A short walk later we found ourselves back in the tunnel we started in before we took the turn towards the wooden keep. We moved back into our usual formation and went further down the wooden tunnel until we reached another staircase heading deeper. We reached the bottom of the stairs and a massive chamber opened up in front of us. Inside the room, there was a large pool of water with a small island sitting in the center. A precarious stone path seemed to be the only way to reach the island other than swimming through the murky water. On the island, there was another wooden keep that looked nearly identical to the one earlier with goblins standing on top of the battlements.
“This looks similar to earlier, those goblins up there will likely start trying to hit us with their slingshots as soon as we get close to the keep. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to keep our balance on those rocks if we get hit even with Barkskin applied. Any ideas?” Gary said with a concerned expression on his face as we all contemplated the problem. I tried to imagine myself keeping my balance on the thin rock path while also getting hit by the goblins.
“What if we just ignore the path? Can everyone swim?” Gabrielle asked a couple of minutes later.
“I’ll need to take my bow-string off before we swim and then reattach it once we get there if we swim.” Aaron grimaced as he thought it over. I tried to think of any other ways we could get across but nothing came to mind besides the path or swimming, neither of which seemed like a good option.
“It doesn’t sound like a great plan but I honestly can’t think of anything else,” I said with some disappointment to the others, getting nods from all of them in return. Aaron sighed and unstrung his bow before taking a waterproof pouch out of his pack and stuffing it in a pocket. I dropped my pack at the bottom of the stairs and tied my spear to my back so I could use both hands when I swam across. I quickly cast Barkskin on all five of us before we got into the water, using over half of my essence.
“Swim near the path and try to stay together,” Gary said and then we all waded into the cold water until it came up to our chests and started swimming. I had only swum a few times throughout my life and I felt seriously weighed down once my boots and clothes filled with water. A couple of minutes later I grabbed one of the rocks next to me and held on to give my arms and legs some time to rest along with the others.
“A little over halfway there,” Zack started to talk before he cut off with a curse as a stone flew towards us and smashed into the stone beside Gabrielle. Stones started to fly regularly from a few goblins with slingshots on the walls. My arms quickly started to burn from the exertion again and I kept my eyes squeezed shut under the water so they wouldn’t burn once we got there and had to fight. A few seconds later I felt something bite my ankle and I reflexively yelled and got a mouthful of the dirty water as I kicked my leg back and forth. I came up for air and saw we were only a few meters away from where I would be able to stand so I forced myself to ignore the stinging pain in my ankle and swam as quickly as I could for a few more seconds. I got to the more shallow water and yanked the spear off my back as soon as I could stand and then looked down to see an eel the size of my hand gnawing on my leg. I stabbed the eel and kicked it off my leg before looking around to see the rest of my team dealing with similar issues. A rock slammed into my neck as I looked around and I shouted in pain, feeling a bruise start to form.
“We need to get to the shore, now!” Gary shouted from in front of us. All of us rushed forwards under the hail of stones and quickly made it to the open archway that led into the wooden keep. I managed to dodge the rest of the stones until we got through the archway and I looked around to see stairs leading up to the battlements behind us and a large courtyard with two hobgoblins as well as a few goblins and wargs spread around in front of us. My eyes widened in fear as I realized how tough this was going to be especially with no buildings inside to take cover at this time.
“Up the stairs! To the battlements! Now!” Gary screamed after we all paused to take in the situation around us. Zack rushed to the stairs and the four of us quickly followed behind him while he tried to hide behind his increasingly dented shield. As soon as we reached the top of the staircase Gary Charged forwards towards one of the furthest goblins at the top of the battlements to the left. I took a right and saw three goblins standing with slingshots in their hands in that direction and decided not to use any more essence for now unless I needed to. I watched an arrow take out the goblin in the back and I mostly ducked under a stone shot from the one nearest to me before I stabbed it through the stomach. A stone hit me in my thigh, sending a throbbing pain shooting through my leg. A Fireball from Gabrielle sent the last goblin on this side falling over the wall and I quickly turned around to see the wall was clear and two wargs sprinted over the top of the stairs.
“Hold the top of the stairs! Behind me and Zack!” Gary shouted as he rushed back towards the center of the battlements where Gabrielle and Aaron were still standing. I heard Gabrielle scream as a warg sunk its teeth in her leg and twisted its head before Zack bashed it across the top of its body with his mace. It crashed back down the stairs to knock over two spear-wielding goblins. I stood right behind Zack and Gary at the top of the stairs to the battlements and had a rare moment of calm to look over the battlefield. Four goblins were rushing up the stairs, one warg was snarling behind them and the two hobgoblins dragged their massive hammers in the back. Before I knew it I was standing in between Zack and Gary stabbing at the goblins and lost in the frantic back and forth of the fight as we used our height and reach advantage to quickly send them tumbling down the wall. Finally, there were only the two hobgoblins remaining and Aaron sent Drill Shots into both of their legs to try and cripple them as we did earlier. I followed his example and cast one Thornbolt into each of their ankles, leaving me enough essence to cast one more before they reached us. The hobgoblin on the left threw a massive swing of its hammer overhead towards me and I jumped back just in time to feel the air pass in front of me and hear the thud from the hammer hitting the floor.
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“Wall of Flames,” Gabrielle cast her ability right under their feet at the top of the staircase making both of them scream in pain.
“Fortress!” Zack yelled as the rest of us fell back along the battlements, giving the hobgoblins nowhere to go other than down the stairs or to stay standing on top of the flames. The wall only stayed up for one hit from one of their hammers and it shattered immediately, showing both of them bleeding heavily and burnt all along the bottom of their bodies.
“Thornbolt!” I used my last cast on the one that looked more injured and hit it directly in its ear which sent it stumbling backward to fall off the battlements to the ground below. Gary ducked under a swing from the other one and Charged point-blank into it to stab it in its gut. His spear snapped in half as it twisted away. Zack's shoulder checked with his shield which shoved it off the wall to land near the other one in the courtyard. We rushed forward to the edge of the battlements to look over and saw both of them lying still on the ground.
“Take a seat so I can bandage that, Gabrielle,” Zack said as we all walked down the stairs. I looked over at her leg and saw jagged cuts right above her knee from the warg bite leaking blood down her pants. I took a second to look around once I got down to the courtyard and I saw all five of us completely covered in blood and small wounds. It was starting to sink in how dangerous this profession is, and how close we had come to losing our lives today. There’s a reason most adventurers don’t even make it to fight in their first horde. I know I chose Druid as my class because it gave me strong odds of finding capable teams but once we return from this expedition I need to look into how else I can improve. I need to become more skilled with a melee weapon and have some decent armor before I attempt another dungeon, this was way too close. Aaron and I finished bandaging each other and went to search the courtyard for the dungeon core.
“Is this it?’ Aaron called over to me after a couple of minutes of searching and I walked over to join him at the far side of the courtyard. He was looking at a small green gem half the size of my fist sitting on top of a waist-high wooden pedestal.
I nodded seriously, “Yeah, that has to be it. Grab it and let’s finish checking the room and the rest of the bodies while they rest.” Aaron bent down to grab it and I turned to look over at Zack, Gary, and Gabrielle. All three of them were more injured than me and Aaron, not that the two of us were in good shape at all. My entire body felt like one huge bruise and I had more cuts than I could count spread across my body, although none of them were as bad as Gabrielle’s thigh or Gary's forearm. Zack had his shirt off and I could see a yellow and purple bruise spread from his shoulder down to his hip, probably from blocking one of the hobgoblins hits with his shield. I found another three small pouches of coins on the goblins with a few coppers in each and one more pouch full of Bloodmoss sitting next to one of the chairs on the side of the courtyard.
“Good job everyone. I’d give a speech but I think we’re all too tired for that, let’s get out of here,” Gary said with a pained smile after we finished looting the room and I joined them under the archway. We took the stone path on the way back instead of swimming, and thankfully we saw no more monsters on the way outside. The evening sky shaded the forest as we exited the dungeon, covering the dark red forest in shadows and giving it a sinister feel. None of us spoke as we saw the goblins’ bodies still piled up next to Paul and Jack’s corpses. During the hike back to the treeline we heard one patrol walking ahead of us and I used the opportunity to cast Thornbolt as many times as I could. After going through the dungeon I felt like nothing out in the forest could be dangerous and I didn’t think there was any reason to limit my essence usage. After quickly killing the patrol the rest of the hike was uneventful and we crossed the treeline a few hundred meters south of the road a few minutes later.
“Let’s go set up camp and have a discussion,” Gary said as I stood a couple of steps past the trees. I glanced over at him and saw my exhaustion mirrored in his face. After a moment I nodded back and followed him for a few minutes until we reached our usual camp spot where the other three had already begun setting up. I took a minute to set up my tent before I used the rest of my water to carefully wash up and change my clothes, leaving my bandages alone for now. I got back to the camp around the same time as everyone else and finally took a seat a few paces away from the small campfire. Everyone else was still busy with cleaning up and checking their progress for the day so I shrugged and opened up my Status while I waited.
Eli - Lvl 2 Druid
Experience - 228\500
Strength-5 (+1)
Dexterity-4 (+1)
Perception-4
Vitality-5 (+1)
Spirit-6
Willpower-5
I gained one level in strength, dexterity, and vitality as well as over 200 experience today. My many bruises and cuts reminded me that it wasn’t easy. I brought up my skills list next.
Barkskin - Level 4\10 Upgradeable
Experience - 322\800
Thornbolt - Level 1\20 Upgradeable
Experience - 102\200
I’ve already gotten over halfway to level 2 in Thornbolt and today is the first full day that I’ve used it. I wonder how much experience I’d be able to gain per day from just training without any monsters to increase my experience gain.