Adric and Hex ultimately decided not to play it safe in the tree. Instead, they hiked through the forest slowly, keeping about ten yards between them as they traversed the rocky terrain, frequently stopping to listen for any large predators. Neither of them had forgotten how powerful the panther had been. The last thing either wanted was to be surprised by a stealthy predator above their level.

At their slow pace, they had only gone about a mile after an hour of hiking. Although the forest was eerily silent, they had not found any signs of prey or predators so far. Using a hand signal to get Hex’s attention, Adric crouched against an abnormally large tree and waved her over. Tiptoeing across the fallen leaves and sticks, Hex joined him.

Placing his hand on her shoulder and leaning close to whisper into her fox ears, Adric said, “The forest has changed,” He gestured around them, “These trees weren’t nearly this tall before, and I don’t recognize the terrain.”

The scent and feeling of his warm breath, coupled with the light touch of his hands, made her feel strange, not in a bad way, Hex decided, but confusingly, for sure. She shook off the feeling when she realized he was finished talking.

She nodded at his statement and cupped her hands over Adric’s ear to explain, “The System will change the landscape of any wild or unclaimed area. Even though you own this land, it is still considered unexplored and wild, so the System has probably influenced it. During initial integration, it increases the growth rate of the local flora and fauna and adds new compatible species to the ecosystem. Even cities and towns aren’t always exempt from above and below ground modification.”

“Then that explains why I have never noticed that before,” Adric said, pointing to a cave entrance nestled into the side of a short cliff face on the ridge they were following.

Hex hadn’t noticed the opening and was surprised that Adric had by how well it was concealed behind a fallen tree. The green lichen covering the entrance's stone blended with the still green bough of the downed tree. She was impressed with his power of observation and only had one question, “Do we go in together or separately?”

“We should probably stick close when we get inside,” Adric whispered, then he asked, “Will there be traps if the System made that cave?”

Hex wasn’t entirely sure, so she shrugged, “There could be, depending on if it is considered a natural formation that any animal or monster can use or if it is a dungeon. If sapient monsters have taken up residence in the cave, they may have set their own traps even if the System hasn’t.”

“Should we check it out? Will it be worth it?” Adric asked, unsure if the risk would justify the rewards.

“Absolutely,” Hex said with certainty, “there is a high chance the System seeded it with treasure or equipment, even if it is a natural formation. It’s how exploration is encouraged and rewarded by the System.”

“Okay, let me take the lead then,” Adric said, picking his way through the silent forest toward the cave entrance.

A quick inspection showed the cave was thankfully not a dungeon and was illuminated with a type of glowing moss Adric had never seen. The moss eliminated the need for the headlamps Adric had packed. Still, he insisted they wear them just in case it got darker the farther into the cave they went. He didn’t want them to have to stop and search for the lights once they were committed to exploring the cave.

With his bow at the ready, Adric slipped into the cave. The path inside was wide enough for him and Hex to walk side by side with four feet to spare. Checking the entrance for scat or other signs indicating the cave was already occupied, they found nothing. Encouraged by the absence of paws or footprints, Adric pressed deeper into the gloomy half-darkness of the cave.

They stopped to let their eyes adjust once they traveled far enough that the entrance light was no longer visible. Adric was about to continue moving when Hex grabbed his arm urgently to get his attention. She pointed at her ears when he looked at her, and then to a bend in the tunnel they were traveling. Seeing he was watching her, she indicated she could smell something too. Gripping his recurve tighter, Adric checked his quiver, which was secure on his waist, and that the cotton balls he had stuffed in it to keep the arrows from clattering together were still doing their job.

They moved silently as ghosts covering the short distance to the bend in the tunnel.

With his back pressed against the curving inside wall of the tunnel, Adric glanced around the bend before ducking back.

Hex was against the wall next to him, so he cupped his hands against her ear and whispered in a barely perceptible voice, “The tunnel opens up to a larger cavern about twenty paces around the bend. Three goblins are lying around an unlit campfire. One has a bow across her chest, and the others have swords and small shields next to them.”

Hex shook her head and held up five fingers, then seven fingers. It took Adric a moment, but he soon realized she indicated there would be at least two more goblins he couldn't see. Then she inched past him to see the goblins for herself, using Examine on each.

Goblin Archer level 2 (Common)

Type: Bipedal Monster

Attacks: Unknown

Loot: Low quality based on level and type of monster

Information: Goblins are among the most common System spawns in newly integrated worlds. If left to breed unchecked, goblin populations will grow exponentially and may produce a horde. Singularly, they are easy to defeat, but it is only on very rare occasions that they are not encountered in a party of at least five. Generally, parties of goblins consist of one or more archers, two or more warriors, and one or more spear fighters. Occasionally, a mage or shaman may be included in a group. Rarely, a goblin champion may be present.

After the first goblin, Hex skipped the information on the next two as it was the same as the first. She only focused on their type, level, abilities, and, of course, loot quality.

Goblin Warrior level 3 (Common)

Type: Bipedal Monster

Attacks: Shield Bash, Crosscut

Loot: Low quality based on level and type of monster

Goblin Warrior level 2 (Common)

Type: Bipedal Monster

Attacks: Power Slash

Loot: Low quality based on level and type of monster

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Ducking behind the wall, Hex sent the information to Adric by mentally willing the message to him. She didn't display it with her interface, fearing the light might give away their position.

After his initial surprise at the notifications suddenly appearing in his vision, Adric read them and nodded. They were roughly at the same level, with the element of surprise and a slight cover advantage thanks to the tunnel's curve. Even if there were two to four more goblins in the room, he did not doubt that he and Hex could take them down safely as long as they used cover correctly and didn’t act recklessly. In a whisper, Adric told her as much, also suggesting they reserve their skills and magic in case there was a caster with the group.

Adric stepped silently from the cover of the bend in the corridor with an arrow on his bowstring and another in his hand until he had a clear line of sight down the tunnel to the sleeping goblins.

Hex joined him, and with an unspoken agreement, they each sighted the goblin closest to their side of the tunnel. Just as Hex drew back her tactical compound bow and loosed an arrow, Adric did the same. Even before the first missiles struck their targets, two more were already being fired at the third sleeping body of the goblin archer.

Adric’s first arrow punched up through the level three warrior's chin, killing him instantly. Unfortunately, Hex’s target grunted in his sleep and rolled on his side just as she let her arrow fly. Her shot missed, striking his wooden shield where it lay beside him with a thump.

Fortunately, the archer reacted to the sound by sitting up instead of rolling away. She was rewarded with two arrows in her chest for her efforts. The warrior leaped to his feet, snatching up his sword and shield when he was awakened by the thunk of his shield being struck and the cry from the archer as she fell back, clutching at the arrows in her chest.

As soon as he saw them, the warrior dashed straight at Adric and Hex with no thought of self-preservation other than holding his shield up to protect his head.

The goblin warrior didn’t make it five steps before an arrow from Adric struck him in the gut, followed closely by an arrow from Hex. Still, the wounds barely slowed the manic creature; his thick leather armor prevented the arrows from penetrating deep enough to cause serious injury.

From his position, Adric saw one of the heavy shield bearers enter his side of the tunnel. It held its shield in a way that prevented Adric from being able to finish off the archer they had wounded.

Hex had stowed her bow and drawn her sword as the warrior closed on them, so Adric trusted her to handle it while he focused on taking out the heavy spear user before it could get in range to strike. “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it,” Adric thought as he shot an arrow into the leg of the goblin with the large shield before it could advance another step into the tunnel. As before, the arrow barely penetrated into the goblin's leg thanks to its heavy boots, but the missile still served its purpose. The creature fell to one knee with a cry of pain, giving Adric the opening he needed to send another arrow flying toward the archer as she struggled to pull the arrows from her chest armor. He did his best to trust that Hex knew what she was doing and focused on the ranged targets even as the sounds of blades clashing echoed in the dimly lit cave.

The level two warrior first tried to bowl Hex over with his shield when she engaged him in melee combat. Unfortunately for the goblin, he was nearly a foot shorter and at least thirty pounds lighter than she was, so even with his momentum, she could arrest his forward movement with a hard kick to his small round shield. Her kick stopped his charge but left them both off balance. Still, she managed to block an awkward swing from his sword with her own. As she regained her footing, she heard another goblin cry out from farther down the tunnel, along with the frequent thrum of Adric’s bow string. Smiling to herself, Hex couldn’t help but think, “I couldn’t have matched myself with a more efficient killer,” when she realized he trusted her to take care of the melee attacker while he focused on the threats downrange. Her face broke into a vicious snarl. She was a predator, after all, and the little green prey monster in front of her didn’t stand a chance.

The warrior shouted something in his native tongue, and his sword glowed orange, indicating he activated a skill. Hex, already knowing it would likely be a power slash since she had seen it in his information when she used her Examine skill on him, prepared herself by bracing her sword against her armored forearms. Quick as a flash, the goblin’s rusty short sword slashed toward Hex, who blocked the attack with her own. Even though she was prepared for it, the impact still brought her to her knees as his blade crashed into hers. The look of surprise on the warrior’s face changed to pain and fear when she wasn’t sliced in half by his attack and instead quickly swept his small sword aside with hers and thrust her narrow blade into his throat. She didn’t stop there; quickly twisting and jerking her blade free, she performed an upward slice across the hilt of his sword, severing several of his fingers as she got back to her feet. Dropping his sword, the mortally wounded warrior clutched fruitlessly at his ravaged throat, rancid black blood gushing from his jugular with every rapid beat of his heart. Slinging as much of the disgusting blood as she could from her sword, Hex returned it to the sheath on her back, retrieving her bow in the same motion. She ignored the small green creature as it collapsed to the cold stone before her; it was time to finish this.

Adric’s follow-up shot struck the archer in her eye, killing her instantly. Returning his focus to the downed spear wielder, he fired another arrow. Still, the angle was wrong, and his arrow glanced off the goblin’s helmet to clatter harmlessly into the room behind him. An orange glow from his right distracted Adric momentarily, and he turned just in time to witness Hex tank a vicious blow from her opponent before quickly retaliating.

Impressed by his companion’s strength and speed when she immediately recovered from the brutal hit to aggressively counterattack, Adric turned his attention back down the tunnel, intent on finishing his target.

The spear wielder struggled back to his feet, advancing slowly using his heavy shield as cover. Adric told Hex, “I’m going to use my Exploding Arrow skill since no caster has presented itself yet.”

“Okay, I’ll follow up after,” she responded, readying her bow.

Unfortunately, just before Adric could pull up his interface and start charging the arrow, a goblin mage, apparently hiding just out of their view, stepped out of the shadows. She was already chanting and holding a wooden staff pointed toward them. Before he could curse his bad luck, Hex said, “She’s only level four. Let me take the shot to absorb some of the magic.”

Unable to do anything but watch from the corner of his eye, Adric let Hex step between him and the magic user. She positioned herself in a way that still gave him a clear shot at the spear user, so trusting her to know what she was doing, Adric pulled up his interface and selected his skill.

“Oh, thank goodness,” was Adric’s first thought when the ‘junk’ arrow he had made took the magical charge without the issues his pre-system arrow had the day before. The arrow on his string easily absorbed thirty magic units and began emitting a dim red glow made brighter in the low light of the cave. Drawing and releasing the arrow, Adric had just enough time to watch it sink deep into the Heavy Spearman’s shield before a loud boom sounded just a couple of feet to his right, followed an instant later by a Prism Vixen slamming into him! The impact knocked Adric off his feet, and the two hit the cave's stone floor hard.

Adric’s vision was blurry, and his ears were ringing, but through the haze of smoke and dust, Hex’s hands grabbed him by the front of his vest, dragging him to his feet. She was yelling something he couldn’t quite make out through the ringing in his ears as she pulled him around the bend in the tunnel.

“Move! She’s a freaking void mage! Get behind cover!” Hex yelled as she dragged her companion out of the goblin mage’s line of sight just as another implosion destroyed a chunk of the wall behind where they had been standing a moment before, spraying them with stone splinters.

“What?” Adric asked in a daze when Hex got him behind cover and pushed him against the wall, holding him upright with a forearm across his chest. She fished a healing tincture bottle from her pocket and bit the cap off. Spitting the dropper to the side, she turned the small vial to his lips, forcing some healing liquid into his mouth before putting the mouth of the bottle to her own lips.

Gulping the tincture, Hex repeated, “I said she’s a void mage!” She pawed at the clasps on his vest, saying, “Give me your vest! I’ll handle this!”

“What? How?” He asked, but he still complied and helped her remove his ballistic vest.

“No time to explain,” Hex replied, taking off her backpack and tossing her splintered bow to the side.

He helped her don his vest, wondering if she may have hit her head a little too hard when they were thrown to the ground, and it was giving her delusions of grandeur.

As soon as the last strap was fastened, Hex gave Adric a toothy smile, her canines giving the grin a predatory look. She patted his cheek with her clawed hand and said, “Trust me, I have this. Don’t lean out of cover until after I have the mage’s attention.”

With that said, Adric watched as Hex bolted out from behind the bend in the tunnel, immediately ducking and rolling. A ball of black and violet lightning streaked past her, slamming into the wall, where it imploded with a boom, leaving a softball-sized hole in the rock.

Hex came out of her roll and continued her run until she reached the far wall. She didn’t stop and ran two steps up the wall before kicking off into a backflip just as another bolt struck the wall where she had just been. Even as she flipped through the air, her interface flashed open and closed. A lightning bolt flashed out of her outstretched right hand as she landed and dashed forward out of Adric’s line of sight.