Final Entry into the Cave

The last wolf finally fell to the ground, and the two girls breathed a sigh of relief, then collapsed onto the ground. They looked at each other, on the verge of tears.

The Goddess Priestess remembered the sorceress's brave actions just now and timidly said, "Th-thank you." Honestly, at first, because the sorceress always had an arrogant look on her face, the Goddess Priestess felt she was unapproachable. But after experiencing this today, the Goddess Priestess finally understood that the sorceress was just a girl with a cold exterior but a warm heart. She felt an inexplicable sense of relief.

"It's nothing. After all, I'm older than you. If someone had to die, it should have been me first." Although she wanted to stand up and adjust her glasses to look cool, it was clearly impossible in their current state.

After resting for a few minutes, the Goddess Priestess and the sorceress finally stood up. The Goddess Priestess hurried to the young warrior's side and began to heal him with Silverleaf Grass. Meanwhile, after some time, Lin Yun's injuries stabilized, and his health returned to 1. He dazedly opened his eyes, not quite comprehending what had happened.

The sorceress, who had been staring intently at Lin Yun, saw him finally wake up. The tears she thought had run dry began to flow again. "You're finally awake! We were so scared." For once, the sorceress wasn't acting tsundere and directly expressed her most genuine feelings.

"Mmm, this..." Lin Yun clutched his head, still feeling dizzy. He looked around and saw the giant wolves lying on the ground, letting out a slight sigh of relief. Thinking about how he had almost been bitten to death sent a chill up his spine. That feeling was truly terrifying.

But it's good that I'm awake.

Lin Yun let out a small sigh of relief, and then... he finally remembered. He was the healer.

Trembling, Lin Yun stood up from the ground, picked up the shield on his back, and activated Channel Divinity. "O, All-Knowing Eye of Omniscience!"

2d6=9
2d6=7
2d6=10

Since he hadn't been at full health earlier and was too careless, he was swallowed whole by the giant wolf. This time, Lin Yun decided to use up his remaining two Channel Divinity uses. Fortunately, this buff didn't require resting to take effect. It restored everyone's health, including the health gained from leveling up, back to full. Only Lin Yun, with his massive 35 total HP, was practically a tank among priests. Even though he was almost killed in one hit...

He could only restore 27 health.

Lin Yun checked the fallen enemies. It seemed that because they had been in a near-death state for too long, they had all died from exhaustion, thus not providing Lin Yun with any experience points. Only the hardy Goblin Chieftain and the giant Wolf were still barely alive, but they wouldn't last much longer.

Well, Lin Yun would finish them off anyway.

He obtained 1600 experience and 800 experience from them, respectively. Clearly, the Goblin Chieftain was the strongest, but it was unexpected that the sorceress had instantly killed it. It was truly pathetic.

Or rather, these weren't enemies Lin Yun and his party should have fought. But due to luck, they had managed to clear them. It was truly remarkable...

This immediately pushed Lin Yun past the 10,000 mark, reaching 10,800 experience. However, the next level was still a long way off, as it required 14,000 experience.

Now, Lin Yun and his party faced a problem. Although their health was at a relatively high level, the issue was that Lin Yun and his party had basically used up all their resources. If anything, Lin Yun still had three cantrips, but they had little combat significance. Although there were many healers, Lin Yun's cantrips were all offensive spells...

But they were still just cantrips, and their damage wasn't high. So, they were better than nothing. More importantly, due to the passage of time, Lin Yun's Shield and Protection from Evil had all expired. Coupled with Lin Yun's Scale Armor being damaged, it was still usable, but Lin Yun's AC, even with his shield, had dropped to 15. The defense of the Scale Armor had been reduced from 14 to 13, and another critical hit might completely destroy it.

However, at this point, Lin Yun and his party had dealt with what they estimated to be the most threatening creatures in the mine. So, they should be fine. Probably.

Regarding this issue, Lin Yun's Nature felt he could only discuss it with the others. After all, Lin Yun wasn't some self-sacrificing saint who would let others die to save them.

"Let's go in. We've come this far. There must be more young Goblins inside, just like before. We need to eliminate them all and rescue the village girls," the sorceress said, adjusting her glasses.

"Yes, and I still have combat power," the young warrior declared, brandishing his longsword. After being healed by Lin Yun's Channel Divinity, he had wiped his blade. Although the intense battle had left his once decent longsword pitted and scarred, the young warrior knew what he was doing. He took out a whetstone, sharpened the blade, and it was ready again. Most importantly... thanks to Channel Divinity, the young warrior was likely at full strength, similar to before the battle, or even stronger than when they first arrived, because he had leveled up...

So, warriors are good. Expendable cannon fodder that can be reused. Truly.

"I also hope we can rescue the girls inside." As perhaps the kindest member of the team, the Goddess Priestess didn't advocate for slaughtering everything. She didn't ask if there were any kind Goblins. She just wanted to help people and save them.

"Mmm, but we still need to be careful. There might still be Goblins inside," Lin Yun nodded in agreement. Although if there were stronger creatures in the cave, they might have to Gate of OpeningGate of Opening, but with the air vent blocked, there shouldn't be any conscious creatures left inside. However, Lin Yun also worried that there might be other Goblins at the other entrance of the cave, who just hadn't arrived in time.

This also made Lin Yun very anxious.

Furthermore, before Lin Yun lost consciousness, he had seen the Goblin Chieftain send away four Goblins riding Wolfs. Although the Wolfs had returned, the four Goblins were still missing, which worried Lin Yun. But if it were just four Goblins, then it should be... probably... fine.

Lin Yun was truly worried about the situation in the village below.

But no matter what, they had come this far. Giving up halfway was not an option.

Lin Yun and the young warrior first went to the air vent and used shovels to dig away some of the soil. Then, armed with their weapons, they entered. As usual, Lin Yun held his Lantern Staff and shield, while the young warrior carried his longsword and shield. As for the two girls, they held their loaded Light Crossbows, ready for battle at any moment.

Since they had already fought a bit earlier, Lin Yun refilled the Lantern Staff with oil as a precaution. Although Lin Yun wasn't particularly intelligent, experience had taught him, and he was slowly growing.

Lin Yun slowly walked in with the Lantern Staff. Indeed, perhaps due to the low oxygen concentration, the flame of the Lantern Staff flickered unstably. But at least it was burning. If the Lantern Staff went out, Lin Yun and his party would have to retreat, as it would indicate the oxygen concentration inside was too low.

This was why, when entering places like basements, people would throw in something flammable to check for oxygen or even flammable and explosive gases.

At least this was relatively safe.

Following this narrow passage, Lin Yun and his party proceeded. After a short while, they arrived at what was clearly a main passage. The mine tunnel suddenly became much wider. Lin Yun estimated that if a battle broke out here, as he had previously thought, they would be surrounded and attacked by a horde of Goblins. Some wielding spears could even attack Lin Yun through their Goblin companions. Fortunately, the Goblins wielding spears were mostly those riding Wolfs, and the number of such Goblins appearing at once wasn't too large.

Here, a set of tracks ran down the middle of the path. That was likely for operating mine carts.

He oriented himself.

"d20+2=18, Success." Well, at least this confirmed they were heading in the right direction. If it had failed, it would have been more troublesome, as they wouldn't know which way to go.

Assuming the other side led to the exit, Lin Yun and his party continued deeper. The mine tunnels were truly vast, and the most troublesome part was that they were essentially a maze, with passages everywhere. One wrong turn could lead to being ambushed from all sides. It was terrifying. Finally, at least up to this point, Lin Yun had maintained his vigilance and hadn't seen any signs of life. Well, insects didn't count.

As Lin Yun ventured further, they reached the end of a passage. Lin Yun had chosen the largest one. Upon arriving, a strong stench of feces and a heavy body odor filled the air. Although the lack of ventilation made Lin Yun feel a bit dizzy, he resolutely walked in and stepped on something unmentionable...

Let's not dwell on the details. Suppressing his disgust, Lin Yun was already contemplating throwing away his shoes upon their return. Then he saw something.

There was a wooden enclosure, and inside were several Wolfs lying on the ground. As if sensing Lin Yun and his party's arrival, they bristled and stood up, glaring fiercely at Lin Yun and beginning to howl incessantly.

In the enclosed mine, the wolves' howls created a severe echo. Combined with the horrific smell, it almost made Lin Yun's head explode.

"d20+4+2=16, Success." Lin Yun observed that behind the wolves, there were several fluffy little things that looked like small furballs. Their fur was a dull gray, likely newly grown. It seemed these were wolf cubs.

And if he wasn't mistaken, these Wolfs were likely being kept by this Goblin tribe. The wolves inside were either old or female.