Party Meeting and Preparing for the Raid

30 minutes later, we arrived at the bed and breakfast that Penny was staying at. She muttered something at Anna about how embarrassed she was, and Anna laughed at her friend. I asked how she knew Penny and Anna said that Penny taught her self-defence techniques when she joined the guild.

I revealed that she had taught me too, and we bonded over how good of a teacher Penny was.

The drive to the outpost near the Dungeon entrance took a few minutes. After Anna parked, I followed her to the outpost. It was a thin, two-story building that stood just outside an entrance gate to the conservation park.

Inside, on the ground floor, was an open-plan set of rooms including the outpost's kitchen and pantry, and meeting room. There was a set of stairs right next to the pantry that led to three living quarters and a shared bathroom.

Anna explained that two guild members lived at the outpost six months at a time while the Dungeon was still active and kept an eye on and comms with base camp inside the Dungeon.

While we were all part of the same guild, the two guild members that lived at the outpost stayed in their living quarters and Anna explained that they wouldn't come out until it was time to have the party meeting when the fifth member of the party arrived at the outpost.

I thought I was quite antisocial.

I helped Anna set up the documentation that she had gathered about the Dungeon. It was only a thin manilla folder with a few documents. The simplicity and low tier level of the Dungeon meant that there weren't many notes or strategies to clear the Dungeon.

"The fact that the Dungeon is relatively quick to clear to higher-tiered Dungeons also means that there's not a lot to keep in mind," Anna explained enthusiastically, "Which is pretty good for me since I can be a little bit of a klutz sometimes!"

A few minutes after we finished laying out the folders, the fifth member of the Party arrived at the outpost and called the other members down from their rooms.

Anna greeted the fifth member warmly and gave him a tight hug. It was quick and professional, like those given between people who've worked together before in tight situations.

Our party consisted of Anna and me; the two Hero's Stand members currently stationed at the outpost, Aaron Pitt and Ivan Gaffer; and, Warren Aster, the last to arrive at the outpost.

Using the System's Party mechanic, I was greeted with windows that quickly gave me information on the other members.

Aaron Pitt was 20 years old and even though he was a C-grade Healer, specialising in keeping the parties he joined alive, it was obvious that he had had much more experience than me. I caught him glancing at me, and he had a small scowl on his face. I assumed that he wasn't happy with how weak I was, but he didn't say anything. He let his orange fringe hang down over his eyes when he looked away from me.

Ivan was a D-grade Ranger. He was skinny 19 year-old and he looked to have been of some sort of European descent with his bright blonde hair and blue eyes. As a Ranger, Ivan was to be our party's main damage dealer since he was the only member with ranged attacks, and even though he was only a D-grade Player, he had taken part in clearing multiple D-tier Dungeons all over Australia.

Warren Aster was a C-grade Tank that specialised in taunting and soaking up damage. Though his overall grade was only C, his Fortitude was at an incredible B-grade and his Aptitude attribute was C+. He was tanner than the rest of us, and even though he wasn't as big as Alan, he was quite sizeable. He was big enough that nobody would mess with him if he was a bouncer at a club.

"I guess it's time to introduce the newbie!" Anna announced after explaining everybody else's roles, "Since he's just joined the guild and is still learning the basics, he will be our Mule."

I nodded shyly at the three men. Warren, perpetuating the stereotype that all tanks are pretty much friendly giants, greeted me the warmest by shaking my hands and patting me on the shoulder, while Ivan simply returned my silent nod and Aaron continued scowling at me.

Soon enough, the meeting was adjourned, and we went our separate ways to prepare for the Raid. I had brought a simple survival pack with me that I bought from the guild's tool shop in Melbourne. The survival pack included a small tent, a sleeping bag, dried food packets to last a few days and a water canteen. It all was placed quite neatly and tightly in a medium-sized hiking backpack.

Our Raid was to start in a few hours since it was just over four days till Dungeon Break. Even though the Dungeon only usually took three days to clear, it was guild policy to have at least a day to spare in case of emergencies.

Since my preparations were simple and already finished, I decided to wait outside the outpost and watch the Dungeon Portal in silence. Several guild researchers entered and exited the Portal as they cleared out Base Camp which was stationed about 500 metres from entering the Dungeon.

"They have to empty out as much as they need to every time a Dungeon Clearing Quest is about to happen," Warren said as he sat down on the bench I was on next to me.

I had been using my Meditation skill to try and calm my nerves.

"Unless a Dungeon Break occurs, nothing that originated from within the Dungeons can be taken out of the Dungeons, so that's why everyone sets up Base Camps to research to their heart's content on anything and everything inside the Dungeon," Warren explained when I looked at him questioningly, "When a Dungeon is about to be cleared, all personnel and their personal belongings that they brought into the Dungeon has to be taken out."

"Nobody wants to stay in the Dungeon?" I asked sheepishly.

"Well," Warren chuckled, "Once the Dungeon is Cleared, it's locked for three years. That means no communications, no provisions and no support for three years. Researchers don't have an affinity for combat, and it's unfeasible to leave multiple combat-capable Players inside a locked Dungeon like that."

"Oh…" I blushed a bit because of the stupid question I asked.

"Don't worry about it," Warren smiled at me, "You're brand new to this world, looks like."

"I'm a bit nervous."

"Everyone does. Even if it's one of the easier Raids, like this one," Warren assured me, "It's just human nature to fear the unknown, and what we haven't experienced before. That's why they always bring people like me and Anna in to look after newbies!"

"Thanks. In advance," I said.

"No problem bud," Warren beamed, "I'm gonna finish up getting my stuff ready. Just wanted to check up on you for a bit before the Raid started."

"Thanks," I smiled as Warren stood up and walked away.

I checked the time on my phone.

One hour till the Raid starts.