeling better?" Connie asked.

"Much, actually," James agreed. He was disgusted to note that a lot of the blood was caked onto the back of his armour. Both Barbara and Connie offered their hands to help James to his feet.

"Can we step outside for a bit? I want to clean up and check on my armour." The Party agreed and headed out, with Doris pulling up the rear.

As soon as James stepped outside, he took a deep breath of fresh air. The cave was stuffy with the heavy scent of blood. With the help of Barbara and Doris, it didn't take long for him to extricate himself from the scale mail armour. Laying it on the ground, he used some of the water from his Bag of Holding and washed away as much of the blood as possible. The armour had two holes- one in the front and one in the back. The damage was not massive, but the durability of the armour dropped by 15 points. Hopefully, it will not take long to repair. Otherwise, he may need a backup suit of armour for when the other was being fixed.

James took a swig of the water and rinsed out his mouth.

"Are you okay," Rocko asked. James just nodded and smiled at his friend.

"You think we should continue?" Connie asked from a few feet away.

James raised his head and looked at her, "Why not?"

Connie looked worried, "You almost died, James. You also lost a lot of blood!."

James thought about it and nodded, "Yes. Very close. I am just glad it didn't hit any of you."

The women glanced at each other, but none said anything.

"It is what I have to do. I am glad you were with me. I am not sure if I'd have the where-with-all to start casting my healing spells if it were not for your help. Thank you." James looked to each of them in turn, giving each a nod: even Doris.

While he got help from Doris and Connie in putting the armour back on, he took the opportunity to check his notifications.

Perception +1

Res - Pain +1

Shield +1

James wasn't surprised that the Resis - Pain gained a level, but he had hoped to achieve a level in resistance to poison. James strapped on his shield without much time to worry and headed back to the cave. Stepping around the pool of blood, he made his way carefully down the tunnel. As they stepped into a chamber, James saw the remains of a giant crossbow that was pointing down the tunnel. The rest of the room was unoccupied. The room appeared to be some barracks. There were bunks, a table with chairs and a fire pit with a cast iron pot. A door was on the far wall, leading further into the cave. The fire was unlit.

"What is that supposed to be?" James asked, pointing at the giant crossbow.

"It is a ballista. Very handy against armoured individuals," Doris explained.

"First time I have seen a door in the caves," Barbara pointed out.

"A lot of firsts in this cave," Connie agreed.

Moving carefully, Barbara and James checked out the room for traps and the door for traps. When they were satisfied there were none, they all moved over to examine the door. It wasn't fancy, just a wooden door with a rope handle. It didn't even look like it had a lock, but no one decided to try to open it yet.

"A trap?" James asked.

"Obviously," Doris replied.

"Should we open it?" Connie asked.

"We have to," Barbara replied.

The four of them looked at each other before Connie grabbed the handle and prepared to open the door. James stood in front with his shield raised. Doris stood to his right with her shield raised, and Barbara stood behind them with an arrow nocked. With a nod from James, Connie pulled the door open.

James raised his shield as a crossbow bolt flew toward him. With a clang, it bounced off his shield. In the room were two large goblins in armour. The first wore leather armour and was on its knee, quickly reloading a light crossbow. The second wore brigandine armour and was carrying a sword and shield. The second one was calmly waiting for the Party to enter the room before engaging them. Behind the goblins was a glowing blue oval on the back wall.

"Is that the dungeon entrance," Doris asked.

"Yes," James answered as Shadow Stepped behind the goblin in metal armour. James was not expecting the goblin to whip around and raise its shield to block James' Thrust from behind. The creature moved with skill and speed that James had not seen since fighting the last skeleton. Dancing backwards, James evaded the goblins sword slash and got back into the guard position. Doris has charged the goblin with the crossbow, and Barbara shot at it with her arrow. The goblin seemed to roll out of the way of the arrow and continue to reload the crossbow at the same time. These were not your average useless goblins.

James had to go on the defensive as the goblin he was fighting started with a series of attacks. They were faster than expected, but James' shield skill was up for the challenge. The odd attack that got through, James was able to evade.

"You three get the other goblin. I will keep this one occupied," James shouted to this Party. The goblin he was fighting sneered at him. Almost like he understood what James was saying. None of the other goblins had ever seemed to understand him before.

James studied the goblin and his armour, looking for a weak point. The armour was a type of leather with metal strips riveted to it. This was then worn over chain mail and a gambeson. You would think that it was bulky, but it was less cumbersome than plate mail and offered more flexibility, but James had to believe that it was classified as Heavy Armour. The arms were covered down to the elbow, just like his, but the forearms were in metal bracers. Oddly, the goblin did not wear any armour below his waist, exposing his legs to attacks. Not a wise tactical choice, but one James would be happy to exploit.

James used a Slice attack on the goblin's legs, forcing it to lower its shield. After a few exchanges, James noticed that it was very defensive of its male parts. With a faint to the family jewels with his sword, James smashed the shield's rim into its face. The goblin staggered and knocked over the table, scattering everything onto the floor. Taking advantage of the distraction, James quickly looked to see that Doris had pinned the other goblin to the floor and was smashing it in the head with the pommel of her sword. Barbara and Connie were moving towards James to help him. Connie held both wands and used them against the goblin James was fighting.

The Acid Bolt hissed as it burned the air. It launched from the tip of the wand and shot forward, striking the goblin in the shoulder. The goblin tried to get its shield in the way of the Flame Bolt but wasn't quick enough. James stepped back and launched a PSI Bolt at the heavily armoured goblin, knowing full well that the Bolt would ignore the protection of the armour. The goblin screamed. James was unsure if it was due to the Flame Bolt or the PSI Bolt. The creature staggered back to his feet and turned towards Connie. With a roar, it charged.

James reacted, and Shadow Stepped in front of it, his shield raised and the Glrick Sword pointed forward. James braced for impact as the goblin collided with him. At the same time as James appeared, he was struck from behind with a Flame Bolt. The superheated air hissed as it hit his back, but most of the damage was negated by his Stalwart Magic Resistance. He still took some damage, but only a quarter of the damage got through the scale mail and Harden Skin I Power. Connie shrieked as she realized she had shot James in the back.

The Glrick sword hit the brigandine armour and skipped upwards, catching the goblin in the throat. A severe wound if there ever was one. James pulled the sword away sideways to open the wound up as much as possible. As the goblin tried to staunch the bleeding in this neck, James Sliced open one of its legs and then got another Thrust in the neck. The goblin fell to the ground, quickly bleeding to death.

Doris rolled off her victim and lay on the floor. She had a crossbow bolt in her hip and several bleeding wounds in her arms. The goblin did not go down without a fight.

"Do you have any of that Champion magic for us mortals?" Doris asked, a smile playing on the corners of her mouth.

"I don't, but I have several potions," James offered.

'I'll take it," she said, holding her hand. James pulled two Potion of Healing from his Bag of Holding and handed them to her.

Checking his wounds, James was surprised that he was pretty well intact. A casting of Heal Self III resolved him from any injuries until he was smacked in the back of the head by Connie.

"What in the seven hells were you thinking, James. I shot you in the back with a Flame Bolt. Were you not even paying attention?" She was not pleased.

James shrugged, "I hardly noticed. I am very resistant to magic."

Connie's face turned redder with anger, "I don't care if It fried your innards. You made me waste a charge on the wand!" With that, she turned and stormed away. Rocko laughed and laughed.

James shook his head. She had a point. Moving into someone else's fire line like that was stupid. He didn't even think about being resistant to the magic she would use. He was more concerned with protecting her from being skewered by a sword. This party shit was frustrating.

Doris got up off the floor and looked around the room, "No loot?"

"Check their bodies. These guys are wearing armour. I see both leather and heavy armour," Barbara pointed out. Doris went to check the heavy armour while James checked the items that were knocked off the table. There was a scattering of coins, some cards and a couple of plates of food. In the room were two beds and the glowing blue portal.

"Well, if Connie is no longer pissed at James, maybe she can cast Detect Enchantments, and we can see if anything is interesting here," Barbara suggested.

"I doubt it. She is madder than when you poured pine syrup into her hair for kissing the Davis boy behind the barn." Doris pointed out.

"Bitch knew I liked him. She should have never gone back there with him." Barbara glared at Doris. But Doris only laughed.

James went through the gear of both goblins. The Brigandine was in pretty good condition, and the chain shirt was the same as the Chain long coat that James gave Doris. It didn't cover as much, but it had better durability. Both were of the same quality. The Gambeson was fair quality and probably more comfortable than the leather jerkin Doris was already wearing. The shield was nothing special, nor was the other sword. The crossbow was lovely and would probably fetch some decent coin back at the town. The leather armour the goblin was wearing was Enchanted, and James was sure Barbara would appreciate it. Other than the Bracers of Shields, this was the first piece of Enchanted Armour James had seen.

Name: Leather Armour Rarity: Common Quality: Very Good Armour Rating: 14 Durability: 25/27 Special: Worn - Torso, Enchanted +5 AR

Another item of interest was another Enchanted Ring.

Name: Ring of Dexterity +3 Rarity: Common Quality: Very Good Durability: 15-20 Special: Worn - Finger, Enchanted - Dexterity +3

After telling Barbara that the armour was enchanted and about the ring, James moved over to the portal to speak quietly to Rocko, "How do we activate this?"

"All you have to do is touch it, and you will be transported into the dungeon."

"What about the others?" James asked, looking behind him.

"They would do the same."

"Anything we should worry about in this dungeon?"

Rocko looked around the room, "More goblins like these. Not like the ones you have fought before."

James frowned, "I was afraid of that. Any idea what level this dungeon is? The last one you said was level 15?'

Rocko nodded, "The last one was solo level 16. This one is solo level 12."

"Why did you have me come to this dungeon at level 5 if it was solo level 12."

Rocko looked up at James, "By the time you entered the dungeon, you would have been level 11. By the time you reached the end of the dungeon, you would have been either level 12 or 13. It was not a worry."

"Well, I am got another level. I am now level 9, so not that far behind schedule." James countered.

"You are two levels behind schedule, James. This will make the dungeon a bit harder for you." Rocko commented.

"But I have three other people to watch my back." James countered again. He was not giving in to Rocko.

"You would have also been done the dungeon yesterday. The problem was, you had to pick up some strays along the way."

James looked back at the women who had moved into the other room to help Barbara put on her new leather armour. "I like them."

"You would,"

"What does that mean?"

Rocko waves his claw dismissively, "What is important is what you plan on doing after the dungeon."

"How do you mean?"

Rocko looked up at James, "I fear you will invite them to continue to travel with you."

James sighed, "Let's see if we live that long. But check into the options regarding having them join me in Astral Space and increasing their experience gain."