"Cliff, be our rear guard. Protect our Mage and deal with the ones we missed."
The rogue declared an order to their newly acquired yet temporary member. Then, he suddenly slashed down a few slimes that Enrid, the warrior, had missed when he was unleashing a flurry of slashes from his large axe.
"Enrid, I know that you trust us to clean up your trash but call it out for the sake of our archer!"
The black-haired mage scolded the warrior, who raised her staff and summoned tiny icicles before shooting them towards a bunch of slimes that were grouping up on the corner but missed a few goblins.
"Cliff! Riyu! Take out the ones I've missed! Enrid, shatter the frozen slimes before they get thawed!" Esther released an order, and the axe-wielding warrior obeyed by performing a wide horizontal slash that turned into a crescent arc.
[ Crescent Moon ], an intermediate skill for warrior-classed adventurers. It is used to target a wide range of monsters and eliminate them all with one slash!
Gosh! It's so cool seeing it in action and not in turn-based combat form! Ah~ This is so cool!
"Cliff! Where's the arrows?!" Riyu shouted from a distance, he was in front of them fighting the rest of the slimes that weren't frozen by Esther's spell.
"Ah, shit! Sorry!" Cliff got distracted, which is something he didn't used to do. The gamer inside of him is gushing about the combat mechanics that he had seen in the game before, but now it is his reality! So enjoyable!
My reality… no, this isn't my life. I should focus. Cliff wouldn't be distracted over this and would prefer for the battle to be over immediately.
Cliff slaps himself, which startled the mage.
"wha-?"
Then, a sudden shift in attitude. Cliff is now more focused than ever, he held his bow up high and aimed for the slimes that were getting close to Riyu, the rogue. Then, he shoots a few arrows that are flying towards the cores of the slime, which is at the center of their jello body.
As soon as it pierced through the slimes' cores, the slimes burst like a balloon and they slowly dissipated and evaporated into the air. There's a tactic in-game that lets you kick a slime into an enemy monster, and the slime explodes, damaging the enemy monster with the boiling liquids of the deceased slime. Pretty hardcore, right?
"Unfortunately, I can't use my new weapon against these monsters– oop!" Cliff noticed something in the corner of his eye, a rogue slime who managed to sneak up behind the mage. In a second, it's gonna lunge towards the mage. Cliff panicked.
What should I do? Drawing the string takes too much time, I'm not gonna make it in time before she gets hurt–
His body instinctively moved, his fingers reached for one of the throwing knives strapped on his waist before throwing it swiftly to the rogue slime. With enough force, the knife was able to pierce through its jello body and shatter the core without spinning. The slime exploded, and its hot liquid unintentionally splattered all over the woman's cloak.
"Agh shit! Cliff! Thanks but can you at least warn me before you do that?!" Fortunately, most of the liquid got on the cloak. Only a few drops went onto her skin, which she immediately wiped before it completely burned her delicate skin. She grabbed the throwing knife and gave it back to Cliff.
"Yo laddie! That's my girl, y'know? Don't go splattering your liquid all over her~!" Enrid, the warrior smirked and mischievously laughed while the mage's face slowly turned red. Though, not from embarrassment.
"You fuckin perv! I'm not yours! Don't listen to him, kid. My taste in men is high, I don't like that oaf at all! Cliff, don't believe him!" Esther explains, trying to save her image and reputation.
Y'know damn well that you look like you're in denial of the truth when you put it like that, also– why explain to me of all people?! I'm not part of that!
Oh, how he wishes he could've said that to her face straight away. However, he must hold back. He's not here to have fun, his goal is to get that rare flower. Nothing less, nothing more. There is no need to converse that much further.
"Cliff. Communicate with us more and follow our instructions. You are lagging and that'll jeopardize the party, I know we just welcomed you and all of that but try to keep up. You're holding us back."
Suddenly, Riyu interjected, he gave a harsh criticism and a suggestion to the rookie member before walking away.
Cliff's face frowned before looking down at the ground, hiding his face from the others.
I know, I'm sorry… but at least praise me for saving your friend…!
"Don't look down, kid. That's just how he is, he loves us a lot. He just hides it, haha!" The warrior aggressively pats Cliff's back, reassuring him that he didn't do anything wrong.
"For once, both of these knuckleheads are correct…" Esther crosses her arms.
"You're a rookie so I would excuse your actions, but aren't you also the guy who survived the crimson moon event alone? I would appreciate it if you showed us that level of professionalism."
Then, she walked forward. As soon as she walked forward, Enrid also went ahead. Leaving the archer behind who is still standing, contemplating what they just told him.
...They're professionals, they're correct. No matter how blessed I am, I'm going to have to communicate with them to have effective teamwork and synergy. Otherwise, I'll get them killed…
He frowned again, tightening the grip of his hand on his bow before lifting his head back up and facing forward. What awaits him are the three adventurers, waiting patiently for him at the stairs that lead towards the second floor of the Infinite Dungeon. The Rat Maze.
The lad walked forward, softening his expression and bowed down to them.
"I apologize for my inability to communicate, I will do my best from here on out." A straightforward apology with no added flairs or excuses. Only admitted his mistakes and will now do his hardest.
"Forgiven." Riyu suddenly walks over to him and pats his shoulder, underneath his mask is his smile. Cliff stared at him before softly smiling.
"Such a softie~ Did you immediately become overprotective towards him~?" Enrid hits the rogue's arm with his shoulder, with a smirk plastered on his face while Esther covers her mouth from laughing.
"..." Riyu removed his hand from Cliff's shoulder and lowered his dark hood in an attempt to hide his embarrassment and shyness, his face blushing.
"Let's just… m-move on. Cliff, you and I will go first because we're the navigators of the group. You'll handle the map, I'll handle the scouting. Got it?"
Riyu commanded, being the first one to go down the stairs while handing the map of the maze over to Cliff. The red-haired lad went behind him, while the mage came downward next. The last one to go down is Enrid because his job is to become the rear guard now.
The formation and positioning of party members are important in battle and outside of battle. It depends on the situation but the usual formation is the damage dealers in front. They are the vanguards, meant to absorb damage and protect the ones behind them. They're mostly the class composed of [ Tank ] or [ Knight ].
Behind them are the long-ranged combatants. They are meant to cover their vanguard's backs from ambushes from behind while also dealing damage to the enemies. A party without a long-ranged combatant is a long-term disaster. They are mainly composed of classes with higher attack stats or magical stats. The
[ Ranger ] is included in one of those classes with a high attack stat. They are swift like a [ Rogue ] but they can attack from a long distance thanks to their bow and arrow, making them the perfect support.
If only Cliff had the magic for it, it would make everything better.
Cliff randomly sighed, making the three adventurers around him suddenly grow concerned.
"You okay bro?"
"Tired?"
"Not gonna lie, my back aches~"
Everything went silent as soon as Esther made her response, and all of them stared at her before she whistled and looked away.
"No no no– I'm fine. I was just–"
The lad explained that nothing was wrong and that he was fine, the others didn't buy it at first but they chose to trust his words over their concern.
What am I, their baby brother?