Chapter 2

My grandfather told me to become an explorer who never loses to anyone. This was more about worrying about my future rather than urging me to always aim higher.

In other words, he meant that I should never engage in battles I can't win.

I could choose to always play it safe, relying on my grandfather's words. But I want to become the strongest explorer, surpassing even my grandfather. I believe that this path is the best way to repay my deceased grandfather.

The question is, how to define the strongest. Never losing in any battle is undoubtedly the strongest. But that's impossible. There's always a mismatch in battles. No one can handle every enemy.

There are also all-rounder combat classes, but they tend to be jack-of-all-trades and far from the strongest. The closest to the ideal is a well-balanced warrior in both offense and defense. But even my grandfather, who was an EX-rank warrior, had his limits.

Moreover, a talker, among all combat classes, has the worst individual combat ability. It's absolutely impossible to aim for the strongest individually.

Then, what should I do? The answer is clear.

"Create the strongest clan and become its master."

A clan is an organization formed by multiple explorers. In simple terms, it's an advanced version of a party.

Aiming to be the strongest individually is fundamentally wrong. The greatest power of humans lies in the unity of a group. Therefore, if I want to be the strongest, I should gather excellent people from all genres and create the strongest clan.

As the first step toward this ambition, I, having become an explorer, immediately looked for companions upon arriving in the imperial capital. Fortunately, I was able to form a party with three excellent companions.

Lloyd, a red-haired swordsman. Walter, a black-haired warrior. Tania, a long-haired blonde healer.

They are all beginners like me, but they graduated from explorer training schools, so they are all older than me.

While strength is everything for explorers, age is often valued even among beginners, which is frustrating, but I was in a junior position. In other words, I was a low-ranking member. The party leader was Lloyd, not me.

Well, it's inevitable at first. This is the time to accumulate experience as an explorer without rushing.

A party is not immutable, and I intend to change it into the form I desire. If my companions accept it, that's good. If not, I can leave the party and gather new companions.

I don't dislike my companions and trust them, but the longer you work as an explorer, the rarer it is to continue with the same members. The ability to cut ties quickly and a certain level of detachment are necessary stances for being an explorer.

In any case, I am now a member of the party "Azure Beyond." To fulfill my role, I diligently engage in explorer activities every day.

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Abyssalization can occur anywhere when the mana concentration reaches a certain level. It doesn't matter if it's a village, a beautiful flower field, or a clear lake.

However, places with high mana concentration, such as deep forests and caves, are more likely to experience it. Especially in remote areas, management tends to be lax.

This time, the place where our four-person party received a request to purify the abyss is an abandoned mine where dwarves once mined white star silver.

The abandoned mine is vast and deep, but fortunately, the progression of abyssalization is slow, and only a part of it is affected. The depth of the abyss is four, which is relatively low risk. The demons that have manifested are known and have established strategies for dealing with them.

Lower vampires, a type of vampire demon.

Vampire-type demons generally have a human form and possess high physical abilities, regeneration, and powerful magic skills, making them troublesome. However, lower vampires, being a lower existence, cannot use magic skills.

They also have a rather monstrous appearance, with four arms, a completely white body, and a single eye, and possess only primitive intelligence.

However, they have a high reproductive ability and can reproduce asexually. One can multiply to dozens in just a month, which is terrifying.

If we had discovered them later, this cave would have been overrun by lower vampires by now. In that case, it would require a large party of dozens or an alliance of multiple parties to deal with it.

Even without magic skills, vampire-type demons have the strength to tear a cow with their bare hands and the regeneration to recover from any damage except decapitation. If surrounded, even experienced explorers could be killed instantly.

Our party lacks a class with skills to detect the surroundings. It would be convenient to have a scout or archer skilled in detecting presence, but it's not easy to find such people in the vast imperial capital whose conditions match ours.

Not just any scout or archer will do; a low-skilled one would only be a hindrance. I want to eventually recruit excellent scouts and archers, but I can't stop explorer activities until I find them.

Therefore, we rely on the light skill used by Tania and explore cautiously. Each of the four of us pays attention to our surroundings and kills any lower vampires we find.

Even after discovering the boss at the core of the abyss, we continue to kill its subordinates without drawing its attention, to minimize interference during the boss battle.

A party that outmatches the enemy could rush to the boss and win. Once the boss, the core of the abyss, is defeated, the subordinates, cut off from this world, would immediately cease their activities, making it far more efficient.

However, unfortunately, we don't have that kind of power.

Originally, this request should be challenging unless all members are B-rank or higher. Yet, we are all C-rank.

The reason we can turn the impossible into the possible lies in my class.

As a talker, my support can not only boost the combat abilities of party members but also increase their health and mana recovery rates. Even with powerful attack and recovery skills, they won't easily become exhausted.

In other words, as long as we're not overwhelmed by numbers, we can keep winning. Moreover, with minimal consumption, we don't need to rush into dangerous battles out of fear of stamina depletion. What seems like an inefficient extermination strategy is actually a rational way of fighting for us.

Support classes, often considered the weakest due to their low individual combat abilities, can be useful without being a burden to the party, thanks to the training I received from my grandfather, who was called a hero.

In the year since forming the party, we have consistently built our track record with this fighting style. Always aiming for higher ranks, we are sometimes called rookie big eaters.

As a result, despite being all beginners, we are recognized as top-class explorers in our rank, surpassing our peers.

Of course, this is only in the C-rank category. I, who inherited the will of my great grandfather, must aim even higher.

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Fortunately, we were able to eliminate all subordinates without the boss noticing. There were fifteen, and it worked out well that they were all immature individuals, as per the preliminary investigation.

If this had gone on for another half a month, not only would there have been more, but they would have gained the wisdom to fight in groups. While they wouldn't be capable of advanced tactics, they would have learned to fight in groups.

In that case, we wouldn't have been able to handle them. The reward for defeating lower vampires is quite lucrative. Let's earn a good amount here.

"The boss is about to use a wide-area attack! The two front-liners, dodge to the back!"

Following my instructions, Lloyd, the swordsman, and Walter, the warrior, who were engaged in a fierce battle with the lower vampire boss, jumped back.

Instantly, several tentacles shot out from the boss's back, piercing the surrounding area with their sharp tips. A sound like shattering glass came from the two who were grazed by the attack. It was the sound of the barrier skill cast by Tania being destroyed.

The boss's attack power is strong enough to destroy a barrier with a mere graze. If they had dodged a little later or if there had been no barrier, the two front-liners would have received fatal damage and been turned into minced meat.

However, we are not panicked. This is within our expectations.

"Tania, renew the barriers for the two! Lloyd and Walter, resume the attack!"

"Got it!" "Understood!" "Leave it to me!"

The battle has been moving according to my instructions since it began. While Lloyd is the party leader, I give the orders as the command center.

The reason is not just that the rear is better for observing the battle situation. It's because all my instructions have a support effect.

Talk Skill: Tactical Deployment.

A skill that increases the results and effects of all actions of party members by 25% when giving them instructions. In other words, the three of them are currently in a situation where all their abilities are 25% higher.

This increase is based on statistical data and is almost accurate.

Moreover, the support is not limited to this.

Talk Skill: Morale Boost.

A skill that increases the health and mana of party members by 25% and also increases their recovery speed. Thanks to this skill, which I cast at the start of the battle, the three can continue fighting at full strength for a long time.

The battle is in our favor. Lloyd's longsword and Walter's battle axe are gradually cornering the boss. With its surprise attack with tentacles having been dodged, the boss can only prolong the time until its head is cut off. Even a beast with little intelligence can sense this anxiety.

However, unexpected accidents can happen in any situation.

"No way, ambush!?"

Tania was the first to notice their presence. Following her scream, I looked up and saw three lower vampires clinging to the ceiling, baring their fangs.

They seem to have been hiding in a space we couldn't detect.

While the current battle situation is in our favor, if these ambushers join the boss, the tide will quickly turn against us. Tania's scream reached the two front-liners, and their faces were tense. I instantly decided whether to continue the battle or retreat.

"Don't panic! Continue the battle!"

It wasn't just an order.

Talk Skill: Mental Stabilization.

I attached a skill that normalizes the target's mental state and boosts their morale to the order. This eliminated their fear and renewed their fighting spirit.

Of course, I'm not forcing them to fight. It's because we have a good chance of winning.

Combat classes generally have higher intelligence bonuses in the rear. Among them, talkers have the best intelligence bonuses in the rear. Utilizing this processing power and the combat knowledge I've accumulated, I can turn this kind of dire situation around.

"---About eighteen seconds."

I muttered, verifying the strategy I had constructed in my mind.

Defeat is not an option. Victory is certain. The number of seconds needed to reach that point is eighteen.

I pressed the stopwatch button on my wristwatch and raised my voice to give new instructions to the party members.

"I'll take care of the grunts! Focus on the boss! Tania, keep renewing the barriers! Lloyd and Walter, focus on dodging and preparing your maximum attack skills!"

Using Tactical Deployment.

And one more thing---

Talk Skill: Target Designation.

A skill that designates a target for party members, increasing their accuracy and evasion against that target by 50%. In exchange, their accuracy and evasion against other enemies are halved, but I will keep the ambushers from reaching the three.

I turned to face the ambushers jumping down from the ceiling.

"Stop right there!!"

Shouting loudly, the ambushers failed to land and rolled on the ground.

Talk Skill: Wolf's Roar.

A skill that stops enemy movement. It doesn't work on the higher-ranked boss, but it successfully stopped the ambushers.

I quickly flipped my black long coat, drew the magic gun from the holster on my belt, and aimed at the ambushers.

The magic gun fires magic-infused bullets—magic bullets.

The material is white star silver with high magic conductivity. The grip is made from the fangs of a depth nine demon, a spectral wolf. The rifling inside the barrel is engraved with spells to amplify the power of the magic bullets, using the blood of the spectral wolf.

The caliber is 38, and it's a revolver with an eight-shot cylinder.

It's the only weapon I can rely on in demon battles, given my lack of offensive means. I named it "Silver" because it's an indispensable partner. However, each bullet is very expensive, so I can't just fire them recklessly. I had two ice bullets left, and I fired one at the ambushers.

The ice bullet that hit the ground froze the surrounding area. While it wasn't powerful enough to kill instantly, it successfully froze the limbs of two of them, immobilizing them. However, one quickly recovered from the stop and jumped to avoid the ice, then attacked me.

The one wary of the magic gun was constantly moving in a zigzag pattern to stay out of the line of fire. Without a sniper correction skill, it's very difficult for me to hit such a fast-moving target accurately.

Moreover, using Wolf's Roar again immediately would be ineffective due to resistance. I would need at least ten minutes to reset it, which is impossible in this battle.

Fifteen seconds have passed. Four seconds until the ambushers' claws reach me.

All according to plan.

Without hesitation, I turned the muzzle of the magic gun toward the boss behind me and shouted from the bottom of my lungs.

"Now! Lloyd and Walter, use your attack skills on the boss!"

I pulled the trigger at the same time as the order. Of course, there's no way I could hit the boss by shooting backward. But the boss showed a moment of hesitation when I attacked without paying attention to the ambushers.

Unaware that this moment would be its downfall.

The ice bullet grazed the boss and hit the wall, freezing the surrounding area. The moment the boss followed it with its eyes, the two front-liners pounced.

"Ki Breaker!" "Spinning Slash!"

The boss tried to block their attacks with its claws, but it was a futile resistance.

Talk Skill: Chain Strategy.

A skill that increases the power of all attack skills of party members by ten times for ten seconds. I had attached it to the order.

Chain Strategy is the most powerful of all my talk skills. However, it has a significant backlash, greatly increasing the consumption of attack skills, causing the recipients to become temporarily unable to act after the attack.

That's why I needed to choose the right moment to use it. And the perfect timing was the moment of hesitation I created.

The boss's head, severed by the two's devastating blades, flew through the air. The ambushers' claws, which had been about to reach me, stopped abruptly and fell to the ground.

I stopped the stopwatch and confirmed the time it showed.

"---Exactly eighteen seconds. Confirmed the silence of the enemy."

For a party commander like me, the ability to construct precise strategies down to the second is an essential element. Even a moment's delay in judgment can lead to the entire party's demise. Therefore, I measure time in critical moments to ensure my calculations are accurate.

This time, I was able to command a perfect battle, and my cheeks relaxed slightly.

"Combat ended. ---Everyone, good job."