**Raid Party Invitation Letter**
Greetings, Nuel Ainsworth
We're honored to extend an invitation to you to join Eclipse, our raid party, as the final member. Our group consists of five skilled individuals, each bringing unique abilities to the table:
Party Members:
- Kenji (Male, Warrior): Tank with exceptional defensive capabilities and crowd control.
- Lila (Female, Healer): Skilled in restoring health and providing shields for the party.
- Kael (Male, Mage): Deals massive
elemental damage with fire and ice spells.
- Aria (Female, Druid): Summons plants and controls nature's elements.
- Thorne (Male, Rogue): Stealthy assassin with high critical hit rates and agility.
We've heard remarkable testimonies about your hunting prowess, particularly your work with a certain prestigious family. Your skills would be the perfect addition to our team.
An instant dungeon has appeared in the city, and we're eager to clear it. The raid will take place in five hours. We'd be thrilled if you could join us. Your response is urgently required so we can finalize preparations.
If you're interested, please reply as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from you and embarking on this adventure together.
Sincerely,
The Raid Party— Eclipse.
"Are you going for it?" Khaos asked as they walked out of the field of reeds.
"Does it look like I have many choices? And besides it's a special invite. Not many of these people here like me enough to send me an invite to join their party." Nuel replied, folding the letter into his pocket.
Khaos agreed and he didn't bother to talk about it anymore, after all the members of the Eclipse party are prodigies and all members could easily pass for A-rank hunters when together.
"Why don't we visit the weapon shop before you leave?" Leesa suggested, stealing Nuel's attention to herself. "You need a raid gear and maybe a sword too if that's your go to choice of weapon."
Nuel gave her a nod, acknowledging her thoughtfulness and he was also reminded of the system's gambit— he could create weapons with the acquired loot he garnered from monsters.
It wouldn't be a good idea for him to show up to the raid with a weapon which he had crafted from the system without actually knowing the party members first, so he decided to go with Leesa.
"Be careful around him. I have other important things to attend to now." Khaos announced, preparing to make a detour.
"You're leaving? Leaving us alone?" Leesa asked, happy she would finally get some alone time with Nuel.
"Don't get too excited, I will have Pain watch over you while I'm gone." Khaos said.
"Pain? Who is pain?" Nuel asked, suddenly curious about the one who would be watching.
Khaos shook his head, his face still well lighted with his smile. "You don't want to know, trust me."
He finally turned away, walking away from the duo while he made his way towards the tallest building standing within the academy.
Nuel turned at Leesa, expecting her to fill up his curiosity with answers and she understood the assignment right away.
"Pain is his watchdog. A spirit that comes in different forms. He can be an eagle, a dog, or even human if need be. All in all, Pain is his greatest summon or perhaps classified as Khaos right hand man."
"How did this come to be?"
"It's a reward granted to Khaos by the moon goddess, one of the three sky lords."
Nuel's brows etched a curve, a sense of familiarity dawning on him as he heard this.
He wasn't sure what could have prompted the chaos that suddenly filled his mind at the mention of the moon goddess and three sky lords and why he felt drawn to them even though he wasn't sure of their actual existence.
"The weapon shop is right this way." Leesa announced, bringing him back to reality.
***
FIVE HOURS LATER
Standing in front of an ominous searing shadowy rift, Nuel was standing alone in full battle gear with a sword hanging by his waist.
He had been waiting for a while, allowing him to pay less attention to the instant dungeon's forefront which had a dark, foreboding entrance that looms ominously, shrouded in shadows.
Leesa had earlier helped him drop a reply to the party leader while he checked in to see his aunt Zixuan before the raid.
Leesa had gotten another letter as a reply and this letter had the blueprint of the entire city, granting him the access to navigate his way to the instant dungeon site all alone if he could make it there.
The air around the rift was thick and the light of the day wouldn't shine around the dungeon.
The scent of damp stone and decay, with swirling energies that casted eerie shadows all over with jagged rocks and twisted roots protrude from the ground, creating a treacherous path as if the life within the dungeon was crawling into the city.
After about twenty minutes, the party members finally showed up. All five of them were dressed in combat suits which overlapped with their battle gear.
[(Ding!)]
The system interface suddenly popped into view with the pending quest tab Nuel was yet to complete.
[The player is required to find another player and make his first exchange]
[Reward: A system title]
'I have to get this done as soon as possible.' Nuel thought.
"We apologize for showing up late, Nuel and we thank you for accepting our invitation." One of the members said with a very formal tone.
Nuel was quick to decipher him as the leader of the party with his sturdy look and the aura stain in how he spoke.
"I guess I got too excited that I had to come first." Nuel said back to him, accessing the other members too.
The two girls on the teams were pretty, but to Nuel, Leesa was better looking. Their hairs were an elegant mix, while one had hers packed in a sleek ponytail, the other let hers down and the tip of her hair touched the bump of her behind.
"My name is Kenji Aruba and I am the leader of this raid party." Kenji finally introduced himself.
"Kael." The other boy said nonchalantly like he doesn't want to be anywhere near all of them.
"Lila Rivera." The cutest of the girls introduced, though she looked mean for no reason.
"I guess you're Thorne." Nuel said, saving the last guy the stress of saying a word because of how buff and hefty he looked. Introducing himself would probably wear him out.
"Thorne Moonstone."
The last girl walked up to Nuel with a very strange look in her eyes, almost pressing him into a hug. He didn't understand why she was doing that, but he knew he had to set boundaries.
Nuel stepped away from her and she smiled, opting for a handshake.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Nuel Ainsworth, I'm Aria Lee."