Chapter 21.2:

As the goblin attacking Shilia jumped out of the way of a fourth mace swing, Brett considered stepping in to lend a hand. This would be a long run if this continued. Shelia clearly just wasn't strong enough for the mace. Maybe she would get there eventually, but that wasn't something he could really help her with.

Eventually, the goblin was a little too slow to duck, and the mace caught it in the shoulder and threw it to the ground. Shelia rushed after it and practically dropped the mace on its head. With a little effort, she pulled it up to her shoulder and turned back towards him. 

Brett didn't want to say anything, but at the same time, he couldn't stay silent. "That seems a little heavy for you. Do you have anything lighter?"

Shelia shook her head. Her gaze was studying her armored boots steadfastly, and she mumbled something that he didn't quite pick up.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that." Brett said with a gentle smile. "My ears aren't the best."

"No," Came the dejected reply.

"I don't mean to overstep, but you said you need to use a mace?" Brett said while checking for the start of the next wave. "I didn't think gear was class typed."

"It's not." She said in a slightly louder voice. "My father has the same class. This was his first weapon, actually. My class levels four times faster with a mace, at least from the family records. I'm already too far behind to try anything else."

Interesting. Maybe the class is viable if it was something she intentionally got. I wonder if her father just leveled faster because he was better with a mace. Still, that doesn't tell me anything about how to distribute stats for that class. Brett shrugged mentally and let the questions go. Moving both swords to his left hand, he drew the dagger Alan lent him. He extended it, hilt first, offering it to Shilia. She looked at it but didn't take it. "Until you get a bit stronger, you won't be able to level if your fights take too long."

Brett felt completely inadequate to be giving this advice, knowing as little as he did, but it seemed pretty obvious. "If you want to still go with the mace, you should train your base stats a bit more before running a dungeon, or just allocate more points to strength and dexterity for the next several levels. But for now, just try this out and see how it feels."

Shilia slowly hung her mace from a clasp on the hip piece of her plate armor. Taking the dagger hilt, she swung it a few times. By no means was she fast, but it wasn't the same glacial pace of her mace. 

"Ok." That was all the response he got. While that was going on, Brett had been paying careful attention to how much time had passed between waves. It had been almost a minute when four goblins started advancing. I should have enough time to recover from my skill if I use it at the end of the fight then. Brett concluded. 

This time he didn't pause even for a second to let the goblins approach. They were still unarmed, but he wasn't comfortable letting Shilia take on more than a single opponent at a time yet. Especially not with a weapon she wasn't familiar with. That meant he needed to take on three of the four at once.

The first goblin tried to run past him, and Brett let it. The next started to engage him, but it didn't last long. A bisecting cut from each side buried his blades deep in the green chest. Brett lifted the little monster up and flung it off the swords at the third goblin as it was trying to dart past. It didn't see that coming and went down in a tangle of limbs.

The fourth goblin had hung back and waited for an opening. An opening Brett provided when he turned to fling the body of his downed enemy. The goblin launched himself at Brett's undefended side, brandishing a stone dagger that he hadn't noticed before. 

Strength and vitality welled up in Brett out of nowhere, and the sudden boost let him rotate in time to knock away the blade with the backswing. His second blade took off the monster's head. Shit, my skill went off! Brett dove at the goblin, still trying to extricate itself from the corpse of its companion. His sword skewered it right through the chest.

I didn't know my skill could trigger without me telling it to. I guess it's nice that it might save my life, but at this level, I need to finish the fight pretty fast before it runs out. Brett got to his feet smoothly and turned to see how Shilia was doing. I still have some time.

The armored lizard lady was doing much better now. The goblin was bleeding from several deep cuts on its arms, and even as he watched, she caught one of its limp arms and pulled the green monster onto her blade. Letting it slide to the floor, she looked up and met his eyes through her visor.

Brett couldn't make out her expression, but the set of her shoulders made him think that she was satisfied. Leaning down, he put his fists on his knees and pulled in a breath or two before straining back up. The skill hadn't taken too much out of him, but the time between rounds wasn't so long that he wanted to push it any further than he had to. 

"You think you can handle two next time?" Brett asked. 

"I think so." Shelia said, but the quaver in her voice put a little doubt in his mind. "They will all have the stone knives next time."

Hmm, that will be hard. Without the surprise, I might be able to take four off of her when they have blades… Brett wasn't sure, though. "That might be tricky. How did you normally handle it?"

"Well, normally I have three other friends with me and we can each take one until wave five. Then we exit, as none of us can tank more than one at a time." She said.

"Wait, only four?" Brett asked, confused.

"Yeah, three for the first wave, four for the next three, then five. Not sure what is beyond that though." Shilia confirmed. 

"Then don't worry about it. I'll let one get to you, focus on that." Brett said, reasonably sure that he could handle three with blades. No wonder she wanted to pair with me. What was she thinking going in alone? I don't know if she would have gotten past the first wave with her mace. Brett was very glad he had taken her up on her offer; he didn't need the death of a kid on his conscience. 

They didn't have more time to talk before the next wave started. Brett decided to get it over with quickly and immediately activated Juggernaut's Drive, charging at the approaching enemy. He closed the distance before the goblins could even form up.

A huge right-handed blow pushed straight through the goblin’s attempt to block and bludgeoned it to the ground. Brett was already moving past, but he was sure that it wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. The second one fell with a quick cut to its stomach. Approaching the last two, Brett had to stop himself from simply ending both of them, letting one dash past him. The unlucky one that he chose to engage with didn't last long enough to draw a breath.

Brett turned and saw Shilia just starting to engage the one he left for her. Deciding to take the risk, Brett canceled his skill early; the shorter time made the temporary weakness more manageable, but there were still enemies on the field. With a little effort, he kept himself straight and alert as he walked toward the struggle, ready to jump in if needed. Before he got there, a notification blinded him for a second.

Blinking it away without really checking it, Brett watched as Shilia dodged back and forth. She was clearly very wary of the knife despite her formidable armor. This hesitation was costing her opportunities. Is this what Alan and Bernard felt like watching me fight? She's missing out on so much.

In the end, he didn't have to act, though. She finally trapped the goblin's arm with the blade between her own side and free arm. A helmeted headbutt and a few stabs later, the wave was over.