Jason and Hanshi came across an old mineshaft. Jason didn’t know whether this was what they were looking for or just a random relic of a past age. Maybe it was the doorway to the underground inner world. That wasn’t at all a silly thing to think in the situation he found himself in. It was the farthest out from the town that he had been and it was the first time he was looking for what Hanshi has called a ‘dungeon’ so he had no idea what to expect. He wondered about the usage of the word ‘dungeon’. It wasn’t the standard usage, but one that became popular more recently in video games, particularly RPGs. Surely the actual name for what this was wasn’t a dungeon, but the thing that was translating the things around him had selected this word from what was meant. He wondered what it would have selected if she had meant an actual dungeon since most people he knew didn’t call a real dungeon by that name any more. Of course, these thoughts all quickly went through his head in a jumble that didn’t rise above a passing curiosity. Rising above them though was the singular thought of, ‘now what?’

After Jason awkwardly waited for Hanshi to take the lead, she said, “Can’t find the hole?”

“What? I was waiting for you. I assume you know what you’re doing,” jason retorted.

“First time shouldn’t be a threesome. You need to break the seal all on your own.”

“Whatever,” he said, before putting his pack off to the side of the entrance. He had already had his weapon ARMS activated and ready since the day that Hanshi had explained to him that he should so he didn’t need to prepare any more than he had already been. The backpack would just get in the way of fight so he didn’t want to bing it with him and the only thing left to do was to leave it and hope she would look after it, or if she didn’t, that noone would steal it.

He was about to enter the mineshaft when Hanshi stopped him, “Got rations on you?”

Jason shook his head, “I can carry them and be effective at combat.”

“Take some out and hold them up to the center part on your ARMS bodywear. They’ll be deconstructed and put in a form that it can store. Works for most things, but it does have limited storage,” she explained to him.

She seemed to have an understanding of how the ARMS devices worked, more over, it sounded like she was simplifying and knew how this was done. In fact, now that Jason thought about it she seemed to know more about how everything in this world worked than anyone else he had come across. It was odd considering that it was confirmed to him through his research that civilizations advanced beyond Human civilization were a fleeting minority and that the pinnacle of technological for most was something like classical antiquity or the dark ages. He put these thoughts and the suspicions they raised on hold for the moment and tried what she said. It worked. The ARMS device felt a bit heavier, but nothing that he couldn’t handle. The difference in weight however was in his head.

An alert notifications popped up in his VUI and text that read that the rations were added to his inventory. He looked in the menu and to his inventory. There were now graphical representations of the rations. On the side there was also an information panel that said what was in it, how much it weighed, and any notes or information that he or the system had access to for him. There was also another tab that appeared in the inventory. Inside there was a break down of the materials that were stored at an elemental and compound level. There were a few compounds that were not labeled. Maybe those were materials that had not been named on Earth he thought. One thing concerned him however. “How do you get these back out to use?” he asked her.

“Not sure if it is different for you, but essentially you think to bring it out of storage and it is reformed, generally in your hand or somewhere touching your body.”

He nodded and made to enter again, “Okay. I’m ready to go then. Any other last minute advice?”

“Nope. Have fun losing your virginity in another area!” she smiled as she took a seat on some nearby rocks that were large enough to sit on comfortably.

Jason entered the mineshaft. Inside it was dark and had a low ceiling. As he was walking further in there were point where he would have to duck under to continue on. It was a straight shot in luckily, otherwise he was sure that he would get lost in the declining light levels and he would have smacked his head quite a bit more as well. After a short way he came to a room lit by a few torches with a bin of torches there to be taken to be used. It seemed to be the a central room for a sprawling mining operation as there were several pathways leading away and downhill. Each of them had rails placed nearly on the center of the path.

None of the paths looked to be marked in any special way to let him know that it was the way to go. He grabbed a torch, lit it, and chose the path that was opposite the entrance to explore first. It took several minutes to traverse downward into the dungeon with nothing happening. In the distance he heard something that sounded like several dogs in the same pack squabbling over the order of who got to eat first when there was only one source of nourishment that had to be divided. Jason proceeded towards the sounds until he began to see a light up ahead. He found a nearby place to put out and store the torch. It didn’t take long to accomplish and he was still well away from the sounds, preventing whatever was up ahead from seeing him.

He crept forward, keeping low and close to the wall, trying to keep from making any noise. It took very little time to reach a point from which he could see the source of the light. A fire in another small room. What he saw beyond that was disheartening. Several feet in front of him, oblivious to his existence were 3 creatures like the one he had fought back in the arena. They were Goblins in a dungeon. This was unreal. They were in a circle playing some sort of game that he could not distinguish, The only thing that he could tell is that it was a type of game that involved gold pieces being exchanged, cards, and dice. The three of them were dressed in armor, unlike the one from the arena, and each of them had a large, for their size, weapon nearby, that they had laid down to play the game. They each also had some sort of drink, perhaps an alcoholic beverage, that they were drinking. Behind them was another shaft leading still further downward. There were other shafts, but it was clear that these three were guarding the one. It was also fairly obvious that they weren’t expecting any company from the outside nor from what lay behind them, otherwise they wouldn’t dare to be so lax in their duties.

Jason thought that there was no way he was going to live through attacking them, but Hanshi had said that this was the easiest and quickest way to help him friend. If he wasn’t going to do this, he wasn’t likely going to able to help her and he would be condemning her to a life of slavery. He didn’t want that for her. Even though he didn’t owe her anything, he felt that if he didn’t do this he was also condemning himself to a similar fate. The words Hanshi told him when they first met came back to him. He could only make a plan and hoped it worked.

Thinking and looking through his options while still hidden in the shadows of the Goblins’ game of chance, Jason came up with a plan. Although he wasn’t certain his plan would be effective, he had nothing else that he could do. Like Hanshi had told him, he summoned one of the liquid rations into his hand. The container that held the liquid was much like a thermos, but the two halves simply stuck together. He poured the contents equally into each half and moved slowly towards the end of the pathway, remaining in the shadows, but getting as close to the fire as possible.

Taking a final deep breath to calm his nerves before making his move, Jason began his plan. He tossed the two halves of the liquid ration container at the fire. Success! The fire went out and the room became pitch black. The Goblins were startled by this sudden change of situations, then they heard the container hit the ground on the opposite side of the direction it was thrown. They looked for the source of the sound, squinting and trying to force themselves to be able to see. They hadn’t thought to pick up their weapons or put back on their helmets yet when Jason’s sword swung through the air and the neck of the Goblin closest to him. It was too late for it, but the other two heard the body of their compatriot collapse to the ground and its head thud to earth and roll towards them.

Not missing a beat, Jason controls his blade better than he had in the past and stops the swing before it throws him off balance. He takes hold of the pommel and twists back the other way as he thrusts the blade through the skull of the next Goblin with luck. He was as blind as his foes, but he had made sure to take account of where each of them and their weapons were. He had to act fast and so he had to leave it all up to a pre-planned set of actions and hope for the best. So far, 2 Goblins were dead and there was one left. At this point, something did go wrong. Jason was not a warrior and had never really faced the situation where he rad ran someone through and had to attack again. The body of the Goblin blocked his next attack. All he could do was swing the sword with enough momentum to toss the body off it and hope the last Goblin hadn’t moved or gotten its weapon yet. That would likely not go well for Jason, considering the one on one match he had with the Goblin in the arena.

The last Goblin stumbled back, tripping over its feet, and fell to the ground. It drunkenly groped for its weapon. Jason could hear it and quickly moved to wear he heard its armor scraping across the rocky ground. He stepped on the Goblin’s chest, pinning it to the ground with his weight. He plunged his sword downward into the Goblin. Jason miscalculated where its head was. The tip of the blade hit its chest armor, but the smooth surface deflected the blade into the Goblin’s throat. It wasn’t dead, but soon would be. Jason pulled the sword from the creature’s body and resheathed it, moving back away from the carnage that now laid at his feet.

Jason removed the wet wood from the firepit and replaced it with new logs that were set up for such an occasion. He then searched for something to light a fire and some sort of advanced technological lighter that he used to set the logs ablaze. The light chased away the darkness and revealed the 3 dead Goblins. Jason was here for things to use to free Gael and had no qualms about taking any of what he found on their bodies or lying in the room.