Chaos in the alley.

Dust was everywhere. The Gamer along with the injured kidnapper were thrown further into the alley. A sharp pain racked his body as he collided with something, causing his HP to decrease by forty seven points. Feeling disoriented from the blast, he didn’t even see what happened. One moment he saw a pink flash in the distance, the next he was hurtling through the air toward the wall behind him. As he struggled to his feet, he called out without thinking, “Jasmine, you alright?” All the dust caused him to cough repeatedly.

“Yea, I’m fine. I know you’re rattled, but keep all communication telepathic like we instructed earlier. That attack was fucking strong and I don’t know how many more of those I can block. They haven’t shot again, so I’m hoping it packed most if not all their mana.” Her voice in his head sounded exhausted. “Also, next time check the party first. That’s how I knew you were fine. I figured, worst case your body was similar to when you fought the champion and your chest was caved in, or something else along those lines. Keep your guard up, they may switch to close range since their surprise attack failed. Reimi, don’t you have any eyes on our attacker?”

“The attacker, well, sniper is a better term, already left the barrier. They were to the east of you a little over two thousand feet. Just like you guessed, I think they used most of their mana in that attack because they left the barrier as soon as they realized you survived. I suggest you watch out, though, whoever took control of the barrier should still be present. She seemed to match the description of the kidnappers' employer,” warned the technomancer, alerting them to the status of the attacker.

“Fuck, you’re right,” came the reporters' pained voice via their connection. With some sort of impact, the dust dispersed and the Gamer could see Jasmine. Unfortunately there were another two figures there. One of them seemed to be a half destroyed golem made out of what looked like gray smoke, that he assumed defended her from the attack given its state. John thought it was shadows at first, but between the giant and her was a multilayered wall of shadows. The other figure was the problem; what seemed to be a mechanical stinger was coming from their back and impaling the ebony woman. The giant of smoke dispersed and changed into three dog-like creatures that jumped at Jasmine’s attacker. “Reimi, send in your gynoid. I think I was hit with some sort of poison, my body isn’t moving properly and my mana isn’t listening to me. I’m gonna be a sitting duck in less than a minute. John, stay hidden, this woman is way out of your league.”

The smoke dogs were assaulting the woman from multiple angles, but she just kept avoiding their attacks with ease. The reporter could be seen taking a knee; her wall of shadows had completely dispersed. Her health had taken a bit of a hit, but she still had over seventy percent of it. Her mana on the other hand was plummeting rapidly, her level also was back to normal.

Finally, he had a chance to get a good look at Jasmine’s mystery attacker. She was a woman with long flowing pink hair. Her eyes matched her hair, and she wore an open back white dress. He figured a top like that was convenient for her since there was a long metallic scorpion tail attached to her back that she was effortlessly controlling to ward off the attacks of the three dogs. The tail had a metallic color; each of its joints was orange. “HAHA, what do you think of my neurotoxin? Don't worry, even though you can’t move, you can still feel pain clearly,” laughed the unknown assailant.

The Gamer staggered to his feet. For a moment he considered assisting his party member, but her warning was still fresh in his mind. He prepared himself in case he needed to intervene, even though he was pretty sure reinforcements were on their way. The sexy reporter was his friend; if he could, he wanted to prolong her life. As he watched the scorpion-tailed woman defend against Jasmine's **** attacks, he heard some rustling next to him.

Debris shifted and the bleeding figure of Meadow’s kidnapper pushed himself free of it. The man saw the surprised Gamer and immediately **** his injured body forward, lunging at the unsuspecting teen with a sword made of flames he had hastily created, “Die, brat,” bellowed the bleeding man.

Even though he wasn’t expecting this, John put his training to practice, nimbly dodging the slash aimed at him. After evading the man he stomped hard at his leg, aiming straight for where he was impaled.

“Ahhh!” the man howled in pain. John wasn’t used to the increase in his strength. That coupled with the fact that Jasmine had already started to pull his limbs apart while torturing him, the kidnapper’s leg snapped under the pressure. The Gamer, steeled his heart and stabbed his dagger as hard as he could, impaling the collapsed man straight in the head.

+2100 Exp
Level Up

Achievement: Law of the Jungle
Survive by killing your first human.
Reward: all stats +1, plus a buff to your mental state to keep you from overthinking in a life or **** situation

Temporary Apathy
The buff is just to help you temporarily cope with killing your first human, duration 30 minutes.
Effect: puts the Gamer in a focused state to prioritize his survival

The man’s blood and brain matter oozed out of the wound, onto John’s dagger and hand. He felt the effect of Gaia’s buff as he wasn’t panicking like he’d expected he would. The Gamer looked over to check the condition of the reporter. Only one dog remained and it seemed to be dissipating while it desperately did its best to defend its master. “Reimi, is there anyway to get out of this situation?” asked the Gamer; his voice was cold and unfeeling over their mental link.

Right after he asked, a figure dropped from the sky landing between Jasmine and her assailant. “Prototype designated zero five has arrived. Primary objective: defend Jasmine Sharpe and John Newman. Second objective: neutralize designated hostile targets. The male target has been eliminated by John Newman. Will attack the female target while focusing on the primary objective.” The robotic voice belonged to a woman with two antennas on either side of her head. She had waist length green hair and was dressed in a simple black and white maid uniform.

The woman rushed at Jasmine’s assailant. She blocked a piercing attack from the stinger with a blade that protruded from her left hand. The white-clad woman was then knocked back by a kick from the gynoid. Her right hand then clenched into a fist and her elbow folded forward, revealing a pistol. A hail of bullets were launched at the scorpion-tailed woman.

“Fuck, this isn’t worth the risk. The rat is dead, my job is finished,” the woman said and disappeared before his eyes.

“Secondary target has fled the scene. Will secure priority targets and return to the designated safe zone.” The green haired woman’s hand returned to normal and she picked up the paralyzed reporter. “John Newman, exit the barrier and I will follow.”

“Yeah, sure.”

”John, put that man's corpse in your inventory. We might be able to get a bit more information from him,” interrupted the technomancer as John was about to exit the barrier. He did as instructed, then exited the barrier.

Reimi was waiting at the end of the alley in Jasmine’s car. ”Get in, we’re retreating before more show up.”

The gynoid placed Jasmine in the back seat and took a seat next to her while John got in the passenger seat.