Elmo wasn't sure what it meant when he felt the force keeping him from entering the portal started to quiver. Part of him worried that it would make him drop into the portal, but he tried reasoning with himself that it wouldn't happen. After all, the announcer had told them that they wouldn't be able to pass through the portal. Then there was the part that if they went through the portal and got suck, they'd essentially be out of the competition.
Although, a thought then came to Elmo's mind that collapsing the portal was a suicide mission anyway. If he had to do this same thing on the other side of the portal in order to make it collapse, then he was sure that not only would he be out of the competition, but it would be the end of his life.
Glancing at each member of the group he was with, he felt that he wouldn't have any regrets if it came to that. They were there for him and he was more than willing to ensure that they survived a little longer. If it required that he sacrifice his life, then so be it. He was sure that Elin and Jonas would do the same for him. In regards to Kim, however, he was just pretty sure that she would. At least with how she looked at him.
Then suddenly it felt like the portal was trying to throw him off. Almost like a automated bull ride that was supposed to be a LOT easier than riding an actual bull that Elmo had never been able to last more than three seconds on. Yet, at the same time, it almost felt like he was glued to his position, even as the air around him felt like it was starting to vibrate.
Something was changing and Elmo wasn't sure he was going to like it. Looking back at the goblin mage, he used two more absorb spells on it as he saw it charging up a spell to use on Jonas. Elmo wanted desperately to do something to help, but he couldn't think of what he could do without ending what he was doing to close the portal.
He closed his eyes, not wanting to see what was going to happen. He didn't want to see Jonas being killed if that's what was going to happen. If he missed seeing how Jonas escaped safely, he would be fine with that, but he definitely did not want to see Jonas die when he couldn't do anything about it.
Yet, he'd hardly closed his eyes when the portal didn't collapse, it expanded suddenly, throwing Elmo across the room with its concussive force, to the point he suddenly couldn't breathe as the wind got knocked out of him when he slammed against the wall far across the room, right by where the stairway they'd used to enter the room was located.
Elmo opened his eyes and wasn't sure what happened, even as he saw the portal was gone. Maybe it was because of the dimness of the lighting in the dungeon, or the impact from the force that threw him across the room, or maybe it was from something else altogether that he couldn't identify, but he definitely couldn't see very well. He wasn't even sure he'd be able to stand up as he fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Pain flaring throughout his body.
He wasn't sure how long it was until he was able to get up, but as he looked around, he could tell that by closing the portal, or essentially blowing up the portal, he'd interrupted the battle. He couldn't be sure if all the goblins survived, but it was clear that everyone had been knocked down.
Although, Elmo couldn't be sure if that meant Jonas had escaped the spell the goblin mage was preparing or not, just that there was a chance that he had been able to help after all. Just not in the way he would have expected.
As he lay there, he listened for any sound that would come to his ears. Although, at first there was only the ringing in his ears from the concussive blast that threw him, but after a few minutes, it subsided and he could make out small sounds that didn't tell him anything about how the rest of his group were doing.
In the dark, he could see dark figures moving around, but not who the figures were. Only when he saw the flash of magical energy that he recognized as Elin's Sacred Shot was he able to verify that some goblins had gotten up as well as Elin.
Yet, he couldn't help but wonder how long the fights could last, given how only Jonas was really equipped to fight in pitch darkness while the goblins could probably function a lot better than Elin and Kim could.
After a few more minutes, Elmo felt the aches in his body begin to subside, aside from where his back had hit the wall, and he felt like he could move again. Not that he had any idea of how he'd be able to make his way over to join in the fight against the goblins, but he didn't think he had much of a choice in the matter.
Though, as he stood up, his hand brushed against something tied by his waist that he hadn't thought about before, not since he'd picked it off of one of the goblins in the room below when Kim and Jonas were arguing.
It was a torch and while he didn't have anything to light it with, he couldn't help but feel that he needed to use this torch to generate light so that not only he could see but also the rest of his team. Not that all the details were in about how he was supposed to actually go about doing that.
"Brimst-" Elmo started to say but stopped as he started coughing. He hoped that the impact with the wall didn't cause any serious damage. He certainly didn't want to find an unpleasant surprise once the fight got underway again. Though, as he was thinking this, he couldn't help but notice the sensation of his mana flowing through him and lighting the torch with the spell he had intended to cast.
Lighting the torch with that spell certainly wasn't a good idea, as part of the torch itself melted, but the pitch on it didn't seem to burn any faster. Although, he couldn't say if that was just pure luck or if it wouldn't do that if he tried it again in the future.
Pushing those thoughts to the side, he stumbled as he made his way back to the rest of his group, all of which he could see picking themselves up from the ground, using the light that the torch shed. Even the goblins that were standing didn't look like they were in much of a condition to continue fighting.
It was clear that no one had escaped the closing of the portal (Or was it explosion of the portal? Elmo wondered), unscathed. The ones who seemed to be the least damaged was Elin and the goblin mage, although Elmo suspected that they'd already started using their magic to heal themselves.
Yet, as Elmo got closer, he suddenly realized he couldn't see Jonas. For a moment he felt a surge of panic, until he remembered about some of Jonas' skills. Though, while he didn't like not knowing that's what he'd done first, he couldn't fault the timing.
As Elmo continued walking, he focused on the goblin mage and focused on using his absorb spell on it. The first time he tried speaking the spell, he had another coughing fit that stopped him from saying the word fully, but it still activated somehow. He wasn't sure why, but he also wasn't going to complain about it.
As the absorb spell activated, he felt himself being to lose the aches and even his breathing improved, which surprised him because he hadn't even noticed that his breathing had been affected. Though it could explain why he'd start coughing when he tried speaking.
As Elmo reached where the goblins were, he took a breath before he prepared to use his rock spray spell, trying to aim it so it wouldn't hit Elin or Kim, but before he had a chance to say the spell, he suddenly felt the sensation of the mana moving toward his outstretched hand just before the spell activated.
Elmo wasn't sure what was going on, but he had a feeling that he might have inadvertently learned a new skill. Or if it wasn't a skill, then it would have been an ability that he'd already had but didn't realize it.
While he knew he could kill goblins with his rock spray spell, these goblins didn't look like they'd be much of a challenge either way. Even the hobgoblin looked like it didn't fare very well. The way it looked at it surroundings, Elmo couldn't help but wonder if it'd received a concussion from the blast.
Not that Kim had that problem. As the moment she was able to take care of the goblins in her immediate vicinity, she turned her focus on the hobgoblin, and with her bastard sword, she nearly sliced its head off, before she fell to the ground, having clearly thrown herself off balance with the momentum of the sword.
"Better heal her," Elmo said to Elin.
Elin had healed herself, but other than defending herself against the weak attacks of the goblins around her, she hadn't really done anything aside from stare in surprise at the scene around her.
Though, when Elmo spoke, she turned to him, almost as if he had suddenly appeared next to her, despite the fact he was holding the torch, and nodded. Elmo didn't bother watch her carefully make her way over to Kim.
Elmo quickly threw his spells at the remaining goblins and was able to eliminate all except the goblin mage. That one seemed to be made of stronger stuff as well as the ability to heal itself.
When he'd finished with the small fry, he used another absorb spell on the goblin mage, more to drain it of its MP, before using Mana Charge on himself, willingly accepting the loss of Stamina to ensure his MP wasn't about to run out. He certainly didn't have the time to check and he didn't want to risk ending up like Elin had when she'd used up more MP than she had available.
Despite having healed himself with his absorb spell and felt like his strength was as strong as it was when they first started the fight, he suddenly felt like his head was pounding. Almost like there was something inside his head trying to hammer its way out.
It wasn't very strong, but he could only hope that it wasn't an overcharge of his own Stamina or something. He really didn't want to deal with blurred vision again in the middle of a fight again if that was the case.