As Lucian shouted this it wasn't a shotgun like blast that erupted from his palm. No instead it was a comet-like sphere of mana, or energy as the difference was still unclear to all of them, blasted from Lucian's hand. Despite it looking like an upgraded version of Ren's Mana Bolt it looked like it could pack quite the punch as it headed straight for the Imp. --- Lucian Mana Wave: 21 - 5 Projectile Weaponry - 25 (Close Range) = -9 (Lucky) Imp Dodge: 34 Max Damage Hit (Lucky) Damage Dealt: 16 Damage --- The blast hit straight on, dealing a good amount of damage, part of that being hitting the Imp's weak point by chance with the blast. Unfortunately it didn't deal enough to kill the creature, but it was pretty angry now though. On a plus side though a window appeared stating that 'Lucky Strike's Level has increased by 1'. It and the other Imps were pretty angry at the humans now as they appeared to be on the counter-offensive now. One of the Imps, the one who just got blasted, headed straight for Lucian, claws raised and looking quite pissed off as it aimed to slash right at Lucian. Luckily the short distance between the two of them would help him have some time to see the blow and parry it. --- Imp Claw Attack: 26 Lucian Parry: 86 - 8 Melee Weaponry - 9 Skill Bonus = 69 Max Damage Hit Damage Dealt: 15 --- Unfortunately Lucian's staff skills weren't good enough here to deflect this blow. The Imp seemed to easily slip past his guard and get a somewhat nasty blow in on Lucian. That extra VIT boost seemed to be doing some good though as the attack didn't seem to do as much damage as it should have plus Lucian also was in much better shape than he would have been before the large boost he put in his VIT. Suddenly though, maybe in a twist of ironic fate, a window appeared before him. [hider=Window] A Skill has been created through a Special Action. The ability to endure physical wounds and pain, Physical Endurance, has been created. [/hider] [hider=Physical Endurance] Physical Endurance (Passive) (Lv 1: 0/100 EXP): +1 Resilience, +5% HP. To Level Up: Successfully endure a physical attack. Successfully endure a Critical Strike from a physical attack. Successfully survive a fatal strike. [/hider] After receiving this new skill Lucian would feel a slight bit tougher and feel like he had more endurance, but the only question was how did one level up this new Skill safely, a question that would have to be answered outside of the battle. And speaking of battle, a few Imps had their sights set on Ren, but Mike was in the way of a couple of them, so instead one went after Mike. The young, recently recovered ex-cripple was ready for this though. The moment the Imp rushed towards him he would say the command for Energy Pulse and a sort of cloud like sphere of bluish energy shot from his palm, heading straight for the onrushing Imp. --- Mike Energy Pulse: 6 - 2 Projectile Weaponry = 4 (Lucky) Imp Dodge: 61 Max Damage Hit Damage Dealt: 3 Damage --- The weak blast normally shouldn't have did any damage, but perhaps it was how hard the Imp was knocked back onto the ground that did some damage the moment the blast hit it, this luckily interrupting the Imp's attack and rush towards him. Unfortunately though Mike was only shielding Ren in one direction as that one Imp rushed Mike went around him, aiming to flank Ren on a different side as they weren't as dumb as they looked. Luckily the extra distance it took to get past Mike and get to behind Ren, the Imp being quite agile on its feet thanks to both its small size and just general swiftness, Ren was able to quickly say [i]"MP Armor!"[/i]. A familiar blue glow appeared over his body, a thin barrier of blue energy on him like a second skin appearing, acting as an armor of sorts as the Imp quickly now pounced at him, claws raised. --- Imp Claw Attack: -3 Ren Dodge: 70 - 25 Dodge = 45 Hit! (Lucky) Damage Dealt: 11 --- The Imp's attack was very quick and looked like it managed to, by pure chance, get at a weaker spot on Ren with its sharp claws, the young boy cringing and gritting his teeth through the pain. Luckily the strange, glowing mana 'armor' seemed to block a good bit of force of the strong attack. It still got him, but not as much as it should have. Another Imp, seeing the better built racket player with his deadly racket charged at him, its feet quick and claws sharp as it snarled at Silas, aiming to rip him a new one as it lunged towards him, claws now aimed for his neck as it snarled angrily. --- Imp Claw Attack: 11 Silas Parry: 86 - 12 Melee Weaponry - 8 Skill Bonus = 66 Max Damage Hit Damage Dealt: 15 --- Unfortunately, despite how good Silas' racquetball skills were, the Imp seemed to slip its claws past his guard, its claws raking in deep and dealing quite the nasty blow. There was no bleeding though for some reason. It felt like he should have bled, but for some reason he didn't. Perhaps this was one of the powers of the Gamer's Body Skill since game characters never seem to actually bleed unless an attack specifically inflicted bleeding damage or a bleeding affect of sort. Still the attack hurt like all else regardless and dealt quite a nasty blow on Silas' HP. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, a window would appear as well, then another window explaining a strange new Skill. [hider=Window] A Skill has been created through a special action. The ability to endure physical wounds and pain, Physical Endurance, has been created. [/hider] [hider=Physical Endurance] Physical Endurance (Passive) (Lv 1: 0/100 EXP): +1 Resilience, +5% HP. To Level Up: Successfully endure a physical attack. Successfully endure a Critical Strike from a physical attack. Successfully survive a fatal strike. [/hider] One other Imp had followed its other comrade to Ren's other side as well, charging with its claws raised as well as it attempted to slash at him, the Imp snarling angrily as it attempted another powerful claw attack towards Ren just as its first comrade did. --- Imp Claw Attack: 77 Ren Dodge: 50 - 25 Dodge = 25 Missed --- Ren luckily saw this attack coming and managed to deftly dodge just in time. Not only did he dodge though, but instead he shouted [i]"Riposte!"[/i] rather quickly the moment he dodged, his blade glowing a small bit as his body moved quickly, the Gamer power probably helping him execute this very instant counterattack, as Ren aimed to slash the Imp with his survival knife. --- Ren Riposte: 2 (Critical!) Imp Dodge: 17 Critical Hit! Damage Dealt: 40 --- The blade sliced deep and true as Ren's counterattack seemed to strike and slash deep in the Imp's neck, and straight through it, with alarming precision and accuracy. The Imp didn't even have time to screech or scream in pain, let alone react at all, as right after that slash it fell over, vanishing into thin air the moment it fell to the ground. One other Imp seemed to charge after Sasha. Luckily she was a bit further away from it, giving Sasha plenty of time to quickly get ready to dodge or parry its attack, which parrying it with the baseball bat would be easier, but for now dodging it since she had yet to figure out how to quickly draw or withdraw a weapon at will like Ren seemed to be able to do. --- Imp Claw Attack: 39 Sasha Dodge: 1 (Critical) Miss --- Sasha was easily able to dodge the Imp's attack no problem. It was so easy and quick to dodge the attack that she could even step back and get off a quick Energy Revolver as a counterattack, having to say Energy Revolver to use it, but she could mentally decide how many shots to use, the most useful amount being 3 since right now Energy Shot was a bit too weak to use on its own. Being able to use it with both hands, which both of her hands were free, allowed her to fire a total of six Energy Shots all at once for a measly 6 MP. --- Energy Revolver 1: 50 - 13 Projectile Weaponry = 37 Energy Revolver 2: 48 - 13 Projectile Weaponry = 35 Imp Dodge: 43 Damage Dealt: 10 --- The Imp definitely felt the barrage of energy bullets this time. Normally one wouldn't have done the trick, but when all six were fired at once the total damage was all added up, walloping it pretty good as they all hit a single point on the creature's body to intensify the damage. In fact after her artful dodging and skilled usage of Energy Revolver, a couple of windows appeared in front of her. [hider=Window 1] Quick and fast dodging movements beyond your average capabilities have made you more athletic, +1 Acrobatics. [/hider] [hider=Window 2] Energy Revolver's Level has increased by 1 [/hider] [hider=Window 3] Energy Shot's Level has increased by 1 [/hider] One more Imp, seeing two surrounding Ren, also quickly charged at him, going around Mike as well and going behind him, Ren now having, once again, two Imps to contend with as the Imp attempted to lunge at him with its mighty claws. --- Imp Claw Attack: 38 Ren Dodge: 57 - 25 Dodge = 32 Miss --- Once again Ren called out [i]"Riposte!"[/i], using that Skill once again to perform another very fast counterattack towards the Imp, teeth clenched as he aimed to put this creature down as well with this counterattack. --- Ren Riposte: 62 + 22 (Riposte penalty) - 22 (Melee Weaponry) - 10 Skill Bonus = 52 Imp Dodge: 67 Damage Dealt: 10 --- The blade slashed right across the beasts chest, making it growl and screech angrily in pain. It wasn't down or out, but it certainly was in pain and certainly was angry. It also didn't seem to bleed as well when cut, but there was no time to waste in contemplating such things. As if following the cue of its other Imps one more seemed to also go after Ren, Ren having to dodge another set of sharp, deadly claws, which was hard when right next to two other Imps that wanted to kill him. They really wanted to kill Ren right now. --- Imp Claw Attack: 41 Ren Dodge: 7 - 25 = -18 Miss --- Ren dodged the attack so easily it seemed like it was second nature to him, the attack almost looking as if it missed on purpose. Of course adding to the second nature of Ren's dodging was Ren using Riposte as if it was some kind of conditioned response, aiming for another lightning speed counterattack towards the Imp. --- Ren Riposte: 2 Critical! Imp Dodge: 76 Critical Hit! Damage Dealt: 44 --- Once again the blade went right for one of the weakest, most vital points on any body. The throat. The blade sunk deep, cutting and rending right through the creature's throat in one clean slash. Like the last one that went down this way it didn't even get a chance to properly react nor to even let out any sounds of pain, it falling over as well and vanishing just like the others the moment it hit the ground. There were only six Imps left now. Two flanking Ren on both sides, one that Mike knocked down, another that Sasha had just shot a couple of times, one that just clawed Lucian and the last one was the one that just clawed Silas. Unfortunately Ren knew that he didn't have much breathing room with two Imps right next to him and jumping back wasn't no option. [i]"Now's a good time as any to try that theory of mine"[/i]. If gathering Mana with his ability to control it, thanks to Mana Focus, allowed him to create a shield by flattening it and condensing it around him, armor by wrapping it around his body, and bolts by gathering it into a sphere then throwing it, then maybe gathering it around him in the same style that he did to create MP Armor, but instead of wrapping it around him using his hands to repulse it from him and anything standing next to him would work as well in a focused, willful burst. --- Focus: 35 - 23 Focus = 12 --- Ren quickly concentrated as fast as he could, knowing that this 'experiment' would take away a good chunk of his MP. Still, it would be worth it if he succeeded as he quickly seemed to gather Mana around him, it looking like a slightly glowing, blue mist. It gathered around him quickly, then he thrust his palms outward to his sides, the Mana gathered around him quickly bursting outward in a sort of outward, small ring like fashion. --- Imp 1 Strength: -1 (Not a critical) Damage Dealt: 2 Imp 2 Strength: 96 (Fumble) Damage Dealt: 16 --- The first Imp didn't seem to be knocked back by it, the creature managing to plant its feet at the last moment and take the blast head on, gritting its teeth and only taking a rather small amount of damage from the shockwave of mana. The second one, however, was not so luckily. It was easily blasted back several yards as it lost its footing nearly immediately, it seeming to take quite the wallop from the shockwave more than it should have, the rough falling to the ground certainly not helping its case, especially since it landed in a way that people shouldn't land, hitting its head hard on the ground. The Imp vanished moments after it was flung off. In fact, the moment it vanished Mike and Silas would see a window appear in front of them now as the Level indicator above their heads went up from 2 to 3. The window read as thus. [hider=Window] Your Level has gone up by 1. [/hider] The Imp that managed to boldly keep its ground, however, was not like its other friend as it quickly aimed to throw its claws at Ren as it literally had tried to claw at Ren when he was focusing and thrusting his hands out, had its attack only delayed for a moment, but was able to beat the sudden blast of mana with its strength to where it was able to continue its attack right when the blast concluded. --- Imp Free Strike: 59 Ren Dodge: 48 - 25 Dodge = 23 --- Ren was a bit too tired at the current moment from focusing all of that mana at once to improvise a way to get the Imps off of his back, the blast luckily not being big enough to hit Mike as well who was only a few yards away, to use Riposte, so he just took for dodging the bloody creature for now. It seems like with only 5 Imps left, all of them sporting some wounds, that this battle would be over soon enough.