The Gamers

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Yuriko grinned and jumped in place after the zombie she attacked disappeared, too delighted to hold back a cheer. "Yeeesss!" It wasn't easy, but she had managed to beat a monster on her own, on the first try! Her glee faded when an energetic hop turned her slightly to one side and she spotted the zombie that shambled near with outstretched arms. Right, right! We're not done ye-- "Uh-oh." That was when she saw the second one also headed her way...and they were close! Nooo, this is just what I didn't want!

Sam's arrival couldn't have been timed better. Yuri gave the other girl a grateful smile. "Thanks!" Not wanting to give the second zombie a chance to change focus - or for even more zombies to come after the two of them - she dashed over and swung the staff at its legs. They didn't seem quick to get back up once knocked down, so if she could just make this one trip, that would make the situation a bit easier to deal with.
 
Instead of a conventional attack Yuriko would go for a tripping one. It probably wouldn't deal as much damage as a normal attack, if any at all, but getting it down on the ground would definitely make it alot easier to deal with, a Staff being a perfect weapon to attempt this with.

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Yuriko Trip Attack: 80 - 8 Melee Weaponry - 6 Skill Bonus - 25 Distance Bonus = 41

Hit!
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While the attack really didn't do any damage it did succeed with what Yuriko wanted it to do, tripping the Zombie and making it fall down, a few windows appearing after that, but there would be no time to read them at the moment as the creature was now wide opened for a strike from the long staff.

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Yuriko Free Strike: 40 +25 Free Strike Penalty - 7 Skill Bonus - 8 Melee Weaponry = 50

Hit!

Damage Dealt: 6
---

Unfortunately the blow didn't connect as well as it should have, it seeming to hit the creature's side rather than its center, but it still dealt a nice bit of damage to the now downed Zombie. The windows that had appeared before Yuriko were as follows.

Staff Mastery's Level has gone up by 1.

A Skill has been created through a special action. Through employing the technique for using a pole like weapon to trip foes, the technique to deal a tripping blow to them, Sweeping Blow, has been created.

Sweeping Blow (Lv 1: 0/100 EXP) (Active: 1 MP): Using a long weapon like a staff, halberd, or spear you can aim for the legs of an opponent, or opponents, and attempt to trip them. +1% Accuracy when using this attack. Deals 10% of regular Attack Damage.

The Skill was an Active one that used MP, meaning that in order to use it Yuriko would have to say the Skill's name when she did as Saito had been doing when he used his Skills like Hand Bomb or Mana Ball.
 
"This is going well so far! no one has been hurt even right?!" It was taking all that he had to keep himself from bouncing up and down, Oz was getting super excited, So excited that he decided to try shooting two arrows at once! If works in games right? "Duel shot of destiny!" Naming his double arrow attempt, Oz aimed for the zombie which had just been tripped by Yuriko, it should be easier to hit the slow moving target, and especially if it was already on the ground, Oz hopped he wouldn't mess up and hit his newfound friends by accident though.
 
Not only was Oz trying to shoot with two arrows, but he was trying to shoot a target that was prone. Prone targets are usually easier to hit with melee weapons. Ranged weapons, not so much since they are low to the ground and smaller targets. Still, it was always worth a try.

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Oz Manyshot: 15 + 10 Prone Penalty + 50 Multiple Arrow Penalty - 7 Projectile Weaponry - 5 Skill Bonus
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It was a valiant attempt, but it was a no go. The arrows flew, but the shot was rather poorly executed since it was with two arrows. Still it was indeed something worth practicing at a later point, but trying to execute something like this in combat was just not a good idea.

The Zombies seemed to move now as well, the one who Sam had struck now turning towards her and attempting to grab at her with its rotting arms.

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Zombie Grapple: 46

Sam Defense: 33 (Static)

Miss
---

Luckily the arms were easily brushed aside with Sam's wooden sword, a window appearing after that stating that her Sword Master Skill had gone up in Level by 1. The other one seemed to be getting up, actually playing well... smart as it sort of lumbered backwards to avoid attack, spending a little extra time doing so, while getting up. Whether this was it being smart or just a lucky coincidence was unclear, but the opportunity to attack the one Yuriko tripped while it was getting up would not arise.

The other one that Oz had shot in the leg had now gotten up a little while ago and was now right in front of the crate he was behind, reaching at him with its arms. Luckily it was going to have a slightly harder time thanks to the create.

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Zombie Grapple: 40

Oz Dodge: 41 (Static) - 10 Cover Bonus = 31

Miss
---

Oz barely managed to get away, mainly thanks to the create that separated him and the Zombie, but still he would need to deal with that one that still had an arrow sticking out of its rotten leg.


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The rest of the battle went remarkably well. The party managed to easily destroy the rest of the zombies, with Saito mainly doing most of the work, the others got in some good hits here and there as well. No one took anymore bites from the slow Zombies, which was always a nice thing even though, for those who had the Physical Endurance Skill, it meant that they didn't get to level that up. Still, the fight went rather well. Everyone but Saito went up 3 Levels from those Zombies, putting everyone else but Saito at level 4. Of course that fight should have been difficult, but with Saito's help it was rather easy.

"Well, that was fun." Saito gave a grin, making his own Bo-Staff vanish with a flick of his wrist. "I must say you all really know how to hold your own though, glad that this wasn't as much of a bus ride as I thought it was going to be. Still you all got three Levels a piece, that's pretty awesome. You should probably apply your Stat Points and Talent Points before we do anything else, and rest a little first as well. Unless you wanna save all of your points until you know what you wanna do, which is also fine as well. If any of you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask."

And with that, Saito waited for the others to either finish applying their points or to ask him any questions that they may have.
 
"Yaaaay, we did it!" The chances of winning or losing didn't matter to Yuriko in that moment; all that was important was that they had won, and did so without too much trouble or injury on their part. The only thing missing was a fitting musical riff at the end of their battle...so she hummed one under her breath, a rather familiar tune from a famous RPG series. "That was awesome! Great job, you guys!" She was gushing more than a little yet didn't seem embarrassed at all. After a quick look around to make sure there weren't any zombies hiding in a box or something - like some kinda undead mimic - she put her staff away.

While attempting to look straight up at her own name wasn't very helpful, she saw right away that the others had leveled more than once; she probably had, too. "Character window." Yup, she was level 4 now. Whoo-hoo! Zombies should be a lot easier next time! I just have to figure out what to do with all these points... "Hmm." Yuri thought on this while staring at the window. "Hmmmmm..." The noise grew in volume and length the longer she looked, that initial thoughtfulness quickly turning to something less productive. Her expression went from fairly calm to overly wrinkled in thought to twisted up in frustration. I dunno what I should piiiiiick! They're all important, right? I can't really skip any of them, but I only have so many points to use! And what if I change my mind later?

It didn't take much of this for her to realize she was thinking in circles and getting nowhere. "Hey," she blurted out, "How do we turn the lights back on? Oh, and, umm...is there a 'reset' button for stats or something, Saito-san? Y'know, like some games have in case you push the wrong button? It's not a big deal, I'm just curious!"
After much fretful lip-biting, Yuri placed two points each in strength and vitality. Another two points went into dexterity, because not getting hurt in the first place was better than just being able to take a punch. Two more went into intelligence...which, she admitted, was due to magic looking cool, and a hope that healing magic existed. One point went into wisdom, another into luck. The last she decided to hang onto for now. Whew! All done. She let out a sigh of relief. That had been almost as nerve-wracking as the actual battl-- Wait! I have to do this all over again for talents?!

She slumped in dismay where she stood - just for a moment - before managing to pull herself together. There weren't that many points, surely it would be okay no matter what she did this time, right? Okay, I can do this, just pick the stuff that was most useful! Um, er, melee weapons, and stealth, and...umm...maaaybe focus? This was a problem she always had in games: if there was just one character and she didn't start off with a plan, it was hard to decide where development should happen and when. Having herself be the character made it much tougher!

And kinda weird...but she was trying not to think about that part.
 
'That was one hell of an experience.' Sam thought as she put her Bokken away, which in turn made it seem like it faded into nothing. 'And I can now cross fighting Zombies off my "List of Things I'll Most Likely Never Be Able To Do Due To It Only Existing In Fiction", which is really going to need a shorter name now that it appears as though those things just became much more possible. I wonder what else I'm going to be able to cross off. Wait, this is not the time to be thinking this. Why do I always get sidetracked so easily?'

At the mention of Leveling Up by three levels she quickly muttered, "Status Window". A small grin formed on her face as she saw all of the Stat Points she had accumulated. Not wanting make a mistake with how she placed the points she took a moment to think about were to put them. 'Lets see here, the lowest of my Stats are VIT, WIS, and LUK and my highest are DEX and INT. Well VIT is important so I'll add three points to that, as I would rather not be one-shotted when I end up fighting stronger enemies. One point to LUK and two points to WIS, as LUK doesn't seem as a priority right now and WIS will work well with INT. Next I'll add two points into STR. Once that's done two points will go into both DEX and INT.' She assigned the points once she had figured out where she wanted them to all go.

With the Stat Points out of the way she moved onto the next order of business. "Talents Window". The Window now in front of her she noted that she had nine points to use. 'Here we go again.' She thought with a small groan. While she loved Leveling Up, assigning points could be a pain at times. 'Okay, seeing as I'm going to be going the rogue route it'll do me good to focus on Talents associated with that role. In that case I'm going to add one point to Acrobatics, Climbing, Focus, Melee Weaponry, Stealth, Observation, Manipulate Device, First Aid, and Thrown Weapons.' Like with the Stats, once she had made her final decision she quickly assigned the points.

Assigning points now checked off her list of things to do Sam turned her attention towards Saito. "So what's next on the list of things to do?"
 
"We Did it! Yahoo!" Punching the air and jumping in a spiral with the bow held tight in his other hand, "Was that awesome? Or was that awesome!? Zombie rail shooters got nothing on this! It was like, pew pew, bop! Smack wack! POW! Poooof!" Acting out the shooting of his bow, and swinging it like it was another weapon, with sound effects to boot, Oz felt on top of the world, and was still teeming full of energy.

He did queit down a tad, as he noticed the others all pressing buttons on what he assumed would be there stat windows. They all look funny standing there, pressing their fingers in the air like that. It made Oz smile, "You know it is a good thing others aren't around, watching you both stat up looks really funny, and if I couldn't do it myself, I am certain I would think you both wer on something." He smiled, and opened his own to apply his points from leveling up. "Status" Looking at his stats, he saw were he was lacking, and his current strengths, rubbing his chin, he then quickly applied all of his stat points without giving it a second thought, "+6 to my Luck, +3 to my dexterity, +1 to intelligence, annnnnd +2 to my wisdom. Bam! good stuff." He nodded his head, showing that he liked what he had just done, "Talents" Opening the next window, he pressed away at just as quickly. "+2 to negotiation, +3 to thrown, + 3 to projectile, +1 to focus, Yeah, I need to focus more, and, last one is +1 to observation. Good." He closed his windows, then looked at the others, "Jobs done, now what are we gonna do? Can we find more monsters to fight?" Innocent smile from ear to ear, Oz was treating life as a game.
 
As they all applied their Stat Points and Talent Points, the moment they accepted the changes they would feel themselves grow stronger in those areas. If they upped Intelligence they felt smarter. If they upped Strength or Vit they felt stronger or tougher. Increasing their stats upped their actual physical and mental abilities that corresponded to those Stats. If they upped Talents they would feel themselves grow more skilled and knowledgeable in those fields based upon the rank they had in the Talent. Saito, after they all seemed done, muttered Observe as he used it on each of them to view their stat changes.

"As I am aware there is no reset button for the Stats. So once you apply your Stat and Talent points they are set. While its good to go balanced a bit, you might want to find something to focus on. For now Vitality and Dexterity are good choices, as is Strength. Strength and Vitality, as I a have noticed, seem to increase HP and increase the Resilience Stat, which protects from physical damage." Saito turned to look at Oz now. "While Luck can be good... if you have some kind of Luck skill or something that uses Luck... you might want to invest your next few levels in increasing Strength, Vitality, and Dexterity... otherwise you may get killed in one or two hits..."

After addressing that issue about Oz's... rather interesting stat choice, Saito returned to the task at hand, their next task. "Alright. For our next task, I will teach you all how to create and break a Pseudospace. I see that some of you leveled up Wisdom, so it should be easier for you all. We will practice one at a time for the sake of ease. After learning you will get two Skills that allow you to break and create Pseudospaces with ease, and maybe even a skill that lets you emit mana like I have if you are lucky. I learned this from some mysterious Messenger of Gaia whose level was literally question marks, but it shouldn't be too hard to pass on this knowledge. "

After that Saito took a few steps to position himself in front of the others to that they could all better see and hear him. "To create a Pseudospace all you need to do is raise your hand into the air. Feel the energy in your body and slowly flow it into your hand and then out from your hand, using that and connecting your will to Gaia's, who will then create the Pseudospace since it is Gaia actually making them, or so I was told. Breaking it is the same concept, only instead of willing one to be created, you will it to break. So whoever wants to go first may begin..."
 
"Aww! I was afraid of that..." Yuriko pouted a bit at the news of no resets. I'll just have to be extra careful about where I put my points! Then Saito went on to give advice about stat choices; the warning against a 'balanced' approach made her fidget nervously. Wah, I knew it, I knew it! Pure hybrid is no good! But I don't know where I wanna focus yet... She wondered how much Oz had put into Luck for it to get mentioned specifically, though; had all of his points gone there, maybe? "Things that use luck? Hmm...aren't there games with spells like that? Like that one character who uses a slot machine!" Her head tilted to one side then. "I wonder if stuff like that can be weapons too?" The mental image of Oz throwing a slot machine at some zombies popped into her head, and she couldn't stop herself from giggling.

...wait, what was that about two new skills? Yuri's focus snapped back to the conversation at hand just in time to catch the rest of the explanation. Nearly as soon as Saito finished, she called out, "Ooh, can I try? It's okay, right?" After a quick glance at the other two, just to make sure they didn't mind, she sprung forward. "Heeere goes!" One hand closed into a fist and was held near her chest. She closed her eyes; then that hand was thrust toward the ceiling with fingers spread. It looked less like 'just raise your hand into the air' and more like someone starting a transformation sequence.

Doing this is weird if there's not a cool phrase to say...like 'Super Star Power!' or something...how do I know if it's working? I still feel normal. Her forehead wrinkled in thought. Umm...well...it's a spell, right? Maybe if I think like it's a spell from a game? Yeah, everything else works like in games so far! In her mind, she tried to imagine a light forming around her hand, one that slowly grew brighter before bursting outward in sparkling rays that would break the space apart like shattered glass. Yuri had no idea if it would work, much less if it was right, but it couldn't hurt to try. Her eyes were closed too tightly to see if anything happened, and other than a tingle that could have been her imagination, her upraised hand felt normal. Disappear, disappear, creepy zombie training room!
 
Yuriko Focus: 5 - 8 Focus = -3
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Yuriko first began to focus, trying to break the current Mirror Zone (not Pseudospace, that is a typo) that they were currently in. A slightly misty energy began to form around her hand as she focused and the area around them began to crack and break slowly. Soon enough, it shattered like glass, placing them back in the warehouse they were in before, everything exactly the way it was before Saito made the Mirror Zone with the Zombies in it.

After this successful attempt, a window appeared for Yuriko.

A Skill has been created through a Special Action. The ability to escape from a Mirror Zone, ID Escape, has been created.

ID Escape (Level 1: 0/100 EXP) (Active): Destroys the Mirror Zone you currently are in, allowing you to escape. May not work in some cases. Higher levels may allow you to escape in certain other situations.

To Level Up: Escape an ID you created, Escape an ID someone else created.

This was followed by two more windows.

A Skill has been created through a Special Action. Through practicing emitting energy, the ability to emit your own energy, Energy Wave, has been created.

Energy Wave (Level 1: 0/100 EXP) (Active: 8 MP): You fire a concentrated, crescent shaped wave of energy from your palm that attacks foes, dealing 1~6 + 25% Focus Score in Damage.

To Level Up: Use Energy Wave, Hit with Energy Wave, Kill a foe with Energy Wave, score a Critical with Energy Wave.

After that would come Yuriko's practice attempt in creating a new Mirror Zone just as Saito did.

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Yuriko Focus: 54 - 8 Focus = 46
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Creating a Mirror Zone seemed a bit harder than breaking out of one for Yuriko, but she managed to get it soon enough, the same thing happening as the outside lights and sounds all disappeared, leaving only the sunlight in the warehouse for them. This Mirror Zone, unlike the one Saito made, had no Zombies in it. Two windows appeared after Yuriko's success.

A Skill has been created through a Special Action. Through practicing the creation of Mirror Zones, the ability to create a Mirror Zone, ID Create, has been created.

ID Create (Level 6: 45/100 EXP) (Active): Creates a Mirror Zone in which you can use special powers in freely.
Current Types: Empty ID.

To Level Up: Create an ID, Clear an ID, Unknown Training Method.

"You did it, congrats" Saito had a smile on his face as he clapped a few times in applause before looking to the others. "So, who wants to go next?"
 
Sam stood and watched as Yuriko raised her hand into the air with her eyes shut tight and a look of concentration on her face. After a few moments Sam began to wonder if anything was going to happen when a soft cracking sound reached her ears. Looking around for the source she saw that around the group cracks were beginning to form. It was long after that when the Mirror Zone around them shattered completely, leaving them in the warehouse once again.

'Well that was rather cool.' She thought. 'Being able to get out of a Zone is going to easily become an invaluable skill once I learn it, especially if Yuriko's demonstration is anything to go by. With it I won't have to worry about getting stuck in a Zone with extremely high leveled mobs and getting my as handed to me.' She was brought back to the present situation when she noticed Yuriko raising her hand once more. 'And here we go again.'

Once more all of the artificial light sources disappeared along with all of the outside sounds, leaving only the sun and the sounds of their own breathing in its wake. Sam tensed, waiting the increasingly familiar sound of a Zombie groan to reach her ears, but when it never came she relaxed.

"I guess I'll go." She told the others when Saito asked who wanted to go next. Following Saito's instructions as well as Yuriko's example, she raised her hand into the air and began to concentrate. She visualized energy gathering in her raised palm and thought only on word, 'Break'.
 
"That was AWESOME! This day just keeps getting better and better!" Oz was well impressed with watching as Yuriko broke and made her own mirror zone, than as patiently as he could, he bounced in place as he watched Sam give it her attempt. He was biting his tongue so as to not say anything to distract her as it seemed to require some concentration and focus, which were not his strongest suit. Neither was being silent but he would try.

As soon as she had finished though, he burst out "My turn! oh yeah! Magic powers activate!" He struck a pose, his legs spread wide, he touched the ground, then quickly shifted his weight and punched towards the sky...Nothing happened "Err...I meant to not do anything that try." This time a bit more seriously, but still with a wide stance, he tried to focus, empty his mind aside from the task at hand, Come on, Come on!! He closed his eyes tightly.
 
The appearance of her new skills made Yuriko crack one eye open, then another, followed by a wide smile. "Heehee, thanks. Piece of cake!" The second part had been a little tough, but that didn't stop her from celebrating her success at least a little. And no monsters! Awesome! Yuriko had forgotten for a moment that 'empty' was an option, and felt pretty relieved that practice wouldn't throw them into yet another battle. As Sam stepped up to take her turn, she watched closely. "Go for it!" The words left her mouth on pure impulse, but it looked like she blurted that out without interrupting too badly.

When Oz's turn came up, she giggled a bit at the enthusiasm and the posing that came with his attempt. "Oh cool, that one looks like fun too..." Unphased by the lack of immediate flashy magic, Yuri cupped her hands around her mouth, calling out, "Don't worry, you can do it!" Sure, they were in easy speaking distance as it was, but she was having fun like this. All the while, her information windows hovered to one side of her head, waiting paitently for her to actually look at them. She didn't want to dismiss them without reading it...but as soon as she saw how things played out, there'd be time for that, right? It's not like any more monsters are going to come out. We're safe.
 
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