The hours passed slowly as the entire party went through slow steps to allow Felix the opportunity to practice. Initially, he'd struggled even with moving his legs, not because of his disabled left arm, but because of remaining weakness from having to recover so much. Evidently, even though his legs could move after a night of Benedict's ministrations, they were far from fully recovered. With shaky steps, he walked up and down the stairs, eventually getting to the point where he could do lunges and squats until he could move confidently. Fortunately, his Fortitude, over 300 with his armor on, let him recover astonishingly quickly, especially with Benedict's further assistance.
"I'm tapped out," the Bard said about 30 minutes into Felix's exercises. "I'm gonna get some rest while the rest of you keep doing this."
Nobody complained as Benedict flopped into his bed and pretty quickly passed out. He hadn't slept at all the night before because he was tending to Felix, and he deserved to get some good rest finally, though it wouldn't be as long as he'd like. Once Felix could walk around, he started carefully moving with his axe in hand. Again, he didn't do anything fancy, not overcommitting to any attacks or even swinging hard, instead just seeing how his body felt as he moved his weapon through the air.
Nobody said anything as he grimaced. Every time he swung, he subconsciously tried to move his left arm to steady his balance, and the movements frustrated him both because his arm refused to move causing him to lose his balance as well as just because it hurt when he tried to move the arm.
"I wish I could take some of this pain from you," Astrid said as she raised her shield for him to smash his axe against. The blade thunked into the Dungeon silver and Astrid reset her stance.
"It's better that you didn't take the hit instead," Felix disagreed. "Body only works as somebody's getting hurt, and if you had used that back then, you only would have gotten yourself as injured as I did. After all, it just kept chewing on me, and we couldn't have beaten the guardian without you being healthy."
Astrid didn't disagree and knew he was right, but now that she was able to protect her friends, she found herself wanting and looking for more opportunities to help than she had before. She was no Healer, and she imagined that she wouldn't ever be anything like that, but having a possibility to help was something that allured her while also frustrated her when it wasn't enough.
"Raise your arm higher," Muti commanded, pulling them away from their conversation. "As you now do not have the additional stability of your second arm, you must slow your attacks and instead be more deliberate. As you change your approach to fighting, your Skill will take over and help you to shift your fighting style subconsciously."
As he always did, Felix didn't complain but instead did as instructed. The miracle that was Skills continued to show its influence as, just as Muti had said, the Skill started to help him correct his fighting style to adjust for his lack of an arm. Over the course of an hour, Felix changed from a somewhat flighty fighter, dancing from one position to the next, only to plant his feet and swing his axe from unexpected angles, to an even more mobile frontliner, only occasionally planting his feet to deliver deadly overhead blows. Without the additional stability of having his left hand on the haft of his weapon, he prioritized sure strikes over multiple quick ones.
"So who's going to wake up Benedict?" Skandr asked as he grumbled and dragged his hand through another failed attempt at whatever enchantment he was experimenting with.
"I do not need a reason to torment the Bard," Muti laughed as she walked over and began to wake Benedict. When first they all had started adventuring together, Astrid would have been concerned about Muti antagonizing Benedict as he woke, but that was no longer the case. Instead, she watched as Muti gently shook Benedict's shoulder until he stirred. Fortunately, his Fortitude was over 100 and, despite not having gotten the rest that he needed in the long run, he would be fine for even a couple days of minimal rest. He grumbled and shifted, but after another fifteen seconds of slowly waking, he spoke.
"Already?"
"It is better that we begin to leave now."
Benedict didn't respond verbally to Muti, instead groaning and putting his head under the pillow for a moment before Muti returned to shaking his shoulder. She was gentle about it, but it was obvious that Benedict couldn't resume sleeping when he grumbled and tossed his pillow at the Ambusher. Of course, she didn't struggle with catching it and keeping it from falling on the dirty ground, and Benedict rose to his feet. He didn't stop complaining as he dressed himself, but it wasn't long before he was completely ready to get back to delving. He tightly tied his boots and stood, seeing that Felix's things hadn't quite been put away yet.
"You're all waking me up when you're not even ready to go! This is an outrage. Next time, I won't make anybody food."
The party descended into good natured bantering as they quickly prepared themselves to leave. It wasn't long before they strode out of the stairways and into a cramped, dark cave. The only natural light to be found was the occasional cropping of lichen on the walls that glowed with a soft blue light. Several times, when she wasn't careful, Astrid found herself running her head into stone outcropping she hadn't noticed in the dim light. She internally thanked her armor as she continued on the path towards wherever the cave hobgoblins dwelled. Felix had demanded that he be allowed to act fully as the frontliner since they were currently testing to see if he could continue to serve in that capacity. Now, with his shoulders rolled back, he strolled through the caves with his axe at the ready.
Not more than six steps in, Felix's foot plunged through a false stone floor and the sound of grinding filled the air. He grunted as he yanked his foot out, and silvery mist filled the air as his dusksteel armor protected his ankle from being ground to dust. Looking down, there was an ingenious trap under the collapsed trapdoor, where stone rotated to destroy anything that fell in. Benedict and Skandr, with their leather boots, looked at the trap and subconsciously stepped closer to the rest of the party and away from anywhere the others hadn't yet stepped. Muti, though she wore leather boots, didn't seem to worry. Instead, she stepped forward and placed a hand on Felix's shoulder.
"I will be in the lead to watch for any traps like this. As soon as battle approaches, I will cede the front to you."
Initially, Felix stiffened, but he relaxed his shoulders and nodded for her to take the lead.
"This isn't her taking away your position," Astrid said. "This is her just doing her job."
"I know, I'm not a fool."
Felix's displeasure was obvious, and Astrid raised both hands in apology as she stepped back. He was right, and she was struggling not to treat him as an invalid. He deserved better.
Muti continued on the path, listening for any monsters' approach. As she went, she dealt with various trip lines, pitfalls, and once, an explosive pressure plate. This level of ingenuity was something that Astrid had never seen, and it made her wonder what the Tinkers and Inventors in the capital Ginnastadt were capable of creating. After all, though it was much harder for any non combat Classes to gain levels than a combat-oriented Class, surely exceptionally talented people were given opportunities to enter the Dungeon and sponge off experience. At least, once they'd worked for long enough to ensure they would get good Class evolutions and Skills.
"Something approaches, the smell is strange," Muti warned as she stepped back. In the section of the cave, only two people could stand beside each other, and Astrid needed to make sure that she gave Felix enough space to ensure he was allowed to experience fighting in his current state without her coddling him.
The cave hobgoblins came around a turn in the tunnel, and Astrid realized how badly she had misunderstood this change. She's seen plenty of goblins on earlier floors, and she's seen hobgoblins as well. They were a common enough monster. Varying in size up to about a meter and a half for taller hobgoblins, green skin, typically warty, skinny creatures. When she heard that cave goblins were a more intelligent, stronger version of them, she'd pictured just… the same thing, but a little bigger.
She hadn't pictured these soldiers.
A solid phalanx came marching forward, the hobgoblins' steps coming in a perfectly synched chorus. Astrid couldn't see the monsters behind the large, metal shields that protected their fronts. Bristling from between the shields, spears threatened everything in the front. Surprisingly, though they were hobgoblins, these could pose a threat. Then, just before she rushed forward, Astrid remembered what the notable Skills were of the monsters on this floor and among them, alchemy. Primitive jars made of clay flew out towards the Wanderers, and Astrid stepped forward with a shout, "Stay clear for now!"
With a carefully timed sweep of her shield, she smashed every one of the jars of acid before they could land on or among her party members, reinforcing her Dungeon silver shield with her mana to make sure it wasn't damaged. Fortunately, Dungeon silver by nature resisted most things that would harm it, and Astrid didn't have to spend more than a quarter of her mana to ensure she didn't lose a valuable part of her equipment.
"Astrid, prepare yourself for more," Muti warned.
Astrid didn't respond verbally as she waited for Felix to pull the monsters' attention to himself. He stepped forward and to the side, hugging the wall of the cave as he activated Guardian's Wrath. Interestingly to Astrid, he didn't activate Jaguar's Pride. Instead, he set his stance and swung his axe horizontally at the first wave of spears that stabbed at him. His axe's head caught one spear and smashed its head off while also managing to parry another two. A half dozen more spears, at least three meters long by Astrid's estimation, lanced past their companions and towards Felix as he dodged.
With his abilities and armor, none of the opening attacks managed to pierce the frontliner's flesh.
"Finally," he grunted as he stepped forward, just close enough to try to swing over the nearest goblin's shield towards its head. "Sometimes I feel like this armor doesn't do what it says it does."
His satisfaction with the armor's effectiveness was washed away as his axe's head caught against the ceiling of the cave. He was jerked to a stop and, instead of exposing one of the hobgoblins, opened himself up to three spears that shot towards his belly. Two skittered off the carefully crafted breastplate while the third found a chink and managed to draw blood. It was far from a serious wound, and the Guardian didn't even react to the wound. Instead, he raised his right foot and kicked into that hobgoblin's shield. The goblin was sent flying back, sprawling into others of its species as Astrid and Muti skirted around the edge to begin wreaking havoc on the monsters' back line.
"Here you go," Skandr grunted as he let out a series of lightning bolts that fried several of the monsters that remained in position to prevent just this. He then used his cloud to blow on the shields from behind and pull the hobgoblins further out of line. Astrid and muti rushed through that opening, leaving the jittering victims of Skandr's attack on the ground.
Now that the goblins were no longer covered by their shields, Astrid could see that they wore thick leather armor, capped by metal helmets. Interestingly, their spears' hafts were not made of wood but stone. Astrid supposed it made sense with their existence as cave dwelling creatures, but she couldn't care about the origin of their weapons, they were deadly, regardless of how the Dungeon made them. Now that she was close to the monsters and could see them, faces of gray skin mottled with patches of black and faint stripes of white striations like veins of ore opened their mouths and howled. As the goblins threw themselves at Astrid and Muti, she grinned herself, though she was surprised at how quickly they were able to tear their attention away from Felix. In fact, the monsters seemed to have very little difficulty with casting off Felix's influence. He activated Jaguar's Pride and started to draw some of their attention back to him, but Astrid quickly understood what the problem was.
Cave goblins were a race of monsters that were unexpectedly intelligent, compared to their more ordinary counterparts. Their mental attributes couldn't be compared to regular goblins and hobgoblins, after all, they maintained control over the caves where they lived through developing and maintaining extensive trap networks. Of course their Self-Mastery was high enough to keep from falling victim to a frontliner's attention Skill so easily.
Astrid grinned, even though that made things slightly harder for her at the moment. After all, although the monsters were on the thirty-sixth floor, being a more well balanced monster meant that their physical attributes suffered commensurately. Yes, they were a race of monster several tiers higher than a regular goblin, but as Astrid gestured for Muti to step back, she activated Gravity Surge at its greatest strength.
Around her, heavy shields slammed to the ground as they tripled in weight. The hobgoblins quickly fought to recover their defenses, but Astrid and Muti both had known what was coming. They rushed forward and began dealing death. Astrid swung her hammer twice, and two goblins died. Muti blurred between monsters and killed another three, their heads rolling on the ground. Surprisingly, that was all the time that Astrid's massive expenditure of mana had gotten them. The hobgoblins gathered back together before a small one from the center of the group of monsters raised a staff.
A sickly green energy washed out from the little shaman, infusing the hobgoblins with strength as their attacks left trails of green smoke in the air. Then, they began a fighting retreat, spears poking out and threatening to poison anyone they pricked. Astrid stepped forward and swung her hammer in a sweeping blow instead of an overhead one, having learned from Felix's axe. Her hammer crumpled two shields into "c" shapes, and the goblins shrieked as they were exposed. Their allies tried to protect them, but Astrid infused Spectre Burst in the head of her hammer and jabbed it out in a straight line as if it were a bladed weapon. The unconventional attack style for a hammer took the monster by surprise and its skull caved in as Spectre Burst flowed out and over its two nearest allies.
The deathly energy made them stagger, and Astrid swung again, killing a second while Muti's blades flew forward and reaped a third life.
Cave Hobgoblin Soldier slain. 1560 experience gained, split among party.
"Let them retreat," Astrid said as Muti considered following them. "We don't know how many traps are laid out ahead of us, and I don't want you to get surrounded."
The Ambusher did as commanded and the party backed up until they stood together, and as the Wanderers watched the goblins return around the corner to where they came, they looked at Felix.
"Yes," he answered with a sigh that somehow seemed more of a smile than sadness. "I'll be able to keep delving like this. I guess you won't be free of me any time soon."
The party cheered and turned their attention to the caves that stretched forward. Now that they were back in full force, all they needed to do was continue to conquer these floors until they found that Caelum arse and got some answers.