While It looked like a regular goblin, Jonas recalled the problems he'd had with the previous one. With ow he'd fought a couple bugbears in the days since then, he could honestly say this was a bigger threat, despite its smaller size.
Bugbears might be big and strong, but they were also rather stupid. Even the regular goblins didn't seem to be as generally dumb as the bugbears. Though, not by much.
However, the goblins with grey skin seemed to be not only smarter, but incredibly smarter. Then there was also the fact that they had better reflexes and combat prowess than the regualr goblins.
"Elmo, what can you tell us about it?" Jonas asked, keeping his eyes on the goblin, who just seemed to stand at the base of the stairs. Almost as if it was daring them to try and get past it..
"View Stats!" Elmo called out.
Jonas didn't say anything and was conscious of Kim moving to the side, clearly having in mind to flank the goblin. Jonas couldn't argue with that logic. Flanking the goblin could make it easier for one or both of them to land their hits on it.
A minute after Elmo used his spell, he reported what he found out. "It's a hobgoblin, or a goblin champion. While its combat abilities are a lot greater than a regular goblin, it can also inflict the status 'horror' on any girl it rapes, making them unable to fight back. Uh, I get the sense that it usually prefers doing that. Oh, and it can also evolve again to become even stronger, unlike regular goblins or bugbears," Elmo told them.
"Evolve again?" Jonas asked.
"Sorry, it didn't say anything more about that," Elmo answered.
"At least we know a little more about it," Kim remarked. "Not that it really gives us much else to know about it."
"Hey, I don't get to choose what the spell reveals," Elmo protested.
"Doesn't matter anyway," Jonas said, getting ready to throw his dagger at the hobgoblin as he saw Kim getting ready to strike it. "We'll take it down regardless."
"Minor Protection! Minor Protection!" Elin called out as Jonas threw his dagger the same moment Kim swung her sword at the hobgoblin. Jonas felt Elin's magic coalesce around him, though he couldn't see it. He assumed it was a protective barrier, not that it made him feel any different.
"Brimstone Fire!" Elmo yelled from behind Jonas.
The hobgoblin knocked Jonas' dagger out of the air the same moment that it sidestepped Kim's swing before swinging its right hand in a lazy backhand, but missed as Kim back stepped to avoid it.
Yet, Jonas saw the fire that Elmo had conjured and was surprised that it didn't seem to do anything to the hobgoblin. However, as Jonas caught his dagger, he didn't expect much else to have happened.
He knew this would be a formidable opponent, so he couldn't say that he expected this to be a quick and easy batle. Though, he wished it wasn't clearly going to be so hard. He just could tell that it was going to be more of a pain than he'd like. Just like the other hobgoblin that he'd had to face. Although, as he thought about it, that fight seemed like it might have been easier overall than this one was clearly going to be.
Jonas threw his dagger at the hobgoblin again when it looked like its attention moved to Kim as he assumed she was starting her combat dance or whatever it was called. Though, he also threw his other dagger a moment after, just in case the hobgoblin blocked it again.
He wasn't sure the best way to deal with the hobgoblin, but he was trying to figure out what to expect from the fight. Especially with what he might be able to quickly learn before the hobgoblin decided to try and turn the tables on them. Jonas was sure that it wouldn't have to do much in order to accomplish that.
Unfortunately, both daggers had been blocked, although the time it took to accomplish that, allowed Kim to get a few strikes of her own in. Jonas couldn't be sure if those strikes were just as damaging as his daggers would have been or not as effective. He hoped that it dealt more damage than his daggers could have, but doubted that would be the case. This hobgoblin could very well have stopped the greater threat to it. All Jonas could do was hope that wasn't the case.
"Scorch!" Jonas heard Elmo call out from behind them.
Jonas paused as he caught his daggers. He suddenly remembered a spell that Elmo had that he thought might actually help them out. More than Elmo using his spells to damage the goblin. At least he hoped he was remembering correctly and wasn't thinking of a game or something else.
"Elmo," he called.
"Yeah?"
"Got anything to debuff the hobgoblin with?" Jonas asked. He hoped he was correct, but didn't want to say the name of what he thought the spell was. After all, he didn't want to embarrass himself for remembering Elmo having a spell that he never had in the first place.
"Uh, not really," Elmo answered. "The closest I think would be 'Remove Enhancement."
Jonas nodded. "Go with that one. We can't be sure it wasn't buffed before we got here."
"Remeove Enhancement!" Elmo called out.
Jonas waited a minute before throwing his dagger again. He didn't notice anything different about the hobgoblin, but had to hope that Elmo's spell would have more of an effect that they wouldn't be able to see. At least right away.
Jonas threw his dagger at the hobgoblin, not caring to do anything other than trust Elmo had gotten at least one enhancement that their opponent had had. Of course, he wasn't sure if it did lose an enhancement that it would have lost one that was more used to them.
However, he realized that he wasn't likely going to have much more MP if he continued this. Which meant that he'd need to approach and fight the goblin with melee strikes rather than his ranged agilities.
As Jonas was about to step towards the goblin, he suddenly realized that neither he nor Kim had been able to do anything that made the goblin move from his position at the base of the stairs. Even though his latest throw and made a cut along the goblin's shoulder, the goblin didn't move out of the way.
Jonas couldn't help but wonder if there was a way that they could use that to their advantage. It seemed possible, but at the moment it was only a theory. Not that he could think of how to test it if it was true.
He was vaguely aware of Elmo continuing to use his Scorch spell, and moved towards the fight, ready to end this faster than it looked like it was taking at the moment. Especially since he couldn't be sure if this was a good idea or not.
He was pretty sure that his MP was almost depleted, but he didn't care to check right at that moment. He had other things to worry about right then. Such as if whatever had forced them to flee the room they'd been resting in was closing in on them. They might have a swerious problem if it appeared while they were still dealing with this hobgoblin.
Kim swung her sword as Jonas reached the other side of the hobgoblin and he when to jab in his daggers, he couldn't help but feel like he'd experienced this exact same moment. He had no idea where that familiar sensation came from, but he didn't care at the moment. He needed to do his best to assist Kim in ending this goblin, but he couldn't help but feel optimistic about it.
Not that it meant he could let it go in the first place.
Suddenly the goblin staggered and Jonas almost jumped away, not sure what to do about it. The goblin swung its claws at Kim and cut her along her sword arm, the same moment that Kim was able to slice into its arm, all the way untl he could see bone shwoing through for a moment before the blood caught up with what was happening and started coming out.
Jonas couldn't help but smile. While he hadn't been sure about their chances of the doing this well against the hobgoblin, he couldn't help but feel like they were about to do better than they had against the sea of goblins. Although, to be fair about that, fighting one opponent was a lot easier of defeating a several. Even if those several opponents were weaker than their current oponent.
Then as Jonas moved in to attack with his daggers, he realized that Elmo's Scorch spells were working. Even if they weren't doing much damage right away, it was clear that it was hindering the goblin's movements, due to certain parts of its body getting burned.
Despite that, the goblin didn't seem to have much trouble parrying his and Kim's attacks, although, they were able to get a small cut here or there in despite all of that. Jonas was hoping that they wouldn't be just defeating this goblin when whatever had been behind them appeared.
As Jonas jabbed his dagger aiming towards the legs of the hobgoblin, he couldn't help but notice as Kim swung her sword there was a flash in front of him. He wasn't sure what it was, only that it was blinding. He pulled away from the hobgoblin a step or two as he raised his daggers in a defensive posture. Whatever just happened he wasn't going to let it stop what they were about to finish.