"Mushroom? What kind?"

The Goblin sniffed happily at the brown mushroom Semilia gave him. 

"It's a Spicecap Mushroom. It's good in soups, but I think you'll enjoy it if you put it in a ste-"

Semilia just blinked at the Goblin as he scarfed down the mushroom in one bite. He chewed for a moment, then he immediately regretted his actions.

"Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!"

Sometimes, even the Goblin hated his curiosity. He spat out what remained of the white stem of the mushroom before he chugged down on his canteen of water.

"Sorry about that. Forgot to tell you that they're pretty nasty when raw."

His yellow eyes flicked at the Elf while she chuckled at his discomfort. Someday, he'd make her eat Retchcaps, maybe as a soup. For now, he decided that he won't talk to Semilia until they get to his home.

"Hey? Are you mad? I'm really sorry about that, so stop pouting."

"No. Will pout until hot is gone."

The Goblin turned his head away from her while he stuck out his tongue in an effort to cool it.

But everyone around him can see the slight tinge of red in his cheeks as they all walked through the rubble of the dungeon. Perhaps it was the spiciness of the mushroom, maybe it was due to the giddy feeling the Goblin felt at the back of his mind. Either way, he failed to hide the happiness he felt as he walked with them. The darkness of the dungeon seemed to slip away around them as his yellow eyes glanced at them. Stefan’s lips softly curled at the edges as he folded his arms at the Goblin.

"It's good to see you again, Mister Goblin."

The Goblin looked at Stefan while he continued to stick out his tongue. His eyes closed as he tried to form the words on his numb tongue. He had so much to tell them but he wondered if he should tell them everything or just a short version of it. Thoughts like these hurt his head as much as the mushroom hurt his tongue, but he didn't want to waste their time with boring stories. What kind of person wanted to hear stories about him dealing with Giant Rats and Shadow Fiends? No, he wanted to hear their stories.

But before he could ask them about happenings in the surface, Orien let out a girlish squeak as a wet squelch made everyone turn their head towards him. His clothes were soaked with a mucus-like substance and his face contorted into an uncomfortable frown. A blue tendril slid out of his empty sleeve while a pair of yellow crystals floated within the moving mass of liquid and appeared as if it was looking at them with a curious stare within the pair of jewels.

"Slime! Get out there!"

Orien's expression lightened as the Slime slid out of his empty sleeve. The Goblin turned towards his three friends, ready to introduce his new friend.

"Meet Sl-"

"Quick! Stab its core!"

"O-On it!"

The Goblin let out a yelp as he watched his friends dash towards the confused Slime with their weapons drawn. Semilia and Stefan were about to thrust their weapons into the Slime’s center when the young boy stepped in between them, his arms wide open to defend the creature from its death.

"Wait! It's friendly! It's the Goblin's... pet? Is it your pet?"

"What "pet"? Slime is friend. Cleans home for me. Wait, why you pointing sword at Slime?"

"Miu?"

The Slime tilted its "head" at Stefan and Semilia while Riel quietly stopped casting a [Flame] Spell.

"A-A Slime? You tamed a Slime? And what was it doing inside Orien?"

"I-It went inside of my clothes too..."

Stefan glanced at the slightly wet clothes of the two siblings while the strange Slime slithered up to the Goblin.

"How did it fit inside- Nevermind. W-Where did you find... it?"

"Up! Before go down, I find it in large room. Very small."

The Goblin said excitedly with a smile while he patted the Slime on its head. 

There were days when Stefan wouldn't drink and today is one of those days. But seeing how the Goblin casually patted and smiled at the creature, Stefan wondered if maybe he should follow his daughter's advice to stop drinking so much. Yeah, he'd stop for a month after this. Definitely. This was surely just a drea-

"Miu?"

"Gah?! Oi! My whiskey! Give that back!"

The Slime swallowed the metal container with great haste and the poor Swordsman watched as his beloved flask swished around its body. Stefan stared at the silver flask while the Goblin tilted his head at the Slime.

After a moment, it spat out Stefan's prized possession back at him. The Swordsman caught it and held it tightly with a soft smile on his face. He put it back in the pocket of his cloak that was just above his chest while Riel and Semilia poked at the blue Slime. Riel pressed down on the creature's body and the creature let out a squish before it wrapped a small tendril around her fingers.

"Woah. It just feels like... sticky water? Is that a word?"

"I'm not sure. It looks cute though... Can we keep it?"

"Miu?"

The two girls poked at the Slime and it looked like it was enjoying it very much.

Stefan and the Goblin chuckled at the three while the Goblin took off his cloak. Colds are troublesome to treat down in the dungeon, and he felt guilty about what the Slime did to the children. So he tossed his dry cloak at the two kids and cast a weak [Flame] Spell to help them dry. Orien and Ameera wrapped the warm, leather cloak around their shoulders while a small wisp of flame danced around them. 

The corridor in front of them opened up into a large chamber filled with rubble from above. The Goblin scowled at this and pulled out the map from his notebook. Traps, monsters, and the shadowy creations of the master of this dungeon are things he can handle with ease but structural collapse and damage were way above his skills. He couldn't help but cuss in his native Goblinspeak while he crossed out the 37th corridor on his map

"Dangerous now, but we move forward. Home is near."

The Goblin tucked away the map in the pocket of his pants while he looked at the crumbling walls of the dungeon.

"The mana in this place is being drained."

"Yes. Air heavy now. Very heavy. Hard to cast things."

Riel looked at the Goblin as they walked past the rubble. He had an uneasy expression on his face while he kicked a small rock along the floor.

"Arachnea wanted to fight it. Wanted me to join. Didn't want because I weak."

"Fight what, Goblin?"

"Master of dungeon. One that rests below. Maker of shadow."

He shuddered at the mention of the name and his ears drooped momentarily. Semila and Stefan glanced at each other.

"Don't know what's happening, but thing drains mana of place. Needs more to do spell but I not know what spell. But is powerful Spell."

"W-We need to tell Katherine about this."

"Yeah, but how will we able to find them in this place?"

While the two talked with each other, the Goblin wondered what they were talking about.

He knew there were other adventurers as well since he heard them earlier while he was killing the Shadow Fiends that were carrying bodies. It was odd for him to see fresh bodies, and even stranger to see one of them still screaming and kicking in fear. Did Stefan and the others bring them here to clear the dungeon? He glanced at the adventurers behind him with narrowed eyes.

It's possible that they came here not for the dungeon, but for him.

But before he could ask, his instincts told him to block an attack coming from above. In a flash, his sword slid out of its scabbard and he was on his knees while a large sword pressed down onto him. Stefan saw this and rushed over to his side, his sword already pointed at the owner of the weapon. The Goblin snarled while he and Stefan pushed off the sword and the person wielding it.

"S-Stefan?!"

"Wait, Ludwig?!"

The armored man looked up at the adventurer then back down at the foul creature beside him.

Behind Ludwig was the adventurers under their command. A handful of them was battering down a door that was inscribed with familiar runes across its frame. The Goblin snarled angrily at the armored man and raised his sword at him, only for Stefan, Semilia, and Riel to step in between them. His yellow eyes turned towards Stefan, betrayal burning within them as he stared. But it quickly disappeared when he saw the expressions on their faces.

"W-What are you doing, Comrade Stefan?! You dare protect-"

"Where is Katherine? And how did you get here?!"

"C-Comrade Katherine? She is-"

"Here. And I see you've brought... something with you."

Azalia and Katherine walked up towards them with a handful of adventurers behind them. Stefan clicked his tongue as he shielded the Goblin with his arm.

"A Goblin? You are protecting a Goblin? That thing will slit your throat if given the chance!"

"If it wanted to kill us, we would have been dead already!"

Azalia tilted her head at Semilia while Stefan looked at the Goblin beside him.

"We got this, buddy. You go hide somewhere-"

"No! I no leave! I stay here."

The Goblin raised his sword, only to be met with a few dozen adventurers as they pointed their weapons at them as well.

"Gods... What should we do?"

"Hope this doesn't escalate, Riel. That's the only thing-"

"Graaaaah!"

All heads turned towards the source of the pained cry. The adventurer dropped his sword in pain while the Slime latched onto him.

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The long tendril that wrapped around his arm melted the flesh beneath while another tendril shot out of its body and latched around another adventurer's legs. Flesh melted slowly but painfully while the Slime glared at the large group of adventurers. The yellow crystals that served as its eyes shone brilliantly with a terrifyingly reddish hue as it slowly crawled towards them. 

"Slime! Archers! Mages! Destroy its core!"

Ludwig yelled out loudly just as the Slime turned its focus towards him. 

Arrows flew through the air but it simply melted within the Slime's body as it sank into it. Katherine clicked her tongue and turned towards the Slime, her rapier already pointed at the core floating at its center. But before she could thrust into the gelatinous mass in front of her, the Goblin yelled out angrily at the creature. She watched as the Slime looked at the Goblin while it scolded it with an angry and raised tone. 

"Bad! Bad! Bad! Adventurers deadly! Don't fight if can't fight them!"

"Miu? Miu! Miu!"

"No killing! No kill! Let go!”

The Slime's appendages released their grasp on the two unfortunate adventurers while the Goblin lowered his sword. At the same time, Katherine put away her rapier slowly as the Slime slithered away from the two men.

"There will be no death here. Human or Goblin."

"Low-Elf too, but okay..."

Stefan glared at Katherine while Healers mended the burnt flesh of the two adventurers.

"This Goblin saved our lives, Katherine. We have a debt to him and I will not allow anyone to lay a hand on him."

"... So be it."

Katherine sheathed her rapier while Ludwig stared at the Slime as it coiled around Orien's leg.

"But I will not let that thing out of my sight."

The Goblin snarled at the silver-haired woman, but she brushed it off and waved a hand in the air.  The adventurers around them slowly put away their weapons while the two siblings behind the Goblin let out a sigh of relief.

"Of course you won't. Anyway, where's Eric and Arron?"

"Eric went with Jared to find Arron. I am not sure where they are now, but I think they're somewhere nearby."

"I see... And what are you doing over here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Stefan."

The two adventurers eyed each other warily while the small Goblin folded his arms at the strange people standing in front of his home.

"Comrades, now is not the time to bicker amongst ourselves. The important issue at hand is our missing comrades."

"Missing? Wait... What happened?!"

"We can't contact them right now. The mages I sent with them are... unresponsive. Something has been picking us off one by one and- Gods, this damned place is a pain in the head."

Azalia tilted her head quizzically at the Goblin and the Goblin hissed at the woman that was covered in shadows.

"So something must've happened to them. Gods, what a pain."

"Yes, and people have been dropping like flies ever since we fell here. Thankfully, the casualties in our group are minimal. But I don't think the same could be said for the other groups."

Katherine and Ludwig glanced at the wounded standing behind them.

There were many wounded and there were a few missing faces as well. Among them were the entirety of Arron's and Jared's respective teams and a small number of mages. Stefan could tell from the grim expressions of everyone that whatever happened to them wasn't good. They were tired and weary, their eyes filled with a hint of both fear and excitement. Why they were excited, he did not know.

A soft rumbling can be felt beneath all of their feet for a moment while distant sounds of rocks and walls collapsing echoed through the empty corridors. Azalia frowned as she watched the darkness all around them slightly lift up like the morning mist. Their lights now penetrated deeper into the corridors instead of just illuminating the immediate area around them. She could see the shadowy veil that hung over them pull back into the deeper parts of the dungeon, and she wasn't the only one who noticed it.

From the look in his yellow eyes, she could tell that he could see the flow of magic in the dungeon. It was impressive for a monster like him, and she wanted to know what else this foul creature is able to see. Azalia's hands trembled slightly as she found the faint traces of Shadow Essence on him. It was like a small stain that mixed with the mana flowing out of his hands, and she wanted to know how the Goblin acquired such magical energy.

"First thing's first, I guess. We need to get to the bottom of this place quickly."

Their eyes turned towards Stefan, who looked at the Goblin uneasily.

"W-Would you mind helping us again, friend?"

The Goblin, surprisingly, shook his head and frowned. 

"No. Too dangerous for everyone. Should leave dungeon."

His yellow eyes gleamed and he watched the walls of the dungeon lose more of its luster. Something was happening, and he didn't like what he was seeing.

Stefan was about to ask what made it so dangerous when the Goblin began to shoo away the adventurers that blocked his door. They raised their weapons at the creature, yet he paid no attention to them for he was deep in thought. Runes glowed and the door opened while he continued to mumble and mutter in cryptic words to himself. He entered his home with no hesitation while the battered adventurers around him stared warily at him.

His footsteps bounced off the walls of his room as he approached the chest that held all of his items. He let out a grunt as he flung its lid wide open, his noises attracting the curious stares of adventurers as he rummaged through the large bags. Finally, he found the Bag of Holding that contained his beloved books and with a heavy sigh, he pulled it out from the bottom of the chest. Books spilt out of it as he emptied the bag’s contents on the floor and he heard Azalia let out a gasp of shock and surprise from somewhere. He ignored the now loud murmurs of the crowd as he searched for a book taken from Arachnea’s hoard.

"This? No. This? Nuh-uh. Not this- Wait, this one."

The Goblin smiled as he pulled out a large book. It had no title and it was not bound with intricate designs or expensive materials. It was just a leather book written by a long-dead adventurer that perished within the dungeon's walls. It had a sigil etched onto the cover, and the faded words beneath it told the adventurers that it belonged to a cartographer.

He flipped through the book while the water in the fountains slowly drained away. He ignored Stefan, Semilia, and Riel while they entered the room but he glanced at Katherine and Ludwig and their wary stares towards him. He didn't like them, nor did he hate them. He simply felt uncomfortable around them and the stares and hateful glances they gave him didn't help either. To them, he was simply another monster. A strange one, but still a monster.

"Are you reading something?"

His yellow eyes turned towards the small girl beside him. Riel smiled as she looked at the messy scribbling on the book's yellowed pages.

He nodded and flipped to another page. Riel stared at the words written on it while the Goblin tried his best to find the accounts of the lower floor. While Stefan and Semilia defended the Goblin from Katherine's harsh words, the two siblings and the Slime snuck into the room and walked over to the Goblin. His eyes furrowed at the pages as the space around him became more and more cramped. 

"I wonder who wrote this."

"There's illustrations here that looked familiar."

Orien pointed at the maps and drawings on the pages. There were rooms crossed out and marked and illustrations of the creatures that inhabited the dungeon. But the Goblin wasn't interested in such knowledge. He already knew what lurked here and what every nook and cranny of this damned place did. Instead, he was interested in this adventurer's final moments. And he was interested in the garbled drawings within.

In the pages of this book is the attempt to map out the dungeon in full. He could only wonder what had killed the book’s owner, but the dried silk that wrapped around the pages of the book made it clear who was the culprit. The Goblin stared at the maps, at the drawings, and finally the logs of the person’s final days. Their heart sank at the contents of each page for it was filled with hopeless words written in a vain effort to keep one sane. But the Goblin didn’t care about that, he had other things he needed to find out about.

The Goblin's eyes lit up as his claws turned the page. Inscribed in this unknown person's blood is the dark spell he managed to stop. The Goblin furrowed his brows and silently read the last accounts of the person while Riel, Orien, and Ameera stared in horror at the bloody mess of letters in his hands. Ameera glanced away at the smell while Orien couldn't help but stare at the ragged writings. Riel muttered something under her breath and looked at the stone-faced Goblin.

"It's a Magic Circle. But I've never seen anything like it before."

Riel pointed at the page with the large circle drawn on it. The Goblin tilted his head at the illustration and shrugged his shoulders.

"Not familiar also. But important, I think."

"Of course it's important."

All of them jumped at Azalia's words. The Shadowmancer loomed over them with a look of dread and pure fear in her brown eyes. How she got behind them was a mystery to the Goblin, but the veil of shadows that obscured her face was now gone, and it revealed a face covered in scars and tattoos. 

"That is a crude drawing of a Magical Circle meant for powerful Shadow Magic. But the runes on it are different and..."

Azalia reached for the illustration, her mouth already contorted into a stiff scowl.

"Meant for Necromancy... One that binds the soul to the caster's will. So that's the secret to his magic."

"M-Miss Azalia?"

Orien glanced nervously at the Shadowmancer as she sweated profusely. 

"To think that a soul could be bound to such things. What kind of perversion of magic is this? Katherine! Ludwig! We must change our plans! We need to retreat for now and gather a much larger force."

"But what about the three?"

"Forget about them! This is much more important than the lives of a few!"

The Shadowmancer grabbed the book from the Goblin's hands. The look of fear in the strange woman's eyes silenced the Goblin and he, too, felt a sense of fear wash over him.

"I do not know the full scope of the Black Mage's plans, but I believe that he is planning on performing a powerful Spell as we speak. I mean, look at what the Goblin has in his hands."

Azalia showed them the pages written in blood while Katherine and Ludwig shared an uneasy glance at one another. Katherine nodded at Azalia while Stefan stared at her with a grim expression. 

"I do not know why the Black Mage is draining the ambient mana of the dungeon, but I do know that it must be due to a powerful spell. If we-"

Azalia and the Goblin perked up and looked at the glowing runes on the door. The Goblin snarled while Azalia dropped the book to the floor and turned towards the door.

It rumbled violently, its shape bending inward as if something was pushing into it from the other side. After a moment, it stopped and the faint sound of muffled cries and shouting came from down the corridor before it faded into silence. The sounds of their heartbeats filled the room after a minute as the silence from the outside slowly crept inside the Goblin's room. 

"W-Weird, black lady. Felt that?"

"You felt it as well?"

The Goblin nodded as he pulled out his sword. Azalia gulped as she slowly approached the door.

"I will open door. You... You pull me if something happens."

"Very well."

Azalia glanced at Katherine before walking behind the Goblin as they approached the door.

Ludwig and Stefan raised their weapons as well while Katherine and Semilia ushered everyone else to their side. It only lasted for a moment, but both Azalia and the Goblin felt that sudden rush of dread and overwhelming power as a surge of mana flowed like a sudden torrent through the corridor. Riel felt it as well, but it only felt like a passing shadow to her. And perhaps that was what it was.

The door creaked open, and the Goblin looked out of it with his hand firmly planted on his sword. Black stains dotted the floor of the dungeon and he found a strange shadow near the end of the hallway. The Goblin shot out a few blasts of the [Flash] Spell but the creature simply devoured the light of his spell with a shadow so dark it felt as if he was staring at Death himself. It turned its head towards him, its green orbs flashing brilliantly before vanishing into thin air. He watched as the ground beneath the strange shadow began to melt away, revealing a deep hole covered with the black liquid that stained the floor around him. "W-Where are they?!"

Katherine yelled out as she drew her rapier at the Goblin. She was waiting for an answer but the creature had none.

"There's Shadow Essence everywhere..."

"And faint traces of mana."

Riel and Azalia stared at the black liquid smeared all over the walls while Stefan and Semilia looked at the scowling Goblin.

"Taken by things. Will be hard to get back..."

He turned towards all of them while he scratched his cheek. 

The adventurers disappeared like the Trolls, Giant Rats, Giant Spiders, and the other unfortunate victims of the Shadow Fiend's attacks. For the past week, those things have been prowling the dungeons extensively and more boldly. Things alive and dead they brought back with them deeper into the dungeon while the Goblin watched. He did what he could, but he could never truly rid this place of their presence. Even if he knew magic and had powerful weapons at his disposal, he was still a Goblin. And being a Goblin means that he is still weak.

But then he looked at the people around him. They were strong, and they want to clear this dungeon. And they aren't Goblins, so they are stronger than him by comparison. He pondered for a moment if he should help them, then he looked at the spots where the adventurers were standing earlier and he shuddered. He wanted to run away to the surface, away from the dungeon, but he saw the grim looks of everyone in the room and he couldn’t find the strength within him to just abandon them.

The sound of steel being dragged across the floor made the Goblin's ears twitch and hurt. His eyes turned towards Ludwig, who now loomed over him as he stared at the empty corridor. The Goblin could not see whatever emotion he had on his face, but he felt the strong urge to kill whatever did this oozing out of his armor. 

"I joined this quest due to my knowledge of taking down Undead. Not to hide in some Goblin's den.”

Ludwig stared at the Goblin by his feet while wisps of hot steam left his helmet. The Goblin gulped as the giant man pointed at the large hole that opened up at the end of the corridor.

"Do you think that is safe, Goblin?"

"Not safe. But... will take you to heart of dungeon. Maybe."

"Hmm. Very well. Comrade Katherine and Comrade Stefan, I will be going on ahead. This expedition has been a disaster, but I would see to it that this Lich's plan will never come to fruition."

But before Ludwig could leave the room, the Goblin blocked his path with his arm. Ludwig was about to shove him aside when the Goblin cast a spell towards the wall opposite of the door.

"[Flash]."

As the light shot out of his finger, a vile screech pierced their ears. The shadows that wrapped around the walls of the corridor drew back and retreated into the large hole while black liquid trailed after it.

"Monster in the heart of dungeon very dangerous. But if you can fight, then..."

The Goblin pulled out the map from his pocket while he stared at the silver-haired girl beside Stefan. He would not let this damned souls perish in the depths of the dungeon. It was a foolish plan, but it was something his Goblin mind can easily grasp.

"I can bring you close."