Asura felt himself turning into a gelatinous egg when he decided to evolve into the Amorphous Slime. It felt...strange. What was even more strange was that he left the egg...spiritually? He rose up a bit of a ways before he was stopped by something. He could look about the cave, have a vague feeling of things beyond it, and that Jason seemed to be doing something dumb. Messing with a red colored orb didn't sound like a good idea really.

Then everything got tinted red as if an alarm were going off. Which there was considering the system message that garbled its way onto his mental screen. Soon the Demon King took over as well which made his eyebrow go up. Solid choices and playing to their strengths? He had simply picked what sounded sensible for the direction he wanted to go in. But while the Demon King talked Asura took note of Crispy coming down the tunnel. I should have hidden first...dumbass. He thought.

He was stuck by some invisible force which wasn't good. So he started to struggle to get back down to his body so he could get the hell out of Crispy's way instead of being a sitting duck. Even with Mother Slime and Mourningstar there he wanted to be able to move damn it. He was pushing all of his will into moving himself in whatever direction he needed to to get his ass moving once more.

The sun was starting to come into the cave, indicating that it was now nearly morning. It had been quite an eventful night, and frankly Orchid just wanted to put it all behind her. Fortunately Ash felt the same. Orchid had doubts that she could convince all of the goblins to come with her. Hell, now that she thought about it, she wasn't even sure about the goblins she has on her side would be willing to join her. With any luck perhaps Ash might be the needed influence to get them on her side. They'd have to move quickly; it sounded like the fighting has died down which meant one side had managed to gain some sort of upperhand. Not to mention Orchid felt something... Strange... Happening in the cave. She wasn't sure what it was. But it wasn't going to be good.

"Agreed. After everything that's happened, I wouldn't be too surprised if things only get worse from here. Weather the storm."

Just as Orchid was getting ready to go a voice speak to them. Her first instinct was to get her shield up and get ready for another fight. It was then she noticed it was another fanged lizard and Orchid slightly relaxed. It would make sense that Orchid managed to gather others like her. But now wasn't the time for pleasantries. "Ash, I'll leave it to you to fill him in. I need to go. Be careful." Orchid left the two behind in the cave to head back to the bonfire. She remained on guard in case something did follow her and was lying in ambush; just because the sun was coming up doesn't mean this place was safe just yet.

She knew that Rattleskull would be dead by now. Even if she had bothered to actually fight for the goblins, she knew that he would have been overwhelmed and anyone who was helping him would have also died. If he was smart he would've listened to Orchid and chosen to weaken the monsters first with the only advantage the goblins had; fire and wood. Despite what Crispy had said about these holes that would provide ventilation, the smoke would've driven the other monsters out of the cave or better, towards the goblin's defenses, where they could have picked them off at their leisure. The same way Orchid would have taken out a hornet nest back at the farm; instead of going there with a stick, burn them out with fire. Even if these monsters were smarter than bees, that just meant it would take a bit more participation. Hopefully with Rattleskull dead the goblins would realize that strength alone will not be able to save them, and they would look to Orchid for guidance... Or they'll just brand her a coward who ran from a fight. That was a very real possibility too. She did, at least scream very loudly not too long ago, just as she had told the goblins when she first left. If they didn't follow her command, it can't be said it was because she didn't follow through on her end.

Already Orchid was making up a few lies and misdirections to trick the goblins. It was easy enough; she's done this plenty of times with her own family just to get them off her back. While she wasn't a trickster by nature, that didn't mean she didn't know how to weave a decent white lie. In any case right now Orchid needed to examine the area and figure out what the hell was going on. Something was happening in this cave and she intended to find out what it was before it finds her.

---

Digbie approached the giant Source Crystal of Jason's hideaway, looking at it with a sense of dread. He keeps hearing the various system messages in his head, but he can't understand what the world wants him to do with this information, leaving him in a state of confusion. At least he grew a little bit in the meantime, with his arms and legs beefing up very slightly as he stood with the rest of his posse.

He was still incredibly curious what {Taboo} could do, though. Maybe it gave him little horns on the top of his head! That'd be super cool and a fun first-step into becoming a true demon for the Demon King! Actually... maybe he shouldn't be doing that. All he really wanted to do at that moment was dig.

Which is what he went to do. He began to walk towards the wall of the cave, calling to his companions "If you guys need me, I'll be diggin' an escape route!" It was always a decent idea to have a backup plan, especially for the boss of the dungeon.

As the pickax Digbie held cracked against the stony walls, he thought deep in the back of his mind as he tried to contact the Demon King again. He was afraid if it would work and he'd get backlash from it, but it was a risk he was willing to take. "Demon King? It's the digging goblin... uh... what's going on in this dungeon? There's a crystal that's purple and glowing and it's making me uneasy..."

---

---

"...Reoth?" Ash blinked in surprise. "Oh thank heavens. I thought you'd...well, it doesn't matter." Ash shook her head. She'd have been smiling, had her lizard face been capable of it. "Be safe, Orchid." Ash said to her friend as she left, turning swiftly to Reoth. "There's not a lot of time to explain. Something bad is happening in this cave, and as you can see I've gotten a bit of an upgrade." She began walking, motioning with her tail for Reoth to follow as the torch was held over her head.

"I was able to finally get this magic thing under some sort of control, and I'd teach you but we're short on time...and quite frankly I'm exhausted." Ash sighed, shaking her head. "So I'll need you to keep close. I'm unsure how well I'll be able to fight at the moment if we're ambushed." Ash moved slowly, keeping her new Alert skill active. It'd help a lot, hopefully, in not getting ambushed like the skill said. "I'm going to meet up with Orchid and see if we can't get a few goblins on our side before leaving. No telling what else is going to be crawling around in this cave now."

---

RESOURCES ALLOTTED. MAPPING AREA...MAPPING...

ASSIMILATION RATE: 0.4%

An open patch of dirt on the opposite side of the pool from Jason's cave now had a fresh looking lump in it. From the top of that lump, a single piece of a gossamer, insect-like wing stuck up in the open air. The lump wiggled, and the wingtip disappeared under the dirt. Then the lump seemed to settle down and go quiet.

All around the cave, these odd, fresh piles of earth were beginning to appear. There were fewer of them near the entrance, and near areas where the morning sun sent shafts of daylight through the cave.


While Jason was thrashing in mental agony, Ed tried to find a way to help but to no avail. Ardur took action in using his healing spell, and while it did recover what HP Jason had lost during the battle thanks to the more powerful rank III, it didn't have any effect on what was happening. But as Jason gleefully threw himself at the odd red thorns sprouting from the Core crystal, they only slightly punctured his membrane. He didn't seem to be taking any damage from them--but a connection of some form was made. The golden "veins" across Jason's body from his Variance were now flecked with red, as if the gold had rusted...or as if drops of blood had dried on its surface.

You used Mana Sense!
This plant is magical. This magic is helpful.

You used Mana Sense!
This plant is magical. This magic is harmful.

You used Mana Sense!
This object is magical. THIS MAGIC IS EXTREMELY POWERFUL--

DUNGEON CORE ACCESS DENIED.

You used Mana Drain!
Your MP is Fully Recovered! You have gained a Small amount of Temporary Bonus MP!

As Asteria tried to study the Dungeon Core, and then used Mana Drain on it, her newfound sixth sense suddenly gave her a feeling similar to being deep, deep under water. A pressure, pushing against her senses, an overwhelming force that wasn't quite hurting her, but simply feeling it was oppressive and ominous. As soon as her skills had been used it was gone...but she also felt, for the briefest moment, like someone was watching her.

The red thorns retracted from the outer surface of the crystal, but they were still visible on the surface of the Core deep inside the green pillar. And now that red sphere began to spin, slowly, tilting like a planet on its axis.

Jason slowly began to stir back to wakefulness.

As Digbie struck the wall of the cave again and again with his pickaxe, he neither felt nor heard any response to his message meant for the Demon King. It didn't have the reverence or ceremonial feel of a prayer, more as if he were simply talking to himself, as if he were back in his own world and saying "Christ, what have I gotten myself into?" And, perhaps for the same reasons, there was no response.

Until he too felt as if something was watching him.

YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A QUEST.

DUNGEON QUEST: OTHERWORLDLY CAVERN

• REMOVE ALTERNATIVE BOSS CANDIDATES
  
  
  • There are currently (1) other Boss Candidates in the Dungeon.
  • There are currently (5) Potential Boss Candidates in the Dungeon.
  • A Candidate or Potential Candidate is Removed when it is incapable of interfacing with the Dungeon Core.

YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED A LINK WITH THE DUNGEON. YOU GAIN 1 SKILL POINT IN THE UNIQUE SKILL: DUNGEON AWARENESS. CURRENT SKILL PROGRESS: 0.1

WARNING! MANA RESOURCES ARE BEING DEPLETED BY AN EXTERNAL ACTION!

WARNING! THE DUNGEON STRUCTURE IS BEING DAMAGED BY AN EXTERNAL ACTION!

As Jason received his Quest, the next step on his journey to conquer this cave and become its master, he also received two warnings. As he would no doubt look around to ascertain the well being of his little group, he would immediately notice Asteria and Digbie.

What the hell were they doing!? Asteria shouldn't be messing with the Dungeon Core! He was the boss here, it was HIS Dungeon Core! And Digbie, what made him think he could just dig as he pleased here!? This was Jason's cave, HE was the one who had worked so hard on it! Only him! And now this was HIS dungeon, only HIS, he couldn't let ANY harm come to it!

---

As Rain attempted, through an odd fog akin to the feeling one has when they are just coming out of a dream or a deep sleep, the feeling of being aware that you are not asleep and yet having no control over your senses, only a vague sense of being...

As Torrent attempted, through this odd feeling, to look back at the blue eyes she could feel looking back at her, almost through her, the blue eyes seemed to come closer.

"You are not the one...but you are supposed to be human? This is not right. Spirit...if you remember anything...leave this place!"

The eyes were drawing further away from Torrent, down into the pool. The voice grew tired, yet also strained.

"Leave this place, Spirit! But bring back...bring back Humans! Bring back a Hero!" The voice ceased. The eyes were gone.

Torrent could feel herself slowly drifting back down now. Back towards her body. But she was going slowly, veeeerrrryyy slooooowlyyyy...

---

The process of wearing Rattleskull's head was really a very involved one. After cutting it off his body--rather roughly, one might add--the "innards" had to be removed. But these same "innards" were what gave the head its shape to begin with. Rattleskull had been the largest monster in the cave, but even he probably could not have eaten a Wisp's body in one bite. Even if he could, there was a reason most predators had teeth, and omnivores chewed their food. Thus, his throat cavity was not big enough to allow Mourningstar entrance. Removing the vertebrae from his spinal column helped somewhat, but the more muscle she cut away the less like a head her grisly trophy appeared and more like a mess of meat. And of course, once she had worked her way up into his throat cavity, all that really allowed her to do was enter his mouth--which at this point smelled like a garbage heap. In order for her to actually get inside his head, she would have to somehow burrow her way through his skull. Did she even have anything at this point that could be used to break through solid bone?

She was still able to simply use her Mana Slice to cut off part of his lower jaw, but this left his tongue hanging down from the back of his throat behind her, trailing blood the whole time as she floated there. And her levitation was significantly slowed as well, with all of this weight on top of her.

But if all she was going for was sheer squick factor? This was pretty high on the scale.

"Mid-boss, I sees da--KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH?!"

Crispy and his four selected goblins all readied their weapons, their shocked faces full of confusion and fear. Crispy himself did seem just as shocked, but he didn't show any signs of intimidation and instead angrily began barking orders.

"STOP YELLIN'!" he barked, pulling his Stone Knife from his belt and beginning to move in a partial crouch, ready to make use of his speed to slash and stab with the weapon. "Dey killed da Boss by gangin' up on 'em, but look! There's just one left now!"

"But what about dem tings? What dey?" Orchid's shieldboy held up his Wicker Shield in front of himself and pointed at Asura and Oberon's still forms with his spear, though his eyes darted nervously between them and Mourningstar.

"Shaddap! Kill dat Wisp first!" Crispy swung a torch in his other hand, using it to point at Mourningstar. After a moment's hesitation, the other three goblins charged at her--and if she ran, she would be leaving her two allies to their mercy...

---

Oberon found that despite his attempts, he couldn't make use of any of his skills while in this...astral form, or whatever it was. In fact, now that he had put some effort into moving his body and using his magic and senses, he actually found that whatever state he was in was not entirely unfamiliar. It felt like that very first moment...that infinite white expanse, where he met the King of Demons. That place where he had been Damned to this new fate.

But as he struggled with these sensations, he suddenly felt as if he were being watched. In the distance, coming from far away...and coming from under the ground...a pair of blue eyes seemed to be looking right at him...

---

Asura, by sheer unyielding force of will, felt himself beginning to descend. But it was so slow, and every movement was a struggle. It was like trying to swim through pudding. And down below he could see the goblins coming closer, charging at Mourningstar. His body, and Oberon's, were still lying senseless.

He was going down, but so veeeeeerrrrrry sloooooowllyyyyy...

But...where had Momma Slime gone?

---

As Orchid headed back towards the Bonfire, she would need to pass by the pool. Sound carried further over water than it did over land, and as a result she could hear some kind of commotion coming from the rock cluster and cave walls across the pool...but she couldn't discern any specific words, only what might have been vague yelling here or there.

But then, as she got closer, suddenly the ground beneath her foot gave way.

It wasn't a pitfall or sinkhole, but it would likely trip her up nonetheless. The real problem, as she felt a sting in her foot and felt her body weight shifting, were the bony needles she could suddenly see rushing up towards her so fast--!

Asura was more annoyed than anything at the pace he was going at. If his spirit, or whatever he currently was, had muscles they'd all be bulging with strain. When he took note that goblins were coming his annoyance grew further, damn bastards didn't know when to fucking quit. Then he noticed another thing...Mother Slime was missing. He had last seen her where they had plowed over that goblin.

His annoyance got a sense of urgency and he moved, wiggled, shifted, whatever which way he could to get to his body to get moving. His annoyance and urgency was turning into anger due to the pace. Moungingstar could only hold off that many goblins for so long. He was not going to die mid-evolution damn it!

---

Such.... Odd words. Why would she bring someone else here to take what she saw? She's the one who saw it, not them. Even if it was just investigating....

But she was done here. There wasn't anything else of interest. She needed to be back down where her body was. Is? Whatever.

She struggled to return, growing angrier the longer she was delayed, until she was fighting just as hard mentally as she had been physically against Rattle.

---

@Zeroth@SilverPaw@Gardevoiran@ReusableSword@Old Amsterdam@Duthguy@Kazemitsu@King Cosmos@floodtalon

As Jason slowly came back to reality, a flood of alerts filled his head;

YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A QUEST.

DUNGEON QUEST: OTHERWORLDLY CAVERN

• REMOVE ALTERNATIVE BOSS CANDIDATES
  • There are currently (1) other Boss Candidates in the Dungeon.
  • There are currently (5) Potential Boss Candidates in the Dungeon.
  • A Candidate or Potential Candidate is Removed when it is incapable of interfacing with the Dungeon Core.

YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED A LINK WITH THE DUNGEON. YOU GAIN 1 SKILL POINT IN THE UNIQUE SKILL: DUNGEON AWARENESS. CURRENT SKILL PROGRESS: 0.1

WARNING! MANA RESOURCES ARE BEING DEPLETED BY AN EXTERNAL ACTION!

WARNING! THE DUNGEON STRUCTURE IS BEING DAMAGED BY AN EXTERNAL ACTION!

As Jason received his Quest, the next step on his journey to conquer this cave and become its master, he also received two warnings. As he would no doubt look around to ascertain the well being of his little group, he would immediately notice Asteria and Digbie.

What the hell were they doing!? Asteria shouldn't be messing with the Dungeon Core! He was the boss here, it was HIS Dungeon Core! And Digbie, what made him think he could just dig as he pleased here!? This was Jason's cave, HE was the one who had worked so hard on it! Only him! And now this was HIS dungeon, only HIS, he couldn't let ANY harm come to it!

"ASTERIA! DIGBIE! THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING TO MY DUNGEO-- AaAAARggrghghhh!!!"

Just as Jason began to give in to his strangely obsessive rage, he was overwhelmed by another raging headache followed by a fit of nausea; his body quivering in pain as he vomited on the floor. Something-- Something wasn't right..... These thoughts weren't normal. Did the core change him? Was it trying to C O N T R O L him??? Focusing his power, Jason regained his composure as best he could before reaching out to his allies with [Telepathy II], 'My apologies everyone-- I think..... I think linking to the Dungeon created a empathic; bordering on impulsive connection... Those thoughts just now were not my own. However, shits about to hit the fan; undead are beginning to spawn, and several of our alliance are unaccounted for.... Danny, Asteria, and Ardur; stay here and defend the cave until I return. Ed and Digbie, you're with me-- we're gonna get the others, and hopefully get what's left of the goblins to surrender. Also... don't let ANYTHING, touch the core....'

However, before leaving the cave, Jason reached out two pseudopods, one touching the core, the other touching Asteria, "Uh, DUNGEON! Register Subordinate!" he exclaimed. Regardless of the result, Jason dropped the flame-touched crystals, and harvested three of his normal herbs. Once again using [Lesser Shapeshift I] to curl into a ball, the warlord raced toward the corpse of Rattleskull at Mach ten. As he approached from the distance, he could make out the shapes of goblins, as well as a floating head... Wait, was Mourningstar wearing the head as a fucking HELMET??? Braking about ten feet away from the wisp, Jason didn't hesitate to bark orders, "Mourningstar! Stand down!" he COMMANDED through [War Cry I] before turning to Crispy, "Crispy! I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to make you an offer..." he said assertively, ready to dodge any attack the goblins might make. "My name is Jason, the new boss of this Dungeon, and I'd like you and the rest of the surviving goblins to join us."
he said with a pause, "I know you probably don't trust me, but there is a greater threat looming... Have you noticed the lumps of dirt popping up around the cave? Those. Are undead... In order to save both your people, and mine, we must work together. THINK OF IT CRISPY! Together, we can do so. much. more. In fact, you and I, are very similar... You use magic correct? I do too. So join us,
there's so much I can teach you."

@Zeroth @Guy0fV4lor @ReusableSword @Gardevoiran @Kazemitsu @floodtalon @ReusableSword

Danny had no idea why Jason was suddenly yelling at the Goblin for digging what he assumed to be an escape tunnel and found it even stranger that he was yelling at the Dire Rat just for touching the crystal. The Slime's reasons became a lot more clear when he mentioned something controlling him.

As he looked around the small cave for a hiding spot or emergency exit just in case Danny realized that he had been there on his first day. Back then a green Slime brought him there ""Could that have been Jason? Nah aside from the color they look nothing alike."

Before he could really ponder it though Jason took off towards something at full speed.

Welp, this was a miserable failure of a helmet. However, this could be a great hat! "Yeah, this isn't quite what I had in mind but..." As she pondered the possibilities of using Rattleskull's head and doing her best to ignore the horrendous smell, she glanced over at her comrades who were in the process of evolution. This sure was taking a while huh. More innards were removed, including the tongue and any other fleshy bits, and the new hat was stuck on her head with guts strewn all about the floor.

"Mid-boss, I sees da--KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH?!" Mourningstar swung her gaze over to the goblins, probably too quickly as her hat immediately flew off in some direction, and smirked at their shocked expressions. Welp, time to scare the ever loving shit out of them and make them go away. Even she wasn't dumb enough to think that she could take on 3 Goblins at once, especially when she only had the mana for two Mana Shots.

"Indeed, be very afraid foolish green skins! I have defeated your leader with my arcane-"

"Dey killed da Boss by gangin' up on 'em, but look! There's just one left now!"

"Ok wow, rude. I did this all by myself, so you should really be more scared of me than you are, unless you're just that stupid." A Mana Blade was charged up to cut one's head off and scare them off, but of course life had other plans.

"Mourningstar! Stand down!"

Jesus christ she hated how he did that. Just assuming everyone would just follow his orders, no room for debate, listen to me or die. Made her so fucking angry, she absolutely hated being ordered around. And while in her past life she would have listened without saying anything, letting her resentment build, this was not her past life. And so, War Cry I forced her attention onto him.

"Would you shut the fuck up!" Mourningstar turned to Jason with a look of abject rage, covered in blood and specks of Bugbear innards as she glared at Jason. And then her concentration broke. Her Mana Blade was released, soaring through the air and cutting into Jason with fury and raw magical energy. Her expression immediately changed to one of panic, she didn't mean to do that. "Oh shit, oh shit oh shit oh shit-" A tactical retreat would be required, she also needed to find Digbie and Rain to get the hell out of here.

She rushed over to Oberon's strange cocoon and grabbed him, pushing her Lesser Force to it's limits as she poured all her points into it. That would bump it to 2.7, hopefully her carrying Oberon as fast as possible away from here would train it enough to level it up again. "He killed Rattleskull, not me!" Yeah it was a pretty shitty thing to do in all honesty. But this was a kill or be kill world, and she kinda wanted Jason to be killed. She just wouldn't do it is all, killing humans directly crossed a line she wasn't quite ready to cross yet.

Ardur The Pixie

Strange occurrence's >>>> So sleepy /// day 8 // Evening / Location - home

Weird. The slime that he followed here was being very weird. Spouting off about undead and dungeon boss then ordering him to stay here with the others to defend some weird crystal. Before Ardur could voice his opinion the slime took off calling for one of the others to come with him. The vomit smelled funny like wet dog, maybe it was the rats he smelled. Strange.

Ardur wasn’t happy with being left there with others he barely knew, come to think of it he barely knew any of them. “Well you guys have fun here, I am out of mana, nearly out of stamina, and I need to sleep. So in the words of Eric Cartmen. Screw you guy’s, I’m going home.” The pixie smiled at the others and then began his flight back to his small hole in the wall. All that talk about undead and dungeon monsters was something he could deal with later.

The pixie wasn’t really that tired but was starting to feel his eyes get a little heavy as he yawned. Who knew fighting could be so exhausting, Ardur was able to catch a few small flying insects on the way back to his hollow for Steve. He wanted to check out the new Taming I ability. He also used half of his remaining stamina on purpose while trying to up Lesser Flight III as well.

Once he returned to his home and crawled inside, the crystals in the ceiling that gave the small burrow its light seemed to have grown. The pale creature immediately took to finding his friend by dropping a few of the insects on his interior web. The spider was quick to skitter to the prey that was struggling in the webs. Ardur remembered the message that was given to him about the skill but still wasn’t too keen on how it worked. While the spider wrapped its food, Ardur reached out to it and attempted to use Taming I.

Whether the skill worked on the spider or not, the pixie would spend a little while longer doing basic exercises. Push-ups, sit ups, squats, jumping jacks, workouts and stretches that used his body weight in an attempt to achieve the last two points necessary for Stronger I. Knowing full well that this will use up the last of his stamina, he would still try to push through the system warnings until he passed out in his home.

Warning: Mana Low
Rest to regain mana.
Warning: Stamina low
Rest to regain Stamina.
Warning: Stamina Depleted.

@Zeroth
@Searat
@Duthguy
@Guy0fV4lor
@SilverPaw
@Searat

---

@Zeroth@Kazemitsu@King Cosmos@floodtalon

"Crispy! I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to make you an offe-"

"Would you shut the fuck up!"

A blade of mana came bursting forth and Jason's side! He was anticipating an attack, but not one from one of his Allies! Sucking himself low to the ground he was able to avoid about half of the blade. Just as quick as she struck, the little bitch actually had the audacity to turn tail and run!!! "He killed Rattleskull, not me!" Immediately consuming one of the healing herbs he'd brought, Jason was brimming with rage.... Not again... NEVER AGAIN. NO ONE WHO BETRAYED HIM, CAN LIVE TO TELL THE TALE! HE'D COME TO SAVE HER SORRY ASS, only to be attacked, and left to die. From deep within Jason's core, burst forth the largest, most terrifying [War Cry I] he'd ever mustered. A reddish golden glow coursed through his earthen 'veins' as his body rippled with raw hostility, he was DONE WITH THIS SHIT. BESIDES, CRISPY WAS MERELY A STEPPING STONE ON HIS ASCENSION TO BECOMING THE TRUE MASTER OF THIS DUNGEON. "FUCK. DIPLOMACY. YOU ALL DIE!!!" he roared fury as he used [Rock Spire II] on Crispy pouring his raw hatred into his attack, "ROCK SPIRE--EARTH'S WRATH!!!" Consuming a mana crystal as the spires' magic circle's formed, Jason also hit Crispy with [Mind Wave I] FOR GOOD FUCKING MEASURE.

ONCE THESE GOBLINS WERE NOTHING BUT A BLOODY SMEAR ACROSS THE DIRT, MOURNINGSTAR WAS NEXT.

Asteria's reassurance along with Ardur's actions caused the young dire rat to alleviate some of the stress he was feeling, he didn't want to leave the slime but Ardur was right. Though as he gained resolve and was about to leave the cave, Jason sprung up and lashed out at Digbie and Asteria. Ed was taken aback, he had never seen the slime lash out against allies. Before he could do something, Jason's personality seemed to regain control of his body and explained that the situation. The fight wasn't over and Jason needed him and Digbie to follow him outside to deal with Crispy and the remnants of the goblin horde.

It was a macabre sight to see that the bugbear's head as a grim parody of a helmet. Jason talked to the wisp, things seemed to go well but soon the wisp had told Jason to silence himself before sending a glinting blade made of mana towards Jason and screaming to the goblins that Jason was the one they wanted. Things fell apart quickly and Jason roared out a anger and hate filled cry. It was the most powerful cry he heard the slime utter. Sending spires of stone towards the burned goblin. Snapping back to reality, he had to look for Mourningstar. She had a lot of things to answer to.

'The FUCK was she thinking?!' The thought ran through his mind rather quickly as he found the wisp carrying what seemed to be a cocoon of sorts. Quickly sneaking up behind the already panicked wisp, he dashes over to her front and blocks her way. "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU ATTACK JASON?! I THOUGHT WE WERE ALLIES!" He screams at Mourningstar, his voice laced with anger and confusion. They had worked together to take down Rattle skull, why would she suddenly turn against them?

"FUCK. DIPLOMACY. YOU ALL DIE!!!" And so the ball drops. If it was even possible, Mourningstar was floating away even faster with Oberon now, all senses on high alert as she hoped and prayed to whatever deities existed in this world that Jason wasn't after her. Fuck, fuck, fuck, why had she done that, why does she always fucking panic in the important situations-

So focused was she on her own lamentations and trying to keep Oberon safe that she didn't notice the Dire Rat lock her off until the last second, nearly crashing into him as she swerved to avoid damaging Oberon's cocoon. "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU ATTACK JASON?! I THOUGHT WE WERE ALLIES!" It screamed at her as her eyes darted from side to side in a panicked fashion, rocking Oberon unconsciously as she worked out what the fuck just happened in the past 30 seconds. Mana Blade charged, firing at Goblin to keep Oberon and other slime safe. Orders screamed, attention dragged to mean screaming Slime, Jason. Temper lost, focus lost, Mana Blade loosed at Jason. Things are hazy, she grabs Oberon and runs, tries to get Goblins off of her by directing them to Jason. Faint wish that he dies?

Conclusion, fuck life. "I- I- I panicked okay! I was about to shoot the goblins, then the slime yelled at me, I was forced to focus on it! I lost my concentration mid cast, the Mana Blade shot out, I couldn't control it!" Mourningstar's voice cracked a little as she said this, slowly inching to the side as she desperately searched for another escape route. "Just leave me alone okay, I don't want to fight humans!" She momentarily slipped into that weak voice, that voice she spoke in her whole life. That soft, pathetic whimper that came from her lips any time she tried to talk to someone. There, that was the path.

Mourningstar made a run for it, bolting to the left of Ed as she moved towards what appeared to be another group of three in the distance, from what she could tell they were all different monsters. More humans, a quick alliance could be made to protect Oberon and herself if needed. Plus, they just needed to get out of this cave in general, there was no telling what could happen if they stuck around while it was turning into a Dungeon. "Help! Help me! I'm being chased by bad guys!" 'Relying on someone else to save you once more. Pathetic.' She couldn't even disagree with that voice.

@Zeroth @Guy0fV4lor @ReusableSword @Gardevoiran @Kazemitsu @floodtalon @ReusableSword

Curious Danny decided to follow Jason and finally noticed Torrent in cocoon form lying in the cave. Unsure as to what it was he decided to try and analyse it before chasing after the Mage Slime, in hopes of both getting answers and maybe learn some new magic skills.

Despite him flying as fast as he could Jason had a head start and also moved at full speed, so it took Danny some time to catch up. He arrived just in time to see another Wisp throw some blade of Mana at Slime while a bunch of Goblins including one covered in burns were seemingly just looking on.

The Dire Rat yelling about how they were supposed to be allies had to mean that the Wisp was also a former human. Danny had no intention of getting involved in a fight between them and Jason though he would help out if the Goblins turned aggressive. Luckily before combat could really start the other Wisp took off saying something about not wanting to fight humans. He wondered if he should follow after them or stay and if necessary help with the Goblins. He decided to stay with the group and used Monster Analysis I on the scarred Goblin.

As expected in this form his efforts didn’t amount to much. It seemed like he didn’t have access to his usual abilities in this astral form, nor could he call out to warn Mourningstar of the approaching Goblins, though it at least appeared as if people were coming to help in that regard.

The more he tried to move however, and the more he was denied, the more familiar the sensation holding him in place felt; it was similar to the way he had felt in the moments between his death in his old world and his rebirth into this one. An endless white expanse and a voice, something he had been through twice now thanks to his reliving it a couple days ago when he had tried to open his character sheet. This felt somewhat similar to that, though he had not tried to move around much back then; well, that only made sense since he had heard the Demon King’s voice earlier and this whole ordeal had begun once he’d selected his evolution.

What could he do with that information though? Knowing that the Demon King was responsible for this didn’t help him at all. The question was why was he stuck? And he was sure that he was stuck. Had something happened during the evolution process that had… halted it somehow? There was that error message after all.

Looking up at the ceiling of the cave, through the ceiling of the cave, Oberon called out in the hopes that the Demon King would hear him. “Hey, Demon King, why am I stuck here? Did something happen? I need to get back to my body; terminate the evolution for now if you can, I’ll try again later.”

As soon as he had spoken Oberon began to feel… something, looking at him. For a moment he thought that the Demon King had heard him and was responding, which would be the fastest he had ever gotten a turn around on a bug report in his life, until he realised that the sensation didn’t come from above, but rather from below him. Turning in that direction Oberon saw, or at least felt, a pair of piercing blue eyes focusing on him.

The thing, whatever it was, was deep underneath him in some lower part of the cave. The fact that whatever it was could perceive him in this form did not reassure Oberon in the slightest; neither did the thought that maybe it could interact with him in this form as well. Something told him that whatever this was, it was far stronger than anything else in this cave.

“Are you… are you the one causing this interference?”

Orchid supposed that she's been too lucky so far. She had been so focused on looking for threats, she didn't bother to watch her step. First she felt a slight falling sensation as she tried to catch herself. Next she felt something prick her foot. It wasn't a deep cut, but it surprised her nonetheless. When Orchid looked down she could see the maw of spikes and other nasty things beneath her. She had no idea what it was, but likely had to do with the dungeon's new changes. Either way, it was time to go. First thing Orchid did was stab her spiked club behind her, to give her a bit of leverage to escape whatever pit she was about to fall into. Next she braced her shield beneath her, in case she would fail and and fall anyways. Her shield could help protect her.

As she got a grip due to her club, Orchid would do her best to fling herself back and away from this new, unknown danger. Whatever just stabbed her was likely hostile and has to do with the cave's new environment. If she had to guess, it was likely a skeleton or zombie that just bit her foot. She wasn't sure, but she didn't intend to find out by letting it eat her leg. "Ash!" Orchid called out as she was trying to escape. "Be careful! Something over here!" If Orchid could get away she'd try to get back on her feet and get into a defensive stance, ready for whatever might be in front of her. Hopefully it was just a natural hazard and not an enemy. Orchid has been conserving her strength as best as she could, but she hasn't rested since she camped with Ash.

---

It seemed so far nothing was bothering them. Good. Hopefully things would stay that way. She didn't want to try fighting in her current state with how exhausted she was. At least Orchid and Reoth could help while she did what she could to support them. Carefully moving forward, Ash kept her Alert skill active as best she could, making sure to at least try and make sure she could hear her surroundings before anything jumped out at them. Unfortunately it didn't seem to be enough to keep Orchid entirely safe. The ground under the goblin shifted, Ash barely able to notice as far ahead as the Goblin had gotten.

"Orchid!" Ash immediately picked up the pace, though her tired and new body protested immensely as she tried to carefully navigate, trying to avoid any more of these traps herself. Urgh, she really wasn't doing well, was she? That didn't seem to be the end of it, either. Someone was shouting - quite loudly about bad guys and being chased. Ash turned her head towards the sound of the shouting, quickly weighing her options. If it was another human like them - they would be useful to have along. Even more so if it wasn't one of the ones who started this entire ridiculous assault on the Goblins in the first place.

"Wisp! Over here!" Quickly making a decision, Ash shouted back to the other lizard. "Reoth help that wisp if you can!" She then turned back to Orchid, approaching carefully as she could - hopefully her Alert skill would prevent her from falling for the same trap. "Are you alright, Orchid?" Ash's voice was tinged with concern as tired as it also sounded. "Do you see these goblins of yours? If you think it better to just flee, we can."

---

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Touching the core and trying to drain it felt remarkably like Asteria was suddenly submerged into a deep cold ocean, drifting down, deeper and deeper, drowning. She felt the pressure of it against all her senses and struggled to block the oppressive feeling from overwhelming her. However, the sensation passed as swiftly as it had begun, until all that was left was a brief paranoia of being watched. Asteria removed her paw from the red crystal spike, and looked left and right, trying to find the watcher, but knowing she wouldn’t. That made her uneasy, and her fur fluffed up a bit as the suspicion raced coolly down her spine, leaving her tingling, alert, and aware, her tiredness forgotten for the moment.

She refocused on Jason as soon as she noticed him stirring, though his waking words were unexpectedly aggressive. She opened her maw with a distinct rat-like frown present and was just about to give him her piece of mind, when he visibly reigned himself in. He then explained himself telepathically, and Asteria noted he no longer needed physical contact to message them mind-to-mind. She focused on what he was communicating as much as she was on trying to feel the foreign mana she assumed would be present while Jason used his telepathy. Next thing she knew, Jason had already reached for her with a pseudopod, and was apparently talking to the crystal, announcing that she was to be his subordinate. Confused as to why exactly Jason did such a thing, she nonetheless activated Mana Sense while they still had physical contact, though instead of trying to read his general magic affinity, Asteria concentrated on sending a short “OK” through the mental link. Whether he received her affirmative response or not, Jason curled into a ball and barrelled straight out of his tunnel.

A wisp – Asteria thought he might be the one she knew as Danny from that Lorek incident way back, even though one glowing ball wasn’t that different from another glowing ball – and Ed followed Jason soon after, while a pixie she still didn’t know the name of said his goodbye. “Good call. I’d love to sleep too. See you later,” she waved a bit carelessly with her paw, not caring just then whether they would actually see each other again or not. As she had said, she was tired. With that in mind, she curled into a ball next to Mother Rat, and focused on slowing her breath, clearing her mind, and keeping partially alert to the sounds of trouble. However, she hadn’t even managed to doze before being interrupted by Jason shouting that everyone should die. The hell? Did he meet the rest of the enemy goblins or what? Asteria wanted to dash off and go check out what was happening but remembered Jason’s insistence that someone stay at his base and guard the crystal.

Feeling restless, she silently joined Digbie in his digging, doing the mindless task to burn her remaining energy and doing her best to not think of that presence she now knew existed and which may or may not be constantly watching them all. She pushed her whole body into each shove, using leverage and force to her advantage as she dug. Determined to get a proper work-out, she even focused on her newly gained magical sense, concentrating on feeling that mysterious energy flowing within her, prodding and pushing at it to try and get it to imbue her muscles, especially her arms. After long moments of digging, when she felt properly exhausted, barely keeping her eyes open and almost having to drag herself to walk, Asteria plopped down right next to Mother Rat, nearby the dungeon core, and fell asleep. Before oblivion claimed her, she focused on her hearing, hoping that even asleep, she could react swiftly enough if anything noteworthy and/or dangerous happened.

---

Digbie covered his ears at Jason's shouting, feeling disheartened at the sudden shouting. What was he doing wrong? Digbie always had dug when he was stressed and in need of something to do. This dungeon, it had changed Jason for the worse. Whatever was going on, whether it was due to some ancient magic or some weird mechanics of this world, Digbie wanted to get away from everyone. Jason had good intent originally, sure, but as it grew...

... he was starting to seem like a worse leader than Mourningstar, even with the apology. He was getting his ass out of here.

He nodded at Asteria helping him dig, and he went to work twice as hard as he began to softly use {Stone Manipulation} to try and ease up the terrain he was digging through so he could get through a bit quicker. He was determined to get out of here, and he'd only stop when exhaustion claimed him or he made it out. If anything, it'd serve for some good EXP. Hopefully Jason would be okay with the escape tunnel and not try and assault him for the idea he had.

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