Chapter 24

After receiving the championship prize, the "Ring of Pursuit," we left the Royal Magic Academy as if we were fleeing.

I told Main that I would visit the palace when things had settled down on my end.

Strangely, neither Principal Paula nor Librarian Silk questioned us, and we didn't receive any inquiries from Noa or the knights. Probably because I had become a direct magician to the Second Prince, they couldn't easily provoke me.

Thus, my magic learning plan was temporarily successful. I could learn the Fourth and Fifth types later.

"Alright, everyone. I will announce our next goal."

At my words, Sylvia and Eco straightened their backs, showing their readiness.

After smoothly progressing through archery, swordsmanship, and magic, the next step would ideally be summoning magic...

"Anyway, we will grind for experience in the dungeon. Especially until Eco grows to an intermediate level, we will keep doing laps."

I thought it was most important to improve the level of the skills I currently knew. Therefore, I decided to focus on dungeon grinding for a while. We also needed to practice teamwork, and strengthening Sylvia and Eco was important. Additionally, if we could aim for some dungeon rewards, that would be a bonus. It was a greedy set of four goals.

"Hmm. The Lois Dungeon again?"

"Dungeon!"

"Not Lois. This time, we will do laps in the B-rank dungeon, 'Rimpfort.'"

"Hmm. Well, if it's B-rank..."

"Got it!"

Eco was just repeating, but... is that okay? It should be fine, right?

"The Rimpfort Dungeon is known for multiple monsters appearing, but the detection range is narrow, so we can pull them one by one. It's good practice for movement. Also, the monsters have high defense but low attack, so it's relatively safe. Plus, the boss, the Rock Turtle, drops the 'Shield of Rock Armor,' which would be perfect for Eco."

"I see... Wait, a shield? A shield for Eco?"

"Eco is suitable for defending against monster attacks on the front line, so we will start improving her 'Shield Skill' today."

"Okay, got it!"

"Wait, wait, wait! Second-sama!"

"Sometimes, even with a shield, you can take damage. So, we will also learn 'Healing Magic.'"

"Understood!"

"Hey! Are you really going to put such a young girl on the front line!?"

"It's fine. She'll toughen up soon."

"That's not what I meant!?"

With the nagging Sylvia and the obedient Eco, I headed to the weapon and armor shop.

There, I bought a large shield as tall as Eco without hesitation. Since there was no armor that fit Eco, I bought high-quality leather equipment instead. The full set cost 4 million CL, more expensive than my own. The shop owner was very pleased.

After that, we went to Comike and had Eco learn 'Infantry Shield Skill' and 'Chariot Shield Skill.' Eco could learn the skill books in about 30 minutes each with the help of a dictionary. She might be incredibly talented.

By the time we left Comike and headed to the 'Camel Church,' Sylvia had quieted down. When I asked if she had accepted Eco's position, she said it was just because we were in the library and the church. She would probably be noisy again after leaving the church...

"Alright, Eco. Let's see the magic guidebook for healing magic."

"Is it okay...?"

"It's fine. If we ask the sister, she should let us see it."

We entered the church and explained our purpose to the sister. She agreed and quickly brought us the 'Healing Magic' guidebook, 'Healing - Minor.'

Eco took the guidebook and started reading it silently with a dictionary. Seeing her so focused, I was a bit worried...

"I learned it! Second, thank you! I learned it!"

Eco said this after reading the guidebook for less than 20 minutes and hugged me.

In the church, loudly. She expressed her emotions straightforwardly without caring about others' gazes. Sylvia said, "That's great!" as if it were her own achievement. I patted Eco's head while smiling awkwardly at the sister, who nodded with a smile.

"Alright, let's go."

We had achieved our goal. There was no more business at the church.

"Wait, wait, wait! Are you just going to leave like this!? At least say a prayer!"

...Here comes Mother Sylvia.

"Ha~"

"Ha~"

As I sighed and returned to the statue of God Camel, Eco followed me, mimicking my actions. Sylvia, who gave us a "What can you do?" look, tilted her head and said, "Hmm...?" but still joined us in prayer.

It took four hours by horse from the capital to the agricultural town of 'Peho,' and another 30 minutes to reach the 'Rimpfort Dungeon.'

I was frustrated that it took so long without a flying dragon, but I hadn't seen anyone use a flying dragon since coming to this world. It seemed that even taming a flying dragon wouldn't make travel easy.

By the way, I also bought a horse for Eco. Its name is "Leaf Impact." It sounds fast.

I casually asked Sylvia what her horse's name was, and she confidently replied, "Silver!" But the horse was clearly brown... I couldn't understand Sylvia's sense.

Thus, we arrived in Peho and, using an inn as our base, started the Rimpfort Dungeon laps the next day.

For the first 2-3 laps, we focused on Eco's 'Shield Skill' while progressing leisurely.

There are only six 'Shield Skill' techniques I want to learn. In addition to the basics, 'Infantry Shield Skill' and 'Chariot Shield Skill,' there are 'Knight Shield Skill,' 'Gold General Shield Skill,' 'Rook Shield Skill,' and 'Dragon Shield Skill.'

The others are more offensive shield skills, but for pure defense, these six are sufficient.

Eco easily learned all but 'Rook Shield Skill' and 'Dragon Shield Skill.' The effects are as follows: 'Infantry Shield Skill' for normal defense, 'Chariot Shield Skill' for penetration reflection, 'Knight Shield Skill' for defense + knockback, and 'Gold General Shield Skill' for area guidance defense + knockback.

Among them, 'Gold General Shield Skill' is a versatile and essential 'Shield Skill.' Area guidance defense means automatically guiding attacks within a certain range to the shield for defense. It's called "suction" or "Dai○n." The fact that it also causes knockback makes it a highly useful skill.

After a few days, by the 10th lap, Eco's potential as a muscle monk began to show.

"Hey, Eco! Are you okay!?"

A loud thud.

A critical hit from the 'Armor Lizard,' one of the strongest monsters in the Rimpfort Dungeon, struck Eco, who was holding her shield.

"Huh?"

When the startled Sylvia rushed over, Eco turned around with a "What's up?" look.

"Wait, what?"

Sylvia was confused.

She must have thought it was impossible for Eco to take a critical hit from an Armor Lizard and be fine, but that's exactly what happened.

"Thanks to the 'Shield Skill,' your HP and VIT seem to have increased significantly."

"R-Really...?"

Eco's HP hadn't been reduced by even 5%.

"Alright."

Eco used 'Healing - Minor' to recover her HP.

She was growing into a reliable tank.

"Let's try 'Rook Shield Skill' next."

I muttered this and headed for the dungeon's deepest part, aiming for the boss.

"Eco, listen. Follow my voice and use your skills to defend. It will take about 15 minutes. If you make a mistake, we'll start over. Can you do it?"

I gave her instructions before facing the Rock Turtle.

"...Yes, I can."

Eco nodded with a serious expression, which was rare for her.

"Let's go."

With my voice, Eco leaped in front of the Rock Turtle.

We had defeated about 10 Rock Turtles so far. Previously, Eco would defend on the front line while Sylvia and I attacked from behind with archery, quickly defeating them. This time, it was different.

The requirement for learning 'Rook Shield Skill' is to "defend 100 consecutive attacks from a boss stronger than yourself using 'Shield Skill' without taking any damage."

The tricky part is "without taking any damage." Not even a single point of damage is allowed. Therefore, the defense methods are limited.

You can either reflect ranged piercing attacks with 'Chariot Shield Skill' or parry and knock back attacks with 'Knight Shield Skill' or 'Gold General Shield Skill.'

Parrying is a phenomenon that occurs when you defend at the right timing against an enemy's attack, resulting in no damage and a weak knockback effect.

If you parry with 'Infantry Shield Skill,' you only get a weak knockback, leaving little time for a counterattack and increasing the chance of taking damage.

This turns it into a rhythm game.

It's challenging at first, but once you get the timing down, you can consistently parry and gain a significant advantage in battle.

One of the goals this time was to have Eco practice her timing while fulfilling the requirement for 'Rook Shield Skill.'

"Knight! Gold! Knight! ...Chariot!"

I gave perfect instructions, and Eco followed them flawlessly.

The Rock Turtle's attacks were relatively slow and monotonous, but grasping the parry timing on the first try was difficult. That's why I chose the Rimpfort Dungeon, but it was proving to be more challenging than expected.

"Ouch!"

Eco failed to parry and took a hit.

"That was a bit late. Can you do it again?"

"I can!"

Eco nodded firmly, used 'Healing - Minor' twice, and faced the Rock Turtle again.

After about an hour, we continued facing the Rock Turtle, and Eco finally learned 'Rook Shield Skill.'

Thank you for reading.