The morning quickly came by, and Arad whole to Aella’s chest, choking him. She moves a lot in her sleep. He gently pushed her to the side, sitting and stretching his arms like a cat. “Hmmm,” ^It’s been a while since I had slept like this,^

The last two nights were a bit hectic, so having a restful sleep felt far better. “Wake up,” Arad shook Aella from the chest.

“Mmm, don’t squeeze too hard,” She mumbled, and Arad made her sit, “How are you feeling?”

? Aella scratched her eyes, “Morning, Arad,” She smiled, yawning. 𝒆𝙣𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝙚𝙩

“Let’s get up. We have to pass by the guild and get to work,” Arad smiled, patting Aella’s back and standing up.

A small bowl and waterjug sat in the room’s corner, awaiting Arad to grab them. He quickly poured some water and washed his face, approaching Aella and helping her wash her face.

The two of them exited the room, walking to the living room, where they could see Lyla in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. “Good morning,” He waved his hand, and Lyla returned the smile. “Did you sleep well?”

Arad nodded, “Yeah, except I had to open a lock yesterday.”

Lyla looked at him, “You could have had Mira sleep there,” She smiled.

“It’s your daughter, don’t go looking for her with a man like that,” Arad replied, sighing, walking to the bathroom.

“She never had any interest in men or marrying. That seems to have ended last night. She found a man to be interested in.” Lyla replied, looking at him, “She just needed a little push. I can’t have her bury her head in work for the rest of her life.”

“I see, but why me?” Arad stopped, looking back.

“Which answer do you want to hear? The normal or the honest?” Lyla stared at him.

“Both,” Arad replied, wanting to know the whole story.

“The normal answer is that you seemed like a nice guy,” Lyla looked at him, this time with a serious face, “The honest is that I smell money and strength in you. The moment I saw you, I knew you would become big in the future, whether it was my adventuring or trade.” Lyla explained.

“I can’t understand how just seeing me would tell you that?”

“An observer,” Lyla smiled, “Your eyes, walk, and how you speak. Everything about you screams that you don’t see us as equal, yet you keep the respect of a human. That is a hard thing to accomplish,” She pulled the ladle, pointing it at Arad, “And one last thing!” She approached him, whispering, “I knew she would love those muscles of yours. So I took a shot, and it worked.” she smiled, returning to the kitchen.

Arad sighed, walking to the bathroom. He opened the door. Mira was there, so he slammed the door shut immediately. “Sorry,”

“Don’t mind it,” Mira replied,

After breakfast, Aella and Arad left, heading toward the guild to check in there was any quest they could take. They didn’t find any suitable mission that looked interesting. So they left immediately, walking toward the inn.

“William, have you seen Jack?” Arad asked, and the bartender shook his head, “No, he hasn’t returned yet. Should I find him for you?”

“You can do that?” Aella stared at him, confused.

“I have my connections,” William smiled.

“No, he should be back soon. Just tell him that I looked for you, and I might stay late tonight as well,” Arad said.

“I didn’t count the last night. Should I consider the room empty?” William asked. He can’t charge Arad if he won’t stay in the room, but he couldn’t rent it to someone else when they might return.

“I will pay for the last night and for today as well. Keep it reserver as we might return at midnight or later.” Arad said, turning around.

“As you say, please be careful at work.” The bartender nodded with a smile.

Arad and Aella walked out. They quickly exited the city and went into the forest. “We will just have a look at the mine and see what we can do. If the situation is dangerous, we will retreat and wait for Jack.”

Aella nodded, “Let’s keep a fair distance and climb into the trees. Goblins usually leave scouts wandering around. We need to avoid and locate all of them.”

“We need to take them down without alerting the others. Got it,” Arad nodded, and the two of them climbed a tree. Leaping from one branch to the other, they slowly made it toward the mine.

Aella looked around, “I see one there, beside the entrance.”

Arad looked, “Those two are obvious.”

Aella shook her head, “No, underneath the dirt.” She pointed beside the wall to the left. A patch of dirt looked strangely bumpy.

“He’s ready to ambush. And there is more all around,” Aella pointed, and Arad counted almost ten hiding there.

“Wow, won’t they die?”

“No, they change shifts each day. There is more in the forest, so be careful.” She pointed toward the bushes, showing Arad multiple goblins in hiding.

“Ok, this is getting ridiculous. How many goblins are there here?” Arad asked, looking around and trying to count.

Aella looked at him, “There are forty-eight goblins around the area ready to attack. I bet there is more than that inside the cave.” She then looked around, “I will do a second look. I might have missed one or two.”

After a few minutes, she looked at Arad, “I was wrong, fifty-two. The other fives are up there.” She pointed at the rock cliff above the mine.

“What?”

“They closed themselves behind stones and will push them down on anyone trying to enter the mine.” She shook her head, “We need more people. We can’t possibly kill all of them without alerting the ones inside.

Arad scratched his chin, “What if we dug beneath the ground? We could make our way inside like that.”

Aella smiled, her face liting up, “That’s right, you can dig.”

Arad nodded, “I will dig a tunnel all the way inside the cave. We can then grab as much as we want of magic stones.”

Aella looked at the goblins again, “We need to either start digging from afar. Or cover the entrance so the scouts won’t find it.”

“They could pincer us. Got it,” Arad thought for a moment, “I can close the tunnel behind me, but I doubt you will fit if I did.”

Arad explained how he could move underground, and Aella glared at him, “So you eat dirt and ** back to clog the hole you made?” She sighed.

“Pretty much. I can’t disagree with that.” Arad looked own. He was like an earthworm.

“Should we attack now?” Aella asked, looking at Arad.

“I don’t know,” Arad replied with a stern face, “We don’t know how much there is inside, let alone how the mine is structured inside. I would be safer if I scouted first.” Arad looked around.

“How would you do that?”

“I will go alone first, stay beneath the ground, and listen. I should be able to locate all the goblins at least, and I will then return to get you.” Arad explained his plan.

“In that case, it’s better for me to go with you from the start. I can hang to your stomach.” Aella suggested.

Arad thought about it for a while and then nodded, “I could use your ears down here. Let’s head out.” The two moved out, looking for a place to dig.

“Look there.” Aella pointed at a boulder, “We should be able to dig behind it.”

The boulder was the size of a small house. Covered in green moss and thick overgrowth of plants and vegetation. Looking around. There were no visible goblins patrolling the place, “You’re right, but keep an eye out while I dig,”

Aella nodded, climbing one of the trees and looking around, signaling to Arad to start digging.

Arad transformed into his draconic form and looked down. His claws were sharp, and his palms were as wide as shovels. With each strike, he left a gaping hole in the ground, digging deeper and deeper like a mole.

After a few seconds, he dug a hole that is deep enough to fit them. Arad waved his tail for Aella, and she leaped down. Rushing toward him. “The hole is done this quick?”

Arad nodded his head. After one last look around, she lay on the ground, and Arad walked above her. With her arms and legs, she grabbed onto his torso. He looked at her, and she smiled, “I’m fine, I can stay like this for hours.”

With slow steps, Arad walked into the hole, dragging Aella’s hair onto the ground as he moved. “Hold on a moment,” Aella released her hands, pulling her hair above her neck to keep it from falling.

“I’m good, you can go.” She smiled, and Arad pointed his tail up. A wave of dirt emerged, clogging the hole.