The first wave of goblins crashed against their line like a tide of green muscle and crude weapons.

  Layla met them head-on, her greatsword carving wide arcs that kept three or four at bay at once.

  Jax darted in and out of the gaps in their formation, his twin daggers finding joints in their makeshift armor.

  Marc provided covering fire with precise bolts of lightning that stunned the more organized groups.

  Behind them, Eli cast targeted gusts of wind that knocked back any that broke through.

  Magi stood behind them all, watching.

  "There's too many!" Marc shouted, sweat already beading on his forehead as he chain-cast lightning bolts. "We need to find a weak point in their formation!"

  But there was no weak point to be found. The goblins kept coming in waves, each more organized than the last.

  For every one that fell, two more scrambled forward to take its place. The team was holding, but barely.

  Fifteen minutes remained until the Rift shift.

  Layla's swings grew heavier, more labored. Her initial burst of strength was fading as muscle fatigue set in. She compensated by putting more weight behind each strike, but that only accelerated her exhaustion.

  "Getting tired here!" she called out, her voice strained.

  A goblin elite slipped past her guard and slashed at her leg. The armor held, but the impact staggered her.

  Jax was faster but suffering worse. His style relied on quick movements and precision strikes. As his muscles tired, his timing slipped. A goblin club caught him in the ribs, and though he killed its owner immediately after, the damage was done.

  "Can't keep this pace," he gasped, falling back behind Layla to catch his breath.

  Eli's face had gone pale. She leaned against the wall, one hand extended as she cast, the other clutching her staff for support.

  "Mana reserves at thirty percent," she reported flatly. "Will be unable to maintain defensive support in approximately four minutes."

  Marc glanced back at Magi with a look of grim resignation. "Sorry we got you into this. If you see an opening to run, take it."

  Magi tilted his head slightly. Running wouldn't help.

  The blockage behind them was complete, and even if they somehow broke through, the goblins would pursue them through the tunnels.

  Besides, if they all died, he wouldn't get paid.

  That was inconvenient.

  He stepped forward, eyes scanning the battlefield with detached analysis.

  Layla was their main damage output, but her effectiveness dropped with each swing. Jax could take down targets quickly if he wasn't busy trying to catch his breath. Eli's wind control was crucial for keeping the goblins from surrounding them. Marc was coordinating while also trying to cover too many angles with his lightning.

  The goblins weren't winning through strength or strategy. They were winning through numbers.

  Magi moved through the chaos, dodging past a goblin that lunged at him. He reached Jax, who was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily.

  "You're injured," Magi observed.

  Jax grimaced. "No shit. Just need a second."

  Magi placed his hand on Jax's shoulder. "Basic Heal."

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  There was no golden glow. No light show. No visible indication that anything had happened at all.

  But Jax's eyes widened. He straightened up, his breathing immediately evening out. The pain in his side vanished. The burning fatigue in his muscles disappeared completely. His hands, which had been shaking slightly from exertion, steadied.

  "What the hell was that?" Jax stared at Magi.

  "Healing," Magi answered simply.

  "No, I know healing. That was—" Jax stopped, rolling his shoulders experimentally. “I feel like… I just slept for eight hours and had a hot meal while rain hit the windows While—.”

  "Forget that hot meal." He tapped Jax shoulder. "Now, go help Layla."

  Jax hesitated for only a second before darting back into the fray. His movements were crisp again, his timing perfect.

  He slipped between two goblin elites and buried his daggers in the back of a third that had been pressing Layla hard.

  Magi moved to Eli next. She didn't even notice him approach, her focus entirely on maintaining her wind barrier.

  "You're exhausted," he said.

  She jumped slightly at his voice. "Thanks for the update, Captain Obvious. I'll run out of mana soon. Then we all die." Her bluntness was refreshing.

  Magi touched her arm. "Basic Heal."

  Again, there was nothing visibly dramatic. No sparkling restoration effect.

  Eli's shoulders straightened, and the color returned to her face. She blinked rapidly as if clearing her vision.

  "My mana replenished by approximately sixty-five percent," she said, wonder creeping into her matter-of-fact tone. "How did you—"

  "Ssh. Just keep casting," Magi interrupted, already moving toward Marc.

  Marc had noticed the sudden improvement in Jax and Eli and was staring at Magi with dawning realization as he approached.

  "You're not just a porter," he accused between lightning strikes.

  "I carry those bags," Magi replied. He touched Marc's shoulder. "Basic Heal."

  Marc's fatigue vanished, and his next lightning bolt struck with renewed precision, catching three goblins in a chain that dropped them instantly.

  Finally, Magi reached Layla, who was surrounded by the bodies of fallen goblins but clearly flagging. Her greatsword, which she had swung so effortlessly earlier, now looked to be made of lead in her hands.

  "Move," she growled at him. "Trying to fight here."

  Magi touched her back. "Basic Heal."

  The effect was immediate and dramatic.

  Layla's next swing, which had been slow and heavy, suddenly cut through the air with such speed that the goblin she struck had no time to raise its shield.

  The creature flew backward, knocking down two others behind it.

  "What—" Layla stared at her hands, then at Magi. "What did you do?"

  "Basic healing," Magi said again.

  The team's entire dynamic changed in an instant. Where they had been on the defensive, barely holding their ground, now they began to push back.

  Jax moved at speeds that seemed impossible, darting between enemies faster than the goblins could track. He slashed through a group of five in the time it would have taken to fight one before.

  "Is this a berserk buff?" he shouted, laughing as he spun through another cluster. "Because I am feeling it!"

  Layla swung her greatsword with renewed vigor, each strike cleaving through multiple opponents. "Whatever it is, don't stop!"

  Eli's wind barriers grew stronger, more precise, funneling the goblins into killing zones where Marc's lightning struck them down in groups. The tide of battle had turned completely.

  Ten minutes remained until the Rift shift.

  The goblin elites, sensing the change, began to fall back toward the central structure. Jax pursued them, cutting down stragglers with almost casual ease.

  "Don't get separated!" Marc called after him. "We still need to clear that blockage!"

  Magi moved between the team members, touching each one when he noticed the slightest sign of fatigue.

  Each time, his Basic Heal instantly restored them to peak condition. No mana potions, no recovery time, no cooldown. Just reset and continue.

  "We're actually going to make it," Marc said, his voice filled with disbelief as the goblin forces dwindled.

  But as the last of the regular forces retreated, a low rumble echoed through the chamber.

  The central structure began to shift, stones grinding against each other as something massive rose from within.

  A creature pulled itself up and out of the structure around the Rift core. It stood nearly four meters tall, its body formed of rough stone and crystal, with pulsing veins of blue energy that matched the core itself.

  Two massive arms ended in boulder-like fists, and a featureless head swiveled toward them, a single crack serving as what might have been an eye.

  "Rock Golem," Marc whispered. "That's not possible in a D-rank Rift."

  Jax, still riding the high of Magi's healing, charged forward. "I'll take it down!"

  His daggers struck the golem's leg with expert precision, and it shattered on impact. The golem didn't even seem to notice the attack. It swung one massive arm, barely missing Jax as he dove away.

  "That's quite cool." Layla stepped up next, her greatsword held high. "Now. My turn!"

  She brought the weapon down with all her strength on the golem's arm. The blade bit into the stone surface, but then stopped, stuck.

  The golem flexed, and Layla's greatsword snapped in half.

  She stumbled backward, staring at the broken weapon in her hands. "That's not—my sword is A-grade material!"

  The golem advanced toward them, each step shaking the ground. Physical attacks bounced off its rocky hide without effect.

  Behind them, the collapsed tunnel remained impenetrable. Above them, the chamber ceiling was too high to reach.

  Eight minutes remained until the Rift shift.

  Marc looked at Magi, his expression grim. "I don't suppose your healing can fix broken weapons too?"

  Magi shook his head.

  The golem took another step forward, raising both massive fists.

  This was becoming very inconvenient.