Chapter 104 - Caves of Lukriag - 3 (1/2)

They quickly made their way back to the entrance and took the tunnel to the left of the previous one. This was a narrower path compared to the first, but they didn't run into any large groups of goblins or goblin mages before they came to a dead end. They spent close to 20 minutes exploring this path while killing less than 10 goblins and all of these were isolated attacks.

”This path was a total waste. Didn't even get any good loot. There is a good chance that the same might happen again,” said Merlin. ”So, need to have a few changes. Shadow you let the isolated goblin come near Bitter Beast and don't attack it immediately. The only decent materials that we received were the iron and occasional copper ore which you stole these goblins. So, till it attacks you don't attack it and stick to picking its pockets.”

”Sure, its better way than what we are doing right now,” said Shadow agreeing to it. He had already hoped that they could do in that manner but didn't suggest as the loot received would be got from pickpocketing couldn't be seen by the others of the team. It would be a trust issue for most as there is a good chance for one to hide the real loot and fool the others in the team. This was much more important as he was not well acquainted with the half of the team. Merlin also knew him for only a day.

As Balthazar was someone who could not trust people immediately, he expected the same from others and didn't suggest this idea. Merlin on the other hand wanted to have a strong bond between Balthazar and the rest of the team. So, he intended to do things which would suggest that they trusted him as he was the lone person joining them. He did the same thing with Blinding previously.

He considered the loot at this stage of the game to be trivial. An adventurer team didn't usually involve in collecting lot of resources, they collect gold and money. They form bonds with people who can create equipment and usually purchase any specific armaments when required. Guilds usually collect large amounts of low-level resources as it forms their foundation and is very important for development of trade professions within the guild. So, Merlin didn't really care about it much.

After that they went through a couple more tunnels, but found only one key but luckily, they didn't run into the boss of the dungeon. They encountered another group of goblin mages guarding the second key, but with practice they had, they managed to get through without a hitch. They got a reasonable harvest from the goblins due to Shadow's pickpocketing. After that Merlin finally chose the tunnel that led to the boss's lair.

Shadow was glad that the exploration of the dungeon was coming to an end. Though he had thorough knowledge of the dungeon, he couldn't say it as it would raise doubts and acting clueless and vary for more than an hour was quite tiring for him. He had long since known the location of the keys and also that one key could only be looted from the boss, Lukriag.

The path to this time was different than the others. It started as a narrow path but before they crossed 20 metres, it started to widen. There were no holes in the walls which the goblins could use to ambush them. This continued for another 20 metres when they saw a doorway about 6 feet high and 3 feet wide and there were tiny lights like the visual effects of spells on the other end of this doorway. But this time, the tunnel had widened to about 3 metres. Seeing the tiny lights flickering at the other end, it was clear that someone was there waiting for them.

The good thing was that there were no openings from on the walls anywhere in the tunnel. They didn't have to worry about ambushes from the dark goblins, but the lights clearly signified a decent number of goblin mages at the other side.

”Can you go and check their numbers without getting detected?” asked Merlin. Though Balthazar had stealth, in open room with lights it is not possible sneak with stealth. Merlin wouldn't have asked this normally, but the doorway was the only way and the lights could make him visible for small moments and if some goblin managed to view him, it would be hard to escape without severe HP loss.

”I will try. If I get detected I can use dynamites and firecrackers to escape, but you need to be ready in that case as they will also attack you immediately,” said Shadow as he went through the doorway in stealth. The good thing was that it was a dark cave and except for the spells, there were no lights in the area.

Shadow had the void mantle doned which was a pitch black and can be used to cover his entire self, including one's head. In the dark, this would help to hide due it its color and apart from that, he could also use the void state effect of the cloak in case they managed to notice him and their attacks put him in a perilous state.

He made his way through the doorway and started taking pictures and forwarding them on the team chat. It was the best way to record and explore the dungeons. Even if they miss something, they could send these pictures to the guilds where these would be analysed, and their next attempts could be planned accordingly. It also allowed one send information quickly to the rest of the team and they could warn him, if he missed anything.

Shadow didn't actually worry about missing anything or to be accurate didn't care to even care to observe their patterns as he already knew what is there inside. The pictures too weren't that great as he could only take when the dim light from the spells of the goblin mages illuminated the surroundings.

But he managed to provide the numbers of goblin mages and the boss through his pictures. Past the doorway there was a large circular hall where there were 7 goblin mages by his estimation. Balthazar knew that difficulty of this stage depended on the tunnels they visited before coming here. The tunnels with the keys were guarded by goblin mages. If they didn't kill those goblins, they would join the fight in from behind and effectively flank the players on both sides. That was one of the reasons why he indulged the rest of the team in exploring the other tunnels.

Apart from them in the direction directly opposite to the doorway there was a cage holding a troll and treasure chest. There was some kind of dull blackish violet colored magical field around the cage and a similar magical seal clearly visible on the door of the cage. This was the light that could be seen from the doorway. The lights were the spells that were cast on the cage. The trolls were constantly replenishing the power of the spells the bound the troll in the cage.

The troll inside the cage was injured and beaten. These were in accordance with the story of the dungeon. The troll Lukriag was the protector of the caves. Though a troll, it didn't get out of the caves and the caves were its domain. It used to trade the crystals that were found in the caves with the goblins and taught them magic for food. But soon, the goblin mages decided to overthrow it and bound it in a cage.