After receiving the winning prize, the 『Ring of Pursuit』 at the award ceremony, we left the Royal Magic Academy almost as if fleeing.
As for the promise with Maine, I told him that I would visit the Royal Palace after I settled down.
Curiously enough, I didn't receive any inquiries from Noir-san or the Knights, neither was I questioned by the headmaster Paula nor the head librarian Silk. Maybe since I pretty much became a magician under the Second Prince, they are unlikely to bring out those things that made me look suspicious.
And thus, my plan to acquire Magic finally succeeded. It's fine to learn the Fourth Form and the Fifth Form in the distant future.
————————–
"Well then, my friends. Let me announce our immediate goals."
Silvia and Eko straightened their postures after hearing me talk. They had a feeling of "It's finally starting".
I've acquired [Archery], [Swordsmanship] and [Magic] without a hitch… Next, I want to acquire [Summoning Magic].
"For the time being, let's earn experience in a dungeon. In particular, let's keep clearing it until Eko grows to an intermediate level."
I think that raising the levels of the skills we've recently acquired should be the first priority. Therefore, we will be doing dungeon laps for a while starting today. I also want to practice collaboration between us three, since it's important that Silvia and Eko grow stronger and can cooperate. Besides, it's also fun while aiming for the reward from clearing it. Again, killing four birds with one stone.
"Ugh. Are we going to the Reus dungeon again? "
"Dungeon! "
"Not the Reus one. This time we're going to another intermediate dungeon called 『Limptfert』.
"Uhmm. Well, if it's intermediate..."
"Oh! "
Eko has just been repeating what we say... I wonder if that's alright. It should be fine, right?
"In the Limptfert dungeon, it's more likely to find monsters alone; their defense is high, but they have low attack power. It should serve as a good 1v1 practice. Also, we can get a nice drop from the dungeon boss, the Rock Turtle drops the『Shellrock Shield』. Just the right equipment for Eko."
"I see… eh? Wait, a shield you say? A shield for Eko? "
"Eko is suitable to be the front-liner and defend us from the monster's attacks, so let's raise her [Shieldmanship] starting today."
"Ok, got it! "
"Wait. Wait, wait, wait! Second-dono! "
"There will be times when the damage can go through even with a shield. For those cases, let's have you learn [Healing Magic] too."
"Oookaay! "
"Hey! D-do you want such a young girl to stand at the very front!? "
"Don't worry. She will become a proper vanguard before long."
"That's not it. Why would I be worried about that!? "
I went to the weapon and armor store along with the annoying and noisy Silvia and the obedient Eko.
There, I bought a large shield, its height as tall as Eko, without delay. Since there was no armor that suited the body of Eko, I also bought a set of luxury leather equipment. The full set was 4 million CL, more expensive than my whole equipment. The shopkeeper uncle had a beaming smile on his face.
After that, we went to the Comiket and made her learn two skills, "Soldier Shieldmanship" and "Lance Shieldmanship". Eko was able to properly acquire the skills after around 30 minutes of reading the books while using a dictionary. I knew it, this girl might actually be quite excellent.
From there we headed to the 『Church of Kamel』, and I noticed Silvia had been quiet. When I asked her if she was now convinced about the position of Eko, it seemed like she was quiet because we were in a library and a church. Ugh, will she be annoying again after leaving the church…?
"Alright, Eko. Let's have them show you the Grimoire for Healing Magic."
"Is that okay…? "
"Don't worry. After asking a sister, I'm sure she would show it to you."
We enter the church from the front and tell a sister about our purpose. The sister easily agreed, and she immediately brought the Grimoire for [Healing Magic] "Small Recovery".
After Eko received the Grimoire, she began reading it with a dictionary in the other hand. I was a bit uneasy since the situation wasn't looking very good, but…
"I learned it! Second, thanks! I was able to learn it! "
After spending less than 20 minutes reading the Grimoire, Eko said that and came hugging me.
She's loud even though this is a church. She showed her feelings straight out without caring for the public eye. Silvia said "Nicely done! " and rejoiced as if this had been her achievement. While patting Eko's head, I directed a troubled smiled in apologies towards the sister. The sister only replied with a smile as if seeing something pleasing.
"Okay, shall we go then?"
Our goal had been achieved. There's no need to be in the church anymore.
"Wa-wa-wait, hold on! Eh, are we just leaving like this!? Let's at least pray! "
...There it is again, Silvia's mother-like side.
"Haa～"
"Haaー"
When I walked to the front of the God Kamel statue while sighing, Eko followed after me, imitating me. "I guess it can't be helped", when I said so Silvia turned towards me and Eko with a questioning look, "Eh…? ", then we prayed together while lowering our heads.
————————–
Four hours away from the Kingdom's Capital.
This is the agricultural town 『Pae Ho』, which is 30 minutes away from the 『Limptfert dungeon』.
To think it would take so long to travel here without using a flying dragon, but now that I think of it, since coming to this world, I don't remember seeing people moving by flying dragon in the first place. Seems like it won't be that easy to tame a flying dragon to move with.
By the way, I bought a horse for Eko. Its name is "Leaf Impact". It's quite fast.
Suddenly, wondering what Silvia's horse's name was, I asked her and she answered "White Silver " proudly. White Silver she says? No matter where you look, her horse is brown… I really don't get Silvia's sense.
Anyway, after arriving at the town of Pae Ho and setting up base at an inn, we started to roam the Limptfert dungeon immediately the following day.
For the first 2-3 laps, we proceeded in a relaxed manner while prioritizing the acquisition of Eko's [Shieldmanship] skills.
From [Shieldmanship] I only want her to learn 6 skills. In addition to the basics "Soldier Shieldmanship" and "Lance Shieldmanship", there is "Knight Shieldmanship", "Gold Shieldmanship", "Bishop Shieldmanship"and "Dragon Horse Shieldmanship".
The other ones are attacking skills with shields, so these six skills are enough for defense.
Eko easily acquired everything except the "Bishop Shieldmanship" and "Dragon Horse Shieldmanship". Each of their effects are: "Soldier Shieldmanship" normal defense, "Lance Shieldmanship" piercing deflection, "Knight Shieldmanship" defense + knockback, and "Gold Shieldmanship" range guided defense + knockback.
Among them, "Gold Shieldmanship"is an easy to use skill that can be said to be the cornerstone of [Shieldmanship]. Range guided defense refers to automatically leading an attack that has entered a certain range, into striking your shield instead of the intended target. It was often called "suction" or "Dai○n". Besides, it will even knock it back, so you can see the strength of this skill.
TLN: I'm uncertain at this point what the knock back means for shield skills, it just says "knockback" in english in the description of the skills with knockback. Maybe return the attack? knockback the attacker? but what about ranged attacks knockback?
——————-
A few days passed, and at around lap ten, Eko began to stand out as a proper Muscle Monk.
"Hey, Eko! Are you okay!? "
A loud bang sounds.
It was the attack of an 『Armored Lizard』, a particularly powerful monster even inside the Limptfert dungeon, scoring a critical hit on the shield wielding Eko.
"Ho…? "
When Silvia flashily rushed towards her in worry, Eko just turned towards her and asked "Eh, is something wrong? " in an unconcerned voice.
"...…Eh? "
Said Silvia confused.
No way, to be able to receive such a critical attack from an Armored Lizard―― is what Silvia is probably thinking, but indeed.
"It looks like thanks to the shieldmanship, my HP and VIT have risen considerably."
"I-is that so...?"
Eko's HP hasn't even been reduced by 5%.
"Up we go."
Eko stood up and activated "Small Recovery" on herself, recovering her missing HP.
She has been growing steadily in her role as a Tank.
"It should be time to get Bishop Shieldmanship."
I muttered while looking at the deepest part of the dungeon, to aim at the boss.
———————–
"Listen Eko. Activate your skills to match my voice as you defend. It should take roughly 15 minutes without breaks. But if you make a mistake, it's starting from the beginning again. Can you do it? "
I give her some instructions before confronting the Rock Turtle.
"...Yep. I can."
Eko nodded with an unusually serious expression and then closed her mouth.
"Let's go."
With my voice as the trigger, she rushed in front of the Rock Turtle.
So far, we've defeated the Rock Turtle around ten times. Up until now, Silvia and I have been attacking it with [Archery] from the back while Eko defends at the front, but this time is different.
The condition for acquiring "Bishop Shieldmanship"is: 「Use [Shieldmanship]to completely defend the attacks of a boss stronger than you 100 times in a row」.
The only bottleneck is the 「Completely」 part. That means you must not receive damage. Therefore, the defense methods are limited.
You can either deflect the long-range penetrating attacks with "Lance Shieldmanship", or use "Knight Shieldmanship"or "Gold Shieldmanship" to 『Parry』 while knocking back. Parry is a phenomenon that is triggered when you defend in time in accordance with the attack of the enemy, you get the additional effect of no damage received + weak knockback. By the way, if you were to Parry with "Soldier Shieldmanship", since the knockback is weak, you have no respite until the follow up attack comes and you have to defend immediately, greatly increasing the probability of receiving damage.
If that happens, it's no longer a rhythm game.
It's hard until you get used to it. But once you master the timings, you'll always be able to defend with Parry, making it possible to fight in a very advantageous way.
This time, one of the aims is to have her practice the timing while at the same time fulfilling the condition to acquire "Bishop Shieldmanship".
"Knight! Gold! Knight! ...Lance! "
I perfectly gave out instructions. Eko too was quite sharp as she followed them spot on.
Although the Rock Turtle is relatively slow and so are its attacks, it is difficult to grasp the timings for Parry at first glance. This boss was the reason why I chose the Limptfert dungeon, but it seems more difficult that I thought.
"Ahh! "
Eko failed the parry and received the attack.
"That right now was a little late. Can you do it again? "
"I can! "
Eko nodded strongly. She used "Small Recovery" twice and headed back.
Then, about an hour later, while continuing to confront the Rock Turtle, Eko finally learned "Bishop Shieldmanship".