176 Group Figh (1/2)

Malene and Kennedy both froze on the spot as they took in Vivi's huge form. Malene had seen it before and even described it to Kennedy, but back then she was still much smaller and didn't look nearly as majestic as she did now. Her jet black fur had tiny sparkles of white dotted through it, almost as though one were looking at stars tucked into the night sky. Along her paws were another patch of white at the bottom of her feet, making it look like she was walking on clouds. To top it all off, a rather soft purple energy seemed to be floating around her and spreading off onto the floor, helping to spread along the almost invisible gas. If one were to look close enough, they could almost see little ice crystals within the energy.

While Laz's black flame could melt a person within a few breaths, Vivi's purple ice could freeze them almost as quickly.

Standing there with the three ice statues next to her, Vivi looked like some sort of mystical beast returned to life. Her normally sky blue eyes were now instead a deep gold color that froze those foolish enough to look into them. Of the almost two dozen fighters that Kennedy had assembled and trained, nearly half of them were on the ground having lost all will to resist.

For her part, Renee was still standing strong while trying to get everything back to order. A few of them moved up to form ranks, but the ones who were the closest to Vivi and also happened to be the tanks seemed utterly unable to even hear her yells. Only one of them was able to withstand the pressure Vivi let off and assume a defensive stance, as though just that one person alone would be enough. The other two who were not frozen, were unable to move.

With a quick step and a casual flick of her tail, the two useless tanks were now just as frozen as the ones she had attacked at first. For the group, this meant that five out of their number had been beaten even before the fighting began, something that Kennedy didn't fail to notice.

”How ironic that the ones who were suppose to be the strongest were also the first to fall.”

Malene could only nod her head at Kennedy's observation since the final remaining tank was actual female.

Renee was finally able to get everyone on their feet, something that was only possible since Vivi had just stood there and let it happen. She knew that if she had acted before and not stopped, the entire group would be nothing more than fun little ice sculptures.

As the group pulled back together, Vivi just stood there watching. Although it seemed like she was just having fun, she was actually remembering a conversation she had with Laz one time when they talked about games he used to play.

”MMO's”

*And what are those? And follow up, why would you think of a group battle like a game you used to play?*

So when they were talking about fighting off a demon beast, Vivi asked Laz what he would do if he ever had to fight with a group. Laz asked exactly how big a group she was wondering about and she just threw out the number six. As such, Laz suddenly had ideas pop up in his head about the MMO genre he used to play.

So then he went on to explain it.

”Well, you basically split everyone up into one of three categories which are then broken up into other sub categories. But for now, let's focus on the three. Offense, Defense and Support.” Hearing him say this, Vivi nodded her head since it seemed like the most basic sort of team.

”Ok, so, once you have that basic setup going, it's a normal sort of party play, the holy trinity if you will...” Laz rattled off.

*You lost me,* Vivi replied. It wasn't that she didn't understand what he was trying to get at, but it was more like she didn't understand the term and therefore didn't know if he meant what she was hearing.

”Ok. So, the idea is that anyone who can take a hit is a tank. They are defense. They stand in front and block the shit from hitting the others. Pretty simple right?”

*Yes. But... what if the creature is breathing fire? Or acid? They aren't they just asking to die first?* Vivi asked, thinking of some of the things they had fought in the past.

”Yes. But, those are the outliers of the situation and what I'm telling you about is merely the way it works. Not that it will work in all situations or that we could actually use it in the real world. It just provides the format. Now then, once those defensive tanks lock down the demon beast or beasts, it's up to the offense to take them out. No matter what type of offense, they either hit it from afar or get in close and hit it before backing off. And they are the types that aren't as body built as the tanks, so they have to avoid attacks as much as possible.”

*Ok, I am with you so far.*

”Last but not least, the support. They have to stay away from the enemy as much as possible and support the group in whatever form they can,” Laz finished up.

*That's just basic stuff though...* Vivi complained after he finished. She was expecting more.

”It is. It is the most basic of basics. But that's why it's awesome. Because it lays down the ground work for the team and let's everyone figure out their general role beforehand. Much better than people who have no idea what they can do. Or if a team randomly gets together, everyone can name off their position and that will give them a quick idea of what the team consists of, it's strength and it's weakness. Obviously when you have a normal group of people you hang out with or kill with, then everything is much clearer and roles are better defined. But for a start, you can't lose with the holy three.”