The Kicked Out S-Rank Appraiser Creates The Strongest Guild - Chapter 23

Chapter 23   The Healing Magic Line

When Laurent recruited new members through the quest reception office, a flood of skilled adventurers arrived, drawn by the rumors about Monica. The promise of exploring a dungeon with an A-class adventurer was highly appealing.

Although the official announcement from the quest reception office had not yet been made, sharp-eared adventurers had caught wind of the emergence of an A-class adventurer. Eager to seize the opportunity to explore with an A-class adventurer, they volunteered to join the team.

Laurent assessed each applicant’s current skills, interviewed them, and inquired about their desired rewards. Some sought to upgrade their adventurer rank, others were after monetary rewards, and some were interested in acquiring specific items.

Their motivations varied. Some had missed out on the initial dungeon exploration because they were away from the city when the dungeon appeared. Others joined because their guilds were not planning to reach the 10th floor or deeper. Some joined out of a grudge against the “Golden Hawk” and saw this as a chance to ally with the “Guardians of the Magic Tree.”

After several days of recruiting, Laurent had assembled a team with B-class equivalent skills in both melee combat and magical attack.

Having completed the integration of the new members, Laurent encouraged the dropped-out members of the “Guardians of the Magic Tree” by giving them tasks, goals, and advice. He then led his team back to the dungeon entrance.

Before long, scouts observing Laurent’s movements relayed the news to the Cotter siblings. The Cotter siblings hastily assembled their forces and pursued Laurent’s team.

While Laurent was diligently strengthening his team, the Cotter siblings were not idly wasting time. They had requested additional reinforcements from Lucius for the upcoming exploration beyond the 10th floor. They honestly reported the events that had occurred within the dungeon to Lucius.

One of the archers in Laurent’s team successfully completed an A-class quest. Furthermore, they had already defeated the Guardian and reached the 10th floor, indicating that future battles would likely take place primarily on that floor.

To carry out their mission, it was imperative to urgently deploy B-class shield units and melee combat teams to their side. Without this reinforcement, they wouldn’t be able to maintain sufficient strength to not only pursue Laurent’s team but also to effectively navigate and fight within the dungeon’s 10th floor.

At this point, Lucius began to doubt Wilkes account.

“An A-class archer in Laurent’s team? Impossible. This doesn’t align with what I was told.”

Allocating B-class shield units and melee combat teams to the special unit would affect the composition of other teams currently working on dungeon exploration. This required a fundamental reassessment of their strategy.

Lucius summoned Wilkes to question him about this matter.

“Oh, Laurent is lying,” Wilkes said nonchalantly.

“Lying? But according to the Cotter siblings report, there is an A-class archer in Laurent’s team…”

“What are you talking about? If it were so easy to train A-class archers, no one would struggle with it. As I suspected, Laurent’s training isn’t going well. It’s disgraceful that he’s resorting to false reports to cover up his failures.”

“Is that so? But if by some mistake the Cotter siblings report is accurate…”

“That’s just another one of Laurent’s tricks. He’s spreading false information to confuse us. Or do you not trust my words? If that’s the case, then I’m done here. I won’t share any more information about the ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree’ with you. Go ahead, waste your budget on Laurent’s misinformation.”

Lucius, convinced by Wilkes unwavering confidence, could not bring himself to doubt him further. He then issued the following instructions to the Cotter siblings.

After hearing this order, the Cotter siblings were dismayed. They attempted to request reinforcements again, but Laurent didn’t give them the time and proceeded to organize the team and dive into the dungeon.

With no other options, the Cotter siblings had to follow Laurent’s vulnerable vanguard team, unable to do anything else.

The 11th floor was a long-forgotten ruins stage. Here, there were huge buildings that didn’t seem to be inhabited by humans at all, as well as narrow passages too small for humans to pass through.

This was the ultimate proof of the existence of monsters much taller and stronger than orcs, such as the ‘Giant Ogre,’ and monsters with knowledge and skill to rearrange buildings, such as the ‘Wise Goblin, Kobold Goblin.’

They were much stronger and smarter than the monsters encountered on the lower floors, able to command numerous minions. They even went so far as to remodel buildings in the ruins that were originally meant for human habitation to make them more suitable for themselves or easier to attack humans.

When Laurent’s team and the Cotter siblings team reached the 11th floor using the shortcut ring, they could feel that there were much stronger enemies in the dungeon’s atmosphere than before, and everyone tightened their guard.

“Monica, activate ‘Hawkeye.'”

“Yes.”

Immediately upon Laurent’s command, Monica switched her perspective to ‘Hawkeye.’

As an S-class ability, her ‘Hawkeye’ could survey the entire floor. In addition to the map from the entrance to the exit, she could grasp the whereabouts of every monster and even determine which routes would avoid encounters with monsters or lead to encountering the target monsters.

Furthermore, with her enhanced abilities, she could even sense the flow of wind, allowing her to detect monsters hiding within the buildings.

A Kobold Goblin aiming a bow or blowgun towards the road from a window.

An Ogre attempting to jump down onto the road from an upper floor.

And she could even discern the angles and points from which these monsters could be shot.

(Incredible. This is the true power of ‘Hawkeye.’ I can understand the movements of the monsters lurking in the dungeon as if they were in the palm of my hand. With this, I can conquer the dungeon according to my own plans.)

“Monica, how is it? Did you see the route to the exit?”

“Yes. There are three main routes to the exit. One is a route where we won’t encounter any monsters at all. Another has a very high encounter rate. The third has a large number of lurking monsters.”

The two whispered to each other, leaning in close to prevent the Cotter siblings team from overhearing.

“Well done, Monica. With that information alone, conquering the dungeon is almost guaranteed. Can I ask you something a bit more challenging?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“I don’t just want to conquer the dungeon; I want to shake off the guys behind us. For that, we need to stop their progress. Is there a route where we can cleverly make the monsters only attack the guys behind us, leaving us free to proceed?”

“Wait a moment. Let me look for it.”

Monica switched her perspective back to ‘Hawkeye’ and began searching for the route.

“I found it. Among the three routes, if we follow the one with many lurking monsters, it seems that at certain points, monsters will launch surprise attacks from behind. If we sprint at those points, maybe…”

“Well done.”

Laurent patted Monica on the shoulder.

“Yes.”

Monica replied, slightly blushing and looking down.

Inside her, a new motivation was beginning to take shape.

To earn even stronger recognition from Laurent by being more useful.

That was her modest happiness at the moment.

(If I work harder and become more useful, will Laurent notice me more?)

“Hey, Captain. How long are you gonna whisper over there? While we’re waiting like this, our stamina is being drained. Let’s move forward already.”

One of the newly recruited members expressed dissatisfaction.

“Ah, sorry for keeping you waiting. Let’s move on then. Monica.”

“Yes.”

Monica calmly aimed her bow and arrow into the sky.

Her arrow arched gracefully, hitting directly at the entrance gate of the dungeon, right in front of the team, where a ‘Wise Goblin Kobold Goblin’ was lurking on the other side.

The ‘Wise Goblin Kobold Goblin’ fell dead instantly from the hit, collapsing along with the poison spear it was holding, revealing itself to the team.

Everyone present turned pale.

(A ‘Wise Goblin Kobold Goblin’ with a poison spear at the entrance of the dungeon… That’s brutal. If we had advanced carelessly, at least one person would have fallen victim to that poison spear…)

(No, more than that, this woman took out an enemy lurking in a complete blind spot with a single shot. Is this the skill of an A-class archer?)

The newcomer harbored fear towards both the goblin lurking at the entrance and Monica.

“Let’s go then. I’ll lead the way. Everyone, follow me.”

Monica declared loudly, taking the lead and advancing into the dungeon with the team.

The team advanced quietly and steadily.

While Monica moved forward, the rest followed suit, stopping when she stopped.

Whenever she halted, she calmly aimed her arrows and eliminated enemies lurking in the shadows or within buildings.

When arrows weren’t sufficient to kill the enemies, she directed the shield team to the enemy’s location, allowing them to advance with shields raised, cornering and killing the monsters.

All decisions were left to her discretion.

The other members of the team simply followed her instructions.

At one point, Monica spotted about five kobolds circumventing the building to flank the team using her ‘Hawkeye’.

(They’re moving. They’re trying to flank us!)

Equipped with bows and poisoned arrows.

“Laurent, please proceed as usual.”

With just that remark, Monica left the group using ‘Silent Run’, preemptively sweeping the area where the kobolds were trying to take position.

Afterward, she rejoined the team without incident.

Thus, the team steadily progressed through the dungeon, eerily encountering no trouble along the way.

In this route, filled with ambushes, ranged combat sufficed for the most part, but there were areas where melee combat was unavoidable.

One such place was the Winner’s Gate, Torion Gate.

This massive gate, adorned with the emblem of a giant ogre, clearly indicated what awaited beyond.

Monica shot arrows over the gate, but it seemed the enemy was equipped with shields. No matter how many arrows she shot, the gate remained closed, and no enemies emerged.

“Monica, do you understand the enemy’s composition?”

“Yes, please wait a moment.”

Upon investigation with ‘Hawkeye’, Monica discovered the enemy composition: three ogres, fifteen orcs, ten werewolf warriors (not only agile but also bipedal and armed during attacks), five bull-like Rush Bulls (not only charging to deal damage but also capable of knocking away shield-bearers to disrupt formations), and five Gale Eagles that create strong winds with every third flap of their wings, immobilizing troops and deflecting arrows fired by archers.

Particularly troublesome were the giant ogres and the shield-deflecting Rush Bulls.

The Rush Bulls, known for disrupting formations with their charges, needed to be halted with support magic like illusion or earth manipulation spells to prevent them from directly attacking rear mages and archers.

Since the Rush Bulls charged in as a group, it was feared that the support provided by Shaqma’s magic might not be sufficient to counter them, and there was a risk of the ogres attacking separately.

The ogres’ attack power was extraordinary; not only could they attack multiple people at once, but a single blow could significantly reduce the health of fully-equipped warrior-class. Even a B-class shield-bearing Warrior would likely lose more than half of their health.

In other words, defeating the ogres would require a healer capable of casting recovery magic over a wide area.

Laurent had planned for this as well.

“Euphene, let’s try that thing we discussed earlier.”

“Yes.”

Although Euphene was given the “Silver Staff,” which improved her accuracy, ultimately, they couldn’t find a way to heal the entire unit at once.

Therefore, they shifted their approach. Instead of casting recovery magic directly on the melee combat units during battle, they decided to have the melee combat units take positions around pre-activated healing magic arrays.

Euphene’s magical capacity far exceeded that of an ordinary person, so even while casting recovery magic during battle, she would never run out of mana.

In other words, the melee combat units would be able to fight while constantly being healed during battle.

The remaining concern was whether the activated widespread recovery magic would neatly form the battle formation.

As Laurent’s team stepped into the square and approached the gate, preparing to face the melee combat, the gate suddenly opened, and monsters poured out.

The unit quickly deployed upon seeing the enemy’s formation and battle lines.

The monsters that emerged were indeed as Monica had previously described.

At the vanguard were the Rush Bulls, known for deflecting shields.

As expected, they charged in groups of five, veering towards the right flank.

Next were the Ogres.

The three Ogres, each holding a hefty shield, passed through the gate and dispersed, attacking the right, center, and left flanks respectively.

Behind them were Werewolves, Armored Orcs, and Gale Eagles, ready for action.

“Shaqma, deploy ‘Earth Crust Magic’ on the right flank! Melee units, form up according to Euphene’s recovery magic! Monica, engage in anti-air interception!”

“Yes, sir!”

Upon Laurent’s rapid commands, the unit members swiftly adjusted their positions and faithfully executed the orders.

Shaqma, taking position at the front of the right flank, activated ‘Earth Crust Magic.’

This magic raised the ground, creating ramparts.

The strategy to halt the Rush Bulls’ advance with Earth Crust Magic went smoothly without any drawbacks.

The Rush Bulls, possessing forward momentum but unable to stop once they started charging, collided with the ramparts, causing them to collapse and creating a bottleneck that stopped the monsters behind them.

With Shaqma fully engaged on the right flank, the fate of the center and left flanks relied on the newly refreshed shield units and Euphene’s recovery magic.

“Here I go. ‘Wide Area Recovery Magic’!”

Euphene activated a massive recovery magic circle that could cover the entire unit.

However, the dozens of magic circles that appeared were scattered all over the place, failing to form any coherent formation.

Tension ran through the melee combat units.

At this rate, they would have to face the Ogres’ attacks without the support of the recovery magic.

“Damn it. Is it not working?”

Euphene gritted her teeth.

“One more time!” Laurent shouted, encouraging her.

“Yes. ‘Wide Area Recovery Magic!'”

(Please, even if the accuracy is low, at least let them line up in a row.)

Euphene prayed as she emanated magic from the tip of her staff.

Her staff glowed, and numerous magic circles were scattered across the ground.

This time, dozens of magic circles lined up neatly, overlapping and forming bands. (There were only one or two instances where they were activated completely off-target.)

With this, they should be able to form battle lines while receiving recovery magic.

“Alright, go!”

At Laurent’s command, the shield-bearing warriors occupied the recovery magic circles, benefiting from the healing while ensuring the enemies did not receive any healing benefits.

The Ogre swung a giant club towards the shield unit.

The sound of metal colliding violently echoed as the shield-bearing warriors took the Ogre’s attack. It was a shock strong enough to cause internal injuries and make them cough up blood, but it didn’t bring them to the brink of death, and they were soon fully healed by the recovery magic.

Next, the Ogre tried to push the shield unit away from the magic circles with its shield, but the shield bearers, working together, managed to withstand the attack and hold their ground.

In the meantime, the offensive magic users unleashed high-powered spells against the Ogre.

The Ogre, directly hit by the explosion, staggered. Further assault from the shield unit with their spears forced it to its knees, disrupting its stance and causing it to momentarily retreat.

The other monsters also charged into the battle line, but the shield unit, under the protection of recovery magic, repelled all their attacks.

(Alright, it’s working.)

Laurent was convinced that this was the optimal tactic to fully utilize Euphene’s recovery magic.

(Tactics aren’t fixed. I’ll derive the best strategy based on the skills of our members. That’s how I operate.)

Shaqma, who stopped the charge of the Rush Bulls on the right flank, felt anxious.

Having activated “Crust Magic,” her armor became heavy again, immobilizing her.

(Damn it. If only I could cast “Phantom Magic” now, I could redirect the Rush Bull towards the enemy. But my armor’s too heavy to move. Should I have cast “Phantom Magic” first? But then, I wouldn’t make it in time for the charge.)

Once again, it seemed impossible for Shaqma to fulfill Laurent’s demand to activate three types of support magic simultaneously.

As Shaqma pondered over the composition of her skills, warriors equipped with swords rushed towards her.

Shaqma reluctantly interrupted her thoughts and cast attack support magic on them.

Those who received the attack support magic shone red as they cut through the weakest parts of the enemy.

After the ground troops’ attacks ended in failure, the monsters resorted to their last hope: aerial attacks from the Gale Eagle, which raises strong winds every third flap, rendering the troops immobile and deflecting arrows shot by archers. However, Monica easily intercepted the Gale Eagle. (Its flapping stirred up strong winds every third flap, rendering the troops immobile and deflecting arrows shot by archers, but it posed no problem for Monica, who could use “Hawkeye.”)

Afterward, Shaqma rode atop the bulwark created by “Crust Magic” (while Monica was shooting down the Gale Eagle, Shaqma continued to cast “Crust Magic,” and now the bulwark was as high as a one-story building. While it merely presented a towering wall to the enemy, it had stairs on the ally’s side to climb to the ceiling). There, she systematically took down each Rush Bull and Ogre.

Then, the shield unit drew their swords and began to sweep through the remaining monsters such as orcs and werewolves, eventually annihilating the enemy.

Having overcome the bottleneck of close combat, Laurent’s group advanced further into the dungeon, but this time, the interference from the Cotter siblings became more intense.

Despite marching, they bumped into the rear of Laurent’s unit, hurled insults, and even initiated confrontations, engaging in borderline illegal acts.

They were clearly flustered after witnessing Laurent’s earlier battle prowess.

Laurent’s unit was now significantly more formidable than before.

Conquering quests of C-Class or even B-Class seemed only a matter of time.

Under these circumstances, the only option left for the Cotters Siblings was to slow down the march, exhausting Laurent’s group.

While some new members were irritated by their blatant interference and went to complain, Laurent consistently urged restraint.

At one point, Monica suddenly signaled, prompting Laurent’s unit to abandon their leisurely pace and sprint at full speed.

The Cotter siblings hastily tried to catch up, but then, they were suddenly attacked from behind by monsters.

Caught off guard in their eagerness to pursue Laurent’s group, they became unsettled and disoriented.

Though the Cotter siblings managed to regain control and restore order to their unit, facing werewolves among the enemies seemed overwhelming, so they reluctantly deployed their troops to counterattack.

As the Cotter Brothers fought, Laurent’s unit raced through the dungeon at full speed, distancing themselves from the enemy.

After defeating their foes, the Cotter siblings attempted to catch up with Laurent’s group as quickly as possible. However, without Monica’s “Hawkeye” protection, they became vulnerable to ambushes and couldn’t respond effectively, resulting in repeated setbacks, delaying their march.

Above all, they feared encountering an Ogre. If their fragile unit faced one, the shield unit would likely be shattered, forcing them to retreat.

Fear slowed their pace, and anxiety drained their energy.

Under Monica’s guidance and protection, Laurent’s group steadily progressed through the dungeon unscathed, reaching the exit of this level, approximately a kilometer ahead of the Cotter siblings unit.

Opening a teleportation magic circle to the 12th floor, Laurent’s group proceeded forward.

It had been 24 hours since they delved into the dungeon.