Thud!

The soles of her feet pushed against the ground as the surroundings blurred and swiftly passed by.

Before Yoo-ri’s eyes appeared seven monsters.

Black Hedgehog.

While their appearance resembled hedgehogs, their size was far from the small, cute creatures one might expect.

With crimson eyes and sharp spikes protruding from their backs, glistening with a viscous liquid.

“Be cautious, a total of eleven are active. Four are hiding underground.”

Jin Yuha warned in advance after sensing the hidden foes beneath the ground.

Yoo-ri glanced down briefly.

Subtle differences in the color of the ground and the spikes protruding like grass became apparent.

“Hmm, I knew they were good at burrowing… but it’s hard to imagine these huge ones hiding underground.”

So, why were they classified as B-rank threats?

“Yoo-ri, deploy the shield.”

At Jin Yuha’s command.

Thud!

Yoo-ri stomped on the ground, extending her shield forward.

With a hum, a blue defensive barrier unfolded from the cross-shaped shield like an umbrella.

As soon as she deployed the shield, the creatures on the ground and those standing in front shot out their spikes.

Crack-crack-crack-crack!

Each strike against the shield echoed with considerable force.

“…There’s a lot of them.”

If she could arbitrarily expand the size of the barrier, she might have been able to block all the projectiles pouring down. However, with a shield limited in size, it was impossible to block every projectile.

Yoo-ri didn’t even blink as she tracked the flying spikes.

She distinguished between those that would reach her party members behind her and those that wouldn’t, planning her movements in her mind.

“Soup Junior!”

Along with Lim Ga-eul’s voice from behind, ‘Acceleration’ imbued her body.

Her body felt noticeably lighter.

Yoo-ri’s feet moved without delay along the optimal trajectory she had designed in her mind.

It feels really good when your body moves as you think it would, Yoo-ri thought with a grin.

.

.

.

“Wow, Yoo-ri is on fire today.”

Yoo-ri always put in effort and diligently trained her shield skills, which were already respectable among tanks. But today, her shield seemed to be even more dynamic.

“…But wasn’t she usually weaker against projectiles?”

I chuckled as I watched her from behind.

In Velvet School Life, character performance varied widely depending on the enemy’s attributes. While Yoo-ri wasn’t completely ineffective against ranged attackers, she wasn’t particularly efficient either.

“So I thought she would use skills to draw aggro and handle them…”

Yet, watching Yoo-ri’s current performance made me wonder if I had been wrong all this time.

She utilized her speed advantage, moving around to block the spikes.

But the attacks aimed at us…

Thud! Thud!

Thud!

A long spike resembling a spear lodged right next to my foot. Poison dripped down, emitting a pungent white smoke.

Although Yoo-ri couldn’t block all the attacks, she managed to deflect or block any attacks that could directly hit us.

The onslaught of arrows ceased, and now it was the dealers’ turn.

I turned my head to the side.

Kang Do-hee with her stern face.

From the look in her eyes, she seemed to be thinking

“Why hasn’t such a tank made a name for herself until now?”

“Hey, Do-hee.”

“…What?”

As I called her, her response came a beat late.

“Wanna make a bet?”

“…What?”

“Who can catch the most kills? Let’s make a wager.”

“Betting? You and me…?”

As I grinned, Do-hee responded with a voice tinged with irritation.

“…Little Fool, it seems like you’re mistaken about something. Last time in the duel, you won against me with your skills…”

Thwack!

Before she could finish her sentence, I drew out my Moonlight and slammed it into the ground.

” Little Fool…”

Then, Do-hee, too, gritted her lips and kicked towards the monsters.

Whoosh!

I firmly gripped the handle of the Moonlight and swung it horizontally towards the huge monster in front of me. As I did, spikes protruded from its hand, which it thrust forward.

It’s probably trying to block my sword with its thorns.

Thwack!

The Moonlight cleaved through the monster’s hand along with its claws.

“Screaaam!”

The creature screamed as blood spurted from the severed wound. Ignoring its cries, I immediately sought out the next prey.

The next target was still the Black Hedgehogs hiding underground.

After pinpointing their locations with my detection ability, I reversed my grip on the sword and drove the sword towards the ground.

Thud!

The sword tip plunged deep into the ground. As I pulled it out, the blade was stained with dark blood.

Thud, thud, thud!

For a moment, the ground trembled as if stretching, then fell silent as death. With the sword piercing their skulls, they were instantly killed.

“It’s sweet dealing with them when they can’t dodge on the ground.”

I continued to thrust and withdraw my sword from the ground, dispatching the creatures one by one.

.

.

.

Eventually, the four remaining monsters hiding in the ground emerged.

As I turned my head, I saw Do-hee kicking the arm of the last remaining one.

Thunk!

The thick arm of the Hedgehog exploded as if a bomb had gone off.

“Little Fool, this makes six for me. Looks like you’ve got five,” said Kang Do-hee with a smirk before leaping into the air.

Her body extended along with her outstretched leg, swinging towards the monster’s head.

Whoom!

But then, just as her kick was about to connect…

Crash!

I intervened, blocking Do-hee’s spinning kick with the side of my sword.

The force of her kick sent the side of my sword slamming into the Hedgehog’s head.

“Aaagh!”

With a groan, the massive Black Hedgehog lost consciousness and collapsed.

“…Little Fool, what was that?”

Against the backdrop of flying dirt and debris, Kang Do-hee furrowed her brows, her voice chillingly calm. I chuckled.

“Oh, I needed to test something.”

“…Test?”

“Yeah, Ga-eul-senpai!”

I turned my head and gestured to Lim Gaeul, who stood behind.

Then, Yoo-ri and Lim Ga-eul rushed over.

“What’s going on, Junior?”

“Come and test these gloves.”

“…What?”

“You haven’t used them yet. We need to see how they hold up in real combat.”

“Oh.”

I turned to the other party members.

“Yoo-ri, Do-hee, keep watch around us.”

“Got it.”

“Ugh, was this your plan from the beginning?”

Yoo-ri nodded, while Kang Do-hee, though sticking her tongue out, remained alert without a word.

“All right, Senpai. Give it a good swing. It’s already unconscious. It’ll be fine,”

I said, encouraging Ga-eul to step forward.

Reluctantly, Ga-eul swallowed her saliva and positioned herself in front of the monster.

“Ha!”

With a swift motion, Ga-eul swung her hand through the air.

Crack!

A clear sound rang out as the tip of a thorn on the Black Hedgehog’s back was struck.

“Try aiming again.”

“Eyaaa!”

Swish!

This time, two fingers were severed.

I rubbed my chin, observing the scene.

“Hmm, we need to refine her technique.”

While mastering it through adequate training at the academy would be safer, testing it against actual monsters wasn’t something we could easily do.

“Well, we did choose this dungeon knowing it’s below our party’s level.”

I nodded and approached Ga-eul, standing behind her and grabbing her wrist.

“Ju, Junior!?”

Ga-eul turned her head in surprise to look at me.

“Stay focused. We need to get your stance right in situations like this. Even though Kang Do-hee and Soup will try their best to protect you, there might be occasional attacks slipping through. You need to be able to handle them on your own.”

“Uh, okay.”

She nodded her head but squirmed uncomfortably as if something was bothering her.

“Keep still.”

Immediately, Ga-eul’s body stiffened up.

“Now, open your eyes wide and focus on your opponent.”

“Okay!”

“And then, lift your arm straight up toward the opposite side.”

As I guided her wrist, Ga-eul’s hand rose up to her shoulder, creating a pose as if she was tightly embracing something. Her face flushed red as if she was about to burst.

” Huh, junior……. This looks like I’m being held…”

“What did you say?”

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing!”

“Focus. Stop getting distracted. Anyway, now extend your arm straight down forcefully.”

Swish!

Crack!

A long and deep wound appeared on the face of the Black Hedgehog as blood gushed out.

At that moment,

“Aaaah!”

The creature, which had been unconscious from pain, screamed as it rose to its feet.

Thorns shooting out in all directions.

Swish!

Ping!

Ting-ting!

Ping!

I swung Ga-eul’s hand like a sword, deflecting the thorns.

While my attack power was insufficient to cut through all the thorns, it was enough to distort their trajectory.

Ga-eul was now tightly embraced in my arms. “This should be enough to protect yourself. From tomorrow, if you have time, let’s train in the private training grounds to practice deflecting attacks.”

I looked down at her and spoke.

“Okay, got it. But, junior.”

“Yes?”

“Um… Could you, uh, let go now? The other Juniors are staring at us too much…”

As I glanced around, I saw Yoo-ri and Kang Do-hee staring at us with cold, icy gazes.

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.

.

“Captain…”

“What?”

“Well, um… This route we’re taking isn’t the one we originally planned, right?”

The dealer muttered anxiously beside me. Joo Tae-rin’s expression darkened.

“Shut up!!! Those damn Cheonhwa’s party members, we must make them pay.”

A fierce glint flashed in Joo Tae-rin’s eyes.