---

Torrent was more than a little happy with her new skills, though she had this innate feeling that the little bit of time she'd spent regenerating mana was simply not enough as she walked. The day had been an extensive one already, but she was proud of herself. It hadn't been like the Beetle. She'd done it.

It wasn't terribly long before she heard a familiar voice across the stream and the sound of splashing coming towards her. She turned, warily at first, before Digbie was beside her and healing her. She laid down, letting Meditate activate again. She would need more mana in case something else happened.

"Found a plant that was alive and made of meat. Put up a fight, but I have food. New skills. New ideas. I'm stronger. I exploded in a wave of fire and anger," she said quietly. "I have things I need to do. Skills to learn. Gotta be stronger."

---

@Zeroth@Duthguy

Huffing a sigh of relief as the knight turned his focus to the dungeon, Jason slowly crept to Danny. Almost forgetting about the squire for a moment, the ecto-slime narrowly avoided brushing the young apprentice's leg in his attempt to reach his ally. "System, prioritize recovery of skill 'telepathy'." Jason said under his breath as he pressed a pseudopod against the 'spiritual core' of Danny's form as he activated [Mana Drain I], draining mana in short, repetitive pulses in the pattern of S.O.S. in morse code. Though he didn't have access to telepathy, nor any other way to communicate with Danny, hopefully the most recognizable pattern on earth would let Danny know that he wasn't alone anymore.

Asura nodded as much as a slime could, which was just a bob really. "Yes, experiment with commands. We only have certain permissions though and it won't tell me how to get more. It's like a GM is fucking with us when it comes to the System." The red and orange slime said, growling towards the end with obvious frustration. As they moved they took in the rather scenic sights. If he had been human he'd have admired the scenery a bit. But he was only a first evolved low class monster, he was prey. So his sight seeing was mostly to find things that could be a threat while he acted like a swiffer.

Ardur did say how to regain mana, which earned a groan from Asura. "Figures it's just sitting there with you eyes closed mumbo jumbo..." He muttered, some grumpiness coloring his voice. "That's why I never got into martial arts. I wanted to beat the shit out of people not 'find myself' and all that shit." He continued to gripe then he sighed. Mother Slime eventually coughed up Ardur's lizard, who proceeded to take a couple portions before returning it to the pair of goo monsters. Asura engulfed both front legs before leaving the rest for Mother Slime. She was bigger and needed more food than him.

Movement caught Asura's eyes, a rather enormous beetle was scuttling out of a hole in the ground backwards. Ardur mentioned scaring it off, or killing it. "I know insects don't feel fear, but I don't know if insect monsters are the same..." He said, trailing off while getting thoughtful. Ardur mentioned defenses in the back. "Most beetles that I'm aware of, which are limited, heave a thick shell to shield any wings they have. So...it's probably tough from the top, but underneath I bet it's soft." Asura stated, him being the only one malleable enough to actually get under the beetle.

Asura watched for a moment more before slithering along the ground as silently as he could while flattening himself out. "I'll lead, get its attention. Take out its legs if you can while I go for the underbelly..." He said quietly as he moved like a red wave down the hill. He continued to absorb smaller insects and vegetation to get a full 'stomach' to regain some more Stamina. Still, he went fairly slow. Watching the beetle for any signs it knew he was there.

---

Skill Gain: Alert I! (0.9 > 1.0)!
Though this skill is limited by the strength of your senses, and does not sharpen your senses on its own, it allows you to become more aware of your surroundings. Without conscious effort, you will pick up on signs in your environment more easily, especially if they present some form of danger to you. Essentially this is an anti-ambush skill.

The notification that popped up in his mind alerted the young ratman that he had gained a new skill, but he could not celebrate it freely as of now. If he could sweat, he was sure that he would have been sweating bullets at the time. Slowly but surely he grasped his trusty cudgel once again and just at the right time. Ed was about to look to Asteria and see if she had taken notice of their vespid like foe and was ready to fight but, before he could even look, she launched the preemptive strike against the dark purple demon bug. It seemed that she already knew what they were supposed to do. Like an unconscious synergy that they had developed from the times they had fought alongside one another.

Though they had the advantage of the first strike, the sound was enough to alert their foe of the danger and it dodged nimbly even before the stone had reached it. Ed's eyes widened in surprise as the flying bug made a beeline for them and he instinctively ducked down as it buzzed past their heads. It then circled around and began to dive, like a kamikaze pilot would do to when going in for the kill. Ed steeled himself for what he needed to do. Ed focused everything on his sight, or as much as [Beast Sense II] could give him and glared daggers at the diving bug. Getting himself in the mindset that he was venting in the batting cages again on a particularly bad day. He gripped the gnarled stick with both of his hands tightly. He solely focused on the rapidly approaching bug to the point that it felt like his brain perceived time had slightly slowed down. The sounds of its droning wing beats and the winds blowing across the plains had turned into faint and muffled whispers in his ears. The images around the bug blurred to the point that the bug was the only thing that was clear in his vision. He let out a steady breath and positioned his body in a manner a batter would when winding up for the swing of his career. He wouldn't swing until the bug committed to the attack and inadvertently rob it the chance of dodging or escaping. But once he felt that it was safe to swing, he would be digging deep and putting his whole weight behind the swing.

One way or another he was going to hurt this bug.

Ardur The Mighty Hipixie

one last fight for the evening? > Battle Stations! /// Adventuring day 4 // Evening / Location - Edge of the forest

Ardur nodded toward the red slime while he thought of how he was going to deal with this bug. It definitely would make a good meal but how was he going to approach it. Possible defenses in its rear with a heavy shield and more than likely strong mandibles for digging. Getting it on its back was their best bet as long as it didn’t have friends. At the very least it didn’t look like it was very long like a centipede. More short and stout like a beetle.

“Steve, I’m going to try and flip it over by grabbing its legs on one side and pull it towards the other side. Once it is over try and entangle it in some of your web. If you can use that hypnosis of yours then do it, otherwise do what you can.” He spoke in a hushed town towards his friend before moving to follow Asura. Half way to the thing, Ardur was already using Muffle I to mask his approach as he split off from Asura and Mother Slime to the left. He was unsure of the creature’s senses and simply hoped it was making a mistake of its own and not paying attention.

Finding his moment to strike with Steve hopefully right behind him and the two slimes still slowly making their way down the hill, being as close as he thought he could get to the creature. Ardur foregoes Muffle and sprinted towards the beetle’s side grabbing at its legs and hard shell attempting to jump over it and down hopefully turning the beetle over and pulling it out of its burrow. Planning to use its sleek armored body as a sled and work against the creature if it tried to cling to its burrow.

@Zeroth
@Kazemitsu

---

---

Rather than being put out by the system’s response, Asteria was thrilled. Of course, it’s tracking the progress, just not in a way visible to me until I either level up or ask it to show me. So, if I only word the request differently, I could get the desired result. A system that responded to her commands was even more indicative that this world was game-esque than the skills and level-ups had been, but it wasn’t yet clear how well that could be taken advantage of. Something to think of later, as moments she’d begun digging, they were disturbed by the purple hell-wasp. Every part of the insect screamed danger, from its stinger, to the antennae, the proboscis, and even the fucking claws it had on each leg. Moreover, it had easily evaded the stone she’d sent flying, and charged them. Asteria rolled away, staying low to the ground. The bug didn’t seem to want to get close enough for them to hit with melee attacks, yet it continued circling, lowering menacingly until its body brushed the tall grass stalks. If it wanted to hit them, it would have to get low enough, and that was a moment they could aim to hit it in turn.

Asteria saw Ed had a similar idea, as he took up a batter stance, ready to smack away the bug once it got close enough. But this thing was smart, so Asteria observed its actions closely, focusing on all its minute movements, trying to get a read on its intentions. If only they knew a weakness- Asteria almost smacked herself as it occurred to her that not only did she have a skill for that, but also the necessary mana. She skidded to the side, letting the enemy focus on Ed for the time, while she used Monster Analysis II on the insect. Until she got the system notification regarding the beetle, she would sneakily gather a few stones into a heap, then wait for the opportune moment when the insect was too busy either getting pummelled by Ed or avoiding the Ratman’s attack to avoid her projectile. Wrapping her tail tightly around a stone, Asteria crouched low, intensely watching the insect, the direction of its body, the movements of its head, wings, and body, committing the unfamiliar movements of an insect to memory. In this way, she could detect a hesitation, an opportunity, a weakness or a distraction on part of the insect. And when the time came, she would let loose her projectile with all the force her body was able to muster.

---

It took some time, but eventually she had managed to carve out the entire frog, separating its most useful components from the flesh of the rest of it, eating her fill in the process. There was a surprising amount of meat on the frog - more than she had assumed there would be. A good thing that she could share with the others. Mana Vision and Mana Sense were equally useful. With this, hopefully she could more easily do her experiments with less guesswork. According to Mana Vision, she may want to find a way to enhance her sense of sight as well.

Being more visually perceptive was always a good idea.

Turning her attention to the mats, Ash quickly made mental notes of what they could do. Pixie wings didn't seem overly useful, aside from their magcial properties. Though, they seemed to be able to make a liquid coagulate. Perhaps could be used to make a thickening agent of some sort. The Dire Rat fur was far more useful seeming, simply for the sole reason it seemed to be have a chance to make mixtures more toxic. The leg seemed the least useful out of the bunch, but waste was not something she was keen on doing.

The individual parts of the frog seemed far more valuable, there was just one problem. She had no way to preserve any of these organic compounds, so they would need to be used soon or they would become unusable.

The skin was as she assumed, and the stomach was an unexpected boon. It seemed like she could make a fairly decent backpack or some such out of it. Digbie could likely use it well enough for now. It was poor quality, but she could make a decent one that would suit their needs for now. Perhaps the tongue could be used to make a draw string so she could close it.

The eyes were less mechanically useful, but apparently high in nutritional content. Now that would certainly be useful if one could stand to eat one. Perhaps she could blend it into some sort of protein drink. The heart seemed to have a number of uses. A filter was certainly something she could use it for, as gruesome as it'd be.

But for now, Ash had another dilemma.

How to carry all of this back? Her throat pouch, by estimate, could hold up to five items safely. Her backpack had a similar amount as well. There was about eleven items here, so she would need to leave some behind. She could just leave the least useful things, but even then she would need to leave most of the meat behind.

Briefly, Ash checked the ground with Tremor sense to see if she could find any of the others. If they were near, then this would be easy.

You used Source Crystal Shard!
---Trent---
(Immature) Human [(Apprentice) Knight]
All stats are superior to your own
Possesses Combat Skills: Slash, Skewer, Cleave, Defender, Blade Charge
Possesses Spell Skills: Minor Heal, Mana Shape, Mana Orb
Possesses Equipment: Steel Shortsword, Rawhide Targe, Leather Gloves, Leather Boots, Thick Gambeson, Forest Traveler's Cloak, Cotton Undershirt, Wool Pants, Cotton Underpants, Wool Socks, Leather Belt, Steel Hunting Knife
---Charge Empty---
Do you wish to use your MP to recharge the Source Crystal Shard?

Now that was certainly useful info, maybe not what he wanted to know but Danny was more than willing to recharge the source crystal and try to find out if he could use to see whatever the knight, Zieglar, was looking at. Before he could however he and Trent discussed something and the young boy gave him a clear warning.

"Poltergeist!" "If, if you're not lying to me, which I bet you are, then get away from here! Don't hurt any humans, and...j-just go away for now! Don't come back to this cave! And d-don't follow me or my Master! Or, or else I'll have to kill you!"

He was about to turn around and walk of in a random direction since he wouldn't stand a chance in battle against either of them when he felt his mana draining as well as a strange chill. It took him a few seconds to realize the draining part had a pattern to it. Since it consisted of long and short bursts repeatedly it almost had to be morse code leading him to the conclusion that whatever was behind it was from his world. He resisted the urge to recharge the source crystal not wanting to lose even more mana, and instead tapped his right foot in the same pattern before turning around and walking away hoping that the invisible creature got his point. "Yeah, you could kill me easily, just be careful of Rattleskull." Sure the goblin boss was already dead but poltergeists were pranksters after all.

Current Status:
Level 5
HP: 100%
MP: 0%
Stamina: 50%
Mana Burn - Natural MP Recovery slowed by 50%.

Mana Burn
Mana Burn is a condition caused from the backlash of overusing magic. Entering a state of deficit, the body's recovery of Magical Power is slowed as the over taxed Meridians recover. Continuing to use magic in such a state can cause even greater damage over time, prolonging the recovery.

Despite Asura's lack of focus on stealth skills, like Muffle, given the distribution of his weight, his amorphous form, and his Limited Shapeshift ability, he was actually able to move without making much noise at all. Slimes don't have foot steps, after all. Going downhill helped his speed somewhat, but regardless it didn't seem like the bug was going to notice him immediately. It was still scraping around inside its burrow, wriggling its back end from side to side and occasionally kicking out its back legs...

Ardur, meanwhile, used his own stealth skill--low as it was--to creep around and down the slope from a different angle. Closer, closer...as his body tensed and a single bead of sweat dripped down his brow, he watched the insect's every movement. With baited breath he saw Asura slither down towards the opening of the burrow, almost under the creature's belly...

With a sudden charge, propelled by his unreasonably toned calves and thighs, the Hipixie lunged forward. The beetle seemed to notice something was happening, as it froze, but before it could turn he had grabbed it by two of its segmented legs. As he leaped across the creature's low body and dragged it, the bug pulled back surprisingly hard--Ardur wasn't able to flip it over, but he did expose its underside. There was a sharp snapping sound towards the insect's head, and its wings began to buzz--there was something that glowed a luminescent blue underneath them--

A gob of Steve's webbing struck the beetle from behind, gluing its wings shut and sticking one of its other legs to the ground. Asura's crimson body shot up, delivering a blow to its underside that lifted the creature up out of the burrow, but thanks to Ardur and the webs holding it down it soon returned to earth with a crash. This crash was followed by a rumble--and then a rubbery thump, from the direction of the hillside. A large shadow appeared over the burrow.

"MASH!"

Momma Slime's bulk came down hard enough to actually sink her into the hole the creature had been digging. Now apparently stuck half in the ground, her upper body slightly puffed out along the edges like the top of a cupcake, she slowly "turned" towards Ardur, then Steve, then...

"Ahsoowah?"

If Ardur looked into Momma Slime's cloudy body, past the membrane pockets holding what was left of the Fanged Lizard and the Poison Bone Needles, he would see--pressed flat against the dark earth--both the beetle, and a red splat that could only be Asura.

Asura hadn't taken a direct hit, as the beetle had absorbed the majority of the impact. In terms of damage he was fine. However, he was now pinned on Momma Slime's underside, as was his opponent. It couldn't open up its wings, but it could wriggle its legs, and as it did so it began digging out more room to move. Asura himself, being mostly liquid in this form, might be able to do something as well, but could it do it faster than the bug?

And how were they going to get Momma Slime out of the hole?

---

You used Monster Analysis II!
---Bloodingfly---
An insect monster often mistaken for a butterfly from a distance. Rather than pollinating flowers and drinking nectar, however, this predatory creature specifically targets others doing the same. Preying on herbivores drawn to strong smelling or colorful plants, the Bloodingfly swoops down at great speed to pierce a target with its probiscus. It can also draw blood with its claws, enabling it to track prey for miles with a sharp sense of smell. Its multiple compound eyes allow it a very wide field of vision, making it hard to sneak up on. Finding a shrunken or mummified corpse near flowers is a good sign that a nest of these creatures may be about.
---Analysis Complete!---

As the strange bug headed towards them with ever increasing speed, that needle-like probiscus glinted in the fading light of the setting sun. Ed stared it down like the barrel of a gun, hefting his weapon as he sharpened his vision...The Beast Sense seemed more like it was supposed to sharpen one's vision in terms of distance, or of detail, but maybe he was unlocking something else...or just hyping up his own adrenaline...Like a major league player with his eye on the fastball pitch, he "felt" more than predicted the bug's speed and its trajectory...time seemed to slow...

The bug picked up on what Ed was doing as he drew back his club, however, and made to adjust its trajectory--only for Asteria to peg it with a rock this time. It tried to dodge out of the way again, but its own speed allowed her projectile to at least clip it--which distorted its flight path. It couldn't pull up in time!

CRUNCH!

Ed's attack slammed into the bug's thorax, eliciting an odd buzzing screech from the creature as it was knocked to the ground. Mother Rat immediately leaped on it, biting and tearing--but when its stinger jabbed at her, she was force to back off. The creature pumped its legs like hydraulic pistons as it rolled over. It launched back into the air, its fuzzy body darkened in places with oozing blue fluid, and circled around the rats again.

This time, it dove down directly at Ed but from above. He might be able to thrust up with his club, but without the kind of baseball style swing he did before he might not be able to generate enough power to stop the creature--launching a vertical attack would be hard in his position. On the other hand, with both its wings and momentum behind it as well as gravity, that bug was coming down like a missle tipped with a razor sharp spear...

---

ERROR. Invalid Command.

"Sees-tim? What...waitaminute, I seen dis afore..."
"Teef seen it too! How dumb Slime see what Teef see?!"
"And...Ja-Soon...ah! Ja-Soon knows what it say, cause he can do what Ventures call, "reading!"

Jason had only given the system one command--but suddenly his mind began to crackle with an odd static, and he was mentally "seeing" several System windows start popping up. But they weren't readable to him, not at first...just like those windows that had shown him each species the Demon King allowed him to choose from. And like those sigils he had seen in his magic spells when he chanted. But before he could give these other windows a closer look, another one of his own popped up:

Your MP is Overfull.
Your Mana Disorder is beginning to fade, but recovery is not complete...

Meanwhile, as Danny left young Trent behind, he could still feel some of his Mana seeping away. Using what was left of it to recharge the Source Crystal Shard, he got a message of his own.

You have no MP remaining.

Assuming Jason would follow Danny, given the confusion jumble going on in his head, the two would soon disappear into the forest. Trent watched them go...and only once they were completely out of sight, did he turn to the nearest tree. He sheathed his sword and picked up the hand axe, before beginning to chop. Behind him, the cave lay ominously silent, and dark...

And past that treeline towards the south, in the direction of that fire the goblins had apparently caused, there was a bright flash of white light, followed by a deep rumble like low rolling thunder and a tremor in the earth. The smoke lessened somewhat...

Asura hadn't planned for Ardur, or Steve, to interfere until they were all sure on what the bug could do. But the evolved pixie blasted towards the bug and pulled it up by two legs to expose its underbelly. Steve, the spider since Asura technically didn't know its name, stuck a leg and its buzzing wings down. Asura lunged, slamming his body into the beetles, nearly toppling it, but it fell back down. Right on top of Asura. But before he could get another attack in, the sky grew dim.

Wait...that wasn't dimness. Fuck... Was what he thought before Mother Slime came down on top of the beetle with a well placed Smash. Which pushed it down onto him, pinning the both of them beneath her bulk. The bug was already starting to dig, trying to get some space to do...something. Who knew what bugs were thinking. Asura spread himself out, latching onto the legs that were squirming and holding them in place as best he could to minimize its movements.

"No digging for you..." He grunted out before trying to Analyze the monster. He was looking for weak points from his very limited view. He knew its underbelly was soft, it had felt a little squishy when he hit it. Ah fuck it, he'll examine it after it was dead! So he hauled back as best he could, and using the Beetles legs as an anchor, Smashed into its underbelly as hard as he physically could in such tight confines.

You have no MP remaining.

Danny first though was to meditate and thus recharge but he wanted to make he was far away enough from the cave entrance that the humans wouldn't see it as an act of aggression. So he walked East for a while hoping there wasn't any danger. "If you can hear me, please don't drain anymore of magic, I'm completely out." He hoped his invisible companion was both intelligent enough to understand him and willing to listen.

Holding the source crystal in front of one eye he tried if he could the creature like that. Part of him wondered if it was Jason, having come back like he said he would, but he didn't think it was likely due to the lack of telepathy.

---

@Zeroth@Duthguy

"First of all Teef, I'm not dumb, nor a slime, I'm actually a reincarnated human." Jason responded with a pause as he followed Danny, canceling [Mana Drain]. "I guess I never considered that some monsters would be unable to understand the system..."

As Danny took out the source crystal, which somehow seemed... smaller? Jason intentionally hovered before the green object, focusing his mana. He wanted to make his presence more pronounced, in hopes the crystal would register him. And so, he was going to attempt what he saw the knight doing through soul sight, making his mana internally surge and circulate without truly expending any.

A few seconds ticked by as Jason held this state, before releasing it and addressing Teef and Bonie one more as he floated to the ground and activated [Mana Drain] on the earth. "So you two, if you want to see your skills and progress, you say... System, show skill list!"

Hopefully one of Jason's locked skills would be close to returning, as well as the possibility of a new skill being developed. If Jason's suspicions were correct, skill recovery was directly correlated with mana absorption, and time.

Ardur The Mighty Hipixie

Battle Stations! > don't let it escape. /// Adventuring day 4 // Evening / Location - Edge of the forest

Ardur gripped and pulled as hard as he could, digging his heels into the ground as the beetle squirmed in his grasp. He noticed how Steve got a lucky shot or two into its wings and the other legs helping to pin it down further. Then came Asura delivering a good blow to the creature just as something began to glow on its underbelly. For a moment, he forgot about the other slime. That was until the green glob rolled through and over the hole attempting a strong smash attack on the beetle.

The High pixie was unable to tell if the attack delivered the punch it needed to hurt the beetle but it did seem to pin the beetle and Asura under the large slime. Seeing that both of them were pinned under the slime and it looked as though the beetle was attempting to dig its way out, Ardur began to dig. Trying his best to dig his strong hands into the dirt under Mother Slime to attempted to both dislodge her and grab at the beetle to pull it out of the confined space and into the open where they could all attack it at once.

He was sure to only dig under mother slime and the mouth of the small burrow. He wanted to kill and eat the beetle sure but keeping the shelter in good condition was also the objective. Ardur did not want to spend the night out in the open.

@Zeroth
@Kazemitsu

---

The young ratman grinned as the strike had done significant damage to their deadly flying vespid like foe. But one strike was not enough and Mother rat had been repelled before she could do more significant damage. Though at least now the bug only focused on Ed, realizing that he was the greater threat to it. "C'MON AND GET SOME!" Ed roared at the circling bug as it decided to dive right at him, intending to skewer him with it's spear like stinger. Ed knew that his awkward batting position would not do him any good in attacking the dive bombing bug, so he instead focused on it once again with [Beast Sense II]. Hoping to high heaven that whatever caused his perception of time to slow, may it be a hidden skill or simply just the adrenaline causing his brain to go overdrive, would kick in again, and in doing so, give him an advantage on what he wanted to do.

Like before, he would still take an aggressive stance but this time this was only a ruse. He would feign a swing just to cause the bug to react to the false attack, but he would hop backwards at the last second. The bug would be too distracted by reacting to the feign that it would give Asteria and Mother Rat the chance they need to take their foe down.

The travel south was fortunately uneventful for the most part. Aside from gathering supplies and occasionally stopping for a short rest, there wasn’t much that happened. Soon the group came to a stop to set up a temp camp to rest and repair their gear. Orchid spent the better part of her time skinning the hex cat for meat and hide, making use of every bit of its body to make rope, meat, and oil. She made herself a new top out of the raw skin, scouring I of fat and oils with a stone.

Naturally of course, peaceful times would not come so easily. This was a forest after all. One of the goblins alerted her of the presence of an old adversary. Orchid grumbled and stood up, heading over to the growling beast while growling herself. ”Back off everyone! Might be more around here. Watch my back and more importantly watch your ass!” Armed with her Sharp Club and a torch Orchid squared off against the badger. She roared at the beast as she shook her Sharp Club wildly, trying to intimidate it with her animal pacification. And just to make a point she casually set a bush on fire, just to show the extent of her destruction.

”Bring it, bitch! I’m hungry and I’ll eat your face!”

Still gasping for breath, Oberon watched as the burgeoning spell in his hand deflated. Something unusual had been happening in the moments before he had realised he had been holding his breath, before he had broken his concentration; there had been something there, just escaping his grasp while still being within his reach, as he felt like he was walking a fine line between mediation and wakefulness. Was he imagining it?

He efforts had borne some kind of fruit, as his Mana Orb had begun to change shape and form once more, taking on a more ethereal appearance and airy quality to it; it had appeared flimsy, but it was still incomplete and he felt like he hadn’t seen its final shape before it had dissipated. Had he been successful is drawing Mana from the air then? Had that fine line between concentration and thoughtlessness allowed him to extract only the Mana he wanted from the surrounding environment and send it to the sphere instead of absorbing it? Or had he found something else in the middle of his experiments yet again?

“System: Open skills tab.”



Earth Wall, Aqua Sphere, Mana Drain and Wind Break; those were the four new skills which appeared on his list of incomplete skills. Aqua Sphere was obviously the name of whatever his Mana Orb was becoming when bathed in the stream and apparently he had inadvertently earned some progress towards Earth Wall when his Wall had sunk into the ground; speaking of which, his Wall skill had progressed considerably despite his feeling like he had not made much headway.

The two skills that most caught Oberon’s attention then, were the last two. Wind Break was the name of the diffuse, spinning orb that his Mana Orb had become, though unfortunately the name didn’t give him any indication of what kind of spell it would become aside from its elemental leanings. Mana Drain; was that because he had tried to draw Mana from the air, rather than simply opening himself up to the ambient Mana that surrounded him? A more direct method of replenishing his reserves apparently, one that would probably let his steal Mana from objects or creatures. Interesting. Less useful than Meditation for general use, but it could probably be used in combat whereas Meditation couldn’t and had the bonus of potentially denying an opponent access to their spells if he stole enough.

As he was thinking things over, Oberon began to look around the camp and came to the realisation that he was still alone. How long had it been since the others left? How long had he been asleep for that matter? Looking to the sky it seemed to still be light out, still a ways from nightfall at least, but with the trees surrounding him it was hard to see exactly where the sun was. Should he go look for them?

Taking flight, Oberon flew away from their camp, initially following Digbie’s trail of rock spires only to find they quickly ran out and following the general direction they had been heading after that. He kept himself a reasonable distance off of the ground as he flew, to make it harder for grounded creatures to ambush him, and used his Keen Sight to scan the area for signs of trouble or his allies. The Sprite relied on his Alert skill to warn him of any unnoticed dangers and cast a level 1 Shield on himself for extra security.



@Zeroth

You used Monster Analysis I!
---Flak Beetle---
An aggressive insectoid known for the glowing sac hidden under its shell. The shell hides a gland in the bug's thorax that, similar to a firefly, contains a substance that produces light. Unlike the firefly, the Flak Beetle can use this substance as a weapon, firing it with explosive force from either end of its body. It also has strong jaws, capable of cutting through leather given enough time. Despite its tendency to viciously attack almost anything, it only eats plants.
---Analysis Completed!---

Despite such limited confines, Asura’s pseudopods shot out and wrapped around the enemy’s segmented feet. His amorphous body and shapeshifting skills were coming in handy, giving him an almost 2-dimensional ability to move despite the ultra cramped quarters. The bug, on the other hand, had been trying to dig its way out--but now it was trapped. Though he didn’t have much room to draw back, like a boxer firing a punch from the elbow without being able to use their shoulders or hips, he risked using the Smash skill in the hope that he had enough Stamina recovered. And the red energy answered him with a crackle.

Momma Slime’s body lurched momentarily, her membrane rippling as the impact underneath her let out a dull thud. Ardur was already trying to dig through the edge of the burrow around her, and when Asura’s attack shifted her weight the buff Hipixie was able to thrust his arms deep into the ground. Grasping fingers latched onto the first thing they felt, despite not being able to see...and with a grunt he hauled the Flak Beetle out! Asura trailed behind it, still holding onto its legs, and they “popped” out from under Momma Slime before coming down in an entangled heap.

The beetle landed on its back, its soft and pale underside showing a crack in the exoskeleton where Asura struck it. With a shrill creen its legs lashed back and forth, struggling to tear off the remnants of Steve’s web as its mandibles clicked frantically. The Oculus Spider in question pounced at this moment, using several of her own legs to pin the creature before it could roll over. With a crunch she sank her fangs into the beetle’s abdomen--before recoiling suddenly. A small spark of flame singed the hairs around her head and caused her to close half of her eyes as she withdrew. From the wounds her teeth left the Flak Beetle was bleeding something that looked blue at first, before turning clear in the air almost like gasoline--and in small flashes that only lasted a moment, this substance was igniting!

“SAID, MASH, DUM BUG!”

When Momma Slime’s pseudopod--roughly the size and shape of a small sack of topapoes--came down on the beetle this time, it once again crackled with the light of power. But there was something else different too. When she had figured it out was anyone’s guess, but the swollen end of that extended tendril also contained a membrane pouch--which tightly held five slender, brittle needles made of bone, their tips poking out of her “fist” like a morning star.

Watching an insect be crushed to death through the lense of a blue, cloudy semi-fluid was quite an interesting experience, if one could separate their frame of mind from the adrenaline fueled rush of a battle for pure survival to enjoy it.

The following WOOSH of flames rapidly igniting, however, was less interesting and far more worrisome.

The spilling fluid of the bug was now all over Momma Slime, and as soon as she had lifted her pseudopod it had come into contact with oxygen. It burst into bright red and orange flame, and the heat all around the party soon grew palpable.

“Ahsoowa, hewwp!” Momma Slime began flailing wildly, still stuck in the hole and unable to stop the flames from spreading over her body. At the moment it seemed the beetle’s bodily fluid was still burning, like coating one’s hand in alcohol, but soon it would be covering most of the big slime, and they could already see her membrane starting to redden...

---

Current Skills:
Physical Damage Resistance I (1.0)(0.1)
Warcry II (2.175)(0.1)
Stone Shot II (2.6625)(0.1)
Rock Spire II (2.075)(0.1)
Tremor Sense II (2.425)(0.2)
Soil Manipulation I (1.15)(0.2)
Telepathy II (2.725)(0.3)
Material Analysis I (1.2)(0.1)
Magic Analysis I (1.55)(0.2)
Monster Analysis I (1.55)(0.2)
Mental Resistance I (1.55)(0.2)
Charisma I (1.15)(0.1)
Focus I (1.3) 0.5
Limited Shapeshift I (1.6) 0.3
Mind Wave I (1.2)(0.1)
Spell Chant I (1.3)0.3
Bounce I (1.15)(0.1)
Faster I (1.05)(0.1)
Blunt Resistance I (1.0)(0.1)
Spiritual Awareness I (1.55)
Transparency I (1.2)
Taboo I (1.9)
Levitate (--)
Guidance I (1.1)
Mana Drain I (1.15)
<UNUSABLE>
Earth Affinity (0.7) <CANNOT BE INCREASED BY SKILL POINTS>
Wave Shock (0.1)
Swift Swimmer (0.1) <UNUSABLE WITH CURRENT ABILITIES>
Aqua Sphere (0.7)
Alert (0.1)
Smash (0.5) <UNUSABLE WITH CURRENT ABILITIES>
Cleave (0.3) <UNUSABLE WITH CURRENT ABILITIES>
Blood Drain (0.7)
Muffle (0.1)
Crafting (0.3) <UNUSABLE WITH CURRENT ABILITIES>
Magic Resistance (0.6)
Agriculture (0.3)
Plant Analysis (0.3)
Acid Spit (0.5) <UNUSABLE WITH CURRENT ABILITIES>
Fire Resistance (0.4)
Fortify (0.2)
Sensory Resistance (0.4)
Mana Orb (0.5)
Shield (0.5)
Alchemy (0.4)
Meditate (1.05)<UNUSABLE IN CURRENT STATE>
Air Read (0.4)
Keen Sight (0.2)
Point Strike (0.2) <UNUSABLE WITH CURRENT ABILITIES>
Doze (0.1)
Acid Resistance (0.1)
Rabid Fit (0.1)
Pierce Resistance (0.8)
Lesser Cleanse (0.2)
Dextrous (0.2)
Quicken (0.3)
Earth Wall (0.1)
Stone Breaker (0.1) <UNUSABLE WITH CURRENT ABILITIES>
Iron Gullet (0.1) <UNUSABLE WITH CURRENT ABILITIES>
Slash Resistance (0.2)
Earth Vein (0.3) <UNUSABLE WITH CURRENT ABILITIES>
Mana Sense (0.75)
Mana Shape (0.1)
Possession (0.35)
Lesser Force (0.1)
---End Skill List---

MP is temporarily Overfull…
Your Mana Disorder is subsiding.
You still have Mana Burn. Natural Mana Recovery is no longer disabled, but is still reduced by 50%.

”Slime IS dum! Humans dum too! You double dum! Not fair, how you get so many things?!”
“Ja-Soon, are all dese...Skeelz? Like, da spells, and da speshul attacks strong monstahs got? Why DO yas got so many…?”

When Jason brought up his System window, it overlapped the other windows that had started to pop up--and several of these began to close by themselves as Bonie and Teef questioned him. But now, the System started to do something it had never done before...the mental “window” began to…”move.” To continue describing it in the terms of a computer...it was if a mouse cursor had taken hold of it, and was dragging it around the screen…

”Bah! I bets I gots more den dum slime! Sees-Tim, show Skeelz list!”
”Sis-tem, show Skeel list!”

Two of the windows floated closer in Jason’s consciousness...and by this point those strange symbols had begun to shift into letters he knew...

Elder Goblin
Job System 0th Tier: Voodooist
Unspent Skill Points: 90

Current Skills:
Use Light Equipment (--)
Smash II (2.025)
Skewer III (3.00375)
Crafting IV (4.025125)
First Aid IV (4.0525)
Alchemy I (1.0525)
Blunt Resistance II (2.00375)
Pierce Resistance I (1.075)
Magic Resistance I (1.5125)
Poison Resistance III (3.4125)
*Lucid Dream I (1.3375)
*(Better) Spiritual Awareness V (MAX)
Guidance II (2.625)
Mana Orb II (2.075)
Transparency I (1.2)
Levitate (--)
*Mana Drain I (1.15)
<UNUSABLE>
Slash Resistance (0.800625)
Faster (0.501125)
Mana Shape (0.0125)
Meditate (0.15)
Focus (0.7625)
Charisma (0.8965)
Intimidate (0.025625)
Deception (0.99925)
Charm (0.00525)
Material Analysis (0.5625)
Plant Analysis (0.725)

Immature Goblin
Unspent Skill Points: 5

Current Skills:
Use Light Equipment (--)
Skewer I (1.00125)
Crafting I (1.0)
<UNUSABLE>
Blunt Resistance (0.05)
Pierce Resistance (0.025)

”NO FAIR! Youse guys lemme have summa yer skeelz!”
“Don’t tink it be workin’ like dat, youngling...Ja-Soon, what do it say?”

Jason’s own System window wasn’t being tugged around anymore, but the other two were still moving here and there in the back of his mind...But now, he felt the sensation of eyes on him, as Danny peered at him through a shard of a Source Crystal.

You used Source Crystal Shard!
---Ecto Slime ?V50Z---
You are slightly stronger and faster than this creature. It has slightly more MP than you. You currently cannot physically interact with it. You feel uneasy around it. It seems familiar…? It is unusual.
Possesses Spell Skill: Mana Drain
Possesses Other Skills: Spiritual Awareness, Transparency, Levitate, Guidance…
The uneasy feeling is caused by Other Skill: Taboo
---Charge Empty---

You have no MP remaining with which to charge the Source Crystal Shard.

Like looking at a powdery substance dropped into a glass of water, Danny could just barely make out Jason’s form through the green-hued, uncut lens he held to his eye. To him it seemed like a misshapen, cloudy gray blob...though occasionally, it seemed to spin in place like a globe suspended in space. Instead of seeing the shapes of continents or countries, however, Danny could occasionally make out “faces.” One of them seemed almost human. Two were small, one wrinkled and one not, but both much more pointed and vicious than a human face. And the last wasn’t really a face so much as a shape--a circle and a triangle, like a pointed hat.

They could hear the sounds of chopping behind them, and further to the south they saw another brief flash of light and heard a less ominous rumble. If they kept going east, they would soon leave the humans behind...but the goblins had gone this way as well, hadn’t they…?

---

You have Processed an Item: Dead Hex Cat + Sharp Stone
Obtained Items by Carving: Hex Cat Pelt (Average), Raw Hex Cat Meat (12 pounds), Hex Cat Bones (Varying Quality), Hex Cat Organs (Varying Quality), Raw Oily Fat (Below Average)
You used Crafting IV!
You Processed an Item: Hex Cat Pelt (Average) + Sharp Stone
Hex Cat Pelt (Average) > (Good)
You Created an Item!
Hex Cat Pelt (Good) + Hex Cat Fang x2 (Above Average) + Raw Tendon Cord (Below Average)
Your Crafting level has prevented your item from deteriorating.
Your item’s quality has been boosted.

You created: Hex Fur Shirt (Good)!
You feel tougher wearing this equipment. Though the Hex Cat is a Cursed and Dark creature, you somehow feel less threatened by these elements.

Skill Rank Up: Crafting IV (4.735) > Crafting V (MAX)!
Stamina Depletion Decreased. Sub-Stat Enhancements Increased. Whether it be the limitation of your species in physical body, mind, or some other factor, you have reached the limit of this Skill. Some Skills may further develop into more specialized Skills...or, through surpassing other limitations, you may find a way to make this skill even Better...

With basic raw materials found in your environment, your ability to process and create items is now limited only by your imagination and the surroundings! A historian might say, you are at the peak of your personal Stone Age...but now what will you build?

Within the materials the other Goblins brought her, Orchid found a sharp stone with which to begin her gristly work. This was, of course, before the badger showed up, during a short rest. Crispy had been steadily munching on the Healing Herbs wrapping his injured arm, then rubbing the paste into his skin. The swelling had gone down tremendously, and he was even beginning to get some mobility back in his fingers and wrist. He still had quite the scabs and bruises to go with it, however, and it looked like it might leave a pretty nasty scar. He watched Orchid closely as she worked, while the others either dug some grubs or munched on Argeps. Several of them stayed alert, however, and Bigs traded Clod the Sharp Stone he had found for the Small Stones he could use in his sling. Though he had to run and find his ammunition every time he used it, his practice on a large tree nearby was starting to show some results. Jezee and Sqwal seemed almost too tired to go on, as the evening deepened and the red light filtered down through the canopy.

Cutting the cat open from its...well, rearmost opening, and traveling up through the belly all the way to the chest and under the neck on both sides, Orchid was able to start peeling away the hide. She had to slice through bits of fat and skin and the thin membrane holding it to the red, raw, bloody muscle underneath in a process that took a little time. Once this was done she still had to work the hide off of the body, making slits and holes here and there with careful strokes so as not to ruin the whole thing. Once the hide was off she threw it over a tree branch while she cut the rest of the beast up, mostly to get at the meat and bones. Its innards, too, could be removed, but to figure out what she could do with this, as well as some of the other less obvious parts of the beast, she would have to take a closer look at it and do some more thinking. When this was done, she went back to the hide and once again began the slow scraping and rubbing process, using a piece of curved tree bark as a temporary bowl to hold the growing wad of fatty, waxy substances coming off of it.

By the time she was finished the hide stank to high heaven, and it wasn’t quite dry of blood or anything else, but it was usable. Wrapping it diagonally around herself, she draped the head over one shoulder. The main body went over one shoulder and across her back, then wrapped under her arm to cross her chest, for the first time giving her a proper sense of modesty unlike that strip of Dire Rat fur. A little bit of the body section was left to go to the middle of her back in a second wrap, and past that she had to stretch the rear legs around, tying them with the tail to make a sort of triple belt around her midriff. The forelegs came down diagonally across her chest to tie into this belt, giving her a place to possibly hang more pouches or help support the weight of any weapons hung at her hips. Despite the gamey smell and a few wet, clingy spots here and there...it actually felt fairly cozy.

“Oi! Lotsa berries ovah here!” shouted Wej, and the other goblins hurried to grab some of the Blue Argeps he pointed out. But as they gathered around the bushes, a deep growl came from the shadows of another tree…

“ARMOR BADGER!” yelled Bigs, pointing frantically.

Naturally of course, peaceful times would not come so easily. This was a forest after all. One of the goblins alerted her of the presence of an old adversary. Orchid grumbled and stood up, heading over to the growling beast while growling herself. ”Back off everyone! Might be more around here. Watch my back and more importantly watch your ass!” Armed with her Sharp Club and a torch Orchid squared off against the badger. She roared at the beast as she shook her Sharp Club wildly, trying to intimidate it with her animal pacification. And just to make a point she casually set a bush on fire, just to show the extent of her destruction. ”Bring it, bitch! I’m hungry and I’ll eat your face!”

This time, Orchid didn’t cower behind a shield to make herself look smaller. She roared, she waved her weapon, she stared the beast down. She even moved closer to it, a clear sign of threat. The Armored Badger actually backed up a few steps, baring its teeth and snarling. When the Demiblin lit the bush on fire, the creature circled away from the blaze, but kept its beady, glittering eyes on her at all times. It wasn’t quite what one would call “pacified,” but it couldn’t seem to decide whether or not to actually fight…

“It’s scared, kills it!” Bigs crowed, whirling his sling and letting fly. The stone pinged the badger right on top of the armored plate on its head--and actually made the creature yelp in pain! The multiplicative force of such a weapon, even when made from plain braided grass fibers, was not to be underestimated.

Neither was an angry badger. The creature let out a roar and charged Bigs, who immediately let out a high pitched scream and ran behind Wej as the stouter goblin raised his shield--revealing his knees as they knocked together and he, too, screamed.

“Fireball!”

Crispy had a good shot at the creature, and not only was it too heavy to dodge like the Hex Cats, it was also too focused on eviscerating the minions to even think of such a thing. But the bright flare made it clear that this was Crispy’s trump card, Fireball II. As did the explosion on impact, which caught Wej and Bigs in its crossfire. Both of them yelped and threw themselves to the ground, rolling to put out what few flames had caught their hides. The Armored Badger had been knocked to one side, and shook its head with a low groan as it blinked its eyes against the intense light.

“Yaaaagh!”

Clod came down on the creature from a blindspot at its flank, swinging his Stone Sword with both hands. The heavy blades had been sharpened to an especially keen edge--Clod had spent most of the day working on it before they left the clearing, after all. The weight of the weapon, and all Clod’s scrawny strength, focused into such a blade was surprisingly effective, actually cutting through the scaly hide that armored the monstrous beast’s tail-end! It stumbled forward with the force of the blow, towards Orchid. It roared in fury, and raised one broad paw tipped with hard black claws--!

---

By taking to the air, Oberon would quickly find Torrent and Digbie as the latter crossed the stream. After all, down the stream bed and along its banks, the landscape was fairly clear save for the intertwining treetops overhead. With his Keen Sight, despite the two being a few minutes’ walk away he immediately spotted them. Slightly glowing with the aura of his Shield, his wings fluttered and he took off. By the time he got to them, much faster than if he had walked, Digbie had completely healed Torrent with his Sacred Ground spell, though it had drained a good chunk of his MP. Torrent’s Meditation had recovered a good chunk of her own magical power, but not all of it quite yet.

As the three got each other caught up on what they had been doing, they soon felt a rumbling in the earth. Digbie, being the most sensitive to vibrations within the ground, would be able to tell that someone--probably Ash, since she also had the skill--was causing these tremors. And by simply following these for a short while, this hypothesis proved correct. Ash’s Tremor Sense was easily picked up on, and once they found her the situation was rather self explanatory. Or rather, it explained one of the tremors, from a particular direction. Because from another direction, there was another set of tremors. These, however, were not like radar waves or a magical pulse.

From over a hill, and now rumbling down towards the monsters, came an autumn-orange Slime! But...Slimes weren’t supposed to be that big, were they? Even that blue one back in the cave had only been half this size! This one was a Giant...and it was headed right for them!

---

@Zeroth@Duthguy

Though pretty happy to see that his skills were returning, Jason was astonished by what he saw on Bonie's screen. 90 SKILL POINTS??? She had to be at least level 19!!! "Correct, these are spells, special attacks, and so much more... Honestly Bonie, I don't belong in this world, especially not as a monster.... So I think, that in a way, the rules and limitations of species, and usage of the system don't fully apply to me." he responded to Bonie's earlier question. Then, gathering mana at tip of a pseudopod, Jason attempted to form a mana orb several times; reabsorbing the energy with [Mana Drain] rather than firing it off each time, as he read the Elder goblin's skill list out loud, but pausing for a moment upon reaching [Lucid Dream] and [Guidence] skills. If goblins really progressed as slowly as Bonie's skill list suggested, she must've prayed and had these 'lucid dreams' pretty often. "Bonie, tell me a bit about these dreams you had, and what you prayed to while you were alive." After listening to her response, he continued through reading her the rest of the skill list.

Knowing that that he was going to be waiting for Danny to regain his mana, Jason extended a pseudopod into the earth below him, searching and probing for this "Earth Vein" that Jason assumed he could draw mana from. After a bit of fidgeting around, trying to locate the earth's power; and consequently tap into it in a similar fashion as he had with the rat, an idea struck the slime. "Hey Bonie, I need you to say 'System: Describe (Better) Spiritual Awareness V, and how it was gained.' That'll give us even more information on how we can bring ourselves more fully into the real world."

As he awaited a response, Jason attempted to meditate once again, since he could once more regenerate mana naturally.

Asura felt the Flak Beetles exoskeleton crack and give slightly from that in close Smash. If he had more room he'd have probably crushed it. Before he could wind up for another blow he was suddenly dragged out along with the Beetle. Sky, Beetle, then Ardur was revealed to have been the pulling culprit. Honestly Asura would have preferred to stay in the narrow confines where the Beetle had literally no chance to fight back. Still, he was out and had to deal with it now. But the Beetle was trying to get the webbing of the Spider off instead of trying to right itself.

Steve zipped in and gave it a good bite, before backing off as a spark of flames popped up. Uh oh...Bombadier type of beetle? He thought questioningly before Mother Slime got fed up. She had remembered his plan from when Rattleskull still lived to use the bones as weapons. The had made herself a morningstar essentially and crushed the Flak Beetle quite dead. "Ardur, Steve, get back!" He exclaimed, actually shoving the pair away as the older slime lifted her cudgel. The chemicals of the insect caught fire with oxygen and was spreading from the corpse and had covered Mother Slime when she squished it. She obviously yelled for him to help since fire, nearly feral being, no mix goodly.

Lunging forward he spread himself out to blanket Mother Slime to smother the flames with his own liquid-like body. "Smother it! Kick dirt onto this shit! He yelled while also trying to absorb the substance into himself while trying to put the flames out on the trapped Mother Slime. Why she didn't 'suck it in' like she had before when he was being attacked in a Dire Rat tunnel he didn't know. But she was simple minded, so he was trying to do what he could to help her.

Ardur The Mighty Hipixie

don't let it escape. > We didn't start the fire /// Adventuring day 4 // Evening / Location - Edge of the forest

Ardur was pleased with himself when he pulled the beetle free of the hole. Maybe eventually they would be better coordinated but he supposed this worked for now. The beetle soon attempted to get off its back but Steve was quick to pin it down once more. Apparently, there was a weak spot on its belly or maybe a crack in its armor, he was not entirely sure. Watching the friendly spider sink its teeth into the abdomen only to shrink back almost immediately with a small fire appearing at the bite. What a strange occurrence, fire based attacks wasn’t something Steve could do.

Next seeing Mother Slime come at the beetle with a mighty swing. It was only after she began her swing did he realize that it was the beetle that was the source of the flame. He couldn’t do anything to warn her instead he was pushed back by Asura as the larger slime began to ignite with the bugs juices. Acting quickly, the high pixie pushed the corpse of the beetle over onto its belly and away from the slime.

Looking to Steve who seemed to be watching he called out to her, “Steve make sure you watch our backs and make sure to alert us to anything that investigates us.” He knew very well, there wasn’t a lot she could do but there was a lot he could do. Moving to the mouth of the burrow and picking up the loose moist earth from the tunneling beetle, Ardur moved quickly piling more and more dirt onto the currently burning large slime. Patting at the burning liquid with clumps of dirt while also trying to brush it off knowing that he still had Fire Resistance I to work with.

@Zeroth
@Kazemitsu