We moved stealthily down the path until we could see the troll cave in the distance. Everyone was focused on our surroundings as we hiked along the mountain trail and I squinted to see the cave on the horizon.

“Aaron, look at the cave,” I slowed down until he caught up to me, “I don’t see any trolls.” Aaron cast his skill to increase his perception and the team gathered to hear what he could see. We had only been hiking for a few hours and the day was still early so I didn’t bother to take off my pack.

“I can see them on the ground around the cave,” Aaron said, “it looks like they’re dead.”

“Do you think those hobgoblins killed them?” I asked curiously. I had never seen monsters fighting other monsters before.

“If they were Awakened, maybe?” Gabrielle shrugged, “should we still check out the cave?”

“I don’t think heading to that area after a battle that wiped out that many trolls are a good idea. Let’s keep moving down the path for now, but we need to stay cautious. That group of hobgoblins we saw earlier would be too many for us to handle, not to mention that entire cave of trolls,” Gary said after a few minutes of discussion and everyone nodded seriously. This area was more dangerous than the Bloodfields, by far.

We continued down the path to head further into the mountains as we carefully studied our surroundings for any signs of monsters waiting in ambush. We stopped a few times as the hours passed to send Aaron up a nearby hill to scout an area before we continued. Eventually, the trail opened up into an actual valley between two mountains and we cautiously entered the valley after Aaron reported it to be empty. We hiked through the valley for an hour before we reached the first turn.

“It opens up to a larger valley ahead, there’s a stone fortress or something by the sides of one of the mountains,” Aaron jogged back to us as we waited on our packs.

“A what?” Gary looked surprised.

“I mean, it looks like a stone compound or something,” Aaron just shrugged as everyone stared at him. “It’s pretty far away.”

“Does it look like where the hobgoblins went?” Zack asked.

“How would I know?” Aaron shook his head, “I would have to get a lot closer to see anything else.”

“Would you need to go alone?” Gary asked.

“It’s a fairly open area…” Aaron trailed off and Gary nodded his head thoughtfully.

“Scout it out, we’ll set up a camp here. How long will you be gone?”

“Give me two hours, if I’m not back then come after me. I’ll head along the side of the mountain on the left until I can get some more information.”

“Stay safe,” Zack said as he clapped him on the back. I told him good luck and moved to set up camp with the rest of my team. We ate a meal of cold stew and jerky while we waited and made some small talk on what the monsters would be. I was less worried about Aaron on the open mountainside; with his Leap ability, he could quickly escape and make his way back to us. About an hour and a half later Aaron arrived back at the camp and I eagerly rushed to his side.

“Hobgoblins. I saw groups of five hobgoblins returning to the fortress from all directions as I watched, I assume they’re patrols, at least. The place is even bigger than I thought, there are thousands of them in there.” Aaron sat down and accepted a bowl of food from Zack with a nod.

“Thousands! That’s insane,” I exclaimed when I heard the number. We were only days from the city, they could destroy half the city if they took it by surprise.

“Well, obviously we can’t do anything about the fortress,” Gary said. “But you said groups of five hobgoblins leave for patrols?”

“I think they’re patrolling, but I’m not too sure. There are three paths up the mountain I saw the groups returning from,” Aaron said around a mouthful of jerky. “I saw eight different groups coming back while I watched the area, that would be a lot of different patrols.”

“If we scale the mountain out of sight, would we be able to see where they’re going?” Gabrielle asked thoughtfully.

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“Maybe? I don’t know where they’re going, all three paths just went up the mountain,” Aaron replied with a shrug.

“It’s a plan, at least,” Gary said with a nod. “We’ll head up tomorrow and see if we can find an area to ambush the hobgoblins on the other side of the mountain.” The sun was already close to setting and everyone split up to prepare their things. Despite the long day of hiking, I found my body wasn’t sore at all and I was sure the increase in my stats from advancing to E-rank was the reason. Even with the change in my Essence from when I advanced the increased density in the mountains meant it recovered at roughly double the speed while we were here. Unfortunately, I couldn’t risk spending all my Essence while I was out here in case we were attacked so it felt almost like a tease.

We were camped in another hollow just off the path leading towards the large valley and I sat on top of a rock while I scanned the area. I had taken the first watch like usual and I decided to leave Barkskin on myself, permanently, from now on. The skill lasts five minutes and my Essence would easily recover fully by the time it would end. Not to mention, it would allow me to constantly train the skill. Since the change to my Essence, the layer is created on top of my skin was strong enough that it reduced a noticeable amount of the force you would take from a blow and I was excited to see it improve.

The next morning we ate in a hurry and followed Aaron as he led us to a good spot for us to scale the mountain. We made our way up at a decent pace, and it quickly became clear the difference in our bodies, compared to when we had just Awakened. Sheer walls of stone were no barrier to us as we could easily make it up alone or with help if needed. A few hours later we reached the crest and I could finally see the entire valley below us. There was a large stone structure directly in the center, although I couldn’t make out any details other than its size.

“I can see where that path leads, there’s a large cave that heads into the side of the mountain,” Aaron pointed along the side of the mountain we were standing on. I thought I could see a small grey area but I trusted his perception.

“It would be pretty difficult to get there, from here,” Gabrielle gestured to the steep mountainside ahead of us.

“There’s another cave, over there,” Zack said suddenly and I saw a large cave only a few hundred meters below us mostly blocked from view by rocks.

“Let’s check out the nearby cave, first,” Gary said after he looked at it. It was only a short distance away and it would possibly give us a good area for us to use as a base if we needed to. The cave was straight down from our position on the peak and we slowly made our way down the steep mountainside. As we got closer we could see the area outside of it was empty and we quickly reached the entrance.

“We’re going to need torches,” Aaron said glumly as we all stepped in front of the dark cave. The sun let us see a short distance inside the large cavern but it was dark beyond that and I couldn’t see anything moving. I grabbed some nearby tree limbs and handed a decently thick one to Gabrielle while I tied the rest to my pack just in case. I turned back after I finished and saw the fairly charred burning log held in Zack’s hand as he began leading the way into the cave. We moved along one of the walls of the cave and followed it quietly until the only light was provided by the makeshift torch. The torch-lit up a massive area in the large cave and as we moved deeper it became obvious that there were many different paths leading deeper into the cave.

“Let’s move into it,” Gary said decisively as we reached the first tunnel. The smaller tunnel headed down and was still large enough for all five of us to walk side by side comfortably. I swallowed and shook my arms to relieve some of the tension of being so tense. It was eerie walking through the dark with no noise besides the sounds of us moving. The cave led us deeper long enough for the log Zack was carrying to burn halfway down before we could see anything ahead.

“There’s light,” I pointed out needlessly. The rest of my team gave me flat looks as we walked steadily towards the obvious light in the distance.

“Be careful, we don’t know what’s ahead,” Gary warned us as we got closer. As we got closer I started to grin and I exchanged a happy glance with Gary as we sped up.

“A dungeon portal,” I said excitedly once we arrived. The portal was a dull orange, but it was easily recognizable as a dungeon portal like the ones in the bloodfields. The tunnel ended in a small chamber that only held the portal and large rocks scattered around the room.

“Maybe we found our ow-” Aaron cut off as a groaning noise coming from around the room. I readied myself for a fight and watched the tunnel we had entered from as the groaning continued. I cast Barkskin on all five of us as I worriedly watched the tunnel above us.

“The rocks! Behind the portal,” Aaron shouted and I turned around to see three monsters made of rocks growing from the ground.

“Drill shot,” Aaron sent an arrow into the monster and I watched as it only shattered a few rocks while it continued to grow. I didn’t think Thornbolt would be powerful enough to damage rocks and I waited hesitantly for Gary to say something.

“Gabrielle, see if a meteor can damage one,” Gary said after a moment. The monsters were still growing in size and they were approaching the size of a hobgoblin, although they hadn’t moved towards us. Aaron sent a few more Drill shots into the closes monster and managed to cause it to stop growing after eight shots. Meteor destroyed the other as it formed and Gary charged the last one and struck it with Flurry and Impale. Zack circled it and sent his mace slamming through its center and it slumped to the ground.

“Good job, I’ve never felt so…” I trailed off for a moment and shrugged. “Useless, in a fight. I don’t think I could damage them with my skills or my strength.”

“The only reason I charged that is that I had Barkskin on, Eli,” Gary said as he shook his head. “We’re not all going to excel in every fight.” I nodded, feeling somewhat embarrassed by the situation.

“F-rank cores,” Aaron said after a moment of digging around the pile of rocks. I looked over with interest, this would be the first time we found Awakened by the entrance to a dungeon.

“Good. We’ll move in with only Zack and me in the front. Keep Barkskin on the two of us and stay in the back to support Aaron and Gabrielle, Eli.” I nodded supportively as I understood I wouldn’t be able to handle the rock monsters if we ran into them again. Barkskin and Rejuvenation would be the only skills worth using in this dungeon.