Unfortunately for the Party the Imps were able to begin a counterattack, snapping out of their surprised state and quickly beginning their counterattack. One Imp quickly turned itself, it having been near Sasha when she stealthily destroyed that one Imp. It barreled at her, charging quickly with claws bared and growling angrily. As it charged towards her it aimed its claws at her, attempting to slash at her, which if successful would probably hurt alot. --- Imp Claw Attack: 57 Sasha Parry: 78 - 8 Melee Weaponry - 5 Skill Bonus = 63 Hit... Damage Dealt: 12 --- The claws, unfortunately, struck true, getting past Sasha's guard and slashing her pretty badly. A red 12 appeared over her head for a moment before vanishing, indicating the amount of damage she took. It appeared that whenever anyone took damage, whether them or their enemies, numbers would indeed appear. The party were probably the only ones who could see them though. Still Sasha didn't appear to be bleeding from that strong strike, but it certainly did hurt. It was strange indeed. Was it something to do with the Gamer's Body skill? There was no time to contemplate it though since it was in the middle of combat. Something good did come out of it though. A window appeared in front of Sasha, reading as thus. A second window appearing after that one to explain the new skill she received. [hider=Window] A Skill has been created through a special action. The ability to better endure physical blows, Physical Endurance, has been created. [/hider] [hider=Physical Endurance] Physical Endurance: +1 Resilience, +5% HP. To Level Up: Successfully endure a physical attack. Successfully endure a Critical Strike from a physical attack. [/hider] Another Imp, seeing one of them attack Sasha, charged at Sasha as well, claws bared as it attempted to strike at her as well, something that would probably be rather fatal or dangerous of it hit one more time. --- Imp Claw Attack: 9 Sasha Parry: 20 - 8 Melee Weaponry - 5 Skill Bonus = 7 Miss. --- This Imp wasn't so successful though. The attack was very close, but luckily Sasha was able to parry it with her bat to avoid getting hit once again, which probably would be pretty bad since Sasha would be able to tell that she didn't have a whole lot of HP left. The Imp that was shot by Tim was quite angered by him, having pulled the arrow out and growling angry. It moved quickly on its feet and charged at Tim, who luckily was far enough away to get ready to dodge in time. While the bow really couldn't be used to parry the mp's claws the distance between Tim and the Imp was a good enough substitute. --- Imp Claw Attack: 38 Timothy Dodge: 3 (Critical!) Miss --- With how far away the Imp was stepping out of the way of its sudden rush was a breeze to the point where Timothy would be able to even get back further away from the Imp so that he could set himself up for another arrow shot if he wanted to. As he performed his rather agile dodge a window appeared in front of him. [hider=Window] Performing agile movements beyond your normal capabilities has made you more agile. Acrobatics +1. [/hider] One Imp turned its attention to Ren who quickly noticed this. Right as the Imp was about to charge he quickly said [i]"MP Armor"[/i]. Suddenly a very thin, blue glow appeared just over his skin like some kind of armor. Unfortunately Ren's quick usage of the skill wouldn't give him the extra time to get ready to dodge the Imp's attack, but that seemed to be something he was prepared for anyway. --- Imp Claw Attack: 55 Ren Dodge: 25 - 23 Acrobatics = 2 Miss --- Ren was quite agile on his feet, easily dodging out of the way of the Imp's claw attack as its claws harmlessly slashed through the air Ren was in when he dodge its attack. There were quite a few imps in this area, the one that Rainer had kicked was looking towards Rainer now. With a glare and a snarl it charged forward, ducking low for a moment before attempting to slash at Rainer's chest. These Imps were intelligent and not just feral beasts, seeming to possess some basic combat skills. Despite seeming like small fry enemies, these creatures were really tough nonetheless. It was also quite close to Rainer, so it would be somewhat hard to dodge its rather quick strike, a block seeming like the best option at this point. --- Imp Claw Attack: 48 Rainer Parry (Unarmed): 54 - 16 Fisticuffs = 38 Miss --- Despite being rather quick and the Imp already being very close Rainer was able to block the Imp's sudden and quick strike. It may have hurt Rainer's arm a little bit, but it did no real damage. Seeing one Imp attack Rainer another followed suit, aiding what may or may not be considered its comrade, it was rather hard to tell what these Imps thought about each other as it also charged at Rainer. This one wasn't as close, so Rainer could prepare to block in time, not that the other Imp's distance advantage had helped it before. --- Imp Claw Attack: 35 Rainer Parry: 62 - 16 Fisticuffs = 46 Hit... Damage Dealt: 11 --- Unfortunately distance didn't matter this time as the Imp managed to slip past Rainer's guard this time and claw right at him, its claws striking deep and true and probably hurting alot. Just like with Sasha though they didn't seem to draw blood, it only just hurt and did 11 points of damage. It was clear that something strange was going on with how the Gamers themselves took damage, but destroying the Imps and living through this encounter was more important. Still something good did come out of it though. A window appeared in front of Rainer, reading as thus. A second window appearing after that one to explain the new skill he received. [hider=Window] A Skill has been created through a special action. The ability to better endure physical blows, Physical Endurance, has been created. [/hider] [hider=Physical Endurance] Physical Endurance: +1 Resilience, +5% HP. To Level Up: Successfully endure a physical attack. Successfully endure a Critical Strike from a physical attack. [/hider] There was one more Imp who now this time charged at Ren, who still was slightly shrouded in that 'skin' of blue energy. An Imp that was pretty close to Ren quickly charged right at him, giving a very loud snarl as it did so, claws bared and teeth gnashing as it aimed its claws right towards Ren's neck, Ren quickly attempting to dodge out of the way of the imp's vicious attack with all of his quick agility. --- Imp Claw Attack: 22 Ren Dodge: 88 - 23 Acrobatics = 55 Hit! (Max Damage) Damage Dealt: 6 --- Unfortunately his fast agility wasn't good enough as the Imp seemed to move in very quickly and get a really good strike on him. A cry of pain escaped him, but the claws didn't seem to strike as deep as the blow should have allowed, the strike not seeming to do too much damage. It was probably thanks to the strange skill that Ren used, it seeming to give him some kind of armor made of energy that protected him from the majority of the blow. "You'll pay for that!" Ren gritted his teeth to ignore the pain of the blow as he quickly tried to jump backwards away from the Imp, it taking a swipe at Ren as the white haired boy as Ren quickly moved back from it since Ren left an opening as he moved backwards to get out of the close proximity between him and the Imp, the other Imp that had attacked him as well also taking a swipe as Ren moved back. --- Imp Free Strike: 59 Ren Dodge: 51 - 23 Acrobatics = 28 Miss Second Imp Free Strike: 32 Ren Dodge: 19 - 23 Acrobatics = 0 Miss --- Ren luckily managed to step back from the Imp before the sudden blow could make contact, aiming his palms at the beast. [i]"Mana Bolt!"[/i] As he said this and aimed his palm at the creature two bolts of blue energy shot right at the first Imp that had attacked him from his palm. --- Ren Mana Bolt: 33 - 25 Projectile Weaponry - 25 (Close Range) = 0 Imp Dodge: 29 Hit! (Max Damage) Damage Dealt: 15 Damage Second Mana Bolt: 21 - 25 - 25 (Close Range) = 0 Imp Dodge: 43 Hit! (Max Damage) Damage Dealt: 15 --- The Imp was hit by both bolts, both of of them slamming into the creature, it crying out as it was hit by both bolts before falling down onto its back. The moment it fell it vanished into thin air, indicating that the creature had been defeated. The party could now begin their own counterattack if they wanted to, or see if they could get away somehow.