The Birth of a Shield Poke Player

Si Telan drew her weapon—a forearm-length wolf tooth club.

She had done her research. Gargoyles had high resistance to slashing and piercing attacks but were weak to blunt force; a hammer could break their defenses easily.

There was nothing to fear now!

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

"Uh," Si Telan hesitated, then asked, "Gargoyles have resistance to polearms, right? Won't a Lance deal too little damage?"

"It will, but why do I need damage?"

"Without damage, you can't hurt the monster."

Gong Qiying gave a mysterious smile. "Just watch me. Don't interfere."

He sure knew how to build suspense—and Si Telan was exactly the type to fall for it!

Entering the Fortress, she obediently stayed near the entrance without going deeper, ensuring the Gargoyle would target Gong Qiying first.

"Let's see how you fight," she muttered, a little unconvinced.

Throughout history, what was the most important thing in battling monsters? Every adventurer would answer: damage!

Without enough damage, every hit was just a tickle!

In this era, adventurers shared a consensus—prioritize damage, downplay technique, and ignore defense.

Even Xiu En, the Sword and Shield Warrior, mostly used his shield to bash enemies, only defending occasionally.

So when Gong Qiying pulled out a heavy Greatshield, Si Telan was baffled. Carrying that thing would hinder combat too much, not to mention agility—no matter how she looked at it, it wasn't cost-effective.

"ROOOAR!"

As the Gargoyle roared, Gong Qiying threw a Flying Dagger at the monster clinging to the ceiling, successfully aggroing it. The Gargoyle spread its wings and charged!

"Dodge!" Si Telan whispered to herself.

But Gong Qiying didn't dodge.

He stood still, simply raising his Greatshield, looking like a fool frozen in fear as the Gargoyle bore down on him!

"BANG—!"

The Gargoyle's massive claws slammed into the Greatshield. Gong Qiying's body shuddered, but his stance held! The Greatshield absorbed the blow perfectly!

He'll dodge now, right? Si Telan stared wide-eyed. If he dodged now, he could spin around and counterattack—a high-reward move.

But—

"Poke."

Huddled behind the Greatshield, Gong Qiying jabbed the Gargoyle.

"???"

Si Telan's head practically sprouted exclamation marks. That attack was so weak it barely scratched the Gargoyle's skin!

No wonder Gong Qiying had been avoiding monsters on the road—his actual strength couldn't handle going all out!

"Let me take over!" Si Telan shouted.

"No need. Stay there."

Gong Qiying kept poking the Gargoyle, one jab after another. The monster paused, probably experiencing the lightest attack of its career.

Then it got enraged. Its attacks came down like a storm, vowing to crush this pathetic human!

Something incredible happened.

The attacks were fierce, but the Greatshield was fiercer, absorbing every single blow!

"ROAR—!"

The Gargoyle bellowed, reaching out with both hands to flip the shield away. But Gong Qiying seemed to read its move, ducking and rolling out of the way with ease.

Then he hid behind the Greatshield again and kept poking.

If the Gargoyle could talk, it would've been cursing up a storm by now.

Poke, poke, poke. Roll. Poke, poke, poke. Roll again.

At some point, Si Telan's jaw had dropped. She had never seen such a cowardly fighting style.

Even when the second Gargoyle joined in, both of them bombarding him relentlessly, the Greatshield didn't budge.

As the saying goes, quantity leads to quality. Before long, the Gargoyles were battered and broken. Gong Qiying thrust his Lance forward and pierced one through the skull.

He repeated the trick, and the other fell too.

"How was that?" Gong Qiying planted his Lance into the ground, beaming with pride. "Now that was a thrilling battle."

You didn't even fight.

"Eye-opening," Si Telan said, at a loss for words, her expression a mix of emotions. After a long pause, she asked, "May I ask what style this is?"

"Shield Poke Style! The invincible style!"

Si Telan opened her mouth, then closed it, staying silent for a long time.

After finishing off the Gargoyle, Gong Qiying didn't disappear. Instead, he continued leading her through the Plague Village.

They ran into agile canine monsters. Shield Poke solved them.

They ran into monkey-like monsters that threw weapons. Shield Poke solved them.

They ran into corners where monsters might or might not be lying in ambush. Still Shield Poke solved them.

Si Telan was completely dumbfounded.

After watching Gong Qiying use Shield Poke to take down a bunch of monsters she herself found troublesome, she glanced at the Wolf Tooth Club in her hand and asked cautiously:

"Are you still taking apprentices?"

Under his helmet, Gong Qiying flashed a bright smile:

"Want to learn? I'll teach you."

"Here, take my shield and weapon. You go first. Yeah, hold the shield up like that. See that monster ahead? Charge in and hit it!"

Si Telan replayed in her mind how Gong Qiying did Shield Poke, then launched her own attack on the monster in front of her.

The Greatshield was heavy, but she was still an elite among adventurers. Even against a large monster's charge, she could hold her ground and not let go.

It started off fine. But as the fight grew more intense, the hand holding her shield began to tremble.

The monster seized the opportunity and shoved forward hard!

Her guard was broken!

"Ahh—"

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

"Why... why doesn't your guard ever break?" She was full of confusion.

Gong Qiying chuckled and waved his hand. "Didn't you notice that when I couldn't hold it anymore, I'd lower my shield to recover stamina?"

"Boom—"

Like a lightning bolt striking her head, Si Telan suddenly understood!

So Shield Poke wasn't something you could just do casually. You actually needed some skill!

Raise the shield when the enemy attacks. Lower it to recover stamina when they pause. Roll away when the enemy winds up to knock your shield aside.

In just an hour or two, she felt she had learned fresh things she hadn't picked up in over a decade.

Most importantly, this knowledge was actually practical!

The only downside was the lack of damage.

But!

If she poked alone, the damage was lacking. What if two people did it? Or three? Or even ten?

A scene flashed through Si Telan's mind: she and ten companions all holding Greatshields, surrounding a monster in the middle, their long, hard things stabbing in and out at the monster, while all its attacks were nothing but futile rage as it watched itself get stabbed to death.

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

Seeing Si Telan so worked up, Gong Qiying's smile grew even wider.

Rejoice! A great Shield Poke player had just been born!

Si Telan was having a blast up front, holding up her shield and killing enemies, completely immersed in this almost shameless fighting style.

And Gong Qiying?

He quietly pulled out a small sickle.