Shiro blinked. "What?"
But Elius didn't explain.
He turned back around and walked forward again.
The group stood there, confused.
"Wait, what does he mean by that?" Ron asked.
"No idea," Lina muttered.
"I kinda feel like he's always saying stuff without context on purpose," Klee said with a pout.
But unknown to them, Elius's words weren't meant as encouragement. They were fact.
Thanks to Shiro's unique ability to produce a living clone of himself—a clone that moved independently and was undetectable to most beings—Elius had gained similar ability.
The system created his own version of a doppelgänger.
A clone made from spiritual energy and cultivated will.
This was no ordinary double.
It had a sliver of his consciousness and his cultivation system interface.
It wandered the labyrinthine tunnels of the cave network now, silently scouting paths, touching stones, meditating briefly at spiritual veins—each time pinging back energy signatures and messages.
Ding!
Detected minor spiritual concentration in Sector 3-B.
Ding!
No monster activity in Subsection F. Recommend alternate cultivation node.
And more importantly, this clone was a Cultivator, not a Ninja.
Unlike Shiro's ninja clone, which focused on stealth and physical movement, Elius's clone could sense the same spiritual density as the real him.
He could detect veins of untouched cultivation stones, clusters of spiritual bugs, even changes in dimensional temperature.
He could also test combat zones, engage in short skirmishes, and allow Elius to absorb the battle experience from afar.
Why hadn't Elius just told Shiro to send his clone instead?
Because the ninja's clone couldn't cultivate.
It couldn't feel the spiritual hum beneath the soil.
But Elius's clone could.
And now, with the map forming inside his mind—paved by his clone's journey—he was beginning to see the true shape of the goblin warren.
After some time—
Elius turned around, hands behind his back, cloak fluttering softly.
"Are you ready?"
The four nodded in unison, their earlier banter now replaced by solemn expressions.
They'd practiced as best they could while walking, stretching their limits, testing their boundaries.
They felt ready.
Even Shiro stood straight now, resolve burning behind his eyes.
Though none of them realized it, they'd all grown.
Elius narrowed his eyes and stepped toward them one by one.
"Ron," he said. "How long can you stay in raptor form now?"
Ron grinned, baring his sharpened teeth. "Thirty-two minutes. And I figured out how to harden the scales on command. Want a demo?"
He punched the wall with a scaled fist. The stone cracked.
"And I can now do a short-range pounce. I jump like… like six meters now."
"Good," Elius said, nodding once.
He turned to Klee. "And you?"
Klee held up her hands. Holy energy swirled, golden and thick like honey.
"I can do radiant bursts now. Little explosions of healing that affect everyone in a small area. And I can coat my hands with divine energy to punch monsters for double impact—it's like holy damage!"
She bounced in place, smiling wide. "And I can now keep three people under a minor regeneration aura for five minutes straight."
Elius's eyebrow twitched with mild approval.
Then, he faced Lina. "Show me."
Lina didn't respond with words. Her body flickered, vanishing into full ghost form.
She phased through the nearby cave wall, emerged from the other side like smoke, then hovered above them, spinning in the air.
Her fingers extended like misty claws.
"I can maintain this form for ten minutes," she said, voice echoing. "And I can pass through anything under ten inches thick."
She sank through the floor—and rose back up behind Elius with a grin.
"I can also leave part of myself behind… like this."
She touched Elius's shoulder, and a mark glowed briefly.
"That lets me teleport back to that spot."
Elius nodded. "Very clever."
Finally, he turned to Shiro.
"And you?"
Shiro clenched his fists, focused.
Behind him, a dark figure began to rise.
It was him.
His shadow clone.
But something was different.
It had glowing red eyes now.
Shiro reached into his belt and pulled out a needle-thin dagger, charged it with chi, and threw it.
The clone caught it mid-air, vanished, and reappeared behind a stalagmite, launching the same dagger into the stone and splitting it in half.
"I can now switch places with my clone once every thirty seconds," Shiro said. "And I can give it basic commands—guard, attack, retreat."
The clone flickered and disappeared back into his shadow.
Elius looked at all of them. Evaluating.
Measuring.
And then—
He smiled.
"All right," he said.
"Go and meet the goblins."
Everyone was shocked.
Eh? Goblins?
The four would look at each other.
Lina asked the question on everyone's mind.
"…How did you know?"
"Didn't I tell you already?"
"...Uh, that's not enough information?"
Elius didn't look back. He simply continued walking, his cloak brushing across the cracked stone floor. Then, with a voice as calm as still water, he replied, "Well, let's just say I could sense them. Far ahead."
Ron's nostrils flared. His raptor senses had been twitching ever since they turned down this branch of the cavern. "Yeah… I can feel something too. They stink. But how'd you know they're goblins?"
Elius stopped.
He slowly turned around, gaze sharp and reflective like polished obsidian.
"Because of everything we've walked through to get here."
He raised one hand and began counting off with his fingers.
"First… the trails. If you'd been looking, you'd have noticed subtle indentations in the dirt floor—small, clawed feet. Some stride marks are longer, indicating fast movement, while others shuffle, likely scouts or children. Second, the bones scattered around the tunnel edges weren't animal. They were humanoid. Some broken, some gnawed on."
He walked over to a corner and tapped the stone with the hilt of his sword. A bone rolled out.
"See this?"
He picked it up.
"Femur. Roughly the length of a small adult's leg. But here—" He rotated it, revealing rough bite marks along the side. "These markings are consistent with goblin dentition. Four primary incisors. Two misaligned canines. The arc shape? Matches with records from the Hero Database."
The group blinked at him.
"You memorized goblin bite patterns?" Ron asked.
Elius ignored the question.
"Third," he continued, "the scent. Even if you can't smell it, the humidity changed as soon as we passed the last fork. There's a heavy, iron-like tinge to the air. Goblins often inhabit zones with shallow blood residue. Which means they use the cave system for butchering."
He turned his head toward the ceiling.
"There are markings on the upper walls, too. Runes carved by crude tools. Tribal glyphs for 'home' and 'warn.' Faded… but recent. Within a week, maybe less."
Lina blinked in awe.
Klee tilted her head. "But we saw a lot of bones… how'd you know they belonged to goblins and not just… random victims or monsters?"
Elius glanced at her. "There are patterns. Some bones are similar to each other—same density, length, cartilage wear, even tooth patterns. Compare them to what we saw in the entrance briefing room. The corpses of goblins killed by past heroes were on display in Sector 4C. The match is almost exact."
The four stared at him in stunned silence.
"You… remember that?" Shiro muttered.
Elius shrugged. "Of course. This job is dangerous. Don't tell me you didn't research them?"
The four looked at one another awkwardly.
Klee scratched her head. "Um… I didn't think I'd actually get accepted as a superhero…"
Ron muttered, "Yeah, same. I figured I'd get rejected during the academy application, not thrown into some death labyrinth…"
Lina gave a small, embarrassed cough. "I just thought I'd… float around and learn as I go."
Shiro gave a reluctant nod, his face serious.
Elius sighed. "Tch. Amateurs."
Then, without missing a beat, Shiro suddenly turned to the wall and pressed his hand against the stone.
A shadow rose up like smoke behind him.
"Scout."
The clone nodded once, then melted into the darkness, vanishing without a sound.
The rest of the team tensed.
Ron cracked his neck. His legs bulked with muscle, claws clicking against the stone as his transformation increased to eighty percent. Velociraptor pupils expanded. He crouched low.
Klee took a deep breath. Gold light began to radiate from her shoulders. Rings of soft aura wrapped around her arms and chest, flowing into her bell-like weapon. She muttered a low chant. "Blessings of the Eternal Path, shelter those who fight beside me…"
Lina phased slightly, ghosting halfway into the rock beside her, her eyes glowing faintly. She extended her hands and called upon the spirits. A thin haze of blue light shivered around her silhouette.
Elius?
He simply stood there, one foot balanced atop his floating sword, arms crossed.
Unmoving.
Waiting.
Time passed slowly.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Suddenly, the shadows shifted.
A flicker.
Shiro's clone emerged from the wall like a gust of smoke, kneeling beside its master and whispering something inaudible into Shiro's ear.
Shiro's eyes flicked left. Then right. Then closed.
He nodded.
Once.
Then again.
And again.
He listened in total silence, never interrupting, never questioning. His head bobbed slightly as he digested each phrase, each detail. His fingers twitched at his side, mapping the information with invisible ink across his mental battlefield. After almost two minutes of silent transmission, he took a deep breath and turned to the group.
"They're holed up about seventy meters ahead. There's a choke point—natural bottleneck where the tunnel narrows. It opens into a circular chamber with hanging stalactites."
He gestured with his hand, drawing a map in the air.
"Inside, there are at least twenty-five goblins immediately visible. Most are armed with stone blades, spears, crude armor. Five are larger—likely elites. There's a single shaman-type at the back, surrounded by crude runes and skulls. It's chanting something—likely a buffing ritual or summoning."
Klee's eyes widened. "Summoning?"
"Possible. There's also movement behind the walls. Could be tunnels—my clone couldn't get close without risking detection."
Lina narrowed her eyes. "So they've fortified it."
"Exactly," Shiro nodded.
Ron smirked. "Sounds like a party."
But Shiro raised a hand.
"My clone also saw something else. They're feeding on something. Not just animals. Human limbs. Hero gear, cracked visors, bent swords. There was a patch with the 'A' rank symbol on it—half burned."
The mood shifted.
Elius finally opened his eyes fully.
"So they've killed others."
Shiro nodded. "And they're guarding the corpse pile like treasure. Maybe storing energy for some ritual."
Elius closed his eyes again, as if processing every moving piece on the board.
Then Shiro stepped forward.
"I can send my clone back. It can sneak behind the front lines, drag out one or two at a time, and we ambush them in waves."
Ron grinned. "Divide and kill. I like it."
Klee nodded. "I can support from the back. Heal and buff."
Lina floated a few inches higher. "I'll handle sneak attacks. I can phase through their flank."
Shiro summoned another clone, this one more opaque than before. Its blades glinted faintly.
He looked at Elius.
"Leader?"
Elius raised a hand and pointed forward.