@Zeroth @Rune_Alchemist @ghastlyInc @CollectorOfMyst @Kangutso

"Lesser force may in fact be helpful for more menial tasks since I currently lack hands, so if you're offering." Only after Ash took him up on his offer did Danny realize he had no idea of how to teach either of his two known spells. "Fair warning though, while Lesser Force is as far as I know as dexterous as my hands were it doesn't have nearly as much as strength behind it."

He was quite clearly stalling and hoped Ash didn't figure it out. "Let's see I personally use it by just focusing on something and wanting to move it, but I doubt that will work for you since you don't have the skill yet. So maybe try controlling your mana while you imagine an invisible hand moving the object you want moved." His tone of voice easily revealed the lack of confidence behind his words but it was the best example he could come up with.

Orchid once more grew increasingly exasperated by these goblin's foolishness. She wanted to explain to them that she was searching for monsters and traps, and just happens to know where a few are. But she also knew these goblins were too boneheaded, even for all their complexities, to really understand that. She would've ignored them had Rattleskull himself not come up the rear and apparently share their sentiment, even ordering her to give up one of her shield goblins to help out one of the other crews. And to make matters even worse, a lone dire rat had the balls to attack her group. Was this one just desperate, or possibly one of those strange sentient monsters? Even if the dire rat was just as smart as a beast, even an animal knows not to go up against a horde of hostile and violent creatures. This is why you don't have wolves hunting bears, as her father used to say.

Hesitation would get Orchid killed, so she needed to deal with these problems immediately. First was the dire rat; it was the closest threat and attacking one of her torch bearers. Frankly, she was more concerned about the torches themselves; the goblins seem immature and cowardly, even in their massive numbers. But she still needed to save them otherwise she or one of her shield goblins would have to waste a hand carrying a torch. Orchid tugged one of the shield goblins next to her, directing him towards the dire rat. "Kill the rat an save the torchie. Don't die. You, other torchie! With me!" Orchid commanded one of the torch bearers who wasn't being immediately attacked to follow her, for she needed light. Then she looked towards the other two goblins. She's loathed to actually give up anyone, and fortunately for Orchid, she had a perfect excuse for why she couldn't. Someone was throwing rocks at the goblins.

Normally she'd think nothing of it aside that now she has to worry about range attacks. But the moment she thought of that something clicked in her head. None of the other monsters aside from the goblins ought to be able to utilize rocks as weapons; most were beasts, so the person throwing the rocks was either one of the other goblins, or a monster with a rock throwing ability. Orchid wasn't sure which one was worse; if it was a goblin chances are they're just as crafty as she is and much be pretty strong to throw a rock that far. But on the other hand, remembering all those strange monsters that attacked her and Crispy before, chances are it's one of those aberrant monsters. Much more of a threat then just pixies and goblins.

"Rattleskull it's one of those weird monsters! Dey're here! You two, with me, torchie, behind the shields!" Orchid had her two goblins raise their shields in the direction of where the rock was thrown, approaching slowly with their shields up. Following the advice of one of the other goblins she crouched low with her shield in front in order to cover her body entirely; and being a small goblin it was easy to do so. She switched from her club to her sling, using the goblin's torch to help her see what was attacking them. The stone didn't go after any of the torch bearers so it stood to reason that the one who attacked them had to be close enough to see the other goblins without any lights. They approached low and slow, but once Orchid saw one she attacked fast; one whirl of her sling and she'd launch a rock right at them.

"SMASH!"

Jesus christ that Wisp was bright. But it certainly proved Mourningstar's suspicions, that there was in fact a Mother Wisp of some sort. She used a quick Monster Analysis on the Wisp to see what it's various stats were like, afterwards floating up to it and blinking rapidly as a show of panic. Mana Shape was used next, creating a floating arrow pointing towards the Goblins who advanced towards the cave, accompanied by a growling noise to try and highlight that they were angry. The arrow was red of course, red means danger no matter where you are.

Mourningstar calmed down and looked at the Wisp with a hint of expectation, hoping she could maybe rally the other Wisps into banding together to attack the Goblins from above. After receiving her results she would follow up by using Magic Analysis on the Wisp, hoping she could continue to level up the skill into something more.

Ardur The Pixie

Never give a Pixie Explosive Ordinance >>>> Incoming! /// day 8 // Evening / Location - Near and Above E 11

The sights and sounds the goblins began to make as they began their march was strange. They were being careful or at least more so then what he thought they would do. Perhaps it’s from the other reborn that is with them. These thoughts filled his head as his eyes scanned the entrance and the jumble of goblins as they piled out and into the cave.

Eyeing over the simple tools and armor they had constructed in such a short time surprised him. These goblins would make a fine work force if they could be controlled. However, his mind turned to more aggressive ideas as his eyes finally rested upon their leader in the back. Rattleskull and crispy where taking up the rear of the formation. They were close to each other but Ardur was unsure if he would get a better shot at possibly being able to hit both of them.

Grasping the rat lung bomb in hand the small pixie used Lesser Flight III and took off behind the stone pillars until he reached the wall (E11 > E14 > A14). Once there he gained as much altitude as he could and began to glide to towards the entrance (A14 > A7). He was sure that his fluttering form would either be seen or heard if he wasn’t gliding. As he came closer to his intended target of Rattleskull, the pixie charged the fire crystal and dropped it just as he had for the huge slime before with a rock.

Ardur didn’t wait around to watch the explosion or even see if he hit or not. The goblins began to form a shield wall and advance toward his friends. one smaller group with a few hammers seemed to be dealing quite a lot of damage towards a group of pixies. He was a bit upset that he was too late to aid them and continued to fly back to his pillar.

Once there, Ardur quickly realized that he had little in the way of offensive capabilities other than dropping rocks on them. With this thought in mind and remembering what Fire Resistance I gave him. The small pixie then began to practice just like Crispy showed the reborn goblin earlier in the day. Focusing on his hand to create fire, pouring his mana into his open palm before throwing whatever he could muster out towards the approaching goblins.

He was very much aware that he would be doing very little in terms of anything but at the very least it could provide a distraction and draw the goblins in closer to his friends.

@Zeroth

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“Yes, we are well hidden. We will have to time our ambush very well to be effective, however,” Asteria whispered. “The goblins are still some distance away, but approaching steadily,” she commented quietly after squinting for a while and only making out their enemies’ torches. She then remembered the four poisoned bone needles were still on the ground, in plain sight. Leaving them so obviously in the open would only reveal that monsters were nearby. Cautiously and as silently as she managed, she climbed out of the hole, gathered the four bone needles by carefully wrapping her tail around their handles, handling them delicately so not to get poisoned herself, then took them into the hole, where she crouched back into a prone position. She placed the four poisoned bone needles to the side of the hole, where she could still easily reach them, but none of the Dire rats would accidentally step on them or something.

“Do you have any good idea what to do with these four poisoned needles? I made them beforehand, but…” she murmured trailing of. “A trap would be inefficient and too conspicuous, I believe. Perhaps if we could fashion ourselves a stinger as a scorpion might have,” she muttered doubtfully. She thought she had time enough to test her tail’s strength and flexibility, however. Asteria swung her tail from left to right, forward and backward. She checked whether the goblins had approached into what she’d consider danger zone and decided they had not yet. Crouched, she aimed her tail at the rear wall of the dug-out hole and smashed the appendage lengthwise into it. She assessed the damage to the wall and waited out the pain from purposefully battering a relatively vulnerable part of her anatomy at something solid. Then she brought her tail forwards in several quick attempts at a thrust, ‘attacking’ the empty air, only so she could feel how her tail responded to such a manipulation.

@Searat

Turning his attention away from the ever approaching lights of the Goblin’s torches, Oberon looked down at the area around the campsite and saw that everyone else was already preparing for the assault; the other Pixie flew off towards the Goblins clutching something grotesque in his hands, the Slimes also left either to find a vantage point or on a course to circle around the torches, while the rats seemed to be either digging a trench or covering themselves with mud; maybe both.

Fortunately he had been able to finish learning Mana Dart in time but with the Goblin horde growing closer it seemed like Oberon’s time was up; right now he needed to help prepare for the inevitable battle and as the support he knew what role he would be most useful in. Mana Dart would come in handy when the Goblins arrived but at the moment his time and mana was best spent buffing the others, not on a pre-emptive strike.

Swooping back down towards the ground Oberon stopped off at the pile of mana crystals and grabbed one in each hand before flying over to the Lizard who was still spitting small clouds of poison into the air; perhaps she was trying to achieve something different with her abilities the same way he was. Careful not to get to close to the toxic vapours, Oberon raised a hand and prepared to cast Shield on the Lizard before a thought occurred to him. Earlier he had tried to cast a Shield spell using nature mana and had gained some experience in the Minor Regeneration skill, but the ability itself failed to activate and he had instead produced a regular shield as always; since he was going to be running around casting Shield on everyone he might as well try and earn a new ability while he was at it.

Letting a smile creep across his face Oberon raised his hand again and cast Shield, but as he did so he attempted to bring forth the same kind of energy that he used when he cast Minor Heal like he had tried to do with the Dire Rat earlier. The result was what he had expected, the tell-tale shimmer of a shield being applied, but with any luck in the background he was accumulating experience towards a new ability.

Leaving the Lizard behind Oberon next flew over to where he had seen the rats huddling together. It took longer than he expected, dug into a foxhole and covered in mud as they were, and he almost missed them entirely; it was only the fact he had seen them earlier that let him find them and cast his shield on them. The Dire Rat he had healed earlier still had a shield so he focused on the large rat and the smaller one who he had seen earlier, once more trying to use nature mana to create the effect.



@SilverPaw@Searat@Old Amsterdam@Zeroth

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"AARRGH!" Digbie clutched his head as he felt the dial-up onslaught his dome and mind. He heard the Demon King's... answering machine... respond to him in his mind, he noted it as best as he could. The Demon King wasn't a fan of prayer, unsurprisingly. Pledging allegiance to him might've worked a little better.

Digbie rolled around in the dirt, trying to quell the migraine presented to him. Ok, he wasn't a magician of the healing variety. IT could be said that his digging was ungodly and that of legends, but he couldn't do much in terms of healing off his ailment. He couldn't just wait around for it to settle, either. He needed to get up, to fight, and to survive. He needed some help to do that though.

"H-HELP! I-I'VE GOT A HORRIBLE HEADACHE!" He desperately shouted in hopes that someone, anyone, of his party was listening and would give him a cure for his issue. After that, he would happily start fighting these dumb goblins.

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@Zeroth@Lucius Cypher

Damn. Though the rock seemed to hit the goblin (albeit not where intended), knocking them down, the resulting lack of panic meant that the shot wasn't lethal. Even worse, Jason could just make out the shadowy shapes of what appeared to be shields headed in his direction.

Not good.

From what he had gathered about goblins so far, shields were not something they would normally know how to create. This could only mean one thing... The traitor reincarnate was in that group, and teaching the goblins new skills.  Jason needed to conceal his position, but the damned 'hat' that started just above his eyes stuck out like a sore thumb. Wait. Did slimes even have eyes?  Since they lack any other normal form of organ, it was highly unlikely... Which meant that slimes could see out of any part of their body! The only reason he had constrained his vision to a single part of his body was because as a human, he was unable to adjust his vision at will!

Using [Soil Manipulation I], Jason dug himself a long foxhole, and broke off two of the spikes he had prepared beforehand.  Flopping silently into the front of his foxhole, Jason laid back on his cape, thus hiding his hat fully.  Scootching forward just enough for the 'bottom' of his body be able to see the goblins, and shoot.

Though he needed to use another mana crystal if he wanted to fire again, Jason didn't want to waste the bit of mana he had left.  Attuning his remaining mana to the psychic element using [Telepathy II], he gathered it all at the tip of his hat, and fired it out like a blast.  Since psychic mana was invisible, it was unlikely that his position would be given away. 

Using one of his three mana crystals, Jason checked the distance with  [Tremor Sense II] , before activating [Focus I] on  [Stone Shot II].  Carefully taking aim at the shadow that had crouched down to help the first, Jason fired the second spike. This time he had aimed for the chest, hoping for a lungshot.

Once he had finished placing a Shield on the Dire Rats Oberon continued his short tour of the bonfire area and flew towards the last place he had seen Digbie. The little green Goblin was standing on an elevated ledge and was looking out towards the approaching mass of torches; as Oberon grew closer he could see that Digbie had his hands clasped together in front of him and as he approached the Pixie could just make out a light murmuring, almost as if the Goblin was praying.

“Hey, Digbie. What are you…?”

Before Oberon could finish his sentence Digbie suddenly screamed out and collapsed to the ground, rolling around in the dirt and clutched at his head. Accelerating forwards Oberon was kneeling at the Goblin’s side in moments, using Magical Analysis to try and determine what was wrong with his ally; this proved rather moot however as Digbie’s next scream made it painfully obvious what the issue was.

“A headache?” It must have quite a headache to cause this kind of reaction. But then, Oberon knew exactly what that was like didn’t he. It was only yesterday that he had experienced a similar migraine after attempting to test just how much this world resembled the video games he had played in his past life. It was that experience that had led to him first trying to create some kind of status removal spell which, luckily for Digbid, he now had.

Reaching out to place a hand on Digbie shoulder Oberon sought to still the Goblin’s rolling so that he could heal him. “Stay still Digbie, I’m going to heal you.” Placing his other hand on the Goblin’s forehead Oberon focused his mana and cast Lesser Status Heal on Digbie, hopefully curing him of his migraine.



@Gardevoiran@Zeroth

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Rain huffed to herself, pleased at the results, and even more pleased at the message. A quick glance up and she still had time to try and figure something better out, though....

When suddenly she noted a Pixie coming over from the main group and casting a shield on her. No no no no, that wouldn't do.

"Appreciated, friend, but I can't risk being seen by that shimmer. Remove the spell, please, at least until I'm actively engaged in combat. I use stealth skills, and being twinkly won't help me right now. I'm counting to ten before I continue with my practice, so please remove it now." Her tone was short, but earnest, as she made her request to the little guy.

And he was already gone. Fucker. Well.

Looking around, she picked up a small rock in her mouth and thew it above her, letting it come falling down upon her. She'd repeat the process as necessary until the shield disappeared.

Using that time to draw breath before collecting venom, she held her breath while she filled her maw.

She'd copy that last attempt, but this time she didn't need to breath in and almost choke on her own venom!

17 Mana Crystals remain.
2 Flame Touched Crystals remain.

With Asura's greater control over his shapeshifting, his odd little blobman form seemed to work fairly well. Actually controlling his newly formed limbs, however, was a little bit difficult--in effect, it took more effort and more conscious planning to move this way as opposed to the spherical shape he had become more used to. Somewhat like maintaining a proper martial arts stance with every movement, rather than simply acting naturally. So he was slower than usual and movement was more tiring. As Momma Slime watched, she rolled slightly from side to side. Without eyes in her "face" it was hard to tell exactly, but she seemed to be observing Asura closely, just as she had been when learning to speak and to roll like he did. Given her efforts to form language and mimic what others around her could say and do, it seemed like interacting with this group of unusual monsters was pushing the normal boundaries of a slime monster--In fact, after Asura had begun sharing his thoughts and more complex notions with her, Momma Slime had even started referring to herself as "I" and others as "You," whereas before there had simply been a primitive acknowledgement of her self and things that were not her self, whether they be walls or plants or other monsters.

As Ed and Asteria tried their best to calm themselves and sharpen their senses, Mother Rat wriggled up between them and pressed her body flatter to the ground, leaving just the wet tip of her nose over the edge of the foxhole. Every so often her ears would twitch as well, but for the moment she had closed her eyes and seemed to be partially resting while remaining aware for the enemy. Wild animals had to live with the danger of constant predation and always be on the lookout for competition. A human in such a situation, surrounded by enemies in an unknown environment, probably couldn't take such pressures if they hadn't been trained for it by something like the military. Even then, this kind of stress made sleeping impossible, made eating a hurried and unenjoyable affair, and even made going to the bathroom alone a nerve wracking event. But Mother Rat, sitting next to Ed as Asteria began to experiment with her tail, demonstrated something these primitive creatures knew well. If Death was ever present around you, why worry about it? There was no safe place to find, no way to block out the rest of the dangerous and hair raising world, at least not for these creatures. Being on edge all the time was just going to tire you out faster.

Oberon's shielding would no doubt be appreciated, though even with the mud caked over their bodies there was still just the slightest hint of a shimmer over the rats now. Being below the level of the ground still kept them hidden, so long as they didn't poke their heads up too high or too often.

Asteria would find that she had about the same level of control over her tail that a person might have over their index finger, albeit with a far greater degree of flexibility and no hard knuckle joints. In effect it was a finger that could bend or rotate in all directions, though the most complex shape she could make with it was a single loop or an S curve. Not exactly prehensile. She couldn't so much hold the needles yet, but she could--perhaps due to her Dextrous skill?--wrap them up and drag them or slightly lift them for a short period of time. She found that she could deal the earth around her a pretty decent thump, however--and didn't really feel much pain from it. A whipping motion had more effect than a thrusting one, but the heavy tail seemed less sensitive than other parts of her body and it was a mass of fairly dense muscle.

After shielding the rats and the unwilling Rain, Oberon's assistance to Digbie caused the goblin to receive another short System message--his migraine had subsided. These odd headaches sometimes induced among the reincarnators didn't seem like a true "status effect" in game terms--they didn't receive any messages about decreased HP or imposed limits on their abilities or anything like that--and yet Lesser Status Heal seemed to work on them. What exactly were these fits? Their causes seemed similar enough--trying to reach "knowledge beyond one's ken" often brought them on, but one would think if such things were detrimental in some way they would either have a more obviously painful effect, or that the System--whatever it was--wouldn't allow them at all. Why bring up the menus or character screens in the first place?

But the time to answer these questions was most certainly not the present. The torchlight of the goblin raiders was getting closer every moment, and now just about the entire bonfire group could see the shadows of oncoming figures...

Rain's displeasure with the Pixie that shielded her was an intense feeling--he had thrown a wrench into all of her plans! She depended on stealth as one of her primary weapons, and how was she supposed to do that with his stupid spell in the way? This bitterness welled in her almost like a sense of nausea--and then when she began to focus on breaking the shield, tossing rocks into the air and letting them come back down, the spell around her fizzled a little more with each impact.

But Oberon's spell wasn't exactly weak. He had worked his way up to the third rank with it, after all, so these pebbles tossed with little in the way of accuracy or power wouldn't leave a dent.

Yet it still crackled and then seemed to shatter into tiny sparkles, and Rain was once more free to move unseen in the shadows.

Free once more to focus on her experiments, Rain put forth one more effort. Deeper breaths. Collect the venom beforehand. Allow the air and acid to mix. Movement of the head, forceful exhalation. Put more oomph into it, more power!

Skill Gain: Poison Breath I
Whether by magic or biology, produce fumes projected from the mouth. This skill deals very low acidic damage and has a lower chance to poison an enemy than most other poison-type skills due to its lower density, but is ranged and covers a small area of effect. The fumes have a small chance to linger in the effected area for a short time.

The cone of swirling purple fog seemed to go about as far as her usual Poison Spit, but upon leaving Rain's jaws it immedately began to spread out. At its widest point it covered about five feet from end to end, or roughly an area of two square feet.

Meanwhile, Jason and Ardur did their best to take initiative against the oncoming goblins. Jason was expending quite a lot of his MP and he wasn't quite so close to the Loot pile as he had been, but with the spikes he was using as ammunition his spell might get just a little more bang for the buck. Ardur had only the one bomb, on the other hand, and so far he hadn't learned any other skills to attack with...he could, however, feel warmth gathering in his palm as he practiced the Fireball with Crispy's methods. But the pixie might soon find himself with a big, hairy problem...

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You used Monster Analysis II! This is a Monster, but it is Magical in nature. Your Magic Analysis III provides a boost to its effectiveness. You have Analyzed this type of Monster before, effectiveness boosted.
---Large Wisp---
This Wisp is larger than others of its kind, likely because it is older and stronger. More magical manifestation than biological creatures, Wisps nonetheless possess physical bodies. Their ability to cast spells from range makes them a foe that should not be underestimated by the novice. Wisps are magically oriented monsters, normally possessing two spells. This Wisp possesses the skills Mana Orb (Rank II), Lesser Force (Rank II), Levitation (No Rank), and Poison Resistance (Rank I). It is developing the skill Blunt Resistance (Rank I). This Wisp is a higher level than you are. Its HP and MP are higher than yours. Its Potential has increased after maturation.

You used Magic Analysis III! This is a Monster, but it is Magical in nature. Your Monster Analysis II provides a boost to its effectiveness. You have analyzed this specific monster already, effectiveness boosted. You possess some of the same spells as this monster, effectiveness boosted.
---Large Wisp---
This Wisp possesses the spells Mana Orb (Rank II), Lesser Force (Rank II), and Levitation (No Rank). Mana Orb collects magical energy into a sphere and fires it with offensive force, creating a ranged attack of non-elemental magic. This spell is an Energy type. Lesser Force uses magical energy to physically interact with the world around the caster in a small radius. It is fairly weak. This spell can be used with either Energy type mana or Psionic type mana. Levitation uses magical energy in a manner similar to Lesser Force to propel the caster a short distance over the ground at a slow speed. Faster movements are possible but drain both Stamina and MP more quickly. This spell is constantly active so long as the user has MP and can't be ranked up under normal circumstances. This spell can be used with either Energy type mana or Psionic type mana.

With Mourningstar's indications, the Wispmother began to float along the ceiling towards the odd commotion going on down below. However, it seemed at this point the monster was content to simply observe without actually getting involved. How could Mourningstar get this creature to follow her, the same way that the mother slime and the mother rat had followed the others? The Wisps didn't seem to communicate through speech the way the slimes had their little telekinesis sharing, and it was unclear what kind of body language they used unlike the Rats...

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The young goblin carrying the torch flailed wildly as the Dire Rat attacked it. Before the spear wielding goblin Orchid sent to help it could get there, the rat had already viciously bitten and clawed one of the torchbearer's legs. Before it could fully bring down its prey, however, the shield minion speared it through the side. The torchbearer joined it, walloping it with the flaming brand, and soon the Dire Rat had paid for its transgressions. The torchbearer would survive, but unless they had some method of bandaging or healing the wound the young goblin was going to be extra vulnerable in the fights to come. As Orchid used her remaining minions to form a shield wall and advance, they would find that the current area had already been cleared by the Hammer team, leaving them free to move at a faster pace while their other two team mates caught up.((You can move 2 spaces next post, just remember the further you move the higher the chance of encounters if an area hasn't already been cleared. If an area HAS been cleared, however, it doesn't count as one of your two spaces and you can keep going. Your team is currently at D7. I'll take Orchid's smash into account for the "first monster" that shows up whether that be Jason or another encounter.))

With Orchid's team advancing behind them, the Hammer team pushed forward more quickly. They were heading straight toward Jason's position...but the ground between the two wasn't empty. Once more they stumbled onto a nest of creatures, this time two Fanged Lizards. The scuffle was brief, however--by this point the goblins were in full fledged genocide mode, launching into battle without even a second glance. Two calls of "SMASH!" a flying blob of poison, and two pained hisses later the fight was over and the Hammer Team kept going, Orchid's shieldwall hot at their heels. Not too far away another shrill, child-like scream rang out. Orchid had seen and heard enough at this point to recognize it as the death throes of a pixie, and it was coming from the direction of the Brawny team.

The torches of Crispy's team moved further into the distance, towards the side of the cave Orchid had originally been ordered to explore. He must have decided that she wasn't going to follow through. Crispy, having more experience in fighting with a group, instead ordered his minions from the back while he stayed at a safer distance. They also split up, rather than staying clustered together, with the caster sticking with the less well-armed minion while the other braved the search alone. They quickly rejoined however, apparently getting lucky enough not to run into anything save a single Dire Rat that their sharp stone knives had made easy work of. In fact, they were pushing ahead even faster than Orchid's group.

But despite their successes the goblins were not moving into the cave unopposed.

Jason's next sniper shot hit the Hammer Team's leader slightly off center from his original target, to one side of the pectoral but between the chest and shoulder. The two inch spike punched deep even though the distance between them reduced the damage somewhat, and the goblin went down with a scream and a spurt of blood. He wasn't dead yet, but with this much damage he might as well have been, and he thrashed on the ground in agony. If no one could heal him or tend to his wound he would be easy pickings for something else--his minion began yelling for help from the other groups. Would any of them get there in time?

And above these cries a new sound boomed out--literally. Somewhere behind the goblin lines an explosion shattered the darkness of the cave, a short-lived flame blossoming brightly with a sickening purple tinge to it. As the smoke cleared, Rattleskull's large form blundered out, coughing and sputtering. He had definitely been hit, his fur was singed in several places, but it didn't look like the poison had done much to him thanks to his resistance. But he hadn't been hurt badly enough to shake him--instead, he simply got angrier. With a roar that echoed over the stones he began charging through areas his goblins had already cleared, towards the direction he was almost certain that bomb had been tossed from. The first thing he saw was a small figure floating in the air. He leaped with a snarl, and his club flashed a bright, angry red--brighter than any of the other goblins' Smash skill--and plastered the poor unsuspecting Wisp all over the walls. Ardur had made it to safety at this point, but Rattleskull finally stopped his charge and began peering through the darkness, growling low in his throat...

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"I see," Ash replied to Danny. It certainly was one way to think of it. A similar idea to what she'd probably explain it as if she was going to explain it. "The explanation is helpful. Thank you." Now she just had to actually do it. Taking a breath and focusing on the task at hand, Ash attempted to once again manipulate that undercurrent she had been trying to use for the past hour or so. Instead of focusing it on herself this time however, she'd attempt to focus it on something else.

Feeling the current on her claws again, she let it flow outwards. This time towards the rock that had previously been used as a healing stone. A little more forcefully than she tried the healing skill, she tried to manipulate this energy so it'd yank the pebble upwards.

Orchid moved forward, slightly shaken but still undaunted. Her shield wall was holding if only because whoever was attacking them was smart enough not to aim for them as a stone bullet of some sort struck one of the hammer goblins. And of course it had to be their boss, crying out for assistance and forcing his minions to cover for him. Orchid sighed but fortunately, since her group was moving relatively slow due to maintaining their formation, they were rejoined by her other shield goblin and the now wounded torch bearer. He was already young and useless as it was, but now he was injured. There was no time to apply any first aid; you either fought or died. "You, take my spot. You three, protect the hammer goblins for now. I'm going ahead on my own."

What Orchid had planned was a bit, no, very risky. It's already been proven that despite their overwhelming numbers that it seemed like all the monsters in this cave have already decided to attack the goblins, regardless of their odds. Be it a lone dire rat, a few pixies, or a flying wisp, they choose to attack the group instead of running away. Perhaps they simply realized that death was coming for them. Or more likely, just as Orchid feared, Rattleskull had lead the goblins right into a trap where all the monsters were going to try and wipe them out in a single big battle. If that was the case than Orchid had very few options; she doubt that these other monsters were going to let her live even if they managed to kill Rattleskull. At best they might just enslave her and use the threat of death to keep her in line. It made Orchid feel rather stupid feeling so sympathetic about that goblin bitch back in the forest.

How could Orchid have been so naive, to really think that these monsters actually wanted to live in peace.

And so Orchid took the torch from the wounded torch bearer. "Go help the hurt goblin! Shield Goblins, protect other goblins until I shout. Then I want you all to charge!" She gave the other youngling the last of her healing herbs as her shield goblins took a defensive position in front of them. With the torch Orchid could see better in the dark, and hopefully, so can her enemies. Holding the sling and it's stone tightly in her hand Orchid broke from her position and charged forward. Her goal wasn't to attack however; it was to distract. She was going to make all eyes land on her and try to take her out, all the while Orchid would focus entirely on dodging, deflecting, and blocking attacks. She needed to get around or even behind the enemy line, as well as find out what sort of traps they might have laid in between the goblin's front line and their defensive line. And if the monsters ignored her or tried to even out their attacks, only then would Orchid bust out the sling and attack their exposed flanks, forcing them to recognize her as a threat.

Plus, this would give Orchid a convenient excuse to separate and find the other monsters. Even if she still feels naive for believing about peace and harmony in these caves, at least she could try to find the one lizard who seems different from all the others. If nothing else, maybe Orchid could crawl out of one of those holes Crispy mentioned that brought in sunlight. Let the others assume she died in battle while she goes off to live another day.

Ardur The Pixie

Incoming! >>>> Poking the bear again /// day 8 // Evening / Location - E11 > J11

Ardur rested quietly. The warmth in his hands had grown slightly but it wasn't enough. Perhaps if he pushed himself to some next level through either determination or danger. Maybe then he could achieve what he was looking to gain. For now however, the pixie had another problem. The goblins were still pushing forward and Rattle skull seemed to have gone into some sort of rage and swung wildly around.

If the old stories of barbarians and their rage was true giving him strength but less intelligence. Maybe just maybe he could goad him into trying to attack him and follow him toward the others and their trap. They were not too far away and his crystals where over there as well. "Hmm I guess it’s about time I got a little dramatic then" he thought to himself.

Climbing further up from his perch and out of line of sight of the big hairy goblin. Ardur got some distance between himself and the goblin. Muttering a quick prayer, "Sun god give me luck so I may help my friends." With a few deep breaths to calm his anxiety and adrenaline the pixie spoke, almost yelling at the goblin leader below. "How does it feel to get your skull rattled coward!?" casting shield I on himself and dropping from the ceiling, so he would be more visible the pixie floated in the air glaring at the goblin leader.

"OI! I'm talking to you weakling. Look at that burned mess you've become, how goblins could ever follow someone so small!" slowly he started to drift back towards the bonfire and the trap that laid in wait. "Even now they question your leadership because you’re getting challenged by a dam pixie! What is that supposed to say about you when you don't even strike fear into the weakest creature here?!"

Figuring that was enough Ardur used his Lesser Flight III to retreat back towards the others. He didn't stay high this time. No, this time Ardur stayed low opting to dodge, dip, duck, dive, and dodge any incoming attack from the hairy goblin. The small pixie wasn’t moving as fast as he could as well, deception is everything. You can’t judge what you can’t see. At the end of this little charade, if he made it to the bonfire. Ardur would drop and slide along the ground feigning stamina loss and hopefully drawing the brute into the trap using himself as bait.

A risky move but there were many others like him and if he did end up dying, at least he could easily be replaced. All he could do after that was hope his comrades were in place to launch their counter offensive.

@Zeroth

@SilverPaw
Ed lets out a calm breath as he opens his eyes. The breathing exercises had helped in clearing his mind and resting his body, though not by much. It was enough for him to feel much more calm than before; the edge of the oncoming battle was still present though. Asteria mentioned that she still had some poisoned needles left and suggested that we were to use them with our tails like how a scorpion uses its. "If you are able to use your tail that way, I won't stop you." He tries his best to turn to look at his own tail and move it but the alien appendage is awkward in its movements. "But I don't think I can though." Ed pauses to think of an alternative way they could use the poisoned bone needles. "I could maybe hold it in my mouth. It's rather dangerous considering that I might ingest some of the poison. Alternatively, we could coat these with some of the mud I made earlier and camouflage the trap." Ed then remembered a similar tactic used in the Vietnam war. He scanned his memories from what he could remember from his history classes. "Yeah...that could work. Asteria, do you remember how the Viet Cong used sticks dipped in poison and shit as a trap against US Soldiers during the Vietnam War? That's how were gonna make these needles work to our advantage. We hide them in shallow holes around the perimeter and bury them with only an inch or two of the needle sticking out. If the poison is virulent enough, one misstep would be the end for one of them. Even if the trap won't do them in, a wounded foot is something you do not want to have during a fight."

@Zeroth @Rune_Alchemist @ghastlyInc @CollectorOfMyst @Kangutso

As Ash tried to put his explanation into practice the sounds of the battle made Danny more and more curious to the point that he wanted to see what was going on. On the other hand if he was spotted leaving the camp he would not only endanger himself but the rest of the group as well and he hand no desire to do that.He would have to come with up a way to, if not prevent that entirely from happening, at least decrease the odds as much as possible. The fact that Wisps flew already helped with that but their natural glow was a major hassle.

Thanks to his first week he knew he could flash, so it was possible to control it. All he needed to do was turn it down as much as possible and keep it that way for a prolonged amount of time. Danny first flew down low enough to be absolutely sure the rocks would cover any light he created and started flashing as possible, though instead of making his glow brighter he tried to dim it and keep it that way.

As Asura toyed with his 'new' form he could feel that it was taking more energy to maintain. He reverted to his normal softer form to keep himself from getting overly tired before a fight broke out. Then again he tended to fight best when exhausted, it pushed him further. But that was in a ring with rules and a body he had had for decades. Not in real combat with a week and some change old body. Movement made him focus on Mother Slime who was rolling back and forth. Was she nervous?

Reaching out he touched her. Nervous? He asked, not fully understanding slime body language. She was still unable to speak clearly but it did seem like the more he interacted with her the more she seemed to learn and a lot faster. He'd have to spend some time after this fight to work on helping her speech more.

While he interacted with her through the slime-link he scooted the bone needles he couldn't pick up towards her. He showed what he planned to do with them, spikes popped out of him much like a hedgehog or porcupine. During the whole thing though he was still practicing on how to condense himself to make himself more like rubber than a water balloon.

---

@Zeroth@ReusableSword

A hit. A scream. A thud. Panic.  THAT was more like it.... Subtly smirking at his success, Jason strained his vision into the darkness, trying to make out how lethal his shot was this time around.  However, an explosion behind the goblin lines stole his attention. A blossoming flame, complete with sickly purple  tinge burst forth, illuminating the area around it; even if only for a second.  The echoing roar of Rattleskull was like music to Jason's 'ears'. Ardur had chosen well.

The hairy fuck's roar wasn't one of pain, but of rage.  Though he couldn't see the massive bastard, he sure as hell could hear him sprinting forward before a bright, angry red--brighter than any of the other goblins' Smash skill flashed in the distant darkness.  Not only did this mean that Jason's comrades now knew at least one of Rattleskull's abilities, but with him now enraged, luring him into an ambush; far ahead of goblin lines, would be increadibly simple.  Without their leader, the goblins would falter, and possibly even surrender to the reincarnates.

Climbing out of his hole, Jason formed the non-'hat' part of his body into something similar to a ball, and proceeded to roll over to the bonfire area as fast as he could.  Upon arriving, he immediately used [Soil Manipulation I] to dig himself another hole (at H10) identical to the hole he had created for sniping, and once again set himself up. 

Any excess mana was forcefully discharged from his body into the back of the hole as psychic type mana through use of [Telepathy II]. Consuming his second to last mana crystal, Jason waited for his target.

The moment Rattleskull came into range of [Rock Spire I], Jason was going to first use the ability to trip the Brute. Then, just before his hulking form would hit the ground, he would summon a second spire into Rattleskull's throat, hopefully delivering a swift, easy deathblow.

---

---

Asteria smirked smugly at the success of her little ‘tail experiment’. True, she couldn’t in any way use her tail in combination with the poison needle to give herself a stinger, however the appendage was surprisingly tough as well as flexible, and functioned kind of like a whip. This meant she had just discovered a new weapon, giving her more versatility for future combat encounters. She relayed what she had found out to Ed. “I can’t use my tail as a stinger, either, no. But it can be used like a whip. Just keep it in mind if you need to bash or trip some goblins, ok?” she whispered as faintly as she could. She strained to keep her voice so quiet that even Ed could barely hear her, knowing that the approaching enemies must absolutely not find out the trio of Dire rat was there before the right time.

Asteria nodded as Ed told her of his idea of a trap. It was something like what she had initially had in mind for the poison needles, and had only changed her mind once she realized she did not have the tactical sense to think of what the best placement for such a trap might be. “A trap will be best, yes. We only have four poison needles though, so we have to find a really good position for them. We should be quick as well as extremely careful as we do this, however. The enemies are getting closer by the minute,” she muttered quietly. During the whole conversation, she kept her gaze focused towards the enemy’s approach, actively using the Beast Sense II on her sight. The light was low enough that she only saw vague shapes and the few dancing lights of the torches, but she could still tell the goblins were beginning to come dangerously close. They’d have to lay the trap soon. After that it would probably be wise if they did their best to copy Mother Rat, who lay prone and relaxed, presumably just waiting for when she could use all her energy in a swift strike against a near enough opponent. “Any specific spots you had in mind for burying the needles? Just in front of our fox-hole or somewhere else?” she asked Ed in a low voice.

@Searat

@SilverPaw
Ed nodded silently at what Asteria said. While it was true that they only had four poisoned bone needles, with the bones that remained from his earlier weapon crafting, they could make more. The only issue is placement and the time it took for crafting more of the poisonous bone needles. "We may only have four right now, but we might be able to craft some more with the bone fragments from my attempt in crafting a weapon. As for location, its difficult to determine where and what route they would take. Though we do know that they would want to reach the bonfire, so setting them up in odd locations around the bonfire's perimeter would be the best bet we have." Ed thinks to help Asteria craft some more needles but holds the thought as his lack of skill in both crafting and using his fore paws dexterously would just hinder her in making more needles. "Preferably we place four traps on each side, ensuring that anyone who doesn't know they're there would get poisoned or at least hurt. If we're fast enough we could set up this trap in ten minutes tops..." Ed unwittingly lets out a rather grim smile."...and the goblins wouldn't be any wiser to our little trap."

Ed then proceeds to leave the little foxhole as quietly and discreetly as he could. Bringing along the four poisoned bone needles and covering them in mud, sans the poisoned part. Ed then sneaks around five feet or so around the bonfire proper and sets up the traps to protect their front and their flanks. Digging small holes and burying the camouflaged poisoned bone needles up to an inch or so below it's tips. Using his [Beast Sense I], Ed keeps himself on high alert. Using his sharp sense of hearing to makes sure he isn't causing too much sound while making sure that the enemies are still quite a distance away from his position. He returns to the bonfire and alerts the rest of the group of what he and Asteria did. "Just a reminder to everyone, we set up some poison needle traps around the perimeter of the camp. Please do watch your step." He finally sneaks to the foxhole and follows Asteria's mother in resting before the fight.