They quieted down after those initial discussions, since while this might not be a stealth mission, it referable to approach the search as inspicuously as possible. She also pulled out Malice to join them. She hadn't earlier because she had wao talk freely, perhaps even about Malice herself—since she was a of the dungeon, captured or not. While Natalie didn't distrust her for that, she did o aowledge reality. And they o be able to talk about the possibility of Malice being incorrect without offending the girl. Who did, admittedly, seem like she would be easy to offend.

  The Duskwood was navigable, as far as forests went. her the thickest and most treacherous of woods nor particurly spacious and ft. They trudged through at a det pace, taking note of distinct features, of which Varten had marked many with great detail on the map he'd provided them.

  Before long, they arrived at the subse of the forest Varten had feared to explore by himself—the dangerous portion, and not just because of the goblins' presehe remote, untamed pces of Valhaur, or any try, held all manners of creatures as that could be a threat even to bat-cssed individuals. Me or not, the world was far from quered.

  About two hours into their search, they ran into trouble.

  The most shog part was that it was unannounced—an ambush. Or, an ambush by goblin standards. They weren't the most subtle of creatures. But one moment their party was walking through the forest, and the something thumped into Natalie's upper arm. She faltered on her step, attention flig down to see, incredulously, that an arrow was stig out of her.

  Surprising as such a realization was, it took evetle-hardened group of six a fra of a sed to uand. Natalie stared dumbly at the bck-feathered shaft of wood, eyes wandering down to where the arrowhead was invisible inside her flesh. Another projectile whistled past, missing her.

  Jordan staggered backward as an arrow hit her square in the skull. The projectile shattered and smmed to the ground, repelled, but Jordan reared back, a hand shooting up to grab at her head. Her HP had saved her, rejeg the attatirely—sin arrow through the skull would've meah. But where Natalie had an arrow stig out of her arm, and Jordan only had a trickle of blood seepiween the fingers held to her forehead, the HP cost had been signifitly more severe on Jordan. She might even be briefly out of the fight. Certainly, she was dazed.

  Natalie snapped out of her shod fusion just as the screaming of goblins began. The squat, foul creatures streamed out from betweerees, as if from nowhere; she almost didn't uand where they'd e from, especially so many. Had they been lying in wait?

  She pushed her baffled fusion to the side. Ign the pain, she pulled the arrow off her arm and tossed it to the side; she couldn't afford the metal grinding up the muscles in her arm, messing up her attacks. On cue, Liz's emp spell, along with a heal, washed through her even as she hefted [Valentine] into the air. Not by iion, she let out her own scream of adrenaline, rushing forward toward the group of goblins to draw as much attention as she could.

  As she ran, she took note of the battlefield.

  Oppos and allies—allies first.

  Malice followed behihe martial artist eager as always to get up close and personal, probably more so than Natalie herself. A gnce over her shoulder showed Sofia staying back to hover around Liz and Ana, guarding them against the ining swarm, the enemies Natalie wouldn't be able to occupy sihere were so many of them.

  Jordan was gone; Natalie had to s left and right, eyes flig around wildly in and fusion before she finally caught a glimpse of the girl sneaking forward, surprisingly far from the fray. Setting up for a fnk, as a rogue teo. Natalie was gd she'd brushed off the surprise arrow, though probably with the help of a heal from Liz. Her HP probably wasn't in a great position now. Another fatal attack could mean bad business for her. Natalie had to force herself to squash down that worry. One of the downsides of delving and adventuring with friends.

  Then the enemies.

  There were about fifteen of them. Maybe more, enough to make it hard to t. The squat, wrinkly, green-skinned creatures ws and ons of mottled arras. The sight wasn't any different from the enter at the farmstead.

  Except for ohe rgest of the goblins, standing a foot taller than the rest, ing up nearly to Natalie's chest, was an image that briefly seized her with shock, almost makiumble a step in her charge. Not because of his size and muscled stature, an unusually powerful physique foblin, which were normally wiry, jagged things full of thin muscles stretched across crooked unnatural frames, but rather, another distinguishiure.

  The glowing golden veins running all across his body.

  [Goblin Raid Leader - Lv. 3]

  Just level three. There had been some of those back at the farmstead, too. In fact, there were fewer total oppos here than the previous fight, which they'd been fine in.

  Yet Natalie had a bad feeling about this. Or in particur, that goblin. What were those? The vibrant golden lines snaking across his body, bulging across his muscles? They looked like veins, but why were they gold?

  And where all the oblins were screaming and rushing, the distaween Natalie and them vanishing, the Raid Leader held a bow at the ready, an arrow with a bck feather nocked—poioward her. He released, and Natalie sidestepped, the arrow whistling by.

  He had daggers sheathed at his hip. A rogue of some type. A calm expression was on his face. Te analyzing as he pulled another arrow from his quiver and .

  Watg Natalie e. Ready for her. Intelligent. Without a doubt less mihan these other creatures … almost not a goblin at all, by the keenness in his eyes.

  She definitely had a bad feeling about this.

  Then again, another part of her was thinking—

  It was about time she got a good fight.