The Birth of a Shield Poke Player

Si Telan took out her weapon: a Wolf Tooth Club as long as her forearm.

She had done her research. Creatures like Gargoyles had high resistance to slashing, thrusting, and cleaving attacks, but they were weak against blunt force. Hammers and the like could easily break through their defenses.

There was nothing to be afraid of anymore!

Just then, she saw Gong Qiying leisurely pull out a Greatshield and a Lance, apparently intending to use only those two weapons.

"Uh..." Si Telan hesitated before asking, "Gargoyles resist spear-type weapons, right? Wouldn't a Lance deal too little damage?"

"The damage isn't enough, but why do I need damage?"

"You can't defeat monsters without damage."

Gong Qiying smiled mysteriously. "Just watch my performance. Don't interfere."

He had really built up the suspense, and Si Telan happened to fall for that sort of thing!

After entering the Fortress, she obediently stayed near the entrance instead of venturing deeper, so the Gargoyles would regard Gong Qiying as their first target.

"I want to see how you fight."

Si Telan was still a little unconvinced. Since ancient times, what had been the most important thing in fighting monsters? Every adventurer would answer: damage!

Without enough damage, every attack against a monster was nothing more than a scratch!

In this day and age, adventurers shared one consensus—value damage over technique, and never bother defending.

Even Xiu En, the Sword and Shield Warrior, most often attacked by smashing people with his shield. He only defended occasionally.

So when Gong Qiying pulled out a thick, heavy Greatshield, Si Telan was somewhat confused. Holding such a shield would affect combat too much, not to mention agility. No matter how she looked at it, it simply was not worth it.

"Awooo!"

As the Gargoyle roared, Gong Qiying threw a Flying Dagger at the monster on the ceiling, successfully drawing its aggro. The Gargoyle spread its wings and charged at him!

"Dodge," Si Telan muttered to herself.

But Gong Qiying did not dodge.

He stood where he was and merely raised his Greatshield, blankly waiting for the Gargoyle's charge as though he had been frightened stupid!

"Bang—"

The Gargoyle's massive claw slammed into the Greatshield. Gong Qiying's body trembled, but his stance did not break! The Greatshield perfectly absorbed the blow!

Now he had to dodge, right? Si Telan stared wide-eyed. If he dodged now, he could counterattack the Gargoyle from behind—a highly rewarding move.

Yet—

"I poke."

Huddled behind the Greatshield, Gong Qiying jabbed the Gargoyle once.

"???"

Exclamation marks practically popped over Si Telan's head. That attack was utterly weak, barely scraping a tiny bit of the Gargoyle's skin!

No wonder Gong Qiying had avoided monsters along the way. His raw strength simply did not allow him to bulldoze through everything!

"I should do it!" Si Telan shouted.

"No. Stay over there."

Gong Qiying poked the Gargoyle again and again. The creature froze for a moment, perhaps because it had never encountered such a weak attack in its entire life.

But then the monster was enraged. Its attacks fell like a violent storm, swearing to smash this pathetic human to pieces!

Something miraculous happened.

The attacks were fierce, but the Greatshield was even sturdier, taking every single blow from the Gargoyle!

"Roar—"

The Gargoyle roared, spreading its arms to knock the Greatshield away. But Gong Qiying seemed to have seen through its movement long ago. He bent down and lightly rolled aside, dodging it.

Then he went right back behind the Greatshield and poke, poke, poked.

If the Gargoyle could speak, it would have started swearing by now.

Poke, poke, poke, roll once, then poke, poke, poke, then roll again.

At some point, Si Telan had already been left dumbfounded. She had never seen such a shameless fighting style.

Even when another Gargoyle charged over, and both of them launched a relentless barrage of attacks, the Greatshield did not budge in the slightest.

As the saying went, quantity led to qualitative change. Before long, the Gargoyles were covered in wounds. Gong Qiying thrust his Lance forward and pierced one through the head.

Using the same method, he killed the other one too.

"How was that?" Gong Qiying planted his Lance into the ground and said proudly, "What a thrilling battle."

What battle, my ass.

"Quite eye-opening." Si Telan did not know what to say, and her expression was equally colorful. After holding it in for a long time, she asked, "May I ask what style that was?"

"Shield Poke Style! An invincible style!"

Si Telan opened her mouth, but said nothing for a long while.

After killing the Gargoyles, Gong Qiying did not disappear. Instead, he continued leading her through Plague Village.

When they encountered agile dog-like monsters, Shield Poke solved it.

When they encountered monkey-like monsters that threw weapons, Shield Poke solved it.

When they reached corners where they did not know whether monsters were lying in ambush, Shield Poke still solved it.

Si Telan was numb from watching.

After seeing Gong Qiying use Shield Poke to deal with a whole group of monsters that even she found troublesome, she looked at the Wolf Tooth Club in her hand and cautiously asked:

"Do you still take disciples?"

Beneath his helmet, Gong Qiying revealed a radiant smile.

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

"Come, take my shield and weapon. You go in front. Yes, hold the shield like that. See that monster ahead? Charge over and beat the hell out of it!"

Si Telan recalled how Gong Qiying had used Shield Poke and copied his movements, launching an attack on the monster before her.

The Greatshield was heavy, but she was still among the elite of adventurers. Even against the charge of a large monster, she could hold her ground without letting go.

Things went well at first, but as the battle gradually intensified, the arm holding her shield began to tremble.

The monster seized the opportunity and suddenly rammed forward!

Her guard was broken!

"Ah!"

Si Telan hurriedly pulled out her Wolf Tooth Club and smashed the monster's head apart.

"Wh-why don't you get your guard broken?" Her mind was now filled with questions.

Gong Qiying cheerfully waved his hand. "Didn't you notice that whenever I can't hold on anymore, I lower my shield to recover my stamina?"

"Rumble—"

It was like lightning striking her head, and Si Telan suddenly understood!

So Shield Poke was not something one could play casually. It still required some skill!

Raise the shield when the enemy attacked, lower it to recover stamina during breaks, and roll away whenever the enemy made a move to knock the shield aside.

In just one or two short hours, she felt she had learned things she had never learned in the past decade or so.

Most importantly, this knowledge truly had practical value!

Its only flaw was the lack of damage.

But!

Her damage might seem lacking when she poked alone, but what about two people? Three people? Even ten people together?

An image appeared in Si Telan's mind: she and ten companions holding Greatshields, surrounding a monster in the middle, while the long, hard things in their hands thrust in and out at it. All of the monster's attacks would be nothing but impotent rage as it watched itself get poked to death.

Her delicate body trembled with excitement. Just imagining that scene was enough to make her lose it!

Seeing Si Telan's excited expression, Gong Qiying's smile widened.

Celebrate, for a great Shield Poke player had been born!

Si Telan happily held her shield ahead of them and slew enemies, utterly immersed in this nearly shameless style of combat.

And Gong Qiying?

He silently pulled out a Wet Sickle.