Rei Amagi vs Team Bloodhound
(I'd draw some cool picture if I could)
An hour had passed. Rei felt confident in his progress. He had passed by a total of two camps about forty-five minutes after leaving the New Gamers. The first he destroyed the Flag Pole and took it.
The second is currently owned by Team Bloodhound and there were five people there. Two Level 13's, and a Level 14, and two Level 16's. Judging by their classes, they had a good setup as well. A Dabbler, an Archer, and a Fighter were the three lower leveled ones. The two higher leveled ones were a Cleric and a Pyro-Mage.
"
Job Advancement system perhaps? These different classes all seem to be above Level 15, so perhaps that is when they get a Job Advancement."
Rei thought of going to attack, but decided to wait. Perhaps they would leave a couple of people soon. So he decided to head further away from this camp, getting a good five hundred yards or so away. He figured with his speed, he could run back in about a five minutes or so. He figured he would train a bit more for an extra thirty minutes and then, if there were less people in the camp, go to attack. At least knock them out or something. He had no intention of killing them, and perhaps hoped that he could get them to abandon their camp instead and leave this area.
Well he could also heal them if things came down to it, although he was unsure if his new Spiritual Rejuvenation Skill could heal other people like the previous
Spiritual Regeneration could. Well he had potions as well if need be.
Besides, by defeating them, he could get them to leave and potentially make them less of a threat. Make them abandon these games perhaps. If leaving was even allowed of course. Regardless, they had to go. Even thirty minutes away by normal person's speed could be less for someone who could run faster than standard humans. In fact, with Rei's Movement Speed, he figured he could actually cover said five hundred yards in about one minute actually if he ran at full speed without stopping.
"
The previous me would have taken ten times that time. I may have had a small bit of fighting, but I wasn't exactly known for long strides".
The thirty minutes passed. He ran back in one, using that last minute to recover what he had recovered during a few minutes of rest after his training had concluded. With his high
Regeneration and
Tenacity, it would take a bit more than a five hundred yard run and thirty minutes of training to get fatigued. Once he was about fifty yards away he hid, climbing atop one of the small stores that gave him a view of the Square.
This particular camp was in a shopping area, the Market, and the camp was in the Market Square, which was a very large circle surrounded by all various stores with roads that lead through it in the four cardinal directions. It is always very lively when its Festival Time. This is also where those who lived at Neo-Tokyo U or went to the Gekkoukan Dorms also often came to shop for Groceries, or eat out and some of the small cafes and restaurants, so it is a nice place for any and all students.
Because the southern part of Port Island was connected to the Business District, the southern area was a nice place to set up a Market District, so that way if people needed to additional shopping for groceries or other such things then they could just come down to the South Station, come to the island, and then take a trip to the Market Square by bus, bike, or foot. Or Car if you drove from the bridge, but then good luck finding parking. The station was another fifteen minutes he figured at the pace he had been moving.
Short spurts of intense grinding, with using his new Skill to speed up his restoration as he ran forward at full speed, which allowed him to work his
Fluid Fighting a bit more since that Skill was his
Movement ability. There were even other abilities he had that he could just grind on the run as well, so it all worked out. After all, while Rei was trying to avoid people, he wasn't going for total stealth unless he saw people on the mini-map.
Just as he hoped, two people had left. Their Archer and the spear wielding Fighter. Meaning all they had left were two casters and a Tank to defend their camp. The Cleric was indeed wearing some heavy looking armor, but it didn't look as heavy as Durin's. She was also wielding a Longsword instead of a Mace, and a Medium Shield instead of Durin's very heavy Tower Shield.
"
A Cleric that most likely focuses more on fighting..." is what Rei thought as he spied on the group from a vantage point atop a distant store. He figured he could move in by moving from store top to store top. Force the Mages to waste their Mana with ranged spells, and then quickly jump down to the Cleric or, if the Cleric refused to come up, range them from afar.
Of course, climbing up the back had been hard. Luckily he used the alleyway between shops to climb up, and the stores weren't too high. It still took a couple of minutes though. Quite annoying really. Perhaps investing in the newly available Climbing Skill may not be too bad of an idea. Maybe later, after he worked at it to reduce it down to 3 AP.
"
It really should be cheaper... but what can you do?"
Luckily moving from close roof-top to close roof-top was alot easier than climbing up the sides of two close together buildings, and so far they hadn't noticed. He did make sure to duck low after all. Unlocking Stealth later definitely was a good option in Rei's eyes.
Perhaps he could combine all of these Movement related Skill to get a Skill that lets him completely move around the terrain however he wished. Rather than flying, being able to jump from wall to wall or shimmy up a surface in a matter of seconds seemed alot more advantageous in close combat, or even combine Stealth with his current fighting ability to be able to just vanish out of a person's view with a few swift steps and come right up behind them for a huge Sneak Attack.
Cutting himself from his thoughts of all of the interesting combinations of Skills and the infinite possibilities they presented, Rei brought himself back to the present task at hand. Capturing this camp.
"
If anything, that Guardian will be a problem..."
Team Bloodhound Guardian
Orc Shaman Initiate Lv 18
It looked very similar to the Axman in appearance that they were both Orcs, only it was wearing a Robe and wielding a staff that appeared to be made of a gnarled oak branch. It also had a hefty, crude longsword upon its waist. The Camp itself was situated in the center of the two lane, four way intersection. Rei, from the building he is on, is about thirty yards away from the flag, watching as the Dabbler finished off a Spirit with a Mana Missile, clearing them of monsters.
"
But if I capture this camp, perhaps I can send this Guardian back to Base Camp".
Rei gives a nod, drawing an arrow from the Quiver upon his back after creeping back a storefront. He wasn't trying to hit anything in the camp, but rather just get the Arrow into the camp. Luckily Rei had enough time to Observe them with his
Assess Target Skill. The Dabbler was half down on Mana, the Cleric at 75%, and the Pyro Mage at 60%. Their Health didn't take too much of a hit. They all had some rather interesting Skills as well. Rei was especially interested in that Mana Shield Skill that Dabbler exhibited, and the Pyro Mage's Fire Arrow also seemed interesting.
"
Materia Charge. Summon Aqua Elemental".
Perhaps Stealth could give him an ability that let him use Skills silently. Because there is no way they didn't hear that. He can tell as he hears a loud "Who's there!" from the Cleric as they look in his direction.
Regardless, blue static surrounds the arrow he is clutching as his gauntlets glow.
"
So much for the element of surprise" Rei thinks to himself as he quickly steps forward now, being in view atop the storefront, as he lets loose the arrow towards the Pyro Mage. He loved his Projectile Accuracy Skill. Sure it didn't give him huge bonuses and grinding it took forever, but it was there for all of his projectiles and perfect if he ever wanted to use a Bow for any reason.
Delivering Magic to an opponent is always a perfect reason. Plus, despite the Pyro Mage being 25 yards away from him, he was shooting from a higher point. That made it a bit easier to hit opponents even if they are further away. Let Gravity guide the shot. Even Rei knew this despite not having too much practice with a Bow. He had a bit, as that was how he got his special Passive, but not much. That, and all of the practice he had with firing other projectile attacks helped.
The arrow hit its target dead on, imbuing itself in the Pyro Mage's side as he let out a loud cry of pain. Rei could see the blood from the wound, and just clenched his fist around the bow as it did. Luckily the arrow did not stay in for long, as suddenly it disintegrates into a flash of blue static, the static starting to swirl around right next to the Pyro Mage before soon enough,
half a humanoid shape made of what he assumes is flowing, moving water was sitting next to the Pyro Mage, who's eyes widened.
The other two were also surprised.
"
W-What? A Magic Arrow from a Spirit Fighter?" Now the Cleric is confused as she quickly readies her weapons.
Rei may not have been able to surprise them, but he was still fast enough to do one more thing. He quickly drops the bow, taking out four more arrows from his quiver, two in each hand. Both of his hands now are covered in flashes of blue static, the arrows quickly disintegrating at its presence, two magical arrows being conjured as both fly right into the Pyro Mage, blasting him dead on in the torso, which makes him cry out in more pain.
Right as the Elemental, who was conjured right next to the Pyro Mage, comes into existence, right after Rei's two magical arrows slam into the Pyro Mage, the being of Aqua Essence acts now, although right before it can act a spinning arrow of magical energy blasts at the creature first from the Flag Pole.
A very nasty
59 Damage is dealt to the mystical creature, but that doesn't stop it as its arm seems to shift a bit to look like a blade, the arm being slashed. It gets dead on right in the Pyro's torso, striking his weak points as a
40 Critical! is dealt to the Mage. Fortunately, or mayhaps unfortunately depending on how one looks at it, this doesn't finish the Pyro Mage off.
Instead it prompts the Bloodhounds to attack back. Right away the Cleric turns, since she doesn't have any ranged attacks, and charges the Elemental, shouting "
SMITE!" as she does so, her feet glowing green for a moment in the process as she moves with enhanced speed. Her sword glows in a white light as she brings the sword down on the beast.
Unfortunately her first attack missed, the elemental shifting its ethereal form out of the way of the blade but she went on with two more strikes of her glowing sword. The next slash hit dead on, slicing through the creature. It didn't look too effective, but it was still somewhat effective, especially the holy power on the sword.
"
Attack Ama_Rei, I have this" shouts the Cleric as her third strike missed its target, the Elemental shifting its body once again.
Honestly Rei had not been expecting the Elemental to last this long. Perhaps there is more merit to Summons than he originally thought. Well he knew they were good, but perhaps they were worth investing more time in. He didn't want to rely on them of course, but in the end a good Secondary is a good Secondary and should be trained just as the rest of his abilities.
The Pyro Mage moved first, attempting to move away from the Elemental and closer to Rei to get into better range first. Fortunately for the Mage, and unfortunately for the Elemental, the creature missed its target as it moved. The Pyro Mage now aimed his staff towards Rei and began to chant. The Orc Shaman also raised its staff and aimed towards Rei as well.
As he began to chant, the Dabbler moved to cast a Mana Missile right towards Rei. The skillfully aimed magical projectile slammed into Rei full on, much to the Dabbler's happiness. But to Rei it didn't hurt that much. Sure 21 Damage, not that they could tell (But Rei doesn't know that), to some wouldn't be too bad, but for Rei it wasn't much and he didn't react, gritting his teeth to keep up the silence.
"
Oh Blazing Flame. Gather to my Hand and Pierce mine Enemy! Flame Arrow!"
"
So real Magic uses actual Incantations huh?"
This is Rei's thought as he watches the poorly aimed Flame Arrow sail right past his head, much to the Pyro Mage's chagrin. He had seen him using that Flame Arrow when he watched the enemies fight, but Rei didn't hear him incant it then. He guessed perhaps this Mage had the option, and an Incantation made it stronger. A window did appear as Rei made this assumption, but like a good UI it would be minimized in the corner of his vision for his reading chance later when he got a quick chance.
The Orc finished casting its spell as well, a flash of blue static appearing around it as Rei's eyes widened. There was no dodging it. It was too fast. Rei grit his teeth together as hard as he could, a loud, pained sound still escaping from him as a bolt of lighting shot right into him. This dealt 60 Damage, and was nearly impossible to dodge. Fortunately Rei managed to resist being Stunned for the most part as he focused his physical essence and fought off the surging lightning trying to paralyze his body.
"
Damn... that was... powerful. This Guardian is definitely better than that Axman".
Now Rei decided to keep at it. Drawing three arrows this time. One in one hand, two in the other. This Magic wasn't as well done as the previous ones, but it still worked well enough. Both Magical Arrows slammed into both targets. The first into the Pyro Mage, which made him cry out in pain as he was thrown back, falling unconscious now. Even that not too properly created Magical Arrow was enough to take him down.
The second, stronger arrow, found its target. It dealt 11 Damage. Not a whole lot, but considering her low HP as a lower leveled character, it would still be alot. And Rei wasn't done yet either, as just as soon as he launched the first two arrows he moved quickly, he drew four more Arrows from his Quiver and used the same Magic. Rei's priority was to take down all of the ranged fighters, including that Guardian, before jumping down there to deal with the Cleric.
This time the Magic is much more properly executed, the full glowing magical arrows conjured as both are launched right at the Dabbler. The first one hit dead on, the second one not so much. It still hit though, mainly because the Dabbler didn't really know how to more properly dodge, just trying to get out of the way with just speed. Sure that could work, but with a properly aimed Magical Arrow, not so much.
With the Pyro Mage down, the Elemental decides to turn its focus towards the Cleric. That was one annoying thing about this Skill. Rei is unable to actually command the creatures he summons, so they just fight how they want to until they are either killed or leave.
"
Perhaps an Advancement or a Supplemental Advancement could fix that".
Because Rei would much rather have it go after the Dabbler.
Still, it did do something nice. It shifted its arm as usual, but the sword like arm flashed with those same static like particles as the Aqua Slash seemed to be thrown with much more impact than usual towards the Cleric. The much stronger attack manages to slip right through the Cleric's defenses, slashing the Cleric dead on as she lets out a cringe of pain. She could handle her pain well as the slash deals her a hefty 37 Damage. She definitely didn't have Durin's Defense.
It now does one more slash with its other hand as an offhand attack of sorts, but without the power boost to this one. It still gets right past the Cleric's defenses though, with a bit more precision than last time, but the dead on slash across her torso is the same. Just 22 Damage this time, which is still good. Plus... perhaps keeping the Cleric from using any special abilities or the like wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Now Team Bloodhound acts. The Cleric, wanting to finish off the Elemental, slashes it one more time. The holy blade easily cleaves through the Elemental, hewing it in two before it vanishes and fades away in a flash of blue, glitchy static. Now she thrusts her hand towards the Dabbler as the glow around her sword faded away with that last strike.
"
Blessing of Protection!"
She barely got it right, a thin veil of light appearing around the Dabbler before forming over her like a second skin. Rei assumes, based on the name, that this would raise the Dabbler's defenses. And another window appeared in the corner of his vision because of this, minimized of course.
Of course, the Orc began to channel Magic once again as the Dabbler quickly launches another Mana Missile towards Rei. Unlike the first one, Rei manages to deftly sidestep this one. Unfortunately this makes Rei sidestep right into the lightning bolt, making him cry out loudly in pain as he drops to one knee, momentarily stunned.
This allows the enemies to take advantage of this, both a Mana Missile and another Lightning Bolt heading right for Rei's way. Both hit, a total of 80 Damage dealt. Furthermore the Cleric seemed to move to the flagpole now.
This went from good, to bad, in just a split second. Rei began to wonder if he should retreat, but shook his head as he decides to quickly chug a potion as he stands up from his kneeling position, tossing the bottle aside right as suddenly a magical bolt shot from the cleric's hand as the magic of the pole traveled from the pole through the Cleric, nailing Rei straight in the chest. It didn't even stop Rei though, doing no damage for some reason, as he quickly drew four more arrows from his quiver.
The Magic was done well, and the arrows were then launched, both of them heading for the Dabbler as Rei is uncertain whether or not a single Arrow can finish off the Dabbler thanks to the
Blessing of Protection placed upon her by the Cleric. Both of them hit dead on, the first knocking the Dabbler's HP low, with the second knocking her out.
"
I can keep this up all day you know, you might as well surrender!" Calls out Rei right as he sees the Dabbler fall to the ground unconscious. With her other party members unconscious, Rei hoped that the Cleric would give up. But it seems like she wouldn't. Instead she chose to apply that same
Blessing of Protection to the Guardian as she began to move towards her teammates. It worked, that same veil forming over the Guardian who now launched yet another bolt of Lightning at Rei, who wondered how many times it could use that ability.
It had 200 MP, and each one used 50 MP apparently, so this would be the last. And just like the previous three, there is little Rei can do to dodge this one, getting hit square on for another large chunk of damage.
"
I have to go in there now. The Orc is low on MP and that Cleric may start to try and heal her Teammates". Rei hops down now from the storefront, and hoped to tumble to dodge the blast, but doesn't land too gracefully. Luckily he didn't take too much damage since the storefront is only twenty feet high or so, and Rei has plenty of leg strength. He only took 28 Damage from said fall. It hurt, but he endured it as he moves a couple yards forward, now standing twenty yards from both targets. Thankfully the blast he was hoping to dodge missed.
Rei chugs down one of his two Rejuvenation potions instead, needing both energies. Unfortunately recovering from his fall took a moment, so it gave the Orc and Cleric some time. The Cleric puts the same Blessing on herself, a yellow veil forming around her as she is now standing right above the Pyro Mage. The Orc, in the meantime, shot the last of its remaining Mana as yet another Lightning Bolt right towards Rei.
And just like the other four it hits, Rei crying out once again, but manages to stay on both feet. Instead of drinking another potion now though he charges towards the Cleric. He goes for a chop, but chants "
Set 1!" as his equipment changes, the dark green blade appearing now from his hand, which wasn't what the Cleric had been expecting. Fortunately it was enough to throw her off guard for this first strike.
Which bites in deeply, bypassing her defenses and armor with ease as a nasty 31 is dealt of the physical, in addition to the immolation affect, which is actually reduced by the holy protection, which makes Rei narrow his eyes. He doesn't stop there though, executing his offhand attack. This attack is much more grazing than the last, barely getting past the shield, her armor completely negating the attack which means the Immolation affect doesn't occur.
Rei doesn't stop there though, spinning low to try a rising upward slash using his size, flexibility, and mobility. The rising strike works, and cuts in deep. It still only deals 35 Damage though, plus the 5 Immolation Damage.
"
Her Defense is good. I may have underestimated her. Regardless, 95 Health left. Keep going".
Rei, with his other hand, does a cross slash, hitting her right where it hurt, for four more point of Physical Damage than last time since her armor is taking damage with each strike plus Rei's ability to link combos together. Rei decides to go all out, for a third two handed flurry. The first of these attacks is more than successful, striking deeply for just another point more than last time. This makes the Cleric, who had been gritting her teeth through each bloody slash and burning cut, to cry out loudly as she falls to the flurry, still alive fortunately. Which is good. Rei had no intention to kill them.
All that is left is the Guardian. The Guardian draws its sword as its staff glows, resonating with a blue glow from the flag pole, before now another Lightning Bolt is launched.
"
Is this its Ability?!" Is what goes through Rei's mind as he cries out in pain, managing to fortunately stay on both feet though. He had no choice, Rei had to act now. He chugs his last Rejuvenation Potion and another Health Potion, quickly tossing both bottles aside now as he readies himself. This gives the Orc enough time to quickly draw its Longsword and charge forward, throwing its first slash of the heavy, large blade.
Fortunately, since it was a charge attack, Rei is able to put both swords up and parry the blow back, but the creature is skilled enough with the heavy blade to get in one more swift slash. Which Rei parries aside with relative ease and now begins his counterattack, deciding to go all out now. He decides to not use any Skills and instead wants to attempt a six hit combo on this Orc.
Unfortunately thanks to the Protection still on it, this thing also has higher defenses, taking only
42 +
5 Damage from the creature. Rei doesn't stop there though. He keeps going with a swift offhand strike. Which bites just as deeply, plus an extra four Damage. The next one to easily slips past its Guard and bites in deeply as well for that same extra damage. His second offhand attack comes quickly as his first, and bites just as hard.
His third main attack, unfortunately, misses as it is parried aside, but that doesn't mean Rei stops there as he goes in for one final push with his offhand. It hits, but the attack is mostly blocked, and thanks to the holy protection it bounces right off, ending Rei's attack as now the Orc decides to move back from Rei as its staff glows along with the Flag Pole.
This spontaneous attack bites not as deeply as the last attacks, but still rather deep nonetheless. This doesn't deter the Orc though, who, once far back enough out of Rei's range, has its staff glow with the Flag Pole, a greenish-red light washing over the creature now as it seems to growl a low growl as its muscles swell slightly and 50
HP is restored, which is fine since the ability takes 75
MP anyway, which meant the creature lost 25
HP.
Rei quickly charges in, performing a slash towards the creature. The first strike is parried. The second goes horribly, the Orc easily parrying aside both of Rei's arms with ease as it goes for its own chance attack. The swing is too wide, however; and it missteps, allowing Rei to get in a Chance Attack now.
Fortunately it misses, and instead of continuing his Attack, Rei quickly goes for a "
Repulse Kick!" to try and throw the heavy beast back. The glowing kick is more than successful. Unfortunately for the Orc, it is pushed back a good ten yards by the powerful strike, which meant that it wasn't right in front of Rei anymore. So now instead it charges once again. And like before, it is parried both times, the Orc snarling as it grows more frustrated.
And now Rei attacks. 21 + 5, 25 + 5, 11 + 5, unfortunately parried, and a 97 + 5 Critical!
With that last slash, the sword strikes right through the creature's neck and down its torso, it letting out a loud cry as it vanishes into nothing. It leaves behind 68,000 Yen, two of those Green Potions, 5 Gold Coins, and what appears to be a gnarled oaken staff, which Rei picks up.
Rei thinks for a few moments, deciding whether to just sell the staff, or keep it.
"
Well... my Materia Magic can use the Physical Elements. So... perhaps I should hang onto it". With that in mind, Rei slides the staff into his Inventory after taking out the Flag Pole he captured earlier.
With that, he deftly dodges a way off target magical arrow, and quickly runs towards the pole, shouting "
Capture!" as he does so. The flag pole changes, and now has the familiar Team JUSTICE! Insignia upon it. Rei now looks at the unconscious Bloodhounds, quickly activating Spiritual Rejuvenation before getting to work removing all of their gear and stuffing it into the chest. Even the Pyro Mage's. This leaves them in just Tunics.
Rei feeds them half a Health Potion apiece, to make sure that they don't bleed out, then calls out "
Arcadia!"
And of course, said Mage appears, and this time Rei does not react but gets right to the point. "
I defeated them. How much do I need to pay to get them booted from the game".
The mage seems to think for a moment, before snapping his fingers. "
33 Gold for them, plus an additional 15 Gold for this favor". Rei just thinks for a moment. "
And only because you defeated them in such an amazing show of force too!"
Rei thinks for a moment. 48 Gold in all. This would leave him with a mere 22 left... but if it meant not having to kill. As much as he wanted to save this Gold, eliminating threats was a much better option. And because they were unconscious and this is Arcadia's doing, they couldn't say no. Its not like Rei could convince them to withdraw. He doesn't know what they're in for. Plus the moment they're awake again they could attack, which would be very troublesome.
So Rei nods and Arcadia snaps. With his snap, forty-eight gold is taken right from Rei's pockets and the three unconscious Bloodhounds vanish. With a fanfare, a wave, and a poking of Rei's cheek, so does Arcadia.
With that said and done, Rei figures he'll go through the last of the bait he has here, turn in his Flag Pole that he caught, and then send any upgrades here back to Base Camp since Rei had no intention of keeping this camp. If anything this Shaman Guardian, while not much in the terms of Melee Power, had great magical power. That Lightning Bolt hit like a truck, even if it did Physical Damage due to being a Physical Element.
Plus if this Guardian's Mana could be upgraded, that would make it all the more powerful of a defender, even if it is a more offense focused Guardian.
Still, after the Bait finishes, Rei goes through all that he can purchase, and there is alot. Including a neat new Accessory called the Ability Bangle, which could be chosen for any Stats. Only one per Camp owned could be bought, just like all of the Accessories. There are also several Upgrades here that have already been purchased, including the Rank 9 Chest.
"That saves alot of Gold".
Luckily the New Gamers chose to purchase the Rank 10+ Chest so that Rei could send them the Rank 9 Chest, the 10+ Chest instead being converted into 10 Gold Coins for more spending. After all, no sense in trying to defend other Camps in Rei's opinion. The rest of the Team just wasn't strong enough for that. So transporting all of the Upgrades and Guardian to the new Camp was a much better option.
In the end, Rei spent the rest of his Gold on both Upgrades and getting himself a couple of Rings. With the Discounts it was all worth it. In the end, he used almost all of his Gold, with just four left, having also bought a new Small Monster Bait. He wanted to try fighting some stronger monsters, but not here. He did have one other thing he wanted to do though.
The first was to take the 15 Steel Arrows he bought and fuse them with thirty of his Iron Barbed Arrows to see what sort of Materia Sphere he could make. So he sets them all out in two piles right next to one another. He focuses for a moment, his hands flashing blue as the process begins. Flashes of blue static appear around the two piles, the arrows starting to disintegrate as the two piles start to be condensed into a glowing, blueish-dark green sphere.
When its finally over, the blue static fades out in a flash, and a small sphere is left of the forty five arrows, the occasional flash of blue static able to be seen in its interior, the flashes always somewhat taking on the shape of an arrow. Smiling to himself, Rei puts the Sphere into his Essence Orb in his Inventory.
"
I wonder what'll happen if I get enough Bows and fuse them with this Sphere?"
After that, the second thing on Rei's list.
The Laptop would vanish from the Camp now, Rei figuring he'll do a little shopping to see if there's anything he could get. He wanted to Advance his Summoning, but needed a good book on Summoning Magic to perhaps put it in a better direction. He also wanted to see if he could find some good books on Martial Arts or the like.
355,000 Yen and about fifteen minutes later, Rei has the volumes he needs. Ultimately Tai Chi, to Rei, seemed like a good Martial Art for its balance and aspects of health and energy and there was a nice set of volumes on the subject of Yang Style Tai-Chi for 75,000 Yen. He also bought another book on Summoning about Materia Magic and the concept of using it to empower and alter metaphysical beings, a book for Summoners who wanted to make more unique, stronger Summons. Just what he was looking for. But at 175,000 Yen this rare volume was expensive. Worth it, but still expensive.
Finally he bought a book on a basic of elemental Magic in how Mana is used to conjure and convert the Metaphysical Elements into this world. That in itself was another 105,000 Yen. The book supposedly offered some Elemental Spells that did this, but Rei wasn't really interested in those. After discounts were applied, the total cost was 337,000 Yen. Overall, not a bad purchase. It did take him for every penny he had though, plus one of the Mana Potions he had, but it is ultimately worth it.
Rei wanted to use that last book when he could finally advance
Materia Charge. At this point, he wanted Materia Charge to more or less enhance his Mana Skills and imbue them with elemental or magical affects.
Finally all that was left was the Advancement. That part was easy. Advance the Skill and touch the book, but Rei decided to test trying to summon something with his new Demonia Sphere he made earlier with the Imp Sphere and 15 Tiny Soul Energy Shards and use a Flame Elemental Shard at the same time.
The experiment worked, and in a flash of blue static a
Level 17 Fire Mephit appears, like all summons looking as if it was blinked or glitched into existence. It always seemed strange to Rei, but Magic in itself is strange.
With a brand new Skill under his belt, Rei decides to go ahead and send all of the newly purchased Upgrades to the Base Camp, sending the Laptop back as well.
With that, the Orc Axman from the Base Camp appearing here, Rei sets off to continue his journey towards the South Station, being almost there. Another hour or so of grinding while traveling would get him there.
Hopefully.
Three Hours of the Bounty Hunt Remain.
Five Hours have passed since the games have begun, Four Hours have passed since the Gamers entered the fray.
