Live Dungeon!

Garm left his room early in the morning and immediately headed to the Guild. Being one among a handful of Guild Staff Members who had progressed past layer sixty, he had recently been occupied with so much work that he had no chance to take days off — until today. Despite that, he still went to the Guild.

[They’re not there yet.]

He had only one reason to be here: to watch the Absolute Helix party. Yesterday, the Guild had been full of noise due to Ealdred Crow successfully progressing past layer seventy, but Garm was more interested in today, the day Tsutomu had scheduled his Clan’s first attempt at the Fire Dragon. So, as to not miss the battle, Garm was here early in the morning to secure a good seat near the Monitors.

Still, the Guild’s Monitor area would not be so crowded most of the time, what with it generally being occupied only by Explorers and Clans’ informants, with the Monitor area in the market being more popular among regular spectators. The Monitors inside the Guild were smaller than the ones outside, and the customer services were nothing to write home about. Moreover, not many townspeople would feel comfortable watching the Monitors while surrounded by burly Explorers.

In comparison, the market was filled with stores and stalls offering a wide variety of services: food and drinks with delivery right to the customers’ seats, reserving seats on nearby private property, magic tools for rent to protect one from the sun and rain, and many other niche services to help make spectators’ viewing experiences more comfortable. With those, it was inevitable that general customers would flock to the market.

The Guild in the morning was full of beginner and intermediate Explorers. Major Clans tended to start working in the afternoon or evening since those times were easier for large crowds to gather, while Clans without sponsorship deals were perfectly fine with exploring regardless of the lack of spectators.

[Hmm…]

Due to his work as of late, Garm had been away from the Guild and thus had not gotten to see the reception area much, but now that he got a good look, it certainly felt like there were more Explorers of non-Attacker Jobs than before. There were more Explorers in general today, too, thanks in part to Ealdred Crow claiming the first victory ever over the Mount Golem and reclaiming their spot as the Clan deepest into the Dungeon.

During this time of day, there were a lot of beginner Explorers not affiliated with Clans and long-term parties, making it easy for one to form Guild-mediated parties. Garm watched on as those with the previously unpopular Tank-type Jobs were welcomed into parties, and then he proceeded to order some food from the Guild’s dining hall.

“Two fried potatoes, three bear burgers, and…”

“Big eater as always, eh, boy?”

The Guild staff member who had come to take Garm’s order, a middle-aged lady, laughed as she noted down the latter’s order of a large amount of food. Then at one point, Garm saw Tsutomu and his Absolute Helix party line up for the reception desk. He waved to them, and Daryl, being the first to notice, waved back.

[It’s been a while since I last saw him… Will he be all right?]

Garm’s regular job was basically to mediate and solve issues that arose among gatekeepers and Explorers. Lately, however, he had been busy exploring the Volcano layers, while also helping fellow Guild staff members level up and update their Dungeon progresses. As such, he had not gotten to see Daryl at all over the past month and was somewhat worried about how the latter would fare against the Fire Dragon.

Still, Garm did know that the other party members were excellent, he figured that the team was not likely to lose against the Fire Dragon.

The Elf Archer Diniel, formerly a member of Golden Tune, was famous for being one of the very best Attackers around.

There was also Amira, who had inherited the Dragonewt’s Unique Skill from her mother Camille, and the Birdkin Hannah, an unconventional Tank Boxer. The latter may not be the most notable party member of Absolute Helix, but Garm definitely had his attention on her. After all, despite taking on the Tank role, she did not defend against attacks, opting to dodge everything instead. Being a Tank himself, he had been quite impressed to see someone carry out the role in a different way.

And it went without saying that Tsutomu was reliable. Garm was sure that Tsutomu had yet to show the full extent of his abilities, and that he might even already be able to lead a team against the Mount Golem. Perhaps things would be fine even if Daryl were to make a mistake or two.

The time eventually came for Absolute Helix to use the Guild’s Magic Circle, teleporting down to layer fifty-nine and appearing somewhere around Monitor #30. Many members of the Guild staff and the Security Team had been aiming to defeat the Fire Dragon lately, so as to raise their level caps and keep up with the major Clans. Mid-tier Clans’ recent mergers had helped them progress more easily as well, so many groups were currently exploring layer fifty-nine or deeper.

Garm closely observed Daryl’s movements as the team worked through layer fifty-nine, and they were not bad at all. It was quite apparent that Daryl had improved greatly after he had completed Garm’s training two months ago.

[But… he still needs to be told what to do.]

As good as Daryl was carrying out his Tank role according to orders, he was bad at thinking and acting on his own. He was strong, and he had a good head on his shoulders — in fact, some of his ingenuity had shown through during his little competition with Amira.

However, he was not confident in his own ideas, preferring instead to follow orders whenever they were given. Although he had learned to think things for himself during his three months of training, he still could not shake his lack of confidence and the Cynokin habit of preferring to take instructions.

[Things would be fine as long as Tsutomu was with him… but that won’t do at all. He’ll eventually get stuck if he doesn’t learn things through trial-and-error.]

One could not conquer uncharted lands by simply following others, especially whenever new sections of Dungeons opened up. Garm understood that all too well thanks to all the experience he had accumulated during his time as an Explorer. Daryl, however, seemed nowhere close to having confidence in his own thoughts.

Garm pondered such things over while snacking on the food that had been served to him, and at the same time, he saw that the Absolute Helix team had discovered the Black Gate down to layer sixty. They put on their Red-thread Fire Coats and went through the game, and their footage switched over to around Monitor #10.

Some of the spectators instantly took up positions on that Monitor — particularly informants from major and mid-tier Clans. Nodding in agreement with their actions, Garm proceeded to hold his drink’s straw in his mouth.

Once the Fire Dragon appeared and approached the team, Diniel took the preemptive strike, accurately piercing the monster’s forehead gem. Garm expressed some surprise at the sight while chewing on some newly-fried, lightly salted potato chips. He proceeded to continue watching the battle, eating more chips all the while.

Daryl pulled the Fire Dragon’s aggro first, and Tsutomu provided support for all members. The attacking team split into two acting pairs: Daryl and Amira, and Hannah and Diniel.

The Fire Dragon attacked with its claws, which Daryl quickly defended with his tower shield — and ended up blown away and rolling on the ground, perhaps because the monster’s power was greater than he had anticipated. Garm heaved a sigh and took a bite of his bear meat burger.

For a while from then, Daryl kept on being unable to maintain his stance and blown away, caught off-guard by the strongest attacks he had had to block up until now. With Tsutomu’s support, healing, and instructions, he gradually got his act together and eventually was able to stand his ground.

At the same time, Amira and Diniel were on full offense. The two Attackers had high firepower and possessed more than enough skill. Following Tsutomu’s instructions on aggro management, the Fire Dragon never turned its attention to them.

As Daryl grew exhausted, Hannah stepped forward and unleashed a red aura. Then, using various attack skills, she dealt damage to the Fire Dragon while quickly also adding to the aggro generation of her <<Combat Cry>>.

After successfully pulling the aggro away from Daryl, Hannah proceeded to continue attacking the Fire Dragon as any Attacker would — except she was pulling away the monster’s aggro from her comrades and keeping it on her.

At one point, Tsutomu prompted her to stop attacking, which she did, and shifted her focus to avoiding the Fire Dragon’s attacks, pulling off complex aerial manoeuvres using the blue wings on her back. With the Fire Dragon being unable to keep up with her mobility, she managed to cover the Tank role for Daryl without being hit even once.

[How interesting.]

Garm did not even notice how far his jaw had dropped, seeing such an unconventional Tank perform so well — a Tank that avoided all attacks, while also packing more of a punch than normal Tanks would. Her role was sure to provide a great advantage to the team, and also worked in great compatibility with Daryl.

[But she’ll be in trouble if she gets hit. Her armor is light, and she’s a Boxer, which has low natural VIT… She’s sure to die easily.]

Naturally, Hannah’s approach had a big risk attached — in that if an unskilled fighter were to try it, they would quickly be killed and serve as a liability to the team. However, Hannah had a solid foundation as an Attacker, and her capabilities as a Tank had greatly improved over the past two months. She was likely to not die against the Fire Dragon.

“<<Dragon Form>>.”

“<<Rain Arrow>>.”

Amira, with the use of her unique skill, could achieve a level of strength no ordinary person could. Diniel, on the other hand, possessed unmatched archery skills, made possible with close to eighty years of experience and, from a human’s perspective, a strong body that had never aged past her youth. The two attackers’ capabilities were close to perfect.

“<<Medic>>. <<Haste>>.”

To top all that off, there was Tsutomu, making the most of his four members’ abilities. While Daryl was active, Tsutomu provided support to maintain the team’s stability with <<Protect>>. And while Hannah was tagged in, he gave her a boost with <<Haste>>.

The support Daryl received was mostly the same as Garm’s, so they were likely not so hard to manage. That was not the case with Hannah, however. Since she had to perform complex manoeuvres to avoid being hit by monsters, Tsutomu had to make sure that his <<Haste>> casts still landed on her.

Supporting Diniel was likely not so different from what he had done for Amy, either. But for Amira — especially whenever she glowed red — he had to cast <<Medic>> in addition to the usual <<Haste>>.

[…It’s apparent that Camille’s little girl isn’t in full control of her <<Dragon Form>> yet.]

While transformed, Amira seemed to be running rampant without a care for anything around her. In fact, everyone had to take care not to enter her line of sight.

[…And when things seem to start getting dangerous…]

“<<Medic>>.”

[…At least Tsutomu knows when to cancel out her transformation.]

Whenever Tsutomu judged that Amira’s rampage was exhausting her or building up too much aggro, he would cast <<Medic>> to bring her back to her senses. It was up to Amira to decide when to activate her transformation, and up to Tsutomu to decide when to turn it off. That was the strategy they had developed.

All in all, as powerful as Amira’s <<Dragon Form>> was, it was a double-edged sword, capable of hurting not only her enemies but also allies. However, so long as the others were able to keep up with her, and Tsutomu was there to keep her in check, that double-edged sword could be kept from cutting its wielder.

“Ora!”

Amira had never been able to disengage her <<Dragon Form>> by herself, and thus had been unable to fight effectively with it. Now that she could remain conscious after her transformation was cancelled by external means, however, she could at least resume normal combat. As unskilled as she still was, she was far from weak — and had good match-up with Daryl, she could work as an Attacker just fine even without her <<Dragon Form>>.

And above all else, she was happy to be able to constantly stay in the fight. Previously, she would be out of commission after transforming once, but now, not anymore. She had fun fighting monsters, and one could expect her to improve even more in the future.

[Hmm, doesn’t look like they’ll have a problem winning.]

Garm, although satisfied by what he had seen so far, noticed just now that he had already gone through his gigantic order of food, and proceeded to order some more. As the battle raged on, there were a few close calls, such as when Hannah got grazed by a fire breath and almost got her feathers caught on fire, and when Amira pushed herself too hard and almost died as a result. Observing more closely, Daryl still had many points that needed improvement, too.

Despite all that, the Fire Dragon was no match for the team. Even when someone was put out of commission, Diniel and Tsutomu would cover for them, so the losses throughout the whole fight were not so heavy. In the end, they managed to take down the Fire Dragon around noon, without a single death among their members.

[I’ll have to step up my game, too.]

Having recently attempted to fight the Mount Golem as a part of his job, he had felt that he was no match for it, Seeing Absolute Helix celebrate their success against the Fire Dragon today, however, he felt reassured.

Garm still planned to eventually join Absolute Helix. He clenched his fists, determined to train even harder, so that he would not be considered obsolete by that time.