Roxanne had stopped midway.
Apparently, she didn't need to retreat as far as I’d thought. She likely knew the exact distance required through experience. I started back toward her, but before I could reach her, the NEET Ant collapsed.
"Did it get poisoned?" I asked.
"Yes, it did. From the last one I threw," Sherry replied.
It seemed the final Poison Needle she’d tossed had done the trick.
Since Sherry hadn’t reached Warrior Level 30 yet, she couldn’t actually unlock the Assassin job. Not being able to verify it immediately was a bit of a downside, but there was nothing we could do about it. Still, she’d definitely dealt the killing blow with a Poison Needle, so she should have satisfied the requirements.
"I always assumed skill attacks were guaranteed to hit, but I never imagined there was a way to dodge them like that," Sherry remarked.
"I’m not sure I’d call it a 'way.' It’s more like sheer physical capability," I said, handing her spear back.
It took a moment for a skill to manifest through a magic circle. If you could move out of its range during that brief window, it simply wouldn't connect. It wasn't really much of a strategy; it would be nearly impossible for anyone besides Roxanne to pull off. The only reason I’d managed to escape was that I was already standing further back.
"Big Sister is amazing. I’ll work hard too!" Milia chirped.
Instead of just writing it off as something only Roxanne could do, Milia’s determination might be exactly what was needed to eventually learn how to evade skills.
"Actually... I can evade them even after the skill has been activated. I only retreated early this time because Sherry and Milia were with us," Roxanne explained.
You can do that?
Apparently, the word "impossible" didn't exist in Roxanne’s personal dictionary of evasion. I reflexively traded a stunned look with Sherry.
"N-Next up is Milia," I managed.
"Yes!" she replied.
We still had over ten Poison Needles left, plus the two we’d just recovered, so we decided to keep going.
Our next encounter was a group of four NEET Ants. With that many, I figured at least one would survive my initial spells. I unleashed a Water Storm. Two of them went down instantly. As the others scurried toward us, I picked one off with a Water Ball.
Roxanne stepped up to block the path of the final survivor. Standing diagonally behind her, Milia took aim and threw a Poison Needle. I stood ready behind Milia, holding another needle.
"Here," I said, handing it to her while keeping my lower body angled toward the exit. I wanted to be ready to bolt at a moment's notice.
Roxanne leaned into the NEET Ant's charge, parrying it with ease.
"It’s poisoned!" Milia said, stopping me just as I was about to hand her another needle.
It seemed the toxin had taken hold before the monster could even begin manifesting a magic circle. Roxanne caught the ant’s next rush on her shield. I squinted, trying to see if its color had changed. I couldn't really tell the difference, though. Was it turning a faint, sickly blue? It was hard to say for sure.
Roxanne dodged its next strike without breaking a sweat, and then the ant simply keeled over. Well, what do you know. It really was poisoned.
With that, everyone had successfully cleared the requirements for the Assassin job. Like Sherry, Milia hadn't reached Warrior Level 30 yet, so she couldn't equip it just yet, but it would be an incredibly useful job for a front-liner like her once she did. Once we got her gear sorted out, transitioning Milia to an Assassin was definitely an option worth considering.