Chapter 115 23.2 Prog?

"Wait, so all this time, you've had this [Move] and you didn't tell us?"

For some reason, it felt like I was talking to a brick wall that didn't really know how to respond. He made for a good sounding board, but it also meant that he was, well, as dumb as a brick.

And yes, I was already trying not to be mean. Being bullied was one of the worst things that ever happened to me. I don't plan on doing that to anyone except for my closest friends.

"It didn't seem to be relevant to our current objectives!" Maruki loudly declared, his tone taking on a hint of curiosity as he looked at us with utter devotion.

"Maruki, you should've told us everything you can do to help the party," I sighed, my eyes then shifting to Shizu as her own expression told of her own frustrations. "And Shizu should do that too. Maybe you have a [Move] that can make things easier for all of us."

At my words, Shizu quickly perked up as she replied with a proud smile, "Oh? Then I can proudly say that I don't have anything that can maybe help us as a party!"

"Shizu, is that really something to be proud of?"

"I can punch and kick stuff really hard," the princess chuckled, her coy smile a welcome breath of fresh air against the dreary backdrop of the dungeon. "I'm a damage dealer, right? Isn't that more than good enough?"

I shrugged in resignation, "Fair enough."

"Come now. As if you're any better, Mister 'pistols for a fantasy world'," Guidance scoffed. "You don't even have any utility [Moves] on you yet. Are you that selfish?"

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm still low-leveled," I quickly quipped. "For all we know, I might just turn into a god of utility."

"Uhh... utility?"

Guidance and I quickly turned to our resident princess, the questioning look on her face telling us that she needed yet another explanation for our gamer terms.

"Will you do the-"

"Fine," I chuckled at Guidance's not-so-subtle gesture of throwing the responsibility of teaching to me. Facing Shizu, I explained, "Utility is what we call a [Move] or action that doesn't deal damage, but rather, offers support to the group in the form of either buffs or crowd control."

"B-Buffs? Crowd control?" Shizu repeated, my cringe flashing for a split second before I schooled my features. "What does controlling a crowd have to do against the enemy? I mean, maybe for riots but..."

"He means stuns and the like," Guidance smoothly slid into the conversation, covering for me with the finesse of a trained support. "They control a crowd by making them stop doing anything or keeping them in place. Sounds easy enough, right?"

"As for buffs, they're just something that can enhance yourself or your fellow fighters," I followed up, carefully choosing my words so that we won't have yet another question to answer. "In a way, you can count your [Code Watcher] as a buff to yourself. Likewise, Guidance healing us also goes to that category."

"I see," Shizu nodded with the cadence of a dutiful student. "So they're more so fighting terms rather than [Eld]..."

Huh? "They're not-"

"Let's just get on with it, okay?" Guidance quickly shut me down, her pointed look telling me that she really didn't want our conversation to boil down to telling Shizu that we aren't gods. "We have some kind of plan now. We go in, and Maruki here will stun the enemy as soon as it charges its attack."

"Of course!"

"Got it."

"Yep," I scoffed, joining in the chorus of affirmation that our other party members displayed. "After that is anyone's guess. But just to be clear, Maruki?"

"Yes?!"

​ "Make sure to try and do that stunning [Move] whenever the boss is about to do something, preferably whenever it's charging up a strong attack," I instructed. "That way, we won't have anything like this happening again."

"Or at least, we'll minimize the pain of me having to heal all of you through the mechanics," Guidance sadistically chuckled. "Are we understood then?"

"Yes! Lady Guidance, Sir Moriya!" Maruki practically saluted in the usual Kattleynan way. "I shall see to it that I better protect those that depend on me!"

"That's all we ask," I chuckled.

"As for me, I guess I just get to punch it real hard, right?" Shizu excitedly smiled, her earlier apprehension replaced with her usual energetic attitude.

"That's what we're here for," I replied to her with a smile of my own. "We kill it while Guidance and Maruki keep us alive."

"Just don't get hit if you can help it," Guidance chuckled. "I'm liable to just let you lie on the ground before raising you."

Shizu shivered at the dev's tone. "R-right..."

Shaking my head in amusement, I turn my head to the enemy in question. Yep, still standing still while waiting for us to engage.

I guess we should get this show on the road and hope that we get some progress this time. "Maruki, if you would do the honors."

"Of course!"

Charging in with his usual zeal, our Tank caught the boss's aggro with a [SHOUT!], his sword banging against his shield for a brief second before he went and started attacking the damn thing. Shizu and I went next as we pelted the flaming humanoid with our respective attacks, and Guidance went ahead and gave us all our respective regen buffs.

"So far so good," Guidance hummed to herself as she put in her own attacks. "There's no raid-wide just yet, and its attention is focused solely on the tank."

"You said that last time," I humorously pointed out, my guns still firing on all cylinders. "Look where it got us-"

[SELF DESTRUCT!: 14%]

My eyes widened. "There it is!"

"Maruki!"

"So I shall, Lady Guidance!" our tank yelled out with absolute pride in his voice.

As the bar filled up just as fast as last time, Maruki's shield glowed just as bright as the man wound up his shield arm.

"[BASH!]"

With a resounding clang, he then bashed his shield against the boss, sparks of light splashing off him as the boss visibly flinched.

[SELF DESTRUCT!: INTERRUPTED!]

Yo! "It worked!"

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