Civilization

I glance at the ring and kept following the river making sure to observe the surroundings. The goblins in the front had their shields already raised and their knives in their hands. Focusing on the front, they move forward leading the slow charge. Glancing left and right were the spearmen goblins. Following my orders to a T, they make sure to check every potential hiding spot with their spears before telling the shield bearers to move forward. 

I was surprised by their coordination and when I asked them how come they were so coordinated they replied that Gobi had helped them.

"Leader Ian, Boss Gobi had told us before we left to make sure you are well protected. Our actions were taught to us the night before. Shield bearers look front, spearmen left and right and finally archers oversee the whole situation in case one of us misses something. Always attack first even if there is nothing there as a precaution."

"Leader Ian? Boss Gobi? What…?"

"Yes, we were told by Boss Gobi to call you Leader Ian."

"I see...Wait until I get back Gobi, I'm going to have to talk to you about this."

As we move forward, the arrow slowly vers to the left. Noticing it's movements I stop everyone and observe the ring and the surroundings a bit more. 

In front of us is another bend in the canyon, the river flows to the left and around the corner. From our current location, the arrow has moved from 12 o'clock to 11 o'clock meaning that there is a chance the deposit is in the canyon wall or it's behind the corner and further away.

"Everyone, stay alert. We are going around the corner now."

I hold the shield in front of me and grip the middle of my spear tightly as I nod to the rest of the goblins to move forward. We slowly approach the corner and I quickly glance at the ring and see that the arrow has moved to 8 o'clock position. Behind us, around the corner many possible places for tin deposits and while it could be underground I was still afraid of uncertainties, especially in a different environment.

The front goblins turn the corner followed by the spearmen, me and then the archers. Just another carved-out path in the canyon. I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed my shoulders. I notice the only difference in the environment was that the river have gotten more aggressive and that there were some overhangs along the walls. 

The canyon was in a slight downward slope with various overhanging ridges in the wall creating long shadows across the canyon floor. The river had multiple protruding rocks in it creating small whirlpool-like pockets behind them. At the same time, the once calm aquamarine river slowly transitions into a choppy white stream as the water crashes into the rocks flowing downwards. The river tumbles and crashes into each other escaping down the canyon, disappearing through a tight passageway with no land to stand on. 

I look at the ring and notice that the arrow is pointing to the other side of the river. Looking at how dangerous the river might be, I decided to move upstream before crossing. Undercurrents could potentially sweep all of us as we move through the river so the further away we cross the better. I turn around ready to move upstream when one of the front goblins yelled at all of us.

"ENEMIES AHEAD!"

I snap my body forward and crouch down slightly making sure to cover as much of my body with the shield. 

"ON THE LEDGE ABOVE US, ACROSS THE RIVER!"

An arrow lands on my shield, creating small sparks on it before bouncing off. 

"Shit! Shields up! Archers peek over the shield and fire at your own will."

Unable to see the situation clearly I could only rely on the goblins to complete the task. All the goblins with shields came close to each other in order to reduce the number of gaps. I could hear the constant rain of arrows hitting our shields, some narrowly missing their targets and our only response to it was defense. Luckily for us, I made sure that not only the front line had shields but also the spearmen. With 7 shields all together we were able to protect ourselves from the initial wave of arrows.

Noticing the opportunity to counterattack, one of the goblin archers peek out with their arrow already nocked aiming at the potential location of our enemies. 

"There is no one there!"

"What?!"

I bring down my shield and peek my eyes over and as the archer goblin had just said I saw no one as well. Carefully, I look across the many overhangs making sure to not miss a signal detail but there was no one there. Not a trace of an enemy.

"Walk back. Keep the shields up and ears open. Anything strange then say something immediately. Archers under the shields."

We readopted our defensive formation and carefully walk backward. I make sure to observe behind us in case there are enemies that snuck around. 

My heart pounds against my chest as we slowly retreat. Unsure of our enemies and where they might be and the frustration of not reaching our goal despite being so close were all on my mind.

I did not have any of my stronger NPCs and while the goblins were cooperating well their stats are still lower than that of other monsters or NPCs. At the same time, I did not want them to die so I could only make the decision to retreat. 

After walking back halfway towards the copper mine there was a second round of arrows. Above us again, but this time various rocks were thrown in the mix. Our shields rattle under the beating but due to its high defense, the shields were still okay.

I peek over again to try and get a glimpse of our enemies and I could see that were not on an overhang but all the way at the top of the canyon looking down on us. With how far away they are I could not see their faces but I could make out their figures. 

10 skinny, human-like figures with bows and rocks on their hands firing at us from above. Were they NPCs or players?

From this distance, I could not tell but since our shields were not giving way the second round of attacks slowly stopped. The figure disappeared and the sun slowly gets closer to the peak. The game was ending soon.. I hurried the goblins to run towards the copper mine and position inside with the same formation right before I had to return to the real world.