Before Rainer could react, the two other Gamers had noticed him and Zahira standing in the store opening. He barely had time to register their questions and reactions of the newcomers before the store manager called them out for loitering, causing the group to begin to move. Cursing himself for not being more attentive and becoming too easily distracted, it wasn't long before Rainer found himself standing not too far from the mall courtyard, where it quickly became apparent that the lights in the center had all gone out. Not only that, the only people he could see around him were the Gamers he had just encountered.
Suspicion crept into his mind. This wasn't how he'd wanted things to play out at all. Was this the beginning of a PvP Battle? Isolate the Gamers and then have them brawl? It was with that thought that the new, red floating text caught his eye, floating above the heads of several small creatures, positioned in front of a new stranger, an attractive blonde, foreign looking girl, clutching what looked like a can of soda in her hand. In Rainer's mind, it seemed almost like a surreal scene where the girl was offering the creatures, apparently Level 4 Imps, a beverage. Looking closer at the girl, he could make out her name in the blue text as well as her Gamer title.
Perhaps this wasn't a PvP situation, perhaps it was an 'Adventure Party' scenario after all? If that were the case, this new girl, Sasha, was clearly facing off against superior numbers with a lower level. Depending on the 'game' they were playing, that could be the difference between plot advancement and a Game Over screen, and if that were the case, what would happen if they got a Game Over? Did the die? Did they have lives?
Surprised at his cool composure in the face of this new situation, Rainer found himself coming to a decision. Looking over his shoulder to call out to the other Gamers, he called,
"I think she might need a hand!" before jogging away to place himself beside the girl.
"You okay?" he asked as he positioned himself at her side. The 'Imps' were bizarre, red, horned creatures. Looking them up and down, Rainer focused on his training, all with a surprisingly cool head. The horns could be a problem if they rammed him and they had cloven hooves for feet. If they were anything like other hoofed animals, like a horse, cow or goat, they'd pack quite a punch if they landed a kick, possibly able to splinter or bruise bone. Their teeth seemed sharp, too, capable of delivering a nasty bite.
How would he approach this? If he got in close enough, he could prevent them from kicking out at him, but then that left him to deal with the horns and teeth. Perhaps he would benefit from keeping his distance? A flying side kick or jumping back kick would probably work best, not only to keep back from the creatures, but also to continually push his opponents back and keep them at a distance with the force of his kick.
"Yeah," Rainer mumbled to himself absentmindedly,
"Hanging back from them seems the safest option at this point."With his mind made up, Rainer dropped in a
closed fist forward stance, placing his feet at a ninety degree angle perpendicular to his body and at roughly the same width as his shoulders, centering his gravity. It was strange, as out-of-the-ordinary as this situation was, Rainer found himself a cool and composed as if this were just another training session and he was preparing himself against a sparring partner.
