Connie started by casting the first of her many Stinking Cloud Spells near the point where the first mounds descended to a land bridge to the second mound. They kept the movements short since one Spell would block the line of sight from both the tower and the last mound. Barbara stayed hidden with both the remainder of her arrows and Connie's quiver.

Once they got to the second mound, Connie needed to cast two Stinking Cloud Spells. This was a bit more taxing on her as she also had to avoid being hit with a random crossbow bolt. James stood between Connie and the tower, making sure nothing got past him. He launched one or two PSI Bolts when he saw the tower for a second between the old Stinking Cloud Spell expiring and the new one further along. He tried to make sure that he picked different targets each time. They started ducking or dodging when the goblins heard a bottle rocket fired toward them. As a result, it worked well to suppress them, but it didn't stop the few bolts that flew at them.

The second mound had a few physical barriers that the team needed to workaround. In some cases, it helped block the line of sight from either the tower or the last mound, but it slowed them down most of all. During that time, James took several bolts, but due to his high armour and the fact that he had Harden Skin I, he took very little damage. He healed them quickly with Heal Self III when he took a couple of hits. It took an active effort not to evade any of the bolts for fear that they might hit Connie. Before he headed off, James had dropped Augment Attribute I and switched his Augment Skill I to the Shield Skill.

James deflected a random bolt and mused, "Hey Rocko, any options for getting more Armour Rating right now?"

"There are a few, but I think the one that will give you the most immediate reward is upgrading Harden Skin I to II. It will give you another 5 Armour Rating and only increase the cost of your Power by 10 and your maintenance by 1 per minute." Rocko replied.

James deflected two more bolts while returning fire with a PSI Bolt as the Stinking Cloud in front of him faded, "Great, that sounds great. Can you do it for me? Kinda busy at the moment."

"I can not make any changes to your Status Screen without your consent," Rocko stated.

"I consent, do whatever you need to do." James agreed.

James didn't feel anything different and wondered what, if anything, would happen,

"Well?" he asked Rocko.

"You will need to cancel the Power and reinstate it," Rocko offered. James grumbled and did precisely that when they moved to the new cloud. He didn't feel any different, but he did check his Powers under his Status Screen and noticed that Harden Skin II was now there and was protecting him for an extra 15 AR. That was like wearing a suit of chain mail, and it covered his entire body, not just his torso.

"When we start attacking the tower with the Stinking Cloud Spell, I will move in and attack the Shaman. Don't worry about me in the poison. I have some protection from it." James called back to Connie and Doris.

"This next Spell should hit the front of the tower. I will drop the second one dead centre. So, be prepared to blink,"

When James could see the tower, he fired off a PSI Bolt first and then Shadow Stepped.

The appearance of James on the top of the tower caused a great deal of chaos. There were four Goblin Crossbowmen, two Goblin Fighters and the Goblin Shaman on the tower. Only the two Goblin Fighters saw him appear and were shocked at his sudden arrival. The Shaman was almost finished casting his Stinking Cloud Spell on Connie and Doris when James acted. James skewered the Shaman in the shoulder before leaping forward and executing a Thrust with his Glrick Sword. James was aiming for the creature's neck, but the Shaman was able to dodge at the last moment. It was still a good hit as it interrupted the Shaman's Spell.

A second later, a green mist filled the top of the tower. James tried to hold his breath, but a little of the poison seeped into his lungs anyway. His Magic Resistance did the trick by reducing the damage by 75%, and his Resis - Poison did the rest by negating most of the remaining damage. That didn't stop him from wanting to cough, but he knew if he did that, he would be taking in even more of the poison into his lungs.

The goblins around him were not so lucky, and many of them started coughing and gagging right away—all except the Shaman. The Shaman seemed immune to the effects and launched a Poison Spray at James. A wet green soup sprayed from its hand and covered James in seconds. It also hit a goblin behind James, which started to convulse, fall to the ground and foam at the mouth.

James was not as bad off, but the damage was much more significant than the cloud. The bare skin on James' face started to blister, and it took all his willpower to resist the urge to wipe it off and thereby smear it all over the place and on his hands. James doubled down and Lunged forward. The Shaman leaped back, and James' sword only pierced a few inches into its arm. A second attack from James was met with blue sparks as the Shaman was able to get a Physical Shield Spell up in time to block the attack.

James was then attacked from behind by one of the Goblin Fighters. This was the kind of fight that he wanted to avoid. If the crossbowmen also focused on him, he would be seriously screwed. The Goblin Fighter was not doing an outstanding job as the sword that attacked James scrapped off his armour, but it was enough to distract him.

Hitting the Shaman with a Shield Bash, James turned and tried to use a Shield Bash on the Fighter. At this moment, he found out that Shield Bash had a 10-second cool-down during this fight. Another Stinking Cloud settled over the area again, and James turned back to the Goblin Shaman. The Shaman was the Priority Target and needed to be dealt with quickly.

The Shaman attacked James with another Poison Spray. James was able to Evade most of it, but some still hit his skin. The blisters were painful. Biting down on the desire to scream, James attacked quickly with this rapier. Another Physical Shield blocked the attack, but the next attack landed. The Shaman could only use his Physical Shield Spell every second attack made by James. The Fighter behind James was only able to hit him a few times, but the damage was minimal. One of the Goblin Crossbowmen fired a shot at him, but it ricocheted off the cops on his right bracer and struck the Shaman instead.

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At the same time, the Goblin Soldier charged him from behind and tackled him. James grabbed hold of the Shaman as the Soldier launched them off the tower. Although the ground was soft and spongy, the large goblin landing on top of him was not. Nor was the lumpy Shaman under him. It didn't look like the Shaman survived the landing, but James had other concerns and the Soldier had dropped their sword and was hitting James with their fists. Still dazed from the fall, he struggled to get from under the goblin.

In quick succession, an axe, an arrow, and a Magic Dart struck the goblin warrior.

Although the attacks didn't hurt the bastard, they did cause it to roll to the side, and James was able to get out from under it. Two crossbow bolts struck him from the top of the tower. James saw that the Stinking Cloud Spell had expired, and then there were three Goblin Crossbowmen reloading.

"You need to keep them suppressed," James yelled. "I got this asshole."

The goblin raised an eyebrow at him and laughed and shouted, "You call me an asshole? You great big asshole!"

James wasn't in the mood for banter and started attacking. Using the shield, he initiated a Shield Bash and was pleased to see that the Soldier was Stunned. Stunned didn't mean defenceless, but it was more vulnerable to attacks. The Goblin was wearing chain mail armour that covered most of its body. Typically, a rapier wouldn't fair well against chainmail, but the Glrick Sword was more potent than most.

Deciding it made no sense to die with unused PSI, James went all out. Using a Shield Bash when he could, then attacked twice with this sword. When the Stun wore off, James would blast with the PSI Bolt and try to block the counterattack. The goblin was not an ineffective Soldier. James took several slashes and stabbed that seemed to chew through his armour. The goblin was faster and more skilled with the sword than James was, but James seemed to have much better armour and more hit points. James also used Heal Self III when needed.

The fight lasted several minutes, with the other Party members fighting the other eight goblins. But by this point, the Goblin Soldier was in sorry shape. It had been lucky and hit James with a couple of its Shield Bashes, but James healed the more severe injury quickly.

The Goblin Soldier finally realized that it had no chance. Planning its last stand, it hit James with a Shield Bash and then charged him. The goblin used its strength to push James back several feet until they both toppled into a pool of water.

To James' surprise, this was not a shallow pool of water but rather deep. By the time the Stun expired, both of them had already started to sink with the combined weight of their armour. It was a smart move on the part of the Goblin Soldier. If he were going to die anyway, he could at least take the enemy warrior out with him. But James was not a regular warrior, and he was not about to die in water.

James pulled out his boot knife and started stabbing the Goblin Soldier, letting go of his sword. The goblin didn't resist but locked his arms around James instead. It was a literal death grip. When James was confident the goblin was dead, he tried to stand but had a hard time with the warrior stuck to him. Looking around, he noticed that he was several feet below the water's surface and was beginning to starve for air.

As a Navy SEAL, holding your breath underwater was a training exercise practiced a thousand times. Being able to think straight and keep your cool while drowning was a critical skill required of all Navy SEALs. Looking around for a shadow, James realized that the water was too murky to see anything clearly, let alone a shadow. He still tried to activate his Shadow Step, if for no other reason than to get rid of the dead weight around his waist. Continued to think of ideas, James reached out with his Power and tried to open an Astral door, but nothing happened. His last resort was to unlock the goblin's death grip and walk to the surface, but the goblin had somehow tied its chainmail wrists together. Although James wasn't yet ready to panic, he started to freak out.

Then he noticed Rocko appear out of the murkiness of the water.

"I purchased a new power for you; Water Breathing. You may wish to activate it." Rocko said calmly.

James had the Power activated before Rocko had finished his sentence.

"Now, you need to inhale the water, James. Granted, it is gross, but it is necessary," Rocko continued with his calm demeanour.

James couldn't hold his breath any longer and inhaled. Rocko was right; the water tasted horrible. It was half-sesspool and swamp water. When he exhaled, the water didn't come out of his mouth but out of small gills on the side of his neck. Taking a few more deep breaths, he finally got his breathing under control.

Rocko watched him, and James saw the shoulders relax as Rocko realized he would be okay. Still pinned at the bottom of the pool, James now had time to work his way out.

A loud splash above him alerted him to someone coming. Connie's shape appeared, and then her features appeared before him. He noted she was not wearing her robe but some somewhat clingy undergarments. When she arrived in front of him, her look of concern turned to confusion.

James let her know he was fine by taking a deep breath and smiling when her confusion turned to anger. Turning, she pushed off him with her feet and propelled herself to the surface. James chuckled underwater knowing that Doris would be gripping about 'Damn Champions.'

It was several more minutes before James was able to disentangle himself from the goblin, throw it over his shoulder, find his sword and make his way slowly to the pool's surface. The pool was only about 10 feet deep, but the banks were steep enough that he had a tough time with the weight of the extra armour and the goblin body. But James didn't want to leave the gear behind.

When he broke the surface, he coughed for a few moments, clearing out his lungs and struggling to breathe.

"You have to cancel the Power, James. You can only breathe water or air, not both." Rocko explained, concern leaking into his voice.

James cancelled the Water Breathing Power and then dragged the goblin's body onto the grass next to the pool of water. Trying to get his bearings, he noticed that the fight was over. The other goblins were dead, and three sisters were standing over him. Connie was back in her robes, but her hair was wet and clinging to her shoulders. Only Barbara was smiling.

"Have a nice swim," she asked.

"Water is a bit cold. Also tastes like goblin piss." James quipped.

This got a grin from Doris, "Connie said the same thing. About being cold, I mean."

"What's the SITREP?" James asked. When nothing was forthcoming, he tried again, "Situation Report. What happened?"

Doris spoke first, "The four Goblin Crossbowmen died into the poison. Two of the goblin Fighters fled the tower."

"Ya, but I crippled them with arrows to the legs. We can kill them later." Barbara added.

Connie finally spoke, "Both wands are out of charge." she lamented.

"What about the goblins on the last mound?" James asked, looking that way.

"Fled," Doris responded.

"I wasn't expecting that," James declared, "I figured they would have stayed in the room until the bitter end."

"What happened to you?" Barbara asked for all of them.

"This guy figured he would take me out by drowning. It did not realize I could breathe underwater. But he hooked his armour onto my weapons belt, and I had difficulty getting free. Thanks for coming down for me, though, Connie. I do appreciate the thought." he said with a smile.

"I was coming down to see if you were dead and if we could get your loot," she dead-panned.

James wanted to use Mind Scan at that moment. But he paused. Connie had a high Intelligence, and the sisters seemed to have some telepathy. Doing so would spell disaster. But he wanted to.

"Speaking of loot, did we find anything interesting?" James asked after an awkward silence.