Callum had no interest in waiting for the goblins to hit the defensive line before taking action. The goblins were roughly seventy-five feet from him, which would make for a great test of how far he could shoot his magic darts.
As he started pulling the mana to form one, he picked a hobgoblin out of the crowd and focused in on it. He held the dart in place for a moment before releasing it, checking his aim. It was off, slightly. Instead of hitting the hobgoblin dead in the chest, it hit the goblin standing next to it.
The bolt sunk into the goblin's chest before dissipating. The goblin stopped, looked down at its chest, and then keeled over. Compared to the hard wood of a training dummy, goblin flesh was practically paper, and Callum had pierced it straight through the heart. None of the goblins had noticed the dart in the darkness of the cave. The one he had hit was in the back rank, so none of the goblins noticed their fallen comrade.
He prepared another shot, aiming again for the hobgoblin. This time the bolt flew true, striking the hobgoblin center mass. The hobgoblin, being much tougher than the goblins, was mostly untouched by this, except for a small mark where the bolt had struck. It did not do much damage, but it enraged the creature and broke out in a run, pulling away from the rest of the group.
The semi-coherent lines of the goblins started to break as they followed the charge of the hobgoblin but were all stopped by a shout from the shaman in the back. All except for the already enraged hobgoblin.
It closed the distance quickly, forty feet, then thirty, then twenty before Callum could prepare and fire a second bolt. The bolt struck the hobgoblin in the shoulder, dealing some real damage, but not stopping its charge. A heartbeat later, an arrow sprouted from its chest, putting it down.
Now, the rest of the goblin ranks were within fifty feet. Callum prepared a third dart, picking out a new hobgoblin. He released the dart, and it flew true, but a few feet in front of the hobgoblin, it fizzled. He blinked, confused as to what happened.
He readied another dart, firing another dart at the same hobgoblin and it fizzled again. This time, he spotted the problem. The shaman had done something to counter his magic. Callum couldn’t leave the formation, as his people were still outnumbered three to one.
Once the goblin's ranks were within fifty feet, the ranger started firing arrows at the hobgoblins. The accuracy wasn’t anything amazing, but she had managed to drop two more hobgoblins. Callum stepped over to her, and as the goblins collided with the warriors, he redirected her aim to the shaman.
Now that her arrows were still useful to the fight, he stepped back and watched the flanks, ready to prevent them from being surrounded. It didn’t take long for him to be needed. Once the goblins realized only so many could attack the warriors at once, they moved around, trying to flank the group.
It was a ten-foot-wide gap that Callum had to cover, but Blade Dance made it possible. The goblins were much too slow to have a chance at hitting him, and he flitted from side to side preventing any attempt at flanking.
Meanwhile, the warriors were struggling. The goblins diminutive stature made it hard to block the attacks aimed at their legs. The rogues helped to cull the ones that attempted to slip through, but it was a hard-fought battle.
Just as the goblin numbers were beginning to dwindle, Callum felt mana gathering in the direction of the shaman. He risked a glance away from the flank, and saw several arrows lying on the ground, with one sticking out of the shaman’s shoulder. By the time that the ranger had punched through the shaman’s defenses, she had run out of arrows.
Callum thrust his rapier into the goblin in front of him and yelled, “Duck!”
His words fell on deaf ears as the warriors in the front were too focused on the goblins in front of them. Fire flew from the fingertips of the shaman, splashing across the shields of the two in front and filling the cavern with red light. Flames licked at their shoulders, incinerating their clothes and burning shoulders and arms.
Callum formed another dart and felt the shaman gathering mana for another spell. He was faster, but only marginally. His dart struck the shaman in the good arm, the one it was gathering the spell in, throwing off its aim.
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The fireball struck the cavern floor only ten feet to the left of the party. Finding nothing flammable, it extinguished quickly. Callum was already preparing another bolt, this time he had a head start. The magical dart flew as the shaman had only started gathering mana.
It connected, and Callum grinned as the shaman dropped to the ground. His sword was in hand again as he helped kill off the remaining few goblins.
As it turned out, Sally was crucial to their success. When the fireball struck the warriors she moved in quickly, healing both and preventing any lasting burn damage. The rest of the party had performed admirably, but Callum saw the sad look on the mage’s face. He made a mental note to talk to the mage when he got a chance.
Notifications poured in, and Callum quickly reviewed them.
[Goblin Encampment: Cleared]
[Rapier Apprentice 4 → Apprentice 5]
[Combat Magic Novice 8 → Novice 9]
[Combat Magic Novice 9 → Novice 10]
[Spellblade Level 11 → Level 12]
Pleased with the growth, Callum dismissed the notifications and refocused on the party. All eleven of them were staring at him. He waited a moment, but when no one answered, he swept his hand in a gesture for them to speak their mind.
“How did you — what do — that was — can we-,” they all started babbling at once. He held up a hand, and they quieted down.
“One at a time. You first,” Callum said, pointing at the warrior directly to his left.
“What were those things?” the man asked.
“Goblins. Next.”
“That thing shot fucking fire at us,” one of the shield warriors said.
“Did you have a question?” Callum asked.
“Uh, no. I just thought that needed to be said.”
“Okay. Moving on.” He pointed at one of the rogues.
“How did you know to set us up in a formation?” the rogue asked.
“Honestly, video games. Fighters in the front, support at ranged in the center. Any other questions?”
“What do we do now?” Sally asked.
“Now, we reap our rewards. There’s usually a chest that will have stuff for us. As the ones to conquer the dungeon, the rewards are yours.”
“You don’t want any of it?” the ranger asked.
“It’s not that I don’t want it, but I already have a weapon and armor. Anything you all don’t want will simply be used to outfit others in the town. You get first dibs, essentially.” The rest of the party nodded their agreement. “Let’s get moving. I’m sure you all noticed the notification that the dungeon has been cleared, so we shouldn’t have to worry about any more enemies. However, don’t let your guard down. I’ve only been through two dungeons, but I don’t know if that means all enemies are dead.”
The party made their way across the second half of the dungeon at a slower pace. No one wanted to be blindsided, even if they felt they could take a few goblins.
At the end of the cavern was a sight that Callum was familiar with. There were bedrolls scattered around campfires, with small torches to provide additional light. In the center of all of it was a large chest, bigger than Callum had seen in any dungeon so far. He smiled in satisfaction, but let the fledgling dungeoneers take what they wanted.
The chest contained a variety of weapons and armor that Callum took the time to identify as it came out of the chest. He was pleased with the haul, as almost everyone was able to get something that would work for them. The most remarkable item they found was a simple wooden staff that was taller than Callum. As it was passed around, Callum Identified it.
[Healing Focus] A simple wooden staff that when wielded by a healer increases the efficacy and range of Heal.
The item went immediately to Sally. Several in the party had been a recipient of her healing throughout the battle and were eager to make it more effective.
Callum quickly Identified the rest of the items, and once he saw they were of no interest to him, slipped off the find the pedestal that would let him claim the territory. It was not hard to locate, and the menu filled his vision.
He was given the same options as before. Keeping the dungeon was slightly tempting, as a known challenge would do well for introducing people to dungeons and real fighting. What held him back was the other dungeons in the area. Those neglected dungeons could start leaking while he was focused on getting people trained in this dungeon.
In the end, he decided that he would claim the dungeon, and turn it into a safe zone where monsters couldn’t spawn. He had learned the hard way from the wolf attack that just because it was a safe zone, that didn’t mean monsters couldn’t enter.
There was another notification that appeared, informing him of the rewards from the dungeon. Another fifty gold and surprisingly two Power Shards. He selected the option that transferred them to the town storage. The final prompt he saved until everyone was done.
When he returned, the rest of the party was finishing up distributing items, with almost everyone getting something they could use. The mage, however, got the short end of the stick again.
Once the items were distributed, one of the rogues asked the question they were all thinking, “How do we get out of here?”
“Like this,” Callum responded and led them over to the pedestal. There he selected the final option to leave the dungeon. In a flash of light, they were all standing outside the entrance to the dungeon.
“Congratulations,” he said. “You have completed your first dungeon. Good job, all of you.” His last statement was directed toward the mage, hoping to alleviate his stress.
With a short congratulations, the party started the walk back to the town. While they walked, Callum hung towards the back to talk to the mage for a moment. Callum could sense the unease but wasn’t completely altruistic in his intention. He hoped that he could teach the man the bolt that Callum had invented.