[IC] The Gamers (A Videogame Themed RP) (Reboot)

[Renose]

Sasha began to try and focus while also try and mimic Genji's movements to see if she could perform the same technique that he did, taking his strange explanation into mind. With the Breathing Technique still active, and thus Sasha's MP still dwindling a bit, it would be a small bit easier to try and understand what Genji meant with the power it gave her possibly being a part of the technique, so moving over a Kobold to test it out, she would raise one of her blades and try to bring it down onto a Kobold.

---

Sasha Focus: 13 - 26 Focus - 5 Skill Bonus = -18

---

Power. The Breathing Technique helped her energy and also her power flow more evenly and freely through her body with each breath. Through basic intuition and the feeling of this through the Breathing Technique, Sasha would be able to understand that power wasn't just in the muscles. It was within the body as well. With that sharp exhale she would let all of her power both inside and outside become raw brute force in the next moment, immensely increasing the strength of her swing by using power that normally wasn't applied in an ordinary sword swing, power that she had, but power that she never used for this purpose.

---

Sasha Sword Slash: 40 - 22 Melee Weaponry - 5 Skill Bonus = 13

Hit! (Max Damage)

Damage Dealt: 70

---

The slash was powerful, very powerful indeed. With the Breathing and Ki Techniques adding more damage, plus the sword mastery Skill, not to mention Sasha's rather precise strike, she was able to essentially barely pull off the same thing that Genji did, slashing through the Kobold in one single, super powered slash, the beast's HP draining all the way down with that single attack before it disappeared into nothingness just like all of the rest, unfortunately leaving behind no Item when it vanished this time either, Item drops most likely being a Luck based thing if one applied Game logic to this.

Still, the other benefits Sasha reaped from her success were two levels in Short Sword Mastery, a level in the Breathing Technique, and two other windows.

Window

A Skill has been created through a Special Action. Through practicing and successfully performing the first of the Ban Family Sword Techniques, the Skill to use this Technique freely, the Daichizan, has been created.

Daichizan

Daichizan (Level 1: 0/100 EXP) (Active: 15 MP): +1 Ban Family Sword Technique. +1 Str. The Daichizan or Earth Slash, the first technique of the Ban Family Sword Technique. This Technique is one of brute power, meant to cleave through the very earth itself, allowing you to harness all of your Inner and Outer Ki (MP) as explosive, brute force added to your current physical strength for one single attack. Your Str score is increased by 50% of your Focus Score the moment you use the technique, plus it deals 25% more Damage than a regular attack.

Genji, after Sasha performed the technique, clapped. "Great job, you seem to have the basics of it down. Harnessing the strengths of both your Inner and Outer Ki and letting them flow through your body to give yourself an explosive bit of brute force for a single attack. A technique that lets you use all of your strength at once instead of just your physical strength. Its a useful technique against opponents with low physical strength, especially since it could cut through weaker opponents' defenses. However, it is just a brute force technique, and brute force when met with greater brute force is easily stopped."

He then looked towards Silas. "Why don't you give it a try next?"

[Renose]

Ren looked at Lucian as he spoke, listening to what he had to say about his own character route. "Well, if you do plan on sticking with Nature, I think Wisdom might be your route. I noticed that for Spirit based Skills the Wisdom Stat is more the way to go, especially since it helps increase MP Regeneration and overall MP amount. You might want to put more points into that Stat instead. Your Dex could use some work to. After all, all of this power will be useless if you can't dodge anything."

After giving Lucian his own opinion on what he should work on, which may have sounded rude or condescending in both tone and the way he said it, it was fair advice for survival, if Lucian wanted to listen to it. Ren wouldn't even normally give this advice, but they all needed to work together, unfortunately, to survive or otherwise they would die. Ren hated working with others in the 3D, but knew that with their situation he had no choice in the matter, so he figured if he was going to be forced into it, might as well do so to the best of his ability.

"And yea. I am going into magic. Water Magic is a good source of healing, plus if I could get Ice I could get some CC. I plan on using the Demonology Skill Book to learn how to summon Demons for Tanks, and the spells I am learning with Black Magic will be my DoT's, Debuffs, and single enemy attackers. With Magic being a primarily Int based ability all I need to do is keep pumping up Int and maybe put a few more into Wis or Dex and I should be good. Plan on at least getting my Int to 50 before I start spreading out my points a bit more to give myself some more Vit and even Str if needed."

Ren's explanation was basic, and simple. The great thing about this power was that gaming experience could be applied towards it, figuring out what to build and how to do so thanks to the knowledge they have gained from the people they have met.

[Renose]

Silas, like Sasha, would also attempt to learn the Daichizan. Unless he didn't want to, if that's the case then ignore this section right here for those who it would apply to. If he chose to activate the Breathing Technique as both Genji and Sasha did, attempting to learn and use the technique would be a good bit easier as he faced a Kobold and prepared to use it in the same manner in which Genji did.

---

Silas Daichizan (Learning): 12 - 17 Focus - 5 Skill Bonus = -10

Silas Daichizan (Using): 20 - 15 Ban Family Sword Technique - 10 Attack Speed = -5

Hit! (Max Damage)

Damage Dealt: 71

---

And he was able to succeed, cutting down the Kobold with that one very powerful and precise blow, leveling up in the process, Silas now having two level ups to apply since he never applied the last one (or so I assume). After cutting down the Kobold, Genji let out an impressed whistle, a club appearing where the Kobold once was after it vanished, this seeming to be its more common item drop since they got a good amount of them before. "Alright, another one of those clubs, and I see that you managed to perform the Daichizan, most impressive". He walked over to the club, giving it a few swings before propping it over his shoulder. "Alright, ill use this to keep your fights one on one, as even if you can take these guys out pretty quickly, they can still be incredibly dangerous if they gang up on you".

With that, training on their own would begin, or in this case continue for Erica, who had been fighting on her own for a bit, managing to kill two Kobolds during this time and one of them managing a smack on her as they were pretty tough themselves during her brief solo fight.

Thirteen Kobolds were slain. Silas and Sasha slayed five of them apiece, while Erica only managed to slay three. No more really came to gang up on the three of them, so any help from Genji was somewhat unneeded, so he gave advice on martial arts and sword movements when needed, helping Silas and Sasha learn more of the movements of the style of the Ban Family Sword Technique itself so they could fight with that instead of useless sword swinging, the two of them able to get it if they used their swords during the fight. Genji also observed Erica's technique, giving some impressed nods here and there as it was an impressive technique.

The drops from these Kobolds were four clubs, one Small Recovery Potion, and two sets of Kobold Armor. The drops weren't really great this time around, but the Level Up and Skill Levels were.

Sasha leveled up once, leveling up the Breathing Technique, Daichizan, Short Sword Mastery, and the Inner Ki Technique one or two times for each. A good bit of leveling on her part.

Erica leveled up a few of her Skills here and there, but also closed the level gap between her and the others by 2 whole levels, giving her 8 Stat Points and 6 Talent Points to spend, and from her experience this means she could level up either six talents once, three talents twice, or some combination thereof.

Silas also leveled up some of his Skills, but also leveled up two more times as well, having nearly achieved the second level up by the end of the grinding session, giving him three whole level ups to apply now since he had saved one of them from before, meaning he had 15 Stat Points and 9 Talent Points to divide among his various Stats and Talents. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, no Mob Boss appeared this time either, Genji seeming a little disappointed as he was wondering what a Mob Boss would look like since they did say one had appeared before.

"Darn, no giant Kobold or whatever a Mob Boss would be this time either... oh well, maybe next time. Anyway, whatever you guys don't want to use of the Items you received, ill buy from you like before. Otherwise, feel free to do whatever you want with your drops. If no one has any questions though then ill see you guys tomorrow since it is starting to get pretty late..." Genji paused though, looking at Silas and Sasha. "Not to give anything away, but for this next Sword technique, I recommend raising your speed a good deal. Trust me, you'll both need it..."

[BioHazard]

Silas stretched his body. The new technique he learned was a real nice one, he was lucky that he managed to learn it so quickly and easily. He was proud of himself that he leveled up to much, and certainly would take Genji's advice to put some of his points into speed. The rest would probably go into strength and luck as they are best to be applied in melee combat, and of course sneaking up to people. Also Silas was a bit disappointed that there was no mob-boss, he really wanted a challenge. Maybe one that can be compared to the one of yesterday.

"That was a real nice training Genji." Silas said. "Feel free to buy the items, unless one of the girls wants one." he said. Silas approached Genji to talk to him. He wanted to say this while close to them as he didn't want the others to hear any of it. "Could we still talk about something?"

[Renose]

Genji wasn't dense at all, and was easily able to tell that Silas wanted to talk alone. "Alright, come with me and ill get this stuff sorted out for you." He picked up the four clubs and two suits of armor, leaving the Potion there for whoever wanted it, Erica probably being the best one for it since she didn't have any Recovery Items as of yet and thus could desperately use one for emergencies since instant healing Potions were very useful, especially in the world of the Abyss where their HP was pretty much their life. Despite how heavy all of the items that he picked up looked, he was able to carry them rather easily, although if Silas were to opt to Inventory them for temporary transport it would be alot easier to get them to the store room.

After they arrived Genji told Silas to wait there as he opened the door to the store room and went inside, closing it behind him. There were probably reasons why he couldn't bring Silas in there. After a few minutes he came out, carrying a stack of yen bills in one hand and a small box in the other, handing the stack of bills to Silas. "That's 70,000 ¥ in total. 10,000 ¥ for each club and 15,000 ¥ for the suits of armor. Not as big of a haul as last time, but still a pretty nice one nonetheless. Split it with the others." After that he closed the door to the store room and locked it before looking back at Silas.

"So, what do you want to talk about? Something serious I guess since, judging by your tone, you don't want the others to hear this."

Silas followed Genji to the storage room without asking or talking along the way. He wanted to suggest that he carried the items in his Inventory, but Genji seemed to manage it easily, so he didn't bother. Once they arrived at the storage room, Genji went inside with the equipment, closing the door behind him. Silas leaned back against the wall. "Hopefully Genji can help me with this... I don't know what to do." Silas mumbled to himself. After a few minutes Genji appeared again and handed him the money for the equipment.

"I'll be sure to hand it to them." Silas said accepting the money. He would need to discuss with Sasha whether Erica should get some too. He didn't really trust her at the moment. But again, he had that same feeling with Sasha at the start. He could remember when they, along with Mike, ran into Genji's little sister. Wonder what ever happened to her. However luckily Genji understood that these were some serious matters.

"Okay, please don't get mad at me for what I'm about to tell you." he said and rubbed his forehead before continuing. "I have a girlfriend Tomoyo, she is really amazing, however she keeps worrying about me. The first time I just told that I didn't want her to get involved in this business, and lied about what I was doing. But the last time I was interrogated by her, I told the truth about what has been happening. And now I fear that she might get drawn into this too."

Silas let out a big sigh. "I honestly don't know what to do. I often act very distant, but I can't towards her. And I feel you are the only one I can talk about these things, like the Abyss and such. So what's your opinion about this?"

Genji listened to Silas' problem and waited until he was done talking before crossing his arms, a bit in thought with a pretty serious expression upon his face. Despite his knowledge of the Abyss and thus what could be classified as expertise on these manners, even he was having a slightly hard time thinking up a solution to Silas' problem since it was such a delicate matter that would have to be approached very carefully.

"You seriously are a foolish bunch, aren't you?" Sumi walked up now, wearing her usual attire, carrying some bags in her arms.

"Eh, Nee-san, you're already done with classes today?" Genji seemed a little surprised to see her, especially with the fact that she probably heard what Silas had to say.

"My last one was cancelled, anyway..." She turned to Silas, staring at him for a few moments before suddenly he would feel a palm cross his cheek with enough force to put him on the ground, probably draining a little bit of HP. It was a good thing his Resilience was somewhat high, or that would have hurt more than it should have.

Yep, she slapped him right across the face, to where with her speed Silas would have had barely any time to react, if any at all, this slap surprising Genji, who was about to say something, but was stopped by the very serious, and somewhat angry, expression she had upon her features.

"You're a real dumbass you know that?!" She didn't yell it, but with how her tone was she probably would have. "You could have lied to your girlfriend, but instead you put the door to the Abyss right in front of her, and for what purpose? Normally you shouldn't lie to your girlfriend, but with this case I am pretty sure you should have been smart enough to make an exception...just be thankful that you didn't show her your power, or you'd be dead by about now!"

"That's enough Nee-san... can't yo--" He was about to speak, but was once again cut off when Sumi spoke.

"I can see that its a serious problem and I would love to help, but I have things to do..." With that, she stormed off, seeming a little pissed. Actually, make that very pissed.

Genji sighed and offered a hand to help Silas up, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "S-Sorry about that. Normally she doesn't get that angry but well... she was also in a similar situation to yours once before..." After Silas either accepted Genji's hand to stand up or stood up on his own, Genji would look Silas over. "You alright? That slap was pretty nasty... didn't drain to much of that HP of yours, did it?" He chuckled a little bit, trying to make light of the situation, despite the fact that said slap literally did do 22 Damage.

Silas was slammed to the ground with hard force, but he didn't try to resist. He had witnissed some of her strength, and she had plenty of it, and besides he didn't want to put up a fight with the sister of a friend. However how could she possibly understand the situation he is in, you can't just lie forever to your loved one, it's impossible. And while she interrupted, she didn't even bother to help.

Silas was helped up by Genji. He had lost some of his HP, jeez that was a hard slam, although he wouldn't really be able to feel it because of the Gamer's power. Genji told that she had been in a similar situation, which kinda was a shock to him. Did she have the same problem as he did? How did she deal with it? And is her current behavior a result of what happened? "No need to apologize." Silas sighed. "Jeez, she really is two hands full." he said.

"However before we got interrupted, do you have an answer to my questions? Or should we first look if Sumi is okay... because she doesn't look that way. Well, it's worse than the first time I met her."

"Yea, she may be the older sister, but she can sometimes get really emotional. She'll be fine though, she's usually calm and collected, but if she outbursts like that at you, it doesn't mean she hates you...in fact, that was probably her way of trying to help. After all, in the Abyss..." Genji looked down for a moment and sighed. "It can be real hard to get attached to something... especially when..." He stopped there, shaking his head as if he didn't want to go any further, deciding now to change the subject back to Silas.

"As for your problem, it seems you have two options. The first is to step away from the Abyss yourself, and I believe at your level you still may be able to. This way, you and your girlfriend can live a normal life. If you really do want to continue living in the Abyss, then just keep doing so, but make sure your girlfriend doesn't get any further involved. Don't give her any info on the Abyss, don't tell anyone that she knows about it; even the other Gamers. Its not that you can't trust them, its just safer this way. You should trust them, just don't tell them about this. And the final thing to do... is just to have her keep living normally. Hunters can't go after normal people and normal people can't enter Pseudospace. Do all of this, and you two should be fine."

He sighed after finishing his speech, looking at Silas. "Anyway, you should head home. Don't worry about Nee-san, she'll be fine. In fact, if you guys do come tomorrow, she'll probably be the one here for training, as I have class tomorrow. So lets get you back to the others so that you all can go home, as it is starting to get late." With that, Genji began to walk back to the Pseudospace room, expecting Silas to follow.

And if he did, soon enough they would be back with Erica and Sasha, the martial artist giving the two of them a wave. "Hey ladies, you miss us? Me and Silas here just had a little chat, but don't worry, everything's fine, we were just talking about guy stuff."

Silas didn't say much when Genji told about his sister. Silas himself had a little sister, and was an good terms with her, despite not seeing her that often. But he guessed that Genji and Sumi had their own little brother-sister relationship. He wondered what happened in their past, seeing as Genji sounded a bit sad when he talked about the people close to him. But he shouldn't think too much about it. At least not right now.

"Well thanks for giving me some advice. I probably will skip tomorrow's lessons, despite me liking that sassy sister very much." he said sarcastic, but with a smile on his face hoping it would not sound too mean. Although he rarely smiled, and thus it was kinda an awkward smile. "I guess I'll stay low, at least for now. I might make contact with you again, but I don't want to bring Tomoyo in danger."

After they ended the conversation they headed back into the Pseudospace where Erica and Sasha were still waiting on them. Silas approached them and gave both of them a third of the money they earned by selling the equipment to Genji. He had completely forgotten that he didn't want to give a third to Erica, but he didn't really care at this moment. When Genji mentioned they were talking of guy stuff, Silas replied: "Don't think too much of it." and then looked at Genji. "I guess we will go now."

"Alright, see you guys later then, and remember to keep training, but also make sure to stay safe. Your safety is the most important thing after all..." He walked them out of the Pseudospace Room and locked it once they were all out, waving all of them goodbye as they left as it was indeed starting to get pretty late, so it would probably have been best if they all headed home right away.

[Omnial]

"Hmm, I can see what you are getting at with that, but at the same time I think of nature as being either really sturdy, or really quick, so I guess I will have to chose between my dex and my vitality." Something more to think of when planning my next skill experiments out I guess. Maybe I should do some research into my games, now wouldn't that be both fun and useful this time around. Lucian then listened to Ren's explanation concerning the path he was going, "Sounds pretty legit, but I would give a word of caution concerning demons. Prior to all of this, I would normally just shove the idea of demons and old possession stories under the bridge, thinking that they probably just didn't know how to deal with mental health issues back in the day, but now that I know these things are real, and so are many of our fantasy game elements, it would be safe to assume that some of those old demon possessing a person stories are based on truth." He looked down at Ren a worry plastered on his face, "What I am getting at is just be careful. The last thing we need is for you to get possessed, and no longer be you."

[Renose]

Ren gave a nod as he listened to Lucian, before hearing Lucian's last bit of advice as he seemed to be worried about Ren. Why was he so worried, it seemed strange, but it wasn't a bad thing. "Don't worry. If possession is a Mental status then we should be immune to it thanks to the Gamer's Mind Skill... " That was one of the many benefits of their their power. They couldn't get terrified or panicked about anything thanks to that Skill, which was nice as it meant that no matter the situation, they could always stay calm, cool, and collected, which was great for negotiating situations. "Still, thanks for the warning anyway, ill be sure to be careful."

Ren had grown to somewhat trust Lucian a bit more. Of course, there was still that distance there that he kept for everyone, but it wasn't 'as there' as much between him and Lucian thanks to more recent events. Kinda like leveling up a Social Link in Persona one could guess, and it was something that Ren had noticed in the more recent time they had spent together, but still, there was always going to be a wall that would always be there between him and everyone else of the 3D world, no matter what.

Eventually after a bit more small talk, Ren actually contributing a bit here and there now unlike before, they arrived at Ren's house, the boy looking up at Lucian and giving a very small, brief, and momentary smile that one would have had to pay close attention for or miss it, this gesture making Ren's head turn away slightly. "Thanks for walking me home again..." After that, Ren went back inside.

First, Ren made dinner, the Craft Skill helping again. He honestly had no idea what to do with this Skill since he didn't know how to make anything useful. Still, it was nice to have, and perhaps once he had more time he could figure something out. For now, it was one of those skills that he never used. It was late, around 9:00 PM, a little too late to try anything new, so he decided to just first learn the Demonology Skill Book, then spend the next few hours reading that book he got from the auction for free as a free gift from the Dealer. After that, while keeping Undine summoned, he began to read from the Tips and Tricks book in his inventory about water magic.

---

Water Magic Book Reading (Ritual Water Magic): 4 (Critical)

---

A few hours of reading until midnight and he was already halfway done with the book. It was really easy to understand and the information just flew off the pages and into Ren's mind. His high Int was really something else, it going up again by +1 when Summon Elemental got to Level 10 that night, giving him a few extra things. This power was really incredible. After sticking his new Talent Point from reaching 36 Int into Demonology and putting the water magic book away, he decided to hit the hay for tonight, since he wanted to get up early for some solo grinding. Sure Saito's place was nice, but he had some things he wanted to try and he couldn't rely on Saito all of the time. He was sure that if he just stayed in his own back yard for training, then he couldn't be touched by Hunters.

---

The rest of the night for everyone else, unless they planned to do something, went uneventful and soon enough it would be the next morning. With it being Wednesday and Sunday being the deadline for the Quest, they had alot of time for training, but also not a whole lot of time at all.

[Renose]

Mike, probably thanks to his decent VIT Score and having gone to bed really early the day before, was able to get up pretty early, about thirty minutes before he needed to start heading for school. It was thanks to this that he not only got a decent night's sleep, but was also able to have some time in the morning to probably go for a quick round of grinding Zombies in the Pseudospace.

Ten zombies were spawned, ten zombies were defeated in about a minute. These zombies seemed to put up a decent fight and they were pretty tough, even with Mike's newest Skill. Still, they didn't put up too much of a challenge for Mike, despite them outnumbering him ten to one, literally. In fact, if anything it was their numbers and slight bit of toughness that made them a challenge more than anything. Still, a nice 20 EXP was gained. Mike still had a good bit of MP left. He would have time for one more session of grinding.

The twelve zombies that showed up the second time around put up a much better fight. Perhaps Mike was just off his a-game that time, but they got some pretty nasty bites into him and took away a good chunk of HP. He even leveled up Hardiness from this a couple times, implying that he dodged the bullet on getting a bad status, that was, until he actually got it. It seemed to be a pretty nasty effect, which he had time to check just after the fight.

-25% Strength, Dex, and Vit until cured, and it just made him feel sick. Called Undeath Plague. A nasty sickness that makes one's body as if it were the undead, slowly draining away their physical abilities until they could no longer function, or so said the info on Mike's status window. Fortunately Mike would heal it when he went to bed and it would not kill him, just being a temporary nasty affect for now. Unfortunately he got the status after he had leveled up during the fight, so wondering if a Level Up would cure it was out of the question for now, as was anymore fighting as the disease status made him feel just very, very sluggish.

Unfortunately in the medicine cabinet, there was no medicine to cure diseases like this, despite having been sick before. Apparently there was medicine that cured the Sick Status or other such things, but this was apparently a Plague Status, and nothing in Mike's medicine cabinet cured plague. Luckily a level in Observe was gained from checking the medicines, something Mike's basic intelligence told him to do.

---

Still well enough?: 1 (Critical)

---

Mike still felt that, despite this disease, he could power through the school day. Kendo club, maybe. School? Definitely. In fact, he managed to stay awake despite the sluggish, tired feeling he had throughout the day.

---

Mike Learning: 36 - 15 Knowledge = 21

---

A few windows appeared at the end of the school day.

Window 1

Studying diligently at school for the past few days has made you smarter. +1 Intelligence.

Window 2

Studying diligently at school for the past few days has made you more knowledgeable. +1 Knowledge.

Window 3

Powering through a tough disease, despite how it feels on your body, and still managing to pay attention in school has made you sturdier and hardier. +1 Vitality.

Window 4

Hardiness has gone up in level by 1.

Kendo Club, on the other hand, was gonna be somewhat difficult. Mike met the members of the club, who thought that he didn't look so good. His parents had thought the same, but Mike was able to seem well enough to go to school anyway. Keiichi, on the other hand, pulled Mike aside.

"Its not good to push oneself too hard when sick... you should go home and get some rest... I can tell that is no natural disease you have either. While it is not contagious" which is something the info in the status window mentioned as otherwise going to school would have been a no go since that would probably go against the Interference Law "you should still probably go home anyway." As much as Keiichi admired Mike's spirit he still thought that pushing oneself with that kind of disease wasn't good training.So essentially Mike would have no choice, as disobeying Keiichi's orders was probably not the best of plans, so going home was probably his only choice meaning he didn't get to participate in the Kendo Club that day.

Luckily, while it may have impeded him physically, mentally and spiritually Mike was still fine. So after dinner using Meditation and Spirit Channel were not too much of a problem for him. Getting an hour each of Meditation and Spirit Channeling leveled them up a good bit, Spirit Channeling providing some buffs once it got to Level 5, Meditation only helping him recover MP much more quickly as it leveled up more. All in all though, an hour each was his limit as even with Meditation's ability to recover fatigue, the disease was also making it harder for him to recover fatigue through basic relaxation.

Seeing as it was pretty late after Kendo club now, about 8 PM or so, Mike would have been best off turning in for the night and sleeping in a little more this time around to get rid of this terrible Status Affect.

Zandaka, being turned on and off throughout the day since it had a high MP Cost, would also have been leveled up a bit more after the fight. It seemed to level alot more slowly than his other Skills, but it still got some good leveling nonetheless.

[Omnial]

After saying his goodbyes to Ren, Lucian went back to his place. Locking the door, he let out a sigh and tossed his keys on the counter. I need to get stronger then everyone else, in ways they wont notice as easily. leveling up gives away too much, as we can see our levels, and other seem to be able to sense it if they are ability users as well. He sat himself on the floor, pondering ways to achieve his goals, and even browsing through his skills. He then closed them and started both meditating and Mana Flow, He had to stop working on mana flow a few times, as he lacked the regen, but this small session before bed did shoot Lucian up to Level 11 Meditation and Level 10 Mana Flow. After reading over his skills again he saw that Mana Flow also now has an interesting other buff affect as well. He smiled, then called it a night.

He woke up to his alarm, feeling completely refreshed when the alarm went off was a feeling the Lucian was starting to really enjoy. It was much better then waking up and feeling like death if he lost so much as an hour of sleep. He only let out one yawn as he got himself ready for the day, grabbing his keys and bag. He had classes again today, but he was planning a pit stop by the ocean before his day really got started. He was going to ask the Ocean for a boon.

---

37 - 27 Nature Rituals = 10

---

It works. As you ask the Ocean for a boon you suddenly hear that same voice in your head from before, only its not really a voice, but more like it feels like a voice and is something much more, just like the other times.

"So, you wish to enlist the aid of the oceans to protect you? Very well, another contract shall be made."

As whoever or whatever is speaking finishes doing so, you suddenly feel the ocean surrounding you, encasing you, enshrining you in its vast, deep waters. Despite being under water though you can breath, and feel as though nothing can get to you. Despite how cold it is down deep below, you do not shiver. Nothing can get to you down here, but at the bottom of the ocean you are also all alone, unable to reach out for those on the surface, no matter how hard you try. They cannot get to you and you cannot get to them. Suddenly though, before this can continue, Lucian wakes up, a good ten minutes or so having passed and mark on his hand now that looks like three curved lines, symbolizing the ocean.

Window

A new Boon has been granted. The Ocean's Resistance boon has been created

Ocean

Ocean's Resistance - You seem to have a sort of resistance around your body, as if you are underwater. It blocks all oncoming attacks, granting you +10% Damage Resistance, plus an additional 6% thanks to the extra strength your Boon's acquire. This amount is doubled if an item with the power of water is used as a focus during any ritual to renew this Boon.

And another window appears, stating that Nature's Boon had gone up two levels, meaning a large amount of EXP had probably been granted to it since it had already been at 50 EXP already. Still, this boon was only going to be active for 24 hours, meaning he would have to renew it soon. After that, Lucian needed to get to school, and get there he did.

---

Lucian Studying: 99 (Fumble)

---

Maybe I shouldn't have come to school today...Lucian thought to himself as he rested his chin on his hand, he wasn't paying any attention to the teachers at all. Which was not a great thing as he also had a test in his last class. Luckily for Lucian, he remembered to write his name on the paper...sadly that was about all he managed...he was just a tad to lost in thought. Why was I so concerned about Ren last night when he mentioned the demons? should I care? Why don't I want that kid getting hurt? He probably would of remained seated in the class all day if not for his friend giving him a good shake to wake up and informing him class had ended. His mind drifted away from the subject it was so fixed on earlier, as he went to go see Saito again.

Lucian hoped to make some money by selling him some stuff.

---

Lucian Negotiation: 22 - 35 Negotiation = -13

---

Saito agreed to buy the Minor Air Elemental Spirit, Weak Air Crystals, and Imp Claws/Horn, which would be 38,500 Yen. Money that he didn't get to hold on to for very long, or at all really, as he continued to converse with Saito about what he was planning on buying, it turned out that Saito had a copy that had a copy of the book Lucian was going to buy, and would sell it to him as well.

Lucian also met the requirements, meaning that he could learn it, and learn it he did. Upon doing so though he would realize that, thanks to the knowledge obtained from the skill, that the natural forces of wind in nature and the elemental forces were a bit different than one another. He asked Saito about the differences between the wind magic in the book, and the natural wind he had already been using. To which Saito would mention that the elemental forces that magic users use are more metaphysical and supernatural, not really being bound to nature or the physical plain, while the natural forces that Lucian had been using and communing with before are and that there is indeed a difference between them. Still, Lucian feels as though learning this would benefit both forces he is in touch with anyways.

With the help of Saito...

---

Wind Magic Ritual: 52 - 27 Ritual Wind Magic - 10 (Saito's Help) = 15

---

Lucian managed to set up the ritual right, getting it done better thanks to Saito's advice and help, and soon enough the ritual would begin. As he focused and did the ritual based upon what Saito told him and what knowledge the book granted him, the circle would glow and the essence of the elemental force of wind would begin to converge in the circle. Not before long a girl, probably just underneath half of Lucian's height, would be standing there. She appeared to be made out of wind, and looked up at him, a sort of freedom and peace about her as she asked him the following.

"My name is Sylph... would you like to make a Contract with me?"

Lucian simply nodded then in a hushed voice answered "yes." holding his hand out to the little elemental till they touched.

Suddenly the world before him went black, before returning to normal, but things were not normal. It would suddenly be as if the positions were reversed, he was the short one staring up at a much taller Sylph. Before he could even react though, he would feel his body begin to change. Slowly it was turning into the metaphysical essence of wind, breaking away into wind piece by piece. It was both horrifying yet... exhilarating. A freedom that he had never felt before as the wind, or perhaps he had felt it before when contracting with the wind in the natural rituals.

Right when his body seemed like it was permanently about to break away and become one with the elemental force of wind, reality would return like a punch in the face, leaving Lucian a good bit exhausted, Saito standing there with a concerned look on his face.

Sylph though just smiled. "The Contract is complete, please feel free to call upon me whenever you need to~" And with that she vanished, a mark appearing upon Lucian's right hand then vanishing. It had been the symbol for wind. A window would appear after that, stating the following.

Window

A Skill has been created through a special action. Through successfully executing the Contract Elemental ritual, the ability to freely summon and dismiss contracted elementals, Summon Elemental, has been created.

Summon Elemental

Summon Elemental (Active: 20 + 10 MP/Minute per Elemental) (Level 1: 0/100): Man realized the power and strength of the elements and figure out ways to summon, communicate, and materialize elementals through magic to wield their power. The Stats of the Elementals you summon will grow based upon the caster's Int (25%) and appropriate Element Affinity. Elemental will remain invisible until called upon. To Level Up: Summon an Elemental, Contract with new Elementals, Use the powers of Elementals in Combat.

And another window would appear.

Window

Through fraternizing with the elemental forces of wind, you have acquired a Wind Elemental Affinity.

It seemed to be 14 for some reason, and if Lucian clicked it would reveal that it has a base 10 and is also increased by 2 for each power of Wind that Lucian possessed from nature due to contracts with the wind, the Gamer Power apparently lumping the natural and elemental forces as all one in the same.

After that, came the meditating and grinding Mana Flow and Summon Elemental, which Saito would allow Lucian to do in his shop while Saito ran some experiments of his own, Saito's level also being higher this day then it was yesterday. It was starting to get late though, already 7:00 PM, which Saito realized, that ritual having taken an entire hour, or so Saito told him that Lucian was just staring blankly into space for an entire hour, as elemental contracts often do. So naturally Saito said that Lucian would have to go home since he needed to close up shop. He wasn't being rude or mean when he said this, but it was logical that staying this late in someone's store probably wasn't the best idea.

So after Lucian got home he would get two hours of solid meditation in thanks to the new Level 11 Meditation being enough to cover the MP cost of both Mana Flow and Summon Elemental, even regenerating the 20 MP Activation Cost that Summon Elemental had after just two minutes.

Mana Flow and Meditation leveled up at a much slower pace now that they both above Level 10. Summon Elemental leveled up fairly quickly during the two hours he kept Sylph out, leveling up Summon Elemental 3 times. Meditation and Mana Flow also leveled up as well, but not as much as Summon Elemental did. Two hours of meditation was what Lucian was able to get out of this before he found himself thoroughly exhausted, heading to bed probably the best choice lest he pass out on the floor.

"What a day..." He flopped down face first on his bed and was asleep in seconds.

[Renose]

After getting up, the first thing Mike did, now that his Stats were all a bit higher, was learn the Skill from the Scroll that Keiichi had given him. Upon touching it once again, as if to use it, he got that same window asking him if he would like to learn the 'Seishin no Ken: Tamashī no Ha' that came up before. Only this time, when he did indeed press the 'yes' button, the scroll began to glow and vanish as glowing, yellow scraps of what looked like ethereal paper flowed into him and through him, the scroll disappearing as he was filled with the knowledge and ability needed to perform the Skill that was described within the scroll. It truly was a strange feeling.

Upon using the Skill Scroll, the following windows appeared once it was gone after a couple of seconds. They stated the following.

Window

By using the Seishin no Ken: Tamashī no Ha Skill Scroll, you have learned the Seishin no Ken: Tamashī no Ha, a Skill for imbuing your sword with the power of the soul, or Spiritual Energy.

Seishin no Ken: Tamashī no Ha

Seishin no Ken: Tamashī no Ha (Level 1: 0/100 EXP) (Active: 25 MP): This basic technique full of potential can only be used while Zandaka is active. This technique of the Seishin no Ken allows the user to flow the spiritual power (MP) of their body in and through their sword, turning it into a sword of their very soul. When using this technique, the sword is temporarily filled with spiritual power, allowing your next attack to deal bonus damage equal to your 50% of your WIS. Furthermore an additional amount of damage equal to 10% of your Seishin no Ken (WIS) Score is dealt to the target struck as well.

After that, instead of fighting Zombies since there was no time since he got up a bit later than he did yesterday, that nasty Plague affect from before having been healed after he woke up, it was time for school.

---

School (Studying): 3 (Critical)

---

Mike learned alot in school today as there had been alot to cover. There was even a surprise quiz. And while it may have seemed a bit difficult, Mike somehow remembered everything that was on the quiz, his knowledge really showing through as he could feel as though he aced it, having known the material despite having only been at the school for a few days. After the quiz, and the school day itself as it was in his last period, were over the following windows appeared.

Window 1

For performing above and beyond in the classroom and in your studies, you feel a bit smarter, +1 Int.

Window 2

Studying incredibly diligently and remembering all of the material you have learned from the past days has made you more knowledgeable, +1 Knowledge.

He did indeed feel smarter, and with 8 Knowledge he was now only 2 points away from the requirement for learning the Divination Skill Book, a Knowledge of 10 being the requirement to learn that Skill. After school though came Kendo Club, Mike getting to meet everyone once again now that he wasn't looking like death itself, as the disease did make him look a good bit pale by the end of the day. After being formally introduced into the Kendo club, practice began. Ishimaru was a very good captain and instructor. Despite his incredibly strict, serious, and sometimes spartan ways he commanded and garnered alot of respect, especially with how he treated everyone in the club with the utmost respect and honor, almost like a Samuari of the old days of Feudal Japerica.

---

Kendo Club Practice (Vit): 83 - 20 = 63

Kendo Club Practice (Seishin no Ken): 88 - 17 Seishin no Ken = 71

---

Today did indeed feel like an intro day. The senpais of the club were all very experienced. Probably not Abyss Level, but they were good enough to where a good number of them were Levels 2 to 4. Mike lost most of the sparring matches he had with the senpais that day and got tired at several points during the club, but all in all they admired his spirit if anything else, some of them giving advice, or more like Keiichi, that Mike needed to improve his form and speed and also advice such as 'Strength isn't everything' as Mike was probably stronger than all of the senpais here, but would probably learn a lesson that all of the strength in the world didn't even matter if your attacks can't connect, or so one of the senpais mentioned after the practice was over anyway.

So while Mike may not have improved from this practice, he still indeed learned something that day. After that, he went home to spend a bit of time in the evening grinding some more Zombies with the newest of his Skills and Zandaka.

Mike did a bit better than the 8 Zombies that appeared this time, his newly acquired Skill being a good bit powerful to. Unfortunately each Zombie was only giving him 1 XP a piece now, meaning that leveling on these guys was going to take a while. Not only that, but Mike would also discover that grinding these much weaker enemies was also somewhat slowing his Skill grinding as well. Only his newest Skill leveled, and it only leveled once. It was pretty powerful, and grinding it on weak enemies plus its probably slower leveling rate made it a bit difficult to level in this scenario.

After recuperating a bit, Meditation helping recover his lost MP, Mike tried one more time. Mike fought much better this time than the time before against the 9 Zombies that appeared. Needless to say, Mike won and gained one more level at 250 EXP. Now that he was 4 levels above the Zombies though, he would probably have to find a new, tougher enemy to start grinding for XP though. The good news is though that Zandaka, Tamashī no Ha, and Katana Mastery did level up once more, and upon Katana Mastery hitting 10 he got +1 DEX and +1 to his Seishin no Ken Talent.

Other than all of that though, it was a day of decent progress, with the finale of it being Mike attempting to manipulate his Mana.

---

Mike Focus: 46 - 35 Focus - 6 Spirit Channel Bonus = 5

---

Mike could feel it working this time. Everything he learned about energy from his practice with the Seishin no Ken helping him in this scenario. He felt as though he had a really good grasp upon controlling his internal energies this time, only instead of Mana, while he was controlling Mana, it felt different than that. Still, he did feel as though he had something good happening as green energy, instead of blue like Mana, began to slowly come from his hands as he tried to control it. While shaping it to his will at the moment felt impossible as the energy didn't really feel malleable, Mike would still feel as though he had control of it as his MP was dropping like a rock in the water.

After a few moments of intense concentration Mike had no choice but to break it, two new windows appearing for him.

Window

A Skill has been created through a special action. Through practicing the control of your energy and previous experience with your own spiritual energy, a Skill to control and harness your own internal spirit energy (MP), Spirit Harness, has been created.

Spirit Harness

Spirit Harness (Level 1: 0/100 XP) (Active: 50 MP/Minute): Through practice with your Spirit Energy (MP) and flowing it through Spirit Channeling you have learned a technique that many of those who use spiritual power attempt to learn, the ability to actively control your own spirit energy with your mind. Through this Skill you can now focus and harness your spirit energy in different ways to attempt to create various techniques or to just better grasp how to handle your spirit energy. All Spirit based techniques are also strengthened by 10% thanks to a better grasp you have on your spirit.

That attempt though was thoroughly exhausting, and with it already being quite late, there would be little else to do other than heading to bed lest your parents grow suspicious and worried as to why you are staying up so late.

[Renose]

In the morning Ren's plan was simple. Get up, eat breakfast, and get ready for a long day. He knew his Uncle would be incredibly pissed at Ren for missing three days of school so far if he found out, but for Ren school could wait. This was a matter of life and death and Ren figured, if all was better, he could go next week. He could easily do the printouts that had been delivered in the mailbox, as whoever delivered them probably didn't want to stick around, in a single day, heck probably even in an hour or so since he had gotten much smarter than he already was thanks to the Gamer Power. Besides, his Uncle hadn't even been here when awake, but definitely came around last night as the dinner he left wrapped up for him in the fridge was certainly gone, so all risk of currently pissing him off was out the window for now.

First thing's first. Ren decided to try communicating with Demons. He was going to get all of the Rituals out of the way in the morning so the rest of the day could be spent Skill grinding. He wanted to up the levels of all of the newer Skills he had today before grinding a bunch tomorrow since if things worked out today like he planned; he would be able to get a good number of new and hopefully powerful Skills. So first was communicating with demons. From the knowledge he obtained from the book it was sort of like any other ritual, but special materials and powers could help.

Using the tools in his Ritual Kit, he first decided to light the braziers with a tiny spark of Eldritch Flame, thinking that the demonic flame may help.

---

Focus: 35 - 46 Focus - 5 Skill Bonus = -16

---

It was quite easy to use Eldritch Flame to make just small flames for lighting the five small braziers. Next he decided to use a couple of Imp Claws and Horns in the ritual as well, figuring that if he put one of each in each of the five braziers, hoping that the extra amount of demonic energy would draw forth something particularly strong as he wanted this Skill to get a suitable tank. After the extra preparations were complete, he began the ritual. Of course, he made sure to activate Mana Shield first, figuring that having a shield around him in case whatever he conjured tried to attack him was a good idea, Ren also making a Pseudospace inside of his room also just in case. His dagger was also out as well, as he wanted to be prepared, Undine also summoned and on standby.

---

Demonology: 4 (Critical)

---

Instantly the flames flared to life, an eerie, blackish-greenish glow filling the room as all other lights, except for the braziers, dimmed as Ren performed the ritual, hoping to get a strong, although he knew that it wouldn't be all that powerful thanks to he just being a beginner in this. Despite how frightening it all looked, he kept calm as probably thanks to the Gamer's Mind Skill. That, and Ren was a little hard to surprise anyway. Still, the ritual was going supremely well, and Ren could feel as though he had an excellent amount of control over it, so he desired something strong and sturdy, not really knowing else about demons much beyond that.

Well, something did indeed come, but what it was being something Ren didn't recognize. Or more like, a voice came really. The voice spoke to Ren's mind as a dark, green glow emanated from the magic circle he was sitting before.

"So you wish to attain the service of demons, do you mortal? You indeed do have power, the power of demons already within you and you have a delicious smell about you... tell me mortal, why should I serve you?" Now in a burst of dark, green mist a creature appeared from the circle and from it, in a burst of fire, appeared a large and very savage looking dog. Ren was a bit put off by it, but ultimately remained calm. The space of his room changed the moment the beast appeared to some sort of underground, stone cell like area where its walls were lit with braziers holding within them dark Eldritch flame. Still, Ren was glad that he remained calm as suddenly the beast lunged almost instantly, aiming to shred Ren with is powerful, and for some reason glowing, fangs.

---

Demon Attack: 15

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 40

---

The fangs went right for his neck, but Ren made a good call on keeping that shield up. The attack hit, but the glowing fangs of the beast bounced harmlessly off of the shield as Ren, knife already in hand, called out "Riposte!" to make an incredibly swift counterattack, this being one that he hadn't used in a while.

---

Ren Riposte: 42 + 22 Skill Penalty - 25 Melee Weaponry - 14 Skill Bonus = 25

Tie

Ren Luck: 4 (Critical)

Demon Luck: 99 Fumble

Hit! (Critical Hit!)

Damage Dealt: 70

---

Ren's attack and its dodge were right at the same time, the blade would have barely missed, but the creature fell at the last moment out of just sheer bad luck of stumbling over the carpet with its claws, Ren managing to slam the dagger in the beast at the last given second right in the underside of its neck, making a loud, dog cry escape from it as he dealt a very lucky Critical Strike, quickly rolling away from Ren and standing up now before suddenly Fire began to cloak its fangs and claws. Ren didn't think he would have to melee with this thing, and realized that without a critical strike he probably wouldn't have done much damage, but luckily Undine managed to launch a quick and powerful Water Arrow at the beast, Ren glad that they were not fighting in his room apparently.

---

Undine Water Arrow: 27

Miss

---

The Water Arrow missed the demon, who above his head had Garm Lv 16 and above that Hell Hound, the text red indicating it was indeed hostile. Fortunately though, thanks to recent increases in Elemental Affinity and Intelligence, Undine's DEX had grown enough to where she was swift enough to quickly launch another Water Arrow in the next moment, Ren glad that the Water Arrows only took 10 MP.

---

Undine Water Arrow: 14

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 15

---

The creature yelped again, dog like, when hit by the second Water Arrow that seemed to have a slight more affect than it should have, growling angrily at both Ren and Undine, who had moved in front of Ren. Ren first used Mana Shield to replenish the nearly broken one. After that then had begun to charge up a Giga Spiral Bolt quite quickly, deciding to quickly put 200 MP into it before launching it at the creature within a few seconds, Ren hoping that the powerful blast would hit.

Unfortunately the creature acted once again, its eyes suddenly turning red as it began to snarl and growl like a beast, its muscles bulging a bit as it looked like it was about to go crazy before it charged at Ren, strength in each step as it jumped straight around Undine, going for the more fleshy target, Ren completely open to Garm's fiery, glowing fangs while he was busy charging the bolt.

---

Garm Attack: -

Max Damage Hit!

Damage Dealt: 64 (Shield Broken)

Damage Dealt to Ren: 0

---

The attack hit, and with how pumped up Garm seemed it easily shattered the shield with its mighty, fiery fangs. Somehow or another though the mystical armor, plus Ren's own Resilience, managed to block the last of the attack completely, it feeling more like someone poking him really hard rather than a nasty bite on his shoulder. Undine moved once again, first using Aqua Shield to create a shield of water around Ren for protection before launching another Water Arrow at Garm to try and get the Hell Hound to back off of Ren.

---

Undine Water Arrow: 71

Miss

---

The arrow was completely off mark. With the bolt complete though Ren attempted to try and launch it at Garm, which was a bit difficult since Garm was right in front of him and would have an easier time dodging since all he would have to do would be to leap quickly right when Ren let go of it.

---

Ren Giga Spiral Bolt: 29 - 31 + 25 Proximity Shot = 23

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 376

---

The bolt barely hit the creature, as it may have been quick, but in this situation the bolt was big and Ren was quicker, slamming the mighty bolt into the creature as it struggled to endure the mighty blast, its HP draining bit by bit with each moment it tried to take the attack. Unfortunately, the bolt soon dwindled, and the creature was still alive by a mere 59 HP. Ren figured he could do this, but suddenly a voice entered his mind, the demon seeming to speak to him.

"That's enough, you are plenty strong."

His voice was gruff and coarse, but easily understandable enough.

"I am Garm, I only serve those stronger than me. You are stronger than me Summoner, and thus I shall serve you." The creature walked forward, suddenly biting Ren on the wrist, but not aggressively, just enough to where it still indeed hurt thanks to how strong its fangs were, Ren quickly drawing his wrist back before suddenly his eyes widened, pain coursing through his body as he fell to his knees, trying to contain how much it hurt as a mark began to form on his right wrist.

Soon enough though the pain stopped, Ren panting heavily as the eldritch flame scalding the mark into his wrist ceased, Ren looking at the new marking that had appeared upon him. It was some sort of intricate pattern around his wrist, with at the center, like some kind of bracelet, was the five pointed demonic pentagram.

"Congrats mortal, you are now a Summoner. Call upon me whenever you fight other strong foes." With that, the hound disappeared, the space also vanishing as Ren found himself back in his room.

"Well... that was nothing like an Elemental Contract..." Ren took the moment to look at the new windows that had appeared, examining the newest Skill he obtained. It was nice, Demon Summoning apparently working differently from Elemental Summoning. "So Summoned Demons don't have an MP pool, but all of their abilities drain their own Demonic Force or... HP apparently... but the Skill itself uses a good bit of MP and HP per minute..." Ren sighed, glad that there was still the rest of this day, then two and a half more after that before the Quest as he had a good bit of work to do. This was incredibly entertaining for sure, but there were also times when it felt like work, but then again all grinding felt like work in any game, even if it was fun.

With half the morning gone already from that tough battle, as Ren had to use Meditation to quickly recuperate his MP, having Garm summoned and Mana Shield active during this as even then regenerating his MP back to full only took five minutes, Ren decided that regenerating his MP could wait as he wanted to get the next ritual out of the way. The next Water Magic Ritual. Apparently, according to what knowledge was gained from the book, it was a ritual called Elemental Empowerment, and its primary use was empowering things with elemental force, but it could also be used to strengthen contracted Elementals if one had Essence to use. He would normally power up Undine, but he wanted to wait until he had some better quality Water Essence from Water Elemental drops. Instead, he decided to see about unlocking the ritual for a different purpose.

After setting everything up, keeping Gram summoned and using Undine's 'Life Water' to heal himself after a bit of HP was deducted, Mana Shield being deactivated, Ren began the ritual, putting his knife in the circle as he decided to see about empowering that.

---

Elemental Empowerment Ritual Attempt: 10 - 44 Ritual Water Magic - 3 Skill Bonus = -37

---

The ritual was incredibly easy to pull off, Undine's power being required here as suddenly the blade of the knife began to glow with a blue light for several moments before the blade became covered in water, the water disappearing before the same symbol for water that was on Ren's left hand whenever Undine was summoned appeared on the blade now. After the ritual was complete, this taking a good bit of time since rituals weren't always instant, alot of meditation, the Meditation Skill helping here, and incantations were involved and all of that other good stuff, Ren looked at the newest windows that appeared for him, admiring the new Skill he received.

One more Ritual, then Ren would have all three rituals completed, the morning gone and Ren now working into the afternoon on this. The next of the beginner rituals for Black Magic. Hex forging. A bit different than the Black Marks, as this was more like Lucian's Nature Powers, not that Ren knew how they worked, in that they were temporary abilities with limited usages. Black Marks were like elementary hexes, granted a bit strong, but still elementary. It made Ren wonder if he would ever get into Necromancy. Well for now, he had a black magic ritual to attempt.

---

Create Hex Ritual Attempt: 25 - 41 Black Magic Ritual - 3 Skill Bonus = -19

---

Again, this ritual was pretty easy as well. Ren tried to create a Hex that would drain a target's abilities and strength, using Force Siphon and Mark of Cursed Tasks as a reference point, since that was something required by Black Magic, something that could grant a feeling for the Hex, as black magic was more about creating the magic literally. And it was a success, Ren managing to make the desired Hex and unlock this newest ritual. Now it was time to use the rest of the afternoon to grind Skills. Namely alot of them with Ren's well thought up plan. A plan that required masochism, but a plan nonetheless.

Once in his back yard, he constructed something called a Training ID. Apparently it made Skill Grinding go about 10% faster, which was nice and something he got at Level 9 ID Create. However, monsters couldn't be spawned inside of it, which was alright as Ren just wanted to Skill Grind for now. As he sat down he called Undine and Garm forth, the two of them invisible when summoned until called upon. "Alright you two, this is what I want you to do, listen very carefully. Garm, you need to bite me as hard as you can. Whenever you bite me, Undine will then heal me, twice if necessary. Ill be using Meditation while also practicing Mana Focus. I'm confident enough that with my high focus score, ill be able to keep that up while I get beat upon and healed..."

Garm, at first, seemed displeased about the fact of not being summoned for combat, but when he heard what he had to do he bared his fangs a little bit, both tails wagging. "Heh, I bite pretty hard, you better not complain if I kill you..."

---

Maintaining Focus: 1 (Critical)

Maintaining Stamina: 52 - 16 VIT - 15 Focus Crit Bonus = 21

---

Maintaining focus was incredibly easy for Ren, way too easy. For the rest of the afternoon he meditated, focused his mana, and overall got a good bit done. He only had to take one break, for lunch, but other than that he got the whole afternoon for Skill Grinding. With Undine using her Life Water alot and Garm attacking using his own powers, Ren endured alot of pain and healing. It was incredibly tough, but by the end of it, grinding those skills for nearly eight hours straight, Ren felt like they were much more powerful now and that he could just let them grind naturally when he used them from now on.

It was the evening now, Ren feeling a bit tired, so he decided to try and regain some of his strength while doing a bit reading for the rest of the evening, as he figured he might as well finish off that book while he could still actually learn from the book.

---

Reading up on Water Magic: 47 - 44 Ritual Water Magic = 3

---

Ren didn't as easily get the rest as he did before, but he managed to polish off the rest of the book by the time the evening was over. It helped him learn a good bit, giving one more point in Water Magic. He figured that, since it wasn't a Skill Book, then perhaps he could sell it back to the auction or see if Saito wanted it, perhaps a book trade of sorts. Still, after examining his windows, Ren found himself to be a bit disappointed. While it seemed like he made alot of progress, in reality he hadn't grown all that much stronger today. His Skills still weren't entirely that great, yet anyway. He realized from his fight with Garm that his most powerful attack skill was indeed Giga Spiral Bolt as without that and that very lucky Critical Strike he got he may have even lost. Perhaps his INT making him think way too much on this, but he also somewhat realized that his other MP Skills weren't all that useful in a fight, especially from the time with those Hunters.

He knew that tomorrow was a new day though, and that today was just laying the foundations for tomorrow. Still, Saito was indeed right about one thing. Time was the master for their power, without enough time there wasn't really a whole lot Ren could do and he knew that if his plans over the next couple of days didn't work then he would probably be screwed in the upcoming fight.

[Renose]

The third day, or Friday, of Mike's preparation for the Quest they were all going to undertake had begun. School went by as normally as ever, no real tests or quizzes today.

---

Mike Studying: 87 - 22 Knowledge = 65

---

Mike didn't really learn a whole lot this day so studying didn't really go all that well. Mike was pretty smart already, but even then today was just an off day for him. After that came Kendo Club, everyone practicing diligently as he always did.

---

Mike Kendo Practice: 38 - 20 Seishin no Ken - 15 Skill Bonus = 3

Mike Stamina: 12 - 20 VIT = -8

---

Mike did alot better today than he did yesterday. Needless to say, all of the senpais of the club were very impressed with Mike's skills today. He won, with a bit of effort, most of the matches he fought. Katana Mastery and Physical Endurance both leveled up, as during some of the free sparring Mike was still hit a bit especially when he sparred with Keiichi as Keiichi was still alot better than him at Kendo. One thing that did happen, during Mike's practice, was that this window also appeared.

Window

Doing very well in quick sparring and matches has made you swifter. +1 to DEX.

It may have been because his DEX was somewhat low that he was able to get the free point a bit more easily, but it was still a free point in DEX, something that needed to be improved. After the club when everyone but Keiichi left Mike decided to ask Keiichi about creating a sword out of energy.

"A sword out of Spirit Energy is a pretty uncommon. I know that the energy you use is Mana thanks to your... strange power, but the way you handle it is how one controls Spirit Energy. Spirit Energy isn't very malleable like Mana and techniques for controlling it aren't really meant for shaping it into a solid mass. Not only that, but creating a mass of energy such as that usually drains a person very quickly. Plus, it'll most likely be more like a Spirit Bokken then a sword, lacking in cutting power, but..." Keiichi scratched his chin, deep in thought. "It will be a strong weapon if you manage to succeed. Plus attempting to do this will give you a better grasp of your Spirit Energy. Of course, even if you do manage to create this... weapon... I still recommend carrying around another weapon anyway. Immunity to energy, ways to absorb it, or other such things could easily make your sword useless and it is highly possible for the sword to be broken. Still, if you wish to take this path then I recommend doing so, it'll be good training for you."

After that advice, Keiichi said goodbye to Mike, as he needed to clean up and lock up. Mike would be able to get home, just a bit of time in the afternoon and the evening were all he had to work on the Skill, probably making a Pseudospace in his backyard to try and make a sword of spirit energy, or Mana in his case. It was probably going to be very difficult, but his training in swordsmanship and also his experience harnessing spiritual energy may give him the thoughts and feelings needed to help him create this new Skill.

---

Experimentation: 80 - 37 Focus = 43

---

The first attempt was a failure, Mike draining alot of MP in order to attempt this task, but it was no good. The good news was that both Spirit Channeling and Spirit Harness gained a bit of EXP, as did Meditation for refilling his MP, but the attempt was an overall failure.

---

Experimentation 2: 32 - 37 Focus = -5

---

Mike felt alot closer this time than he did before. Still, this attempt was also a failure as he drained all of his MP trying to make this Skill. Still, those two Skills again gained some EXP, Spirit Harnessing getting a Level Up now, Meditation getting some more EXP to get his MP back up to full.

---

Experimentation 3: 27 - 37 Focus = -10

---

It was hard. Mike was straining his mind, body, and spirit to the limit to slowly form that mass of Mana in his hands and expand it into the appropriate shape with an ability that wasn't meant for this use. Soon enough though he would get it. Around the same sign as a bokken, but it was wavering and shaking, it being very hard to keep the shape. Still, Mike was able to keep the shape for just a few moments before his MP ran out and the spiritual bokken dissipated into nothingness. He would be a bit tired, but Meditation would help recover that and his MP. Several windows appeared now.

Window

Spirit Harness has gone up in Level by 1.

Window 2

Spirit Channel has gone up in Level by 1.

Window 3

A Skill has been created through a special action. Through the nearly impossible practice of attempting to shape Mana with a Spirit Energy controlling technique, the ability to shape a sword out of Spirit Energy (MP), Spirit Blade, has been created.

Spirit Blade

Spirit Blade (Level 1: 0/100 XP) (Active: 60 MP/Minute): You gather spirit energy (Mana) into your hands and, with sheer willpower, perform a very impressive feat of shaping this energy into a blade. This blade deals 1 ~ 12 + 50% Wisdom Damage and counts as a Katana for the purpose of other Skills. This mass of energy, however, wielded like a sword and used to strike people deals Physical Damage instead of energy damage, but still counts as a Spirit Energy (Mana) based attack for other such purposes. To Level Up: Create the Spirit Blade, Attack with the Spirit Blade, Parry with the Spirit Blade, or get a Critical Strike with the Spirit Blade.

It worked, Mike now had the ability to create a weapon at will. Still, he already had the ability to pull a weapon out of his Inventory, but it was a cool thing to have indeed. After he had meditated a bit to recover both Stamina and MP, it would be a bit early in the evening now. Still, he had the time to fight some Wisps now with the new Skills he had acquired. The Wisps looked like floating balls of energy, or more accurately exactly like how souls would look in all sorts of anime or games. The eight of them had a strange glow about them and were all Level 13.

The Observe Data for the Wisps was the following.

Wisp

Name: Wisp

Species: Spirit (Undead)

A Wisp is a wandering soul with no identity or will. It is mainly a mindless soul, an ethereal zombie if one will. They are still quite tough though, able to manipulate the energy that comprises their body to attempt to absorb the essence of the living. They have no Mana, as the more they fight, the more they use up the essence of their being. They are highly resistant to Physical Damage, but energy damage works normally.

Level: 13

STR: 1
VIT: 10
DEX: 25
INT: 1
WIS: 35
LUK: 1

HP: 300

Resistance: 25

The Wisps were incredibly tough the first time around. Their strange abilities made them very tough opponents, especially since their main attack damaged both MP and HP. Mike had nothing to parry, having no choice but to dodge, and his speed wasn't exactly great. However, despite how much at a disadvantage Mike was, he was fighting superbly. He overcame numbers, speed disadvantages, and other such things that were all making the fight in his favor thanks to perhaps willpower, the adrenaline rush of a very hard battle, and maybe even a good bit of luck.

They each gave 3 XP, possibly because he was soloing. Not a whole lot, but the tough fight made for some great Skill Grinding, Acrobatics and Seishin no Ken also getting a free point, Acrobatics probably being something that needed to be increased a bit more. He also unlocked a new Skill judging from the windows that appeared after he had gotten hit by one of the creature's strange bolt like attacks, the Skill also leveling up once during the fight when he got hit by one more. The drops from them all were 3 Tiny Soul Gems and 4 Medium Soul Gems. The Observe Data for each of them was as follows.

Window

A Skill has been created through a Special Action. By enduring a metaphysical attack, the ability to better endure metaphysical or magical attacks, Magic Endurance, has been created.

Magic Endurance

Magic Endurance (Passive) (Lv 1: 0/100 EXP): +1 Concentration, +5% MP. To Level Up: Successfully endure a magical attack. Successfully endure a Critical Strike from a magical attack. Successfully survive a fatal strike.

Tiny Soul Gem

Tiny Soul Gem: A small gem that contains the energy of a soul. Useful in many different fields. Rank: A little less than common.

Medium Soul Gem

Medium Soul Gem: A slightly larger gem containing more of the energy of a soul, useful in many different fields. Rank: A little bit more less than common.

Mike used a large bit of MP. Not all of it so he wouldn't need to recuperate, but a good bit. Not actually too much though, probably 40% of it since he went through that fight very quickly and efficiently, having enough time to Meditate for a bit to recover his MP, Mike having only taken a small bit of damage. He managed to mostly heal his HP and heal all of his MP before he had probably time, and energy, for another few grinding sessions.

Mike's fight this time was of much lower quality. It was a stalemate Mike ran out of MP too quickly to continue the fight for much longer, showing that he couldn't really fight for too long with his high MP/Minute cost Skills. He managed to destroy a couple of them, but wasn't able to secure the drops as he had to use ID Escape before he was overwhelmed. He had to take a bit to regenerate, but still had one more bit of the first half of the evening.

These wisps were really tough on their own. Their strange attacks were draining both HP and MP and they were also incredibly quick. Mike was quickly overwhelmed by the Wisps within just a few short moments into the battle, not but ten seconds as they all blasted him with their strange attacks, draining a good bit of his HP and MP. Mike had no choice but to retreat now lest he risk death. Magical Endurance leveled up twice from the barrage of attacks.

Mike had no choice but to rest, as all of those attacks all drained alot of his stamina. By the time he was done resting there was probably time for one more grinding session before bedtime. He managed to destroy a couple of them, but alone these things were just a bit too strong for Mike to handle on his own, especially since 12 of them appeared. Their attacks were highly accurate and their draining of MP and HP with their attacks left Mike quickly defenseless. Not as defenseless as before since he managed to dodge and destroy a few of them, but he was just too slow to handle these creatures and they were much faster than him, always getting off several of those before Mike could do too much.

Mike would have to probably increase his DEX a bit more if he wanted to be a match for them, increasing Acrobatics for the purpose of Dodging probably being a good idea as well. Still, he made pretty good progress today nonetheless, and even Leveled up once more.

[Renose]

Since Erica asked, Genji did indeed let Erica stay the night, or even the week really, in one of the guest rooms in the residential part of the dojo. So in the morning she was already at the dojo and ready for some sparring. Genji, however; was in the middle of some intense training, but Sumi was available to spar. She seemed to want to get to know Erica a little better, as they met last night, since they were cousins. So into the yard near the dojo the two of them went, after breakfast of course, to get an early start on some sparring and practice.

---

Erica Sparring: 22 - 28 Capoeria - 12 Skill Bonus = -18

Erica Stamina: 17 - 10 VIT = 7

---

Erica did pretty good in the sparring match, but Sumi was leagues ahead despite that. Sure Erica may have come close with a couple of her blows, but ultimately Sumi was too quick, easily parrying or dodging Erica's other blows before coming in with a few of her own. Of course, it was just sparring, so she didn't go all out, but it was clear the difference between the two of them. All in all, the sparring session lasted all morning, with really no elongated breaks, just short breathers that lasted for a couple of minutes before the two of them continued.

A few Skills leveled throughout the sparring session multiple times, mainly most of the Skills she had in her own possession. Ultimately though it was a light sparring session, so they didn't level that many times, but levels were still levels and a point did go into Strength because of the level up of the Essential Capoeria Technique Skill. After that sparring, a lunch break. Genji was still in intensive training, but Sumi was willing to answer some of Erica's questions about the family.

The Ban Family is a very old clan of powerful martial artists that dates back to thousands of years ago. They value discipline, family, and honor, practicing martial arts as not only a tradition, but also as a way of creating a powerful bond through the family. The Ban household uses a style of martial arts that emphasizes power of strength and mind, there probably being more to it, but she didn't say anything else about that.

That break took a little while, now Sumi taking Erica to the Pseudospace area to grind Kobolds, it being about a tiny bit into the afternoon now. Erica's first attempt went... really poorly. She got smashed by two powerful strikes of a Kobold right off the bat and was forced to retreat before she died, Sumi saving her from potential death by kicking the Kobold in the face hard enough that it died in a single hit, Sumi not even breaking a sweat.

"A-Are you alright?" Sumi seemed concerned, but then looked surprised as Erica's body showed no sign of damage despite the two nasty blows she took. "I guess this is part of that weird power you all have..." She was curious now, but let Erica rest and recover her HP, as Genji had told Sumi a bit about the Gamer, or at least what he knew. Unfortunately her HP was so low that she had to take a good bit to regenerate it and recover the lost stamina. Either way, she was in pretty bad shape. Needless to say, it was a good bit in the afternoon once she was done since she had somehow gone into the incredibly negative HP amounts and had the Deadly Status, so it took her a while to recover, especially since her stamina didn't seem to replenish while her HP was still negative.

After that, Erica got to work practicing her dodging capabilities.

---

Dodging Practice: 24 - 28 Capoeria = -4

---

And she was doing pretty good. Practicing dodging and evading using various Capoeria movements. It took a while, but through her practice she managed to get pretty good, a couple of windows appearing now.

Skill Get!

A Skill has been created through a special action. Through practicing evasion with the movements of Capoeria, the ability to better evade attacks with Capoeria, Capoeria Evasion, has been created.

Capoeria Evasion

Capoeria Evasion (Level 1: 0/100 EXP) (Passive): Through various movements of Capoeria, your ability to dodge has improved. You get +1% Dodging Speed. Not only that, but if you dodge you can make a counterattack as part of your dodge that has a -25% accuracy, but deals 10% more damage. To Level Up: Dodge an attack, get a counterattack, practice movements.

She managed to make the Skill and even had a bit of time left in the afternoon to practice movements needed for the Skill.

---

Capoeria Evasion Practice: 53 - 28 Capoeria = 25

---

She managed to perform the movements decently, getting two Levels in her new Skill. Soon enough though it was evening and upon asking for a bit of text on the ban fighting style, Sumi agreed, giving her a book on the basics of the Ban Family fighting style. When she got the book, she would get the following message.

Window

You have obtained the Talent Book for the Ban Family Martial Arts Technique.

Upon touching it again, she got a window asking if she wanted to learn the Ban Family Martial Arts Technique. If she pressed Yes, she would see the book beginning to vanish as the knowledge of the Ban Family Martial Arts Technique flowed into her, the following windows having appeared.

Window

Usage of the Talent Book for the Ban Family Martial Arts Technique has created a Talent to allow you to better use this technique, the Ban Family Martial Arts Technique has been created.

Ban Family Martial Arts Technique

Ban Family Martial Arts Technique (Talent Skill): The discipline and strength needed to use the basic martial arts style of the Ban Family are yours. As you further level this Talent you will be able to better execute these special martial arts techniques and grow stronger overall.

The style itself, now that Erica knew the basic techniques, seemed powerful, yet simple. Attacks that emphasized focus and powerful strikes as well as the focusing of the body's Ki as well. Sumi opted to teach Erica the essential movements and techniques so that she could practice them on her own.

---

Erica Ban Family Martial Arts Training: 4 (Critical!)

---

Erica was a quick learner, Sumi a good bit impressed as she quickly caught on to the basic techniques of the Ban Family and the movements quite quickly, perhaps of her own prior martial arts experience. Not only that, but she figured a way to combine these techniques with her own techniques to become an even stronger martial artist. After the evening training, the following Windows appeared.

Window

Quick learning of the Ban Family techniques than normal has increased your proficiency in them. +1 Ban Family Martial Arts Technique.

Window

A Skill has been created through special action. The ability to perform the essential movements of the Ban Family Technique, Essential Ban Family Technique, has been created.

Essential Ban Family Technique

Essential Ban Family Technique (Level 1: 0/100 EXP): +2 STR, +1 DEX, +1 VIT, +1 Ban Family Martial Arts Technique. The essential technique and movements of the Ban Family. These focused, precise strikes focus on targeting vital and weak points on the foe's body, allowing you to ignore 10% of the foe's Resilience with your Unarmed strikes. Not only that, but the strength of your Unarmed Strikes is increased by 10%. Your unarmed Strikes also deal an additional 4 Damage. This special martial arts technique is also easily combined with the other techniques that you possess, allowing any and all bonuses from each to stack. To Level Up: Perform Unarmed Strikes, Use Ban Family Techniques.

Window

A Skill has been created through a special Action. The ability to perform the most basic Ban Family Technique that involves focusing the strength for a powered strike, Nōkō Sutoraiki

Nōkō Utsu

Nōkō Utsu (Level 1: 0/100 EXP) (Active: 20 MP): Through the basic focusing and concentrating of strength and Ki (Mana) into the hand with both strength and a focused mind, the strength of this precise strike is quite high. This attack deals 50% more damage than a regular unarmed strike. To Level Up: Use this Technique. Deal a Critical Strike.

Unfortunately there wasn't much time left in the day for much else, but Erica did indeed make some good progress today despite not being able to grind Kobolds. It was late, so Sumi mentioned that they should go to bed, bidding Erica good night as she went to bed herself.

[Renose]

Erica's second day of staying with the Ban Family in the morning was breakfast and sparring, focusing on practicing the Ban Style techniques more than her Capoeria. In the morning it was Sumi who practiced with her, Genji busy once again.

---

Erica Sparring: 5 - 23 Ban Techniques = -18

---

The practice went really well. It almost went extremely well, except for a tiny mishap here and there, but they were so minuscule it was hardly noticeable. Still, the Ban Family Skills leveled up a good bit, the Capoeria Skills sort of leveling up as a side affect even though Erica was focusing on developing her techniques of the Ban Family's style. After that, the afternoon came around, and Erica decided to practice her spiritual powers, Sumi having to go off to school for her classes, Genji still busy with training. Using Spirit Channeling and Spirit Strike were the best ways to practice her spiritual abilities.

---

Erica Spiritual Practice: 23 - 16 Focus = 7

---

She did really well, focusing, flowing, channeling her spiritual power. She felt alot more efficient with the powers she now had, his Focus even going up by 2 from Leveling both Spirit Strike and Spirit Channeling to a higher level. A window also appeared now.

Window

For diligent practicing of spiritual powers has made your spirit and mind stronger. +1 WIS.

In the evening, Sumi came back from her classes and answered Erica's questions about Pseudospace. "Pseudospace is made by Gaia to allow Ability Users to freely use their abilities without danger of interfering in the normal world. Its also used by Gaia to separate the Other World from our world as things like demons and other such things come from the Other World, but where they leak into this world said place is encased in a Pseudospace until the entities are either dealt with or can no longer sustain themselves in our world. Of course, mystical things in our world like spirits and other such things are also entombed in Pseudospaces when they get active. Its also possible for people to call creatures from the other world for training or other such things."

Sumi would also talk about how to make a Pseudospace you connect your will to Gaia's and send energy forth, and if you use different powers, essences, or energies you could even have different kinds of Pseudospace as Gaia uses this energy to shape different forms of Pseudospaces whether they are ones that are for faster recovery or ones for calling forth different types of monsters.

After that conversation it was still hard to explain Pseudospace exactly, but at least Erica would know much more now than she did before. After that, it would be quite late at night and it would be time for bed.

[Renose]

On Saturday school let out a bit early, but because of the fact that he went to Kendo Club, Mike wouldn't have as much of the afternoon as normal to do things, but he would still have a little bit of extra time than he did on other week days. So school went as it usually did.

---

Mike Studying: 13 - 23 Knowledge = -10

---

Mike did pretty good today, learning a good bit. While it wasn't enough to elicit any visible growth in Stats or Talents, it still felt nice to be able to do well in school regardless, or course that is entirely depending upon who you are.

After school came Kendo Club. While not all of them, some of the senpais seemed to take a bit of a liking to Mike, some admired his spirit while others thought he was just interesting. Soon enough, practice and sparring would begin, Keiichi supervising the practice and sparring at some points and joining in at others.

---

Mike Kendo Practice: 24 - 24 Seishin no Ken = 0

Mike Stamina: 43 - 21 VIT = 22

---

Mike did really well in practice this time around. Granted he had to take a breather every now and then, but he did well enough to warrant the following window apparently as his form was really pristine this time around.

Window

Diligent training in the sword has made you swifter and has given you a better sense of finesse. +1 DEX.

After practice everyone would leave, Keiichi noticing that Mike stayed behind though so he guessed that the younger student wanted something, or more accurately to show him something. When Mike first set up an ID in the Room, Keiichi wondered what Mike had planned, then saw him create the sword of energy with the Spirit Sword Skill. Keiichi, needless to say, was a bit impressed.

"Wow, I have to admit, I am impressed. I knew you had an idea for it, but to be able to execute it in just a day... you are quite impressive." Keiichi gazed at the sword for several moments before going and grabbing a bag, pulling something out of it. It was something very long, sword sized, and it was wrapped in cloth. "While it is very impressive, I still believe that a proper solid weapon is something that is never a bad idea to carry around." He handed it to Mike.

"In there is a Bokken, but it is not an ordinary Bokken. If you were to train with it, you would see what I mean. I recommend you use it when you get the chance. It aided me during my training, and I believe that it can do the same for you."

After goodbyes were said, it was time to head back home. When Mike got home, if he took out the bokken it looked like any ordinary bokken. It felt lighter though, and much tougher as if even hitting it with a bat wouldn't break it. He could also feel some faint spiritual energy within the wood just by touching it thanks to his own experience with Spirit Energy. Using 'Observe' gave the following info.

Observe Data

Spirit Bokken: A Bokken infused with spiritual energy and carved out of the branch of a spirit tree, a type of tree that is said to carry energy of the world's very spirit within. This wooden blade is much tougher than any regular bokken. Not only that, but it strengthens all Spirit Energy based techniques used with it by 10%. Damage: 4 ~ 16. Rank: Uncommon.

After that, Mike got to work grinding Spirit Blade.

---

Mike Blade Practice: 86 - 24 Seishin no Ken - 12 Skill Bonus = 50

Mike Stamina: 93 - 21 VIT = 72

---

Mike's skill with the sword here, as the best way to grind Spirit Blade was to practice with it, was a bit lackluster, possibly due to not being used to the Spirit Blade as of yet. Grinding it for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening wasn't really an easy task either. Practicing with it for hours upon hours was more exhausting then one would think, maybe due to the constant MP drain the sword did. Regardless, it and Katana Mastery both Leveled up, Spirit Blade leveling up a couple of times, but not as many as one would hope.

After that, there was a bit of time left in the evening to use the Divination Skill Book and see what it could teach, because upon pressing 'Yes' on the window to learn it, Mike would indeed be able to learn this Skill Book this time around.

Skill Get!

A Skill has been created through a Special Action. Through using a Skill Book on divination, the Talent Skill for performing it, Divination, has been created.

Divination

Divination (Talent Skill): You know how to divine the fates and foresee various things using various methods of Divination and fortune telling. Not only that, but as you grow more experienced you may be able to commune with other certain forces as well, possibly being able to harness the powers you use for your predictions for more than just prediction.

The Skill was learned. With the purchase he had made in the auction, one more item had came as well. In another box, along with a note that read

[hider=Note]
A little something to make your purchase better, as I do want you all to succeed.

From, Gin the Auction Dealer.

Inside of it was a Crystal Ball, some blank pieces of paper that looked like blank charms one would see at a shrine, and a deck of Tarot cards. With just a little bit of time left, Mike felt like he could try Divination out once. The only thing Mike felt like he could do would be gazing into his Crystal Ball and doing some basic fortune telling.

---

Mike Divination: 69 - 23 Divination = 46

---

It was pretty hard to see, Mike having to focus everything he had, but eventually Mike was able to sort of gaze at something. A prediction into tomorrow. An attack that would come at him from some unknown foe. Mike would only be able to tell that he was attacked, and it was indeed in Gekkoukan. Of course, as a Diviner, one always had to know that the future was never certain, but he felt like in the case that things did add up to this situation that he would be more prepared and that fate would be on his side to allow him to get away from the attack, two windows suddenly appearing.

Skill Get!

A Skill has been created through a Special Action. Through the practice of basic divination, the ability to better foresee events and other such things, Fortune Telling, has been created.

Fortune Telling

Fortune Telling (Level 1: 0/100) (Active: 50 MP): You attempt to gaze either forward in time or perhaps into the present, but in a different place, to garner more information on something. You can attempt to predict the outcome of things or perhaps gain insight into something currently happening. It is possible that, with predicting the future, when that time comes to have Luck factor in to the outcome of things since fate would be on your side since you would have had a somewhat of a glance as to what may happen.

That took a good bit of time though and was a bit exhausting. With nothing else much to do since it was late, Mike's best bet was just turning in for the night.

[Renose]

Wednesday morning. It was four and a half days until the Quests supposed deadline of Sunday at midnight, meaning that Sasha had a good bit of time to prepare. First she went to the auction. Already knowing what she wanted to buy made this take a couple of minutes. Of course, with the added charges for a cash purchase, quick delivery, and an Auction ATM Card she didn't have enough money, but it was mentioned that Items could be sold to the delivery unit for money. Luckily that Minor Recovery Potion was a bit valuable. The total purchase came down to 166,550 Yen. She had 148,500, but the potion certainly would bring it up above that.

Within moments the UFO came outside her window, it being Sasha's first time seeing it. It had a large parcel tied to the underside of it and it gave the instructions in an electronic voice to insert the cash and any items for selling in the top slot. Upon doing so it gave her back 46,950 Yen, the potion having sold for 65,000 Yen. After giving it the appropriate amount of money, the UFO let her take the parcel from underneath before flying off. Inside of the parcel was the two Skill Books she desired, a Chain Shirt, an ATM Card with a special background of her choice if she choose one, and one more item. A box with a note on the front, the note reading as follows.

Note

We at the auction want you to succeed, so here is a little present from you to me to spice up your purchase.

From: Gin, the Auction Dealer.

In the smaller box was something called a Basic Arcane Tool Kit and, according to the description on the box, it said 'Everything you need for getting a start on performing your arcane magic \\'. Unfortunately, it seemed like performing said rituals would have to wait. Knowledge needed to be increased in rank by 2 before she could learn Ritual Arcane Magic, and Ritual Arcane Magic needed to be Rank 5 before she could learn Talisminic Object Creation. So with that, she needed to level up twice. Kobolds would no longer be a good source of XP, and going back and forth from Genji's consumed alot of time, so her best option was to grind ID Create and Escape so that she could fight something better.

---

Sasha Stamina: 3 (Critical!)

---

Sasha's stamina surprisingly held up throughout the long morning in which she did mass grinding ID Create and Escape relentlessly for at least two thirds of the morning. ID Create seemed to level up pretty slow, but the fact that she continuously used both Create and Escape with only one little break allowed her to gain 5 Levels in Create and 4 Levels in Escape all in just two thirds of the morning, leaving only just a little bit of time before the afternoon to give her even more grinding for the day. After those nearly three hours of grinding those two Skills, a window appeared.

Window

Pushing your stamina past the limit has made you tougher. +1 VIT

She could indeed feel the affect of this VIT Increase, her HP increasing by a decent bit thanks to it. After that, it was time to fight Wisps, a completely new enemy. Without the Observe Skill it would be hard to tell the basic capabilities of said enemy, but she would somehow get through it nonetheless as with using the Wisp ID Create now she was faced with nine Wisps, all Level 13. They looked like how human souls look in anime, floating white spheres that were glowing and had a sort of comet like trail to them.

Sasha fought superbly, especially after figuring out the best way to combat them. Physical damage was not it. Despite getting a Critical Strike with the Daichizan, the powerful technique still didn't do a whole lot of damage, as if these things were nearly immune to physical damage. Still, she did a pretty decent bit. Also, upon getting that Critical Strike, Critical Strike went up in level and a window appeared before her.

Window 1

By raising your DEX to 25, you have become pretty quick and have acquired precise, well coordinated movements as well. +1 Acrobatics, +1 Projectile Weaponry, and +1 Ban Family Sword Technique.

Window 2

A Skill has been created through a special action. By becoming much swifter and acquiring precise movements for combat, the ability to fight better while moving through and across the battle field, Precise Movement, has been created.

Precise Movement

Precise Movement (Level 1: 0/100) (Passive): Your movements in the battlefield and in general are alot more precise and coordinated. Foes are less likely to hit you even if you leave yourself open to move more quickly, giving you a +1% to Dodge Speed while doing so. Also if moving while striking you can confuse and fool your opponent with your movements, giving you a +1% bonus to Accuracy. Also if you coordinate your movements with a melee attack, you can increase the damage of said attack by 10%. To Level Up: Move in Combat, Move away from a foe in close range, move while attacking, performing a Moving Attack.

After that, it was back to using Mana Revolver and Mana Rifle. She still fought superbly though, the Foot Technique helping her dodge attacks despite the armor weighing her down, plus her newest acquired Skill also helped her out. All in all, she did pretty good. She took a few hits here and there, but it was nothing she couldn't handle despite the fact that they drained both HP and MP. The Armor really helped to protect her from those energy attacks, even though it only gave half protection against them. While she didn't Level Up, Sasha still got a good bit of stuff from that fight.

So after recuperating a bit to recover MP for the next fight, Sasha lacking a MP Regeneration increase Skill like Meditation, she only had a small bit of morning time left before all she would have would be, just the afternoon and evening for more grinding, Wisps being the best choice once again. Before that though came the issue of drops, one enemy having dropped two things. The drops all were, despite Sasha not being able to tell their names, 2 Medium Soul Gems, 1 Spirit Crystal, 3 Tiny Soul Gems, and a book. Without the Observe Skill, there wasn't really much she could tell about anything, but the book was a different story. The moment she picked it up, the following Window appeared.

Window

You have obtained the Skill Book for the 'Spirit Bolt' Skill.

If she touched it again as if to use it, a window asking if she would like to learn it, like all other Skill Books, would appear. If she pressed yes, a red window would appear, mentioning that she did not meet all of the requirements, the one she hadn't met yet being that it required a Wisdom Score of 20 to learn. With that also going into the Inventory for now, it was time to grind upon more Wisps.

While Sasha didn't fight as well last time, she still fought pretty well. She leveled up one time as well. 4 Tiny Soul Gems and 2 Medium Soul Gems were her awards this time around. She did well against the next 10 that showed up as well, leveling up one more time. With this, she now had 10 in Knowledge. So with two thirds of the afternoon and the evening remaining, it was time to try and learn some real magic now as she now had the requirements to learn from the Beginner Arcane Magic Skill Book, the following windows appearing once she did so.

Skill Get!

A Skill has been created through a Special Action. By using the Skill Book for Beginner Arcane Magic the Talent for utilizing the basics of the Arcane, Arcane Practice, has been created.

Arcane Practice

Arcane Practice (Talent Skill): You know the basic principles and theories of Arcane Magic, allowing you to begin research into this field to unlock the mysteries of the arcane to grant yourself its power. Currently you have access to three of the fields of Arcane. Manipulation, Alteration, and Enchantment.

It didn't seem to be ritual based. In fact, from the basic feeling of it, Sasha understood that she could go in one of three directions, or go in maybe all three. Manipulation was the controlling of pure arcane energies. Alteration was the basic altering of the properties of things in the world around you, and Enchantment is creating and weaving enchantments over items, foes, and allies alike. She knew that the tools in the Kit were needed, these being the Arcane Siphon, for drawing forth Arcane Energies, the cloth with the Arcane Circle inscribed upon it, and the basic Wand for controlling said energies to weave them into magic. It didn't seem like this was all for battle whatsoever, that this was more just alone research and practice, as if this type of magic wasn't really combat oriented so far anyway.

Sasha decided to go for Enchantment. Since she had all afternoon, she could practice Enchantment for quite the while, and even into the evening if she wanted to. She wouldn't really be learning any specific forms of spells, but would just be practicing and researching various forms of enchantments for when she could use Enchantment magic more efficiently in battle, as for this magic it felt like if she knew how to make it or make it happen, then she could do it.

---

Sasha Arcane Magic: 3 (Critical!)

---

Sasha was a natural at this. She managed to perform her first enchantment rather quickly. It was strange how it worked, but Sasha was able to understand. Gather the arcane energies from the Siphon, then weave those energies into the magic she wanted to perform with her mind and using the basic principles of that field of Arcane Magic. Three windows appeared after her superb first attempt.

Critical

By performing an enchantment more superbly than you should have been able to on your first try you feel more adept at Arcane Magic. +1 Arcane Practice.

Skill Get!

A Skill has been created through a special action. Through researching the field of Enchantment, an ability to better understand, use, and research enchantment, Enchantment Research, has been created.

Enchantment Research

Enchantment Research (Level 1: 0/100 XP) (Active): The research and study into the field of Enchantment, a field of Arcane Magic that involves weaving enchantments to affect something for better or worse through either enhancement or disrupting/negatively changing the properties of something. As you practice Enchantment more you will be able to learn about and create more complex Enchantment magic. To Level Up: Practice and research Enchantment magic.

For the rest of the afternoon, Sasha would be able to practice Enchantment still.

---

Sasha Enchantment Research: 3 (Critical!)

---

Sasha was just doing way to well at Arcane Magic. She was a natural as she practiced and researched enchantments through experimentation, since she didn't really have any materials to read. For the second third of the afternoon, she was able to learn a whole lot on the subject of enchanting. The Enchantment Research Skill rose up to Level 5 and also gained an update that all of her enchantments would now be 10% stronger. That was just for the rest of the afternoon. The evening research, which had to be stopped for a dinner break, would also be something that would happen as well.

---

Sasha Enchantment Research: 34 - 28 Enchantment Research = 6

---

Sasha didn't really learn as much now as she did before. Still, she managed to learn a few things as she practiced and researched for hours and hours, probably having had to have something to take notes upon to inscribe what she did for all of her enchantments so that she could use said things later. Just one and a half more levels were gained in Enchantment Research during the evening.

After her evening research was done though Sasha would be thoroughly exhausted, having gotten a good bit done, so it would be time for bed for her.

[Renose]

Ren awoke the next morning, ready to get more work done. In truth he kind of wanted to sit and watch anime or play games at the current moment, but he had work to do. Of course, all of this power was incredible, and uncovering more and more magic was also exhilarating, but there was still that tiny part of him that wanted to take a break from all of this. First thing in the morning, Ren decided that he would get some grinding done, as he had a plan. He needed better Water Elemental essence if he wanted to empower Undine properly, so Ren figured he would use the five he got from the Auction, the sorta lesser quality ones, to create a Pseudospace of Water Elementals.

Ren went outside, after breakfast, into the house's yard and stretched for a few moments. He then gathered the essences into his hands and held them up, focusing on them for a few moments before saying "ID Create!"

---

Pseudospace Experiment: 13 - 47 Focus - 5 Title Bonus = -39

---

It was incredibly easy, Ren didn't even need to focus that hard really. Three of the five Essences dissipated as they became a part of the energy that creates an ID, Ren thinking of how he wanted to fight Water Elementals. Within the next few moments the Pseudospace was formed, 8 Basic Water Elementals, all Level 13, appearing. A quick Observe, after two windows showing that ID Create Leveled and another saying that it updated, showed that they had similar Stats to Undine. Ren's plan was thus. Garm would do all of the melee fighting, despite Melee Attacks only being half effective. Undine would heal Garm with Life Water while Ren used Force Siphon and the three Hexes he possessed to help in the battle. It was probably going to be a bit tough, but Ren wasn't going to back down from a slightly more challenging fight, this part of the game being interesting.

The fight was indeed pretty tough. Ren had Mana Shield and MP Armor Active, so that helped reduce some of the damage on him, but to say that the elementals were slow wasn't true. Water Elementals did so far seem to be much slower than Air, but their attacks still hurt, especially Garm. Despite that, the battle was fought until the end, Ren sighing as it took about three minutes to kill all of them. It was actually pretty tough. If anything though, Garm got the biggest workout here, and also fought incredibly well against the elementals. To Ren's credit, this well enough fighting did illicit a level up for Demon Summoning to Level 10, which was indeed nice. Elemental Summoning was leveling up at a snail's pace now, so Ren wasn't going to bother with it too much for now.

After a tiny bit of Meditating for MP Regeneration, Ren was ready to go again, but not against Water Elementals this time. No, he wanted to fight Wisps this time. He had the items he needed for the elemental empowerment, so now he figured he would fight something that all three of them could attack, or so Ren hoped. He created the ID and then did Observe on the Wisps, disappointed when he learned that the Wisps couldn't be attacked with physical damage. Well, Ren figured that Garm could still act as a shield, but wasn't sure if instructing a demon to do that was such a good idea, so he dismissed Garm for now and figured he would just grind these 10 Wisps first to see what they dropped and decided to grind melee with the still water empowered dagger as well as use Force Siphon and Eldritch Flame when necessary.

Ren wasn't used to melee, so his melee was a bit poor but the Wisps... just did sorta crappy in this fight. They failed to dodge attacks that shouldn't have been too hard for someone of their swiftness to dodge and many of their own attacks missed, and of the attacks that hit they were weaker than usual for some reason and Ren's Mana Shield and MP Armor protected him from them. All in all, Ren and Undine alone were able to dispatch them in about a couple of minutes, since it wasn't exactly easy either especially since they did have a pretty high resistance to magical attacks and were still pretty quick even if their fighting was horrible this time around. Still, around the end of the fight Ren leveled up, regaining all of his HP and MP, which was nice.

The drops were good to, somewhat. Five Tiny soul Gems and two Spirit Crystals. Ren had an idea of what to use the Gems for. The Crystals, not so much. Still, with full HP and MP, Ren figured he could go for one more session of grinding before he moved on to his other morning plans. He decided to fight Wisps again and have Garm summoned this time, figuring he could just tank for them. If not, then at least he would get some XP for demon summoning.

The thing was, now that Ren was Level 16, he wasn't sure if Wisps would give XP anymore. The Items were nice, but he also wanted XP. Then he saw something else. Fire Mephits. That seemed interesting enough. With his water dagger he figured these things couldn't be too hard. Plus maybe some demonic items would appear, which was also always nice for Demon Summoning.

These Mephits put up a bit of a fight, but Ren's team was at an advantage, especially since water was good against creatures of fire. While the demons fought a bit better, the elemental advantage allowed Ren to overpower them in the end, all 7 Mephits meeting their end. After that, Ren went about collecting his spoils. They were somewhat good, except for the fact over half of the enemies didn't drop anything for some reason, Ren just guessing that he was unlucky or something this time around.

Poor drops aside, Ren had what he wanted now, and figured it was time for some rituals. First he learned the Rune Magic book that he had, as he figured that would be useful. After that, the first ritual he wanted to perform permanent empowerment of Undine. Ren wanted to power up her support abilities and possibly give her a weapon. So he used one of the Elemental Spirits and all six of the Crystals as he set up the ritual, figuring this could have an affect. Well first, he set up the ritual for just empowering items as he wanted to level it one more time if he could, wondering if he could do multiple things at once, so he set in his knife and one of his school uniforms, wondering what would happen.

---

Elemental Empowerment: 46 - 49 Ritual Water Magic - 3 Skill Bonus = -6

---

The ritual worked. Both the uniform and the knife were empowered with water, the uniform now having a resistance against water themed attacks for a whole day. This didn't take too much time at all, still leaving time in the half of the morning for empowering Undine now, Ren looking at Undine as he began to focus.

---

Elemental Empowerment: 0 (Critical!)

---

Undine's body began to glow and visibly change, Ren's eyes widening for just a moment, but he remained calm as he quickly took control of the empowerment and focused. He wanted to give Undine a weapon, strengthen her generally, and grant her a couple of new support and CC based abilities, since that was his main reason for using Water Magic. Ren felt it working though, the water crystals and elemental spirit both being all taken into Undine's body as she continued to glow brightly, Ren struggling to keep his eyes opened and on Undine, but he continued to focus with all of his strength, keeping his eyes squinted against the bright light as he looked down at the circle instead of directly at Undine, always bad with bright lights, although recent events have changed that since Ren has gone outside alot more as of late.

It was a long period, but soon enough the glow settled and Ren regained his vision clarity, eyes widening as he looked up at Undine, her appearance having changed completely, as did her Level and even what she was. A quick usage of Observe and a mixture of an excited smile and a smirk appeared on Ren's face. She approved immensely of these changes. The abilities, as the Observe Data gave a bit of info into Undine's abilities since she was a summon, seemed to cost more MP now. A downside, but they were all more powerful now. Not only that, but she had a weapon, and was a bit taller now. That was good.

"I feel alot stronger now" said Undine's voice in Ren's mind, Ren giving a nod.

"You look stronger as well" After closing the newest windows that had appeared mentioning Elemental Empowerment's Level Up and the Observe Data for Undine Ren decided to take a bit of time of this halfway point in the morning, as somehow that ritual didn't take as long as Ren thought it would maybe due to how much control she had over it allowing her to speed it up, to renew his Hexes.

---

Ren Hex Creation: 58 - 43 Ritual Black Magic - 3 Skill Bonus = 12

---

The ritual went by fairly well, Ren looking at the black magic mark on his right hand as it showed the renewing of the Hex, having cringed when the 50 HP cost was also drained from him. HP drain actually hurt unlike MP drain, even if said HP drain was from an ability rather than an attack. After that was renewed Ren checked a clock. 11 AM. Ren decided one more ritual was necessary. With everything else prepared, Ren knew that now would be the perfect time to do this. Unlocking Water Spells, or so Ren assumed this is what it would do.

Setting up the ritual once again for what Ren assumed was the proper way to do so, Ren began, needing to have Undine summoned and he had Garm stay back for now, as he was keeping Garm summoned to grind that Skill, something Garm begrudgingly allowed.

---

New Ritual Attempt: 54 - 49 Ritual Water Magic - 4 Skill Bonus = 1

---

This ritual was incredibly difficult and a bit complex, Ren feeling as though he had barely gotten it. Incanting, meditation, and alot of other typical ritual stuff was involved, Ren having to establish a sort of magical connection to Undine. Life Water was what he wanted, and he could feel the proper words and other force needed for performing this spell entering his mind, the knowledge flowing into him like a river. It was incredibly strange and surreal, and more exciting than anyone else so far. His hands quivered a bit just from it.

Magic. Real Magic. Not magic used by other creatures, but his own. After the ritual was done, Ren stared down at his hands, almost not even seeing the new windows that appeared. "I-I did it... I'm actually a real mage..." Sure all of the Mana skills were like magic, but they weren't. The rituals also took too long and just gave him either temporary affects or one shot abilities. Those weren't all that great and didn't feel like true spell casting, but now... Ren felt like a true mage. Examining the windows that appeared, Ren couldn't help but grin happily.

He decided to try it out first thing, aiming his hand towards Undine. It seemed that spell casting was a bit different from the other Skills though. It was just like in RPGs. One pressed the Hot-Key and then waited a few seconds before the spell was cast. Ren wondered if raising his DEX, as he noticed that when his DEX got above 12 that he was a good bit faster and could act more quickly, would help him cast spells more quickly. "Life Water!" Water glowing with a soft, light blue hue appeared around his hand, swirling for a few seconds before Ren could let the spell off, watching in apt satisfaction as the spell worked in the same way Undine used her Life Water, only Ren's spell seemed a bit less powerful. That was probably because it was only Level 1.

With that part of his experimentation over, and it being around noon, Ren knew he had two more things to try. The first was get Undine's Aqua Arrow. The next was test out Rune Magic. Ren figured that now that he had the ritual, he could use it in less time as was his personal experience. With it already set up, Ren began.

---

Element Spell Creation: 22 - 49 Ritual Water Magic - 4 Skill Bonus = -31

---

The ritual was a success. Again Ren felt that same sensation when he had acquired the Life Water Spell, and it was still incredible. After checking out the window that had appeared, Ren decided to try out Rune Magic now. Now that he had Spells he could use, he could create Runes that contained them. The thought of creating free healing items with Life Water or instant attack items with Aqua Arrow was pretty nice, as was the thought of being able to put his Hexes into Runes. Ren decided to try out with Life Water. Apparently for Rune Magic, one simply had to know how to create a runic symbol with the Spell they are using and while it took some time, it didn't require a lengthy setup like a ritual did, which was nice.

---

Ren Rune Magic (Life Water): 1 (Critical!)

---

The sensations of the spell were still fresh in Ren's mind, so somehow he was able to create the symbol quite easily. Not only that, but he felt so in control of the spell as it began to flow into the Blank Runestone that Ren was clutching, or was anyway, as the moment it began to float into it the Rune began to float as the magic of the spell flowed from his hand into the floating Rune. He focused his mind more, feeling that with how much control he had that he was able to control the rune as well. By the time it was over, Ren opened his eyes, a bit wide eyed. The plain, grey stone had changed a bit. The sort of not perfect circular shaped had become a perfect circle, its surface now an azure color instead and seemed to hold a sort of soothing aura about it, his magic somehow literally transforming the rune.

Ren looked at the new windows that appeared, before using Observe on the Rune he had created, eyes widening as he realized what he accidentally created. "This... could be highly useful or valuable..." He had no idea how he had made that, and wondered if he had just sort of used something that would be available in the future. After that he checked the XP for things, and noticed that Summon Elemental was no longer getting XP from just Undine sitting out and that the method for just summoning elementals as a level up method was gone. This made Ren wonder that maybe one had to use more challenging methods to level skills once they were higher level. That was a bit saddening, but it also made sense as well, as things should become harder to improve in once they were really good.

Ren decided to dismiss Undine then, as there was no point in wasting the MP if keeping an elemental out didn't grant the XP for the Skill. With morning over, Ren thought about grinding, but decided that there was one more thing he wanted to do before he did. Contract a second demon. A demon with lightning powers preferably that was still good in a fight. Ren set up the demon contract ritual, asking Garm if he knew any demons that fit that description.

"Hmph, I don't really know, but whatever you are summoning, if it wants to fight you then let me in on that action." Garm's voice spoke in Ren's mind, but he could tell that Garm's canine fangs had a smirk upon them of some sort, Ren just giving a nervous nod, wondering if Garm was bored just sitting around. This may have been why Ren was more of a cat person personally. Sighing, he began to set up the ritual now, making a mental note to go and try find some demonic compendium or something like that on the Auction site later.

---

Ren Demon Contract: 77 - 41 Demonology - 4 Skill Bonus = 32

---

Nothing responded, Ren wondering if he wasn't doing it right, so he tried again, setting up everything once again, deciding to offer one of the Tiny Soul Gems up this time, wondering if that would be good bait.

---

Ren Demon Contract: 44 - 41 Demonology - 4 Skill Bonus - 10 Soul Offering Bonus = -11

---

Ren focused, hoping for something that used lightning. Without much of a description on what, other than it had the power of lightning. This seemed to work this time as the room began to grow dark once again, the eldritch flame braziers flickering a bit before the room changed to that dark one from before, Garm growling a bit. In the center of the room a demon appeared, it being no sturdy looking demon. It was a female demon of sorts. A quick utterance of Observe and Ren got her Observe Data.

Ren wanted to internal face palm and wondered what his 37 INT was good for. The Level 14 Demon seemed strong, but not physically, and mages were plenty good in fights. Ren made a mental note to be more specific next time.

"So, you want to form a contract with me, do you not mortal?" Unlike Garm or Undine, she spoke with her mouth, this making Ren wonder if some demons just chose to speak with telepathy and others not so much, or even summoned beings really. "That soul you offered up was delicious, and you yourself seem rather interesting if you can acquire things like that...not only that, but you seem to have really nice smelling life force" She gave a soft giggle, eyeing Ren over who was ready for a fight this time. "Ill serve you, if you promise to always give me your life force whenever you do, as there are those stingy summoners who don't" She did a fake, cutesy pout, but Ren wasn't seduced easily, or at all really.

After all, Ren was a girl, and didn't swing that way. "Very well, ill always make sure to give you my life force whenever I summon you if you agree to serve me." Ren hoped that the demon would just agree with this offer since it was what she wanted, Ren wondering if he should start upping his Negotiation Talent in the future.

---

Ren Negotiation: 47 - 38 = 9

---

The demon appeared surprised that Ren agreed so quickly, and without hesitation, but gave another soft giggle. "See, I knew you were interesting. Very well, since that was indeed what I said I wanted, I will gladly accept your offer. My name is Lilim, take good care of me~" With that she vanished, the mark on Ren's wrist glowing for a moment before the room was turned back to normal as the special Pseudospace disappeared. With that done, Ren decided to imbue his Hex of Draining into a Rune before he forgot, wondering if this would work.

---

Rune Magic (Hex of Draining): 95 (Not a Fumble, but it fails anyway)

---

It didn't work. Luckily the rune didn't vanish, as Ren felt like it would have if he hadn't been a little more careful, but it just didn't work. Unfortunately one of his uses of his Hex was used up though. Ren had a feeling like black probably didn't work with Rune Magic, or so Ren assumed anyway, as he didn't know if that was absolutely true or not.

With a third of the afternoon gone now, Ren thought of what to do next. Grinding seemed like the best option. So into his backyard he went. Ren figured they could grind more Fire Mephits, Ren deciding to use Mana Shield, but not Armor, his two new Spells, and then his three summons during the fight as 12 Fire Mephits appeared.

The Fire Mephits did terribly while Ren's group did really well. While there were no things like Critical Strikes, Ren still did really well, not even bothering to use the Hexes during the fight, Ren's three summons also doing pretty well, Ren healing himself with Life Water when needed since he still lost a little bit of HP. Lilim's own powers were pretty impressive, even if her physical strength was not, and Ren also healed his Demons when need be, but that was rarely necessary. By the time the fight was over Ren hadn't used too much MP since his Demons and Elemental also did alot, Undine using her Trident but every now and again she used her own Water Arrow. The drops were pretty nice. Well the eight Claws were anyway. The hide was... something else. It wasn't a super valuable item, but it made Ren a little creeped out as he put it into his inventory.

With the drops secured, Ren began to grind on Mephits once again. The battle was not as one sided as before, the Fire Mephits indeed put up a good fight, but Ren's little team was just a bit more powerful. Six Mephits appeared this time. Despite that though this fight was just as long as the previous one since these Mephits did alot better than the previous ones did, Ren focusing on Aqua Arrows, Life Water, and Mana Shield. However, this time Ren didn't have Undine or Garm summoned, just having Lilim out so that Demon Summoning would still grind, but he could focus on healing them both without the fight being too tough on their part.

After collecting the drops, Ren went for one more grinding session. While the Mephits fought really well, Ren and Lilim fought so much better, especially with Lilim managing to use her ability that causes confusion to make a bunch of them disoriented, so they didn't attack her, but some of them did attack Ren still, and Ren did indeed get hit since some of their abilities were AOE, but Ren's mana shield allowed a good bit of that damage to be blocked and whatever hit him Life Water took care of that HP damage. After all 11 of them were dead, Ren sighed heavily. It was sort of too easy, but that was also what was so great about it, that he had gotten strong, but these guys were also nothing like those Hunters. So while the monsters may be easy, the real enemies they were fighting, the real monsters, weren't going to be.

Ren secured the drops. Two thirds of the afternoon was gone. A couple of cores, more claws, and a hide. All the same drops, but one of them was a bit different. A book, another Skill Book. Ren looked at it, nodding. He already had Eldritch Fire, so there was no harm in learning this new Demon Flame Cloak Skill. So he learned it, and was glad that it wasn't a toggle. Lasted for 30 seconds, so it was a technical on/of, but at the same time it wasn't. He had enough Toggles to deal with already. With only 16 XP needed to level up, one able to tell this if they clicked on their XP amount, Ren decided to grind for the rest of the afternoon.

Haru thought about fighting more Fire Mephits, but wanted something else. So with that, Ren decided to spend the rest of the afternoon grinding Mana Shield, ID Create, and ID Escape.

---

Ren VIT: 21 - 20 VIT = 1

---

And Ren did pretty good. Getting ID Create to Level 12 and ID Escape to Level 10 over the rest of the afternoon and even a bit into the evening, using them both over and over again over a couple of hours, it now being the evening. Ren noticed the three new types of ID that he obtained, and Ren couldn't help but smirk. A 1/2 Time Compression Pseudospace, gotten at Level 11. Made every hour count as two. He wondered if it could go up even higher. Still, this was incredibly useful. Plus, the Elite Monster ID was also useful. Made all of the monsters tougher and increased the odds of Boss Mobs appearing, learned at Level 10. Those two were really useful.

Ren decided to use that and grind Wisps for the evening. They were now five levels higher now, meaning this fight was going to be a bit tougher. Which was good. They may give better Items as well, and Ren figured that having Undine and Lilim out for this fight would be good. Seven Wisps versus the three of them. This was going to be fun.

The fight was tough. These Elite Wisps were faster and their abilities more powerful. Mana Shield and MP Armor were the defense Skills Ren grinded, with Aqua Arrows and Life Water as well, as well as using his two Hexes. The fight took about two minutes, Ren getting somewhat exhausted of MP, especially since those MP draining abilities of the Wisps did large numbers on his Mana Shield. He was in a Time Space Pseudospace as well as an Elite Monster one, which meant that he would be able to grind and train for a while. He secured the drops, which there were only a couple, Ren guessing that he was just unlucky this time around as well.

He decided to break it to do a full regeneration of his MP before going for a drink inside and getting a drink and taking a short breather for a couple of hours. He was a bit tired from everything in the day. There was still one half of the day. Ren noticed that in a Time Space Pseudospace that he felt a little more tired than usual. He guessed this was why it was so great for training. After a break of a quick few episodes of an anime, he went back outside and tried to make it again, only to get a window that told him that a Time Compression Pseudospace could only be made once a day, which probably meant that once it was broken one had to wait 24 hours until they made the next one. Ren sighed heavily, wondering why that was the case. He guessed that in order to keep fighting monsters he would have to keep making new Pseudospaces inside of the time compression, but it also meant that if he wanted to relax he somewhat couldn't inside of a Time Compress Pseudospace.

Ren decided to use the remainder of the evening to make some Runes. He was a bit too tired to battle, and figured this could be used to relax. Well, first he would acquire one more Spell from Undine.

---

Ren Elemental Spell Creation: 4 (Critical!)

---

The ritual was an incredible success, taking not too much time at all, establishing that same link with Undine to get the Aqua Shield power from her as a spell, Ren looking in satisfaction at the new things she acquired. It was hard to believe how far he had come in just a few days when he already had the power for a month. After that was done, it was time for some Runes. First, a Rune of Aqua Shield.

---

Rune Magic: 0 (Critical!)

---

Ren was a magic natural today, and he had no idea why. Perhaps it was Magic Affinity, but that same thing happened with Life Water. He somehow felt himself literally changing the Runestone, the Rune becoming a Glyph once again somehow, and again Ren had no idea how, it sort of happened somehow. After it was complete, Ren used Observe on it. It was pretty weak, but it was still a pretty incredible Item.

Ren decided to change plans. With the Rank he achieved in Ritual Water Magic, he discovered something. He could now attain the ability to use Frost if he contracted with a Frost Elemental. It would be a bit difficult, more difficult then water magic, but Ren figured having more offensive capabilities was nice. Plus there was nothing wrong with contracting another elemental.

---

Contract Elemental: 95 (Yea, it failed anyway)

---

It didn't work. That was time wasted. Ren sighed heavily after the failed ritual and nothing came. Feeling pretty tired, Ren decided to turn in for the night after that, knowing that he still had two and a half days of preparation time.

[Renose]

Day 3 of Erica's preparation for their end of the week plans came around, this also being the third day that she was staying with the Ban Family. Some more Grinding against the Kobolds in the morning. Genji, who seemed to have just dressed after taking a bath when Erica woke up, decided to watch and observe her training. He was a two levels higher than he was when Erica last saw him, meaning that his own intense training was a success as he appeared to have gotten a good bit stronger. He would simply make sure that the Kobolds didn't overwhelm her, but let a max of two ever get on her at all times.

All in all, over a brief period of about a minute or so she managed to get around 14 or so Kobolds, as in this Pseudospace for some reason there seemed to be an abundance of them all over the place. They probably would have gotten the upper hand, as they were really good at fighting, had Genji not kept only one or two on her at a time, killing any stragglers, of which he killed about 5 of them. Erica, of course, only got XP for the Kobolds that she personally killed, especially since Genji wasn't in their party. Also he was probably too high of a level for equal XP share to work.

Still, by the time the fourteenth Kobold was slain, Erica ascended to Level 10, a window appearing as she did.

Level 10!

You have worked long and hard, growing much stronger than you used to be when you were just Level 1. You get +1 to all Stats.

The last Kobold was soon enough dispatched by a full strength, but not necessarily full Stamina, Erica. Genji walked up, clapping a bit. "Most impressive, you've improved a bit since I last saw you, which is quite impressive considering that I only saw you two days ago." He gave a smile, but then his expression quickly grew serious as he turned around faster than one could blink, eyes widening as the door to the Pseudospace room disappeared, effectively trapping them in there.

"What the hell?!" He was about to run over to where it was, but not before he learned a loud bang on the ground not too far away from their position. Quickly turning to face it, he ran up next to Erica, the two of them now observing a somewhat bad sight. From the sky above fell a very large Kobold, at least around ten or so feet tall. Above his head was Level 17 Kobold Lord. In one hand he held a battle axe, and in the other a buckler. Of course, with him were around thirteen or so other Kobolds, Genji narrowing his eyes.

"I wonder if this is one of those... Mob Bosses... that Sasha and Silas were talking about." He looked back towards where the exit once was and then looked back at Erica. "Well, we are trapped in here, but this is a good thing. That creature would be some incredible training if you can beat it..." He looked at the creature, taking a step forward, stretching his arms and legs. He wasn't wearing any shoes, but still began to focus his stance.

"Here's the plan... ill take out its minions while you focus on the big guy... he may seem tough, but all he has is his brawn. He may be quick as well, but if you're quicker then you should be able to defeat it. He's not wearing any armor either, which is also a good thing. You probably won't be able to go for the head thanks to its height, but if you just hit it in the stomach or legs then you should be able to win."

With that, Genji took a few more steps forward, but not before giving Erica a more serious look. "But if its too much for you... don't be afraid to ask for help. We're family after all, and ill be right nearby if you need me. There's no shame in running away if it means you can survive another day." After that, and a small smile, he turned and charged forward, his fist glowing in a green, misty energy that was probably Ki. With a deep inhale, once he was closer which wasn't in much time at all, he slammed his fist on the ground in one moment, then in the next a spike of earth erupted underneath one of the Kobolds.

---

Genji Attack: Hit! (Max Damage) (I rolled well enough, it hit)

Damage: 230

---

The attack was utterly devastating. That single kobold didn't have a chance as the spike of earth shot from the ground, impaling it straight through and making it vanish in a single instant. This made the Kobold Lord snarl, pointing his hand at Genji, which was just what he wanted, while the big Kobold glowered at Erica as it started to charge right at her from about twenty or so yards away. Unfortunately it was fast. Not as fast as Genji, and nowhere near as fast as Sumi, but it was fast enough to get there and manage to swing its powerful looking axe at her.

---

Kobold Lord Attack: 79

Miss

---

Luckily the attack was off, but another one came right after that, this one being from right on top of Erica, so it would be much harder to dodge.

---

Kobold Lord Attack: 36

Miss

---

Erica was able to dodge quickly, this axe attack being much closer, parrying it with her Cestus probably being impossible due to the overwhelming difference in both size and physical strength, so she would have no choice but to dodge, which she did. She had an opening for a counterattack thanks to her new Evasion Skill, if she wanted to take it, and her own speed would let her strike probably a couple more times after that before it could react to her and fight back.

[AeronFarron]

Erica didn't waste anytime. If she had any chance at trying to take this thing down, she needed to limit its movement. In a split second decision, she activated Nōkō Utsu and aimed the attack at the jointed, exposed ankle of the beast. She was playing Russian Roulette now.

If the attack hit, her plan was to grab onto the Kobold's sash-like covering that served as some protection. If she was lucky, it would try to kick her off in frustration, which would send her into the air directly above it.

[Renose]

(Triple Post)