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his
search. He wasn’t sure how long he had sat during his search but
when he finally opened his eyes, his stomach was grumbling loudly.
He hadn’t been able to find anything but he still had hope there
had to be more than one way into the underground network of tunnels
and caverns. It just didn’t make sense for there not to
be.
    After a quick meal, Thad began working
on different rings and other items that might come in handy in his
trek through the tunnels. The biggest problem he had was a lack of
distance weapons. He didn’t have a bow or the skill to use one. He
needed something that would allow him to take out his enemies from
a distance without the use of his magic. All too often his magic
caused unexpected consequences within the confined
spaces.
    Growing up, he enjoyed the stories
where the young hero chased away the beast with his sling. Thad’s
first few attempts at making a magic long range weapon failed
miserably, mainly due to the fact that the exposed crystal sooner
or later would connect with a hard surface and explode. After many
tries he found a solution to his problem. If he enfolded the
crystal completely in an inch layer of metal it allowed the slug to
fly without fear of breaking the core. There was still a chance of
damaging the body of the enchantment so he added another small
layer of strengthened metal over the first.
    The enchantment was fairly simple, when
triggered it just told the slug to fly straight with incredible
speed in the direction of its current momentum. It was strong
enough that when shot at a wall, it would imbed itself over an inch
deep in the hard surface. The only problem Thad could see was
finding all the slugs after they were used. While a good idea here
in the confines of the caves, in an open space they would travel
extreme distances before stopping. To rectify these problems, he
put a limit on the distance the slug could travel before the force
on the slug changed forcing it to the ground. Then he linked the
slugs to a ring that would bring them back to his hand. The ring
wasn’t perfect and could only be used ten times before it was
exhausted, but it was better than having to make new slugs every
time he fired one off.
    He made three pouches of ten slugs,
each one with a ring. He doubted he would need more than that, but
if so he still had his magic as well as his sword for up close and
personal work.
    Feeling warm from his accomplishments
so far, now all he needed was to make the normal items. A few
shield rings, paralyzing rings, and a few more lightning devices so
he could save his energy while traveling. Thad knew it would take a
lot of work to make enough rings to allow him to travel for long
periods of time without running out when the best rings only lasted
six hours and took three days to recharge.
    Grateful that boredom was not a
problem. Thad had other ideas as well he wanted to try. First was
the possibility of an enchantment that would allow him to stay
clean. No one else was here to smell him, but the scent coming from
his own body made it hard to sleep. He had tried to wash off in the
small pool, and while it took off the worst of the grime and smell,
without any soap it was a temporary fix at best.

CHAPTER III
    Thad lounged back in his stone chair
covered in giant lizard skins talking to himself. He had long since
lost track of how long he had been holed up in the cavern. It had
proved a far better living space than he could have imagined when
he discovered a large group of lizards that lived down one of the
tunnels. They were easy to kill and offered littletor no physical
threat. They were slightly larger than a human on all fours and
were slow spending most of their time eating the small bugs that
crawled all over the underground tunnels.
    After watching the creatures for a span
of days Thad learned they were the main source of food for the
goblins that must have their main lair nearby. He was careful when
he went out to make sure he never encountered