Next Floor

I was suspicious. Why would something that looked so human-made appear in the middle of a dungeon? After a few moments of nothing happening, I sat back down and returned to my food. Even if it did contain treasure, my stomach came first. I couldn't detect anything strange inside or around the chest, but that didn't mean it was safe. I hadn't seen anything that looked so pretty throughout the dungeon, so I kept my distance until I finished eating.

Wiping my hands on my trousers, I got up and walked towards the chest, staying as vigilant as I could the entire time. I flicked open the clasp with one hand, before slowly lifting the lid. As soon as the lid hit the back of the chest, a loud scraping noise echoed throughout the room. Turning towards the source, I saw the wall opposite the door I came from fold outwards, revealing another set of stairs. Finally seeing the path onwards, I relaxed my guard and looked inside the chest.

To my surprise, what was inside was a peculiar piece of clothing. It glittered slightly under the light of the massive green crystal, but in every other way it looked and felt like what I imagine silk would be like; very smooth and flexible. Picking up the white piece of fabric, I tried to pull it apart. Surprisingly, it resisted an amount of force that easily tore the leather armour worn by the goblins in this dungeon. 'This is probably quite valuable...' I thought. Even though it most likely wasn't as strong as chainmail, it was very lightweight and flexible. 'If I try to get this Inspected in a town, there would definately be questions; nobody could 'find' something so valuable in the middle of a forest, they would think I robbed some noble' I thought dejectedly. I would have instantly put it on, but who knows if it is cursed? 'If I'm not gonna wear this, might as well test how strong it is.' I thought, before putting it on the floor and stabbing it. "R-really?" I muttered, picking up the white clothing. I felt my claws hit the floor behind it, but I didn't pierce the shiny piece of clothing. "...This is too good to leave behind because of a suspicion." I said, "It could be cursed, but that's probably unlikely... definately unlikely. I can't just leave something like this!" I don't know exactly how sharp my claws are, but they can make deep gashes is solid stone if I put enough strength behind them. "I'll wear it." I said to myself.

My decision made, I took off my current shirt (which was grey in colour where it wasn't caked in goblin blood), and replace it with the shiny shirt. I closed my eyes as it slid over my head, hoping for nothing to happen. Luckily, nothing happened. Looking down at myself, I tugged at the bottom of the shirt, thinking 'It's a bit big; but it would be weirder if a random shirt in the middle of a dungeon fit me perfectly'. As if it could hear my thoughts, it started shrinking. Keeping my mouth shut, I wished for it to not strangulate me. A bit later, it settled onto my body. Feeling the edges of the sleeves on my shoulders, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Picking up my bag, I moved towards the newly opened doors and descended the stairs, grateful for the abundant green crystals lighting my way.

• • •

The next floor was quite similar to the first, I encountered groups of goblins. The groups of goblins started as groups of three, growing to larger and larger groups the futher I went. The only differences from the first floor were that some goblins had actual weapons, every goblin had at least one piece of leather armour, and they had some semblance of teamwork. I even encountered a few leaders on this floor, but they were still weaker than the group of goblins I fought outside the dungeon. I navigated the same way as I did on the first floor, at any split in the path I chose the path that made the most noise, and didn't encounter any dead ends, or any more treasure chests.

In front of what I assumed was another boss room was a similar situation to the first floor; a large group of 20 goblins, who were sitting on either side of the corridor talking to each other, a few picking their teeth with small, white bones. I also noticed that they all respected one of the goblins, who had a full suit of leather armour and wielded a crude wooden staff that was taller than itself. Deciding that I shouldn't risk it, I walked away until they wouldn't be able to hear me, and changed into my werewolf form. Waiting for the pain to subside, I noticed that the strange shirt had changed size again '...I don't even care if this is cursed anymore' I thought, before standing up and walking back to the crowd of goblins, chipping a fist-sized rock out of the wall whilst I moved.

Once I arrived, I watched the goblins for a few more minutes before throwing the rock as hard as I could at the closest goblin. After being hit in the side of the head, the goblin collapsed to floor, alerting all the other goblins, who immediately got up from their places and started yammering in raised voices. Suddenly, the leader shouted out and got control of the group, before pointing at me and saying a few commands. In response to this, the goblins retrieved their weapons. Seeing the amount of rusty daggers, I patted myself on the back for not rushing straight in - I would've put myself at a massive disadvantage if I let myself get surrounded so easily. Refocusing on the goblins in front of me, I saw that they did have some sort of formation - the leader was at the back and a few of the dagger weilding goblins were at the front of the square-shaped group. Realizing that this could be great training for my future fights, I prepared myself for the battle to come.