„I know it may be a stupid question, but how are dungeons even formed?" I asked as we started moving towards Aula city.
„Dungeons form from stagnated magical energy, that is the most simple explanation I can think of," Laina frowned her brows and continued, „It is actually a little more complicated. Unlike Dimensional Rifts that are failed bridges between realms, Dungeons only appear in this realm. Dungeon's most common monsters are undead and you can find them in old prisons, battlefields where many people died and so on. Cave dungeons, like this one, are usually made when a monster absorbs the stagnated magical power and becomes a higher ranked being because of it. We call these monsters 'Lords,' and as long as they remain alive, the monsters will only grow in numbers," Laina explained.
„I see… so if we take out the Lord and eliminate the stagnated magical power the dungeon will collapse?"
„Well, the monsters will become as weak as they originally were. The structure will be intact, though," Henry added with a stranded smile.
„Sometimes, the stagnated power condenses into something called [Dungeon core], but when that happens the dungeon becomes practically indestructible and even killing the Lord doesn't destroy it. There is actually a dungeon like that under the Royal capital," Laina added.
„This might be good training for you, Lena. Dungeon monsters are usually stronger, but except for the Lord, they are usually not that cunning. You could even call them simpletons," Henry added.
„Yes. I will work hard!"
„You will take Lena to the dungeon?" I asked surprisedly.
„It's a noble's duty to protect his subjects. Dispatching bandits and monsters, learning politics, economy and much more are a must to be perfected by every noble, even if they want to be something else when they grow up. Even if they become adventurers one day, having knowledge about these things and being decently strong never hurts."
„Yeah, true that… May I accompany you on the hunt?"
„Yeah! I want to go too!" Blanche raised her hand high with a big smile.
„Sure, why not? We will do some simple investigation tomorrow and set up guards that will inform us of the dungeon's opening. You three should get your name out there in the meanwhile. I believe this guild will have a lot of interesting work for you," Laina said with a smile.
***
The next morning we boarded the carriage and went to adventurers guild where the three of us disembarked and waved Henry and Laina as they were leaving for the town hall to get more information about the mines. We hopped off a little farther from the guild than we really had to in order to not draw attention and walked to the guild. Unlike in books where everyone stares at the protagonist, no one even batted an eye. Actually, we weren't even that out of the ordinary. There were at least six different groups of children who were taking quests as well. Though, they were mostly taking odd jobs and herb gathering quests instead of hunting quests.
„So, what kind of mission should we take?" Lena asked as we were looking at the board with quests. As a group of two H ranks and one G rank, we could technically take F rank missions.
„We should first raise the rank of you two, so I think we could take the F rank mission together."
„Yeah, even with our special permissions we can only take above G rank jobs when the guildmaster allows it… what about this goblin extermination quest?"
„The numbers look alright, but goblins breed quickly, so there might be more of them than is written here. Though, it's not a number that should be a problem for us, what do you think Lena?"
„I… need to train against humanoid monsters too. And it will help out the people too. Let's do it," she nodded, her healing slime sitting on her shoulder.
„Okay, then let's take it. Excuse me! We would like to take this quest!" I talked to the receptionist and told her about the quest we saw, as it was not allowed to take the notice slip from the board.
„Aren't you too little for taking such a quest? Shouldn't you take rat extermination first?" a nearby adventurer snickered, making his lackeys laugh too.
„Shikuro." As I spoke the name, my Shadow wolf jumped from my shadow and glared at the adventurers with deep growl and his Intimidation skill active. This skill made anyone weaker than the user tremble in fear. Unsurprisingly, no one in the ducal family, nor their soldiers were affected by this when they first arrived and the Knight captain even called him cute. Shikuro loved to use this skill from inside my shadow.
„What?!"
„What is this…"
„A shadow wolf?!"
„It has such a strong presence…"
The adventurers instantly stopped laughing and froze up.
„I hope you are not afraid of my little Shikuro, that would be embarrassing for you," I said, my eyes cold.
Shadow wolves are known as one of the more challenging wolf type monsters right next to Infernal Wolves and Blizzard Wolves. Their rank is just C, because when they can't enter shadows, they are just wolves with slightly sharper spatial awareness.
„Oh, you are a tamer?'' The receptionist was completely unfazed and even smiled at the sight of Shikuro. Does she love dogs?
„Yes. I usually call my monsters to hunt against higher numbers. I believe there will be quite a lot in this goblin village."
„Last time, only about fifteen goblins were picked by an I-rank member who was picking herbs in the northern forest. It was about a week ago."
By doing a simple math, from those fifteen goblins could be about five or six females and given that goblins always have between four to five kids every time they get pregnant, we are looking at a group between 35 to 45 members if they bred only once in this week. Goblin's pregnancy is extremely short and they grow up fast too. Worst case scenario, they took in wandering goblins and their numbers grew even more. Once they secure a good source of food, they will breed even faster and as food starts to run low, they will attack human settlements, gaining tools they could not make themselves.
„I see, we better hurry then," I turned back to Lena and Blanche who nodded at me.
„Let's go then!"
We left the guild and went to the forest by exiting town from the northern gate. There, Blanche summoned her Wind Wyrm, a snake-like creature with three pairs of bat wings.
„So you think we can fly on this guy?"
„Yes! Berta said it's okay!" Blanche smiled and hopped on the Wind Wyrm's —Berta's— back, extending her hand to us to help us up.
„It's interesting how easily you tamed this one," Lena said.
„I was surprised at first too, but as it turned out, it's thanks to the blessing of the Wind god, Lord Vulrin. It makes monsters of the wind element much easier to tame and summon, the latter being my case."
„Good work summoning it," I patted her head as she was sitting before me.
„Did anyone tell you that you two look like love birds?"
„We do?!" Blanche turned back to Lena, who was sitting behind me, with sparkly eyes.
„I think we do," I smiled at Blanche and she rested her head on my chest, a satisfied smile painting her face.
The wind blew in our faces as we tried to locate the village from high altitude, which made it slightly hard to do.
„I got it! Over there at the big tree! There's a lot of movement and signs of life!"
„How should we attack?"
„We need to make sure not a single one escapes. Let's head down and I will take out Romi and the ogres."
„Okay!"
We went to the ground where I opened the Dimension home and let the group out.
„You awake now?" I called out to the Fallen who walked out with Romi.
Unlike days ago, she was quite shorter. Her long bangs hide her eyes and a small black halo hovered above her head. She looked like a tiny doll dressed up in a frilly dress that was made by Romi from the Cocoon slime's silk.
„Yes…"
„Those men that captured you were already dealt with, so no need to fear them anymore."
„You took out the Balor… how?" She looked up at me and her golden eyes shone like the sun.
„I shot him with an arrow that had liquid on it that made it decompose from inside."
„I see… good. But, what will happen with me now?"
„Well, humans see your kind as monsters, similarly to Romi, but if you stay in my Dimension home for now, you should be able to live a comfortable life for some time. Once everything calms down, I will release you."
„Y-you will… abandon me?" The girl started sobbing and Romi gestured to me to clean up fast.
„Well, you can stay with us, if you want. You okay with that, Blanche?"
„We can use all the hands we can get," Blanche smiled and gave the girl a thumbs up.
„See? You can stay with us, if you wish."
„I… I don't want to be alone anymore!!!" The girl started sobbing even more and fell forward, but I caught her and started patting her head. …I have a strong sense of Deja-vú…
„It's okay, you can take your time," Blanche walked up to me and while resting her head on my shoulder started patting the girl's back.
„Damn, you really look like a family, alright…"
„Right?" Romi smiled happily and laughed softly.
„Say, we can't call you You, forever. Do you have a name, or do you want a new one?" to my question the girl shook her head.
„I guessed so… let's see… What about Yue?"
„Yue… I like it… thank you."
„Alright, will you do the taming contract with her? We can't have a Fallen walking around untamed. People might be unsettled. Not to speak of the Church," Lena spoke up and looked worriedly at the girl.
„It's… alright… will you make it?" the girl looked up at me so I formed it right away and looked at her status.
Fallen (Yue)
Magic born monster; humanoid. Angel that gained power of darkness in exchange for its healing and Light magics. Dark magic 8, Physical pain resistance 8, Mental Pain resistance 6, Spearmanship 6, General 6, Fly 5, Demon summoning 5, Service 4, Cleanup 4, Darkness Feathers 4, Whirlwind 3
„Well, we are going to hunt goblins now, if you wish, I will let you wait in the Dimension home."
„No. I will help too… but…"
„It would need a spear, right? Don't worry I got you covered,
„Oh wow! Such an amazing spear!" Yue's eyes sparkled with excitement of a child, which was a great contrast given she was holding a weapon, but not like I was one to speak when I was playing around with them as well… sometimes, I feel like I'm regressing back into my childhood. Back then, I was making spears and swords from sticks, and I even once made a crossbow… dad used to help me with that, too…
„Arito?" Blanche looked at me worriedly.
„It's okay, I was just reminded of my past is all. I'm fine," I patted her head and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
I left Nana in charge of the pups and took everyone else with me. The wolves have started sniffing around as soon as I let them out. Kuro, as the leader of the pack, stood by my side, staring at Yue, who in kind was staring at him.
„Wh-what are those two up to?" Lena asked.
„Kuro is deciding whether Yue is a pack member or pack leader."
„What?"
„It's about hierarchy. Kuro and Romi are bosses of their own packs, so they are direct subordinates to Arito. The rest of their group follow Arito too, but they also follow Kuro and Romi as his second in command. Similarly, Urza is in charge of Goblins and Elga in charge of Ogres. The Beetles and Slimes are in a group of their own, though," Blanche explained to the best of her abilities.
„And where in this hierarchy is your place, Blanche?"
„Is there really a reason to ask?" I smiled and pulled Blanche to me, „Right next to me, of course."
„G-gosh, Arito…" Blanche turned bright red and burrowed her face into my chest.
„Oy!! I didn't tell you to start flirting!!!" Lena exploded and even Yue was looking at us dismissively.
„Hah-hah-haah, right, we better start the extermination.
„Can we take them out quickly?"
„Not likely. It seems there are a lot of wandering goblins. We need to lure them in one place…"
„Master, master! I could use a spell… it's called
„Really? What kind of spell is that?"
„It's a dark magic spell that calls for monsters. It's common for monsters with summoning magic to have it. But unlike summoning magic, it calls for monsters within a certain range," Romi explained to me, „I could probably use it too, but my range is greater than hers. I might call even monsters that would be too hard to take care of."
„I see. Then, could you fly above their village and use it?"
„Leave it to me, master!" Yue smiled and spread her wings, flying up high.
After she left, I called out my wolves, except for Nana who was on house sitting duty with the pups. Soon after that, we felt as if some dark, nasty feeling was pulling us deeper into the forest. I looked around and noticed some monsters passing us without batting an eye to us or anyone else, they were drawn to the dark feeling.
„This is amazing, how are you holding it?"
„Good." The ogre representative, little Elga, told me. She put on some muscles already and was holding a club, twice her size. This club was made from a lump of pure iron I had on hand, made with alchemy. The rest of the Ogres also had weapons they preferred, mostly axes and hammers.
„Let's move out, then. Be ready to attack at any time."
„Right!"
„Yes boss!!"
We walked through the forest, our eyes, ears and noses sharpening expecting anything that could attack us.
„Wait! Look over there…" Blanche said, pointing her finger at a giant walking through the forest.
„That's… a troll?!" Lena said with a surprised look.
„Romi, can you take care of that?"
„Understood, sir," Romi bowed and made a spear of blood that in a split second pierced the Troll's head.
Romi walked up to the Troll and bit him into his neck, drinking his blood. „Uwaah! That hit the spot! If I get some more blood, I will become a higher ranked Vampire!" Romi smiled, a little stream of blood trickled her chin. The troll in the meantime raised back on his feet, his eyes glowing red and fangs growing long. In other words, it became a Lesser vampire.
„Now follow me, you big oaf!"
„HUUUUUUU…" the vampire troll growled absentmindedly.
We resumed our march and soon arrived at the goblin village. There, the goblins were surrounding a tall pole on top of which Yue was standing, her black halo surrounding her head like a crown with spikes all around. When she saw me, she smiled happily, which made the goblins and all other monsters scream in rage. She looked down on them and her wings spread wide. In the next moment some feathers split from her wings and rained down on the monsters, killing some in the process.
„Attack!" With my command we entered the fray. Blanche was supporting us from behind while me and Lena were helping at the front lines.
I was using my Black sword to cut them down in one strike. Pierce the head of the one before me, grab the one who tries to get behind me and throw him on the third goblin and stab their hearts in single motion. Cut another one's head off. I continued like this over and over, targeting heads, necks and hearts over and over. Slimes around me were spitting poison, acid and sticky goo on all of them. Thanks to the first attack by Yue, we took out about half of the goblins and other monsters almost instantly. Slimes incapacitated about quarter themselves and the rest of us hunted the rest.
„Kuro and Kurde, keep watch of the burrow and tell us if anything tries to get out."
„Woof!"
„So the proof of subjugation is hand?"
„Both hands to be exact. You can cut them off at the elbow or wrist, it doesn't matter. They use the fingernails for some kind of medicine."
As ridiculous as it sounded, it actually worked on weak bones, but it was also highly frowned upon as it came from a humanoid monster.
„Okay, then. Let's get to the whacking!" Romi smiled and took out a cleaver from her Item box, which I quickly followed with mine. Once the goblin corpses were cleaned, we had the Corpse slimes eat the remnants. There were five Corpse slimes who refused to eat the goblin corpses, but were happily eating the feathers dropped by Yue. I guess they prefer the dark attribute monster meat… too bad those fall apart so quickly… Maybe I could have Yue summon some demons and use their corpses to feed them? What would they evolve into, though? Undead slime? Demon slime? Wait, what if I go at this from the wrong perspective? All the things they are eating are rotting quickly. Even the feathers fall apart already… maybe they will become Rotting Slimes? Or maybe Stench slimes? Rotting things tend to smell badly
„What kinds of other monsters do we have here?" I asked Elga who was coordinating her five ogre subordinates to bring the corpses of monsters to the Corpse slimes after going through Lena, Blanche and Romi who were taking proof of subjugation from them.
„There were… forest tigers, slimes, Black wolves, Red deers. And also, Orks, Bulybugies and Nobrans."
„I see. Did anyone survive?"
„Some slimes and wolves… and one fox…"
„Where are they?"
„Over there."
I thanked her and let her continue her job. I noticed the wolves lying around surrounded by my wolves breathing heavily. I used my healing magic to heal all of them and formed contracts with them.
Fluff Slime
Advanced species of slime known for its lightweight thanks to which it gained the ability to float and can travel as far as the winds take it. It can split multiple times at once. Approximately 5 centimeters in diameter. Float 7, Split 7, Photosynthesis 5, Absorb 5, Dissolve 5, Fluff release 4, Regenerate 4
It looked like a ball of fluff, which made me imagine flowers which used a similar method to scatter their seeds far and wide. It looks like the Fluff release skill allows it to drop the fluff around itself and replace it with a new one. This might do for winter wear. Don't get me wrong, I love my Wooly tiger coat, but this might be lighter to wear.
Among the wolves I tamed this day, there was one that caught my interest, that coincidentally was my 100th wolf in total.
Wooly Wolf
An Adapted monster related to Black wolves. Its fur is long and curly, making it seem like wool of sheep. They can increase the volume with magic and even replace old wool with new ones. Wooly 9, Physical attack nullification 9, Bite 8, Fast running 7, Howl 7
If the information was to be fully trusted, then the Wooly skill was the source of volume increasing and replacing old wool with new one.
„I got myself a wolf in sheep's clothing, literally," I smiled to myself and tamed the Red fox, which turned out to be actually a Magic born monster of the spirit variety. I believe there are more spirit types, some of which you need special skill to see, there is after all a Spirit realm in this world… I wonder if I will ever get to see it.
When I returned back to the rest of the group, the girls had already finished collecting proof of subjugation and surrounded the burrow.
„How's it looking?"
„Not great, some goblins tried to get out, so we killed them, but it looks like there are much more of them than we originally thought."
„Okay, I will try a new spell…
„Okay.
„Okay, now what will you do?" I looked past the wall, where a Troll was looking at me. At that moment he started walking up to us and broke into a run.
I pulled my bow and shot a single arrow, hitting his eye. The Troll's speed slowed as its body turned black and fell apart into rotting black goo.
„That Nigredo is really something. To think it can even destroy trolls with their regenerative abilities…"
With this experiment behind me, I continued the watch with Yue and Ogres. Though, as it took so much time, I decided to kill some time with slime experimenting. I had Yue summon some weak demons and after slaying them. I had the five Corpse slimes eat the corpses after letting them rot for a short while.
„Ooh, what a magnificent wall, did he really build it himself?" a deep manly voice ringed from the other side.
„Yes. And the inside is evened out as well," Blanche added in her light tone.
„
„You are Arito, I take it. I'm Graldingr, guildmaster of the Aula branch. My brother sent me a letter about you guys."
„Brother?"
„He's the Guildmaster of Macedia Branch, remember him?"
„Oh right! I guess your eyes are quite alike, but that beard hides your face too much for me to recognize your features, sorry," I bobbed my head.
„I got that a lot, don't worry. But I never thought that the first quest you take with my branch would turn into such a mess. How many goblins?"
„With those thirty I just mentioned, we killed about fifty more beforehand. Not to mention other types of monsters."
„I see… about eighty goblins, then…"
„Orraaaa!" In that moment one of the ogres smashed a goblin at the burrow entrance.
„That's eighty-one," I smiled and the guildmaster smiled back wryly and took out a metallic box, pressing a button on it.
„Hm? What is that?"
„A magic tool transmitting short messages. I just requested all adventurers between G and C rank to be gathered. Tomorrow we are heading for battle."
„It would be easier if you had a map, though… I don't have anything to write on or with so…
„Huh?! What did you do kid?!"
„I used magic called Earth Search to scout the burrow, then used Block to create a block of stone, Clay to mold it according to the layout and Rock to harden it, nothing that hard."
„'Nothing that hard' my boot! This magic is so crazy it would even put royal Magic researchers to shame! Are you one of 'those guys', kid?"
„I lived in the forest for quite a while and before that I never left my hometown so I do now know about any magic researchers. I only made the magic that I needed."
„'Only made magic I needed'…" the guildmaster held his forehead.
„Guildmaster, common sense does not work on Arito. You better get used to hearing things like this for the time he stays in the city," Lena patted the guildmaster reassuringly, which didn't help her at all, given her ten year old appearance.
„If he was in the royal capital, he could make a living off selling his spells you know?"
„I'm not interested in things like that," I smiled at him and handed him the model of the burrow with one human shaped figure I made in a meantime for scaling.
The guildmaster looked at the figure, held her up to Lena and spoke with a defeated tone. „This ain't normal, lass…"
I guess I added too many details, tee-hee.
***
The next day, the investigation of the mine where the dungeon was supposed to open was continuing as scheduled, so we joined up for the Goblin Burrow extermination. We hit the carriages in groups of ten and headed towards the burrow.
„Muuu, this would be so faster if we flew on Berta's back."
„True, but she can carry only three people, remember? We couldn't carry everyone," I smiled at the pouting Blanche on my left. The rest of the adventurers were looking at us with happy smiles, even though they were barely older than us. Most of them were aged between 15 and 19 with the leader-like figures of the two parties being aged 22 and 24.
„Hahah, I heard you were the ones who discovered the burrow, is that right?"
„Yes. We went to exterminate those fifteen goblins in quest, but as the number was greater than we originally thought, we had to call for reinforcements. Oh, by the way, my name is Arito these two are Lena and Blanche we are all G ranks as of yesterday."
„I'm Loo, leader of Azure Snake party, as you can see I'm a Weretiger," Big burly man completely covered in fur said with a grin, showcasing his pearly white fangs. He had a broadsword on his back and two one-handed swords on his hips.
„I'm a scout and thief of the party, Squaak, the Kenku," a hooded man with black beak poking from it said with an exaggerated bow. His voice was really high-pitched, but easy to understand, so he must've worked hard on his pronunciation.
„I'm Ghystell and I am the last member of the Azure Snakes, a sphynx as you can see," the only female adventurer on our side of the carriage said with a proud look on her face.
„It's a pleasure to meet you. Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you a paladin, perchance?"
„That I am. I was raised in this town's orphanage with the Creationism church and when I received blessing from Lord Corpan, the god of War and Strategy."
„She would make a great career as a soldier, but she decided to become an adventurer, can you understand that?"
„Hmph! As an adventurer I can repay my debts to sisters that were raised more easily," Ghystell turned away from her leader's teasing with slight blush.
„Ye already trainin' dem kids in swordplay and magic, Ima sure they're grateful for that already," a man sitting opposite to Ghystell said with a grin, he was a dwarf with hairs shaved of by sides and carefully trimmed beard.
„And you are dropping half your pay to their coffers, Taugmirg," Ghystell retorted.
„True dat. M'name is Taumirg a C rank adventurer waiting on promotion exam to B rank. I'm also leader of Deep Darkness team."
„From the same team, Elemauna, the witch. I'm also the only B rank on the job," a dark elf beauty said with a charming smile that was wasted on me.
„It's nice to meet you," I gave her a polite nod.
„Hahah! Seems your charms don't work on the boy!" the man next to her laughed.
„Please, the boy is just so overwhelmed by my beauty that he can't speak properly," Elemauna said with a confident smile.
Sorry, but he's right.
„Anyway, my name is Redgar and I'm plain ol' human," the laughing man said with a grin, „As you can see, I specialize in throwing weapons due to my aptitude with Space magic. As you've probably figured out, I can only use spell called Pick Up."
„That spell is quite a handy one to have, though. If you are catching Scale frogs for medicine, this spell is the most handy as it doesn't hurt the monster and you don't even have to dirty yourself."
„So you get it. I'm glad someone does."
„I can use it too, you see? But I must confess that I never tried to use it for anything else."
„So that's how it is. Then, let this old coot show you its effectiveness against some goblins," the man smiled wolfishly.
„If you finished, then it's my time to introduce myself. I am Nobura of Dragonewts. I live by the sword and am a temporary member of this party while I stay in this town."
„She's a sword freak from dawn to dusk, but she's a good person," Redgar said and received a punch in the gut from her.
„This is the reason why you are still not considered for B rank promotion like I and Mr. Taugmirg are," Nobura said with puffing up her cheeks.
„Heheh, just wait and see. I will become A rank faster than you."
„I want to see you try," the two of them looked intense as they were glaring at each other.
„Um, are they…" I whispered over Blanche to their leader, Taumirg.
„Yep. They are lovers. This is the usual for them, though," he whispered back.
We continued our merry journey until we stopped in front of the forest from where we had to continue by foot.
„So you made your armor from a combination of this Steel thread cloth and resin? Interesting, it feels like glass to touch, but has this unique coloring and toughness to it…" Taumirg was interested in my armor so I let him investigate one of my failed attempts that was too brittle to me. I had to say that I had Skull bears test out my equipment and only after I found it strong enough, did I use it on myself.
„I find your theory on monster evolution fascinating. I have some Dandelion seeds at home, would you like some to feed to your slimes? I wonder if they would evolve into Fluff slimes if they ate those."
„That's very kind of you miss Elemauna," I thanked the witch as we continued walking.
„Ah! Looks like we are already here," we were brought out of our conversations by Squaak.
„An earthen wall, eh? It looks to me like a solid Stone wall though."
„I reinforced it with my original spell called Pavement. I mostly use it on the floor, but it can be tweaked for walls too, when I use a little extra magic."
„I see, it seems to be quite an amazing spell, then."
We made it to the wall and I made a hole in it. On the opposite side were my ogres with Romi and Shizu.
„Good work you guys. You can rest up in the Dimension home."
„Your kind words are wasted on us, my lord," Romi smiled and entered the dimension home first. Once I closed it, Loo was first to speak up.
„I heard you tamed a monster or two, but for you to have Ogres, a Hobgoblin, and a Vampire… that's quite the line up. Are you really just a G rank?"
„I registered only recently so my rank is still low, but I did spend some time alone in a forest hunting monsters for food."
„What did you usually hunt?"
„Splawns, Red Deers, Haumings, Skull bears and such."
„Did you just say you hunted Skull bears?!"
„I usually caught them in traps I prepared with my Cocoon slimes. When that happened, I threw the piece of armor at them and if it shattered, I just made a new one and tested it again."
„Umm… if I may… How many Skull bears did it take to make this piece?" Taumirg asked, holding up the gauntlet carefully.
„About fifteen, or sixteen, I believe. The armor me and Blanche are wearing was done after thirty though."
„Would it be possible to request such armor? I would pay you of course," Redgar asked me.
„I don't see a problem, but remember that it will take some time. I need to make a steel thread mesh and a form. I would need measurements too, if you don't mind."
„Okay, I will bring them to you tomorrow."
„Alright. Does anyone else want it too?"
„We are good, thanks for the offer, though."
We entered the burrow as first ones with other parties following behind us. Slaying goblins was to say the least, easy. Even though the goblins are as small as five year old kids, the tunnels were big enough for adult people to walk around. This meant that there was quite a big chance of advanced species like Hobgoblins, Goblin Knights and Goblin Shamans appearing.
„I must say, these— Grime slimes, was it? I never expected slimes to be so useful."
What Loo said was referring to my Grime Slimes eating Goblin corpses after we took proofs of subjugation from them.
„Indeed, taking care of both the corpses and the smell… simply marvelous." The girls were nodding in agreement, enthusiastic smiles painting their faces.
„Well, Grime slimes are one of three slimes that do wonders with smells, but they are actually the least effective. Corpse slimes and Cleaning slimes are much better at this."
„Indeed, and the Cleaning slimes even makes you smell great!" Blanche added.
„True that. After experiencing their cleansing, I'm sure, I won't be able to live without it," Lena added.
„What are those Cleaning Slimes about, hmm?" Elemauna asked.
„They evolved from regular slimes just like Grime and Corpse slimes. However, unlike them, they don't eat everything they are served. I once gave them goblin loincloths and they only ate the dirt, leaving a perfectly clean cloth behind. You can say they are all about cleaning and cleansing, just as their name implies."
„And they can even wash your hair," Blanche added with a smile as she threw a dagger into a goblin some way from us.
„I would love to try it," Elemauna sighed and the rest of the girls nodded to her statement in unison.
"Let's do it once we get out then— goblins and a lot… feels like there is a big open place right in front of us."
"How many goblins are we talking?" Ghystel asked while reading her sword in front of us.
"At least forty little ones and ten big ones. There is also one further back. It seems he is by a tunnel."
"If there is a tunnel, then we need to be carefull. They might try to escape."
"If you wouldn't mind, I could dig around the cavern and invade from the other side."
"That would take too much time."
"Not if I used my Earth magic I devised for digging long tunnels. Wait a little, showing it will be faster,
"Oh wow! This is a much longer hole than you can usually dig with Break rock! Okay, we will follow your plan, then," Taumirg decided instantly and I got to digging the tunnel with magic. I continued using Earth Search to confirm my position and continued to the deeper tunnel. Soon, I got out and had the slimes join up into Big Grime Slime and clear the back of the cave where I sensed several small goblins.
"Okay, let's go," Leaving the grime slimes taking care of our backs, we entered the big cavern. The goblins, of course, noticed us right away and went for a full frontal attack. We used this and the later group attacked from the other side.
"Kara-kraaa!!!" One slightly bigger goblin screamed, poining its staff at me.
"I knew it. It's a Goblin Shaman! Be ready for Dark and Fire elemental magic!
"Go-baaaaahhhh!!!'' The spell pierced the Goblin knight's forehead, killing it instantly.
This made the shaman recognize me as a threat and he started firing one
"Now!" I yelled behind me to notify Blanche, at the same time I closed in on the Shaman with
With their leader dead, the goblins fell into disarray and were easily mowed down. We collected everything of value, especially armor and weapons of the goblins and had the slimes eat their fill. I really hope this is all the trouble we'll come across in this town, I'm tired…