Savo
Xaltwind
Zeus23
Double
Not a Sayan
NeziulThe two aberrations decided to keep their attention on Leifr, one aiming to attack his horse as another attempted to attack him, the creatures hissing and growling as they quickly aimed to slash and sink their nasty claws into both Leifr and steed. The first one missed, Leifr's shield being an incredible aid as thanks to it, he was barely able to avoid getting struck by those horrid, sharp claws on the beasts, the same sharp claws that had ripped Vialesa apart not too long ago, the female warrior probably dead by now if she had been bleeding out before, not that Leifr could tell the difference at the moment.
The second aberration though seemed to trip and fall to the ground as it missed its swipe by a mile. While Leifr, who was atop a horse, couldn't reach for a quick and instant strike to take advantage of the opening, since he was atop a horse, his horse certainly could, aiming to stomp the creature that had attacked it out of existence either out of its war training, or just out of fear. Either way, the horse was trying to stomp it dead, which would be good enough if it succeeded. And it did. The powerful hoof of Leifr's horse came down right on the monster's torso, a sickening crack and crunch as blood lopped from the creature's mouth could be heard as the horse stomped the creature, the creature definitely not moving anymore.
This left just one more creature and the Ugling Sorcerer who aimed his staff at Vialesa's corpse, the middle skull glowing now. Chittering some dark, foul words in its guttural tongue, the markings on the middle skull hanging from his staff began to glow as Lyrisa would sense a horrid, abysmal power seeping from the skull and into Vialesa's unmoving corpse. The others couldn't see what the Ugling did, but they could tell he might have done something. The next thing that happened though definitely confirmed these suspicions as the creature began to run away pretty quickly, Uglings always having been quite quick on their feet.
Vialesa's body suddenly began to slowly stand up, as if a marionette on strings, her joints cracking a bit as her sword was still clutched in her hand. Her eyes now gazed at the mysterious figure, her eyes filled with no life. A groan escaped from the corpse's mouth, its wounds that were red with her own blood now looking blackish and twisted, much like the wounds of the creatures. Unlike those creatures though, she seemed to still have combative skills as she suddenly moved forward, strange looking saber in hand as she attempted to cleave the group's newest ally in two.
The blade struck true, the cloaked figure cringing out in pain, but most of it seemed to be stopped by something, probably armor that the figure had on beneath that cloak of his. He seemed to visibly react to something though, not really the cut of the blade, but more like the blade itself as he quickly moved backwards. "That blade..." He muttered this before turning his attention to the others. "This is no longer your ally, and that blade of hers is more deadly than it looks, be careful not to let it touch you!" He wanted to shoot the Ugling that was escaping, but knew that there wasn't really time for that. The nice trail of blood and his footprints as he struggled to get away in a hurry with his weakened state was more than enough to convince the figure that they needed to take care of these two abominations first.
So he aimed his crossbow towards Vialesa, who managed to strike again in the moment it took him to aim the weapon. Luckily the risen corpse's aim was much more off this time, the figure easily dodging the blade as, with the momentum of his dodge, he got into perfect position to fire a shot point blank at her. The bolt shot right into the corpse's chest, but it only reacted in pain with a groan as it buried itself deep where Vialesa's heart was, a blackish ichor leaking from the wound. "What sort of abomination did they make you into?" He muttered, fist clenched a little more tightly around the handle of his crossbow, which he quickly reloaded with the pull of a lever upon it.
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STATUS: I am back I guess. 10 yrs ago
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In the morning Ren's plan was simple. Get up, eat breakfast, and get ready for a long day. He knew his Uncle would be incredibly pissed at Ren for missing three days of school so far if he found out, but for Ren school could wait. This was a matter of life and death and Ren figured, if all was better, he could go next week. He could easily do the printouts that had been delivered in the mailbox, as whoever delivered them probably didn't want to stick around, in a single day, heck probably even in an hour or so since he had gotten much smarter than he already was thanks to the Gamer Power. Besides, his Uncle hadn't even been here when awake, but definitely came around last night as the dinner he left wrapped up for him in the fridge was certainly gone, so all risk of currently pissing him off was out the window for now.
First thing's first. Ren decided to try communicating with Demons. He was going to get all of the Rituals out of the way in the morning so the rest of the day could be spent Skill grinding. He wanted to up the levels of all of the newer Skills he had today before grinding a bunch tomorrow since if things worked out today like he planned; he would be able to get a good number of new and hopefully powerful Skills. So first was communicating with demons. From the knowledge he obtained from the book it was sort of like any other ritual, but special materials and powers could help.
Using the tools in his Ritual Kit, he first decided to light the braziers with a tiny spark of Eldritch Flame, thinking that the demonic flame may help.
Focus: 35 - 46 Focus - 5 Skill Bonus = -16
It was quite easy to use Eldritch Flame to make just small flames for lighting the five small braziers. Next he decided to use a couple of Imp Claws and Horns in the ritual as well, figuring that if he put one of each in each of the five braziers, hoping that the extra amount of demonic energy would draw forth something particularly strong as he wanted this Skill to get a suitable tank. After the extra preparations were complete, he began the ritual. Of course, he made sure to activate Mana Shield first, figuring that having a shield around him in case whatever he conjured tried to attack him was a good idea, Ren also making a Pseudospace inside of his room also just in case. His dagger was also out as well, as he wanted to be prepared, Undine also summoned and on standby.
Demonology: 4 (Critical)
Instantly the flames flared to life, an eerie, blackish-greenish glow filling the room as all other lights, except for the braziers, dimmed as Ren performed the ritual, hoping to get a strong, although he knew that it wouldn't be all that powerful thanks to he just being a beginner in this. Despite how frightening it all looked, he kept calm as probably thanks to the Gamer's Mind Skill. That, and Ren was a little hard to surprise anyway. Still, the ritual was going supremely well, and Ren could feel as though he had an excellent amount of control over it, so he desired something strong and sturdy, not really knowing else about demons much beyond that.
Well, something did indeed come, but what it was being something Ren didn't recognize. Or more like, a voice came really. The voice spoke to Ren's mind as a dark, green glow emanated from the magic circle he was sitting before.
"So you wish to attain the service of demons, do you mortal? You indeed do have power, the power of demons already within you and you have a delicious smell about you... tell me mortal, why should I serve you?" Now in a burst of dark, green mist a creature appeared from the circle and from it, in a burst of fire, appeared a large and very savage looking dog. Ren was a bit put off by it, but ultimately remained calm. The space of his room changed the moment the beast appeared to some sort of underground, stone cell like area where its walls were lit with braziers holding within them dark Eldritch flame. Still, Ren was glad that he remained calm as suddenly the beast lunged almost instantly, aiming to shred Ren with is powerful, and for some reason glowing, fangs.
Demon Attack: 15
Hit!
Damage Dealt: 40
The fangs went right for his neck, but Ren made a good call on keeping that shield up. The attack hit, but the glowing fangs of the beast bounced harmlessly off of the shield as Ren, knife already in hand, called out "Riposte!" to make an incredibly swift counterattack, this being one that he hadn't used in a while.
Ren Riposte: 42 + 22 Skill Penalty - 25 Melee Weaponry - 14 Skill Bonus = 25
Tie
Ren Luck: 4 (Critical)
Demon Luck: 99 Fumble
Hit! (Critical Hit!)
Damage Dealt: 70
Ren's attack and its dodge were right at the same time, the blade would have barely missed, but the creature fell at the last moment out of just sheer bad luck of stumbling over the carpet with its claws, Ren managing to slam the dagger in the beast at the last given second right in the underside of its neck, making a loud, dog cry escape from it as he dealt a very lucky Critical Strike, quickly rolling away from Ren and standing up now before suddenly Fire began to cloak its fangs and claws. Ren didn't think he would have to melee with this thing, and realized that without a critical strike he probably wouldn't have done much damage, but luckily Undine managed to launch a quick and powerful Water Arrow at the beast, Ren glad that they were not fighting in his room apparently.
Undine Water Arrow: 27
Miss
The Water Arrow missed the demon, who above his head had Garm Lv 16 and above that Hell Hound, the text red indicating it was indeed hostile. Fortunately though, thanks to recent increases in Elemental Affinity and Intelligence, Undine's DEX had grown enough to where she was swift enough to quickly launch another Water Arrow in the next moment, Ren glad that the Water Arrows only took 10 MP.
Undine Water Arrow: 14
Hit!
Damage Dealt: 15
The creature yelped again, dog like, when hit by the second Water Arrow that seemed to have a slight more affect than it should have, growling angrily at both Ren and Undine, who had moved in front of Ren. Ren first used Mana Shield to replenish the nearly broken one. After that then had begun to charge up a Giga Spiral Bolt quite quickly, deciding to quickly put 200 MP into it before launching it at the creature within a few seconds, Ren hoping that the powerful blast would hit.
Unfortunately the creature acted once again, its eyes suddenly turning red as it began to snarl and growl like a beast, its muscles bulging a bit as it looked like it was about to go crazy before it charged at Ren, strength in each step as it jumped straight around Undine, going for the more fleshy target, Ren completely open to Garm's fiery, glowing fangs while he was busy charging the bolt.
Garm Attack: -
Max Damage Hit!
Damage Dealt: 64 (Shield Broken)
Damage Dealt to Ren: 0
The attack hit, and with how pumped up Garm seemed it easily shattered the shield with its mighty, fiery fangs. Somehow or another though the mystical armor, plus Ren's own Resilience, managed to block the last of the attack completely, it feeling more like someone poking him really hard rather than a nasty bite on his shoulder. Undine moved once again, first using Aqua Shield to create a shield of water around Ren for protection before launching another Water Arrow at Garm to try and get the Hell Hound to back off of Ren.
Undine Water Arrow: 71
Miss
The arrow was completely off mark. With the bolt complete though Ren attempted to try and launch it at Garm, which was a bit difficult since Garm was right in front of him and would have an easier time dodging since all he would have to do would be to leap quickly right when Ren let go of it.
Ren Giga Spiral Bolt: 29 - 31 + 25 Proximity Shot = 23
Hit!
Damage Dealt: 376
The bolt barely hit the creature, as it may have been quick, but in this situation the bolt was big and Ren was quicker, slamming the mighty bolt into the creature as it struggled to endure the mighty blast, its HP draining bit by bit with each moment it tried to take the attack. Unfortunately, the bolt soon dwindled, and the creature was still alive by a mere 59 HP. Ren figured he could do this, but suddenly a voice entered his mind, the demon seeming to speak to him.
"That's enough, you are plenty strong."
His voice was gruff and coarse, but easily understandable enough.
"I am Garm, I only serve those stronger than me. You are stronger than me Summoner, and thus I shall serve you." The creature walked forward, suddenly biting Ren on the wrist, but not aggressively, just enough to where it still indeed hurt thanks to how strong its fangs were, Ren quickly drawing his wrist back before suddenly his eyes widened, pain coursing through his body as he fell to his knees, trying to contain how much it hurt as a mark began to form on his right wrist.
Soon enough though the pain stopped, Ren panting heavily as the eldritch flame scalding the mark into his wrist ceased, Ren looking at the new marking that had appeared upon him. It was some sort of intricate pattern around his wrist, with at the center, like some kind of bracelet, was the five pointed demonic pentagram.
"Congrats mortal, you are now a Summoner. Call upon me whenever you fight other strong foes." With that, the hound disappeared, the space also vanishing as Ren found himself back in his room.
"Well... that was nothing like an Elemental Contract..." Ren took the moment to look at the new windows that had appeared, examining the newest Skill he obtained. It was nice, Demon Summoning apparently working differently from Elemental Summoning. "So Summoned Demons don't have an MP pool, but all of their abilities drain their own Demonic Force or... HP apparently... but the Skill itself uses a good bit of MP and HP per minute..." Ren sighed, glad that there was still the rest of this day, then two and a half more after that before the Quest as he had a good bit of work to do. This was incredibly entertaining for sure, but there were also times when it felt like work, but then again all grinding felt like work in any game, even if it was fun.
With half the morning gone already from that tough battle, as Ren had to use Meditation to quickly recuperate his MP, having Garm summoned and Mana Shield active during this as even then regenerating his MP back to full only took five minutes, Ren decided that regenerating his MP could wait as he wanted to get the next ritual out of the way. The next Water Magic Ritual. Apparently, according to what knowledge was gained from the book, it was a ritual called Elemental Empowerment, and its primary use was empowering things with elemental force, but it could also be used to strengthen contracted Elementals if one had Essence to use. He would normally power up Undine, but he wanted to wait until he had some better quality Water Essence from Water Elemental drops. Instead, he decided to see about unlocking the ritual for a different purpose.
After setting everything up, keeping Gram summoned and using Undine's 'Life Water' to heal himself after a bit of HP was deducted, Mana Shield being deactivated, Ren began the ritual, putting his knife in the circle as he decided to see about empowering that.
Elemental Empowerment Ritual Attempt: 10 - 44 Ritual Water Magic - 3 Skill Bonus = -37
The ritual was incredibly easy to pull off, Undine's power being required here as suddenly the blade of the knife began to glow with a blue light for several moments before the blade became covered in water, the water disappearing before the same symbol for water that was on Ren's left hand whenever Undine was summoned appeared on the blade now. After the ritual was complete, this taking a good bit of time since rituals weren't always instant, alot of meditation, the Meditation Skill helping here, and incantations were involved and all of that other good stuff, Ren looked at the newest windows that appeared for him, admiring the new Skill he received.
One more Ritual, then Ren would have all three rituals completed, the morning gone and Ren now working into the afternoon on this. The next of the beginner rituals for Black Magic. Hex forging. A bit different than the Black Marks, as this was more like Lucian's Nature Powers, not that Ren knew how they worked, in that they were temporary abilities with limited usages. Black Marks were like elementary hexes, granted a bit strong, but still elementary. It made Ren wonder if he would ever get into Necromancy. Well for now, he had a black magic ritual to attempt.
Create Hex Ritual Attempt: 25 - 41 Black Magic Ritual - 3 Skill Bonus = -19
Again, this ritual was pretty easy as well. Ren tried to create a Hex that would drain a target's abilities and strength, using Force Siphon and Mark of Cursed Tasks as a reference point, since that was something required by Black Magic, something that could grant a feeling for the Hex, as black magic was more about creating the magic literally. And it was a success, Ren managing to make the desired Hex and unlock this newest ritual. Now it was time to use the rest of the afternoon to grind Skills. Namely alot of them with Ren's well thought up plan. A plan that required masochism, but a plan nonetheless.
Once in his back yard, he constructed something called a Training ID. Apparently it made Skill Grinding go about 10% faster, which was nice and something he got at Level 9 ID Create. However, monsters couldn't be spawned inside of it, which was alright as Ren just wanted to Skill Grind for now. As he sat down he called Undine and Garm forth, the two of them invisible when summoned until called upon. "Alright you two, this is what I want you to do, listen very carefully. Garm, you need to bite me as hard as you can. Whenever you bite me, Undine will then heal me, twice if necessary. Ill be using Meditation while also practicing Mana Focus. I'm confident enough that with my high focus score, ill be able to keep that up while I get beat upon and healed..."
Garm, at first, seemed displeased about the fact of not being summoned for combat, but when he heard what he had to do he bared his fangs a little bit, both tails wagging. "Heh, I bite pretty hard, you better not complain if I kill you..."
Maintaining Focus: 1 (Critical)
Maintaining Stamina: 52 - 16 VIT - 15 Focus Crit Bonus = 21
Maintaining focus was incredibly easy for Ren, way too easy. For the rest of the afternoon he meditated, focused his mana, and overall got a good bit done. He only had to take one break, for lunch, but other than that he got the whole afternoon for Skill Grinding. With Undine using her Life Water alot and Garm attacking using his own powers, Ren endured alot of pain and healing. It was incredibly tough, but by the end of it, grinding those skills for nearly eight hours straight, Ren felt like they were much more powerful now and that he could just let them grind naturally when he used them from now on.
It was the evening now, Ren feeling a bit tired, so he decided to try and regain some of his strength while doing a bit reading for the rest of the evening, as he figured he might as well finish off that book while he could still actually learn from the book.
Reading up on Water Magic: 47 - 44 Ritual Water Magic = 3
Ren didn't as easily get the rest as he did before, but he managed to polish off the rest of the book by the time the evening was over. It helped him learn a good bit, giving one more point in Water Magic. He figured that, since it wasn't a Skill Book, then perhaps he could sell it back to the auction or see if Saito wanted it, perhaps a book trade of sorts. Still, after examining his windows, Ren found himself to be a bit disappointed. While it seemed like he made alot of progress, in reality he hadn't grown all that much stronger today. His Skills still weren't entirely that great, yet anyway. He realized from his fight with Garm that his most powerful attack skill was indeed Giga Spiral Bolt as without that and that very lucky Critical Strike he got he may have even lost. Perhaps his INT making him think way too much on this, but he also somewhat realized that his other MP Skills weren't all that useful in a fight, especially from the time with those Hunters.
He knew that tomorrow was a new day though, and that today was just laying the foundations for tomorrow. Still, Saito was indeed right about one thing. Time was the master for their power, without enough time there wasn't really a whole lot Ren could do and he knew that if his plans over the next couple of days didn't work then he would probably be screwed in the upcoming fight.
First thing's first. Ren decided to try communicating with Demons. He was going to get all of the Rituals out of the way in the morning so the rest of the day could be spent Skill grinding. He wanted to up the levels of all of the newer Skills he had today before grinding a bunch tomorrow since if things worked out today like he planned; he would be able to get a good number of new and hopefully powerful Skills. So first was communicating with demons. From the knowledge he obtained from the book it was sort of like any other ritual, but special materials and powers could help.
Using the tools in his Ritual Kit, he first decided to light the braziers with a tiny spark of Eldritch Flame, thinking that the demonic flame may help.
Focus: 35 - 46 Focus - 5 Skill Bonus = -16
It was quite easy to use Eldritch Flame to make just small flames for lighting the five small braziers. Next he decided to use a couple of Imp Claws and Horns in the ritual as well, figuring that if he put one of each in each of the five braziers, hoping that the extra amount of demonic energy would draw forth something particularly strong as he wanted this Skill to get a suitable tank. After the extra preparations were complete, he began the ritual. Of course, he made sure to activate Mana Shield first, figuring that having a shield around him in case whatever he conjured tried to attack him was a good idea, Ren also making a Pseudospace inside of his room also just in case. His dagger was also out as well, as he wanted to be prepared, Undine also summoned and on standby.
Demonology: 4 (Critical)
Instantly the flames flared to life, an eerie, blackish-greenish glow filling the room as all other lights, except for the braziers, dimmed as Ren performed the ritual, hoping to get a strong, although he knew that it wouldn't be all that powerful thanks to he just being a beginner in this. Despite how frightening it all looked, he kept calm as probably thanks to the Gamer's Mind Skill. That, and Ren was a little hard to surprise anyway. Still, the ritual was going supremely well, and Ren could feel as though he had an excellent amount of control over it, so he desired something strong and sturdy, not really knowing else about demons much beyond that.
Well, something did indeed come, but what it was being something Ren didn't recognize. Or more like, a voice came really. The voice spoke to Ren's mind as a dark, green glow emanated from the magic circle he was sitting before.
"So you wish to attain the service of demons, do you mortal? You indeed do have power, the power of demons already within you and you have a delicious smell about you... tell me mortal, why should I serve you?" Now in a burst of dark, green mist a creature appeared from the circle and from it, in a burst of fire, appeared a large and very savage looking dog. Ren was a bit put off by it, but ultimately remained calm. The space of his room changed the moment the beast appeared to some sort of underground, stone cell like area where its walls were lit with braziers holding within them dark Eldritch flame. Still, Ren was glad that he remained calm as suddenly the beast lunged almost instantly, aiming to shred Ren with is powerful, and for some reason glowing, fangs.
Demon Attack: 15
Hit!
Damage Dealt: 40
The fangs went right for his neck, but Ren made a good call on keeping that shield up. The attack hit, but the glowing fangs of the beast bounced harmlessly off of the shield as Ren, knife already in hand, called out "Riposte!" to make an incredibly swift counterattack, this being one that he hadn't used in a while.
Ren Riposte: 42 + 22 Skill Penalty - 25 Melee Weaponry - 14 Skill Bonus = 25
Tie
Ren Luck: 4 (Critical)
Demon Luck: 99 Fumble
Hit! (Critical Hit!)
Damage Dealt: 70
Ren's attack and its dodge were right at the same time, the blade would have barely missed, but the creature fell at the last moment out of just sheer bad luck of stumbling over the carpet with its claws, Ren managing to slam the dagger in the beast at the last given second right in the underside of its neck, making a loud, dog cry escape from it as he dealt a very lucky Critical Strike, quickly rolling away from Ren and standing up now before suddenly Fire began to cloak its fangs and claws. Ren didn't think he would have to melee with this thing, and realized that without a critical strike he probably wouldn't have done much damage, but luckily Undine managed to launch a quick and powerful Water Arrow at the beast, Ren glad that they were not fighting in his room apparently.
Undine Water Arrow: 27
Miss
The Water Arrow missed the demon, who above his head had Garm Lv 16 and above that Hell Hound, the text red indicating it was indeed hostile. Fortunately though, thanks to recent increases in Elemental Affinity and Intelligence, Undine's DEX had grown enough to where she was swift enough to quickly launch another Water Arrow in the next moment, Ren glad that the Water Arrows only took 10 MP.
Undine Water Arrow: 14
Hit!
Damage Dealt: 15
The creature yelped again, dog like, when hit by the second Water Arrow that seemed to have a slight more affect than it should have, growling angrily at both Ren and Undine, who had moved in front of Ren. Ren first used Mana Shield to replenish the nearly broken one. After that then had begun to charge up a Giga Spiral Bolt quite quickly, deciding to quickly put 200 MP into it before launching it at the creature within a few seconds, Ren hoping that the powerful blast would hit.
Unfortunately the creature acted once again, its eyes suddenly turning red as it began to snarl and growl like a beast, its muscles bulging a bit as it looked like it was about to go crazy before it charged at Ren, strength in each step as it jumped straight around Undine, going for the more fleshy target, Ren completely open to Garm's fiery, glowing fangs while he was busy charging the bolt.
Garm Attack: -
Max Damage Hit!
Damage Dealt: 64 (Shield Broken)
Damage Dealt to Ren: 0
The attack hit, and with how pumped up Garm seemed it easily shattered the shield with its mighty, fiery fangs. Somehow or another though the mystical armor, plus Ren's own Resilience, managed to block the last of the attack completely, it feeling more like someone poking him really hard rather than a nasty bite on his shoulder. Undine moved once again, first using Aqua Shield to create a shield of water around Ren for protection before launching another Water Arrow at Garm to try and get the Hell Hound to back off of Ren.
Undine Water Arrow: 71
Miss
The arrow was completely off mark. With the bolt complete though Ren attempted to try and launch it at Garm, which was a bit difficult since Garm was right in front of him and would have an easier time dodging since all he would have to do would be to leap quickly right when Ren let go of it.
Ren Giga Spiral Bolt: 29 - 31 + 25 Proximity Shot = 23
Hit!
Damage Dealt: 376
The bolt barely hit the creature, as it may have been quick, but in this situation the bolt was big and Ren was quicker, slamming the mighty bolt into the creature as it struggled to endure the mighty blast, its HP draining bit by bit with each moment it tried to take the attack. Unfortunately, the bolt soon dwindled, and the creature was still alive by a mere 59 HP. Ren figured he could do this, but suddenly a voice entered his mind, the demon seeming to speak to him.
"That's enough, you are plenty strong."
His voice was gruff and coarse, but easily understandable enough.
"I am Garm, I only serve those stronger than me. You are stronger than me Summoner, and thus I shall serve you." The creature walked forward, suddenly biting Ren on the wrist, but not aggressively, just enough to where it still indeed hurt thanks to how strong its fangs were, Ren quickly drawing his wrist back before suddenly his eyes widened, pain coursing through his body as he fell to his knees, trying to contain how much it hurt as a mark began to form on his right wrist.
Soon enough though the pain stopped, Ren panting heavily as the eldritch flame scalding the mark into his wrist ceased, Ren looking at the new marking that had appeared upon him. It was some sort of intricate pattern around his wrist, with at the center, like some kind of bracelet, was the five pointed demonic pentagram.
"Congrats mortal, you are now a Summoner. Call upon me whenever you fight other strong foes." With that, the hound disappeared, the space also vanishing as Ren found himself back in his room.
"Well... that was nothing like an Elemental Contract..." Ren took the moment to look at the new windows that had appeared, examining the newest Skill he obtained. It was nice, Demon Summoning apparently working differently from Elemental Summoning. "So Summoned Demons don't have an MP pool, but all of their abilities drain their own Demonic Force or... HP apparently... but the Skill itself uses a good bit of MP and HP per minute..." Ren sighed, glad that there was still the rest of this day, then two and a half more after that before the Quest as he had a good bit of work to do. This was incredibly entertaining for sure, but there were also times when it felt like work, but then again all grinding felt like work in any game, even if it was fun.
With half the morning gone already from that tough battle, as Ren had to use Meditation to quickly recuperate his MP, having Garm summoned and Mana Shield active during this as even then regenerating his MP back to full only took five minutes, Ren decided that regenerating his MP could wait as he wanted to get the next ritual out of the way. The next Water Magic Ritual. Apparently, according to what knowledge was gained from the book, it was a ritual called Elemental Empowerment, and its primary use was empowering things with elemental force, but it could also be used to strengthen contracted Elementals if one had Essence to use. He would normally power up Undine, but he wanted to wait until he had some better quality Water Essence from Water Elemental drops. Instead, he decided to see about unlocking the ritual for a different purpose.
After setting everything up, keeping Gram summoned and using Undine's 'Life Water' to heal himself after a bit of HP was deducted, Mana Shield being deactivated, Ren began the ritual, putting his knife in the circle as he decided to see about empowering that.
Elemental Empowerment Ritual Attempt: 10 - 44 Ritual Water Magic - 3 Skill Bonus = -37
The ritual was incredibly easy to pull off, Undine's power being required here as suddenly the blade of the knife began to glow with a blue light for several moments before the blade became covered in water, the water disappearing before the same symbol for water that was on Ren's left hand whenever Undine was summoned appeared on the blade now. After the ritual was complete, this taking a good bit of time since rituals weren't always instant, alot of meditation, the Meditation Skill helping here, and incantations were involved and all of that other good stuff, Ren looked at the newest windows that appeared for him, admiring the new Skill he received.
One more Ritual, then Ren would have all three rituals completed, the morning gone and Ren now working into the afternoon on this. The next of the beginner rituals for Black Magic. Hex forging. A bit different than the Black Marks, as this was more like Lucian's Nature Powers, not that Ren knew how they worked, in that they were temporary abilities with limited usages. Black Marks were like elementary hexes, granted a bit strong, but still elementary. It made Ren wonder if he would ever get into Necromancy. Well for now, he had a black magic ritual to attempt.
Create Hex Ritual Attempt: 25 - 41 Black Magic Ritual - 3 Skill Bonus = -19
Again, this ritual was pretty easy as well. Ren tried to create a Hex that would drain a target's abilities and strength, using Force Siphon and Mark of Cursed Tasks as a reference point, since that was something required by Black Magic, something that could grant a feeling for the Hex, as black magic was more about creating the magic literally. And it was a success, Ren managing to make the desired Hex and unlock this newest ritual. Now it was time to use the rest of the afternoon to grind Skills. Namely alot of them with Ren's well thought up plan. A plan that required masochism, but a plan nonetheless.
Once in his back yard, he constructed something called a Training ID. Apparently it made Skill Grinding go about 10% faster, which was nice and something he got at Level 9 ID Create. However, monsters couldn't be spawned inside of it, which was alright as Ren just wanted to Skill Grind for now. As he sat down he called Undine and Garm forth, the two of them invisible when summoned until called upon. "Alright you two, this is what I want you to do, listen very carefully. Garm, you need to bite me as hard as you can. Whenever you bite me, Undine will then heal me, twice if necessary. Ill be using Meditation while also practicing Mana Focus. I'm confident enough that with my high focus score, ill be able to keep that up while I get beat upon and healed..."
Garm, at first, seemed displeased about the fact of not being summoned for combat, but when he heard what he had to do he bared his fangs a little bit, both tails wagging. "Heh, I bite pretty hard, you better not complain if I kill you..."
Maintaining Focus: 1 (Critical)
Maintaining Stamina: 52 - 16 VIT - 15 Focus Crit Bonus = 21
Maintaining focus was incredibly easy for Ren, way too easy. For the rest of the afternoon he meditated, focused his mana, and overall got a good bit done. He only had to take one break, for lunch, but other than that he got the whole afternoon for Skill Grinding. With Undine using her Life Water alot and Garm attacking using his own powers, Ren endured alot of pain and healing. It was incredibly tough, but by the end of it, grinding those skills for nearly eight hours straight, Ren felt like they were much more powerful now and that he could just let them grind naturally when he used them from now on.
It was the evening now, Ren feeling a bit tired, so he decided to try and regain some of his strength while doing a bit reading for the rest of the evening, as he figured he might as well finish off that book while he could still actually learn from the book.
Reading up on Water Magic: 47 - 44 Ritual Water Magic = 3
Ren didn't as easily get the rest as he did before, but he managed to polish off the rest of the book by the time the evening was over. It helped him learn a good bit, giving one more point in Water Magic. He figured that, since it wasn't a Skill Book, then perhaps he could sell it back to the auction or see if Saito wanted it, perhaps a book trade of sorts. Still, after examining his windows, Ren found himself to be a bit disappointed. While it seemed like he made alot of progress, in reality he hadn't grown all that much stronger today. His Skills still weren't entirely that great, yet anyway. He realized from his fight with Garm that his most powerful attack skill was indeed Giga Spiral Bolt as without that and that very lucky Critical Strike he got he may have even lost. Perhaps his INT making him think way too much on this, but he also somewhat realized that his other MP Skills weren't all that useful in a fight, especially from the time with those Hunters.
He knew that tomorrow was a new day though, and that today was just laying the foundations for tomorrow. Still, Saito was indeed right about one thing. Time was the master for their power, without enough time there wasn't really a whole lot Ren could do and he knew that if his plans over the next couple of days didn't work then he would probably be screwed in the upcoming fight.
Thursday for day 2 the quest deadline is Sunday midnight
Ah crap, I need to post, gonna do that shortly.
He could do so after Kendo practice.
And just cause it was hilarious how many times Mike fumbled, ill give the hint at for the special creating a sword of energy that Mike wants its a good thing he is learning the Seishin no Ken, that's all I am gonna say (he could probably ask Keiichi for advice if he wanted to).
Mike finally sort of succeeded (you would have had to get a -10 to get what you exactly wanted, spoiler alert, since Mike doesn't actually have any explicit Mana abilities). Many of the Skills you get also depend upon your character's build. Mike got a more spirit based version of mana manipulation. While it may not let him make fancily shaped mana projectiles (as Spirit Energy, even though it is technically Mana for the gamers, isn't very malleable and this is a Spirit Energy controlling technique), it should still allow him to do several of the things he wants to (including making a spirit sword kinda like Kuwabara's from Yu Yu Hakusho) and it will provide some nice buffs to his spirit techniques (as Mike's current skillset is more based upon Spirit Energy (even though for the Gamers its all MP).
Mike is using Spirit Energy
Ren is using Mana.
Lucian is using both Spirit Energy and Mana.
Sasha is using Mana and Ki
Erica seems to be using just Spirit Energy for now (and even then she seems to be barely using that, just going for physical techniques, which there is nothing wrong with as there are plenty of people in the Abyss who don't really use any form of Energy, like that Armored hunter from before, he didn't use any form of Energy).
and Silas is using just Ki.
while the Gamer power turns it all into Mana, there are still differences in how the Skills work.
Mike is using Spirit Energy
Ren is using Mana.
Lucian is using both Spirit Energy and Mana.
Sasha is using Mana and Ki
Erica seems to be using just Spirit Energy for now (and even then she seems to be barely using that, just going for physical techniques, which there is nothing wrong with as there are plenty of people in the Abyss who don't really use any form of Energy, like that Armored hunter from before, he didn't use any form of Energy).
and Silas is using just Ki.
while the Gamer power turns it all into Mana, there are still differences in how the Skills work.
After getting up, the first thing Mike did, now that his Stats were all a bit higher, was learn the Skill from the Scroll that Keiichi had given him. Upon touching it once again, as if to use it, he got that same window asking him if he would like to learn the 'Seishin no Ken: Tamashī no Ha' that came up before. Only this time, when he did indeed press the 'yes' button, the scroll began to glow and vanish as glowing, yellow scraps of what looked like ethereal paper flowed into him and through him, the scroll disappearing as he was filled with the knowledge and ability needed to perform the Skill that was described within the scroll. It truly was a strange feeling.
Upon using the Skill Scroll, the following windows appeared once it was gone after a couple of seconds. They stated the following.
After that, instead of fighting Zombies since there was no time since he got up a bit later than he did yesterday, that nasty Plague affect from before having been healed after he woke up, it was time for school.
School (Studying): 3 (Critical)
Mike learned alot in school today as there had been alot to cover. There was even a surprise quiz. And while it may have seemed a bit difficult, Mike somehow remembered everything that was on the quiz, his knowledge really showing through as he could feel as though he aced it, having known the material despite having only been at the school for a few days. After the quiz, and the school day itself as it was in his last period, were over the following windows appeared.
He did indeed feel smarter, and with 8 Knowledge he was now only 2 points away from the requirement for learning the Divination Skill Book, a Knowledge of 10 being the requirement to learn that Skill. After school though came Kendo Club, Mike getting to meet everyone once again now that he wasn't looking like death itself, as the disease did make him look a good bit pale by the end of the day. After being formally introduced into the Kendo club, practice began. Ishimaru was a very good captain and instructor. Despite his incredibly strict, serious, and sometimes spartan ways he commanded and garnered alot of respect, especially with how he treated everyone in the club with the utmost respect and honor, almost like a Samuari of the old days of Feudal Japerica.
Kendo Club Practice (Vit): 83 - 20 = 63
Kendo Club Practice (Seishin no Ken): 88 - 17 Seishin no Ken = 71
Today did indeed feel like an intro day. The senpais of the club were all very experienced. Probably not Abyss Level, but they were good enough to where a good number of them were Levels 2 to 4. Mike lost most of the sparring matches he had with the senpais that day and got tired at several points during the club, but all in all they admired his spirit if anything else, some of them giving advice, or more like Keiichi, that Mike needed to improve his form and speed and also advice such as 'Strength isn't everything' as Mike was probably stronger than all of the senpais here, but would probably learn a lesson that all of the strength in the world didn't even matter if your attacks can't connect, or so one of the senpais mentioned after the practice was over anyway.
So while Mike may not have improved from this practice, he still indeed learned something that day. After that, he went home to spend a bit of time in the evening grinding some more Zombies with the newest of his Skills and Zandaka.
Mike did a bit better than the 8 Zombies that appeared this time, his newly acquired Skill being a good bit powerful to. Unfortunately each Zombie was only giving him 1 XP a piece now, meaning that leveling on these guys was going to take a while. Not only that, but Mike would also discover that grinding these much weaker enemies was also somewhat slowing his Skill grinding as well. Only his newest Skill leveled, and it only leveled once. It was pretty powerful, and grinding it on weak enemies plus its probably slower leveling rate made it a bit difficult to level in this scenario.
After recuperating a bit, Meditation helping recover his lost MP, Mike tried one more time. Mike fought much better this time than the time before against the 9 Zombies that appeared. Needless to say, Mike won and gained one more level at 250 EXP. Now that he was 4 levels above the Zombies though, he would probably have to find a new, tougher enemy to start grinding for XP though. The good news is though that Zandaka, Tamashī no Ha, and Katana Mastery did level up once more, and upon Katana Mastery hitting 10 he got +1 DEX and +1 to his Seishin no Ken Talent.
Other than all of that though, it was a day of decent progress, with the finale of it being Mike attempting to manipulate his Mana.
Mike Focus: 46 - 35 Focus - 6 Spirit Channel Bonus = 5
Mike could feel it working this time. Everything he learned about energy from his practice with the Seishin no Ken helping him in this scenario. He felt as though he had a really good grasp upon controlling his internal energies this time, only instead of Mana, while he was controlling Mana, it felt different than that. Still, he did feel as though he had something good happening as green energy, instead of blue like Mana, began to slowly come from his hands as he tried to control it. While shaping it to his will at the moment felt impossible as the energy didn't really feel malleable, Mike would still feel as though he had control of it as his MP was dropping like a rock in the water.
After a few moments of intense concentration Mike had no choice but to break it, two new windows appearing for him.
That attempt though was thoroughly exhausting, and with it already being quite late, there would be little else to do other than heading to bed lest your parents grow suspicious and worried as to why you are staying up so late.
Upon using the Skill Scroll, the following windows appeared once it was gone after a couple of seconds. They stated the following.
After that, instead of fighting Zombies since there was no time since he got up a bit later than he did yesterday, that nasty Plague affect from before having been healed after he woke up, it was time for school.
School (Studying): 3 (Critical)
Mike learned alot in school today as there had been alot to cover. There was even a surprise quiz. And while it may have seemed a bit difficult, Mike somehow remembered everything that was on the quiz, his knowledge really showing through as he could feel as though he aced it, having known the material despite having only been at the school for a few days. After the quiz, and the school day itself as it was in his last period, were over the following windows appeared.
He did indeed feel smarter, and with 8 Knowledge he was now only 2 points away from the requirement for learning the Divination Skill Book, a Knowledge of 10 being the requirement to learn that Skill. After school though came Kendo Club, Mike getting to meet everyone once again now that he wasn't looking like death itself, as the disease did make him look a good bit pale by the end of the day. After being formally introduced into the Kendo club, practice began. Ishimaru was a very good captain and instructor. Despite his incredibly strict, serious, and sometimes spartan ways he commanded and garnered alot of respect, especially with how he treated everyone in the club with the utmost respect and honor, almost like a Samuari of the old days of Feudal Japerica.
Kendo Club Practice (Vit): 83 - 20 = 63
Kendo Club Practice (Seishin no Ken): 88 - 17 Seishin no Ken = 71
Today did indeed feel like an intro day. The senpais of the club were all very experienced. Probably not Abyss Level, but they were good enough to where a good number of them were Levels 2 to 4. Mike lost most of the sparring matches he had with the senpais that day and got tired at several points during the club, but all in all they admired his spirit if anything else, some of them giving advice, or more like Keiichi, that Mike needed to improve his form and speed and also advice such as 'Strength isn't everything' as Mike was probably stronger than all of the senpais here, but would probably learn a lesson that all of the strength in the world didn't even matter if your attacks can't connect, or so one of the senpais mentioned after the practice was over anyway.
So while Mike may not have improved from this practice, he still indeed learned something that day. After that, he went home to spend a bit of time in the evening grinding some more Zombies with the newest of his Skills and Zandaka.
Mike did a bit better than the 8 Zombies that appeared this time, his newly acquired Skill being a good bit powerful to. Unfortunately each Zombie was only giving him 1 XP a piece now, meaning that leveling on these guys was going to take a while. Not only that, but Mike would also discover that grinding these much weaker enemies was also somewhat slowing his Skill grinding as well. Only his newest Skill leveled, and it only leveled once. It was pretty powerful, and grinding it on weak enemies plus its probably slower leveling rate made it a bit difficult to level in this scenario.
After recuperating a bit, Meditation helping recover his lost MP, Mike tried one more time. Mike fought much better this time than the time before against the 9 Zombies that appeared. Needless to say, Mike won and gained one more level at 250 EXP. Now that he was 4 levels above the Zombies though, he would probably have to find a new, tougher enemy to start grinding for XP though. The good news is though that Zandaka, Tamashī no Ha, and Katana Mastery did level up once more, and upon Katana Mastery hitting 10 he got +1 DEX and +1 to his Seishin no Ken Talent.
Other than all of that though, it was a day of decent progress, with the finale of it being Mike attempting to manipulate his Mana.
Mike Focus: 46 - 35 Focus - 6 Spirit Channel Bonus = 5
Mike could feel it working this time. Everything he learned about energy from his practice with the Seishin no Ken helping him in this scenario. He felt as though he had a really good grasp upon controlling his internal energies this time, only instead of Mana, while he was controlling Mana, it felt different than that. Still, he did feel as though he had something good happening as green energy, instead of blue like Mana, began to slowly come from his hands as he tried to control it. While shaping it to his will at the moment felt impossible as the energy didn't really feel malleable, Mike would still feel as though he had control of it as his MP was dropping like a rock in the water.
After a few moments of intense concentration Mike had no choice but to break it, two new windows appearing for him.
That attempt though was thoroughly exhausting, and with it already being quite late, there would be little else to do other than heading to bed lest your parents grow suspicious and worried as to why you are staying up so late.
Alright. Lets see if Mike can succeed.
But right now, accomplishing this will be next to impossible for Mike unless you can come up with a really good explanation on how Mike would accomplish this with the Skills he currently has. If you can come up with it, ill allow it.
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