Meanwhile, in another part of the area oh floor, Michalis leapt from tree to tree, utilizing his high agility stats to their fullest.

  Dimitra had instructed him to scout ahead a any nearby monsters.

  Not far behind, Dimitra and Cir followed, with Dimitra in the ter and Cir guarding their rear.

  This strategy allowed them to hunt freely while remaining vigint against potential ambushes.

  As Michalis scouted, he found it puzzling that he hadn’t spotted any monsters yet.

  Draco had mentiohat the forest was teeming with them, so it felt odd to see nothing.

  However, it didn’t take long for him to find out why.

  A few meters ahead, he spotted a rge cluster of bck mushroom-like creatures, causing him to halt.

  Their caps heaved as if ready to release a cloud of poisonous spores at any sign of danger.

  Reizing them as Dark Fungus, despite this being his first enter, Michalis slid down a tree trunk to approach Dimitra and Cir.

  “It’s some Bck Fungus,” he reported quietly.

  “What should we do? Try to take them out or ge dire?” Cir asked, turning to Dimitra.

  As the team's leader, it was Dimitra's responsibility to make that decision.

  Dimitra sighed, sidering their ck of abnormal resistanbsp;

  Engaging the Bck Fungus in melee bat would be unwise.

  She pondered whether to test their durability and spe with her arrows.

  It was a tough call; she didn’t want to risk anyone being incapacitated by poison, but she also wao gain firsthand experience dealing with them.

  “Today, we’ll ge dire,” Dimitra decided after weighing the options.

  She determi wasn’t worth the risk, at least until they had a better uanding of the area.

  This way, she could experiment without w about their path of retreat or potential ambushes from other monsters.

  …………………………………..

  g! g!

  The sound of metal g against a hard material echoed through the area where the group had split up oh floor.

  Drad Vasileios hadn’t ventured far before being ambushed by some Gun Libellu’s.

  Initially, Draco wao dispatch the monsters quickly, but a sudden idea for an experiment crossed his mind.

  Vasileios was equipped with a spiked shield and a short sword, along with numerous defensive skills.

  While his setup was effective against ground oppos, he had few options for dealing with airborne and ratackers.

  The Gun Libellu’s fit that description perfectly.

  Therefore, Draco decided to have Vasileios front them aloo see how he would hahe situation.

  …………………………………………..

  The air was thick with tension as Vasileios frohe swarm of Gun Libellu’s, their iridest wings glinting in the dappled blue light that filtered through the forest opy.

  Draco had stepped back, giving Vasileios the opportunity to test his skills against these aerial foes.

  The monsters resembled oversized dragonflies, with sharp, elongated bodies ahal stingers, buzzing menagly.

  Their wings created a sharp sound that echoed like a war drum.

  Vasileios gripped his spiked shield tightly, feeling its familiar weight against his arm.

  It was his first line of defence, having protected him in many battles.

  Yet today, it felt almost like a burden, as he faced ehat danced just beyond his reabsp;

  His short sword was sheathed at his side, designed for close bat, but these adversaries thrived in the air, far beyond his melee range.

  Moreover, they were just outside the range of his taunting skill.

  Even if they were within rahere was no guarahat they would all swoop in for a melee attack, instead of attag from a distanbsp;

  So, he decided to hold onto the skill in case of a potential ambush from other monsters, uain of Draco’s willio intervene.

  Suddenly, Vasileios noticed a few Gun Libellu desding within his attack range.

  With a swift motion, he jumped, uhed and thrust his short sword forward, attempting to catch at least one of the creatures off guard.

  Unfortunately, the sword collided with empty air as the targeted Gun Libellu darted aside with surprising speed.

  They were much quicker than he had anticipated, asding higher and evading his strike.

  “Focus, Vasileios! You o find a way to ter their speed and range!” Draco called from a distance, watg ily.

  Gritting his teeth, Vasileios shifted his stance, knowing he had to think strategically.

  However, before he could devise a pn, the Gun Libellu’s decided to attack.

  Vasileios suddenly heard an ominous sound, looking closely, he noticed that it was the sound of their stinger projectiles being loaded.

  With a sudden whoosh, a volley of stinger were ejected in his dire.

  Vasileios reacted instinctively, raising his shield just in time to deflect the projectiles that shot from their abdomen.

  The impact reverberated through his arm, but he gritted his teeth and held firm.

  Peeking from behind his shield, Vasileios expression turned sour.

  ‘Tsk, my ter skill didn’t activate,’ Vasileios thought, notig that his shield wasn’t glowing.

  As the Gun Libellu’s began to reload for atack, Vasileios took a moment to assess his situation.

  “Think, Vasileios,” he muttered under his breath.

  He o find a way to ter their aerial advantage.

  His ter skill reflected a portion of damage taken from the front while wielding his shield, but from his observation, it didn’t seem effective against ratacks.

  The Gun Libellu’s were known for their speed and ranged assaults, and his short sword offered little in terms of retaliation.

  As the Gun Libellu’s sent another volley do stingers, Vasileios decided to evade instead of blog.

  He observed that the Gun Libellu’s were stunned for a small window of time after each attack.

  Diving to the left, Vasileios successfully evaded all their stingers.

  In the moment, he saw the vulnerability and capitalized on it without hesitation.

  Taking a gamble, he hurled his spiked shield toward one Gun Libellu, aiming for its body as it reloaded to strike again.

  The shield hurtled through the air, spinning like a discus, and ected squarely with the creature's side.

  “Eh, was that a shield throw?” Draco excimed in shock upon witnessing Vasileios's ued a.

  ‘Is this boy crazy? What if he missed or was attacked by another monster?’ Draco thought, his palpable.

  Just as he was about to intervene, he was astoo see the shield strike was effective.

  The impact sent the Gun Libellu spiralling downwards, crashing into the ground with a thud.

  Vasileios felt a surge of triumph, but he couldn't dwell on it.

  The rest of the Gun Libellu circled above, clearly angrier now, their shrieks pierg the air as they prepared for another assault.

  ‘Okay, that worked. But I o be quicker,’ he thought, his mind rag.

  He had recalled a story that Draco had shared in the past about a hero who used a shield in battle.

  It mentioned a skill called ‘Shield Throw,’ which Vasileios found quite simir to the game called ‘frisbee’ that Draco taught them in their younger years.

  He had never expected himself to gamble with su untrained skill in this tense moment.

  Apparently the skill was meant to be both offensive and defensive, allowing him to maintain pressure while retreating to safety.

  He o refi in the heat of battle.

  Quickly finishing off his oppo, Vasileios retrieved his shield just as the Gun Libellu’s uheir third volley.

  Vasileios mao evade in time, feeling the rush of air as the stinger passed.

  He needed a more effective way to draw the aerial foes down to his level.

  Suddenly, an idea sparked in Vasileios's mind.

  He sed the area around him and noticed a cluster of low-hanging branches nearby.

  If he could lure the Gun Libellu’s into a positiohey would lower their altitude, he might have a ce to strike with his sword.

  “e on, you rown is,” he taunted, raising his shield and shouting at the creatures.

  The Gun Libellu’s, the challenge, began to circle mgressively, their wings buzzing loudly in respoo his provocation.

  With a quick motion, Vasileios sprioward the trees and positioned himself uhe low-hanging branches, hoping they would follow.

  Gun Libellu’s didn’t have hearing, so they mostly relied on sight, they simply followed Vasileios because of his visual body nguage, not due to his auditory taunts.

  Just as he had hoped, the first Gun Libellu that followed after him miscalcuted its trajectory and became entangled in the branches above.

  It let out a shriek of surprise as it struggled to free itself.

  Vasileios wasted no time; he lunged forward, drawing his short sword and striking at the trapped creature.

  The bde sliced through its delicate wings, sending it crashing to the ground in a flurry of defeated fps.

  The victory was brief, however, as the remaining Gun Libellu’s shrieked and desded upon him.

  Vasileios ducked and rolled, narrowly avoiding another volley of projectiles.

  He knew he had to keep moving and use his enviroo his advantage.

  He darted toward aree, using the sturdy trunk as a barrier against the onsught of stinger projectiles.

  The Gun Libellu’s were relentless, their attaow ing in sequential succession, but suddenly the ranged assault stopped.

  ‘Hmmm, why did they stop?’ Vasileios thought, a bit fused.

  Peeking out from the side of the tree, he observed that the lower abdomens of the Gun Libellu’s appeared to be defted.

  ‘Ho! So they don’t have unlimited ammo. This should be easy,’ he thought, stepping out from his cover to test his theory.

  Of course, he kept his shield up; he couldn’t risk getting hit.

  Sure enough, the Gun Libellu’s had exhausted their magibsp;

  He could easily tell because they were now diving at him for a melee attack. Vasileios made quick work of them; without their ranged advahey posed little threat.

  However, he felt a twinge of disappoi.

  He had expected much more from them, sidering they were the first moo pressure him in a while.