The Birth of the Shield Stab Player

Sithran took out her weapon, a mace about the length of her forearm.

She had come prepared. Creatures like Gargoyles had high resistance to slashing, piercing, and chopping attacks, but were weak to blunt force. A hammer or similar weapon could easily break their defense.

There was nothing to fear anymore!

Just then, she saw Gong Qiying leisurely take out a large shield and a lance, seemingly intending to use only those two weapons.

"Uh," Sithran hesitated and asked, "Gargoyles have resistance to polearms, right? Won't a lance do insufficient damage?"

"The damage won't be enough, but why do I need to deal damage?"

"You can't damage Monsters without dealing damage,"

Gong Qiying smiled mysteriously. "Just watch my performance later, don't interfere."

He really knew how to build suspense, and Sithran was a sucker for it!

Entering the fortress, she obediently stayed near the entrance and didn't go deeper. This way, the Gargoyle would target Gong Qiying first.

"I'd like to see how you fight."

Sithran was still a little unconvinced. Throughout history, what was most important when fighting Monsters? Every Adventurer would say it was damage!

Without sufficient damage, every attack on a Monster was like a tickle!

In this era, Adventurers shared a consensus: prioritize damage, de-emphasize skill, and forget defense.

Even Shuen, the Sword and Shield user, primarily used his shield to smash people, only resorting to defense occasionally.

So when Gong Qiying pulled out a heavy, large shield, Sithran was somewhat perplexed. Holding a large shield would significantly hinder combat, not to mention affect agility. It seemed to have no cost-effectiveness whatsoever.

"ROAR!"

As she heard the Gargoyle's roar, Gong Qiying threw a throwing knife at the Monster on the ceiling, successfully drawing its aggro. The Gargoyle spread its wings and charged!

"Dodge," Sithran muttered softly.

However, Gong Qiying didn't dodge.

He stood his ground, merely raising his large shield, as if stunned and foolishly waiting for the Gargoyle's charge!

"CRASH—"

The Gargoyle's massive claw struck the large shield. Gong Qiying's body trembled, but his stance didn't break! The large shield perfectly absorbed the blow!

He'll dodge now, surely? Sithran stared, watching. Dodging now would allow for a counter-attack against the Gargoyle, a highly beneficial move.

However—

"Poke."

Hiding behind the large shield, Gong Qiying poked the Gargoyle.

"???"

Question marks appeared above Sithran's head. The attack was soft and weak, only scraping a tiny bit of the Gargoyle's hide!

No wonder Gong Qiying had skirted around the Monsters on the way; his actual combat prowess wasn't enough for a solo rampage!

"Let me handle it!" Sithran shouted.

"No need, stay over there."

Gong Qiying poked the Gargoyle again and again. The latter paused, perhaps encountering such a light attack for the first time since its debut.

But then, the Monster was enraged, and its attacks rained down like a storm, vowing to crush this weakling human!

A miracle happened.

Although the attacks were fierce, the large shield proved superior, absorbing all of the Gargoyle's assaults!

"ROAR—"

The Gargoyle roared and spread its arms, attempting to flip the large shield away. Gong Qiying, as if having foreseen its move, bent down and easily rolled away.

Then he continued to poke and poke from behind the large shield.

If the Gargoyle could speak, it would be cursing by now.

Poke, poke, roll, poke, poke, roll again.

If the Monster tried to snatch the shield, it would have to start a marathon to escape.

What? You ask how to escape while carrying a large shield?

If you don't even have the strength for that, what are you doing playing Shield Stab!

At some point, Sithran was dumbfounded. She had never seen such a cowardly fighting style.

Even when another Gargoyle charged over, and both were bombarding him, the large shield didn't waver.

As the saying goes, quantity leads to quality. Before long, the Gargoyles were battered and broken. Gong Qiying thrust his lance forward, piercing its skull.

Following the same method, the other one also died.

"How was that," Gong Qiying said, planting his lance into the ground, proudly. "Quite a thrilling battle."

Thrilling battle, my ass.

"Eye-opening," Sithran didn't know what to say, her expression quite vivid. After a long pause, she asked, "May I ask what style this is?"

"Shield Stab style! The invincible style!"

Sithran's mouth opened, but she remained silent for a long time.

After defeating the Gargoyle, Gong Qiying didn't disappear. Instead, he continued to lead her through Blighttown.

They encountered agile canine Monsters, defeated with Shield Stab.

They encountered monkey-like Monsters that threw weapons, defeated with Shield Stab.

They encountered a corner where they weren't sure if a Monster was ambushing, still defeated with Shield Stab.

Sithran was getting numb.

When she saw Gong Qiying defeat a horde of Monsters that she found troublesome with Shield Stab, she looked at the wolf-tooth club in her hand and cautiously asked:

"Are you still taking disciples?"

Beneath his helmet, Gong Qiying revealed a bright smile:

"You want to learn? I'll teach you."

"Come, take my shield and weapon. You walk in front, yes, hold the shield like that. See the Monster ahead? Charge at him!"

Sithran recalled in her mind how Gong Qiying performed Shield Stab and launched her own offense against the Monster in front of her.

The greatshield was heavy, but she was an elite Adventurer after all. Even when facing the charge of a large Monster, she could hold her ground.

It went well at first, but as the battle grew more intense, her shield-holding arm began to tremble.

The Monster seized this opportunity and shoved forward fiercely!

Her guard was broken!

"Yaaah,"

Sithran quickly pulled out her wolf-tooth club and smashed the Monster's head.

"Wh-why didn't yours get broken?" Her mind was filled with questions.

Gong Qiying waved his hand cheerfully and said, "Didn't you notice I put down my shield to recover my stamina when I couldn't hold on any longer?"

"Boom--"

Like lightning striking her head, Sithran suddenly understood!

So, Shield Stab wasn't something you could just play around with; it required some skill!

Hold up the shield when the enemy attacks, put it down to recover stamina when resting, and roll away when the enemy attempts to break your guard.

In just an hour or two, she felt like she had learned more new things than in the past decade.

Most importantly, this knowledge was truly practical!

The only drawback was insufficient damage.

But!

Her own stabbing might lack damage, but what about two people, three people, or even ten people working together?

Sithran envisioned a scene where she and ten companions held up their greatshields, surrounding a Monster, their long, hard objects poking and prodding it while all its attacks were ineffectual rage, watching themselves be poked to death.

Her delicate body trembled with excitement; just thinking about that scene made her want to...

Seeing Sithran's excited state, Gong Qiying's smile widened.

Rejoice, a great Shield Stab player is born!

Sithran happily led the charge, shield held high, immersed in the almost unscrupulous fighting style of Shield Stab.

And Gong Qiying?

He quietly took out a small scythe.