I'm an EX-Rank Heal Dragon—Is My Attack Power Overpowered Too?!
I'm an EX-rank Heal Dragon, so does that mean even my attack power is overpowered too?!
"You heard from Sumi, right? This sister's name is Kim Seohwa. My class is Mage, and fire magic is my specialty."
"Oh, h-hello. I'm Lee Jiyun, and my class is Elf... um, that is..."
"I heard from Sumi too. You're the only one in the whole world with that class, right? Must be nice. I wish I could get something like that once."
"Uh... hehe. R-right, isn't it?"
Save me, Sumi. I'm terrible at this kind of small talk. It works with people I used to chat with online because we already have that connection, but with this extroverted, atmosphere-dominating social butterfly, I just can't...!!
"But why are you so nervous? Is it because we're going into the gate?"
"M-maybe..."
"Or is it because I'm someone you're meeting for the first time? Does it feel burdensome or something? Want me to back off a little? This sister still wants to talk more, though."
"Ugh... uh..."
It felt like my vision was spinning. At this rate I'd collapse from exhaustion before we even stepped inside the gate...
"Hey now. Stop teasing the kid."
Yoo Sumi cut in, apparently unable to watch any longer. At her single sentence, Kim Seohwa took a step back.
"Teasing? I was just doing a little icebreaking."
"Jiyun hates it when people come on too strong. That was only icebreaking for you."
"You're the one who dug up her personal info and suggested we meet up."
"What personal info! I just searched her UID!!"
"That's the same thing. Don't you know you can find someone's SNS photos, real name, and even workplace by tracking duplicate IDs? Ugh, so creepy."
"Hey!! I'm gonna smack that head of yours!!!"
And just like that, Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa started bickering back and forth. They really were best friends. I nodded to myself. Sumi had called it bad icebreaking, but it had definitely broken the ice.
"Anyway, I'll be in your care. I heard you have three unique skills? I'm so jealous~ This sister doesn't have a single one."
"R-really? I'll be in your care too."
"Yup. It's nice getting to party with a cute baby like Jiyun. You just need to focus on buffing and healing me. A mage is way better than some close-combat dealer."
"Should I really break your staff?"
And so our second gate run began. Yoo Sumi drew her sword from its sheath, while Kim Seohwa picked up the short wand she had tucked at her waist. I'd been expecting some enormously long staff, so the Harry Potter-style wand caught me by surprise.
"Using something that long does give stronger magic output, but it's heavy, gets in the way, and slows down your casting speed. It's a matter of personal taste, I suppose."
"I see."
When I asked to keep the conversation going, Kim Seohwa kindly explained. In a proper large-scale raid, using a big staff to maximize firepower was correct, but in small parties like ours, a short wand that emphasized flexibility was the standard. Of course, plenty of people just stuck with wands since they were so versatile.
Come to think of it, both of them had weapons while I was empty-handed.
So I summoned the Bow of the Great Tree.
"Whoa, what's that? A bow? You have a skill like that? That's cool."
"Hehe. I wonder if you've ever seen a healer deal damage before."
We entered the gate right after. This gate was clearly different from the D-grade one. The moment we stepped inside, a massive mountain loomed right in front of us, and we had entered on the flat plains below it. The map showed the terrain split between mountain and plains, with difficulty rising the higher you climbed.
"So we'll just take our time exploring around the base. If we have energy left, we can climb a little. Let's head that way then."
Yoo Sumi took the lead, with Kim Seohwa and me following behind. I kept scanning the area, eager to fire at least one arrow. Just let a monster show up. I'd shoot it immediately.
It didn't take long before we spotted one...
"It's a rock golem. Nothing to be nervous about. What do you want to do, Jiyun? Want to try shooting an arrow at it?"
Gasp. How did she know I'd been dying to shoot the bow? As expected of Sumi. Her consideration was off the charts.
What we'd found was a rock golem moving at a sluggish pace. Its slow movements and enormous size made it basically a living punching bag.
"Yes! I'd like to try attacking it myself!"
I stepped forward with a huge grin, bow in hand. I channeled my magic power to form the string and arrow, then took aim at the golem.
"That's another one of her unique skills. She's a healer but she shoots a bow. I wonder if she'll end up learning archer skills later."
"Wow... So she heals and deals damage at the same time? That's seriously rare."
I could hear Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa talking behind me. With those expectant eyes on me, I had to deliver. After all, I was the insanely overpowered elf Heal Dragon.
"Here I go...!"
Thwip!
The moment I released the arrow, it flew with a clean whoosh. The blue mass of magical energy shot forward fiercely... and missed the golem's shoulder by a wide margin.
This was unexpected. A critical variable had revealed itself.
I didn't know how to shoot a bow.
The only time I'd ever touched one was during a middle-school field trip to a folk village where we tried archery.
"I'll get a little closer!"
"Be careful! It's slow, but that doesn't mean its attack power is weak!"
I hurried toward the golem that had been roughly a hundred meters away. The moment I closed the distance to about half, it noticed me. With heavy thud, thud footsteps, it began lumbering in my direction.
"Ei!"
Thwip!
I fired another arrow immediately. Thanks to the shorter distance, this one struck the golem's torso dead-on.
"I hit it!!!"
I jumped for joy. But...
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The golem simply kept coming, arrow still lodged in its body. This was getting annoying.
"J-Jiyun? Should we step in now?"
"Just a second!!"
I stopped Yoo Sumi, who was calling out from behind, and aimed the bow once more. How dare this rude golem keep walking after taking an arrow. When an EX-rank Heal Dragon shoots, it should scream and die on the spot.
"Die!"
I fired again. The arrow hit the torso perfectly once more, but the golem ignored it and continued its approach.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
In a panic I fired rapidly, but the result was the same.
"Jiyun! Fall back!"
I had no choice. It was time to retreat. The instant I dashed back, Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa moved forward. A wave of injustice washed over me. I'd stepped up so confidently, radiating the dignity of an EX-class, only for this to happen.
"Sumi!! Kill that thing for me!!!"
I shrieked and cast a buff on Yoo Sumi. Kim Seohwa swung her wand first, launching several flaming arrows. While the golem staggered from the explosions, the buffed Sumi charged at blinding speed.
"Yaaaaaah!!"
With a fierce battle cry, Sumi leaped and swung her blade. The golem's leg was severed first, then its arm. Between the ice-enchanted sword and real blade dancing in a frenzy, it was diced like kimchi cubes. Even its inner core was split, and it finally died where it stood.
So just die nicely. Why did it have to struggle so much?
"Ugh..."
Unfortunately, the scenario where an EX-rank Heal Dragon also had overpowered attack power did not occur.
Why was the Bow of the Great Tree performing like this when all of them were unique skills? If it couldn't even scratch a golem, what was the difference from a regular bow?
"Wow, Jiyun... What was that buff?"
Kim Seohwa came running over.
"Sumi isn't usually that strong. That golem may look like a sandbag, but it's ridiculously tough and takes forever to beat."
"Ah... haha. My buff is pretty good, I guess."
Even with Seohwa's praise, the bow's disappointing performance left me feeling down. The dream of becoming a maestro who dominated battlefields while healing and dealing damage at the same time was in danger of shattering...
Yoo Sumi, who joined us shortly after, quickly read my mood.
"Aigoo, don't get so down over something like this. Golems don't feel pain in the first place, and their bodies are insanely thick, so normal attacks don't work well. You have to smash them hard enough to shatter them completely or melt them with overwhelming firepower. It was just a bad matchup."
"Yeah, exactly. Sumi's right. Even my fire magic needs multiple hits to bring one down. That thing's defense is fucking insane."
"Watch your language in front of the kid, Seohwa."
"Ah, right. Sorry."
"Anyway, there's no reason to feel depressed. The fact that the arrow actually stuck means the power wasn't weak. If it had been a biological monster, a single arrow would have hurt enough to make it flinch. That alone would be plenty for support fire."
"Right. You've only been awakened for less than two weeks, right? There's more than enough room for growth. Since you have attack skills, their power will keep increasing as you get stronger."
A storm of comfort poured down from both Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa.
Yeah. That made sense. I'd barely shot this bow a few times; why was I expecting it to split the sky and shatter boulders already? Even current S-rank hunters must have been weak right after awakening.
"Then... instead of focusing on power, I should concentrate on accurately hitting the opponent's weak points."
"Exactly. Jiyun's so smart. Archers need high accuracy above all."
"It's honestly amazing that you reached that conclusion immediately without anyone telling you. You have real combat sense."
Just hearing the praise lifted my mood again. Analyzing the situation and instantly finding a solution—my brilliant brain was shining brightly today too.
"But..."
Kim Seohwa spoke up beside me.
"I'm curious about something. Can you not cast that buff skill on yourself?"
"Huh?"
What? Why didn't I think of that? Am I an idiot?