"Didn't you say there was another chamber at the end of this tunnel?" James hoped to deflect the conversation to the current mission at hand.

"Connie and I can go get the loot," Doris stated.

"Do you need a torch? I have a couple," James offered.

"The women looked at each other before Connie shook her head, "No, we're good. Why don't you stay here and learn how to use your goblin sticker." Doris found that as funny as Rocko.

James frowned but said nothing. It was true that since he had started using the Glrick Sword and this rapier, he had only gained one rank in the Glrick Sword. That was somewhat discouraging.

While Barbara led James outside into the morning light, he quickly checked his notifications.

Shield +1

Critical Strike - Sword +1

"First things first - your stance," she started, standing in front of him. "There are three stances that you can use with a rapier and shield. I can show you two of them. The first is shield-foot forward and the second is sword-foot forward."

Barbara paused to demonstrate both, "You want your feet at least shoulder-width apart and no more than a three-quarter step forward. Knees are bent, butt pushed back. The shoulders are square. Your shield should be close to your body, but never blocking your view unless blocking an attack, in which case, you want it to return to the lower position as quickly as possible."

Adjusting James' stance, she moved on, "The position of your arms can vary, depending on your instructor. I was taught the beginnings of a couple of different styles, but I think the simpler of the two is better for you."

Moving to stand beside him, she demonstrated holding the rapier, "Bend your arm and have your hand near your hip, sword point forward. This allows you to respond quickly to any attacks made and keeps your weapon at the ready. Your movement forward will be with your feet, not your arms." Barbara explained.

"When you are ready to attack, you can jab with your blade forward, but try not to extend your shoulder into the attack. If you do, you will over-extend yourself and put your shield out of position. Let your wrist control the point of your blade strikes. In this way, you move the point to where you want to strike. The most important attack you will use is the Thrust. That is the point of a rapier." James and Barbara both paused to chuckle at the pun. "Not everyone gets that joke," she confided.

"To do a Thrust, you lean into the attack with your body, keeping your feet planted. You must be careful to not bend your knees, this will turn the Thrust into a Lunge and may over-extend yourself. If you decide to make a Lunge, make sure your shoulders are still square when you lean into the attack. This prevents your shield from getting out of position."

After explaining the different stances and moves, Barbara showed him how to make the moves by doing them herself. Then she moved beside him, and they made the moves together.

"The next common attack is the Slice. The way you are currently using the sword is to strike and let the weight of the blade plow through the target. This is wrong, because it forces you to rely on your Strength and the weight of your blade. The rapier doesn't have any weight. You want to follow through with this sword by sliding the blade across the wound. The blade on your rapier is sharp, and you need to use it. You need to target the arms, legs and neck when trying to do a Slice." Barbara explained.

She stood in front of him and held her rapier up. Moving slowly, she demonstrated the technique to use with attacking the arms and legs. Her rapier touched his arm, and the blade slid across as she drew the rapier across his body. "As you can see, the Slice is useless against someone in armour, so you want to attack the vulnerable spots. Under the arms, the neck or the inside of the legs."

The next thing Barbara showed James was how to move forward and backwards in both stances. They were effectively the same thing. You moved the back foot up and then the forward foot forward. "There is a move that allows you to move forward faster, but let's stick with the basics."

"That is the Thrust, the Lunch and the Slice. There are a lot more techniques which I can show you another time. If you are going to master one technique, then master the Thrust. It will serve you far better than any other attack. Once you have mastered the Thrust, you can add a twist of the Thrust at the end before pulling out. It is very effective," she explained.

"That's what she said," Rocko interjected. The comment caught James by surprise and he started laughing out loud.

"What is wrong with you?" Barbara asked.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

James held out his hands, "Sorry. Sorry. I am not laughing at you, but I just thought of something that made me laugh."

Barbara stood with one hand on her hip, and the other swishing her blade back and forth, "Care to share?"

James watched the blade for a moment, "That's what she said," he repeated.

Barbara nodded a couple of times and then smiled, "That is funny." James returned the smile.

A few moments later, Connie and Doris arrived with a couple of options. "Two Potions of Healing," Connie shared.

"So, nothing different than usual," Barbara said with a frown.

Connie held the potions out to James, "You want them?"

James shook his head, "No thanks. With this armour, I have yet to be hurt."

"Figured," Connie muttered. "Here, Doris, you should drink one, save your mana for something else." Doris took a potion and swallowed the contents, "I love the way these taste. Like strawberries."

James looked at Barbara, who looked back with a smirk and shook her head.

----------------------------------------

CAVE 8

The eighth cave went pretty much the like the last cave. This time the party got a Potion of Healing and a Potion of Mana. James checked his notifications for the past two caves as they left the cave.

Strength +1

Dexterity +1

Melee - Sword +1

Armour - Medium +1

Analyze +1

He took a quick peek and noticed that he was close level 7. It was nice to see, though James wondered why the increases seemed to come in clumps. Analyze was a nice bump since he was close to level 10, and all he was Analyzing was the trash they had found in the past six caves.

"Ever find any scrolls in these caves?" James asked.

Barbara and Connie both shook their heads.

"No, we hope to find some in the next couple of caves. We hope that, with your help, we can complete them," Barbara stated.

Connie added, "I really need some scrolls. They are the only way I can increase my number of Spells."

James was going to say something when Rocko cut him off, "Don't ask. Regular people don't have access to Advantages. So they can't just buy Spells the same way you can. Regular people have to find scrolls or someone to teach them."

James just nodded his head and looked up at the new cave.

"This cave should follow the same pattern as the others, which means that the same as caves six and seven. But it is not. It is different. We tried this cave twice and had to run both times." Connie sighed, frustrated.

Barbara took over, "There are two traps in the front. That should have been our first clue. Then there are six goblins in the first cave. We don't know how many are in the second cave, but four more join the first six. So, we think that should be all of them."

Doris grunted, "But we don't know."

"It may be time to use a couple of extra spells," James remarked.

"I have Magic Dart, and I have Barrier. Barrier is nice against ranged weapons, but it is stationary," Connie explained.

"I say we just throw James at them. With his armour, they can't hurt him," Doris suggested.

"No thanks," James replied.

"Actually," Rocko mused, "Their maximum damage is about 25. There is no way they will hurt you unless they hit your legs, arms or head. And even then, you can take several hits. Of course, if they get critical, that could change things."

"Not worth the chance," James spoke to Rocko but sounded like he was talking to Doris. "How big is the Barrier Spell?" he asked Connie.

"Not big, about two meters."

"How far can you cast it away from yourself?" he asked.

"Adjacent. Sorry," she said with a frown.

"What if we got you up to the second tunnel, and you cast the Barrier right in front of it. The tunnels in the last two caves were not much wider than that." James offered.

"You want me to run to the back of the first cave and put up a barrier?" Connie asked.

"I will go with you. Doris takes on the two goblins at the entrance. Barbara takes on the two goblins with Javelins, and I will take on the two at the back of the room. We hope that your Flash Spell blinds them all. When you get to the back of the room, you put up the Barrier, and we have the time to finish off the six in the first cave." James seemed pleased with his plan.

"Barrier doesn't work that way. It states that it only blocks Ranged Attacks. Sorry, James"

"Shit. Then we do the first part of the plan, but I will take on the six at the back of the cave until the first four are killed. Connie, can you use a bow?"

"Yes. Mom made sure that we could all use a bow, but Barbara is much better at it." Connie stated as Barbara nodded.

"Connie is better than she lets on," Barbara said with a grin.

"Fine. Barbara, you use my bow if Connie can use yours," James said while removing his weapon belt to get at his quiver.

"Why should I use yours? Mine is fine," Barbara inquired.

"Because mine is Enchanted, and you will be able to do a lot more damage with it than Connie would," James said, still working on the belt strap.

Rocko groaned, "You stupid idiot. They are going to gut you like a fish and rob you blind."

"I knew it!" Doris explained, "I told you he was a Champion! Son of a bitch is a Champion." She got up and danced around. James stared at her in shock. He was not expecting this reaction from her.

"Don't mind her. She has been saying you were a Champion since we met you at the tavern," Barbara said, embarrassed by Doris' display.

"But I never said..." James started.

"You didn't have to. Everything about you screams Champion," Connie explained.

"What?"

"You are wearing armour that you shouldn't have access to until you are at least 10 levels higher," Doris explained with a laugh.

"You dismissed the Potions of Healing like they were an everyday thing. Even though they were worth a fair bit of gold," Barbara continued.

"The big giveaway," Doris explained, "Was that we almost gained a level since you joined the group. And I can also see that you have at least five Enchanted items on you, not including what's in your Dimensional Storage Container," Connie concluded.

"It's a Bag of ..." James started.

"They are tag-teaming you. Don't give in, James. You can take them," Rocko encouraged from the side.

"You're right," James caved.

"Damn it, James," Rocko yelled. "I thought you were some elite soldier. Don't they have some rules about not giving up secrets or something? You suck." Rocko shouted.

"Now what?" James asked the women.