First, the Smith dismantled the ward around the exit to the old iron mine and stored the metal stakes in his bag. He wanted at least three in case he needed to form a ward in an emergency and couldn't make it back to camp. These, along with the two spares already in the bag, put him at five stakes.

The journey of a few minutes to the other end of the cavern was uneventful. At the passageway to parts beyond the familiar cavern, James paused to rest and catch his breath. Walking in his armor and with his shield was a little easier now thanks to his increased level and his [Product Testing] skill, but walking almost a hundred yards while weighed down was still tiring.

The soft, ever-present breeze continued to blow.

Once he caught his breath, James continued on, stepping into the passage for the first time. It was hard to see clearly very far into the gloom, but after a short walk, perhaps twenty yards, James entered into another open space.

No cavern, this. It was more of a small room, something like ten yards to a side and half as tall. James looked over the walls and saw the usual mix of iron ores, including a small vein of green iron ore he noted for later. No coal or water, though he felt like he had plenty back in the cavern.

On the far side of the room was another passageway, and another twenty or so yards later was a small cavern, about half the size of James' "home" cavern, but with multiple passageways splitting off.

James immediately checked the wall to his side for threats: nothing but glowshrooms and rock and ores. Putting his back to it, he readied his shield and observed the room. The gloom at the far end was impenetrable, but on the right side of the room he counted three openings in the rock walls that might be passages, and on the left side he counted another two. He paused, waiting, catching his breath, observing. Even if two mole monsters attacked at the same time, he could probably take them out one by one. But he was worried about three, or about getting caught from behind. His armor was fully enclosed now, save for the tricky joints, so his back was more protected, but not perfectly, not nearly as well as his front.

Squeak squeak, rustle rustle

James paled, now remembering some of his Brawler mother's wisdom:

Always check the floor, and look up when entering an unfamiliar bar.

James had forgotten to look up.

He instinctively channeled more mana into his [Reflect] enchantment, though it appeared to do nothing, and hurriedly scanned the gloom of the cavern, looking for the creature making that noise.

He only managed to catch the faintest rustle, like that of cloth being waved about in the air, before he felt a light thud on his shield. Then it was gone again.

Thud skritch rustle rustle

This time the strike came to his helmet, and he heard the telltale skritch of short claws scratching against metal.

He still couldn't see what was attacking him!

The Smith remembered more of his mother's wisdom:

If you're in a losing fight, run away! Try to knock stuff over to slow down your pursuers if you can!

The latter half of her wisdom wasn't really applicable to this situation, but James was sure:

Time to retreat.

As he raised his shield, he felt another thud. Whatever was hitting him wasn't very heavy or strong. Even the blow to his helmet hadn't even rattled him, just startled him.

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He moved carefully, keeping his back to the wall until he reached the passageway back to the small room. The sound of rustling seemed to be coming from every direction all at once. Still, the Smith focused on his footwork and fell back to the previous room. With its lower ceiling, it was slightly better lit than either of the caverns James had discovered.

Once in the room, James continued back to a corner near the passageway back to his home cavern and stopped to rest. Catching his breath, he scanned around through holes in his helmet. The thuds and skritches continued at regular intervals, none damaging him through his armor.

There! A dark mass was flying through the air in bizarre, irregular patterns. Its color blended in nearly perfectly with the gloom of the cavern, but here in the slightly brighter, small room, James could see it:

Some kind of bat monster.

About thrice the size of the small bats James had seen in his home village, and with a disproportionately large head and mouth, the bat would fly around in random patterns before tackling him, claws scrabbling for purchase, before flying away again. James readied his shield and raised his hammer, preparing to use his [Technique: Hammer Strike] to knock the flying monster out of the air.

The bat monster continued to fly randomly until… there!

[Hammer Strike]

Whiff

The mass of his hammer failing to hit the monster pulled James slightly off balance. He hadn't been trying to hit as hard as he could, focused more on actually hitting the monster, but he still missed. Again and again he tried.

[Hammer Strike]

Whiff

[Hammer Strike]

Whiff

[Hammer Strike]

Whiff

The bat seemed to dodge his strikes effortlessly. James began to wonder if the monster even could fly in straight lines. He stopped his futile strikes, breathing heavily from the exertion of all his failed attacks. As he did, the monster tackled him again.

Thud skritch rustle squeak

The Smith spent a time there, tanking the futile attacks (being careful to keep the wall to his back), while he considered his options.

He could retreat to the camp with the ward. The monster couldn't keep attacking him, but it would probably stick around like the mole monsters had.

Even the mole monster had dodged when he threw a stone at it, and those things were slow.

Even if he left the cavern, through the old iron mine, and tried to make it through the forest back to civilization, this thing would follow him unless he left behind almost half his warding stakes to block the tunnel exit.

Thud

Thud

Thud

More than anything, this bat monster was really annoying!

Irritated to recklessness, he put his warhammer into his bag and pulled out a shovel.

If nothing else, he wanted to at least land a hit on this bat!

Without technique, without skill, James swatted at the bat with the flat of the shovel. For the first few strikes, the bat dodged about randomly as before, avoiding the shovel's head, but James kept up his assault, and within a minute or two of continuous swatting

Donk

James felt the impact through the shovel's haft, and heard the monster fall to the floor. Reckless and impatient, James stepped out from behind his shield and gripped the shovel in two hands.

Bamf bamf bamf bamf

Artlessly, James continued to strike the bat monster with the flat of the shovel, venting his frustration on the monster.

Eventually, his reason returned to him, and he pinned down the body with the shovel in one hand and retrieved his war hammer. Approaching, he prepared to strike as fast as he could as he lifted the shovel.

But the monster lay still. One wing was clearly broken, resting at an odd angle, while the other was splayed out a surprising length. Small stubby legs ending in hind claws stretched out perfectly straight from the body, and the head of the monster was as big as the rest of its body put together. Its eyes were closed, but its mouth lay open, revealing what appeared to be perfectly black teeth and a dark red tongue.

The Smith, still annoyed and wanting to take no chances, brought his war hammer down and obliterated the monster's head.

Now he was sure it was dead.

As the Smith breathed heavily from the exertion of his battle, he nearly gagged and vomited.

The monster's blood, now seeping from its body, was foul. Also, though it was hard to tell in the gloom, it looked purple.

James decided he didn't care how hungry he was, he'd go actively looking for mole monsters before he tried eating bat meat.

James took out a knife from the bag and cut the monsters' wings off, then sliced into the body. He idly wondered if he would have to make a new knife if this one got contaminated with bat ick, but decided he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

There, embedded in the heart just like with the mole monsters, was a magic crystal.

A green one.

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