Noah carefully crouched his way to the center of gridlocked, his jittery nerves not doing him any favor. In his right hand, he had his trusty gladius, an inferior wooden kite shield that he’d ‘procured’ from John in his left. As per Liam’s instructions, Noah had uncorked one of the three health potions he had on him and held it between his jaws, tongue blocking the sweet liquid from pouring it into his mouth. He almost wanted to drink it, the liquid tasted like what Noah would imagine how nectar tasted for bees, but he resisted for now. Liam called the trick, ‘Cheeky Potioning,’ and while it did make him feel slightly idiotic, he couldn’t argue with how pragmatic and effective it was. In fact, Noah wondered why the thought had never occurred to him, to begin with, but he had far bigger concerns to worry about than Liam one-upping him.

“Slow down lad. You see the vegetation slowly thinning out? It means we’re getting closer, and real close at that.

Noah had a full set now, complete with boots, gloves, hauberk, and greaves… or well, he was missing a face mask, but Liam had told him that those were terribly rare on the first floor and didn’t have any real defensive capabilities. No, but they did let you change your appearance into someone else, which made them terribly useful in Noah’s eyes.

Noah slowly crept forward, using one bush or shrub for cover, to the next, using his silencing boots to maximum effect, coupled with his newfound boost in dexterity. If the balance was a neutral, unrelated party before, it was now an ally. He felt like he had been suddenly transposed into the body of a supreme gymnast, and his reflexes seemed like they had been upgraded to near the peak potential of a human body. Could he dodge an arrow loosed at him from mid/close range? Maybe. Could he dodge a bullet? Fat chance.

“Stop!” Liam loudly called out, since Noah was the only one passerby could hear anyway.

“What is it?” Noah lightly whispered as all he saw was a thick bush blocking his sight.

“Try peeking through it, lad, and don’t make any noise,” Liam said, piquing Noah’s curiosity.

Noah did, and it felt like time immediately stopped for a second. The Goblin Avengers (Red) he had barely managed to kill casually patrolled the open clearing in front of him, in groups of two’s and three’s and a casual glance indicated that there were dozens of the damn creatures. Green goblin’s formed a circular perimeter around the area, and the nearest one was only 15, maybe 20 meters away from him. At the very center of the formation, seated on a grand throne that seemed to be fashioned out of hardwood, with rubies inlaid along its exterior, lay seated a massive, massive goblin that was 12 feet tall, perhaps even more, with a long, curved single-handed blade resting leaning on the chair that was easily taller than Noah, and a circular shield with some odd runic symbol carved into it, lay gently on its massive lap. The Goblin Lord was covered in armor from head to toe, which seemed to project a bloody aura that made the goblin even more intimidating than it had any need to be. Had to be uncommon grade, because Noah’s armor sure didn’t glow like that.

Immediately behind the Goblin Lord was a pitch-black cavern that had two Goblin Avengers guarding it, but because the distance was too far Noah couldn’t make out what lay inside. He figured that’s what their goal was.

“You see those damp patches of land without any grass growing on them, dotted around the goblin lord?” Liam asked, wearing a somewhat bemused expression at Noah’s reaction.

Noah just nodded, dazed when he saw the army waiting for him.

“Those are Goblin Entrappers; they don’t need air to survive. Consider them land mines, or maybe really fast-acting quicksand, they’re going to pull you down and kill you by suffocation. Terrible way to go, wouldn’t recommend it,” Liam added calmly as if he were just taking a stroll in the park.

“Anything else you might have forgotten to tell me?” Noah asked with a grimace on his face.

“Oh yeah, almost forgot. Do you see those treetops? Archers, I see eight, by my count. But there’s good news, Goblin Assassins are pretty useless in open areas, so they’re probably stationed in the surroundings. If you didn’t encounter another one until now, you won’t be encountering anymore,” Liam added with a passing note.

“Oh great. And I suppose my target is that cave guarded by a roided up monster goblin that can break every bone in my body with a single swat? Great, just fantastic news one after the other Liam, how can I ever thank you for your kindness,” Noah grunted with sweat running down his palms, wondering if he’d bitten off more than he could chew.

“Slow down, mate, slow down. Now, I’m not telling you to fight these goblins and take out the Goblin Lord as you are right now. All you need to do is get to the cave, and the goblins won’t follow. Not even the goblin lord would dare, so don’t worry about him. As for how, you need to take out the archers first, stock up on infinity quivers, and then create a distraction. But if you alert the archers lad, then it’s over- we’ll have to get the hell out of here.”

“What’s an infinity quiver?” Noah asked, puzzled how a quiver of all things would help him create a distraction.

“You’ll see lad, now get to it. If we fail, so be it. But is there any fun in quitting without even trying?” Liam asked with a wide grin, and Noah jammed the potion back into his mouth, hoping he wont need to use it.

Noah getting his shield and gladius ready for action was all the affirmation Liam needed.