Chapter 690 – Shield Training (2)

“Heo-eok, heo-eok, heo-eok…”

‘Keu, krrrr…’ .’

– Crispy.

The final rock Specter collapses into stone pieces before your eyes with the final death blow.

This happened a whopping two hours after Hye-eun’s wide-ranging provocation.

“Okay, it’s over… “Daa.”

-Soak.

“Haha… “Good job, Taekyung.”

Unlike me, who collapsed on the floor because her whole body was exhausted, Hye-eun was breathing steadily even though she was sweating.

She also seemed to be a very capable person, having risen to the rank of A+ level hunter just by her ability to use a shield for several years.

“How do you feel about fighting with only a shield in real combat?”

“Better than I thought… “It feels a little stuffy.”

“Taekyung, your attacks are always either great swords or fire magic. “I thought he would say that if he was only holding a shield.”

“When Hye-eun sees what you’re dealing with, it seems like she’s really pushing it away, but she’s not like that.”

I thought that a great sword was a weapon not much different from a shield in that it could attack and defend at the same time due to the width and weight of the blade, but when it came to a situation where you had to fight with only a shield, it was a completely different weapon with different characteristics and methods of use.

Even if an attack was attempted with the same force, the shield was overwhelmingly weaker than the great sword.

Of course, personal proficiency and skill level may have had an impact, but even taking those things into account, the characteristics of the shield weapon itself were designed in that way.

Defend rather than attack. A weapon whose main purpose is to kill time rather than kill monsters directly.

To inflict the same damage to a monster using this method, of course, more than twice as much force would have to be used. Or a higher level of proficiency or skill.

As soon as she started her training, she suddenly called out to the Rock Specters, probably because she thought it was the fastest way for Hye-eun to increase her skill proficiency.

‘Thanks to this, the technical proficiency itself seems to have grown tremendously in a short period of time.’

If they had just given him a shield and pushed him between the monsters, he probably wouldn’t have grown this far.

However, this training just now wasn’t just about pushing my bare body between monsters; it was a cooperative battle where I had Hye-eun’s back behind me.

It was also an opportunity to see and learn the skills of Hye-eun, the most capable shield soldier I know, up close and with my own eyes.

There was no training as effective as this for me to learn how to use technology in real life.

‘Even Hye-eun, who can summon all kinds of shields, fought with only Scutum from the beginning to the end.’

She probably decided that it would be difficult for her to learn skills if she fought with a different shield than the one I use.

Or maybe she was just trying to show the limits of what Scutum alone can do.

When Hye-eun actually finished the battle and compared the number of monsters that fell in front of her, the number of rock specters that fell in front of Hye-eun was about twice as many.

Even though she used the same weapon in the same position, there was a clear difference in skill.

This could be seen as the difference in abilities between me and Hye-eun as shield soldiers.

“When I think of the fact that you’ve been fighting with a weapon like this for several years, I really respect you, Hye-eun.”

“Well, it’s not like I’m even worthy of respect! “Well, I’m just used to using the shield weapon a lot more than Tae-kyung, so I’m used to it!”

“Still, the fact that you took down twice as many people with only Scutum as I did, Hye-eun, means that you have a good understanding of all shields.”

“Well, as long as you talk about the shield, it’s not really wrong, but…”

A shield the size of a scutum was not a weapon used as a main weapon by Hye-eun’s standards.

The two things she used the most in her battles were a large shield that was nearly 2 meters tall, which was taller than her own height, and a wrist buckler that was made to specialize in her attacks.

She, like Scutum, may have used a shield of medium size by her standards when necessary, but she is far from proficient with a great shield or buckler.

It was Hye-eun who showed that even such a weapon could be used so skillfully.

If he can fight like that with just a medium-sized shield that he doesn’t use often, it goes without saying what level of proficiency he usually shows with the great shield or buckler.

And she must have at least as much skill in using other types of shields as the Scutum she showed today.

If it was a shield-to-shield match, it would take quite a long time to surpass Hye-eun.

Of course, if you ask her whether it was necessary to use her shield technique to overcome her colleague and lover, it would not be true.

“Have you gotten used to the shield stamp? “From what I saw earlier, it seemed like you were following along well.”

“… It was just a clumsy imitation. To be honest, her actual power is probably not even half yours.”

“This is my first time using it, so I think I did a good job. I personally don’t think it was bad. “Isn’t it good to just worry about dispersing your energy on the floor when you hit it down?”

“Hmm…”

“I don’t think you’ll understand properly if I just say it, so I’ll show you properly this time.”

With those words, Hye-eun lifted the scutum she was holding with both hands and concentrated her energy.

The purple energy that seemed to be leaking from her body filled the scutum held in her hand as if coating it.

Not long after, the shield she was holding fell to the ground, and at the same time, a fairly loud trembling sound echoed around the area.

– Kuguguung!

The sound effect was so loud and loud that it made no sense to hear the sound of a shield being thrown to the ground.

The sound was so grand that it reminded me of a rock specter rolling and charging on the floor, and its power made me nervous for a moment.

“If you gather up as much energy as you can with the shield in your hand and hit it down, you can even do this.”

“… “I see.”

“Of course, in real life, it is difficult to collect this amount. There’s no way the monsters would just leave you holding the shield still and gathering energy, and collecting it to its maximum in the first place is less efficient in terms of power than you think.”

“You mean it’s less efficient?”

“Because energy is not gathered just by quietly trying to gather it. “Gathering enough energy to contain all of it in a shield means that a lot of energy is leaking out while being collected.”

“Ah. Well, energy isn’t something that can be stored forever just because you want to gather it.”

“Taking as many shots as possible with appropriate power is a much more useful method in actual combat. “When using this shield stamp and other attacks, energy is collected in the shield just before use. How much energy is collected and at what point it is released determines one’s capabilities as a shield soldier.”

“The method of operation is definitely different from swinging a sword.”

The method of using energy itself was a completely different weapon than swordsmanship, where you start with the swinging motion and then cut with as much energy as you can put into it.

Since it was a characteristic of a weapon that had to attack and defend at the same time, the difficulty level had to be different.

Certainly, it was a good thing I asked Hye-eun to tell me about the shield.

She was truly the best teacher in that she not only taught me my capabilities as a shield soldier, but also taught me in detail things I had not yet understood.

… Well, in order to get to this point, I had to kill a storm-like group of rock specters.

“And you must be careful when using techniques that temporarily weaken your defense, such as Shield Uppercut. You have to keep in mind that there are always other people behind the main tank, and there are enemies who will prey on the moment your defense is weakened. And Shield Bash and Shield Charge have different skills depending on the situation…”

In addition, I listened to Hye-eun’s lecture until the end, where she explained the general content of the techniques used in actual combat training, and paid attention to learning as much of her techniques as possible.

After finishing her explanation, Hye-eun retrieved the materials of the monsters that had fallen on her floor, and then began to take her stance once again while holding the scutum.

“Now you understand how to handle it efficiently, right?”

“Huh. “Hye-eun liked your explanation and understood it easily.”

“I got enough rest. “Then, shall we test to see if Taekyung really understood it correctly?”

“… Huh?”

“I taught you how to fight, so this time will probably be much easier than before, Taekyung.”

“What do you mean ‘this time’? No way, more here today…”

“… Aaaaah!!!”

Before I could even express my doubts, Hye-eun was yelling to attract monsters, just like when she first entered this dungeon.

-Kuguguggung!!

At the same time, numerous rock specters that I had wondered where they had been hiding came out once again with the sound of the ground shaking and rolled towards where Hye-eun was.

I had no choice but to force my body, which had temporarily relaxed due to the battle just now, to stand up and hastily regain my posture.

“Just do what you learned earlier! “You know the first attack starts with the shield stamp, right?!”

“… Yes, I know.”

After forcing the internal power to circulate in the body that had already lost energy once in the previous battle, gathering energy into the scutum once again and preparing the shield stamp.

I dropped the scutum with a strong vibration in front of a group of rock specters approaching.

-Kwaang!!

-Ahhhhh!!

As soon as I hit the shield on the floor, the sound of Hye-eun’s shield stamping came from behind me.

The two shield stamps stretched out in front of each other’s radius shook the floor, shattering the bodies of the rock specters that came closest.

Seeing that, I gained confidence in my skills with the shield and took my stance once again.

Yeah, it’s just that I’m a little tired.

If I had the opportunity to learn from the right teacher, I could take that much.