In his previous life, Shirou Emiya had traveled the world with his foster father, Emiya Kiritsugu, for a long time, searching for a way to save the world.
Their world, with its core source depleted, was on the brink of destruction, and the entire world was gradually descending into chaotic madness.
Drug lords, warlords, cults, terrorists, and so on, various "heroes" were contributing worldwide, even including some top-tier scum with quadruple identities.
These people were obstacles on the Emiya Shirou's path to "saving the world."
Therefore, at a young age, Emiya Shirou had seen his foster father wielding a submachine gun to mow down a cult gathering, and had personally used a rocket launcher to shoot down a passenger plane carrying a major drug lord.
He didn't feel much about taking lives, and while many innocents might have been affected, it didn't matter. After each mission, Emiya Shirou only felt a faint, mixed sense of joy and emptiness.
It might seem unbelievable, but this was probably one aspect of the end times.
During his travels and battles in his previous life, Emiya Shirou developed his own combat philosophy.
Swords were necessary; some special, mystically related entities could only be dealt with using swords.
But if swords weren't necessary, some methods were more direct than close combat.
If a problem could be solved with a handgun, there was no need for a sword; if a sniper rifle could take someone out, there was no need to risk getting close.
High-powered explosions were effective means of breaking through defenses, and making good use of heavy vehicles often yielded surprising results.
Therefore, both swords and guns were to be used; only then could it be considered sound.
The same applied to dungeon adventuring.
Enemies that could be shot should be killed with arrows; if enemies closed in, then draw the sword, maximizing output—this was Emiya Shirou's combat style.
"Just... like this?" Looking at the few goblin corpses before him turning into dust, the Pallum spearman was a bit stunned.
Goblins, monsters generated in the upper levels of the dungeon, were also the weakest, lowest stat creatures in the dungeon.
Humanoid monsters resembling ugly Pallums, their strength was even lower than that of a strong adult human male without blessings. Their threat mainly came from swarming, ambushes, and the psychological impact their ugly appearance had on novice adventurers.
But even the weakest monsters, attacking in groups, posed a significant danger to novice adventurers. Of course, for a well-configured team like theirs, a few goblins were no threat at all.
However, the perception was entirely different between having a vanguard warrior crush them with a greatsword or a spearman stab them to death after a fight, and dispatching them so effortlessly before the fight even began.
Even Lv.3 Raul couldn't help but be amazed. Although he could cut down hundreds of goblins if they charged at him, the unique beauty of Shirou's combat still left him somewhat astonished.
"Goblin magic stone fragments aren't worth collecting, crush them or leave them for scavengers, let's move on." After a brief moment of surprise, Yuri, as the commander, gave the order.
Goblins, as magical creatures, didn't even have complete magic stones inside them, only very small fragments. The cost-effectiveness of picking magic stone fragments from their ash piles was too troublesome.
In the upper levels of the dungeon, there were "scavengers" who specifically collected unwanted goblin magic stone fragments left by high level adventuters. These were mostly bottom-tier adventurers who lacked the courage and ability to fight, such as the drunken fools from the Soma Familia.
The team continued forward, following the path marked by the guild towards the second level, encountering another goblin attack along the way, with the same result.
The goblins didn't even manage to reach the vanguard before the battle ended with the twang of bowstrings.
"Bows have an overwhelming advantage in the upper levels of the dungeon, especially from the first to the fourth levels, against monsters like goblins and kobolds with low life force." Shirou explained casually as he put down his longbow.
"Because the defense of monsters at this stage is too low."
Goblins are monsters that farmers can kill with pitchforks and spears in groups. Even a Lv.1 novice adventurer can easily take down a goblin with a single heavy hit not to mention, someone trained by Anya. Daily.
At this stage, the attack power of adventurers is excessive, so the drawback of bows, where "power decreases with distance" isn't an issue.
But as you go deeper into the lower levels, against monsters like orcs and minotaurs with strong bodies, high life force and tough defenses, the disadvantage of bows will start to show.
Against such monsters, powerful slashes and magic are still needed.
"No, even in the upper levels, ordinary adventurers can't do this, right." Lefiya couldn't help but shout. "Your shooting frequency and accuracy are just too abnormal."
Bows, in this world, are often associated with the elf race. Elves, born with excellent physical qualities, strong balance, and agility, easily become excellent archers.
This weapon, capable of killing distant enemies with a single shot, is also seen by elves as an "elegant" way of fighting, fitting the noble aesthetics of the children of the forest.
Therefore, when a human claimed to be an archer, Lefiya showed no reaction on the surface, but inside she was somewhat dismissive.
Although she herself wasn't an archer, she couldn't help but feel that the best archers must come from the elf race.
This human was probably the type to pick up a bow, shoot a few random arrows, then grab a sword and charge in.
But Shirou's archery skills far exceeded her expectations.
'He must have a skill related to archer.' the elf girl judged.
If Shirou knew the girl's thoughts, he would probably just remind her that he didn't have falna. Besides, how could elven archery compare to that of a heroic spirit?
Shirou had merely inherited the skills of an Archer-class heroic spirit. Over time he honed his skill well, but upon reincarnation it will still take time to fully adjust his body with the skill.
The third wave of enemies the team encountered were kobolds, literally dog-headed humanoid monsters, also without any strengths or special abilities, the lowest-tier monsters on par with goblins.
Shirou shot an arrow through the eye socket of the last kobold, ending the battle.
"Make sure to finish them off; shooting them in the eye doesn't necessarily mean instant death." Shirou reminded.
"Understood!" The Pallum spearman, Yuri immediately stabbed the kobold corpse in the neck and the monster turned into dust. "Too bad, still no 'drops.'"
Killing dungeon monsters, besides obtaining magic stones, also has a chance to yield drops.
Goblin drops are 'Goblin Fangs' while kobold drops are 'Kobold Claws'.
"The value of drops is much higher than magic stone fragments, but the chance of them appearing is also low." Raul lamented.
Kobold magic stone fragments also weren't worth picking out, so the team continued forward, soon reaching the entrance to the second level.
"I originally thought the greatest significance of 'projection' was the endless supply of arrows, but now it seems my understanding was shallow." Raul, watching the newcomers' battle from the rear, spoke up.
"Eliminating the action of drawing arrows increases shooting efficiency by at least two times." Raul thought not practically someone formidable, even he understood the significance of Shirou's projection magic.
By now, they had reached the fourth level. The first to fourth levels could be considered the "newbie zone," where the monsters didn't have high stats or threat levels.
However, compared to the first level, the increase in monster numbers was noticeable. At least, Shirou couldn't wipe out all the monsters before engaging in combat.
A group of ten goblins charged forward, with Shirou taking out five on the approach, leaving the rest for the vanguard warrior and spearman to handle.
The cowkin warrior's efficiency in killing enemies was also high, her greatsword able to cleave through two or three enemies at once, while the Pallum spearman finished off the stragglers.
Once close combat began, Shirou immediately switched to sword mode, but he wouldn't recklessly charge in to kill enemies. Instead, he stayed close to protect the important mage.
Even though Lefiya was a high Lv.1, one level higher than him, since protecting the mage was his task, Shirou would execute it meticulously.
After killing the monsters, they rested briefly, collecting drops. This time 'Goblin Fangs' dropped, which supporter Raul was responsible for collecting.
The arrows remaining in the floor along with monster ash, of the shot goblins began to dissipate.
Shirou had reduced the duration of his projections to conserve mana. The arrows he projected were also designed and crafted by himself, and because of his high understanding of their structure, the mana consumption was further reduced.
Also main reason was projecting short time items can reduce the burden of Shirou's body while using projection magic.
'Everyone is so amazing.' At this moment, the team's rearguard mage, Lefiya, couldn't help but think.
Originally, she thought that as a high Lv.1 with powerful magic, she would be the core of the team. But now, there was no room for her to perform.
The efficiency of killing was so high that she didn't even have time to finish chanting before the battle was over.
The cowkin warrior, leveraging her body and racial advantages, had endurance and attack power that slightly surpassed her level. The dwarf, limited by racial disadvantages, had low base stats, but he worked hard, memorizing all available information on monsters and the dungeon. His spearmanship lacked genius inspiration but was very solid and steady.
As for Shirou, his god-like archery skills left Lefiya greatly shocked.
'Only I haven't been of any use at all...'
Lefiya gradually felt a sense of disappointment.
"Let's rest here, then head to the fifth level." Raul found an empty room. By moderately damaging the dungeon walls to hinder monster generation, it could serve as a temporary rest area.