The Hammer and the Anvil
The guild master was disappointed. After smoothing out the small grudge or misunderstanding he had with Jason and reintroducing him, he continued. Well, since everyone already knew about me except Jason, there was no need to talk much about me and Jason alone. “I am a swordmaster.” “What?” “So what are you?” “……I am a warrior who can use any sword, but my main weapon is the longsword and bastard sword.” I was a swordswoman who wielded Excalibur (Rank 3) and possessed super-high-level swordsmanship. The muscular pig Jason was, as expected, a warrior who handled dual-wielding swords. Yeah. If a warrior can’t even lift the shield properly, at least he should pour strength into the sword. Or else, like me, he should be overwhelmingly strong. ‘So he’s not even compatible with a shield.’ When I led a tank party someday, I would naturally carry a shield and tank. But the feeling of forcing myself into a tank role was too much, so I stopped. Having a shield is definitely more stable, but… rather than tanking attacks, I preferred to control them and eliminate quickly. Of course, that was just my personal preference, but when looking at the party as a whole, there needed to be at least one shield-bearer. What if an unexpected barrage came flying our way? Who would protect our mage and healer then? In that sense, our party had excellent balance. The only flaw was that Jason, who didn’t even know the topic, hadn’t picked up a shield, but Knight Kemel would anchor the center, and the mage’s assistant Jammy would provide rear support. While they held the line, I would turn the enemy camp to ash, and that would be it. In other words, the hammer and anvil. While the anvil (main force) held out tirelessly, the super-high-level hammer that was me would slaughter all the enemies. It sounded too radical an opinion for medieval humans to accept, but luckily, the others seemed to share similar thoughts. “……Well, they’re just goblins and orcs.” The pink-eyed mage, who had been patted by me earlier, sent a strange look of disbelief, but as someone being protected, it was only natural to have doubts, so I decided not to educate her again. The boy named Lily, with blue eyes, simply nodded quietly, and Jason, having had his morale broken by me, was a yes-man. “I will handle the basic command.” At least, among the party members sincerely aiming for dungeon conquest, it was only me and the knight who had any real drive. Knight Kemel had wanted to lead the party. It was probably out of natural responsibility rather than a desire to be the leader. He wasn’t an explorer, but as a knight of the lord landowner and an older person, I decided to listen to him. When danger arose, I would give orders. Anyway, since we roughly got to know each other, we should do a group camping trip, enjoy some recreation, and go through hell training. But time was short. It had been days since the 9th-floor dungeon was discovered, and there was the risk that someone else might enter it. (The other party members were closer to rescuing someone stuck in a dangerous dungeon, but I had zero intention of having my hard-earned loot stolen.) Our conquest team decided to unite in purpose and swiftly exterminate the layer and dungeons. The way to enter the tower together was simple. [Will you bond?] Standing in front of the tower, if you hold hands, you can select the members you will enter with together. From mid-layers onward, you didn’t even need bonding items to enter easily, but ‘that’s a luxury we can’t afford at this low layer.’ Instead of buying that, I’d rather spend the money on a sword or something. In any case, we had moved to the square in front of the tower, bonded with each other, and entered the layer. The destination was, of course, the location where the dungeon was. [Moving to the 9th floor ‘Forgotten Shrine’.] After the brief floating sensation ended, I felt the sensation of feet touching the ground, and my vision also expanded. The first thing that caught my eyes was the lush green grass, trees, and the steep slopes unique to the mountains. Scattered across the hills were the broken ruins that hinted at some civilization existing here—similar to the labyrinth on the 1st floor—but they were just meaningless relics with no connection to layer or dungeon conquest. We decided to climb the mountain first. Occasionally, mountain beasts like goblins and orcs appeared, which we would kill while heading toward some dungeon. *** From the 1st to the 10th floor, the layers were commonly called the so-called ‘Green Zone’. There was also the formal name ‘Forgotten Shrine’, but the monsters that appeared were, with the exception of some, all green-skinned, and the main background was a dense forest and mountains filled with trees, so that was how it got its name. As we climbed the steep slope, green-skinned goblins disguised among the trees suddenly jumped out. ─Kiiiieek! Unlike the labyrinth on the 1st floor, they weren’t separated and lived in clusters. At least two dozen poured out at once. They shot poisonous needles from the bushes, and some descended from the trees. Without a single one running in bare-handed, they all held crude clubs at least roughly. Awkward explorers would be confused by the sudden ambush and get swept up, but goblins were unfortunately unlucky enough to have skilled explorers coming up from time to time too. “Barrier.” A party that was overwhelmingly powerful against even goblins of that level had gathered there. The mage with pink eyes, Ariga, shook her staff, and a translucent shield appeared. Not only herself, but a large protection that enveloped the entire surrounding party. Her brother, the water elemental mage Lily, gestured without a word. ─Krrruuek? A few goblins that had been descending from the trees were suddenly trapped in the water droplets that appeared in mid-air, and the other goblins were blown away by the water elemental that came whipping like a lash. With the rear self-intercepting like that, the situation became much easier for the knight. Knight Kemel calmly slew the green monsters that were rushing at the children, and next to him, Jason likewise cut down goblins. With the two warriors holding the rear line without shaking, there was no danger. Even if they didn’t kill in one hit, by drawing out time, the mage and elemental mage siblings would intercept the monsters again. ─……Kiii. Killing a group of about thirty goblins was an extremely simple task. It would take some time, but with just the four of them, it was plenty safe. But with the super-high-level hammer there, extermination was no big deal. ‘……What is that?’ The explorer (self-proclaimed) who had once been the most promising had been watching the woman who came walking over, shaking the blood on her blade with intense eyes. The one who had alone put on a wonderful performance against the hopping goblin that had popped up midway, but all the arrogance was long gone. The girl named Undertaker—‘Liz’—sprinted forward in an instant and exterminated the hopping goblin along with the group of ten goblins. Without a single exception, each sword stroke severed one neck. At first, it had been the suspicious ‘free roll’ she gave, but now it was a one-sided slaughter that she watched in horror. ‘Is that, the same low-layer explorer as me? She can’t even use mana yet……Is that possible?!’ Guild master’s son Jason doubted his own eyes. The man who had seen countless explorers in the meantime, but ‘that’ was an overwhelmingly dominant combat power. She had repeated it seven times already, so it wasn’t random, but pure talent. That was why it was even more unbelievable, but the girl with black hair was still returning with a smile full of leisure. “Haha, that was fun.” “……” Even to say that she had fun. Yeah, he had said he wouldn’t kill her even if she tried hard this time, yet she had responded with ‘Eh? I’m just killing because it’s fun?’ The toughest woman in Jason’s entire life, covering every life he had ever seen. ‘Amazing.’ Jason, who had thought that subconsciously, suddenly grabbed his jaw that had been hit before and shook his head. It was indeed amazing, but that was an existence he couldn’t handle. Soon he gave up and, after a brief maintenance, returned to the front to lead the party’s direction. Only he had discovered the dungeon in the vast mountain range and knew its location. It was inevitable that he would take the role of the guide. However, Jason, who had lived as a warrior his whole life, had no chance of finding the way through mountains. Every time he got lost, he subtly checked Liz’s eyes, but she had responded quite tolerantly, unlike the first impression of a hot-tempered person. “Well, that’s fine.” From the mid-layers onward, layer re-entry was impossible, so her thought that it was enough just that there was a guide from the start made Jason quite touched. The warrior filled with muscles throughout his body searched the way more earnestly, sweating profusely. Recalling memories, after exploring the mountain range over a day, he found where the dungeon was. [Hidden Cave] [No member limit] Finally, he found the dungeon. *** Satisfied with today’s results, the conquest team decided to spend the night to recover energy and enter the dungeon. Hiking all day, fighting monsters, then fighting again was too harsh, after all. We found a location with good terrain around us and set up the tent on top of it. There was an urgent feeling that others might steal it, but if we got stolen while sleeping, it was just terribly unlucky luck. Well, in the low-layer newbie zone like this, there wouldn’t be many who could conquer a dungeon. We were the only party using mana. Besides, entering while everyone was exhausted was a part that needed extra care. [Hidden Cave] [No member limit] We knew it was a cave, but the fact that there was no member limit was something we learned for the first time today. Usually, there were limits of 6 to 10 in mid-layers and up to 50 in upper layers, but… ‘Is it a special privilege just because it’s a newbie zone?’ Or were there monsters in there that didn’t match the layer? Either way, I had decided to enter without caring. Overcoming trials was the eternal truth that rewards came back, so I had no intention of loitering in a place like this. Feeling the air cool a bit, I squeezed into a surprisingly warm medieval blanket and closed my eyes. [High-quality Blanket] [Warmth magic enchanted.] For the first time, I was grateful that this ridiculous game’s civilization mixed various things. After spending the night in a tent and blanket that were not as warm as I thought, the sun of today soon brightened. [Entering ‘Hidden Cave’.] It was time to start exploring again.