---

Ash gave a mild grunt of pain, the rats teeth tearing the scales in her leg, drawing blood. Ignore it for now. She had other worries, pain was meaningless. Endure it as they say. The rat squealed, putting some distance between them, but it was too slow. The acid already left her mouth, the venom slamming into the rats hide. The poison did its grim work quickly, the rat thrashing around and dying in seconds. She cast a glance over to Colchain. He seemed fine, for the most part.

Now where was that -

Ah. Color her impressed. Ash skittered over to where the pixies had dropped the slime, limping lightly from the injury on her foreleg. A trifle matter. Downed as it was, perhaps this slime would make an easy prey.

"Alright! With that thing slowed, I think we can take it." Ash shouted confidently. "Hit it with everything you've got, but don't get too close!" She turned her head, hissing lightly at Colchain to follow suit before lobbing what was hopefully as many 'Venom Shots' as she could at it before it could retaliate. Hopefully this thing could be poisoned just like the rest of the things in this cave. If they could pull this off, they'd have done good for the day. Food for their stomachs and a nice bit of hunting experience. Besides, she was interested to see if there was potentially anything these balls of goo left behind that could be used for research purposes...

She was still upset about the whole goblin situation, but there was little she could do except pick up the pieces and try something else.

@Zeroth @Rune_Alchemist @ghastlyInc @CollectorOfMyst @Kangutso

"Try focusing on actively regenerating your Mana or something too! " The lizard had a point, but couldn't know that Danny tried something like that the previous day without any luck. Anyway next time he was out of mana outside of battle with a mana crystal nearby he would try to feed on its ambient energy again. At the moment he touched the crystal she threw at him and drained it to completely recover his mp. He immediately levitated into the air and flew closer to the slime while hopefully not getting into range of it's tentacle whips.

He had an idea on how to better hit it with everything he got, but due it taking time and possibly failing, he never though he would get to try it in battle. He started preparing a Mana Orb and at the same time used Lesser Force to change it's form.

At first he was just gonna try and compress it to as small a size as he could, but he got another idea. Inspired by how easily the tip of the stalagmite pierced the slime he tried to shape the orb into the form of an arrowhead.

Another level up. These things were coming a lot thicker and faster than Oberon had originally expected, not that he was complaining; the amount of battles that they had partaken in was likely a big part of that. The constant interruptions prevented him from spending as much time as he would have liked on experimentation but when it resulted in increased mana capacity and free skill points to spend he couldn’t complain.

Seeing the level up menu also gave Oberon a chance to get a progress report on the skills he was attempting to develop, as well as a few that he didn’t know about. Mana Dart and Minor Regeneration being on the list on unusable skills meant that he was on the right track with some of his ideas, but unfortunately neither skill was as developed as he had hoped they would be.

A sudden shout from the stricken rat in front of him startled him out of his thoughts, the level up screen disappearing as he whipped his head around to face them. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who had levelled up and the rat, whose name he should probably ask at some point, had just put a bunch of points into poison resistance. Probably a smart idea, all things considered.

“Heal just the burned area? If I restore your hit points it should heal all of your injuries anyway, if I understand this spell correctly. Besides, I can do one better. Six points into ‘Lesser Status Heal’.”

Oberon allocated some of his skill points into the partially complete skill, a system message appearing as he did so informing him of his new ability. Wasting no time he immediately cast it on the rat, and used his Magic Analysis to get some information on his new spell beyond what the system message would have told him. For good measure he then cast Minor Heal once more to top off the Dire Rats health, focusing the spell on the area around the acid burn as requested just in case that made a difference. “Ok, you should be good to go? It’s a new spell so just to be sure I need you to say ‘Open status menu’ for me. It’ll open up a system message and should let you know if the poison has been cured.”

As he was explaining, Mourningstar floated passed holding a small satchel and muttering something under her breath about ‘getting stronger’. He heard the slime he had helped earlier shout after her, but if the Wisp heard him she wasn’t showing any signs of responding. She was moving away from the bonfire and with the little cache of supplies she was carrying it looked as if she was planning on leaving; why she would do that or what her plan was, if she had one, he didn’t know, but with everything that was happening right now and with a counter attack from the Goblin’s probably coming any moment it wasn’t the best time to be wondering off alone.

Not that it was ever safe to be alone in this cave.

Climbing to his feet Oberon pushed off of the ground and flew to catch-up with the Wisp, his upgraded flight allowing him to move slightly faster than Mourningstar. He flew past her and swung in front to block her path. When he spoke he tried to sound gentle and concerned, so as not to sound accusatory. “Hey, are you going somewhere?”



@SilverPaw@floodtalon@Zeroth

Under the onslaught from Ardur, Ash, Danny, and even Colchain--as he added his own Poison Spit to the flurry of projectiles--the Big Slime wiggled and warbled in fear and pain. Its body was buffeted by stone, it had already been pierced multiple times, its membranes began to sizzle and burn under the acid and its colors darkened with poison, and then Danny's magic, being the only form of damage it didn't seem to have a resistance to, blasted right through it. The creature gave one last squeal, then began to deflate, its fluids oozing out between the rocks.

LEVEL UP!
Your battles and experiences have culminated in new power! You are now Level 4! Your Stamina has increased! You gain Skill Points to use as you please!

Unspent Skill Points:
5

Current Skills:
Stun Fang II (2.0)
Poison Spit I (1.9)
Alchemy II (2.0)
Overwork I (1.8)
Charisma I (1.3)
Venom Shot I (1.35)
<UNUSABLE SKILLS>
Muffle (0.9)
Crafting (0.5)
Alchemy (2.0)
Alert (0.5)
Blunt Resistance (0.2)
Monster Analysis (0.3)
Magic Analysis (0.2)
Material Analysis (0.1)
Scribe (0.6)
Minor Heal (0.6)
Faster (0.1)
Intimidate (0.1)
Acid Volley (0.1)
Venom Claw (0.1)

LEVEL UP!
Your battles and experiences have culminated into new power! You are now Level 2! You gain Skill Points to distribute as you please!

Unspent Skill Points:
5

Current Skills:
Mana Orb I (1.8)
Lesser Force I (1.3)
Levitation (--)
Monster Analysis I (1.45)
<UNUSABLE SKILLS>
Magic Analysis (0.3)
Plant Analysis (0.7)
Blunt Resistance (0.4)
Mana Strike (0.5)
Meditate (0.2)
Focus (0.2)
Faster (0.5)
Lesser Force (0.3)
Point Strike (0.2)
Mana Dart (0.1)
Mana Shape (0.1)

LEVEL UP!
Your battles and experiences have culminated into new power! You are now Level 2! You gain Skill Points to distribute as you please!

Unspent Skill Points:
5

Current Skills:
Minor Heal I (1.4)
Lesser Flight I (1.7)
Shield I (1.4)
Scribe I (1.3)
<UNUSABLE SKILLS>
Stronger (0.2)
Muffle (0.1)
Monster Analysis (0.1)
Mental Resistance (0.2)
Material Analysis (0.4)
Keen Ear (0.1)

Your battles and experiences have culminated into new power! You are now Level 2! You gain Skill Points to distribute as you please!

Unspent Skill Points:
5

Current Skills:
Shield I (1.3)
Minor Heal I (1.4)
Lesser Flight I (1.1)
Barter I (1.0)
<UNUSABLE SKILLS>
Scribe (0.1)
Charisma (0.2)
Intimidate (0.1)
Iron Gullet (0.8)
Dextrous (0.1)
Taboo (0.4)
Monster Analysis (0.2)
Magic Analysis (0.1)
Throw Item (0.1)

---

35 Mana Crystals remain.
3 Flame Touched Crystals remain.

INVALID COMMAND.

Skill Gain: Stronger I
Your base physical strength is increased. By gaining the skills Harder, Better, and Faster, Skill Synergy will occur and grant you 1 rank of Physical Conditioning.

You are now unconscious. You can't read this, but HP drain ceases. Stamina will begin to recover soon.

You made an item!
Dire Rat Corpse (???) + Curved Rock (???)
You do not possess the Crafting Skill or the Material Analysis skill. The quality of your item has degraded.
Your methods are inefficient given your raw materials. The quality of your item has degraded.
You created: Ratskin Pack (???)!
You Inventory has expanded to 7 items total including your current possessions. You have two free slots remaining.

Skill Gain: Lesser Status Heal I
Remove lesser varieties of status effects from the target creature, including oneself. Serious illnesses and other effects cannot be removed or lessened. Example: Poison can be removed. Potent Poison or Infection cannot.

You used Magic Analysis III!
This is your own Skill. It is a brand new skill. Effectiveness reduced to 95%.
Lesser Status Heal is a Nature-element spell that boosts the target's natural immune systems. Physically this boost allows the body to fight off weaker toxins, diseases, etc, even if they are caused by magic. Certain magical status effects may not be affected, or only temporarily alleviated, such as a Curse that weakens one's normal abilities.

Your Poison has been Cured!

Rain was able to return to the party without further incident, and by the time the Goblins finally approached the bodies--now armed with new Wooden Cudgels from their boss--they found nothing save an odd spot where something had been rolling in the dirt. They hauled the Goblin corpses out of the cave and began stripping what few possessions they had for the good of the group as a whole. It didn't seem like they had much respect for their dead, as afterwards the bodies were simply tossed out of sight beyond the tree line.

Momma Slime watched Jason and wobbled with something that might have been curiosity as he settled down nearby. The green slime braced himself and made his choice--whatever happened now, it would reveal a new path going forward. He tried to use his analysis skills on himself, to figure out what was going to happen to his body--but as soon as his decision became concrete inside his mind, he suddenly felt a deep and powerful sleep come over him. It was too fast, and there was no fighting it--just like going under before a surgery.

And as he went under, he rose up and up and up.

All the others could see was that Jason's body began to...condense, so to speak. His slimy mass seemed to be trying to put pressure on itself, growing tighter and tighter and losing its natural transluscence almost until he resembled a green egg, rather than a ball of goo. But Jason...Jason could see EVERYTHING.

Not in crystal clarity, of course. But he drifted upwards, out of his body, rising high enough that he could look out across the cave. He could see the pool where he had first begun his new life, flopping down into the water and slowly bobbing his way back to shore with his flimsy little pseudo-flippers. He could see the tunnel he had painstakingly spent hours digging, the small herb garden he had been neglecting, the large green crystal--the same color as the Source Crystal, but easily a hundred times larger--sitting in the dark and softly glowing.

He could see nothing but the layers of rock, and then daylight, but before his eyes could adjust he was rising higher. Now he saw a deep forest, and gently rising cliffs growing ever steeper until they became mountains to the immediate west. He rose higher, drifting through clouds that stretched over the cave and further beyond, over curling smoke trails and unnaturally shaped structures of wood and stone that could only be civilization. Somewhere to the east, a large body of water sat glimmering with the last rays of the setting sun.

He rose higher. To the south, deserts and canyons, windstorms sweeping over the dunes. Further to the east, a bright light cutting a path to safety for those in need of guidance. Over the mountains, to the southwest, a grand city stretching for miles. Still in the west, but far further north, a tower like a mighty tree reaching up to the heavens with roots stretching deep, deep into the earth. So far to the east that it became west again, a lonely, cold, desolate island where red lightning split the sky. Further beyond that, marshlands and mountains and untamed, wild lands.

He rose higher. A world, a planet, rotated thousands of miles an hour, yet from this distance appeared as no more than a soap bubble, as if it would pop if he but brushed a fingertip against it. The city lured him, cried out for him. The island's red skies held him in sway.

Ȇ̛͈̤̒̏̔͆͌̚Ṙ̵̸̳͓̤̦̌̃͆̊̿͠R̴͐͑͏̲̬̖͈̮͙͟O͈̰̠͇̰̩̐͒͊̃̊͝R̘̱̻̺͖̺̱̩ͦ̒̓̀:̧̼̬̖̲̗̼̥̻̌͊̂̎͂̚ ̗̗̯̉̿̓͘͟E̷̡̱̮̩̥͈̪̹̱ͣ̿͐N̴̦͈͙̪̓ͫ͂̒ͧ̓C̺̠̮̞͋O̢̤͗̉ͭ͘U̻͇̤̪̤̲̟ͫ͆ͅN͚̰ͯ̑̿ͧ̈ͯͨͪ͜Ṱ̷̨̧͓̪̖̒͊͆̔̆ͦÊ̢͖̗̤̳̥̦͓̦͑̾ͬ͊̀͠R͆͆ͯ̈́̇͏̙̠̜̲͇̕E̩̞͂̉ͭ̀͟͝D̗̬̤͇̩̤̣̅̇̿̾ ͐͂́ͪ̆̉͏͙͔̝̹̺F̨̱̬̟ͤ̊ͯ̿͆͟O̴͚̤̙͖͈̱ͬ̀ͧͪ̇ͬ̆͌̀́R͐̿͆҉̞͙̺͇͔̕Ẹ̬̼͑ͤͦ̏̈́̀I̭̟͍̝̿͗͒̓͆ͫ̽G̸̡̯̹͈͑͛̈͋̋̒͌́N͕͎̹͕̝͒ͫͣ͋̎͌͞ ͖̼͕̣͔̲̥̮͖ͬ͋̄̌Oͭͥ҉̷̼̞͚̼͓̥B̢̖͈̜͕͒̋͂̂ͯͧ̍̆̕J̵̨ͩͥ͏̥̲̼̪̥̯Ę̩̹̟̙̮͕̍͂̾͢ͅC̛͓̼͎͇̗̞̽ͤ͂ͥ͒̾̚͘T͉̙̩ͬ͂́̚͠͡
̷̗͍͈̫̖̗͚͕̀̽ͅ
̞̮̫͖̺͉̝͚̄͑ͣ̊̆̃Ṣ̸͕͑C̏̐͋ͩ̄̽ͥ̄͏̶͇͉A̖͚̝̼̻̘ͩͥͥͫ̋ͩ̐N̷͇͎͔̟͍̉ͥ̉̅ ̱̤̺̱̲̣̄̈́ͪͥ̆̒͢ͅC̪̩̒̀O̸̷̭̘̻̺͖̣ͭͩ͆̈́̎͟M̼̣̭̥͕̬͎̑ͮ̐̌͆͞Ṕ̸̜͈͔̞̙̜̏ͭ̅ͫͧ̎ͮ̕L̩̞̲̗͍̘͂͘Eͬ̾ͤ̄́̀͏̶̦̜͖̙͖Ţ͉͓̰͍̙̱̮̏̈́̅̎͗E͎̼̖̙̪̔̔͛͝.͗̆͏͖̳ ̨̩̦͕͚̾̈̐͢T͎͇̪̠̮͉̣̆͋̌͒̌̓̽ͭ͜͞H̓̊̓̅̂҉̡̛̗̘̫̲̝̟̤ͅR̶̗̥̣͇͊͂ͣ͂̐̾̋͢͟E͙͇̹̣̾ͥ̏̎̆̿͋́͝A̛̭̯̗̱̥̞̝̅T͉̼̗̼̹̄ͩ̋ͅ ̷̷̼̣̫̝͇̅̊̿̓̚D̓͌̄̑̚͏̛̹̲͇̩̜̖̲̗͟Ę̱̻ͮ̇͆T̴̪̱̯̣̅̓ͧ̄̎Ē̯͎̋͋̈ͬC̷̛̛͖̩̯͉͆̈̄T͙̪̹̮͇͎̅̄̀̈͌̚ͅĔ̛̩͍͈̲ͫͤͪ͗̅͒ͤ͛͜D̛̼̭̻̥̻͋̊̀͐̈ͧͯͩ̅̕.̭ͨ̀ ̧̖̣̺̯͎̯͖̜̠̽͗Ṃ̨̛͎̘̞͚̼̀ͮ͐ͣ̾ͭ͢Oͨ̀ͩͣ̓ͪ͆ͥ҉̳̙̲V̊ͯͬ͛ͣ͂ͣ͗͠ͅI̶̧̲̜̫̹ͥ͋̽ͮͬͦ̇͗͘Ņ̵̹̪̞̪̥͇̳͋ͮ̄ͤ̚ͅG̴̡͍͇̯̀͂̀͑̉ͣ̚͝ͅ ̴͇̗̙̽̂ͤͥ̒ͩ̅͢͠T̪͈͎̑̈́͢͞Oͥ̎̋̓̐̐ͫ͊̈͡͏͍̘͍̰̤͖ ̖̬͉̗̳̟͍͂Q̵̨̻͚̲̠ͪͬ͂̈́̆Ũ̸͎̱͖̫͓̟̗͆̕A̧̨̯̙ͩ̐ͬͬ̏ͪŖ̒̽̓͑̄͋ͫ͝͏̘͎̣͉Ả̰̜͍̖̾̌͑̏̋͋̓̅́N̰͕ͫ̈͆T̻ͥ̐̑͌͛͒͜I̵̤̞̩̽͜N̆̉̄̈ͩ̇̚͏̬͈E̵̴̲͉̠̮͕̝͎̟̿ͦ-̺͙ͭ͑̌ͮͦͯ̊ͣ̚-͍̻͕͙͖̓͗̒ͣ́͋̃̀
̛̖̞̻̿͋ͣ
̴̡̧̘͍͈͔̥̭̝ͯ̈́̌̑̏ͮ̿ͫṊ̴͍͈͓ͭ͒ͬ͂ͣͥ͆E̛͇̜̹͔̙̤̻͋̽Ẅ̯̝̣͈̥͙͔ͦ̃ͩ͘͠͞ ̼̻̞̖͇͍͔̩͊̿̊͒ͯE͊̅ͨ̌͋͂҉̰̻͎̰Ȓ̶͍̼̦͎͈̼ͬ̀̋̑̆ͤ͢Rͦ̑̓̓ͭ͜҉̺̼̣̹͍̝̻̀Ọ̘̬͉̞̗͈̖̅̓̊ͬ̋ͪͤ͋Ŗ̠͉̩̫͙̤̼̙̩ͮ̉ͥͪͮ́̇̿̕.͉̤̠͔̫͊̄́̃ ̸̵̳̳͔̬̺̰͖ͣͧ̌ͬ̈́ͥ̕ͅO̷̪ͨͩ̈V̾͌̾ͨͤ҉̮̣̠̙̳ͅE̴̶̴̬̖ͥͬͦͨ̔R̗͍͍ͧ̌ͨ̇̍́͒R͉̙͔̽̀͘͝I͓̺̓̄͋͋̏͒͂̂ͫD̵̢̫͕̺ͮ̌̔͊͛̀Ḙ̜̖͙͈͙̠̥̼ͬ̅͋̍̽̀̈̃́ ̸̺̠͚͖̺́͊̑̌̽̕I̸̡͔̜̹̦̥͇͔̬͗̑͊ͧ͂̕N̶̗͈͓̤̗̙̊̄͂I̡̢̫̎͐̉T͋̄͋͑ͨ͘҉̧͈͈̳̭͕I̮̣̙͈͋͋̓̄ͭ͟Ạ̶͎̳̭̹͎͊ͭ̽ͭ̓̊́T̩̘̗̱̥̞̲͈̃͐̐͑ͥ̊̿̃̀Ẹ̡̱̰̲ͪ͊̀̈͂͢Dͦͫ̋͑̑͛̍ͬ̒҉̯̮̺̤̺.̡́ͬ̈́̀̌̓͐͏̤͖͖͚̞.̭̳̩͍̘̮̾ͥ̈́̿̍͂̎ͩ.̷͉̣͖͚̯͕̣́͐͠ͅ

Y͖̰͉̖̝̩̯e̦̤̻a͓͖͕̤h̭̻̠̭͈̼,̺͙̤ I͖͙̜̫̤̙͕ ͇͎͈͙̱̺̟fi̙̘̙̰̼̫g͉̱̺̩̯͎u̞̤̱ͅr̩e̗̲d̦̰̖̮ ͉t͚̝ͅh̟̠̳̦̫a͖̭̻͓̲̘t̠ ͚̰̼̱w͍as͙ ̦̮̤͚g̝̤͈ͅo͙͙̖̠i̱n͖̩g͎̖̺̹͉͓͇ ̮̝̖ͅt̠̲o͎͖̠̻̱͇ ̫̺͎h̳͖̗̲ͅa̹̬̺pp͎̫̘̪e̯̫̟̹͈n̝̺̱̟͍ͅ.̼ ͖̳̱͙̼̦̥H̙̲̠̬͔̤ͅm̹̦̟̭.̗̹̞.̱̥̭̦.̝͎m̝̱̬a̱y̞b͎̗͇̲̣̠e̟̤̫̭̻̯ ͚̼̥a͍̟͈̱ ͔̳̹̳C̫͙̯̜̩̣u̮͖͓͍͓͎r̘̼͙̥͖̞͍s͉͙̦e̤̘͙̥͇͔ ̭wo͚̳̥̼u͕͕̼̼̟̩l̥̩ḍ̖̮̗͈ ̩͚͔̠ͅa͚̤̰̹n̞̣c̩͍ḫ̳͖͇̺͈͎o̪̙̲r̪̻ ͎̬͚̻̯th͈̯̣͇͙̠e͓̪͓ ͙͖s̘͉̟͉͈̱ͅo̯u̮̳̮l͇̱̲̱s b͍̖͓̞͇̲͕e͍͚̯̤̠͙̬t̹̞͙̥̟te̞͖r̟̫̠̱͕̣,̲ b̲̜̜̪̗̪̰u̗͕̺t̩̜ ̫̱̳ͅI͓͎̞͔͙̗͇ ̳̳͕͈̗d͍̹̖̠̱̜̼o͎̙͙̣̦̱n͔'̥̹̗̫t̹̦͉̺̖͖ͅ ̗͙w̘̠̬̞͈a͔̙̞nt͉̘̥͚͕̳ͅ ̘̦͉̹͙̝̲t̥̬̻̫h̠̩͙̠̙̝ḛ̱͚͎m̫ ̖̲͔͉̰a͍̰̟ͅl͖l̫͕͖̖͕ ̩͍̙͍e͇̝̮̜̺͚̦v̺̺̬͈̭͓̭ọlv̖̥i̟̘n̰͈̥͍͇̼g̝̫̺̰̲ i̯̭͎̜̮n̺͉̖̫̻ͅt̻o̘̤̘̩ Un͕̹̳͕̹de͓̙̣̘ad̮̲͚̩̬͚.̺̮̦̗͓.̯͍̗̝̰̱.̝̪̘
̻̣̰̺̯
̯N͇̯o̪̻̺̠̮͚w ̲̼͔̯w͍̖̭̥̩h̰̹i̺c͚̹̻h̗̜̲͓.͎̗̜̼̠̮͍.͖͓̙ͅ.͓͙͖̜̠a̤̯̲͙h̦̠̞͍̲͚͓.̳͕͈ ̝T͇h̼̖̟̳e ͔̤̰̪̠͎̤W̺ͅa̭̣̻͉rl̻̝̞ọr̭̗d̘̬̞̻̘.͙͓͇̙ ̹̹͕̝Ho̱̳̝̟͔w̞'̹̝͍s̯ i̪͓͉̮̗ͅt ̫͖͖̟b͍͉̱̼͖ḛ̩͍͕̳͖̖e̯̻n͙̙͙͔, ̠͔̫̫̗͈be͔̫i̻̻̤n̥ͅͅg͍͎̪ ̱̗̺̭̼a ͍̠͖̫̘p̫̳͇̦e̮̠o͕̫͉̻̳͙n ̦͚̰͉ạ̙̪͉g̤̯a͇̺i̠̙̣̺ṋ?̝̥̼͖̞ͅ ̬͙̱͕̪̣ͅN̲̭͚̩̮͇o͈̻̩t̩̬̥ ̦̩̘̖̪̥͙s̗o̪̗̞̮͖͍ͅ ̞̪͉̝ẹ͖͙̗͉a̲͙̳͙ͅṣ͖͙̥y̗̺͇͕͇͉ to̘̹̭̺̮̦ ̻͙t̤̫̩̫a͈k̞̪͈̰ͅe̻͙͈ ̜͎͎o͎̜̬̦͈v̲͖e͔͔ͅr̳̬̦̩͎ ̳̖̻̲w̱̬͇̼h̠e͈̩̻̼̣̬n ̥̝̠t̘h̗͔̲̬̮͔e̥̬̘̜ ̙̯͙̲̹͓r̘e̤̗͙̫͙̮͔s͔̳̜̼̥t͉ ọ̰f̘̞̹ t̹̟h̞̫̖͈e ̲̼̫̼͇̰͎p̼̪͚̹̯op̹͔̟̟̻͈̟u͙ͅl͙̘a̮̝ͅt̥i͉o̤n̙ ̙i̩̖̭̭̦̟͍ṣ̠̦n'̹̯̗̼̰͍̦t͎̬͓͙͇ͅ ̫ẉe̫̜̥a͚̜͎k ̪͇̭̠̝f̰̟̼͚͎̘ͅrom͇͔̙͔͎͎̬ ͉͖̱̫͕̥̝s̻̥̝̥̯ͅta͉̟̩̘̙̬rv͉̣̦̤ͅa͔̭̯̥ͅt̫̟̖i̤̝̙͈̯o͚̭͕̣n̘̥̻ ̮̦̦͕̦̼̳aͅn̻̲̬̘d̪͈̳̘ ̲an̠̝̮ ͉a̮͉̭̻͉̱d͍͇̪̙̼͕̼va̖̖̼̯̙n̟̯̺̠ce̝̥d̖͎̬̰̣ ̻͉̬na̲̮̹̲̼t̤̰͍̰io̺̫̤͓̟n ̱͎͕is̱̠n̮̗͙̳̞̘̩'̝͖̣̳̺̺t̫ ̰̞d͖̰̯r̭̲̩̝̞̯o̲p̞̺͚̩̥p̟͉̞̼͎ͅi̳͚n͙͉͖͉g ̥̤w̠̭ea̹͎̫̳p͚̰͍̙o̼͍n͎̯͇͉̜͔r̟͈̙̮ͅͅy͉͍̲͇̼ ̗͕̤͕̦i̟̺̮n̙t̲̲̬̤̖̞̭o̻̲̯͖̝̙ ͙y͖̼̜̟̘͍͕o̹̬̘͕̬̯u̝̱̭̹̣̠r͓̜̖ ͖͇ḷ̰͉a͇̙͕̭ͅp̠̼ͅ i̞̣͎̫̫n̜̞̺̙͇̼ ͉͎̭͕̳ͅex͇͕̗̙̗c̳͇͚h̞̬̣̯̣̞͈a̦͇̹̭n͙̠͍̫̭̙g̹̞͚͍͉̼e͓͉̰̩͕ͅ ͍̦͔fo͓̝̲̩͕͚͚r͔̮̗̙̭̰̞ ̲͎ͅf̯͙̮̤̹͍i̺̘a̭̗͓̠̹̬t͉͉ ͓̙̱̪di͉a̲̮̝̟̝̘͚m͕̻̳̩̺̭o̪n̹̟ds̪̮͔,̖̮̮̘ ̩is͍̙̳ ̹͙̦i̙͖̞͓̦̟̰t̙̤?̗͇̘̣͓̭
̬͇
͚̻͓̗M̰̞̪̤ḁ̞͉g̞i̠̰̯c ͚͖͙͉͎͍̞p͙̘̟̥a̺̰̗̭̥̯ͅt̩̜̹̮̺h̟̻͇̯̖̫̯, ̼̗̣̘̩̜h̯̫̺̭̬̯u͈͖͕̙͈̦̯h͙?͔͔̬̗̼ ̤̱͍̫A͎̗̜͉̣̫n̼̘̫̗̟d̗̹ ̣͕̱̬a̻̣ ͓͖̘͈̯̣̹ḇ̹̣̖̖i̪̺̤t̞͉̦̦̟ ̜̞̲̩̮o͔f͓.̘͕͖ͅ.͚͕͎͍̲͙ͅ.̝̼p̘̜̻͉͖͓s̝̜̟i͈̪̱͈͉̯͖on̫̗̩ͅi̤̹̻͈̗c̞͎̤̫s̠̼? ̦̜̱̗̲͍̣R͔͓̜ar̻̮̺̤̲͈e̟̹̞̜,̗̗̩ t̙̫̠̣̜h̺̥̪̟at.̲̬͙̤̗ͅ ̙͓̤͇̱̱O̰̳̯̙h͉͖̫͖̣ ̖w̪̰̘͖̮e̘̼̤̜͉͇ͅl͕̫̠͖̻̳͙l̦̬̞͖̦̮ͅ,͍̬̩̝͕̝͇ g̮o͓̲̗̰̘̩̩od ͖͇̣̠l̻u̱̹̖̤̦̰c̞k̳̲̼̯̖̝.̠̣͓̯ ͉̯̤̬̳͕̖I̻͙̱̮̰͉̳f̪͍̘͔͓̗ ̘̘̥̥ͅy͉o͕̹͇͙̠̹u̦̰̠̮͚̦̼ r̜̤e̫m͕̙e̫͙̺̻͇̯m̪̗̭͚̯̘̝b̩̲̬̯̠e̦̟͔͖̜̙̮r͎͙̲̪̪ ̮̠̤a̖̬ͅn͈y ̫̜̳̖͕̦of̝ t̩̬͈͙̼h̯̮̳̟̯̲ͅis̲͇̝̞̣͚ ̤w̱͔͍͙̭̫hen̮̙ ̭̪͉̻̲̰yo̤u̗̰̳͕ ͕͍w͔̼ak̗̙̮̣̱̬e̟̰ ͚̲u̮̗̥͈̤p̬,̘̟̬͍̥͓ ̭be̬̝̙̣̠̙̤ c̹̱̩͎ḁ̱̬̥̞͚̬r̖e̗̗f̠̻u̳͓̣̳̜̞l ̬̱̟͎w͚̣̰i̻̹͖̤̹t̹̲̺͉̱̥ͅh̙ ͚̫̪a̤͔̺n̰̫̟̟y ͕̖͍as͚̻͍̜̫̟̟t̩̰̩̟̙̭ͅra̤̬l̫̞̠̠͓̟̥-̜̪-͎

SECOND OVERRIDE INITIATED

Fuck you, everyone knows they forget the cryptic bullshit as soon as they wake up! At least I don't straight up tell them--

ERROR: ENCOUNTERED TOO MANY ERRORS. RESETTING...

Jason plunged earthward...

---

The badger paused for a moment, as if considering its course of action. But ultimately, it didn't seem the creature really understood Orchid speaking directly to it. And when the female covered herself with her shield, rather than making herself larger or more intimidating as most creatures did in the animal world, the badger took it as a sign of weakness. It snarled again, baring those nasty looking teeth.

You used Monster Analysis I! Effectiveness at 100%
---Armor Badger---
A large breed of badger with a tough shell and the same mean-as-nails personality. Its sharp claws are mostly used for digging grubs and cutting through tree roots, but can inflict nasty wounds. Its shell is hard enough that most simple weapons won't break or pierce it without a lot of power behind them.

The creature charged without any further warning, seizing Orchid's shield in its jaws and shaking like a rabid dog. Would she attempt to overpower it before it could disarm or pull her off balance, or did she have some other plan...?

...Level...Up? That... seemed to be a thing. It certainly didn't help his hypothesis that they weren't just in a dream or video game.

Scott looked over at the multicoloured mix that used to be the slime. Well... he'd done something. He allowed himself a hollow smile. It might have been to the detriment of the slime, but... he'd done it to keep the others safe. Together, they'd done it. So yeah - he had gained an experience, of a sort. This whole thing was an experience, and a confusing whirlpool of an experience, at that.

He let himself float gently down to the ground, landing just beside the two lizards. In a quiet voice, he spoke to Ash.

"We should probably get what we can from this guy, the goblins and the rats, right? And then get out of here? If I managed to learn anything from, I don't know, the last hour or so? Well, if anything... it's that we're not exactly safe out in the open. I don't suppose you know a spot?"

He then went over to the carcasses of the rats, and, trying not to think too much about the blood and gore, pulled at the meat, with the intent of getting some of it for their group. When he had pulled off a significant chunk, he paused, then grabbed a fold of rat fur. If he could pull off a large enough piece, couldn't he wrap some stuff up in it? It'd at least make some things easier to carry.

When Orchid saw the badger bare it's fangs she knew it was going to attack. She turtled behind her shield, and just an it got into range, she shifted her stone tipped spear to impale the badger. Or at least, that's what she wanted to do. What really happened was that she panicked at the last second and thrust her spear; she thought maybe if she was fast enough she could get it to stab it's eye or something, instead of simply letting it run into the stone tip. So what occurred was that the stone tipped spear simply scratched the surface of the badger's armored hide. Orchid was at least focused enough to keep her shield up as the badget sunk it's teeth in, trying to pull her off balance.

Orchid's instincts kicked in. This was all too reminiscence of the time she was attacked by a wild dog. She remembered how it sunk it's fangs into her sleeve, how it was pulling her forward and making her stumble, unable to get a footing. If he father wasn't nearby she could have died. Then she remembered the second time that happened to her. She was older, a little bit stronger, and that horrifying first experience taught her a valuable lesson about being attacked by dogs; get into a steady stance and use their own force against them. Dogs and other animals weren't martial artist; they were beasts that used raw power and animistic fury to overpower or wound their enemies. Orchid wasn't much of a fighter either. But she was a survivor, and she learns from the trials she survives.

Orchid shifted her shield so that the badger's teeth would get stuck in the wooden wicker binds, like a metal floss between the teeth. She bent her knees and got into a wide, somewhat low stance to stabilize her own footing while keeping her shield raised and making sure the badger's front legs weren't completely touching the ground, possibly even giving him a chance to get his claws locked into her shield. Whatever made sure he didn't have a stable stance himself. Then as the badger would pull, Orchid would push; push forward, push pass the badger as he pulled so his stance would falter as he gets put up onto his hind legs. Orchid took a step pass the badger, keeping her shield between her body and the beast as she braced her other hand against the back of her shield to give her extra support.

Then she would pivot her feet and turn her body while the badger was on his hind legs and as his teeth, head, and front claws were still in her shield. Using as much strength as her small goblin body could muster, using her wide stance as the base and her shield as the fulcrum, she would swiftly lift the badger off of his feet, and then swing her shield and the badger to the ground. But it wasn't just an attempt to get the badger off of her shield. It was an attack with the shield itself, slamming not only the badger to the to ground, but crushing it underneath the weight of Orchid's shield and body. As she preformed this attack she remembered her skills as her blood grew hot and she roared loudly, to both intimidate the badger as well as to make that goblin bitch hear Orchid and see that she wasn't just going to cower behind boasts and threats.

"SMAAAAAAAAASH!"

@Zeroth @Rune_Alchemist @ghastlyInc @CollectorOfMyst @Kangutso

The level up message surprised Danny more then it should given the other system messages he had gotten. He went over the list of possible skills and wondered what he should invest his skills in. He could improve his Mana Orb or develop Plant Analysis, Mana Strike or Faster. While both mana options sounded good there was also meditate. Despite the lack of evidence he believed there was a good chance it was the skill he needed to recover mana without crystals.

Eventually he decided to go for it, after all he had gained Monster Analysis without any points and judging by the "level" Mana Orb would improve on its own. "Put everything in meditation." He turned to the rest of the group ready to tell them the good news and secretly hoping they were all still first level. "Hey guys guess what, I just leveled up."

---

"Hah! Success!" Ash gleefully cheered in a tired voice. Realizing she was doing something mildly inappropriate for the mood, the lizard cleared her throat lightly. "Good job everyone. I must admit I was not expecting to find competent allies after yesterday." Oh how nice, a level up too! Well, aside from the annoyance that was the fighting going on somewhere else in the cavern, today was indeed turning out to be quite productive. "Be careful with how much you take, Scott." Ash continued, glancing over to the puddle that used to be the slime. Didn't seem to be anything too useful aside from the fluid, but she had nothing to take it in and she was not putting slime in her 'throat' pouch. "If you take something we should eat it soon. The smell will likely attract other predators like those rats again. We're not any shape to fight prolonged battles at the moment."

Taking a moment to look over the level up screen entirely, her choices seemed to have expanded a little. The usual fare. Lizard related skills. Seemed she was fairly close to leveling up poison spit I as well as her overwork skill. Venom shot was proving to be a little more difficult it seemed. More importantly though, those magic skills! Scott was apparently a good teacher. Scribe and Minor heal could be learned if she put her points into it - but there was something she was a bit more interested in at the moment.

"Everything into crafting then." That would help her immensely in the future - and perhaps right now. "Good job, Danny, now..." She turned to the goblin and rat corpses. Was there anything she could use from them? She wasn't too sure about what parts would be useful. Making a bowl or something would be difficult. Maybe the skull, but it'd take more time than she'd have liked to cut loose.

Better to play it safe for now and head back, she supposed.

"If everyone doesn't mind, I do have a place we could stay for the night where we can stay mostly safe and talk about the trouble brewing in the cave." She motioned for Colchain to follow as well, heading back down the path to her camp. She had already eaten some herself, so she'd be fine for now. Once back she'd tried to finally start on her objective of perhaps learning magic a bit more with that healing stone.

---

---

As soon as she put the points into Poison Resistance and gained the skill, Asteria felt better; Oberon’s healing and shield were much more effective now. This allowed her to gather her strength, and the next time the pixie cast a spell at her, first a full-body one, she concentrated as well as she could on feeling his mana energy. She thought she got the vague sense of it infusing her and attempted differentiating his mana from her own, then located her innate magic, tried rising it up so she’d be more aware of it, and join it with Oberon’s spell so she’d help it work. Whether what she did was effective or not, she could tell that the pixie’s spell purified the poison from her. An intense sense of relief washed over her as soon as it was gone – there was even a system message to confirm that she was healed, and she did indeed feel much better.

Asteria exhaled lowly and slowly, drained and loose from the fight, taking several deep breaths to collect herself. “Open status menu?” she asked confused, blinking a couple of times to see if what she said had any affect. “I was already…informed that I’m not poisoned anymore. Thank you very much for that. I owe you,” she nodded her head at the male pixie once to show she meant it. He then cast a healing spell limited to her burned area, and she swore she could almost feel the spell if she focused on it intensely, though actually grasping the sensation properly still seemed to be out of her reach for now. After she was fully healed, Oberon went to do some other business. Gone or not, Asteria would remember him for sure.

Finally, back to full health, she now had the opportunity to observe her surroundings. That one loud-mouthed Wisp had flown some distance away, and Oberon apparently followed to talk to her. Edward was passed out on the ground, and Asteria couldn’t help but wonder if he had strained so much only for her sake, and if he had, why he had done it. Mother Rat was still nearby, perhaps simply observing, not having much to do at the moment. Jason was…turning into some sort of an egg?! Maybe that’s what he had been trying to tell them when she was too insensate to pay any attention. There was also a goblin who she was fairly certain had been digging tunnels not too long ago and had just suggested that they should rest up. Seeing as how she had literally been doing that for the past who-knows-how-long, Asteria felt that would be a waste of time in her case.

Having nothing else to do, she turned to the three lizards’ corpses and began extracting their bones. She remembered how poor her last attempt at crafting had been, but a fifty or so percent success rate was better than nothing. She didn’t know if the spikes she intended to make out of the lizards’ femurs, tibiae, ribs, and the long arm bones would even come in handy, but if they did, that would be pretty great. With that in mind, she approached the first corpse and began chewing the meat off the pertinent areas as carefully as she could without damaging the bones. Extracting the leg and arm bones wasn’t that easy and sharpening all of their ends to a point went about as well as the first time she did so. Getting at the ribs was much harder though, because, one, they were connected to the rib-cage and had to be broken off, and two, they were much more fragile and harder to make anything useful of.

Still, after working tirelessly at her self-set task, Asteria managed to extract the three lizards’ bones and got some of them shaped into something that could be called a spike. Depending on the bone, some were a bit longer and tougher, while others were shorter or curvier and more fragile. But even having these at her disposal, she didn’t exactly know what to make of them. “Hey, uh, temporary goblin leader? Sorry if I didn’t catch your name…But do you think you could make traps out of these or something?” Asteria pointed to the meagre number of badly shaped ‘spikes’ if they could be truly called that, looking at the person/goblin she hadn’t interacted with so far.

@Gardevoiran

Ardur The Pixie

A Hope and A Prayer >>>> Preparing for a fight /// day 8 // Afternoon > Evening

This new flight spell sure was something else. Tier 3 lesser flight was more than a bit faster than the last upgrade. He felt lighter and more agile, a bit limber too. The pixie found himself twisting and twirling through the air performing aerial acrobatics. Eventually he would have to get used to walking as well. He knew he couldn't fly forever and it was more than likely part of harder, better, faster, stronger.

The pale pixie definitely was taking his time. He wanted to get used to the new flight upgrade. He had too if he wanted to be the bomber for the group. His careless attitude soon turned serious as he suddenly remembered he wasn't prepared for the fight yet. Gaining altitude the pixie quickly glided toward his destination at the bonfire. His flight time was aided by his new skill that seemed to boost him forward slightly.

Arriving at the old bonfire he glanced around at some others but didn't concern himself too much with them. For the most part they looked okay, so he didn't feel that bad about doing his own thing even if he didn't tell them what that entails. Moving to the pile of mana crystals that looked a little smaller than the last time he saw it. Ardur quickly consumed one crystal and picked up three more.

1 Mana Crystal Used.
Mana Fully Restored.

Moving quickly to half-way up one of the nearby stone pillars. The pixie stashed the crystals roughly half-way up and somewhat out of sight before dropping down again. Picking up another three crystals he does the same thing but on another pillar close to where the fighting will more than likely be. Again he slightly hides the crystals on small platforms and in shallow holes.

Ardur would stop only for a moment to quickly take a few bites out of one of the nearby dead goblins. Stopping only to check his surroundings before going back to the task at hand. That task being finding small and large stones around and piling them on platforms around the pillars. However, Ardur would make an effort to attempt to conceal the crystals he had placed on the pillars before stacking the stones elsewhere. Eventually he would check in with the others and see if they were okay with him using the fire crystals to bomb the goblins when they came but for now this was enough to keep him busy.

@Zeroth

Mourningstar vaguely heard the enraged shout of the Slime from the other group, but she promptly ignored it. She didn't feel like listening to the self important fuck go on a rant about her cowardice or something, she was well aware of what a piece of shit she was already. She noted how the light of the cave was growing dimmer and turned her attention back to her new task. Night would soon fall, bringing with it the wrath of the Goblins. If she was lucky she would find the Mother Wisp and band together with it to fight off the Goblins, there likely wouldn't be many after her former companions dealt with them. Most likely the remnants of the Goblins would flee into the cave to try and start over, either being slaughtered by the other species or building themselves back up from the ashes of their defeat. It mattered not, the cave ecosystem would adapt.

As she lost herself in thoughts of science and ecology she gently bumped into a pixie who cut off her path, a small grunt echoing through the cave as Mourningstar glared at Oberon. "I'm leaving. It's what you all wanted right?" She looked back at the group to see Digbie of all people trying to be leader, failing at it miserably too. "None of you wanted me around. Digbie is already trying to take my spot without even attempting to see what I was doing. It's pretty clear that my place isn't here." Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Oberon, her annoyance clear. "I see the way you guys look at me. How you all ignore me and try your best to not talk to me. Ardur ran the first chance he got, Rain disappeared right after I saved her life. None of you want to be around me. Even you, you'd rather copy Mana Shot from watching me rather than talking to me. I saved your life and you refuse to talk to me until I start walking away with valuable loot." A brief silence washed over the duo as Mourningstar formulated her thoughts, before a light sigh brushed forth from her lips. Her gaze softened, eyes moving downwards as she lost her nerve.

"I don't blame you. I'm useless to be quite honest. Useless in my past life and useless now, it was dumb to think I could try and be around people just because I'm in a new body." She moved past Oberon, her voice natural and light compared to the usual deep sultry tone she used. "I'm going to go die probably. I don't know, I'm just sick of being a burden on everyone I meet. Either I'll come back in a better form like little slime warlord over there, or I won't come back at all. It's a win win for you either way." She stopped as she hefted her satchel into a more secure spot on her shoulder(?), glancing at it with sad eyes. "I figured I would take some crystals for myself since I found them, but if you guys really want them you can have them. Probably wouldn't make much sense to have a dead man walking away with things she'll never use." Mourningstar tried to lighten the mood with some self deprecating humor, but she only felt worse. Why did he have to make it hard, why couldn't he have just let her leave like he wanted her to. They had plenty more Mana Crystals, did it really matter that she took just a few for herself? It didn't matter really, it was highly likely she would die the moment she ventured out by herself anyways. "Later." Mourningstar set the bag down on the ground gently and continued her course, ready to leave this conversation behind as soon as she could.

---

Rain cocked her head at the egg-shaped formation of the slime. Jason, she think he was called? That was....odd. too odd. She couldn't be bothered to think about it.

No one really seemed to be reacting to her exclamation, besides a.... Goblin?

"You're weird." She blurted out to the little green creature. "I guess we need to figure something out. Rest in cycles, be ready for anything. Crispy was acting odd, I think, and the big guy is a problem. He needs to die. The goblins follow what he says. They're all making weapons and shit."

She looked around.

Why wasn't anyone seeming more concerned with the army coming?

---

Welp. 7 slots was better than nothing.

Digbie turned to face Asteria and properly introduced himself. "I'm Digbie! Sorry, I don't think I actually gave my name out earlier." He looked at the sharpened teeth and bones, the 'spikes', and he couldn't think of anything that he could use them for in terms of weaponry or anything that he could craft. His mind hit a blank until he saw one really long, really pointy spike, and it reminded him of his past life. He stepped on a nail, and he remembered that he couldn't walk normally for a while!

"I don't have a way to craft with those, no, but maybe we can lay them down where the goblins are coming from? They'll have to be slowed down by the pain." Digbie suggested to Asteria before he went back to the pile of Crystals and considered picking up one of the Flame Touched ones. He decided against it after he realized that it caused Jason to explode, but that gave him a wicked idea for when {Tremor Sense II} was done scanning the area for weaknesses.

Rain, the sneaky lizard from earlier, addressed the greenskin as weird. "I know, but that's not important. We need to prepare for the storm that might hit us. We need to make the area better for us. I need Jason to wake up though to do that, since he can dig well."

Digbie turned to see Oberon and Mourningstar walking away. With a hearty sigh, Digbie spoke to Rain once more. "If we're gonna survive this, we need all the damage we can get." Digbie grabbed his + <Ratskin Pack^TM> and dragged it behind him as he walked to the two magically oriented beings.

"Are you two leaving?" Digbie asked the two. "Because I kinda think you two are the bigger people here, along with Rain and Jason..." Oberon was amazing at what Pixies were meant to do, and he could do a lot for the group, but Digbie was kind of sure that he wasn't leaving just yet. The main issue here, was Mourningstar leaving.

Sure, Mourningstar came off as a bit jerkish, but she seemed to mean well with her actions. She was recklessly suicidal, but it was always meant to be good. She just needed to work on her attitude. Honestly, she was necessary to this group, despite her tendencies being overall kind of rude. Nobody could launch magic off like her, at least Digbie didn't think anyone else could. She was needed.

"Strength lies in numbers, and we're all about to need that strength now."

---

---

@Zeroth

As soon as his evolution decision became concrete inside his mind, Jason immediately felt a deep and powerful sleep come over him. It was too fast, and there was no fighting it--just like going under before a surgery.

Thus began the most inexplicable out-of-body experience Jason could ever dream of.

Jason drifted upwards, out of his body, rising high enough that he could look out across the cave. He could see the pool where he had first begun his new life, flopping down into the water and slowly bobbing his way back to shore with his flimsy little pseudo-flippers. He could see the tunnel he had painstakingly spent hours digging, the small herb garden he had been neglecting, the large green crystal--the same color as the Source Crystal, but easily a hundred times larger--sitting in the dark and softly glowing.

Drifting further upward,layers of rock began to obscure Jason's vision. The evolving slime wondered, was this really a dream? No. It couldn't be... He had just left his body. Was this normal? Did he just fuck up royal? Was it because he was an anomaly to this world?

Jason's train of thought was interrupted as light hit his eyes once more. Rising higher and higher above the earth, the former warlord realized that this was an invaluable opportunity to map the land. As he continued to go higher and higher, Jason attempted to study and memorize as much of the world as he could, his allies would definitely need such information in the future.

Higher and higher he went, before him, the entirety of the planet rotated thousands of miles an hour, yet from this distance appeared as no more than a soap bubble, as if it would pop if he but brushed a fingertip against it. The city lured him, cried out for him. The island's red skies held him in sway.... Only for the 'SYSTEM' to absolutely flip the fuck out.

Ȇ̛͈̤̒̏̔͆͌̚Ṙ̵̸̳͓̤̦̌̃͆̊̿͠R̴͐͑͏̲̬̖͈̮͙͟O͈̰̠͇̰̩̐͒͊̃̊͝R̘̱̻̺͖̺̱̩ͦ̒̓̀:̧̼̬̖̲̗̼̥̻̌͊̂̎͂̚ ̗̗̯̉̿̓͘͟E̷̡̱̮̩̥͈̪̹̱ͣ̿͐N̴̦͈͙̪̓ͫ͂̒ͧ̓C̺̠̮̞͋O̢̤͗̉ͭ͘U̻͇̤̪̤̲̟ͫ͆ͅN͚̰ͯ̑̿ͧ̈ͯͨͪ͜Ṱ̷̨̧͓̪̖̒͊͆̔̆ͦÊ̢͖̗̤̳̥̦͓̦͑̾ͬ͊̀͠R͆͆ͯ̈́̇͏̙̠̜̲͇̕E̩̞͂̉ͭ̀͟͝D̗̬̤͇̩̤̣̅̇̿̾ ͐͂́ͪ̆̉͏͙͔̝̹̺F̨̱̬̟ͤ̊ͯ̿͆͟O̴͚̤̙͖͈̱ͬ̀ͧͪ̇ͬ̆͌̀́R͐̿͆҉̞͙̺͇͔̕Ẹ̬̼͑ͤͦ̏̈́̀I̭̟͍̝̿͗͒̓͆ͫ̽G̸̡̯̹͈͑͛̈͋̋̒͌́N͕͎̹͕̝͒ͫͣ͋̎͌͞ ͖̼͕̣͔̲̥̮͖ͬ͋̄̌Oͭͥ҉̷̼̞͚̼͓̥B̢̖͈̜͕͒̋͂̂ͯͧ̍̆̕J̵̨ͩͥ͏̥̲̼̪̥̯Ę̩̹̟̙̮͕̍͂̾͢ͅC̛͓̼͎͇̗̞̽ͤ͂ͥ͒̾̚͘T͉̙̩ͬ͂́̚͠͡

̞̮̫͖̺͉̝͚̄͑ͣ̊̆̃Ṣ̸͕͑C̏̐͋ͩ̄̽ͥ̄͏̶͇͉A̖͚̝̼̻̘ͩͥͥͫ̋ͩ̐N̷͇͎͔̟͍̉ͥ̉̅ ̱̤̺̱̲̣̄̈́ͪͥ̆̒͢ͅC̪̩̒̀O̸̷̭̘̻̺͖̣ͭͩ͆̈́̎͟M̼̣̭̥͕̬͎̑ͮ̐̌͆͞Ṕ̸̜͈͔̞̙̜̏ͭ̅ͫͧ̎ͮ̕L̩̞̲̗͍̘͂͘Eͬ̾ͤ̄́̀͏̶̦̜͖̙͖Ţ͉͓̰͍̙̱̮̏̈́̅̎͗E͎̼̖̙̪̔̔͛͝.͗̆͏͖̳ ̨̩̦͕͚̾̈̐͢T͎͇̪̠̮͉̣̆͋̌͒̌̓̽ͭ͜͞H̓̊̓̅̂҉̡̛̗̘̫̲̝̟̤ͅR̶̗̥̣͇͊͂ͣ͂̐̾̋͢͟E͙͇̹̣̾ͥ̏̎̆̿͋́͝A̛̭̯̗̱̥̞̝̅T͉̼̗̼̹̄ͩ̋ͅ ̷̷̼̣̫̝͇̅̊̿̓̚D̓͌̄̑̚͏̛̹̲͇̩̜̖̲̗͟Ę̱̻ͮ̇͆T̴̪̱̯̣̅̓ͧ̄̎Ē̯͎̋͋̈ͬC̷̛̛͖̩̯͉͆̈̄T͙̪̹̮͇͎̅̄̀̈͌̚ͅĔ̛̩͍͈̲ͫͤͪ͗̅͒ͤ͛͜D̛̼̭̻̥̻͋̊̀͐̈ͧͯͩ̅̕.̭ͨ̀ ̧̖̣̺̯͎̯͖̜̠̽͗Ṃ̨̛͎̘̞͚̼̀ͮ͐ͣ̾ͭ͢Oͨ̀ͩͣ̓ͪ͆ͥ҉̳̙̲V̊ͯͬ͛ͣ͂ͣ͗͠ͅI̶̧̲̜̫̹ͥ͋̽ͮͬͦ̇͗͘Ņ̵̹̪̞̪̥͇̳͋ͮ̄ͤ̚ͅG̴̡͍͇̯̀͂̀͑̉ͣ̚͝ͅ ̴͇̗̙̽̂ͤͥ̒ͩ̅͢͠T̪͈͎̑̈́͢͞Oͥ̎̋̓̐̐ͫ͊̈͡͏͍̘͍̰̤͖ ̖̬͉̗̳̟͍͂Q̵̨̻͚̲̠ͪͬ͂̈́̆Ũ̸͎̱͖̫͓̟̗͆̕A̧̨̯̙ͩ̐ͬͬ̏ͪŖ̒̽̓͑̄͋ͫ͝͏̘͎̣͉Ả̰̜͍̖̾̌͑̏̋͋̓̅́N̰͕ͫ̈͆T̻ͥ̐̑͌͛͒͜I̵̤̞̩̽͜N̆̉̄̈ͩ̇̚͏̬͈E̵̴̲͉̠̮͕̝͎̟̿ͦ-̺͙ͭ͑̌ͮͦͯ̊ͣ̚-͍̻͕͙͖̓͗̒ͣ́͋̃̀

̴̡̧̘͍͈͔̥̭̝ͯ̈́̌̑̏ͮ̿ͫṊ̴͍͈͓ͭ͒ͬ͂ͣͥ͆E̛͇̜̹͔̙̤̻͋̽Ẅ̯̝̣͈̥͙͔ͦ̃ͩ͘͠͞ ̼̻̞̖͇͍͔̩͊̿̊͒ͯE͊̅ͨ̌͋͂҉̰̻͎̰Ȓ̶͍̼̦͎͈̼ͬ̀̋̑̆ͤ͢Rͦ̑̓̓ͭ͜҉̺̼̣̹͍̝̻̀Ọ̘̬͉̞̗͈̖̅̓̊ͬ̋ͪͤ͋Ŗ̠͉̩̫͙̤̼̙̩ͮ̉ͥͪͮ́̇̿̕.͉̤̠͔̫͊̄́̃ ̸̵̳̳͔̬̺̰͖ͣͧ̌ͬ̈́ͥ̕ͅO̷̪ͨͩ̈V̾͌̾ͨͤ҉̮̣̠̙̳ͅE̴̶̴̬̖ͥͬͦͨ̔R̗͍͍ͧ̌ͨ̇̍́͒R͉̙͔̽̀͘͝I͓̺̓̄͋͋̏͒͂̂ͫD̵̢̫͕̺ͮ̌̔͊͛̀Ḙ̜̖͙͈͙̠̥̼ͬ̅͋̍̽̀̈̃́ ̸̺̠͚͖̺́͊̑̌̽̕I̸̡͔̜̹̦̥͇͔̬͗̑͊ͧ͂̕N̶̗͈͓̤̗̙̊̄͂I̡̢̫̎͐̉T͋̄͋͑ͨ͘҉̧͈͈̳̭͕I̮̣̙͈͋͋̓̄ͭ͟Ạ̶͎̳̭̹͎͊ͭ̽ͭ̓̊́T̩̘̗̱̥̞̲͈̃͐̐͑ͥ̊̿̃̀Ẹ̡̱̰̲ͪ͊̀̈͂͢Dͦͫ̋͑̑͛̍ͬ̒҉̯̮̺̤̺.̡́ͬ̈́̀̌̓͐͏̤͖͖͚̞.̭̳̩͍̘̮̾ͥ̈́̿̍͂̎ͩ.̷͉̣͖͚̯͕̣́͐͠ͅ

Shit, THAT couldn't be good.

However, just as Jason assumed all was lost, he a familiar voice... The man who started this whole little adventure; The Demon King himself.

Y͖̰͉̖̝̩̯e̦̤̻a͓͖͕̤h̭̻̠̭͈̼,̺͙̤ I͖͙̜̫̤̙͕ ͇͎͈͙̱̺̟fi̙̘̙̰̼̫g͉̱̺̩̯͎u̞̤̱ͅr̩e̗̲d̦̰̖̮ ͉t͚̝ͅh̟̠̳̦̫a͖̭̻͓̲̘t̠ ͚̰̼̱w͍as͙ ̦̮̤͚g̝̤͈ͅo͙͙̖̠i̱n͖̩g͎̖̺̹͉͓͇ ̮̝̖ͅt̠̲o͎͖̠̻̱͇ ̫̺͎h̳͖̗̲ͅa̹̬̺pp͎̫̘̪e̯̫̟̹͈n̝̺̱̟͍ͅ.̼ ͖̳̱͙̼̦̥H̙̲̠̬͔̤ͅm̹̦̟̭.̗̹̞.̱̥̭̦.̝͎m̝̱̬a̱y̞b͎̗͇̲̣̠e̟̤̫̭̻̯ ͚̼̥a͍̟͈̱ ͔̳̹̳C̫͙̯̜̩̣u̮͖͓͍͓͎r̘̼͙̥͖̞͍s͉͙̦e̤̘͙̥͇͔ ̭wo͚̳̥̼u͕͕̼̼̟̩l̥̩ḍ̖̮̗͈ ̩͚͔̠ͅa͚̤̰̹n̞̣c̩͍ḫ̳͖͇̺͈͎o̪̙̲r̪̻ ͎̬͚̻̯th͈̯̣͇͙̠e͓̪͓ ͙͖s̘͉̟͉͈̱ͅo̯u̮̳̮l͇̱̲̱s b͍̖͓̞͇̲͕e͍͚̯̤̠͙̬t̹̞͙̥̟te̞͖r̟̫̠̱͕̣,̲ b̲̜̜̪̗̪̰u̗͕̺t̩̜ ̫̱̳ͅI͓͎̞͔͙̗͇ ̳̳͕͈̗d͍̹̖̠̱̜̼o͎̙͙̣̦̱n͔'̥̹̗̫t̹̦͉̺̖͖ͅ ̗͙w̘̠̬̞͈a͔̙̞nt͉̘̥͚͕̳ͅ ̘̦͉̹͙̝̲t̥̬̻̫h̠̩͙̠̙̝ḛ̱͚͎m̫ ̖̲͔͉̰a͍̰̟ͅl͖l̫͕͖̖͕ ̩͍̙͍e͇̝̮̜̺͚̦v̺̺̬͈̭͓̭ọlv̖̥i̟̘n̰͈̥͍͇̼g̝̫̺̰̲ i̯̭͎̜̮n̺͉̖̫̻ͅt̻o̘̤̘̩ Un͕̹̳͕̹de͓̙̣̘ad̮̲͚̩̬͚.̺̮̦̗͓.̯͍̗̝̰̱.̝̪̘

N͇̯o̪̻̺̠̮͚w ̲̼͔̯w͍̖̭̥̩h̰̹i̺c͚̹̻h̗̜̲͓.͎̗̜̼̠̮͍.͖͓̙ͅ.͓͙͖̜̠a̤̯̲͙h̦̠̞͍̲͚͓.̳͕͈ ̝T͇h̼̖̟̳e ͔̤̰̪̠͎̤W̺ͅa̭̣̻͉rl̻̝̞ọr̭̗d̘̬̞̻̘.͙͓͇̙ ̹̹͕̝Ho̱̳̝̟͔w̞'̹̝͍s̯ i̪͓͉̮̗ͅt ̫͖͖̟b͍͉̱̼͖ḛ̩͍͕̳͖̖e̯̻n͙̙͙͔, ̠͔̫̫̗͈be͔̫i̻̻̤n̥ͅͅg͍͎̪ ̱̗̺̭̼a ͍̠͖̫̘p̫̳͇̦e̮̠o͕̫͉̻̳͙n ̦͚̰͉ạ̙̪͉g̤̯a͇̺i̠̙̣̺ṋ?̝̥̼͖̞ͅ ̬͙̱͕̪̣ͅN̲̭͚̩̮͇o͈̻̩t̩̬̥ ̦̩̘̖̪̥͙s̗o̪̗̞̮͖͍ͅ ̞̪͉̝ẹ͖͙̗͉a̲͙̳͙ͅṣ͖͙̥y̗̺͇͕͇͉ to̘̹̭̺̮̦ ̻͙t̤̫̩̫a͈k̞̪͈̰ͅe̻͙͈ ̜͎͎o͎̜̬̦͈v̲͖e͔͔ͅr̳̬̦̩͎ ̳̖̻̲w̱̬͇̼h̠e͈̩̻̼̣̬n ̥̝̠t̘h̗͔̲̬̮͔e̥̬̘̜ ̙̯͙̲̹͓r̘e̤̗͙̫͙̮͔s͔̳̜̼̥t͉ ọ̰f̘̞̹ t̹̟h̞̫̖͈e ̲̼̫̼͇̰͎p̼̪͚̹̯op̹͔̟̟̻͈̟u͙ͅl͙̘a̮̝ͅt̥i͉o̤n̙ ̙i̩̖̭̭̦̟͍ṣ̠̦n'̹̯̗̼̰͍̦t͎̬͓͙͇ͅ ̫ẉe̫̜̥a͚̜͎k ̪͇̭̠̝f̰̟̼͚͎̘ͅrom͇͔̙͔͎͎̬ ͉͖̱̫͕̥̝s̻̥̝̥̯ͅta͉̟̩̘̙̬rv͉̣̦̤ͅa͔̭̯̥ͅt̫̟̖i̤̝̙͈̯o͚̭͕̣n̘̥̻ ̮̦̦͕̦̼̳aͅn̻̲̬̘d̪͈̳̘ ̲an̠̝̮ ͉a̮͉̭̻͉̱d͍͇̪̙̼͕̼va̖̖̼̯̙n̟̯̺̠ce̝̥d̖͎̬̰̣ ̻͉̬na̲̮̹̲̼t̤̰͍̰io̺̫̤͓̟n ̱͎͕is̱̠n̮̗͙̳̞̘̩'̝͖̣̳̺̺t̫ ̰̞d͖̰̯r̭̲̩̝̞̯o̲p̞̺͚̩̥p̟͉̞̼͎ͅi̳͚n͙͉͖͉g ̥̤w̠̭ea̹͎̫̳p͚̰͍̙o̼͍n͎̯͇͉̜͔r̟͈̙̮ͅͅy͉͍̲͇̼ ̗͕̤͕̦i̟̺̮n̙t̲̲̬̤̖̞̭o̻̲̯͖̝̙ ͙y͖̼̜̟̘͍͕o̹̬̘͕̬̯u̝̱̭̹̣̠r͓̜̖ ͖͇ḷ̰͉a͇̙͕̭ͅp̠̼ͅ i̞̣͎̫̫n̜̞̺̙͇̼ ͉͎̭͕̳ͅex͇͕̗̙̗c̳͇͚h̞̬̣̯̣̞͈a̦͇̹̭n͙̠͍̫̭̙g̹̞͚͍͉̼e͓͉̰̩͕ͅ ͍̦͔fo͓̝̲̩͕͚͚r͔̮̗̙̭̰̞ ̲͎ͅf̯͙̮̤̹͍i̺̘a̭̗͓̠̹̬t͉͉ ͓̙̱̪di͉a̲̮̝̟̝̘͚m͕̻̳̩̺̭o̪n̹̟ds̪̮͔,̖̮̮̘ ̩is͍̙̳ ̹͙̦i̙͖̞͓̦̟̰t̙̤?̗͇̘̣͓̭

͚̻͓̗M̰̞̪̤ḁ̞͉g̞i̠̰̯c ͚͖͙͉͎͍̞p͙̘̟̥a̺̰̗̭̥̯ͅt̩̜̹̮̺h̟̻͇̯̖̫̯, ̼̗̣̘̩̜h̯̫̺̭̬̯u͈͖͕̙͈̦̯h͙?͔͔̬̗̼ ̤̱͍̫A͎̗̜͉̣̫n̼̘̫̗̟d̗̹ ̣͕̱̬a̻̣ ͓͖̘͈̯̣̹ḇ̹̣̖̖i̪̺̤t̞͉̦̦̟ ̜̞̲̩̮o͔f͓.̘͕͖ͅ.͚͕͎͍̲͙ͅ.̝̼p̘̜̻͉͖͓s̝̜̟i͈̪̱͈͉̯͖on̫̗̩ͅi̤̹̻͈̗c̞͎̤̫s̠̼? ̦̜̱̗̲͍̣R͔͓̜ar̻̮̺̤̲͈e̟̹̞̜,̗̗̩ t̙̫̠̣̜h̺̥̪̟at.̲̬͙̤̗ͅ ̙͓̤͇̱̱O̰̳̯̙h͉͖̫͖̣ ̖w̪̰̘͖̮e̘̼̤̜͉͇ͅl͕̫̠͖̻̳͙l̦̬̞͖̦̮ͅ,͍̬̩̝͕̝͇ g̮o͓̲̗̰̘̩̩od ͖͇̣̠l̻u̱̹̖̤̦̰c̞k̳̲̼̯̖̝.̠̣͓̯ ͉̯̤̬̳͕̖I̻͙̱̮̰͉̳f̪͍̘͔͓̗ ̘̘̥̥ͅy͉o͕̹͇͙̠̹u̦̰̠̮͚̦̼ r̜̤e̫m͕̙e̫͙̺̻͇̯m̪̗̭͚̯̘̝b̩̲̬̯̠e̦̟͔͖̜̙̮r͎͙̲̪̪ ̮̠̤a̖̬ͅn͈y ̫̜̳̖͕̦of̝ t̩̬͈͙̼h̯̮̳̟̯̲ͅis̲͇̝̞̣͚ ̤w̱͔͍͙̭̫hen̮̙ ̭̪͉̻̲̰yo̤u̗̰̳͕ ͕͍w͔̼ak̗̙̮̣̱̬e̟̰ ͚̲u̮̗̥͈̤p̬,̘̟̬͍̥͓ ̭be̬̝̙̣̠̙̤ c̹̱̩͎ḁ̱̬̥̞͚̬r̖e̗̗f̠̻u̳͓̣̳̜̞l ̬̱̟͎w͚̣̰i̻̹͖̤̹t̹̲̺͉̱̥ͅh̙ ͚̫̪a̤͔̺n̰̫̟̟y ͕̖͍as͚̻͍̜̫̟̟t̩̰̩̟̙̭ͅra̤̬l̫̞̠̠͓̟̥-̜̪-͎

SECOND OVERRIDE INITIATED

Fuck you, everyone knows they forget the cryptic bullshit as soon as they wake up! At least I don't straight up tell them--

ERROR: ENCOUNTERED TOO MANY ERRORS. RESETTING...

Psionics WERE rare! A smile spread across Jason's (nonexistant) face. He knew it! Hopefully it would earn him a 'variance like Crispy. Wait.. Was the Demon King talking to someone else? Perhaps there were even--

Before he could finish the thought, Jason suddenly found himself plummeting Earthward. As he fell, the slime tried his best to keep his eyes locked on what he assumed to be the area outside the cave, hopefully cleaning the warlord just a little extra information before returning to his body.

“Hey! Wait!” Racing ahead of the Wisp again Oberon blocked off Mourningstar’s path, holding both hands up in front of him as if to ward her back towards the bonfire. “Where is this coming from?”

Oberon was frankly kind of stunned at everything he had just heard. When he had stopped Mourningstar and asked her where she was going he had honestly expected another vaguely thought out plan delivered in a grandiose manner; a plan to solo scout out the rest of the cave or to use the remaining fire-infused crystals to cause a cave-in over the Goblin encampment. Oberon had stepped in, as he normally did, to try and temper her somewhat and keep her from doing something stupid. He hadn’t expected the Wisp to bombard him the way she did and he certainly didn’t expect the sudden collapse of the Wisp’s persona that came next.

As she slunk past him, somehow managing to have a hangdog expression despite not having a face, limbs or even a torso, he was left feeling terrible about himself. He suddenly regretted every exasperated eye roll or snide comment he’d thought about her as he tried to deal with her earlier, even though he felt they had been earned at the time. He’d thought she was just egotistical, naïve and far too keen for her own good. He’d even briefly considered the idea that she was insane, cracked under the pressure of their situation. Instead it seemed like the ‘Mourningstar’ character was just that, a front, an affectation, and even though that had its own implications Oberon suddenly found himself confronted by the hurt individual underneath that he didn’t even know existed.

“You’re not useless and you’re not a burden. It definitely wouldn’t be a win for me if you got yourself killed, don’t even joke about that. We’ve all died once already, I’m not looking to let that happen again.” Letting his arms drop to his sides Oberon adopted a slumped posture. He wasn’t sure what to do, other than apologise; even that was hard since up until this moment he wasn’t even aware that he was doing anything wrong.

“I’m sorry if you feel like we’ve been ignoring you. There’s been a lot going on and I got caught up in an idea I had; it’s a bad habit of mine. Then the Slime exploded for some reason and then I had to heal that Dire Rat; I haven’t even seen you since you found the stash of crystals.” Making excuses probably wasn’t the best way to go about this, but it was all true; he hadn’t been ignoring Mourningstar, not intentionally at least, and he hadn’t refused to speak to her at any point. Although it was entirely possible she had tried to get his attention while he had been playing with magic and been ignored in turn.

“You never exactly made it seem like you wanted to be friends anyway; you just bossed everyone around and tried to seem scary and important.” Pushing the blame onto Mourningstar was the wrong approach and luckily even Oberon knew this and was able to stop himself before he went too much further. “You’re just…. I think you’re trying too hard. Trying to be the boss, the scary voice, all this stuff about being the Demon King’s General; it’s too much. You don’t need to do any of that; I know it sounds trite by just be yourself, like you are now. Just… less suicidal.”

Digbie called out to them and Oberon looked over Mourningstar’s head to see the Goblin approaching them while dragging a bag along the ground. “By the looks of it I’m not the only one who wants you to stay.”

@floodtalon@Gardevoiran

Skill Gain: Crafting I
You may craft very simple items from simple materials. Your knowledge and understanding of mechanics, workmanship, and other such things enable you to craft better items. The process of creating many items is still an unknown to you, but if you ever succeed in such a creation its Sub-Stat Enhancements will be higher than normal. NOTE: Your species is unsuited to this Skill.

---

28 Mana Crystals remain.
3 Flame Touched Crystals remain.

Digbie's Tremor Sense told him that the nearest weak point was a crack in the ceiling, which seemed to run back towards the entrance. It was probably related to that cave in from yesterday, the one that Rattleskull and his minions had cleared out earlier this day.

Asteria made a rather grisly scene of the three lizard corpses as she used her fangs to cut them open and her newly dextrous paws to pry out their skeletons from amongst the meat and gristle. Using her teeth to knap the bones just like before, this time she actually received a System message. But much like Digbie had experienced when he tried to make a sack out of that rat corpse he dragged around, the Dire Rat was told that she did not have a "Crafting" skill and that her current species was "Unsuitable" for this process. Without knowing what the "quality" of her creations were, she had nonetheless created a few items: 2 Sharp Bone Needles, 6 Broken Bone Needles (while pointy and splintery at these broken bits, they weren't long enough or strong enough to stand up to the strain of piercing through flesh or taking the weight of something stepping on them), and 7 just plain Bone Needles (which were sharp, but didn't come to an actual needle-pointed tip like the Sharp ones did). When she handed them to Digbie, the Goblin would find that about 5 of them could fit into a single slot in his Inventory thanks to his new ramshackle pouch. With 15 of the needles in total, that meant someone else was going to have to manage that last handful.

As this group hid Mana Crystals, made Bone Needles, tried to negotiated with one of their own party members who felt wronged and desired to leave, and suffered from cryptic dreams that they would barely remember upon waking, time passed. This new world seemed so much like a game, but there was no pause button here. Luckily for them, between their numbers and their preparations and the sheer oddity of their situation, they had warded off most of the other creatures around the cave--nothing else bothered them for some time.

Thus, Jason safely reached the finale of his first Transformation under the watchful blob of Momma Slime.

The egg began to re-inflate, but as the membrane rippled it began to separate from its normal shape. A thin layer began to peel off of Jason's body, until it had formed a thin flap of nothing but the slime's membrane that now waved freely anytime there was a breeze. Then, a section of his "skin" began to swell outwards, towards what would have been the top of his "head," until a sort of brim surrounded his top half. Then the very very top of his gelatinous body became more rigid and also began to swell, coming to a conical point. Jason now looked just a smidge bigger than he had been before...and had the appearance of wearing a wizard's hat and cape made out of his own jelly-skin.

Then, with a sudden rumbling from deep within the slime's gut, a "core" within him lit up the color of raw gold ore. This orb exploded in a bright flash of light, sending golden colored "veins" that almost looked like cracks in glazed pottery throughout Jason's body. From either side of his conical "hat," two actual clusters of something like gray stone erupted as if they had just spontaneously generated there.

Then he "blinked" and found himself once more awakened to the world.

TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE!
Slime > (Immature) Stone-Hardened Slime Mage
You have Transformed!
All Base Stats have Slightly Increased!
Your Max MP has Slightly Increased!
You have not reached your full Potential. The Skill Mana Orb is reduced to (0.5).
You have not reached your full Potential. The Skill Shield is reduced to (0.5).

You gained the Variance, Stone-Hardened!
Your Base defensive stats have Very Slightly Increased!
Your Earth Affinity is currently at (0.6). Increase it by deepening your understanding of the Earth element.
You have not reached your full Potential. The Skill Stone Shot only increases by (.25). Total is (2.3)

---

As the Armor Badger worried at her shield, its teeth cracking the wood, Orchid's quick thinking and past experiences paid off. She managed to off balance the beast, which scrabbled with its foreclaws to do further damage to the shield but never reached Orchid's body. As she threw it to the ground and came down on top of it with all her weight, it gave a loud "whoof" as the air was driven from its lungs, and its snarls decreased in volume despite the fact that it still snapped and gnashed at her and soon thrashed its way out from underneath. Then, with a roar of fury, the goblinette brought her weapon down right on top of its armored head. With a sound like cracking ice, the armor plate of hide on the badger's skull split and broke off, leaving a pale, hairless patch that quickly welled up raw as blood vessels clotted beneath the skin. The badger gave a breatheless squeal as it backed away, shaking its head to clear the daze. Without even looking where it was going, the animal turned and began to flee back into the bushes--it didn't live in a cave with closed in walls and ceilings and tight spaces, so its instincts were to get away from threats rather than fight to the death. Would Orchid choose to pursue it?

"Ha! You dum, couldn't even kill it with ya big fancy stick! Shows how good all yer fancy makin' stuff is!" crowed the female from up in the tree. She began to shimmy down the trunk, clutching a freshly cut branch in one hand. "I bet when I start makin' stuff, MY fancy stick will kill it good!"

A chill breeze began to blow, as the last glints of a red setting sun filtered through the trees...

---

As the Wisp dealt with what little vestige of camaraderie remained with her "party," the first two she had ever encountered here in this new world, she nonetheless would see what she had been looking for--to the southwest, towards the far walls of the cave (if Ed or Asteria had been there, they would have noticed this was the Dire Rats' and Fanged Lizards' tunneling and nesting areas) it seemed that there were a few flickering, glowing lights passing through the air here and there. Wisps, darting about near the ceiling--probably seeking out Mana Crystals.

---

"It's gettin' dark, Boss."

"Is we really gonna fight at night? What if'n we can't sees dem?" said one goblin through fearful tremors.

"Dat's why Crispy been makin' torches, ya dum!" Rattleskull roared, immediately cowering anyone who might have dared agreed. "We can't stays out here anyways! It ain't smart--right, Crispy!?"

"Uh, yeah." Crispy began sticking his torches in the fire. He seemed somewhat distracted. "If Ventures come along, or da bigga stuff in da woods, it bees bad fer us." He stood with two fiery brands and motioned for the other goblins to approach. "So dis is it, ya gobs! No sleeps, no new camp, until we makes one!"

"And to do dat, we gots ta kill EVERYTHING!" Rattleskull slammed his celt axe against the ground and the others howled and waved their own weapons. The big shouldered goblin with the new spear spoke up.

"Boss, what ifs we push just inside da cave n' leave Crispy's fire out here? We kills a buncha stuff and makes anudda fire--maybe then we gots enough room to sleep and da fire keeps stuff from da woods away?"

"Only if we ain't gots no choice!" Rattleskull seemed to begrudgingly admit that this all-night raid by a tribe that had spent most of its day hunting, gathering, and crafting would be exhaustive. "But da longer we waits, da more prepared dese other mobs might gets! Dat group attackin' Crispy was weird--dis whole cave is gettin' weird! The sooner we stops it, da betta!"

Again he slammed his weapon on the ground, kicking up clods of dirt and blades of grass with his almost ritualistic tantrum. Soon he had the goblins worked up into a frenzy...

"Almost time, boss!" Crispy called out as he passed out the last few torches. "But wait a minute, dat youngling should be back..."

Rattleskull looked out towards the trees with a raised eyebrow. That young female was still out in the woods? At night? He frowned. She and her weapons were a large contribution to their battle power now. She had better not get caught by something or end up bringing it back to the tribe...

@Zeroth @Rune_Alchemist @ghastlyInc @CollectorOfMyst @Kangutso

Danny knew all too well he was a large part as to why the group couldn't fight prolonged battles. The pixies were dependent on magic for their most useful skills as well but the could still punch and kick or something when out, he could only attack twice and then he couldn't even move anymore. Not for the first time he wished he had chosen a different monster when presented with the choice.

But that was in the past, right now he could only hope he was right about meditate and try to make it usable as soon as possible. As he was lost in thought again Ash mentioned something knowing about a safe spot. "Right behind you."

When they eventually arrived at the spot the Lizard had been talking about Danny decided that it might be a good idea to try and develop his skills somewhat as he already knew that a good night's rest would recover his mp.

"Don't worry we're not under attack again, I'm just trying to improve Mana Orb." He honestly doubted the others would assume he was firing at some random monster approaching them, but figured it didn't hurt to reassure them. He shot off the two Mana Orbs he was capable off with as little time between them as possible.

When he inevitably crashed to the ground he tried to empty his mind and meditate while hopefully still registering what the others were doing and saying, cause if that last part was impossible then the skill would be useless and even dangerous during combat.

Asura shifted a little as he sat and waited. This wasn't really his style and he had promised that Mother Slime would have more food if she was with him. He wasn't one for lying so he left his little hiding spot and went back into the tunnel. Using his pseudopods he grabbed the two rat corpses and brought them out and laid one next to his current bodies mother. He kind of wondered if the Rats had ever gone into her area. When they didn't have goblins breathing down their necks and she could communicate better he'd ask.

He mulled over his unavailable skills, meaning they weren't fully trained. It seemed you had to get them to 1.0 for them to be available. But nothing was close to that and he doubted he had a long time to train himself. Well he had focused pretty good on defense and he had a power attack. Being able to actively defend wouldn't hurt and Slime Shell might be what that is. So he focused for now on trying to make his jelly membrane tougher by compressing himself? He couldn't actually harden himself, liquid didn't work like that. But he could turn himself into a dense ball of goo that's a lot harder to damage, or you're more likely to bounce off given the nature of liquids.

Ardur The Pixie

Preparing for a fight >>>> Here comes the thunder /// day 8 // Evening

Ardur worked for the next few minutes diligently stacking stones of various sizes all over the earthen pillars. It was tiring and straining work but with the help of Physical Conditioning I found it to be almost enjoyable to be working out again. It reminded him briefly of his child hood and helping his father break up and move concrete. He couldn’t help but look down at himself after he did what he could do to prepare for the coming battle. Noticing that he was still naked from his earlier conflict he guessed he still had a little time left to go home and ‘change’.

Knowing that Lesser Flight III allowed him to travel farther, faster, and lighter. The pale pixie found himself taking his time to practice his flying skills by chasing down a few flying insects. Toying with them for a moment as they tried in vain to elude the predator behind them. He would continue to chase them before catching them and returning home.

Entering the small stone abode he could see that the small crystal nodes had grown slightly but still were not at the size to be used. Steve didn’t seem to be home but a gentle tug of some of his webs got his attention. The small spider acting on instinct to the sudden vibration charged from a crevice and reared its front legs up with a hiss towards Ardur. However, once the spider realized who was standing before it either by sight or scent slowly lowered its aggressive posture and seemed to wait.

Ardur did find himself flinching slightly at the response from his roommate. But everything seemed to settle down when he tossed several of the small insects onto the spider’s web. Steve instantly started stinging and wrapping its food while Ardur began to gather the silken strands and coil some of them together to make stronger strands. This was how he made his clothes last time but this time he didn’t have any grass but had a different idea instead.

After gathering and spinning the web together using his shield spell to keep the silk from sticking to him. Ardur made his way over to Steve to give it one last heal spell before stroking the creature for a moment. For whatever reason he felt a bit calmer from this act but eventually stood and walked to the entrance with a sigh. “Bye Steve, ill hopefully see you again later.” He said as he dropped out of the entrance and into the air.

The trip was rather uneventful, the cave was stricken with an eerie silence. It was almost like the other creatures knew better than to poke their heads out or scout out around their homes. It was something he would see now and then, all the animals taking shelter before a storm. Even his instincts told him to keep a low profile and hide. A feeling he swiftly suppressed to the back of his mind. Now wasn’t the time to hide, it was the time to fight.

Stopping only briefly to take a few more chunks of one of the nearby dead goblins. Ardur found himself perched up on a high shelf looking off toward the entrance. If he was to see any movement coming from that direction, he would be the first to call it out to the others. While the pixie ate, he began to fix small pebbles in the spider silk clothes he had woven together. Although it wouldn’t be considered armor by any means, he still felt like it was better than nothing.

Looking back out across the cave with one leg dangling off the side and the other sucked up towards his chest to give his head something to rest on again he sighed. This was the first down time he has had in some time and while his mind went over his game plan for the battle he couldn’t help but let his mind wander to Sara and what he left behind to come here.

He was sure the short red head would end up here after she passed of old age just to yell at him about how stupid he was. Then having it followed up by how strong and handsome our son had grown to be. Yet for some reason he didn’t want her to see him like this. He had indulged his new instincts a little too much and in the end hadn’t really helped anyone. What the hell was he doing? Who was he trying to fool being a chaotic pixie with no regard to others?

She would be disappointed in him, he was sure of it.

“Merciful Sun god, I have squandered my days with plans of many things. This was not among them. But at this moment, I beg only to live the next few hours well. For all we ought to have thought, and have not thought; all we ought to have said, and have not said; all we ought to have done, and have not done; I pray thee God of the sun, for forgiveness.” He spoke a quote from one of his and Sara’s favorite movies as a prayer and caught himself beginning to cry.

When the time came to attack the goblins Ardur would be sure to help and do his best. Either by bombing the goblins from above with stones while they fought the other reborn. To running interference by quickly flying around the goblins and distracting them using his new-found speed and dexterity to aid him. But most importantly, he would do what he does best, help. Keeping close to the others and checking up on them to make sure they had proper heals or delivering mana crystals from the stash to them. He won’t just stand to the side and watch this time, this time he will make Sara proud.

((OOC: So as I’ve stated before I’m leaving for a training for 10 days and as stated above after his prayer. It lists what he will be doing during the fight that I’m sure is to happen while I’m away. So just regard him as a temporary NPC and I’ll catch up when I can… just don’t get him killed please. He will follow orders, when he’s tired he will rest, and when he’s low on mana he will seek out a crystal or two. But have fun and I’ll be back on the 13th.))

@Zeroth

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Rain looked at the strange slime carefully, her tongue flicking out as she tested the scent. It seemed.... Different. Not like anything else she'd seen so far.

"You got stronger." It was a statement, a fact, as she circled around him. "We have better odds now."

She glanced at the retreating light, tense, as she finished her observations.

"We're almost out of time," she called to the group at large. "He will want to attack soon. The big guy needs to fall first."

Rain was growing uneasy. If only she had more time, she could practice some with her venom. Do something big. Something.... Lethal. Maybe she could kind of breath it out, like a mist, and then it could destroy the lungs of that that breathed it. But.... That sounded hard, and she didn't have time.

No one had time.

"I'm going to the edges. So they don't see me. And then I can do what I do best."

While she waited, hidden in shadows, she contemplated how she might be able to blow a mist. Maybe start with a Glob, but try to spray it?

She didn't want to waste much venom, but she would give it a few test fires while she waited.