The stone archway loomed ahead, its surface chiseled with faint patterns long worn by time and moisture. John paused just outside, shifting his grip on the torch. The flame flickered, barely illuminating the gaping tunnel ahead.

  "Well," John muttered, stepping forward. "If I disappear, at least tell my wife I died doing something ridiculous."

  Kaia followed close behind, her staff casting a pale glow along the walls. "I'm sure she knows when you go it will be because of something ridiculous "

  "Hey that's hurtful," John replied with a grin. "Thorin, you coming?"

  Thorin grunted, ducking beneath the low arch. "Wouldn’t let you two get lost without me."

  The air grew colder as they moved inside, the entrance behind them shrinking to a pinprick of light. The tunnel stretched ahead, wide enough for them to walk two abreast. Water trickled down the walls, forming thin rivulets that pooled along the uneven floor. Their footsteps echoed, breaking the heavy silence.

  Kaia ran her hand along the damp stone, tracing shallow grooves etched into the surface. "These markings… they could be dwarven. Or maybe ancient human. It’s hard to tell."

  John squinted at the symbols. "Any chance they say ‘Welcome’ or ‘Free treasure this way’?"

  "Unlikely," Kaia replied. "But I’ll let you know if I see a warning."

  John shrugged, his torchlight bouncing off the slick walls. "I feel like the smell’s enough of a warning."

  The tunnel opened into a small chamber, jagged stalactites hanging from the ceiling. A few rusted chains dangled from the far wall, their ends broken and trailing into the dirt.

  Thorin stepped closer, tapping one of the chains with his hammer. "Prisoners, maybe. Or bait."

  John grimaced. "Comforting thought."

  Kaia knelt, brushing away some loose debris at the edge of the room. Bones – small ones – lay half-buried in the dirt. She lifted a piece of broken skull, holding it delicately in her palm. "Goblin."

  John shifted uncomfortably. "Not recent, right?"

  Kaia shook her head. "It’s old. Whatever happened here… it’s long over."

  "Let’s hope the current tenants are less homicidal." John exhaled, eyes scanning the chamber. "Come on. Nothing else to see here. We keep moving."

  They pressed deeper into the dungeon, the air thick with the weight of long-forgotten things. Each corner brought another stretch of crumbling stone and dripping water. The walls seemed to close in tighter the farther they walked.

  As they rounded another bend, Kaia spoke softly. "This place feels… wrong."

  "Yeah," John agreed, keeping his knife ready. "I’ve seen enough movies to know when we’re being watched."

  Thorin made an annoyed grunt. "Are movies all you know?"

  " Life is just one big movie. Only you don't get to pick your genre"

  The path ahead narrowed, leading into darkness. And somewhere in the black, a soft shuffling echoed back toward them.

  John stopped, raising a hand. "Hear that?"

  Kaia and Thorin froze, listening.

  Thorin’s eyes narrowed. "Footsteps. Not ours."

  John nodded, lowering his torch slightly. "Looks like we’re about to meet the neighbors."

  They pressed forward carefully, the weight of unseen eyes following every step.

  ***

  The tunnel narrowed as John led the way, torch flickering in his hand. Thorin trudged behind him, grumbling under his breath about the smell of damp stone and goblin filth. Kaia followed silently, her eyes scanning the shadows, staff held in a white-knuckled grip.

  John held up a hand, stopping short of a bend in the corridor. "Hold up. Something’s off." He squinted into the darkness ahead. "Thorin, you smell that?"

  Thorin sniffed the air and scowled. "Smells like a goblin privy."

  "Yeah," John said. "Because we’re about to walk into one."

  A pebble skipped down the path ahead. Kaia stiffened. John barely had time to curse before three goblins scrambled out of side passages, blocking their path.

  The lead goblin wore a crude leather vest, scarred and stitched in a dozen places. A jagged short sword rested in his clawed hand, while the two flanking him brandished slings.

  "Give gold!" the leader snarled, pointing the sword at them. "No fight. You live."

  John lowered his torch slightly, eyes narrowing. "Oh sure, let me just dig into my gold reserves." John turned his pockets out and shrugged "What do you take, Venmo or PayPal?"

  The goblin blinked. "Ven... mo?"

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Thorin snorted, stepping forward. "We don’t have time for this, John."

  "Exactly. Let’s just—"

  A sling stone whizzed past John's ear, clipping the edge of his torch and sending sparks flying.

  "Alright!" John snapped. "You want to play dirty? Let’s play dirty."

  John lunged first, slashing low with his knife. The goblin leader parried, steel screeching against steel. Thorin barreled forward, raising his shield to block another stone. The impact thudded, but Thorin didn’t slow. He swung his hammer in a wide arc, forcing one of the slingers to dive aside.

  Kaia whispered a quick incantation, light flaring from her staff. "Try not to get hit, you two."

  "Trying!" John grunted as the goblin leader shoved him back. The goblin grinned, sharp teeth glinting in the torchlight. He lashed out with a thrust, but John twisted, feeling the blade skim past his ribs.

  Thorin locked onto the other slinger, hammer swinging again. The goblin yelped as the heavy weapon clipped its shoulder, sending it sprawling.

  "One down!" Thorin called.

  John, ducking beneath a wild swing, jabbed his knife into the leader’s exposed side. The goblin shrieked, staggering back, but John pressed the attack. "Not so tough when you’re bleeding, are you?"

  The last slinger backed away, fumbling another stone into its sling.

  "Kaia!" John shouted.

  Before the goblin could let loose, Kaia’s staff snapped up. A bolt of light shot forward, smacking the goblin square in the chest. The creature froze where it was.

  John shadowstepped behind the immobile goblin and drove both daggers into it. Kaias spell broke and the creature fell lifeless to the floor.

  The leader growled, dropping his sword. He turned to run—only to smack directly into Thorin’s chest.

  "Going somewhere?" Thorin rumbled.

  The goblin barely had time to squeal before Thorin’s hammer came down. He dropped to his knees and begged for mercy.

  Thorin brought the hammer back down again and again. Finally the chief lay motionless. The battle over.

  John stood panting, wiping sweat from his brow. "Three goblins? That’s what, a warm-up?"

  Thorin nudged the body of the leader with his boot. " Either they are getting weaker or we are much stronger."

  Kaia knelt, inspected a corpse and looted the creature. "This was a well organized ambush, but we did just face an army of the dead."

  John bent down, looting the leader’s pouch. A handful of copper coins clinked into his hand. "All in a days work for me. Let’s keep moving before more show up."

  As they walked deeper into the dungeon, Thorin glanced at John. "Venmo, huh?"

  John smirked. "Yeah. You’d love Earth."

  ***

  The soft drip of water echoed in the tunnel as John stepped over the fallen goblins, torchlight flickering against the stone. Thorin followed behind, hammer resting on his shoulder, while Kaia trailed at the rear, staff tapping lightly with each step.

  For the first time since they entered the dungeon, silence stretched between them.

  John exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "I forgot how much I hate the smell of goblins."

  Thorin chuckled low. "Better than the smell of troll dens. Trust me."

  Kaia glanced back the way they’d come, her brows drawn together. "They attacked too soon."

  John arched an eyebrow. "Too soon?"

  Kaia nodded, shifting her staff. "We barely made it inside. Ambushes usually happen deeper in, when retreat isn’t an option. This felt… rushed."

  John exchanged a look with Thorin. "Maybe they’re just stupid."

  "Or desperate," Thorin added. "Desperate goblins are more dangerous than smart ones."

  "Fantastic." John rubbed the back of his neck. "So we either fought the dropouts of goblin school or the ones with nothing to lose."

  Thorin smirked. "Welcome to dungeon crawling."

  They pressed on, the air growing colder the deeper they went. The walls here were smoother, carved by tools rather than time. Faint grooves lined the edges of the passage, as if someone had tried—and failed—to mask the construction.

  John trailed his fingers along the wall. "Someone built this section. Not just goblins. This is too clean for them."

  Kaia’s voice softened. "Dungeons are layered. Different hands shape them over the years. Some parts crumble, some stay hidden. And some… reshape themselves."

  Thorin frowned. "I don’t like that last part."

  John grinned. "You get used to it. Back home, we called it procedural generation."

  Kaia blinked. "I have no idea what that means."

  "Exactly."

  They walked in relative quiet for another few minutes before Thorin’s boot clinked against something metallic.

  He stopped, eyes narrowing as he crouched down. "Hold up."

  John stepped closer, torchlight revealing thin wires stretched low across the path. Rusted spikes lined the walls at knee height, hidden beneath a layer of moss.

  Thorin traced the wire with his finger. "Tripwire. Goblin handiwork."

  Kaia huffed. "So much for rushing. They were ready."

  John knelt, eyeing the crude mechanism. "I can disarm it. Just give me a sec."

  Thorin stood and tightened his grip on his hammer, watching the shadows ahead. "Take your time. But not too much. Traps usually mean we’re close to more of them."

  John pulled a thin dagger from his belt, carefully hooking the wire. As he worked, he glanced up at Kaia. "So, you’re the expert here. How often do these things reset?"

  Kaia shrugged lightly. "Depends on how paranoid the goblins are. Sometimes they leave a few patrols to reset them if adventurers come through."

  John’s eyes narrowed. "Meaning there might be goblins ahead, just waiting for us to make a mistake."

  Kaia smiled faintly. "I didn’t say it was a good system."

  With a soft click, the wire snapped loose, the spikes retracting into the walls. John stood, brushing his hands off. "Alright. One trap down. Who’s ready for the next five?"

  Thorin grunted. "I’d prefer if it’s only five."

  They moved forward, more cautious now, eyes scanning the path for hidden dangers.

  John smirked at the quiet tension. "You know, I feel like I should say something dramatic. Like, 'it’s too quiet' or

  ***

  The further they walked, the more obvious it became—this wasn’t just a tunnel. It was a gauntlet.

  John crouched, torch flickering low as he traced the outline of a pressure plate just ahead of Thorin’s boot. "Whoa, whoa. Hold it there, big guy."

  Thorin stopped mid-step, brow furrowing. "Another one?"

  "Third in the last ten feet." John knelt, drawing his dagger to pry loose the shoddy mechanism beneath the stone. "You know, I’m starting to think this dungeon was sponsored by ACME."

  Kaia leaned on her staff, watching him work. "ACME?"

  John grinned as he disarmed the trap. "Company famous for two things—cheap quality and explosive results."

  Thorin huffed. "Sounds like goblins."

  "Exactly." John held up a crude bear trap, the rusted metal barely holding together. "Case in point. I could probably sneeze on this, and it’d fall apart."

  A faint chime echoed in John’s ear.

  [Trap Disarming +1]

  He stuffed the trap into his pack, ignoring the questioning looks from Kaia and Thorin.

  "You’re keeping that?" Kaia arched an eyebrow.

  "Hey, waste not, want not." John shrugged. "Might come in handy. Besides, it’s free loot."

  Another few steps in, and John stopped again, eyes narrowing at a thin line stretched across the path.

  "Okay, now this one is just insulting."

  He clipped the tripwire loose and carefully wound it up, dropping it into his pack with the growing collection of goblin traps.

  [Trap Collected: Improvised Tripwire]

  Kaia folded her arms. "How many of those do you need?"

  "All of them. It’s a collector’s hobby at this point."

  The pattern continued—every few feet, John found another half-baked trap. Pits covered with fragile boards, logs tied with fraying ropes, and darts so rusted they looked more dangerous to the goblins than anyone else.

  John disarmed each one with the ease of someone picking locks in a video game tutorial.

  Until he nearly missed one.

  His foot hovered over a seemingly plain patch of stone when his interface flickered.

  [Trap Detected – Severity: Deadly]

  John froze, eyes darting down. Thin grooves lined the stone’s edges, almost invisible in the dim light.

  "Kaia…" His voice was quieter this time. "See anything unusual about this rock?"

  She squinted, shaking her head. "It looks normal to me."

  John exhaled. "Yeah, well, according to my HUD, it’s not."

  Carefully, he knelt and began working at the trap’s edges. A few tense moments passed before he pulled out a spring-loaded spike, still sharp enough to gleam.

  "One wrong step and this would’ve skewered me like a kabob."

  Thorin whistled low. "Goblins are getting fancy."

  "One of them, maybe." John pocketed the spike, standing. "Most of these look like practice runs. But this? This was the final exam."

  Not long after, John’s hunch paid off.

  Up ahead, faint goblin chatter drifted down the corridor.

  John held up a hand, signaling the others to stop. Carefully, he peered around the bend.

  Three goblins crouched near the floor, bickering as they fiddled with a pit trap. The largest one smacked the smaller two, snarling something in their guttural tongue.

  John grinned, stepping back. "Well, look at that. The artists are still at work."

  Thorin frowned. "We could take them head-on."

  "Sure, but where’s the fun in that?" John patted his pack. "I say we let them taste their own medicine."

  Kaia’s eyes narrowed. "John, what are you—"

  Too late. He was already pulling out the tripwire, setting it low across the tunnel entrance. A bear trap clanked softly as he placed it in the shadows just behind the wire.

  "Give me two minutes."

  Thorin crossed his arms, watching as John set the traps in record time.

  Kaia sighed. "I swear, you’re enjoying this."

  "Absolutely."

  With the last trap in place, John stepped back, wiping his hands. "Alright. Let’s herd ‘em in."

  Thorin didn’t wait for further instructions. He lobbed a rock down the corridor.

  The resulting clang echoed loudly.

  The goblins froze. One of them barked nervously, pointing toward the noise. They crept forward, curious and wary.

  The first one hit the tripwire, stumbling forward just as the bear trap snapped shut on its ankle.

  The goblin screamed, thrashing wildly. The second tripped over him, landing face-first into another set of spikes John had placed earlier.

  The third goblin, clearly the brains of the operation, tried to bolt.

  Thorin caught him mid-step, hammer swinging.

  The fight was over in seconds.

  John dusted off his hands. "I think I just invented a new sport—goblin fishing."

  Kaia gave him a long look. "You are dangerous."

  John smirked. "Only to goblins. Let’s keep moving."