Sorry again for time for a release, college is killing me. I released it as soon as I was done, so please point out errors.

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

Chapter 5

"What the hell is wrong with you?" yelled out Murkuro.

"Ummm..." Kain was awestruck at the power Murkuro had just displayed. He had just destroyed all of the zombies Kain was struggling with in an instant.

"Never mind about that, how are you even in the illusion barrier? You're normal aren't you?" asked Murkuro.

"Illusion barrier?" said Kain with a confused look on his face. "What's that? All I did was follow you here and then I started getting attacked."

At that Murkuro got a dark look on his face and his fist seemed to start glowing with power. "You were following me?"

Kain's eyes opened wide when he realized he had mentioned that. "That was so stupid of me," thought Kain. Thinking quickly, he decided to tell the truth. "I started following you because I could tell how strong you are compared to the other members of the club. I wanted to find out why."

"How did you know that I was stronger? I haven't sparred with anyone yet since you joined." Murkuro had a suspicious look.

Kain wondered if he should tell him about his ability, but from how Murkuro was acting, it'd be safer not to lie. "I just developed some strange ability not long ago. It's kind of like an ability that turns life around me into a game. One part to it is that it shows levels above people's heads. Normal humans are about level 13 or lower, but you were many levels ahead of that. I wanted to find out why."

Murkuro looked at Kain, confused by what he just said. "Does it do anything else?"

"Well I can learn skills automatically through skill books, so that's how I learned so many martial art styles so quickly. I can also develop my own skills through certain actions. There is an options menu, status, and inventory, and I can level up to increase my abilities. That's the short version at least," Kain shrugged.

"Prove it. Pull something out of your inventory."

Kain opened up his inventory and noticed the weights he was using for his training, so he pulled those out. Murkuro stepped back, surprised. "Whoa, that's a dimensional ability! Okay, I kind of believe you now."

Kain put the weights back. "So my turn to get answers. What's an illusion barrier?"

Murkuro looked worn out. "Jeez, someone with such strong abilities doesn't even know what something that simple is. Okay, so basically, it's an area for combat. Usually they are empty, but I was getting some light training in, so I made an illusion barrier that summons weak spirits in the form of zombies. It's about the best I can make by myself, I'm not skilled in really complex illusion barriers."

"How do you do it then?" Kain looked up at him, eager to learn.

"Easy, just put energy into your hand with the thought of creating one. Same way to get out."

Kain stuck his hand up into the air and tried to put strength into his hand. He felt a slight power come to it after a minute.

Energy Bolt (Active) Lv 1

A technique to directly emit mana from the palm of your hand

"Oh!" yelled out Kain, surprising Murkuro.

"What, do you think you figured it out?"

"Better, I just got an attack to fire mana." Ignoring the shocked look of Murkuro, he thought about escaping the illusion barrier. It shattered around him, bringing back the normal sounds of the night.

ID Escape (Active) Lv 1

A technique to escape illusion barriers. Can escape higher level illusion barriers with higher level.

Doing the same thing again, Kain thought of creating one. A second later, the sounds of the night were not able to be heard.

ID Create (Active) Lv 1

A technique to create illusion barriers. Higher level will unlock more barriers.

Available barriers – Empty ID

"I did it!" exclaimed Kain.

"Nice. Now you mentioned an attack?" Murkuro asked.

"Oh yeah, I'll show you." Kain faced out his palm and aimed at a tree. "Energy Bolt," Kain thought. A small blue ball flied out from his hand, hitting the tree. It slightly damaged the bark. "Ah, damn, it's weak. I'll have to level it up soon."

What the hell! That technique takes a huge amount of effort to learn, yet you learned it by just facing your palm into the air?!" Murkuro yelled at him, shocked at the ability.

Kain looked at him surprised. "Oh, I didn't know it was such a big deal, it's not even that strong. Of course, with training it will be usable."

"Whatever, man," Murkuro was looking at him, as if he was trying to measure Kain's strength. "Hey, do you have anything to do tomorrow after school? I'm gonna try to show you more. It's not safe to have powers like you and to be so inexperienced."

Kain thought about it. "No, I can skip martial arts practice for the day. Let's meet up after school?"

"Okay, deal." Murkuro jumped off into the dark, destroying Kain's illusion barrier as he did so. Kain watched him leave. "If he had moved that fast in the first place, I would never have been able to follow him... Well I guess I should head home, it's getting dark." On his way back home, Kain figured he could train some of his new skills, starting with the new ones. While continuing to walk, he created and then destroyed illusion barriers. "If I can make training ones like Murkuro can, I can get way stronger than fighting normal people..." Kain thought. By the time he arrived home, he had leveled both up several times, unlocking the zombie ID and another that was called ghost ID, along with a mixed ID that contained both.

It was quiet, so he assumed that his mom had already gone to sleep. He climbed into his own bed and tried to fall asleep, but it was difficult since he was thinking of all that had occurred today and what could happen tomorrow.

The Next Day

After Kain got through another monotonous day of school, he began to look around for Murkuro. He found him outside of the school building, leaning against a nearby tree. "Ready to go?" Murkuro asked.

"Yep," Kain responded with a slightly nervous tone reflecting in his voice.

Murkuro noticed it, "Don't worry, you're in no danger. We're gonna go talk to the clan about if I should help you or not. You won't be in any trouble while we are there." He gave a slight smile.

Kain nodded, and they started to walk. They talked about random things on the way, just trying to waste time. "Oh, so how long have you had your ability, Murkuro?" Kain asked.

"Me? I didn't just gain an ability like you. There are two different kinds of people who enter this world. They can be born with an ability, though yours finally developed later on, or they can train for the ability to sense ki and implement it." Murkuro looked over at Kain, slightly jealous. "Though most people that aren't born with an ability don't have the skill to become extremely powerful. I train a lot, but it's extremely hard for me to get to the level of those who were born with powerful techniques. At least I know I can be above average at the very least."

"That's interesting. Do you think my ability is all that special? Like, it has a lot of neat things going for it, but there must be plenty that are stronger." Kain replied.

"I think that's a good question for our clan head to answer," Murkuro replied.

Not much longer, they arrived at a large property that was completely surrounded with a tall brown fence. At the entrance, a man stood guard.

Crimson Rain Guardsman

Terra Mabuya Lv 22

"Hey Terra, is the head ready for us?" Murkuro asked the man.

"Yep, you're good to go," Terra responded casually. He glanced over at Kain, and an unusual look passed over Terra's face, but it was quickly diminished. He stepped to the side. "See you later."

As Kain and Murkuro walked past him, Kain thought about that face Terra had made. It had seemed almost like...hope.

Murkuro led Kain to a building near the center of the property, which was slightly more decorative than the others that filled the area, but still humble. "This is the room where the clan head works. Follow me." He opened the door and gestured for Kain to follow. They both walked in. The room was dimly lit, but Kain could see that there were two people guarding the next room. Murkuro walked up to them and said something quietly to them. They stepped out of the way and nodded. Again, Kain got the same glance that he had received from Terra.

Murkuro and Kain walked into the following room to see a large desk with an old but fit looking man sitting behind it.

Crimson Rain Clan Head

Nagato Samura Lv ?

"His level is unknown? He must be really strong!" Kain thought. Murkuro walked up to the desk, and Kain followed closely behind.

"Ah, you're finally here, Murkuro! How was school?" Nagato was very cheerful, and he had laugh lines across his face.

"Not bad, sir. I brought the guy I mentioned last night," Murkuro responded.

Kain felt Nagato's gaze move over to him. "So you did. You wanted to me to judge his worth, right?" Nagato stood up from his desk and walked over to him. "What kind of ability do you have again?" he asked Kain.

Kain went through his Gamer ability, similar to how he described them to Murkuro. "Right... Well, I prepared some things to test the ability. It seems like what Murkuro told me was accurate." Nagato turned around and grabbed a few books that were sitting on the edge of his desk. "Will you try to learn these two books?"

Kain grabbed the first one. It was called 'The Guide to Become One With Ki'. It gave him the prompt, and he accepted it.

Basic Yin Spirit Technique (Active & Passive) Lv 1

The basic breathing technique of olden days to become empowered with the yin energy of the body.

Passively grants 1% Str

Passively grants 1% Dex

Passively grants 1% Vit

Passively grants 1% Int

Passively grants 1% Wis

While active, grants permanent mana increase to user

"Wow this technique is incredible! The bonuses are low right now, but with training, it could be incredibly strong!" Kain gasped.

"Im glad you think so, our clan helped develop that technique." Nagato chuckled. "Now how about this one?" He handed the remaining book to Kain.

This one was called 'The Power of the Yang Technique'. Kain pressed the accept button again, but this time he got a different prompt.

Detrimental Effects May Occur By Learning

Accept? Yes / No

"Um, it says that there would be detrimental effects, are you sure I should learn it?" Kain asked Nagato.

"So you're ability even warns about the crossing of energy, interesting. No, don't learn it if it says that. I'm very impressed with your ability. Now, Murkuro mentioned a dimensional ability as well, may I see that?"

Kain pulled out the weights just as he did last time. "So is my ability all that special? Murkuro said I should ask you."

Nagato gave him a serious look. "Yes, your ability is of the highest class. It seems that the world is bending rules to assist in your ability. It's of the Shinin class. But, be careful. If anyone of corrupted nature was to discover you while you are still weak, they may attack. By owning such a strong ability, people of the Abyss will see you as a tool. They can use your body for many things. They could extract the ability, they can use the energy you provide for money, and many other horrible things. You're lucky the person to find out about you first was a member of our clan."

At those surprising words, Kain had a chill run down his spine. "So what can I do? I need to get strong, but I have no way of doing it."

"That part is actually very straight forward." Murkuro looked at him in his eyes, radiating power. "Would you like to become Crimson Rain?"

The Gamer

Kain Rockbear Lv 5 Exp 2.33%

Health: 140/140

Mana: 200/200

Vit: 14 + 1%

Str: 15 + 1%

Dex: 19 + 11% + 1%

Int: 20 + 1%

Wis: 7 + 1%

Luk: 2

Points: 15

Money: 33,500 Won