As we looked on, Mika and Saori-chan began their battle with the goblins. The two of them first targeted a small cluster of about five goblins on the outer edge of the pack... let’s call them Group A. While staying alert to the other groups to avoid being surrounded, they focused their aim on Group A and launched their attack.
Yes, that was the right call. In group combat, the most important thing was ensuring you didn't let the enemy surround you.
"Here we go, Saori-chan!"
"Right! Let's finish this quickly!"
"I'll take the right side, so Saori-chan, please handle the left!"
"Leave it to me!"
Mika and Saori-chan closed the distance to Group A in a single burst, striking the moment they were within spear range.
"Yaah!"
"Hah!"
Their spears struck home, piercing the goblins between the eyes without fail. The creatures wore brief expressions of agony before the strength left their bodies and they collapsed.
After retracting their spears, the two girls immediately lunged at the adjacent goblins, who were still flustered by the sudden assault. Two kills in a single breath... their consecutive attack speed was quite impressive.
"Last one!"
Before the final goblin could recover from its shock and ready a counterattack, Mika’s spear had already pierced its brow. Even though she claimed to be bad at group combat, she was wiping them out without giving them any room to retaliate.
Well, they had only crushed the first small group, so I couldn't be sure they’d maintain this momentum... but seeing their efficiency, I started to feel they’d be just fine.
"Alright, next!"
"Yeah!"
After a quick glance at the fallen Group A, Mika and Saori-chan dashed toward their next target: a cluster of seven goblins at the rear. Let's call them Group B. The enemies were still reeling from the surprise attack on Group A, and their reactions were sluggish. It seemed Mika and Saori were employing a strategy of whittling down the enemy’s strength from the outside before the goblin horde could regain its coordination.
As they closed in on Group B, the goblins finally managed to shake off their shock and began to ready their defenses.
"Saori-chan! After we take down the two on the right, I'll stall the other groups! You take care of the rest!"
"On it! Mika-chan, don't push yourself too hard!"
"I'll be fine! Stalling just means poking at them with long-range attacks!"
It seemed she was keeping an eye on the other clusters as well, not just the one in front of her. In group combat, focusing too much on the immediate fight could lead to tunnel vision, causing you to miss critical threats. I’d heard countless stories of explorers who thought they’d won, only to realize they were surrounded by another group and had nowhere to run.
In that regard, Mika and Saori-chan were handling the basics well: concentrating on the fight while maintaining situational awareness.
"Hah!"
"Tei!"
Repeating their performance from Group A, the girls struck from the flanks and picked off the goblins. They pierced the brows with swift, single strikes, giving the defensive goblins no time to counter.
After Mika finished the two goblins on the right, she used a backstep to put some distance between herself and Group B to begin her stalling tactics.
"Eit!"
Mika reached into her waist pouch, pulled out a throwing dart, and whipped her arm toward a group of six goblins—Group C—that was moving to reinforce Group B. The dart flew straight and true, plunging into the center of the lead goblin's chest. Overcome by the pain, the goblin collapsed with a shriek of agony. Because it had been running at the front, it managed to trip the goblins behind it, causing a massive pile-up.
With that, Mika successfully stalled the reinforcements.
"Mika-chan, I'm done here too!"
"Roger! Next, ignore those guys on the ground and take out the ones over there who are still frozen!"
"Wait! Are you sure we shouldn't finish the ones on the ground first!?"
"Yeah! If we hit those other guys now, there's less chance they'll be able to help these ones recover!"
"I see! Got it, let's hurry!"
Convinced by Mika's reasoning, Saori-chan ignored the tangled mess of Group C and began moving quickly toward Group D—a cluster of seven goblins a short distance away. They needed to crush Group D before Group C could regain their footing.
Yes, that was the correct choice. Group C was effectively neutralized for the time being. While they would have been easy targets, the unharmed Group D would have certainly intervened, leading at best to a chaotic brawl. At worst, if Group C had recovered quickly, the girls could have been sandwiched. To prioritize safety, attacking Group D first was the way to go.
"For someone who says she's bad at this, Mika's positioning is quite good," I muttered to myself, impressed by her judgment.
"You're right," Yuji added, having overheard me. "Especially that decision regarding priorities. You can't do that unless you have a clear view of the whole field. Normally, like Saori-chan said, people want to jump at the chance to kill the enemy right in front of them."
"I'm sure she's anxious because she lacks experience in multi-opponent combat," Hiiragi-san remarked, "but once she gets enough repetitions to feel confident, she'll make an excellent leader."
"Haha, maybe so."
Hearing my friends heap praise on my little sister made me feel a bit embarrassed.
While we were talking, Mika and Saori-chan finished off the goblins in Group D.
"That just leaves those six over there!"
"Almost there! Let's do this!"
Having finished Group D, Mika and Saori-chan turned their attention to the goblins of Group C, who were still struggling to untangle themselves from the pile-up. The girls braced themselves for the final stretch.
Group C was indeed the last of the organized enemies, but there were likely a few stragglers who hadn't been fully finished off. I hoped they wouldn't let their guard down until the very last goblin turned into particles.
"Let's go, Saori-chan!"
"Yeah!"
The two of them closed the gap and cut into the goblins of Group C before the monsters could fully recover.
The battle ended, and the last of the fallen goblins finished their particleization. Looking back, the entire skirmish had taken less than ten minutes.
I looked over at Mika and Saori-chan. Having confirmed that everything had turned to particles, they were finally letting out long breaths and relaxing their tension.
"Good work, you two. For people who said they weren't used to this, that was some solid positioning," I said, walking toward them with words of praise.
The two of them noticed my approach and slowly turned around. Their breathing wasn't heavy, so the physical fatigue seemed minimal. However, their expressions were a bit weary, suggesting the mental strain had been more significant.
"Thanks, Onii-chan. But I think we just got lucky this time."
"You think so? When you decided the priority for that third group, you were looking around and making very calm judgments."
"That was just because the enemies happened to pile up, so I thought I could leave them for later. If they hadn't tripped, I probably would have had to stall them while Saori-chan provided backup or stalled another group. But if that happened..."
"Since the enemies had the numbers, you would have ended up splitting up and fighting separate groups," I finished for her. "You would have been facing five or six enemies each, which would have significantly increased the risk of getting hurt."
If that pile-up hadn't happened, Mika would have been locked in combat with the rest of Group C. Since Saori-chan hadn't fully finished Group B at that point, she wouldn't have been able to check Group D, likely allowing the enemies to merge.
That would have resulted in a chaotic melee against over a dozen goblins. Fighting based solely on individual ability without coordination is a bad spot to be in during multi-opponent combat. While the girls were capable, taking on that many at once without a single scratch would have been difficult. We might have even had to intervene.
"Yeah. That’s why I think we were just lucky."
"Well, that's true. But being able to capitalize on that luck is a feat in itself. If you hadn't been calmly observing the situation, you wouldn't have been able to use that luck to your advantage."
"I guess."
You can plan a fight to some extent, but in the end, you have to adapt on the fly. No matter how much luck you have, it’s meaningless if you can't make a split-second decision. Adaptability and judgment are everything in multi-opponent combat.
As Mika and I talked, Yuji and Hiiragi-san approached to offer their own praise.
"Good job, that was quite impressive," Yuji said. "You mentioned you lacked confidence, but once you get more experience, I think you'll handle multi-opponent combat just fine."
"I agree," Hiiragi-san said. "I was a little worried at first, but you both moved very well."
Thank you very much!
Mika and Saori-chan beamed at their praise.
However, even if it meant raining on their parade a bit, there was something I needed to say.
"Listen, Mika, Saori-chan. This was group combat in a wide room where you were the ones who triggered the encounter. Most fights up to the 30th floor are in narrow corridors. Today, you used the room's width to move quickly and take out small groups individually, but you won't always have that luxury in a hallway."
"Oh... right."
"Yes."
Their expressions slumped slightly. I felt bad, but if they tried this exact tactic in a narrow space, they’d eventually get hurt. I had to point it out.
I glanced toward the corridor entrance for a moment before looking back at them.
"So, next time, instead of just reacting to the enemy, try ways to induce their movements."
"...Induce?"
"Yeah. This time they spawned in separate groups by chance, but sometimes they’ll all appear at once. In corridors, they usually come from a single direction. You might end up facing a dozen enemies head-on, which is brutal. So what do you do? You manipulate them to move in a way that suits you, ensuring you only have to fight as few as possible at any one time."
"By inducing them..." Mika and Saori-chan went quiet, looking down as they processed the advice.
If they had a way to use wide-area attacks, it would be a different story, but they didn't have anything that convenient. They might learn something if they leveled up their attack magic skills, but for now, we didn't count on it. The goal in multi-opponent combat is to avoid being outnumbered and instead create a series of one-on-one engagements. Fortunately, explorers have high stamina, so a war of attrition isn't that much of a burden.
"Luckily, it seems no other parties are using this place today. Let's keep at it until someone else shows up. Try to figure out some methods between the two of you based on what I just said."
"Okay!"
"Understood!"
I wasn't sure if our luck was good or bad today. We’d gotten caught up in some trouble earlier, but overall, it had worked out. Normally, there would be a long line for this trap, but we were getting to use it repeatedly.
So, while we waited for the trap's recast time, we held a review meeting. And of course, we made sure to collect the drop items.
In the end, no other parties appeared, and we were able to use the trap room three more times. Thanks to that, Mika and Saori-chan became much more comfortable with multi-opponent combat, and by the final run, they were starting to get the hang of guiding the goblins' movements.
Experience really is the best teacher.
"Alright, shall we head back? We’ve fought plenty, so I’d say this was a productive practice session."
"Yeah. I never thought we'd get to use this place four times in a row. Talk about luck."
"Indeed," Hiiragi-san agreed. "Usually, you'd wait in a long line, use it once, and that would be it for the day."
"I feel like I've finally gotten the knack for fighting groups, sort of," Mika said with a smile.
"It's not perfect yet, but I feel much more confident now," Saori-chan added.
The two girls looked happy, their expressions full of achievement. It seemed our goal for the day was met.
With satisfied looks on our faces, we began the trek home—carrying plenty of souvenirs with us.