Week 8 Mentoring, the Conquest Battle (5)

Seo Ye-in was a Gunslinger class.

As a ranged damage dealer, she packed devastating firepower against a single point, but she had no crowd-control skills whatsoever.

At least, not yet.

So I tailored my advice to her style.

"The heart's a weakness, sure, but let's focus on the legs for now."

"Okay."

We watched the ogre come barreling toward us, bellowing with every thunderous stride. The closer it got, the further back it cocked its club-wielding arm and the lower it crouched into its stance.

Which meant our next move was obvious.

"On three, we jump. Three, two, one."

"Jump."

I grabbed Seo Ye-in's arm and we rose into the air together. In the very next instant, the thick club swept through where we'd been standing.

While still airborne, I gave the arm I was holding a light shove, and Seo Ye-in went gliding off on the wind, smooth as silk. The moment she landed a short distance away, her mana pistols erupted with blue fire.

Her first targets were the goblins that had been lurking here and there, waiting for their chance. They could turn into wild cards, so she meant to clear them out first.

— Ratatatat!

"Krek."

"Kehek."

The goblins dropped one by one, each felled by a single Magic Bullet.

There was, admittedly, one minor drawback to this arrangement: in the meantime, I had to play keep-away from the ogre entirely on my own. A random matchmaking partner of hers would probably have been flattened by the ogre's attacks at this point — but for me, that was hardly a challenge. I'd handled it just fine even back when Gwak Ji-cheol was flailing around.

— Ratatatat!

Another difference between Seo Ye-in and Gwak Ji-cheol: the speed at which she polished off goblins wasn't even remotely comparable. Thanks to that, my solo running-for-my-life time was cut down considerably.

Before long, Seo Ye-in had wiped out every goblin in sight and swung her muzzle toward the ogre. I'd told her to aim for the heart or the legs, and right now the ogre was chasing me, which meant its back was turned to her.

Accordingly, the Magic Bullets concentrated on its legs.

— Ratatatat!

"Groooohhh..."

The creature lifted its leg and shook it out, as if to say oh, come on. When Gwak Ji-cheol had been hurling dirt bullets at it, the thing hadn't spared them a glance — but now it was clearly showing signs of pain.

Even so, its hide was so thick that we were still a long way off from dealing a critical wound or bringing it down.

The ogre, having paused briefly to shake out its leg, resumed its assault. It lunged with surprising agility, hands clawing at the air in an attempt to snatch me up. But I had predicted the move and pulled back well in advance, so its hands missed me by a hair's breadth.

Then, as it hefted its club to bring it crashing down, Magic Bullets thudded into it one after another.

— Ratatatat!

"Groooohhh..."

While the creature twisted in agony, I nimbly slipped away.

'Excellent suppression.'

It wasn't as underhanded as Gwak Ji-cheol's earth-attribute magic, but the sheer force of it was enough to make the ogre hurt, and that did a fine job of interrupting its movements. Dodging got considerably easier because of it.

The crystal was charging fast, nearly full already. I kept weaving between the ogre's club swings, punches, and kicks as I called out to Seo Ye-in.

"It'll switch over to you soon. Get ready."

"Mm."

Seo Ye-in gave a small nod, then opened up with her mana pistols again. The blue rounds drilled relentlessly into a single one of the ogre's legs.

"Groooohhh..."

Perhaps the sustained assault had paid off, because the thing had begun to limp awkwardly from time to time. Its movement speed seemed to have dropped a little, too.

'Persistence pays off.'

Looking closely, I could see a small wound on its leg. I'd assumed that hide would shrug off anything short of the extraordinary — but Seo Ye-in had gone and pulled off exactly that extraordinary feat.

— Fwoom!

The crystal I carried bloomed full with red light. The Sanctuary then began channeling its energy into Seo Ye-in's blue crystal instead.

"Groaaar?"

The moment that happened, the ogre cut off its interest in me cold, wheeled its whole body around, and charged straight at Seo Ye-in.

She met the rapidly closing creature head-on, aiming her pistols square at it and firing in a continuous stream. Facing each other dead-on as they were, her target was the broad chest where its heart sat.

— Ratatatatat!

"Grooough!"

With impacts hammering near its heart, the ogre looked more pained than ever before. Even as it raised its arms to shield itself, it kept charging, swinging its club all the while.

— Wham!

Seo Ye-in fired off Magic Bullets until the very last moment, then cast Featherwalk and slipped out of the club's reach. The fist that came slamming down after it, she dodged with a light step or two.

Unlike me, though, she wasn't predicting and moving early — she was reading each attack as it came and reacting on the spot, so she had less margin to work with. The longer the ogre's assault went on, the more she got pushed onto the back foot.

I called out instructions to her.

"On three, use Featherwalk and run. Three, two, one. Jump."

"Jump."

Seo Ye-in leapt lightly off the ground, clearing the ogre's sweeping club. Just as it stretched its hands into the air to snatch her—

— Whoooosh—!

A fierce gale erupted without warning. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Riding the wind, Seo Ye-in sailed a long, easy distance through the air and came down right beside me.

'The synergy on this is honestly great.'

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Featherwalk, which made the caster's body light as a feather, and Wind Force, which moved a target with physically forceful wind. When the two skills chained together, the synergy was outstanding — as we'd just demonstrated.

"Groaaar?"

The ogre looked briefly baffled that the opponent it had nearly caught had gone sailing off into the distance, but it immediately came charging this way after her. Once again Seo Ye-in squared her muzzle at it face-to-face and hammered out Magic Bullets. She'd worn down its legs with relentless focus — presumably she figured the heart deserved the same treatment.

— Ratatatat!

The ogre bulled its way forward, soaking up the bullets with its whole body. Seo Ye-in weaved between its pounding club and a palm the size of a cauldron lid, and just when she looked to be cornered again—

"Jump, please."

"Jump."

— Whoooosh—!

Wind Force and Featherwalk, chained together. She'd adapted in the meantime — she rode the wind and flew off beautifully, no coaching required.

"Hop around a bit."

"Hop."

As our game of tag kept unfolding in much the same fashion—

Seo Ye-in's crystal charge was nearly complete. If we just kept repeating what we'd been doing, we'd clear this with room to spare.

And yet Seo Ye-in seemed somehow unsatisfied. She turned to me and asked:

"Can I try the shotgun?"

In other words: since the assault rifle wasn't putting the ogre down fast enough, she wanted to let loose with the shotgun.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The goal of this run was crystal charging, plain and simple — there was no real need to fell the creature. Worse, using a shotgun meant attacking from much closer range, shouldering unnecessary risk.

But to me, the very fact that she wanted to try was a delight.

When is a veteran gamer happiest and proudest? When the newbie starts sinking into obsession right alongside him.

So I decided to support her however she pleased, so that she'd sink in nice and deep.

"Sure. Go for it."

The instant my permission landed, her mana pistol broke apart and began snapping itself back together, piece by piece.

"Grooough!!"

Apparently the ogre instinctively sensed something ominous in the sight, because its movements turned faster and wilder. It flung aside the club it had been wielding so effectively and came at her with both bare hands.

When Seo Ye-in sidestepped the outstretched hand reaching to grab her, the opposite palm came hammering down. Dodge the palm, and a fist swung in; dodge the fist, and the whole arm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swept across the ground — the attacks came in an unrelenting chain.

Seo Ye-in threaded through the gaps between them, stepping lightly on Featherwalk.

Watching her, I was a little stunned.

'Her skill's improving way too fast, isn't it?'

When the crystal charge was still low, moments where she got overwhelmed mid-dodge came thick and fast, and I'd been pulling her out with Wind Force. But after repeating it a few times, she'd gotten good enough that she didn't need my help at all anymore. Her skill was climbing so fast you could practically watch it happen.

— Click,

And at last, the reassembly was complete: a shotgun. Seo Ye-in's hand glowed blue as she loaded it full of Magic Bullets.

Seeing this, the ogre seemed to grasp that this was the end, and hurled its entire body forward with a thrusting punch.

"Groaaar!"

I stepped into its path and extended Root forward to meet it. Wreathed around it was a pitch-black cloud and a fiercely spiraling wind.

And the instant the creature's fist collided with my staff—

"Groaaar—!?"

Contrary to its expectation of reducing me to a bloody pulp, the fist's trajectory swerved wildly off to the side. The wild miss left a huge opening, and Seo Ye-in seized it without hesitation, kicking off the ground and leaping into the air.

Then, shotgun trained on the creature's chest, she pulled the trigger.

— KRAKA-BOOM—!

A whole volley of Magic Bullets came pouring out at once. Taking the blast dead center, the ogre's movements stopped dead for the first time — and then it staggered backward.

"Grooough..."

The creature recovered its stance and tried to rejoin the fight, but sadly, the finishing blow would have to wait for another day.

Because Seo Ye-in's crystal had finished charging.

— Fwoom!

A brilliant wash of light spread out from the Sanctuary and swept across the arena, and the next moment, the ogre and the goblins had vanished without a trace. Immediately after, a notification window appeared in the corner of my vision, and the scoring began.

Thanks to finishing with a perfect game, our conquest battle score had blown past a full thousand points. We'd comfortably cleared the 90% mark for the maximum sub-quest achievement, too.

I was deeply, thoroughly satisfied.

"That's a wrap. Good work."

I raised my hand for a high-five, when—

"......"

Seo Ye-in stared at me steadily and held out one arm. Since I just stood there looking down at it, she wiggled it slowly.

I racked my brain over what on earth this could mean, until a hunch struck me and I asked:

"You... want me to throw you?"

— Nod,

So she'd gotten a taste for it after a few tosses. It wasn't a difficult request by any means, and there was no reason to refuse.

I took hold of Seo Ye-in's arm and, casting Wind Force, sent her flying with a push.

— Whoooosh—

Seo Ye-in sailed off in a graceful arc and touched down a good distance away. Then she came back and held out her arm again.

"......Again?"

"Mm."

Only after tossing her three more times was I finally able to leave the dungeon.