And suddenly she was being covered. This wasn't the plan.

Edith found herself suddenly panged with a bit of panic as she felt herself drift a little bit away as she felt formlessness, numbness. She felt, nothing, nothing but to eat and grow, curiosity but as if that of a child. It was merging with her own, and she screamed back to keep it away, to keep such feeling and thoughts away from her. She began to fight back, channeling the stoic straight faced guardianship of something far away, but closer, something boring and unmotivated save their own strength. She used that, latching onto its memories to destroy.

Then it released her.

The reaction was enough even to make Edith yipe and shake a little bit. The big slime acted as a conduit and it seemed to scream at the sudden intrusion of something more 'complex'. Thats the only thing she could figure out. It was detecting that they were different than she was, maybe because of the intelligence, the emotions, the memories.

It made Edith realize a single thing. The Slime tried to eat her, and she wasn't hit with a moment of mortality. No, she was angry. Angry that something so vile and mindless would even dare try. In a moment she knew that she was better than that stupid thing and lashed out.

"You... YOU BITCH!" She shouted, almost scaling the wall herself. "TRY THAT AGAIN! WE'LL SEE WHO EATS WHO!"

Asura observed what was happening for a moment. He listened as Edith talked to the slime mother. She kept it simple but it might have been to vague? His assumption on vagueness was right when the mother slime engulfed Edith and their colors merged at the edges. Blue, red, to purple. It only lasted a while but it seemed his subconscious thoughts crashed into the mother slimes mentality. It seemed to hurt her judging by the screamed thoughts in his own direction.

The bigger slime drew back, abandoning Edith while it seemed to recover slowly. If slimes breathed she was breathing heavy judging by those movements. But Edith got explosive, which made Asura sigh and move between the two. "Calm down, the way you spoke pretty much gave her permission to assimilate you." He stated before turning more attention to Edith. "Besides, this slime is older and bigger than both of us combined. I get the feeling slime size also dictates power or defenses." He continued, his wariness getting the better of him.

He stretched out a pseudopod to touch the mother slime again. Don't eat us. Help. Protect. Grow stronger. He thought to her. Trying to get her to be their ally. The simple nature helped, a more complex being would be more difficult to persuade for the red orange slime. Diplomacy by words was not really his forte after all.

@ShwiggityShwah@Zeroth

Thank the Demon Lord that someone else around here has some kind of sense...

The lizard thought to himself as Oberon aired concerns of his own, maybe he could put some form of trust in the pixie. Quickly he shot a glance at the sprite, crimson eyes scanning the winged form up and down. At the very least he seemed to have more foresight than Mourningstar, though that wasn't really a high bar to surpass at this point.

A very peculiar sensation overcame Orochi, causing a feeling akin to a shiver to roll down his reptilian spine. The feeling was alien to him but not malefic, as far as he could tell. Was this perhaps magic? Mourningstar was talking about a "shield spell" of sorts moments ago... Maybe if he managed to befriend the pixie, Orochi could attain an understanding of the arcane. If he wanted to make use of that skill he'd attempted to use before he'd need to learn eventually, and he would take any advantage he could get in this land of fantasy. As he pondered this the pixie suggested that the group scout their target first, and assess their odds of success.

" I agree wholeheartedly Oberon. There's no sense in us running head-first into our second deaths."

Hmmm, he wondered if maybe their little party of former humans should place itself under new management. A person who could think tactically was a much better candidate for leader than a chuunibyou on a power trip, or so he thought. There was also the fact that she was treating this whole scenario like a game, their second chance at life, treated like a mere game. Needless to say, her leadership was questionable at best. When the wisp went to answer his concern, Orochi waited with bated breath... and he was almost staggered at her sudden change in demeanor. Not only that but in an instant she was back to her old self, quick enough to give the lizard tonal whiplash.

Seriously! What the hell does she think this is?

Looking slightly beyond the orb of eccentricities, Orochi was able to see the Goblin that Rain had nailed before talking to another of it's ilk... before he was summarily blasted again by venom. On the bright side, Crispy was wounded now. However the Goblins were now searching for a lizard... "Just great... something tells me I won't be able to get the drop on them anymore." The lizard hissed under his breath, now noticeably agitated. Perhaps the absurdity of the situation had him annoyed, and maybe hunger had started to bring on irratibility. Nevertheless, Orochi turned away from the fire and looked to distract himself but a sudden appearance caught his attention instead.

A dire rat, and an unfriendly looking one by the looks of it, was rocketing towards Digbie's legs. If he didn't do something, one of his fellow former humans could get injured and thus be weakened for their little raid. That simply wouldn't do. Almost reflexively, Orochi began sprinting attempting to set himself on a collision course with the overgrown rodent. "Watch your legs Digbie!" he warned as he charged, fangs bared. The plan was to pounce on the single-minded creature and pump it full of enough toxins to render it immobile, before tearing a nasty gash in the creature as he extracted his fangs. With any luck, he'd wound or maybe even kill the beast.

And he'd also finally get something to fucking eat.

@Zeroth@Gardevoiran@floodtalon@King Cosmos

Ardur The Pixie

What's the worst that could happen? >>>> Mimicry is a sign of flattery /// day 8 // Morning

Ardur Watched as a small ball of mana began to form between his hands for a brief moment. But before he could make another thought or movement the small ball fluctuated and fizzled out into nothing. The pixie felt a little disappointed and a little more drained before returning his attention to the growing chaos down below. Ardur knew that if all he ever did was fly around and watch he would never really grow but for now there wasn’t much he could do aside from spreading some confusion perhaps.

Again the pixie, hidden up on his ledge began to think about what was going on and the state of the cave. But more specifically the hierarchy of the goblins down below as the one who asked about the fire earlier began to order the others around. With a sly smile Ardur began to formulate a plan in his head. How much do they truly fear their boss rattleskull? Would they stop what they are doing or even hesitate in the slightest if someone were to let’s say, mimic his voice? All good questions with only one way to find out.

Remembering the big boss’s speech pattern and voice Ardur tried his best to mimic the booming goblins voice. Again he would try to echo it off the ceiling and walls from where he was to see how the others would react. Mimicry could prove quite useful in the long run if it worked out. “Whose tellin my Gobs what to do’s! All you’s gets out there’s and kill’s them’s!” Not the best impression but then again these goblins aren’t all that smart. For now, Ardur will simply wait and watch from his perch as he catches his breath.

@Lucius Cypher
@Zeroth

@Rune_Alchemist@CollectorOfMyst@Zeroth

”They’re...not other people right?” Naji asked, not really wanting an answer as he crawled off of Ash’s tail, taking cover behind a small rock. It was hardly ideal cover, but he was able to see the goblin duo fairly clearly from here. And he was not about to voice objections of any sort to his would be protector. ”I uh...think I can manage the not dying part. Love that part honestly. Be careful out there...” He says as the lizard darts away.

He nods silently at Scott before hunkering down, occasionally firing a glance behind them just to keep an eye out for any intruding parties on their (well...Ash’s really) impending kills. ”God I should have been a goblin...” He grumbles to himself, really wishing he had literally anything to defend himself. He’d just have to hope what little MP he had could get him out of any trouble...NOPENOPENOPE. Not going to start worrying about possible bad things now. NOPE. Everything will be fine. Everything is always totally fine.

---

Digbie's eyes widened as Tremor Sense pinged in his head, directing him to the rat barreling towards his legs at full force. It was really pissed about something, but Digbie didn't care much at this point. He couldn't dig if this beast stole his legs! He had to react, fast, or else he was gonna be screwed here and he'd have no hope to achieve any victories.

Unfortunately, this rat was assaulting an armed Goblin.

Mustering up what strength he had, the hungry Digbie prepped his <Stone Spike^TM> and quickly stepped back. Once he was out of the rat's lunging pathway, the Goblin swung the <Stone Spike^TM> around into the path of the rat, relying on the momentum on one end of the delivering force in tandem with the momentum of the rat's skull to achieve an effect that would, hopefully, result in the rat's skull breaking upon impact with the <Stone Spike^TM>. While this was going on, Orochi shouted something about Digbie watching out, and Digbie nodded as he responded to the lizard.

"Already was. I gotta sixth sense!" Quite literally, in this case. Now Digbie had to hope that Orochi didn't collide with the <Stone Spike^TM> and get hurt. That'd be kinda bad for Orochi... but at the same time... it might cause any onlooking Goblins to be fooled into thinking Digbie was on their side (which he'd rather die than be on. They all smelled like rotten fish and had the collective brain capacity to boot).

Mourningstar could hear the battle beginning at the bonfire and groaned internally, this was going to make it five times harder to recruit people at the least. Then the Dire Rat came out of nowhere. "Oh come on!" She cried out as she dodged away from Digbie and threw the mana crystal she had been waving about up into the air, firing off two Mana Shots in rapid succession at the rat, catching the mana crystal as it fell back towards her and absorbing as much mana as she could out of it, refilling her mana to full. "Alright new plan! I'm going to run towards the monsters hoping there are humans who can help us! Do your best to lead the dire rat after us, hopefully we can start a brawl!" She slipped into her natural voice out of panic, not bothering to take the time to go for the intimidating voice as she scrambled for a plan. It was a terrible plan, but there was absolutely no time to think about plans, now was the time for action.

And so Mourningstar shot a Mana Shot at the Dire Rat hopefully getting it's attention as she ran for the bonfire. Or floated very quickly at the least. "HEY, ANY HUMANS AROUND?! WE NEED HELP DEALING WITH A REALLY BIG RAT!" Mourningstar shouted as she ran right towards the bonfire, hopefully with everyone following her.

Reoth held his kill in his maw, somewhat satisfied to have caught a larger meal as he carried it under an overhanging rock. As he drops it on the ground and looks at it, the appearance of the mangled body disturbed him. Then a ache ripped through his skull as the full weight of his memories and his... afterlife, rushed forth.

With as much as a horrified expression that could be accomplished with his reptilian face Reoth looked down at his 'prey'. It looked too... human, and for all he knew he could've just killed someone who was like himself, a reincarnate. Then the screams, the crying as the little thing's life was coming to an end. He had now doubt that the pixie was crying for its life, even though the blood covered any signs of tears.

As much as his stomach wanted it, he could not bring himself to eat it now. Slowly, he backed away from the corpse, unable to bare being there and seeing it. With one last, reluctant look he turned sharply and took off, maintaining what cover he could. He would never again hurt such a creature, another pixie, again unless it attacked him first.

@Zeroth @Rune_Alchemist @ghastlyInc @CollectorOfMyst

While Danny was still unnoticed the lizard that hung out with the Pixies shot off what he assumed was it's version of a Mana Orb at one of the Goblins. His first instinct was to wait for the right moment and then if necessary use his remaining spell to either finish of or distract one of the Goblins.

That said he couldn't help but think back to Lorek and decided that he had to act. Knowing he would have only one shot before he was helpless he had to make it count and he could only think of one thing. It was unlikely but if that caught lizard was also a former human they might help out when freed. With that in mind he carefully approached the goblins until he felt he was close enough to hit his target and fired a Mana Orb at the rawhide strip it was tied too.

You have no MP remaining.

He didn't need the system to tell him that. Exhausted he fel to the ground, hoping that either the Goblins hadn't noticed him or someone was able to help him, as he was all out of options.

This was… a lot of information to take in all at once.

It seemed that all of the times Oberon had cast his Shield spell had paid off, both in terms of the skill itself and his own overall progression. The stronger variant of the Shield spell seemed to behave exactly like he would expect at first glance, though it seemed to have a duration which the weaker version lacked and it sounded like it worked through purely magical means rather than by affecting the target durability. In fact, in spite of the fact that this spell came about through continual use of the Shield spell, Shield II seemed to be a different spell entirely, albeit with a similar end result.

But the most interesting thing was the levelling up. He shouldn’t be surprised, this world kept showing him more and more video game related aspects so why now a full blown level up screen as well; he even had skill points to spend, whatever that meant. It even listed out all of his current skills, though a number of them seemed to be too low level to be active at the moment.

A large number of them were mental in nature; meditation, focus and various analysis skills. It wasn’t surprising given how inside his own head he had been this whole time. ‘Lesser Status Heal’ probably came about from his attempts to cure his migraine last night and the ‘Mental Resistance’ was most likely the result of his attempts to break the forth wall of reality.

A sudden outburst of shouting from all corners broke Oberon’s concentration; Orochi, Digbie and Mourningstar were all yelling in turn, rushing into action against something. It wasn’t hard to see what as the largest rat Oberon had ever seen came running towards them, or Digbie specifically, only to be greeted with multiple Mana Shots and the stone spike the Goblin carried.

“Digbie, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Beside him, Mourningstar said something about a new plan. It was hard to hear exactly what over everything else and it took a moment for Oberon to even recognise that the voice was coming from the Wisp with how different it sounded. With one last parting shot their fearless, for better or worse, leader flew off in the direction of the bonfire, shouting in her usual tone for help from any humans around.

“Hey, don’t just fly off by yourself! We just talked about this!”

Oberon took off as well, chasing after the Wisp as she flew away. He hoped Digbie and Orochi would be okay against the rat by themselves, he was a little worried about leaving them to fend for themselves against the aggressive creature, but Mourningstar running off by herself seemed like the bigger problem right now.

@CriticalHit@Gardevoiran@ReusableSword@Lucius Cypher@Old Amsterdam@floodtalon

---

It was, all in all, brilliant. So brilliant, in fact, that she hadn't ran off after taking her shot.

Stupid! Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid!

It was dumb, idiotic mistakes like these that had got her killed.

The advancing Goblins were initially in a V shape, which would've been perfect to exploit if that dumb bitch wasn't directing them!

She had moments.... Precious moments to figure out what to -

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" she yelled as some Wisp came bitching. Her indignation overrode her surprise at the speech. "I'M KINDA BUSY HERE."

With a hiss she realized she was not going to be able to just outrun the bastards. Those damned distractions had cost her the window, and now....

With any luck she could still salvage this situation.

Turning she ran... Not away but towards the Wisp. Hopefully she could lure these Goblins into....a horde? A group? Something that meant she didn't just die?

If she was caught she'd instinctively lash out with fangs.

If she could get this...rat?... Then she could sneak back into stealth and start attacking from a safer distance....

Exploring Near Crystals and Cave Walls (D2)
@SilverPaw@Jobst

---

As Asteria chewed and chiseled her collected bones into the proper shape, she found that though with enough time and effort she could indeed make something resembling a needle out of the bones, she couldn’t seem to give them any kind of edge. The best she could do was use her teeth to knap them, the way cavemen might make arrowheads, but this whittled their already small size down even further. Around half of the bones she worked with even became too brittle, and snapped in half upon her attempts to use them.

And when attempting to use them, she found a few more disappointing facts. For one thing, her spine just didn’t seem quite flexible enough to stand upright yet. The best she could do, when supported by her tail, was a sort of half-hunch--good enough to hold food in her paws and eat, perhaps, but not good enough to fight or walk this way with any frequency. What was more, even with the assistance of her powerful tail, she just didn’t have the strength or balance to remain like this for more than a minute or so at the time. Maybe if she practiced she could build those necessary muscles up, but right now it just didn’t seem viable.

As far as actually using her makeshift weapons went...her little paws did have five “fingers,” but they weren’t structured the right way. The “thumbs” weren’t really opposable the way a human hand would have them, and the palms were meant to be flat against the ground, not gripping or finely manipulating objects. And much like her legs were not strong enough to support her weight for a long time, her “arms” weren’t strong enough or dextrous enough yet to wield a weapon. Even though she stabbed only empty air, she would feel as if she couldn’t really do damage this way, not as she was now. It seemed like most of that “physical power” the Dire Rat specialized in was based around their jaws and overall bodies--she could probably grip something with her paws, giving her a good base and leverage, and then use her jaws in combination with that to rip great chunks of flesh out of her enemies. But becoming a warrior out of Redwall Abbey might take a while…

You are experiencing a fast rate of Skill Progression.

Meanwhile, as Xiao Mei intensely watched her sister, she too would come to some of the same realizations Ria had regarding their capability for crafting and using items. And then she would have another, completely separate revelation.

Your observations have granted you a new skill!

Skill Gain: Monster Analysis I
Flat teeth indicate herbivore, binocular vision implies a predator or gatherer. Allows you to analyze animals and monsters, even those you’ve never seen before. At this rank you'll only learn basic information.

---

Battle Royale (D1)
@Searat

---

Ed nimbly dodged the slime’s last, desperate attack, leaving its flailing pseudopods to slam into the ground behind him. As he leaped on it from another angle the other monster was in the middle of trying to reconstitute its shape--inside its gelatinous body, the purple acid gave one last bubble, like boiling water under which the fire had gone out. As Ed’s fangs and claws tore through the slime’s membrane, however, some of the poison spilled onto him as well--he could feel its sting as it sizzled on his fur. But it seemed he was lucky--the sickness that seemed to overtake creatures hit by the Fanged Lizard’s venom did not seem to infect him.

But burns and bruises aside, the lone Dire Rat now stood victorious amongst this bloodbath. A lizard, two other rats, a wisp, and a goblin--all of these were edible. Only the slime, due to its lack of cohesion and the fact that it was full of poison, probably would not make a befitting meal even for a scavenger like Ed’s rodent self. With no more need to hunt, would he return to the nest? Would he seek out a new home? It was growing very late, and the cave seemed almost pitch black now...

---

On The Trail (D2)
@Kazemitsu@ShwiggityShwah

---

The blue slime shrank back at the volume of Edith’s voice, but after a moment its blurbles became deeper in tone and it drew itself up to full height again. Then Asura stepped in to play peacemaker, once more extending his pseudopod. The blue slime started to shrink back, but with all its bulk it couldn’t get away in time.

Don't eat us. Help. Protect. Grow stronger.

...Why? You...not me. came the answer. I...not...know. Not know why...I. Don’t eat? If not eat, die. Not want. I...I do not...want...want to.

I do not want to die. Why not eat you? Why you not try eat me?

It seemed like there was some kind of breakthrough possibility here, but the Slime’s level of thinking was still so primitive they were having a hard time getting through. Maybe if one of them was a better communicator, things would be different…

[[If you’d like, you’re in range to see Ash, Naji, Scott, and Danny’s group, and if you wandered a bit you could see the three Dire Rats.]]

---

The Pool (D1)
@Bishop

---

As Lorek used his Curse Word, the moment he made eye contact with the pixie a sort of power seemed to pass through that connection. The pixie drew its divebomb up short as a black, almost fog like substance began to appear just as the edges of its body, though fading away quickly like a short lived fire’s smoke. But thanks to this, it had already killed its momentum by the time Lorek fired his Mana Orb. With a graceful flip, the gossamer winged creature evaded his attack, then pointed and laughed at him. Then, with a cruel grin, it headed towards him again, this time pulling back its tiny fist for a haymaker--after all, there wasn’t much else its tiny muscles could use to get any real power out of a blow...

---

The Hole in the Wall (D2)
@Guy0fV4lor

---

Jason’s Rock Spire was well placed, and the Fanged Lizard never saw it coming. Its own momentum was helped along by gravity as it sped on its stubby legs down the rocky slope, until the earthen spell ripped out of the ground in front of it and skewered it. The creature let out an awkward squeal as it thrashed, but the spire’s tip had pierced it all the way through and it didn’t have the strength or leverage to pry itself off. It was just a matter of time--sooner rather than later.

As Jason sank low to the ground, preparing himself like a spring, the motley crew of monsters finally seemed to notice his presence. He leaped up in front of the injured wisp, which immediately fired off its Mana Orb. At such a close distance Jason couldn’t dodge, but he also couldn’t stop his own momentum. The magical shot tore through his body, causing him a great deal of pain--but his own gelatinous mass slapped the Wisp down like a glowing volleyball. Its body impacted the ground with a high pitched scream--then it moved no more as he came down on top of it.

He and the other Wisp both spat at the same time--one launched a projectile of bile, the other of sparkling energy. The two missiles collided in mid-air, creating a splatter of vomit and sparkles in the air.

But what about the last slime? Jason had just stolen its prey right out from under it. Same species or not, it did not seem to appreciate this. With an angry squelch the slime imitated Jason’s own move from a moment before, launching itself off the sloping stone floor to try and slam into him...

---

Flame of Chaos (D2)
@Old Amsterdam@Lucius Cypher@King Cosmos@CriticalHit@Gardevoiran@floodtalon@ReusableSword

---

You used Monster Analysis I!
---Fanged Lizard---
A reptilian monster with potent venom. When injected via a bite, it acts as a neurotoxin to paralyze the prey. When exposed to the air, it becomes a highly acidic liquid. The lizard can spit at a distance. This one is unusual.
---Analysis Complete!---

With this message in the back of her mind, Orchid called out to her fellow goblins. Two of them moved to obey, flanking Rain the Fanged Lizard from each side--but the third turned back with an angry glare.

“Who you think you give orders to!?” snarled the goblin--just before a stick of firewood sailed over his head far too close for comfort.

“KILL LIZARD!” Crispy howled, and the third goblin turned back to join in.

Just a few feet away, however, another battle was taking place. As the Dire Rat ran over the hill, Orochi darted into action. As he called out a warning to Digbie, he darted across the ground at high speed and snapped his fangs at the rodent. With a surprised squeak, the other monster jumped aside--just as the wider and blunter end of Digbie’s Stone Spike came down on it with a heavy thud. The beast shook itself as it rose back to its feet, obviously injured.

Just in time to be pelted by a Mana Orb. The Dire Rat took the shot head on, the magical projectile boring a hole into its head, though it didn’t have enough force or velocity to come out the other side yet. However, as she blindly fired without checking her target, Mourningstar’s second and third Mana Orbs, as well as her Crystal, were foolishly wasted before she took off screaming bloody murder.

"HEY, ANY HUMANS AROUND?! WE NEED HELP DEALING WITH A REALLY BIG RAT!" Mourningstar shouted as she ran right towards the bonfire. All of the Goblins present suddenly did a double take, and the same one that had protested Orchid’s order stopped chasing Rain outright.

“How dat Wisp talk!?”

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

This time ALL the goblins, save perhaps Orchid, stopped.

“How dat Lizard talk!?” cried the other two pursuers in confusion.

Rain and Mourningstar met in the middle with Oberon not far behind, while Digbie and Orochi were still standing over the Dire Rat’s body. Orchid was now between the three goblins, who were up ahead after Rain, and Crispy who stood at the rear.

“Youngling! Keep eyes on prey!” Crispy held out his hands and began to focus. Flame blossomed between his palms...

---

On the Hunt (D2)
@Kangutso

---

Seeing the horrors of this new world, Reoth made a vow. He would never again hurt such a creature, another pixie, again unless it attacked him first.

Like this one dive bombing him out of the sky.

With a shrill, indecipherable voice, it chittered at him as it tried to kick him, hard, with both feet while dropping out of the sky at high speed. In the few seconds he had left until impact, Reoth might notice that it bore some similar features, and the same hair color, as the one he had just killed…

[[If you’d like, you are within range to see the group Nearby the Pool, the three Slimes, or if you wandered a bit you’d be close enough to interact with the three Dire Rats.]]

---

Nearby the Pool
@Rune_Alchemist@ghastlyInc@CollectorOfMyst@Duthguy

---

As Ash advanced, leaving the two pixies to take cover, the two goblins seemed to be conversing about something. Whatever it was didn’t seem important, but nonetheless they weren’t paying much attention to their surroundings other than trying to keep their own lizard in line. Could they possibly be trying to domesticate the monster?

Ash darted out from beneath her cover, biting the armed goblin hard. As she used her fangs not just to inject venom, but to rip and tear, the goblin immediately went to one knee with a scream--she had apparently torn his achilles tendon, or something much like it. But, for right now he didn’t seem paralyzed, and he turned to swing haphazardly with that heavy rock right at Ash’s scaly head!

Just then, a Mana Orb flew by from another direction. It struck the goblin who was holding the rawhide leash, right in his hand. Danny’s aim had been slightly off, but the result was the same--the goblin screeched and let go, and the Fanged Lizard suddenly darted between its former master’s legs before imitating Ash. Unlike the soulled lizard, however, it merely nipped long enough to get its fangs into the prey and then withdrew--coincidentally heading towards the same rocks the pixies were hiding behind!

The goblin who had been holding the leash yelped and jumped up and down, alternating between holding his foot and his hand...

Asura gave a huff at the response of the mother slime. Might not be you. But am your young. You made me, no point taking back. You just shed me off again. He thought to the slime while keeping in contact with the larger slime. He was trying to think of a way to keep the vocabulary down but to also get his message across. A few seconds and he thought a bit more at the mother slime. He tried sending his lack of desire to attack her since she made him.

Eating us bad. Work together to get more food, better food. But some things not food, unique and needs to be saved. He continued on, trying to get a picture for the slime mother. A picture of a soul, or essence, being put into young creatures of the cave. This would probably be too much for her but he wasn't good at saying things to get what he wanted across.

Mourningstar stopped as she ran into the lizard who had attacked the goblins, giving off her best smile as she looked at the newly identified human. "Don't worry, I'm here to help fellow humans. Just play along." She whispered as she cleared her throat, using Magic Analysis on each Goblin that lay before her. On the outside she looked cool and composed, formulating a plan to deal with the Goblins swiftly and without worry. On the inside however... 'Oh god what the fuck am I doing, I have one Mana Shot left and I'm facing down five different Goblins who are all armed. I'm so fucked, I'm so incredibly fucked, why did I come here. Alright, time to pull yourself out of this hole.' After doing so she looked at each one with the most intimidating aura she could muster, using Mana Shape to impose a vicious looking grin with sharp teeth on her face as she glared at each Goblin. "Greetings pathetic whelps. As you can see, I am no ordinary Wisp nor is this any ordinary Lizard. We are Generals sent from the Demon Lord himself to create an army fit to march on the pathetic humans who hunt us day in and day out." 'Oh man I really hope Monsters and Humans don't get along in this world or I'm fucked.' "Thus I have come to recruit all in this cave for the conquest to come."

Mourningstar actually had the audacity to even float slightly in front of Rain, shielding her from any possible attacks that may come and looking directly into the eyes of Orchid, then Crispy as he formed his fireball. As this happened Mourningstar began stared at Crispy with the best demonic glare she could muster with Mana Shape, intensifying the sharpness of the teeth and reddening her eyes as she stared into his soul. Or pretended to anyways. "Now cease your assault immediately, we have work to do!" 'This is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever done.'

Ardur The Pixie

Mimicry is a sign of flattery >>>> To Valhalla /// day 8 // Morning

Ardur watched from above as his taunt went unanswered, “I guess they can’t hear me” he thought out loud. Keeping his stance as he watched the chaos continue down below a strange thing happened. A wisp that seemed to be low on energy fluttered towards the bonfire and began to shout about humans. This in turn made the other goblins stop and look around. Another lizard spoke up next which again seemingly stunned most of the goblins.

Except one, it would seem that this other goblin that was talking to the flame broiled one before wasn't as surprised by this or at least from his location he didn't see her hesitate. Strange, perhaps another human trapped in a goblins body. This whole area seemed ripe for chaos. Goblins stalking sentient creatures and other creatures drawn in by the noise and blood shed maybe? All good questions but for now Ardur now had a choice.

He could very well stay perched up here out of harm’s way and watch the other humans that in another life he swore to protect and help. Ardur had a duty, a duty to help, to assist. He had to act, what were his old gods to think if he continued to follow his Pixie instincts of care free chaos. The pixie had to do something but what could he do? Ardur had no fighting power all he had been defensive ability's.

Then almost like a light bulb turning on in his head he smiled. His selfless soul churned out a dangerous and reckless idea while he watched the burn victim start to gather a ball of flame in his hands. Ardur figured he could at least distract that one while the other goblins were away from him. And with that thought in mind Ardur cast shield I on himself and began to fly in between the stalactite spires from the ceiling until he was directly over the goblin fire mage.

With a nervous sigh Ardur stopped flying and dropped toward the goblin. Whether it worked or not it was his time to be annoying. The small pixie dropped down right in front of the goblin hoping to both pull down the cane hat he wore into his face and drop down into the fire ball. He could only hope that two things would happen, one being that his shield would hold and two would be for that fire ball to go off engulfing both himself and the goblin.

@Lucius Cypher
@Zeroth
@floodtalon

@Zeroth @Rune_Alchemist @ghastlyInc @CollectorOfMyst

At first it seemed like Danny's plan worked as the freed lizard joined it's fellow in attacking one of the Goblins., but then it fled the battle. He wasn't sure but he believed it ran straight to the rock where the pixies were hiding. He wondered if he should warn them. On the one hand that might turn him into a target for the Goblins, but on the other if he did nothing he would be repeating the "Lorek incident" only this time he was at least partially responsible.

After he made up his mind and decided to let he pixies know the danger he realized that if the Goblins knew about them they might be in more danger than with just the lizard. While he was trying to think of something with this new info in mind the lizard got close enough to the supposed hiding spot that the pixies were practically bound to have noticed it and thus the decision had been made for him.

@Zeroth

It was over.

Several beings fought one another for the sake of survival at the start of this bloody free-for-all...now there was only one standing atop the almost literal pile of corpses. Ed sat on his hind legs before squeezing his eyes shut and let out a roar. To the outside spectator, one would assume it was a roar of triumph and victory. Though in truth, Ed roared out of exhaustion and pain. The pain-killing effect of both anger and adrenaline was fading away each passing second. The dull throb of overexerted muscle. The burning sensation of the acid droplets upon his flesh.

He felt every ounce of pain he had dulled and ignored in the fight return to him. Ed could only grimace and let a hiss out of his grit teeth. Ed wanted to go back to the nest and forget about what had transpired here but as much as he wanted to return to the nest, he was in no condition to be moving great distances as of now, what more the feeling of both physical and mental exhaustion was quickly settling within him. He had to look for shelter for the night or risk getting killed and eaten in his sleep. The cave was bound to have a number of uninhabited cracks and holes in the walls and it didn't take Ed long to spot one. It was large enough for him to crawl in, but small enough for other critters to not think Ed was there.

Ed was slowly dozing off to sleep when the notification from his earlier level up forced its way back into his head.

LEVEL UP!

Your experiences have culminated into new power. You are now Level 2. You have gained skill points to distribute as you please.

Unspent Skill Points:
5

Current Skills:
Beast Sense (1.2)
<UNUSABLE> Muffle (0.2) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Material Analysis (0.2) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Magic Analysis (0.1) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Monster Analysis (0.4) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Faster (0.1) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Rabid Fit (0.3) <UNUSABLE>

Ed thought deeply as best as his sleepy and tired mind could. There were so many options to chose from. He thought that maybe it would be useful to be able to control his fits of anger and maybe even the intensity of the fit. From what his tired state could understand [Rabid Fit] would be the one skill responsible for it. "Hmmm...rabid fit would be good." Ed said to himself before the exhaustion finally got to him and let him doze off.
The system, as if understanding Edward's desire, allocated all the five points straight into the [Rabid Fit] skill.

---

@Zeroth
A feeling of ecstasy flooded Jason's body as the Lizard's squeal echoed in his mind; [Rock Spire I] was proving to be a wise investment. However his moment of triumph was cut short as he felt a mana orb rip through his body, however, the little bastard was paid back in kind as Jason's body slammed down on top of it, ending it's pathetic existence. As he shot his vomit at the second wisp, it launched a mana sphere at the same time, the two shots exploding into a shower of vomit and sparkles as they ran into each other.

Unfortunately, the other slime though Jason was trying to steal it's meal, proceeding to lunge at him.
Thankfully, since he was already prepared to dodge an attack, he swiftly jumped out of the slime's way, simultaneously tossing the freshly killed wisp into it's gelatinous mass, calmly telling the slime "Me friend. Am helping you." as he landed, hoping that it was at least intelligent enough to get the message.

As Jason turned his attention to the wisp, the entire world around him slowed. This wisp was going to die here, and now. Spitting another ball of bile (this time without using magic) at the wisp, immediately preparing a [Stone Shot I], no matter what the wisp did to avoid the bile, it was going to get belted with a rock.

(OOC: If it wasn't clear, no matter what the wisp does, Jason is going to immediately fire a rock at wherever it starts to go)

---

---

Even though this attempt seems to have been a failure, at least one skill has progressed…how frustrating that I don’t know which one, Asteria thought as she contemplated the latest system message. I’ll definitely have to work on my strength and dexterity somehow. After that it’s probably just daily practice. So, a significant time investment for a human-esque posture, she sighed silently. But at least her attempt had provided very valuable information, not the least of which was that her paws seemed to be strong enough that she’d be able to grab and hold onto an enemy while using her signature bite attack multiple times in quick succession.

Even more determined to work through the day on the skills she apparently lacked in severly, Asteria approached her sister, who was just finishing with her breakfast. “Well, that was informative,” she commented regarding her attempt at standing upright and fighting as a “proper” warrior. She noticed Mei seemed to be rooting through the lizard’s corpse even though she was done eating, as if searching for something. “What are you doing?” Asteria asked her sister curiously, her head cocked to the side as she watched her sibling’s attempts at…dissecting the creature? Perhaps her former medical skills would help Mei in whatever it was she was trying to achieve.

As Asteria looked on at her sister messing around with the lizard corpse, she considered the day’s plans. They could follow Mother again, and that may be what Mei would want to do seeing as she had been the one to start doing so the previous day. Asteria wouldn’t mind that, because they might learn something new, or at the very least, get another successful monster kill as a group. However, at the back of her mind, she had the niggling worry about what consequences Mei’s attack on another former human would have for them. Asteria had already given up on the two Wisps as lost causes; those two had surely already decided to attack them on sight. But the other Dire rat they had met might believe that what happened was all just a very unfortunate misunderstanding, which is exactly what it had been. If at all possible, Asteria wanted to track down Edward and see if he could be convinced that Asteria and Mei weren’t just some mindless psychos or something. The question was if Mei felt up to seeking out the other Dire rat or not. Well, that, and the cave was honestly such a volatile environment that they might yet again get distracted by whichever enemy happened upon them this time to try and end their lives.

@Jobst

@Zeroth@Rune_Alchemist@ghastlyInc@duthguy

Scott started when Ash suggested they eat goblins. He wasn't so sure about eating something that could be so... well, intelligent, to be precise. Sure, he'd scavenged off a few of the other carcasses he'd seen around, but only the rats and the lizards - the fights the two species had protecting young or territory occasionally bore some rather gruesome fruit. As far as he could tell, their minds were those of animals - they survived off of instinct. The goblins, though... even if it were just simple cruelty, they'd been emotive. And Scott didn't know if he could stomach the thought, let alone actual flesh.

"...I, uh - I think I'll stick to beetles, for now, thanks." He paused, then added, "B-but I appreciate the offer!"

Sticking close to Naji, Scott climbed up to the top of the rock and lay down atop of it, so that he had a semi-concealed vantage point. From this angle, he could see pretty much the whole scene taking place, but any looking this direction would only glimpse his head, and he'd probably be able to duck back before they'd see him, in that instance. Tracking Ash's movements with his eyes, he watched the brief altercation take place... the lizard's jaw must be very powerful to do that.

Following this, to his complete surprise, one of those Wisps shot their magical-blast-thing at the other goblin. Once released, the captive lizard immediately turned on him, and presumably bit it - he didn't see, because he was instead looking at the Wisp, falling down, down, down...

And then he realised the newly-freed lizard was coming towards them.

"...Naji." he hissed, glancing down at the other. "You need to move. Or hide. Or both. Doesn't matter. Just get somewhere that a comparatively large poison-spitting reptile coming this way won't find-slash-reach you. And stay out of sight!"

He turned his eyes back to the incoming lizard, which was still quite a ways away, but near enough to be a concern. And it could be hungry. In that instance, it wouldn't go for the physically fit, able pixie. It would go for the easy target. Scott stayed where he was, for the moment, trying to see if he could judge its intent before it got too close. If he needed to distract it somehow, he would, but he needed to think of something he could do, first.