@Stabby@Zeroth

Femus took his shot and finished off the rat. But, it was an expensive gamble. He was betting his life that the pixie girl wouldn't hurt him before he could recover his mana. He was also betting on nothing else wanting to take advantage of his obvious weakness as his strength vanished and he began to drift down to the ground.

You have no MP remaining.

There was nothing he could do, he couldn't even move. So he began to meditate immediately, focusing on rapidly recovering his mana. In fact, he was feeling a little impatient and concentrated on trying to draw in the mana around him in a vortex. He hoped to create a more rapid suction force to speed his recovery. Thankfully, he landed on soft leaves and moss where he settled like an over sized snowflake.

However, he didn't have much time to work on this alternate technique.

In spite of the rat's size, the pixie girl only took a few minutes to drag it over to where he sat on a bed of moss ringed by disturbed leaves. And, true to form for girls in general, she immediately tried to start a conversation while eating.

At least her voice wasn't hard on the ears. Still, it broke his concentration instantly and ended his meditation. Femus took a moment to use Monster Analysis on her again, mostly for practice but also to see if he could perceive how magic flowed through a pixie's body, while gathering his thoughts.

"My name is Femus." The greenish wisp said calmly, keeping his voice low and even to minimize the chances of the two of them being overheard. "And what is your name, miss?"

He sought for the tiny strands of power that he would need to use Lesser Force to get a bite of fresh meat. He hoped that he had managed to gather enough power in his few minutes of meditation for that at least. Otherwise... he'd need to put of the conversation until he could hungrily meditate enough to be able to feed himself. Levitation would likely take more meditation but he wanted to grab at least a bite or two before he focused on regaining his mana. At least his glow was minimized in his mana depleted state. It made him a much smaller target and far harder to see, thanks to his coloring.

---

---

Asteria picked up the two Nullven, curling her tail around the plant bundle, when an explosion roared into being. The dire rat peered into the distance, observing the light as it struck the mountain. Though she was certain she’d get no info once again, she strained her eyes to get a good look at it and used Magical Analysis on it. Then, convinced the humans would be distracted by the loud rumble, bright flash and following smoke, as well as the minor tremors caused by the explosion, she quietly traversed back to their base. However, as she did not know the humans’ positions, she did not go straight back; instead, she weaved her way through the grass left and right, slowly spiraling back in the general direction of their mini dugout. She switched her beastly senses to hearing, wary of the slightest rustle – both on her part, as that might redirect the humans’ attention back to her, as on the part of the humans, for the obvious reasons. It was likely that more of them made their way of the village to investigate the explosion – similarly to how they’d done with the magic that’d put out the flames previously.

Hopefully though, this latest incident would mean they wouldn’t care to look for a trio of rats and the possessions they’d stolen from them. When she was close to their base, Asteria closed in with exceeding caution. If any of the humans were still nearby, she’d wait in cover or even distance herself, but if not, then she had to hurry over there and make and antidote for Mother rat. Awaiting such opportunity in tense silence, Asteria darted to the hole as soon as she judged that the humans were far away and distracted enough by the explosive distraction. She quickly took the remaining Medicinal salve, mixed in one Nullven, and applied the Antidotal salve to mother’s poisoned injury. She crouched lowly by the hole, intensely inspecting the other dire rat, while also flicking her gaze here and there, paranoid of any unwelcome surprises.

---

Miiba wimpered a little when Gwen hugged her, tearing up and standing there hugging her back her face buried in her motherly embrace. It reminded her of home, of her own mother, and it struck a chord within Miiba that just made her feel even more homesick. But the show of affection was just what the little goblin girl needed after all she had been through recently. Soon, she would pull away and hold Miiba by the shoulders to speak with her eye to eye. Miiba would take a second to try to stop snffiling and wipe her eyes. "Miiba work hard, promise."

Miiba started to recompose herself as Gwen elaborated on the large white bird Miiba followed here. "Guild-hawk," Miiba mimicked as she noted the bird's name. She then listened to what else Gwen had to say about Lear, listening intently. There was no story, but Miiba could imagine Lear going on grand adventures in the suit of armor that was displayed, doing all sorts of great deeds. When she mentioned that he might be able to find someone that could help her eyes lit up. "Maybe Mr. Lear find person to help Miiba get home?" but her question came without answer as an enormous explosion sounded off.

It sent everyone into a fright, many shouted out or screamed , Miiba included, but the sound of the explosion drowned out most of it at first. Miiba hit the floor close to Gwen's feet and covered er head, shaking in fear. She wanted to cry out for her own mother, but she knew that she wasn't there. "W-what big boom!? she cried out, slightly muffled as her head was still buried beneath her arms on the floor.

You are Crafting an Item!
You've Processed an Item: Rubber Frog Bone + Pygmy Drake Claws
Your material is brittle, it may degrade during Processing.
Your Crafting I skill prevented item degradation!
Processed Bone Spearhead.
You've Processed an Item: Rubber Frog Intestine + Water
Processed Rubber Frog Intestine.
You've Processed an Item: Fresh Tree Branch + Pygmy Drake Claws
Your methods are advanced compared to your materials, effectiveness boosted.
Processed Carved Tree Branch.

Bone Spearhead + Carved Tree Branch + Mana Crystal + Rubber Frog Intestine + Rubber Frog Tongue

Your methods are advanced compared to your materials, effectiveness boosted.
You are missing certain skills required for some components, effectiveness greatly decreased.
Your Crafting I skill prevented some item degradation.
Some materials have not been thoroughly processed, they may degrade over time.

Crafting complete!
Obtained Item: Mana Bone Spear!

You used Magic Analysis II! You used Material Analysis II! You used Mana Sense I! You used Mana Vision I!
---Mana Bone Spear (Average)---
This weapon features a Mana Crystal in its construction. The Mana Crystal has not been truly incorporated into the item, and it has no proper enchantments. Only the Energy element is present, though in a slightly larger quantity. The weapons' components were an Above Average wooden shaft, an Average blade made from bone, and Below Average cordage made from organic tissues that had not been dried or treated with preservatives. The craftsmanship is above average, however, given the quality and type of these materials. This weapon is stronger than its base components, and its reach and leverage allow for faster strikes. The Mana Crystal will be consumed upon usage, but could restore the User's magical power, or increase a spell's effectiveness when used as a focus. Once consumed, the Mana Crystal will not recharge. The weapon can still be enchanted, but an enchantment charge will not restore the use of the Mana Crystal.
STRUCTURE:
UNABLE TO ANALYZE STRUCTURE. ERROR: LOW RANK. ERROR: LACK OF DATA.

Ash's newly created staff-slash-spear looked about as one might imagine it to look, save that the organic cordage she had used--while wrapped and tied tightly--was still a little, so to say, drippy. Maybe once it dried it wouldn't look that much different from leather, but at the moment it was still very fresh. In any case, however, given what the system told her it seemed that adding some kind of enchantment to an object or turning it into a magical conduit was a little more complex than this. Still, at the least she had a pointy object to stab things with now...though she still lacked opposable thumbs. She could hold it with Lesser Force, but fighting with it seemed it would require too much fine manipulation for an object of this weight. Maybe if Lesser Force were stronger she could manage it, or maybe if she only used large, sweeping motions that didn't require a lot of precision. She could put her new Prehensile Tail skill to use, but even so she couldn't manipulate it like she could with five separate fingers.

Outside the shelter, Torrent could feel her mana moving when she tried to use the air and ice breath attacks, but so far the skills weren't triggering a lot of visible indicators. Her forceful breath rippled the waters of the little stream, but despite puffing up her lungs to full capacity and then some it didn't seem like she could produce anything more than a hard gasp. Still, she could feel her magical power flowing through the breath just like it did with the gaseous poison, and with the flames. But it was too light, it seemed like. Air was...well, airy. As much of it as she tried to draw in, it was still just air. Unless you were made of paper, someone blowing really hard wasn't going to do much to you. So...what solution was there? To just keep trying it out, maybe develop whatever magical "muscles" were needed for these things? Or was there another method she could use?

For her attempt at making an icy skill, she found that her inner visualization brought on an almost palpable chill. The numbness of her past, the prick of icy needles on her skin, the dark nights speckled with floating white powder...When she breathed out, her breath took on a fog. But it wasn't her fog breath--it floated up and away, dissolving so quick as to be instant in the light and heat of the sun. Her body shivered, an instinctual reaction to bringing up all those memories. When she made another attempt, remembering her poison breath, again she produced a cold fog, like the vapor from her breath when she used to puff on her trembling, frost-bitten hands in front of a rusted out barrel full of burning junk.

Despite this stronger response, however, this skill too hadn't yet triggered.

Downstream, Oberon continued his own practice. After much thought, he came to the conclusion of allowing the Mana Orb to break apart, but then seize each piece and try to hold them together. Mentally he pictured it like a fluttering cloud of flower petals. So after his internal analysis, he created another Mana Orb and began to infuse it with the magic in the surrounding air. As it began to spin, he kept track of one particular "petal," and when it began to drift away he tried to redirect it with his will. Another piece broke away and he did the same, then another. Again the processes repeated, but as Oberon tried to redirect each of these pieces he found that each one had deviated from its original spin just a bit--the direction, or the speed, or the angle, something was different each time, and as he tried to keep them centered in his palm--

There was a sudden snap and whistle, like a gale through the trees, and Oberon lost concentration as pain lanced his hand. A small wound, no worse than a papercut, had formed on his palm. A single drop of blood oozed to the surface of his skin. The Mana Orb, of course, had dispersed--and in doing so, those "petals" he imagined had broken free and gone their separate ways. What had happened? Had he intensified the power too much? Or was it something to do with trying to hold the petals in while they tried to escape? Maybe, when they were trying to go in those different directions, it was like...a miniature tornado? Weren't those formed when two different currents of air collided? Of course, the Sprite wasn't moving nearly that much air in terms of quantity, nor was he moving it anywhere near that speed. But, each of those petals had been moving in a different direction...focused around a singular "focus point," and then the air pressure had just...snapped? What could all of this mean?

---

NOTE: INFORMATION OVERLOAD, INFORMATION OUT OF DATE

Name:
Digbie Yondir

Gender:
Male

Species:
Goblin > Mystic Stone-Hardened Demigoblin

Appearance:
It's your standard goblin, though he has a far weaker chin than most goblins. Honestly, he just looks like a really short human with green skin, a long and pointy nose, and pointed ears. He has hair, but it's only growing right above the middle of his head like a mohawk, and it refuses to spread anywhere else on his head. It's actually kinda long.

Goals:
Help whoever needs help (namely the Demon King), and find a legendary shovel to help people with.

Past Life:
Digbie didn't really have a life. It was more or less just a collection of him existing and being somebody that he couldn't tell people about. His dad said something about how his mom was still around and he loved her, but Digbie never saw her. He suspected that she was in the back room of his old house, where it smelled, was obnoxiously cold from an under-draft, and always buzzed like flies, but he wasn't ever allowed in there.

Early on in his life, Digbie liked to play around in the backyard with his trusty shovel, digging around everywhere and getting into gardening (though he was never any good at the latter.) When he wasn't at school, he was probably digging a hole in his backyard. It helped him cope with the skulls of people in his room when his dad was apparently 'done' with them. Digbie couldn't understand, and he didn't understand why he came home sometimes to find his holes covered up. At first it scared him, but he grew out of it.

He was around 14 or so, making somewhat respectable grades at his school and a pretty smart fellow at face value, when his dad got mad at him. He made a low grade in his history class. His dad yelled at him and cast him to the bathroom while he thought about how to punish his bastard of a son. Digbie was scared, but Digbie was also smart and didn't break the bathroom to worsen the punishment. His dad settled on turning his hobby into a punishment, and after feeding him a good meal, sent Digbie to the backyard to dig a hole and find a bone in the backyard, but he had to find a bone in a spot of the yard where he had never dug before.

Digbie began to dig a hole on Sunday.

The authorities found his body in the hole two Saturdays later.

He actually got pretty far.

Abilities:
**Use Light Equipment (--)
Tremor Sense III (3.225)
-Soil Manipulation II (2.825)
Stone Shot II (2.0)
Taboo I (1.0)
*Stronger I (1.5)
**Sacred Ground II (2.1)
Rock Spire II (2.2)
Earth Affinity I (1.3)
Meditate I (1.5)
Earth Vein II (2.325)
-Spell Chant I (1.025)
Monster Analysis I (1.175)
Material Analysis I (1.725)
Plant Analysis I (1.2525)
*Mental Resistance I (1.1)
Fortify I (1.1)
*Mana Orb (1.7)
**Shield II (2.25)
Overwork I (1.75)
Mana Affinity I (1.0)
Magic Analysis I (1.675)
Analysis (--)
**Earth Wall I (1.8)
*Minor Heal I (1.15)
Guidance I (1.3)
<UNUSABLE>
Quake (0.5)
Crafting (0.8)
*Point Strike (0.6)
*Smash (0.6)
Throw Item (0.2)
Charisma (0.1)
*Mana Strike (0.3)
Focus (0.1)
Stone Fist (0.6)
*Stone Breaker (0.2)
Intimidate (0.2)
-Scribe (0.2)
*Fire Resistance (0.3)
Demon Affinity (0.25)
Underground Movement (0.5)
**Use Medium Equipment (0.2)
Faster (0.1)
Alert (0.1)
Dual Cast (0.5)
Pacify Animal (0.1)

Transformations:
Goblin > Demigoblin

Inventory:
The Windy Shovel - A shovel made out of pure air.
<EQUIPPED - HEAD> Blessed White Yill Flower
<EQUIPPED - BACK> Makeshift Robe <Below Average>
<EQUIPPED - REAR> Grass Skirt <Poor>
<EQUIPPED - HAND> Curved RockTM
<EQUIPPED - ARMS> Battle-Scarred Shield <Average - BROKEN>
<EQUIPPED - FEET> Woven Sandals <Above Average - Slightly Broken>

[+] <Ratskin PackTM> and <Discarded Satchel> (TOTAL INVENTORY SLOTS - 12 / 17)
- <Woodland PickTM>
- <Common Prayers to Jehanne> {Poor - Heavily Damaged}
- <Cushiwog Mushrooms> x5
- <Blue Yill> x3
- <Tomahawk Head>
- <Maiden Effigy>
- <Scattered Coins>
- 3 Gol, 2 Sil, 8 Copp, (so basically 3.28)
- <Chipped Shank> {Well Made - BROKEN}

Your HP is Full.
Your MP is Depleting Slowly due to Passive Skill Use.
Your MP is Recovering Slowly due to Frequent use of Skill: Earth Vein.
Your Stamina is high.
You are Fine.

TRANSFORMATION STATUS:
Goblin > Demigoblin
Known Currently Possible Transformations: 6
1. Adult Demigoblin
2. Adolescent Svartblin****
3. Adolescent Hobgoblin**
4. Adolescent Bluecap**
5. Adolescent Gremlin
6. Adolescent Bugbear---

Unknown Currently Possible Transformations: 3

As Digbie walked back from the scene of carnage, the flood of information produced a ringing sound inside his skull that made reading the prayer book impossible. Once it had subsided, however, he rose from where he had fallen to his knees. He turned each page to see the strange words written within. Or, what pages were left. It looked like part of the table of contents had been ripped out, along with other pages towards the middle and back of the book. Blood spattered a large portion of the later half, and smudges of dirt disoriented the words here and there. This alphabet didn't look familiar at all, yet somehow after a few moments of staring at them Digbie could read them just as plainly...



The next few pages of the book had been torn, or otherwise rendered illegible. The pages before that had just been what seemed to be legal or literary jargon, things like copyrights and proof of authenticity by the Temple and Order that must have produced this book. But in conclusion, Digbie had thus far learned a few things. Jehanne was some kind of atonement figure, perhaps a deity that only corresponded to justice or mercy. No real instructions had been given to the reader on how to actually pray to her yet, but these different holidays and rituals mentioned thus far might provide some clue. Burning incense? Pyres? Gathered bundles--bundles of wood, maybe? So did she require a ritual involving burnt offerings of some kind?

Just then, Digbie's Tremor Sense picked up something. A shape, low to the ground, hidden under a pile of brush up ahead. If Digbie hadn't been somehow aware of his surroundings, he would have nearly stepped on it! But the creature seemed to be waiting on that very thing--now that he knew where to look for it, Digbie would be able to make out just the barest glint of scales under the leaves. A Fanged Lizard, probably waiting to try and paralyze him with its bite or hit and run until its poison killed the prey. His tremor sense picked up a rapid heartbeat, or maybe something with the rhythm of its breathing...was this creature injured too, like the deer he had seen or the odd monkey in the trees?

---

Current Skills:
Physical Damage Resistance I (1.86) <CANNOT INCREASE WITH POINTS>
Overwork I (1.8) > II (2.0) <REQUIRES TRIGGER>
Blunt Resistance I (1.85)
Limited Shapeshift III (3.875)
Smash II (2.225)
Pierce Resistance I (1.3)
Faster I (1.8)
Magic Resistance I (1.1)
Harder I (1.15)
Counter I (1.25)
Cling I (1.2)
Slime Whip I (1.3)
Throw Item I (1.0)
Rabid Fit I (1.0)
Iron Gullet I (1.45)
Monster Analysis I (1.35)
Stamina Furnace I (1.15)
Mental Resistance I (1.0)
Stronger I (1.05)
Slime Shell I (1.2)
<UNUSABLE>
Earth Resist (0.7)
Charisma (0.5)
Dextrous (0.4)
Soil Manipulation (0.6)
Stone Shot (0.55)
Slime Coil (0.4)
Magic Analysis (0.5)
Bounce (0.5)
Muffle (0.3)
Poison Resistance (0.2)
Dash Attack (0.4)
Spiritual Awareness (0.2)
Intimidate (0.3)
Blood Drain (0.9)
First Aid (0.2)
Acid Spit (0.2)
Skewer (0.7)
Slash (0.4)
Fire Resistance (0.3)
Water Resistance (0.0125)
Focus (0.4)
Alert (0.3)
Fortify (0.1)
Point Strike (0.3)
Cleave (0.2)
Crafting (0.3)
Acid Spit (0.2)
Material Analysis (0.1)

The frog Asura had run through didn't look like it was going to make it, as it dragged itself along the ground in a trail of blood. Ardur managed to hold his ground long enough for the red slime to create a large blade, though using so much of his mass left him little leverage to swing the weapon. Still, gravity did most of the work, and the impromptu weapon came down on the tautly drawn tongue with a snicker-snack. Like a popped rubber band, the frog's stretchy flesh snapped back, slapping it in the face and spraying blood everywhere. The creature croaked in pain, but couldn't draw its tongue back in lest it choke on its own blood. Even though the flesh was more elastic, the tongue was still an organ that bled profusely. The frog began to gather up its pink, rope-like muscle in its webbed forefeet as Ardur struggled out of the other end.

Momma Slime mimicked Asura by repeating the attack she had used against the Flak Beetle, forming a large ball-and-tendril weapon with the Bone Needles to serve as spikes. Her Smash attack reduced what was left of the fragments to dust, but also bludgeoned the unconscious frog to death as Steve leaped off of its head.

With a furious cry, Ardur freed himself and leaped at the last bloodied amphibian. Grabbing both sides of its head, he leaped up and used his wings and his entire body to drive his knee into the creature's snout. With a meaty crunch, the rubbery toad's skull gave way and its neck twisted.

With the last of their foes defeated, the group was left in the quiet of the forest once more.

"Asura, why don't we," Ardur panted, "find somewhere safer? It seems like whatever happened has made things chaotic around here...and I still need to work on my ideas for those bug parts." He glanced over at the frogs. "Hmm...I wonder if we could use these things as well?" He picked up the one Asura had punctured, which by this point had flattened out quite severely. Its leathery hide stretched easily, but also snapped back to form once released.

Momma Slime was still digesting the majority of the Bowhorn Deer's body, but it didn't stop her from trying to fit parts of her slain enemy into her gullet anyway. The frog's eyeballs had popped out when she crushed it, and as she slurped them up they floated like bobbers on the water. It gave her a rather unsettling "look" when she turned back to Asura, the eyeballs floating and turning over on top of her "head".

"Ahsoowah! I ding!"

"Oh, look at that. The system says Steve leveled up again too." Ardur grabbed up his various things, plus any of the frog parts they decided to take with them. "But that can wait for now--any ideas where we should go?"

---

"By the Maker!"

"What in Hellfire was that?!"

Rustling, heavy footsteps, loud voices.

"I saw something flash, had to be magic!"

"The World's Spine only has the one volcano, right!?"

Ed felt cloth--a pantsleg, or the tassel of a boot--brush his body. The human stopped right beside him, he could feel their weight settling on the ground.

"I...I think we're okay, it was too far away..."

"We gotta go, maybe the Shaman knows what happened!"

"Right, right..." The footsteps were moving away again. "But, heh, ya gotta admit that was kind of funny...it scared the shit outta you, huh?"

"Scared me? I ain't gonna lie, that's terrifying, but you're the one screamin' his head off."

"Sure, it got me too, but you were like "HOLY FUCK!" I don't think I've even heard it said like that before."

"...What? That wasn't me, that was you!"

An uncomfortable silence. The rustling stopped. The wind whistled through the grass all around. In the distance, the smoke rose into the clouds.

"...You're hearin' things, man."

"The hell I am! Ain't nothin' around to hear, cept that dead rat and all this grass!"

The bickering continued until the voices were out of earshot...

You used Magic Analysis I!
---???---
Even with your enhanced Beast Senses, you are too far to analyze this magic. All you can tell is that it is extremely powerful and destructive, but it doesn't seem to carry a specific element or be very complex...

Asteria was able to sneak back to the den just in time to see the human figures moving away from the area, their backs to the rats. They had both been fairly strong and tough looking males armed with spears, and one also had a hatchet of some kind. They appeared to be wearing hides and furs rather than proper armor, but their bare arms were fairly well toned.

With the Nullven in hand, she was able to make another Antidotal Salve. Mother Rat had stopped moving again, but was still breathing raggedly. After her daughter's treatment, however, the elder rodent shivered and seemed to come out of it. The salve soaked into her fur and skin quickly, and soon the bleeding had stopped completely. Mother Rat slowly crawled to her feet, then began turning in circles as she inspected her own fur and wounds. After giving herself a thorough licking and brushing with her mousy paws, she shook like a wet dog from the tip of her nose to the end of her tail. With cheery squeaks she nudged Asteria, then ran towards Ed. She sniffed and circled him in concern as he continued not to move, putting her tiny paws on his body and rearing up to get a closer look at him.

---

As Jason sucked out all of the goat's blood and mana, his Starvation regressed to "Famished," and his HP drain stopped. With a beetle mandible, some clever application of Acid and Lesser Force, and a great deal of work, he and Danny managed to skin the Four Horned Goat. While Danny washed the hide using Aqua Spheres, Jason began eating the rest of its flesh. His Famished status changed to Very Hungry, and he tried to use a combination of meditation and his own willpower to try and digest the food as quickly as possible in the hopes it would help stave off this unholy appetite. Danny found a thick piece of vine nearby, and while he began splitting it into fibers Jason beat the goat's hide with a curved stick he found. Once the vine was woven into a crude rope, they used Jason's Acid Spit and another Sharp Rock Danny managed to find to drill holes into the Flak Beetle's hard exoskeleton. Jason began working on the Four Horned Goat's bones, separating and then hollowing out one of its vertebrae. While Danny separated the Beetle's head from its body, leaving as much of the shell intact as possible while scooping out its innards, Jason then began twisting and tying bits of the goat hide.

Using a Shield to help protect the different areas of each item from acid spills, Jason was able to make the holes needed to loop the vine rope through the various pieces. The goat's hide was wrapped around Danny from hip to shoulder like a sash, and then around his waist and abdomen before it was tied off. Using the hollowed bone as a ring buckle, part of the vine rope was threaded through the beetle's head, which was mounted onto Danny's shoulder as a pauldron. Its thorax shell was split apart, and then the two halves were tied with the rest of the rope around Danny's forearm. There was just enough of the exoskeleton left, a little bit that formed a V joint in the wing covers, to go over Danny's palm and be attached to the bracer. The end product was a sort of gauntlet without the covering for fingers and palm, but shielding the back of the hand as well as the lower arm.

With their project completed, Danny and Jason took turns resting and regaining their strength. Jason used his Mana Drain on the restored Poltergeist, with permission of course, to make sure he was at full capacity and then some. The system notified him of a Temporary Extra amount of magic, and at this point the two turned to their next task. They dug a hole and buried what was left of the bodies, then despite not having his Spell Chant unlocked or the Lesser Cleanse skill developed, the Necroslime said a prayer to the spirits of the earth asking for safe and expedient travel.

With his MP filled to the brim, Jason decided to risk leaving the body of the black slime, and canceled his Possession. Once again, he was an Ectoslime--and once again, his physical stats decreased significantly. His Extra MP disappeared almost immediately, but he was still full and would be able to regain what he had used up in binding the body quickly.

As the sun moved through the sky, into the middle of the afternoon, he and Danny headed east...

Skill Rank Up: Mana Drain I > Mana Drain II (1.75 > 2.0)
Increased Ratio of MP Drained to MP Recovered. Stamina Cost is the same as Rank I.

Skill Gain: Acid Spit I (0.9 > 1.1)!
Lob a small amount of acid through an appropriate orifice at the target. Works better on inorganic materials. The acid consumes Stamina to produce. Range of roughly 10 feet.

Skill Rank Up: Meditate I > Meditate II (1.75 > 2.0)!
Increase the amount of Mana recovered. Low background noises, movements, etc (comparable to the common room of an Inn, a busy street at the market, etc) will no longer decrease the effectiveness of this skill so long as the user maintains stillness and a calm state of mind. This skill still cannot be used while moving or in the midst of battle. This skill cannot be used in conjunction with other Active skills.

You are experiencing a Fast Rate of Skill Progression.

LEVEL UP!
Your learning experiences have culminated in a new power! You are now Level 9! Your Max MP has increased! You gain Skill Points to distribute as you please!

Unspent Skill Points: 5
Current Skills:
Physical Damage Resistance I (1.0)(0.5)
Warcry II (2.175)(0.4)
Stone Shot II (2.6625)(0.3)
Rock Spire II (2.075)(0.3)
Tremor Sense II (2.425)(0.6)
Soil Manipulation I (1.15)(0.6)
Telepathy II (2.725)(0.8)
Material Analysis I (1.2)(0.3)
Magic Analysis I (1.55)(0.8)
Monster Analysis I (1.55)(0.5)
Mental Resistance I (1.55)(0.7)
Charisma I (1.15)(0.3)
Focus I (1.3)(0.7)
Limited Shapeshift I (1.6)(0.6)
Mind Wave I (1.2)(0.5)
Spell Chant I (1.3)(0.6)
Bounce I (1.15)(0.4)
Faster I (1.05)(0.4)
Blunt Resistance I (1.0)(0.4)
Spiritual Awareness II (2.275)
Transparency I (1.55)
Taboo II (2.0)
Levitate (--)
Guidance I (1.15)
Mana Drain II (2.0)
Meditate II (2.0)
Mana Sense I (1.25)
Shield I (1.2)
Possession I (1.05)
Blood Drain I (1.1)
Acid Spit I (1.1)
<UNUSABLE>
Earth Affinity (0.75) <CANNOT BE INCREASED BY SKILL POINTS>
Wave Shock (0.2)
Swift Swimmer (0.1)
Aqua Sphere (0.7)
Alert (0.2)
Smash (0.5)
Cleave (0.3)
Muffle (0.1)
Crafting (0.8)
Magic Resistance (0.75)
Agriculture (0.3)
Plant Analysis (0.3)
Fire Resistance (0.4)
Fortify (0.2)
Sensory Resistance (0.6)
Mana Orb (0.7)
Alchemy (0.4)
Air Read (0.5)
Keen Sight (0.2)
Point Strike (0.2)
Doze (0.1)
Acid Resistance (0.1)
Rabid Fit (0.4)
Pierce Resistance (0.8)
Lesser Cleanse (0.3)
Dextrous (0.5)
Quicken (0.3)
Earth Wall (0.1)
Stone Breaker (0.1)
Iron Gullet (0.3)
Slash Resistance (0.2)
Earth Vein (0.7)
Mana Shape (0.4)
Lesser Force (0.3)
Spell Cancel (0.1)
Curse Word (0.1)
Light Resistance (0.0125)
Ghost Touch (0.5)
Slime Coil (0.2)
Stronger (0.1)
Stamina Furnace (0.2)
Acid Spray (0.3)
Guidance (0.2)

YOU HAVE TRANSFORMED!
Necroslime > Ectoslime
All physical stats have decreased.
MP is no longer locked.
Certain Skills are still locked.
Certain Skills have become unusable in this form.

Skill Gain: Crafting I (0.8 > 1.0 > 1.25)!
Your knowledge and understanding of mechanics, workmanship, and other such things enable you to craft better items. The process of creating many items is still an unknown to you, but if you ever succeed in such a creation its Sub-Stat Enhancements will be higher than normal.

Obtained Items:
Goat Hide Robe
Flak Pauldron
Flak Gauntlet
Sharp Stone
Curved Stick

You are experiencing a Fast Rate of Skill Progression.

---

You used Monster Analysis I!
---Pixie---
Pixies are a tiny humanoid Fey-type Monster. While somewhat intelligent, they lack empathy towards one another even compared to beasts like Goblins. Capable of flight and healing magic, but not physically strong or skilled enough to fight or use weapons well. Their Wings are membranous structures interlaced with hair-thin blood vessels. They are fragile, but hold semi-magical properties.This one is unusual.

After a few moments, Femus was able to gather enough MP that he could levitate again. Levitation didn't seem to use a great deal of MP, though sometimes it also seemed like it used Stamina in combination. In any case, with a few minutes of Meditation he was able to move again, and as long as he didn't exert himself too much it seemed like he wouldn't drain himself again until he actively used a spell. This made using Lesser Force a little harder, though once he levitated close enough he would be able to take little nibbles with the small, bony-ridged mouth Wisps possessed. Too bad neither he nor the Pixie knew any fire spells at the moment--even after plucking off the Dire Rat's fur, eating it raw left one's tastebuds feeling rather unclean.

As the two sat talking, for the first time to another former human, the sounds of chanting and crackling flames would reach them along with the smell of cooking meat and vegetables. The goblin tribe seemed to be having a feast of some sort--when the animal stampede came through, perhaps the mean green weenies had caught themselves a nice haul. It might be tempting to sneak over there and grab some for themselves...then again, there were a lot of goblins...

---

"Start wif whateva makes ya stronkest da fastest." said Lansa. He looked down at Sato's hand for a moment, before grabbing it. But rather than a handshake, it was more like an arm wrestling grip--Lansa seemed to be gauging Sato's strength. Then he let go and nodded. "Yah, like dat. But dem udda tings, like...why ya pulls up and down on da trees? Or curls da sticks and rocks in ya arm? Wat it do, how it werk?"

Needless to say, the complexities of something like body building would be a bit much for savages like these to take in. But Lansa would listen intently to whatever explanation Sato offered, and then ask about something else. Whatever exercises Sato had been doing since his awakening in this new world, Lansa would want a thorough demonstration of all of them, though not where any other goblins could see and hear. Once this was done, however, the boss again took Sato to one side. The smell of cooking meat was getting strong by this point--a few goblins in the tribe were old enough or skilled enough to know how to make fire by rubbing two sticks together.

"Okay, Sore-Toe, now I gives ya sumtin' gud! Lissen up!" The Hobgoblin leaned in as he let Sato in on his conspiracy. "Li'l ways dattaway--" he pointed in what seemed a vaguely northern direction, "--dere used to be a humin town! Long time ago, Orcs and Gobbos werks togedda and smashes it, killed all da humins! But da Orcs big and dum, dey run da Gobbos out and taked it for demselves, til da Ventures come and kills dem too. So now, ain't nobody out dere...well, cept uddah Mobs." He sniffed and turned his head, as if this point wasn't really worth acknowledging. "But, humins gots dis stuff, ya see! Dey uses it, makes sharps and shinies and tings to build deir town! Is called metal!" Lansa grinned and tossed his spear back and forth in his hands, making the bone ornaments on his arms clatter. "I keeps it seekret, but I lets youse know now! So youse can go gets all da metal, and udda gud stuff, ya wants! Jus' so long as yas dun tell nobody else! Got it!?" Here the Boss bared his fangs, getting right into Sato's face. If the blank-eyed goblin agreed, then Lansa would suddenly turn on his heel and stride away.

"Gud, den let's go back! Is time fer big foods!"

There were over eighty members of the Deep Forest tribe. Goblins of all kinds--elderly, young, female, male, big, weak, the captains and the fodder--were tearing into barely-cooked chunks of Pixie flesh, Dire Rat tails, and strips of the big deer, along with anything else they could find. Like those sharp tasting plants that looked a little bit like spring onions, or those big fat roots Sato had probably heard other goblins call topapos. There were juicy blue berries as well, and some goblins had just thrown in whatever random leaves or grass they could find just to have something they could call their own speared on a stick over the fire. Here and there fights would break out when some gob tried to steal another's food, or when a successful thief framed someone else. The captains were all given a wide berth, especially Ballz, who roared loud enough to shake the treetops if anyone even dared to come near him. He hunched over like an ape, devouring an entire leg of the deer by himself.

Now that Sato had been given a treasure hunt, would he depart immediately? What supplies would he take with him? Lansa had warned him not to tell anyone else of this secret place...but could he do it alone? Did he even want the metals, or whatever else might be left in the ruined town? All this thinking...and here he was on an empty stomach.

---

"It, it sounded like it was far away..." Gwen said breathlessly as she rushed to a window. Flinging open the wooden shutters, she leaned out and yelled for the others to come in. It seemed Lear already had them headed in that direction, though--soon, everyone had stormed back into the house. Geir and Mirabelle were the last ones through the door, and as the redheaded boy kicked it shut with a hard slam he pulled the handaxe from the back of his belt and took up a ready stance in front of the door as if he expected something to come crashing through. Mirabelle got into position near a window, one hand pointed like a gun towards the outdoors. Gwen ran to her husband, who enveloped her in a big bear hug.

"Is everyone alright!?"

"Y-yes, Daddy!" Clarice shouted, holding the baby in one arm and keeping a firm grip on Alice's arm with the other. Reuben ran to cling to his father's leg.

"Mira, did you pick up any of that?!" Geir shouted as the baby started to cry.

"No, it was too far! But a blast like that, Maker's Word, what in the--"

"I don't think we have anything to worry about right now." Lear spoke in a loud and commanding voice, one that made everyone stop and turn towards him. He put one hand on Reuben's head as he broke away from Gwen, and with the other held his tiny son's hand. As the infant quieted, he looked around at each of them, including Miiba.

"I'd wager that was on the other side of the forest, and that flash was moving towards the mountains, not us. Did either of you see anything afterwards, a followup or a counterattack?"

"If there was anything, it wasn't on the same level." Geir growled. He stepped away from the door to look out the window, at the column of smoke many miles away. "Who the hell--sorry, ma'am--who could've done something like that?!"

Lear had moved to comforting his daughters now, but it seemed like the initial panic was wearing off. Gwen took the baby, and she and the rest of the children retreated to the living room to sit for a moment around the hearth.

"If Nick was back in the area, it could've been him...and if Li'l Zieg has earned his scapular since the last time I saw 'im, he might have the kind of spiritual clout to call something like that down. But there shouldn't be anything around here that could provoke either of them to that level..."

"Li'l Zieg?" Mirabelle tilted her head. "Wait, are you talking about...Sir Zeiglar?! The Guardian Templar?"

"Oh, so he's only made Templar, then? Figured he'd at least be a Holy Knight by now. Wasn't him then." Lear shook his head absentmindedly. He was staring intently at the armor in the corner, chewing the inside of his cheek.

"If Sir Zeiglar is 'Li'l Zieg' to you..." Now Geir looked thoughtful, rubbing his chin with one gloved hand. "Then Nick...shit, are you serious--"

"Geir! Language!" Gwen snapped. The boy gave a start and flushed red.

"Sorry, ma'am! But, Boss, are you talking about--" Geir almost looked like Reuben did, whenever they had their sparring sessions or when Lear read to them from that book last night, "--the Nikolas Artur!? The King of S--"

"Yeah." Lear slowly walked to the mace and picked it up off the wall. "Him and Zeig were both in the Guild Auxiliary with me back in the war, the runts. After all that time they spent bustin' their rears, I should've known better than to retire. Nick's way beyond me by now, and Zeig won't be long catching up to me either. But in any case..."

He put the mace back on the wall.

"Mira, start writing up a report to the Guild. Geir, go to the barn loft and put the signal up for the Guild-Hawk again." The farmer turned, and locked eyes with Miiba. "Miiba. Come with me--I want you to help me check the perimeter."

"Boss, wait! You can't trust her! For all we know, she's in on this!" Geir seemed to remember for the first time that morning that Miiba existed. He glared at her with his usual intensity.

"Geir, I've seen a lot more of the world than you, and even I think that's silly." Lear said. He motioned for Miiba to come along. "But, don't you worry. Even if I sucked at sensory stuff, I'm not that easy to fool."

---

@Zeroth@Duthguy

Placing one point in [Telepathy], and four in [Air Read], Jason moved with Danny to the East, contemplating how he could regain his earth magic. Logically, the most reasonable method would to start with the most Incorporeal element he had at his disposal, then work towards harnessing solid elements again. Therefore, Jason would go from air, to water, to earth once again. But first, he had something far more important to do.

As he followed along with Danny, Jason focused on the flow of his mana; searching for where his mana started to "leak" out of his spiritual form. Where was it going? How big was the "hole"? This things Jason focused on, attempting to find answers. Then, Jason began to try stemming the outgoing flow of mana; to lessen how much he was constantly losing.

While Danny couldn't complain about the armor he was a little disappointed he didn't get a change to work on any new skills, aside from crafting of course. Still there was nothing that said he couldn't do while heading East. Given how he and Jason were gonna be together for a while he started by working out to see or art leas sense the Slime without using the Source Crystal or Mana Vision. Since he didn't have any idea on how to start he decided not to make things too complicated.

As such his first attempt was simple in concept but he didn't know what it would be like in practice. Danny used Mana Vision to ascertain Jason's location and then tried to decrease the amount of Mana he focused in his eyes slowly. Of course with monsters still in a panic from the explosion he had to constantly remind himself not too get lost in his experimenting and to keep an eye out for danger since Jason at the moment didn't have any way to warn him beyond a basic "danger or trouble". In fact Danny had no idea why he would abandon the black Slime's body and decided he should ask as soon as his companion had a way to answer him.

---

Torrent sat while she considered her failed attempts, thinking of ways to improve what she had attempted. She had produced the cold, though not in the fashion that she had wanted to. And her attempt at some form of air ability had been pathetic to say the least.

That just meant she was approaching this from the wrong direction. She could feel that the air was too light by itself, even with the mana infusing it. While she could probably just brute force her way into a skill that route, it would probably take longer than she wanted to spend on this at the moment.

So, first thing first. She took in air, but this time instead of just filling it with mana she instead took the time to try and use that force to wrap around the air in her mouth, moving it and condensing it. If she could get it to cooperate like that then she'd take the time to infuse the air with mana from there, trying to keep it in a set ball shape in her mouth.

If she succeeded at that, she'd then try to change it from a ball to more like a very small lance inside her mouth. When she felt like she'd done the best that she could with making it as dense as she could and holding its shape as best as she could get it to, she'd 'fire' it from her mouth towards the other side of the stream while using Magic Analysis on whatever result she produced.

Next she turned her attention back to the cold. This time she drew in not only air, but also slurped up some water into the mix. From there she worked to infuse the two with mana, trying to mix them in her mouth as best as she could while pushing that cold into the mana.

Again she shivered at the memories. And when she felt that she couldn't put anymore cold into it, she expelled the mixture from her mouth at the nearest tree while using Magic Analysis on the result.

While she pondered her results and where to proceed from there, she Meditated to regain her mana.

---

Ooh, well this was enlightening. It wasn't perfect, and it looked like it wasn't quite the magical staff she wanted. According to the analysis, there was something missing in the Stones integration. She only seemed to get one shot with it - either a powerful spell, or a free mana recharge. Either could be useful in a life or death situation. Good, then. And it seemed the spear part was just as useful. She just needed to get used to using it. She may not be able to use it so well for now, but it was a good thing to have...especially the information for later usage.

Ash coiled her tail around the spear, the mana crystal being held towards the ground, with the pointy bit held upwards. She made a long, sweeping, overhead motion with the blade, extending her tails reach as far as she could. Making another attempt, she made a swiping motion behind her. Hm, with enough practice, perhaps she could cover her backside with such a movement...

A thought for later.

Lifting the spear with lesser force, she placed it against the far wall of the cavern. After that, she felt ready to try something else.

Forming another Mana Orb in her claw, she once again activated her Mana Vision and Mana Sense. Once again, she formed a Rank I Mana Orb. Observing the different colored squares, Ash took a moment to consider her options. Moving one to the center seemed to make the base Mana Orb stronger. 'Poisoning' it with an outside source seemed like it changed it, but exactly how she didn't know. Assuming this was like a 'base' element...like say, Hydrogen then it was already a very basic and common element that could be combined with a number of things to create things such as water...but then, what if it wasn't?

What if it was say, more similar to water in that it already had another element attached to it?

Which would mean she needed to get rid of any extra 'elements' jumbling it up in order to change it into something else. Assuming this didn't just make the orb dissipate and lose cohesion entirely...She was making a lot of assumptions here, but such was the scientific method. Theory, test, failure or success, new theory, new test.

Using this assumption, Ash focused on the squares that were the same purple color as the Orb had been after she had contaminated it. Slowly she began tugging at any square that didn't take that hue, removing it from the equation and watched the ensuing result.

Asura's blade chopped through the straining tongue, slapping both Ardur and the frog with the severed ends. The punctured frog was trying to crawl away, but its blood was pouring out like the tongue of the second frog. Ardur freed himself and promptly smashed the skull of the frog gathering its tongue, so Asura rolled over and promptly crushed the others frogs delicate skull with a half energy Smash. No point going full blast in something already half in Death's parlor.

"I wish I had joints to crack damn it. It was always satisfying to do that after a fight..." He muttered grumpily. Ardur spoke up about finding a safer place which got a sigh from the slime. "Honestly, there aren't any safe places. This is wild land with monsters around every tree, in every bush, and in every canopy." He stated as he rolled over to the Frog that Ardur had finished. He slithered into its open mouth, leaving behind his Bowhorn Skull for a moment. A rather nasty sucking sound and Ardur could tell by the movements that Asura was pulling meat and bone and organ into himself. Essentially leaving Ardur with the elastic skin.

Why had Asura done this? He had seen Ardur pluck at the skin and mutter about using it. So now the Hi-pixie had a whole unblemished skin to play with. Mother Slime spoke up about dinging, how was he going to help her when she refused to understand things. She just slammed all her points into one option. Pulsing out of the frog he reclaimed his Skull and went over to her. As he moved he looked over his own skills, checking what was close to ticking over into an available skill. "For now put whatever points you have into Faster." He told her, then gave her the mental image to show which was Faster.

Looking over at Ardur and Steve he got an idea. He has Earth Resistance almost ticked over. He had gotten that far because he had let Jason throw rocks, then Stone Shot's at him. "Ardur, you and Steve...throw rocks at me. I want to see if that will make a Resistance go up." He called over as a pair of his pseudopods turned into blades. Each blade roughly the size of a paring knife, but having a serrated edge to cause more damage. This was going to be a major test of his. Could he build up his Resistances himself?

With that thought in mind he proceeded to cut across his own gelatinous body. There probably wasn't anything in the area that could contend with the group, even with a weakened Asura. So now was the time for testing.

---

The plan was effective! The villagers not only failed to notice Ed's little outburst, but also managed to bugger off without even realizing he was still alive. Goes to show how amazing his acting skill was.

Take that, Mrs. Arlington! Who's the stage hazard now!?

...but why hasn't Ed woken up? Oh god is he dead? Please no. Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseple-

*snrk!*

Oh thank God. He was just asleep.

It had seemed that the fatigue had finally caught up to the poor boy and took him when he had relaxed and closed his eyes. The gentle snoring was a sign that he had gone to a deep slumber. Likely for the next few hours or so considering how hard and how far Ed had pushed himself in the fight. As Mother Rat tried to inspected his body and touched him, his unconscious mind registered the small furry thing that was touching him was Cheeseburger, their family pet. The dog in question was a rather mean looking English bulldog that had an aura that he'd bite your face off in a heartbeat, but in truth, he was a complete marshmallow at heart; more likely to befriend a burglar and lead him to the shelf containing the doggie treats than do his job and bite that burglar on the ass.

None the less, Ed instinctively reached out to Mother rat and proceeded to snuggle with her. Muttering something about 'Cheeseburger being so small' and 'How'd he get into his room again' while rubbing his cheek on her soft fuzzy head. This was quite a big problem considering the mountain just exploded and they needed to get the hell out of there as soon as possible before more trouble finds them.

Dammit Ed.

---

Miiba nodded to Lear, following after him as he walked out side, shying from Geir slightly as she passed. She followed Lear around, making sure the perimeter was still all in tact and up to snuff. The explosion had her really shaken, any time she thought she heard anything that was loud or sudden, she was a little jumpy, apologizing each time she was startled. Still, she would do as she was told with the tasks given to her. She kept thinking about Gwen and her comforting her. It reminded her of her own mother, that comforting embrace that let you know everything was going to be okay, even in the worst situations. As she worked she also looked to Lear, thinking about what Gwen told her about him being an adventurer, which reminded her what she wanted to talk to Lear about. "Mr. Lear, may Miiba ask question?" she started. "When Miiba wake up, Miiba hear ding sound. Miiba ask Ms. Gwen, she says was thing called 'levlin up'. Miiba hear ding before, see numbers and words, even picked words before, things you called 'skills'. Miiba not sure how see skills, skills went away when scare. Can show how, bring skills back? Miiba wanna show you, Miiba get better!" she said excitedly.

@Zeroth @Stabby

You used Monster Analysis I!
---Pixie---
Pixies are a tiny humanoid Fey-type Monster. While somewhat intelligent, they lack empathy towards one another even compared to beasts like Goblins. Capable of flight and healing magic, but not physically strong or skilled enough to fight or use weapons well. Their Wings are membranous structures interlaced with hair-thin blood vessels. They are fragile, but hold semi-magical properties.This one is unusual.
System:Femus

"Nira Wildheart. It is a well chosen name for... a second chance... and a new freedom." Femus said quietly, after waiting patiently for her to finish speaking. Her name had a strong fantasy sound to it. It strengthened his belief that she was also a reincarnated person. Femus had as much reason to keep his name from his prior life as others might have to abandon it... and the reasons were likely just as private. Still, he could use this to test her. "My... previous parents had a certain sense of humor with regard to the family business. Though, they had about the same luck as my more recent parents when it comes to avoiding danger. Thank you for your invitation. Please pardon me."

He managed to levitate closer to the rat before trying to pick out the parts that seemed the least healthy with lesser force. These he would leave to one side for the inevitable scavengers who would follow their meal. It was tough. His magic was still extremely low and exerting himself to set spoiled food aside might seem reckless. But, he was a creature that was mostly dependent on magic now. His appetite was limited and table manners were a far less justifiable nicety than courtesy or simple cleanliness. He simply placed himself next to an opening in the skin and began directly eating, one tiny mouth bite at at time.

Femus had been raised the son of a butcher family. Eating raw rat... was about as expected. Predator game meat isn't known for being tasty under most circumstances. Raw rat that had seemingly fed on bugs and random scavenge for most of the past few months had many of the preferred traits that he imagined extremely low brow dumpster fare to have. But, it was food. Besides, this particular meal had gained him an acquaintance. An acquaintance that he kept an eye on as he ate, watching for her reaction to his previous 'careless' statement.

Cooking might help the meat a bit... but it would need a lot more help to truly be good.

In fact, his current company had looks that would have turned his head when he was still human. But, that was before he discovered how easy it really was to take apart a living body. The same simple strike could take the head off a chicken or sever the spine of a human. It really was... anti-climactic. His visceral appreciation of physical beauty had seemingly been crippled by that experience. There was little to guarantee that she was the same as he was, resurrected by some strange magic and kidnapped by the Demon King. Still, Femus found himself believing that it was far more likely that they were the same rather than that a random pixie had suddenly developed these traits.

Besides, that Demon King had seemed both a personally motivated and pragmatic sort. Femus did not think that such a being would waste the effort needed to scatter his recruits. It was far more likely that he would dump them in convenient places in batches. Anything else would involve far too much investment and... concern.

The corner of Femus's mouth turned upward, just a tiny bit, at the thought of that Demon King acting concerned. It was a hilarious image.

It didn't take long for him to feed himself sufficiently and he pulled away from the open portions of the body, levitating up near the head before resting on the dead rat's snout.

Now was the time for after meal conversation. But, he also attempted to sense if there was any mana in the body. Specifically, he was looking for a mana core or some other concentrated nexus of energy. It wasn't terribly likely that it would be there, even if this world had such things. It was a mere rat after all.

"Do you have a place to stay?" He had planned a more subtle approach but he was finding the growing aroma of cooked meat and vegetables to be a little too distracting... and frustrating. Eating raw rat while others feast was... a bit much.

He could hear and smell the goblin party going on but his first thought was that he glowed and flew slowly. Even if the goblins were terrible shots, there were enough of them to hit him with something and he wouldn't be able to get away. He needed power and skill before he could even cross their territory... wait... "They're having a big party... all together in one spot." His words were soft and bemused as idle thoughts gained a semblance of purpose.

He didn't realize that he was effectively interrupting himself. The thought was just too tempting. With all the goblins in one spot, the far parts of their territory would be sparsely populated, if not completely empty. The two of them could escape this encirclement if they moved quickly and quietly. They would have to face the outside territory, of course, but this kind of event was unlikely to be repeated often.

"We might be able to get out of this goblin ring... but it might just be rushing to our deaths. Then again, we could try to sneak something from the goblins instead." After saying this, half thinking aloud and half conversing, he focused on Nira again. It was time to take a risk. "No matter what, we both need to get our strength back. Do you know how to meditate to speed your magic recovery? I have a tree hollow that's fairly safe. If you'd like, we could recover our magic and talk more there."

---

---

Asteria sent a telepathic message of relief and welcome as Mother rat recovered, then huffed a laugh at her worry over Ed. “He’s just asleep,” she muttered, leaning a head closer to him to listen to his breathing and heart-beat – just in case, and also to show Mother how she could ensure his wellbeing on her own.

Asteria knew her fellow human needed his rest, but they needed to move as well. It was possible the explosion had confused and deterred the ants as well as it had the humans, but they couldn’t count on that. And when the humans regained their wits, they might come back – if nothing else, to dispose of their corpses, perhaps. With that in mind, Asteria moved to the den, ruffling among their belongings. An item in there might turn out to be helpful on the situation, and if not…she had another idea as well. Firstly, she inspected Ed’s belongings, mainly the crystals that she had up until then not inspected yet. Though she doubted they’d be useful for this situation, she wasn’t entirely certain when and for what they could come in handy, and she could certainly remedy that. So, she used magic analysis on both a tainted crystal and the flame touched crystal.

With a quiet “Hmm,” she moved on to her own items. The jarful or antlers, an eye, and the leather was largely an unknown. Seeing as all the things were technically parts of the monsters, she used Monster analysis on each. She also unfurled the leather scroll, examining its length and width, then put it all back into the clay jar when she was finished. She realized the move would be easier if Ed were awake for it but…How to wake him up? And moreover, they still needed food – which they had in form of insects – and water, which was rather scarcer than she’d prefer. Making her way to the insects, Asteria used Mana drain on both to refill her mana, and also ate some of their flesh to satiate her hunger. As for the water…she could attempt to dissect one of the Myrmidors, but the worker had a poison gland somewhere in there, and while it could be precious to get…Well, if Ed doesn’t wake up, I’ll have nothing better to do, will I.

But she did want to at least make an attempt to accelerate his resting, if nothing else. Approaching, she held a paw on his head, closed her eyes, and concentrated. She established a thin, unobtrusive telepathic link. Carefully, she fed a sensation of peace, rest, pleasantness, and passage of time over the link alongside miniscule amount of mana. As she did so, she breathed deeply, meditating, focusing on a calming sensation. Convincing another’s brain that it was resting sufficiently would, if nothing else, require her to feel at peace and detached from time. So, she focused on her breath, and kept the telepathic link up until she almost ran out of mana. Then, she slowly opened her eyes, inspecting Ed. Unsure if he was waking up yet or not, she moved to her next task – recovering back the mana she’d lost, and then dismantling the ants. For the former, she closed her eyes, and focused much the same as she had when she’d tried to speed up Ed’s rest. She knew meditating was a skill, and she’d bite her own tail if that skill didn’t help in recovering mana. Using the miniscule amount of remaining mana she had from her experiment with Ed, she also used Mana Drain to draw some energy in from the surroundings; something that had worked in the past, if not exactly effectively.

When that was done, she took a moment to listen to their surroundings, trying to ascertain whether the humans – or something else – would approach them. Regardless, Ed did have to wake up first, and so she took the hatched, a rock, and moved to a Scout. She used her own claws to attempt prying off the most damaged part of its exoskeleton first. Only if that would not work would she use the hatched – carefully, as she did not want it destroyed so soon. Her target was its abdomen. She took time and care to study it as she opened it up. The abdomen was where most of its organs would be. It might hold half-digested food. What she was really after was any sort of liquid. The hemolymph should theoretically suffice for now, should it not? And, by dismantling a Scout, she would learn enough to hopefully safely remove the poison gland the worker possessed.

Wincing at the pain in his hand, Oberon recoiled away from the failed magic as the spell once again dispersed. Looking down at the source of the pain he could that a thin wound like that of a paper cut had formed across his palm and a single drop of blood welled to the surface, the fragments of wind-infused Mana apparently being sharp enough to slice through skin with ease even if the resulting injury was shallow. What had happened? He’d heard something like the rushing of wind after a snap and then he’d felt something slice across his palm, but what had happened or even how or why eluded him; the reaction had been too fast for him to comprehend.

The Sprite cast Minor Heal on his hand, because when you have the ability to heal small injuries instantly you might as well use it, and the paper-thin cut sealing shut as the magic did its work. Then, before he started up another experiment, he cast Shield I on himself to protect himself from any more magical blowback he might incur.

What had just happened? Did the spell become overloaded somehow and explode? Possibly, but he wasn’t adding any more power to it than what was contained inside a regular Mana Orb, unless the Mana he was pulling from the air was enough to overburden it? Or was it because he was holding the shards too close together? It did seem like he couldn’t control their movements as much as he had hoped; rather than being a uniform swirling pattern the petal-like fragments of wind moved in differing directions and angles and different speeds.

No… that didn’t feel right. He wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but he was sure that the spell didn’t begin to fall apart until after he had lost his concentration. It didn’t seem like the spell was exploding or falling apart, but it was clear that something had happened; something that had caused the snap and the rush and for one of the petals to suddenly slice into his hand. Was it because that shard had abruptly accelerated or because it had unexpectedly sharpened? Maybe it wasn’t that the spell was becoming unstable but rather than fact that it was succeeding. The shards were accelerating or sharpening enough to become dangerous, with the rushing wind either a result of the increased speed or due to the air moving around the now edged petals.

If that was the case… then how could he avoid harming himself with his own spell whenever he tried to use it?

Maybe he had packed the shards together too tightly and maybe he was also trying to form it too closely to his body. He needed to keep the fragments somewhat under control or else they would just fly away as he had seen before and the spell would lose cohesion and power until it failed entirely. However if he held the pieces too close together they risked bumping into each other with their varying patterns and speeds and he also risked hitting himself if he kept it too close.

So… he formed another Mana Orb and began the process again but this time, as he began to draw the surrounding air into the spell and it began to break apart again, he moved the focal point away from his body, moving it a little over a foot away from his foot tall body and holding it there rather than in the palm of his hand. This time as he felt the fragments begin to move away from the orb he held onto them but didn’t draw them back to the centre; instead he let them space themselves out more, allowing each to find its own orbit around the focal point to create a much more spread out shape than the tightly formed ball he had created last time.

Once the orb had completely broken down, assuming it hadn’t lost cohesion or injured him again, he waited until he heard the snap and the whistle again and took that as his cue to fire the spell. He pushed the swirling maelstrom away from himself, towards the same tree he had fired the Aqua Sphere at, and hoped for the best.



@Zeroth

---

"Hm... uh... hey." Digbie said to the Fanged Lizard in hiding as he walked close to it. He could feel the rapid heartbeat and judging from where it's coming from it probably was the Lizard's. Maybe it was hurt, like the deer from earlier? If that was the case, though, then what was causing all the pain to these animals? It didn't make much sense, but Digbie didn't worry over it so hard for the immediate moment. Right now, he stuck a hand towards the beast, and let out a {Minor Heal} on the Fanged Lizard, also looking at it with {Monster Analysis} and {Magic Analysis}. Hopefully the beast wouldn't come closer and would leave Digbie be knowing he wasn't going to cause the reptile any ruckus. "It's okay bud. Not gonna hurt you, just gonna heal you."

If nothing was undisturbed and the peace was kept, Digbie would simply... keep moving. He had read the previous pages as well as he could, and as much as he would've liked to stop and do a ritual to Jehanne for forgiveness, he didn't think he had much time to do so. He wanted to get back to his friends first before he did anything to contact her, just in case he started being smitten for being a Demigoblin in the presence of a deity of forgiveness.

---

---

Scott sat down next to the slowly dying embers - little more than a few glowing ashes, at this point. Ash was practicing her newly acquired spells, over and over, analyzing them. Colchain had curled up, settling down for the night. Naji, Reoth, Danny... who knows what they were doing.

“What did you get yourself into, Scott?” he whispered to himself. “You’re not cut out for stuff like this.”

He blinked, his vision a little blurry, and he rubbed at the corner of his eye. It came away wet… of course he was crying. Weakling.

The pixie looked around at the group again. Most of them were asleep at this point. Danny was nowhere in sight - flitted off somewhere. Just Ash left awake. Minor Heal. Lesser Force. Mana Orb. She was entirely consumed by her work. She had a much clearer idea of what she wanted to do in this world... Scott didn’t want anything to do with this place. He was… grateful, he supposed, for this second chance. That was the obvious response, right? To be grateful? He took in a deep breath. No, he wasn’t. He should have died, and that should have been the end of it. Maybe he was dying, and this really was all some sort of messed up dream.

But on the off chance it wasn’t... he should leave. Scott couldn’t fight back against monsters… he barely knew how to throw a punch. He was dead weight, barely worth dragging along. Anyone he got involved with would have to watch his back as well as their own. And that could get them hurt.

The pixie stood up, brushing the various bits of grit and ash off his legs. He glanced towards Ash once again, before taking a tentative step away. She didn’t even look at him. And that was all the proof he needed. Quietly, quickly, he padded away into the cave. Scott wasn’t going to saddle someone else with the burden of him.

---

Scott woke up. His body hurt. His stomach hurt. His head hurt. And all the while, there was that horrible, horrible feeling. The air he breathed felt heavier, and there was this tense feeling coiled in his gut. Something wasn’t right.

He looked at the entrance to his little nook. So easy for him to leave through. And yet, after he had left Ash and the others... all his confidence had fled. He had planned to start doing something. Scavenging, maybe. He had become good at that. Instead, he had hidden in here, curled up into a ball, and continued to cry, angry at himself. Some things, not even resurrection changed, it seemed. He had shut down within himself, not really awake, but not asleep… though at some point, it seemed he had indeed begun to doze.

Scott stood up, and staggered from the unfamiliar weight of his body. Setting a hand and then his back against the wall, he let out a soft sigh. What had he been thinking? He might be a capable fighter, but… but he could heal. He might not be able to protect others by fighting for them, but he could give them a shield with which to fight. That was worth something… right? It had to be.

That settled it. Scott stood up straight and began heading for the crevice opening. He was nowhere near ready to see the others again, but he had to try. He looked out and- oh.

So that was different.

He didn’t know quite what he was looking at, but as it picked its way across the cave floor, he could see its eyes - cold, glowing eyes. Something else shifted in the corner of his eye, and he turned his head to look at it. Nothing there. Not unsettling at all.

---

Scott pressed himself down into the earth, hoping the tangle of weeds and mushrooms would conceal him even if the roots of the tree they sprouted from didn’t. Of course, it wasn’t the best hiding spot. But spending time looking for the best hiding spot would leave him out in the open for too long - letting whatever predator he was hiding from catch sight of him. They didn’t always look in every place; for the same reason that he couldn’t waste time hiding, they couldn’t waste time searching - or else something bigger or more dangerous could come along.

Of course, really that didn’t apply in this situation. As far as he knew, goblins were the apex predators around here. They were bigger than most, and though it wasn’t much, they also had more intelligence than most. Which meant that he was in a lot more danger than was desirable.

There were a few things Scott had discovered since he looked out of his hollow gap in the cave wall. One was that the cave wasn’t… quite a cave anymore. There was something oppressive in the atmosphere, one that made the pixie feel uncomfortable in a way that he just couldn’t bear. And the new creatures that had appeared… the rattling bones… the ones that flitted at the edges of his vision but never entered it… the glowing eyes… no, it was not the cave from the day before.

Another was that Ash and the others had basically abandoned the cave. Well, it seemed like it. He hadn’t seen anyone around that he remembered seeing before. And given that the goblins blocking the way out of the cave were in a deep, deep sleep, they probably had all scattered to the four winds. Scott decided to follow their example… though his heart nearly gave out when he tiptoed past the slumbering goblins.

And the third was that he couldn’t fly. Well… maybe the correct word would be ‘wouldn’t’. Upon getting out of the cave, he had looked around, and known that just striking off in a random direction would be useless. Like as not, he’d never find anyone. He’d thought to fly up into the air, to try and get a better viewpoint on landmarks and pathways - but he hadn’t gotten more than ten feet off the ground before he looked down, and his wings locked up. He’d managed to heal the damage he’d taken, but the fact remained; when he took flight, his mind went back to the last time he had fallen… and he panicked. It was irrational, his fear. He shouldn’t have anything to fear. Wings were made to defy gravity; he could fly. But his heart pounding like a bird was trapped in his chest, Scott knew that unless both his feet were solidly on the ground, he was going to remember again. It was no great loss, really. He hadn’t been able to fly in his previous life; he didn’t need to now.

But that short-lived debacle had led to his fourth discovery. A plume of smoke on the horizon. It wasn’t easy to see, not from this distance, but he had seen it. And fire meant one of two things; either a forest fire, or people… and that had decided Scott’s course of action. Even if he didn’t find Ash or Danny, or someone like him, then he’d rather take his chances with humans than goblins. Or elves or dwarves, who knows if they existed, too. So, on foot, darting from shadow to shadow as quickly and quietly as he could, he began to make his way.

And that had been his journey for the past day and a half. Maybe longer. Probably longer. He hadn’t any way to tell the time, only the sun in the sky. He’d hidden a bit, but mostly he’d walked and walked until his feet were sore. His mouth got dryer and dryer, and he hadn’t eaten much at all - any berry could be poisonous, any mushroom the end of him. His only hope was that smoke - and he had gotten turned around at one point, during the night, where he had tried to continue, but there was nothing to see.

This morning, though, had just barely started and here he was. He was dizzy, hungry, probably dehydrated, and he hadn’t exactly slept well or for long. But he’d kept going, and going - and just barely heard them in time. Goblins. Three of them. That’s what led back to now. With Scott face down in the soil, trying to make himself as small as possible. A crack of breaking wood told him that one of the three was just to his right. This wasn’t good for him. His chances of getting out unscathed were dwindling, and fast.

One of the goblins turned his way.

He let out an audible gasp.

The goblin paused.

Just then, a mountain exploded.

The goblins spun around, and Scott, who couldn’t see a thing, only hesitated for a moment before he took his chance. Scrambling to his feet, he ran. He could see the smoke again, running towards it as fast as his feet would carry him. He couldn’t even tell if he had pursuers, but he also didn’t want to stick around to find out. He glanced back over his shoulder, trying to see what might have caused the blast. The pixie didn’t see the tree root, and tripped, a sharp flare of pain running through his ankle, but he kept going, stifling a shout. He could heal it later. He was so close, close enough that he thought he could see stone bricks.

And then he ran smack dab into a human and a goblin.

---

Ardur The Mighty Hipixie

What was that? > time to train and craft /// Adventuring day 5 // Morning > Afternoon / Location - Forest

The frogs were an issue but seemed to be more of an annoyance than a threat; this could easily change in large numbers. Those frogs were strong but had obvious weakness to sharp objects or attacks. However, the way they expanded although strange gave the high pixie an idea; they more than likely could make a good backpack.

The forest had grown silent after the encounter with the frog, whatever had destroyed that mountain top surely scared out most if not all the other creatures of the forest. He could only assume that whatever was not sheltered in place simply ran away.

The notification that Steve had leveled up filled his mind for a second and he could not help but smile. Soon his friend would evolve and their group would be much stronger for it. “System, display tamed creatures skills and points.” He said aloud and with authority thinking, it may change the response in some way. Then his friend’s voice caught his attention.

Mother slime seemed to be excited about leveling up as well and it would seem Asura was content with staying where they were and training. He had to admit it was a good idea for the time being. Seeing as how most other creatures went to ground already. “Alright I’m good with staying put currently as well.” Then Asura told them to throw rocks at him, he figured it was to raise some sort of resistance but right now all Ardur wanted to do was make his armor.

“Alright Steve, start throwing rocks at Asura if you can, if you can’t, just pick up a few and drop it on him from up above. In the meantime, I am going to work on putting this armor together.” Moreover, with that Ardur left Steve to train with the slime as he set to work on putting the armor together before the tendons dried out. He would still need to find something to waterproof the tendons and he got an idea while watching Steve climb the trees. Seeing the slight glisten of tree sap running down the bark of the tree, something like that could be useful in waterproofing these tendons.

@Zeroth
@Kazemitsu