Heading to the water side of the Port Island District took a little bit of time, but it was still a little in the morning. The water did indeed feel natural in terms of being a nice catalyst for unlocking the next ritual. The current Boon he had still had about a day left, and perhaps that ritual could be leveled more to get more boons. Still for now, Lucian began to focus and commune with nature. This would take some time, probably all of Lucian's morning. Still, what could be unlocked could be worth it.

---

Lucian Nature Ritual: 84 - 29 Nature Ritual Knowledge = 55

---

Lucian's knowledge of how to go about this wouldn't be too stellar, as it was hard to say what kind of ritual would be gained from this.

---

Lucian Nature Ritual: 9 - 25 Nature Ritual Power +25 Lack of Knowledge = 9

---

Lucian's lack of knowledge was not much of a problem thanks to a superior execution of the ritual. As he used his Mana Flow and Spirit Channeling to both connect with nature he would feel a voice in him like before, the water he was looking into beginning to ripple. The ripples seemed to echo in his mind, and while they did not speak words, he could feel the things they said in his very spirit, in his self.

"You wish to wield the powers of nature? You who have once harmed it before? Nature provides you its aid, but now you wish to wield the force of nature as well? I feel your guilt though, that you do regret what you did in the past, and as long as you work to atone for your sins, then the might of nature shall make a contract with you..."

Suddenly Lucian could feel it. Like a mighty torrent, through the connection of his spirit and mana, a powerful surge flowed into him. It was overwhelming, incredible even. The very tossing and motions of the oceans themselves entering his very being. Slowly but sure, on his arm as this surge entered through him, a mark would begin to appear. Three long, blue lines.that resembled waves. Lucian would feel his entire body being tossed and thrown about. Of course, that wasn't actually happening. He was still sitting down, but he would feel as though he were being tossed about at sea, even being able to see himself being thrown about by waves.

Slowly he was dragged under, slowly the waves pushed him into the depths. His lungs would fill up with water as the air vacated them as he sunk lower and lower. Right before he drowned though, the waters above and around would clear and calm, and he found that he could breath, but still not see. Then, in a single instant, he was back in reality, two new windows presenting themselves to Lucian.





If Lucian checked his watch after that, he would notice that he had been there practically all morning, the entire ritual, including whatever delusion he was put through, having taken up all of his morning.

Before he got up though Lucian could hear something in the distance... footsteps maybe. It definitely didn't sound normal. There was no one there though unless he decided to check his mini map. After a few long moments though, whatever was there was gone. Might have been his imagination, might not have been. Even a check of the mini map didn't reveal anything currently, meaning there was nothing there.

Still, there was now not much time left, meaning if Lucian wanted to get to his class on time, he needed to hurry.

With the training session concluded, Sasha took her share of the spoils before headed home. It was already late evening when they stepped out of the dojo. Hours had passed fighting kobolds, but she still didn't feel tired. So it seems I'm now a superhuman, huh?

She walked home after saying goodbye to Silas. Her parents were already back. Her mother came out of the kitchen and asked her where she had gone for the whole day.

"I met up with some friends, mom," Sasha lied. She sat herself at the dinner table, opposite from her father. Mr. Nakamura was reading the news on a tablet. He looked up from it briefly, scrutinizing his daughter.
"Haven't seen you this outgoing since highschool. Got yourself a boyfriend?"
"Nah dad. Just some old friends."
"I see," he said. "I'm glad you're not staying in your room all day."

Her parents were rather careful about the issue. It wasn't that they didn't care, they just wasn't sure how to approach the problem. Sasha was a stubborn girl and they didn't want to force her into doing something rash. However, after so many months of her being a shut-in, their patience was wearing thin.

"Why don't you get a job? It's not that bad. You'd have money to buy more games." Mr. Nakamura suggested, hopeful.
"Mmph," Sasha grunted in reply. Her mother came in then, holding a bowl of stew.
"Yes, darling. Isn't it stuffy in that room?"
"I think I'll be fine. You see... there maybe this job... I mean, I might start working with some friends on a job."
"Oh? What is it?"
"I'm not sure yet... I'll tell you soon."

Her parents raised an eyebrow and looked at each other. Satisfied, they dropped the topic and had dinner. Sasha returned to her room afterwards and slumped in front of her computer. It amazed her that she didn't even feel like gaming right now, even though she religiously played Dungeon Busters for the past year.

"Sleep, sleep. There's more training tomorrow!"

~~~

Sasha woke up the next day fully rested. Normally that amount of physical activity would have given her sore muscles. Sitting up on her bed, legs crossed, she thought about what she was going to do for the morning. Her bedside alarm clock told her it was almost eight- an unbelievably earlier hour for her to be awake at. Mom's going to give me strange looks again.

After she took a quick meal, Sasha left the house for a morning jog. She wanted to try how fast she could go, and hopefully increase her agility while she was at it. From the past battles and Genji's advice, she surmised that speed was very important in a fight.

As Sasha spent the morning jogging, she would of course practice the Ban Foot Technique in the process, slowly acquiring EXP for the rather slow leveling Skill. Still...

---

Sasha Dex: 23 - 18 Dex - 5 Skill Bonus = 0

---

Sasha got a good jog out of that during the morning. When the jog was over the Foot Technique had gone up in level and was close to Level 3. Apparently more difficult or rare passives like these probably took a bit longer to level up due to them being a bit more powerful, but when they did level up it was all worth it as Sasha felt herself able to run a little bit faster when it Leveled up. Not by much of course, but every little bit counts and the Foot Technique would probably become a much more powerful Skill at a higher level.

By the time her jog was done it was about a small bit before afternoon. For a moment, on Sasha's mini map, as she opted to always keep it out (I think I remember you saying that), there were white dots as people went about there day. Two dots though were there on the map, but suddenly the dots just seemed to vanish a bit after, the dots having been behind a building not too far from where Sasha was. The dots didn't leave the map as if they were passing by or moving normally. No, the dots just... vanished...

Lucian took in a slow breathe of air after that, and reached for his own throat. He remembered seeing things like this in games, but really feeling it, why did the main characters never act like, 'hey I just breath underwater sometimes in a vision, feels weird' or give some sort of reaction. "Life sure is one strange game now days." He looked at the magical tattoo on his arm, then checked the windows out. He though that he heard foot steps, but he brushed it off. No one could be in his psuedospace...or could someone? He picked himself up and brushed the sand off from his trousers. If info was selling on them, then someone or something had to be gathering it, so Lucian would pay it no heed for now, so long as it didn't interfere with his life.

Speaking of his life, after checking his watch, Lucian started to rush off. He didn't realize how much time had passed while he was doing the ritual, if he didn't go quick, he would be late for his only class of the day. Though he did find it funny that he left so early, and would likely be late.

The full day of training was over, the time went faster than Silas thought. He really had the feeling he had gotten much much stronger. Before departing Silas thanked Genji and said goodbye to him and Sasha. He grabbed his bicycle and headed back home. As he arrived home he saw that Tomoyo was already waiting for him with dinner.

"So what have you been doing today?" she asked with crossed arms and legs while sitting on the chair with a half-full plate in front of her nose. Silas looked at the food and quickly looked back to Tomoyo. "Yeah, I already began eating."

"Just like usual when I go away... I was at the squash. But it got a little late with the guys."

"Silas, why are you lying to me? I called Tim earlier if you were at the squash, and you haven't been there all day, so what have you been doing?" she tried to say not too angry, although Silas could easily sense her anger. Silas walked towards her and hugged her.

"I know you're worried and probably angry, but there are things going on that I really don't want you get involved with." he said and sat down on the other chair where the other plate was with food that probably already had gotten cold.

Tomoyo sighed. "You are really lucky that I trust you this much. But please if it is dangerous, be careful. Remember our lives are good as they are." she said. Silas decided to not tell her about the money yet, she might think he was involved with the Mafia or maybe worse. However he was glad that she didn't make a too big deal out of it, but that was how Tomoyo always is. Silas ate his dinner and watched some television with Tomoyo who fell asleep during it, so Silas also decided to get some sleep.

However thoughts were in his head. He really wanted to continue what he was doing now... the fighting. Not only did he think it was cool, and made him stronger, there was also a nice amount of money he earned with it. He should probably buy a present for Tomoyo soon. But she may be right, it could get very dangerous if he would go into the Abyss too much. But he was prepared to kill the ones who were after his life. But he should get some sleep now, to get his hp and mp full again.

---

After waking up the standard screen appeared before him. He tapped it away and got out of bed. Tomoyo was home today, and still asleep. Silas woke up earlier than usual again. He decided to run to the store. He grabbed his bicycle and took a detour just to also get a better condition. He went to one of the jewelry stores and bought a nice ring for Tomoyo. He stepped on his bicycle again and again went on until he would get tired.

Her body felt lighter and faster than ever. By several magnitudes. During her highschool days, Sasha wasn't anywhere near to the shut-in she was now. She had a certain amount of confidence in her athletic ability then, nearly making it to the school team in the track and field. Her performance now would undoubtedly give a professional athlete a run for their money. She jogged around her neighborhood at a very good pace.

It wasn't until an hour had passed that she decided to take a break. The sun was starting to bear down uncomfortably on her, and she had gotten a couple of levels in her Foot Technique. That was good enough for now. She would rest up in anticipation for the training at the dojo later.

It was hard to say whether it was her luck or her enhanced perception. On the minimap that hung in the periphery of her vision, she noticed some white blips disappearing. These markers denoted a person's presence, and so far she had never seen them disappear. After all, people don't... log off in the real world. Unless they died. Sasha turned towards the vague direction that the markers were in. It was near the junction of the road she was on, and there wasn't anything like an accident. A mother and her child were calmly crossing the road. Sasha squinted her eyes, unable to figure out this mystery.

Or they could be hiding.

Suddenly Genji's warning replayed in her head. Hunters. Could it be? All of a sudden Sasha felt very alone in the open street. She casually continued her jog, feigning ignorance, but she slowly increased her speed. If it was true, she might have just made the worst mistake of her life by deciding to jog here alone.

The girl ran down the street at nearly a dead bolt, and turned a sharp right. Once she was around the corner, she quickly crossed the road and vaulted across the fence into someone's lawn. She didn't have time to worry about breaking the law. All she wanted to do was to escape as fast as possible.

Indeed, as if by sheer luck the lawn Sasha was leaping on to happened to belong to a certain someone. Sasha was in the Residential District, where the Dojo was located coincidentally, but it wasn't that lawn she leaped into. About twenty seconds after she leaped onto someone's back yard the sliding glass door that lead inside of the house whose yard that she intruded opened, and standing there was a familiar, if somewhat irked, sight. It was Ren, whose white hair looked a bit messy and he was wearing just a basic grey short sleeve shirt, another black, long sleeve shirt beneath that, and a pair of simple blue jeans.

"You know... usually when you come over to someone's house you knock on the door or even call, or in our case send a PM. Is there some reason why you suddenly decided to jump into my back yard?"

---

In the meantime, Silas first went to the Business District where there was a very good jewelry store to buy a nice, simple ring, which set him back about 50,000 Yen, but Silas still had around over 100,000 Yen left from the money he earned the night before, which was still a very good amount. After that he was biking around, trying to boost his own stamina for just simple exercise.

---

Silas Exercise: 4 (Critical)

---

Silas got a very good workout from his bike ride having to go to the Residential District for this since there was no way to be able to do this kind of intense exercise on a bike in the crowded streets of the Business District, during the morning, pushing his stamina past the limits, going a bit beyond. When it was over, it being about a small bit before the afternoon now.

When it was over, Silas a good bit tired now, but not completely worn out, a window appeared before him, stating the following.



Silas still also had a level up to apply, so getting a free VIT Point on top of that was always really nice. If Silas had his Minimap out he would notice two green dots, signifying those on his friends list, not too far from his current position. Suddenly though the area seemed to change, a familiar feeling of a Pseudospace washing over the area, eliminating all sounds from people or cars that were unrelated.

Now on the minimaps of all of them, not too far away from all three of them, there were now two red dots.

Two figures were standing there. One seemed to be a much shorter man in some dark looking robes holding a staff with a skull on the end. They seemed to be standing a bit down the road from Silas, just about twenty yards away.

"Well well, going for a bike ride aren't we? Seems a bit too early for that, don't ya think?" The much shorter, robed figure spoke now, a smirk upon his face, the other man holding a large hammer over his shoulder. "How about you come take a ride with us instead of on that bike? Wouldn't want ya to get hurt after all." He seemed to be pointing his staff towards Silas now. Over the heads of both of them were red text. The shorter man had Manabe Tooru, Lv 18 over his head with Mage above that. The much larger man had Satou Tooru Lv 20 over his head and Fighter above that text. Red text and dots, from their experience with monsters and even that one time with Sumi indicated that someone was hostile towards them. Perhaps these were the 'Hunters' that Genji mentioned, both of them having some pretty evil smirks upon their faces as they looked at Silas, the bigger one beginning to approach slowly now, hammer at the ready.

Luckily, Ren and Sasha were still in Ren's backyard. Unfortunately Ren, who tried to open the door, couldn't. Apparently buildings were unable to be entered when inside of a Pseudospace. Fortunately though the two hunters were completely unable to see Ren and Sasha, as Silas, but Silas could see the two green dots on his minmap that were a small bit away from him as Silas was about ten yards down the road from Ren's house in his current position.

"This isn't good... we need to think of something quickly before the enemies attack Silas or find us here..." Ren spoke quietly to Sasha, taking out his survival knife. If Sasha looked at Ren's hand, or just happened to glance at it, his hand had bandages wrapped around it, as if the bandages were concealing something.

---

In the meantime, during Lucian's class, as he would have been able to make it there without incident, no one being able to see the strange markings on his arms, probably because normal people couldn't see things like that or something. Class would be going normal until suddenly everything in the room just stopped. People stopped moving, the teacher stopped speaking. It was as if everything just froze, all except for Lucian. Suddenly though Lucian would be able to tell that someone was behind him, or something. No matter where he turned to look the... presence or person, as it was hard to tell, although if he had his minimap out it would be a white dot right behind him always, spoke quietly to him in a calm, mysterious tone. It said the following.

"Relax and sit down, I am not here to hurt you... but to give warning. You and your friends are in a bit of a bind... even now they are in trouble. I suggest that you grow stronger... and before the end of this week... head to Gekkoukan High at midnight..." After that the presence or person, as Lucian would never be able to see it, would vanish, but not before saying "Return to what you were doing before... lest you be out of place when time resumes and break the Interference Law..."

About ten seconds after the presence left things would begin to move once again, his class seeming to resume and carry on now as normal. After the presence vanished though, two new windows did appear for Lucian.

---

Mike would still be in his own classes at school during all of this and things would be going normally for him.

---

Apparently, things were now beginning to set themselves in motion.

Silas hit the brakes when the windows in front of him informed him about his increased VIT, a small smile appeared on his face. He closed the window and summoned his mini-map. As he was now in the Residential District he liked to know which way would be the fastest one home. He noticed two green dots near him on the map, he wondered who that could be. He quickly also noticed the two red dots, also not too far away from him on the map.

Two people appeared before him. One small guy dressed in a black cloak, which reminded Silas of one of his favorite game series Kingdom Hearts. The other one was wearing a medieval armor with a skull/Zora-like helmet and a giant hammer that had to be held in two hands. He paid attention to the rest of the environment and noticed that he had been caught in a speudospace. It really sucks that he couldn't even get some jewelry from the store and go for a bike ride. Silas immediately was under the impression that these guys were Hunters as they had red text above their heads.

"Not interested." was Silas' reply. He mumbled the PM window and selected all of his friends. He kept talking as he wrote the following PM.



"Just already reveal what you intentions are instead of being quote-unquote cool and mysterious. You're Hunters and you want me, right?" Silas asked in his monotone voice. Silas had closed the PM window and summoned his katana in his left hand. "Come at me."

Bewildered Lucian just sat, now having a hard time paying attention to his class, then again, who could pay attention after time stopped and you got warned like that? It was fantasticly well done, probably something that would fit in with a big company's rpg story, or in one of those small jewel gams that popped up every now and then. Lucian shook his head, this was real though! he got a warning, and a new quest. I have to get stronger? I was planning on it, so no real problem there. He remained in his seat, growing anxious by the second and tapping his pen to the table repeatedly. I should probably just go, he looked at the door, and then at the clock, Class was only half way through, so it would be a waste to just ditch half of it, but that person mentioning 'his friends' being in danger, Lucian looked around the class, everything seeming normal, aside from him now with how he was acting. No, my friends are here and are normal, the other Gamers...should be where they belong right? and it is daytime so why would anyone try something right now? Sweat started to creep down from his brow.

His friend sitting next to him noticed and leaned over to whisper to him, "Hey, If you gotta go then go, no need to hurt yourself man." Oz, one of Lucian's few friends, and by way of appearance and habits, the oddest of the bunch, seemed willing to cover for him leaving, and usually traded notes with him whenever needed so it could work out. Even if Oz just thought that Lucian had a serious case of the runs...

You all owe me for this one... "thanks bud." Lucian dismissed himself, whipping the sweat from his brow and started heading off while typing away a pm to everyone, "I just got a warning from someone, are you guys alright? should I head over?" After he finished typing away, he looked around to make sure the coast was clear, "Map" He opened the map to a 'fullscreen' view, and looked for the dots which would indicate his party as he waited for a response.

The small mage smirked and suddenly began to chant something as the big man suddenly charged forward, hammer raised. As he charged he said "Heh, you're gonna wish you didn't say that!" The large man was quite fast on his feet. Not as fast as Genji was, but still somewhat swift despite his large bulk and the incredibly heavy looking armor he was wearing. The man charged forward, heavy hammer bared. He suddenly swung it at Silas once close enough, the large weapon having a small bit of extra reach, the hammer looking like it could smash through a stone wall if it wanted to.

---

Satou Attack: 40

Miss

---

Luckily the man was far enough away for Silas to get ready for the blow in time. The blow itself was incredibly hard to parry, but thanks for silas being able to brace himself for it he was able to parry the massive maul with his strong Katana. Luckily the Arm Ring that he was wearing seemed to give enough of a small strength boost so that he wasn't completely overwhelmed by the incredible might of the blow, Silas' strength probably just enough to not be half of the man's incredible might.

The other man though was chanting a spell, chanting in some foreign language of some kind, it was hard to tell what it was, especially from where Silas was standing as he wasn't exactly shouting. Before the man could finish chanting from the house nearby Silas, where the two green dots were behind, a figure came out from behind the house and it was Ren, who suddenly aimed his palm towards the mage. "Black Mark: Mark of Cursed Tasks". After that he said one more thing. "Mark of Dark Searing!"

The first mark seemed to do something, the mage suddenly cursing out as he found his chanting becoming a bit more unfocused, but the second time when another mark tried to form on his body he seemed to be able to stave off its power.

It seemed Ren was here to deal with the mage, letting Silas focus on the warrior with Sasha still in Ren's backyard, with possibly a chance to try and sneak up on the mage or even the warrior.

---

Lucian, in the meantime, would have gotten that PM from Silas mentioning that he was in the Residential District, which with him being on the Port Island District it would take a while to get to them considering he had to go to the Residential District by train and he had to get to the train station first. It wasn't like the city was super small. Quite the opposite. Neo Tokyo was one of the biggest cities in the world.

Upon seeing the PM Mike quickly checked the map, then mentally cursed 'not good. Not only will I be unable to get there in time, but with the skills I have right now, I'll just be a liability in battle. I was hoping that this stuff could wait until at least tomorrow, at least then I'd have a skill that worked well with my stats. But that battle with the zombie mob boss showed me just how bad the two offensive skills I have are with my build. I need a Senshin no Ken skill to be able to do anything in battle.' All Mike could do right now was hope that the others could help Silas. As much as he wanted to rush to his aid, Mike understood just how useless he was right now. However, that would all change after school...

Wait...he just got an idea. It was a long shot...but it just might work. Secretly, Mike sent a PM out to the others

"Ren!" Sasha exclaimed, surprised to see him here. "Where the fuck did you come out from?"

Before their little reunion could play out, Sasha's worst fears came true. A pseudospace expanded around them, removing the soft background noises of the world. Sasha glanced around in panic, but they were hidden out of sight from the streets. Checking her minimap, she now saw two red blips not too far away. Curiously, there was another green blip right in front of them. A message arrived in the next instant. Sasha quickly scanned through it.

"Oh my god, Silas is out there. Those must be the hunters Genji told us about!"
"This isn't good... we need to think of something quickly before the enemies attack Silas or find us here..." Ren said, drawing his weapon, a knife. Sasha remembered that she too had one, and equipped it from her inventory. She carefully creeped up to the front gate, and peered out through a gap. Sure enough, there was the tall young man standing down the road. He had his katana out. Suddenly, there was some rapid movements, and a giant hammer swung into sight. Sasha saw the wielder next, a large man in a suit of armor. Looking at his level, Sasha felt weak.

"Oh my god, he's level 20! And there's another guy wearing robes behind him!" Sasha whispered to Ren. Silas was a madman to try to take them on, but she understood why he was calmly fighting. He believed that they would come to his aid. After all, he did say he trusted Sasha... Gaaah, fuck you Silas for guilt-tripping me!

"Fuck this. Ren, let's take out that guy in the back first. He's looking like a stereotypical mage, which probably means that he's easy to kill. I'll circle around to come behind him. I'll jump him then retreat, and then you can bust through the gates and open hell on them. Once the mage's down we can gang up on the armored dude."

Sasha started scaling over into the yard of the next house without waiting for Ren's reply. They didn't have much time before Silas was subdued, and an equal fight against people far higher leveled than them did not bode well.

The impact of the hammer was indeed very powerful. He had a hard time holding back the powerful swing of the knight. However Silas was already surprised he could block an attack from someone who was twice the level he was... Gosh, he really was weak, but maybe the battle with this guy would grant him quite some EXP even if he would lose. But that wasn't going to happen. Silas took a deep breath, making use of the Ban Family Breathing Technique. In the corner of his eyes he saw Ren and Sasha joining the battle, probably going after the mage. This was nice, because now Silas could put all his concentration on the knight.

Silas had thought up a plan in his head to attack the knight, without getting hurt himself. He desummon his katana and quickly roll underneath the hammer of the knight. Silas then would quickly stand up again and mumble the words to summon his katana again. He would now be behind the knight, as long as he wouldn't turn around. A smirk appeared on Silas' face and he mumbled; "Energy Strike", his katana would glow in a bright blue color and Silas would slash the knight in front of him. If he succeeded, he would continue the attack with a Chain Attack consisting out of another Energy Strike. Otherwise he would make a quick jump backwards to make some distance between him and his opponent. He would do the latter too if he succeeded in his Chain Attack.

Unfortunately for Sasha, Ren was already out of the gate before she began talking about plans, already confronting the mage. Of course, this would still allow Sasha to begin sneaking into the next yard quickly and quietly while also trying to get a jump on the mage.

---

Sasha Acrobatics: 6 - 12 Climbing = -6

---

Sasha was able to quickly and easily scale the fence into the next yard, although it might have been a little more quick if Sasha knew how to climb properly. It was thanks to physical strength that she was able to pull herself up and over the fence both quickly and quietly, now able to continue sneaking towards a path to get a jump on the chanting mage.

---

Sasha Stealth: 56 - 32 Stealth = 24

---

Luckily, thanks to being in a back yard of a house still, Sasha was easily able to remain undetected as she continued sneaking.

In the meantime, the mage seemed to finish chanting his spell and seemed like he was about to cast it.

---

Mage Spell: 31

---

The mage was about to cast his spell, but something happened and the spell fizzled, the man cursing out loud. It seemed whatever Ren did to him seemed to do just the trick and make him a bit clumsier and more unfocused, thus interrupting the casting of his spell.

Now Silas began his own counterattack against the mage, first activating the Ban Family Breathing Technique, a window appearing in front of him saying said technique had been activated and a green, misty aura glowing around his body. After that it was time to attempt some fancy footwork, de-summoning the katana after the clash of weapons seeming to startle the man a small bit to try and roll to get behind him.

---

Silas Tumble: 26 - 19 Acrobatics - 10 Special Bonus = -3

Fighter Blocking: 47

---

Luckily it worked, Silas now in a great position behind the man to attack, which would definitely not be good for the large, armored man as with Silas' swiftness despite that taking a few concentrated moments he was able to attack after standing up from that position.

---

Silas Energy Strike: 30 - 24 Melee Weaponry - 9 Skill Bonus - 25 Distance Bonus = -28

Hit! (Max Damage)

Damage Dealt: 23

---

The attack hit square on, very precisely in fact right in the man's back where he couldn't really defend from the damage of the attack and thus take even more, but the man's own toughness and incredibly strong armor seemed to stave off a good bit of the damage, but Silas still had the second attack of his Chain Attack Skill, the Energy Strike carrying over into this strike.

---

Silas Chain Strike: 2 (Critical Strike!)

Hit! (Critical)

Damage Dealt: 86

---

The second attack seemed to hit very deep, even getting through a bit of armor and shearing through, a large chunk of HP dropping from the man, but still the Critical Strike didn't seem to damage him as heavily as it did other monsters, but it still dealt a very large chunk of damage, the man gritting his teeth as the katana did indeed draw some blood. This was a human being, a person who bled, so using a weapon on them with a blade would cut them and wound them. It was needless to say that this would be alot different than fighting a basic monster.

Several things went up in level and even Melee Weaponry seemed to get a buff from that after those few attacks. Even if this battle didn't give actual EXP, there was still some great Skill levels to be gained here. Not only that, but two familiar windows seemed to appear, indicating the creation of a new Skill.





The man still seemed to have a very good chunk of his HP left, although whether or not killing these guys was on the table yet still had yet to be determined.

Ren, in the meantime, was still fighting the mage. Suddenly he called out "Undine! Water Arrow!" A form seemed to materialize from water in front of him. It looked like a girl who seemed to be somewhat made of water, yet also had a physical body as well, the girl being about three or so feet tall. She thrust out her hands towards the mage, something that appeared to be a pressurized blast of water that looked like a comet like arrow shot from her hands towards the mage.

---

Undine Water Arrow: 44 - 21 Projectile Weaponry = 23

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 26

---

The arrow hit right on target, but the moment it seemed to get right near him the arrow seemed to be stopped by an invisible shield that shimmered blue for just a single moment, the arrow seeming to be blocked by the shield. Ren, in the instant after the arrow hit the mage...

---

Ren Reaction: 58 - 18 Dex = 40

---

Unfortunately Ren wasn't able to react quickly enough in time to change tactics as he saw the arrow being blocked by something as the instant after the arrow launched and hit the mage, Ren cried out "Eldritch Flame!", a dark greenish-blackish fireball forming in his hand and then Ren throwing it at the mage from his hand towards the mage.

---

Ren Eldrtich Fireball: 46 - 18 Thrown Weaponry = 28

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 28

---

Unfortunately the same thing happened with the fireball. He attempted to dodge, and it hit, but the fireball hit that same barrier and was stopped by it, Ren cursing as the man just laughed. "And here I thought you were a threat from how your friend is faring with my brother, how foolish of me to think that!" And once again he began to chant quickly.

And speaking of brother, the large fighter quickly turned around after Silas jumped backwards. Unfortunately, even though Silas was pretty quick and able to jump back, the large man was able to quickly close the gap thanks to his own bulk, swiftness, and the reach of his maul, able to attempt an attack on silas with the gigantic weapon, suddenly though his body seeming to bulk up a good bit as his eyes flared and a strange mist came from his body as he seemed to move with even more power, but was a bit clumsier. Still suddenly he swung his hammer forward. Unfortunately Silas would be able to discern that the hammer was moving with way too much strength for Silas to be even able to block, giving Silas no choice but to dodge.

---

Fighter Attack: 71

Miss

---

Luckily the attack missed, the maul whiffing through the air as it swung in a sideways arc, slamming into a street lamp that happened to be in the swing's arc. A loud crack could be heard as the metal lamp post was completely broken, it falling to the ground and landing on a nearby house, breaking it. The house, that now had a hole in it thanks to the fallen street light landing on it thanks to the power of the swing. There was nothing inside the house though, literally nothing. It must have been the reason why people couldn't enter buildings, they were completely empty thanks to the power of a Pseudospace to make sure that the normal world wasn't affected, meaning they could blow up this entire block and nothing would happen in reality. It was really nifty how Gaia could do this. Still, if Silas had gotten hit by that maybe he wouldn't have died, but his HP still probably would have taken a nose dive to say the least. Still, despite how strong that blow was, it might have been something that Genji could do easily. This attack looked like it strained the man a bit to perform.

Now Silas had another moment to counterattack, although while this man's strength seemed to be doubled perhaps formulating a different plan would be a better idea as whatever was happening to him was probably also making him much tougher as well and maybe getting to a better vantage point using the terrain to try and avoid that man's hammer at the current moment, a hammer that seemed to be able to topple stone lamp posts and send them flying a small bit into a house about ten yards away. Luckily it wasn't Ren's house, but the house next to it, not that it would have mattered thanks to the Pseudospace.

Sasha could also continue to try and sneak up for a close assassination attempt, not able to see Ren's attacks on the mage due to being in the back yard of the house in front of the two fighting mages, so she would not know about the mage's shield, so she could continue sneaking up, or perhaps lay in wait for an opportunity to attack.

Sasha scrambled through the lawn of the next house, careful not to reveal herself to the hunters outside. She didn't have any practice climbing, so her progress was much slower than she hoped for, but the fact that she was able to scale the wall taller than herself was only due to her stat improvements. Regular old Sasha would still be stuck in the house she met Ren in. Hell, she'd still be stuck out on the streets.

She could hear strange noises outside that weren't just the clashing of steel on steel. Faintly she heard Ren's voice. Damnit! She had to hurry or the duo would be overwhelmed. Sasha got to the next house and checked her position by peeking out from the gate. Good, she was now behind the mage. So long as they did not turn around, they would never see her coming.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered, steeling herself for what she was getting herself into. Yes, she was going into a fight where their lives were at stake. However, there was no fear... only excitement. Quietly opening the front gates, she ran as silently as she could towards the robed man, dagger gripped tightly in her right hand. She saw him engaged in a spell duel with Ren, while Silas was still alive and kicking. Good. Once she introduced the man to her little friend, they would encircle the armored man.

First Sasha had to get out of the back yard she was in, which involved a quick climbing over the fence.

---

Sasha Climbing: 31 - 12 Climbing = 19

---

The fence was relatively easy to climb once again mainly thanks to Sasha's new physical strength. While she was no super strong star athlete, she was certainly much stronger than she used to be by a long shot. Next though was the sneaking over the mage as he was chanting his spell quickly.

---

Sasha Sneak: 48 - 32 Stealth - 4 Skill Bonus = 12

---

Luckily the mage was still chanting and distracted by Ren, so he did not see Sasha sneaking over quickly, her good Dex and even the Ban Family Foot Technique let her stealth the several yard distance between her and the mage a bit quickly, Sasha even being able to take the extra risk to move quickly in this case with how stealthy she was being, able to get an attack off with her Tanto without the mage seeing it.

---

Sasha Assassination: 78 - 20 Melee Weaponry - 5 Skill Bonus - 25 Distance Bonus = 28

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 42

---

If it wasn't for Sasha being able to get up close, then the attack wouldn't have even connected as the mage didn't notice it until it was too late. Sasha wasn't able to perform an attempt for his vitals, but she was able to get in close for a quick and stealthy slash. Unfortunately Sasha met the same problem as Ren. Despite the attack hitting, the Tanto seemed to bounce harmlessly off a barrier of some kind that was invisible the moment it hit the mage. Damage seemed to be dealt, but not to the mage, but to something else probably.

Unfortunately the mage finished chanting his spell right there as well, aiming it at Ren as he now knew Sasha was there with the sword, but knew that the barrier around him would protect him from her attacks.

---

Mage Spell: 25

---

He barely managed to pull it off, whatever Ren did to him only making him barely succeed this time instead of fail as it did before. He finished chanting his dark spell, calling out a couple of words in a powerful tone and foreign language as suddenly a beam of dark, magical energy shot from the head of his staff and headed straight towards Ren.

---

Mage Projectile: 21

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 105

---

A pretty bad looking 105 appeared above Ren's head as he was blasted by the beam, its power throwing Ren backwards and onto the ground, the young boy crying out very loudly in pain, even his usually quiet, soft voice cracking a bit here, the spell being very powerful indeed, his own MP Armor barely doing anything to reduce the brunt of the blow of the dark spell's incredible force. Ren's HP was now really low, for even him as he had a pretty good amount of HP, but in this fight with HP that low it would probably be the difference between life and death here.

Ren got up, clenching his teeth as his entire body hurt, but he glared now at the mage, knowing that they had to take down the monster first. Luckily though, in terms of Ren's HP, the small girl who looked like she was made of water who everyone there could see, who had the following above her head in green text that only the Gamers could see, 'Undine Lv 10, Ren Hitori's Basic Water Elemental', waved her hand at Ren, a small wave of water washing over him that seemed to glow softly for a few moments, a green 50 appearing over Ren's head as the water faded while Ren quickly stood up, the power that Undine used apparently healing Ren for a good chunk of HP. Of course, it took a good bit of Ren's MP in the process, but HP was worth sacrificing MP for.

"You'll pay for that. Power Siphon!" Ren aimed his hand towards the mage as he quickly got up whilst speaking and as the water washed over him. Suddenly a slightly darkish yellowish aura appeared around Ren's hand as it seemed to move from that to the mage, but instead hit the mage's invisible barrier. However, Ren's strange skill literally seemed to be sucking out some of the energy from the shield as it transferred the shield's power over to Ren who smirked. While it seemed like Ren was just going to absorb the MP, instead the power that was drained transferred into Ren's hand as he said 'Capture", and the moment he did a very weak barrier shimmered around him for a moment before turning invisible, in the same manner that the mage's did as if Ren captured a very, very weak version of whatever shield was around the mage, the mage seeming to notice this and be somewhat surprised, the mage also having moved forward a few steps forward after Sasha's attack and after he cast his spell, taking note of both Sasha and Ren now, mainly Sasha though since she was right near him.

Still, Silas could now counterattack still after that large bear man did, and the mage was also open to attack from Sasha, taking down his shield probably being the best course of action so that he could be harmed, as was making sure that he couldn't cast anymore of his apparently very powerful, and painful, spells.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Her knife bounced off thin air before it could reach the robed figure. She could definitely feel her blade cut through something solid. A damage number that appeared after her attack confirmed this, but whatever it was the hunter was obviously unhurt. Ignoring Sasha, he managed to get a spell off on Ren- and did a horrifying three digit number on him.

"Fuck! You son of a bitch!" Sasha cursed, and spat at him. The small wad of spittle hit the shield and slid down the side of it. "Let's see if I can't tear this shit down, you fucker. Inventory! Equip wakizashi! Breathing Technique on!"

Summoned by her words, a short curved blade appeared in her empty hand. Wasting no time, she went to work with both weapons, unleashing a flurry of strokes at the mage. Sasha wasn't just hoping to tear down the shield- she was trying to be a distraction. She was careful to pay close attention to the mage's movements even while she tried to hack away at the barrier, just in case he tried to sling a bolt her way.

Ren was in alot of pain after that attack, even more than probably what Lucian or Mike felt when they got hit by that Mass Zombie from before. Even after that soothing water went over his body for a moment from Undine he was still in a great amount of pain. Getting hit hurt, alot. The mage now had his full attention on Sasha though as he turned around as she spat at him and said something to summon another sword out of thin air before she went to work, now holding both blades in her hand, the Wakizashi fitting better in her main hand and the Tanto in her off hand.

---

Sasha Wakizashi: 72 - 25 Distance Bonus - 20 Melee Weaponry = 27

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 20

Sasha Tanto: 54 - 25 Distance Bonus + 25 Dual Wield Penalty - 20 Melee Weaponry - 5 Skill Bonus = 29

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 17

---

The man was quite good with that staff in his hands, but Sasha was currently better with her two japanese weapons, her blades barely able to get past his guard to slash at the shield, dealing damage, but the blades just struck that barrier around him, draining more power from it. While the attacks didn't necessarily strike that well, there were a few benefits. Dagger Mastery Leveled up, two windows indicating the creation of a Short Sword Mastery Skill, and two windows indicating the creation of a new Skill.





Still, the shield was definitely weakening, but how much power it had left was uncertain. Still, Silas still had his opportunity to either counterattack against the armored man or attempt a different strategy lest he be completely pounded into dust by the hammer.

Silas grin grew bigger as he successfully hit the knight without getting hurt himself in the process. And the damage that was dealt was amazing. Blood was dripping down the katana... he wondered if the blood would still stay if the pseudospace would disappear again, or if it will be covered up by Gaia. But that was something to think about another time as Silas had backed away the knight surprisingly had caught up with him already in just a few seconds. Although his movement was fast, his actions were kinda predictable. Silas dodge rolled underneath the sidewards arc of the hammer.

Silas saw how powerful and devastating the slam was. It had hit a lantern that was sent flying a few meters away and crashed into a house causing heavy damage to it. Silas could quickly get a look into the house which was just an empty dusk. Truly amazing the power of Gaia, maybe it indeed could cover the serious wounds of the battle. "Shit. If I'm going to get hit by that I'll be dead." Silas mumbled to himself. "I need to use the environment to my advantage. Maybe the higher grounds would work." Silas first decided to do a quick counterattack by slashes the ankle, or lower leg, of the knight as Silas was close to the ground after the dodge roll. if it succeeded he would run away again, as the knight's speed was incredibly fast. He would try to find a ladder or drainpipe to the side of a house and climb it to get to the higher grounds. Hopefully his plan would work.