Walking deeper into the cave, Mark kept his eyes peeled as he looked over the surroundings. The long tunnel continued on for what felt like ages. No goblins appeared, giving Mark an eerie feeling.
Finally a change appeared as an opening stood in front of him. A wide cavern entered his vision as the light within caused him to have to readjust his eyes once again.
Squinting, Mark looked around and noticed a small village ahead of him. The sound of metal hitting rock echoed in his ears, as the damp smell of the cave changed to a slightly stale smell. Crinkling his nose, Mark quickly found a hiding spot and began observing the happenings of the goblins.
Some were mining at the perimeter of the cavern, others trading or socializing with each other, while the rest seemed to be training with rusty swords and spears.
"They have weapons!" Mark quietly exclaimed, watching the spar between two goblins that looked relatively strong.
{Inspect}
{Creature: Goblin
Core Density: Hollow
Mana Circuit: Beginner (Stage 2)
Info: A goblin that has entered stage two, its strength reaching around half that of a normal human adult.}
Surprised, Mark quickly found that most of the goblins here seemed to be stage one or two, with a few elites even reaching stage three!
"This isn't going to be as easy as I had originally thought." Mark sighed, deciding to regroup and come up with a battle plan.
...
After a short deliberation, Mark circled around the back and began clearing out the right side. He knew he couldn't kill off all the miners, as the lack of sound would alert the other goblins.
Deciding to sweep from right to left, he stealthily killed off all the miners and slowly approached the edge of the village.
Small, hollow mounds of rock were used as dwellings. They gave Mark just enough cover to sneak into the village and begin his massacre.
Every time he killed a goblin, he hid its body in a pile behind the village. Slowly the mound built up and the village grew quieter and more empty.
This alerted the more sensitive goblins and they went high alert. The training goblins came back to the village and began guarding, while the others went to get the miners and have them return.
Soon, around 60 goblins were gathered in the encampment, around half the number that was there was originally. This eased quite a bit of Mark's worries as he prepared the next step of his plan.
Mark walked back to the front of the village and alerted all the goblins of his presence. Seeing them begin their chase, Mark smiled as he turned around, running back into the tunnel.
On his way, he caught sight of Jor and collected it. "Good job Jor!" Mark praised, looking at the webs laid out along the tunnel floor.
Reaching the end of the tunnel, Mark looked back and stood firmly. The approaching goblins still running after him with malicious smiles on their faces.
Mark, returning a smile in kind, rushed forward and began his assault. The goblins that had run through the whole tunnel were unknowingly already heavily drained, causing their breathing to increase and their movements slower and weaker.
Mark, who was now more than twice as strong as a normal human adult, easily made his way through the goblins. He slashed and hacked, clearing his way back to the village. Upon reaching it, he finished off all but one of the remaining goblins.
After disabling it, Jor connected her web and helped replenish Mark, as he looked at his progress.
'Twenty seven physique, huh?' Mark smiled at his increasing strength. Soon a notification came to his mind, signifying the end of the dungeon.
{Dungeon Complete}
{Distributing Rewards...}
{Received Vibrating Sword Rank (F)}
Suddenly, a sword and a pair of tiny leg guards appeared in front of Mark and Jor.
Seeing this, Mark picked up the leg guards and quickly equipped them to Jor.
"Cute." Mark commented, as he gave a soft smile.
"It really is!" Clye agreed.
Jor happily rubbed her legs together, enjoying her new equipment. Mark on the other hand was inspecting his new weapon.
{Inspect}
{Weapon: Vibrating Sword
Rank: F
Info: By injecting mana into the sword, it vibrates the blade, increasing its cutting power. Made of common iron ore.}
Mark sat there staring at the sword for a while, causing Clye to feel confused.
"Mark? Is something wrong with the sword?" She asked.
"Huh? Oh, no. I was just pondering if this weapon was worthy of using Life Bestow on. I don't know if I have really high expectations after I met you, but I just can't decide." Mark continued to dwell as he stared at the sword.
"I understand what you mean and it makes me happy you think so highly of me, but you need to look at it another way." Clye told him, pausing to make sure he was paying attention.
"Another way?" Mark asked in confusion.
"You need to decide whether its a good base or not, not the quality of the sword. Your ability will allow it to grow stronger, but it will always be a vibrating sword. Do you want that, or not." Clye explained, as Mark entered another round of deep contemplation.
After a long period of quiet, Mark finally spoke up, "No need to decide for now, I'll research vibration tonight to understand the good and bad sides of it." Mark then stood up and walked around the village, collecting anything that could be of value.
A bag full of weapons later, Mark made his way back to the entrance, promptly exiting the dungeon.
Upon his return to the airport, Mark quickly made his way back to the base.
When he returned, everyone rushed over to him again after seeing not only his tattered state, but the weapons he carried.
"Call everyone over, I have some important information." Mark told the team leaders, who nodded and went off.
A few minutes later everyone in the base was gathered, and Mark began explaining about the dungeon. He told of the way it was formed, the goblins that spawned in it, the numbers, their habits, and most importantly their power.
"I'd say that with proper equipment and tactics a party of three to five should be able to handle it. I'm more that fifty percent into stage two of my mana circuit now, so it's a fantastic spot to get stronger." Mark then pulled out the weapons and handed them to Rick.
"Are any of these useful?" Mark asked as he also threw his old sword into the mix.
"A little rusted, some are chipped, but they're better than nothin'." Rick examined each sword in detail.
"Alright, those who want to fight take one. If you clear the dungeon there are rewards, so don't worry about the quality. These are just temporary." Mark then showed his new sword to the group.
"Rick, the goblins had pickaxes and were mining something in the cavern, but I didn't have space so I ignored it. It might be worth looking into." Mark told his findings to the old dwarf.
"Seems I have to make a trip as well." Rick sighed, scratching his head.
"Alright we're staving, what's for dinner?" Mark asked as he rubbed his stomach, looking at Ruby.
"Hahaha! I bet you are after all that exercise. We got sandwiches and chips or your choice. A small pile of meat for Jor as well." Ruby and a few others laughed as they headed over to the dining area, ready for dinner.