Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: I just got an [Objective] to defeat them. I'm going to engage.

[Aster K'lon]: Acknowledged. Do you know where they are?

[Jerome Smith]: Uh, I assumed along the path, right? There's nowhere else they could hide, right?

[Aster K'lon]: Reincarnators... allow me to attempt an identification.

[Greater Assess] cast! Party Chat [Aster K'lon]: They possess a skill that hides them from [Assess]-type skills, I believe. My skill could not locate them. They are likely in the bushes, you are correct, but it is always better to attempt to use an [Assess]-type spell to understand what you are encountering. P-System Message Amendment to [Objective]: Difficulty level is approximated to be AVERAGE. P-System Log

Skills that let them hide from magic, huh? I guess that means that either my pseudo-[Assess] isn't counted as magic or is powerful enough to circumvent the skill. I saw the [Hide From Magic] skill when I was checking over their stats, so that was probably what Aster was referring to when she said that her skill bounced off.

Ah, and both of them are preparing to cast now. Better get ready to facilitate those spells.

Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: You are sure that you desire to do this?

[Jerome Smith]: Of course. Let's use our [Spear]-type attacks, since I think they both have to do with flame. Smoke them out and then kill them when they're forced to run.

[Aster K'lon]: A rather barbaric plan, but it may succeed. Take the lead.

[Blazing Spear] activating! [Inferno Spear] cast! P-System Log

Wow, that's a powerful effect. Put together, those two spells ignited basically all the flowers as far as my primary perception dome extends and quite a bit further as well. The flame is almost unreal in its intensity, which pretty much makes sense given that they're created by mana.

The fields are burning around us, and the conflagration is spreading fast. The flames haven't quite reached the hidden enemies though, so I'm still waiting on a response from them.

Okay, it's reached them. Now what?

[Blazing Spear] dealt 25 damage! [Blazing Spear] dealt 22 damage! [Blazing Spear] dealt 24 damage! P-System Log Guess the lower level of [Fire Resistance] meant that the reduction wasn't as significant. Well, I think it's that skill that applies, at least, given that the flames weren't a result of the direct impact. Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: I hit three of them. 25, 22, 24 damage, respectively.

[Aster K'lon]: I did as well. 61, 57, 64. I can see them now. They have been revealed. A good tactic, if unnecessarily destructive.

Hero's Personal Log 046

That's what I'm all about! I never really learned that much in school, but you bet your ass I learned how to plan raids! I played every game under the sun, and I'm not gonna let that go to waste.

The spell I used did less damage than it did when I used it before. Aster mentioned something about resistances before, so it's gotta be related to that.

P-System Log How do people gain resistances anyway? Axel had some, the R Beasts had some, Aster presumably has a few, and now these bandits have fire and magic. Do they just get hit by them a lot? Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: Be careful. Bandits have a nasty habit of sneaking up on you.

[Jerome Smith]: Got it.

P-System Log

And even as she says that, there's a bandit sneaking around the side. He's not even being particularly stealthy! I mean, yes, he's using a skill, I can feel that, but why aren't they noticing him? The first bandit just had [Silent Step], which shouldn't be enough for them to just ignore a whole person in their field of view.

Guess I gotta burn a piece of W Inertia. I don't need this guy's stats, but I want to see what he's using. I can focus on the distortion in reality, right?

Skill identified: [Obfuscate lv. ] Hide yourself from perception. P-System Log

I probably need to burn more W Inertia if I want to see what level that spell--er, skill--is, but it doesn't matter. That's a pretty damn powerful skill, if the effect is universal. I'd imagine it has some stipulations, because a [Rare] skill that can fuck with perception like that sounds a little broken.

Time to keep this fight entertaining to watch. The use of the flaming [Spear]-type spells was pretty interesting, I have to admit, and I think it'd be rather boring for that to be followed up with a few backstabs that may or may not end the fight.

Also, if Jerome loses, I'm in deep shit, so I don't want that to happen.

P-System Message Warning: [Obfuscate] has been used by an enemy. Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: My System is helping me out. It just told me that someone is using [Obfuscate]. Do you know it?

[Aster K'lon]: These bandits must be have at least [Uncommon] classes, then. Good to know. I will attempt to remove the skill.

[Lesser De-spell] cast! Magic contest won by [Mage] Aster K'lon! [Obfuscate] has been suppressed! Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: Shit, he's really close.

[Aster K'lon]: You are correct.

[Jerome Smith]: Targeting the close one. Cover me.

Overcharged [Magic Missile] activating! [Magic Missile] dealt 47 damage! Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: 47!

[Aster K'lon]: One more should do it.

[Swift Strike] cast! [Backstab] cast! P-System Log

This guy just got very fast very quickly, holy shit. I have a faster perception rate than I used to by a significant amount, so I have my thoughts sped up right now to the point where I can see him diving towards the pair that I'm overseeing. There's some kind of mana distorting his movements, and I think it's also been applied to his knives.

He's going to make it to them before Jerome can react. This bandit has to be low on HP now after taking so many hits, right? That might matter less if it can KO one of Jerome or Aster before it gets hit again. Jerome'll probably be fine, since from what I've seen his HP is frankly ridiculous for his level and he survived a combination attack from the R Beasts when they stacked together even rarer skills, but Aster might not be. This guy has to be the strongest of the three enemies. A quick check elsewhere tells me that the other two bandits are still en route to the fight proper, which means that they probably don't have the [Obfuscate] skills and no way to boost their speed.

The bandit just dove past both of them. He's behind the two adventurers now.

Right. [Backstab] is the skill he's using. Looks like he's aiming for Aster. Targeting the squishy mage first, huh?

Fuck that. Aster has been a great asset so far, and her existence makes being around Jerome more tolerable. I'm not going to let our first party member get killed off this early on.

Not many options available. I can't really affect anything in the real world even though I'm facilitating Jerome's spells since I can only do part of it.

Actually, can I do that? Start Jerome's spell right now and hope he'll finish it automatically?

It'll require trust in him. I don't know if I have that trust, but I know that I don't have the time.

Fuck it. Burning W Inertia and mana to get this done. As much as I need.

P-System Message Go. [Magic Missile] activating! [Magic Missile] dealt 20 damage! Enemy defeated! Experience split and distributed! P-System Log

Split? I guess that means that Aster's System got some too, since she took part in killing it. Let's take stock...

Current W Inertia: 37657

Max W Inertia: 38359

P-System Log

Hm, my max W Inertia hasn't been increasing. I guess it only increases when I get to overflow levels of W Inertia? That would make sense. Anyway, I think I spent a little over 10 W Inertia to get Jerome's ass in gear, which means... I gained around 40? Not bad, especially when there's two more of these guys to get W Inertia from, but nowhere near enough to recoup my losses. Damn.

At least the maneuver worked. I don't know if the message helped or not, but the spell went through in the end and it killed the bandit before he could get to Aster.

Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: Aster, you were right about my System.

[Aster K'lon]: As I usually am.

[Jerome Smith]: Sure. It just helped me cast that [Magic Missile] quickly and accurately before I could even react.

[Aster K'lon]: Interesting. Quick-casting is usually accomplishable with a [Rare] skill that I have not yet obtained. To be handed it through your System is rather unique indeed.

[Jerome Smith]: Might've saved your life, too.

[Aster K'lon]: Thank you. I appreciate it.

Private Messages [Aster]

[Aster K'lon]: Thank you, System of Jerome's.

[P-System]: Hold your thanks. There are still two enemies remaining.