An eerie feeling enveloped the entire forest. It was difficult to place exactly what it was, but there was something deeply wrong. The closer he looked at anything around him, the more he found slight inconsistencies that just didn’t match up properly with real life.

Leaves sprouting from tree branches were just a little too symmetrical. The twigs on the ground had strange patterns in them that shouldn’t have been there and the birdsong was just a bit too close to a loop.

The dungeon was trying to emulate life, but it couldn’t quite do it. Even though it had enough magic to make what almost felt like a whole recreation of a world, everything was fake. As far as Arwin was aware, people didn’t know what dungeons were.

They were simply part of the world, placed there by the Mesh. And, like the mesh, their ultimate purpose was difficult to discern at best. There would have been a time when he’d say that the dungeons weren’t any more alive than the Mesh was. But, given the messages it had been sending him recently, Arwin wasn’t so sure he was willing to make any assumptions about the dungeon.

In the end, it changed nothing. The dungeon had tried to replicate life, but it had failed. It was still just a dungeon, and it couldn’t make real life from just magic. It needed more — and it would get more if a Dungeon Break happened.

Arwin’s hands tightened around Verdant Blaze. He was grateful that the trees were spread so far apart. Fighting in an enclosed space with a hammer wasn’t exactly ideal. It gave him room to maneuver the weapon and himself.

“Where are all the monsters?” Reya whispered from behind him, her dagger clenched in her hands before her. “I almost wish something would happen. Walking like this is nerve wracking.”

“No clue,” Arwin whispered back. “Just keep it together for now. Rushing isn’t going to get us anywhere. Do you hear anything, Rodrick?”

“Hear? No.” Rodrick shook his head, then nodded up to the rustling leaves above them. “It’s impossible to pick anything up with this. I’m doing my best, but it’s like trying to hear someone whisper while a baby screams in your ear.”

Arwin grimaced. “Figures. Just keep your eyes out, then.”

They continued on. Minutes passed as they crept deeper into the forest, doing their best to balance moving quickly with not making too much noise. It struck Arwin that it took exactly five steps to pass between every single tree. He started counting them off idly in his head.

It makes sense for there to be less monsters near the locations that adventurers arrive. There are definitely several different spots the portals drop people off, or we would have run into another group by now.

This is a bit much, though. It almost feels like we’re completely alone. I bet the dungeon has been patching over any damage it takes from fights with all the excess magic. That could make it hard to find a way back to a portal.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and there won’t be a single monster between us and the door,” Rodrick muttered to Arwin.

Arwin went to nod, then paused. Something was wrong. He stopped walking beneath a tree and the others all froze. It took him a second to realize what it was. His mental count had only reached four. The pattern of the trees had changed.

“Ready up,” Arwin whispered. “Trees changed. It might mean nothing, but dungeons like separating things. I think we just entered the equivalent of the next room.”

“What happened to the first one?” Reya asked in the same tone.

“Probably cleared by all the people they sent through here,” Lillia said as they studied their surroundings with renewed vigor.

Nothing was immediately apparent so they continued forward. But, this time, it wasn’t long before the changes became more apparent. Distant grunts and grumbles reached Arwin’s ears and they drew up on a line of bushes hidden within the trees.

Everyone lowered themselves and crept up to the foliage. Arwin poked his head over it and bit back a whistle. A camp composed of a hide tents had been erected in a large clearing. Large, red-skinned goblins strolled around within it. The majority of them had gathered around a small campfire in the center of their camp. He studied one of the monsters.

[Hobgoblin – Journeyman 4]

The others were roughly the same tier. He ducked back down before anything could spot him.

“Hobgoblins,” Arwin said, the distaste clear in his tone. “Looks like there are around fifteen of them.”

“That’s a lot,” Anna said, her face paling.

Rodrick looked over the bushes to size them up himself. He lowered himself a few moments later and gave them a grimace. “We aren’t the first party to find them. There’s armor around their campfire.”

A flicker of confusion passed over Reya’s face, only to be replaced with disgust. “They’re eating people?”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Is anyone still alive in the camp?” Olive asked. Her face had paled a tone, but her voice remained steady.

Arwin looked back over the bushes. He spotted the piles of armor around the campfire and directed his attention away from whatever it was they were cooking. There were some things he didn’t want details for.

He couldn’t find any signs of cages or humans anywhere. Arwin ducked back down and shook his head.

“Nothing that I can see. They could be in a tent, but I doubt a tent would hold someone very well.”

“Can we take 15 hobgoblins?” Reya asked. “If they’re like goblins then it shouldn’t be too hard, right?”

“I think we can,” Arwin said after a moment of thought. “Hobgoblins are distant cousins of goblins. They’re a bit smarter and a whole lot burlier. They also aren’t as blind as goblins are. Lillia, any thoughts?”

“They’re far from intelligent,” Lillia said after a moment. “They won’t be able to adapt well to any sort of surprise and are incredibly self-centered as a standard. None of them will go out of their way to protect each other, so we can try to pick them off.”

“How do we pick off monsters that are all in the same camp?” Olive asked. “They’ll spot us the moment we get close. Arwin could use that huge bow of his to take out one, but what then? Are they too dumb to see where the arrow came from?”

“Probably not,” Lillia said with a frown. “But they aren’t actually all that fast. I think I’ve got an idea that should let us take them out without too much difficulty.”

They all looked to her.

“That’s a relief,” Rodrick said. “I was just going to charge down there and swing my sword around until everything was dead.”

“We know, dear,” Anna said with a sigh. “Which is why we’re even more thankful for anything that gives you a chance of making it out of this with your pants intact.”

“My pants will be perfectly fine. Don’t forget who made them.”

“With you, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Anna said with a wry smile. She sent an apologetic look to Lillia. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. What’s your plan?”

Lillia told them.

***

Olive watched Rodrick and Reya sprint out of the forest and into the clearing, her heart rising up into her throat. Sending two people charging straight at a hobgoblin camp seemed like a strikingly stupid idea.

She hadn’t fought them before, but she’d heard stories. Hobgoblins definitely weren’t the strongest monsters. That didn’t mean they were weak. Even a talented adventurer could go down under a horde of them, and these were a higher tier than they were.

Everything hinges on Reya and Rodrick being fast enough to stay ahead of the hobgoblins. I don’t envy their positions. I don’t think I’d trust myself not to trip.

The first hobgoblin in the camp glanced up. It spotted Rodrick and Reya sprinting toward it and let out a snarl, grabbing a roughshod iron sword from its side and drawing the weapon — only for a streak of green light to carve through the air.

A massive arrow slammed into the monster’s chest and pinned it to the ground in a spray of viscera. Crystals jutted out from the monster’s chest, ripping through its body. The arrow vanished a moment later and the hobgoblin dropped to the ground, dead.

The rest of the camp let out snarls and scrambled to ready themselves for a fight. Several of them pulled out bows and started trying to string them, but Rodrick and Reya didn’t complete their charge.

As soon as they reached the edge of the camp, they skidded to a halt and started running in the opposite direction, running back toward the treeline. The hobgoblins were only confused for an instant.

Seeing their prey turn and flee, the monsters broke into pursuit — and they started gaining ground quickly. They were definitely faster than humans. Olive’s grip tightened around her sword.

I can’t move until they make it back to the treeline. That’ll spoil the ambush. Come on. Push!

Rodrick and Reya were only a short distance ahead of the monsters. Every single second brought the hobgoblins closer to them. They bore down on Rodrick and Reya’s backs, gaining ground with terrifying speed. The monsters hooted and hollered, waving their weapons in the air.

A hobgoblin that had stayed back in camp with its bow raised the weapon, taking aim.

Oh, shit. It’s too soon for Arwin to shoot again! His bow takes too long to prepare.

Olive opened her mouth to call out a warning but caught herself at the last instant. Hobgoblins weren’t smart, but if they realized there was someone waiting in the trees for them, their whole ambush would be ruined.

Who cares about the ambush if Reya gets run through the back with an arrow?

She prepared to yell despite the plan — and an arrow screamed through the air. She stared in disbelief as it slammed into the hobgoblin standing in the camp, turning its head into a fine mist. There hadn’t been any green energy around it this time.

Arwin had literally thrown the arrow, but it had flown with such force that it looked like it had been launched from a cannon.

What kind of smith is he even meant to be? That kind of strength should be impossible for someone our Tier.

Olive didn’t have time to wonder any longer. Rodrick and Reya were just moments from the trees and the hobgoblin horde was right on their tail. The closest monsters were so close that they were nearly in swinging distance.

“Now!” Arwin roared, launching from the forest. He stepped straight into the surprised monster’s path, his hammer roaring with flame as it hurtled through the air. It pulverized the head of a hobgoblin in a single bow, killing the monster before it even knew what hit it.

Strands of shadow whipped out from the trees and bound at the hobgoblin’s feet. The monsters at the front of the group stumbled over them, causing their compatriots to trip over them like a bunch of ugly red dominos.

Olive joined the fight alongside Reya, sending her blade flicking forth into the eye of a hobgoblin as it tried to rise. Fire hissed as the sword punctured the creature’s skull and melted its brain. Olive twisted the sword to make sure the monster was dead before jumping back to avoid a swing from another monster.

Reya ducked under a rusty sword and stepped into its owner, driving her dagger up through the bottom of its jaw before ripping it down through its throat. It lunged for her, but a tendril of shadow wrapped around Reya’s waist and yanked her out of the way before the hobgoblin could reach her.

A hobgoblin landed a blow on Rodrick’s arm, but a ripple of water swirled around the monster’s sword and stopped it from connecting. Rodrick’s blade drove into the hobgoblin’s chest a second later and he kicked it back into the crowd.

Olive was tempted to press forward, but Lillia had been firm on their orders. She took several steps back, joining the others as they formed a wall in front of the treeline to cover each other’s sides.

Over half of the hobgoblins were dead, but their ambush had run its course. The monsters regrouped and gathered into a formation, snarling and roaring.

“Get ready!” Lillia called. “Here they come! Remember the plan!”

Olive’s hand tightened around her sword.

The hobgoblins charged.