Chapter 7: Jester

"How is your wound?" Ann asked once Andrew's finished changing his temporary bandages.
"It seems fine… there is no sign of anything weird with it," Andrew replied and then whispered. "Are you able to get the remaining loot without being seen?"
"Yes, I am always in the last, so I can do that…" Ann said. "It is annoying because I feel that I am there because I am the smallest."
"Forget about that and try to practice what you saw by watching Louis," Andrew said. "He isn't an expert, but you can learn a thing or two from him."
Ann nodded. Just using magic wasn't enough for her, and she wanted to help more. Fortunately, she was gaining a lot of items after those battles, so soon, her dexterity will reach high levels and help her use the bow without having much experience.
While Ann was training, Andrew wondered why that room only had two doors… the exit was also a stone door. The path wasn't splitting… that was weird considering everything they had seen thus far. He could only imagine that things would change even more now, also considering that they found a fountain.
"Are you also bothered by this?" Diego asked.
"Yeah… I have a feeling that we won't be able to return once we cross the stone door," Andrew said.
"It feels like it will be hard to open, but if it is automatic… then the one controlling this floor might be able to close the way back," Carol added. "I can understand why you would think that."
"Right… still, it is clear that the path ahead won't get any easier," Diego said. "With that in mind, I think we should work together for a while longer."
"I guess that is fine…" Andrew said while looking at Ann getting a few tips from Louis.
"Don't worry. He has a girlfriend, and he won't take yours," Diego said.
"You must be sleepy and imagining things," Andrew said. "Besides, when having a girlfriend or wife prevented some guys from looking out for more?"
"You have a point there," Diego said. "You guys don't look like siblings, but you are pretty relaxed around each other. Considering that only those that were in contact with each other managed to stay together, it seems that you have known each other for a long time. I got lucky that I came with them when I invited them for a movie and ended up putting my hand on their shoulders when that weird thing happened."
That confirmed Andrew's guess. Those give got lucky, and they couldn't imagine how unlucky others got by suddenly appearing alone in that suspicious place where they didn't know anyone around. Still, they could only be sympathetic, nothing more, since they also have a lot on their plate as well.
Come to think of it. Such moments were one of the bests that Andrew could have had to improve his relationship with the others. It would have been great if he could improve his image with Carol, and that way, he would be able to spam Fireballs. Still, he would only look suspicious if he tried to approach while having such thoughts in his head.
"Around ninety minutes have passed since we were teleported. Considering that not many people managed to come with friends or family, we should have the edge over most people," Diego said. "We aren't competing with anyone, but having power and resources, no matter the type in this situation, are always welcome. Still, I don't think we should rest for more than half an hour."
"Agreed," Andrew said.
"That is settled then," Diego said. "Let's rest for more than twenty minutes before moving on."
(Your relationship with Diego improved, and it is now at level three.)

(The skill Throw has leveled up, and its range has increased by two meters.)

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For now, letting Diego take the lead wasn't a bad idea, and it even let Andrew get a bit stronger. Still, he had to be ready to take the reins if something happened. Andrew couldn't let his destiny and Ann's be in the hands of someone else, even though Carol and Louis acted like they were fine following his lead.
Andrew felt like he wanted to let his back rest against the wall and close his eyes, but he endured that urge while he watched Ann practicing with her bow. He could tell that her movements were more precise, so it was clear that she was increasing other parameters aside from wisdom. Still, that was her choice, and Andrew couldn't force her to do what he thought was the best for her.
After twenty minutes, the group began to prepare themselves to move. Even after all this time, no one else approached them, and they didn't hear the sound of battles either, so it seemed that they were ahead in comparison to most people.
Those five looked at each other and then nodded once they were ready. Soon after, Diego touched the stone door, and then it began to move by itself and upward, just like the walls that created the fighting spots. They quickly left the room, only to find a much rougher corridor ahead of them. It suddenly looked like they were inside a cave. Andrew could even see some stalactites on the ceiling. Some tremors might make them fall, so they have to be careful.
"The goblins won't be able to emerge from the ground here, but we should keep our guard up," Andrew said while holding his spear strongly.
They began to walk after nodding. Running wouldn't be a good idea since they wouldn't know when exactly the battles were going to happen… that added some extra tension for them. Still, they ignored it and just kept moving. Fortunately, the corridors were a lot larger, at least five meters wide in the smallest spots. So they could coordinate better.
After walking for a while, the group found a large room ahead, it didn't have any doors, and they couldn't see the exit, so they would have to approach to check it. However, Andrew could feel a strong smell of sweat and mud, and he stopped Diego.
"... It is an ambush," Andrew said. "I can smell them."
The others couldn't, so they imagined that Andrew had a much higher level of perception. That was correct, and his perception was weirdly high. In any case, they decided to trust him and prepare for the confrontation. It was the first time the monsters would have the upper hand, so the front line had to give room for the backline to join the fight.
Andrew and Diego slowly approached without making any noise. Still, then when they were two meters away from the room, they suddenly dashed.
They moved fast enough to pass the enemies waiting for them on the sides of the room, to the point that the goblins armed with double knives jumped to attack, but they didn't hit anything. Still, they had archers behind them, and they aimed those arrows at them.
Andrew and Diego charged to attack them, but they still managed to fire the arrows. Diego moved to the side and dodged, but Andrew failed to raise his shield in time to protect his heart. The arrow bounced on the shield and then hit his shoulder. The pain hadn't been strong since the arrow lost its piercing power, but it still made him bleed a bit… However, it didn't stop Andrew and his spear from impaling the monster.
The goblins armed with two knives were attacked by the backline after exposing themselves. Ann killed one of them by snapping their neck with her magic, and the final one was defeated by Carol and Louis.
"Are you all right?" Diego asked.
"Just a small scratch," Andrew said while picking the knives of the enemies and then using Throw on the neck of one of the corpses, making the projectile pierced deeply. "It won't happen again."
Attacking a corpse was pretty gruesome, even if it was to test the piercing power of their weapons. Still, that was one thing that Andrew did to help the group fight better, so they soon forgot about it, even if it was a bit unsettling.
“Andy, say something funny,” Ann said.
“... Since when am I the jester of your court?” Andrew asked.
“Since pretty much forever?” Ann asked. “You need to relax. Getting worked up will only hinder you when you really need to focus.”
Ann had a point, Andrew knew that, but he couldn’t relax just because he knew it. He was still adapting to those battles, after all… still, the mood got a bit bad because of him, so saying something stupid might liven up things a bit.
“Do you guys know? Life without coffee is like something without something,” Andrew said.

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