One chance

The five left the passage, returning to the junction where they saw Michael. He stared at their bloody body but already knew what happened, seeing as he got EXP and leveled up.

"While you guys were gone, I explored the middle path." He said, walking toward them. "A bronze door, more than 15 feet tall, blocked the path, which can not be opened without a key. Since that path was the mob path," He pointed at the far left path before pointing at the far right, "That means this path is the sub-boss room. They must have the key."

"Smart way to stop us from going straight to the boss room," Leonardo mumbled, sighing. "We should head out."

"We should wait a while," Edward said, drawing their attention. "I need to regenerate my mana. I used more than 70% of my mana for those explosions in the first room."

"Oh, ok." Leonardo nodded, "We can't let our highest damage dealer go in with only 30% mana."

Edward looked around, trying to find a clean spot where he could sit and meditate. He found one between the path to the middle tunnel and the far right. Sitting down, he began meditating.

The five of them silently watched him before Michael spoke. "So, how did he cast his magic?"

"Funny thing is, I didn't get to see it." Ezekiel folded his arm, squinting at Edward. "I was too focused on killing goblins and avoiding being killed that I never looked to see." The others nodded at his words. They did not see the way Edward had cast his explosion magic. "By the way, do you want to know what happened there?"

"I don't." Michael shook his head.

Ignoring his statement, Ezekiel began explaining everything, from the two people being raped to how they murdered all goblins there. He explained in such detail that Michael got a visual image of what happened. By the time he finished the story, Edward had regenerated his lost 70% Mana as they entered the far-right pathway.

This one was notably cleaner than the last one and less stinky. Michael had followed them since he could handle the smell. Andrew, leading them, had to check for traps, mistakenly activating the same trap that killed that female from the last room path. But this one was bigger, and the spikes weren't rubbed with fesses.

"It seems like this room would be less brutal than the last," Leonardo commented, looking down the gap. "I hope."

"It will." Michael agreed, wrinkling his nose. Although it reeked, it didn't as much as the last room.

They continued down the pathway, stopping at the opening. Andrew again went to inspect inside the room, which was the same size as the last one, noticing only three goblins sitting around a campfire. No, these didn't look anything like goblins. They were much taller and more refined than the goblins they had met and wore better clothes.

The first one is about 6'5" tall, with a big and muscular body, bigger than himself. The goblin's skin was green but a much deeper shade, with a long strand of hair growing down the middle of his head. He wore a medieval chest plate leather armor, a long sleeve tattered brown shirt below it, fitted with black pants. He wore no shoes, and beside him were two handaxes.

The second was a lean goblin, standing about 5'9". The goblin had a full head of short black hair with green skin. He wore a red, tattered cloak and black pants with black cloth tied around his feet as a form of shoe and was sharpening a kukri dagger with a stone.

The last was a female goblin, standing 5'2" tall. The goblin had short black hair that reached her ear, and unlike the other goblins, the goblin's skin was gray. On her forehead was a black oval mark, and she wore a black mage cloak with a large gray witch's hat resting on her lap while she read a book.

"These are definitely higher goblins," Andrew mumbled, backing up.

He returned to the group, rallying what he saw. "Those are Hobgoblins, an evolution of Goblins."

"Oh, so like pokemon?" Andrew asked, earning multiple weird glances. "...What? I used to like the game..." He shrugged.

"Yes, like pokemon." Leonardo nodded, tilting his head and thinking deeply. "And by what you told me, it is a fighter, assassin, and mage Hobgoblins. I guess they are the mini-bosses."

"Just like the first room, we should easily clear this one," Ezekiel said, slashing his sword in the air.

"I doubt so." Michael shook his head, pushing up his glasses. "These three might be at level 10, giving them abilities. Especially the goblin mage. In most novels, they are the most troublesome, so I advise we focus on her first."

"They will do the same to Edward, so I will stick close to him, protecting him from the assassin," Leonardo said, moving beside Edward. "Andrew and Emma can handle the fighter, while Ezekiel should go for the mage. While you support us with your buff abilities."

"Sounds like a plan." Andrew responded, fixing his gauntlet, "Let us go."

Andrew and Emma walked in the front, with Ezekiel behind them. Behind Ezekiel was Leonardo, guarding Edward and Michael. The six of them entered the room, causing the three Hobgoblins to immediately stop what they were doing.

The Hobgoblin assassin stood up, fixing his hood on his head. He then picked up both of his khukuri daggers, moving back. The mage Hobgoblin closed her book, leaving it on the floor, before standing up and putting on her hat. Her right index finger glowed as she immediately started drawing runes, some of which Edward recognized, like the one 'shield' and 'control.'

*Rooooar* The Hobgoblin fighter grinned, running at them with strength-based speed, both battle axes at hand. Andrew and Emma dashed towards the incoming Hobgoblin, with Ezekiel activating his level 10 skill and going Invisible.

"Sensory Enhance. Sensory Augmentation." Michael called out as everyone's body glowed green, which immediately disappeared. They felt their sense heightened to an extreme, their sight able to preserve things better than they used to.

With this boost in sense, Edward was able to reduce his casting time from 4 seconds to three seconds, immediately casting an explosion and sending it flying at the mage.

The spell the Hobgoblin mage started casting at the beginning of the battle finished on time as an invisible barrier of magical force appeared to protect her. The orb exploded on contact with the barrier, causing it to crack, which slowly regenerated. She had already cast another spell aimed at Andrew and Emma, who were deriving back the fighter Hobgoblin with their strength and speed.

Seven fireballs shot toward the back of the fighter Hobgoblin, who jumped out of the way in time to not get hit. If not because of their heightened sense of Michael's skill, they would not have successfully dodged the sudden fireballs that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Seeing both of them staggered, the Hobgoblin immediately went for the most annoying of the two, Emma. He dashed forward, his axes glowing before bringing it down on Emma, who had just regained her balance.

*Booom*

An explosion rang out, exploding right at the fighter Hobgoblin's left ribs, sending his attack off-target enough for Emma to dodge. The explosion ripped through his leather armor, scaring his skin and causing bleeding.

Emma didn't waste the chance as she quickly unloaded multiple combos of attack with her crescent pendulum at the staggered Hobgoblin, with Andrew going in for an attack or two between Emma's combo. He was only able to do this thanks to Ezekiel buff.

The Hobgoblin was soon filled with multiple cuts and gashes, blood seeping. Before they could land another attack, the Hobgoblin suddenly jumped to the right as a large blast of fire went past him, heading their way. They had noticed it with their heightened sense but were too slow to dodge it.

"Stone body! Stand Behind Me!" Leonardo shouted, suddenly appearing in front of Emma, closest to the beam, with his bronze tower shield in front of him.

The blast of flames hit his shield, splitting in two and going past them before slowly dispersing into twinkles of flames. The Hobgoblin mage and fighter showed a look of surprise, seeing the human with the big shield suddenly appear in the way of the beam.

Just then, Michael let out a scream of anguish. One distraction from Leonardo. One opening. One chance. Was all it took for the goblin assassin to put his dagger through Michael's back.

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Skills Used____

(Ezekiel)

[Invisibility(Level 3+)(Active): Turn invisible but reduce movement speed and defense by 30%. Speaking, attacking, or being hit by an attack would end the invisibility state and the cooldown would begin (Duration: 1 minute)(CD: 10 minutes)

(Michael)

[Sensory Enhance(Level 3+)(Active): Increase the sight, hearing, and instinct of 40% of all members in your party(Duration: 1 minute 30 Seconds)(CD: 6 minutes 30 Seconds)]

(Leonardo)

[Stone Body(Level 3+)(Active): For a short period of time, increase the Defense Attribute by 36%(Duration: 6 sec)(CD: 32 sec)]

[Stand Behind Me(Level 1+)(Active): Teleport in front of the chosen person, increasing defense by 40%, but become immobile(Duration: 3 sec)(CD: 2 minutes)]

Ability Used____

(Michael)

[Sensory Augmentation: When activated, boost the sense of all those in your party by a certain percentage. Each point sense increases the percentage by 5%(Current: 55%)(Cost: 5 mp)(Duration: 1 minute)(CD: 30 seconds)]

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