Too Skilled to Be a Rookie
The first stratum, Blue Meadow, was not as peaceful as its name suggested. Beneath the artificial sky, people died every single day. That was simply daily life in Astaroth.
“Let’s see here…”
The party consisted of five members total. The shield-bearing vanguard trembled violently at the front, while the spearman behind him kept shifting around in panic. Further back stood a mage and an archer, and at the very rear, a priest sat collapsed on the ground.
“They’re clearly just fledglings who’ve barely set foot in Astaroth.”
Direwolves were the local thugs of the first stratum. Twice the size of ordinary wolves and intelligent enough to hunt in coordinated packs. If rookies couldn’t maintain formation, it was only a matter of time before they were torn apart.
“Actually… it doesn’t even look like a formation problem.”
They were so pathetic that I genuinely wondered if these people were even explorers.
“F-Fireball!”
The mage’s spell soared uselessly into the distant sky.
“I-I’ll provide covering fire!”
“Aaaagh! Why are you shooting at me?!”
The archer’s arrow grazed the vanguard’s helmet. It was less a battle and more a comedy show.
“If I leave them like this, they’ll all be dead in three minutes.”
Normally, I would have ignored them and gone on my way. After all, I was just another run-of-the-mill D-rank explorer—hardly in any position to worry about other people’s lives.
But things were different now.
‘…Should I test things out?’
I wanted to see how far this new body could react and how much power my newly gained strength could output.
I kicked off the meadow and sprinted forward.
“Hey! Lower that shield!”
The shield-bearing vanguard turned to stare at me blankly.
“You with the spear! That thing’s bait—don’t chase after it!”
The advice of a veteran carried weight. I had spent fifteen years scraping the bottom, watching scenes exactly like this one far too many times.
“W-What the—?!”
“Let’s just do what he says for now!”
“What should we do next?!”
The rookies were flustered by my sudden commands, but they still moved.
“Mage! Don’t aim at the wolves—burn the grass on the ground!”
Flames erupted from the tip of her staff. As fire blazed across their path, the wolves’ formation broke apart. Blocking their route rather than their vision. That was the basics of fighting multiple beasts.
‘Good. A gap’s opened up.’
And I didn’t miss it.
Shuk—!
I slashed the throat of one wolf and immediately slipped behind the next.
‘My body feels so light.’
My reaction speed was abnormally fast. The old Nix Grave wouldn’t have been able to imitate movements like these.
‘Alright, next…’
Wind Blade
Green magical energy swirled around the blade of my dagger. A wind blade that reinterpreted the speed of a harpy’s original form.
I hurled myself toward the largest direwolf that appeared to be the leader.
Slice—!
+ Critical Damage
My legs throbbed. But the recoil wasn’t as severe as last time. It was proof that my body was slowly adapting to the output of my blessing.
“Th-Thank you…!”
“You’re incredible! Are you perhaps a famous high-ranking explorer?”
The rookies approached with sparkling eyes. They looked both younger and roughly the same age as my current body, but their gazes felt incredibly burdensome.
I casually wiped the blood off my clothes and replied.
“It’s nothing like that. I’m also a newbie who just registered, so don’t make such a fuss.”
“No way, you’re lying! How could those movements belong to a rookie?”
The spearman made a big scene. Instead of answering, I examined the wolf corpses scattered across the ground.
‘Strange.’
Their fur had a healthy sheen. There wasn’t a trace of the rough texture or scars typical of wild specimens. The decisive clue was the scars around their necks. Clear marks remained where leather straps had once been fastened.
In other words…
“Don’t let your guard down. Everyone, weapons ready.”
“Huh? Why are you saying that all of a sudden?”
I pointed at the wolves’ necks.
“These are bred specimens. It means they have an owner.”
“What do you…”
“If we’re talking about a first-stratum monster that tames direwolves, there’s only one possibility. That would be—”
Before I could finish speaking.
Awooooooo—!
The howling of wolves echoed from beyond the meadow.
“Th-That’s…!”
“Direwolves? How many of them are there?!”
“Wait, what’s that on their backs…!”
The fledglings pointed in horror at a single spot. Dozens of direwolves. And riding atop them were small green-skinned monsters.
“As I thought. Goblin Riders.”
Among goblins, these were the highly intelligent ones that tamed demonic beasts and operated like cavalry. Their mobility, javelin throwing, and encirclement tactics put them on an entirely different level from regular goblins.
The face of the spear-wielding rookie turned deathly pale.
“G-Goblin Riders… aren’t those D-rank monsters?!”
“That’s right. They’re demonic bastards that can threaten even a C-rank party if they form a pack.”
Let’s think this through. The enemy numbered at least thirty. Our side consisted of me and five useless fledglings.
‘No way around it. A head-on fight would be suicide.’
I pulled a smoke bomb from my bag.
“Everyone run! You lot don’t stand a chance with your skills!”
I split the plan into two stages.
One. Block their field of vision.
Two. Secure an escape route and bolt immediately.
Perfect.
“No! We can do this!”
“Yeah! We can do it!!!”
And the one—and only—flaw in that perfect plan turned out to be five of them.
“You saw it earlier! If we just follow this person’s orders, we can win too!”
“Right! We need to gain real combat experience now!”
“I-I’ll do my best too!”
They looked at me with faces full of fighting spirit. For a moment, I was speechless.
‘…What the hell are these idiot bastards even saying?’
My plan had definitely been perfect. If only these five rookie numbers one through five hadn’t started doing whatever the hell they wanted.
“Fireball!!!!!”
Even the mage raised her staff and began chanting. Her face was overflowing with confidence. Probably because she had managed to kill a few wolves with my help earlier.
“Are you all insane?”
“Let’s fight together! We’ll help too!”
“What kind of bullshit is that?! I said run!”
But it was too late. Before the shield-bearing vanguard could stop them, the others let out battle cries and charged toward the Goblin Riders.
“Hey, you fucking idiots!!!!”
However, my shout was drowned out by the goblins’ roars. The fledglings raised their weapons and began rushing forward after the vanguard.
‘This is seriously unbelievable. These braindead morons!’
No formation. No strategy. They were simply drunk on adrenaline, screaming as they charged. In the labyrinth, the scariest things weren’t high-ranking monsters—it was fledglings who couldn’t read the situation. These kinds of idiots were even harder to predict than monsters.
‘Should I just abandon them and run?’
But if I left them like this, they’d all be skewered in ten seconds.
‘…If rookies die, the guild will investigate. If rumors spread that I was at the scene, the branch manager might nag me endlessly. Most of all, watching fledglings get slaughtered right in front of me doesn’t feel good at all.’
“Agh, fuck!!!”
In the end, I chased after them.
However, the Goblin Riders were experienced. As if they had been waiting for the rookies to approach, they spread out in a wide fan formation and began to encircle us.
Shuuuuk—!
Throwing javelins flew through the air.
“Block them!”
I shouted, but the rookie vanguard’s shield was already being rammed by wolves and shaking wildly.
“I told you not to lift the shield up! Spearman, don’t push forward! Stab and retreat immediately!”
But my commands weren’t getting through.
“Uwaaaah! My shield!”
“I’ll take care of it! Ugh, my wrist suddenly…!”
They were in a full panic, fear devouring their reason.
‘Goddammit. If you were going to act like this, why the hell did you charge in? Why didn’t you just run away obediently!’
Centered around these fledglings, the direwolves drew a tightening circle. It was an efficient formation meant to slowly wear us down.
“Gyarururu! Gyarruk!”
At that moment, a particularly massive specimen burst out from the center of their ranks. It was taller than the average rider, and the wolf it rode had dark reddish fur.
“It’s the Rider Leader!”
An elite among Goblin Riders and a top-tier D-rank monster.
“Kiruruk! Kyarurak!”
With a single command and gesture from the creature, all the riders moved in unison. The ground beneath our feet rumbled and shook violently.
“U-Uwaaaah!”
“What do we do?! What the hell do we do?!”
“What do you mean what do we do?! Just chant your spells!”
The terrified fledglings screamed incoherently. It was annoyingly loud.
“Will you all just shut the hell up!!!!!”
“Ugh…!”
“…!!!”
At my roar, they all froze like stones.
‘That takes care of that. Now for the next part…’
I quickly closed in on the Goblin Rider Leader and swung my dagger hard toward its neck.
Clang—!
But the creature lightly blocked my dagger with its spear. A heavy weight traveled through the tip of my blade.
‘As expected of a top-tier D-rank, its strength is better than I thought.’
But what bothered me even more was the look in its eyes. The eyes of an intelligent commander.
‘That leadership ability… it’s no joke.’
A thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Skill Mimic.’
A skill that imitates the behavior of monsters. If I used this, couldn’t I acquire that thing’s command ability as a skill?
“Let’s just try it!”
Hesitation was a luxury in the labyrinth.
Skill Mimic
The moment I activated the skill, my field of vision narrowed and the leader’s movements began to look slower. Its hand gestures. The muscle movements in its thighs as it controlled the wolf. The unique cries it used to command its subordinates and the direction of its gaze. Skill Mimic collected all of this information in real time, analyzing what results each action led to.
Target entity: Goblin Rider Leader.
Analyzing pack command and tactical patterns.
My heartbeat quickened. My brain throbbed from the overload, but I had no intention of stopping.
…Analysis complete.
Acquired C-rank skill: Lesser Tactics.