Dawn came with a chill that hadn't been present the previous morning. Arin flowed from Marta's cellar to find frost coating the windows and his breath, or what would have been breath if he had lungs, forming small wisps of condensation in the cold air. Winter was approaching faster than he'd realized.

  The party gathered at the north gate just as the sun cleared the horizon. Torvin was already there, his armor gleaming from fresh polish and his warhammer resting against his shoulder. Essa arrived moments later with a pack that looked heavier than usual, probably filled with healing supplies given her cautious nature. Kelsa showed up last, yawning but alert, her sword freshly sharpened based on the way light caught its edge.

  "Everyone ready?" Kelsa asked, scanning her party members. "Good. The mill's about an hour northeast, just off the main road. According to the contract posting, the sounds began three weeks ago and have been increasing in volume each night. Local farmers are scared enough that they're avoiding the area entirely."

  "Smart farmers," Torvin muttered. "Nothing good comes from abandoned mills that suddenly start making noise."

  They set out at a steady pace, following the main road for the first half hour before turning onto a smaller path that wound through farmland. The fields here looked well-tended but empty of workers despite the early hour, suggesting the farmers' fear was genuine enough to keep them from their morning tasks.

  Arin ranged ahead as usual, scanning for threats while the party maintained formation behind him. The morning was quiet, except for the sounds of bird calls and the rustling of wind through the dying grass. Normal sounds that made the approaching mill feel even more ominous by contrast.

  The mill came into view as they crested a small rise. It was larger than Arin had expected, a three-story stone structure with a massive water wheel attached to its side. The wheel sat motionless despite the stream that still flowed beneath it, and several windows on the upper floors gaped open like empty eye sockets. Moss covered much of the stone, and part of the roof had collapsed inward, leaving exposed beams jutting at odd angles.

  "That's seen better days," Essa said quietly as they approached. "How long has it been abandoned?"

  "According to the posting, about five years," Kelsa replied. "Owner died, no heirs wanted to take it over, so it's just been sitting here slowly falling apart."

  S T O P, Arin formed on the ground. L E T M E S C O U T F I R S T

  "Good idea. Everyone hold position here while Arin checks it out. Defensive formation, watch our backs in case something tries to flank us."

  Arin activated Stealth and flowed toward the mill, becoming nearly invisible as he approached the structure. His 360° vision swept across every surface, looking for signs of habitation or danger. The ground around the building showed numerous tracks, but they were unusual. Not quite human, not quite animal, something in between that made his core pulse with unease.

  [-3 Essence per minute]

  The mill's main entrance stood partially open, the wooden door hanging at an angle from a broken hinge. Arin slipped through the gap and found himself in what must have been the main grinding room. Stone grinding wheels dominated the space, covered in dust and cobwebs. Sacks of grain, long since rotted and moldy, lay scattered across the floor. The smell was overwhelming, a mix of decay and mildew that would have made him gag if he had a throat.

  But there was something else beneath the rot, a sharper scent that reminded him of the kobolds he'd fought at the woodcutter camp. Reptilian musk mixed with something acrid and chemical.

  Movement on the second floor caught his attention, a shadow shifting behind a broken railing. Arin flowed up the wall silently, using his gelatinous nature to climb surfaces no human scout could manage. The second floor was more of the same, rotted equipment and collapsed sections of flooring, but here the tracks were clearer. Something had been living here, and it had been recently.

  The grinding sound started without warning, making Arin's core pulse with alarm. It came from below, from the grinding room he'd just left, a slow mechanical scraping like stone on stone. But the water wheel wasn't turning and there was no power source he could see. How was anything moving?

  He descended back to the first floor and immediately found the source of the sound. One of the massive grinding wheels was rotating slowly, turned by something underneath the floor. Arin could see shapes moving in the shadows beneath the floorboards, multiple creatures working together to push some kind of mechanism.

  Then he heard the crying, a sound that made every instinct scream danger even though it sounded like a child in distress. It came from deeper in the mill, from a back room he hadn't explored yet.

  Arin returned to the party quickly and deactivated Stealth, his essence reserves already feeling the drain. He needed to report what he'd found before investigating further.

  The party was exactly where he'd left them, maintaining their defensive positions. Kelsa saw him approaching and lowered her sword slightly.

  "Report?"

  S O M E T H I N G L I V I N G I N M I L M U L T I P L E C R E A T U R E S S M E L L I K E K O B O L D S B U T D I F F E R E N T

  "Kobolds?" Torvin's expression darkened. "In a mill? That's not normal behavior for them. They prefer caves and ruins."

  G R I N D I N G S O U N D I S R E A L T H E Y T U R N W H E E L F R O M B E L O W F L O O R A L S O H E A R D C R Y I N G

  "Crying?" Essa's face went pale. "Like a child crying? That's... that's not good. Some creatures mimic human sounds to lure prey."

  "Or there could actually be a child in there," Kelsa pointed out, though her expression suggested she doubted it. "Either way, we need to investigate. Formation Alpha, stay tight. Arin, you lead but don't engage unless necessary. We go in, assess the situation, and then decide our next move."

  The party approached the mill cautiously with weapons drawn. Arin led them through the broken entrance and into the grinding room, where the stone wheel continued its slow rotation. Up close, the grinding sound was louder and more unsettling, accompanied by chittering voices from beneath the floorboards.

  "Those are definitely kobolds," Torvin whispered. "I'd recognize that sound anywhere. But why are they turning a grinding wheel?"

  The crying sound came again, more urgent now, from the back room. Essa started toward it instinctively, but Kelsa grabbed her arm.

  "Wait. Something's wrong here. That sounds too perfect, too regular. It's not varying like real crying would."

  As if in response to her words, the crying stopped abruptly. Then the grinding wheel stopped. The chittering beneath the floor grew louder, more excited, and Arin realized with sudden clarity what was happening.

  I T S A T R A P T H E Y U S E S O U N D S T O L U R E P R E Y

  "Fall back!" Kelsa shouted, but it was too late.

  The floorboards exploded upward in a shower of splinters and dust. Kobolds poured through the gaps, at least a dozen of them, wielding crude weapons and shrieking their battle cries. But these weren't normal kobolds; they were larger, better organized, and several wore crude armor made from mill parts.

  [Kobold Warrior - Level 5]

  [Kobold Warrior - Level 5]

  [Kobold Scout - Level 4]

  [Kobold Scout - Level 4]

  [Kobold Shaman - Level 6]

  [Kobold Shaman - Level 6]

  [Kobold Chieftain - Level 8]

  And more, at least six regular warriors below Level 5. This wasn't a small group, this was a full war band with two shamans and a chieftain leading them. The party was outnumbered three to one.

  "Defensive circle!" Kelsa commanded. "Torvin center, Essa behind him, I'll take the right flank! Arin, hit them from the sides and thin their numbers!"

  The battle erupted with chaotic violence. Torvin slammed his shield into the ground and became an immovable anchor, his warhammer swinging in devastating arcs that sent kobolds flying. Kelsa's sword work was a blur of defensive strikes, keeping multiple attackers at bay without letting any through to Essa.

  The cleric was already casting, her holy symbol blazing with golden light. One of the shamans shrieked as divine radiance burned into it, disrupting the spell it had been preparing. But the second shaman completed its casting, and a bolt of sickly green energy shot toward Torvin.

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  The dwarf's shield took most of the impact, but Arin saw him stagger and knew the magic had hurt him despite the protection. The chieftain hung back, directing its forces with surprising intelligence, sending waves of warriors to test the party's defenses while keeping the scouts in reserve for flanking opportunities.

  Arin activated Stealth again, ignoring the essence drain, and flowed around the edge of combat. Two kobold scouts were circling toward Essa's position, just as he'd predicted. He intercepted them before they could strike, using Charge to slam into the first one with enough force to crush bones.

  [-5 Essence]

  [+12 Mass]

  [+9 Essence]

  The second scout saw him and tried to flee, but Arin was faster. He caught it mid-stride, his acidic nature burning through scales and flesh.

  [+11 Mass]

  [+8 Essence]

  In the main fighting area, the situation was deteriorating. Torvin had taken multiple wounds despite Essa's healing, and blood ran down his arm from a spear thrust that had found a gap in his armor. Kelsa was bleeding from a cut across her cheek, and her movements were starting to slow from exhaustion.

  The kobold chieftain finally entered the fight, wielding a sword that looked almost human-made and far too well-maintained for a kobold weapon. It went straight for Kelsa, recognizing her as the strategic leader for the party.

  Arin saw the danger immediately. If the chieftain took down Kelsa, the party's coordination would collapse and they'd be overwhelmed. He deactivated Stealth and used Charge again, crossing the battlefield in a burst of speed to intercept the chieftain's attack.

  [-5 Essence]

  He slammed into the chieftain's side just as its sword descended toward Kelsa's neck. The impact sent both Arin and the chieftain tumbling across the floor in a tangle. The kobold was strong, stronger than any kobold Arin had fought before, and it recovered with frightening speed.

  The chieftain's sword came down, and Arin couldn't dodge completely. The blade passed through his gelatinous form, dispersing a significant portion of his mass but not stopping him. He wrapped around the chieftain's sword arm, his acidic nature burning into scales and muscle.

  [-15 Mass]

  The chieftain shrieked and tried to pull away, but Arin held on with desperate strength. He could feel himself losing cohesion from the damage, his mass spreading too thin, but if he let go now the chieftain would kill Kelsa or Essa and the party would fall.

  "Arin, hold it!" Kelsa's voice cut through the chaos. "Just a few more seconds!"

  Torvin's warhammer came down like divine judgment, catching the chieftain in the chest with a sickening crunch. The kobold's scream cut off abruptly as its ribcage collapsed. Arin released his grip and flowed away as the creature fell, already dead before it hit the ground.

  Without their leader, the remaining kobolds' organization collapsed. The shamans tried to rally them, but Essa's holy magic burned through one while Kelsa cut down the other. The surviving warriors broke and ran, fleeing through the broken entrance and into the forest beyond.

  Silence fell over the mill, broken only by heavy breathing and the drip of blood on stone.

  "Everyone alive?" Kelsa asked, her voice strained. Blood still ran down her face from the cut, and she was favoring her left leg.

  "Aye, barely," Torvin panted. His armor was dented in three places, and the wound on his arm was still bleeding despite Essa's earlier healing. "That was too close. We were almost overwhelmed."

  "Arin saved us," Essa said quietly, moving to heal Torvin's arm properly now that the fighting had stopped. "If he hadn't stopped that chieftain, it would have killed me or Kelsa."

  The healing light from her hands was warm and soothing, and Arin watched with fascination as the wound on Torvin's arm slowly closed. Magic always amazed him, the way it could mend flesh and bone so quickly.

  W A S T H E R E A C T U A L C H I L D O R J U S T T R A P

  "Good question," Kelsa said. She limped toward the back room where the crying sound had come from, her sword still ready. Arin and Torvin followed while Essa stayed behind to tend to her own minor wounds.

  The back room was small and dark, lit only by light filtering through cracks in the walls. A crude wooden cage sat in the corner, and inside it was the source of the crying sound. A mechanical device cobbled together from mill parts and scavenged materials, designed to produce sounds that mimicked human distress.

  "Clever bastards," Torvin muttered. "They set up the whole thing as a trap. Turn the grinding wheel to attract attention with the noise, then use the crying sounds to lure people inside where they could ambush them."

  "Why though?" Kelsa wondered. "Kobolds usually stick to raiding, not elaborate traps. This required planning and intelligence beyond what they normally show."

  Arin had been thinking the same thing. The trap was sophisticated, suggesting someone had trained these kobolds or given them instructions. But who, and why target a random abandoned mill?

  T H E R E M A Y B E M O R E, Arin formed. S H O U L D S E A R C H R E S T O F B U I L D I N G

  "Agreed. Everyone stay together, though. I don't want any more surprises."

  They searched the rest of the mill methodically, checking every room and corner. The upper floors revealed more evidence of kobold habitation, including sleeping nests, food stores, and several piles of scavenged goods. But they also found something more disturbing.

  In the top floor, partially hidden under a tattered cloth, was a collection of weapons and armor. Human weapons and armor, far better quality than anything kobolds should have. Swords, spears, shields, all marked with what looked like military insignia.

  "These are from the Greengate garrison," Kelsa said, her voice tight with concern. "Or they were. These markings are from the town guard. Where did kobolds get guard equipment?"

  The implications were dark and troubling. Either the kobolds had killed guards and taken their equipment, which would have caused an uproar in Greengate, or someone was supplying them. Neither option was good.

  "We need to report this to Master Torven immediately," Kelsa decided. "This is bigger than just a mill investigation. Someone's arming kobolds with military-grade equipment, and that's a serious threat."

  They gathered everything they could carry as evidence, including several weapons and pieces of armor. Torvin also found a small chest hidden in one of the nests, filled with coins that had clearly been stolen from travelers or raids. The party split the coins according to standard procedure, setting aside the guild's percentage.

  As they prepared to leave, Arin took one last look around the mill. The building had been a trap, yes, but it had also been a home of sorts for the kobold war band. They'd turned the grinding wheel, created their lure, and waited patiently for prey to come to them. It showed intelligence and planning that made them far more dangerous than typical monsters.

  The journey back to Greengate was slower than the approach had been. Everyone had a few injuries, even after they had healed, and their exhaustion grew faster from the burdens they carried. Torvin's arm, despite Essa's healing, was still tender enough that he couldn't carry his full gear. Kelsa's leg wound meant she needed to rest every half hour. Arin had recovered most of his lost mass by absorbing the kobolds, but his essence was dangerously low from the repeated use of Stealth and Charge.

  They reached Greengate by midafternoon and went straight to the guild hall. Master Torven listened to their report with growing concern, his expression darkening as Kelsa described the military equipment they'd found.

  "This is a serious matter," he said finally. "I'll need to speak with Captain Thorne immediately. The idea of someone arming kobolds with guard equipment is troubling on multiple levels." He made notes in his ledger. "As for the contract, it's completed. Four gold to your party, plus the standard division of salvage coins. Well done on surviving what should have been a routine investigation."

  After collecting their payment and turning over the evidence, the party retreated to their usual table in the main hall. Everyone was exhausted, moving with the careful deliberation of people whose bodies were reminding them of every injury they had sustained.

  "That was not a four-gold contract," Essa said, accepting a mug of water from the barkeeper. "That was easily eight or ten gold worth of danger. We were outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and almost died."

  "Aye, but we survived," Torvin pointed out. "And learned something important in the process. Those kobolds were organized to an extraordinary level. Someone trained them, equipped them, maybe even directed them."

  "The question is who," Kelsa said. "And why target an abandoned mill? What was the purpose of that trap?"

  Arin had been wondering the same thing. The trap seemed designed to kill adventurers or guards who investigated the strange sounds, but to what end? Was someone trying to weaken Greengate's defenses? Or were the kobolds simply gathering equipment, and the trap was a bonus?

  T O M O R O W I S G O B L I N O P E R A T I O N, Arin formed. T H I N K T H E Y A R E C O N N E C T E D

  "The kobolds and the goblins?" Kelsa considered it. "It's possible. Both seem more organized than they should be. If someone's coordinating monster attacks around Greengate, that's a much bigger problem than random raids."

  "We'll know more after tomorrow," Torvin said. "The goblin operation will involve multiple parties. If they're as organized as those kobolds were, we're in for a serious fight."

  The conversation turned to preparation and planning for the next day's operation. They discussed strategy, reviewed their equipment needs, and made sure everyone would be ready for what might be the biggest fight they'd faced as a party.

  By the time they dispersed for the evening, Arin was exhausted in ways he hadn't been since his early days in the forest. The fight at the mill had pushed him to his limits, forcing him to make choices between protecting his party members and preserving his own safety. He'd chosen his friends, as he always would, but the cost had been significant.

  When he reached Marta's house, he found Jorin waiting with concern evident on his young face.

  "You're hurt," the boy said immediately. "Your color is paler than usual, and you're moving slower."

  H A D H A R D F I G H T B U T W I L B E O K A Y

  "Do you need anything? Water? Food?" Jorin paused. "Can you even eat food?"

  N O B U T T H A N K Y U F O R A S K I N G J U S T N E E D R E S T

  Arin descended to the cellar and settled into his resting spot, feeling his consciousness already beginning to fade. His Status blinked at the edge of his awareness, and he activated it to check the damage.

  [Name: Arin]

  [Species: Adaptive Slime]

  [Level: 9]

  [Mass: 195% of base]

  [Essence: 34/180]

  His mass was still elevated from the absorbed kobolds, but his essence was critically low. The repeated use of Stealth and Charge, combined with the damage he'd taken from the chieftain's sword, had drained him significantly. He'd need to rest and recover before tomorrow's goblin operation, or he'd be a liability to the party.

  Sleep came quickly, pulling him down into darkness where consciousness faded and his body could focus on recovery. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, a major operation against organized goblin forces that might be connected to the kobold trap at the mill.

  But tonight, he could rest knowing he'd protected his party members and survived another test of his abilities. He was becoming stronger, more skilled, more capable with each contract. The journey toward Vyrdan and the answers he sought about Levi's death continued, one battle at a time.

  And he was ready for whatever came next.