"Okay, so how are we gonna go about finding the Monster?" Mused Rosary thoughtfully, as we got to the lake.

I could offer to help detect the Basilisk, but I want to see if any of the others here have a detection Skill too. Fortunately, none of them asked me the specifics of how I sensed that Aerochamelea earlier, probably because of the unspoken rule not to pry into other Adventurers’ information, but I still gave away the fact that I’m able to detect Monsters.

"Whatever we’re gonna do, we should do it quickly, it’s gonna rain soon," Remarked Rayven, staring up at the sky.

Huh? What’s he talking about? There’s hardly any clouds in the sky, certainly no dark storm clouds that I can see, even in the distance. Eh, whatever, maybe he’s just riffing. A little rain shouldn’t be too much of a problem either way.

Anyway, back to detecting the Basilisk...Rosary’s Area Detect won’t work since, the last time, the Basilisk rests at the bottom of the lake, so unless she-...oh? I think I just got a pretty good idea...

"Don’t suppose anyone here has a Skill that lets them fly?" I spoke up curiously.

"Hm? Oh, I have this Skill called Air Walk, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s not technically flying, but it’s close enough. Do you have a plan?" Responded Rayven in fascination.

Wow, didn’t expect him to reveal one of his Skills so openly. Rosary looks a bit exasperated by that, based on her expression. Alright, then, guess I’ll share what’s on my mind.

"Well, Rosary-...I mean, Rose Thorn’s...-Area Detect doesn’t spread out upwards or downwards beyond the top of her head and the bottom of her feet, so...why don’t you carry her in a way where her body is parallel to the surface of the lake and then just walk around the air above the lake until you find the Basilisk," I surmised with a shrug.

"Huh? Okay, first off, just call me Rosary, an alias is pointless if my identity is known. And second off, no...I’m not doing that, it sounds absolutely mortifying and embarr-...," Rosary began to protest indignantly.

"Woah, that’s not half bad! Yeah, that’s pretty creative, actually. It’s simple but efficient, nice...hey, sis, if I hold the tails of your sash while I’m standing in the air above the lake, you’ll be facing the surface of the lake, detecting the Basilisk will be child’s play from there!" Grinned Rayven, after briefly going silent to mull over my plan.

"N-no, absolutely not, I refuse to be carried like that," She shook her head in horror.

"There’s another suggestion I’ve got, but that’s a bit more risky," I remarked with a smirk.

Yeah, honestly, this one’s more of a joke plan. But, that said, it might work really well, now that I think about it.

"I’m afraid to ask, but I can’t think of any other good plans, so...let’s hear it," She responded warily.

"Well, it’s basically inspired by fishing. I’ll tie the end of my whip around you, throw you into the lake, then you get the attention of the Basilisk and provoke it, give the whip a firm tug to alert me to pull you back out once it starts chasing you," I smirked with a thumbs up.

"...why am I the bait?" She muttered incredulously, after glaring at me silently for a few seconds.

Mm, that look’s giving me chills. So freaking hot!

"Isn’t that obvious? It’s because you’re probably the lightest person here after me, and I stand the best chance of pulling out the bait in time if you’re the said bait. Of course, I can’t be the bait, since another person can’t wield a Soul Weapon that doesn’t belong to them. Now, personally, I’d recommend the first plan I suggested, but since you’re the central piece in both plans, it’s totally your choice," I smiled innocently.

"Damn, you came up with two solid plans so quickly? Not bad at all, kid, you make a good first impression," Nodded Rayven in approval.

"Don’t encourage him!" Snapped Rosary indignantly, before glancing back at me, "What about you, you detected that Monster from before, can’t you just use your detection Skill?"

"Sure, I can. But I thought I was just here primarily to observe, so should you really be asking someone who’s been an Adventurer for, like, three days, to do something that you technically could do by yourself?" I pointed out with a tilt of my head.

"Ooh, that’s gotta sting," Chuckled Rayven in amusement.

"You’re getting more and more brazen, aren’t you?" Rosary muttered dryly to me.

"Well, isn’t it just natural to speak more freely the more comfortable you get with another person?" I shrugged in response.

"Okay, this isn’t getting us anywhere. Alright, fine, I’ll do it...Ray, let’s get this over with," She finally relented and accepted my first suggestion, a grimace on her face.

"Sure, leave it to me," He nodded, as he walked behind her, grabbed the lengthy ends of her sash and then leapt up into the air, standing on it as if it were solid ground.

Damn, that looks like a useful Skill to have. I passed on it during my reincarnation since I figured I wouldn’t need it if I learnt to fly using Elemental Wind Magic.

"Get me over the lake, and do it quickly," Remarked Rosary, her face slightly red with an irritable look on her face.

"Gotta say, it’s been nice seeing so many different sides to Miss Rosary in the last few days," Laughed one of the other Adventurers, as Rayven jogged across the air until he was over the lake and then began walking around.

"I know, right? She seems even more attractive now!"

"Ohh, and finding out that she’s been Rose Thorn all along...to think, that she’s an absolute knockout AND can absolutely knock you out makes her so much hotter!"

Huh, that was actually pretty creative, nice. Hm? What are they doing up there? Rayven had moved to more or less the spot above the center of the lake and was now slowly turning around, bit by bit.

Ohh, I get it...instead of walking all over the area above the lake, they’re making full use of Rosary’s range. By spinning her body, they’re continously changing the direction of the upper and lower limits of her range.

"They’re coming back, looks like they must have found it."

"Then it’s time to get serious, no more messing around."

"Yeah, yeah, we’re not rookies, we know."

Huh, maybe they’re more competent than my impression of them. I mean, yeah, they’re Platinum ranked, but they give off strong disposable background character vibes, if you ask me.

"Alright, we found it, let’s head over that way," Suggested Rayven, as he dropped back down to solid ground.

Naturally, no one objected, and as Rosary led the way, I made sure to stick by where the trees were growing...if things go wrong, I won’t hesitate to jump behind a tree to avoid the Basilisk’s gaze and then run away.

Hm, I gotta say though, I’m getting a lot of good ideas at the moment...ideas on how to weaken the Basilisk as much as possible before it emerges from the water.

"Hey, how do you plan to draw it out from the water?" I asked them curiously.

"Huh? Oh, uh...we could cause a commotion and see if it responds," Shrugged Rayven in response.

"We absolutely will not be doing that, not against a Monster we’re unfamiliar with in terms of real experience. We need a better plan. Attacking the water with Elemental Lightning Magic could work," Suggested Rosary after mulling it over.

I considered that too, but if it’s at the bottom of the lake, it probably won’t be too badly affected by that.

"I’ve got a Skill that I can use to provoke it. It’d be better if we use Elemental Lightning right when it’s close to the surface, to maximize the effect and damage. And then, we can use a Dark Spell to create a black mist and obscure its vision, followed by a bright flash to blind it while it’s straining its eyes to see through the mist," I surmised objectively.

"Hm, lightning and a dark mist will be easy enough. But a bright flash? Wouldn’t you need the Light Attribute to do that?" Pointed out Rayven.

Yeah, the brightest explosion of light possible with Magic is with a Light Attribute Spell. But it’s not the only way...

"No, not necessarily. Tell me, when you want to make a lightning Spell more powerful without adding to the output, what do you do?" I asked him.

"Huh? Well, that’s simple, I’d compress the lightning into a small but dense mass," He replied, looking uncertain as to where I was going with this.

"Mhm, that’s right. And the larger the output, the harder it is to compress. Have you ever tried compressing lightning fueled by just one unit of Mana?" I inquired in response.

"Hm? Just one? No, I can’t say I have."

"See, when you compress such a small amount of lightning, it’s ridiculously easy, it hardly takes any effort. It even seems like you could keep compressing it indefinitely," I remarked, as I demonstrated, forming a small spark of lightning and compressing it over my fingertip, before adding as I began to reach the breaking point, "But that’s not possible.

Get to a certain point...and it implodes in a blinding light. I haven’t seen anything like this in the Spell books I’ve studied, so I named this Spell myself. I call it...Elemental Lightning: Flash and Burst!"

Right on cue, I swiftly closed my eyes as the spark burst out into a bright, electric light. Even with my eyes shut, it was reaching my sight.

"Gah...! My eyes!" Gasped Rayven in alarm, the sound of his feet stumbling back echoing out.

"I-I can’t see anything..."

"Ow..."

"Fuck, this sucks!"

"You, uh, didn’t really think that through, did you?" Sighed Rosary, before a wry smile appeared on her face.

"Yeah, I-...my bad," I replied sheepishly, as I averted my gaze...

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