James used Shadow Sense and checked out the eleventh cave, and now they were planning their assault while he recovered the Mana used. The cave had only four goblins, two at the front with axes and shields and two at the back with two javelins and shields. There were also two tunnels leading from this chamber. This led them to believe that there were twelve goblins, four in each section. It also made sense since the caves were increasing in increments of two. It also meant that two groups of goblins would most likely rush to the room from two different directions.

The team sat around a dirt-drawing as they discussed the matter. "James can hold off the one group of four while we three deal with the other group. We did okay before when we defeated caves seven and eight by ourselves. This should be the same thing," Doris declared.

"Yes," Connie replied, "But the goblins will be tougher than the ones we faced in caves seven and eight."

"And we are tougher," Doris stated boldly. "We each gained a level, so we have more power to bring to bear."

Barbara watched her two sisters argue and counter-argue, her head following back and forth like watching a tennis match.

"Fine," Connie conceded, "But you are casting that new spell on the three of us, and I am using the Wand of Acid Bolt as necessary."

"Agreed," Doris stated, holding her hand out for her sister to shake. James just sighed, as they never asked him if he thought he could take on the four goblins solo. They had just assumed. And we all know what happens when you assume.

"So, Barbara disarms any traps she finds. Connie casts the flash spell, and then Doris and I take out the two guards at the entrance as soon as possible. Connie and Barbara take on the two goblins at the back of the cave while Doris and I move to our tunnels. I hold my tunnel, playing defensively, while you three ladies kill the four goblins expected to show up at the tunnel Doris is guarding. Once that is done, you come to help me. If more goblins show up at one tunnel than the other, the one with the least goblin plays defense instead." James looked around to see if anyone had any questions.

"Let's do this," Doris insisted, getting herself prepped. The other two women agreed.

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Cave 11

The start of the battle was much smoother than the last. There was a trap, and Barbara was able to disarm it. Connie cast her Flash Spell, and Doris and James charged into battle. James led with an untrained shield bash. It had the desired effect of knocking the stunned goblin off its feet. Before it could stand up, James jabbed it several times in the chest and once in the throat. Confident it wasn't getting back up, he sprinted to the tunnel entrance the party expected him to guard.

There was a bend in the tunnel preventing James from seeing too far, so he prepared himself for the worst. Stealing a glace at the others, he was glad to see that Connie and Barbara had finished off the two at the back, and Doris was in position near the entrance of her tunnel. James turned back in time to see the first goblin come around the tunnel bend at a run. Its shield did nothing to stop the PSI Bolt that James launched at it. By the time it arrived in front of James, he had hit it two more times, and it was not doing very well. It took a half-hearted swing at James, which James blocked on his shield, and then jabbed it in the chest. It had the good grace to fall to the side and die. It also fell on a hidden pit trap that even James had not detected.

"Beware of traps, I may have missed some!" James shouted to his team.

The next three goblins were grouped and attacked James as one. They could not get behind him, and the pit trap was off-center to the tunnel entrance, so it helped James control the choke point. Using his shield, he focused on blocking, instead of jabbing with his rapier. From this position, James was still able to launch PSI Bolts at them. James discovered that it took four bolts to kill a goblin. James could cast sixteen PSI bolts and still have a little leftover. He would have had more if not recast Harden Skin I before the fight started.

James was down to two goblins when an Acid Bolt splashed in the face of one of them. It screamed and staggered backwards before falling to the ground. The other goblin got distracted by its friend's misfortune and suffered for its inattention. Barbara hit it with an arrow, and James executed a perfect Lunge; twist at the end and all. The goblin who was hit with the Acid Bolt tried to get up, but the damage was too extensive, and it died to James' rapier before it had a chance to die of shock.

James found Doris leaning against the wall and drinking a potion of healing.

"You okay," he called to her.

She nodded to him, "They hit harder than the other gobs. I need better armour if we are going to keep doing this. Even with my Blessing."

James nodded in agreement. She would do well in chain mail or scale mail armour. Some good medium armour would turn her into a tank, like him, which was ironic since he wasn't a tank. He was a Shadow Knight, so maybe he was supposed to be a tank.

"Should we split up and search these tunnels, "James asked.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"By the gods, no!" Barbara shouted.

"Never split the party," Doris cried.

"Everyone knows that, James," Connie teased.

"Fine, which way?" James conceded.

They decided to go in James' direction and have Doris pull up the rear. The tunnel was not very long and ended up in a small cave with a cloth sack on the floor. The sack had a couple of gold coins and many silver coins. Barbara picked it up and handed it to Connie. The money seemed to make Connie happy.

Moving quickly, they headed back to the main chamber and then started down the tunnel that Doris had covered.

"Do you have to be so messy in your killing, Doris? You have guts dripping from the ceiling!" James complained

"I get carried away sometimes," she explained.

James just shook his head and stepped over the eviscerated remains of one of the goblins, trying not to slip on the entrails. Once passed the hazard, James moved carefully to the other chamber. There had not been any traps in the tunnels, but he didn't want to take any chances. The last room was similar to the previous one, with a sack on the ground and a throwing axe. Doris groaned upon seeing the throwing axe.

"I hate axes," she lamented.

"Suck it up, buttercup," James joked. Doris eyed him carefully, unsure what to make of the unknown comment.

"Can you Analyze them?" Connie asked. I can't seem to get anything.

Name: Throwing Axe (Steel) Quality: Very Good Rarity: Uncommon Damage Range: ?? Range: ?? Accuracy: ?? Crit Chance: ?? Durability ?? Damage Type: Slashing Special: Ranged, One-handed, Enchanted - Returning

James shared this information with his party.

"Come to mama," Doris cooed, picking up the throwing axe. An enchanted weapon was worth a lot of coins, and this appeared to be one that Doris would use. The sisters laughed at Doris' sudden change in attitude.

"We can go home now and call it a very successful day," Connie piped up.

"Do you want to quit now?" Barbara asked. "We have only one more cave to explore. That has to be where the dungeon entrance is located."

"We have been fortunate so far. We had one bad execution, which nearly got a couple of us killed. I am not keen on pushing our luck." Connie stated. She was the youngest of the sisters, and her Physical Shield didn't last as long as she had hoped when the goblins started lobbing javelins at her.

"I would like to explore the last cave, but I am okay with waiting until tomorrow. Each of us has a new level, and there is no reason to push." James had Inspected the goblins in the first chamber, and they were level 7. The reinforcements were level 8. "I suspect the last cave will have levels 8 and 9. And there will most likely be a boss protecting the dungeon entrance and will be level 10 or higher. No need to take unnecessary chances."

"I vote we continue," Doris voted. Barbara shook her head, "I say we go home. It was a good day, and tomorrow can be better."

"Do we have to do the first six caves over again?" James asked.

"I don't think so," Connie stated, looking at her sisters. Doris shrugged, but Barbara shook her head. "We know that if you skip one of the first six caves, the previous caves will come out to fight you. But there is a pretty big gap between caves six and seven."

"Those caves aren't going to do much for us, so I say we skip them and go straight to cave seven tomorrow and work our way back up. It will also give us a chance to get some more gear," James offered.

"More gear?" Doris cocked an eyebrow, "You are already pretty well kitted out."

"I was referring to you. I think you could do with an actual suit of steel chainmail." James countered.

"Steel! It looks l like he plans on bankrolling us, girls. Wonder what he wants in exchange. Our virtue?" she sneered.

"Wow, that went south fast," James frowned.

"Steel chainmail is still outside of our price range, James. Even if we pool all our money from today," Connie explained.

"I can loan you the difference. Or you can go with iron. Either way, you need better armour. Barbara can use my bow again tomorrow, but she should be looking at an upgrade or going to better arrows. And Connie needs to learn those new spells."

"What are you going to be doing?" Barbara asked.

"I would head back home and pick up a few things. If I can get you better armour you can borrow if you want. This is all a loan, by the way. The bow, for example." James clarified.

"The women looked at each other and then nodded, "That is only fair," Barbara stated, handing back James' bow. "Do you have access to better gear?"

"I may. Yes," James agreed. "It depends on stock, but if you give me the rest of today, I can return tomorrow and see what I have found."

"Okay. We have access to a suit of chainmail, but the cost is twenty-five gold. We have almost that much but would require your share. We have some savings at home. So we can get the armour if you can't get us any."

James nodded, "That's fair. You keep the gold you have. I can use my own if I find a suit for cheaper. Otherwise, I won't bother. I have an Enchanted sword I can loan Doris and another wand, which may help Connie. So, loans for everyone."

"If you had an Enchanted sword, why weren't you using it?" Doris asked.

"It's not a rapier."

Doris nodded, "Makes sense."

As they walked out of the cave, everyone was grinning, "You going to head back to town with us?" Barbara asked.

"No, I think I will head home from here. I will be there first thing in the morning." James replied. "Oh, and I ask you not to tell anyone about being a Champion. I like my head attached."

Doris laughed, but the other two were more solemn. They understood the dangers of being a Champion, "And tomorrow we try the dungeon." Connie stated.

"Tomorrow, we check it out. If the goblins outside the dungeon are tough, imagine what is inside the dungeon. I have no desire to see any of you killed." James made a point of looking each of them in the eye until they nodded. Even Doris, who was a bit more hesitant but, in the end, agreed.

"Until tomorrow," James said and then stepped forward and seemed to disappear.