We've been searching down different pathways for what felt like an hour, but this cave is like a maze. Each tunnel leads into more tunnels. I can't tell if this is natural or if they were carved out by the goblins or some other creature.
I felt a poke on my shoulder. "Which way should we go, Kenji-san?" Erana whispered to me.
I looked to the three pathways ahead of us. "I don't know… We can't afford to waste time." I looked towards the weakening flame. "This torch is about to burn out." I had an idea as I quickly turned towards Erana. "Do you have a way to scout ahead? Can you use your fireflies for that?"
"At a higher level I could, but right now I can only manipulate where they go." She slowly traced her finger around in the air as the fireflies flew figure eights.
Instead of responding, I simply grimaced. I can't afford to waste time. What should I do?
I stood and thought for a moment before remembering a survival tip I heard back on Earth.
"Erana..." I slowly turned towards her. "Can you lick your finger and hold it in the air for me?"
"E-Eh?" She stepped back and covered herself with her hands. "W-Why do you want me to do that? I just met you!"
I immediately realized how strange of a question that was to ask someone. "N-No! I don't mean it in some weird way!" I looked towards the ground as I attempted to figure out a way to say this. "There's this... technique that you can do where you can tell where air is flowing by how the air moves around your wet finger! It helps you find your way in caves!" I held up both of my hands and showed off that I was holding things. "My hands are full so I can't do it, but you can. Can you please just do it?"
Erana seemed to mull it over for a few moments before she finally seemed to reluctantly accept. "F-Fine, b-but if this is actually just some weird prank then I'll scream and run!"
I turned away and faced the three pathways before us. "Whatever! Just do it already! The clock is ticking!"
With that, Erana placed her pointer finger into her mouth and pulled it out. She then raised it into the air and her face lit up in surprise.
"Woah!" She let out. She sounds excited. "I can feel the air move around my finger! It's true Kenji-san!" She began wiggling her finger around. "This is really cool!"
"Hey, focus!" I stomped my foot on the stone floor. "Where is the air coming from?"
Erana awkwardly laughed for a moment before she held her finger upwards and closed her eyes. After a few seconds in silence, she opened her eyes and looked at me.
"It's coming from the right tunnel." She declared.
"Alright, then let's go to the left tunnel." I stepped forwards. "That will probably lead us deeper."
"Roger that!" Erana closely followed.
We proceeded onwards, guided by the words of Erana. I stood vanguard while Erana brought up the rear. With someone behind me providing support, I now feel much more confident. My shakes were gone and I can feel confidence as it flowed through my body.
No, this definitely isn't because a pretty girl is alone with me in a cave. Definitely not.
We haven't encountered any goblins since we grouped up, but I know it's only a matter of time.
"Kenji-san, you were right!" She poked at my shoulder as we slowly walked downwards. "We're descending now! How did you know that your method would work?"
I shrugged. "I don't know the specifics, but it's something about how air has to flow in and out of places." I kept walking before I felt like I should explain some more. "...It's the same reason why you need to have a chimney in a house or else the smoke will fill the room… I think."
"I see. That's super cool." She nodded energetically.
I can't tell if she's being serious or sarcastic. Either way, it's nice to have someone to talk to. Conversation, even if it's as strange as this relieves my nerves somewhat.
After more navigation of this cave system that seems to never end, we came across another opening. The interior of the room it led to is large, with stalactites and stalagmites littering the area. Unfortunately, there are also two goblins in this room, and these ones have spears.
"Greeeh…" One of the goblins let out. It seems to have spotted us.
"K-K-Kenji-san, they've spotted us!" Erana began to quickly back away. Her teeth seemed to be chattering. What happened to the girl that kicked the goblin in the balls earlier? "What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?"
"C-Calm down!" I stepped forward. "Provide me with support. I'll do my best to deal with them!"
"R-Roger! I-I'll provide s-s-support!" I heard her plant her feet as she stood firmly behind me.
Despite my confidence in her being next to none, I stepped forward while brandishing my sword and torch combo.
These goblins seem to be a bit different from the rest of them. Unlike the ones I've encountered up to this point, these enemies are keeping their distance from me. Perhaps it's because they're wary of what Erana will do?
I turned my head slightly, making sure to still look towards my enemies as I spoke. "Erana, what is your effective cure light wounds range?"
"M-Me?" She bolted upwards. "It's a-about three meters!"
That means that I need to keep this battle within close proximity of Erana. I don't know how effective her healing magic actually is, but I can say with almost one hundred percent certainty that I am not coming out of this fight unscathed.
I slowly crouched downwards. "If you're not going to come to me..." I pointed my sword towards the closest goblin. Then... I'll come to you! Let's do this!" I shouted as I charged towards the goblins. Despite my tough words, I only slowly shifted myself, merely moving a few meters towards them. I wasn't about to rush enemies with good range after all.
"Hey, why are you moving so slow?" I heard Erana whisper. Her nerves seemed to temporarily disappear.
In embarrassment, I quickly turned to look at her. "S-Shut up! I'm doing this as best I can!"
"Graah!" One of the goblins shouted as it charged at me. It seems that this one was trying to take advantage of our momentary loss of concentration.
I only narrowly dodged its spear thrust by jumping to the side. My cheek has been cut, but it's definitely shallow. I retaliated at the goblin as it recovered from its thrust by charging at it with my broadsword. As it was about to thrust once more, I stabbed it.
"Greh!" It yelped. I could feel it going limp just like the others. Though these goblins seem to be more intelligent than their counterparts, they're certainly not very durable.
"Yah!" Shouted the other goblin as it thrusted its spear towards my right arm. It seems to have identified my weapon arm and aimed to disable me. I had no time to pull my broadsword out, so I let go of it and backed away. Despite abandoning my sword, the goblin still cut my arm slightly. This cut is notably deeper than the last one.
"Ehehehe!" The goblin laughed. It threw its spear to the side and pulled my broadsword out of its deceased ally. It seems that it has determined that I am too nimble for its untrained spear thrusts to hit, so instead it has elected to take my own sword and use it against me.
"This isn't good…" I muttered as I clutched at my wound.
"Eh? Kenji isn't that your sword?" Erana shifted her gaze from me to the goblin. "What do we do? You have no weapon!"
"Nevermind that! I need you to heal my arm!" I quickly moved towards her. "I doubt I can fight like this right now."
She blinked and then realized her situation. "U-Understood! Cure Light Wounds!" Erana shouted as I felt the pain in my arm subside.
"I still have one option…" I whispered as I began to draw my dagger.
"Geyah!" The goblin shouted as it began to charge me.
I had just barely pulled my dagger out before I was forced to block the attack from the goblin. Apparently, my opponent had put all of its strength into that attack as it dropped the broadsword when I blocked it. The sound of metal vibrations echoed throughout the cave.
"Gigigi!" It twitched. Though I can't tell the exact emotions of the goblins, I feel like it's afraid of me.
I rushed the goblin before it could pick up the broadsword again and stabbed it in the head with my dagger. Unlike the broadsword, this is much more personal. I twisted and spun the dagger as goblin blood splashed onto me.
Once I realized that my enemy was dead, I slowly pulled the dagger out of the head of my foe. I watched it as they fell limply to the ground. Once I had determined that both goblins were dead, I sheathed my dagger and walked over to my broadsword to pick it back up.
"Wow!" I heard Erana run up to me. "You beat two goblins by yourself!"
"Don't get too ecstatic." I waved my hand in front of my face. "I got hit twice. That was mostly luck. If I face more than two I will definitely lose."
"Well that just means we need to face only two!" She grinned from ear to ear.
I watched her for a moment before I realized my face still hurt. "I wish I held your optimism... Anyway, can you heal this?"
She looked at my face and grasped her branch firmly. "Leave it to me!"
While we shared this dialogue, I could smell something as it began to fill the cave.
"Hey… Do you smell smoke?"