Jack of All Trades, Party of None

“...I never thought you’d see through it this quickly.”

The armored explorer—Oliver—murmured.

Though his face was hidden beneath his helmet, a wry smile was surely there.

“How many years have we spent together? The moment I saw your posture and the way you walked back at Grandpa’s shop last month, I knew it was you immediately.”

“Admittedly, I might have underestimated your keen observation. So, what now? Should we take that down?”

Oliver looked toward the skeleton as he asked.

I also turned my gaze to the skeleton and saw the forearm—cut off earlier by Oliver—slowly move back up to the upper arm, as if pulled by invisible threads.

If this continued, Oliver’s severed arm would be restored.

“Yeah. The primary target is to slay that thing. We can’t just leave it be. But it’s nothing more than a puppet. If possible, I want to pull out the human controlling it behind the scenes.”

“...Understood.”

“Is the combat flow okay if I support you as before, Oliver?”

“No, I don’t need your support. The Golden Dawn is disbanded, and Orun has no reason to be tied down by it now.”

“...Are you sure?”

“Sure as anything. It’s the best option. With where we are now, we can probably realize some of the dreams we talked about when we first became explorers. ...Don’t tell me you lack the confidence to keep up with me?”

Oliver teased, throwing words to taunt me.

His words lifted the corners of my mouth without my realizing.

Back then, I lacked the skill to keep up with Oliver; combined with party circumstances, I converted to an enchanter.

Eventually, I was kicked out of the party for not being strong enough.

Yet now, Oliver acknowledged my ability as a frontline attacker.

How could I not be happy?

“No way. Then let’s base the combat flow on Golden Dawn’s early days. We’ll cover for Luna’s absent role between us, alright?”

“No problem. Let’s instantly kill that puppet, Orun!”

“Yeah. Let’s go, Oliver!”

At my call, Oliver pushed off the ground and leapt straight toward the skeleton’s chest.

Although I had some doubts since Oliver said he didn’t need my support, his movement speed was faster than when I had applied support magic.

He didn’t appear to be casting any support magic on himself.

There was only one conclusion to draw.

That is—Oliver must have also learned qi manipulation.

Thinking this quietly, I channeled mana into the technique I’d constructed in my mind, activating two spells before Oliver reached the skeleton.

The first spell, Aero Cutter, cut through the invisible thread-like mana strands connecting the severed forearm to the upper arm as they tried to reattach.

There were multiple such threads, and I couldn’t sever them all, but I succeeded in blocking the repair of the arm holding the sword.

Next, a magic circle appeared above the skeleton, and the second spell—heavenly thunder hammer (mjölnir)—rained down with a thunderous roar.

However, the heavenly thunder hammer didn’t deal much damage to the skeleton.

The skeleton, undeterred by the lightning strike, clenched its fist on the side without the sword and swung it at Oliver, who was closing in at high speed.

Oliver countered by swinging his longsword, their attacks colliding head-on.

Since Oliver had said he didn’t need support earlier, he hadn’t activated instantaneous ability surge (impact) on his sword strike.

Even with the momentum of his speed, the skeleton’s attack was dominant due to its overwhelming mass.

Indeed, Oliver was gradually being pushed back by the skeleton’s fist.

But I knew better—Oliver wasn’t the kind to recklessly charge in without a plan.

Just as Oliver was about to be blasted backward, the skeleton’s swinging forearm suddenly shattered.

It reminded me vividly of a scene Haruto had shown at last year’s martial arts tournament, where an opponent’s weapon was destroyed.

Oliver, having destroyed the obstacle, created a footing with mana convergence and prepared to leap higher.

The skeleton, lacking pain sensation, showed no sign of concern at having its arm broken and swung the repaired arm’s sword overhead in a reverse diagonal strike.