Max, Hizon, and Quin were the only ones to remain inside the observation area. Checking the time, the first wave would begin in just a few minutes.
Half of the wagons had been dismantled already while the remaining ones were pushed as close together as possible to make a temporary fortification. The 3 remaining wagons acted as a buffer, blocking the merchants from the outside world.
Several adventures had cut down trees and dragged them over to the makeshift camp while others had dug trenches and piled the dirt behind it. This way, when the goblins charged the group, they would have to go through the trench and then over the pile of dirt.
Max considered it an interesting idea and wondered how it would work out once it was truly tested in battle.
While construction isn't possible for these laymen within in the 2-hour time limit. Several haphazard barricades had been built from the felled trees and dismantled wagons.
The adventures intentionally chose not to create a wall but sporadic barriers. This way the goblins would be funneled into certain gaps, and it should help the group not to be overwhelmed by numbers. That is the hope at least. And even if the goblins chose to go over the barricades instead of around, the increased elevation would make them prime targets for the ranged adventures to attack.
[Wave 1 begins in 5 minutes]
[Enemies: 100 goblins]
The dungeon core broadcasted a message to everyone inside this event dungeon.
Hizon suddenly looked at Max.
"What is this?" The Hobgoblin asked, slightly annoyed but doing his best not to direct it towards his new boss.
"Just a heads up to the players. They will get a warning 5 minutes before each wave."
"I have no problem with that, but how am I supposed to ambush them when the third wave comes? Are you planning on letting the adventures know that the third waves has 300 goblins and 30 hobgoblins?"
"Actually, no, I plan on surprising the adventures, they will know about the goblins but not the hobgoblins. But I will make a slight tweak in the instructions you gave the hobgoblins though." Max held up a hand to interrupt Hizon's protest before the man/hobgoblin could even start. "The instructions I sent them through the dungeon core are to retreat if the adventures defeat every goblin that is part of the third wave."
Although Quin hadn't known Max for very long, he was already starting to anticipate his boss's development direction.
The swordman spoke up, trying to sound out the Dungeon Master. "Let me guess. The hobgoblins that retreat will show back up later. Sort of like the fairies in the first level of the dungeon. if you don't deal with them at the beginning, they will come back later and make things even worse."
"Exactly." Max said with a nod. "Say the adventures only kill 10 hobgoblins before the normal goblins are killed. That means 20 hobgoblins will pull back and join the next group of hobgoblins in later waves, making there numbers much larger than they should be."
Now Hizon was smiling. "Ah, that is devious. But right now, I only have 30 hobgoblins in total. I spent most of my Dungeon Point on upgrading goblins and converting them to eternal souls."
"The Golden Axe Guild should spend enough time in here today that you can afford a few more and also convert some of your goblins to eternal souls." Max chimed in.
Their conversation was interrupted as the first wave began. Outside the valley 100 hundred goblins ran towards the makeshift camp.
These goblins held broken stones as daggers and tree branches as clubs. The dirty scarps of clothes they wore didn't even count as armor.
With no organization or internal cooperation, the goblins charged the camp. The barricades in front did their job perfectly. The 100 little green menaces were no longer charging like a wall of flesh and had been diverted into different streams as they bunched up to pass the barricades.
Every ranged adventure unleashed their attacks into the crowds along with the mages.
Hizon was getting frustrated with how quickly his goblins were falling. Out of the 100 that charged the camp only 10 made it to the trenches and then climbed up the other side. When the 10 goblins pulled themselves up from the trench and climbed the piles of dirt they came face to face with the melee adventures. They were cut down without any hesitation.
[Wave 1 complete]
[Wave 2 begins in 00:59:59]
Quin noticed that the hobgoblin was all but stomping his foot in anger. The fellow looked like he wanted to curse and scream.
The swordsman offered his opinion. "There is no reason to get upset. The Golden Axe guild made quite a few mistakes. Your first wave was done perfectly in my opinion and based on what I saw, your goblins should overrun this group before the second day."
This caused Hizon to stop his angry muttering. From his perspective the goblins were effortlessly slaughtered. He motioned for Quin to explain.
The swordsman motioned to the adventures that were now picking up arrows from the ground since the goblins' bodies disappeared after the wave was cleared.
"Look at how many arrows were broken an unable to be retrieved."
Hizon saw those who were cleaning up the battlefield were sorting arrows into two piles, broken and non.
Quin continued. "It looks like at least 50 or 60 arrows were broken out of the over 200 that were shot. These are the easiest and most basic goblins. And don't forget, the adventures can't get more supplies until after the dungeon challenge. By the time your strong goblins with armor and real weapons show up, will the archer still even have arrows to fire?"
"Ah!" The hobgoblins' eyes lit up. "Yes, yes, silly adventures, keep wasting your supplies early."
Max rolled his eyes but kept watching as several adventures quickly cut down more trees to build larger barricades along the road that led to the makeshift camp.
Seeing this, all 3 shared a smile.
He, he, the adventures were sure in for a surprise this next round.
Matthew had taken command surprisingly well. His people were working quickly and efficiently. The trench line that had been set up was dug out wider and a bit deeper.
[Wave 2 begins in 5 minutes]
[Enemies: 200 goblins]
Within a few minutes, a second stream of goblins came rushing towards the camp. The defenders quickly took their position while making sure the merchants were protected. The archers and mages readied themselves for some action.
Matthew was momentarily confused before he started cursing.
The group rushing down the road and charging at them was only half the size of the last group. 50 goblins charged down the road, but the others…
The others burst from the forest on both sides.
"Protect the sides!" Matthew yelled out. "Quickly reposition." He hollered while taking up his spear and skewering a goblin who came from their undefended backside.
Hizon let out a laugh while the guild below panicked and tried to adjust. It was an absolute chaotic mess. But with this being the second wave, the goblins were still unarmored, and their weapons were still fairly crude.
The weaponry of the second round was more advanced, but it was still limited to stone and wood, no metal was involved.
Matthew took down another 2 goblins who were wielding makeshift spears. Unlike his spear that was made for a large man, these goblin spears were more like small javelins when they fell into his hands.
The guild leader had no issue throwing them into the goblins who were charging his camp.
[Wave 2 complete]
[Wave 3 begins in 00:59:59]
Although the Golden Axe Guild was caught off guard, they managed to make it through the wave without anyone dying. But they were no longer unscathed like the first round. 2 adventures had broken bones, and a few others needed dedicated healing if they wanted to give their all in the next wave, but Matthew didn't know if an hour was enough time to heal them.
Quin ended up being correct, the Golden Axe Guild was wiped out before they could make it to the second day. In the third wave they lost 4 people when the hobgoblin ambush sprung. In the fifth wave they lost more than half the people who remained. After that it was straight downhill. They couldn't fend off the sixth wave.
The group managed to last 12 hours and 37 minutes. For now, that was the current high score.