Vol.1 Ch.29 Descending into a Goblin Nest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They reach a dead end after a half hour of traversing through the 11th floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Great... Does anyone have any ideas?" Sir George sighed as he looked at the nd stone wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"What do we do now?" Percy asked as he looked around the wall, seeing if there was a secret passage, but he wasing up empty.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I didn''t notice any other pathways that would have led to another way down. Unless one of you noticed?" Quinus asked as he looked at Rya. "Rya, can you see the flow of ether?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Give me a sec... I''ll see where the ether particles are flowing from," Rya said as she looked at Quin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Okay, we''ll stand guard and make sure nothinges sneaking up on us," Quin said as he gave her a nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">''Okay Rya, time to work your magic? Just remember what Nils taught you.'' Rya thought to herself as she closed her eyes and began to focus. It took a minute before she could sense the eerie green ether particles again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">''I did it! Now let''s see where they''re flowing from now?'' Rya asked herself as she opened her eyes and saw the green particles flowing throughout the cavern, bumping against the cave walls of the hallway. It didn''t take long for her to spot the ether flowing out of this five-foot section from therge dead-end wall in front of them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Huh? That''s weird," Rya said as she looked at the wall with a perplexed<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">expression<span style="font-weight:400">.


    <span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">"What''s wrong?" Sir George asked as he and the rest of the party gathered behind her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"The ether is flowing out from the middle of this wall," Rya said as she pointed at the spot in the stone wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Quinus and Percy moved closer to the wall to get a better look.


    <span ss="editText">"I think I can feel airflowing from here. But this wall is solid," Quinus said as he touched the wall and pushed against it a couple of times to see if it would<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText"> budge, but it didn''t move.


    <span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">"So, how do we open it?" Sir George asked as he walked over.


    <span ss="aiText">"<span ss="editText">Pff! Of course, there''s a hidden passage in abyrinth. So c<span ss="editText">liche,<span ss="aiText">" Rya said<span ss="editText"> while shaking her head.


    P<span ss="editText">ercy and Sir George gave her co<span ss="userText">nfused<span ss="aiText"> looks, while Quinus<span ss="editText">'' <span ss="editText">interest in Rya<span ss="aiText"> grew.


    <span ss="aiText">"<span ss="editText">What is she talking about? <span ss="userText">What do<span ss="editText">es<span ss="userText"> cliche mean?<span ss="aiText"> She is so strange," Percy whispered into Sir George''s ear.


    <span ss="aiText">"<span ss="editText">She''s a dark elf<span ss="userText">. And it might be<span ss="aiText"> best not to ask her questions about things we don''t know about, and we probably don''t want to," Sir George replied with a concerned look.


    <span ss="aiText">"Oh, good point. It''s probably something best left alone," Percy nodded.


    <span ss="userText">Quinus cracked a smile and Rya just realized she used an<span ss="userText">"Earth<span ss="aiText">" <span ss="editText">say<span ss="aiText">ing to people who have no clue what it means<span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">.


    <span ss="aiText">"<span ss="editText">Well, that doesn''t help<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText"> us get past this wall, though," Sir George sighed as he tapped the stone wall. That''s when Percy had an idea.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Do you think it''s an illusion?" Percy asked as he looked at Quinus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Well, I''ve never seen an illusionary wall before. I guess we''ll find out if it is," Quinus said as he took his sword into his hands and swung it into the wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">*SWISH!*


    <span ss="editText">"Wow!" Quin<span ss="editText">us l<span ss="editText">ost his bnce when his sword passed through the wall with no resistance. The illusion disappeared and<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">a passageway was revealed.


    <span ss="editText">''Wow!? That''s creepy that illusion can feel real<span ss="aiText">,'' Rya thought to herself <span ss="editText">while Quinus regained<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText"> hisposure and sheathed his sword.


    <span style="font-weight:400"> "Yeah, it''s an illusion alright," Quinus said as he examined the passage before the illusion reappeared.


    "I''ll be damned!? Well done Percy," Sir George said as he tried to touch the wall again but this time his hand passed through the stones as if they weren''t there.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rya just stood there staring at the wall. "So we just go through it?" She asked Quinus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Well, you said the ether was flowing from here right? It looks like the only way to continue, so let''s go," Quinus said as he stepped forward and moved through the fake stone wall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Haah... Here we go." Rya said as she followed Quin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sir George nodded to Percy as they followed after Rya.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once they passed through the illusion they found themself in front of a spiral stone staircase leading down to the lower level. The staircase was wide enough for two people to walk side by side but there wasn''t that much natural illumination. It was too dark to see all the way down to the 11th floor.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Hey, do you smell that?" Rya asked the group.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Smell what?" Percy asked as he sniffed the air but couldn''t tell<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">what she was referring to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Something smells like rotten eggs," Rya said while she sniffed the air, raising her head a little. "It''s strong, it must being from the lower floor."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I-It could be a goblin nest? I hope it''s not," Sir George said as his face turned grim for a moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Let''s just hope it isn''t the stench of death and it''s something else," Quinus added while he looked at Sir George.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Do not hope with goblins, my lord," Sir George said as he shook his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"So if it''s a nest, that means there are captive women?" Rya asked and looked at Sir George.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Aye... Yes, mydy. Brood Maidens, most likely," Sir George said as he nced down the stairwell but he couldn''t see past five feet in the darkness.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"It''s not a pretty sight, Rya. You might want to steel yourself." Quin said as he pulled his long sword.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"No time like the present," Rya said as she drew her short sword. "Let''s go."


    <span style="font-weight:400">As they descended down the stairwell Quinus, Percy, and George started to smell the foul stench that Rya had a whiff of earlier.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Uh! I don''t know how you''re able to stand this foul odor with your elven nose, Lady Rya," Percy said as he looked around the opennding as they walked halfway down the staircase.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Well, it''s not easy Percy. But I have little choice," Rya said with a grimace look stered on her face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"That smell is horrible," Quinus <span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">groaned <span style="font-weight:400">as he held his nose.


    <span ss="editText">"Let''s focus on our mission, gentlemen and mydy." Sir George sai<span ss="editText">d trying to act<span ss="aiText"> stoic but he couldn''t hide his revulsion from the smell either.


    <span ss="editText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">"Alright, let''s move and be quiet. There might be goblins waiting for us," Quinus said as they hurried down the rest of the stairs and entered the 11th floor of the Labyrinth


    <span style="font-weight:400">The three continued down the stairs in silence until they came across a small crude wooden door that led to arge hallway. There was only one light source that lit the hall and it wasing from a single torch hanging from the ceiling.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rya stopped in front of the door and gave a quick nce over her shoulder.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I''ll take the lead, Rya," Quin said with a concerned look.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"You think something''s gonna jump out on us?" Rya asked with a raised eyebrow.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I don''t believe we are going to be attacked... Since we haven''t been jumped by any goblins earlier," Quinus said as he reached for thetch. "But you might want to avert your eyes," He opened the door and stepped inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As they walked into the next room they found the source of the foul odor. It was a group of a hundred people chained to posts lined up in uneven rows with their hands and feet tied behind them as their lower halves were ripped open from the insides out.


    <span ss="userText">"By the Goddess. What in the seven hells is going on here?" Quin said as he blinked back tears at the sight of all those poor souls. At the same time, <span ss="userText">Percy''s face became a few shades paler when he was confronted by the horrors of a goblin nest of this size. Sir George looked like he had seen<span ss="aiText">the same thing countless times before.


    <span ss="aiText">Rya covered her mouth and nose as she saw the horror scene <span ss="editText">in<span ss="aiText"> the room. She had seen the aftermath of a battle bef<span ss="editText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">o<span ss="aiText">re<span ss="editText"> on television<span ss="aiText">, but she had never seen anything this grue<span ss="editText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">some in real <span ss="aiText">life.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I prayed to the goddess, in hopes that I would never see a sight like this again... But, It seems they went unanswered," Sir George said as he looked down at the blood-covered ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"H-How did the goblins capture so many women? I don''t understand," Rya said as she took a deep breath. Realizing she was almost one of the many females that were trapped in here.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Goblins captured people who were unfortunate enough to travel through their realm, that’s why we need to end this dungeon core at all cost," Quin stated with a stoic look.


    <span ss="userText">"So, killing the dungeon core will stop them from spawning more of these goblins? If that''s the case... Then you have my magic, Quin," Rya said with<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText"> a determined face as she looked at Quinus.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The prince took a deep breath and nodded at her before turning his attention toward Sir George.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"We should check and see if there are any females alive. And if they are Brood Maidens. Then we can put them to rest," Quin said with a sympathetic look toward the rows of women.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sir George nodded and looked to Percy, "Yes, it''s the least we can do for them, my lord."