Chapter 32: The Rescue part 2
Jonas used the flat of his blades to block the goblin as it swung at him. He could tell by its movements alone that it was stronger and more dangerous than the regular goblins, but since it didn't have the size of the bugbears, he was confident that he'd at least be able to mange his defense. Maybe even long enough to get a strike or two in.
As he continued to parry the goblin's swings, he could tell that while it at first looked like it was swinging wildly at him, the goblin's swings were more measured and calculated. Which made Jonas wonder if the method was to get an opponent think they had the upper hand and to strike when they opponent thought they saw an opening.
So, when Jonas saw he first opportunity to try for a strike of his own, he let it pass by, winking at the goblin. He hoped the goblin understood what he tried to convey with that wink: that he recognized the opening and deliberately let it go by.
When he did the same for the next two openings, the goblin slowed its swings down noticeably. If it hadn't realized Jonas purposefully let the first opening go by, it had to at least suspect that's what Jonas was doing by now. He suspected that the chances were supposed to be too good to pass up and too obvious not to miss, yet Jonas had done at least one of those two things.
Yet, while Jonas had no intention of taking any of the openings he could see, just in case they were feints to lure him into giving an opening of his own, he knew that in a war of attrition, he was definitely going to lose. Which meant he had to get creative about how he handled this opponent. While he could use his crippling strike on one of the hands or forearms of the goblin, he would rather deal a much more decisive blow. One that should end this fight almost instantly.
The problem was, was that in order to do that, he'd likely have to take one of the openings offered to him, since he'd first have to get inside the goblin's guard. Yet, since he'd already decided to not do that, he had to figure out another way.
As the goblin continued swinging it's arms, using it's fingernail-like claws as blades, Jonas found himself slowly moving backwards. If he ran into something like a wall, he had a strong feeling that he'd be finished. What he needed was a way to attack in an unexpected way.
As he stumbled over something on the ground, what it was he couldn't say because he couldn't afford to take his focus off of this goblin, he realized if he attacked from the shadows, he might be able to strike this goblin before it even realized there was a threat.
So, he began to slowly melt into the shadows as he activated his skill, intrigued at the look of desperation that came over the goblin's face. Did this creature know about his skill? Jonas wondered as he continued to block the swings from the goblin with his daggers up to the point he fully entered the shadows.