The good point of a few dozen goblins charging at me—some of them waving clubs over their heads and all of them gibbering madly—was that the four mages no longer had line of sight. Another good point was that there appeared to only be four mages, or at least I didn't spot any other goblins in clean loincloths, which seemed to be the mages' only identifying feature.

  I felt that those good points were rather outweighed by the primary bad point, i.e. that I had a few dozen goblins charging at me.

  The chieftain himself was circling around the group, in an apparent attempt to position himself between me and my tunnel. Running was still an option; presumably all secret doors led back here, so in theory, I just needed to run around the edge of the cave until I found another passage. In practice, I didn't know if all the passageways led to functional doors. I could trap myself, or perhaps dungeon shenanigans were at play and that tunnel was the only one. I'd also be opening up my back to further fireballs.

  Besides, that would mean running away from my literal horde of experience points.

  I ran towards the goblins instead. Experience thus far had shown I could reliably take them out with one hit each, and I was far faster than them. My best chance of victory was to fight my way through, using the crowd to shield myself from further fireballs, and engage the mages point blank.

  Despite being able to follow orders, the goblins hadn't managed to magically gain the powers of teamwork and cooperation. Their attacks weren't coordinated at all, else the melee would have been very short indeed.

  "Stab!" I yelled, activating the Skill on both daggers at once and taking out a few of the goblins in the front line.

  More goblins circled around their dead before the bodies even hit the ground. A brawler made a heavy overhead swing of his club, which I dodged, only for the blow to land on a goblin on the other side of me, splatting both me and goblins with foul brain-matter and fragments of skull. A quick stab to the neck ended the brawler without the need for [Stab].

  Heck, given how slow and stupid they were...

  I pirouetted with daggers held outstretched, and the fools walked into them. Yes, I had to vary the height of my daggers, but I had plenty good enough peripheral vision to aim at throats as I spun.

  "Hil Syk! Kak!" yelled the chieftain, and the goblins ceased walking to their deaths. Instead, a bunch of them leapt, springing off their dead and into the air. "Stab!" I shouted, impaling two of them in the air, but I couldn't get them all. One landed on my head and another wrapped spindly arms around me from behind. I quickly stabbed the one on top, but that gave the one behind me enough time to yank, attempting to drag me off my feet and to the floor.

  He failed.

  In that moment, I was really glad of the bonus for hitting a hundred Dexterity. "Stab!" I yelled, pointing a dagger blindly behind me but thankfully scoring a direct hit.

  With the monsters momentarily distracted, presumably on account of being ordered to stand back, I took advantage to charge further forward, slashing at yet more throats.

  This was going surprisingly well.

  "Di! Di! Gah, Bi!" yelled the chieftain, and the goblins charged again. Figuring I was close enough, I leapt, utilising my Dexterity to plant a foot firmly on the shoulder of one of the brawlers and kick off, leaping toward the mages. The brawler reacted far too slowly, swinging his club at nothing but empty space and, as a result, bashing himself in the side of the head. Other goblins grabbed, but again, too slowly.

  I landed right in front of the mages, who hadn't joined the charge. [Mana Sensitivity] implied they were preparing spells. "Stab!" I yelled, once again applying the Skill to both daggers. Alas, the mages weren't so considerate as to stand close together, and I could only hit one per dagger, without sufficient time for a second attack.

  Remembering the feeling [Mana Sensitivity] gave me the last time they'd fired, I leapt to the side just as they reached the point of launching their fireballs. Both fireballs went sailing past me, slamming into the group of goblins beyond.

  The maddened gibbering suddenly grew quite a lot quieter, and what was left was joined by a pained screeching component, along with a sudden stench of burnt goblin flesh.

  "Stab!"

  And that was the main threat down. The only goblins in the room with ranged attacks.

  Or so it should have been, but the chieftain took that moment to throw a goblin at me.

  Thankfully, I was alerted by the approaching gibbering, which was oddly high pitched. I limboed backward, slashing at the goblin as he went flying overhead.

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  This was going surprisingly well. I'd taken out about half of the goblins, and the mages' ill-advised fireballs had taken out even more.

  "Hil Syk!" yelled the chieftain, and the remaining goblins paused in their rush toward me. "Num plah!" he added, and the gibbering ceased, plunging the cavern into silence.

  The chieftain, apparently fed up with me murdering his underlings, started striding towards me, apparently intending to finish the fight himself. The other goblins spread out, curving around us. I had a horrible feeling they'd form a full circle, but there wasn't much I could do about it. Besides, a circle would be easy to break out of, especially given that I only counted fifteen goblins still on their feet, some of whom were suffering obvious burns.

  The chieftain was my height, and his proportions more human than the lesser goblins, but still not quite perfect. His arms and legs were too long, which would give him greater reach than me, were it not for my weapons and Skills. He was also unarmed, which was odd; according to the dungeon information, he was supposed to wield a short sword. Not that I was going to complain about the room's strongest enemy not being armed with a foot or two of sharp metal.

  "Bring it!" I yelled, and then charged.

  [Mana Sensitivity] flared, warning me that the goblin chieftain was using magic.

  "Shit. Stab!" I yelled, trying to get him before he did whatever he was doing. It felt completely different from the earlier fireball spells.

  The goblin crossed his arms in front of his chest, in the path of my attack. Something went clang, my dagger bucking in my grip as sparks flew from the goblin's skin. A few drops of blood splattered from a shallow nick, but it was a far cry from what [Stab] had done to any enemy thus far.

  Had he just... hardened his skin?

  That was not something I'd read about. I hadn't read much about magic, but I hadn't thought I needed to. I wasn't expecting to fight anything that wielded it! So this version of the goblin chieftain wasn't a sword-fighter, like the boss should be, but a mage.

  The moment the goblin deflected my blow, the surrounding goblins erupted into loud screeches that I guessed were supposed to be jeers, or maybe cheering. I wasn't sure who they were supposed to be directed at.

  Mana surged again as the chieftain cast another spell, but again, although I prepared to dodge, the mana dissipated while still inside his body with no sign of an attack.

  And then he grew.

  The goblin gained a full head of height, his muscles ballooning, stretching his putrid green skin until it looked like it would tear.

  Crap. The club-wielding goblins may have been described as brawlers by the System, but this guy seemed far more deserving of the title, with his magic dedicated to boosting his body. With steel skin that my daggers couldn't cut and a body that looked like it could crush rocks in a single fist, what was I supposed to do? There weren't enough lesser goblins to earn another level, so I couldn't boost my dagger that way.

  I'd just need to hope his eyeballs were still squidgy, despite magical reinforcement.

  I rushed in before he could cast anything else, and he reacted with a simple sweep of an arm, as if trying to slap me. My Dexterity was far too high for that, though, so I simply kicked off the ground and stepped on his arm as it passed, the manoeuvre bringing me close enough to stab.

  He blocked my dagger with his other hand, the point jabbing uselessly into his palm without even breaking the skin, but I had two of them. With the second, I slashed at his throat.

  It was like slashing at a wall. The impact jarred my arm, drawing more sparks from his skin, but with them were a few more droplets of blood. He wasn't completely immune.

  That exchange was enough time to bring his first arm back into play, and he launched a simple punch, which I easily sidestepped. I was still faster than him.

  The weight of Stats was something I needed to keep in mind. He might look extremely muscular, but that wasn't a good judge of strength. I might have been scrawny, but I had Strength on my side. He may not actually be stronger than me, despite appearances, but I had no intention of letting this devolve into a wrestling match either way.

  "Stab!" I yelled, aiming at an eye, but the goblin simply dipped his head, causing me to hit forehead. More sparks flew.

  The exchanges continued as I danced around him, unable to inflict any wounds more serious than a paper-cut, but him not being able to land a blow on me at all. I had no idea how to break the stalemate, and my Stamina was draining. I couldn't keep this up forever.

  ... Neither could he.

  A small bud of hope blossomed as the realisation dawned. It was true that I'd learnt very little about magic, but it stood to reason that he couldn't keep this magic up indefinitely, or he would have had it active from the start. [Mana Sensitivity], still at its first stage, was woefully inadequate for any serious investigation, but from this close up, I could at least feel something, and convince myself that the something was gradually declining.

  Would it run out before my Stamina? I couldn't tell. There was also the possibility that he could recast it before the first cast expired. Nevertheless, there was the possibility of an opening there. I switched strategy, concentrating on preserving Stamina rather than inflicting wounds.

  That seemed to annoy the goblin, which only made me more confident in my guess. I felt my lips curl up into a smirk, which only served to irritate him further.

  The surrounding lesser goblins—which had indeed now formed a complete circle around us pair of duellists—stopped the cheering and fell into silence as they watched their leader miss blow after blow. The stalemate held for several minutes.

  Something changed. Whether the trigger was his enhancement magic being about to expire or simple frustration, I had no idea, but the chieftain jumped backward, taking his distance, and, according to [Mana Sensitivity], spell-casting. A spell that was horribly familiar, not from his earlier enhancements, but from the goblin shamans.

  I had no intention of letting him finish, following him forward. "Stab!" I shouted, and this time, concentrating on his magic, he didn't dodge.

  My Skill pierced an eye and into the brain beyond just as his spell completed. A fireball, performed with far greater alacrity than the shamans had managed, launched before I could stop him. In my extended position, I had no way to dodge, and it struck me full in the chest.

  I screamed, my triple digit Constitution the only reason the fight hadn't instantly ended in mutual death. My armour was burning. The air was burning. I was burning.

  Without the leeway to worry about the other goblins, I rolled on the ground in a desperate attempt to smother the flames. Alas, with the chieftain dead, the command that held the other goblins back broke, their mysterious instinct to attack all humans on sight once again dominating their behaviour. The circle closed in.

  Adrenaline carried me the rest of the way. Half of the remaining goblins were burnt themselves, and without the chieftain, there was no semblance of cooperation or strategy. I spent my Mana freely, launching my single active combat Skill again and again until I was surrounded by a circle of corpses.