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

[BioHazard]

Silas looked at the PM that Ren had send to all of them. Back to Gekkoukan it seemed. They would have to walk quite a distance again. Unfortunately there weren't any abilities in this game, or rather this reality, similar to Haste, yet. Sasha also commented that is was a long distance. "Yeah. I should've brought my bike along. It's still in Gekkoukan." he said. The three of them went back to meet up with Ren and Lucian. Luckily for Silas, Sasha didn't bring up his sneakiness of trying to hide the note of Sumi. Hopefully they would completely forget about it, but as they went to discuss in detail what happened on each side it would probably be brought up again. But he could come up with a fake address during their walk.

They eventually encountered Ren and Lucian again in Gekkoukan. Ren began the conversation immediately with a rather cold, but serious voice saying that they were lucky to still be alive, and what our group had figured out. He was right about the first thing. Sumi also mentioned that people will begin to come after you when your level gets higher. Could it be that Ren and Lucian also encountered someone who told the same? Luckily Sasha didn't say anything, Silas decided to speak.

"We found a girl named Sumi who was lvl 25, I believe. She probably told the same thing about us being lucky to still be alive, just like the person you encountered, right?" Silas said. By briefly explaining what happened he could easily pass the stick to Ren to tell his side of the investigation. If Sasha would have spoken she probably would have mentioned the note Sumi gave them. And the fact that we almost got killed because of Mike's words.

[Card Captor]

"Not only that, but she's the heir of some martial arts style that sounds DEX based. She even offered to let us come over for training. I can only wonder what kind of awesome skill books they have there. Although I'd be careful around her if I were you; she seems rather violent. Hell, she almost attacked us" Mike added "oh yeah, that reminds me; since I've decided to build tank, I'm need rolling on any passive defensive, or support skill books we find. I don't care about anything else, just those two things. I'm putting all my points into VIT and WIS to make myself a super tank, so I'll need every passive I can get to help me soak up damage"

[Omnial]

Lucian had continued to walk back with Ren, however he had not spoken much, as he was busily observing things around him, and trying to keep an eye out. Something about just being warned about how what they are doing could endanger their lives hit him, and made him want to be careful. He quickly forgot about it though as the others made it back to the meeting point.

He listened to what they had to share about their time searching. "I don't mean to be the pessimist here, but if she starts off by trying to off you, threatening you, and ends it with giving you an address to go and train? Does no one else see that as a high chance of being a trap?" He looked at the three that had experienced the event, Never mind that, Mike would walk into a trap labeled trap by the looks of it, Silias looks like a muscle head, Sasha..."Sasha, what do you feel about it all? Someone warning you, then welcoming you to a secluded place to strike you down. Just saying, sounds like a common start to a game, anyone else played dot hack GU?"

[Valeric]

Sasha shrugged at Lucian's suggestion. "Sure, it sounds dangerous as heck. If things were still normal, I'd never have followed a bunch of people I didn't know around. Did you know I found you guys because I followed a suggestion from a forum reply?"

"I'm not saying we should throw caution to the wind either. We've been lucky so far... but for how long more? Her offer is very tempting, and I don't think that she was lying to us. But we could just as easily gain strength by farming Imps. It may take a little longer, that's all."

"Look, if you're that worried..." Sasha glanced at Silas. He seemed eager enough. "I could check the place out with Silas. If anything happens, at least we don't all get caught. Personally I don't think Sumi means ill- she could have taken us out there and then with her level advantage.

[Renose]

Ignoring Mike's huge amounts of excitement and rambling, as even if they were game characters they were still in real life, Ren listened to the others speak. Saito's words still echoed in his mind. The others seemed skeptical of this Sumi character, who according to Mike was a martial artist, and according to Silas she was level 25. In actuality she was Level 23, but none of the three seemed to remember that and its not like Ren or Lucian could know that. After they all spoke for a bit Ren just sighed and shook his head. This conversation was starting to get a little ridiculous. "Are you all idiots or something?"

"All we need to do for now is focus on grinding and experimenting. We spend a couple of days either together or individually doing that, then you all can decide whether or not to trust this Sumi character once you are strong enough to be able to run away and not get killed in one hit if it is in fact a trap." Ren really didn't care about martial arts, so if the others wanted to go train at Sumi's place then they could. But for now Ren raised his hand to the sky. "Its getting late... so we can do this once... maybe two more times before it gets too dark..." With that Ren used the ID Create Skill, muttering the command for the Imp ID softly.

That familiar feeling of the area's not natural lighting and outside sounds vanishing came as the Pseudospace appeared. Not too far from their position was another group of Imps, around eleven of them to be exact. Soon enough the battle would begin, the Imps probably going to be easier this time since everyone had indeed leveled up some.

---

The Imps fought pretty well and the party fought pretty well also. Silas had gone up two Levels and saw single level increases for several of his skills, including Physical Endurance due to taking a few hits. Lucian seemed to be able to block every blow skillfully with his staff and return a few of them with counterattacks, gaining an increase to Melee Weaponry from his superb blocking and a few increases to some of his Skills, also gaining a level. Ren did pretty well also, preferring to block with his dagger this time and use both Energy Bolt and his new skill Repulse Wave to fight. Sasha also did well, seeing an increase in Energy Revolver and Energy Shot, the two looking pretty close to leveling up and Sasha also gaining a level.

Unfortunately for Mike, about a third of the way into the fight he took some pretty nasty damage which would have felt agoniz. While he was able to gain a little EXP, enough to gain a Level and also was able to use his Force Pulse a couple of times to level it up and was able to get a couple of levels in Physical Endurance. Unfortunately due to the heavy blows he took he had to retreat for now, badly wounded and with very few HP remaining. So unfortunately he wasn't able to gain EXP for the rest of the fight. (In Game Mechanics terms, you got a Fumble on your Defense for the auto-resolve).

Now though it was getting pretty late, it being about 7 PM before the party was in good enough shape with enough MP and HP to actually do anything else. Ren looked to the others, the Pseudospace still up. "Its starting to get late... I think ill go ahead and head home... you guys do whatever you want for the next few days to get stronger. Remember to not be stupid and carelessly get yourselves killed. If you are going to grind... make sure you aren't alone." It was common gaming advice. Sure in games usually one did grind alone, but grinding in a party was not only faster, but safer and these Imps, even though they are only Level 4, are tougher than most small fry enemies are in most games. They didn't run on AI after all, so it was impossible to tell what they would do or how they would fight. These were real monsters they were fighting, or so Ren assumed.

With that Ren used ID Escape, the Pseudospace shattering as Ren began to walk off alone, that is unless anyone decided to stop him for more conversation or go with him.

[Card Captor]

Mike was a little bummed out that he had gotten so badly KO (more or less), however he did realize something; all those points he put into his VIT most likely saved his life. Taking it as a sign that his chosen path was the right one for him, He dumped all his new stat points into his WIS to get some more magic resistance, MP, and MP regeneration. He then put his new talent points into the same three talents he put points into last time. 'on the bright side' he thought to himself 'at least I got a few levels in my tank passive. So I get 1 Resilience and 1% extra HP per level. That's awesome! I need to level that skill as fast as I can, maybe duels would be the safest way to level it. I wonder what it's max level is......wait...does it have a max level? Holy cow, if it doesn't have a max level, then this has the potential the get broken fast. I'm so excited!'

Taking his scooter out of his inventory, he said to everyone else "well, I better get home soon. I don't want my parents to start getting worried"

[Omnial]

"Guess I will be off as well." He tok one last look at the remaining members of their group, and also at those leaving, then turned and walked away. Lucian would be taking the long way home as he had some shopping to do before returning to his apartment complex. After purchasing them, he placed them into his inventory in secret. Much more convenient than carrying a bag of apples, a bag of noodles, and a bag of rice home.

After arriving back at his place, he took out his groceries and put them away, but while placing the apples in a bowl, a thought hit him, Does food expire when it is placed in my inventory? If it was like most games, it wouldn't, but thinking of the turnips in Animal crossing, it could be that they might at a set time...it would have to be tested. Taking a big bite out of an apple, he placed the remainder into his inventory. He would check on it in the morning to see if it was still fresh.

For now though, he decided to hit the books. He was a student after all, and he had just skipped three days of classes. It wasn't mandatory to go to class in university aside from on days with tests, but he would still have some catching up to do. He let out a sigh and pulled out his text books and started to read through them. Strangely enough, it was all a lot simpler than he remembered it being. After studying for an hour or so, he thought of why it was easier, he had increased both his wisdom and intelligence a fair amount today after all, so it would make sense for those to affect his academic abilities as well.

He sat pondering things for a while after that and lost track of time.

[Valeric]

Sasha waved the group goodbye before setting off towards home. She considered opening a pseudospace by herself to continue training, but decided to take a short break.

Sasha walked past a convenience store on the way to the train station. In the dark of the night the gaudy neon signboard was impossible to miss. Ren's advice came to mind. It couldn't hurt to be prepared for times of need.

The inside of the store was filled with rows upon rows of various consumables. Sasha walked to the section that contained the meal bars, figuring they would be easier to chow down in a pinch. She grabbed a handful. A sudden thought hit her. She grinned.

Sasha opened her inventory, and looked around to check for any other shoppers. When she was sure there were no prying eyes or security cameras, she leaned in close to the rack and put in one of the bars quickly. As long as no one saw her whisking items into thin air there was no way she could be caught. She continued to steal three more meal bars before leaving. Emboldened by her success, she grabbed two bottles of energy drinks this way as well, again careful not to be seen. She exited the building afterwards, as if the girl had found nothing of interest in the shop.

She was strangely calm, even though this was the first time she has actually stolen.

[Renose]

Lucian Knowledge: 63 - 28 Knowledge = 35

---

Lucian would feel as though he made some pretty good progress while studying. Unfortunately the short amount of time he did study wasn't really enough to warrant any large increases in anything. Still a few more successful sessions of studying like that and a possible increase in either Int or Knowledge could happen.

---

Luckily for Sasha there were no cameras in the store she went to. After all it was just a small convenience store. No people seemed to be nearby either, which was pretty lucky for Sasha as well. Next came her first attempt at stealing a candy bar.

---

Sasha Slight of Hand: 80 - 17 Slight of Hand - 25 (No people present) = 38

---

The first attempt was successful. Soon enough a meal bar would be safely tucked inside of Sasha's inventory. Then came the next three. So far no one else was looking into her isle. Indeed there were people in the store, but none seemed to be looking at her at the moment, so she would get another chance to steal all three meal bars and safely tuck them into her Inventory before anyone saw her, it probably going to be very dangerous if someone did see her, it going to be a little harder to get three in their inconspicuously.

---

Sasha Slight of Hand: 45 - 17 Slight of Hand = 28

---

She would be able to get all three extra meal bars into her inventory. Then she would attempt to steal some Energy Drinks. Luckily once again, Sasha's luck really helping her out here, as no one else near her to see her attempt to steal the Energy Drinks by putting them in her Inventory. Since these drinks were a little more out in the open though it would be a little harder to steal them.

---

Sasha Slight of Hand: 26 - 17 Slight of Hand = 9

---

Fortunately, or unfortunately for the store, Sasha would be able to steal both energy drinks and put them in her inventory. After that she would be able to go home without further event. Except for two familiar windows appearing in front of you after you had stolen all of the supplies, the first one disappearing after the second one had appeared.

Window 1

A Skill has been created through a Special Action. Through practicing the art of thievery the ability to improve your stealing of things in plain sight, Pilfer, has been created.

Pilfer

Pilfer (Passive) (Lv 1: 0/100 EXP): You are pretty good at sneaking things into your pockets or inventory in plain sight. You are +5% stealthier whenever you are stealthily pilfering anything that is just sitting there. To Level Up: Steal or palm Something that is in plain sight.

[Card Captor]

Upon arriving at home, Mike soon realized that he needed some sort of a weapon. Although his build would give him plenty of mana and mana regeneration, it would still be a good idea to at least have something. His first thought was to use the same kind of weapon as the very Crusaders he was trying to emulate, however that idea was quickly thrown away when he remember that Crusaders wielded giant crosses nearly as big as they were (and the Priest character model was already a muscle bound man). So he decided on something more fitting for a tank; a shield. This idea quickly hit a snag when he realized that he didn't know where to find a shield. So he just settled for a folding chair in the meantime "if it's a good enough starting weapon for Kanji Tatsume, then it's good enough for me."

After putting his new weapon in his inventory, he returned to his list of possible move to learn from other MMO's. While he would have just loved to try learning Crusader skills, his attempt at learning Nen Shot showed him that he would have trouble recreating something so complex as he currently was. So when he moved over to the list of skills from Mabinogi, he found one that not only looked good, but that he though he might be able to use "Meditate? A nice easy way to recover MP. Once I learn a healing skill, I could use it and Meditate to grind my tank passive!" Now convinced, he tried to learn it. He cleared his mind and entered a meditative pose

[Renose]

The folding chair that Mike would desire to use as a weapon was somewhat light, but also kind of heavy. To effectively swing around it was possible that more STR would be required since Mike's STR was only 2 currently, not the STR needed to effectively use slightly heavier or larger weapons. Still it could work for now nonetheless.

---

Mike's Meditation Attempt: 2 (Critical!)

---

Somehow the art of meditation would come very easy to Mike. Perhaps it came from years of not being able to move properly and thus not having much to do but sit there and clear his mind or think about things? Regardless meditation would come easily to him somehow, Mike able to sit down, focus, and clear his mind of all other things to just relax and meditate. It would only take ten minutes of meditation, but suddenly three windows would appear, the last two windows would appear in front of him in the 'a new skill has been created' fashion of the first one appearing for a bit, then disappearing to give way for the window that gave the explanation of the Skill.

Window 1

Easily practicing the art of meditation above and beyond normal capabilities has made you more focused. +1 Focus.

Window 2

Through learning to focus and clear your mind to simply relax your entire body and mind, the ability to recover from fatigue and the loss of Mana more quickly, Meditation, has been created.

Meditation

Meditation (Active) (Lv 1: 0/100 EXP): The art of focusing and clearing your mind to relieve stress and tension or to increase focus. Raises MP recover rate by 200% when used. Cannot be used in Combat. To Level Up: Use to recover MP.

After that though there was enough time left in the day to meditate long enough to raise the Skills level by 1 since Mike had been able to acquire it so quickly.

[BioHazard]

Silas trained a bit more along with the others, and even leveled twice while doing so. And next to his own level, some of the levels of his attacks went up too. He was lucky that they didn't continue on the fact that he kept the note. The only thing that he didn't like that Sasha wanted to come along with him. He wanted to train alone with Sumi, if she wasn't an enemy. But also he didn't want to get caught by people he knew around the town. He had a girlfriend, and he thought that she wouldn't appreciate it if he was spending time alone with another girl around the same age as her. "It is possible..." Silas had replied to Sasha earlier.

Silas wanted to go home again, he was done. And he noticed that Ren was too. He didn't stop Ren or anything, he didn't have to talk to him anyway. He went to his bicycle that he had parked a few meters away. Without saying anything to anyone, he left. He was a bit afraid that Sasha wanted to talk to him about visiting Sumi, so he left quickly. But then again, she could always send a PM to him. Silas returned home where Tomoyo was waiting for him. She was surprised that Silas went out today, but didn't bother to ask too many questions. Another thing he liked about his girlfriend. Dinner was already done, so they ate something. Tomoyo already had gone to bed because she was tired, so Silas was alone in the living room. He went behind the laptop and searched the address of Sumi. Silas saw he could easily go on his bike towards her, he just had to make sure nobody would see him. And seeing Tomoyo had to work tomorrow again, it would be a good day to visit Sumi.

[Renose]

Finding the address of the Ban Dojo would be quite easy, even without the assistance of the note. No assistance of the note was needed since the note was actually blank. It appeared from the note being blank that Sumi probably had no intention of actually letting them train at her place. She seemed quite serious when she told them to just ignore their power and leave all else alone. Still with Sumi's last name (since she wasn't actually aware that they could see that) and searching martial arts dojos in the area (since she was clearly a martial artist) it was quite easy to find the address of her dojo online. Whether or not going there was smart, however; was an entirely different story since she had given Silas a blank piece of paper instead of a note.

[Renose]

After Ren got home, stopping at a game store to buy some newly released games with his extra money, as Ren's uncle did all of the grocery shopping and gave Ren money for games, that wouldn't take away from the money he had set aside for buying stuff for his 'Gamer Character' as he sometimes liked to call his self with the power. After all it was best to try and separate personal life from his life as a 'Gamer' as the reason why Ren wasn't a higher level was because he didn't train every single day over the month he had his power after he discovered how to make a Pseudospace (which wasn't too long after he got his power), although he did train a lot nonetheless.

Once Ren got home he noticed that his uncle had done some grocery shopping and leave some rice in the rice cooker for Ren so that he had enough for about five rice balls as well as enough for dinner, so he decided to level up his Craft Skill with some cooking to make some healing items, or in this case food. "Craft." This brought up that familiar Crafting Window he had seen before when he first used the skill. He had to be holding the necessary tools, which was essentially having them equipped in his hand slots in his inventory, and place the items used in the recipe in the window. In this case he was making rice balls, so it wasn't like he needed that many ingredients.

---

Craft Skill (Riceballs) (5):
--Auto Failure Chance: 17% (82 and higher = Failure)
--Results: 1 (Critical), 15 (Success), 57 (Success), 73 (Success), 21 (Success)

---

One of them turned out better than normal while the rest turned out normal. Still it was amazing what this skill could do as instantly in his inventory appeared four regular quality rice balls and a fifth much better one that would probably taste better and be better. He didn't even have to do any work as it only took about half a minute for the skill to create them all. Of course the skill did the work, but he couldn't move while doing it, but it was still easier than doing it himself. He prepared dinner in the same way as well, having to stand near the stove since it was the 'work station', as some items required this, he was using to make it. Hamburger steak and rice. Normally Ren would have just had some cup ramen, but it was a slightly longer day than usual and her uncle had just gone grocery shopping even though his schedule was so busy. Ren figured it would be best to make some for himself and some leftovers for her uncle as a token of gratitude.

---

Craft Skill (Hamburger Steak) (2):
--Auto Failure Chance: 52% (48 and higher = Failure)
--Results: 23 (Success), 20 (Success)

---

Both of them came out great. Ren was almost attempted to just take his own and put it in his inventory for later, but then immediately decided that eating a meal in the middle of a fight was probably suicidal. So instead she wrapped up the meal she made for her uncle, put it in the fridge, ate her own, then watched anime for a while until the 5:00 AM before finally falling asleep in front of her TV.

---

Morning came. As everyone woke up a familiar window would appear before all of them.

Window

Sleeping in a bed has fully healed your HP, MP, and all Status Ailments.

Imagine if everyone had this power. No one would have to worry about disease. Heck if one lost an arm, maybe it could come back. Who knew if it was possible, but it surely wasn't something to purposefully test out. It was 8:00 AM when Ren awoke and he decided to send everyone a PM. If they were still asleep the PM wouldn't wake them up, but they would see it once they did awake. The PM was being sent out to everyone and once read it would read as follows.

PM

From: Ren Hitori

If you are going to grind, even if you'd rather do it alone, make sure to have a party member with you anyway. You'll live longer.

Even Ren knew that it was suicide to go fighting tough monsters alone. This was a truth in games and in real life it was definitely true. His plan for the morning was to get to the fifth district of Neo Tokyo. The Industrial Island (it was a nickname). Like the Port Island District this district was off the coast of Neo Tokyo and connected to the Business District by a long bridge that could also be gotten to by train. It was mostly warehouses and factories out this way and it was on the far outskirts of the city. It was also where some more shady characters hung out sometimes, or so was his original plan for training. After Saito's warning he had second thoughts. A park in the Residential District would work nicely for grinding and training and there was a nice more abandoned one that too many people didn't visit on the outskirts of the Residential District. Normally Ren would have picked a shrine, but decided against it for obvious reasons.

Once at the park his plan was to first experiment with a few skills and then grind for a bit on Zombies, since he had seen them once before and they were higher level than Imps and now he was barely getting any EXP from Imps. After he recuperated from that grinding then he would grind some more maybe on the next level of monster depending upon how high his level had gotten, planning to stop around a bit after noon since he estimated that was how much time this would all take. Luckily he had the Meditation Skill and had packed more bandages to make for quicker healing using the First Aid Skill so he wouldn't have to rest as long healing his HP. This was one of the weaknesses of their power, Ren realized. They had to grind and that took time as did recuperating between battles of grinding.

Making sure no one was around by checking his minimap he got to work.

[Omnial]

Lucian woke up bright and early, he wasn't too sure when he went to bed, or what he was even thinking about so hard the night before. The only thing on his mind really was that he had a bizarre dream, he brushed it off though as just his mind playing with him after all that was experience the previous day, it was a lot to take in after all. So he just continued with his morning routine as usual. He noticed Ren's Pm, smiled, then shook his head and closed it, more or less brushing it off, not like he planned to fight things today anyways.

It was a Sunday, so he didn't have any classes, and was free for the entire day, he sat at this desk, studying some more whilst eating a bowl of cereal. It was while he was studying with the spoon sticking out of his mouth that it dawned on him what he was thinking of before he went to bed. Skills. He tried hard and managed to stay focused though as he reviewed his notes and made some new ones, eventually succumbing to his desires.

Time to think of how I am going to work this out...Lucian was a logical man, and knew that the best skills usually required simple skills to unlock them, forming a skill tree. He quickly sketched out a concept skill tree on a piece of paper. He knew that he wanted to have enough skills up his sleeve that if things went wrong, he would be able to get himself out of a bind, and show the other up. He wrote on the paper, Nuke, Damage over time, Crowd Control, Movement, Healing, Buff. Those were the five main topics which he felt he needed to fill with skills, but how to get there? He stared at his right hand for a while. "I need to have better control on my mana before any of these I guess. He wrote that down on the paper for all of them, then created a pseudo space in his place so he wouldn't wreck anything, it was a rental after all. Then he proceeded to spend hours trying to get a better grasp of the feeling of mana in his body, and control its flow, how it would exit from his hands like in his Mana Pulse, or to let it out slowly, or from any other part of his body.

[Renose]

Lucian's Studies: 2 (Critical)

---

Studying would go quite well for Lucian. He was able to memorize and learn new things as he studied with ease, maybe his boost in Int helping. In fact, in just about two hours of studying he would have been able to breeze through his classwork with relative ease, getting a fair amount of studying done. After that was done two windows suddenly appeared before Lucian.

Window

Diligent studying has increased your Int by 1.

Window 2

Beyond excellent studying has made you more knowledgeable. +1 Knowledge.

Luckily his studying was done in enough time to give him enough time in the morning for some experimentation with the creation of some kind of mana manipulation Skill. While it probably wouldn't be that good without higher stats, perhaps it would give enough to allow Lucian to begin create other forms of skills. While bending and stretching it would probably be a feat beyond him right now, controlling its flow through and out of him did seem possible, his decent Int, Wisdom, and Focus most likely making this attempt even possible as it was something that was indeed currently pushing his mind and inner body to the limits.

---

Lucian Mana Flow Control: 46 - 24 Focus = 22

---

After a few minutes of attempting this, with probable short breaks between since it was quite strenuous, Lucian would feel that he barely managed to grasp the concept of controlling his mana flow. Of course even if it was by a small margin, he would manage to grasp it nonetheless, two windows suddenly appearing in front of him giving him a Skill for the fruits of his tough labor.

Window

A Skill has been created through a special action. Through the continuous practice of controlling your mana flow, the ability to better control the flow of mana through and out of your body, Mana Flow, has been created.

Mana Flow

Mana Flow (Lv 1: 0/100 EXP) (Active: 4 MP/second): (+1% MP) A skill for basic control on the flow of mana within you. With this skill you can actively practice controlling and flowing mana through your body and inner self with even a small bit of control on how it exits your body as well. Not useful in combat, but has its in many other forms of skills. To Level Up: Practice controlling your Mana Flow. Create a Skill using this one.

After the creation of this skill, and possible a short rest, it would be about a bit after noon and into the early afternoon, so about 12:30 to 1 PM. With it being Sunday Lucian would still have plenty of time to do other things.

[Valeric]

Sasha slumped on her messy bed when she got home. The day had been long and very interesting. Her parents had been shocked that she was out for the whole day, both worried for her safety and glad that she had finally decided to leave the house for once. She idly flipped through the menus. Stats. Skills. Inventory. Talents. Friends. Map. She was especially proud of her success at stealing.

"Ah, but the interference law might apply when other people see me putting things into the inventory? That's a bummer..."

It was already night time. She got off her bed, deciding to take a shower and have dinner before doing anything else. About an hour later, she was back in her room, clean and satisfied. The gamer ability again surprised her- she could change out of her clothes in a blink of an eye using the inventory. That was pretty darn convenient. By instinct, she started up Dungeon Busters on her PC again. Only when the clock struck twelve did she take a break and flopped on the bed. Hmmm... I definitely feel a lot faster. This level up thing is real, huh.

Lost in thought, she dozed off. When she opened her eyes again, it was already bright outside. Hilariously, there was a message that told her that her health and mana had been fully recharged. Sasha swiped it away with one hand and got up from bed. She was perfectly rested, a stark difference from her usual behaviour when she woke up in the morning. The perks of the gamer ability was endless, it seemed. The clock displayed 8:02am.

"That's the earliest I've woken up at in a loooooong time."

She considered her options. There was no doubt that she was going to grind her abilities again, but how? Combat carried an inherent risk of death. It would be wiser to be sure of her capabilities first before running headlong into another battle. She was currently trying to focus on mana-based abilities- that probably meant intelligence and wisdom. Raising those, along with dexterity for speed and vitality for some survivability, was most important.

"Intelligence, huh? That means what, reading?" she glanced at a corner of her room, where her old textbooks and some fiction lay. The thick layer of dust that covered them spoke volumes about how long she had last read. "Screw that. I can use the computer."

She began by reading the news. Then random articles. When those tired her, she began looking up information about combat. She was soon engrossed in it, forgetting about the time until someone knocked on her door.

"Sasha! Wake up!" her mother called. It was her regular wake-up call at noon. She opened the door without waiting for a response.
"Morning, mom," she said, turning from her computer. Her mother frowned.
"Stayed awake all night again? You know that's not healthy for your skin."
"I didn't, mom. I woke up hours ago."
"Really?" her mom said, obviously not buying it. Sasha shrugged and turned back to the PC.
"Lunch's ready, darling. Come out from your cave," her mother said before leaving the room.
"Alright..."

After lunch, Sasha felt restless. She had spent the whole morning reading. It was time for some action. She opened the friends list and messaged everyone:

hey who wanna kill some imps with me?

[Renose]

Sasha's Combat Study: 19 - 16 = 3

---

Since Sasha knew little to nothing about actual combat in the first place, as her combative talents were quite low, learning new things about it, right now, was pretty easy. By spending the entire morning studying about it she managed to pick up on some new techniques and tricks, enough to where suddenly a window would appear in front of her.

Window

Through the diligent study of combat techniques you have learned some beginner's combative strategies. +1 to Melee Weaponry and Projectile Weaponry.

[Card Captor]

As Mike examined his new weapons, he was dismayed to learn that he lacked the STR to properly use it "That means that if I want to use shields, then I'm going to want to raise my STR...but I want to put as much points as I can into VIT and WIS......I'll have to ask the others if there's some way to gain free stat points. Who knows, it might be as simple as just working out. If it is, then I'm in luck; dad's still got his exercise room, and I doubt he'd have a problem with me using it." Mike went back to his list of skills from MMO. All the remaining ones that he wanted to learn looked far too complex for him to recreate "but there's got to be some kind of support skill I can learn......hmmm......what about a skill that could use my MP to restore someone else's? That sounds worth trying, but I'd need someone here to experiment with first...I'll just mentally file that away for later thought. For now though, it's time to grind my ID skills. If we keep letting Ren make them, then we'll have trouble grinding if he isn't available for some reason." And with that, Mike began to grind his ID Create and ID escape skills until lunch

---

"So Mike, you excited to start going to public school tomorrow" his father asked him as they sat down for lunch

"You bet I am! It's going to be so exciting!" he responded

His mom giggled "I wish everyone shared your enthusiasm. I know I could have used it when I was your age"

Mike just shrugged "well I guess that's what happen when you live 5 years longer then the doctors say you will, and then wake up one morning fully healed. Oh, by the way dad; do you mind if I start using your workout room? I think that I have a lot of catching up to do."

"Not at all. You're a smart boy, I know you'll be careful"

"Awesome! Thanks!" It was then that he got the PM from Sasha "well, I'm going to go out and explore again. I think today I'll check out my new school" he told his parents

"Alright then, be safe" his mom managed to say before he left

When he was out of eyesight, he pulled out his scooter from his inventory and sent a PM back to Sasha

I do. Let's meet up at school

And with that he made his way there

[Renose]

ID Create and ID Escape didn't seem to level up as quickly. Not only that, but creating them over and over again not only was a bit mentally exhausting, as using any supernatural ability over and over again should be, but using them both over and over again really didn't give too much EXP. Still Mike did get two levels in each, now able to create Imp IDs for grinding on Imps now which he learned when ID Create was level two. Still two levels for these slower leveling skills was pretty good, but using them over and over again like this probably wasn't going to be an efficient way for grinding them in the future.