Chapter 153: Virgin Behavior
One week passed, during which the team continued to fight on the Snow Field layers to improve their cooperation. In the process, Tsutomu learned how to move properly as a Tank, and got used to Leleia鈥檚 moves and the feeling of getting his MND boosted by her Spirit. His movements were no longer stiff, and he could be now considered a decent Tank.
鈥淭hat was awesome, Teach!鈥?
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that big of a deal. Amira had a part in it too, for working together with me and all.鈥?
鈥溾€ch.鈥?
As Tsutomu smiled at her, Amira clicked her tongue and turned the other way. Over the past week, she had also had extra training sessions with Tsutomu after each Dungeon run, in order to practice her <<Dragon Form>> more. Thanks to that, she was able to understand that he had always been thinking about things and trying to implement the best strategies ever since this team had been formed.
In addition to practicing his skill control, which had become a habit at this point, Tsutomu had to test out various moves for his new role as a partial evasion-based Tank. He had to use attack skills more, find better ways to operate the <<Barrier>> spell that had already been difficult to use to begin with, and develop his spatial awareness so that he could land his skills on targets without having to aim with his eyes all the time.
Moreover, he had become even more accustomed to mentally tracking time by the seconds and managing aggro, and was getting better at perceiving all monsters鈥?and allies鈥?behaviors. Now, Tsutomu was able to easily handle the flow of information that Amira would overheat from just thinking about them.
[鈥hy does he look like he鈥檚 having so much fun?]
Most normal people were sure to quickly abandon their responsibility of being both a Healer and an evasion-based Tank at the same time. Amira could tell that much, despite her still lacking understanding of the Healer and Tank roles. Tsutomu, however, would always perform his role with a perfectly composed face during battle, and even looked to be having the time of his life during evaluation meetings and practice sessions.
Tsutomu already was an excellent Healer 鈥?ranked as one of the three best Healers ever, and in Amira鈥檚 opinion, he was the best of them all. Despite that, he had been so eager to try out Tanking, and was aiming to get better and better at it.
[If I don鈥檛 master my <<Dragon Form>> soon, he鈥檚 sure as hell gonna drop me.]
As he was always so willing to patch up any flaw that came up in his style, Tsutomu鈥檚 performance as an evasion-based Tank was getting more and more stable. Amira, from pairing up with him, knew quite well that he would eventually get good enough at it that he would no longer need her to accommodate his strategies. If things continued the way they were now, her getting left behind was only an inevitability.
[I can鈥檛 afford to take it slow. Gotta get it down, and fast.]
Perhaps to fulfill her wish to become stronger and not be left behind by her comrades, Amira鈥檚 <<Dragon Form>> was beginning to change.
She had more control of her consciousness while transformed, and she was coming close to being able to disengage the transformation by herself 鈥?albeit still not all the way. What was important now, however, was that she had enough control to slow down her own movements.
鈥淗ey, looking good. Looks like I won鈥檛 have to aim my <<Medic>> spells as much anymore.鈥?
鈥淗ell yeah.鈥?
And so, today, while practicing with Tsutomu at the guild training grounds, Amira succeeded in disengaging her <<Dragon Form>> by herself. While she still could not do it as quickly as being hit by <<Medic>>, the fact that she could do it at all was significant. This meant Tsutomu would not have to cast <<Medic>> as often anymore, increasing his range of strategic options.
鈥淪o here鈥檚 the deal 鈥?From now on, I鈥檒l only cast <<Medic>> when I REALLY want you to stop attacking.鈥?
鈥淵eah.鈥?
鈥淎ll right, let鈥檚 give that another try, then.鈥?
鈥溾€eah.鈥?
Tsutomu had always agreed to help with her training, but recently, it turned to being more like an uninterrupted supervision. Diniel and Daryl were busy with their mission team, and the Hannah-Leleia pair also trained by themselves after each Dungeon run, so Tsutomu naturally ended up having more time to spend practicing with Amira.
Although she had never said it out loud, Amira was actually grateful for this. It was obvious 鈥?even just from looking at how much better she had gotten at controlling her transformation 鈥?that the current environment she was in was much more efficient than back when she had been practicing her <<Dragon Form>> by herself. Tsutomu had also been willing to help her with any other collaborative training, and as a result, Amira actually felt that she was getting stronger with each passing day.
鈥溾€nd that鈥檚 generally how long a <<Haste>> cast will last. There鈥檚 a little deviation depending on the situation, but it doesn鈥檛 hurt to keep that one number in mind. I鈥檓 sure that knowledge will help you in some way.鈥?
鈥淵eah.鈥?
鈥淎lso, you鈥檝e been experimenting with using your skills more, haven鈥檛 you?鈥?
鈥溾€hat, you have a problem with that?鈥?
鈥淣o? Why are you so defensive about it, anyway?鈥?
Tsutomu forced out a smile and put his hands out in front of his face, seeing that Amira was moving her face in uncomfortably close. He paid just about as much attention to his allies鈥?movements as he did the monsters, and as such, he could tell that Amira had recently started using her skills more liberally.
鈥淣ow, you might think it鈥檚 better to just use more skills 鈥?and I understand that, too, but from what I鈥檝e seen, your variety still isn鈥檛 all that great. So for now, see if you can make use of all the skills you have, and try to learn how much mental energy each of them consumes. After that, you can focus on practicing specific skills you use most often.鈥?
鈥溾€︹€︹€?
鈥淎lso, I鈥檝e noticed this with Camille, too 鈥?You seem to really like using <<Power Slash>> a lot more than other stuff. Why? Is it passed down in your family for generations or something?鈥?
鈥淪haddup. It鈥檚 the most satisfying thing to use, that鈥檚 why.鈥?
Being told so, Tsutomu was surprised for a second, then he started chuckling. Then he promptly apologized to Amira as the latter clenched her fists and started approaching him.
鈥淗eh, sorry, sorry. There鈥檚 nothing wrong with that 鈥?in fact, you might consider it your main skill, and see what other moves go well together with it. The stuff I personally recommend are鈥︹€?
Tsutomu proceeded to give advice to Amira regarding the Greatsword Fighter Job鈥檚 skills based on his knowledge from Live Dungeon. A large part of his advice actually worked in this world, since he had some good experience playing as an Attacker and understood how skill combos worked. Amira tried to listen to Tsutomu鈥檚 explanations but was starting to lose him about halfway through, so he decided to end the training session for today, so that they could leave and pick the technical talk up later back at the Clan House.
鈥淵ou really know a lot about stuff, huh?鈥?
鈥淥h, y鈥檏now鈥?I just watched the Pedestals quite often,鈥?Tsutomu said, looking satisfied with himself.
Amira put her greatsword on her back, and together, the two left the training area.
鈥淵ou know, Amira, you should try watching them more, too. You used to reference the style of one of Golden Tune鈥檚 Attackers, right? Like, you started using a bit moe e variety of skills after watching her, and stuff.鈥?
鈥溾€ude, how much have you been looking at me these days? That鈥檚 creepy.鈥?
鈥淚 always look at all my Clan鈥檚 members. It鈥檚 just what a leader should do.鈥?
Amira narrowed her eyes, disgruntled that Tsutomu had guessed correctly the reason why she had started using more skills. Then, seeing that Tsutomu was perfectly fine looking back at her, Amira realized something, and promptly cracked a grin.
鈥淲hat, so you鈥檙e THAT interested in me? Hmm?鈥?
鈥淕et off me. You鈥檙e really starting to pick up your mom鈥檚 nasty quirks, you know that?鈥?
Tsutomu kept Amira away from him as she approached with clearly mischievous intent. Seeing his resistance, Amira only grinned wider.
鈥淎ww, don鈥檛 be shy, man. I gotta thank you for all the training somehow 鈥?C鈥檓on, I鈥檒l do whatever you say.鈥?
鈥淗ow about I dock your pay?鈥?
鈥淗ah, there you go. That鈥檚 some virgin behavior you鈥檙e showing.鈥?
Amira started teasing Tsutomu more and more, prompting him to brush her off as they walked toward the reception counter.
鈥曗€曗柦鈻解€曗€?
During the week that Tsutomu spent training with Amira, Leleia and Hannah also got together to try and improve their mid-battle synergy, but things seemed to not be going as well as they had hoped.
鈥淗annah, you don鈥檛 need to go that far away.鈥?
鈥淕ot it!鈥?Hannah cheerfully replied.
She certainly was motivated enough. From Leleia鈥檚 point of view, Hannah鈥檚 attitude was not bad at all, with her endless supply of cheerfulness being one of her positive qualities. In fact, Leleia was rather pleased to be teamed up with her.
However, no matter how many instructions she had gotten, Hannah would forget about them eventually. This reminded Leleia of what Diniel had once said, about the bird girl always being only three steps away from forgetting what she had just been told.
[No 鈥?I just have to be patient. She鈥檚 sure to understand eventually.]
Believing that, Leleia took it slow and rational with Hannah, but their synergy took forever to show any sort of improvement. Hannah would indeed fall back whenever she was given a warning, but the distance to which she would go was so great that it defeated the point of her being an evasion-based Tank. In fact, it downgraded her Tanking performance to be on Tsutomu鈥檚 level.
鈥溾€nd so, I would like to ask you for any tips and tricks you may happen to have.鈥?
With Leleia asking her for advice again, Diniel looked a little disappointed as she closed the book she was in the middle of reading.
鈥淎ll right, I鈥檒l go with you, see if I can help.鈥?
鈥淭hank you very much. You鈥檙e a lifesaver.鈥?
And so Diniel agreed to join them for one post-exploration training session.
鈥淗annah, whenever Leleia shouts out a skill name, move out of the way. But unlike when I use <<Stream Arrow>>, don鈥檛 get away too far. And keep on attacking as much as you can.鈥?
鈥淕ot it!鈥?
鈥淎ll right. Let鈥檚 go.鈥?
After Hannah agreed to Diniel鈥檚 suggestions, they went together for a practice run. And once Diniel got a good look at Hannah鈥檚 grounded movements, she immediately instructed Leleia to start unleashing her skills.
鈥淲ait, what? Am I not supposed to give her a sign first?鈥?
鈥淣o need. Just go ahead and use your skills.鈥?
鈥淏ut that鈥檚鈥︹€?
鈥淒on鈥檛 worry about hitting her. She won鈥檛 learn otherwise, anyway.鈥?
Pressured by Diniel鈥檚 cold gaze, Leleia went ahead and cast her skills. The Salamander鈥檚 heat beam passed right by Hannah鈥檚 side and pierced the monster鈥檚 body. Hannah promptly turned to the two Attackers, surprised by the beam that seemingly had appeared without warning.
Once the monsters were defeated, Hannah returned with a wide-awake look painted on her face.
鈥淵ou weren鈥檛 trying to get me killed, were you!?鈥?
鈥淵ou agreed to do this, Hannah.鈥?
鈥淚 mean, yes, I did, but鈥? Couldn鈥檛 I at least get a signal beforehand!? That almost gave me a heart attack!鈥?
鈥淚f you鈥檇 just learned to listen, we would have done that. But you never did, so you won鈥檛 get it,鈥?Diniel said to Hannah with a straight face.
Back at the Clan House, Hannah had indeed been told that this would happen during today鈥檚 training session, but in the back of her mind, she believed that a sensible person like Leleia would never go through with it 鈥?but she had actually prepared for it to happen after being told that Diniel would be coming along. And in the end, the two Attackers did unleash their skills without mercy.
And then Diniel, realizing something, clapped her thick-gloved hands together and said,
鈥淚t鈥檚 all right. Even if you鈥檙e hit, it鈥檚 only accidental. You鈥檒l just die. God won鈥檛 be mad at me or Leleia at all.鈥?
鈥淲hoawhoawhoa!? That鈥檚 some crazy logic you鈥檙e working with there! And yes 鈥?if I get hit by that, I won鈥檛 just get hurt! I鈥檒l definitely die!鈥?
鈥淗ere comes the next one. Go pull its aggro, Hannah.鈥?
鈥淯h, we鈥檙e not done talking yet鈥︹€?
Diniel pointed at the approaching Snow Wolves, but Hannah was not about to let the conversation get cut short. Diniel then looked down at her with a straight face for a second, then cracked an evil grin.
鈥淛ust do it.鈥?
That rare smile from Diniel 鈥?and especially that order 鈥?were enough to make Hannah tremble.
鈥淒amn it! I鈥檒l show you鈥?鈥?
Shedding a tear, she unleashed her <<Combar Cry>> and charged at the pack of Snow Wolves. Seeing the bird girl鈥檚 tears glisten over the snow, Leleia turned to Diniel, intending to criticize her methods.
鈥淭hat might have been a little too much. Surely sure she would understand with enough patience, even without getting so heavy-handed at her.鈥?
鈥淵ou know how stupid that girl is, which is why you came to ask me for help. Isn鈥檛 that right?鈥?
鈥溾€es, but I can鈥檛 bear seeing her receive this treatment.鈥?
Hannah鈥檚 current fear of the Attackers was akin to a bird being chased by a hunter with a hunting rifle. Despite that, Diniel only shook her head.
鈥淛ust鈥?give it a try. You鈥檒l understand.鈥?
鈥溾€ll right.鈥?
It was true that she had had almost no success after trying to teach Hannah the same things again and again for a whole week. Deciding to believe Diniel, who had been paired with Hannah for a good while before, Leleia reluctantly ordered the Salamander to unleash a fire breath.
Not seeing the heat beam coming, Hannah got grazed on one of her wings and some of her blue feathers caught on fire.
鈥淎HHHHHH! I鈥橫 BURNING!鈥?
鈥淚-I am so sorry!鈥?
Leleia immediately bowed her head in apology after the accidental hit. Diniel, seeing that Hannah was rolling around on the ground, quickly killed the Snow Wolves with quick, well-aimed shots before they could attack Hannah.
After all the monsters were killed, Hannah cooled her wings in the snow and leaped straight at Diniel. Then she pointed at her wings, looking a little happy for some reason.
鈥淒iniel! Look! LOOK! It鈥檚 all burnt up!鈥?
鈥淣o problem. It鈥檒l heal once you鈥檙e out of the Dungeon.鈥?
鈥淭-that鈥檚 true, BUT鈥? Isn鈥檛 this a bit too cruel!?鈥?
鈥淵our fault for not dodging it.鈥?
鈥淥of鈥︹€?
The way Hannah dejectedly put her head down was pitiful, but Leleia saw in her expression that, for some reason, she was not actually sad.
鈥淗ere comes the next one. Go pull its aggro, Hannah.鈥?
鈥淒-damn it! I鈥檒l show you!鈥?Hannah exclaimed and ran off, seeming somewhat excited.
Diniel, after looking at Hannah go, turned to Leleia.
鈥淪he鈥檚 the kind of girl who will do whatever she鈥檚 told to, even if it sounds unreasonable. And she鈥檒l enjoy the challenge, too. Don鈥檛 you think so?鈥?
鈥溾€erhaps that is true.鈥?
Back when Hannah pointed out how her feathers had been burnt, she actually looked like she was having fun, for some reason. Leleia, with that in mind, looked on as Hannah was fighting the Snow Wolves to pull their aggro.
鈥淚鈥檝e never shot her accidentally,鈥?Diniel proceeded to say. 鈥淏ut she鈥檇 always look like there was something鈥?missing. You must have noticed that too, if you鈥檝e seen the look on her face just now.鈥?
鈥淲as that鈥?what it really was?鈥?
It was normal for anyone to be angry after getting mistakenly hit by their allies. Hannah, however, was only putting up an act. In fact, Leleia now saw that the girl was actually enjoying this situation.
鈥淪o go ahead and hit her as much as you want. She鈥檒l learn more quickly, and have a good time doing it. Two birds with one stone.鈥?
鈥溾€︹€︹€?
Leleia was puzzled by Diniel鈥檚 words, but at the same time, she understood what they meant. Leleia proceeded to unleash her skills more liberally, and following that, Hannah鈥檚 competency improved rapidly after the one-week period of apparent stagnation.
