"I will scout ahead." Kyle said quietly as the group approached the cave. He squished down as flat as he could and started slithering along the ground looking like a sentient puddle. He reached the mouth of the cave and peered inside. The light from outside reached into the cave for a couple of feet before being devoured by the darkness and would have made it hard to navigate for those that relied on sight alone. The cave was pretty small being only about ten feet wide and twenty feet deep, but Kyle noticed a small tunnel near the back, obscured by the contours of the cave walls and the shadows. He didn't see any other creatures in the cave. He raised a tentacle into the air and made a circular motion to signal the others that it was all clear before he flowed slowly across the floor making his way back through the cave.

He was halfway through the cave when he sensed a couple of goblins coming down the tunnel. He quickly turned into a ball and rolled to the nearest wall and pancaked against it before the goblins could see him. Thank goodness I have that Mana Sense skill. Kyle thought to himself. He flowed up the wall and onto the ceiling by the time the two goblins exited the tunnel and walked into the cave. The goblins were quietly chatting in a coarse language with very few vowels and lots of grunting. From his vantage point, he saw Garrett and Blixie near the edge of the cave and used a tentacle to make a couple of arrows pointing at the goblins below him.

Garrett nodded back when he noticed Kyle's arrows and formed a couple of spikes from the surrounding dirt. Kyle retracted one of the slime arrows into the other until he was only pointing at the goblin slightly further back in the cave and let go from the ceiling. He quickly fell and engulfed the goblins head. The goblin gurgled out a scream and flailed its arms to dislodge the creature now trying to eat its head. The lead goblin swung around at the sound just as Garrett's spikes found purchase in its back, dying instantly. The goblin currently engulfed by Kyle slumped to the floor and suffocated about ten seconds later.

Garrett and Blixie walked into the cave. "That was a bit easier than I thought it would be." Garrett remarked.

"I sensed some more goblins further back in the cave." Kyle said as he pointed to the darkness that the goblins had come from. "Just not sure how many. My mana sense couldn't reach the back of the cave. Let me go scout it out."

"Sounds good. We will wait here and prepare."

Kyle started to move away before he stopped and turned to Garrett. "Wait, Garrett. Do you still have that bottle you found me in?"

Garrett pulled out the small glass bottle. "Yea, why?"

Kyle reached a tentacle over and poured a small amount of liquid into the bottle. "There." Kyle quickly oozed back up to the ceiling and worked his way through the tunnel the goblins had come from. Kyle realized that the tunnel sloped downwards, gradually taking him deeper into the earth. About a minute later he emerged into a large cavern. He moved from one stalactite to another keeping a watch out for goblins.

After a few minutes of circling the ceiling Kyle moved to a spot near the tunnel he had come through and focused on his Puddle Scout skill. "Hey guys," He quietly whispered.

Garrett and Blixie were startled when Kyle's voice whispered out of the bottle. "Hey Kyle," Garrett responded. "I thought you could only listen when you used this skill."

"It has leveled up since we last talked about it, but we can go over that later. Let's deal with the goblins first." Kyle responded. "The cave back here is only about twenty feet deep or so. There are a couple of goblins near the middle of the cave, and a larger one near the back. It also looks like they might have a bear under their control somehow."

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"Thats not really strange." Blixie chimed in. "Some people, and monsters, have skills that allow them to befriend or control animals. The big goblin might be a shaman of sorts with a nature element so we will need to watch out for rock attacks or maybe even plants. He could also be a healer, either way we should try to take him out first."

"Sounds good, I will drop on him like the last goblin." Kyle said. "Just give the word when you are ready." Kyle quietly blobbed across the ceiling into position while Garrett and Blixie moved down the tunnel. Garrett pulled a few stone spikes out of the ground as he went and held them in the air with Unseen Force while he readied his sword and new demon-faced shield in case he missed his shots.

When Garrett and Blixie reached the end of the tunnel they saw that the cave is fairly open with only a few small stalagmites on the ground. There is a small fire near the back of the cave where there is a goblin that is about a head taller than the two goblins sitting in the middle of the cave. They also see a furry lump by the fire, that is the bear Kyle mentioned they conclude.

"Alright Kyle, we are in position." Blixie whispers into the bottle. "Go in three, two," Blixie counts down while Garrett takes aim at the two goblins in the middle of the cave. "One."

Garrett Launched two of his spikes in rapid succession and nailed both of the smaller goblins in the torso while Kyle dropped from the ceiling onto the bigger goblins head. There was a loud screech from the smaller goblins as they were stabbed with the stone spikes, but not killed outright, and a gurgle from the goblin currently drowning inside Kyle. A couple more spikes finished off the smaller goblins as the large mound of hair stirred and slowly stood up. the mountain of fur stood over seven feet tall and looked like a furry goblin head had been placed on a bear. Its arms hung unnaturally long, almost brushing its knees. It was dressed in just a loincloth but had a metal shoulder guard covering one shoulder and a bracer covering its opposite forearm.

Blixie recognized the large creature that now stood at the back of the cave, towering over the goblin and Kyle. "That's not a bear." She whispered as it bellowed and raised a large double-bladed axe it clutched it one hand. "That's a bugbear." She shouted.

The bugbear turned toward the shout and saw Garrett and Blixie standing by the cave entrance and charged at them. Garrett launched the last of his spikes at the bugbear. The bugbear easy destroyed the spikes with a few quick swipes of its axe. With a powerful leap the bugbear closed the distance and brought his axe down in a two-handed overhead chop. Garrett dodged to his right, narrowly avoiding being cleaved in two, as the axe slammed into the ground and sunk about an inch while spraying rock chips around.

Garrett retaliated with a quick backhand swing and cut into the bugbear's thigh. The bugbear gave a grunt from the pain and slammed Garrett in the chest with its oversized fist. Garrett was lifted off of the ground and sent flying back into the nearby wall. He saw the bugbear rip the axe from the ground and run toward him before he could react. Garrett had just enough time to lift his shield to block an angled swing from the bugbear. Just before the axe made contact the shield pulled against Garrett's arm. The axe slid over the top of the shield and cleaved through Garrett.

The bugbears laugh of triumph was cut short as Garrett's sword slid through its chest and pierced its heart. Its eyes grew wide in disbelief as Garrett still stood before it, although Garretts head and arm floated an inch above the rest of him. The bugbear slumped to the ground. Garrett looked over to where Kyle still clung to the large goblins head. The goblin tried to dislodge Kyle by whacking him with a gnarled wooden staff with a few feathers tied on the end.

Kyle stared at Garrett. "That's pretty disturbing dude." He yelled as the wooden staff kept smacking him with a wet squelch. The goblin had dropped down to his knees and the force he was hitting Kyle with was dropping dramatically before he slumped to the floor. The wooden staff clattered softly off the stone floor as the goblin died. "Luckily the heart in that body of yours isn't pumping or that would be even worse." He chuckled as he oozed off of the goblins head. "Since that fight is done, Let's look for loot!" he cheered.

Garrett looked down and used his Unseen Force skill to effectively pull his borrowed body back together. "Looks like I will need to find a new shirt." He commented. He felt a tug coming from his shield and looked over to see that the arm of the bugbear had lifted to grab the front of his shield. Odd. He thought. I'm sure the bugbear is dead. He moved his spirit orb to see the front of the shield and was surprised. The mouth of the shield had opened up and was chewing on the bugbears arm.