<span class="bbc_u">"It requires all five Magatama to summon the Sword...so I can imagine that it would similarly require all five to open a portal to Hell,"</span>Yuyu's dad explained.<span class="bbc_u"> "But, your arrival aside, the Akuma think that there's no one left to defend the Shrine and take back the Magatama than Yuyu and myself." </span>That made sense; only the Azure Riders had been here, and they were now all dead.<span class="bbc_u">"I expect there will be gang warfare between the five Akuma and their followers, as one of them attempts to collect all the Magatama and gain Mikaboshi's favor." </span>So, at least at first, they wouldn't be on their guard - but if they took out one of the Akuma, then the situation would change.<br/><span class="bbc_u"><br/>"Of course.  It should only take a few minutes - though it is late enough in the day that we should probably start tomorrow."</span>The other three fighters - Aika, Nori, Yuyu - all knelt before the statue, and she heard Yuyu's father intoning a sacred chant.  In her FOV, Joy would see a text box pop up; in it was quite a lot of text, enough to include a scroll bar.<br/><br/><div align="center"><tt class="bbc_tt">The Akuma will not simply sit idle while they have the Magatama - they will fight each other, try and collect all five for themselves so that they may summon Mikaboshi in a ritual.  Getting even just <em>one</em> of the Magatama away from the Akuma will prevent the ritual and ensure that the world will be safe from the presence of one of the Yama Kings.  But that in itself will trigger a response in the remaining Akuma - they will attempt to reclaim it for themselves, so that the ritual may be performed.<br/><br/>Starting at sunrise tomorrow, you have 30 DAYS to recover one of the Magatama before the ritual is performed.  If you succeed in doing so, then the COUNTDOWN TIMER will be replaced with a SIEGE TIMER - how many days are left before one of the Akuma's forces attacks the Shrine to attempt to recover the Magatama.  If the Akuma are successful, then the SIEGE TIMER will vanish and the COUNTDOWN TIMER will reappear in its place.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 11pt;">TIME MANAGEMENT SYSTEM</span><br/><br/>Each day is divided into three time slots: MORNING, AFTERNOON, and NIGHT.  Each time slot may be used to perform one ACTIVITY.  Initially available are: KICK ASS, TRAIN, and WORK.<br/><br/>KICK ASS - head out into the city, to one of the available Districts, to clear it of thugs.  You may clear up to three stages with a single time slot.  At the end of each stage, you will be asked if you wish to continue to the next one.  Choosing NO will advance the clock to the next time slot.<br/><br/>TRAIN - training offers the chance for character advancement without having to risk your LIVES in combat against thugs.  However, the benefits of training are limited in comparison.<br/><br/>WORK - working gives you Resources that you can use for the purchase of ITEMS and other opportunities.  You will have a weekly budget of Resources equal to the number of time slots you used for WORK the previous week, to a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 5.<br/><br/>Other ACTIVITY options may become available depending on your actions within the city.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 11pt;">THE SPIRITUAL REALM</span><br/><br/>The Shrine of Takemikazuchi does not have its own training ground - instead, players will be able to enter the shrine's Spiritual Realm and TRAIN there, fighting against the minor spirits that inhabit the grounds of the Shrine.  In addition, the Spiritual Realm serves as both a storage area for any ITEMS that you may acquire in the course of play, as well as the place by which you advance your Stats, Techniques, and Backgrounds.<br/><br/>STORAGE - each player has an overall storage of 15 ITEMS, and may carry on their person ITEMS equal to their Resources or Backing, whichever is higher.<br/><br/>ADVANCE - when you choose to ADVANCE, you will be shown the amount of AVAILABLE INSIGHT you have, as well as the Insight cost of raising a Stat, Technique, or Background to the next level.  You are not required to spend all your Insight when you ADVANCE.  One you have made all your purchases, you will be asked to CONFIRM them - this will lock in your purchases.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 11pt;">ITEMS</span><br/><br/>ITEMS may be acquired as the result of an Event, by spending Resources at a shop, or by defeating foes in combat during a Stage.  ITEMS can confer various bonuses to your player, but only through the end of a given stage, at best.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 11pt;">EVENTS</span><br/><br/>An EVENT may occur when you choose to WORK or select any ACTIVITY other than KICK ASS or TRAIN.  Follow the prompts in the EVENT to see it to completion.</tt></div><br/><br/><br/>Once they had gotten through that wall of text, both Aika and Joy would find their awareness of the Shrine's location fading...and then coming back into play in what looked to be a training area surrounded by a large white expanse that went as far as any of them were able to see.