I Became the Weakest Summon of the Genius Summoner

Chapter 21. Expansion of Activity Range

"I've already discussed the tactical aspects with the other teams. Yeon-hee, as long as you handle the role I mentioned earlier, we'll be fine."

Listening to Helen's words, Lee Yeon-hee nodded and began preparing to nock her arrow.

Ahead, at a distance of 30 meters, I could see a small village comprised of several huts that hadn't even been properly fortified.

For a village that seemed to be in its early stages of construction, there were quite a number of them.

A mage in robes straightened her bent knees and slowly lifted her staff.

Soon, an incantation, barely audible, began to be chanted, and Yeon-hee also nocked an arrow and fixed her aim.

A moment later, the mage nodded, and all the tanks holding shields charged toward the village.

When about twenty hunters simultaneously charged, reaching right in front of the goblins' territory, the goblins finally realized they were under attack and hurriedly armed themselves.

Then it happened.

Shooooo—

- Kerrek?!

- Keeyek?!

As the mage's binding spell activated, the first ten goblins in the lead had their feet bound by the vines that sprung from the ground.

Twhung—

Simultaneously, Yeon-hee's arrow curved through the air and pierced one of the bound goblins' eyes.

Kehek-!

- Aaaaah!! Attack!!

- Die, you filthy bastards!!

Now that the goblins were aware of our presence, there was no need to keep quiet.

We shouted with all our might to distract the goblins while also aiming to cause chaos.

'It should be enough to level up if I take down a few. I'll move a bit closer.'

My task at the moment was to protect Yeon-hee. But I wasn't going to end this with nothing gained.

'I picked up plenty of stones when I had time earlier.'

I still had low Strength, so I only grabbed stones slightly smaller than a fist, but even these could earn me experience if I aimed them at a goblin.

Plus, I had a throwing skill, didn't I?

【Dagger Throw】

Whoosh—

Thwack—

- Kihit?!

When a goblin, hit in the back of the head by my stone, flinched and turned towards me, a shield the size of a manhole cover slammed onto its face.

'You should've been more aware of your surroundings, fool.'

Slam!

Fwoosh!

In the ensuing brawl between the goblin horde and the hunters, chaos reigned, as expected.

Though better evaluated than the Shield Guild's hunters responsible for the last incident, they were still low-grade hunters in the end.

- Kyahsaha!

- This! Take this!

The tanks' shields, their main weapon, sparkled with blue mana.

In between, the agile swordsmen and rogues wielding long swords and shortswords were finishing off the bound goblins.

Jingle-jingle—

The passive trait of the rogue class, 【Steal】, activated, and I saw silver coins from the goblins entering the hunters' pockets.

Twhung— Twhung—

Yeon-hee's old bow was diligently firing arrows, and they were finding their marks on the goblins with a respectable accuracy.

'It's not easy to hit just the goblins in such a melee, but her focus is impressive. Anyway, they should be coming out soon...'

Shortly thereafter, a small squad of goblins suddenly rushed toward Yeon-hee.

Although there were only three, they were the quickest among the village's inhabitants.

However, I had already been observing these creatures returning from the outskirts.

I approached them in Stealth and spat acid at two of them, quickly following it up with a 【Heavy Strike】 to the last one's head.

- Kheheruik!!

- Kiya...!

The two coated in acid jumped in shock, not knowing what to do, while brain matter dripped from the head of the one I struck.

Crack!! Smash!!

Blinded by the acid, the goblins couldn't respond to my clubbing and met their end pathetically.

There was resistance, but my abilities weren't so low that I would get hit by such blind attacks.

With my Agility increased, my response speed heightened, and as my Strength and magic power rose, my movements quickened.

The blue barrier of magic power that enveloped me glowed softly.

- You have leveled up!

'I'll need to invest in Sense as well.'

-----

【Skeleton Soldier Ilwol - Lv.10】

Strength: 32
Agility: 39(+5)
Stamina: 36(+5)
Intelligence: 24
Magic Power: 26
Resistance: 1
Sense: 21(+5)
Recovery: 2

Traits: Calm, Protector, Kleptomancy, 98 Lives, Adhesion

Skills: Heavy Strike, Stealth, Dagger Throw, Acid Spray, Basic Conversion

Equipment: Roughly Carved Wooden Club

-----

I invested in Agility, Stamina, and what I expected would increase my effective range, sense.

Upon reaching level 10, the increase in stats went up by 2.

'Now, let's see how far I can go.'

Step by step—

Pause—

I moved away from Yeon-hee, finding I could traverse about 25 meters.

'I can't go any further. Good, I've got a rough idea now.'

When my Sense increased by 1 while reinforced as a skeleton soldier, my movement range expanded by about a meter.

But now that it has increased by nearly 20 meters, it seems the expansion amount grows as the value increases.

'This range is sufficient for now. Unless I end up having a task that takes me far from Yeon-hee.'

Feeling somewhat freed from shackles, my steps grew lighter.

"Ilwol, nice!"

"Clack-clack-clack!!"

Even as Yeon-hee rapidly shot her bow, she encouraged me, and I turned my attention back to the settlement's battle situation.

Aaaaargh—!

'That'll hurt.'

A swordsman who was finishing off the bound goblins got injured in the thigh by the crude axe wielded by a goblin in a frantic swing.

Pyeong— Thud—

The goblin, dispatched by Yeon-hee's arrow, was pushed away, and a man hurried to retreat towards us.

'Ah, it was that guy who had an argument with that woman, gyeongjin.'

He quickly positioned himself behind me, retrieved a low-grade potion from his inventory, and slathered it onto his wound.

"Dang it... That goblin bastard, damn!! It hurts."

In my opinion, calling someone a goblin bastard was a greater insult, but I didn't argue over common expressions.

"Hey, skeleton soldier? Do your best. I'll introduce you to a pretty female skeleton later! Puhahah!"

'I wonder if he'd keep jesting after taking a heavy strike.'

With such thoughts, I once again shifted my gaze to the battlefield.

'That mage really makes a big difference.'

Saying that the battle was heavily on our side due to the mage's contribution wouldn't be far from the truth.

What bothered me was that the mage who initiated the battle also took a position behind Yeon-hee.

'They asked just for some long-range support, but it turns out I also have a babysitting role. I should ask for more in return...'

Though I glanced at Yeon-hee, she seemed undisturbed by the injured people approaching from all sides, remaining focused on her role.

I turned my gaze forward once more, witnessing the weary battle between a shielded fighter and a goblin.

Whooosh—

The shield cut through the air.

Thwack—

The goblin's club struck the unguarded side.

"Ugh—!"

A blow to the abdomen like that causes temporary breathlessness, severely impacting one's ability to move.

However, all our team members capable of assisting were already engaged with two to three goblins each.

Eventually, the mage in preparation sighed and cast a spell for a second time.

Sneeze—! Kiik?!

A goblin, relentlessly clubbing the man who had fallen to one knee, sneezed and began staggering.

'Huh?! Sleeping powder? Really?'

Suddenly, a plant as tall as a five-year-old child sprouted on the battlefield, releasing a sparkling white powder around it before withering away.

'Turns out the mage has some talent.'

Though I couldn't exactly recall the spell's name, its effectiveness in inducing sleep was impressive.

Seizing the opportunity as the goblin wobbled, the man behind me limped forward, dragging the injured man who had been struck in the side.

'Why not put up a sign saying there's plenty of food here, you fool.'

Rather than attacking the goblin under sleep, he painstakingly dragged the injured man, drawing the attention of all the goblins.

Even so, the goblins couldn't rush straight at us.

A minimum of seven goblins had been affected, either directly or indirectly, by the spell, and the goblins' momentum was already greatly diminished by the initial assault.

The ongoing conflict still overwhelmingly favored the hunters, and the ones retreating to us to tend their wounds were the F-rank hunters lacking any semblance of combat talent.

- Keeeaaaargh!!

Somehow avoiding harm, a goblin broke free from the hunters and charged toward us with a club.

"Aaaah! Skeleton soldier, go! Body slam!!"

'Damnit, I was going to tackle with my body, but that guy ruined it.'

With an inward sigh, I picked up the shield from the hunter who had been dragged along and stepped forward.

'This is heavy. Combining a sword and shield is still a bit challenging.'

Clang!

The goblin, rushing at full speed, swung its club at me, but with Agility above 30, its movements appeared as sluggish as a crawling insect.

I lightly pulled back, angling the shield to strike the goblin's throat.

Gak—!