They entered the Goblins' cave. Elizabeth could light their way with a small fire in her left hand that didn't affect her skin at all. The fire was useful, of course, but mages could run out of magical energy and then they would be screwed. As they judged it, it was better to be cautious. So the three of them made a couple of torches. Tara also carried one, but unlit, in case they lost one or needed to light it in an emergency. After all, Tara couldn't provide one. She carried a bow, so she needed both hands. The same problem, so to speak, as when they entered their first dungeon. But well, they were a team, that's what they existed for, to cover each other's weak points. Even if they couldn't light it with stones or something, Elizabeth could light it with a single spark, no matter how exhausted she was. Of course, the president carried a fourth torch, also unlit.

  You could never be too careful, but would it be enough? Of course it would, why wouldn't it be? They weren't going to fall that easily. And especially not in a place like this. Of course, the reality was that any adventurer, no matter how powerful, he and his team, could die. On any mission, it only took one mistake or a bit of bad luck for things to go wrong without remedy. Still, or perhaps precisely because of that, more important was the conviction that they couldn't fall in such an insignificant place.

  In fact, they ran into trouble right away. A dozen goblins swarmed them, emerging from the darkness like rats. He had thought them noisy, beasts that shrieked, shook their heads, and drooled, absolutely wild. Uncontrollable, at least that's how the stories painted them. But it turned out they were cunning, patient beasts. They made no noise. He hadn't noticed before, but even as he cut them down, they made no noise, as if they felt no pain. In reality, that was more unsettling than wild howls would have been. Maybe the others wouldn't share his opinion on that. But it didn't matter. Dammit, this time it wasn't a matter of opinion. He was right.

  He swept a son of a bitch's legs out from under him with his shield, knocking him to the ground, and made a move to finish him off. But he didn't succeed. Another intervened and caught his sword with its teeth. Vincent swung his shield, he had no other choice, at the neck of the goblin in question. But it stopped it with its spiked club, and continued to bite, refusing to let go.

  Dammit, it was fine, they couldn't panic, especially not so quickly. But, damn, three women were with him, covering his back. That's what teams were for. So, even if he kept trying without success, eventually one of them would take the time to pull his chestnuts out of the fire. But he didn't want that. He hadn't come to Runehaven just for a change of scenery and to make friends. Ayame was very important to him, but he still had his goal clear. He wanted to be someone, he wanted to be great. And if the goblin wouldn't let go, then fine, let it not let go. He gritted his teeth and ran towards the edge.

  The other goblin, that is, the one the son of a bitch he was dragging with him had had to defend, lunged at him and hit him several times in the back with its club. As if it knew, almost, that he was crazy enough to do what he had planned to do. Of course, those blows did nothing, they didn't even dent his armor. And, indeed, the goblin refused to let go of his sword. So the three of them fell over the edge.

  "Vincent, what the hell are you doing?" Tara muttered.

  A little late. He fell, they fell, but only one floor. This caused the son of a bitch in question's head to be crushed against the rocks, which allowed him to retrieve his sword. With that, getting rid of the other son of a bitch and slicing his neck was the easiest thing in the world. Child's play.

  Vincent stood up. His legs were trembling, a little. Not from fear, from the force of the impact. And, well, maybe also from the adrenaline. But it would pass quickly.

  "That's the stupidest thing I've seen in a long time," Tara said. "I don't know what's going on in your head, but it can't be anything good."

  "Wow, thanks."

  "I was about to help you," Ayame said, looking down at him from above, right at the edge of the cliff he had just fallen from.

  Vincent looked away, otherwise, he would see more than he should.

  "If you had just waited a little."

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  "I'm sorry," Vincent replied, blushing slightly, although he hadn't seen anything at all. "I didn't realize."

  Which was true, but he supposed he should have and that Ayame was smart enough to suspect it or feel it in some way, though he hoped not. Well, she knew perfectly well that he was someone insecure and willing to risk his life for that insecurity, otherwise, they would never have met. So it was possible that she suspected what he had been thinking, why not, but also that she didn't know to what extent he was insecure. For his own good, he hoped she didn't know.

  "Everyone's fine," Elizabeth said. "That's what matters."

  "That and not repeating the blunder," Tara added, contradicting Elizabeth, perhaps, maybe for the first time. "Because next time you might break your damn neck."

  Vincent sighed. He had done the best he could think of at the moment and it had worked out. Despite that, his companions were reacting like this, even though they didn't know his thoughts, his true motivation: that even if he had seen Ayame approaching, he would have jumped. But he couldn't protest, because he did know.

  "Yeah, I get it," he muttered, looking away.

  It was a victory, after all, but he couldn't be proud of it. So, a shame. They didn't give him much time to get lost in his thoughts and rack his brain with useless doubts, as an even larger number of goblins emerged from the darkness. How could they sneak around so easily? How could they be so stealthy, even though some even carried torches as weapons? Of course, because goblins could see in the dark perfectly. Anyway, enough distractions.

  Vincent took a deep breath. Now he just had to kill everyone who got in his way. Ayame and he moved forward. Of course, the vanguard had to protect the archer and the mage. Just as obviously, it turned out that Vincent couldn't keep up with Ayame, but she slowed down so they could fight side by side, repelling the approaching goblins. The more they killed, the more seemed to come, almost as if they were endless. But it was better not to concentrate on things like that. They would stop when they could stop. Anyway, they had just started this quest. What did he expect?

  Elizabeth caught one with her magic energy whip, wrapping it around its legs, arms, and torso. Somehow, it looked more like a bunch of tentacles from some kraken. Anyway, before she could split it in half or something, Vincent lunged and pierced its heart. You had to take every opportunity. The faster it died, the better. It died right away, but Elizabeth tore off its arms and legs anyway. She completely destroyed it.

  Vincent's jaw dropped, as the blood fell like a waterfall. He hadn't expected that. Nor the obvious fear that it clearly sowed among the Goblins. But that wasn't the only thing, of course. Their eyes also lit up with a cold, murderous rage. Knowing how to scare your enemies was important, but not a single one of them turned and fled with their tail between their legs. They marched forward without hesitation, like kamikazes, like suicide attackers.

  "These sons of bitches," Vincent said, "don't know when to quit."

  "Otherwise, we wouldn't be hired," Ayame replied.

  "I guess that's a good way to look at it."

  Tara, meanwhile, decided to show off. She slid across the floor as she nocked an arrow. She drew back the string. She fired and hit one, right between the eyebrows. She rolled to her feet. She jumped and ran up the wall. As if that weren't enough, she dodged the objects the Goblins threw at her: weapons, stones, anything they could get their hands on. But that wasn't all. She fired again and killed again with the first shot. He had seen her miss a shot once. She didn't always kill her enemies with a single blow, but miss the shot? No. Well, that was more or less the point of archers. But still, what a way to show off. She put on a good show when she wanted to.

  But no one was perfect. Shortly after landing, Tara was stabbed. The armor under her suit, though light, saved her neck. But it wouldn't save her from a club threatening to split her skull. Elizabeth did that. Zap! The whip wrapped around her waist and dragged her back to a safe place. When she was released, she fell to the floor, breathing heavily.

  "Thanks."

  "Don't thank me," Elizabeth replied. "What was I supposed to do, leave you there?"

  "Of course not, but..." She didn't get to finish the sentence. She had to roll on the floor, dodging. The axe that would have cleanly cut off her neck simply took a few locks of her hair.

  That was the end of the remarkable part. In fact, the nearby goblins weren't as numerous as they seemed. They were able to finish the fight quickly and efficiently. In fact, he was picking up speed. The more he killed, the faster he moved. He wondered to what extent that was just a feeling. Probably, none.

  The room began to shake. Chunks of earth fell from the ceiling, creating debris. Vincent thought the cave would collapse and he would be buried. He wasn't claustrophobic, but no one in the damn world wanted to die like that. The tremors stopped right away. However, because a stone giant emerged from the wall. Finally. Now the ground only trembled with each of its steps.

  Damn, he thought. He's huge. And he said:

  "This has to increase the reward, right?"

  "Actually, yes," Elizabeth said. "I'll explain later, if you want. But we have bigger problems now."

  The four of them prepared for the fight. They accept a mission to kill goblins and end up against a giant stone golem. Why not? You could tell how high their luck was.