The hallways were mostly quiet, despite how well lit they were. More quiet than Jonas had expected. At the very least he'd have expected noise from other servants doing tasks that they couldn't when the sun was up and there was more activity during that time. Yet, at the same time, he could hear a commotion in the distance. And from above him.
Jonas felt that he had to assume the noise was from the party. He couldn't say what it would look like when he got there, but he had a feeling that if things hadn't started happening in that room by the time he got to it'd start shortly after. As it is, he'd actually be surprised if things hadn't started by then.
Jonas found a staircase that led upstairs and he took it, hoping that this would be the floor on which the party had been held on. If it wasn't, then it'd be on the third floor and he'd have to have searched the entire second floor, just to make sure it wasn't on it, before he could in good conscience go to.
Yet, as he neared the top of the stairs, he could see more activity on the second floor than he had on the first floor. Which told him that the room he was looking for was probably on this floor. Though, as he reached the top of the stairs, he had to dodge a dagger thrown at him, forcing him to take cover near a statue about ten feet away from the stairs.
Jonas carefully looked around, while noting that the lights on the second floor appeared to have all been put out, aside from the lights by the stairs. As Jonas was able to take stock of his surroundings, he noticed that while there was more activity up here, it didn't seem to be he usual kind that he would have expected for a party.
He could see that the dagger that had been thrown at him had been thrown from the other side of the statue he was currently hiding behind. He looked down the hallways that didn't seem to have an immediate danger down while keeping his back to the statue, but hesitated going down them. The one to his left, would leave him open for any dangers that weren't immediately apparent, and looked like it turned in a direction that didn't lead to the location from the noise he assumed was from the party.
The hallway, essentially straight in front of him, would leave him open to any more attacks from whoever threw the dagger. Though, as soon as he was out of the light from the lights by the stairs, he would be safe, but he didn't like essentially having his back to whoever would be attacking him.
While he probably could use his Shadow Merge and travel through the shadows through the outside of the building and get wherever he wanted to go, he wanted to keep that in reserve, just in case it was needed later. Too much was still uncertain and he didn't want to rush through getting to where he wanted to be only to find that what he used to get there was what he needed in order to get everyone out or something.
Jonas then took a deep breath, just to steady his nerves to do what he knew he'd need to do. Which was to charge towards the person who threw the dagger at him. He wanted to take the dagger with him so he'd have a weapon, but it was too far away for him to realistically try to get it without exposing himself for too long.
Then before he could talk himself out of it, Jonas spun around the statue and started charging towards whoever attacked him, holding his body as low as he could without sacrificing any speed, so he'd present less of a target.
However, his efforts weren't good enough, as he felt a dagger hit him in his right shoulder. Which he could tell that his right hand wasn't useable for the time being. At least for anything that required any pressure to be put on his shoulder. Which could also affect his grip strength, but he wasn't too worried about it. The good part was now he had a weapon.
However, as he charged into the darkness, even with his Shadow Sight he couldn't see who it was that had thrown the dagger. The further he got into the darkness the easier he could see with that ability, but whoever had attacked him either had used up all their ammunition or, which Jonas considered more likely, he saw Jonas charging and went to find a more suitable place to face him.
Jonas briefly debated on which turn to make, as the hallway forked and decided to try turning left to see if heading to where he heard the sounds that he assumed was from the party was the correct option. Yet, he knew he needed to be aware of any ambush attempt by whoever had been throwing the daggers at him.
Maybe it would have worked, as Jonas rounded the corner, entering a corridor completely dark, aside from lights that could be seen from outside the windows that extended all along the side to Jonas' right, but his hearing that was enhanced by his system alerted him to the attack even before it happened.
As his assailant lunged at him, Jonas turned holding out the dagger with his left hand, hoping his attacker would impale themselves on it. It certainly would make this process a lot easier.
However, while his assailant managed to avoid getting himself stabbed by his own dagger, the dagger did create a long gash along his arm as he aborted his attack on Jonas.
Jonas didn't wait to see what his attacker would do next, instead he rushed the other man, forcing his opponent to go on the defensive, while Jonas kept slashing relentlessly.
While he had limited stamina, and so needed to conserve it given he had no idea how much he was going to need, Jonas was sure this would be the most efficient method of dealing with this person.
While it would likely be 'death by a thousand cuts' it would still eliminate an opponent so he'd have that much less to worry about when he managed to get to the others in his group. Plus, he'd still have less of a problem clearing the way for any escape that might be necessary.
Jonas could remember the barrels and didn't like the look of them. While it could be something that would burn quickly, like alcohol, he couldn't rule out the possibility that it was oil or naphtha or some other substance that would burn even when water was poured on it.
Besides, while time was likely short, the fewer enemies that they had to encounter on their way back, the better it would be. They wouldn't have to worry as much about what might be thrown their way.
Yet, as his opponent finally slumped to the ground, numerous cuts along his arms bleeding freely, which he'd shielded himself with, Jonas heard a loud cracking sound, like wood being smashed to pieces, disrupting his concentration followed by a lot more noise, then everything seemed to go quiet. To the point he could hear the slight movement of the air around him.
Jonas spared one last glance at his opponent, who didn't appear dead, but was still unconscious. If he did wake up, Jonas doubted that he'd be able to put up a fight of any sort, given how much blood he'd lost and coated the floor of the corridor. Especially since Jonas could see some bone peeking out along the man's arms.
It would probably be a miracle, or maybe healing magic, for that man to ever regain the use of his arms. Not that Jonas really cared. His primary focus at the moment was to get the rest of his group out of there. Anything else after that would merely be a bonus.
Jonas spared a glance outside the windows and was confused as he saw that he was on the ground floor, when he was certain that he'd entered through the ground floor and come up a flight of stairs, which would have to make this the second floor.
Yet, he knew thoughts like that wouldn't help him any. He needed to move along and find the rest of his group as fast as he could. The longer it took, the more danger he was certain they'd be in. Not that he considered them helpless. Just that unless he saw they were alright with his own eyes, he couldn't be sure that something wouldn't have happened that he could have prevented had he been there.
There was just too much left to chance at this point and Jonas had never liked gambling. Not when he had a choice in the matter. He always preferred to face his fate upfront, and take the helm to decide his own destination.
Especially of all the times he'd been forced to let others control the helm of his life. Like when he was in high school. He wasn't going to let that happen if he had a say in the matter. Especially here when he had others he'd need if he was to realistically get back to his own world.