A group of six people were making their way through the dark, decrepit mine shaft.
"It's alright. It's going to be alright."
One of them, the short blonde woman dressed in plain white robes - now stained by dirt and blood - who walked in the back, was now consoling one of the two women walking near her.
In replay, she only got another faint sob.
The two women, walking near her in uneven steps, wore torn and dirty clothes, as well as many bruises and scratches – both recent, and less so.
One of them walked quietly, wearing a solemn expression, while the other one was faintly sobbing from time to time.
"We'll be out soon. Right, Ornor?" The blonde woman asked the one at the front for reassurance.
The short and broad figure of a bearded man walking ahead, most of his ring mail covered by the large shield on his back, did not turn around – yet, from underneath his massive beard, an answer still came.
"Aye. We should be near the place where we found their patrol. We're more than halfway there."
His deep voice seemed to have calmed down the woman, who stopped sobbing, at least for now.
"Don't relax. There might be more of them up ahead.. Remember the one who managed to slip away? sigh… If there was another patrol nearby, or worse, another nest, there may still be more of them ahead."
The voice belonged to a tall, slender figure walking right in front of the women. From underneath his long, brown hair, most of which was tied in a bun, peeked slightly pointy ears. Under his leather armor, riddled with cuts and stained with blood, two daggers could be seen, secured to his belt, but ready to be drawn again at a moment's notice.
"Bah! You and your paranoia, Xin! Every damn time, you talk like a dragon is going to jump at us from the next bush. This is just a goblin nest. The worst that can come at us are a few more goblins."
Ornor replied, clearly annoyed by Xin's constant nagging.
"And you seem to dismiss every danger the second you think the mission is done. Even if we heard a dragon roar up ahead, you'd claim it is just a loud bear. One of those times, it won't end well."
At the ominous words, the sobbing woman's expression contorted again, barely holding back.
"Enough, you two. Like I already said, it's highly unlikely there is another goblin nest nearby.. When two goblin nests are too close, they are bound to either unite or fight to the death – usually the latter, followed by the former. Even if there was another nest somewhere down that tunnel, either it's gone by now, or the goblins from this nest don't know it exists."
The one who replied was a tall, lean man with curly black hair, wearing yet another ring mail, a sheathed claymore hanging on his back.
"Still, we can't be too reckless. If that patrol was actually part of a scouting party sent to that tunnel, and the green pest that escaped ran to alert them, it could mean trouble. Hmm.. Let's move carefully from here on out."
The formation changed – Xin, having drawn his daggers again, moved slightly farther ahead, and was now slowly leading the group as it approached an intersection.
Leaning against the wall, he quietly approached the corner, peeked, and signaled the rest to continue.
A familiar sight greeted the group – the torch they left to mark this location, a hole in the wall, and the goblin remains spread in the hole's close vicinity.
As they got close, suddenly, Xin raised his hand. The group immediately stopped.
Taking a few steps back, Xin whispered to his companions, now gathered around him.
"Do you see this?"
Without waiting for a reply, he pointed at one of the blood pools ahead and continued.
"There. Footsteps."
The expressions of the group immediately turned even more tense. The black-haired man's claymore was already gripped in his hands.
"Judging by those footsteps, they seem to be left by boots. A single humanoid. Not too large, probably alone."
The air was filled with tension.
"So, not a goblin, aye?"
"No. But it doesn't mean it was a human, either."
"He's right. And even if it is a human, who would come, alone, into an abandoned mine crawling with goblins? We've taken this emergency commission right as it arrived. There weren't any unknown adventurers around.. and even if there were, that'd mean they decided to stalk us right after we left. Either way, this is way too suspicious."
The black-haired man replied to Xin, as Ornor's grip on his hammer tightened, as his other hand was already holding his shield.
"It looks like he lingered around some of the corpses. Then... the footsteps lead into the hole."
The shaft folded itself into a silence so complete it had weight. The group exchanged a few glances, wordlessly contemplating their best course of action.
"We can't go chasing imps now. If whoever it is fled too far down the tunnels, we cannot waste time following them to the end. However, if it happens to be some lone raider, waiting to ambush us from behind, this could spell trouble."
The black haired man, clearly the party's leader, was trying to discern the best course of action.
"That tunnel is a bit too cramped for me to fight in, but it should be perfect for you, Ornor. Both you and the elf can see in the dark, so you take the front while he follows the tracks from behind. Be careful of an ambush. I'll stay here to guard Amelia and the women."
"...half-elf",
Even if he heard Xin's quiet grumble, the black haired man did not bother correcting himself.
As a decision was reached, Ornor approached the hole, with Xin not far behind.
The hole, being slightly too thin to properly squeeze through while being fully covered by a round shield, would force Ornor to awkwardly crouch and rotate the shield sideways if he wanted to pass through.
But, just as the two approached, a glimmer of torchlight was reflected off the dark-ashen blade of a big sword, stained by a bit of blood which was clearly the remnant of a sloppy cleaning attempt.
The sword was on the other side of the hole.
Holding the sword was a young man with a lean, slightly muscular build, the messy black hair reaching his shoulders, and his cold, green eyes, staring at the approaching pair.
He wore leather armor and iron bracers, both stained with blood. His posture was slightly low, and his sword, gripped in both hands, was held slightly below his chest in a nearly horizontal position, pointing forward.
His stance delivered a clear message – anybody who tried to get through the hole, would be met with that sword's thrust.
***
As I heard the voices, my first instinct was to run in the opposite direction. However, there were a few problems with that.
First, if this was a mine shaft, I really didn't want to blindly run through it.
Even back on Earth, there were many stories of children getting lost in the mines, and considering my knowledge of those mines (or lack thereof), I'd be no better than a child in this regard.
Second, there was no guarantee there wouldn't be any more enemies up ahead.
Even if, by some stroke of luck, the enemies ahead were something I could handle, the fight itself could attract the other party, with me being caught – potentially in between the two.
The second option was to go towards the voices. They sounded relatively close by.
No, actually, as they moved, I noticed they weren't that close – it was just that my hearing became good enough to hear them from this far away.
This must have been the effect of that Awareness attribute – after coming to the torch-lit shaft, I already realized my vision back in the tunnels was much better than it had any right to be.
Before being dragged here, there was no way I'd be able to see this well in the dark with this little light. Hell, I couldn't even spot the remote in my living room in the evening without turning on the lights.
All that aside, judging by their pace, it felt like I had a few minutes at the very least, so I tried listening for a bit longer.
The first thing I noticed - and the one that surprised me the most - was the very fact that I could understand them. Their language clearly wasn't anything I heard before, yet for some reason, just like with the skills, the moment I tried to make out the words, their meaning came to me like a recent memory.
Actually, I tried to speak, and-
"What the fuck?"
I was speaking the same language?.. Wait, was I speaking it all this time?
I concisely tried to say something in English, and, after a brief awkward pause, I slowly pronounced the words.
It felt strange, as if I had two overlapping sets of memories and instincts in my head, actively forcing me to choose the one to use. For now, I decided to put it aside and listen to the voices, which were getting closer.
I heard a woman sobbing, and another woman saying a few words to comfort her.
I heard a deep, manly voice saying they are nearly half-way through to the exit.
'This is good. Not only does this mean they know where the exit is, but it also means I know its general direction now, and that it couldn't be that far. If this is indeed the patrol they just mentioned, and a round-trip from here to wherever they went takes an hour or two, given the burning torch, then the way back should take half as much. This means I won't be stuck here for days trying to find the exit. Well, that is, if I can actually find the right way.'
As their conversation continued, I got my confirmation – the goblin I killed was probably the one that escaped during their fight.
The tone of their conversation changed, clearly becoming more cautious. The voices drew near.
Soon, I'd be forced to make a choice – do I greet those people, whoever they are? Do I run and hide, waiting for them to leave? Or do I choose the third option?
The third option was to hide in the tunnel, wait for them to pass, and follow from far enough behind without getting noticed.
While I didn't hear anything too suspicious, it seemed like a group of five to six people, and at least three of them were responsible for the slaughter around me.
Perhaps it was that my mind, not unlike that Xin guy, was still clouded by paranoia, which, given my current situation, would be more than understandable.
Regardless, I decided to choose the safer option for now. If, upon hearing more, I came to the conclusion I could trust those people, at least trust them enough to reveal myself, I'd have plenty of opportunities to do so.
I sneaked back into the tunnel just before they could arrive at the intersection, quietly put the backpack on the ground, and stood still, only drawing the shallowest, faintest of breaths.
However, as they got closer to the site of their previous battle, they stopped, and only then did I realize my mistake.
'Shit. Did I really step on the blood?.. Did I get too caught up in listening to them or something?! Fuck!'
Whether the previous decision was the right one or not, revealing myself now would definitely be worse.
From their talk, I could understand anything I'd say now would seem way too suspicious, let alone the fact that I barely know anything – about myself, about where I am, about this world.
Elf? Half elf? Their leader(?) clearly said that, but if it's true, it creates way more questions than it does answers.
And so, my options changed once again.
First option – sneak or run back into the cave I came from.
It was a dead end, but the dead end was at least a few hundred meters away. Based on what they said, maybe they decide to turn back after tracking me half way, or give up chasing half way if I choose to run.
However, there was always a chance they didn't, and for me, who barely won against a goblin just now, fighting two of the people who just cleared eight goblins was definitely not a good choice, be it in the cramped tunnel or the more spacious cave.
Second option – run to the other side of the tunnel.
Perhaps it went deeper, or even connected to a whole cave network.
However, there lay the biggest drawback – even if I could lose my pursuers, I had no idea what I'd find in the other tunnel.
Perhaps there was a whole patrol of goblins on the other side, making its way back to this nest; Perhaps, there were far worse things down there.
And so, I chose the third option.
The tunnel was just wide enough to take the starting stance of [Charge Thrust].
The hole was just wide enough for one adult to barely squeeze through.
So, I would create a stalemate.
There was no guarantee what'd come after, but with no better options, this was the best card I could play.
And so, I moved from my spot beside the hole, getting in position, silently greeting the two approaching guests.