My plan worked like a charm.

In the end, only Leah managed to win both her duels without also losing just as many. That wasn’t too surprising, but what shocked me was that she gave up on my challenge, at least temporarily.

“It’s fine, boss. I want to duel you at full power. A Supporter without his buffs is like an unarmed Warrior. It would be pointless, even if I did win.”

She had helped me save face, but she would obviously hold me to the offer at a later date. Her skill in combat far exceeded the other members of the group, but it wasn’t to the level where she would be able to take me down without a fight.

“Sure, we can duel when we get out of here.” I pushed myself up and stepped towards the far tunnel. “Come on, let’s go.”

My mana had recovered to full as their round-robin battles finished. Those who had been defeated raised a betting pool for who the final victor would be for each class. They were unhappy at Leah’s decision, but when I promised to let them know when our duel would take place later, they dropped the subject.

Maybe I can bet on myself… that might be a bit too egotistic, though.

We walked into the next room, but what I saw knocked me speechless for several moments. Instead of a large cavern, we had entered a relatively small room. It was as wider than the last one, but was barely a tenth of the length. The main reason was the object which blocked off our path.

It was a huge mirror.

“Oh, this is dangerous.” Rose cautioned. “Its a copy-cat mirror. You show yourselves, it raises enemies to match your parties layout. This dungeon is nasty…”

“Right, I’ll go first.” I moved to the mirror and stared at its surface. A wavery copy formed in front of me, but as its form settled it grew in size and stature. After several seconds, a goblin wielding a huge staff appeared in the mirror and stepped back from its surface.

“Hah, I guess it shows what’s really inside?” Leah tapped my shoulder as she stepped close to the mirror. “Go on, move back, Mr. Goblin.”

I shrugged and moved back into the crowd. Leah watched as her copy formed, but as it was about to coalesce it similarly altered its shape into a large goblin. The creature wore heavy armour and wielded a large sword and shield, like its irritated counterpart.

“I guess you’re right.” I chuckled as the rest of the group jeered. “Good call, Mrs. Goblin.”

Leah didn’t respond as she stepped back from the mirror. The rest of our group moved forward one by one. Every single one created a goblin which wielded the same weapons and wore a similar set of armour. The only difference was the size, and inherent strength, of our opponents.

How do we start the fight?

“Smash the mirror. If someone hadn’t created a copy before you did that, they would be banished from the dungeon.” Rose had reverted to her teacher mode once more. “Be careful, they will be at the same level as you. They’re dumb, but their skills will be around the intermediate level. They also know your levels, so they will plan around that. This will be a difficult fight.”

Wait… intermediate? Maybe I could… but that would be risky. I don’t see any other way to win this without losses, though. The casters should be weak enough as the Practitioners he gave me are low level, but I’d have no chance against the Warriors…

“OK, this should be simple. Warriors to the front, archers and Practitioners to the rear. Launch everything you have as soon as the fight starts. Practitioners, start channelling.”

“Don’t you have any tactics?” Leah glanced back at me as the Warriors lined up beside her. “This is the second fight, so it will be harder than the first.”

“I have a plan, but you have to trust me. Archers, support me when I make a move.” I raised my staff as the Practitioners had finished collecting their mana. “Right, let’s go.”

The mirror cracked into a million pieces as soon as my weapon connected with it. The Warrior goblins charged towards our line instantly, but their Practitioners were a step behind ours. A full barrage of magical attacks slammed into the goblin Warriors, which obliterated three of them and knocked another two from their feet. The remainder continued their charge without a moment's hesitation.

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Even with their losses, they still held the advantage.

They matched our levels, but goblins held an inherent advantage in strength and toughness. Our Warriors barely held the first charge. Fortunately, that was all I had expected from them.

“Strengthen! Accelerate!” I buffed the group with my first ability but focused the second on only myself as I sprinted past the Warriors. As I passed one of those stunned by the first barrage, I clipped its head with my staff. The goblin fell to the ground again, which would give our warriors a momentary respite before it joined the fray.

Our archers noticed my suicidal charge, so they sent a rain of arrows at the group of Practitioners in the distance. The goblins had been preparing to launch their own set of attacks, but the volley interrupted them as they dodged to the side. The goblin archers continued to focus on our warriors, sure as they were that I would be dealt with without the need for their involvement.

Their lack of attention gave me time to approach my target. They paid the price for underestimating a level nine Supporter.

The staff-wielding goblin stepped forward to greet me. It was the only other melee fighter in the group, so it was clear why it had decided to meet me head-on. If it stopped me for a few seconds, that would be long enough for its comrades to rain destruction on my head.

Unfortunately, it was far too weak to stop me.

This goblin wasn’t only a Supporter, it was also level nine. Such a combination should be impossible, but my unique situation had forced it into being. The mirror hadn’t accounted for the overpowered strength of my basic buffs compared to my level, which gave me a massive advantage in both strength and speed.

My staff bashed its weapon aside and cracked into the goblins head without a break. The goblin collapsed to the ground instantly as I sprinted past it towards the shocked Practitioners.

They didn’t have time to react as I dashed into their midst. If they launched their attacks, their comrades would be caught up in the area of effect. The archers dodged back and forth under the constant rain of arrows and magical missiles, which gave me free rein on the fragile casters.

One fell instantly as my staff caught it under the chin. The blow lifted it from its feet, but I didn’t pay attention to its fate as the other Practitioners closed in. Though they were casters, their race still gave them a scary level of strength relative to their class. That increase would be dangerous to the average Supporter.

But I wasn’t a normal Supporter.

“Buffed Strike!” I yelled as I swung my staff in a wide arc. It clipped three goblins in the head before the forth managed to barely block the blow with its wand. I rewarded its skill with a swift kick to the knee, which opened it up to a follow up from my archers. They didn’t miss the chance as several arrows plunged into the dazed caster.

Five down, and two of them had been the holy practitioners. The goblin archers had backed out of range of my archers and were preparing to launch their first true volley on my head.

No matter how powerful I was for my level, it would be impossible to dodge such an assault at this range.

But my plan wasn’t over just yet. I grabbed the nearest caster and landed a punch squarely on its face. As its eyes rolled back into its skull, I lifted it bodily and spun to face the archers.

Their arrows slammed into the goblin with a series of sickening thuds. They didn’t stop firing as I backed away slowly. My goblin-shield shuddered slightly with each impact, but it held strong against the barrage. Before I could escape fully, a loud grunt in the distance caught my attention.

The last Practitioner had fired its first attack, and it had aimed it directly at me.

I threw the goblin into the path of the attack, gripped my staff and leapt back. As I jumped, I focused my attention on my feet and yelled out two words.

“Buffed Strike.”

My feet burned in protest, but the additional power sent me rocketing back. The goblins fireball connected with its defeated comrade and enveloped it instantly. Though I had leapt out of range, the force of the blast caught me mid-air and lifted me further from the ground. I grit my teeth against the pain as I tumbled to the floor.

“Captain!” Leah yelled as she ran towards me. She caught me before I hit the floor, though my bones still creaked in protest. I hadn’t expected the sheer power of the blow. It seemed like the last goblin Practitioner had copied one of our skilled casters, which had lead to an exponential increase in its power.

We need to end this before…

I pulled out another potion and tipped it into my mouth. It countered the pain a little, but I knew it wouldn’t be a cure-all. Both of the Holy Practitioners on my side focused their attentions on me, which further nullified the pain.

“Why did you do something like that?” Leah growled at me as she pulled me back to the group. The archers had switched their targets back to our Warriors. As I had disrupted the goblins ranged line, our group had time to finish off the majority of the goblin Warriors and had not taken any losses in doing so.

One fully balanced group, versus a single Practitioner and seven archers. The fight was over, but my team still took the battle seriously. One slip up could lead to a fatal blow, so they closed in carefully on the remaining goblins.

“I have a plan, Leah.” I coughed as I tried to push myself into a seated position. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to die just yet.”

The last goblin fell to a combined assault from all sides. My team rushed back to my side, but there wasn’t anything they could do. Several painful seconds passed by as I waited for the one thing that could save me.

**Congratulations, you have leveled up.**

Perfect. As long as Drake didn’t lie to me, this should work.