54. first expedition
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The party got off the carriage with a day’s walking distance to their destination. From here, it was an unexplored area that could not be reached by carriage.
After arriving at the destination, the only thing left to do was to investigate changes in the surrounding environment, so the real expedition was from now on, marching through the forest to that point.
Leona reorganized her position before entering the forest.
“I heard that these two are melee dealers, but it is dangerous to stand in the vanguard from the start. Friends who are new to real combat often fall into panic. For now, let’s learn the overall flow of battle while protecting the rear guards from the rear.”
“yes. All right.”
Leona said as if liquidation flowed. Although she hadn’t seen her true skills yet, she was a woman with years of experience as a team leader.
The party set off for their destination.
As a ranger, Leona kept her marching speed and carefully looked ahead, and her teammates did not neglect their surroundings. Also, it was a pretty good team.
“I’ll shed two this time! Don’t panic and do your best!”
Leona encountered the monsters and shed enemies whenever she had a chance to fight, allowing Doyoon and Sophie to come forward.
Even in the midst of this, Do-yoon did not forget Sophie’s education.
“yes!”
Slap!
Break-!
With Sophie’s strange moan, one of the wolf monsters rushing at her kicked her shoulder and flew away.
But soon, another one took turns pounced on her.
“I’m sorry…!”
Sophie closed the gap between the kicks with her fist and pushed the wolf away.
After cutting down a wolf with her sword, Sophie approached her.
“Sophie. When facing several lowly monsters, that is, in a hunt where victory is certain. It is important to fight as efficiently as possible and conserve stamina.”
“Whoa… yes.”
She clearly sensed this and replied.
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Just in time, the wolf that had just been pushed ran towards Doyoon’s back.
“Against belligerent guys like that, it’s most effective to hit the center of inertia as they rush.”
The moment Sophie quickly stances and tries to stretch out her thighs.
“like this.”
Doyoon lightly kicked his leg back and hit the middle of the chest of the running wolf.
Kwajik-!
It was a bloody bursting sound, different from the hitting sound of Sophie’s attack.
The wolf’s body stopped on the spot and fell coldly to the floor. There was no crackling sound. It was cut short in an instant.
“ah…”
“You don’t have to follow me right away. Just look at it with your eyes and remember the feeling.”
“Yes, yes…”
She replied, admiring Doyoon’s skill.
And, all the team members were watching Doyoon’s battle and training.
Leona, who finished the battle moderately, came back and asked Do-yoon, trying to hide her surprise.
“…Are you guys really graduates of this jockey? Especially Doyoon, you.”
“no. This jockey is right.”
“really? I haven’t seen my skills in earnest yet, but it’s already unusual, isn’t it?”
she said deliberately.
Do-yoon’s combat prowess aside, his skill was never the vibe of a newcomer.
everyone thought It would be a case that Do-yoon had already accumulated bloody experiences in the original dimension before crossing the dimension.
‘What dimension did you come from…?’
However, while Leona was deeply surprised inside, she deliberately spoke brightly without showing it.
There are hundreds of cases like Do-yoon, all of whom have gone through terrible struggles in their previous lives. And it was never polite to mention it.
“It’s thanks to my older sister and older brothers who did a good job in front of me.”
“he. I speak beautifully. Are you really new?”
Leona smiled and touched Doyoon’s side with her elbow. Naturally, the distance between the two narrowed, and Chi Woo-min frowned when he saw it again.
After a while, Doyoon was completely with them as the team’s strength. Even the team members felt that the expedition became much easier due to Doyoon’s presence.
After repeating the battle several times, Doyoon felt strange.
‘…Is this a low difficulty expedition?’
Due to the low level of difficulty, there were more engagements than expected.
Although the level of the current team is high, they also have limited stamina anyway. Considering the number of engagements, it was not a place to come with such a small number of people.
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Just as expected. Moments later, Leona gave the team a stop sign.
“…Strange.”
“Team Leader. The difficulty of the expedition is higher than what was notified.”
Only the tank, Copper, recited to Leona in a low voice. And, the other team members also told me what they felt one by one.
“It’s not at a level where you can’t progress.”
“That’s right. Physical strength is a problem, but you can slow down the march.”
And there’s even Doyoon.
They looked at Doyoon for a while as if they had promised, even without saying anything behind their backs.
If it were only the original five people, they would have felt quite burdened and returned. However, it was worth it because Doyoon and Sophie, who were the training targets, were unexpectedly providing considerable strength.
Leona thought for a moment. Still, at this level, it belonged to a level of variable that could be encountered not infrequently in the field.
She quickly came to a conclusion.
“The expedition continues.”
“Yes, chief.”
The team members nodded their heads at her decision.
Leona looked ahead again and walked slowly.
However, Do-yoon, who has a better sense than anyone else, knew in advance about the variables he would soon encounter.
‘…why is that over there?’
Rather than being dangerous, it was a really odd kind of variable.
Do-yoon felt suspicious and followed Leona.
+++
“stop.”
Leona recited to her teammates.
And, as if everyone had promised, they remained silent.
“…”
“…”
“…earthquake?”
someone muttered.
The ground shook intermittently. It was a bit suspicious to be called an earthquake, and it was a vibration that repeated at regular intervals like footsteps.
The team members looked at Leona. If they could feel it, it would be normal for Leona, a skilled ranger, to have noticed this long before. But it didn’t.
That means that this vibration started suddenly, well within Leona’s perceptual range.
“…”
Leona fell flat on the ground and put her ears on the floor. Analyzing the vibration, she put on a puzzled expression for a moment, but soon her complexion turned white.
“uh…?”
She rose from the floor with a dazed noise.
“Is this… uh…? Oh no… is that right? It’s clear…”
“Team Leader. what’s the matter?”
Did he sense something out of the ordinary in Leona’s reaction? Or did they also have their own survival instincts working?
Copperman asked her, hardening his face.
“Team Leader?”
“Now, wait a minute. Something is wrong. It’s wrong. Am I really that guy? Why is it here?”
Leona couldn’t believe the results of her analysis.
It wasn’t because of her incompetence. She must have been a competent and experienced ranger.
thud.
In the role of a guide, what is more important than sensory information in the field is the prior knowledge that has been investigated in advance.
thud. thud.
In that respect, Leona’s bewilderment was not at all strange.
thud. thud. thud.
Because the beings now approaching them could never live in such a peaceful area.
thud. thud. thud. thud.
For them now, it was truly a natural disaster.
thud.
thud.
Kwazijik-
The sound of vibrations came close to my nose, and the thick trees broke like toothpicks and I lay down on the ground.
A large, massive body stood with its back to the sun, casting a shadow over them.
“uh…?”
Chi Woo-min, who was staring at the front with a dumbfounded face, made a dumb noise.
“That… what is…? Why, why… is that here?”
It’s like a small hill that easily goes over 6m.
A forearm thicker than a log. Muscles full of elasticity that shimmer in purple.
The crude mana that could be seen through the protruding veins, and the grip to uproot and crush the trees that stood in my way.
“ah…”
A walking siege weapon that is the top predator of the continent’s food chain and is said to break down gates with a simple dash.
It was an ogre.
thud. thud.
Woojijik-
“…”
As mighty as it looks, it knocks down trees with its thick arms and shakes the ground with its massive feet. They were walking towards Leona’s team.
No one could open their mouths. They just stared at the catastrophe in front of them with their mouths open.
Only Do-yoon tilted his head in wonder and examined the ogre closely with his senses.
‘Aside from the ogres being here… Why did ‘something like that’ suddenly appear?’
Doyoon was not interested in the ogre’s existence itself. It was also a strange thing, but another part of him was very annoying.
As Doyoon felt, the ogre in front of him was not just an ogre. That was a far more bizarre and incomprehensible existence than a creature called an ‘ogre’.
‘This… I don’t think it’s something to just skip over.’
Doyoon decided to confirm what he felt.