Dodging the attacking goblins with a touch of theatricality, Yuji waited for one to overextend and lose its balance before slamming a kick into its stomach. He held back just enough to ensure the blow wasn't fatal. The goblin was sent tumbling back, but it managed to push itself up, clutching its gut and steadying its trembling legs. Even then, the creature's eyes still burned with hostility; it hadn't lost the will to fight.
In other words, Yuji’s restraint was perfect.
"Whoa. He’s good at that. As expected of Yuji."
"He is," Hiiragi-san agreed. "By staging a fight where they think they might just barely reach him, he’s successfully fanning their fighting spirit. As long as they think they have a chance, they won't try to flee."
"Wow, Yuji-san is amazing... right, Saori-chan?"
"Y-yeah..."
Hiiragi-san and I watched with appreciation as Yuji flawlessly played the roles of decoy and number adjustment against six goblins. Mika and Saori-chan, meanwhile, watched with wide-eyed wonder. To us, this was a familiar sight, but to them, his movements must have looked like magic.
Don't worry, I thought. Eventually, both of you will be able to move like that too. Or rather, I'll make sure you can.
"Alright, Saori-chan. We’re swapping soon, so get ready," Yuji called out.
He had already reduced the group to three. His tone was calm and steady, showing no hint of tension. Given his skill level, being surrounded by half a dozen goblins wasn't enough to make him break a sweat. If anything, Saori-chan was the one looking nervous.
"Okay, here I go. Hah!"
Yuji let out a sharp breath and drove a knife-hand strike into the neck of a goblin that had closed in on him, snapping the bone instantly. That made four. Number adjustment complete.
With his task done, Yuji used a backstep to leap away, putting distance between himself and the remaining goblins, who had frozen in shock at their comrade's sudden death.
"Right, do your best with the rest."
"Y-yes!"
As they crossed paths, Yuji gave Saori-chan a light tap on the shoulder and a quick word of encouragement before stepping back.
Saori-chan took a deep breath to settle her nerves. She glared at the goblins rushing toward her with sharp, unwavering eyes. She’d definitely gotten better at switching into combat mode.
"I’m going!"
With a short shout to psych herself up, she leveled her spear and charged.
The goblins reacted immediately, splitting to the left and right to bracket her. They were clearly looking for a counter-attack once she committed. However...
"!"
"Gigi!?"
Just before entering their range, Saori-chan decelerated violently. In the same motion, she used a side-step to snap to the right, flanking the goblin on that side. The creatures couldn't keep up with her sudden change in momentum and direction. For a fraction of a second, they lost sight of her.
Saori-chan didn't miss the opening. She stepped in and drove her spear toward the goblin's temple.
"Ha!"
"Gi!?"
The spearhead pierced the monster’s skull precisely. It let out a choked scream and went limp. The tip had emerged from the other side—a clearly fatal wound.
Without a hint of complacency, Saori-chan yanked her spear free and backstepped away from the remaining enemy.
"Gi, gigi!?"
"..."
She watched the last goblin vigilantly as it looked around in a panic. As she did, she flicked her spear to clear the blood from the tip. It was a clean habit, but doing it while enemies were still active created a vulnerability. I’d have to mention that later.
Leveling her weapon again, Saori-chan closed the distance with the final, agitated goblin.
"Hah!"
"Gi!?"
The goblin’s reaction was sluggish. It tried to bring its club up to block the thrust aimed at its face, but it was a futile effort. The moment the monster committed to the block, Saori-chan twisted her wrist, shifting the spear's trajectory from the face to the center of the chest.
"Gi!?"
The spearhead slipped past the club and buried itself deep in the goblin's chest. The monster let out a pained shriek, clutching at the wound as Saori-chan withdrew the blade. A spray of blood followed, and the creature collapsed. Based on the blood loss, that was it.
"..."
Saori-chan remained on guard for a few moments, watching the bodies of the goblins she and Yuji had slain. Only when they began to undergo particleization did she finally let out her tension.
While keeping an eye on the surroundings, we held a quick review meeting to go over Saori-chan's performance. Fortunately, there weren't many issues to address.
"Good work, Saori-chan. You weren't hurt, were you?"
"No. I didn't take any hits, so I'm fine."
"You were using some pretty extreme deceleration and direction changes. I just wanted to make sure you didn't strain a tendon or a joint."
"Oh... I see."
Even with the physical boosts from a level up, forcing your body into those kinds of movements can lead to sprains or muscle tears if you aren't careful. Proper stretching helps, but it’s still a risk.
"The movement still looked a bit forced, though," Yuji noted.
"I agree," Hiiragi-san added. "I think your footwork isn't quite there yet. The transition from the stop to the side-step was a bit clumsy."
They were right. The connection between the two movements had been jerky. She probably hadn't adjusted her stride length properly, which threw off the timing of her jump. Against goblins, it wasn't a deal-breaker, but against stronger monsters, that kind of awkwardness could be fatal.
Still, it was something she could handle in practice, so she’d likely improve with time.
"Ugh..."
"Now, now... you'll get the hang of it as you get more fights under your belt," I said, trying to encourage her. If she got too discouraged, her performance would only suffer more. "Overall, you fought well. One thing, though—don't flick the blood off your spear during the fight. In a battle against a group, even a small gesture like that creates an opening. Your spear is a thrusting weapon, unlike our blunt or slashing styles. A little blood on the tip won't stop it from piercing a goblin's hide."
"Ah, right... I'll be careful. Phew..."
"D-don't let it get to you, Saori-chan," Mika said, patting her friend's back.
Leaving them to it, I turned to Yuji and Hiiragi-san.
"Good job on the decoy and culling work, Yuji. That went well. It really does seem better to handle the thinning out with unarmed combat."
"Yeah," Yuji replied. "Though holding back is its own kind of pain. Staging a 'close' fight so they don't lose heart is a real hassle. If we mess up the power adjustment even slightly, a goblin will just explode."
He wasn't exaggerating. If a monster saw its ally get turned into a red mist by a single punch, it would either run away or lose the will to fight entirely. No one wants to charge an enemy they clearly can't beat.
"In that case, should we look for naturally smaller groups?" Hiiragi-san asked.
"Maybe, but will we find pairs that easily? On this floor, they usually show up in groups of at least three."
"Looking at how those two are doing, I think they might be ready for more. Maybe a few more two-on-one fights, then we increase the count to three?"
Yuji and I exchanged a look. Hiiragi-san was right. Mika and Saori-chan were still a bit rough around the edges, but their fundamentals were solid. A few more rounds of experience and they should be able to handle three. Yuji nodded in agreement.
"So, that’s the plan. What do you two think? Can you handle three at once?"
"Umm..."
"Well..."
Mika and Saori-chan looked at each other, their expressions hesitant.
"It's a big jump, I know. We’ll stick to the two-on-one situations for now. Let us know when you feel confident. And don't feel like you have to say yes to impress us—forcing it is how people get seriously hurt."
"Y-yeah."
"Understood."
They both nodded, still looking a little shaken.
With the review meeting over, we resumed our exploration. After several more encounters, both girls gained enough confidence to skip the culling and face three goblins at a time.
"Mika, watch their movements! They aren't actually coordinated! Don't let them swarm you; move so you can force them into a series of one-on-ones!"
"Got it!"
Mika responded to my shout with action. She swung her spear in a wide horizontal arc to check the goblin on her left, then immediately stepped toward the center goblin. The one on the left had to stop to avoid her sweep, and the one on the right was too far away to provide immediate support. For that one moment, she had a clean one-on-one.
"Hah!"
"Gi!?"
Her spear pierced the center goblin’s throat. It died instantly, but Mika didn't stop. She yanked the spear back, using the momentum to pull the dying body toward her, then sent it flying with a high kick. The corpse collided with the goblin on the right, sending both of them tumbling.
That goblin was temporarily out of the equation. Mika immediately spun around to face the one on the left, which had recovered and was swinging its club.
"Yah!"
"Gi!?"
She sidestepped the overhead smash, letting the club hit the ground. While the goblin was off-balance from the recoil, she thrust her spear straight into its brow. Two down. One to go.
"Ha!"
"Gi!?"
The final goblin was still trying to scramble up from under its dead companion. Mika didn't give it the chance. She lunged from the edge of her reach, burying her spear in its chest. The monster clawed feebly at the shaft, but Mika drove the blade home, finishing it.
"Good job, Mika. How did the three-on-one feel?" I asked as she relaxed her stance.
"Hmm. It was a bit harder to keep track of everyone's position, but the basics felt the same."
"That’s exactly right. The most important thing in a group fight is positioning—setting up a kill while keeping yourself out of danger. It sounds simple, but it’s hard to pull off in practice. It gets even more complicated in a party, because you have to track your allies too to avoid friendly fire."
"Ugeh..."
"You’ll get used to it. Experience is the only way."
"...Yeah."
Mika looked a little overwhelmed, but her eyes were determined. She’d be fine.
As we were gathering the drops, the alarm on my watch let out a loud chime.
The first half of the session was over. Time to head back. It isn't a successful dungeon dive until you make it out the door, after all.