Into the Mines

Standing before the portal that led into the Goblin Mines, Max took a look at the forces he had gathered.

While their numbers paled in comparison to the goblins, he wasn't worried in the slightest.

Clearing his throat, he gathered everyone's attention. "We are about to head into the mines. Broomer will be leading this war party and I expect you all to follow his direction." Max then nodded to the dwarf to take over.

"Listen up!" Broomer shouted. "We have learned that this dungeon has many possible entrances to the second level. Only one will be open which means that we will be sending out our forces into all the pathways until we find the correct one. The orcs will travel through first and secure the cavern on the other side. After that we will all venture through, and you will be split into teams to scout the dungeon. Wait for your assignments and follow the chain of command."

The orcs, elves, and dwarves nodded. They were ready to begin the assault.

With a signal from Max, the orc War Chief led his people through the portal first.

Max was excited. This was the first time he had left his dungeon since he had come here. Hopefully it wouldn't disappoint him.

The large beasts moved closer to the portal while remaining in his dungeon to keep an eye on the connection point. Max gave them a final look over before he followed the last of his people through the portal.

Walking into a large underground cavern, glowing moss clung to the ceiling and illuminated the open area.

Several strong orcs took a position around the portal while the rest formed a defense around the many pathways that led away from this central area.

With 8 different paths the chose from Broomer was already dividing up his men. Elroband sent several elven fighters with each group along with a single spell caster.

"We are ready to head out boss." Broomer said while coming up to Max.

The Dungeon Master nodded. "Send them on their way."

Broomer turned and shouted for them to get moving.

The dwarves readied their axes and hammer before marching into the tunnels. Their heavy armor made it unlikely that they would sneak up on an enemy but that didn't concern the dwarves.

The goblins may think that they had an advantage in these caves, but the dwarves were skilled at fighting underground and in mines. It was where they preferred to fight.

"Boss." Elroband spoke as he came to stand next to Max, Quin, and Broomer. "Are you planning to join one of the teams heading out?"

Max shook his head. "No, I will wait till the find the entrance to the second level."

"No desire for battle?" The elf asked.

With a chuckle Max answered. "I fought a few of the goblins that entered my dungeon and well…"

When he trailed off Quin finished. "They really aren't worth the effort it takes to kill them."

Max nodded. "Hopefully the second level will have something that can fight back." The Dungeon Master said.

While they waited Max took a closer look at the ground Wyrm that was still waiting for direction. It was an interesting creature. It Draconic lineage was obvious even if it was flightless.

Dragons. Now that was something that interested Max, but unfortunately, they were beyond his reach at the moment. Yes, they were available for purchase, but their minimum level was far above what the adventures in his dungeon were capable of facing. On top of that they were ridiculously expensive and need an appropriate habitat.

No matter how much he wanted a dragon he couldn't justify purchasing one at the moment. He would just have to whip the adventures into shape and get them to reach the fifth level he had started to tinker with. But that was a long way off.

He hoped that the first adventures would be able to reach the fifth level within six months, but he knew that may be a struggle for them. But Max was sure that once the first party reached it the others would double their efforts in order to be able to head their as well.

Looking up from the wyrm, Max noticed the first team was returning from exploring their pathway. The group was covered in splashes of goblin blood, but it didn't look like they had any serious injuries.

The goblin leading the group approached Broomer and gave him a report. The team encountered a few goblins while exploring the path. At the end they found a goblin camp, but it was undermanned and the entrance to the second level wasn't active.

After 20 minutes a few more teams returned to report that they had cleared their tunnels as well.

What broke the pattern was a single elf returning from the left most tunnel. He brought news that the entrance to the second floor had been found. The goblin camp at the end of the path had almost 100 goblins guarding it, but they fell quickly to the dwarves and elves that stormed the camp. Right now, the others were holding the camp in case goblins decided to swarm out of the second level.

The teams that had returned went to support the group who had found the entrance while Max and the others waited for the rest of the teams to return.

He considered sending elves to quickly alert the others that the entrance had been found but decided it was better to sweep through all the tunnels and clear out the goblins. Once that was completed, they would head to the second floor.

Max checked his stats while waiting. He had a few ideas of things he wanted to buy to improve himself, but unfortunately, he couldn't make those purchase during the battle. Not like would affect the outcome of this even either way. He was sure he would be wining.

Shaking his head, Max tried to dismiss those arrogant thoughts, even if they were true. It would be a shame if he did something stupid and lost his life in this battle.

When the rest of the teams returned, Broomer led them forward while Max, Quin, Elroband, the ground wyrm and an elven caster brought up the rear.

A few portions of the tunnel were a bit too tight for the wyrm, but that barely slowed it. The creature used its claws to carve out large sections of stone that were then shattered into dust under the might of its body.

When they approached the goblin camp that had been taken over, the dwarves and elves stepped aside to reveal a tunnel that was headed downwards. The magical film covering the entrance of the tunnel signified that it led to the start of the next floor.

Max was intrigued by the level division since he had only seen the portals that were used on his subplane to travel from one level to the next. But after looking at it and poking it for a minute, he lost all interest. It was just a divider and nothing else.

Broomer's voice echoed through the camp. "Prepare yourselves. We met little resistance so far, their main defensive force will be on the other side. Shields up as we enter."

The dwarves moved into position and started their charge to the lower level. The elves took up behind them while Max and the rest followed.

The group was unsure what was on the other side. Yes, they had gotten information from Cotton before this dungeon battle started, but the one-eyed man informed them that each goblin camp led to a different location in the second level. They had no idea what would be on the other side of this one since Cotton had only entered few of the tunnels and not all of them. Unfortunately, this wasn't one he had passed before.

Max entered the tunnel that sloped downwards. He could hear fighting up ahead. As they turned a corner the tunnel opened into a large cavern. Blocking off the entrance to the cavern was a large wooden wall with hundreds of goblins sitting on top. Spears and arrows were raining down on the dwarves who were holding their shields to block the projectiles.

Elven archers returned arrows of their own but every time a goblin died another would step up to take their place without hesitation.

Broomer stood at the back, outside of the goblins range while he contemplated the next action when Max showed up.

"Boss, we found their first real defense." The dwarf said.

"Any ideas how to get past it?" Max asked.

"Several." The dwarf answered. "Hammers and axes could make short work of a wooden wall. My boys can punch a hole through with 15 minutes. Or we could pull back and the mages could blast through it. The wall doesn't seem to be magically reinforced. I could also use one of my rare skills to bring the thing down, but I would rather save those incase we meet something unexpected later."

The dwarf was right, he did have several options. Before Max could offered his opinion a low guttural growl sounded from behind him. The ground Wyrm walk into the cavern with a huff.

Broomer looked to the source of the noise and then grinned.

"Or we could just bash it down." He said to the beast.

When the creature grunted again Broomer turned back to their forces. "Make way and prepare to push through!"

The wyrm pressed forward through the opening.

Charging at the wall that was made from tree trunks the beast threw its weight forward with a loud crash.

The wood splintered and snapped. The Wyrm reared back and brought down its clawed hands that were able to carve through stone. Its maw snapped at the wood block its path, easily turning it into splinters.

Goblin cries echoed through the cavern as the Wyrm barreled through the large hole it had just created in the wall. The dwarves stormed after him while the elves took advantage of the confusion and swiftly climbed the wall and dispatched the goblins on top, taking the high ground for themselves.

Alex, Quin, and Elroband stepped through last to see a large makeshift city spread through to cavern. The dwarves had taken a defense position around the wall while 10s of thousands of goblins separated them from the palace looking building carved into the stone wall on the opposite side of the cavern.

High on the far wall, Alex could see the opposing dungeon master surrounded by several hobgoblins on a balcony that overlooked the city.

Hizon locked eyes with Max. The dungeon masters stared at each other for a moment. They broke eye contact when the hobgoblin next to Hizon blew a horn.

Hundreds of bullet ants started to crawl out of the holes in the side of the cavern.