The Systems Challenge

Jonas used the flat of his blades to block the goblin as it swung at him. He could tell by its movements alone that it was stronger and more dangerous than the regular goblins, but since it didn't have the size of the bugbears, he was confident that he'd at least be able to mange his defense. Maybe even long enough to get a strike or two in.

As he continued to parry the goblin's swings, he could tell that while it at first looked like it was swinging wildly at him, the goblin's swings were more measured and calculated. Which made Jonas wonder if the method was to get an opponent think they had the upper hand and to strike when they opponent thought they saw an opening.

So, when Jonas saw he first opportunity to try for a strike of his own, he let it pass by, winking at the goblin. He hoped the goblin understood what he tried to convey with that wink: that he recognized the opening and deliberately let it go by.

When he did the same for the next two openings, the goblin slowed its swings down noticeably. If it hadn't realized Jonas purposefully let the first opening go by, it had to at least suspect that's what Jonas was doing by now. He suspected that the chances were supposed to be too good to pass up and too obvious not to miss, yet Jonas had done at least one of those two things.

Yet, while Jonas had no intention of taking any of the openings he could see, just in case they were feints to lure him into giving an opening of his own, he knew that in a war of attrition, he was definitely going to lose. Which meant he had to get creative about how he handled this opponent. While he could use his crippling strike on one of the hands or forearms of the goblin, he would rather deal a much more decisive blow. One that should end this fight almost instantly.

The problem was, was that in order to do that, he'd likely have to take one of the openings offered to him, since he'd first have to get inside the goblin's guard. Yet, since he'd already decided to not do that, he had to figure out another way.

As the goblin continued swinging it's arms, using it's fingernail-like claws as blades, Jonas found himself slowly moving backwards. If he ran into something like a wall, he had a strong feeling that he'd be finished. What he needed was a way to attack in an unexpected way.

As he stumbled over something on the ground, what it was he couldn't say because he couldn't afford to take his focus off of this goblin, he realized if he attacked from the shadows, he might be able to strike this goblin before it even realized there was a threat.

So, he began to slowly melt into the shadows as he activated his skill, intrigued at the look of desperation that came over the goblin's face. Did this creature know about his skill? Jonas wondered as he continued to block the swings from the goblin with his daggers up to the point he fully entered the shadows.

Then while he wanted to immediately attack, he knew that this goblin wouldn't drop its guard so readily. As it is, he observed the goblin turn around completely a few times. It clearly expected to be attacked right away.

Jonas found himself amused by the vigilance, especially since he was waiting for the goblin to decide he'd retreated. Only then was he sure he'd be able to get a strike in at the goblin's heart. Or at least he hoped that's where the heart would be.

Despite them looking, in basic structure, like humans, he couldn't be sure that the organs were in the same locations. While it was likely, it was also possible that the heart was on the right side of the chest rather than the left. Where the rib cage was located at least indicated that there were vital organs there, so in the end, even if he didn't get the goblin's heart, if he got something just as vital, then he should be able to consider the blow a success.

In the end, Jonas couldn't say for sure how long it took for the goblin to wait for an attack that never came. Maybe being so overly cautious was how they stayed alive wherever it came from, so this was to be expected in this kind of situation.

Finally, when Jonas suspected that he was almost out of time with being in the shadows, the goblin seemed to be satisfied that there wasn't a threat around it immediately and turned to go back where it had been, not bothering with the battle that seemed to be going on nearby with the other goblins.

Jonas moved behind the goblin slowly and started to emerge from the shadows directly behind it, moving slowly, trying to be as calm about this as possible. Although, he found that especially difficult, since he'd never even tried to deliberately kill any creature before.

Maybe it was something that will get easier the longer he's in this competition, but he wasn't happy about it. He never wanted to be a killer, and even though it was in defense of the girls lying on the ground behind him, he found the act rather distasteful. Almost like he was lowering himself to the level of the goblin itself in order to eliminate the threat the goblin posed.

Then just before Jonas was ready to strike, the goblin suddenly turned around, swinging it's arm around, it's hand flat like it was trying a karate chop, but Jonas used the moment it took the goblin to turn during it's attack to use his Crippling Strike skill and stab upward with both of his daggers into its back, hoping to at least hit something that would end this quickly.

If this failed, he wasn't going to have time enough to drink the rest of the mana potion in order to go back in the shadows until he dealt with this goblin. Which, unless he dealt a more serious blow than it looked like, he was certain to lose.

Although, on the other hand, if this was how it ended, Jonas decided that he could accept that. If he died trying to save another, even if he failed, he could accept that and not be bothered by it. He'd already done everything he could and if that wasn't enough, then maybe what he'd done will help the rest of his team to save the girls or maybe whoever else came along to save them. Either way, he'd done everything he could and was at his own limit. If this was the final curtain call for him, then so be it. He was ready.

As Jonas came out of the shadows fully, he was crouched down, waiting to see what the goblin did. At first it merely seemed like he'd surprised the goblin into not doing anything for a minute. Then it coughed up some blood and turned to face him. Its eyes gleaming with hatred.

As it swung its arms again at him, Jonas found that the speed was no where near as fast as they had been, letting him know that whatever he hit was definitely vital. Then adding to the face that it was coughing up blood, he estimated that he'd hit a lung. If he'd gotten the heart right away, he knew the goblin would have gone down, yet he also had expected that with a lung punctured, the goblin wouldn't have been able to fight either.

Even though it was easy to block the goblin's attacks, Jonas still kept his guard up against the goblin. Mostly because he couldn't be sure that this wasn't a ruse of some sort or that another goblin wouldn't come up on him.

Not that he had to keep it up for long. After about seven swings, the goblin finally collapsed on the ground, struggling to breathe. However, given that it was still alive, Jonas merely circled around the goblin, keeping a very safe distance from himself and the goblin. He couldn't say what the goblin still could do, but thought it would be better to exercise an abundance of caution at the moment.

Then as he got back to the girls, he drank the rest of the mana potion and, taking a hold of an arm of each of the girls, he began to melt into the shadows with them.

Though, as soon as he had them in the shadows, it found it especially hard to keep them with him. Almost like their skin had become especially slippery and he had to hold their arms even tighter than he thought he would have. Which also meant that he needed to hurry before he lost his grip. He had no idea how long he'd be able to keep hold of them and especially didn't want to risk having them come out of the shadows in the middle of the battle he knew was going on.

So, even though he was pretty much floating in the shadows, he pushed forward as if he was running. He didn't know if it cost him more MP or stamina, nor did he care at the moment. As long as he didn't run out of either, he would be fine. He would consider it well spent since he would be able to have gotten the girls out of danger and back behind enemy lines.

What he hadn't counted on doing this was the mental strain he was starting to feel. Either it was an affect of bringing others through the shadows or he was almost out of stamina. It felt like there was a ringing in his ears and his vision was becoming blurry, while at the same time, it was narrowing as if he was looking down a tube of darkness that kept getting smaller.

Then as soon as he reached the turn of the corridor that was where he had begun this operation to save the girls, he let them come out of the shadows. He felt himself return to the physical world almost as if he was travelling through molasses. Maybe it was because he rushed over here or because his mind felt like going on strike, or because he was almost out of stamina, or because of something that wasn't coming to mind, but he struggled to hold onto the girls until even they started to come back out from the shadows.

As soon as they were out of the shadows, Jonas was able to make Elin out, who immediately began to work on putting clothing on the girls.

He was aware she was saying something to him, but it sounded like a distant muffled echo before he felt the world pitch forward as he lost all awareness of everything around him. He even didn't have any recollection of his body hitting the floor as unconsciousness swallowed him whole.