Reincarnated in the game world ~ A gamer's beginning to [Dungeon job hunting recommendation]

The north of Class-1's base.

Class-15 finally re-grouped with Class-58, and so they did hear of the guardian monsters and devastating attacks coming from Class-1's base. 

A double whammy on them, they also heard about their pursuer—a tiny but mega hero from the southern defensive line. Class-15 judged they're on race against time, and the only way to survive was to take down the mammoth in front of them. 

The tricky part, however, was how to deal with that guardian monster. 

They'd just been in the academy for barely six months, it was a cruel joke for them to fight the boss of Int-high dungeon in their state. 

According to their estimation, «General» should be around lv70. 

Meanwhile, the average level of Class-15 was 48, while Class-58's was 44. They'd only started to explore the Int-low dungeon if anything. 

Nope. They would be throwing themselves into fire without any protection at this rate. A wipe-out was visible.

"I have to do it then, huh."

"Yes, please. Leader Nevis. It's beyond our capability to undertake."

Atrutuo murmured, sounding like he truly was feeling guilty to push things on Nevis. 

Nevis hurled a vexed glare at him. Had everything went as planned, they were supposed to take down the base while Class-58 became the shield to slow down opponents. But they ran away. Now their chances to win have plummeted. 

Though Nevis also realised it was the call of the moment, and the decision wasn't unjust. He reluctantly accepted the role.

"But in turn, Class-58 would follow Class-15's command, Atrutuo."

"......I understand."

Facing Nevis's rigid glare, Atrutuo could only accept the arrangement.

"Great, then we're charging in, everyone! Use the numbers against a few and take down Class-1's base!"

" " "Let's dooooo iiiiiiiit!!" " "

Time was beyond their grasp to hold a council and re-draw their strategy. Deciding on the general direction, the two classes made their way in the direction of Class-1's base.

"Hmm? Someone is here!"

Nevis shouted from the helm, noticing a human shadow.

At the edge of the first square from north of Class-1's base, an array of monsters were lined up, along with a single girl equipped with a big shield, seemingly to act as blockade. 

But with further lack of movement, apparently she was planning to tackle the students of two classes, counting up to 17, just by herself and the guardian monsters. 

When the two sides came face-to-face at the boundary of their respective squares, Sierra weaved her words at them.

"You're not going anywhere from this point."

"Bold words for just a single person! That said, your courage is certainly impressive! But you're sorely mistaken if a lone person can tackle us! March ahead, everyone!!"

Nevis put up a loud shout, and gave the signal to launch their long-distance attacks.

"—Fireee!!"

"«Ice Crystal»!!"

"«Shining Arm Rocket Punch»!!"

"«Magical Beam»!!"

"«Icicle Javelin»!!"

"«Lightning Harpoon»!!"

Sierra saw the coming attack and quietly intoned her skill.

"—«Quad Aegis of Virtue»! «Material Shield»!"

Promptly, the two small shields on her flank and behind thighs gave off a pale radiance and moved them, while simultaneously using a potent magic defense skill. Each of the incoming attacks were prevented by five small shields, almost—no, completely blocking the damage from them.

"Huh?!"

"Impossible, the attacks didn't even scratch on her HP?!"

"What the heck are those shields!? And.. they're floating around?!"

Nevis let out a befuddled shout as he saw the intact HP bar of Sierra. 

Not even a sliver of her HP was missing. But that shouldn't have been possible. 

Defense skills weren't absolute. They at best raise one's defence, and don't completely isolate the damage. The only way to offset the damage completely was by a timely parry. However Sierra pulled the impossible. Adding to their confusion, he found four mysterious shields somehow hovering around her. Why the hell were these shields floating?! Nevis's mind was completely taken by a storm of never ending doubts. 

In truth, Sierra was exploiting the mechanism to achieve that. 

First, both sides were at the edge of their respective square, but—not in the square. The two classes' attack obviously suffered from reduced attack penalties. And second was—Lana's continuous healing.

The HoT—Healing over time was the signature of «Saintess» job. Lana's preference for offense over support generally had painted the perception slightly in a different view, but «Saintess» jobs were first and foremost about healing. 

With the ability of «White Throne» and skill «Reduced Recovery Resistance LV9», just «Prayer» skills were enough to allow Lana to heal Sierra. 

So, instead of completely impervious to them, Sierra just shrugged the damage and recovered from it momentarily.

But Nevis had no way to figure out inStarkeuse out, and immediately changed the command.

"Then just ignore her! She's a tank, so no need to engage with her! Focus on guardian monsters, take your aim!!"

Soon, the target of the allied force transitioned from Sierra to guardian monsters and Great Spirit. But—

"My, you're not achieving anything here. I did say it—this is where your path is cut off. «Art of War—The Four Armament Shield»!"

Acting momentarily with the intonation of her skill, the four shields gathered straight above Sierra head, arranging themselves in 2x2 horizontal and vertical formation. 

She then further activated another skill, responding to the number of attacks aiming at them.

"After the transformation, even this skill has become incredibly strong. —«Cover Shield»!"

Cover Shield's target of protection was ally. Earlier, she had to swiftly slide in front of her party member to use the defensive skill, but with the job advancement, it had changed, allowing the four small shields to move in her behalf. 

The sight left the whole allied force stupefied.

The shield would move in whatever direction the attack was coming from, and would repel them. Then they would return back to their position above Sierra head. This pattern repeated itself over and over until all the attacks had been repelled. 

Nevis's eyes widened like a saucer from the sheer dumbfoundment. 

The original «Cover Shield» was a one time skill, however by coupling it with «The Four Armament Shield», a continuous effect could be achieved like now. As long as the «The Four Armament Shield» was active, any defense skill activated within would turn from single-use skill to continuous skill. 

Ultimately, Sierra managed to protect everyone she deemed an ally.

Nevis, who had been faintly aware of normal skill and their effect, seemed to have seen the light of realisation down upon him.

"What, what the heck is this skill?! It's impossible any base job would have such invincible skill! Unless—no, it's absurdity! It definitely can't be... you have an advanced job?!!!"

—Advanced Jobs.

The highest summit they could ever find among jobs.

If anything could answer the absurdity he was watching, then Advanced Jobs were the only thing that fit the aspect. Otherwise it's just nigh impossible to defend against the attack of all 17 people at once. 

He was sure there hadn't been any news about Class-1's members going through job advancement, but Nevis found his reasoning increasingly believable. 

"Class-1! ......Class-1!! —Ahahaha, Class-1!!"

He finally realised why Class-1 was the magnitude far above others.

Until now, he thought he might be from Class-15, but his strength was certainly not falling short for the Class-1. But, coming this far, his strategy had turned obsolete left and right. Cherry on the cake, they even had goddamn advanced jobs. 

Maybe, it was this form of invincibility that Class-1 earned the recognition as den of lions. But—he wasn't going to give up yet.

"Melee confrontation, now! Long-range attacks are clearly ineffective as you can see! I need someone, who can stop her?!"

The allied force hadn't much option left. The more they let time slip by, the more they will fall into disadvantage. 

They'd encountered a wall, but they could only try to surmount it.

"I will do it. I will earn back the chance honour we had lost in our blunder in the beginning!"

The last «Ninja», Kubrow, remade as he unwaveringly stepped forth to face Sierra. This was the very chance he had been searching for to repay back the bitterness he had felt. 

"Leader, I will handle it here, so go ahead!! Take down their base!!"

 He couldn't win in a battle of confrontation, but he believed he could bind her to one spot, confusing her with his skill and all. If anything, an elusive «Ninja» was just the person they'd needed right now, and he was the only remaining one.

The member of the allied force nodded in comprehension, that he was the right person for this task. Maybe he could really stall her.

They did notice his obvious attempt to turn the thing right, but simply let it be. They had no other stake to wager otherwise.

"Alright, go ahead. Return alive, Kubrow!"

"I will!"

Kubrow gave Nevis a thumbs up, leaving the rest of matter in his hand, and rushed toward Sierra. 

Kubrow believed in his job, believing that he would surely surmount this obstacle just like he had done with many others. Plus, he was against a tank, so he was further sure even an advanced job shouldn't be effective against his tricks.

«Ninja» in general was an excellent job, their arsenal equipped with all sorts of tricky skills allowing one to inflict debuff to abnormal status. A masterful deployment of his skill could make him triumph over even an advanced job, except—that only holds true if Sierra was unaware about the details of the «Ninja» job.

"«Dark Art»! Unique Skill—«Secret Technique - Clone»! Take it!"

"I know that move—«Counter Burst»!"

"—!!" 

A solid impact ran through Sierra, while the clones that had lunged at her vanished entirely.

Sierra's tactic was simple. 

She knew clones would disappear as long as they received any sort of attack. This had been why the opponent would first apply «Dark» status using «Dark Art» to avoid that from happening. She knew it as her guild member, «Female Ninja», uses the technique in the same way.

So Sierra deliberately let herself be inflicted with «Dark», while quietly preparing to fend off the clones. 

Though given her «Abnormal Status Resist» skill, she wasn't sure if it would even work, but apparently her opponent succeeded. His skill level must be high to achieve that. Anyway, she had taken this scenario into account, and had prepared an item to cure «Dark» immediately. Then, when the clones jumped on her, she mounted a counter with her four small shield.

Losing all his clones at once, Kubrow flinched, and Sierra exploited this gap.

"—«The Art of War - The Four Armament Shield»! —«Impact Bash»!"

"!? «Swift Movement»!"

Kubrow attempted to avoid Sierra's skill using acrobatic skill, but—

"You're so simple."

"Huh? Gahh!!"

He forgot that Sierra had more than just one shield. 

He had managed to avoid a direct hit from Sierra herself, but the following movement from small shields got him.

Sierra herself had trained together with Pamela, and she had read how Pamela would try to escape. She just had to move her shields in the direction she believed Kubrow would dodge, and that's where she got him. One of them struck him square, splendidly so.

Suffering from knockback in mid-air, Kubrow lost control of his movement and fell down, and was inflicted with 'Downed' status. 

Sierra appeared right next to him in a split moment.

"And with this, it's game over. —«Shock Hammer»!"

Sierra's mace mercilessly struck the crown of Kubrow. 

«Shock Hammer» was a fourth order skill, allowing the user to inflict «Paralysis» alongside dealing considerable damage. But as Kubrow was already in Downed status, the «Paralysis» effect changed, and pushed Kubrow into «Fainted» status.