While he had concerns about leaving the others to fight off whatever had been following them, Jonas couldn't deny the possibility that there could be a potential threat that might approach from the stairs.
So, while Elmo, Elin, and Kim were preoccupied with preparing for that threat, Jonas made his way up the stairs. Even with his eyesight shot because of that blinding light, he was able to at least use his ears to guide him. Not that he really understood how he was able to do this with his hearing.
He'd heard about people who were blind had learned how to use echolocation to 'see' the world around them, but he had thought that it would have taken a lot of work to accomplish, and that was with not being able to do anything about their ability to see with their eyes. Which he'd have assumed would make it easier to learn, such as surrounding oneself with people who only spoke in a language you didn't know helped you learn that language. A method called 'immersion.'
Yet, somehow he'd picked up the ability without even trying. While it was useful, it left a bad taste in his mouth. Almost like he was belittling the effort some people had to put in to learn that same skill.
Maybe it was because of the system he'd been given, but at the same time, he didn't like it when things were handed to him. Much like building muscles and getting stronger were as a result of working out through exercising those muscles, Jonas didn't like when he didn't have to work for something. It always made him feel like he was cheating somehow.
However, he felt about it, he pushed those thoughts to the side. They weren't helpful in his current situation and were only a distraction. If there was a threat that was about to descend the stairs, he couldn't afford to be distracted by anything right then.
Though, while he didn't like having been able to attain the skill without working for it, he wasn't going to refuse to use it. It would be like having knowledge of how to save someone important to him and refuse to use it just because of how that knowledge was obtained. It would be the same as shooting himself in the foot before stating to go for a walk in Jonas' mind.
It didn't take him long before he came into sight of the top of the stairs, but he had a hard time using the echolocation ability for some reason. It almost felt like there was a kind of buzzing sound that felt out of place. The buzzing also made it feel like there was a large part of the room ahead of him that he couldn't 'see' from the buzzing sound overriding any other sounds that might be coming from there.
The only thing that he found that was good about what he could 'see' with his ears was the fact that there didn't seem to be anything around the top of the stairs where they connected with the room.
Then as he approached the doorway, he carefully peered around the side, just in case there really was something that somehow would have kept him from being aware of it. Though, as he looked, the room was mostly deserted. At least from what he could see from his current angle.
Although, he couldn't see over by where the portal was, so he wasn't sure if there might be something in that direction. He wanted to look, but in order to do that, he'd have to take a serious risk by putting his entire head around the corner.
While he was seriously tempted to do just that, he held himself in check from doing that. He could always do that once it got darker in the dungeon and he could use his Shadow Merge skill to avoid being seen by anything.
So, instead, he settled himself on the ground, mostly out of sight of anything that could be in the room, and focused on what he could hear. Somehow he was able to turn the echolocation ability off and instead just hear what sounds there were.
Doing so somehow made it to where the strange buzzing noise wasn't as prevalent and instead he could hear something breathing in there. Not the kind that made him think of monsters, but rather of something that was either asleep or just unconscious. Though, after he was able to identify that, though he couldn't say what it was coming from, he was able to detect that there was a monster present. There might have been the sounds of another monster breathing, but he couldn't be fully sure. He didn't really want to return with incomplete information, but at the same time he couldn't say anything more than that. His abilities could only go so far.
Though, he was at least happy that there wasn't anything that seemed like it was about to be a threat from the stairs at the moment, so he quickly returned to the rest of his group. If they had encountered trouble with whatever threat there was, he was sure that they would merely just look for a way to stall for time. After all, they really couldn't afford any mistakes while they were here. Especially with how they'd already had far too many close calls in this trip to begin with.
However, he was shocked at what he saw. While Kim was moving around, he couldn't help but see the bloody mess that was around her stomach, Elin's hands, and even parts of the floor that was away from where Kim's opponent had fallen.
While Jonas wanted to tell them what he found, at the moment, words escaped him. He could tell Elmo was relieved, but couldn't help but be concerned about Elin. He took a little comfort in seeing that both Kim and Elmo weren't too worried about Elin's condition, but since he didn't know what happened, he couldn't help but feel anxiety start to well up inside of him.
"What happened?" Jonas finally managed, though he felt she should have been more eloquent. That question just didn't convey the horrified shock he felt at the moment. Maybe a few expletives would also help emphasize that as well, but it was all his mind could do to just fit those words together.
Elmo started explaining what happened, not sparing any unnecessary details, though there were a few Jonas would have liked to have elaborated on, but he couldn't deny that they weren't that important. Besides, he could always ask about those details after they were done here.
When Elmo finished, Jonas looked to Kim. Kim rolled her eyes as if she was guessing what Jonas was thinking about himself. "It's not as bad as it sounds," Kim defended herself. "I knew that the longer it went on, the more useless I'd be when we went to close that portal. So, I took a calculated risk, let the doppelganger have an opening so I could finish it off." Kim sighed, looking at Elin's convulsing body as she caressed her head. "I knew Elin would heal whatever happened. I just didn't expect her to go this far and have this happen again."
"Again?" Jonas asked, feeling like his brain was starting to reboot again.
Kim nodded. "The first time was on during our battle with the skeletons. I can't remember when Elin told me this, but it happened because she tried casting a spell without enough MP for it. I guess either I really scared her or she was really worried," Kim answered.
"Or maybe she panicked," Elmo suggested. "I certainly didn't know what to do."
Jonas sighed. Maybe he should have been more worried about them. He certainly hadn't expected this turn of events. Yet, he couldn't argue with Kim's reasoning. They didn't have time to rest again. If they tried resting through the night, there wasn't any guarantee that the goblins wouldn't find them and force them into a battle that would overwhelm them, if only through sheer numbers.
Then again, they couldn't enter the fight with Elin's MP depleted like this. Especially with how she'd clearly saved Kim's life, her healing spells were invaluable. Even if Kim hadn't let the doppelganger's attack through, there wasn't any guarantee that it wouldn't have happened anyway. What they should do was merely be glad that things didn't turn out worse than they did and figure out what they should do now.
"How long will she be like this?" Jonas asked, trying to figure out a timetable to work with.
"Last time she said her tutorial said it lasted an hour," Kim said. "I can't say if that'll be the xase this time or if there's other factors involved.
Jonas nodded. Something like this taking longer and longer the more times it happened made sense. While it didn't make him feel any better about it, it still wasn't something he could change.
In the end he sighed as he could tell that there wasn't anything else he could do about it. He pulled out a mana potion and handed it to Kim. While they didn't have anything that could stop them from being tired, they at least had something that could help restore Elin's MP.
"Have her drink that when she wakes up. I went up the stairs and I could tell that there's something up there, but I can't tell without taking a look. Which I don't want to risk when we're not ready to receive it," Jonas reported from his scouting trip as he also explained all that he was able to determine.
"How long until it gets dark again?" Elmo asked.
Jonas shook his head, unable to suppress a rueful grin. "I really have no idea. I'm not really sure how long we slept when we were resting earlier. We might have an hour or two or maybe even five," Jonas answered. "Though, I think it'd be safer to assume we have less time until then rather than more. If Elin recovers enough before it gets dark, I think we should head up there without waiting. If we wait until it's dark, then we might have more goblins to deal with." Jonas paused as considered what he did know. "If she doesn't recover before then, then so be it. We can't do anything about that. However, if we can make our move before dark, we should do that. We should be able to then have less goblins to deal with, but there's no guarantee of that."
"What if we face another doppelganger with another hobgoblin?" Kim asked.
Jonas thought about that. "Then we'll just have to deal with that if it turns out to be the case. We all knew this wasn't going to be easy. It just seems that this is probably going to be harder than we'd expected."