I awoke with heavy eyes and a sore body, yet at the same time, I felt surprisingly refreshed, at least mentally. I let out a yawn and licked my chops, then looked down to my side to see Lilly curled up into a ball beside me and Grick using her as a pillow. The goblin was snoring obnoxiously with a big intake of breath followed by a long, almost-whistle.

  Standing up and stretching, I let out a long yawn that stirred Lily awake. She shifted her head just enough to look up at me through her eyelids, and her tail wagged softly. I leaned down to nose the top of her head, then I pawed Grick’s leg to get him up.

  “Ah! Grick awake! Grick awake!” He scrambled to his feet, swatting at the air as if fending off invisible bats.

  I searched the area for his metal box and grabbed the handle between my teeth, then beckoned him towards the crystal vein where I set it down. I had full mana reserves, which meant I had at least seven uses of Elemental Cocktail’s ultimate attack, Pentaclysm, but we were severely outnumbered by the red masks. Ideally, we’d just come across groups of two that we can take out before the others can learn our location, but I had to prepare as best I could for the worst-case scenario of having an entire swarm of them on our tails.

  Grick scuttled after me, scratching the back of my head as he looked between me, the box, and the vein. To make my intentions a little more clear, I hooked my claw under the latch and struggled to get the lid open, then knocked it over, spilling out the dirt and worms.

  “Ah! Bad Puppy! Grick needs wormies to catch fishy!” Grick complained, running over and using an open palm to shovel the dirt back inside.

  I trotted over to the pickaxe, set my paw on top of it, then growled at him and gestured towards the crystal vein.

  Grick froze mid–worm recovery, his fingers still buried in the dirt. He looked from my paw on the pickaxe… to the crystal vein… then back to me.

  His pointy green ears drooped.

  “Ohhh… Puppy want Grick work. Hard work.” He let out an exaggerated groan, slumping forward until his forehead thumped the ground. “Grick’s poor back… Grick’s poor arms… Grick so tiny, crystal so big…”

  I narrowed my eyes and growled pointedly. I’d help him if I were able, but I couldn’t wield the tool with this body. Besides, he wanted to use us for protection, which I was fine with, but only if it were a mutually beneficial relationship. Basically, the lazy goblin would need to learn to pull his own weight.

  When he didn't get movin,g I walked over and nudged the prostrated goblin towards the pickaxe, letting out a more insistent growl.

  He finally got up and begrudgingly picked up the pickaxe, all the while muttering, “Not fair to Grick. Everything so mean to Grick. Grick tired but does puppy care? No! Grick always does everything!”

  I huffed, thinking, Oh, please. You'd gladly just leave everything to us if we were to let you.

  He had faked an injury just because he didn't feel like walking before.

  Lily came over and sat on her haunches beside me as we watched Grick get to work. He'd raise the axe and slam it down quite precisely, breaking off snowball-sized chunks of crystal with each swing. If a particularly large shard broke off, he'd then carefully swing down and break it in half. He was more efficient than I would have expected. I wondered if he had some kind of mining skill? All my skills I received so far were combat-related, but I wonder if the system also gave skills for more mundane tasks? It would make sense for a creature that wasn't exactly equipped for hunting and fighting.

  I did have one way to give him a hand, though. I went back over to the box and pawed out the rest of the dirt I could manage, turned it upright, then began collecting the shards. I’d pick them up with my mouth, then drop them in, going back and forth as Grick continued to work on creating them.

  Lily watched the whole process curiously, tail wagging, then eventually came over and started helping me. Before long, the box was full, and I had to shift a couple on the top to get it closed. Grick, meanwhile, theatrically collapsed against the freshly mined veins as if he had just finished battling a dragon.

  I tested the weight of the box and assessed that this would legitimately be too heavy for him. I figured when he went to trade them, he’d only take a few in exchange for whatever junk the humans determined they could fleece him with. Lily could probably carry it, but it would still be easier for me.

  With the box hanging from my mouth, I walked over to Grick and urged him to get going. After a moment of consideration, it turned out he didn’t need much urging. “Lots of shinies… lots of good things from humans…” he muttered, staring at the box. I could see the greed glazing his eyes. Then he suddenly snapped up, snatched his mushroom lantern off the ground, and excitedly led me. “Come, puppy, Grick shows the way. Dark tunnels first, then two ways. Slow way around nasties, fast way right past! Smaller than puppy but bigger than Grick!” he explained. There was practically a skip to his step as he began singing, “Many, many shines, get many lovelies for Grick!”

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  He’d be disappointed when he figured out I planned to use the crystals before getting to this supposed human town. I assumed they lost their value once they were stripped of their elements. If we did have some left over, however, I’d be perfectly happy to let the goblin get some rewards for his efforts.

  We branched through several tunnels. Between today's travels and yesterday’s, I started to think I’d probably get lost down here if I tried to find my way back without our guide. But, hopefully, after today, we’d never have to deal with these caves again.

  When we passed another fork in the tunnels, Grick pointed down one, saying, “That’s long way. Good way without puppies. Nasties another way.”

  We followed him toward the supposed nasties, but I wasn’t too worried about it. Hopefully, they’d be something edible, and me and Lily could have a quick snack before getting back out into the sunlight. The tunnel sloped upwards, then back down, and at the far end I saw the familiar green glow of healing shrooms. Though experience told me wherever I found healing shrooms, I’d also find monsters, so I got mentally prepared. I didn’t have Pulse sense anymore to spot out every hidden creature that might be able to ambush us.

  “Very bad way for Grick,” he continued to explain. “Now it’s good way! It’s—”

  I heard something, and I instantly tackled him.

  “Ah! Don’t eat Grick! Don’t—”

  I forced my paw onto his mouth and growled for him to shut up. I listened carefully.

  There was a commotion from the tunnel he was leading us to, but it didn’t sound like two monsters fighting. I heard the distinct sound of metal hitting something hard, and grunting that sounded too human.

  Then, a laugh, followed by a murmur of voices.

  Grick pushed my paw away from his mouth and whispered. “H-Humans! Humans make bad way! We go back! Humans kill nasties, might kill Grick and puppies.” At least he was keeping his voice down, but I gave him another low growl to keep quiet. I set down the metal box, then crept forward slowly. Whether these humans were the red masks that would be hunting us or some other random warriors out training or hunting, I had to know.

  As I got closer ,their voices became clearer. I stopped and perked my ears to see what I could pick up.

  “...I don’t know. Doesn’t seem they’ve been this way.”

  “Most likely in the upper caverns, if they didn’t die already.”

  A third voice, speaking in an ominous hush, said, “If one survived the forest, it can survive these caves.”

  Yup, red masks, no doubting it. And they were talking about me.

  “But what of Geirna and Roshka?”

  “What of them?” another said harshly.

  “Whatever attacked them could have gotten the pups already. This is a fool's errand! Who’s to say we’d ever find them anyway?”

  Of course, the only ones of their tribe who would know how much I’d evolved in these short weeks were dead. They must have thought some other monster was prowling about.

  I felt quite satisfied knowing this. They may find out soon enough how wrong their assumption was. But it sounded like there were more than just two, so I used {Veil of Shadows} and cautiously came a little further. I needed to know what I was dealing with, and I didn’t have Pulse Sense to pick out their heartbeats.

  Soon, I could see into the cavern, a spacious area that was similar to the skylight cavern but without the hole in the ceiling, with several pools of water scattered about. But I remained hidden safely in the darkness of the tunnel, Veil of Shadows and Camouflage making it a certainty they wouldn’t spot me.

  There were three of them. Each wearing those carved masks with large teeth, showing varying exaggerated expressions. One had the teeth parted in a laugh, the other more of an angry scowl, and the third just stared stoically with barred fangs.

  They stood over the corpses of two large serpents, similar to the one I had seen in one of the first caverns. One had its head cut off, while the other had a spear impaling its head to the ground. Behind them was something that looked like a boar, almost the same size as me, with a deep gash in its side as it lay lifeless.

  The laughing mask walked over to the impaled serpent and yanked the spear free with a wet, ripping sound. The serpent’s body spasmed once, nerves firing, then slumped flat.

  “Tch.” He flicked blood off his blade. “Barely worth killing. These caves get emptier every year.”

  “It is not as though that’s why we are here.”

  “Yes, we are here to hunt two worthless pups who might not even still live. Plus, we were sent to the far entrance of the cave, where they certainly would not have made it to.”

  Wrong again, I thought smugly. Though this was indeed only thanks to Grick.

  “Doesn’t matter,” the stoic mask said. “The faster we work our way through, the faster we do or don’t find the pups and can go home.”

  Being that there were three of them, I knew better than to take this fight. Therefore, we had no choice but to go the long way.

  I quickly made it back to Lily and Grick, both looking concerned. I let out the softest growl I could to remind them to stay quiet, then led the way back to the other path Grick had pointed out.

  “Puppy still wants to go to human town?” he questioned. I nodded in response. “Then… Grick will show. This way safe. No nasties, no mean human hunters.”

  This branch of the tunnels twisted and turned much more sharply. There was plenty of room for humans to get through, but not side by side. If we were to run into any more red masks, this would not be a bad place to confront them.

  Sooner than I would have hoped, however, that was put to the test.

  More murmuring voices echoed from further along our path, and around the next bend, I saw a faint glowing light, this one purple, which made me think it was coming from their shock sticks.

  I didn’t have time to politely help Grick realize his lanturn would give us away, so I spun around and grabbed it from his hand.

  “H-Human shouldn’t—”

  I growled and gave him a look that silenced him immediately. The glow of the lantern under my face probably made me seem even more menacing. I sprinted back a few paces until the tunnel turned again and set the lantern down, then quickly came back to Lily and Grick. I got in front of them and put my belly to the ground as I saw the glow of the humans coming closer. The tight corridors would be a disadvantage for both of us, but more so for them. Still, I needed to take any advantage that I could and kill one of them before they even realized I was upon them.

  I activated {Veil of Shadows} and waited.

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