"Oh hey Shiro." Helion greeted as he saw the trio enter his store. Since everyone was focused on the faction recruitment, not many were paying attention to his store.
[Hi. Are you able to help these two make some weapon and armour for tomorrow's event?] Shiro asked.
"Eh? You three don't know?" Helion asked.
"Don't know what?" Lyrica replied, tilting her head slightly.
"After last time's event, where some rich f*cker got ridiculous items, they banned that. Now, everyone has the same equipment and has to battle it out using their skills." Helion explained as he laid back on his chair.
Shiro casually pulled out a chair and sat down as well.
Madison was surprised seeing how nonchalant Shiro was in this environment.
[Is that so. Seems like you got quite a bit of insider information. Want to share it?]
"Pft insider information? I just happen to overhear a few of the staff talk. If you thought I was able to be selected as a member of staff I can say you are dead wrong. I'm only good for lifting a hammer hahaha." Helion laughed.
[You say that but not many can use Elemental True Armour at their first class up.] Shiro praised.
"What's elemental true armour?" Madison asked.
"Elemental True Armour is when a person coats themselves with a respective element to boost their powers to another level. This elemental armour appears when a person is around the mid to top of tier 3 attunement." Lyrica explained.
"Seems like your friend is pretty knowledgeable eh Shiro?" Helion said while Shiro nodded.
[It's as Lyrica said. Elemental True Armour appears when a person is around mid to top of tier 3 attunement. Not many people can reach that kind of power when they're level 50.] Shiro typed out.
"By the way, how old are you Helion?" Lyrica asked curiously.
"Me? I'm 25." Helion replied simply as Lyrica widened her eyes in surprise.
Meanwhile, Madison couldn't help but be left out from this group. Lyrica had a thing called Hidden Proficiency, Shiro was level 34 at 13 years of age. And now they also had a Helion who was level 50 at 25 years of age.
Shiro raised an eyebrow seeing Madison's mood.
'Ah she's kind of like Lyrica in a way.' She thought since Lyrica also had this problem before her discovery of her hidden proficiency.
[Madison, what classes are available to you or have you picked one already?] Shiro asked.
"Ah me? The next class I chose is Knight. This class will let me become a better tanker." Madison replied.
"Hou~ Shiro, are you planning to make a party?" Helion asked seeing this. Shiro is an outstanding mage, Lyrica was a damage dealer and Madison will become a tank. This from his opinion is a standard foundation for a party. While they lacked a healer as of now, they could get one later down the line.
[Indeed. Want to join the fun?] Shiro asked, throwing him a simple invitation. She didn't think anything could attract his attention since there was nothing this party could offer.
"Nah. I'm pretty satisfied with what I have currently. I'm making my way through my own class up as well. The most important part is that I might ruin the party if you understand me? With a high level like me in the party, the fights become much easier than what they're supposed to be like. There'll be no progression otherwise." Helion explained.
[You're not wrong on that.] Shiro agreed since having someone carry a party was never a good point.
However, she wasn't planning on letting Helion carry their party. What she wanted was to give him the idea first. Open him up to the opportunity.
Then when they're higher level in the future, she'll be able to strike.
After chatting for a little while, they made their way back to the dorms.
[So what class up requirements do you need to complete for your class?] Shiro asked.
"Since I'm going for the defensive knight, I just need to successfully block the attacks of bosses. The bosses must be level 20 or above." Madison replied.
[Is that the main objective?]
"Yeah. I've pretty much done the other ones. It's just this one left."
'Hmm, since we got a few hours left to the day, we should be able to help Madison reach the next class.' Shiro thought as she turned over to Madison.
[Why don't the three of us challenge the Dungeon? We can try level Lyrica up as well as help you class up.]
"Sure. We haven't gone to a Dungeon with just us three have we?" Madison asked. The last time they partied up was during the Shadow Temple Dungeon. However, Madison's other friends were there as well so it couldn't really count as partying with just the three of them.
"Well which Dungeon shall we challenge then? Since if it's too high, I won't be able to block the boss's attack." Madison asked.
"Hmm, let's focus on you Madison. Since I've already classed up, I can wait." Lyrica said.
[Alright. For Madison, we need to focus on how you counter and block against the boss and humans. Since your role is being a tanker, you must focus your mind on blocking every strike along with countering at the right moment.] Shiro said as Madison nodded seriously.
She knew that when it came to fighting, Shiro was always serious. While her go to weakness of attacking the rear was a little shameless, it is a very effective method against both monsters and humans. The only limiting factor is how much embarrassment you could endure.
In this area, it seemed like Shiro was unmatched.
[And for that, I have a great way for you to practise against the boss.] Shiro smiled meaningfully.
"What do you mean?"
###
"My lord. This servant is useless. I haven't been able to dig up her past. It's as if she was literally born a few weeks ago. Of all the records I've managed to recover, they don't go further than when she first appeared in the teleport shrine." Mark said as he kneeled towards Lucius.
"Mn." Lucius nodded slightly.
'Strange.' He thought. Mark was of the best scouts that he had in terms of information gathering. For him to fail in discovering her background only served to propel his curiosity further.
"Don't mind it. How goes her progress in the event?" Lucius asked.
"She's managed to reach top 100 with relative ease. Her friends on the other hand reached top 500 and top 1000 respectively. The elf is the one that reached top 500." Mark replied.
"What about her potential?"
"From her records, it seems like she has a hidden proficiency. As for earlier records and family background, there were signs cover-up. Seems like she's from a large family."
"Hmm… could it be that she's from THE Valenstaine family? Though I highly doubt it." Lucius said.
The Valenstaine family he was on about was one of the 7 noble Elven families. All of their offspring's are famed swordsman/woman who are all well known in the public eye.
Since they were constantly under public scrutiny, the public knew the members of the family quite well. Therefore, Lucius didn't think that Lyrica was part of the Valenstaine family. Not only that, people having the same surname wasn't uncommon. It was like the top Chinese surnames.
Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu and Chen.
These 5 were the common Chinese surnames. And much like these, the Valenstaine name was a common one in the elven race.
"It's very unlikely she's apart the Valenstaine family since her appearance doesn't match." Mark replied.
"True."
Valenstaine had sky blue hair while Lyrica had blond. Though gene mutation could have changed it so Lucius didn't pay attention to the colour of her hair.
"Well try to recruit them as best as you can. Remember to prioritise Shiro since she's one of the most talented people we've seen even when compared to the bigger cities." Lucius concluded.
"Understood."
###
"Nan Tian, it seems like Shiro has entered a low level Dungeon with her friends. The Dungeon is a level 20 dungeon and the boss heavily relies on speed."
"Ohya? Seems like she wants to nurture her future tanker in the art of countering." Nan Tian said. Huan Er was slightly surprised at how he came to the conclusion.
Understanding Huan Er confusion, Nan Tian explained.
"It's because you can easily tell what she wants. I can read her expression like an open book hahaha." Nan Tian chuckled softly.
Huan Er raised an eyebrow.
'How?! She's literally either smiling slightly or expressionless!'
"But I do wonder why she has so much combat experience even though she's so young." Nan Tian muttered.
"Do you think she's involved with a secret nurturing program of sorts?" Huan Er asked.
"No I don't think she is. But perhaps it's not far off." Nan Tian said with narrowed eyes.
He knew that snow girls could form from the corpse of a female adventurer. And that could be the reason as to why she was able to have such combat experience.
Although, it still doesn't explain why her combat experience was so vast.
This wasn't something a D ranked adventurer should have, especially since she left a mutated Dungeon of such low level.
'How peculiar…' Nan Tian thought as a smile crept up on his face. The more he looked into Shiro, the more secrets she held and the more she interested him.
"How long do I have until I need to return to the sect again?" Nan Tian asked, turning to Huan Er.
"We still have another 2 weeks here."
"Hmmm… extend that to a few months would you?" Nan Tian asked.
"Why a few months?"
"Just put it down as self-discovery hahahaha." Nan Tian laughed.
"Self... Discovery?" Huan Er asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. I want to spend a little bit of time away from work and documents. Discover something that interests me." Nan Tian replied.
"Noted."
Keying in the request, they soon got a response.
"The sect has approved. They gave you an extension of half a year."
"Half a year? Hmm... I suppose that'll do." Nan Tian muttered a little unsatisfied. While he did say a few months, he had hoped for a year.
'Maybe I should be more straight forward next time?' He thought with amusement.
Meanwhile, back with Shiro and co in the dungeon…
"SHIRO!!! HELP!!!!" Madison cried out as she blocked another one of the boss's strikes.
"Madison! Shiro told me to tell you that you can do it! You just need to make sure you redirect the force and create an opening! It's a fundamental skill every tanker needs!" Lyrica shouted out since Shiro couldn't talk.
Currently, Lyrica and Shiro was resting by the side while they watched Madison fight the boss by herself.
"HELP ME PLEASE!!!" Madison shouted out as she rolled away from one of the boss's strikes.
Shiro's strategy in helping Madison grow stronger was simply to get her to fight the boss on her own and hone her survival instincts.
"Shiro told me to tell you! Just keep going! You know we won't help you unless you are literally on your last leg!!"
"ARGG!!" Madison cried out in frustration and slammed her sword into the boss's body.
The boss was an insectoid boss. It had a lot of similarities with a prying mantis with his bladed arms being able to strike out with high velocity.
Madison used several defence bolstering skills and charged at the boss.
Slashing her sword diagonally, she stepped down hard to increase her power.
*DANG!
The clash of metal against chitin reverberated outwards as the sword could be seen vibrating from the shock.
Madison gritted her teeth from the shock since the boss was able to move its chitin in the way just in time.
Due to the shock, she was left paralysed for a slight moment.
Shiro sighed and flicked her wrist.
*BOOM!
The boss was sent backwards with a blast of ice, giving Madison the moment she needed to recover.
"Shiro told me to tell you! Learn from the boss! See how he managed to reflect your attack and leave you stunned for a moment!" Lyrica shouted out.
Madison paused a little as she replayed the previous scenario in her mind.
"God I hope this works." She muttered since she had a slight idea on what she needed to do.
Dashing towards the boss, she sidestepped his slash.
His other blade-like claw swept towards her as it saw his first attack fail.
Moving her sword into a position to parry the strike, Madison jolted her sword just before the attack landed.
While the force still travelled through her, she could tell it was much weaker than before. The boss however, was sent recoiling backwards.
"I DID IT!" Madison shouted out with joy.
Shiro smiled seeing her growth.
'There were go.' She thought. The human potential was best stimulated during times of danger.
Madison just needed that extra push to learn the technique of redirecting the force.
With this, she'll hit one of the requirements to become a top tier tanker.