Skill Rank Up: Lesser Force I > Lesser Force II!
MP Consumption decreased. Range slightly increased. Force strength slightly increased. Rather than more powerful, it would be more accurate to say this skill is now more efficient.

Skill Gain: Mana Shape I!
You can shape your raw Mana into the appearance of something. At this rank, your Mana does not have weight, force, or other physical qualities. Your Mana cannot produce sounds. Your Mana cannot move freely. Your mana can have its color changed. Your shapes must be relatively simple with no moving parts. The shape cannot be held for long without more MP.

After satiating his thirst, Danny once more practiced using his Lesser Force to manipulate the water. This turned out to be the last push he needed to trigger the growth of that skill. As he held his water sphere in place, however, and attempted to infuse/fill the water with his Mana Orb or vice versa, this bit of forced mana manipulation also caused his Mana Shape skill to reach its activation point!

But Danny's good fortune didn't seem to be over just yet. As he watched, his Mana and the sphere of water overlapped one another...and then, the glowing energy seemed to just...dissolve.

Like a cloud of chocolate powder being stirred into a glass of milk, Danny's mana suffused the water! The liquid--normally clear, as once he removed it from the pond most particles of dirt or bits of greenery could be filtered through his telekinetic grasp--now became an almost neon shade of blue, and the Mana no longer felt like pure, unbridled energy...Now it felt like it had weight, like it wanted to flow and twist.

He couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds, however, and with a sound like a wet raspberry the sphere of glowing water burst. What had just happened? And what else could he try...?

---

As Ed barreled across the cave and charged right into the pool, he would find himself instinctively beginning to doggy-paddle...or rat-paddle...doing something, at any rate. He could keep himself afloat and, oddly enough, using his tail as a makeshift rudder and paddle seemed to come second nature as well. Maybe it was his new body's instincts, or maybe he had just gotten used to it enough to use his own swimming skills from his previous life...if he had any?

At first, the rat's loud splash scared the small fish away, but once he began to calm himself they slowly began to return. The smallest ones just seemed curious, poking their heads out before darting away back into the deep. But one or two seemed like they might be big enough to take a little nibble of the water-treading rodent, if they got brave enough...

Deep beneath the surface of the pool, Ed might notice something glitter. And he could feel something pulling at him, ever so slightly, like a current...was it Torrent's monster-made creek, flowing back towards Jason's cave?

He could easily satisfy his thirst in the pool, but now his stomach began to grumble loudly...

---

As the wisp, the lesserwurm, and the sprite began to explore their surroundings, Oberon explained what he had seen from above while Mourningstar experimented with using a stick as a tool, despite having no limbs. She snapped one off from a fresh branch, producing more of a twig than a stick. But its end was quite sharp where it had splintered from the tree, and thanks to its lighter weight she had no problem lifting it with her Lesser Force. However, for Wisps, the Lesser Force spell acted as their limbs. The effort of keeping it active was much like continually using the same muscle--carrying this stick around with her would be like carrying one's umbrella all day long, while awkwardly trying to do other things without dropping the umbrella. While it wouldn't be too troublesome if she rested every so often, it seemed Wisps just didn't have the options for inventory space that most of the other monsters had...then again, she had that Cane Wrap she had taken from Rattleskull's body. Maybe she could somehow tie the stick with it so that it would just hang off of her body when she wasn't using it?

But as she held the stick, examining it with Magic Analysis II, she felt a sudden rush...

Skill Rank Up: Lesser Force II > Lesser Force III!
Strength of Lesser Force increased, dexterity of Lesser Force increased. MP consumption and range are the same as Rank II.

You used Magic Analysis II!
This is not a Magical item, but it can be used as Material. Effectiveness decreased to 30%.
Wooden Spike - This fragment of a Sharp Stick isn't very long. It's already been broken, so it will continue to split, splinter, or break easily. It's currently fresh and green.

LEVEL UP!
Your learning experiences have culminated in new power! You are now Level 5! You gain Skill Points to distribute as you please! Your Max MP has increased!

Unspent Skill Points: 5

Current Skills:
Mana Orb II (2.2)
Lesser Force III (3.0)
Levitation (--)
Magic Analysis II (2.3)
Mana Shape I (1.5)
Mana Slice I (1.4)
Monster Analysis II (2.125)
Focus I (1.05)
<UNUSABLE SKILLS>
Muffle (0.2)
Smash (0.2)
Defender (0.2)
Deception (0.3)
Charisma (0.35)
Blunt Resistance (0.2)
Mental Resistance (0.1)
Point Strike (0.1)
Fire Resistance (0.2)
Rabid Fit (0.1)
Dextrous (0.3)
Suppress Presence (0.2)
Taboo (0.3)
Crafting (0.1)
<UNUSABLE SKILLS>

YOUR BODY IS BEGINNING TO CHANGE! You are undergoing Transformation! Based on your life experiences, your ability to survive, and the strength of your will, new paths have appeared! Choose carefully--there is no going back! WARNING. THIS PROCESS WILL LEAVE YOU TEMPORARILY VULNERABLE.

OPTIONS (* Indicates Suitability):
*(Adult) Wisp - 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.

• Slight increase to all Base Stats
• Increase HP
• Increase Potential

(Immature) Pyrofly - This creature is similar to a large Wisp, however it appears as if its entire body has been set alight. These flames do not cause it harm, however; rather, it thrives on both warmth and ambient flame mana, and is always attracted to sources of these things. It is often energetic and volatile, but tends to have a short life-span not only due to its high energy expenditure, but also its vulnerability to things like water and cold.

• Increase MP
• Increase Fireball (reduced)
• Increase Fire Affinity (reduced)

**(Immature) Poltergeist - This monster is still fueled by Magic, but its hold on the physical world has become stronger. Though its chubby, infantile body isn't particularly large, its grasping limbs, levitation ability, and its manipulation magic make it quite the prankster. However, its defensive abilities don't grow as fast as some other species. For the already physically frail mage-types, this can be a dangerous weakness.

• Gain Arms w/Hands, Legs w/Feet, Head w/Eyes and Mouth
• Increase base power-stats (reduced)
• Increase Lesser Force (reduced)

*(Immature) Corpselight - This monster came to be by feeding on the ambient regrets, negative energy, and stagnant mana in environments suffused by the essence of death. It often hovers above such places, sucking out what little of the souls remain from corpses littering the ground. It prefers dark places and moonless nights, so that its glow can lure more unwary victims.

• Slight increase to all base stats
• Increase Mana Drain (reduced)
• Increase Blood Drain (reduced)
• Increase Taboo

As the three monsters looked for food, they would find near the roots of one larger tree a small space where several shoots of something green and white were growing. If they had seen the goblins' collection of food last night they would recognize these plants as being the things that looked similar to wild onions, maybe leeks or parsnips. Another leafy plant sprouting up nearby appeared to be similar to a tuber of some sort, producing a large root in the dirt that they might be able to eat...Then again, did any of them have any sort of survival knowledge...?

---

The talks went surprisingly well, though it was worrying when Crispy clearly didn't show any signs of really trusting or working with. At least he didn't know they were... ~And she told him. Okay, they could still keep a safe distan- And now Ash walked out and closed the distance, sitting near Orchid and speaking up while doing what he knew was her level best at not appearing exhausted and weak. He was caught off guard enough by Ash's move that it took him a moment to shake his head clear and start moving himself to stand by Ash, in order to help her not look exhausted and be able to help her if a fight arose.

However, as he crawled forth, the talks reached a rapid and questionable end. With the goblins all setting up camp at one end of the clearing, and the monsters at the other. While it wasn't clear if the goblins, namely Crispy, were or could be allies, it seemed they at least wouldn't try attacking them. For now.

With rest now becoming a priority, they each found as safe a place as they could to sleep. Since Ash was too weak to climb, her best chance was to hide under the roots of a tree. So with a little work on Reoth's part, he did what he could to use sticks, branches, and leaves off the ground to work as a sort of camouflaged shelter, with a focus of covering the purple markings on Ash's back. Once he felt she was hidden well enough, he took his albino hide to a different, nearby set of roots.

While he might've preferred resting with company, his mostly white body would be much harder to hide. So for his spot, he did what he could, the same that was done for Ash, with the added effort of scraping up the ground and covering himself with dirt. Only once he was mostly covered in earth did he get to relax and rest, hoping to not be found by something in his sleep.

---

Thankfully, he managed to get his full rest without anything disturbing him. And when the sun's rays reached him he awoke from the warm feeling on what part of him were left exposed. He did feel a little chilled, as everything seemed a bit damp, but despite that he stood and shook himself free of his makeshift camouflage... and the piled on dirt. With some stretching he looked about himself, watching as other monsters awoke and began to move about and seeing a trio start heading into the woods.

If the alerts of hunger and thirst didn't let him know, his growling stomach would have told him that he needed to eat, and drink. So with the assumption that the trio were heading off to hunt as well as explore Reoth crawled the very short distance to Ash's spot, beginning to move some of the sticks away as he spoke to wake her up, "Ash, you doing okay now? There's some others that are heading out, do you want to go with them?"

Soon the goblin camp was starting to stir up. Goblins waking up, likely due to Clod's stone napping, as Orchid stood to stretch and get herself some water. Dew wasn't exactly her preferred means of hydration, but perhaps she was just spoiled from having that pond to drink out of all of the time. She drank from a leaf to wet her tongue as Crispy got up and chatted with her. Apparently he wanted to know if Orchid had any dreams, and she wondered if she was suppose to. But she just shook her head. "Nah. Not last night." Apparently Crispy's mother had dreams too, not that Orchid particularly cared. If Crispy wanted to tell her she'd listen, but once he was done she was going to get the goblins to start working. As the new Mini-boss she was going to make sure none of these gits were mucking about.

"Alright, everyone awake? Good. Got some goblins going to get food. Until they come back, you got work to do. If you know how to make rope, I want you to start breaking rocks into sharp stones, or sharpen stones until they're nice and pointy. If you don't know how to make rope, come over here and I'll teach you." Orchid's rope lesson was simplified for the sake of the more dimwitted goblins who would care to listen to her; first she told them what sort of trees would have good bark that make good rope fiber. It was the trees that were thin enough that you could grab in your hands, and when you scratched the bark the bark peels instead of breaking off. Chop them them and you should be able to peel off the bark and see the green side. If it's not green, the bark's no good and it'll break too easily. Then it was just a matter of peeling this green stuff off the bark and twisting them together until you run out. Then Orchid would show them how they could link the old fibers to new ones to make a longer cord. She'd repeat this process however many times it took to make sure the goblins knew what to do, and once she felt they had a decent enough grasp she'll either have them start making more cords or send them out to find more wood and bark to make rope from.

First thing Orchid needed to do was give everyone proper weapons. Spears at the very least; those were easy to make and Orchid could likely make twenty or more in an hour since the goblins have already gathered all the stone and wood she'd need. But remembering what Clod had asked for, she was going to start making some swords for the group. Orchid was no swordfighter but she knew the advantage of having that sort of weapon against animals and monsters that don't wear armor. Heck even ones who do wear armor won't have it any easier. However the sword that Orchid first made was, while impressive, fragile and made out of bones. Here she had wood and stones which should allow her to make sturdier weapons. She noted that Clod had made some impressive stoneheads himself, and she could easily make them into axes. Good for chopping down bigger and sturdier wood. Using her own stones, including the sharp stone from her club, she shaved, tapered, and bore a hole into two decent sized clubs that could fit the axe heads into. She handed these to Clod. "Here. Put those stones into the stick and you'll make an axe. That's sort of like what Rattleskull had. Go with the other goblins and help them chop down wood, I'll make some weapons while you're gone."

Orchid had plenty more sticks she'll need to clean and shape. At the rate she was going she ought to be able to make at least one for everyone before the day's end, though ideally she'll find a goblin or two who'll pick up on her craft skills to help make more, or at least make their own. She wanted to make a reliable weapon for everyone first, followed by some sort of armor be it body armor or a shield. Wicker shields would be easier to make but wooden armor could be more handy for the ones who are strong enough to carry bigger weapons. The last thing Orchid had on mind to make was range weapons like bows or even a crossbow. She can't say she has any idea how to make a perfect crossbow, but if she could at least make a bow she'd be on the right start. Sighing, Orchid grabbed her rocks and some sticks and would get started on making those stone swords.

As she was shaving the wood she thought out how she was going to do this. "Alright, the one I made the first time wasn't too bad. I got better supplies this time so maybe I could make something similar. But this time I want to try and use less of my rope. I remember those indian people have wooden paddles with rocks on the edge. I can't remember what it's called, but I think something like that could work. Take the straighter looking sticks and shave off the bark until it's nice and smooth. The handle should be big enough for two hands, but I don't want it to be too heavy that you can't hold it in one hand too. Clod broke some stones so I have plenty of shards to work with. I could just cut some shallow holes into the side of the stick to wedge the shards into. Maybe let the sticks cook in the fire first a bit, get the moisture out and harden the sticks more, plus make the holes a bit more fitting. Then just put the shards in and bam, sharp club. I'll only need to wrap up the handle so you won't get splinters swinging it around. Cheap and easy."

Ardur The Pixie

Freedom and Food > Adventure? /// Adventuring day 4 // Morning / Location - forest > Cave entrance

The pixie was quiet content with himself having been able to grab three of these earth worm like creatures from the ground. He held two in his hand while he ate the other one. It was definitely chewy and tasted like slimy dirt, the texture was a little odd and unsettling but he was hungry. There wasn’t much he found here so far that could make him puke after eating it. A few things that made him think twice sure, but so far he hasn’t thrown up.

After finishing the worm and waiting for his stomach to settle, the muscular pale pixie left the safety of the small tree and headed back to the cave. He could hear a few things rummaging down below him now on the ground but after a short inspection found that it was only a few goblins looking for food. Apparently he had gotten up a bit sooner than the others. He stayed like that, hovering above the goblins who seemed to be suffering from tunnel vision. Determined to stay on their task of finding food, it was something he hoped to learn from them.

He only stuck around for a few minutes to see if he could pick anything useful up from what they were doing before moving along. The cave was very near and he wanted to check to see what the others were going to be up and about yet. Fluttering by the mouth of the cave to look for his friend, who he could see she had been busy the night before and through the morning by all the new webbing across the top.

Ardur enjoyed that he always had a good feeling on where his friend was. The taming ability sure was useful. Finding his friend curled up under an overhang near her webs, the spider slowly inched out toward the pixie and waved. Tossing the two worms he had to his friend he smiled as she quickly stung them and wrapped them with her web. “Alright Steve, I’m going to go out and look for more food. Ill probly check on the others as well. I want you to stay here and keep up your good work with the spider webs and traps, if anything happens while I’m gone let me know.” Waving at her briefly the pixie dropped back down toward the rest of his friendly monster companions.

Flying down to the ground and looking over the others who were awake he smiled at them, “Good morning friends, I see you have all survived the night.” He looked about them for a moment before giving them a questioning look, “what are your names again? Some of you look a bit different.” He spoke while he pulled out the berries from his spider silk clothes and pilled the green berries near them. “I would refrain from eating those just yet, the goblins where eating some blue colored berries last night with some strange grubs, beetles, uhh roots, annnnd some basic vegetables… o and some small gecko looking things. I just brought these berries back to see if Ash could make use of them.”

@Zeroth
@Rune_Alchemist

Despite Danny not expecting a lot from his experiment it did prove fruitful, his Lesser Force increased and he mastered Mana Shape. He also noticed something odd about the reaction between his mana and the water, but before he could really ponder what that meant a large splash caught his attention. At first he thought it was an enemy but it turned out be Ed taking a swim. "Morning, Ed. Remember me?"

After a quick check to see if there weren't any enemies around he resumed experimenting, he knew it couldn't hurt to meditate but he also wanted to see how much mana he could use before running it. Using his improved Lesser Force II he scooped up some water again. This time he tried infusing it with mana more slowly than before while also focusing on keeping the shape contained with Mana Shape I

As soon as it turned blue again he tried firing it like he would do with a Mana Orb, making sure he aimed it somewhere he wouldn't accidentally hit someone with it.

The sudden change of environment caused Ed's eyes to snap open. He was rather shocked to realize he had covered that far a distance in a metaphorical flash, but he never expected to actually be sent careening into the natural body of water in the cave. Though whats done is done, he had to make the best out of his situation. He dog-rat-y paddled like a damned pro. Instincts on how to swim and effectively use his tail and memories of his dad teaching him the basics before tossing him in the deeper end of the pool merged together and translated into synchronized paddles and precise tail ruddery. Breaching the surface he was greeted by the friendly wisp and fellow reincarnator named Danny. Paddling closer to the wisp, he replied to his greeting. "Yep! Morning to you as well DanNYOHMYGODSOMETHINGJUSTFUCKINGTOUCHEDMYTAIL!" Ed then began to panic as a larger fish got brave enough to give Ed's tail tip a gentle nib. Floundering fervently forward through the water, the fearful Ed failed to recognize that the perpetrator of the scare was an equally scared fish and not a bloodthirsty water dwelling monster looking for an Ed sized treat.

None the less, his fear and adrenaline addled mind unconsciously activated [Rabid Fit I] to strengthen and hasten his desperate paddling to the shore. Accompanied by pouring every ounce of strength his body could offer with [Stronger I], the young dire rat's unexpected morning swim would be ending shortly.

---

---

Asteria startled awake from the mysterious dream, or rather a set of dreams, one of the nameless water spirit, and another that seemed connected to it somehow, about a sword. Could the water spirit be inside of a sword…? Or was it inside the cave lake? And was the sword there too or was that something else entirely? Asteria wasn’t entirely sure, but she wanted to investigate the lake. Jason poked her to wake up and she grumbled “Yeah, yeah, alright,” in reply, as she followed Ed, slightly amused at his antics in avoiding the apparently friendly skeletons.

When she arrived at the lake, Ed was swimming inside of it and Danny was floating above, experimenting with water magic. She was at the shore, close enough to see both her own reflection and a few fish swimming curiously around Ed. Hungry as she was, she came up with an idea to try catch some right away. Ed wasn’t too fond of the fish around him, however, and swam back to shore in a fit of hysteria. “They're just fish,” she commented, then proceeded to dip her own tail into the water, snaking it slowly and carefully around, trying to attract a fish. If a larger one got close and/or bit her tail, she’d wrap her appendage around it and reel it in.

@Guy0fV4lor@Searat

---

Sleep had been a welcome thing. A dreamless sleep that she often had many times before back whens she was human after many multiple days of ceaseless work. With Reoth's help and closeness, she was relatively sure that they would be safe. She doubted the goblins would try anything after the other day, for they would be fools too. Perhaps she was overestimating them, but if she was...then well, she was confident in her ability to handle herself.

The next morning, she really didn't want to wake up. She'd probably have slept a few more hours, if Reoth hadn't woke her up.

"Hrmmph..." Yawning as she felt the shrubbery and sticks being moved off of her, the Pygmy Drake managed to rouse herself, yawning tiredly and stretching as Reoth asked his question. Groggily, she reached up with a claw and brushed the side of her face, momentarily forgetting she didn't have hands to rub her eyes with. "Heading out?..."

As Reoth said, some of the others were quickly moving out. She could already see Mourningstar flitting away in the distance. Oberon quickly joining her as well, and she was pretty sure she saw Ardur up to something too. Now that left her with the question, what were the goblins up to? She held no illusions about trusting them, but she could extend their...business if she potentially had something to show for it. She'd need to work on getting her Alchemy more refined.

"Well, we should probably get going-hmm?" Something caught her eye not far away. A...lizard of some sort? Two arms and lacking any sort of legs. Curious...it was certainly watching her, from what she could tell. Well, perhaps it was time to try something. Now that she was fully rested and not in any danger of getting jumped by something for the moment, she could be a little more loose with her skills and abilities.

Activating Alchemy II to see if any part of the monster might be useful in alchemy, and then Magic Analysis I in case it had some magical properties, she walked over. Come to think of it...didn't this one look vaguely familiar?

"...You wouldn't happen to be one of those Lizards I met a few days ago, would you? We made a Tainted Mana crystal on accident."

---

@Zeroth@SilverPaw@Duthguy@SilverPaw

Between Gawain's horrifically awkward sprint, and the seemingly negligible progress on fully removing his mana disorder; it was clear that Jason had his work cut out for him.  However, just as he was about to issue Gawain new instructions, an absolutely mortified Ed rushed past him and fell into the water.  The bizarre act caught Jason completely off guard as he began to laugh at Ed's antics, "Don't worry Ed, these skeletons all work for me! One of the perks of being the dungeon boss I assume..." he called out to comfort his panicking friend, before turning to address all three of his fellow reincarnators, "Speaking of which, I have news for all of you regarding the dungeon.  According the core, there's several things we can do to upgrade the dungeon; repair it, secure and increase resources, feeding the core mana, and rallying the currently assimilated creatures..." Jason paused for a moment while he let the others process the information, "As of right now, reparations are at 35%, and assimilation has reached 26%... Along with this new knowledge, I am now able to access new capabilities within the core.  This may not mean much in preparation for our upcoming meeting with Crispy, but I figured that letting you all know would be a good idea..... Oh! One more thing-- cave resources are back to the level they were when we first woke up, so keep that in mind! Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I'm going to have our skeletal friends here bring us some resources we can work with."

Turning to the other two skeleblins that he had yet to name, Jason addressed his new subordinates, "Skeleblin_003! You are to be henceforth designated as Leonidas, or 'Leo' for short. Skeleblin_004! You are to be designated as Y'tahl." he declared as he cleared his 'throat', "Alright... Gawain, Leonidas, Y'tahl, the first thing we need to do is arm you three. In that direction, he began, pointing his staff toward the burial site of the Brawny Team, "You should come across a large, flat, rock covering three goblin corpses. Near this rock, should be a club, and two spears. Gawain, you equip the club, Y'tahl, you equip the [Badly-Made Stone Spear], and Leo, you equip the other spear. Once that is done, return here to me. In the event that you cannot find any of the items, return here to me. Make sure you three stay as a group, and prioritize your survival above all else; if something threatens to destroy you, run back here as fast as possible. DO NOT ATTACK ANYTHING UNLESS IT ATTACKS YOU FIRST. Fight only if it is absolutely necessary, or if you have secured the weapons and are certain you can win.... Now go!"

As his three skeleblin warriors shambled off to complete their new objective, Jason rolled up to the core, bracing his mind again. Reaching out to the heart of his domain, the budding dungeon master tested his new authorities, "Core, open DUNGEON MENU-- display MONSTER_ROSTER, MONSTER_ASSIGNMENT, DUNGEON_MAP, DUNGEON_RESOURCES, and DUNGEON_STATS."

Mourningstar let off a thoughtful hum as she considered Oberon's words. While there was wisdom in being cautious and staying away from possible human settlements, they would need to hunt for food in the forest if they wanted to eat. And the forest was to the east. But her musings were interrupted by something that she had been wanting to see for the longest time. Level Up number five, the evolution level up. There were four options for her to choose from, well three really since there was no way she was going to be just a boring old Adult Wisp. Pyrofly would be good for pure offensive firepower, the fire in firepower being quite literal. Poltergeist for limbs, sweet sweet limbs and a body. Mourningstar had no idea how much she wanted limbs until she saw that option honestly, limbs were so useful.

But that final option, the option of Corpselight intrigued her. She had some points in Taboo already, but those other two skills were really interesting to her. Blood Drain and Mana Drain, two skills which would be highly beneficial in maintaining sustainability. No more reliance on resting and Mana Crystals, instead she could just drain what she needed. Another thing to consider would be Taboo bringing her closer to the Demon path that she sought. Yes, it was decided.

"Hey, I'm about to evolve right now. If you could wait for me that would be great, otherwise I'll catch up with you in a bit." And with that she saved her skill points for after the evolution and selected Corpselight for evolution.

---

Mourningstar had accepted her offer to leave, and the Sprite joined them as well. A little three monster party would -

The lizard thing spoke. So it was the one from before, evolved like herself. She nodded, turning back around to face Ash. "Yeah. Before Rattle and those goblins crashed our little party. He's dead now, at least. Walk and talk?" Given Ash was agreeable, she continued on with the others, a bit back.

"I ended up with some others, struggled to survive, and here I am. Lesserwurm. Weird evolution things. Looks like you did to. New skills. Don't like straight fighting, don't like sitting around. Don't like the cave anymore, not going back. What happened to you?" She continued on, listening quietly.

They'd made it to the little area and Oberon talked about what he'd seen, Torrent glanced around. "I don't know what's food that isn't meat," she admitted to the others. "But I have skills for digging. I can dig anything up you want." But before that line could go any further Mourningstar mentioned her intention to evolve. Torrent whipped her tail back and forth momentarily before slapping it on the ground.

"Kay."

She moved away from the wisp, and the potential food, and looked at a tree. Almost lazily she blew a Poison Cloud at it. She was idly curious how wood would react. And a bit of practice wouldn't hurt anything.

Oberon examined the shoots that were poking out of the ground between the roots of a nearby tree. He had to admit that much like Torrent he didn’t know much of anything about finding food, and was kind of banking on the fact that some of the plants in this world might resemble those back home; surely he’d at least recognise an apple if he saw it dangling from a branch up above. Assuming it looked anything like it did in the supermarket anyway.

If he’d had Plant Analysis then maybe he would be able to identify whether or not the flora around here was edible, or poisonous, but as it was he had to rely on what skills he had. He moved closer to where the plants were growing and examined both the green and white shoots and the tubers with Magic Analysis and Monster Analysis, hoping that the skills would provide some basic information the same way Magic Analysis provided information on monsters even though the skill wasn’t suited for it.

Once he was done he flew back to the others in time to hear Mourningstar announce that she was about to evolve. “Sure, I’ll wait with you.” Turning to the longer and more leg deprived of the two lizards Oberon pointed towards the collection of plants he had just been examining. “There are some plants over there that look promising; can you dig them up?”

Settling down on the ground, the Sprite sat cross legged on the ground as he waited for Mourningstar to evolve. It wasn’t for a lack of anything to do, but rather because there was something he wanted to try while he had a little time to spare, something that was going to become increasingly important as they moved further away from the cave and its ready supply or mana crystals. Earlier, after they had defeated the Goblin’s leader, he had met a Wisp who had a skill that allowed him to regenerate mana at a faster rate; considering most of Oberon’s skills used mana in some way, even his analysis skills it seemed, it would be very useful if he could become less dependent on crystals to replenish his mana.

Closing his eyes and placing his hands on his knees, the Sprite attempted to focus. Thinking back to what his analysis of the meditate skill had shown him earlier, he tried to push all other thoughts out of his head, to ignore all of the sounds around him, to pay attention to nothing other than his own steady breathing. Admittedly he wasn’t very good at clearing his mind of thoughts, but as time passed he found it easier to let even those go and clear his mind.



@floodtalon@Old Amsterdam@Zeroth

---

Digbie had been awake for a little while, looking into the daylight with a smile on his greenskinned face. He was outside. Outside of the cave, outside of all that chaos with Jason and everything else. He could get started on his journey to the Demon King himself, but he didn't want to just yet. He wanted to get a few things done first before that happened.

There was the obvious stuff, like eating and drinking, of course, but there was something picking at the back of his head. He wanted to grow, get stronger, be better than he was. He wanted to evolve like the rest of the monsters he'd befriended which had done so. Digbie was trying to think of the best way to do that right now, one that would help keep him alive. Eventually, he settled on trying to buff up what he already had. If he learned any new skills along the way, he could use those and level them, too.

With that, he figured sticking with Mourningstar and Oberon would be a good plan, since they had a le-SHIT THEY WERE LEAVING!

"H-Hey guys, wait! I'm coming too!" Digbie yelled to the quartet of Mourningstar, Torrent, Ash, and Oberon, quickly running after them with his Ratskin pack in tow, hauling his items over his head as he booked it.

Once he rejoined the group, Digbie looked around the area and simply waited to do anything specific, watching the others to see what they were doing first. Torrent and Ash were talking amongst themselves, Oberon was meditating, and Mourningstar was preparing to evolve. There wasn't much Digbie could do to help out with in regards to them, so he settled on doing the thing he wanted to do before. Leveling his skills. He quickly grabbed a small clump of dirt and used {Soil Manipulation} on it to suspend it in the air, and while that was going on, the greenskin decided to see if any prey was around by using {Tremor Sense II}. If he could sense it nearby, that would be useful for the group as a whole. "I'll see if I can find anything nearby to hunt..."

---

Obtained Item: ??? Berry x5
Obtained Item: ??? Leaf x5
Obtained Item: ??? Worm x3 - NOTE: This Item is a Creature!
You have too many items for your inventory.
---
Your Tamed Creature is Well-Fed.
Your Tamed Creature is Hydrated.
---
Item Removed From Inventory: ??? Berry x5

You used Alchemy II!
---ERROR---
This target has not been harvested, dissected, or otherwise broken down into useful components. Without more Analysis Skills, at its current rank the Alchemy Skill is unable to analyze the traits of this target or its reactivity.
---Alchemy Complete---
You used Magic Analysis I!
This is a Monster. It has limited magical abilities. Effectiveness reduced to 30%.
---Lesserwurm---
This Monster is developing a handful of magically oriented skills and spells. It has at least one usable spell skill.

ERROR. ENCOUNTERED FOREIGN OBJECT...
--Comment: Installed Conditional Response to Foreign Object Error--

ERROR REPORT CANCELED...

You used Magic Analysis III! You used Monster Analysis I! Your targets are plants. Effectiveness of Magic Analysis reduced to 35%. Effectiveness of Monster Analysis I reduced to 25%.
---Wild Kele--
This plant has no magic qualities. This plant is not dangerously toxic or otherwise harmful in its current state. You can eat this plant.
---Wild Topapo---
This plant has no magic qualities. This plant is partially toxic or otherwise harmful in its current state. This plant can be eaten.

Skill Gain: Muffle I!
This skill grants you the ability to be just a little bit better at being stealthy, with a focus on reducing the sound of your movements.

As Ardur bit into the first of his three worms, its flesh easily burst in his mouth. The juicy pulp tasted terribly bitter and acidic, and the flesh was so suffused with this sour tang and the flavor of wet mud that no comparison to other meats came to mind. Though it wasn't at all pleasant, at the least it didn't seem toxic...then again, he had only eaten one thus far. He ended up giving the other two to Steve, which lessened his load somewhat. Thanks to his enhanced strength Ardur hadn't struggled too much to carry all these items, but there was almost no room left on his spider silk covered body to stick something--and these threads didn't seem like they were going to last much longer, being wispy and dry at this point and losing much of their adhesive.

Steve didn't seem to have much issue eating the worms either, but perhaps her venom did something to her prey's body to make it safer for her to eat. It looked like she had snagged a few small insects, like moths, in her web as well. She wasn't entirely dependent on Ardur to feed her, but as the System soon let him know she was very much sated.

Depositing the odd berries he had found fixed the rest of Ardur's inventory woes, though it seemed Ash hadn't heard his request to analyze them...Maybe that was because she was currently staring rather hard at Torrent in her attempt to use the Alchemy Skill on the Lesserwurm.

Unfortunately, Ash wasn't able to find out much. Alchemy had, so far, only told her the traits of items she used it on and their reactive nature with other items. She might need more of these Analysis skills in order to gauge the quality of items, and get any non-alchemic information about them.

Then, Ash felt what could only be described as an "itchy" feeling inside her skull. Something...was not right. This was the feeling of being watched, the feeling of hearing a sound you couldn't quite place, the feeling of a vibration underfoot that just didn't seem right. Now Alerted to the presence of...something, Ash would likely feel the compulsion to look around more carefully at her surroundings...

If she looked straight up in the sky, she would catch the tail-end of a dark shadow circling over the clearing, before it headed back over the tops of the trees...

Meanwhile, as Digbie practiced his Soil Manipulation, he would find that for some reason despite suspending it in the air like zero gravity, the earth did not want to form an orb like most loose materials would. Instead the clump seemed to stabilize the most in harder geometric shapes, like cubes and prisms. Keeping it stabilized passively while actively attempting to use another skill, however, was much more difficult--like trying to balance a stack of plates in one hand without looking at them.

As his Tremor Sense spread out, however, it soon reached the small plants they were currently considering as a food source. And slightly deeper into the forest, underneath and a bit beyond those plants, something was tunneling. Something headed for the tubers with a slow but purposeful speed, digging through the moist soil easily. It was about a foot long, and as big around as an average human's upper arm. Several appendages stuck out all around it, likely legs, so as to imply some kind of insectoid form...

As Torrent sprayed a nearby tree with her Poison Breath, the bark began to hiss and produce purple fumes as the acidic cloud ate away at it. When the first layer of bark had been burned away, the wetter and greener layer underneath began to rapidly darken and shrivel, peeling off as the acid continued to eat away at it. It wasn't enough that she could immediately cut down said tree, but the acid certain seemed to work on it.

While the others went about their various tasks, Mourningstar had decided upon her Transformation. Almost immediately after doing so, she felt a deep fatigue overcome her. Despite sleeping all night, it felt as if she had been injected with a powerful sedative. Lightly floating down to the ground, the Wisp's light went out entirely, leaving only a pale white ball of flesh covered in fine, delicate hairs like some kind of electrical filament.

The others would see this fleshy body begin to pulse, as if its heartbeat suddenly grew stronger. With each pulse, it would swell just a bit. But inwardly, in the realm of her mind, Mourningstar saw something else...

Mourningstar could see EVERYTHING.

Not in crystal clarity, of course. But she drifted upwards, out of her body, rising high enough that she could look out across the forest. She could see the mountains stretching far into the distance both north and south, forming a wall between two lands. She could see the forest stretching on for miles to the east, broken by a series of square clearings where a large house of stone and wood and thatch, with various smaller buildings around it, sat calmly puffing smoke. To the south, a vast grassland stretched for what seemed like eternity, but it seemed that even looking that far cause the sun to grow brighter and hotter...

She could see the sunlight reflecting off of something, south of the forest but east of the plains, yet before her eyes could adjust she was rising higher. Now she saw a river further north, spilling out of the mountains and heading into the distance. She rose higher, drifting through clouds that stretched over the cave and further beyond, over curling smoke trails and unnaturally shaped structures of wood and stone that could only be civilization. Somewhere to the east, a large body of water sat glimmering with the last rays of the setting sun.

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

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

Then she began to plummet, and the feeling of fear, the experience of a dream in which one dreams one's own death, began to swallow her up...

---

As Asura explained things to the big blue slime, she wobbled and made a low gurgling sound. Especially when he scolded her for misusing her skill points; she even seemed to deflate a bit. Then he showed off his Smash skill, and began to trade her memories of how he had learned it--but after a few moments Momma Slime pulled away.

"Too mush...yoo." She rocked from side to side. "Me...not yoo. Too mush." What exactly was she saying? That he was showing her too much information at once? It seemed related to sharing his experiences with her, at the least.

By this point, what remained of Rattleskull's arm had disappeared into Momma Slime's gelatinous innards. She turned and looked towards the nearby entrance to the cave, then turned and looked back towards the distant pool.

"Wanna eet. Where eet?" she asked.

---

TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE!
(Immature) Dire Rat > (Adult) Dire Rat
All Stats have Slightly Increased!
Base HP has Increased!
Potential has Increased!
You have still not reached your full Potential.

Skill Gain: Aqua Sphere I!
By charging a small amount of water with mana, create a sphere of pressurized liquid to be launched at the target. While it does not require ammunition so to speak, this spell works better if there is water in the environment or in heavy humidity. Its range, damage, and MP cost are virtually identical to Mana Orb, but its nature as a Water spell varies its power based on elemental properties of the target.

CHANGING DESIGNATION: SKELEBLIN_003...
NEW DESIGNATION DENIED. ERORR LOG: DUNGEON DOES NOT UNDERSTAND "AND/OR" STATEMENT, "LEO FOR SHORT."
RECCOMENDATION: USE LESS COMPLEX ORDERS

CHANGING DESIGNATION: SKELEBLIN_004...
NEW DESIGNATION REGISTERED: Y'TAHL.

REGISTERING ORDERS:
TRAVEL NORTH BY WEST - LANDMARK: LARGE, FLAT ROCK. 3 GOBLIN CORPSES. 1 CLUB AND 2 SPEARS.
EQUIP 1 CLUB AND 2 SPEARS.
RETURN
-IF- EQUIPMENT NOT FOUND
RETURN
--
ERROR

ERROR LOG: TOO MANY CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS FOR CURRENT LEVEL
RECOMMENDATION: USE LESS COMPLEX ORDERS

DUE TO ERROR, ORDERS FAILED TO EXECUTE.

OPENING DUNGEON MENU...

As Danny took his experiment in steps, the first thing he pondered was the odd reaction between his Mana and the water. Using his new and improved version of Lesser Force, he was able to collect more water than before, and put it under much more pressure to hold its shape and direct it where he willed. Remembering the previous reaction, he tried infusing it with Mana more slowly, in a controlled fashion. While Mana Shape only controlled the shape of the Mana itself, Danny would once again feel the change within the energy as it and the water began to join. Water, as a fluid, took up the shape of whatever container held it. Danny had felt this before, as his Mana became more fluid than a crackling discharge of energy, and now he could more accurately identify it as his Mana Shape and Lesser Force gave the water a sphere-shape to take.

Then, taking aim and pushing outward, he tried to fire the water the same way he would a Mana Orb. The "field" of his Lesser Force gave way--but the water held its shape! The "shell" of his Mana Shape dissolved, but again the water stayed in the shape of an orb. With a blue flash, the sphere of water shot forth across the pool. When it struck the surface of the water it penetrated and kept going into the depths, still glowing. After a few feet it lost its form, however, and quickly dispersed as the light faded. But Danny received a new system notification: the spell Aqua Sphere was now his!

Ed fairly bolted out of the pool, practically beaching himself on the bank like a furry ship as his frenzied strokes kicked up small waves in his wake. Between Danny and the Dire Rat's splashing, the pool's surface had become quite stirred up. The water lapped around the edges of the bank with soft slapping sounds. But while the fish that nibbled at him was small, only a few inches long, one might not think it entirely harmless. The rats couldn't know anything about Torrent's earlier encounter, but these fish had quite the set of teeth in their tiny heads.

When Asteria looked at her reflection, she would see that she was now much larger in build, as much so as Mother Rat. Her fur had grown a good deal thicker, and her fangs and claws seemed longer and sturdier. Overall, she had simply matured, much as the Transformation's name implied. As she lowered her tail into the water, for a few moments nothing happened. Danny and Ed had probably disturbed the water enough to send the rest of the fish into hiding. But as the male rat shook himself off on the bank, slowly a few of them once again began to poke their heads out of the depths. Three in particular seemed intrigued by the wriggling tail nearby. They slowly approached...two of the three gained the lead...slowly, they came closer...One of them got closer just as Asteria's tail twitched, and immediately darted away at the slightest movement. But the other continued...

Asteria would feel a sharp series of pricks in her tail, which would no doubt speed up her "reeling." But she successfull hauled a very small fish out onto the bank, where it flopped and floundered uselessly. By observing it she could see it really was nothing more than a small fish, like one of those mini-piranhas some people got as exotic pets or because they liked throwing other animals into the tank like psychopaths. It could probably have given her a nasty bite, but outside of the water it was no threat. It would likely suffocate soon outside of the water, or a nip from her fangs could easily finish it. Easy pickings.

Meanwhile, Jason commenced giving a number of orders to the Skeleblins. A great number of orders with several conditions. It seemed that at its current level either the Dungeon Core or the Skeleblins themselves couldn't process this much information, as they returned a System error to the Slime Mage. When this error message was finished, the light in the Skeleblins' eyes dimmed and they headed off on their own, apparently to do...something else besides Jason's task. Gawain and Y'tahl, however, headed in the direction of the pond...Leonidas, or Leo although the Dungeon didn't seem to recognize that, instead turned towards the Dark Corner...

When Jason instead attempted to open the Dungeon Menu, he had more success.

DUNGEON MENU OPENED

Monster_Roster:
Dire_Rat_A - Resting...
Dire_Rat_B - Searching...
Dire_Rat_C - Wandering...
Fanged_Lizard_A - Searching...
Ghost_Wisp_001 - Wandering...
Ghost_Wisp_002 - Wandering...
Ghost_Wisp_003 - Resting...
Pixie_A - Resting...
Pixie_B - Resting...
Skeleblin_001 - Destroyed. Reassign?
Skeleblin_002 [Gawain] - Searching...
Skeleblin_003 - Wandering...
Skeleblin_004 [Y'Tahl] - Searching...
Skeleblin_005 - Wandering...
Skeleblin_006 - Wandering...
Skeleblin_007 - Wandering...
Skeleblin_008 - Resting...
Skeleblin_009 - Resting...
Slime_A - Wandering...
Slime_B - Wandering...
Slime_C - Wandering...
Zombie_Pixie_001 - Resting...
Zombie_Pixie_002 - Resting...
Zombie_Pixie_003 - Resting...

Monster_Assignment:
Auto-Repair - Currently No Monsters Assigned
[Create New Task]

Dungeon_Map:


Dungeon_Resources:
Healing Herb - 34
Healing Herb Seeds - 4
Healing Herb Sprouts - 5
Poisoned Herbs - 4
Mana Crystal - 35
Tainted Mana Crystal - 5
Stone - 999999
Water - 22,134 Gallons
Wood - 6
Flame Touched Mana Crystal - 2

Dungeon_Stats:
Level - 1
EXP - 43%
Floors - 1
-Traps - 0
-Doors - 0
Bosses - 1
Mid-Bosses - N/A
Mini-Bosses - N/A
Hidden Bosses - 1
Damages - 36%
Assimilation - 26%
Core Status - Emaciated
Core Mana - Depleted
Accumulated Value - 63
-Hidden Value - 1200

MENTAL_MAP INCREASED TO 0.3

---

You have Disassembled an Item!
Stone Spike Club
Sharp Stone (Average Quality) Removed
Your Crafting IV skill prevented deterioration of the item!
Your Crafting IV skill prevented deterioration of the component item!
Your Stone Spike Club doesn't feel as Strong anymore. It can no longer deal Piercing Damage.
Stone Spike Club has changed to Club (Good).
Obtained Item: Sharp Stone (Average).

As Orchid explained how to make rope to the goblins who didn't know how to make it--which apparently included all of them except Crispy--they watched her with various expressions of awe and confusion. At one point, Sqwal snorted as he stood up and went over to a nearby tree. Grabbing a creeping vine wrapped around the trunk, he began to pull until a length of it finally snapped off.

"Dis make gud rope, and lot fasta! Why do it dat dum way?" he said, holding up his own rope to Orchid. At the moment she was handing stones to Clod, and the longer she took to respond to his question the more frustrated Sqwal seemed to be getting for some reason.

Clod took the Sharp Stone and one of Orchid's two Hard Stones that she offered, along with the Wooden Clubs she had bored holes into. She had used the Wooden Clubs that the Goblins had been using during the Raid, since they were of better quality than the wood the greenskins had found last night for the fire. He stared at these objects for a little while, trying to figure out how to do what Orchid had told him. He too was already a bit confused from the rope-making lesson, but he merely scrunched up his eyebrows and sat down, spreading his materials out in front of him.

Orchid used her remaining Hard Stone and began scraping the bark from a stick in an attempt to make it more suitable for crafting, while thoughts of what she might make later danced through her head...

Obtained Item: Gnarled Stick (Average)

You Processed an Item!
Gnarled Stick (Average) - Using Hard Stone (Good)
Your Crafting IV skill boosts the effectiveness of Processing.
Your Crafting IV skill prevented the deterioration of your Processed Item
Your Crafting IV skill prevented the deterioration of the Item used to Process the target item
Your Crafting IV skill was unable to boost the quality of your Processed Item.

Obtained Item: Smooth Stick (Average)

While Orchid did this and, presumably, answered Sqwal, Crispy tended to his fire. It was soon roaring up again, and ready to cook whatever food Jezee, Bigs, and Wej would bring back. Clod finally seemed to come to a decision, and began his own work. Using the Hard Stone Orchid had given him and one of the better Sharp Stones he had produced from his own knapping, he began to adjust the notch in the better of the two Wooden Clubs to make it larger. Then, using the lumpier, not-quite-so-sharp Large Sharp Stone he had produced by breaking one of his big stones in half earlier, he inserted this into the Notched Wooden Club. The end result was a Stone Celt similar to what Rattleskull had possessed--however, the notch had not been fire-hardened, the stone head had not been fixed in place with anything like resin or rope, and the wood had been degraded during the crafting process. It showed a few cracks and splinters where the head notch had been widened, which would likely weaken the haft. Still, Clod held the item up triumphantly, staring at its stone edge as if it were gleaming.

Orchid wasn't too surprised to see that the goblins don't know how to make rope. It wasn't exactly a common skill back in her old world either, and she felt far too many people were impressed by her making flower crowns or grass shoelaces for her siblings. But as long as they're learning Orchid wasn't going to complain. The ones who don't seem to quite understand it she might have to give different tasks; she doesn't want to force the dumber ones to try and learn a skill they'll likely be bad at anyways, so better to put their focus on their talents. One of the goblins, Sqwal, didn't seem impressed and tore some creeping vine from around a tree. He thought the thing was better than Orchid's rope since it was plentiful, but little did he knew such a thing wouldn't be good enough by itself.

Orchid silently demonstrated this after she finished her first stick. She was slowly understanding that as much as these goblins might be crafty when it comes to survival they're still uneducated and slow learners. Explaining things won't work for them since they lack the basis for understanding like Orchid does. Demonstration would work better with simple explanations around two or three sentences. So first thing she did was go up to the same tree that Sqwal went to grab some of the creeping vines and she grasped one vine in between her fingers. "That's creeping vine and it's too weak." Orchid then proceeded to wrap some vine around her hand and then tear it off with a fairly low strength. She she folded the bundle in her hand into a very light figure-eight form, and she could already see it fraying throughout the vine. It would barely take Orchid more than a few twists until the vines were little more than kindling which she tossed onto the floor.

Walking back to her cordage Orchid wrapped some around her fingers and tried to tear it off, having a far more difficult time as she had to put a lot more strength to make the cordage even begin to fray. Once she finally managed to break off some of it she showed it to Sqwal so he could see that she was only able to tear a single length of cordage, as oppose to all of the vine she had pulled off the tree. "Creeping Vine's not bad, but this rope is better. Stronger too. And it'll make for a stronger weapon." To demonstrate why Orchid needed stronger materials she started working on the sharp club. She braced the smooth stick against her leg and carefully used her sharp stone and her club as a chisel and hammer, to make it easier and faster for her to carve out the notches she needed for the stones.

Really the hard part was to not make these notches too big for the stone shards. She had plenty of them but if the holes are too big the stones would never fit. Of course she can't make them too tight either, or else the stones might just break and cause the wood to splinter. So for each notch, she picked out a stone to measure it, make sure it was a good length, and then carved a hole to fit it. Once she felt she had enough notches around the business end of the sharp club Orchid blew off any sawdust and took it to the fire to harden it. It crackled as bits of wood burned away but she made sure not to leave the club in there too long that it would start to catch on fire. Orchid felt the need to explain this for any goblin watching her. "Fire hardening. Put wood in a fire for a little bit so it doesn't bend as much. But don't put it in a fire too long or it will burn up."

Next was inserting the stones. Orchid was just going to use Clod's rocks. She picked through the shards but when she tried to use them they snapped and chipped before she even tried to put a lot of force into them. "Dammit. Guess I'll have to make it myself." Chipping stone wasn't something that Orchid was too familiar with. Sharpening rocks, sure, but to get the shards out of them she'll need to chip away. And these were not flint so she couldn't expect them to chip or hold an edge easily. First she needed to sharpen the stones down into a more workable shape. She took a few hard stones from Clod's pile as well as two from her own pack and started to work on those quickly. With six stones total, she was able to work three of them into semi-decent sharp stones. Unfortunately the other stones broke in the process of making the sharp stones.

Now Orchid needed to make the shards themselves. This required much more delicate technique since she didn't want to cause the rocks to shatter. It was a bit rocky at first but soon she was able to get about ten shards. The shards themselves weren't all that sharp or uniform; she wouldn't bother trying to use them to chisel or carve anything. But that wasn't the point. She wanted them to be a bit blunt so that they're durable since their job was to focus all the energy of a swing onto the edges. Hence why they're less swords and more literally sharp clubs. Orchid began to insert the stones into the notches, wishing she had some pine sap to glue the stones into place. That would also help keep the stones in the weapon as well as provide some cushioning, but she also knew the goblins wouldn't know what to look for if she asked them to find some. She'd have to get pine sap herself, or perhaps ask the monsters to help her.

"That reminds me, I should check on them later." Once the club had all of it's stone in the notches, now all she needed to do was wrap it up. Fortunately she already had a length of rope that she had cut off to prove a point to Sqwal. She used it to wrap around the haft of the sharp club, holding the wood together tightly so it's less likely to warp when she strikes something. She only did this at the top, middle, and bottom of the business end, and used the rest of the cordage to wrap around the handle. It was still a bit prickly due to the fibers, but certainly better than bare unlaminated wood. She even had enough cordage left over to make a little sling that she could slip her hand through so if the weapon is ever knocked out of her hand, it won't go flying away. Once completed Orchid lifts the sharp club over her head and takes a few swings in the air to make sure the stones don't go flying if she whiffs. And once she's really confident, she'll strike it against a tree to make sure it could withstand hitting something solid.

---

Some might have been dismayed by the lack of information from this analysis, but this provided much needed information regardless of what was given. She needed more Analysis skills. She had to find a way to acquire them, but this was a good starting point. Perhaps at higher levels it could tell her what parts on a living creature could be useful. Magic Analysis was mildly more helpful. Lesserwurm. It has some spell skills. Curious, she'd have to ask what it was and if she could potentially learn it herself once a little less pressed for time.

"The usual annoyances of life," Ash replied when asked what happened to Torrent. "Ran into a few pixies, helped me survive the night after that. Dunno what happened to them - they fluttered off, but one was kind enough to give me a crash course in magic. Ran into Reoth and made friends with one of the goblins - another human like us, I believe. Evolved into a Pygmy Drake, negotiated a bit of a...ceasefire with them, but we'd do well not to let our guard down around them for now, and well, here we are." A brief version of events, but it covered the main points.

As she finished, arriving at the others, a chill crept down her reptilian spine. Something felt odd. Not just the fact she still didn't entirely feel comfortable in this lizard body, something else. The feeling of being watched. Pausing and sitting straight up, Ash held her head high, swiveling her neck around at her immediate surroundings. Nothing...? Was she being paranoid? But if this skill was working as intended, then...Ash glanced up at the sky, just barely seeing the shadow of a large, circling creature flying over the forest.

Well, that was certainly not good. She didn't have time to try and use any of her analysis skills, but it was most certainly some sort of predator. She'd need to watch out for it. Lowering her head, Ash let the others look after Mourn as she observed the surroundings. Seemed like all of them were fairly eager to hunt and get started.

"If anyone could bring anything they find to me, I would very much appreciate it." Ash began. "I might be able to make something out of them. Healing items or some such." Glancing over to Ardur, the Pygmy Drake paused. "Well, I supposed perhaps some introductions are in order. I am Ash, for those I have yet to meet." She walked over to Ardur, glancing at his gathered berries and leaves. "Any ideas what these are, Ardur?" Eager to find out what they were and what they did, Ash activated her Alchemy and Magic analysis skills.

Asura had only shared snippets but again Mother Slime pulled away, too much information once more. Or to much of his personality. Were slimes really that easy to manipulate by someone with a mind link and a stronger will power? He didn't wish to test this on her since she was his ally and they had helped each other. "I'll share more information later on through our minds. Just try to hit things as hard as you can with all your weight." H explained.

When she mentioned eating he pointed towards Rattleskull's remains. "Take some more of that. Don't eat all of it. Rationing your food makes it last longer instead of just taking it in all at once."[/color] Asura explained while he continued to Move up the wall to make himself cling more. Using his liquid body to find any hidden nooks to fill to hold on better.

Call Skill List. He thought, he wanted to try and see his skills again to get a bead on any progress made. He was starting to get frustrated that he was growing so slowly. It felt like the others did something a few times and they had a skill whereas he spent the past two days gaining few skills despite heavily practicing them in ways he actually knew how.

Ardur The Pixie

Adventure? > Curiosity! /// Adventuring day 4 // Morning / Location - forest > Cave entrance

The pixie watched the others for a little while. Talking amongst themselves about what they have been doing and what has been done. Clearly they all know each other, hell he probably knows some of them as well. A wisp, a lesserwurm, a goblin, the pygmy drake, a strange looking thing he’s not too sure about but kind of looks like a wisp and a pixie had a baby, and lastly there was the albino that was at a disadvantage camouflage wise.

Ash slowly made her way over towards him and the pile of berries and leaves he accumulated. “Don’t know exactly, but there is a lot of them and the goblin’s picked blue berry looking things for food last night. Probly not ripe yet or not something you want to eat.” He just shrugged and smiled as he picked up three of the leaves. These leaves didn’t seem to irritate him to bad and he did want to try and blend in a bit more out here.

Ardur took the three leaves toward a muddy patch of dirt. He then began to take his spider silk harness off and twist it together in a belt fashion. Weaving the leaves around him for a loin cloth and tying them off with the silk. Feeling satisfied with his new clothes the pale pixie began to mix the dirt and mud below him. Taking scoops of mud in his hands, the pixie began to smear the mud over his body. Turning his pale body to a light brown, hesitating when he reached the black dots on his chest.

Now that he felt like he was more suited for life in the forest he did want to do one more thing before going back into the forest with the others, “I’ll be along shortly I want to try something.” The pixie flew to the mouth of the cave and starred in. about five feet out into the grass patch while the goblins worked diligently nearby. Holding up his right hand toward the darkness of the cave and grasping his forearm with his left hand for support.

Using the distance between his index finger and thumb on his right hand Ardur began to channel his mana into his palm and imagined how Crispy explained the fire ball spell to Orchid earlier. His mind went back to what started this idea, old fantasy movies where the spell caster used a chant to empower a spell. He could only hope that this would work, standing in the grass and basking in the sunlight he began to speak, “Fire burns, Inferno rages, Consume and destroy, Cleanse and Purify, Feel the wrath of the sun and rejoice in its light. Fireball!” angling his shot up so it could fly a bit further if Fireball I does have drop and he let it loose through the cave opening.

@Zeroth
@Rune_Alchemist

Aqua Sphere I turned out even better then expected, since Danny could use without acces to water, though if he had known about the fishing dire rat he wouldn't have just shot it into the water. On the plus side he did have an idea on dealing with Crispy if he planned to betray Jason during the meeting. Before returning to the core and discussing his plans he wanted to master one more skill which he was already close to learning anyway.

Using his Mana Shape I he once again tried shaping one of his mana orbs into a dart. Due to him accidentally troubling someone with his last practice shot he made sure to aim it somewhere where he thought it wouldn't disturb anyone.

---

Torrent nodded along to Ash's quick recap of prior events. They really had diverged their paths after being split up. It was kinda interesting to see the differences, honestly.

As she inspected the bark, mildly pleased at the results, she glanced over at the requested dig. Simple enough.

Digging up what Oberon wanted was simple. But she didn't forget she was still in unfamiliar lands, and so she kept her guard up. Back in the city there were the occasional stray that was pretty mean, and rats were surprisingly common. Ignoring the gangs and it still wasn't a safe place, and she didn't believe for a moment that the woods were safe either. There was a reason they got dropped in that cave, she was sure of it. But she had no one to confirm anything.

"Why'd you make us so weak?" she muttered, thinking about the Demon King. She could've done so much more of she were more than a week old or something. She honestly didn't have any concept of time, but she knew it'd been at least a week.

Really though, he wanted them for something and he just.... Plopped them somewhere with nothing. Barely their own memories, even. Sure she grew quickly, but she's almost died. A lot, actually. She'd had to grow to become a killer just to survive and... Well, she kinda liked it. But that didn't excuse this Demon King in her mind.

She wanted answers. Not dumb riddles and memories she can't remember.