Lucian had started walking towards the station when he received a response to his message. He got a bit excited as he read it, Yes! Someone is willing to do something! Wait what if it was Mike wanting to grind endurance? The thought of being one on one with mike, wasn't a high priority on Lucian's to do list, and as much as he wasn't keen on the kid, the idea of violently smacking him around for hours didn't seem enticing either.

His worries got set aside though as he read the response from Ren. Again, Lucian found himself smiling as he read over it, Why? A bit confused at his meaningless joy, he shook his head and started to head out. He would meet Ren up outside of Saito's shop, least that's what he would try to work on typing in a pm, he found it a bit hard to do so secretly as there was a few more people around on the train then usual, and he would rather not draw such attention to himself. So the message was finished when he was close to the store.

Ren's normal wear was well... normal. A black jacket, a dark grey t-shirt, a pair of loose fitting slacks, and some blue and white shoes. Ren usually didn't go out much, but when he did he wore clothes that were as boring as possible, unless he was going to an anime convention. That was a whole different story. But for now Ren's clothes were like the look in his eyes, boring. Yes as Ren walked he usually had a bored look upon his face. It helped keep people at bay. People he never cared for, which was everyone. Unfortunately having this power and being in this situation meant he had to associate himself with people, which he was never keen on doing, but if he was going to survive then he would have to learn to adapt.

Suddenly a PM from Lucian arrived as Ren made his way to Saito's shop and Maria stopped to read it, only having to read it for a moment before inconspicuously touching the air to dismiss it. Ren guessed it might be a good idea to have another person there who was probably better socially than Ren, who never really made a good impression with his strange hair, weird eyes, and cold disposition. Ren walked to the shop, arriving about a minute after Lucian did. The boy looked up at Lucian for a few moments. "Lets go in. We need to try and convince Saito to help us, or at least give us information on who's after us, so lets try and be nice to him..." Ren sighed a little, clearly not looking forward to this, but knew that they needed help and had no choice.

---

A bell rung the moment they stepped in.

"Welcome valued custo--" He was about to finish, but the moment he saw who had entered he sighed heavily, rubbing his temples for a few moments. "Oh, its you two again. Normally I would tell you to go away, but judging from what's going around the auction site under 'Information', I think ill let it slide this time." From his words it appeared that Saito was willing to provide some form of help, but the matter would be convincing him to help.

With Lucian probably being the better negotiator, or so Ren assumed anyway since Ren knew that his own social skills were shit, the young 'boy' decided to stand back for now and let him speak, hoping that he wouldn't fuck up one of their chances for receiving some form of help. Naturally Ren had his own questions, but decided that Lucian, who was older, should speak first.

"It isn't really hard to be 'nice'," Lucian shrugged a bit at Ren's comment, Lucian didn't think much of most people, but he didn't find it hard to talk with others or have some form of mannerism. He walked into the shop to a lovely greeting from Saito, who clearly wasn't that happy to see the two of them again.

"Yeaah." Lucian pushing up his glasses, gave a light chuckle. "It looks like we are going to be in a tough spot, regardless of what we do now." He walked up to the counter of the store to standing across from Saito, "As such, we are trying to get ourselves ready for anything in any and everyway we can." He looked again at Saito's tag, declaring him as an artificer, then held his hand out to shake, "Oh and I am Lucian, and this is Ren," He pointed over at his fellow gamer, "So we are going to be trying to find out anything we can about the abyss auction, as we are a bit newer to it, and trying to find people who are stronger then us that might be willing to help if we are in a pinch." He held up a hand and pinched the air as he let out the last word, "So, would you be willing to help us in anyway, information, books, or know someone who would be willing?" Lucian shrugged, "At the moment, we have potential, but other than being able to visual see how strong people are and a few skills, we really don't have much going for us yet."

Since this was his first day attending a real school, there was no way Mike could justify skipping class...not that he wanted to of course. Not only was it exciting, but based on what he had heard from his fellow party members, it might be a good source of free INT points, which would help when he finally found a healing skill (unless it scaled off of his WIS or VIT, like the very Crusaders he was trying to mimic...that would be awesome). He was already feeling the effect of the boosted WIS, his mind was so much more clear and, for lack of a better word, flexible. He found that focusing on the teacher was easy despite his excitement. It was then that he remembered something; the folding chair he had just wasn't going to cut it, he needed something better. He decided to send out a quick PM to the others while he still remembered



That done, he returned ho focus to the lecture. Mike honestly couldn't understand why so many people complained about school so much; he was having the time of his life here

Lucian Negotiation: 40 - 27 Negotiation = 13

---

Saito listened to Lucian present his case, or just plain and simple ask for help. He seemed to scratch his chin for a few moments, thinking of something apparently as he wasn't flat out rejecting Lucian after he finished speaking. After a few moments he sighed, looking at them as he opened his eyes. "Look, i'd love to help, but I have a 'no getting involved' policy in the affairs of others. I remain unaffiliated with people and whatever enemies they have don't come after me as even if the Auction is helping me out by keeping people off of my back, I doubt that protection can remain perfect all the time." Despite how bleak the prospect of him helping them looked he suddenly began to speak again by adding a simple "But...", adding to the hope that he was helping them.

"If you guys are my customers, then that doesn't count as me being allied with you." He nodded, thinking this was a good plan. "I know what its like being a newbie in this supernatural underworld, so I am not gonna leave you to die out there, but you have to understand that I also have to watch my own back so I can only help you to this extent as letting you guys shop here, but if its info you want, I can give that for free." He suddenly walked over to the counter where the register, and computer, was, turning it on and typing a few things.

"If you're wondering who's after you right now, be thankful that its no one big. Trust me, before the auction started helping me out I was in your shoes as well. You'll probably just have the scumbag Hunters to worry about right now. You may have potential, but not enough to cause the bigger fish in the sea to notice you." He seemed to pause now looking at the screen, reading over something for a few moments. "Yep, info is selling on you guys on the Auction's site, but most of the purchasers are small fry... still..." He walked out from behind the counter, standing in front of it and across from them for now.

"They aren't pushovers on our standards, so don't think you'll get out easily. Hunters are tough, sadistic bastards who generally go after weaker, unaffiliated Ability Users like yourselves and either sell them as slaves on the Auction or take them to places called Mana Factories... and once your there..." Saito stopped, his expression growing ominous and a small shudder going up his spine for a moment. "You'll wish that they just killed you..." He shook his head though, taking a moment to calm down as clearly the mention of a mana factory made him remember something, but it probably was best not to ask about what it was.

"Anyway, that's all the info I can offer you about who could be after you. Now then, enough on that." He looked to the two of them now, looking them over for a few moments before checking his ring, and then back at them. "You got some fight in ya, but you're probably about... very low E rank in terms of strength, maybe. Its hard to say. So naturally you will need weapons to defend yourself. I recommend checking out the Auction for that, look up..." He stopped, writing a few things on a piece of paper before handing it to Lucian. "This guy's weapons on there. Whenever I need a nicely crafted vessel for an enchantment I turn to this guy as he sells good stuff for a fair price and keeps it secret. Of course, you'll still need alot of money. I recommend checking out the Job Boards. Usually you can get money or goods from doing things for people, Services being quite a common currency in the Abyss unlike in the normal world. With that said, if you guys have anything you can do for me as well I am willing to let you do that instead of having you pay me, after all it is business. So... what exactly is your power anyway?"

Ren decided to speak up here. He figured as the one who has had the most experience among them with this Gamer power he should speak up here to explain to Saito just what it was, scratching his head for a few moments as he began to try and find a proper explanation, but just sighing as he gave up on that. "To put it bluntly..." chimed in Reno, in his usual slightly chilled tone of voice that was there as a habit, "our power makes us real life game characters, MMORPG Characters specifically."

Saito raised an eyebrow at this, but let the youngest among them keep talking. He looked very skeptical and Ren knew this, so he was going to make this brief. Ren knew that if they wanted Saito on their side it wouldn't be wise to hide anything. He seemed incredibly perceptive and already doubtful about helping them even if it was as customers so Ren figured by just disclosing everything bluntly he would be more inclined to believe them about their power. Plus maybe Saito knew more about what their power could be than they did, so it was worth a shot.

"We can see someone's name, Class, title, and numerical level above their head, get EXP whenever we defeat monsters and Level Up when we get enough to raise our Stats, and learn special abilities called Skills and use them by just saying their names by either doing special things or just by touching a book. We also have an Inventory and various other windows that tell us or show us things. But most importantly..." He knew that as an Artificer, Saito may like this and even offer to make trades with things like these. "When we kill monsters, they drop things like these..."

From mid-air appeared an Imp Claw, an Imp Horn, and what appeared to be a rotting tooth. These appeared in Ren's hands and he gently set them on a table near them. Saito looked a little interested, and surprised, when Ren pulled something from mid-air.

"Looks like some kind of dimension magic... but I didn't detect any magical energy... so I guess that's your Inventory then if you really are like a game character... that's actually incredibly useful, lets have a look at these though." Saito walked over to the items that Ren placed on the table, looking at them intently for a moment, eyes widening a bit as he held his ring to each of them before looking at it, quite surprised. "You... said that you got these from monsters... in the Pseudospace right?"

Ren gave a nod.

"Well...wow... ok. For starters this is some pretty good stuff. Even if the demonic essence on this horn and claw is weak, its incredibly stable and contained, as is the black aura in this... tooth. Usually you'd have to be a really strong necromancer or warlock to get stable demonic essence or essence of death like this... but also... I have to say if you got these from just killing the monsters...then your power is fucking broken..."

It was Ren's turn to raise an eyebrow now.

"The monsters in those spaces don't exist. The Imps or other demons are demonic entities comprised of just demonic energy from another world given physical shape. The Zombies or other undead are the spirits of the dead given physical shape. Needless to say, the monsters in the Pseudospaces don't physically exist. Therefore, they shouldn't be dropping parts that can take a physical shape like this. Your power is literally... creating things from nothing...heh... no wonder why the Messengers of Gaia sought you guys out actively according to the info on the auction. Your power must literally have the assistance of gaia backing it up to make things like this" he gestured to the items "happen."

Ren's eyes widened. Did this mean that their power was literally being assisted by the very world itself? That is special. Still, there was business to discuss. "So, how much would you give me for them. Either for books, magical items, or anything else that is useful."

Ren was beginning to haggle now, hoping that he could trade with Saito here, who began to think.

---

Ren Negotiation: 57 - 31 Negotiation = 26

---

"To be honest, I don't really have much of a use for these. However, I know an alchemist, good friend of mine who is paranoid to the point where no one knows his name, that would find them useful. I'd say that these value at probably... 8,000 yen a piece, so i'd give you... 4,000 yen a piece, since I also need to make a little profit. It would normally be less because they are weak, but these are really stable and easy to use. Still, 12,000 yen isn't really all that muc--"

Suddenly Ren pulled out a bunch of them. 24 Imp Claws total, 17 Imp Horns total, and 8 Zombie Teeth total. He put them all on the table, much to Saito's eyes widening and a 'Dear God' escaping from him.

"I thought you might be getting one or two... not... a shit ton..." He looked at all of the various creature pieces for a moment, sighing heavily. "You should consider Alchemy or Black Magic. You said you can learn things from books? Like... if you read them you can learn things really quickly?"

Ren just nodded, a book suddenly appearing in his hand. It was the Skill Book for Eldritch Flame. Ren was skeptical of learning it before, but the thought of being a warlock, witch, dark mage, or necromancer was... somewhat intriguing for Ren. "This was found on a very large and powerful Imp, who also dropped Healing Potions and alot of money as well...it teaches something called Eldritch Flame."

Now this was something Saito was taken aback by. He could understand the parts that contain essence, but money? Books? Recovery potions? That was something else entirely. "Eldritch Flame? If I am correct... that is something demons and warlocks use... yet you say you can learn it just from reading that book or whatever?" Saito was very intrigued now as he was skeptical of their power when Ren explained it, but the items helped to clear a bit of his doubt, but if this person could learn something from a book just from reading it like game characters can, as Saito played his fair share of RPGs back in the day to help pass the time, then that would probably sell him on it.

Ren just nodded. Any nervousness that he had about learning a demonic power gone now. He touched the book, looking at the window that appeared, Saito looking at Ren quizzically as he seemed to touch the air.

"Im guessing you have windows too that no one else can see?" Saito said this in a joking tone, but a serious nod and a slightly cold glare from Ren made Saito quit his chuckle and just mutter a 'sheesh' beneath his breath. He was a nice guy, the reason for him being rude or cold to them at first being that he didn't want them getting involved in this dangerous world, but already it was too late for that.

After Ren seemed to touch another button and the book seemed to glow in a yellow light for a few moments before slowly fading, yellow lights that look like shards of paper coming from the book and floating towards Ren, his body glowing softly for a moment as his eyes closed. After that he opened them, taking a small breath before exhaling. "I feel like... I can use it now..." Ren held out his hand, but Saito quickly stopped him.

"Whoa Whoa Whoa, I don't care if you can use it or not from that, but not in my store alright. Still, my sensors in the store did detect a... change in you when you... did whatever with that book, a slight demonic presence... I believe that you really did learn that demonic skill, but you should be careful when using it as even if you have some special power, humans wielding the powers of demons can be quite dangerous...still, if you really do want to learn black magic or even demonic magic such a power can be useful. I'm more of an arcane magic guy myself, but I have studied a bit into the darker arts just to learn ritual stuff for enchantments."

Ren just put his hand down, indeed feeling a new power within him, a dangerous one, but if it would help protect him, or them in this case, from any new threats then he was fine with it. He then looked to the claws, horns, and teeth on the table before looking around the store. "So... is there anything you are willing to trade for any of these?"

---

Ren Negotiation: 5 - 31 Negotiation = -26

---

Saito thought about this for a few moments, looking at the various creature pieces on the table. "Ill tell you what. Give me 16 claws and 8 horns and ill let you pick out three books since you seem to be able to just... absorb them or whatever.... Basic ones of course, as they are quite expensive, but it'll still be a better deal than what you get at the Auction. This is a one time offer, so take advantage of it now as it'll be the last time I am making it."

Ren was surprised that Saito was willing to make such a discounted transaction, but guessed that he might as well not ask questions and take advantage of it. "How about... a book on dark or black or warlock magic or whatever and... a book on fire magic, if you have one."

Saito thought for a few moments. "You guys probably don't know any magic, so you will need to learn ritual magics first before you can get any real complex battle spells. So a book on fire magic is a no, but the first one I have something that could interest you. Any other requests?"

Ren thought for a moment. If right now the basics was all they could learn, then Ren decided tp get something else as he figured healing was out as well. "Well...what do you suggest?"

"I think a book on the basics of Demonology might suit you... its a step into becoming a warlock as its the basics in setting up rituals to commune with demons if... that's what you really want. Its a basic book on it, but its a bit hard, don't know if you'll be able to learn it with your power even... but i guess you can hang onto it or whatever until you can."

Ren just nodded and then looked at Lucian. "You go ahead and pick something out. I don't need three books for myself right now..."

Lucian was taken back by the offer from Ren, he didn't expect to get something from nothing from him, from his powers according to what Saito said, yes, but Ren, nope. "Are you sure?" there was no lack of gratitude in Lucians speech, this would give him a chance to take leaps and bounds in his plans, "Thank you Ren." he looked at the pile of all the bits and pieces Ren had picked up and was offering, it clearly took a while of grinding to get all of those, as the monsters didn't always drop the goods. This wasn't a small thing.

He looked at Saito, then posed his question, "Do you have any books on nature then? or spirits? or what do you have even that we could learn from?" Lucian's knowledge on magic was scarce, so he wasn't too sure of what different subtypes there was, but he knew that the magic that demons use wasn't exactly his forte.

He then started to speak again, "Also, would it be easier if we just trade through you then since you seem to know some people already? It helps us out by getting past us looking for connections, and you can profit from it as well, what do you say?"

"Spirits huh..." Saito began to think for a few moments, suddenly going back into a back room. While this was happening Ren began to gather what he was trading to Saito and put what he wasn't trading back into his Inventory. Normally he would have just sold the rest of the bits to Saito for more books for this one time deal or more money, but if he was using Black Magic then he was probably going to need them and they didn't exactly drop from every monster they killed, which after hearing Saito's explanation of what the parts actually were made alot of sense to Ren on why every monster didn't give them pieces like these.

Saito came back a few minutes later with several books under his arm. He handed two to Ren, who proceeded to look at them both, a small smirk on his face as the moment he touched them he saw something he liked.

"I take it they are to your liking huh." Saito looked at Ren, who just gave a nod. Saito passed three books to Lucian. "I don't really know what you want exactly on nature or spirits and I am not exactly a druid or other form of spiritualist, nor do I know any. These are all I have, so take a look and see what you like."

Then Lucian, after Saito had returned, would speak his offer on them just trading through him since he seemed to have connections of sorts apparently.

---

Lucian Negotiation: 63 - 27 Negotiation = 37

---

Saito thought for a few moments on this before shaking his head. "Sorry, but I can't really do that. I mean normally I would be all for it since its just business and nothing more, but I don't really have that deep connections aside from with my Alchemist friend, who rarely talks to anyone, and with the auction. Still..." He paused, thinking for a few moments. "Ill definitely be trading these with my Alchemist friend since he has better uses for them then I do. So ill pass him if he'd be willing to give me some of his stuff to sell or trade to you guys. Normally he'd say no, since he's so paranoid of the entire Abyss that I haven't even seen his, or her, face before, but if I show him these" He gestured to the pieces of monster that were still on the table "Then he, or she, might be willing to let me. Of course, i'd have to tell him some of the circumstances, but he's trustworthy even though he doesn't trust the entire world as far as he can throw it."

Saito then passed Lucian the three other books he had tucked beneath his arm. "As for books... these are all I can find on the things you asked about that im willing to sell in this deal. Choose whichever one you'd like. I apologize for the titles, I am not the one who writes these things."

The moment Lucian was passed the first book a window appeared, then another when he received the second book, but none when he got the third book for some reason. The first and second windows read as thus.





The titles of the first two books were... not very serious in their titling, looking like guides for stupid people. Still they were definitely skill books. The third book though looked a little more proper, but it gave no indication that it was a Skill Book. It was titled "Theories and Practices for How to Grow Closer to the Forces of Nature." It was unclear of why the third book gave no skill book indication, but with a little thought...

---

Lucian Intelligence: 23 - 21 Int = 2

---

The answer was actually quite obvious. Skills were techniques, abilities, or even special talents or arts that gave one access to a multitude of different abilities. The third book taught theories and practices, it did not have the know how of how to perform a specific skill or on how to learn something specific. It was just theories and guidelines, therefore the third book wasn't teaching any Skills. Lucian could still pick it anyway, but he would have to read it and study it himself, which would waste time and may not even get the results he wanted, or he could choose one of the two books that were actually Skill books that could teach him something.

"Bullshit huh? I guess it is, but it was just as much of a surprise learning that there were people with supernatural powers. Maybe to you our powers are strange, but for us all of this is new and crazy, so we can't really tell."

God is helping us with his powers, huh? That was rather... amazing, Sasha supposed. It was difficult to understand what Genji truly meant, but it was clear that no one else had such strange abilities as them. Sasha guessed that the rest of the ability users were more like what is portrayed in works of fiction: psychic and psionic powers like the X-Men, and perhaps magic.

"We used to be regular people, so we don't really have weapons. All of us use common things like baseball bats or wooden kendo swords. We do have our energy based attacks, that can function just as well, or better. I mean, I've never learned how to fight, but pointing at things and shooting them isn't so difficult." Sasha said, recalling from memory what they had been using when they were hunting the Imps. "I also found... surprise, to be a very good advantage."

"A real weapon like a sword might be great, but it's not like I know kendo, so it's quite a moot point. Silas though, he can probably use one?" Sasha said, pointing her thumb at the guy. "I'm just here to learn how to fight."

His right eye slightly twitching as he read over the title of the books, generally he would never read a book with such a title, seeing it as degrading and beneath him, but as two of them did trigger a window that he had never seen before, he knew that they would both yield something worth while. He would have to swallow his pride. Though, there was the third book, which interested him as well, but a book of theories wasn't nearly as impressive, or in his viewpoint as useful at this time. Maybe in a few levels he would try to trade it off of Saito, but for now he decided that 'Rituals for Communing with Nature for Morons' would be his book of choice.

He picked up the book, "I'll take this one for now, though maybe keep the others within reach and I will likely come back for them with goods of my own or cash at a later time. Holding the book, he saw a new window appear, inquiring if he would like to learn the skill, to which he pressed accept, eagerly awaiting what he could learn in seconds.

Saito nodded as he took the other two books back, letting Lucian have the one that had the most degrading of insults in its title of the two that were technically Skill Books. "Alright, ill keep them around, but I can't make any promises if someone else comes to buy them. Still, they probably won't, so you're in luck there."

Unfortunately for Lucian, the button yielded negative results. Something appeared, just not what Lucian would probably hope for. It was a red window with black text, reading as such.



Unfortunately Lucian couldn't meet the requirements for learning this interesting Skill, but in just two Levels he could learn it once he met the proper requirements. He could either hang onto it and learn from it in two levels if he was willing to wait for two more level ups or see if he could learn from the other book right now if he wanted something immdiately, but that would mean he would have to wait even longer for this one since who knows how long it could take until he had enough to buy the current book he had off of Saito.

Ren, in the meantime, had examined his first book. He pressed a button and again in a yellow glow it vanished in the same effect it had before, meaning learning from books in public probably wasn't smart, especially since the book completely vanished. Ren looked at the new window, eyes widened at what he saw. "Talents." He quickly said this, opening up his Talent window. He seemed to look over, eyes widened in surprise. "T-That wasn't just a Skill Book...I...I learned a completely new Talent from that..." Ren's voice cracked a little and the chilled tone wasn't there. It sounded... softer, with a bit more excitement in it, which was understandable as he had just discovered something big.

Saito raised his eyebrow at this. "A new Talent? What are Talents?"

Ren turned to him, blushing a little as he cleared his throat, regaining his cool composure. "W-Well... Talents are like... ordinary skills that most people have like Climbing, Crafting, Knowledge, Melee Weaponry, and other things. Abilities that just come as more instinctual skill sets rather than individual Skills, spells, or techniques. Well..." He turned to Lucian. "It seems like we can unlock new Talents as well, gaining a whole new realm of possibilities...like when I learned Black Magic just now it wasn't just a Skill, but a whole new Talent..."

Saito interjected here. "It really is true... you're power has unlimited potential and you can learn shit that takes people years to learn just like that... your power is freaking unbelievable...Still, I recommend keeping this a secret. If people find out just how much unlimited potential your ability has, you won't be seeing small fry after you. Some will try to employ you yes, but others may try to capture you to make you a slave so that you are forced to use your abilities for them..."

Saito then turned to Lucian. "What about you? You get anything special from that book with your... power or whatever?"

In the meantime Ren sent out a PM to the other Gamers that weren't in Saito's shop with him, so that meant everyone else excluding Lucian. It read as thus.



It was a rather long PM, but held a great revelation about the Gamer Power, including that it really was and is the power that just keeps on opening new possibilities. After all new Skills were one thing, but new Talents gave a lot more possibilities on brand new abilities.

The negative window that popped up was something he had a feeling it could happen, but hopped it wouldn't. Lucian let out a sigh and placed the book into his inventory. Well, I guess I have more time to focus on grind my current skills and setting a foundation. His disappointed thoughts got quickly interrupted when he heard a cute voice, but it couldn't have come from any of the three there, they were all guys after all right? Lucian turned to Ren, a bit puzzled, then had to hold back a chuckle as he watched the highschooler regain his composure.

"Talent books as well as skill books? Hmm...that is interesting, I wonder what mine is then?" He opened his inventory again, and taking the book out observed it, hoping to catch a glimpse of what it would contain, then placed it back into his inventory, "The book wont work for me just yet, I don't meet the requirements," he pointed at Ren's hands, "Otherwise it would have done the same thing the book Ren had did, or so I would assume." He shrugged, "I guess we have to put some effort in to learn these things."

Unfortunately, as Ren figured, he tried but could not learn from the Demonology book. Still he decided to put it into his inventory now, hanging onto it for later. Having demons as summons to shield him would be very helpful. Plus knowing warlock magic also sounded interesting, accepting that as his second book of choice.

When Lucian used the Observe Skill on the book the following text would appear in a window.



It was unclear what Talent Skill meant at first, but with a little thought...

---

Lucian Int: 83 - 21 Int = 62

---

It took you a bit longer than it should have, but an idea came to you. A Talent Skill could be what unlocks a new Talent, a Skill that gives you access to a new Talent. It was only a thought though. Still, it was something useful to think about, in that this book could give you access to not just a new Skill, but instead a whole new Talent.

As Saito heard Lucian talk about what happened he nodded, a small smirk appearing on his face after a few moments, but it only lasted for a moment before his expression grew a bit more serious. "It seems that I have discovered your power's one weakness. Most Natural Abilities start off strong or already useful, but not yours. It has unlimited potential for growth it seems if you can just learn anything without limits on how much you can learn, but time is required. Time to grind to level up, as I assume you can do that from what Ren here told me, time to learn new Skills that are out of your reach, and other such things. Essentially time is your weakness since you have unlimited potential, but not enough time to employ everything, and like game characters you could mess up and end up wasting alot of time..."

Ren's eyes widened as Saito said this. He had never thought of that before. Indeed even if their power could let them do so much there was only so much time in the day to grind or test and learn new Skills. Even shopping for weapons, grinding for new ingredients, or other such things would take time and who knew how much longer until the Hunters or whoever was after them attacked..."Yea... alot of effort and time..." Ren said in response to Lucian's last statement about putting effort into these things.

Placing the book into an open inventory window like it was normal thing, Lucian looked back to Saito, "Well, with time being our enemy, I guess we had better get grinding again. I need another two levels anyways before I can use my book." Pausing then to think, looking at Saito's title, "Say, as an artificer, what do you make even?" Lucian had a vague idea of what they could do in theory, based on his experiences in games, but it wasn't a common class, or the pick of choice when he did D&D. "Would it be possible to make a device that could warn us if someone was approaching us?" A heads up would hopefully give their group more then enough time to retreat to a crowded area or someone who could help. Sure they had their mini-maps, but sometimes enemies don't appear on the map.

Lucian looked above his head and then said something about him being in Artifcer, then he looked at Ren. "So that's what you meant by seeing my class... a power that lets you gather the basic skill set and strength of an enemy with just a glance is quite useful." He then looked back to Lucian, listening to his question about an alarm device. He thought for a few moments then shook his head. "As an Artificer I make magical items. I usually stay away from magical weapons, but enchanting rings, amulets, and other miscellanious objects with magical affects is something I am rather good at as my own Natural Ability lets me... skip a few steps in the enchanting process that cuts down alot on both cost and time. I'd explain more, but unless you understand magic you wouldn't get it..."

"An alarm item could be created, but if its Hunters they usually use a special kind of Pseudospace known as a Capture Space. Its really big, around five hundred meters, and is impossible to escape unless you are more powerful than them. Of course they have to be near you first, or so I have heard. Unfortunately though I lack the spells for knowing how to create an alarm type Item that doesn't require a magical field to be set up and is always active. For instance my own ring is connected to an artifact that creates a small field at the entrance of this store, but it is stationary and has to remain in a magic field in order to work. Its... really complicated actually and hard to explain to those who don't know how magic works. I may be several years more experienced than you all, but that's only several years."

Saito then sighed, feeling kind of bad now, but then he shook his head. "Ill tell you what though. I usually let customers test products before they buy them, but you guys can't do that, so ill let you" he pointed to Ren "test your black magic here in my lab and you" he pointed to Lucian "grind in my own special Pseudospace area until you get two levels and can learn that book. Ill let you guys stay here for just for a couple of hours though as I have to get ready for a meeting with someone then and need the store to be vacant of others."

"Uh... thanks..." Ren was taken aback that Saito was being so generous despite not wanting to help.

"Don't look too far into it. You guys are customers, so I am giving you everything you need to make sure you guys can use your products. After all, for both of our safeties, its best if that's all we remain right now. Customer and shop owner. Now cmon, lets go to the basement." Saito pressed a spot on the side of a book shelf that was against the back wall and muttered something beneath his breath. A small, blue magic circle appeared on the spot he pressed and the shelf slid to the side, revealing a door behind it, which wasn't there before since the shelf had no back. "Ren, this door is for you. Do you... need any help preparing anything or instructions on how to---"

Ren shook his head. "No, I know everything on how to perform and create the rituals"

Saito blinked his eyes a few times in surprise. "Sheesh... that's broken if you can learn things like that, things that would take others years to learn, in just a moment." Saito opened the door, revealing what appeared to be a lab of sorts indeed. Shelves and tables cluttered with scrolls, bottles of substances, and other various things of an arcane nature littered the room. "The ritual room is in that door to the back. Feel free to grab whatever you need for your ritual, as this will be my bonus to you for you not getting to test this beforehand."

Ren nodded and went into the lab room, Saito closing the door after watching him look around the shelves for a few moments. Then he clenched the door knob tightly, muttering something beneath his breath, and he opened the door after it glowed for just a moment. Before them a large field of grass with a blue sky above appeared. "This special space was given to me at the generosity of the Abyss Auction. Makes it easier for me to practice magic and test my products out on the elementals created here via Pseudospace." He gestured for Lucian to follow him inside. The door on the other side just appeared to be there, not attached to a wall anything, and then it closed. "Don't worry, its not locked. Anyway ill try and help you grind however I can, cause I kind of want to see how this works."

He raised his hand to the sky, his ring glowing for a moment. The familiar feeling of a Pseudospace appeared and in the field before them, the area being very large, were alot of strange looking creatures. Their bodies appeared to look like swirling spheres of wind. There were more than dozens of them, but spread out all over, like how one would see mob creatures in a field in any other RPG game. Above their heads in red text were 'Minor Air Elemental, Lv 9'. "Well, here we are. The weakest kind of air elemental. Let me ask you though do you know any magical or mana based attacks? Because regular weapons will have a harder time taking affect on these creatures... also... your friend back there mentioned a Friends List. Most games that have that also have a Party function... do you think you could invite me to it? I'd like to see how it works."

Mike Knowledge: 56 - 15 Knowledge = 41

---

Despite being a transfer student at Gekkoukan and not getting all of the instruction in the class Mike was doing pretty well in understanding the lessons of the first part of his school day. In his class though there was one empty seat as apparently one student skipped today apparently, this seat being the seat in the back corner by the window, or in anime the 'main character' seat, Mike's own seat being a bit in the middle. If Mike asked who sat there (Which ill leave up to you Card), he would find out that a strange boy white haired boy who acts cold to others sat there, that boy's name being Ren, meaning that the two were in the same class, but Ren was skipping school today.

In the middle of the class before the lunch break Mike would receive the following PM from Ren.



At lunch break a second year entered the room to come in and give a message to one of the first years. He was in a Gekkoukan uniform, like all other students, but had a arm band on that said "Student Morals Committee." The most interesting thing about him though, aside from the very serious look on his face, was what was above his head. "Keiichi Ishimaru Lv 24" was his name and level. Above that though was an interesting class. "Ukiha Kamikaze Ryuu Practitioner" (or Ukiha Kamikaze Sword Style Practitioner for you english folk). After delivering his message, which was something about keeping their uniform in order as that student was famous for not doing so, he left, walking out and heading back to the second year classrooms, which were on the second floor.

So Ren was in the same class as him, that was interesting. However it was something to think about later, since it seemed that there was yet another person involved in the masquerade at this school, not only that, but someone who was connected to some kind of school of kendo by the looks of it. At this point Mike was torn; he had already put a lot of points into his VIT, so he knew he wanted a tanky build...but did he still want to have a build like that of the Crusader? His INT was pretty high...maybe he would be better suited mimicking the tanky magic wielding swordsmen from same game that the Crusaders hailed from; the Asura...except without losing his eyesight. Before he left, Mike made sure to use Observe on him to get some EXP for the skill as well as some information on him.

When lunch came around, Mike went up the second year floor to look for him. When he found another student in the hallway, he asked him "hey um...do you know where..." he paused, trying to remember his name "...Keiichi Ishimaru is? I need to talk to him"

Genji guessed that they wouldn't have real weapons if they were regular people. After all there were the gun and knife laws and all of those other things. Plus Genji figured it was good that, as regular people, that they didn't have weapons. "Well you should have a weapon anyway. While I support fighting with your fists, having a proper weapon at your side can help you out alot. Anyway, ill be right back. Ill go see what we have that I can give you, and don't worry about paying for them. These are free. So sit tight and just make yourselves at home."

After that Genji left, leaving Silas and Sasha to their own devices for a bit to talk or do whatever. In about ten minutes though he returned, a large, cloth wrapped bundle in his arms. "Alright, I'm back. I found these, pick whichever weapons you like, and I know that you have other friends as well, so you can also pick some things from here for them if you know what'd they want."

In the bundle there were a few daggers, a couple of short swords, two long swords, a katana, a real bow and arrow, and a spear. They all looked very real and quite well crafted, as would be expected by practitioners of martial arts.

"Seems like we're getting free stuff again," Sasha commented as Genji headed into the building. "Ren did that too. They seem awfully generous, huh."

There was a small window that demanded her attention. Sasha opened it to see a PM from Ren. She quickly scanned through it and her eyes widened at the content. "Speak of the devil. Ren says they found out it's possible to learn new talents... that is very interesting news. He also says we should look out for special "skill books". Looks like they've been busy."

"It's just one thing after another, isn't it? Say, Silas," Sasha said, finally turning to the man. Slight hesitation touched her expression, as if she wasn't sure how to word her question. "What are you going to do with all this power?"

Lucian was in awe as he saw a field in what should be just a regular old room, what added to his awestruck was seeing real air elementals, albeit weak ones, but still! Yet, as much as it was a surprise, part of him was starting to expect random twists and turns around every corner. Maybe this is why school was a bit boring this morning?

"Observe" muttered Lucian as he looked at one, after quickly looking over the info he started to open his other windows, "Yes, I do have spells, and Your invite should be appearing shortly, that is if non Gamers can be added to friend lists and invited into party" This was new terrain for Lucian, he had only ever fought with the other gamers, would it let Saito into the party? Not waiting to find out, he picked out his target and held his hand up, "Assuming it works, items should drop as well, I'll pick them all up, placing them into my inventory and we shall split them in the end." Not waiting any longer, Lucian got close enough for his spell to be effective, yet give him a bit of space, and then he spoke his spell's voice command. "Mana Wave."

When Lucian used the Observe Skill he would see the following window that appeared, Lucian getting an alert that his Observe Skill went up in level by one after using it.



After that he used his Mana Wave skill, the wave like blast of mana firing from his palms and towards the creature, none of the other elementals that even happened to be nearby, as they were all a bit spread out, reacting as this one got attacked.

---

Lucian Mana Wave: 13 - 5 Projectile Weaponry = 8

Hit! (Max Damage)

Damage Dealt: 16

---

A 16 appeared over its head as the blast slammed into it, seeming to blast away some of the windy essence it was comprised of, Saito seeming to be a bit impressed, Mana Wave's level also going up by one and Lucian receiving an alert for it. "A Mana emission ability... impressive. Somewhat basic and more useful against monsters than real opponents, but still incredibly useful in the fact that no charging or focusing is required." The beast appeared agitated now, seeming to charge towards them, and as it did Saito suddenly began to chant something in a different language.

---

Lucian Knowledge: 24 - 30 Int = -6

---

While he wouldn't know what Saito was saying, Lucian would recognize it as greek as Saito chanted the following. "Μπορεί αυτή η μυστηριακή δύναμη πατάξει εχθρό μου! Απόκρυφες πυραύλων!" Suddenly several small, comet like projectiles of glowing, light blue energy shot from his finger, all seeming to hone in on the elemental. Despite all of its efforts to dodge the projectiles all seem to have a homing quality, but also seemed somewhat weak, as they hit spot on.

An 8, then a seven, then a six, and then a five all appeared over the elemental's head as all four missiles of magical energy struck the creature, each blasting it and making it flail a bit. After that, the HP bar above its head being empty, its essence began to whither and fade away and soon enough it dissipated into a small wisp of wind. After it dissipated a small piece of white crystal was left in its place, Saito looking a bit surprised. "Well...I had my doubts about your power, but after seeing that crystal there...I think they are gone now..." Saito walked over to it, looking down at it, trying to decide whether or not he should touch it. "So... do you have anything that can tell you what this is?"

Around the same time Lucian would also get a PM from Ren.