Ah, this was definitely the end.
This was only a D-rank dungeon; the lowest rank. The monsters here were considered relatively weak, as far as monsters go. It should've been the perfect place for a party of new adventurers like us to test our skills.
We had made it to the third of four sub-levels, fighting our way through small packs of goblins and giant lizards, and other such cave denizens. Thus far it had been fairly easy-going. And so we let our guard down.
Then the hobgoblin attacked.
Hobgoblins were a larger, tougher, and smarter evolution of goblin. But there were four of us, and only one of them. We should've been able to take it on.
We greatly underestimated just how tired we truly were.
I don't know how long we've been down here. It's hard to track the passage of time without the sky to refer to, but surely it couldn't have been more than a couple hours since we entered the dungeon. Yet it suddenly felt like it had been days since we last rested.
We had been pushing forward non-stop, running on excitement and adrenaline. We should've taken more breaks, should've moved at a more measured pace.
We should not have come down here.
We entered this dungeon without a proper understanding of our own limits, limits which this hobgoblin was more than pleased to show us. We fought as best we could, the three men with me swinging their weapons one after the other in turn, as I fired off magic whenever I had a clear shot. But our movements were slow from exhaustion, and the hobgoblin simply danced about, effortlessly dodging or blocking our attacks, allowing us to tire ourselves even further.
This had gone on for a few minutes, minutes which seemed stretched well beyond their normally allotted sixty seconds. And before long, other goblins started to appear, both in front of and behind us. It was too much for us. So we ran.
Or, more accurately, the other three ran.
Swinging their weapons wildly to keep the assembling goblins at bay, the three men I was counting on to protect me so I could cast my magic safely all scurried away the way we came, without a single glance behind them. If they had bothered to look back, they might have noticed that I had tripped on my damn robe in my rush to follow them.
In the time it took me to regain my footing, the goblins had reformed their ranks and begun closing in on me. If I could just launch one big spell...
It was no good. I couldn't concentrate under the circumstances. And even if I could, I didn't have the strength left for a spell big enough to clear a path for my escape. And what if there were even more monsters I'd have to fight by myself before I caught up with those cowards who left me behind?
It was definitely the end...
Or it would have been, if my hero hadn't suddenly appeared.