"So, next is livebat."


    "I''m the one doing it, huh..."


    "Come on, it''s better this way. My fighting style isn''t exactly helpful for anyone to learn from."


    "Well, that''s true."


    : We knew it.


    : Kisaragi''s fighting style is useless as a reference, after all.


    : I still haven''t heard of anyone who''s managed to use shikigami techniques yet.


    : Doesn''t it require a lot of restrictions or something?


    : Shikigami techniques are pointless unless the user is strong themselves.


    : Can EX Reiman''s fighting style even be helpful?


    : Thanks to Kisaragi and Kamishiro Rion, everyone''s skeptical, lol.


    "I''ve heard my moves are fairly easy to follow, though..."


    "Well, we''ll find out by watching."


    There''s no doubt Aizawa-san''s movements serve as a good example for beginners. His fighting style is built on rock-solid fundamentals, so even I find it useful to watch. Hachioji Dungeon''s upper and top floors are perfectly t, so it''s easy to see everything. I can clearly spot the two dogsing toward us from a distance.


    "There are a lot of hound dogs that size in Hachioji Dungeon''s upper floors. They''re faster than the goblins in Shibuya Dungeon, but they''re more fragile, so once you get used to them, they''re pretty easy to deal with."


    : Dogs, huh?


    : But beast-type monsters are usually strong.


    : They''re fast, that''s for sure.


    : I''ve been to Hachioji Dungeon, and yeah, it was hard to keep up with their speed at first.


    : They''re not strong, but they''re annoying.


    : Personally, goblins are easier for me.


    As the hound dogs approach, Aizawa-san readies therge silver shield he had been carrying in his left hand and a simple, unadorned double-edged longsword in his right. This is Aizawa-san''s fighting style.


    For dungeon beginners, the rmended style is usually to swap out the longsword for a spear. Since spears have more reach, it generally gives you an advantage.


    The hound dogs charge in, but Aizawa-san calmly blocks the first one with his shield and precisely thrusts his longsword into the throat of the second. Even against monsters, if they have a biological form, you can figure out the vital points. The neck and eyes are usually good targets.


    "Ha!"


    With a swift motion, he withdraws the longsword from the first hound dog''s throat, blocks the second''s bite with his shield, and again pierces the throat with his sword. Just like that, the fight is over.


    "How was that?"


    : Solid and reliable.


    : That''s a side-job explorer for you.


    : Easy to understand.


    : He takes out one enemy at a time carefully, huh.


    : Maybe it''s safer to block and then attack?


    : That was actually more helpful than I thought.


    : A thousand times more useful than Kisaragi.


    Hey.


    Sure, if it were me, I''d have decapitated both hound dogs before they even attacked, but I wasn''t nning to show off that much during this basics lecture.


    "What I just did is possible in Hachioji Dungeon because it''s t and you can clearly see the two enemiesing. But in Shibuya Dungeon''s upper floors, where it''s more confined, you need to be constantly wary of ambushes. You''ll have to y it twice as carefully to stay safe."


    Being cautious of ambushes ismon sense in dungeon exploration. You never know where monsters wille from in a dungeon, and if you don''t stay vignt, you could die easily. It''s especially dangerous right after winning a fight.


    : Cool.


    : I want to try fighting with a shield and sword now.


    : But get a lighter shield than what Reiman uses—it''s definitely heavy, lol.


    : True.


    : No injuries after getting bitten by a hound dog—he must have a good shield.


    "This shield? It''s made from the material of a super-hard golem found in the deep floors. The shield itself has magical properties that constantly disperse magic energy around it."


    "Hard golem? The one that appears in the deep floors of the Sapporo Dungeon?"


    "That''s the one. Kisaragi-kun, you really know your dungeons."


    "Only the deep floors, though."


    : Only the deep floors?


    : What does that even mean, lol.


    : If you know the deep floors, surely you know the upper floors too, right?


    : This guy just skips the basics.


    : Did he tame a kirin or something?


    : I wouldn''t be surprised.


    "...Anyway, let''s not focus on me."


    I can''t exactly admit I usually use way more underhanded methods. I only go through dungeons properly when it''s a vague request from the association. If I have business in the deep floors, I''ll take shortcuts. Lately, though, I''ve been sticking to more straightforward methods, especially during streams or when apanying Asakawa-san.


    "Oh, looks like more hound dogs areing."


    "That''s rare. I thought in Hachioji Dungeon there''d be a few minutes of downtime after each fight."


    "It depends on the day."


    Yeah, dungeons fluctuate in terms of magical energy concentration, which affects monster spawn rates. The association gives rough estimates, but they''re only urate about 60% of the time, so I wouldn''t rely too much on them.


    : Today''s forecast for Hachioji Dungeon said it''d be a heavy monster day.


    : Looks like they were right!


    : Finally, the forecast was on point.


    : They''re right more often than not, to be fair.


    : What do you think the association''s forecast is, a weather report?


    : Feels like an unreliable weather forecast to me.


    : I almost died because I didn''t believe it once—trust me, take it seriously.


    : Lol.


    : Can''t believe you survived.


    This time there are four hound dogs. Seems like today really is one of those heavy monster days... I did clear a bunch of them during a recent job, but I guess the numbers are back up.


    "With four of them, I''ll have to change my approach a bit."


    "I''ll be watching from the back."


    "Thanks."


    With four enemies, his previous strategy of just blocking and counterattacking wouldn''t work as well. I barely know anything about using shields, so I''m curious to see how Aizawa-san will handle this more cautiously.


    "Arrow."


    As the four hound dogs close in, Aizawa-san casually shoots a low-power magic arrow from his fingers. It''s a simple spell, just enough to disrupt one of the hound dogs, creating a gap between it and the other three.


    "Hah!"


    As I watched, Aizawa-san blocked the bite of the first hound dog with his shield, then thrust the shield forward, mming it into the dog''s face and knocking it back. While the hound dog tumbled away, two more charged in, but Aizawa-san deftly cut both of their legs as he retreated.


    The fourth dog, still separated by the arrow, rushed in on its own and was swiftly blocked and countered with a fatal blow.


    : Impressive.


    : Wow.


    : Smooth moves.


    "Arrow!"


    Without missing a beat, Aizawa-san fired another magic arrow at the hound dog that had been knocked back by the shield, then quickly approached the two with cut legs and dispatched them by shing their throats. Thest dog was finished off soon after.


    "How about that? Even weak magic can be used as a distraction, and it''s a basic strategy that works even in the deep floors. I did it all myself this time, but if you were in a party, this approach would be even easier."


    : Super basic, yet super clean.


    : This proves you can be EX just by mastering the fundamentals.


    : A true explorer''s approach.


    : So cool.


    : A more "proper" explorer than Kisaragi-kun.


    : Loving this.


    : I''m officially an EX Reiman fan now.


    : Can Reiman start streaming too?


    : Other EXs should learn from this.


    Why am I getting roasted?


    Aizawa-san does way crazier stuff when he''s fighting in the deep floors!


    I''m going to drag him into the deep floors on stream next time. Then people will start talking about him the same way they talk about me and Kamishiro-san. At least when I first saw Aizawa-san fight as an EX, I thought he was inhuman.