Dustin kept a close eye on the cliff side to watch for any green humanoids moving in or out of the cave. Ben gathered Jennifer and Kantaro for a meeting away from the rest of the students. Mark refused to leave Katie and declined taking part in the hideout assault.

In the time they took to assemble, there were no further signs of goblins in the surroundings. He was unsure what the goblins were doing inside, and whether they had spotted them coming. They knew that the group of students was approaching, and could have barricaded the entrance.

“So, what’s the plan?” Ben said, sliding up to Dustin’s side to look ahead at the rocky cliffs. Jennifer flanked him on the other side with Kantaro next to her.

“Well, I have seen nothing enter or leave since we arrived, so it's unknown how many are in there,” Dustin started, wetting his lips, “The areas going to be littered with traps so it’s going to be slow going through and they might have ranged weapons.”

Ben frowned and glanced at his friends. They had two bows and four bats between them, leaving the extras for Mark and Sam to defend the students. Dustin told them about the goblins, but neither Jennifer nor Kantaro had experienced it themselves. It worried him they might freeze up in the middle of an attack, and he did not want to risk them throwing away their lives.

Dustin let Ben keep the bow he had given him earlier as he needed to lead the group through the entrapped entrance, putting him at risk of ambush. Ben was a competent archer and combined with Jennifer they could thin the goblins out for Kantaro and Dustin to block.

Nobody protested Dustin’s decision, but questioned the need to investigate the hideout. Ben was the only one who knew of Dustin’s experiences, and Dustin kept them in the dark that killing the boss freed them from the dungeon.

Dustin insisted that it was the best course of action, and framed it in an interrogative light, that the goblins might know something about the barrier. Dustin planned to go first, with Ben and Jennifer behind him, and Kantaro taking up the rear.

Mark supported their idea to attack the hideout and made Dustin promise to look for medicine that might help Katie. Sam ignored Dustin when he approached and scoffed at his plan to attack the hideout. Dustin was glad she did not try to stop them and he left the rest of the students on his approach to the waterfall.

Pitfalls, webs, and falling rocks filled the forest leading up to the waterfall. Dustin disabled the tripwires across the floor and pointed out any pressure plates or fake covers on the ground to get the group across. The ridge was thin, allowing only one person to walk across at a time. As the only entrance into the hideout, it was thankfully devoid of traps.

The sounds of rushing water filled the air, blocking any noise that might have come from the cave behind it. Water splashed onto Dustin as they flattened themselves against the rock, moving carefully to avoid slipping onto the sharp rocks below. Dustin kept his bat out in front of him as moss covered rock replaced the alien sky above, leading them deeper into the gloomy cave. There were no signs of goblins at the entrance, but Dustin did not let his guard drop.

He took out a stick with a strip of cloth tied around it and held it out. Kantaro took his lighter out and lit the torch, projecting a dim orange glow to the surrounding rock. The light flickered off the walls and cast a shadow over the hanging stalactites. Dustin investigated the floor and walls, expecting the goblins to spring out from hidden alcoves or behind rocks.

Ben and Jennifer kept their bows aimed over his shoulder and moved forward together, checking each corner of the straight tunnel. A small spider skittered out of the way as they trudged on, paranoia growing with each second.

They came across a split in the tunnel, with crude goblin language carved into the granite walls. Pictures of a circle with three curved lines coming off at either side marked the path to the right, while an icon of a campfire marked the other.

Dustin did not fancy a chance at entering the spider’s nest and opted to take the left pathway. They crept through the tunnels for less than twenty seconds before coming across their first goblin. It was standing about fifteen metres ahead, pissing against the wall. It noticed the growing light approaching from behind and turned, the golden stream arcing through the air.

Dustin tapped Jennifer on the leg from his knelt position, lifting his chin upwards. The goblin fell backwards, its arms wheeling in circles, and opened its mouth to scream. An arrow shot out from the left of Dustin, hitting it in the lower left ribs. It crumpled to the floor and groaned, a clang of metal marking its dropped metal shiv on the floor.

Dustin wasted no time and rushed towards it, taking the metal shiv from the ground and plunging it into its throat. It gargled and wheezed, blood pooling beneath it from the wound in its side and now a dagger in its throat. He monitored the path ahead as it stopped struggling. Leaving the shard of metal lodged in its esophagus, he gestured for the others to approach and pulled the arrow from the goblin corpse, holding it up for Ben to take.

Jennifer looked away from Dustin and muttered an apology under her breath.

“It’s ok.” Ben whispered in her ear and gave her a pat on the back. Dustin had asked Jennifer to shoot the goblin, but she had frozen at the sight of it and Ben fired instead. It was important to expose them to the sight of blood and death, as another moment of inaction could cost them.

They continued on, leaving the goblin behind and approaching a wide cavern illuminated by a central campfire and torches webbed to the surrounding walls. The roof could barely accommodate humans, and Dustin felt eyes staring at him. The goblins placed wooden barricades in a line across the cavern, blockading two thirds of their encampment from the entrance. A wooden crate covered in filth sat to his right, and on the left they had discarded broken spears.

In one fluid motion, Dustin pulled his friends behind the crate and ducked, two arrows flying by the crate, ricocheting off the floor behind them. Kantaro’s eyes widened, and he gripped his bat tighter. The sounds of a garbled language he didn’t understand filled the air and goblins appeared behind the barricade, two with bows drawn and others holding a mixture of rocks and makeshift weapons.

Dustin could hear the shifting of feet on the opposite side of the crate and leapt up, reaching over to capture the goblin. As he yanked the child-sized goblin back, another arrow missed its mark and bounced off the wall. He slammed it onto the ground head first, dazing it, and held it still towards Kantaro. Sharing a look with Dustin, Kantaro raised his weapon, striking at the goblin’s head. The metal bat shattered its nose and depressed the front of its skull. Its head bounced on the hard floor and remained there, unmoving. Its skull pooled with blood, giving it only moments to live.

“Again.” Dustin said, keeping it pinned just in case it was a ruse. Kantaro held the bat up again and hesitated, watching the weak rise and fall of the goblin’s chest. He had seen glimpses of Grace’s body, enough to fill him with anger at the horrendous act.

He struck a second time, caving the bone at the base of the skull and extinguishing its life. Dustin pulled away from the goblin and chanced a peak over the edge of the box. The goblins were waiting this time and hastily loosed two arrows and a barrage of rocks at him, whistling over his head as he fell to the floor.

“Two archers, one’s behind a big wooden barrel on the far left, about 20 metres, other one’s out in the open, sort of middle right and a bit closer, maybe 15 metres.”

Aside from the two goblin archers, Dustin had spotted at least five others wielding weapons and were encroaching on their position. They had hopped the barricade and were collapsing on the crate. It was important to take out the archers so they could fight in the open and avoid being cornered. The fewer goblins able to attack them at a time, the better.

Dustin looked to Ben and Jennifer, lowering his head and raising his left eyebrow.

“You ready?”

Ben nodded with scant hesitation, but Jennifer didn’t. She glanced to the side at Ben and smiled weakly.

“If you don’t think you can do it, you need to let me know, I’ll shoot one instead if you can’t.” Dustin said, staring straight at her. He wanted her to follow through with it, as it was an important first step to surviving, though not at the risk of their own lives.

“No. I can do it.”

It horrified Jennifer what the goblins had done to Grace. She could not imagine what the woman had gone through. The bow in her hand was heavy, as was the cost of taking another's life, but if it stopped further violence from the maniacal green monsters, so be it.

Dustin could see the shaking of her shoulders lessen and nodded, “Alright. I’m going to wave the bat and torch out to the side of the crate to draw the archers’ fire. I want Ben to take the goblin on the left, Jennifer, you take the one on the right. Kantaro, when they jump up to fire, you and I will run out and take on whatever approaches.”

Kantaro bounced on his haunches and grunted. If the two archers fell, it left them facing melee combatants and rocks. While rocks posed a threat, the average strength of a goblin was low, and the range at which they were throwing meant many rocks missed. Of the rocks that hit, it would only cause minor pain, provided they avoided taking them to the face.

The continued chatter of the goblins was getting closer, of which Dustin or the others understood none of. With the torch held up, Dustin counted to three before shoving both hands out from behind his cover, pulling them back as the goblins screeched and loosed more arrows and rocks.

“Now!” He shouted, pushing off the ground and towards the green tide. Six goblins were approaching the soiled crate, one more than he accounted for. They wielded a slew of crooked spears and rusted metal shivs. They sat crouched on the floor to avoid the ranged fire from behind them, springing back up when Dustin and Kantaro popped into view.

Jennifer fired the first arrow, surprising Dustin, and she nailed the archer that stood out in the open with ease, her face twisted in anger. Ben loosed his shortly after, the arrow ricocheting off the wooden barrel that the goblin hid behind and barely punctured its stomach.

Ben cursed and went to draw another arrow as the goblin archer ducked behind the crate, one hand on its wound.

“Ignore it, focus on shooting the others!” Dustin barked, swinging at the first goblin to find itself within his range. It held out a spear towards him as it approached, thrusting the shaved wood forward to meet his blow. The metal bat easily swept the spear aside, pushing the goblin off balance. A follow up swing crushed the back of the goblin's neck and it fell limp to the side.

Dustin aimed for the weak spots presented to him as the goblins possessed the numbers advantage. The second goblin took one hand off of the spear and held it to the back of its neck, afraid to receive the same treatment the first had. This only made it easier for Dustin as he pulled the spear towards him instead of away, watching the goblin fall flat on its face.

He stepped on its back and wound up to swing at the next contender, pointing the torch downwards, “This one’s yours, Taro!”

Dustin moved forward when he felt the body shudder and heard the sickening crunch of metal on bone behind him, taking on his third goblin. It opted for a shiv over a spear and was creeping towards him. It avoided the same reckless approach and waited for its mate to catch up.

Kantaro stood beside Dustin, wielding the bloodied bat in both hands, his breathing ragged. Two goblins crouched low and held the shivs at chest level, moving in sync. The remaining two goblins opted to move around Dustin and Kantaro, but were downed by Jennifer and Ben’s arrows.

Dustin did not want to let the goblins stall for time and went to attack the left goblin with a wide, lazy swing. It dodged by jumping backwards, not falling for his bait by rushing in. Unbeknownst to Dustin, a goblin had hid in the ceiling until they were under it. It was revealed as the torch light covered its falling form. It saw the carnage Dustin had done and struck at Kantaro.

Dustin dropped his torch and seized Kantaro’s shirt to pull him back. The two goblins on foot chose their moment to strike, both aiming for Dustin and lunging at his leg and groin. The attack forced him to dodge, only pulling Kantaro back enough for the blade of the falling goblin to sink into his shoulder instead of his neck.

“Fuck!” Kantaro shouted, pulled backwards by the dagger in his shoulder and goblin on his back. It held one hand on the weapon and used the other to tear at his head. It’s sharp claws dug into his skin and drew blood. A searing pain emanated from his shoulder as the goblin swung wildly, jiggling the dagger hilt and causing further tearing.

The strength in his right arm faded and he used his left to clamp onto the goblin on his back in a panic. The goblin swung to the right and opened its mouth to bite his fingers that grasped for it.

Kantaro felt another pain in his right flank as Ben shot the goblin on Kantaro, the arrow pushing straight through it and into his back. It only penetrated an inch, but pinned the goblin to him. Its frantic struggling slowed, but it still raked its teeth across his clothing.

Enraged by the attack on Kantaro, Dustin charged forward and battered the left goblin on the side of its head, sending it flying into the other. They crashed to the floor and Dustin did not relent in his attack, his bat cracking their skulls against the floor and crumpling their limbs. He stopped after five seconds as they lay tangled in a pool of blood.

Beside Dustin, Kantaro gasped for breath and fell to his knees, the goblin on his back perishing. Blood soaked his shirt, and lines of red were cascading over his legs towards the floor. The dagger was deep into his shoulder, and the affected arm hung limp by his side.

Other goblins manning the barricades had fled, dropped their rocks and ran deeper into the cavern.

Dustin tore his shirt off, leaving his chest exposed, and placed the shirt’s neck hole over the dagger in Kantaro’s shoulder. He pulled the bottom of the shirt taut around both sides of his arm and tied a knot under his armpit. It did a rough job of keeping the dagger in place to stop further damage.

“Take Kantaro back to the group and try to stop the bleeding.” Dustin ordered, picking up the torch he had dropped. Jennifer and Ben were running over to Kantaro and looked at each other before staring at Dustin.

“I’m going to stay and find the leader but Kantaro can’t stay here, if the goblins attack again they will aim for him.”

Ben opened his mouth to protest, but Dustin turned away and waved the torch at them, “Just go, I’ll be fine!”

Dustin ignored the looks cast at his back and jogged up to the barricade, now devoid of goblins. He looked around the rest of the cavern and saw no sight of them, likely hiding in the wooden huts and rocky nooks they had prepared. He could not see any sign of webbing or spiders aside from the torches. Another unpleasant feeling took hold of him as he had yet to see the goblin leader. Whilst possible it was hiding, it was unlikely for it to avoid their assault and should have taken over the goblins defence.

Despite the damage caused, the goblins were slow and unorganized. A goblin leader’s presence provided a bigger challenge. Dustin remembered the split path earlier and what marked the other tunnel. Given the lack of tamed spiders around and missing goblin boss, he cursed the realization that dawned on him.

If the goblins tamed the giant spiders, and none were present, it left a big clue as to the whereabouts and identity of their leader. If Dustin had to hate any of the boss archetypes in particular, beastmaster was in the top five.