"So since you both have passed the test, Shiro passing with flying colours, we'll include you into our raiding party." Jonas said as Shiro nodded.
[How many people are you lacking right now?]
"Ehh… I think we're just lacking 3 now right?" Jonas asked his friends.
"We just need 2 more people to apply for our group and we'll have everyone." Silvia replied.
"Alright, the earliest we can do would be today. The latest maybe tomorrow." Jonas said, turning back to the 2.
"Do you want to follow us to get some supplies first then?" Jonas asked.
'If I take Lyrica with me to get supplies, she might get an idea of what's needed in a raid.'
[Sure.]
"Alright, we'll go to the shop we normally go to. We'll get a little discount there." Jonas smiled.
[Lead the way.]
Walking out of the training facility, they headed towards the Alchemists first.
"Hey Lyrica, where did you learn to use your blade like that?" Paul asked.
"I-I don't know. When I use my weapon, my body knows what to do instinctively." Lyrica replied feeling embarrassed.
"Hehh is that so…"
"Paul cut it out. She'll tell us what she wants us to know." Trace said as Lyrica smiled wearily.
Shiro only smiled seeing Lyrica get the attention.
Meanwhile, Yin was taking most of her time since the little bird was more fun to play with than she had thought.
"Ah um Shiro?" Erica, the fire mage, asked hesitantly.
[Yes?]
"I know I shouldn't do this, but how do you cast your spells so quickly?" She asked.
For Shiro to be able to freeze both Paul and Trace so quickly meant her visualisation was extremely good.
[I just imagine my spell and fire it. Nothing out of the ordinary. I just imagine my mana holding the atoms and stop them from moving. As for you, it'll be using your mana to try speed up the shaking of the atoms I guess.] Shiro shrugged.
"Eh? How do I imagine atoms? What do they look like? I've tried with the images I've seen but they never work."
Hearing this, Shiro paused as in her past life, the technology was slightly more advanced than this world. She could visualise the atom but it was hard to explain.
Just seeing it once can imprint an image into your mind but describing it was another matter.
[I don't know how to describe it. But I suppose if anything, you should train your mind. Multitask and keep your brain under stress to keep it working.]
"Can you explain further?"
[It's like this. Imagine having a bunch of arrows fire at you from 360 degrees. Now, I want you to single out the fastest one and fire a fireball at it. While your thinking about your fireball, I want you to single out the second fastest and fire a second fireball. Understand?] Shiro typed out.
Naturally, being able to think that quickly required some talent. This was another strange aspect of her reincarnation.
Most of her body's specs were the same. The brains processing speed, the hand-eye coordination, the instant acceleration from no speed to max. It's as if this body was modelled after her first life.
The abnormal brain process and senses were strange.
"Ehh?! I don't get it."
Shiro paused for a second as she had another idea.
[Imagine this. If you play a game with lots of fast appearing targets. You have to single out those targets while planning for the next one.] Shiro typed out.
"I know what you're trying to say, but I just don't know how to. My mind can't think 2 things at once." Erica sighed as Shiro shrugged.
Split thoughts were hard to do normally never mind in combat. Therefore, it wasn't odd for Erica to struggle.
Thankfully, they reached the store so it didn't get awkward.
Walking inside the store, they walked straight to the counter.
"TED! I'm here to get some supplies again!" Jonas shouted out.
"COMING!" A voice called back. Soon they saw the person as he was an obese bald man.
[Ted LVL 40 – Alchemist]
"What supplies do you want this time?" Ted asked.
"We want some antidotes, some HP, some MP, reinforcement, berserk, bulwark, frenzy and some fear resistant potions please. Enough for a party of 35." Jonas listed out.
"Hey Shiro, do you know what potions they are? I don't buy potions often so I don't know." Lyrica whispered over.
[Antidotes, HP and MP are self-explanatory. Reinforcement increases defence by 20% for a long time, berserk increases attack by 10% and attack speed by 10%. Bulwark reduce incoming damage by 25% for 5 hits, frenzy increases attack speed by 30% and fear resistance is self-explanatory.] Shiro typed out from memory.
"I see, but don't we have healers and supports for those?"
[We do, but, potions and buffs can stack. With potions, you'll be able to increase your power output by a wide margin to guarantee your safety a little better.
What would you rather have? A singular buff or 2 stacked together?]
"Two."
[Then you have your answer.] Shiro smiled.
Jonas paid for the items as he handed a set to both Shiro and Lyrica.
"When the time comes, we'll call out which potions to use. If you can, try to use the HP potions so the strain on Silvia isn't as big." Jonas said as Shiro nodded.
She wasn't planning on using any of the potions since she can handle herself.
Lyrica on the other hand…
[Listen to Jonas. Use the HP potion when you can.] Shiro typed out.
"But I thought you told me to not drink them if I could help it." Lyrica asked.
[Yes. However, this is a raid. We can't be stringent about our intake. Not to mention, if you die, you can't worry about future side effects. So if use the potion when you can in this raid.]
"Alright." Lyrica nodded as she trusted Shiro.
"We just got news; the raiding party is filled. We can go to the raid today." Jonas said as he looked up from his phone.
[Right now?] Shiro asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well not right now. Rather tomorrow so I can give the other recruits a chance at arriving." Jonas chuckled.
[Well in that case then can you tell me what time and where?]
"Hmm… We'll meet up at 10am outside of the Raid Dungeon. Would that be ok?" Jonas asked.
Shiro nodded as it wasn't too difficult for her.
[Then we'll see you tomorrow.]
"See you tomorrow."
Leaving the store with Lyrica, Shiro turned to her and typed something on her phone.
[Are you able to tell me the main points one must take notice of when attempting a raid?] Shiro asked.
"Err… I need to make sure the party is high level. I need supplies and info about the raid?" Lyrica asked unsure.
[Almost. When you look for a raid party, make sure the party leader isn't too high levelled. Make sure he or she is within your range. This makes it so that you're able to defend yourself if they backstab.
Next, as you said, you need supplies. But what supplies? You need spare weapons, and potions.
Weapons break often in a raid so you need spares. However, your blade right now will fit the bill for this raid.] Shiro smiled.
[From what I've found, the Spider's Whisper is made up of a series of bosses and puzzles. 3 bosses, 3 challenges and a final boss. Each of the bosses are large scaled bosses with the Raid Boss title.
We'll need to make sure that we are actually able to deliver a final crushing blow or else the fight will never end. Therefore, one must know where our attack lies. If we cannot give them a killing blow, they will stay at 1 HP the entire time.]
"And that's where the D ranks come in right?"
[Yep, D ranks like me, Jonas and Erica are responsible to try deal the killing blow.] Shiro nodded.
"Is there anything else I need to think about?"
'Hmm…' Shiro thought about what she's already told Lyrica.
[Don't touch anything carelessly. You don't know if it's a trap.]
"Alright. So in a nutshell…"
[Just follow me and don't touch anything carelessly.]
"I thought so."
###
Arriving at the location, Lyrica was surprised at the sheer amount of people preparing for the raid.
There were people who had set up a mini tent and rested. Others were doing some light spars.
"Hey you made it." Jonas smiled as he waved to them.
[Yeah. It wasn't too hard to miss the giant crowd of people standing around here.]
"I suppose so haha. We're just waiting for a few others. Why don't you walk around for a bit, get to know your teammates a little." Jonas suggested.
Shiro nodded before walking away with Lyrica.
However, she didn't look for anyone mostly due to the fact that it was pointless. Trying to understand each other within such a small time frame didn't do much. It was like a student crunching to revise for a test 10 minutes before the test. Useless struggle.
Looking for a chair or something similar to sit on, Shiro and Lyrica had a mini-tour around the camp.
This aroused some whispers as Shiro was injured and Lyrica was only a level 15.
Whilst walking, a tall woman blocked their way as her face was annoyed.
"Why are brats like you joining the raid? Stay at school or something. Don't put us all in danger." She said with a frown.
[We won't hold back the team don't worry. We already passed the test the leader set.] Shiro replied, hoping to not bare any hostility.
Fighting in a team was a no go in a raid. The discord set in the team could potentially kill everyone due to hesitation to work together.
"You pass the test? Maybe, but don't tell me that level 15 friend of yours also passed the test." She pointed at Lyrica.
[She did indeed. Do you have a problem with that? If so, ask the leader and not complain to us.] Shiro shrugged.
She wasn't going to show hostility, but it doesn't mean she likes to be pushed around.
This caused the woman to frown as she walked away towards the leader.
"Shiro I don't think this was a good idea ah." Lyrica said worriedly.
[Don't worry about it. This is common since no one wants to die.]
*DONG DONG DONG!!!
Jonas hit a metal plate three times to gain everyone's attention.
"So I know there are a few complaints of having Shiro and Lyrica join this raid. But I can assure you that their capabilities are real. A good way for you guys is to see for yourself." Jonas shouted out.
"We'll do a tester first. See how we are in the first challenge and first boss. If it's a struggle, then we'll stop early since there's no point continuing to our deaths." He continued.
The raid party talked for a little while as they eventually agreed.
[Thanks.] Shiro thanked Jonas as this would help quite a bit. Displaying the abilities to match the talking was the best way to prove yourself.
With the first challenge and first boss being used as testers, it would be easy to show off their overall potential.
It took the last few adventurer's 20 minutes to arrive as Jonas frowned at their tardiness.
"Sorry, I was in a traffic jam."
Was their excuse. Jonas could only sigh in annoyance as he added everyone into a raid party.
The highest level in the raid party was Jonas being at level 30, followed by Silvia at level 30 and Shiro at level 28.
The lowest was naturally Lyrica, being at level 15.
Entering the Dungeon Raid, they were welcomed by a ghastly sight.
The location was that of a ruined city coated with webs and nests like structures.
"This is just the appetiser. We'll need to fight through a horde whilst we go to the main raid. Points to look out for. Webs. Just webs since there will be shooters on the walls. Either kill them fast or dodge their attacks got it!?" Jonas shouted out.
"I take that silence as a yes. Tankers take the front, healers in the middle with mages. Everyone else spread out! LET'S GO!" He shouted as they charged forwards
*KRRRRR!!!!!
An echoing cry rang out as they could see spiders crawling out of the windows of the buildings. Out of the ground and from the bins.
Each of the spiders was the size of a human baby and had a dark purple armour. Several pairs of neon red eyes that glowed ominously and a hairy armoured abdominal area.
[Dark Spider Drone LVL 15]