We closed about half the distance—then the enemy's form came into view.
"Earth Dragon, as expected. Selma-san—how do we handle it?"
With the foe confirmed, I asked for the next move.
Earth Dragons looked like wingless, four-legged dragons.
Average length: four meters—big.
Yet they moved surprisingly fast.
Their scales, though, were softer compared to other dragons.
"There's only one monster... Can you lock onto it, Orun?"
"No problem."
Earth Dragons were quick, sure—but their reaction speed wasn't exceptional.
Plus—this one was already wounded from Rain-san's earlier attack.
If we took the initiative, we'd handle it fine.
"Got it. Then you and Will take the kill. As backup—Rain, start building your spell. If it drags on, switch to supporting her attack. I'll time the activation. ...**Vanguard Up**."
Selma-san issued orders, then buffed Will.
**Vanguard Up**—parallel construction of the five basic support spells (excluding **Magic Up**)—all at once.
I applied **Quadruple Agility Up** to myself.
The moment our buffs landed, the Earth Dragon—partially recovered—noticed us and fired a mana projectile.
"I'll take the front! Orun—flank it!"
Will shouted, erasing the incoming mana shot with his twinblade again, then charged straight at the dragon.
Since I was circling wide, Will made contact first.
The Earth Dragon rushed him.
"Yeah yeah—stay put!"
Instead of blocking, Will parried with one blade while slamming the other down—driving the dragon's face into the dirt.
(Beautiful!)
I couldn't help praising him inwardly.
The movement was refined—perfect.
With only a few meters left between me and the dragon, I readied my attack.
—but—
Killing intent from behind.
I kicked off the ground instantly, leaping skyward.
Something passed directly beneath me.
Twisting mid-air, I saw it—a turtle-like monster blending into the background.
**Hide Turtle**.
About one meter long—found all across the lower layers.
As the name implied, its body camouflaged perfectly with the terrain.
Ambush specialist.
Fortunately—its attack power was low. That was the only saving grace.
"Low" meaning no instant death—but a bad hit could still bench someone for the fight.
Combined with other monsters? Nightmare.
(I didn't notice at all. Still sneaky as ever.)
In mid-air, I fired three **Rock Arrows** at the Hide Turtle.
All hit—but bounced off the hard shell, shattering on impact.
That was fine.
The shattered arrows exploding in mid-air would signal the rear line clearly: *something's here*.
Leaving the Hide Turtle to them, I created a platform with **Mana Convergence** beneath my feet.
I launched forward at high speed toward the Earth Dragon.
Thanks to Will holding aggro, it hadn't noticed me at its back.
"**Strength Up**, **Technical Up**, **Sharpness Up**!"
I self-buffed, gripped my sword two-handed.
Rain-san's **Explode** had already softened the scales—I swung a diagonal slash right at the weakened spot.
Right before contact—**Impact** activated.
The blade cleaved the Earth Dragon clean in two.
"One-cut bisect... seriously?"
Will muttered—half awe, half disbelief.
The dragon dissolved into black mist, leaving only a magic stone.
I confirmed it, then spun to face the Hide Turtle.
White smoke rose around it.
The next instant—it froze solid in ice.
Then multiple **Ice Javelins** from Lucre pierced it.
The Hide Turtle vanished in black mist.
"Nice work, Orun. Bisecting a monster on this floor? Not bad! So that's **Impact**, huh? Insane."
Will approached, praising me.
"You held aggro perfectly—that let me focus. And you were amazing too. Twinblades are supposed to be insanely hard to master, yet you wield it like it's nothing."
Parrying while countering—a defender style.
Counter-focused, basically.
Taking hits head-on disrupts posture. Parrying reduced impact on himself.
An idea I'd never considered.
"Yeah—took a ton of practice. Normal defending wouldn't protect my team. If you just tank and stagger, it's meaningless. I searched for a style where I could take attacks *and* stay standing. Ended up here."
Will spoke with distant eyes.
I'd heard rumors about the former ace—Albert's death.
If they were true... Will had spent this past year desperately training.
Otherwise—he wouldn't be standing here now.
We chatted lightly, but—
Both Will and I backstepped at the same instant.
Our distance widened sharply.
Right after—a mana projectile passed between us.
There was another Earth Dragon.
About fifty meters to my left.
It had been underground.
It surfaced the moment I bisected the first one—staring right at us.
Monsters usually targeted crowds.
So we'd deliberately left openings—drawing aggro to us instead of the rear line.
(Will was here anyway—it probably would've come for us regardless. But better safe.)
『Orun, Will—thanks.』
Selma-san's voice echoed in my mind.
**Mental Sympathy**—her ability.
First time feeling it since the briefing.
Even at distance—her voice came through crystal clear.
Yeah... this ability was broken.
『No big deal. But damn, Orun—our timing's perfect, huh?』
『Never expected it to pop out of the ground. Good thing you thought the same, Will. I had a spell ready to support you, but it went unused.』
『Haha—sorry to waste it!』
『Chit-chat later. Orun—can you jump?』
Selma-san's expected question.
『Obviously. Former Hero Party enchanter here. Eighty percent of the formula's already built.』
『As expected. Then—Will front, Orun back. We'll finish with magic. Stall it for a few seconds.』
『Got it!』
『Roger!』
While Selma-san built her spell, the other two rear-liners attacked the Earth Dragon—dealing damage and keeping it pinned.
『Ready! Will—go!』
『Anytime!』
Will reacted instantly to Selma-san's call—twinblade ready—and vanished from my center vision.
He reappeared right in front of the dragon's face.
Confirming that, I poured mana into my completed formula.
"**Space Leap**!"
Reality shifted.
The scenery changed—the Earth Dragon's back now filled my view.
**Space Leap**—a support spell.
Effect: teleport a target to any chosen location.
But—if something's already there, it fails.
No teleporting objects inside enemies.
Among support spells—maybe all magic—**Space Leap** had the highest formula complexity.
If supports had tiers, it'd be special-grade.
Even I—confident in build speed—needed seconds.
Powerful ambush tool... but the precision required made it almost unusable mid-fight when situations shifted constantly.
(If I can use **Space Leap**, why can't I cast upper-tier spells...?)
Will and I now flanked it.
We carved into the Earth Dragon from both sides—pinning it in place.
Right after **Space Leap**, I had no room for other spells.
And since the goal was just stalling—no **Impact** this time.
『Magic incoming. Countdown! Five, four, three—』
Selma-san's voice in my head.
I slashed deep into the rear leg joint—then backed off.
Countdown hit zero.
The ground around the Earth Dragon turned to swamp.
Its feet sank.
Rising mud enveloped it—locking it down.
Instantly—massive lightning crashed from above with deafening thunder.
Thunder-type special-grade: **Mjolnir**.
Not the toned-down **Explode** from earlier—this was Rain-san's full-power special-grade.
The swamp vaporized instantly.
The surrounding ground turned to glass.
Even critically wounded—the Earth Dragon still stood.
Then Lucre's follow-up **Ice Javelins** pierced through.
The Earth Dragon dissolved into black mist.
"...No more monsters. Good work!"
Will scanned around, confirmed clear, then raised a hand as he approached.
"Yeah—you too, Will."
I met his high-five.
Our first real fight as a party.
Honestly—I thought it went pretty damn well.