Chapter 71: The Importance of Discussion

Later, at dinner, Stephanie got some advice from Tsutomu. And to top that off, she was told, as the leader of this party, to plan and execute her own plan in order to defeat the Swamp's Layer Boss.

[Me, both a Healer and the leader... Hmm...]

Stephanie recited in her mind what Tsutomu had told her while on the way back to the Clan House; once she arrived, the first thing she did was pick up the documents Tsutomu had given her and re-checked the party's structure. She also thought about her impressions of the party members over the past week.

The Dualblader, a young man, had an inflated ego and a tendency to look down on Jobs that were considered unfavorable. As a result, he would often ignore orders and act of his own accord. Statistics-wise, his offensive capability was high for an Attacker of his level.

The Dark Knight, an adult man, seemed introverted and apparently had a hard time speaking. He was lacking in the technical aspect, but would always move when instructed to do so. When not instructed, however, he would often stop moving altogether.

The Paladin, a woman, was always in a gloomy mood and never spoke, and she was also unskilled. Although she would act if ordered, too-detailed instructions would often confuse her, and if she were to fail to carry them out, she would freeze up.

[The more I think about... everything, the more impossible it seems...]

Stephanie pulled on her spiral-curled peach-colored hair as she looked over the compiled documents. Then, she proceeded to go over the unique and specializing skills, and also the characteristics of Jobs such as Paladin and Dark Knight, but in the end, she still was not convinced that those two would be able to handle the upcoming task.

Stephanie had also been giving the two Tanks as much technical guidance as she could over the past week, but there was no sign of improvement. As such, even if she were to tell them about the Dark Knights and Paladins' skills and their usage, she could not see them putting any of the knowledge to any use.

[We ought to dial it back to even easier things, then... Perhaps <<Combat Cry>> will be enough. And that Attacker's cocky attitude has got to go...]

Stephanie spent several hours trying to figure out how to make the party fare better, and when things were starting to get into shape, it was getting late, so she went straight to bed.

The next day, after a peaceful training session in the morning, the dreaded afternoon training came back around. The two Tanks, looking as lifeless as usual, the bad-mood Attacker, and Stephanie exchanged greetings among themselves. They proceeded to teleport to the Swamp layer and commence their exploration.

It did not take long for them to come into contact with several monsters. Stephanie started by shooting <<Protect>> to the two Tanks, and then issuing an order to the Dark Knight.

"Rigas! <<Combat Cry>>, please!"

Acting in accordance with his order, the Dark Knight, Rigas, timidly unleashed the specified skill, drawing aggro from all of the monsters. Stephanie then turned to the Paladin.

"Dorssia, please go around and cover Rigas," she ordered, then proceeded to instruct the Attacker, who was currently fighting one of the Froggers, a frog-like monster.

But then the Attacker completely ignored Stephanie, as always, so she gave up on getting him to do anything for now.

"<<Air Blade>>."

Stephanie provided cover fire for Rigas as he was surrounded by the Froggers, with the spell creating an opening in the monsters' ranks. Seeing Rigas slip out through the opening, she shot a <<Heal>> to him before re-assessing the battle's overall situation.

[The Attacker is still safe. Those two are on the move. <<Protect>>... has about forty seconds left, I think.]

Stephanie had decided to stop casting <<Haste>> for now, focusing on <<Protect>> and maintaining a consistent rate of healing. She had also stopped supporting the Attacker entirely, only healing him.

Stephanie, having looked at Tsutomu's documents on the three-role composition yesterday, had realized that the team's Tanks had to be functional first before everything else could start working. Without the Tanks' <<Combat Cry>>, the monsters would end up exclusively targeting Healers because of their reaction to support and healing skills. If that happened, it would then be too difficult for the Healers to provide support and time their skills.

Such was the reason for Stephanie to not use <<Haste>>, and instead focused on ordering the Tanks, putting an emphasis on them using <<Combat Cry>> consistently.

"<<Protect>>... Dorssia, please use <<Combat Cry>>! Rigas, help Dorssia hold off the monsters!"

Unlike the Attacker, the two Tanks more or less followed their orders, so Stephanie still cast <<Protect>> for them while directing their actions. Rigas and Drusilla did not respond, but they were indeed moving as instructed.

Although the two Tanks were taking frequent critical hits from the attacking Poison Spiders and Bloody Bees, their Jobs' high base VIT helped them withstand the blows to some extent.

"<<Medic>>, <<High Heal>>. Rigas, <<Combat Cry>>, please!"

Stephanie gave another order to the Tanks, so as to keep the aggro generation going in the right places, while also making sure that both Tanks were healed up. Seeing that they were both poisoned, having been bitten deep in their necks by the Poison Spiders, she cast <<Medic>>.

[Ngh... I'm running low on energy.]

Stephanie felt her body grow more sluggish as she continued to cast her healing skills to the two Tanks, so she pulled out a vial of Blue Potion from her pocket and took a sip. Her mental energy was then restored, along with eliminating the inertness in her body.

The MND statistic was the key factor in successfully invoking skills; the lower it got, the more one's body would grow fatigued, in a psychologically-induced sense. One's MND dropping to zero would not kill them, but still would make them extremely sleepy.

Regular Blue Potions would require one to down a whole vial for the desired effect, but with the Forest Apothecary's Blue Potions, one only needed a single sip. Stephanie quickly sealed her vial's lid and cast <<Medic>> to the Two poisoned Tanks... but then they were promptly poisoned again, stung by the Bloody Bees.

[They're constantly being poisoned!]

Although Stephanie was fed up with the situation, she still cast <<Medic>> for them again... and then they were hit with a continuous chain of critical attacks, which ended with them being poisoned yet again.

[...What a waste of mental energy.]

Stephanie cast <<Protect>> for the two Tanks and healed them up, then proceeded to attack the monsters together with the Attacker. In the end, the team got through today's first encounter without anyone dying.

With the exploration off to a good start, Stephanie was somewhat pleased. She healed the two injured Tanks and talked to them a little while the party resumed their exploration.

After that, however, Stephanie messed up her calculations and ended up letting one of the Tanks while she aimed her <<Air Blade>>. Although she promptly cast <<Raise>>, the battle still became as chaotic as the days before. Stephanie herself took a few hits while taking out the Swamp monsters, and at one point, the Attacker died, causing her to inadvertently heave a sigh.

Still, with the focus lessened on using support skills and more on the consistent use of <<Combat Cry>>, the party found it easier to regain their footing.

Then again, with Stephanie being new to shooting support skills while giving out orders at the same time, she was often late to renew the <<Protect>> effects before they ran out. It made things quite hard for the Tanks, especially when they were almost constantly in a poisoned state. Stephanie did not have enough mental energy capacity to cure them every time they were poisoned, but if she were to let the poison be, the Tanks would die, which would force her to use <<Raise>> and make the fight all chaotic.

Stephanie looked at the two Tanks and remembered one piece of advice Tsutomu had given her: discuss issues with her party members and work together toward a solution. She had been told at dinner that it was a Healer's job to take the initiative and look at the whole picture.

One roadblock she now faced was the fact that she was not very good at expressing her own opinions. Up until very recently, a White Mage only had to revive their allies with <<Raise>> and buy time; even after the three-role composition had been introduced, Stephanie still left the strategizing to her party's leader.

But then, for this run, Tsutomu had told her that the leader was none other than herself. She heaved a sigh, readying her mind before approaching the two Tanks.

"Excuse me... may I have a word?"

"Y-yes? What is it?"

Rigas, the Dark Knight, was visibly startled when suddenly called upon. Stephanie, seeing how he had a frightened look of a small beast being stared down by a predator, pulled a wry smile before continuing,

"It's about you being poisoned... it's currently too frequent, and in turn is taking too much of my mental energy to remedy. I can't exactly not restore your status conditions, either — so I'd like you to speak up whenever you need healing. Can you?"

"I-I see."

"......"

"......"

"...Huh? Wait, I mean, I asked you whether or not you could do it. Can you?"

"Uh- ah- yes! Yes, I can!"

"A-all right. Good. Then get started with doing that immediately, please."

Though surprised by Rigas' sudden increase of voice volume, Stephanie ended the conversation and proceeded to resume the party's exploration.

――▽▽――

The team continued their Swamp exploration over the next few days. They still found themselves in chaotic situations and breaking formation, but at least they fared better than the disaster that was one week ago.

Additionally, after a full week passed, the Tanks were able to more or less understand the timings of Stephanie's orders, and their movements were beginning to show some improvement.

"Rigas, please use-"

"<<Combat Cry>>."

The two Tanks, after a week of being told the same thing over and over again, had naturally begun to optimize their movements. Although the way they faced monsters did not change much, it had been easy enough for them to improve the timings at which they unleashed <<Combat Cry>>. Stephanie's orders for them were quite simple, with the two taking turns using <<Combat Cry>> on a regular interval.

"Dorssia."

"<<Combat Cry>>," Dorssia immediately used her skill upon being called by name, albeit with disgust showing on her face... because she was facing a Frogger.

Rigas promptly rushed to Dorssia's aid, but he did not fare much better.

At this point, both Tanks were using <<Combat Cry>> at the mere mentions of their names, and whenever Stephanie was too occupied with casting <<Raise>> for the Attacker, Rigas would even use <<Combat Cry>> without being prompted.

Seeing how the previously puppet-like Rigas was acting strategically on his own, Stephanie was quite surprised.

She approached him after the battle, while the latter heaved a sigh of relief, and was once again startled once the former called upon him.

"Rigas, your timing was good with the <<Combat Cry>> you used. Thank you for your help. Please keep in mind that you can use <<Combat Cry>> whenever you want, so long as you think it's necessary."

"I-I see."

"Are there any requests you would like to make? You haven't said anything much when you were poisoned just now, so..."

"No, I'm all right like this, I think? ...I think?"

"...Um, which is it, really?" Stephanie held up her hand to hide her giggle

"I'm all right! Yes!" Rigas raised his voice and answered, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Stephanie nodded in response, having gotten used to Rigas' loudness now, before turning to address Dorssia,

"What about you, Dorssia?"

"...Um, nothing in particular, I think."

"All right. Oh, by the way... apologies if my assumption is incorrect, Dorssia, but do you dislike the Froggers?"

"Huh...? How..."

"I saw that you were... reluctant to face it, even more so than bug-type monsters," Stephanie said while fiddling with her own hair.

"Ah... yes. I could never get over its... slimy-ness. Apologies," Dorssia replied, looking down as if she was a wilted flower.

"That is certainly unpleasant, yes! I couldn't stand it at first, either."

"Y-yes, of course! It's so disgusting!"

"Anyway, now that I understand what's wrong... whenever Froggers appear, Rigas and I will try to get them out of the way as much as we can. You can do that, yes?"

Stephanie turned to Rigas, who nodded in response, albeit apparently without understanding the whole prompt. Dorssia's expressionless face turned up slightly.

"...Are you sure?"

"In exchange, please take care of the bug-type monsters in my stead. I'm particularly repulsed by the Poison Spiders, you see."

"W-what!? But they're so cute! Just look at their perfectly round eyes! And the face-like patterns on their abdomens! Each Spider even has one unique from the others! Isn't that amazing!?"

"A-ah, yes," Stephanie gave an automated reply, taken aback by Dorssia's sudden showing of utmost enthusiasm she had toward Poison Spiders and their supposed 'cuteness'. To Stephanie, bumpy frogs and big bugs were equally as disgusting.

After a few more days of training and discussions, despite all the bumps on the road, Rigas and Dorssia's expressions began to lighten up a bit. During battles, not only they started using skills on their own, they also called out for healing whenever needed.

By the seventeenth day, Stephanie was getting along quite well with the two Tanks, the result of which was especially apparent in combat. The two Tanks, who had only followed orders in the early days of the party, were starting to act on their own initiative.

Moreover, the two had recently started to become more enthusiastic, and could even be seen at the Clan House's training grounds. The workers were surprised to see them there, what with them being so lacking in motivation before.

The Attacker was still acting selfishly as usual, however. Stephanie had been keeping an eye on him, and had tried talking to him on occasions, but eventually gave up after it was clear that he would not open up. But then a turning point came in the form of a battle in which the Attacker died multiple times...

"Hey, gimme some buffs already!" The Attacker raised his voice and complained to Stephanie, blaming his frequent deaths on the lack of buffing effects from her support skills.

The two Tanks stepped away, startled by and scared of the Attacker's voice. Stephanie, on the other hand, was completely unfazed and replied immediately,

"Nah."

"WHAT!?" The Attacker shouted back, but soon grinned, as if he had just come up with the perfect comeback, "Ah, so you can't do it, huh? Even the main party's Stephanie's gotta have something she can't do, I guess!"

"You don't listen to me, I don't listen to you. It's only fair."

In fact Stephanie had also improved greatly over the past seventeen days, and was fully capable of maintaining <<Protect>> on the Attacker. She had improved her healing and support skills' accuracy during the morning training, and her timing count was gradually getting better, too. She had been so absorbed in her training that, the one day she had gone home, her parents were concerned to hear her spontaneously mumble numbers to herself and see her keeping a skill shot flying around her at all times.

Moreover, during battles in which as many as two party members had died, she had been able to rebuild the formation time and time again. Being thrust into chaotic situations had broadened her horizons, enabling her to get better and better at her job without the need to stop and think.

The Attacker, however, seemed to have taken her statement as another excuse.

"If you can't do it, just don't push it, yeah? I know, I know, it's not your fault."

"You have ONE job. Kill the monsters that are targeting the Tanks, one at a time. Do that, SUCCESSFULLY, and you will get my support skills."

"...Tch, big talk coming from a While Mage. I'm a Dualblader, you know!" The Attacker turned away and walked off, grumbling to himself the rest of the way.

Stephanie looked on, her eyes as if she was seeing a piece of trash.

"...Stephanie? You're looking... pretty scary there," Dorssia spoke up.

"Oh, I beg your pardon," Stephanie said and chuckled, her dark aura dispersing upon being called.

Rigas, initially scared of the Attacker, became even more frightened when he saw the look in Stephanie's eyes.

In the following battles, the Attacker still attacked whatever monsters he saw. Likewise, Stephanie still did not cast him any support skills, only shooting the usual <<Protect>> for the Tanks.

[...Thank goodness.]

Regardless, Stephanie was relieved to see that Tsutomu was still watching over the team from the sidelines.