[center][h2]Shokatsu Yu[/h2][h3]Aluvera — City Square[/h3][/center]

"So that's how it's done, huh...?"

There was a bit of relief in Yu's voice as he finally managed to pull up his character information, his gaze panning slightly to the side as the familiar menu popped up in his peripherals. Finagling with some invisible, possibly-extant hotbar had been unnecessary, it seemed; simply desiring for the relevant information to spring up had been sufficient. Of course, where one success was found, others followed suit, and the young man quickly cycled through half a dozen other menus—none of which seemed to be able to access the usual system configurations, of course—before he paused, an odd shadow slowly creeping over the skies above.

Given how it had been broad daylight moments ago, the weather shifting spontaneously becoming overcast was by no means a good sign.

As he closed the windows to give him back full control of his vision, Yu slowed to a halt as he—and more than a few others who had already begun to gather—turned their eyes skyward, only to see those clouds shift to a dark black.

Any amount of hesitation in the air was promptly cut through as something immediately cut through the clouds from above, a gaping hole from which a single red light began falling—right onto the middle of the square. Those who were aware immediately began to move to make room for whatever was descending, and those who were not were promptly dragged away by the tides of people shifting to make room. Of course, no few number among them—Yu included—furtively drew their weapons in response.

The fountain in the center of the square, it seemed, had been the unknown assailant's target, and its subsequent destruction as they landed threw stone dust and debris all over. When it had cleared, however, what was left behind in the rubble was a brown-haired man, his bronze-colored armor twisted and worn as he knelt upon the ruined earth. The pool of blood forming under him showed no such promising future, but what was more troublesome were his words soon after.

"The gates... Have been opened..."

Whether those words were meant as a warning or as a threat mattered little—at least, compared to the creatures flying out from the clouds unto the city. As far as Yu could tell, they seemed to be a mix of griffins, sphinxes, and harpies—none of which he was pleased to see—and were diving towards the city at an alarming rate. There only seemed to be a few dozen in total, thankfully enough, but that small number was still more than enough to lay siege to the city if left unchecked.

As a massive sphinx swept down from the skies above to strike at him, though, Yu tumbled out of the way before looking back at the creature. Though he had no personal experience fighting with the weapon, it felt as if his body [i]did[/i]. Hopefully that would actually mean something, given how it seemed to be moving around for seconds.

With his blade at the ready, Yu took a deep breath and focused his gaze upon the monster before moving into a more proper battle stance, his sword pointed forward as he struck out at its' wings in hopes of equalizing the battlefield——!