Dungeon Raid Take Three

Callum didn't know how to take the confirmation that Sarah's father had been in on the conspiracy. He had been convinced that he was grasping at straws by thinking that those letters weren't from Sarah. However, the vow notification confirmed his suspicions.

On one hand, he had made some progress in figuring out the depth of the conspiracy against his family and him, in addition to the fact that Sarah hadn't ended things with him. On the other hand, he had committed himself to killing her father.

Killing his girlfriend's dad seemed like a quick way to make her an ex-girlfriend; failing the vow by not killing him would have even worse repercussions. Would she still want to be with him if he did follow through with his vow and killed her father?

Instead of feeling relief that Sarah hadn't ended their relationship, Callum had to deal with the painful question of whether or not he should kill her dad.

Callum decided that thinking about it wouldn't change anything right now, especially since there was little point in further thought until his mental stats were higher. For now, he would focus on what he could change right now.

His farmer class might be mostly useless in his present situation, but one of his abilities gave him knowledge of weather changes, and there would be a change in the weather within the next day or two; snow was coming.

For the rest of the day, he worked on various jobs around the two caves. He split more firewood, created new traps, checked the drying pottery, and reinforced the walls at the two cave entrances. He needed to prepare for another multi-day blizzard, just in case.

He also checked his existing traps; replacing and resetting traps as needed. One of the traps was still intact and netted him another rabbit. With everything done and night falling, he turned in for the night.

_________

The next morning was a dreary one, with a heaviness in the air that foretold of a coming storm; even those without Callum's class ability would be able to recognize the signs. A thick fog coated the ground and diffused the sun's rays into a wan light that provided little warmth.

Callum carefully considered the weather before deciding he had enough time to try a dungeon run. His instincts and abilities were telling him that he had until mid-afternoon before the snow would fall in earnest.

He grabbed his usual gear, including his new spear, before heading for the dungeon. He quickly checked the exterior construction around the dungeon, and quickly repaired a couple small issues.

Callum entered the dungeon with an armful of firewood and more in his bag. He quickly and efficiently performed his usual dungeon clearing activities; clearing traps, placing the firewood, and getting poisoned multiple times.

Once the poison cleared out of his system, Callum abandoned stealth and charged at the usual four goblins in the large cavern. He barreled over three goblins, sending them flying, before he stabbed at the last one.

He knew he could easily take these goblins, so he didn't waste any effort on his defense as he simply eliminated them. The first goblin quickly succumbed before he whirled to face the others.

Callum soon bullied the two remaining goblins with his Strength and killed them with efficient stabs; the added damage from the new spear was readily apparent. Enemies defeated, Callum went to do what he hadn't done yet, loot them!

He placed his hand on the first and triggered the dungeon specific <Loot> skill. Everyone who entered a dungeon would acquire the <Loot> skill for the duration of the time they were in a dungeon.

The skill could not be upgraded, but it let adventurers easily acquire the loot from dungeon creatures with little effort; it did require the adventurer to stay still for a full second, and any movement or damage taken would reset the timer.

Callum eagerly used <Loot> on the first goblin.

'Loot Acquired'

Goblin Club (Trash), Goblin Ear, Beast Core (C), and 3 Copper.'

A white flash of light enveloped the goblin before it vanished and several items clattered on the cavern floor. He didn't have a storage ring, so the items simply ended up on the floor. He promptly stuffed everything in his bag as he moved towards the second goblin.

He wasn't going to leave without his loot this time! Callum soon slipped the loot from the other two goblins into his bag; something niggled at the back of his mind before the lure of more loot grabbed his attention again.

He had looted a knife and another spear.The spear wasn't able to fit into his bag and briefly left him puzzled; he finally just put it behind his back and used his belt to hold it in place.

It was a little awkward, but the goblin spear was much better than his makeshift ones. He decided it was worth it, even if it limited his mobility a little bit.

The real prizes were the beast cores and he eagerly inspected one.

'Beast Core (Common) (Durability: 0.03/100)

You lack sufficient knowledge to use this item'

Callum was miffed at the low durability of the item, it shouldn't have been that low. But those cores were worth a fortune to the right people. And despite the item's description, Callum knew they could be used to power enchantments or to enchant items.

He quickly inspected two other beast cores only to discover similar durability issues. He tried to find the fourth core before the sounds of approaching goblins forced him to ready himself for more combat.

Callum placed himself at the mouth of the tunnel where the goblin sounds were the loudest. A single goblin soon came charging out into the cavern and right in front of a prepared Callum who towered over the creature.

The goblin had a second to recognize its precarious position, before Callum swung the butt of the spear into it. The goblin was blasted into the wall and collapsed into a boneless heap on the floor.

A quick <Stab> soon ended the overconfident goblin's life before Callum rushed to meet two more goblins exiting from another tunnel; they were too close for him to <Loot> the first goblin safely.

Two flashing spear points prevented Callum from charging in recklessly.

He used <Light> on one goblin and then sent the other flying several feet away with a sweep of his spear. He then charged the now solitary goblin. A couple of quick <Stab> attacks finished that goblin off before reinforcements could arrive.

By now, goblins were steadily pouring in one or two at a time from the various tunnels. Callum fell back towards the exit where he couldn't be fully enveloped on all sides; he continued to eliminate goblins at a rapid pace.

However, they continued to pour in faster than he could kill them; the goblins were now swarming in front of him. He fought a steady retreat back to the bend and his first line of firewood.

A barrage of <Light>, <Stab>, and spear sweeps kept the goblins in front of him back as he retreated. Here the dungeon's own traps served to slow down the goblin's rush, since Callum forced the goblins into the traps he hadn't cleared.

Not many goblins died, but it bought Callum time and space. He soon neared his first line of firewood and he risked a glance back to ensure he didn't trip over the firewood. Instead of seeing the firewood he expected, Callum saw nothing but an empty tunnel.

"Maybe I put the firewood further back than I thought?"

Callum wondered out loud even as he stabbed forward. His health was slowly dropping as the fighting retreat continued; there were simply too many goblins for him to counter or evade.

'Just a little more and we'll pass the firewood. I'll light the fire and split their numbers. That will let me safely loot those goblins and replenish my dropping pools,' Callum thought.

He continued a slow retreat, and every couple of steps he would glance back to locate the firewood. The tunnel behind him remained empty.

Eventually, Callum reached the chokepoint without any sight of his first line of firewood. Even worse, he couldn't spot the second line of firewood that he had planned to use to cover his retreat from the dungeon.

At the chokepoint, the numerous goblins got in their own way as they all tried to attack him in the limited space available. Callum lunged forward with his spear held horizontally at goblin chest level.

The spear caught half a dozen goblins and knocked them back into the ones behind them as Callum tapped into his high Strength to force the goblin horde back. His spear snapped in half, its poor durability unequal to the forces acting upon it.

Callum's goal was achieved though and he had a small window where he was safe to look behind him.

"<Light>!" Callum shouted as he turned around.

In the brief flash of light, the tunnel behind Callum and all the way back to the exit was easily visible, especially with his <Night Sight> active. It was all bare, not a scrap of wood was visible.

The familiar chanting of the Goblin Witch Doctor was heard over the mass of goblins.