We're all in front of the first door.
Well not the first first door, more like the second from the left, why?
It's because there is a bow on this one, I picked and pushed the others to take this one, reasons?
Jenna will need to put her weapon on the door, we think, and if she does and can't get it back, well, that's one less important fighter, and she still have that dagger from Annie too.
Sounded like a good plan, a bow is powerful, but no one can use it, and I doubt any of us feel like learning how to use a bow.
Not like there is a lot of arrows in her quiver anyway.
"What are we waiting for?"
Annie is obviously the first one to open her mouth, I can hear her from behind me, we have our usual formation going on.
Only difference is that legolas is in front to put the bow and then she'll move back directly, leaving her bow here, we practiced this.
"We're getting ready mentally mousy"
I answer her question half heartedly as the other ignore us, Jenna walk forward ready to put the bow in "lots of preparation, let's just kill goblins..."
Did she forget that she was useless in the last fight? I almost want to point it out but let's not break bonds yet.
"try to stab at least one next time"
Malfoy say it for me
"Shush malfoy" "I swear I am going to ri-!"
I stop malfoy from going crazy on mousy "Malfoy, the door"
He looks at me. "My name is Matthew" he grumble, but just sigh and keep his position, sword out and ready.
Jenna finally put the whole bow in, barlow just beside her, shield in front of the door, ready to intercept any green shit.
And in front of us the blue veins start spreading out of the door, they are visible, and eclipses the light from our own room.
The room we're in momentarly become only blue.
Sounds of crackling and crunching resonate in the room.
Allllllright, didn't expect that? When I say that it's blue, it's like fully blue. I can't see anything.
"Everyone calm down"
My words leave before anyone can say or do anything to panic in the blue blindness.
In the middle of it all, the bow that was on the door fall down on the ground. I know it because I can fucking hear it.
A second later we all blink, the light back to normal.
"Wow that wa-!" I shut up annie "Jenna the bow!"
Jenna jerk and quickly grab the bow. Getting back into fighting mode, before rushing away behind.
I directly go beside balrow, same for malfoy, he's a bit behind us and more behind the shield than balrow, we all stare at then entry in front of us.
The big entry.
It's not an open door. It's more like a big open hole.
And in it...a wooden floor?
"A wood-!" "Shush" I shut mousy up. Again. "sorry"
We don't know if there are any ennemies, I look at balrow and he nod before entering first, shield protecting him.
My steps ollow right behind him as fast as possible without making any sound, taking his right, malfoy follow just after me in the big hole sized entrance and take balrow left.
Annie come behind encircled by our little protective circle as Jenna stay in the other room, on the entry of the room, bow and arrow ready for action.
We're in the middle of a corridor? It kinda look like a corridor, a wooden one, it's tight wall closing on us. A gentle light coming from who fucking know where light up the otherwize dark corridor like a fog.
The wood is dirty and sticky under my shoe, the only way is forward, no window, no doors.
We look at each other.
We walk forward.
Still in guard, Balrow leading the charge until we reach an intersection, a T shaped intersection, left or right, malfoy look at me, question in his gaze, and I nod to the right.
We'll go right.
We keep us the advance, Jenna is walking backward while Annie is now looking both forward and sometimes backward.
I look at Jenna over my shoulder and see her mouthing "I'll tell you" she wave behind us, looks like I have a scout now.
We keep on going, and don't see anything, nor hear anything in this seemingly empty building, this shit is really getting on my nerves.
There is nothing but that dumb long ass corridor, I can feel sweat on my brow already.
But there isn't much we can do, we keep walking forward.
My grip on my spear is getting a bit limp, it's getting hard to keep my guard up, I look at the other ones, and they seem to have trouble too, especially balrow even if he don't show it.
Jenna is getting farther away from us, walking backward is a pain, Annie is trying to support Jenna by telling her when she can walk more and when she need to reduce speed.
And malfoy is like me, it's getting harder to keep the guard up.
I let my spear go at my side just letting hang without making sound and keep walking, I look at malfoy and balrow before lifting my palm up horizontally up and down multiples time, trying to tell them to relax, we can't keep up this position forever.
Pushing them to train with me was the best idea of my life.
Everyone slowly relax and kept their weapon drawn but let them hang now.
I stop and put my hand in front. Stopping everyone, letting the girls join us, I look behind and whisper again.
"Jenna, Annie, alternate walking backward and tell us if anything wrong is going on behind"
Jenna look dizzy after walking backward and looking behind for so long
They both nod, and Annie get in the far back, Jenna taking her position, now, I look at the guys again and walk forward again.
For 5 good minutes, that's what we do we just walk, the girls alternating behind us as we gaze in the dark corridor.
The fog of light slowly dissapear, slowly engulfing us in darkness.
Bad shit.
The only sound coming out is the small breathing of the five of us, and sometimes a bad step taken that make too much sound, nothing change, nothing move, until finally, something happen.
It start with pure darkness, at least for a while, we keep going forward toward the only source of light that can be seen in front of us.
The daylight?
We keep going, and with a simple signal and by copying me, we take our guard back, now more wary than before we slowly reach the light at the end of the corridor.
Sounds slowly reach my ears, sounds of shrieking, and talking?
U don't understand it, but there are soft, and weak voices interacting with each other in front'
After who knows long, we reach the light, it shine on us, and I can't help but blink, feeling some tears getting on my eyes, the sunlight is pretty strong.
It's definetly midday, looking up, I and the sun stare at each other as just below it, multiples green shit walk in the middle of a destroyed camp, tents have been raised.
Some goblins get out of them to start talking with their fellow, there are a good dozen that are sitted on the ground around a chauldron, are they cooking?
Others are taking off armor from dead bodies, one particular goblin take a helmet off to reveal a maggot filled head of a unrecognizable humanoid.
He put the helmet on his goblin head and start stumbling everywhere unable to see shit. The helmet too big for him.
His goblin friend push him away and laugh like an imp at the sight.
The ground under my feet is more solid, we're in the middle of a bloody guard tower, some barrels with nothing in them are sparsed in the corners.
All while dried blood stain a spot in front of a small waist high barrier. A single stone rest on the dried blood.
There is a rudimentary ceiling above us, made in wood, no lighting source but the sun, in front of me, in the right corner of the tower a hole with a ladder come out and lead down to the goblin infested camp.
I look at my teamates, I look in front of me, right into the system message that appeared.
[Welcome to the archer tutorial challenge!]
[10101! Detected] wait what?
[Twenty-five goblins have been left here by the main raiding party, kill all 25 goblins! If you don't, in three days, the goblins will find you, and alert the main raiding party will come back!]
Twenty five goblins.
A raiding party probably with way more goblins, and a platform clearly built for an archer to snipe all of those little fuckers from afar.
I turn my head toward Jenna and give her a silent question, my whisper still audible.
"You can't shoot from there can you?" She look at me, guilt fill her feature, I don't really need more as an answer, I turn my head back to the scene in front of me, observing, planning, thinking.
Completly focused on the real question, of the real problem of this mission.
How do we kill 25 goblins when our archer don't know how to shoot?