Having teleported to the Grasslands of the first layer, Tsutomu scanned the nearby plants and trees swaying in the wind until he got a general grasp of the current location, and then replaced his Potions just in case, equipping them onto his belt. Since this was the first layer, Tsutomu knew that there was virtually no chance of the team being in a tight spot, but his preparations were for trouble-making Explorers that they may or may not get into trouble with along the way.
The first few layers of the Dungeon were full of the bad eggs among Explorers, so one could not be too careful, but then again, not many of them would be so reckless as to attack those from the major Clans. If they were to catch a fight, Leon would surely rush over and have them arrested, and that was assuming they could even match any of the teamâs levels in the first place. Statistically speaking, there was no chance of those buggers defeating any of the three.
While Tsutomu finished up refilling his Potions, Barbara gazed at the wind-swept grasslands, her large round ears slowly wiggling on top of her head, and Eunice looked around briefly, her eyes signifying utmost boredom, before proceeding to practice casting <<heal>>.</heal>
On the way to the Guild, Tsutomu had asked the two some simple questions about the layersâ monsters and safe areas. As a result, he had been made aware that Barbara was only familiar with layers she had previously leveled on, which were fifty-one to fifty-three; Eunice, on the other hand, had answered everything correctly.
In terms of combat prowesses, once when Eunice had been targeted by monsters after using <<raise>>, she had been able to keep herself from dying while waiting for Leon to get his equipment ready again. Therefore, she had already garnered quite a lot of experience in actual combat and survival, and would not gain much from this trip to the Grasslands.</raise>
Barbara, on the other hand, had spent most of her levels in layers fifty-one to fifty-three, occasionally observed the others through the Monitors, and on rare occasions had gone to the Beach on the forty-first layer to replenish the Clanâs Potion Fish supply. She had not explored the other layers much aside from her first time through them.
As such, while she was used to dealing with the beast-type monsters of the fifty-first layer such as Verdant Wolves and Red Grizzlies, she had been neglecting measures against Goblins, Orcs, and other bipedal creatures. Tsutomu, with that in mind after he had seen Barbara in action during the earlier visit to the Canyons, had suggested to her that she started exploring from the first layer.
âFor starters, letâs roam around and search for Goblins or Kobolds to practice on.â
âGot it.â
Barbara, wearing a round helmet, nodded in response to Tsutomu and proceeded to walk on ahead through the Grassland. Eunice kept on practicing her <<heal>> as she and Tsutomu walked on behind Barbara; Tsutomu was secretly impressed that Euniceâs shots were starting to take a rounded shape now.</heal>
At one point, three tall silhouettes emerged from the shades of the vegetation; they were Goblins. Noticing the three Explorers, the monsters briefly tensed up, then held up the clubs in their hands as they raised their grating voices.
âBarbara. Use <<combat cry="">>, please.â</combat>
â<<combat cry="">>!â</combat>
Barbara unleashed her aura, wrapping all three Goblins in red light and prompting them to immediately turn to her. She then readied her spear, but Tsutomu called out to her,
âOh, one more thing â you donât have to attack this time. Just focus on defending and not getting surrounded,â Tsutomu directed.
Barbara nodded and pulled back her spear, then caught a Goblinâs club swing with her buckler and flicked it away. With the overwhelming level difference and Goblins already being a weak monster, it did not take any struggle to blow the creature back. Seeing how Barbara was holding an advantage over the Goblins, with her gradually pushing forward, Tsutomu pointed his white staff at the Goblins.
â<<haste>>.â</haste>
Three green clumps of energy struck the three Goblins, providing them with a boost of AGI. Now slightly faster, one of the Goblins managed to take Barbara by surprise and land a blow on her arm, which led to the other ones following up with more hits. But this was a non-issue; Barbaraâs VIT rating was an A-; as long as she did not take a critical strike, the Goblinsâ attacks were no more than bug bites to her.
Eventually, getting used to the flow of the fight, Barbara started regaining her advantage, stabilizing the situation. Tsutomu, seeing that the Goblins had been weakened by the last few buckler bashes, cast <<heal>> on them. Eunice paid close attention to Tsutomuâs <<heal>> shots while practicing to make one herself.</heal></heal>
After a while, more Goblins and dog-faced Kobolds in the area started gathering around, having heard the sounds of the ongoing battle. Tsutomu instructed Barbara to use <<combat cry="">> as soon as possible, then retreated to the back in order to avoid the Koboldsâ claw swipes.</combat>
The enemy group now numbered more than ten. Still, each of them was only as tall as human children, and their physical prowesses were relatively weak. On their own, they posed virtually no threat, but it was a different story if they were to work together.
âGah, damnââ
Barbara, noticing that she had been surrounded by all ten, immediately scrambled her way out of the fray. The monsters gave chase. Barbara knocked them back one by one, but then she was hit by the Goblins that had gone around to her flanks. Not being quick enough to deal with the ones on her sides, she was starting to be surrounded again.
Taking club blows on her helmet, Barbaraâs brows twitched at the sounds of ringing metal, but she still managed to push a Kobold aside and successfully retreat. Tsutomu watched over Barbara as she repeated this process, and shot <<heals>> to the weakened monsters.</heals>
âEunice, you can shoot those at the monsters if you think thatâd help. Maybe youâll get the hang of it more easily if you have a target.â
ââŚI know.â
Seeing Barbara semi-panic while being surrounded by the monsters, Eunice could not help but feel somewhat sorry for the former, but she did as Tsutomu had told her and cast <<heal>> at the monsters. Her shots were skill vapor-like, but their cores were starting to have a spherical shape and their flying range had increased. Although it did not quite reach the monsters seven meters away yet, it was indeed an improvement from before.</heal>
âAt the rate youâre going, I suppose you might be done in less than a week.â
ââŚIâll master it within two days, youâll see.â
âAll right. Good luck,â Tsutomu gave a brief, inoffensive reply, what with him not being particularly interested in Eunice for now.
ââŚ<<heal>>.â</heal>
Noticing the arrival of new Goblins, Tsutomu counted them, and made sure that not more than fifteen surrounded Barbara at once by killing the excesses with <
âY-you mean it?â
To Tsutomuâs cheerful tone and the referenced time frame of one month, Barbaraâs eyes widened as she stared at him. The former looked back and affirmed her with a smile,
âOf course; why would I lie to you now? Keep going one step at a time, and youâll get there soon enough. Your level is already high, and your Heavy Knight Job is a good fit for your race. Besides, youâre not too bad at dealing with beast-type monsters, either.â
âA-ah, I see.â
Reaffirmed by Tsutomuâs statements, Barbaraâs bear ears started to stand back up, with her feeling confident in herself that she had indeed improved. Tsutomu, seeing that energy was starting to return to her blankly-staring eyes, nodded in agreement with her.
âTomorrow, letâs go to a deeper layer â yes, six should do. Youâve gotten great at countering Goblins and Kobolds, so I reckon youâll want to get those moves of yours down on a basic level. Letâs try them on the Wastelandsâ Skeletons next.â
âGot it!â
Barbara, now having fully regained her energy, accepted a towel from Tsutomu and wiped off her sweat, then proceeded to pick up the buckler and spear that she had dropped earlier. Eunice, not liking that Tsutomu had praised Barbara so much, gave him a suspicious look.
[Maybe Iâm going overboard⌠But she is motivated, so thatâs all good, I guess.]
Back in the game Live Dungeon, when he had established himself a Clan and acted as its Leader, he had guided beginner Clan Members through the same training routine that Barbara was going through now.
He had always praised the good parts of the new membersâ actions when he saw them. There was a clear difference in the retention rate of new clan members depending on whether or not that was done. It was especially true for beginners and novices, so Tsutomu had tried his best to liven up the in-game chat as he trained them.
However, since expressions and tones of voice did not carry over in text, he had occasionally made the wrong choices of words. Naturally, Tsutomu would want new members to leave so soon, so he had worked to improve himself on that front. As such, if he were to predict someoneâs personality when meeting them face-to-face, he was sure not to make any mistakes in his speech.
Barbaraâs current level was sixty-five. It was technically not normal for someone like her to struggle against Goblins, but Tsutomu still made it a point to praise what she did right, no matter how small, having predicted that she was humble and that she would not react negatively to being praised.
Euniceâs personality, on the other hand, was the equivalent of a contrarian intermediate player who had become a little more familiar with the game. Among players on that level, many of the so-called contrarians, certain prideful people, and highschool-age players tended to become unhappy upon receiving praise.
Moreover, since Tsutomu did not have that nice of an opinion on Euniceâs character in the first place, he had figured that it did not really matter how he taught her as long as she got it.
âWell then, shall we call it a day?â Tsutomu asked, to which Barbara replied with a cheerful attitude, while Eunice, unamused, groaned up her nose and gave only a short answer.