Chapter 71 – Goblins

"At the very least, this confirms where nearly all the goblins in the empire have gone. They were never fully wiped out, they just moved into a dungeon"

I don't know if Petra is completely right, that dungeon sign hinted at there being goblins but that sign could've been thousands of years old. Reason why I think that is because dungeons are supposed to be built into the fabric of the world, they have always existed and will always exist, at least that's basic knowledge you can find about it. They can obviously be completed, just that it would remain empty if everything was cleared out.

Of course, no one has any real clue since they can be hidden so well in places like this at times, for all we knew this dungeon didn't exist ten minutes ago but you get my point, there is basically next to no knowledge on they came into existence.

There is one thing all of us have failed to mention though. Down scattered about in the various huge goblin camps we can see; goblins aren't the only things about.

"Are they... humans?"

Of in the distance, I'm sure I can see humans, at least human remains, can't see anyone alive from where we currently are though. People must have been down here before and gotten themselves killed, the skeletons do seem to be in odd positions though, almost as if they were captured. Pretty sure I can see one with shackles on and another shackled to the wall.

"Goblins will mate with anything Ikarus, must've dragged them back here. Horrible way to go"

"Uh huh"

(Zeki) "Vile, nasty fuckers. I'll kill anyone but even doing that is nasty"

(Ria) "That's doesn't sound the worst way to go..."

Well that adds another risk factor, we're screwed if we end up getting captured by these goblins... literally as well I might add. Thankfully, these little bastards are normally weak as hell, it'll just be time consuming getting through them all. I really need an AOE ability here. What a terrible way to die though, being the plaything of a goblin. Any guilty feelings I had at killing the previous cute looking ones are now completely gone, all goblins must die if this is how they treat prisoners. I guess that silver ranked adventurer with the glowing red eye had a point, at least for the goblins in large groups.

All of us are completely ignoring what the pervert just said, why is her thinking always perverted? Zeki really has his hands full dealing with her if she likes the idea of 'dying' to goblins.

Still looking down at all those goblins, an idea has come to mind.

"Petra, how many do you reckon I could destroy in five minutes?"

"Heh, you're thinking of using that? In all honesty Ikarus, it might be better to round them up and send them into your path otherwise you'll end up running around like a headless chicken chasing your prey, it'll be cute and fun to watch but might be inefficient"

She's already given it that much thought? Damn, I really like this woman at times. This is really going to be a perfect opportunity to test out star blaze, I'm guessing it'll tear through them like a knife through butter but that five-minute counter and twenty-four-hour countdown really suck though.

(Ria) "What you two thinking of?"

(Zeki) "Yup, what you talking bout?"

(Ariza) "I'm unsure as well"

None of them know about my new ability so it would make sense why they're questioning, the dryad probably already knows just down to her stalking our group, tree spirit things and all that.

"Zeki, you reckon we could force all of them into Ikarus's path?"

"You mean like an EXP or meat grinder? Sure but it would require a fair amount of fire, those little bastards should run with their tails between their legs if we make a show for them"

Goblins don't actually have tails by the way, Zeki was just making an analogy.

Looks like we're definitely going with this plan to take care of these goblins, we shouldn't have to worry with retreating since we literally can just switch forms and fly back up here, the only one who can't is the dryad but with her, she'd probably enjoy being left alone against a thousand goblins...

'Let's avenge those humans...'

__________

'Shouldn't be too long now'

There was a little more to this plan than just that but my role here is literally to stand still and wait, tis a very pleasing role that I obviously am best suited for.

I've found a kinda narrow path far enough away from where all the goblins are, did take me a while to find it flying about in my new human form since I didn't want to aggro the goblins just yet. The idea is, Petra and Zeki and going to channel them using as much fire as possible scaring the living shits out of these filthy little creatures and send them to me where they will all be greeted by star blaze. My role is thankfully very simple.

In all honesty, we could've just done this a lot easier than doing it this way but Petra seems to think this might help out keeping our magicka reserves high, maybe for me obviously but I swear her and Zeki will have to use a lot just to get them over here. Still, I'm not going to complain about it too much, this ability now gets it's time to shine and I get to be lazy, it's clearly a win-win.

'How long is this going to take?'

Fortunately, my answers are immediately answered. Rapidly retreating towards my direction are hundreds and hundreds of goblins, all of which look either scared, angry, aggressive or confused. Some are holding wooden looking weapons, others with armour or some with nothing.

'Wait a little bit longer'

Got to time this right to maximize its effect, too early and I'll lose precious seconds of full blaze potential, too late and I'll end getting stampeded or even potentially captured by these goblins, think I'd rather kill myself than experience that fate.

'Bit more... Now!'

[<Confirmed, -star blaze- has now been activated>]

Then like the first time I used this, the fireball slowly starts to grow inside me, I planned for this timing to happen so I've got more than enough time here for it to grow.

It quickly grows like last time and then surrounds me, then growing even more to the size of a building once again. Now these goblins have two choices, keep going forward or turn back around, fortunately none of them see this ball of fire as a bigger risk than what's currently chasing them so this is going to work. I can hear a lot of tiny goblin screams off in the distance as well.

Now that they've arrived, I stand my ground and watch the hordes and hordes of the green little bastards' rush head first into my ability... and are instantly evaporated. No joke, not a single one of the goblins are able to step more than a foot into this fire before being completely incinerated, I knew it would be strong against enemies who aren't resistant but this is insane, it's burning so well, no bones or anything like that have been left behind.

More and more keep piling into this for what must be several minutes, I guess dying this way is better than the hell facing them from the other direction, it would be a lot quicker than the other burning methods.

Thankfully enough, all the hoards have stopped entering now, they're either all dead or have turned around, I think they're dead judging from the lack of noise I can hear outside, visibility still sucks inside here after all.

Time's up as well, the sun starts to shrink back inside me and I'm greeted by Petra and Zeki both approaching from the sky, Petra did have to change form to commence the attack. I don't like knowing that her phoenix form causes her pain but I'll get her to change back in a second, the pain should be deal-able if she's only in it for a handful of minutes or so but still.

I honestly would've changed the plan if I had known she would've been forced to change form, she seems to have a smile on her beak though. Still can't get over how nasty those scars look on her.

"The fuck was that orangey!? That shit burned them away like a furnace, that was fucking epic!"

"Heh, Zeki does have a point, did tell you that was a good ability Ikarus"

Urgh, praise. I guess it was pretty effective in all honesty, just wish I could use it more than once a day. There's no way we've already cleared out this entire place so for the next goblins, I'll have to go back to the basics. Stabbing, kicking or fire, tis simple solutions to the problems that are ahead of us.

The other two, Ariza and Ria have joined us as well now, Ariza never changed into bird form though, she is the healer of the group so she didn't need to help out with that fight. It kinda sucks that two of us five are useless in combat but me, Petra and Zeki should be more than enough for nearly everything. The less said on the dryad, the better. Pretty certain her splinter attack doesn't even work inside an area where trees can't grow, how can she be a protector of the forest when she's this useless? A literal tree might have more combat potential than her, might be exaggerating but definitely a falling tree.

(Ariza) "There's still loads more to get through though"

(Ria) "Poor little goblins..."

This dryad really has a thing for goblins, I'm going to kill her if she keeps this up. There's only so much perversion I can take in the background, she's testing my patience now. Pretty certain Petra is in agreement as well but she's also just letting it slide this time.

(Petra) "Don't worry Ariza, we'll be moving further into the cavern next, me and Zeki didn't use all that much magicka so we're good to go"

Oh, I guess it worked out alright then, no excessive magicka drain on their parts, we've clearly got enough in the tank to continue on especially considering I didn't use any magic that fight.

It's a shame aspect of gigantomachy doesn't have an area effect but it's pretty damn OP so that isn't that much a concern. Before we continue on, there is something I need to get off my human looking chest, think I'm going stick in this form throughout this dungeon, wings and arms are a pretty brilliant combination.

"Before we head on though, you can change back now Petra"

"Heh, worried about me then Ikarus?"

Does she seriously have to start teasing me now? We're about to go massacre some more goblins, if she really wants to do it while hurting, then she can suit herself.

I'm being untruthful to myself; I really don't want her to feel any more pain though...

__________

"Phew... built up a bit of a sweat now"

"I'll wipe you down Ikarus"

"Nah, I'm good thanks Petra"

Of course she is going to pout slightly from my rejection, really not in the mood seeing that adrenaline is running high after killing so many goblins. I know we've got a second now but still.

(Zeki) "Fucking little bastards, next time I'm gonna make sure to kill even more"

(Ariza) "Hold still you idiot, I can't heal you if you keep moving about"

(Ria) "It's your own fault for charging head first into them like that"

(Zeki) "Both of you can buzz off, still keep healing me though brother"

All five of us are standing around as humans after defeating another group in this never-ending cavern, this is slowly becoming a grind now. No idea how long we've been down here just yet but it definitely feels like at least a day, we've taken breaks but we've been fighting a lot.

The only two who are doing something different other than standing around right now are Zeki and Ariza, Mr obnoxious took some damage that last fight and Ariza is currently healing him using her healing hands. Haven't seen her use it in action for a while but basically imagine a blueish aura that flows from her hands, I guess it kinda looks like blue fire but still isn't that comparable. Obviously the fact that it actually rapidly heals the wound is completely different to fire.

This place really must be more than just a nest, this cavern that seems to spread for miles might be the source of all goblins in this entire world, there isn't much of a challenge but it is time consuming getting through all these hordes of green little men.

And of course, no EXP is available to grab for some reason, realized that pretty quickly after the first group we dispatched with star blaze. Dungeons really don't like giving out rewards it seems, hopefully there is a reward for completing this place but not counting on it like usual.

As for how we're completing this place, it just seems we have to keep grinding our arses off killing more and more as we move further into the cavern mostly using fire. Thankfully after every huge group or so, there seems to be an empty patch that allows us to rest for a while and regain our breath, stamina and magicka. We've only gone through two additional groups since the first slaughter though, even then each group still seems to be in the hundreds, maybe even thousands thinking about it. Sick of goblins now.

How we've been taken care of them is pretty much down to one thing, flame, lots and lots of hell fire, trying to use melee combat is pretty dumb against a literal army of goblins, would get way too overwhelmed very quickly if we tried that approach.

Thankfully if shit gets too much, flight is goblins biggest weakness, they haven't a clue how to deal with a phoenix above them and have no idea about ranged combat. Doing that really hasn't been needed though, this dungeon has been easy so far. It would make sense; we might be one of the strongest parties around.

Guessing how this type of thing works, there will either be a dungeon master or a boss fight right near the end of this, we've come across no sub-boss type of goblin so far so there clearly has to be something more difficult ahead. I still doubt it'll prove that much of a challenge but I might be getting a little arrogant now.

Oh, I also never checked how a goblin's status seems to work, basically they are all low levelled trash and have half the stats of a normal human, you can clearly see why humans could easily get overwhelmed by all these lot just down to numbers though.

Also seems like a good time to check my stats right now seeing that we've got a second.

'Status'

[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 97]

[Health 29,448*/30,000*]

[Stamina 4,193*/10,000*]

[Magicka 19,128*/30,000*]

[You currently have 3500 unassigned points]

'Oh, I guess I was wrong, it's been two days down here now, it's a good thing us three can fight for such a long time without needing constant breaks I guess. It might be good to take a quick break now though'

"Need another breather otherwise... what's that over there?"

Off a slight distance away from us, I've just noticed what looks like slight gap or crack in the side of this cavern. There still is a lot more of this cavern ahead of us but this looks to be the first side cave we've come across; it does look pretty hidden at first sight though.

"They're already dead orangey, there ain't no one alive down here"

(Ariza) "No Zeki, Ikarus wasn't even looking in that direction, over there"

Ariza points to show what I was talking about and Zeki scoffs slightly while realizing he was being an idiot. It seems both the dryad and Petra already saw that though.

What Zeki was referring to is another pile of human remains we've come across; it's really sickening how many small groups of human skeletons there are down here. It doesn't make all that sense how they're even down here in all honesty, there must be another entrance to this place that we haven't come across since the way we came in was technically caused by my mother's wrath. Unless they all came in the same way but the fall should've killed them before the goblins could've captured them alive though.

"We'll head there now, I'm leading though Ikarus"

Petra already has an idea when my magic or stamina starts to run on the low side so it'll be safer this way if there is another army ahead of us, I'm guessing her magic reserves are still pretty high and if there's a problem, she always has her abilities. My twenty-four cooldown finished ages ago as well so we should be more than safe enough.

(Ikarus) "Okay dokey"

All five of us led by Petra head into the narrow gap and find we have to walk sideways to pass through, it's a little tight especially around the chest area but there should be more than enough room... except for one of us.

"Erm guys... I'm a little stuck here"

The dryad and her gigantic breasts have caused a pile up, Zeki and Ariza are both stuck behind and cannot continue further through this narrow gap. I can't help but start to chuckle, I'm so happy I don't have that type of problem. Sure, I've been stuck in tight places before but form changes are easy, melon chested dryad has no such counter.

"For fuck's sake, move you stupid cow!"

"Zeki, she can't help it!"

Zeki's now getting pissed and Ariza can't help but try to calm him down, I wonder if this is causing him slight claustrophobia or something. I'm happy I'm in front with Petra otherwise I'd be getting a little pissed off back there, we can at least still go forward.

(Ria) "I'm fucking trying, you stupid girly bitch!

(Zeki) "Girly bitch!?"

Zeki is now pushing the dryad trying to get her unstuck, I'm honestly surprised he hasn't just burnt her to flame right about now. Clearly he must really love her because if it was anyone else causing him this annoyance, they would've been killed instantly. Maybe not us phoenixes but for the rest of world, they would've been burnt to ash.

"You seriously need to cut those things off"

(Ria) "Shut it!"

And that's why kids, gigantic bosoms suck, at least for everyday use like cave spelunking. I mean, there's nothing wrong with them at least from an attractive point of view but there is a point where things can get too big believe it or now, this is one of those times. Me and Petra never have to worry about that and I'm more than happy for it.

Thankfully enough, Zeki shoving his dryad woman seems to have gotten her unstuck now.

"Finally, now keep moving forward woman"

"Why the hell do I like you so much?"

"Because you're as toxic as I am, that's why this kinda works"

"He-he-he, you're pretty much right there"

Can't those two just shut it now? Whatever, me and Petra continue further ahead of them while Ria the dryad is still getting slightly stuck every now and then. Eventually, us two finally get out of this gap.

(Petra) "Shit"

(Ikarus) "Da fuck is that?"

Both of us step out of the narrow cave and find ourselves in a large, rectangular rundown looking ancient throne room. In front of us in this room appears to be a small goblin army and sitting on what looks to be a throne of bones at the back is a very, very large looking goblin. That guy does look quite dangerous but I don't think that's what Petra's swear was at, there's also chained up naked humans in here, alive.

Thankfully, everyone appears to be sleeping right now, even the chained-up women along the side wall. There is a slight problem ahead of us though, we're going to have to be careful here otherwise they'll end up as friendly fire casualties. At least that adds some more difficulty to this situation.

'Looks like we've found the boss of this place anyway...'