@Zeroth @SilverPaw @Searat @Jobst @Bishop
Danny had to admit that the rat had a good point, he really should give out his name at least. Some of the names given out sounded clearly made up and then there was Ed who still went by his human male and was the one to ask him if he was a friend. He could see the reasoning for picking other names, but he was never good at coming up with them, nor did he see this a second life but as an extension of his human one. "I'm Danny"

Even during the introductions he kept trying to both to sense the mana output form the crystal and to absorb it, even though he was full on MP. After if he could do it he at wouldn't need to destroy them after every single spell, and there more crystals there were the better his chances of a long life.

She sighed happily. For a moment she figured she was the only one. Her mercantile and pushy nature coming out. She seemed a sales men and this was merely from how she spoke. "None at all. I've ran into insects, and the remains of what these things, goblins I guess.
Disgusting, almost like they were vivisected." She saddled up to keep up with him taking note of how he looked. What he was consuming... flesh, plants? I guess she could eat anything she wanted. He wondered if it was important that she did so.

"Well that's what I figured." She seemed to be keeping up, staying at his side on the path. "I was actually following a bit of a blood trail. I was going to try to negotiate. But if you say it's dangerous, I'll follow you lead." She spoke as equals, not a hint of condescension but she wasn't thrilled that she was the weaker of the two in this instance. "I plan to change that in any case. If I can learn to change form with this..." She wriggled again and fell back. "Grrrr... this stupid body!" She gave up and rolled ahead to him.

"Maybe you can teach me a few things. How to look like you, or if eating plants will a better option. I wonder. My son-" She stopped for a moment, a pang of guilt and lonliness and loss choking her words for a moment and she fell silent. It was only for a moment. "My name is Edith, what do I call you?" She almost demanded.
@Kazemitsu

Asura 'glanced' back when she mentioned goblins looking vivisected. A complicated word. "There are other soulled beings around I guess. There's you, there's me, undoubtedly there are others. Like another slime I met earlier." He said as he found what looked to be a good enough nook. A gesture of his 'arm' and he had her settle in there while he remained more in the open. She was small so he ejected the rat he was holding before using some strength to twist off a limb.

"No guarantees I can help you. Some beings seem abnormally vicious. The floating wisps being one of them. The rats being another." He stated before continuing on. "We're the 'tanks' of the starting monsters. Highest defensive and life capabilities. As for food, eat what you want. The plants heal so don't just mow into them recklessly." He explained while settling down. He seemed to spread out as he relaxed. He was a bit tired now and it showed in his body language. Well what little body language a slime had.
@ShwiggityShwah

It wasn’t long before Orchid came to an unfortunate, uncomfortable realization: Wood in these caves would be harder to find than she’d expect. She found plenty of twigs but nothing of substantial use, and as she was exploring Orchid nearly got caught by a goblin patrol lead by none other than Rattleskull. Orchid hid and waited for the group to go past. She didn’t want to be around the goblin now that she intended to kill him, not to mention she had a good feeling that her sudden show of competence and resourcefulness may make her a threat to Rattleskull. If nothing else he’ll probably demand Orchid’s sword from her, and she wasn’t keen on parting with it.

Finding wood wasn’t going to be easy. Even if she had her fire sticks, without solid logs making a fire with just twigs won’t do much for crafting. That being said, she could still see the bonfire at the center of the cave. While the flame wasn’t as great as before, it was still bigger than most. It was usable. The only problem is that chances are, Crispy is there. Orchid steeled herself and patted her face. ”Yosh. I’ll just have to deal with it.”

Before going to go meet with Crispy, Orchid went to the pond to drink some water and collect herbs. She didn’t take much, just a handful, but while she was at the pond she also looked for clay. Clay was a fairly common material especially around water, so she gathered as much wet clay as she could, until she had about ten pounds in a solid lump. If she could just get some heat, she could heat up the clay to make pots which she can use to boil the hides and make them stronger, or just cook food and make them better. She even thought about making armor out of clay, but thought against it. It didn’t seem like a good idea.

With the lump of clay under her arm, Orchid headed towards the bonfire. She was still careful of others threats nearby so she kept a hand on her sword, ready to fight if anyone had any funny ideas. But if she could get to Crispy safely she’ll seek him out and ask him about fire.



@Zeroth

@Kazemitsu

"Soulled huh." She repeated, trying to piece everything together.

Yeah, she had to think back. It was painful to think about but her son played video games. Things she always thought was ridiculous and a waste of time. Thankfully he was just as loud as she was at four years old. Its the only time she remembered things like goblins. So she had to think back.

"Its all I can ask for. If we can find more soulled beings, no matter what they are, then we'll be better off. Leave that part to me. You keep us safe, and I'll make sure we get the upper hand. Trust me." She treated this like just another business deal, like she's been doing a thousand thousand times before. Negotiations don't change. Never had, never will. She took the piece of rat rather greedily. More meat, more strength.

"Understood... but I wonder if this body can hold a few tricks... We'll have to see. Maybe it can be like jelly with enough fruit." She mused but noticed her companion had settled... for lack of a better term. She guessed this is where they rested. She tried to find a spot and do the same, their slimes touching on one side. For security of course.

@Zeroth

First Week

From the moment he was out of the egg, the tiny pale lizard scurried off into cover like its siblings, immediately beginning a new life. The first meal was an unfortunate cricket, the last of the first day came to be a small centipede. Then the second day passed much the same, a somewhat bigger white lizard crawling from rock to rock, nearly being discovered by a large rat was the most eventful thing to happen. Day three, his length was now as long as a man's forearm, and he found it increasingly difficult to keep hidden from larger predators. However, no incidents occurred as he devoured several more insects.

Then came day four, and the closest call he'd had yet. He had just caught a large bug that was munching on something green when a large mass of fur just missed him as it attacked. The lizard immediately took off, darting from rock to rock as it was chased by it's would-be predator. The day ended with him hiding in a crevice, using the light gray scales on his back as camouflage among the rocks.

Days five and six were much more cautious, only leaving cover to grab food before returning to a hiding spot. Finally day seven saw to the lizard laying eyes on its aggressor from before as it pounced upon an unsuspecting lizard younger than he, the rat seemed blind in one eye, with a scar going across it, and it seemed to be missing a bit of its tail. The rest of the day passed without trouble, only being somewhat sated by the insects that were its food for so much of its life so far.

Day of Awareness

Autopilot, that was the best way to describe the first week of his new life in this body. Most of it was now a blur in his mind, only the most dramatic events remained clear. Now he woke up with a reflexive yawn, something carried over from his past life, and the now fully grown white lizard stepped out of his cover. Now that he had his full wits about him, it was time to explore this cave, and see just where he was in this new life.

First up, food. It was time for him to hunt for something other than bugs to eat, as he knew that insects would no longer be enough to sate his hunger. Well, unless he ate a lot of them.

(Reoth is now hunting for some food.)

Given how their mother had responded, it seemed Dire Rats might not have the capabilities of speech. However, given how she just accepted this allowed Mei to conclude that other creatures were probably able to do so. The Fanged Lizard they had encountered earlier failed to utter a single coherent word as well; so that made two species for now. These held no real value, but it was just a habit of Mei to take note of such things.

Her efforts to appear fidgety and distressed may have not been as fruitful as she would have wanted. She garnered no real reaction from the creatures around her, and it had seemed that Mother was gesturing that it was time to call it a day. It was amazing that Mei found it incredibly simple to understand their mother's intentions; it probably was some sort of pack-like link. As much as Mei wanted to stretch out the day a bit further, she didn't want to force the idea too much. Fortunately, as Mei was about to head towards their matriarch, the wisp that introduced itself as Lorek had rushed between their group and turned to the shining blue crystals close to them. This was an interesting opportunity that Mei could make use of.

Worry and surprise were the emotions Mei was trying to convey as she gasped at Lorek who's attention seemed to have been preoccupied by something else. It was strange that he decided to take his attention away from the four dire rats that were simply standing around him. Was he too trusting or just careless? Not wasting any time lingering on such thoughts, Mei's gaze inconspicuously strayed towards where the wisp was staring at, hoping to catch whatever it was he was staring at within her periphery. Mei caught a glimpse of a scurrying creature; from its shape, it was most likely a lizard. Mei wasn't sure what Lorek was trying to do, but given the amount of focus he was directing towards it, it was obvious that the wisp was up to something.

In her previous life, Mei was familiar with such a vibe; although faint, it was similar to what most would call killing intent, or at least intent to harm. This was the perfect chance for Mei to strike, but she was well aware that she still had to remain cautious. The other wisp that had introduced itself as Danny, appeared to have been focused on something else as well.

Trying to exacerbate the facade she was trying keep up, Mei got on all fours and started to feign rapid breathing and jitteriness, as if she was ready to flee. Unfortunately for Lorek, this wasn't the case; Mei was preparing to strike. To be more specific, lunge at the wisp. He had positioned himself in between them, in a spot more accessible to Mei. He had approached the crystals and in doing so, lowered himself to the ground and gave Mei an idea on how fast he capable of moving. He was focused on the lizard running away from them; it was fair to assume that he was preparing for an attack. And lastly, the other wisp was unlikely to come Lorek's aid; he was hiding in the small wall crevice for a reason. The moment Lorek was about to let loose an attack, Mei was prepared to immediately capitalize on that moment and rush towards the wisp, with her fangs and claws ready for some evisceration. To deceive them and hide her intentions, all she needed was one massive "Stttooopppppp!" while she'd leap in.

If things went well, Mei would find out what it felt like to sink her teeth into something that looked so magical.
Mei was prepared for any of the consequences that would follow. If her actions would be questioned, she was ready to lie and just say that she had panicked and was worried that the wisp was about to attack them. If Lorek had allies close by ready to lend him a helping hand, Mei was banking on Mother and her capabilities. Either way, things were surely going to get interesting.

---

Rain awoke, pleased to note that it was still on the early side for the cave. Crispy's fire was dwindling, though if habit continued then he would be bringing it to a billow soon.

Stretching, she considered her options. Breakfast and looking to strike Crispy from the records sounded like a good plan. She hoped to find that group from yesterday, before the big moron had intervened, but if it came down to it she might have to take it alone.

With a flick of her tongue she set out, using her natural stealth and Muffle passive effect (whatever the hell all that screen stuff was) to avoid undue notice. It wouldn't do to awaken a pack of rats, for example.

Looking up, something so many creatures and people forgot to do, she noticed a pixie near the wall, not far from some Mana crystals. It would be a small walk over, but keeping the Target from noticing her was crucial. It wouldn't be a big meal, but something was better than nothing.... She knew that well enough.

Stopping, she took the time to pool her venom on a whim. Arguably couldn't she just have more venom per blob if she made the shot more..... Condensed? Was that the term she had heard before.

Ideally this would take down the Pixie in a single go, but realistically she was more worried about hitting the Target.... Aim, aim....

And GO!

Letting out the shot, Rain prepared to fire a second if she missed (or the damned Pixie lived, really).

---

@Zeroth
As dawn neared in the cave, Jason awoke from his slumber, finding that the goblin head had dissolved overnight. Today's first order of business was to begin creating a stockpile of resources. Using the help of his newly acquired [Tremor Sense I], he chiseled out a storage area for his cave, and laid out all of his inventory.

Taking down the rock wall concealing his tunnel, Jason rolled out and peered around the cave. Thankfully, the goblins had yet to stir, meaning Jason could collect mana crystals without worry. Using [Tremor Sense I], he went about collecting as many crystals as he could carry, being careful not to over-harvest. Once his inventory was full, he brought his crystals back to his cave, and emptied them into his storage area, before heading back out to eat a bit more of the two goblin corpses when he heard things around the bonfire becoming lively.

Breaking off a hand to snack on, Jason moved close enough to vaguely hear the commotion.... Crispy was going to be vulnerable? Excellent.

Quickly moving back to his tunnel, Jason hastily re-concealed the entrance to his tunnel, and immediately got to work.

Using the help of [Tremor Sense I], Jason began tunneling at a 45 degree angle in the direction of the bonfire; being careful not to expose the tunnel in the process. Once reaching near ceiling height, Jason leveled out the tunnel, digging, and digging, and digging until he had tunneled up to a position overlooking the bonfire area.

Then, as quietly as he could, Jason chiseled a peephole in the wall so he could look over the bonfire. As he looked through his new peephole he witnessed Crispy giving orders appeared to be giving orders to what Jason assumed to be his bodyguards; he was definitely gonna need to use some of his newly founded crystal stash.

Heading back to his storage, Jason grabbed nine mana crystals before returning to his peephole. Watching, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Asura gave her a non-committed burble in response to what the other slime said. He had been up and about all day, it took energy to change his shape, and he had been in two solo fights. Never mind the amount of...wobbling? he did to get around the damn place. He zonked out pretty easily despite the other slimes presence. Namely her touching him. He wasn't afraid of her trying to absorb him, he was the larger of the two and her...freshness, made him think she was new to the game.



As lights started to brighten in the cave he 'opened his eyes' and gave a gaping yawn. He gave himself a good stretch, extending upwards as far as his gel body would allow before settling back down and going back to his man-blob shape. He shifted a little and enveloped the upper half of the dire rat from yesterday. Letting his digestive juices burn through the skin and meat slowly. He was cutting it in half using his own enzymes.

It only took a little bit and he started digesting what he could of the rats meat, skin, fur, cartilage, and the bones if he could. No point not trying to eat all of it! He glanced around, looking for the smaller slime that had bubbled about so excitedly the day before.


This whole pre-brain death dream sequence sucked major air, of this Naji was 100% certain. His start had been less...fortunate than others. He awoken from his rebirth in a dank lowly light tube of earth and stone, just wide enough for him to stand if he hunched himself over a bit. If circumstances were different, he would have said it was a pretty easy start. At one end of the tube thin bead of water slowly and monotonously dribbled slowly, a small shallow (even for a pixie) pool forming at the base of the stalagmite it was forming. Well… it was more a smooth lump of...whatever it was stalagmites were made out of. The real problem was the other end of the tube, capped off with a shimmering blue crystal shining dimly.

For the first few days he thought this was some sort of...home or something. There was water, though it tasted slightly off but it seemed safe. Problem was he had no idea how to get out. There was a small opening near the crystal that seemed to open to a main chamber, though far too small for him to fit through once he’d reached his full size. A fact he discovered...rather too late. As it stood he could barely stick his arm through the opening. Attempts at digging had only rewarded him with bloodied fingers and, eventually, the mild discovery of how magic worked. Healing magic anyway. Didn't seem to help the whole hunger problem though.

He sighs into the darkness of his hole. To top all this off, he was pretty sure he was dying of starvation. Which, if he had the energy, would be extremely upsetting! Part of him wanted to thrash around in the half light of his tomb and scream bloody murder, stringing together a list of obscenities so long that it couldn’t be put to paper for fear it may one day be repeated. But that would probably just result in him dying slowly....faster?

“...This whole...starvation thing bites.” he says to his reflection in the crystal, who returned his stare. “...you know you’re kind of awful at this. This whole conversation? One sided. Reallllllyyyy onesided.” The reflection says nothing. Good, he might be starving but he wasn’t going crazy. Him talking to his own reflection was a purely logical and totally rational test to assure him of his sanity. Yep. Absolutely.

A faint clacking echoed in the chamber, pulling him from his brief tirade in a parade of staccato taps. Lazily, he drags himself to the hole in the floor, peering through it to try and identify the source. A few things had passed his little chamber in the last few days, which at first had been a relief, but rarely did they respond to his voice. And when they did, they generally thrashed about like a wild animal that had been surprised before scurrying away. Except for one other pixie, who laughed and then went about her business.

It looked to be just another lizard, albeit in pretty horrid shape from this angle. An ugly mass of...what he guess might be skin hung off of it, looking for all the world like the cursed love child of a backpack and a tumor that someone superglued to their gecko. Still, as slim as a chance as it was, getting help from tumor lizard was better than no help at all.

“HEY!” He yelps, his voice cracking from weakness. “Little help? Please? Here lizard lizard lizard?” He calls again, poking his arm through the hole to wave weakly before retracting it to resume watching.

@Rune_Alchemist

@Kazemitsu

The Night passed...

Items Lost: Goblin Remains
Dire Rate Remains

Sleep came a bit hard for Edith. The more aware she was getting, the more things nagged her. Now she was recalling the voices she'd heard after her argument. She felt the anger, the hate, the betrayal of her daughter before hearing a smug over bearing voice tell her how things are done. How she was his, and how she was to pick her fate.

Why a slime? Was she brainless? That was a retorical question.

Considered the human look of a pixie or goblin, surely that would have been more her speed, but a slime? They were tough, they could eat... envelope... absorb everything. That must be why she did it. She wanted things. Her kids back, her life, and now they were gone, but she still wanted. Now, she wanted power. But how? Eating she could only guess.

She woke up feeling not quite herself. While he didn't try to absorb her, she tried to absorb him in her sleep. She woke up enveloped over one side of his body, merged with it. It was a weird feeling, and the moment she realized it she pulled away with a terrible hacking cough. He'd be no worse for wear and she'd just more shocked by the surreal experience. "Blach ACK!" She rolled around trying to get the taste of slime out of her... slime.

"Ugh... the hell was that?" She shoke it off, looking in his direction and seeing him essentially normal despite things. She seemed rather embarrassed. "Morning. Another day in paradise." she said sarcastically as she turned to face the tunnel they entered. "You got a plan for today. Cause I say we find more Soulled... or food. Thats probably the best way we get bigger, better. So it's come to this. We're amoeba." She sighed. "I used to be somebody, looked like a supermodel, had an entire branch under my name. What a ridiculous joke this is."

@ShwiggityShwah

Asura's goo-brow rose up when he noticed that she had tried to eat him in her sleep. She had enveloped him partially but when she woke up she pulled back with quite the sound. "That was me." He growled out, a tad grumpily. He wasn't annoyed that she was sleep eating but he wasn't pleased about it either. He'd have to put her in a bowl or something if they slept near each other again.

Pushing the rest of the dead rat towards her he gave a shrug. "Eat that. No point letting it rot. As for a plan...explore more, possibly find our progenitor, and see what a goblin is capable of. I've been attacked by a wisp and rat so far and received more damage from the rat." He said, explaining what he knew of the battle capabilities of the creatures he's fought.

She went into her history which got him to shake his head. "I don't think our past lives had anything to do with our current bodies. I chose to be a slime. But either way we can wobble and talk." He said before forming into a slightly deflated sphere. He rolled out, but kept a slow roll so she could keep up without issues.

She tackled the rat a little quicker than she intended to but her cravings were voracious. She still hated the taste but anything was better than being hungry. She let it roll into her mass as she listened back to him. She bobbed, an attempt to nod. "Progenitor, like... a slime... mom?" She then took off, making their way back towards the same vein. "Hmmm..."

"I-I think I did too. I was a mother... maybe its an instinct or... whatever. It hardly matters now." She wondered how she was going to be any help. "So rats are bad news, no surprise there. If it came down to it, I took tai-bo three times a week. Yoga twice a week." She said confidently. "So I guess I can give someone a mean punch... or I did. Gah, this form is useless without arms! What am I supposed to do, hug someone to death?"

She looked to him hoping he would actually give her an answer, even if she did, she went ahead and stopped thinking for a moment. "Okay, well, lets see... Slime mother... Hey, uhhh" She looked back, her body flopping. "Still don't know your name. But did you notice that we pick up the mold when we roll over it? This mom makes slimes right, and they go out to eat like we do. So I think we need to look for trails of mold that was eaten away. If we can find a bunch of trails, maybe we can figure out where Slime mom is. Atleast narrow it down. What do you think?" Her calculating mind at work.

Asura gave a non-descriptive wobble when she said slime mom. "Probably. We didn't just come out of thin air. We had to inhabit something. What better than a fetus or...egg or something that doesn't have a soul yet?" He questioned as he rolled along. When she complained about their form being useless he gave a low sigh. "Just concentrate hard on the form you wish you take. Nothing complicated like fingers and legs. He said as he rolled to a stop and took his man-blob form.

"This was after a few hours of testing. But the simpler the shape the more easy it is to take. Like the ball so we can roll more effectively." He continued on, the wobbling and undulating movements were good when you weren't really aiming to do something. But now he kind of had a drive since it was morning to do stuff. Almost like back when he was doing his work.

She talked about mold on the floor and that they hadn't introduced yet. "Asura, and yes I'm aware we're basically mops. I wasn't looking for anything yesterday. Just examine the surroundings, learn the items, and try not to die. Also train." Asura stated before 'turning' towards her. "Start training to change your shape. It'll click after a little bit." The larger slime burbled out.

@Jobst @Duthguy @Bishop @SilverPaw @Zeroth

Ed was relieved that all that were present were willing to talk to one another in a peaceful way. Even the mother rat from another nest seemed peaceful, or the very least passive, and even offered him a squeak that supposedly meant 'go back to your nest young one.' Seeing as everyone was on peaceful terms, Ed switches from lying prone on his back to on all fours again; ready to divulge information regarding this 'second chance.'
That is until the other dire rat decided to charge at Lorek when he had lowerd himself with, what he could discern, harmful intent. His instincts kicked in, negotiations were clearly going to hell in a hand basket in mere moments. Ed needed to react now and chose ran in the opposite direction. Hoping that where ever location he would arrive in, it would be safer than here...maybe.

Scott awoke, his body slightly sore. His search hadn't gone completely as planned last night - he could only carry so much, after all. And he'd tried to lift one too many stones last night if the pain in his arms was any indication. He'd only searched for a couple of hours, but eventually, he felt his mind drifting off. He'd squeezed himself into a crack in the wall, and while it was claustrophobic, it was safer than resting out in the open. At least, he hoped. Nothing had come for him yet, but the cave was dangerous. He needed to get some modicum of safety.

Wriggling a little, he pushed himself out of the crevice, yawning as he did. Had it gotten darker in here? A few glances about the cave told him what he needed to know. Yes, it was a little darker, because the entrance of the cave had caved in. When did that even happen? And the main source of light inside the cave itself, the goblins' fire, had burned down into mostly ashes. That wasn't his problem, though, so really he paid it no mind. He ate a meagre meal of some beetles and moss, before beginning his morning routine.

Admittedly, it wasn't his routine. It was the pixie's. The pixie had been the one who practised flying each morning, but Scott hadn't been aware of himself, then. He had nothing better to do - or rather, no idea of what would be better to do. He might as well spend his time doing something that could be useful.

His memory didn't agree with him.

When he was about halfway between the floor and ceiling, Scott glanced down. Another scene flashed before him. Not stone, but piled dirt and steel scaffolding. Rapidly approaching, rushing up to meet him. And a great deal of pain, for a bare few seconds, before he... passed. He froze up. Lost in memory, he began to fumble. He couldn't. His wings stopped moving, and it started all over again, falling, falling.

The sudden change in situation shook him out of his thoughts. He had to do something. His new instincts drove him to start flapping his wings again before he hit the ground, even though he was already too low to avoid hitting the ground. He cast Shield I. quickly followed by a hard smack. The impact was cushioned a little by his wings slowing him down, in tandem with the shield. But now he hurt all over. For a few minutes, or years, he couldn't tell, he lay there, winded. Running across the stones under him with the flat of his palm, he cast his healing spell.

Your MP is low.

Ah... one of those. Guess he needed a Mana Crystal, then. Climbing to his feet, Scott began to flap his wings... and then faltered. No. He'd walk. The wall wasn't that far, anyway. Surely he'd find a cluster over there.

It took a few minutes to get there. As a pixie, every stone was practically a hill, every metre now a mile. Scott truly was an ant in a giant's world. Well, not quite, but you get the idea. He was small, the world was big. He was approaching his goal, in any case... but it appeared someone else would get there first.

He hauled himself over the top of the next rock and spotted what he was looking for - a cluster of crystals. The only ones about, it seemed. Then he caught movement in the corner of his eye. Scott hit the ground, flattening himself to the floor in an attempt to hide. Peering over the edge of the stone, he saw a lizard. Every so often, it would stop and take a look at some of the drained crystals, as if trying to gauge if they were suitable. Which was strange. As far as he knew, lizards weren't magically inclined... they were 'status effecters', right? So what was this one doing?

Wait... hadn't he gotten that knowledge from the Demon King? When his... 'rebirth' options were put before him? Yes, he remembered that. He'd chosen a Pixie because it was able to support from the sidelines. The wisps were also magical, on the offensive. Slimes were your damage sponges, and rats the damage dealers. A classic set up for any RPG team. And as the characters got stronger, their fighting style would change - healers learning how to harm, fighters becoming more agressive or defensive, and quite often, magic played into it as well. That's about when it clicked. If Scott was filling the support role, didn't that mean... he wasn't alone? Surely he couldn't be expected to undertake this kind of journey all by himself. And when he played these games, he always tried to explore what he could do - can you run away from fights? Are empty HP bars equal to death or just a knock-out? Was this someone else in the same situation as him? Trying to explore what they could do?

His curiosity getting the better of him, he took a deep breath, before taking flight, staying low, the tips of his toes just skimming over the ground.

"E-excuse me!" he called.

@CollectorOfMyst@ghastlyInc - Pixie and Crystal dust

---

You have learned a new Skill!
Venom Shot I - A smaller, more concentrated shot of poison. Faster than Poison Spit, Less Damaging, Greater Chance to Poison, Longer Range

Skill Rank Up!
Alchemy II - See more detailed qualities of items, less effectiveness is lost during combinations.

As she left, once again the screen popped up and gave her information about the current skills. Venom Shot - faster, less damaging but greater chance to poison. Useful. Perhaps could find a way to ambush people more easily, letting the venom do its work from the sidelines before going in for the kill. Alchemy II was just as she had expected - would be useful, and would allow her to maintain property effectiveness during more complicated combinations. Argh, she really needed a pot. Some beakers and flasks made from glass, too. Perhaps she could get that Goblin to help?

...speaking of...what was that Goblins name? Oh well, didn't matter.

Ash spent the next half hour or so checking around for Crystals. Some had been drained, but it wasn't too difficult to find one that was suitable. Hm, if only she had a pen and notebook she could write some notes herself. It was easy enough to find one, though. She studied the crystal intently for a few moments, taking a few mental notes. She wasn't a geologist, but rocks and minerals had a certain 'hardness' ratio to them. From what she could tell from her previous life, these were fairly fragile. Terrible building materials and relatively easy to break.

She scurried up to one stuck in a nearby wall, just low enough for her to reach. She propped herself up, using what strength she could to rest her front claws on the crystal. Felt like...talc? Definitely wasn't strong. Could be easily broken, something confirmed by what she had seen earlier used. Before she could really begin an in depth study of it however, someone decided it'd be a good idea to interrupt her again.

Ugh, couldn't people just leave her alone? At least this one seemed more entertaining than another.

"...Well, what do we have here?" She mused, bringing her head up to the small hole behind the Mana crystal. "A little Pixie stuck behind a Mana Crystal. I hope you weren't planning on using this crystal, because it's mine." She had just enough time to get a sentence in before she was called to yet again by another pixie.

...suspicious. Was she about to be pranked?

"Urgh, I feel like I'm back in highschool and everyone's asking to borrow my homework." She thought silently to herself, turning to the second Pixie. "This is my Crystal, Pixie. Go find your own." She replied in a mildly threatening manner. She was fine with negotiating of course, but she couldn't afford to lose this crystal either.

---

Digbie awoke to his face resting exactly within the crevice he had created for the group to sleep in for the night, though that was an accidental benefit of the matter. Really he just wanted to keep digging, so that's exactly what he did. This served three reasons in particular.

Firstly, there was a benefit to be gained from digging so much. Specifically, he was semi-familiar with EXP systems as his friends explained them in great depth. When you worked on a skill, you got better at that skill in RPGs, as well as other aspects if the skill warranted the aspects to be increased. Digging with your bare hands, while taxing on the body, was definitely a good way to accomplish the increase of two skills in his head. One, his digging, which needed to be better if he was gonna continue it. Two, his strength, seeing as he was pushing rocks out of the way of his path.

Secondly, digging a massive cave did allowed for the group to advance in specific ways to get to other points. He felt a heavy tremor from a specific direction, likely to be another person with powers similar to Digbie, Oberon, Orochi, and the... "Chuunibyou", as Orochi called her. Now, obviously there was no way to tell if he was right until he got there, but if he was right, then he could make another friend to dig with. If he was wrong... oh no.

Thirdly, Digbie just wanted to dig. The other goblins called it an addiction, but Digbie knew it was destiny.

The goblin finally turned to face his friends as he saw his handiwork. He wasn't really sure how much he had dug, but he knew that it'd take a few meter sticks to measure up to how far it was. Maybe. It was hard to gate how much you've dug when you were used to being around two feet taller.

"Whaddya think, friends?" Digbie called as he picked up his <Stone Spike^TM> and <Curved Rock^TM> from the tunnel floor. He must've passed out carrying them when he got too tired of digging.

@Kazemitsu

Edith seemed to harumph. "Please, I have been around for a few days." She guessed she was in a quiet part of the cave but she wasn't going to tell him that. She told him what to do. "Train. Okay. Yeah, I can do that." She seemed to take a deep breath as if getting ready to stretch. She focused on where her arm might be. She was kind of a mess at the moment, crawling if she could image. She needed to. "Think ball. You are a ball..." She had to go for simple. A ball was simple she was almost a ball herself. She tried to get the shape, tried just make a rounded edge.

She kept trying, straining underneath, taking a breath, then trying another way. "You are a ball. You are a ball..." She repeated that word several times. It was only when she actually relaxed, flexing one part of her and letting the rest of her catch up that it seemed to fold over her a second, she was taller, more round. "Wait.. wait! Oh my god! Asura, I think I diiiEEEIII!"

She was round, but she was round on a hill and because of that she rolled backwards, she spattered on a rock or two before she rolled right into the deep pond of the cavern. She skidding like a stone over its surface, but that was all that happened as she bobbed in the water like a booey. The water didn't even do anything to her complexion. After her 'heart' was no longer thumping she took stock of herself. "Okay... in the water, I'm good." She told her companion before she flapped her body like some kind of worm to try to paddle back to shore. Slow going but she made it. She actually was aiming to where there was a bit of sprouts of plantlife, it was only of those leaves that Asura had with him and she wanted to get one for herself. Rolling into a teeny tiny little pool on the rocks, she finally reached it. A moment later she had a leaf... and incidently two little minnows. Never know when you needed a tiny fish. She ate one, leaving the rest away from her gullet.



She began to make the climb back to Asura, making a note to be on flat land when she tried that again.

"E-excuse me!"

@CollectorOfMyst

That is when Edith flapped in the water, only the rippling of the liquid seemed to greet her, but she could have sworn she heard something echo across the Cavern. Edith would have waved her hands to Asura. "Did you hear that?" Asura said they weren't alone. And regardless she couldn't really quite get a bead on where the voice came from, reverberating through the cave.

She had no choice, she answered back. "Hello! Come to the water!" She called, her voice echoing in kind.