Asura, Momma Slime, Oberon, Digbie, Ed, Torrent
After Asura replayed his memories of his own level ups and skill selection to Momma Slime, she burbled quietly to herself while he spoke to the other monsters. Finally, she extended a psuedopod slowly and precisely, as if she were trying to press a button.
And holding it down.
For a few seconds nothing happened...then, as if she had ingested something that had now dissolved, her membrane began to become somewhat discolored. Or rather...it was losing its translusence to a degree, as if it were becoming thicker and thicker. The bright blue slime now had a sort of foggy swirl under the first layer of her body, so that the things inside her membrane pocket could no longer be clearly seen.
"Done skeelz." she announced.
Once Digbie held Ed up over his head, the Dire Rat's field of view expanded significantly. He could now more clearly hear the shouting in the distance. What was more, several figures were standing in front of the cave entrance, or just outside of it, and the sunlight behind them made their forms easier to make out even if all he could see were black shapes. Two goblins, a larger shape that still had to be a pixie from its height, and something that might have been a lizard...but it had wings. As he watched, the shouting died down and the figures moved further from the cave.
As Torrent tried to shed her skin, she found that her scales didn't seem to want to "scrape" off just by dragging herself against the ground. She did notice, however, that the dirt didn't seem to stick to her or make her "dirty" as she wallowed a small pit in the earthy floor. They were still smooth and perhaps a little more shiny--like rubbing two pennies together, perhaps. Maybe this was some kind of adaption that helped Lesserwurms move through the ground smoothly--after all, it wasn't really "logical" that fantasy monsters like giant worms and such could effectively "swim" through things like rock and sand.
Then the System informed her that she was suffering HP Drain due to running out of stamina.
Oberon and Asura talked for a few moments more, but it seemed all the group was in agreement at this point that it was time to, as the phrase went, "GTFO." They headed for the entrance of the cave, to an area slightly to the left where the slope of the cave wall and the lower ceiling created several rocky ridges, nooks, and crannies where they could hide. From here they could all see the group Ed had been observing, but it looked like the Goblins intended to camp outside for some reason...
[[Assuming everyone is in agreement to leave, also assuming chronologically by this point all of Orchid's group has followed Crispy's group outside to the edge of the forest.]]
Orchid, Ash, Reoth, Mourningstar, Ardur, Crispy, Goblins
The pixie simply smiled and reached back up the stone structure. Disappearing for a moment as he did. Orchid put a hand on Crispy's shoulders to bring him back to his reality, and the other goblin started uncomfortably.
”This isn’t a trick Crispy. Like I said before the monsters were acting weird. No… They’re just like us now. They talk. They’re as smart as you and me."
"Orchid speaks the truth, Crispy." Ash began slowly. The Goblin looked at her with open hostility as she used his name.
"They’re even willing to work with other monsters to survive." Orchid continued. Crispy jerked away from her and took a few steps back. "That’s why when Rattleskull started going around killing the others in the cave, all the monsters came out and fought the goblins instead of each other."
"You not listenin' to what I sayin', youngling! Always talk too much!"
"Things are
changing. You’re going to have to get used to it. Otherwise you’ll end up like old Rattleskull.” Orchid sounded somewhat exasperated, and Crispy ground his yellowed teeth together.
"But I won't make any excuses or attempt to gloss things over with a friendly pretense. I want a business deal, nothing more, nothing less." The Pygmy Drake broke back in, and Crispy's attention was being split in two directions at once.
"What
bidness!? You a Pygmy Drake, can't make bidness!"
"Protection and extra hands, and in return I make the goblins all the potions they need." She paused for a moment, letting Crispy come to a conclusion himself. "That's right, Alchemy. Ever heard of it? You seem like a smart goblin, so I'll assume you have. I am fairly skilled in such things. With the right ingredients I could likely almost make anything."
"Drakes can't make potions! See, is trick!" Crispy yelled, pointing with dramatic thrusts of his arm.
”They actually helped me survive before I met the other goblins." Orchid insisted. "If they wanted to kill me they could have when I was still weak and stupid. But they didn’t… So I trust them. And if you want to survive, especially outside of the cave, you need to trust me too.” Orchid pointed towards the forest and wanted everyone heading in that direction. ”Now let’s go before any unfriendly monsters find us. I only got the ones who I could trust. Who knows what else will leave the cave now that Rattle is dead and new monsters start moving around.”
Ash began to follow the female goblin. "Of course, you are free to reject the offer and you'll never see me again," Ash glanced back at Crispy. "...but then you'll have one less tool against whoever or whatever has taken over the cave, now won't you?"
The pixie came back--along with a giant spider that made Crispy's eyes bug out even more.
"No we're not goblins Crispy, but we want the same thing. To survive and thrive. Our hope is that by helping each other we can achieve this." the pixie said. Crispy clutched his head with both hands, his jaw creaking as he tightly worked it back and forth. It seemed like he was having a legitimate crisis of some sort trying to wrap his head around all of this.
"Orchid! We deals wiv dis laters!" He balled his hands into fists and stomped the ground. "Dese udda Mobs can stay for nows, but dey stay OVER DERE!" He pointed across the grass, basically on the opposite side of the small clearing between the cave's entrance and the edge of the forest. "I gots to talk to yous, privy-like!" With that he trudged towards the goblins' side of the clearing, where some of the others had already returned.
At this point the group had at least obtained their objective of getting out of the cave. Now that they were out in the open, however, there was a noticeable change in...well, everything. The wind on one's skin felt like ghostly touches and whispers after spending so long in an environment where the air rarely moved. The mid-morning sun shone bright overhead, so for creatures that had spent their entire lives thus far in the cave the light strained their eyes. The grass under their feet was soft, but the rough textures as opposed to the smoothness of stone gave one the feeling that there was constantly something crawling against their skin. The goblins were noticeably more tense, though it wasn't precisely fear--merely the discomfort that comes with a foreign environment.
Wej and the male torchbearer were the first to return, as they hadn't gone very far into the woods. Using Wej's wicker shield as an impromptu basket, it looked like they had been digging around the roots of several trees and searching the bushes for things to eat. There were a few handfuls of berries, a couple of soft looking roots, a few sprouts that might have been some kind of wild onion or similar vegetable, and then...
Fat, spotted grubs the length of a person's hand and thicker than a thumb. Beetles that looked somewhat like a Japanese Rhinoceras, except their horn split into three like a trident near its base. Lizards that, while more similar to a species of anole or gecko than to the Fanged Lizard monsters, still didn't quite seem to be the right color as the ones from Earth. And a songbird that looked like it had been dead for...a few days. Long enough to start rotting and accumulating maggots.
"We gots lotsa food dis time!" Wej said.
"Must be cause early Gobs catch early birds!" said the torchbearer smugly.
Bigs and Crispy's two minions came back with bundles of dead wood gathered from under the trees. Each of them had their equipment slung over their backs or around their waists and had put several sticks under each arm. The wood didn't look particularly large and some of it had pithy spots or looked damp, so it probably wouldn't last long, but they at least had enough for a decent fire now.
Orchid's other shieldbearer and Jezee, however, hadn't come back yet...
Jason, Asteria, Danny, Mother Rat, "Gawain"
"A Soul from Beyond?" The blue eyes blinked in surprise as Asteria explained her former life and the odd void between worlds where the Demon King recruited her. Then when she described said king the eyes narrowed. "So a new Demon King has risen. But for how long?" The eyes looked away from Asteria, distant in their own thoughts. "Of course, you wouldn't know. But if another cycle of destiny has begun, then perhaps..."
Asteria found that as she imagined her former self, her vaguely defined dream form took those qualities. However, she felt truly no different...was this of any purpose? Or had she merely used the lucid part of her mind to change this dream?
The blue eyes turned back to her when the Dire Rat asked if they could see the truth of her spirit. By this point the water was up past Asteria's chest. The distortion beneath the eyes seemed to become more defined, taking on a humanoid and feminine shape.
You ____ Mons___ Ana___is I_!
Und___ - An el____tal spirit as________d wit_ _ater. The_ _______ __ronger if they are al_____ to ______lish a ___ically _____ed terr_____ ______ a bo_y of ___er, but _____ is _ limit to th___ ra____ and u_____ _ther w___r sp____s th__ ____not b___ the____ves wel_ __ mov___ water o_ _____ bo__es with hi__ __vels of a_____ty.
--Ana__sis Co____te!--
Much like attempting to run or fight in a dream and being unable to really put "pressure" or "strength" into one's limbs, Asteria's skills didn't seem to be working quite right. Still, maybe there was something there she could put together...
"I do see the truth of your spirit." answered the blue-eyes. "Though I still do not understand. The only way a Soul from Beyond could have undergone Reincarnation that I know of is the Ceremony of Heroes...but a Demon King should be unable to perform such a thing by his very nature..."
The water was getting over Asteria's neck. Soon she would have to hold her breath.
"But if you are truly a Hero, you may be able..."
No doubt, Asteria would try to swim or otherwise struggle to stay above water. But no matter how much of it she tread it just kept rising higher--and perhaps at some point, gasping for air, she might ingest some of the water.
A young man--no. An old man, who had been young once, who would always be who he was on that very first day--An old man walked wearily into the cave. A cape, tattered to ribbons, swept behind the heels of his cracked boots. Their soles had long ago worn smooth. His armor no longer gleamed and though his muscles were like dry leather and woven rope--strong, but fraying--he walked with a limp.
He drew a gleaming sword from a scabbard. There was no blood, nor grease, nor speck of grime upon the sheath's lacquered and polished surface, but the sword somehow stuck at the hilt until the man gently, yet firmly, pulled it free.
"This is where I got my start, you know. Ha...how long ago was that, now?" He lifted the blade, turned its tip downward. "The monsters here are quite weak. Little more than animals, just searching for a place to get out of the weather. Desperately clinging to life like the rest of us." He stuck the sword into the earth, its tip slicing easily through stone--however, despite how deep it went, when he took his hand from the hilt the blade tilted to one side and fell, pulling itself back out.
"No demons will think to look here. No creature here will have the power or the heart needed." Speaking as if comforting a child, the man picked up the sword and held its grip in both hands. Once more he turned the tip down, but the crossguard was held close to his body, across his chest. He stood statuesque. "But happy-go-lucky fools with big dreams, who know nothing of battle and war, will come here to train for the day they become a Hero. Talented adventurers, rebelling against strict mentors, will come here to show that they have what it takes, even though they don't. Children that overestimate themselves will come here to play, and be rescued by those with the seedlings of courage in their chests--even if they returned to the burned shell of a home."
His grip, still gentle, became firmer. He lifted the sword high and smiled.
"Courage is awakened, not passed on. Power is earned, not inherited. Wisdom is gained from life, not birth. That is why this must be. Sleep for a time, dear. I was only a man, who lived and died as men do. Another man will come. You will be in pain for a time, a terrible pain, a pain I despise myself for causing you. But it is my greatest hope, if the World Maker wills it, that another man will bring you happiness that allows that pain to fade. I am sorry."
He brought the sword down. A tear ran down the edge of the blade.
"Aegeus, unleash thy howl! Depth Charge!"
The entire cavern shuddered. The crater ate away at earth and stone, ravenously digging deeper, in a cascade of light. At its bottom, the sword's blade gleamed. Standing at the crater's edge, the man began to weave the air with his hands.
"Enduring fortitude, unyielding shield! Divine protection, within and without! Castle walls, treasure vaults, none could hold riches worth my charge! Yet I layer them, another atop another atop another!" The man's spell diagram was so complex and so bright it was impossible to decipher.
"World Maker! Witness my final moments! I pray for your guidance, comfort, healing, and protection--not for myself, but for my charge! Let this one who has protected me for so long rest in the deep, where she belongs!"
A second seal overlapped the first. The man spoke the last words, but the sounds were distorted as the memory began to fade.
All that remained were the sounds of crying. Tears streaming endlessly.Asteria jerked awake with a start.
The Timeline Has Split...
𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕆𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕𝕝𝕪 ℂ𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟
A New Dawn: Day 10 Since Rebirth. Day 4 Of Adventure.
Jason's Cave Group/Cave Escapee Group/Ash's Group (Goblins Not Included)
Over 24 hours of fighting. A goblin raid, building traps, defeating a boss...healing, eating, drinking...planning, splitting up, forming groups...finding shelter, resolving mysteries, discovering more questions.
It was mid-morning of the 9th day by the time many of the monsters finally settled down for some well-deserved rest. Just getting their "normal" amount of sleep left them with a darkened cave once more, and the extra rest required to make up for lost time raised the moon high in the unseen sky beyond the cave ceiling. A few of them might awaken, driven by urges for food or water, but as it so happened a light rain began to mist outside during the night. Drips and drops provided enough to wet the throat, and much like in the beginnings of their lives a little moss here, or a stray Herb there, maybe a juicy bug crawling on the ground, would stave off the worst of the pangs. Some were close enough to actual water to sate their thirsts. Others had eaten beforehand. All however, essentially woke up long enough to relieve themselves or get just enough to stay comfortable, then rolled back over. Theirs was a bone-deep exhaustion, the kind in which one begins to dream, awakens to fulfill some basic need, then immediately resumes and the next morning does not remember ever stirring.
Ash's group, though still unsure of the trustworthiness of the Goblins, decided to find shelter from the elements beneath the roots of trees and the branches of thick brush, or perhaps even climbing the rough slope of the cave to find hidden nooks and crannies, maybe disappear just over the curvature of the rough-shaped hillock so as to be out of sight of the goblins. They, along with Oberon's group, might have established a watch, but somehow some way they made it through the night unmolested.
Thus, in the very early and wee hours of the morning--even before the blue light of twilight dawn, before the last of the stars had twinkled out--they began to truly awaken.
At Jason's cave, at some point during the night
Skeleblin_003 had joined "Gawain," standing watch at the front of the cave. An unfamiliar Dire Rat slept a short distance away, curled up on a flatter stalagmite overlooking the pool. A fourth (third, taking into account that 001 had been destroyed) Skeleblin walked back and forth between the cave and the dark corner where Asura had once found Momma Slime.
The various piles of dirt in different areas had been disturbed at some point during the night. Though most of them now lay open and empty, several new piles were present as well.
Also, though the rain had certainly dripped through several places in the ceiling, it hadn't really formed any puddles or trickling streams. For one thing there hadn't been enough water, for another most of it was diverted down the tips of the rocky spires hanging all over. Yet a puddle had formed, where the old goblin bonfire had once been. The ashes in the base of the firepit had turned to sludge. The mud was very churned in appearance, as if something had simply stood there and stomped around in it all night.
All of Asteria and Ed's traps had been dug up and removed, their holes refilled and patted down with dirt.
Near the nesting area where Ed, Asteria, and Mother Rat had begun their adventures, something had been placing rocks one on top of the other. Not little rocks either--the kind of boulders that would stay set in place, even if balanced precariously, for hundreds of years unless some drunken idiot pushed them over and posted the video on Youtube. This pile was only about three boulders high thus far, but by climbing on it one could
almost reach the ceiling where a large patch of Mana Crystals had grown...right next to a crack that now streamed soft light and cool morning air...
Speaking of Mana Crystals, the Reincarnators had limited themselves to mostly using what they had stolen from Crispy's stash for the previous two days. Between this and Jason's herb garden--which looked as if a few more seed pods had been buried even after Danny and the others went to bed--the resources of the cave now seemed to be back to where they were before the mass overharvesting that took place some days prior. Then again, it wasn't just the Reincarnator's conservatism...aside from the area around Jason's cave, at present it almost seemed as if the place was empty...
You are Fully Rested.
You are Hungry.
You are Parched.
Your Tamed Creature is Peckish.
Your Tamed Creature is Thirsty.
You are Fully Rested.
You are Starving.
You are Parched.
You are Fully Rested.
You are Hungry.
You are Fully Rested.
You are Well-Fed.
You are Thirsty.
You are Fully Rested.
You are Sated.
You are Thirsty.
You are Fully Rested.
You are Starving.
You are Parched.
You are Fully Rested.
You are Starving.
You are Thirsty.
You are Fully Rested.
You are Fed.
You are Well-Hydrated.
Your HP is Full.
Your Mana Disorder is subsiding.
You still have Mana Burn.
You have no MP Remaining.
Dungeon Update Failed to Send. Failure due to no MP. Telepathic Link temporarily disabled.
Dungeon Update Failed to Send. Failure due to no MP. Telepathic Link temporarily disabled.
Dungeon Update Failed to Send. Failure due to no MP. Telepathic Link temporarily disabled.
Dungeon Update Failed to Send. Failure due to no MP. Telepathic Link temporarily disabled.
Dungeon Update Failed to Send. Failure due to no MP. Telepathic Link temporarily disabled.
...
...
...
You are Fully Rested.
You are Hungry.
You are Dehydrated.
You are Fully Rested.
You are Starving.
You are Thirsty.
You are Fully Rested.
You are Hungry.
You are Dehydrated.
You are Fully Rested.
You are Hungry.
You are Thirsty.
