My first real combat using a great hammer was over.
It ended up being the usual staged hunt, but for now, it was finished.
「Thanks for your hard work, Alec」
「Thanks, Diana-chan」
……Well, I didn’t work hard though.
「What do you want to do? Want to try the next one by yourself?」
「Ah, yeah……」
Diana-chan suggested that I fight solo.
She probably watched that last fight and thought, that barely even counted as combat……
「……No, let’s keep doing it like this for now」
「Really?」
「Yeah」
The previous fight was definitely disappointing.
Honestly, I am not even sure I can say I participated in that fight at all.
Still, even in that disappointing staged hunt, I realized one very important fact.
That fact was—
『Getting shot with an arrow from behind is scary』
That’s it.
It was scary.
Really scary.
I did not expect it to be that frightening.
I have fought giant rats many times before, but this was the most terrifying giant rat fight I have ever had.
I definitely need to come up with some kind of countermeasure……
「I could just fight alone normally, but since Diana-chan is here, I want to learn how to work together」
「Work together?」
「Yeah. You attack from long range, and I go in for close combat. That kind of coordination」
「Hmm」
Let’s learn that kind of coordination.
And somehow overcome the fear of getting shot from behind.
When you form a party, your allies are usually long-range classes anyway.
If I cannot overcome this fear, I will not be able to use swords or hammers in party battles.
「Alright, let’s go, Diana-chan」
「Yeah. Next one is that?」
「Yeah」
「Okay」
We picked our next giant rat and started the fight—
「Heave-ho」
「…………」
And then the fight was over.
Just as I took a few steps toward the giant rat, it was eliminated by Diana-chan’s arrow.
「……Maybe I should have waited a bit longer?」
「Yeah……」
This is not looking very promising……
◇
Working together with an archer is pretty difficult. It is harder than I expected.
The giant rats in the 1-1 area were too weak, so there was no real coordination to speak of.
We moved on to the 1-2 area and tried chasing a fleeing coin slime, but unfortunately I could not catch up to it. Once again, it ended with Diana-chan just firing an arrow.
Real combat training started from the 1-3 area onward.
Facing boars, worms, and wolves, I challenged them with my great hammer, while Diana-chan supported me with her bow during the fights.
I think using the great hammer itself went fine.
I was able to block enemy attacks with the hammer, use thrusts and sweeps with the handle, and land solid strikes when I saw an opening.
That part was good. I think it was a valuable experience.
Fighting monsters felt different from fighting people, and that brought its own difficulties, but I managed well enough.
It gave me confidence in using the great hammer, and I finally felt like I had truly completed my first real fight with it.
But well. More importantly than all that, arrows are scary.
They are really scary. Getting shot at from behind during combat is terrifying. I felt a level of fear that was far from normal.
Out of nowhere, I would hear the sound of something cutting through the air, and the next moment, an arrow would be stuck somewhere in the monster in front of me.
If I had moved even a little carelessly, would that arrow have pierced me instead? Just thinking about that makes me shiver in fear. I feel like the sound of an arrow cutting through the air might become a trauma.
In the middle of all that, there was one thing that felt like a ray of hope. Or maybe not.
As the battles went on, I gradually started to understand the timing of when Diana-chan would fire her arrows.
With this, maybe we can coordinate properly. I thought that, but I still do not really know how I am supposed to move at that timing.
For example, let’s say I move to the right to clear the line of fire at the moment I think Diana-chan is about to shoot.
If she fires her arrow through the line I cleared, there is no problem.
But what if Diana-chan also shoots slightly to the right to avoid hitting me? What would happen then?
…Then I would get shot.
Thinking about that makes it hard to move carelessly.
This is tough. Coordinating with an archer is really tough…
Maybe I should ask Father later? Since he is a swordsman, he might give me some good advice.
Though I am a little scared he might say something like 『I got shot in the back by Miriam plenty of times too』…
So anyway, while worrying, panicking, and fumbling through trial and error, we continued through the dungeon, and Diana-chan and I arrived at the 3-4 area.
「Alright, thanks for your hard work」
「Thanks for your hard work, Diana-chan」
I honestly worked hard. After so many fights that demanded constant focus, the fatigue really hit me.
The 3-4 area only has a rescue golem and a warp device. There are no monsters here, so this seemed like a good place to take a short break.
Just as I was thinking that, Diana-chan briskly walked all the way to the back of the area.
「Diana-chan?」
「Looks like it’s not done yet」
「Huh? Ah, yeah」
The area after 3-4 is unfortunately not implemented yet.
Of course I knew that. I did not make it, so of course it is not there yet.
「I wish they’d hurry up and make it」
「…………」
I feel like I heard that exact line from Ralina-chan too…
Maybe tomorrow I should hold a dungeon meeting with Nana-san about 4-1.
From a dungeon point perspective, it should probably be fine, and after talking with Nana-san, we can finally start working on 4-1.
Besides Ralina-chan and Diana-chan, there are probably other people thinking 『I wish they’d hurry up and make it』 too.
Before the management of 『World Tree-sama’s Dungeon』 starts getting criticized, we should add a new area.
After all, everyone thinks Yggdrasil-san is the one running this dungeon…
It would be far too unfair if Yggdrasil-san’s reputation dropped when she has done absolutely nothing wrong.
next chapter: 『Infernal Heavy Rain』
Leave a Reply