“Fwahahaha! Follow my lead!”
“You won’t beat me!”
Xeno and Daryl, the team’s Tanks for today, were competing with each other to pull the aggro of a gigantic Snow Golem. With Xeno using his silver <<Combat Cry>>, Daryl refused to be outperformed, releasing a black aura. Ever since Garm joined the Clan, Daryl had stopped using the indigo aura for his <<Combat Cry>>, turning it black to better match his own color scheme.
“<<Enchant Flame>>.”
With the Snow Golem turning toward those two, Amira went behind it, and then relentlessly attacked with her fire-enchanted greatsword. Due to her being in her <<Dragon Form>>, her eyes were shining in bright red and leaving behind a trail of light wherever she moved.
“ORAAA!!”
In the end, the gigantic snowman-like monster got sliced in half, its torso melted through by the greatsword. Amira, now able to control her <<Dragon Form>> to some extent, set her sights on attacking the other Snow Golem to her side.
“<<Mystic Blade>>.”
And on that same side, Garm, wielding a short sword, came walking through the snow. He proceeded to use a Knight-exclusive attack skill to stagger the Snow Golem, enabling him to run up its arm. Then he used his sword to smash the core attached to the nose-like part of the Golem’s face, finishing off the monster.
As the Snow Golem began to disintegrate into light particles, Garm jumped down and got his stamina refreshed with <<Medic>>. Then, after looking around to confirm that his surroundings were safe, he let out a sigh of relief.
Amira, eyes shining red, disengaged her <<Dragon Form>> and threw the Magic Stone she had just picked up to Tsutomu. Garm, seeing that Daryl was digging through the snow to collect the rest of the Magic Stones, went over to help him out.
At one point, Garm asked Daryl as the latter was sweeping the Magic Stones together with his black-furred tail,
“By the way, why did you change the color of your <<Combat Cry>>? I’ve noticed that for a while now.”
“Ah, um, that’s…”
“Speak up, boy. I can’t hear you.”
“Um, you won’t get angry… right?” Daryl asked as he picked up the Magic Stones with his hands.
Garm nodded, and Daryl seemed relieved as he proceeded to say,
“W-well… It doesn’t look as cool… I think?”
Garm’s expression quickly turned deadpan halfway through Daryl’s explanation, causing the latter’s voice to grow progressively feeble as he finished the rest of the sentence. Then, in response to the whole answer, Garm heaved a sigh.
“…Seriously? That’s your reason?”
“I was just being honest! I thought you wouldn’t be angry, you know!”
“I’m just… surprised. Seeing that you went back to using the red aura towards the end of the battle on layer seventy, it takes extra energy to change the color of the <<Combat Cry>> aura, doesn’t it?”
“…Yes, it does.”
“Now, Garm,” Xeno approached the two and interrupted them with a joking remark, “Your exasperation was quite uncalled for, don’t you think?”
Despite the tone of his voice, however, Xeno’s expression was more serious than usual. As such, Garm shook his head in response.
“This isn’t about you. His approach to combat is starting to resemble the way you — Xeno — fight as shown on the Pedestals. I have no say on what is best for each individual fighter…”
“Oh-ho?”
“…But Daryl is my apprentice. He’s not suited for a flashy combat style, unlike you.”
“Or is he? As far as I’ve seen, he actually is quite adaptable. He even worked my style of <<Combat Cry>> into his arsenal in no time at all.”
“He might be able to do it on a technical level, but his personality is not likely to accommodate it. He’ll improve more efficiently if he focuses on training for pragmatic combat.”
Hearing Garm’s reasoning, Xeno put a hand on his own chin and fell silent for a moment, apparently deep in thought. Daryl, standing between the two, looked rather small in this situation despite being just about as tall as Xeno.
“Right. That isn’t a bad line of thinking at all,” Xeno proceeded to say. “But Garm, you don’t think putting on a show for the audience is a bad thing, do you?”
“…I am well aware of how useful it is, but personally, I don’t particularly like it.”
Garm sounded annoyed, but did not deny the question. After all, he had one of the best examples of its effectiveness close by. Amy, as an Attacker, was naturally inferior to those with unique skills, but in terms of her influence as an individual, she was second to none. She also had plenty of funds to invest in Dungeon exploration.
Dungeon exploration sessions were shown on various Monitors throughout the town, and were watched by many non-Explorer people. It was practically this world’s equivalent of professional sports, and in that context, a local idol like Amy was sure to draw fans to the screens just by entering the Dungeon.
Amy also received sponsorships from various shops, and she would bring them up in conversations so that they could be heard on the Monitor. This turned into an for the sponsors, increasing the shops’ sales, and then some of the profits were reinvested into equipment and supplies for Amy’s Dungeon exploration.
In addition, the higher one’s fame and influence got, the easier it was for them to do various things, so it could be said that entertaining the audience was quite important for exploring God’s Dungeon.
Garm seemed unimpressed as he talked about it, though, as if he did not want to praise Amy too much. From an outsider’s perspective, he might seem intimidating — especially since Daryl was also frightened — but Xeno was unfazed as he proceeded to make a proposal to Garm,
“In that case, there isn’t a need to focus on just one way of training, is there? He can do both at the same time — the abilities to progress through the Dungeon and entertain the audience.”
“…Can he even manage something so technically demanding?”
“Hmph! The keys are… Elegance! Style! Beauty! Nail all of those down just like me, and anyone is sure to be popular with the masses! But even that will not be enough to win the audience’s heart. Daryl possesses his own kind of beauty — As do you and your ability to also fight as an Attacker,” Xeno said, smirking while combing his silver hair.
Garm spent a moment thinking, and then turned to look at Daryl.
“…I guess you do have a point. Daryl, what do you think?”
“Huh? Me…?”
“You are free to do whatever you want. But if your fighting prowesses start to decline…”
“No worries. I’m sure he can handle both.”
Daryl seemed frightened to be stuck in between Garm’s intimidating eyes and Xeno’s carefree attitude. But then, after a few moments, he seemed to have made up his mind and looked firmly back at them.
“Yes. I’ll give it my best.”
“Hehehe…! Leave the teachings to me!”
“Just don’t slack off on training.”
Xeno smiled and shook Daryl’s hands, while Garm looked on at them with a healthy degree of doubt. The three immediately proceeded to discuss their training, then they carried the Magic Stones to where Tsutomu and Amira were.
As for the God Eye, Xeno had directed it away from him, sending it to monitor Tsutomu and Amira instead. While the three others were talking, those two passed the time with a snowball fight… which was then broadcast on the Monitor.
―▽▽―
And so the team’s half-day Dungeon exploration ended.
[Man, today’s team lineup was… not ideal,] Tsutomu grumbled in his mind as the team made their way back to the Clan House, in part due to the relative lack of balance… and also the fact that Amira — whose masculine qualities dominated over her feminine side — was the only woman in the team today.
In addition to that, the snowball fight had caused him to feel dead inside due to how one-sided it had been, with the snowballs flying at him like a curtain of bullets.
“Well? How did I do as an Attacker?” Garm asked after coming out of the bath, sitting down in the living room while Tsutomu was taking notes on what he had learned and felt during today’s Dungeon exploration.
Garm had fought as an Attacker today due to him having asked to be so as a test. Tsutomu tapped the bottom of his pen on his own temple and considered how he should answer Garm’s question.
“Not quite as good as Hannah, but decently functional, I would say. But why the test, anyway? I didn’t ask any questions at first because I thought it’d be worth a try as well, so…”
“Hmm, I just figured it wouldn’t be good to just keep doing the same thing. The test was to explore the options I might have.”
“Oh-ho?” Tsutomu said jokingly, unsuccessfully imitating Xeno.
“No joking around,” Garm struck back, chuckling dryly. “I’m serious.”
“Sorry.”
Both of them then tanked Ollie as she brought them some cold drinks.
“Hannah, being a Boxer, is a perfect fit as an evasion-based Tank. And Daryl, being a Heavy Knight, has the highest VIT rating out of all of us. Xeno, a Paladin, has <<Ember Aura>> and a range of skills that are effective against the Undead. Each of them has their quirks that are well-identified, too.”
“So you’re exploring your options to find what’s best for a Knight like you?”
“That’s right. I’m new here, so while I may be used to fighting alongside you, there’s no telling who I’ll have to work with later on… I mean, I know Korinna is also an excellent Healer in her own right, of course.”
Garm’s slightly damp indigo-furred ears twitched, seemingly conscious of his surroundings. Then he picked up his glass and gulped down the iced lemon juice.
“But to be honest, I joined this Clan so that I could team up with you, so I’ll have to put in the effort to not be left behind.”
“I don’t think there’s much need to worry about that — it’s not like we’re operating on very clear team hierarchies or anything. Well, I might be hand-picking my team’s members for our first win on layer eighty, but after that, I plan to have everyone else get through as well, of course.”
“That’s the thing… I want to be one of the members of that first try. Honestly, I was jealous when I saw your team score the win on layer seventy — on your first try, no less.”
Garm put down his glass and folded his hands. On one hand, Garm had been happy to see Tsutomu winning — he was proud of the fact that no one made fun of Tsutomu anymore.
But on the other hand, he regretted that he could not be there. He wondered what would have happened if things had been different — if he had been fighting alongside them. Garm ended up not getting any sleep later that night because he kept replaying that battle in his head — and imagining the different other ways it could have played out.
“That’s why I want to be there this time around. And I’m going to make every effort to achieve that.”
“I see… Let’s start with leveling you up, then. Aim for level 70 for now,” Tsutomu suggested, albeit while averting his eyes due to Garm giving him such a serious look.
Due to their work at the Guild, Garm and Amy had not been able to raise their levels as much as they would have liked. Both of them were currently level 66 as a result.
Garm nodded and stood up.
“Got it. I’m heading out now.”
“Hey, wait a second. Haven’t you fought enough for today already?”
“Time is a limited resource.”
“Always is. But there’s such a thing as too much, you know?”
Persuaded by the look in Tsutomu’s eyes, Garm very reluctantly sat back down on the sofa.
“Honestly though, I think you’re already going at a good pace right now. Your skillset is different enough from Daryl and Xeno, too.”
“I’m not satisfied with just this.”
“…If you say so. I’ll think up something for tomorrow, so make sure you get some rest for now.”
“All right.”
Tsutomu sighed, unable to resist Garm’s unusually cheerful smile. He then proceeded to think about the various capabilities of Knight-type Jobs and about what to do with them.
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