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

[Valeric]

A brief discussion broke out amongst them but eventually a consensus was reached. The party travelled to Gekkoukan Gakuen by train, and after a short walk they reached the place. Sasha wasn't familiar with the place; her own high school was back on the main island. She did know a few people that studied here, but that was it. They trooped into the courtyard as if they owned the place, not minding how strange they appeared to anyone else. It didn't matter. As soon as they walked through the gates, Sasha found herself in a situation similar to what she experienced in the mall. Total silence and an absence of any humans in the vicinity.

She slowly walked forward, her can of pepper spray equipped in her right hand again. She would have missed the boy if not for the obnoxious floating text that stated his name and title: Ren Hitori LV9, <Gamer>. Jackpot. He was sitting under tree engrossed in a PFP. A window promptly appeared in front of her, informing her that the quest <Others Like Me> had been updated. This might get annoying, she thought as she closed it. The boy noticed and approached them.

"So, how did you all know I was here?" Ren sounded bored, as if they were a group of tourists asking for directions. Sasha glanced around. When no one responded, she said, "Someone told us… a messenger of Gaia? I think that was what he was called. He told us there was an experienced Gamer here."

"All of us just obtained this weird ability, and we're really really curious what it is. Care to help us out?"

[Renose]

"You saved me the trouble of having to find you to complete the quest... not that I wasn't planning on doing much looking thanks to a post I replied to on a forum. Still, it saved me time, so ill tell you what you need to know so you don't die. Anything else will cost you". Ren brushed the hair out of his eyes as he looked at them. "Observe". He said this as he looked at them, then suddenly seemed to be looking more at the air in front of him, maybe looking at some windows that popped up.

"Judging by how much EXP you all have... and your current Stats, its easy to see that you all have fought a couple of enemies or completed some quests". Somehow or another this boy was able to see this, it possibly being connected to the word he said just a few moments ago. "Well first and foremost let me tell you all to not be idiots and assume that we are in some kind of game. This is still real life. The only difference is we have obtained a special power that turns us into game characters, as if you have looked at your Skills you would have seen the Game Character's Body skill that says it lets us live as game characters in the real world".

"Next a little information about this world we live in. Ill only say it once so pay attention..." It was obvious that Ren didn't care for neither their company nor the company of people in general and wasn't making any effort to hide it. "The Gaia, or Transcendental Will theory, and the Multiverse Theory. They are both real. The first one states that this world we live in is alive and it has a will. This can be called numerous things like Truth or Fate or even God. According to that Messenger of Gaia, who I also met, Gaia is the one who gives special powers to people. We are not the only ones with special powers as there are all sorts of others like Espers or even magic users. He did say though that this is his first time seeing a power like mine, or now ours since you all popped up. Judging by the quest being completed just now I would have to say we are the only people with this particular Gamer power".

Ren didn't stop there though, not really giving any time or thought to any questions they may have had. "The next is the Multiverse Theory. There is our world, Earth, which is alive. Then there is the other world. He didn't tell me much about it, except its more like a copy or reflection of ours, a sort of pseudo-reality where all sorts of supernatural forces and beings like the imps you all fought or even where magic comes from. Apparently these worlds are connected more or less. That is all I know on that subject". Ren seemed a little annoyed by that judging from his tone, as indeed Ren really did want to know more about this.

"Now the info that will save your lives. The Interference Law. Apparently if you use your powers to affect any normal people or the world around them then Gaia, the very world we live in, will kill you. As in you may get struck by lightning or hit by a random truck. So just don't go showing off your powers and you should be fine. This is what Psuedospace is for, the area we are in now. A sort of fake space that are made by Gaia and capable of being called forth by anyone with powers where people can use all of their supernatural powers all they want and it will not affect the real world at all".

After that Ren's explanation ended. "So is that all you want to know, or do I need to tell you how to use your Skills and open your windows and all of that other beginner's stuff. If so, pay me 5,000 yen. I don't care who does it, but unless you all want to not know how to use this power at all then I suggest you pay up". Ren held out a hand now, waiting for either someone to decline the offer or accept the offer.

Rainer would, since this was the school he would be going to if he chose to regularly attend school (ill leave that up to you), recognize this student as that strange, very quiet transfer student who came in about a month ago near the end of the school year. The one that people said was very cold and distant from everyone else and was also one of the biggest otakus in school since he was usually always seen playing some game or reading some manga.

[Omnial]

"I'll give you something as collateral for now, and I'll pay up if the info was really worth my time and money," Lucian spoke and eyed the Ren up from top to bottom, not liking the idea of some kid being a higher level then him, knowing more than him, and being so nonchalant about it all. He didn't trust Ren, but he did need to know more, and was willing to drop anything he saw as being of less value to obtain this knowledge.

Pushing his hand into his pocket and taking it out with a closed fist, he held his apartment keys above Ren's open hand, "Do you agree to this deal? Or are you not willing to compromise?"

Being nine times the level of Lucian, he knew that Ren should have a general grasp of how to use their powers, and there was one word that Ren had spoken which Lucian really cared about above all the other. Magic. If Lucian would learn what he wanted concerning magic, he would be willing to pay anything. What was money compared to the power to create and throw fireballs or magic missiles with ones mind?

[Renose]

Ren looked up at Lucian, since she was pretty much the shortest one here even next to the females of the group, which was odd for a boy. But then again Ren was still a student, so maybe he would grow more. The man seemed to disagree a bit with paying, but suddenly held his very apartment keys above Ren's open hand. She sighed a little, nodding with in agreement. "Fine, I will accept your proposal. I guess even at Natsu-Comi you would want to know what type of work a circle does before buying their book". When Lucian dropped the Keys into his hand Ren looked at them for a moment before suddenly putting them into the air behind him literally, the Keys vanishing into thin air.

In reality Ren had opened his Inventory and put the keys into a slot, but the other Gamers can't see each other's windows, so to the others it would have been as if the Keys vanished into thin air. "Don't worry, your Keys are in my Inventory. I don't like putting things in my pockets, so I will give them back afterwards". After that Ren began to walk to away from the group, expecting them to follow her unless they stayed behind and either didn't follow him at all or stayed behind to discuss things. Those who did follow Ren though would find that he was leading them to the track and field area behind the school, going around the school instead of through it. No people were in the area still.

Once everyone was there Ren actually had taken them near the sport's shed, behind it actually, and now looked at all of them after stopping (if they followed him of course). "So I don't know how much you guys know about our power, so ill go over everything from the beginning". Ren normally would have gone home by now, but he was getting paid, so he figured he could teach them how to use this power. "For starters everything about our power is voice activated. We do not have a real life keyboard to press hotkeys with as you would in a game, so we essentially activate everything with our voice. As Game Characters we possess a series of windows that display several things. These windows are aptly named Inventory, Status, Talents, Friends, Options, and Skills. There might be more, but those are all that I have discovered. We also have a Minimap, which can be opened by saying Toggle Minimap, but its a bit annoying to have turned on always, although you can move the where it stays in your vision using your hand. Essentially for us our Keyboard is our Voice and our Mouse is our hands".

Ren would then wait for them to open their windows, or see if they had any questions to ask. Since he was being paid possibly he figured he might as well do a good job in teaching him, which he wasn't doing bad since he made sure to try and make the explanations easy to understand and to try and not sound bored while doing it even though his voice was quiet and oddly soft during the entire time he spoke. He would wait for one of them to tell him to move on before he indeed decided to move on.

[Jester Acharis]

After her rather embarrassing performance with the boot at the end of the battle, Zahira had quickly fled from the scene and hidden away in one of the toilers nearby. Not only was she red from embarrassment and making a fool out of herself in front of so many (good looking!) people, she also really desperately needed to check if her makeshift weapon of a footwear was alright. These were her favorite shoes, after all, and they had made quite a nasty sound when they hit the ground as the imp had evaded. Luckily, the boot seemed to be alright in the end, but after everything that had happened, the girl felt far too flustered to crawl back to the group - so instead, she did what she was best at; watched from afar. She stalked the group and their discussion with a weird stranger, staying undetected the entire time. Of course, after all, she had years' worth of experience stalking people. She wouldn't be caught that easily!

From there, she had followed them all the way to the train station to join in their quest - or at least, she had meant to do so, but after encountering a mirror on her way to the train, she had felt it obligatory to check up on her appearance instead. Which, of course, almost led to her missing the train and having to run to catch it, after which she was again far too embarrassed to approach the others. So behind she had stayed once more, just followed quietly as the group had made their way to a... school?

Zahira tilted her head at the strange - and short! - boy that came to greet them. He was cute, but maybe just a bit too young for her. Maybe as a little brother figure! Aw, the kind she could dress up as a little sailor and hug to death every day! She beamed at the thought. His attitude was far too cool to fit that image, though. Hmm... Contemplating that, Zahira once again forgot to talk or otherwise make her presence known as she followed the group, only barely listening to the explanations they were given. She never had much of an attention span for spiels.

She did raise her gaze at the mention of voice-activated powers, though. Now that sounded so neat! You could even see your Friends with that thing? Oh! And the boy said that those were only the ones he'd discovered. Maybe there were even more, like, one for possible future boyfriends, or crushes, or- She was starting to get excited, the warning from earlier on no to mess with your powers too much somewhat forgotten.

She had to try this out.

"Crushes!" She shouted all of a sudden from behind the group, one hand raised in the air and eyes closed as if it'd somehow help something to happen. No such luck. Oh... oh, woops. "U-um, I, I mean," she rushed to correct herself, quickly bringing her hands down and behind her back sheepishly, eyes cast low, face red and one leg drawing an awkward circle on the ground. "G-go on..."

[Dingo]

After throwing caution to the wind, Rainer found himself accompanying the group to the location of the new Gamer. Somewhat on edge, Rainer still didn't fully realize their destination until they had actually arrived. At first he was shocked to find himself at his own school, but then he was slightly relieved. If the other Gamer was a teacher or student he knew, then perhaps they could be someone he could trust?

That notion, however, took a backseat in his mind when they encountered Ren. Rainer immediately recognized him as the new, somewhat quiet transfer student, and almost immediately Rainer could feel his face getting hot. He hated this. For some stupid reason, he couldn't help but find Ren… Well, attractive! As much as he'd tried, he couldn't shake the attraction and it had really started to make him feel uncomfortable. Rainer knew he wasn't… inclined that way, so why did he find himself so smitten whenever Ren was around?! It made no sense!!! Whenever he was there, Rainer's attention was focused solely on him and he was having a really difficult time concealing it! When Ren started explaining aspects of Gamer abilities, however, Rainer found his interest piqued.

"Toggle Minimap." Rainer said to himself, only absently noting Zahira's embarrassing slip up. It seemed that she had enough crushes that she felt it warranted a separate window, but Rainer certainly wasn't judging. After all, he was busy checking out another male classmate, so who was he to point fingers?

The minimap appeared before him and, taking Ren's advice, Rainer used his hands to move the map into the lower left hand corner of his vision. He intended to keep the minimap open indefinitely. He was used to HUD's in games and he hoped this one would be no different. After a while, he'd surely become used to it anyway, plus it could come in handy if he ever got lost.

"So," Rainer said, addressing Ren, feeling himself start to blush again, but forcing himself to focus, "You're obviously a higher level and certainly didn't get that way by grinding day to day chores. That means you've probably fought Imps of you own and even higher level enemies, right? Then maybe you can answer a question that's been bugging me; You say Gaia gifts out these abilities and that we've been gifted with powers that make the world appear as an MMO. So does that mean we're in a Player Vs Player situation where we'll have to fight each other or an Adventure Party where we'll be fighting progressively difficult NPC's?"

Not waiting for his response, Rainer decided to experiment somewhat with voice commands. If this really was a PvP situation, he wanted to familiarize himself as much as possible with the layout to gain some sort of advantage.

"Observe." He said, looking at Ren, "Set Minimap Waypoint: Home."

[Renose]

Rainer may have recognized him, but Ren barely recognized Rainer. He had seen the older student around at times here and again, but never had any form of actual conversation with her sempai. Still, now they were, as Rainer first experimented with the Minimap before asking Ren some questions. First though as Rainer said the command the Minimap appeared before him, depicting a somewhat not very detailed overhead view of the area with six white dots to represent the group. The white dots most likely meaning regular, non-enemies. And as he moved it with his hand it would move to where he put it, meaning Ren was not lying about that either. This would happen to any other member of the group who experimented with the Minimap. If they said the command a second time then the Minimap would vanish. A third time would make it reappear, but in the same place they left it if they had moved it.

Ren noticed the older student blushing for some reason, but decided to ignore it, not really knowing why the older student was blushing like that. As Rainer asked his question Ren's red right eye and left green eye both gazed blankly at him, the boy sighing and shaking his head after his question was finished. "I said before don't be an idiot and assume that we are in a game. Real life is real life, we are still in real life. What we want to do with our powers is up to us, as long as we don't go affecting the normal world with them because if we did that then Gaia would kill us, probably due to not wanting those that have supernatural powers to affect the world and lives of those that don't. Whether you want to ignore these powers entirely or level up is up to you".

"And yes, you are correct. I have been fighting Imps. Tried to fight a slightly higher level enemy that I managed to find, but they were a bit too tough on my own, so I fight Imps. They give me really bad EXP now due to how high level I am, but are good for leveling my Skills. Which is one benefit of this power as even if you don't want to get involved with a world beyond what we can imagine, I still see the profit in leveling up as you can raise your various Stats as you level up, growing smarter, stronger, faster, or even healthier depending upon which ones you raise. You can even raise your own Talents as well, which also has alot of benefits in normal society".

Rainer would say 'Observe', but nothing happened. With the second command though a trail of dots appeared on Rainer's minimap from his current position, which was a small white triangle on the map. This trial would most likely take him to what he considered home.

Ren noticed Rainer saying 'Observe', guessing that he was trying the same thing he did earlier. "I guess ill teach you all about Skills. Like your windows, Skills are voice activated as well, which is also how you Level them up, by activating them with your voice. Unless the Skill says Passive next to it, those are always active unless specified otherwise. To obtain Skills you have to perform special actions or meet certain requirements with either your Stats or Talents. Like the Observe Skill for instance. I got that from observing something naturally and noticing something special about it, but I am pretty sure raising your Observation Talent works as well and the best way to do that is to Level Up...".

Suddenly Ren reached behind him, opening up his Inventory with a small mumble of the appropriate command before touching sliding his hand across the window, or the air to onlookers. He then suddenly reached into it, a small light shining where Ren was sticking his hand for just a very brief moment before he pulled it out of the light and then put a bundle he seemed to pull out of nowhere onto the ground. In the bundle there were two baseball bats; a wooden one and a metal one, a bokken; or a wooden katana used for practicing kendo, a wooden bo staff, and a bow that had a small quiver with ten arrows tied in it, the bow looking just like the ones that the archery club used.

"Take whatever weapon you'd like. The sports clubs often throw away their broken equipment, so instead I asked if I could have some of the pieces they throw out and took them back to my house where I repaired them with my Craft Skill. When you're done experimenting with your weapon and choosing which one you'd like, tell me so I can go ahead and create a Pseudospace that has some Imps in it". They needed EXP, and this was the best way to get it according to Ren's knowledge, since quests gave usually good amounts, but were rare and took time.

[Dingo]

Rainer listened intently as Ren explained their situation. So this was still real life, he had grasped that much initially, just with video-game-esque overtones. From the sounds of things there was no such thing as 'lives' either, so when they died, they stayed dead.

"Right, so we're basically the Planeteers, but with a level up system. Sounds straight forward enough, as insane as it is." Rainer said, noticing the change to his minimap. "Minimap: Remove Waypoint." he said to himself. No point in keeping that marker placed. Watching as Ren produced the weaponry, Rainer's eyes first fell upon the bokken, followed by the aluminum baseball bat, completely missing the Bō.

"As much as I'd like to claim the bokken, I have no experience in Kendo. While I can handle melee weapons fairly well, I feel that my lack of experience with a bokken would render it just as useful as a baseball bat. However…" Rainer thought a moment, "The baseball is heavier at the end. It'd be great for carrying momentum, but rubbish for control…"
Looking up suddenly, he realized that most of his inner monologue would have been much more useful staying internal, "Uh… Yeah, in that case, I'll take the bokken." He said, sheepishly, reaching out to accept when something Ren said caught his attention.

"Wait, you can summon Imps? I'm sure that comes in handy when you're outnumbered?" Suddenly, another question entered his mind as well, "Wait, I have a grading coming up soon that's going to be overseen by Master Jhoon Goo Rhee! Does that mean I may gain skills and experience just from my own grading? What if I ended up sparring with Master Rhee?" Rainer's mind was suddenly full of questions and possibilities. If what Ren was telling them was true, Rainer could potentially become a Taekwon-Do Grandmaster! His heart started racing in excitement, that would be a dream come true!

[Renose]

Ren shook his head in response to the first question. "No, I cannot summon Imps. According to that Messenger of Gaia creatures like those come from that other world I mentioned, but when they do so Gaia prevents their presence from getting to our world through the usage of Pseudospace, which is a zone that is an exact copy of an area that no matter what you do to it, the real world itself is unaffected. Essentially we could blow up the school behind us, but when the Psuedospace is dispelled, the area would be completely normal since that wasn't the real school we blow up. That Messenger guy taught me how to create Psuedospace and when I did it the natural way it turned into a skill called ID Create that lets me create Pseudospace as I please".

Then came Rainer's second question, also eliciting a shake of Ren's head and a small sigh as he really wanted to get this underway, but was willing to answer their questions just so they wouldn't go do something stupid and get themselves killed. "I don't think it works that way. When I say Skills I do not mean your Talents, if you would take a look at your Skill Window and Talent Window. Talents are the things we can naturally do already. Skills are special abilities that we possess, things that you would see in video games. Like Dagger Mastery or Physical Endurance. Or even thinks like Mana Bolt. Skills that are either used for a single purpose, Active Skills, or Skills that are always active and enhance your natural abilities, or Passive Skills. And while you could unlock some special martial arts style Skills while training that in itself doesn't give you EXP. Only fighting and beating an enemy gives you EXP as that is how it works in games".

Also when Rainer did say that one command the trail of dots was removed from the Minimap.

[Omnial]

Upon hearing of what their powers could do, and the different windows, Lucian was more than happy to give them a shot, thinking of the main windows he would see in his games, he called them out one by one, chuckling in-between as he heard someone call crushes as if hoping it was a window.

"Friends list" A window appeared, and as he had feared, it didn't show many names on it, his parents, and maybe three others, one that was awaiting Lucian's acceptance, then he spoke to himself in a low tone, "Wow...I always wondered if those other guys were even my friends...I guess his answers that..." He let out a sigh and closed the window. "Skills" Well...that one is pretty much just as sad...Although this gamer body might be an interesting thing... He closed the window, "Well this has been a depressing experience so far." He scratched the back of his head then spoke again "Status" It was something somewhat surreal, well it was surreal really, Lucian was seeing what his stats where! Everything about him started to make more sense upon seeing this window, his lack in all physical capacities, his fairly good grades, his lack of breath when running for more than 5 minutes. His stats told him it all. He closed the window shortly after, he would explore more into his own character later on when he was at home.

He was so focused on his own windows, that he barely noticed what everyone else was doing or saying, that is, till there was a bunch of weapons on the ground, and more talk about skills from Ren. It felt strange to Lucian though, the idea of being taught so much from some boy who was so little. "So just take any weapon we want then?" Reaching down, Lucian picked up the Bo staff, "I'm more of a thinker than a fighter though...You mentioned a mana bolt? How does one do that?" Lucian's face lit up in hopes of Ren spilling it, though he feared it would cost him. "Actually..." Regaining his composure, he drew his hand to his face to rub his chin, "If we are like game characters, does that mean that we can 'party up' and that monsters drop ridiculous items, like a wolf dropping a sword, or a bird monster dropping hundreds of yen?" If it worked in most games, would it work here as well?

[Valeric]

The travel to Gekkoukan Gakuen was a fruitful one. Ren began lecturing them on the basics of the system meticulously, covering things she had already found out and more. Without knowing about the Interference Law, Sasha could have easily gotten herself killed if she tried to use her abilities on beings in the real world. Absorbing the information, she then tried it out herself.

"Options," she muttered. A window appeared, with various settings displayed. Sasha raised an eyebrow but did not change anything. She closed it and opened her mini-map instead. On the small square window a top-down view of the surroundings were charted out, along with markers for people. This would be extremely useful, the girl surmised. She moved it to the edge of her vision as instructed by Ren. It felt odd permanently having something floating before her, but she left it on for now.

Ren continued on to explaining skills and talents, and to answer Rainer's question, that he had been hunting Imps to gain levels. The boy further suggested that he would summon a bunch of them for them to train on, and produced several weapons from his inventory. Sasha whistled at the prospect of sweet experience. She examined the items he laid out: a couple of baseball bats, a bokken, a wooden staff, and a bow. She obviously did not know how to use a bow, and Rainer nabbed the bokken before she could decide. Sasha trotted forward and picked up the baseball bat. The wooden surface was clean and free of any nicks; not something that looked like it was junk. Ren was able to fix it using his ability?

Sasha gave it a few swings. The baseball bat was heavy, but she felt like it would knock someone out cold if it connected. However, she certainly was not experienced in fighting, so her opinion was probably useless. She overheard Lucian talking and interjected. "Wait, did you say Mana Bolt? You mean we can use magic too?" It hadn't crossed her mind at all.

"Like," she said while raising her hand, index finger pointing at the tall shrubbery nearby, "Mana Bolt?"

[Renose]

The Friends List, when opened up, was actually pretty useful. Next to the names on it that were Lucian's friends it would display a small green circle. Usually this meant that a person was 'Online' in games, but in real life you couldn't log out or anything like that, so it was hard to tell what it meant here. There were also three buttons at the bottom. An Add button, an Ignore button, and a Message button. While the first two seemed interesting, the third one was probably the most useful, as it meant you could most likely send messages to people without the usage of a cell phone. The Status window displayed his stats measured in numerical values, how much HP and MP he had, two values called Resilience and Concentration, and how much EXP he had and the amount he needed to get to the next Level, which wasn't too much since he was only Level 1.

As Lucian and Rainer both picked up their weapons the two of them would be able to tel that the weapons were sturdy and strong. Maybe not as strong as metal weapons, but the wood and the craftsmanship gave them a better sense of speed and control then metal weapons could.

As Lucian asked his first question to Ren he just gave a small shake of his head. "As I mentioned before, anymore will cost you as does this conversation we are having. I got the Skill though when I was learning how to emit the energy, or Mana in our case, for creating a Psuedospace, but I think it also requires a certain level in Focus and maybe certain levels in INT and WIS".

Then came the second question about creatures dropping ridiculous items or large amounts of money. This Ren sort of gave a disappointed sigh. It was not directed towards Lucian though, but towards the concept mentioned in his question. "Unfortunately no. This is still Real Life in a sense, so monsters usually only drop whatever they would have on them, like on some Imps that I have killed I have found Imp Horns and Claws, probably a Crafting material, although I haven't used them since I don't know any black magic or alchemy recipes. And about partying up... we probably could do that. This way we would all get EXP when we defeat an enemy instead of one person getting it".

Then suddenly came Sasha's inquiry about Mana Bolt and Ren just nodded. "Yes, but if you want me to teach you more special skills I require 10,000 ¥ from someone in the group in addition to the 5,000 ¥ I am already owed for our current conversation. But lets focus on that later and get you all leveled up a few times so you all don't suck as much". It still seemed his coldness and general disinterest in other people was there. Sure this may have been a situation where they were all grouping together to raise their powers up, but Ren still did not care for people, especially after what happened to him before, something the others didn't know about. Ren then stopped for a moment, thinking a bit as he looked at the group.

"Create Party". Upon saying this a window appeared in front of Ren, something the others couldn't see obviously, eliciting a small smile on the boy's face as he looked at it. "Interesting... so it works". Although as he said this a moment later the smile was wiped off of his face. "No I don't want to name it that". He mumbled this as he touched the window, now thinking of something else. "Bus Riding". Ren said this, then tapped the window again. "Now then..." Ren looked at all of the others now.

"Group Party Invite". He had seen the option in a game once, the ability to invite multiple people at once into a party. He wondered if it would work here. Luckily it did, windows appearing in front of everyone else now, each only visible to themselves. The windows all read the same thing.

What it says

Ren Hitori has invited you to the party "Bus Riding"

At the bottom were two buttons, one that said Accept (Y) and the other that said Decline (N). There was also a small number between the two buttons counting down from 60, probably how many seconds they had to accept the party invite before it became null and void.

[Omnial]

Holding his new weapon firmly in his hands and looking it over, Lucian heard one of the other gamers of the group, on the female ones, seemed just as keenly interested on this concept of learning magic as he was. Though, she seemed to try it out before he got the chance to, thus stopping him from looking a bit foolish, but a bit disheartened at the same time that it didn't work.

Well if it requires focus, intelligence and wisdom, then I should be able to learn it, or learn it in a level or so... Lucian was started to get excited, it was like getting a brand new game, and making that character you always wanted, except this time, he would actually be the character! But for now he was a noob and needed to be carried. Which is why, upon seeing the window flash in front of his vision to join the party of "Bus riding" Lucian clicked Accept before two seconds had even ticked down.

"Alright, I'm about as ready as I think I could ever be." Holding his bo firmly in both hands, he tried to take a stance that he had seen in both cartoons and games, by the character of Donatello of the ninja turtles. He knew he wouldn't be able to do some of the things he saw, and really he sort of questioned whether or not it was actually based on true martial arts, or just looking good, but hey, it was better than nothing he thought and if it did pay off, all those years will have been for good!

[Valeric]

"Stingy kid…" Sasha griped but did not push the matter. She wondered if she could seduce the boy into spilling some more information, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't work. Ren had not paying any attention to her in the least.

This was getting crazier and crazier, but the point of no return had long been passed. When the group party invitation appeared in her vision, Sasha stabbed the accept button without a shred of hesitation. She was very eager to get to bashing Imps to a pulp… and gain more skills. This is shaping to be the best game she had ever played.

"C'mon, let's do this!" she screamed at the group.

[Dingo]

Rainer twirled the bokken in his hands absent-mindedly. Ren certainly seemed to be focused on money rather than actually helping them, but that didn't particularly concern him. Right now he was more concerned with the impending confrontation.

"So what didn't you want to name the group?" Rainer asked Ren as he pressed the accept button. Gripping the bokken tightly, Rainer focused on the possible stance he could take. He could wield the bokken one-handed, giving him the ability to block with his left hand, but he'd lose the power of his attacks, which wasn't preferable at all. Instead, he opted to ground himself in his traditional forward-stance whilst holding the bokken vertically in from of him, the way he'd seen member of the Kendo school's do. He had no idea if it was correct, but it kept the bokken in front of him allowing him to both attack and defend when necessary, so it seemed like he'd just need to hope for the best.
Rainer couldn't help but grin at Sasha's enthusiasm. He knew pre-sparring adrenaline when he saw it. All white belts got it at some point.

"Oh, and the way I see it," Rainer said, surprisingly confident, which was in stark contrast to how he usually was around Ren, "Lucian owes you. He made that deal, not me. I'll pay you for whatever I ask you to teach me, but that 5,000 ¥? That's on Lucian."

[Renose]

Ren sighed as he heard both Sasha's and Rainer's comments on the whole money thing and suddenly Lucian's keys would appear in Ren's hand as she pulled them from her Inventory most likely. She tossed them to Lucian, regardless of whether or not he was ready to catch them. "I don't really want any money. I just want everyone's time. I help train you all here, you help me train on the tougher enemies and investigate more about our current situation since I don't know everything about it. Everyone gets something out of it. If you feel like paying me, then feel free to do so. Time is more valuable to me than money".

Ren decided that they didn't need to go into a fight all tensed up and not liking each other, so he figured putting off that rude pretense would help them work together better. After all, right now they were a Party, and parties that don't work together only get killed. After that Ren raised his hand up into the air. "ID Escape!" The moment Ren said this the sky above them began to crack and shatter like at the mall before, only it was much more instant this time as soon enough the surroundings were back to normal. Since they were out at the sport's field there were some people running laps around the track as well as some soccer players on the soccer field in the distance. It really was a normal highschool.

That was until Ren, who kept his hand raised, said one more phrase. "ID Create: Imp ID" Once again a Psuedospace appeared, the surroundings of the area like the people and lights disappearing, yet it still being light out since it was day time. On the track a good ways away from them appeared a group of Imps, bigger than the group the party, minus Ren, saw last time. Suddenly in Ren's hand appeared a knife that he pulled out of thin air, not having to call out the inventory command to do this. It appeared to be a survival knife of sorts, very sharp looking and also very real.

"Time for some grinding". After saying this, as if used to this scenario, Ren ran towards the group of Imps, quite quick on his feet, as he stopped about twenty yards away from them as he aimed his palm towards one Imp. "Mana Bolt!" Upon shouting this a softball sized burst of blue energy shot from Reno's palm right at one of the Imps.

---

Ren Mana Bolt (Projectile): 2 (Critical!)

Imp Dodge: 96 (Fumble...)

Critical Hit!

Damage: 19 (x2) = 36 (Ignore Concentration)

---

The bolt seemed to rip right through the creature, a 36 Critical! appearing above its head like the Critical Hits the others received before as the beast fell instantly, vanishing into thin air as it did so. Even Ren seemed to be surprised by that, but did not relent as right after that bolt left his hand another launched itself at a different Imp.

---

Ren Mana Bolt (Projectile): 66 - 24 Projectile Weaponry = 42

Imp Dodge: 76

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 10

---

This one didn't seem to have the same affect as the previous one, all of the Imps seemingly surprised by the sudden death of one of them and another getting blasted by another Mana bolt. All of them were chittering angrily now, but the party would have enough time to either get into position near Ren or go up with their new weapons and strike the adversary that lay before them since Ren's attack had caught them off guard, giving the group an opening that they could use.

Of course, something also happened the moment Ren killed that Imp. In front of all of the others, each window only visible to the person they appeared in front of, appeared a window. That read as thus.

What is says

Your Level has gone up by 1

If the others in the party looked above someone else's head they could see that next to Lv. was now the number 2 instead of one, signifying a level increase. No other windows or prompts appeared though, but probably due to the fact that they were all in the middle of combat.

[Omnial]

"Well aren't we a stingy bunch? I never complained while playing the elder scrolls and paying to get training in a skill," Lucian rolled his eyes as he spoke, he really didn't value money that much, he just had it cause he needed it. In his mind, what could be taught here would be worth it. But he wouldn't mind if he got to learn and enjoy a bus ride for free.

Try as he may, Lucian was not able to catch his own keys, he was ready, they hit his hands, but that was about as close as it went for him. He picked them up of course, and got back into his 'ready position' prior to anything else starting, he was a bit flustered by this though.

Before he knew it though, everything was back to normal, a bit confused, Lucian just remained perfectly still with the bo in hands watching Ren to see what he would do next, He was in awe as he watched the boy crate the space for them to train in, and not only hat, but literally blast an imp with magic. "That was too cool." Maybe the kid was deserving a bit of respect after all?

"My turn!" Lucian took of in a charge at the closest imp, recognising that the bo would give him moderate range, he decided to try using its end to jab at the imp, hoping to smash its face and shove it, for what his 1 strength could do that is.

[Renose]

Lucian would quickly follow after Ren right after his attack. While the group was a good distance away from the Imps, the surprise the group had on them plus the extended range of the Bo Staff allowed for Lucian to still get the jump on the creature as if he had gotten somewhat close to it with a regular melee weapon or his fists despite the fact that he had run from a short distance away from the beasts.

---

Lucian Bo Staff (Melee Weaponry): 39 - 4 Melee Weaponry = 35

Imp Dodge: 63

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 4 Damage

Added 'Pushback' Affect: STR vs STR

Lucian: 3 (Critical!)

Imp: Auto-Fail

---

Lucian would feel the blow connect to the Imp's face square on, as if he got a really good hit. Somehow though it didn't do as much damage as it should have, the creature's probably having some very tough skin. However despite the Imp seeming to push back with much more strength, Lucian would find that the ground plus the well connected blow would give him the edge he needed despite his own weak strength, managing to push back on the Imp, shoving it backwards. Unfortunately the Imp seemed to keep its balance for the most part, but Lucian did manage to achieve the desired affect for pushing it back away from him.

The moment he did this a window appeared, two to be exact, the first one appearing and disappearing before another one appeared.

First one

Using more strength then you knew you had has made you grow stronger. STR +1

Second One

A skill has been created through a special action. Experiencing combat with a Bo Staff has granted you the ability to wield staves better, the Staff Mastery Skill.

Right after the second one appeared, it then disappeared and gave way to a new window explaining the new skill.

Staff Mastery

Staff Mastery (Passive) (Level 1: 0/100 EXP): Deal 10% more damage with staves. +5% Attack Speed and Parry when wielding a Staff. To Level Up: Attack an enemy, Parry with a staff, deal a Critical Strike.

As all these windows appeared you did indeed feel their affects. You felt yourself growing a small bit stronger in accordance to the +1 STR and you felt as though you had a better grasp on the basics of wielding a staff thanks to the new passive skill. The <Gamer> power truly is a strange ability indeed.

[Dingo]

Rainer grinned at Lucian's comment about being stingy. "I always pickpocket my skill trainers in Skyrim as soon as they train me, that way I level two skills for free. Plus, think of it as a Persuasion check! I just got Ren to relent on the cost, didn't I?" He said, with a chuckle.

Focusing his attention on a third Imp just to the left of the one Ren and Lucian had been attacking, Rainer started running towards it. About a meter-and-a-half away from it, Rainer leapt into the air with his right leg, lashing out with his left foot in a jumping side kick, with his left hand extended over his kicking leg and his right hand clutching the bokken behind him for stability. The additional weight of the weapon was slightly uncomfortable to Rainer, but nothing that he couldn't adjust for.

"HYYYYAAAAHHH!!!

[Renose]

Rainer sprung after a third Imp, running forward to close a good part of the distance before closing the rest of it with a high jump kick, something that the Imp was not prepared for since, as all of this was occurring in a matter of a few seconds, the group of Imps was still quite surprised.

---

Rainer High Jump Kick (Fisticuffs): 67 - 16 Fisticuffs = 51

Imp Dodge: 91

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 9

---

The kick connected square on, slamming the Imp in the side of the head as it let out a loud, angry growl after it had been hit by the mighty kick. Still, despite how well the kick landed, as Rainer with his training would be able to tell that he hit the Imp square on, it felt like the Imps had some pretty tough skin as the kick didn't do as much as he hoped. Still, it did something as the Imp clearly did not take too well to that kick and it was now right in front of him as well. Whatever system that governed over this 'gamer' power did though as suddenly a window appeared in front of Rainer.

What it says

A skill has been created through a special action. A technique to close a gap quickly without giving your opponent a chance to prepare his defenses, High Jump Kick, has been created.

High Jump Kick

High Jump Kick (Active: 1 MP) (Level 1:0/100 EXP): Jump forward quickly to close the distance between you and a foe to eliminate their chances of raising their defense that they would have had if you simply ran towards them and dealing a kick at the same time, attacking as if you were closer to the enemy than you actually were when jumping. +5% Attack Speed, +50% Unarmed Damage. If you miss you may leave yourself open to a counterattack. You cannot perform this at point blank range. To Level Up: Hit with the Skill, Miss with the Skill, get a Critical Strike with the skill, defeat an enemy.

This skill that appeared seemed to be a martial arts technique of some sort, but also read Active and had an MP Cost. According to Ren all aspects of the ability were voice activated, that would mean that, with Rainer's basic intelligence put to the test here, to use a skill like this an get the extra power with it he would probably have to say its name in order to do so.