The Gamers: The Arcadia Games- Round 1

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"Eh…" Tian-Gui turned to Rei as Shouko did, considering his answers. In a way, perhaps, Rei definitely DID look feminine, but honestly? The raven-haired youth shrugged. Even if Rei was a girl, he wouldn't be his type, and all his androgynous attributes could just be related to a delayed puberty or something.

Maybe the Gamer's Body had suppressed his physical growth?

"He'd probably be someone's type," he replied, grinning, "but not mine, to be honest. Guess he's cute in the way little kids are…does get you thinking though, eh? Pale skin and a petite form are pretty Yamato Nadeshiko things and all, even if anime hair and eyes aren't."

Leaning forwards in a conspiring manner once more, Tian-Gui said, "What say we get a small favour from Arcadia some time. Teleport a wig and a dress onto Rei and see if that theory of yours would actually work? It'd be a horrible waste of Gold, but…………."
 
"No way, I still can't believe you made it out of that Icarus." Blade talking into the earpiece crystal with joy and amazement. "Yeah, Kamui and me are both here. Dude, we took a camp by ourselves and then defended it from Team Bloodhound all on our own, it was awesome!" "Then...well...Team Justice came along and kinda gave us little option as there were more of them and they were...as much as I hate to admit it, stronger than the remnants of our old team." The young man continuing to have this full fledged conversation with everyone in sight and walks over next to the Team Snake Scout and turns to face Xenon and Kamui with the scout to his right. Seeming to go off on a rant about how he got to his current situation however a lingering memory crept it's way into Blade's head. Kamui and him did make a deal and to go back on them like this because just the leader of their group was a dick didn't mean the rest of them deserved betrayal, especially because he knew the plan they had to combat Team Snake. To Blade, doing so would make him five times more of a shit bag than Ama-Rei.

Blade had one hell of a game choice to make but he knew deep down that if he couldn't uphold his word then he had no honor speak of. Besides, he could only imagine how good it would feel to prove those two asshole bastards wrong every now and then like how Tian had apparently done so with the recruiting decision. Additionally, he didn't like not being able to get stronger due to that many people sharing experience because he still wanted to be powerful enough to take strong opponents head on. Not to mention, this scout's grin that he kept giving them was more creepy and sketchy than Arcadia's smile.

Blade knows what he's gotta do but continues his conversation with a big smile. "Yo Icarus, I've even advanced my class. I'm a berserker and my newest abilities are awesome. Like..." Continuing to hold his smile until the last second, seeing as how the scout is preoccupied with trying to recruit Xenon and Kamui, he draws his sword outwards in a point black attack at the scout. "Fierce Slash!"
 
"Normally I would say that would be a disgusting use of good gold, but..." Shouko gazed at Rei and his permanently non-smiling face. "...I think it's a devilishly amazing idea. Just his reaction alone would be satisfying. We'll just have to prepare for him coming to kill us afterwards."

Shouko finished the food on her plate and washed it down with wine. They had barely gone through a quarter of the spread. After all, an entire roast pig was something that could serve a much larger crowd. I wonder if food rots inside the inventory, or does it freeze time as well?

She brushed her clothes of crumbs and stood up. Xenon and the two new members were still nowhere in sight. Her satiated gut renewed her vigour, making her eager to resume hunting. There was money waiting to be claimed.

"Speaking of money..." She approached Rei and sat down beside him. "Didn't you tell me you wanted bombs? Will you buy some from me?"

"Oh, and I've buried some around the perimeter of the camp. Just in case we need them in a pinch," Shouko told the rest, pointing the equidistant points where she hid the explosives.
 
Kamui smiled hearing that Xenon had an interest that wasn't just hey he's one extra body that adds strength to our team. He already knew that the others hadn't all felt the same way that Rei does...and maybe Rei might not even feel that way, life probably gave him that perspective.

As Kamui was contemplating their new predicament the Team Snake scout just walked into view, hiding his surprise Kamui quips about the scout's silent movements. He then hears Blade and another ex team wolf member talking, he'd like to say something too but instead pulled his staff out and leaned against it. Listening to Blade talk to someone else who played games to play games...much unlike their current teammates, He heard the whole thing and his face darkened for a bit. Join another team...they just had, and while these guys were far from perfect.

They still were the first ones to contact us, while their friend over in team Snake, who should've known about the remnants of team wolf fighting, hadn't bothered. As this thought came to Kamui's mind Blade decided to attack the Snake scout and Kamui grabs his staff turns to Xenon and chants "Wind, surround this Weapon with your grace. Imbue Wind!" He would do it again for Blade next turn.
 
As the last at the table, Tian-Gui cleaned up as well as he could, but even he couldn't finish it all. Letting out a long, satisfied sigh, he took another sip of the chicken broth soup, before deciding that it was time to get back to work once more. Their new members and Xenon were off doing some private training or whatever, so he had to do some catching up as well. A few quick incantations burned through almost all of his HP and MP in just a couple of seconds, before Tian-Gui, once again feeling the 'burn' that coursed through his whole body, approached Rei.

"Yo, Rei," he waved, "you wanted to fix up armors and stuff, right? You good at that kind of stuff? Been thinking that I need to get better at armor repair myself, so hey, mind teaching me a few tricks?"

He just recently obtained the Knowledge talent as well, after all, and considering how quickly he could burst down his own stats...Tian-Gui was fairly comfortable now without doing too much sparring training.
~

Rei had finished what he wanted to eat as well. He wanted to fill up, but not stuff himself. After all, exercising and training when one is too full can actually be detrimental. Not fully, but it does mess up focus a bit. Plus Rei just didn't want to stuff himself anyway. If he couldn't finish it, he wouldn't.

Still, he cleaned the hearty plate he prepared and stood up now, looking towards Shouko.

"Yes, I need fifteen of your bombs. There is something I want to make with them..." of course she wanted money though, which was understandable. These people were only with him for their own profit after all. Buying things from someone you were supposed to be on a 'team' with. They weren't a team at all in that regard.

"So yes, i'll buy them for 1500 yen a piece. I just need fifteen of them."

With that he walks over to the Craft Bench, preparing to get started. He wanted to burn his HP consuming Skills, then use his MP for his Materia Magic to get some crafting done. After all, the Levels of the New Gamers are lower. So if they all had good items, they could make up for this deficit. Plus Rei wanted to try and make better Items for himself.

So after practicing multiple punches and kicks, each glowing green for a moment as in the corner of the HUD Tian and Shouko could see Rei's HP bar declining, he was almost about to get to work, but not before Tian walks up to him and asks about repairing armor.

"In truth, I know a thing or two since I did train that Skill a little bit. But I abandoned my ability to perform mundane repairing by hand. I use Magic now. Requires more materials and uses up my MP, but allows for much faster repairing."

He pats the bench. "Thankfully with this bench our Crafting improves when we use it here. Plus if you just dump any Armor in the chest" he gestures backwards with his thumb, "the armor will be repaired at a rate of two points an hour. Good if you just have random Armor you want to dump in there if you're not using it anymore."
~

Well, Magic certainly wasn't something he was going to get close to any time soon. Nodding slightly, Tian-Gui replied, "Welp, a rate of two points per hour is too slow in this case, and I don't have magic, so I suppose I'll just do things the old way. Mind if I spend some yen on Steel Scale or whatever?"
~

Rei just gives a nod. "Go ahead. You don't need to ask me for something like that." Of course, then Rei remembered something.

"You went and learned Mana Bolt from Xenon right? You need some ranged attack options, especially since we already have some flying enemies that we are being pit up against. Plus being able to throw a ranged attack to put an enemy off guard right before rushing up right as they dodge or defend can be a great strategy as well."

~

"I actually went out of my way to learn Mana Burst," Tian-Gui replied, "And charging usually leads into an attack afterwards...so yeah, nope."

"That being said, considering this new skill modification thing I've been getting into recently...probably should do that, eh? Learning actives is free after all."
~

Rei nods, standing up now. "I don't know it anymore, but I can still teach it to you. Will help with my 'Teacher' Title as well. There is nothing wrong with having Ranged game and like it or not, there are going to be enemies you can't get into Melee. Also, you're just squandering your potential by not utilizing the fact that you can do both Ranged and Melee."

He takes a few steps away from Tian down the way. "You're already familiar with Mana Burst, so the feeling should be very similar to that." He puts his hand out.

"Feel the Mana within you. Just focus on it, guide it to your hand, and once it's there just fire it forth from your palm. It's a bit less explosive than Mana Burst. You can even use me as a target if you'd like."

Rei gets into a stance now, crossing his arms in front of his body in an 'x' fashion.

"After all... there's something I want to practice for a bit."

~
Well, Tian-Gui had always liked Captain Japan more than Steel Man, but he saw the point in that. Not that he particularly liked said point or anything, but hey, if it would make Rei shut up about getting ranged attacks, that was fine with him. Bringing out his palm, Tian-Gui narrowed his eyes, imagining the flame that flickered within once more.

The flame that was no longer an explosion, but instead, was a jet. A beam. An arrow.

Something to strike down the evils of the world from afar, like heavenly judgment.

In his mind's eye, that flame was materializing within the veins of his arm, and, pointing it at Rei, he took in one deep breath and released his grip on it.

"Mana Sphere."

A blue sun emerged from the palm of his hand.
~

And fired straight at Rei as around 35 MP drained from Tian-Gui's bar, draining what he had recovered in the time it took him to talk to Rei about this.

Right as the Sphere is launched, Rei tenses himself and his eyes flare open a little. The sphere seems to slam into a thin wall of energy that appears in front of his arms right as the projectile hits.

Instead of dissipating though, Rei thrusts his arms forward quickly with a loud exhale right after it hits and doesn't break the shield. The shield dissipates as the projectile is flung back at Tian, slamming right into his torso.

Fortunately, since he just learned it, the projectile wasn't super strong. Plus he still had his Barrier Ring. So the damage was negated by both his Resilience and gear. If anything, it just showed that he still had more growing to do since his own attack couldn't hurt him. Of course, as an actual Skill it would probably be stronger.

Regardless, the windows appear now, showing that he indeed learn the Skill.

A Skill has been created through a special action. By practicing the stable projection of Mana as a projectile the ability to better do so, Mana Sphere, has been created.
Click to expand...

Mana Sphere (Rank 10) (Level 1, 0/3)
Cost: 25 MP
You create from your palm a calm, stable sphere of Mana, which you then launch at an enemy. This has a Max Damage equal to 8 + 50% Ki Focus (4) = 10 and a Damage Mod equal to 4 + 30% SPI (16) = 8. Furthermore, as a more stabilized sphere it can be more easily controlled, thus increasing its Accuracy by 50% Ki Focus (4) = 2.
Click to expand...

"You'll need to up that new Score of yours if you want any of your Energy Attacks to have any bite. It seemed a bit more stable than a Mana Bolt. Definitely a step up from that. Still... Ki Focus..." Rei thinks for a moment.

"Seems rather useful, especially for a more physical type like yourself. Perhaps if you learned some Martial Arts and Strike Skills it could become even more useful."

~

"More stable, hm…"

Tian-Gui stroked his chin thoughtfully as he recalled the sensation of the sphere that struck him. It certainly was weak in its current form, but it was a long distance attack that was more accurate and stable than Mana Burst. Perhaps he could do something akin to that then…

"Welp, guess the lesson ends here then," he replied cheerfully. "Time to go fix up my armor!"
~

"Honestly I could repair it for you much more quickly. But I guess you do need to train your Skill after all."

Rei just shrugs. "We have about twenty minutes before the Peacocks arrive, give or take, so use the rest of this time wisely since we don't know if the others will be back by then and we have no idea if the Peacocks will honor their end of things and be friendly or not."
 
The attack on the scout did not just stop with the first attack though. Seeing as how Blade's first strike clearly throws the Scout off guard, the three members of Team JUSTICE have a chance to attack. So naturally following up his first attack, a second slash comes from Blade. They are aiming to put this Scout down, so a Fierce Slash is the good way to go, especially since Blade has managed to keep proximity with the Scout.

Unfortunately the strike misses completely, allowing the man to actually step away from him. Fortunately Xenon quickly follows up, brandishing his Katars for three quick stabs.

A full on hit and, as Xenon can tell, it dealt 17 points of Damage to the Scout, thirty less than Blade's Fierce Slash dealt. The second stab from his offhand weapon wasn't really full on at all, dealing a mere four points of Damage, but it at least allowed Xenon to stay close for a third stab from his main hand Katar. The blade thrusts forward, but its a bit of a poorly executed thrust and allows the man to quickly move away.

He is panting a bit, clutching the area where Blade cut him.

"So this is how Team JUSTICE is huh?" He seems... genuinely offended and upset. "We come in peace with offers of friendship and you stab us in the back, when we have done nothing to harm you at all."

He is stepping back more now, obviously looking to retreat as he is ten yards from them now.

"And here I hoped that you all would be different from the tyrants on Team Peacock or the barbarians of Team Sparrow." He just scoffs now.

"I guess not huh?"

​
 
Hearing the scout's words Blade responds by not charging the scout down as what would be expected and just stands idle looking towards the scout and speaks, the ear piece still in his ears. "I can tell you that this team doesn't stand for justice man. I joined the team because my own was in shatters. A deal was made and so I'd say I'm stuck with it. If I can't play the game my way as an honorable player who helps others then I just become a self centered jackass like the guy who runs Team Justice." With that Blade removes the ear piece but says one last thing into it. "I'm sorry I hurt your new teammate Icarus." Blade throwing the earpiece towards the scout in a manner so it could easily be caught, giving it back.

Not stopping there Blade walks past Xenon so that he was standing himself somewhere midway between the scout and Xenon with Kamui back off a little more. He sheaths his sword as his facial expression has fully changed to a more dower mood, looking to Xenon and Kamui with his back to the scout. "Let him leave. I may be apart of a team run by a cold son of a bitch but that doesn't mean I'll allow myself to succumb to such actions again. It ain't how I was raised and its not how I wanna play. I'd rather topple tyrants...just ain't got the strength to do it." The berserker reaches into his inventory and retrieves one of his six health potions and tosses to the scout as well after turning around to face him. "I know its not a proper apology but I know words can't turn back time or heal what I've done." Blade takes another breath. "I was wrong in lashing my anger out at you. Angry for not being able to put down tyrants and bad players while instead having little choice but to join them and now I've got no right to join Team Snake if you truly aren't like the rest of the teams." Blade pauses for a moment. "I don't like this game anymore..." In Colt's run of things a good game was a good game but if the community for a game was truly bad then it ruined the experience for him in the end. After saying those last words the berserker would begin flowing through menus to try and leave this whole blasted thing.
 
Kamui put his wand away and walked over to Colt "You could go with them, I mean I can't, I was the one who agreed to their terms, but you...why don't you go and have fun. I just hop on for a little bit and play anyway, it's not like I'm gonna be much help to anybody...hell probably after this bit of playtime I'll be severely under everyone's level. So go ahead Blade, it's not like I should keep you from going to a team you like, and don't let Rei stop you from playing a game you enjoyed playing. Kiddo ya gotta know when life throws a curveball, you just gotta either swing and hope to hit it, or miss and try again later." He tilts his head, wondering if Blade was listening... "If you wanna hang out...outside of here names Kiryu Heiwajima, memorize it bud, and don't be a stranger." He slouches and places his hands in his pockets and gives Blade a smile.
 
It was quite stunning, how quickly the atmosphere between the four individuals changed. The surprise Fierce Slash from Blade opened up a perfect window of opportunity for Xenon to dive in with his katars. His body moved like clockwork, quickly closing the gap and jabbing out in a manner that he had done tens of times before. Three swipes later, the battle ceased as the scout disengaged, clearly perturbed by the attack.

Xenon straightened up, his katars now loose on his hands. He had just attacked a seemingly unarmed person outside of training. The notion of attacking someone seemed so foreign before, but having done it, it seemed little different from regular grinding. Well... I suppose that rips the bandaid off the suspense, he thought. Though, I imagine the dear teacher will be unhappy to hear about this. He could already hear the beginnings of a lecture on recklessnesa as a pair of heterochromatic eyes looked at him disapprovingly. Reminded of the rest of the group at the table, Xenon discreetly sent a small message to everyone else: "Hey guys, don't panic but we ran into a Team Snake scout. No one's hurt, scout is retreating. Blade seems to want out of the games."

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Opportunistic thought aside, he felt guilty for his actions, but it seemed that any apology he could make would seem insincere or lofty. Nor could he say anything to amend Blade's apparent disdain for the party system and Arcadia Games in general.

So Xenon kept quiet and tried to look as apologetic as he could.
 
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[BCOLOR=transparent]Artisia took a deep breath as she moved toward the area she was told to survey. Team Justice was supposed to be in this area and Artisia was more than happy to beat some heads if she truly needed to. Artisia wore a lime green cloth over her shoulder to signify to herself what team she was fighting for.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Team Snake was her home since the games started. It was odd, she just happened to stumble upon the group, but they accepted her with open arms. But that wasn't of significance right now. Her mission came first.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]She needed to find out as much as she could about the group, Team Justice. Of course, she needed to keep her distance, but if she could identify some of the members and figure out some of their fighting techniques, she may be able to help her team take them out. From what she'd heard, this team was dangerous, so she decided to keep her distance.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Of course, that was until her stupid teammate decided to step out and get spotted by a group of three targets. Artisia bit her lip a little. If this got physical, she'd have to rush in to help. Before she could identify any of the targets though, one of them, who wielded a sword, struck. [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]DAMN IT! Why'd he have to go and get himself into a fighting situation?![/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Artisia briskly walked in the direction of the confrontation and decided that now was a better time than ever to strike. However, it seemed the boy who had attacked sheathed his sword and she snuck back behind some brush to hide herself. Now wasn't the time to blow her cover, if he really was planning on attacking her and the other scout, he would feign the fact that he was giving up the fight, then come in with a crippling blow. Artisia wouldn't let that happen. She was definitely close enough that if he showed any signs of attempting to attack again, she would be able to deliver a strike that would knock him into next week.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]As she began to sit, she could hear some of the things he was saying. He was talking about how he felt bad about the whole ordeal he had just caused and that he didn't want to play a game that wasn't fun for him. Artisia let her guard down a bit. He certainly isn't a killer, I can definitely tell that. He doesn't seem to have the drive for it. If this is all a game full of guilt, why does he continue to play? Artisia, however, recognized this feeling. She thought back to Rei and the entire situation that she got herself into with his finishing move. She gritted her teeth in anger toward the situation, but she knew in her heart that she learned that she shouldn't readily step on people's feelings just because she wanted to. She learned this same thing while operating inside Team Snake. She was sent on the mission to gain intelligence with the team and maybe extend them a friendly alliance, but Artisia was truly looking for the friends she lost. She got caught up in the whole game, but Artisia remembered that she named their party 'JUSTICE!'. It couldn't have been a coincidence that a team named Team JUSTICE! suddenly appears.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Artisia walked out from behind the brush and toward the male with the sword. She eyed the scout that had been attacked. "You really should be more careful next time. Honestly, getting yourself hurt over a treaty..." Artisia shook her head and took the potion from the scout's hands. "You're more than capable of healing up. In the meantime, don't confront anyone. I know you're hurt, but it's not worth it to waste a potion over. You have time to recover, so go back to base."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Artisia turned toward the male with the sword once more and squinted a little. "Are you really going to leave after causing this? Is that what you call taking responsibility for your actions? Running away and letting other people deal with the issue you caused? Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised with someone who has a name like 'Blade'. A tool used in swords, which are only used for the art of hurting others." Artisia wanted to make sure he didn't leave. At the very least, he'd have to confront her about being called out for his lack of responsibility. "Also, if you're going to fight someone, make it someone who can fight back." She looked toward the mage and tossed the potion his way. "Catch."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Artisia drew her foot back and placed her fists into a readying position. "And if you want to feel guilty about something, feel guilty about the fact that you're going to lose to a girl." Artisia smirked a little and readied herself for a blow from the male. "If you run away, I'll teach your little friend here a lesson instead." Artisia turned toward the mage and evilly winked.[/BCOLOR]​
 
Blade listens to Kamui's words as he stops cycling through menus and such. The fighter taking a breath with some positive emotion rerunning to his face. Not being able to shake off the feeling that this guy was taking to him like an upperclassman would in his kendo club. "I may take you up on that...Kiryu." Blade saying the man's full name in his head a few times so that he could remember it more easily. "My real name is Colten, Colten Daichi." Before he could go back to his process of logging out he heard the new voice and this occurred.

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Are you really going to leave after causing this? Is that what you call taking responsibility for your actions? Running away and letting other people deal with the issue you caused? Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised with someone who has a name like 'Blade'. A tool used in swords, which are only used for the art of hurting others." Artisia wanted to make sure he didn't leave. At the very least, he'd have to confront her about being called out for his lack of responsibility. "Also, if you're going to fight someone, make it someone who can fight back." She looked toward the mage and tossed the potion his way. "Catch."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The plot certainly seemed to work and strike a nerve as Colt swiftly closed out his menus and faced the player with a quick shift to face her. He didn't say anything back though she was right about the responsibility thing the rest of it just seemed to insults.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Artisia drew her foot back and placed her fists into a readying position. "And if you want to feel guilty about something, feel guilty about the fact that you're going to lose to a girl." Artisia smirked a little and readied herself for a blow from the male. "If you run away, I'll teach your little friend here a lesson instead." Artisia turned toward the mage and evilly winked.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Blade completely takes off his sheath with the sword still in it and drops it next to Kamui, steps between Kamui and Artisia and then slowly walks up to her and stops walking now standing barely even a foot from her, his arms stay down and looks at her with a passive expression before speaking with a low tone. "I won't run away because I'm not gonna let you hurt a friend of mine but I'm not gonna fight you either. Fighting you doesn't show me taking responsibility for starting shit that didn't need to start. It just proves what you said about me being nothing but a tool to hurt someone which I'm not." Blade's expression was stern and clearly not joyful of course. "Go ahead and take some revenge shots if you want but you'll get none from me. Besides..." Blade cracks a grin. "I doubt they'll hurt more than the kendo strikes from the girls I've lost to at kendo practice." [/BCOLOR]
 
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The scout catches the communication gem, putting it back into his pocket. It is then afterwards he is handed the potion, and he just listens to Blade's words. He is definitely genuine, the scout can tell, and this makes the anger washing over his expression fade. Its still a bit there since Blade did just betray the peace, but he just sighs heavily, about to drink the potion. Not before Artisia suddenly takes it out of his hand though and tosses it back to Kamui.

"I thought I told you to stay back Artsia." That name sounded very similar to another one, one that Xenon was familiar with. Artisia. In truth, her username in this game had become Artsia. A slight variation on her real name.

"I know I was hurt, but I would have preferred to do this peacefully. We need as many comrades we can get if we want to topple the Peacocks and Sparrows after all."

He just looks to Blade.

"I am sorry that things could not have gone better. I understand your anger, and am thankful for your apology. Its the only thing that is keeping you from being our enemy. So I think its better if our Teams just keep their distance since its clear you belong more in this team of "justice" rather than our team."

The scout still has a bit of resentment, but its clear that he is seeking to forgive Blade for now. "Maybe in the next round, things can be a bit better if your Team survives. Maybe you can change whatever is making you act like this and control that temper of yours. Come find us then."

With that, taking Artisia's advice he begins to head back, but not before turning around.

"Come on Artsia. Let's go ahead and head back. We did promise we'd all go trying to capture the East Station together after this did we not? I'd rather not be late since it sounds like a rather fun Raid Boss."

---

Back at the camp of said cold-hearted leader there was alot of Skills being used and work being done. Thanks to the Food Bonuses that everyone had obtained, these even working on the two Arcadians, this allowed for much better grinding since Regeneration and Recovery were both increased by a good amount. Furthermore this bonus will last for two hours, so its quite the hearty boost considering how long it will last.

Plus having slightly boosted Stats also made grinding a small bit easier.

Rei himself would prepare something at the Crafting Bench and then step out of the Camp while those strange bottles of water sat there bubbling with that Magical Static to go summon and fight Monsters by himself outside of the camp, always returning a few minutes later. He managed this a total of six times, and had made a total of twelve bottles of glowing blue water, although one of the bottles he made seemed to create much more powerful surges of blue static than the others, much to the delight of Rei of course.

It is after the last bottle is prepared that nine white dots would become visible upon the Mini Map. The Info Board stated that Team Peacock had nine members, which meant that the entirety of Team Peacock had shown up.

Rei chugged down one of the magical waters that he prepared near the beginning of the thirty minutes. The dots were still a hundred yards away, so he at least wanted to finish this last project since he didn't want his Magic Water to expire.

Now he has fifteen bottles on the Crafting Bench. He puts his hand over them and begins to focus.

About two minutes pass and the Peacocks are now at the base of the stairs. Suzaku smiles as he calls up to those in the station.

"Team Justice! Team Peacock has arrived for the meeting. I assume you all are ready?"

Rei, who is busy with the Crafting Bench, blue static surging as the bottles are all glowing now the static wrapping around the glowing masses that were once the bottles, which are all starting to converge into one shape, looks to Tian.

As much as he doesn't want to leave this to him... he figures at least having this stupidly amicable fellow greeting them can't be too harmful. Right?

"I'm a little preoccupied at the moment" says Rei to the other three Gamers that are present, Rei wishing that he had gotten gold to purchase the Auto-Workshop Bench Upgrade, "Can you guys go greet them?"

All 9 of the Peacocks stand at the base of the stairs, and their Levels are quite high. Kuro_Kage and Kijin had grown to Level 21 while the others were now Level 20. The higher leveled members decided it would be better for their lower leveled teammates to level up first before they started to level as well, so Kuro_Kage and Kijin instead had spent the time gathering gold and info rather than focusing on fighting monsters that wouldn't give them much EXP.

They decided to focus on hunting Monsters that were very easy to fight for Gold purposes.

Furthermore they all looked pretty well equipped. Fantasy themed garb, good looking armor, nice looking weapons. This team not only looked good, but they seemed highly skilled as well just by looking at them.

If a fight were to break out here during these negotiations... it could be catastrophic. So perhaps its a good thing that Rei, due to being too busy with whatever magic he's doing, is leaving the introductions to the others.




​
 
Looking up from the bench as Rei called out to the three Gamers that remained, Tian-Gui nodded, getting up from his own little project. His armor hadn't been fully repaired during that 30 minute segment, but it was more or less halfway through and he wasn't expecting any sort of combat any time soon.

"Yeah, I'll go greet our guests," he said, putting away his tools, "What are you making anyways? A bomb?"
~

"A Materia Sphere. Ill explain more later, since right now you're ruining my concentration." Rei says this rather curtly, more focused on whatever he's doing, the glowing masses of the bottles starting to converge together more now as a spherical shape starts to become more defined at a slow pace.

~

Right, magic stuff, of course. Deciding not to bother donning his half-repaired armor yet, Tian-Gui walked over to the stairs that lead down to where the Peacocks were. Even from a distance, he was able to read their levels and spot just how well-armored they were. The nine of them probably didn't have anything as amazing as that Void Wizard ring, but on the other hand, their other equipments made up for it.

In a fair fight on an open battlefield, chances were fairly high that Team Justice would just get destroyed if half of them still remained after taking down Rei.

Well, it was good they were talking about an alliance then.

Walking down the stairs, Tian-Gui waved and said, "Sup. Bunch of us are missing, but the man of the hour's upstairs waiting, so that's probably all that matters. Is this all of Peacock?"

~

"Indeed. It is just the nine of us, as you can see here." Kijin steps forward now. "My name is Kijin, and I am the leader of this team." The Monk now motions to the others, who all would begin to put their Weapons away into their pouches, before removing them and placing them all in a large bag prepared by the Monk, which is then held out towards Tian-Gui.

"To make things easier, and to show our lack of any hostile intentions even if things don't go our way, we will entrust you with our Items. I assume this is fair?"

They really do seem like they are here to talk business, even offering to allow the 'host' to hold onto all of their Items.

It only makes sense. They are here for a meeting, so there is no need to be armed to the teeth. And the lack of their Inventories meant no other Items could be used. In a sense, they are much more trusting than one certain white-haired, heterochromatic leader is.

Much more trusting indeed.

~

"Eh," Tian-Gui waved it off, "No need for that. It'd be in bad taste if Rei then went full Machiavellian and killed you all while you're unarmed, so we could get your loot. Just...leave it outside or whatever?"

Peacocks looked to be decent people, after all, and you'd have to be a special sort of asshole to attack someone during peaceful negotiations. Though on the other hand…

"Perhaps one of you stay behind to look after your stuff though. Be even more awkward if some stealthy stalker spy dude stole it, right?"

~

"Fair enough. From what Yozakura told us, your leader seems like the very serious type, so we just wanted to be on the safe side and follow a more serious procedure." Kijin holds out the bag now.

Shun, the Cleric wearing some somewhat heavy looking armor, walks forward to take the bag. "I'll look after it then. I'll trust all of you to take care of negotiations in my stead."

Kijin nods. "Of course."

Ryuujin just gives a small smirk to the Cleric. "You're not just offering so you can skip out and relax, are you?"

The armored man just chuckles. "I might be. Anyway..." He slings the bag of pouches over his shoulder now, "you all go have fun. I'll be waiting over there" he points to the 'Bus Stop' sign, "if you need me."

With that, Shun departs, leaving just eight Peacocks now. Seven, in fact, as Kensuke the Ranger goes with him.

"Just in case some sort of stalker does indeed show up. We need to be more wary of that 'Fox' now more than ever."

The Rogue Suzaku nods, before looking to Tian. "So shall we enter then?"

~

"Go on ahead," Tian-Gui gestured, before leading the way. Covering steps three at a time, he reached the top once more. Nothing much had changed during his short disappearance, and he called out, rather plainly, "Ding dong, Peacock's coming up."

~
Well in the time that it took them to talk about things, Rei had finished. Blue static is flickering now as Rei holds a small, blue sphere in his hand, it being about the size of the palm of his hand, which then disappears into his Inventory.

Rei turns around to face them, motioning to the table. "Let's sit and get things underway." He thinks about asking why they brought their whole team, but he just shrugs. They're unarmed right now. If they had wanted to attack, they would have done so.

Luckily the feast had come with some nice storage containers, so the rest of that was all put up and put into the storage. Those were probably included into its price.

"Lets not beat around the bush. You guys are here to ask for our help in dealing with Team Snake right?"

As always, Rei gets straight to the point. No flare for theatrics or pleasantries as usual.

Kijin looks slightly taken aback, but then clears his throat and nods. "Yes. Whether we like it or not, Team Snake is a growing threat for all of us. Their members individually may not be all that skilled, but their numbers are growing. Plus with some rather... shocking updates we've received in the past hour and a half, it seems like the field is starting to change more."

Rei raises an eyebrow.

"Both those barbaric Sparrows and Team Bear have been eliminated." Suzaku speaks up now.

"Or so we originally assumed just from the Info Board." Kuro_Kage speaks up next. "We asked Arcadia to give us some information. It seems that Durin, the strongest member on that team, has teamed up with the Fox, one of the other strongest players. So now that previously solo player has become part of a very threatening duo."

"Not to mention the fact that not all of the Sparrows and Bears were defeated when they battled each other. A few of the Sparrows had defected to Team Snake before their battle, and the surviving Bears also became Snakes." A sigh escapes from their resident Pyro Mage as he relays this information.

"And those players were not slouches by any means." Kijin cuts in. "Even the Bears, while inconsequential compared to all of us, were still pretty good. So the fact is while the strongest members of Team Snake are several Level 20s, with most being in the 16 - 18 range, their 21 members are a major threat to everyone."

"Especially since they plan on just sitting there like cowards." Rather curtly, frustration in his tone, Momotaro chimes in. "They plan on building up their power, knowing that we'll be in trouble if we attack them on our own. This way they can just crush all of us in the final round with ease." Momotaro doesn't seem too happy to say this last part.

"Which is where you all, of Team Justice, come in. With our strengths combine, we can take this fight to the Snakes and have quite the glorious battle, our own numbers clashing with theirs, with our superior strength making up for whatever numbers we lack." Suzaku seems quite interested in having some glorious fights. He's definitely into elegant battles.

"Of course" Kijin's still tone makes the Rogue sit back in his chair. "We don't expect you to help us without reward. Aside from the beneficial EXP you'll all be gaining, and a fair share of whatever Items we take from them, we are more than willing to offer you other forms of compensation since it is us, who is asking for your strength."

"Do you all have anything you'd want us to impart onto you?"

Twenty-One members. Clearly a growing threat. If this Team Snake decides to attack any of them, chances of survival would be quite low. Next to zero in fact.

Rei is sitting there, chin atop his clasped hands. It seems he's in deep thought, giving the other three Gamers a chance to request or say something here.

~



​
 
With part of the team off, likely consoling Blade, and the others still eating, but only being Gamers, Alex saw this as the perfect time to focus on his training. He felt that he was so close to making the break through he desired. Laying the final piece of his foundation to greatness, but it still seemed that it wasn't the right time.

As He sat down, away from the others, but close enough to hear them if they called him, he began to set all of his skills out for grinding. He had done some math and calculations in his head, a real bonus of increasing both his wisdom and intelligence, and thought about a way to maximise the use of his meal bonus' and grind four, to five of his skills all at the same time.

If I use this skill, while this one is active, I can still use another skill, and it trains this other one passively. But I still won't be at my maximum output...I still have mana to burn. Alex looked at both of his hands, what if I use my strings and burst at the same time? Alex grinned at the idea of his sheer genius, and started. He had to modify this plan though, as when he tried he felt his mind starting to crack under the pressure. Breathing rather heavily due to his close encounter with faltering greatly, he decided to best stick with the original grinding plan.

```

After a good while, but not nearly as long as he had hoped for. Alex heard Tian's voice announcing the arrival of the Peacocks.

"Good, The Arcadians with taste and wit." Alex stopped his grinding for the time to take part in the discussion.

Listening to what they had to say, Alex was well pleased with how they upheld themselves, their manners, the way they all spoke in turn, continuing to add to the conversation, yet each conveying their own feelings of the matter.

"It's great to see you again Suzaku, Momotaro and Miyuki," Alex started by acknowledging the members of the team that he had already been antiquated with. "Seems the rest of your Team is just as fair as you three are." Alex smiled, before winking at Miyuki, trying to bring a bit of life to the business meeting, "I have a few questions," He turned to Rei, "Assuming we do join," Looking at Kijin, who appeared to be their leader, "Do we have a proper plan of attack? A Time and Place in mind? Or intell on the gear that we can expect to see the Snakes wearing?" Alex spouted a few things that quickly came to his mind. Then while waiting for a response, he let a few ideas tumble through his mind before speaking further, "Something I want is~" Alex tapped his finger to chin a few times, before snapping his finger, "Your opinions on the game."
 
Her voice faltered as she fingered out the positions. This wasn't the camp she buried her bombs! Shouko smacked her own forehead and said, "Dang it! I left them at the other camp!"

After a short hop back and uprooting all her precious explosives, she returned to present her goods. As Rei requested, she laid fifteen hand grenades on the table top.

"7,000 yen each," Shouko declared casually and stuck a hand out to receive her payment.

"3,000 Each. I am buying fifteen of them, so you'll be making 500 yen on each, and you are more than capable of making more than ten bombs with each kit." Rei doesn't even bat an eye as he makes his offer.

A tough customer, eh? He even saw me skimping on the materials!

"I failed some too, you know. I'm not assembling pizzas. Making explosives is dangerous. And time-consuming! At least 5,000 yen," Shouko countered, feigning indignation. Rei just shrugs. "3500. Take it or leave it. And I am buying 15 of them from you, remember that."

"3800."

Rei sighs heavily. "Alright, fine. If that's what it'll take..." He reaches into his Inventory, removing from it 57,000 Yen and places it onto the table. "Even though we're on the same side. Here you go." He pushes the money towards her now.

"Thank you so much!" Shouko said, her mood lifting by several magnitudes. "Guaranteed quality! I'll replace any duds!"
 
Honestly, Tian-Gui was already fine with that particular deal. Massive enemy team would require massive teaming up on the side of Justice and Peacock. Seeing how Sparrow had already been vanquished one way or the other, and Durin, that muscled cleric, had joined to form a strike team under the guise of Fox, that non-aggression pact was also gone now. Things were becoming simpler now. Details were unfolding rather easily.

"Time should be as soon as possible," Tian-Gui said, "And place should be an area where most of them are gathered. Frankly, they have no reason to fight us as is, so we need to bring the fight to them instead."

Honestly, opinions and all that could matter, but that wasn't the point of the alliance. They were just going to make everything go into a super big battle, after all. And if they were going to do that…

"That being said, what are your thoughts on simply inviting everyone into this brawl? Have Arcadia send a game-wide message, about our intentions to get into a massive battle with Team Snake, and invite everyone else to join. Doesn't matter what side they take and all, just that they announce their intentions before coming it."

Tian-Gui closed his eyes, recalling Durin's personality and their previous interactions.

"Yeah, if nothing else, an event like that would bring out Durin and that Fox guy, right? Two birds, one stone?"
 
Xenon had been turned around while messaging the other gamers about the scout, so he hadn't noticed the approach of yet another figure. His ears perked up a touch when he caught the downwind wisp of a familiar voice, mingling with that of the scout's. But when the ghost of a familiar name translated into his head, the red haired teen turned around fast enough to get whiplash.

He'd half expected it to be a fluke - a similar handle or username - but when he laid eyes on a familiar head of red hair, he almost forgot to breathe. There she was: Artisia Jiangcai, level 14 Gamer.

And, of course, she's trying to pick a fight with Blade, Xenon noted fondly. Still, seeing as it would be rather messy if she did, he decided to intervene. With a grin he couldn't keep off of his face, the red haired teen made confident steps until he stood directly in Artisia and the scout's line of sight, just a couple feet from Blade and Kamui.

"I'd rather you not teach them a lesson, Artisia," Xenon started, practically thrumming. "Though, that would be rather characteristic of you, wouldn't it?" he winked at her evilly.

Oh, how he had missed this.
 
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Artisia stood and faced Blade with the strength of a bull. She was definitely not backing down against this person. She listened to what he had to say, which she thought was a bunch of bullshit. He wanted to fight. He definitely didn't feel as bad. He was full of himself, thinking he was being all heroic by making it a one-sided battle in Artisia's favor. As a fighter, Artisia was offended that Blade had even considered extending that offer. It was an insult to her strength and to the training she had done in the last few hours. It was an insult to her own being.

Artisia gritted her teeth and was ready to shout out one of her skills to strike him as hard as she could, but before she could, she saw a flash of color in the corner of her eye. It was a familiar color that she had seen many times, but hadn't seen for the time she was in this game. She turned her head slightly, when she heard a voice that resonated with her very deeply. The male with the fiery hair, who was her best friend, spoke to her in kind, yet warning, tones. Artisia's mood immediately shifted at the sight of the male.

"XENON!" Artisia was going to run to him, but she held herself in her position. Hold on. If what I've heard is right, this team has an alliance with Team Peacock. If I'm seen here interacting with Xenon, I might put their alliance in danger. Also, the other scout could be watching right now. I could get my own status in the team hurt. I need to take a minute to explain to Xenon that I'll join the team after I head back to my camp and report false information. If I don't come back, they'll definitely know I defected. That wouldn't play well for me.

Artisia gritted her teeth together furiously. As much as I want to join this team, I might be more helpful if I- Artisia's face softened and went into a look of thoughtfulness. Her face, after another moment, switched into a smile. "Private Messaging." Artisia embraced Xenon in a hug quickly and spoke just loud enough for Xenon to hear, "Rei, Xenon, Tian-Gui, Shouko, Alexander. I'm in Team Snake. I'm not going to transfer to your team for a little bit. I'm acting as a scout for Team Snake right now, so I'm going to give them false information about your team. Of course, I will have to tell some truth since there was another scout here. However, he left, but he'll come back for me if I don't leave soon. If you need anything from me in the meantime, just send me a message. I'll do my best to do whatever I can. Missed you guys."

Artisia pushed herself away from Xenon and began walking away. As she walked past Blade, she looked at him with an angered expression. "Send yourself to hell, why don't you? So that I don't have to do it for you." Artisia quickly ran in the other direction, where the scout from earlier was watching.

"You're right. Sorry." Artisia talked a little louder. "We should definitely head to the East Station to go capture it. I don't wanna miss that fight." She helped her fellow scout walk back to their camp. If he said anything to her about how she was acting strangely, she could just say that it was simply because of her anger held toward the swordsman for maiming him and insulting her ability as a fighter.​
 
Luckily enough for Artisia, the Scout had already moved away a bit, so all he did was watch as she hugged Xenon for a few seconds (Since speaking a message that long isn't a quick thing), before suddenly talking about sending him to hell. This made the guy raise an eyebrow, before he just shook his head.

"Ex-boyfriend of yours or something?" he asks with a chuckle. It seems complicated, so for Artisia's sake he decides not to pry any further as he holds up a hand. "On second thought, I don't need to know. Lets get going." With that, he holds up the communicator crystal, before shattering it in his hand. With this, he and Artisia would be teleported back to the Team Snake base, where right off the bat he would go to the Medical Tent, an upgrade of a Regular Tent, to get healed up.

"Artisia, go ahead and go to the North Camp and submit the report. Ill be there shortly to back you up."

Holding his side, as they had teleported to the South Camp, he goes to the West Camp now where their Medical Tent is. In total there are five Camps surrounding Gekkoukan, and ultimately while everyone is free to do whatever, they do have a small bit of organization to their team.

The North Camp is their operations, with a Meeting Table and everything. As well as several Tents for sleeping and resting. The West Camp was home to their Clerics. Focuses on Mana and Recovery Upgrades here to help better healing, as well as a Medical Tent for even better healing. This was their Healer's Camp. It even had an Orc Shaman who helped with healing. The South-West and South-East Camps were more better for Grinding, the East Camp meant for Gold Gathering.

Of course all of the Camps could do the functions of the other Camps, its just some Camps were better than others. Despite how organized things were, the members of Team Snake could still do what they wanted and were free to socialize as they pleased as long as some work or grinding got done. After all, fighting monsters with friends is quite exciting.

And now Artisia needed to teleport over to the North Camp, which is on the north side outside of Gekkoukan, and go make her report on the dealings with Team JUSTICE.

---

"Ah, flattering as ever eh Alexander? Not that I don't mind. I knew there is a reason I liked this guy. He has good taste." Suzaku just laughs a bit.

"Well charms and flattery aside..." Kijin speaks up now, "Announcing the start of this battle wouldn't bring everyone out. Sure Durin may come, and hopefully bring the Fox with him, but Teams Lion and Tiger are probably still electing to stay isolated. Still... its not a bad idea though, and would certainly make for quite the battle." Kijin definitely seems invested in Tian's idea, and a few other faces, including Suzaku's, around the table nod in agreement.

"But it would also make for quite the suicide attempt as well." Rei suddenly speaks up now. "If we are going to strike, we should strike them as soon as we can to catch them unprepared. If their highest members really are only Level 20, and most likely the ones in the leadership spot, then going after them right now is our best bet."

Kuro_Kage seems to nod to this, but alot of the others are silent.

"If this does devolve to an all out war, then there are no doubt going to be some casualties on our side. And that's something i'd like to avoid."

"Then what do you propose?" Kuro_Kage speaks out now.

"Me and anyone else who is stealth centered, who can run in, strike, and retreat quickly; go in quietly, eliminate a few people, and then run back out. If they come after us, we lead them to an ambush. If they don't, then we repeat the process."

"And what if they decide to gather together to stop such guerrilla tactics?" Momotaro speaks out now.

A small, knowing smile forms on Rei's face now. "Then the rest of us will move in and take whatever of their five camps they leave defenseless to give them fewer places to run. Oust their camps and resources, then they'll all be demoralized."

"These tactics are indeed... somewhat sound. But what you're doing is asking us to devolve to guerrilla warfare..." Kijin seems rather torn, but breaths in, and out.

"I will leave it up to a vote though. Who here believes in a frontal assault, and who would rather go with the stealth plans?"

Kijin, Momotaro, Suzaku all raise their hand for a frontal assault and announcing the brawl. Rei and Kuro-Kage seem to be in more support for a stealth based surprise attack and guerrilla warfare. The other members of Team Peacock, the two Mages, seem indecisive, while a quick shout to those outside of the Camp with the weapons reveals that the Ranger is more in favor of the stealth while their Cleric is more in favor of a frontal assault.



​
 
"I'll abstain," spoke a clear voice from the back of the group. Red eyes flickering from one member of Team Justice to another, Yozakura nodded once more, before saying, "I'm fine with either decision, but I'll put this on the table."

"This is a game. Not a war. And once your enmity is declared, Rei, what's stopping 21 players from taking all your camps that you have left unprotected?"

Her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "You're strong, but the members of Snake aren't weak, stupid, or needlessly cautious. Once more, this is a game. They may be content with sitting back and growing stronger, but they also wouldn't mind switching to the offense. No one here would really mind dying, after all."

Indeed, considering how centralized Team Justice has been, with only Rei ever creeping out of their own domain, it was a small miracle that they managed to maintain their other camps for so long.

"I don't care either way, but you're making your decisions like a babysitter. Let me guess, if we go with your guerilla tactics plan, you plan on being the only member from Team Justice to go, while the rest of your children flounder around, playing with baits and safely levelling up?"

How boring. Who would have thought that someone who could take down Station Bosses alone would be so concerned about minimalizing deaths in a GAME?
~
Tian-Gui, like most other members of team Peacock, disliked the idea of guerilla warfare, of ambushes and of all that sneaky stuff, and he voted for a full-on confrontation instead. Constant hit-and-runs weren't climatic at all, and the idea of slowly breaking his enemy's will and attacking defenseless camps? Just sounded nasty.

Tasted bitter really, and defeating a Team like that would just not…feel that good.

"I mean, I don't wholly know how the whole teleportation thing works, but if we attack one of their camps while they're holed up in another one, what's stopping them from all teleporting into the attacked camp and then rushing the stealth team down? What's stopping them from doing that, like, during our surprise attack?"

He scratched the bridge of his nose.

"And what if they just see that sneak attack coming ahead of time? Honestly, yeah, casualties are pretty bad, but guerilla tactics and Rei's own idea of how it's going to unfold is sorta…sketchy. None of us are ACTUALLY super elite soldiers, and none of us have the ability to, say, kill others with a few well-placed gunshots."

"It's a good idea on paper, and perhaps, if we were all stealth-specialized assassin-types, it would work…but we're not. Maybe we can scratch the idea of announcing our attack, but we need to wipe out the majority of team Snake, or they will simply recover by taking more camps."

Not that he actually agreed with that blue-haired girl's assessment of Rei though. She simply didn't understand the truth of the Gamers' situation.
 
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