---

Scott looked up. This man knew, then? Or knew in part, at least. He looked at the goblin - Miiba, he said her name was. But at least he knew, now, that he’d found someone else who had… died.

“Well… I can try. Um. It’ll sound insane, though.” He paused. “My name is Scott Carter, and I used to be a fifteen-year-old human from Luton in the East Midlands. I attended school, I drew pictures, and I wasn’t… this.” He gestures to himself. “I don’t think this is even my face.”

“We don’t really have pixies there. Or goblins, or magic. We have stories and stuff about it, but none of it is real. Not like here.” Again, he paused. Did he really want to tell this man everything? How he got here? How he died? He had met the Demon King, right? And unless Demon meant ‘benevolent ruler’ or something to the humans here, the likelihood was that he was opposed to demonic entities. He didn’t want to lie, but...

He rolled back his shoulders. Half-truths? “Some of my classmates… they did something. Something bad. And when I woke up… it took me about a week for me to remember? I think? It’s all a little fuzzy.”

---

'Sweet, a level up.' Ed thought to himself as he smiled. He was not expecting to level up while they were simply travelling, but he wouldn't complain. Gaining a level only means that he can survive longer and find out what the hell is going on in this world as well as find a way back to Earth if possible. 'Please place 1 point to [Mental Resistance], 1 point to [Rabid Fit] and 1 point to [Magic Analysis] and 2 points to [Focus].' Once done allocating his points, Ed then refocused on the task at hand. While it did seem that the road was not that recently used and the tall grass still sufficiently hid them away from sight, and a number of his passive skills made it hard for someone or something to detect him normally and even harder to ambush; but it was still no excuse not to be careful.

Overconfidence is a slow but effective killer.

So Ed kept his nose and ears sharp for any sounds or smells that seemed off or strange, hoping that the passive form of [Beast Sense II] would suffice in keeping him up to date in regards to the scents and sounds. At one point he smelled smoke that reminded him of the strange dream. Looking towards the direction of the smokey smell, he noticed the pillar of smoke rising from the distance. Ed quickly put it off as another settlement that they'd have to investigate later on when they finally have a base that is both safe and secure. As the hours of quiet and absolute normality passed, it was some sort of miracle or something that they had not encountered anything. It was a surprise surely, but a welcome one at that.

Though they did manage to find a campsite, likely from the travellers from yesterday judging by the footprints. Though they seemed to avoid the pillar of smoke and that meant one thing and one thing only. Trouble. Ed was still curious as to what was causing that pillar and why would people actively avoid it...but he still valued his life more than satisfying his curiosity. " I don't think this place has anything worthwhile but I'm pooped. Lets set up ca-" Ed suggested before he realized that the smell of water was getting stronger than ever. "Wait, no. Smell that?" The ratman asked the rhetorical question; of course, Asteria smelled what he smelled. Impossible she couldn't.

With his nose into the air, he let it guide him down the slope and eventually to another rise. Though this one seemed more unnatural and out of place as compared to the other rises and slopes they had encountered in their trek. As they approached the unnatural hill, they got a better sight of the thing. It was obviously artificial and man-made. "Whoa. It's like one of those burial mounds from Skyrim..." Ed commented as he approached the thing and laid down the grass mat burrito beside him as he inspected the structure. While walking around the thing, Ed stumbled upon the entrance. "I don't have nyctophobia but Jesus Christ this is unsettling." Ed said before picking up a small stone and tossing it in the darkness. Hoping to ascertain how far or how deep this thing really was.

---

"HEY GUYS! SORRY I'M BRINGING COMPANY!" Digbie hurriedly said as he thought of something. He was back with his friends, meaning that fighting this ROUS would be a lot easier to do now with some support, as long as he kept everyone from taking too much damage. It seemed like he was the doctor of the group, but he wasn't going to be able to do much with his own strength until a quick survey of the group told him that he could probably Earth Wall under himself without impeding the rest of the group... but just in case, he could use some security too.

So that's what he did. Before anything, Digbie cast on himself a Shield II, just in case the ROUS caught him. Then, with his newly acquired Earth Wall II, he cast it underneath himself to the point where he was sure it'd slow the ROUS down, if not hurt him from running into it, which hopefully four inches thick and as tall as Digbie. Once that was done, Digbie turned around and cast another spell. He wasn't able to dual cast, but he could switch quickly to keep himself on his toes... at least until Digbie needed to recover some mana.

"Jehanne! Help protect us with your radiance and with this Sacred Ground!" Digbie chanted, inadvertently using Spell Chant to buff his Sacred Ground II. While the spell was activating, Digbie reached into his bag with a free hand to pull out a new weapon.

<UNEQUIPPED - HAND> Curved Rock^TM
<EQUIPPED - HAND> Chipped Shank {Well Made - BROKEN}

"You're gonna regret this!" Digbie said as he raised his Broken Shield towards the ROUS.

---

@Stabby@Zeroth

You used Magic Analysis I!
---Blue Yill Flower---
The Yill species of flowering plants are adaptable and conducive to magic, so depending on where they grow and what kind of ambient energy is present they often change forms. The Blue Yill has absorbed a great deal of raw mana.
---Hollow Old Kao Tree---
This Kao tree is very old and has been damaged in the past, creating a hollow. It has more magic than other trees in the area, but nothing that stands out too much.
---???---
An altered Mana Orb spell. The magical energy focused within it has begun to change properties. It smells of ozone and seems relatively unstable.

Your MP is Full! You have gained Temporary Extra MP.

The results of his experiments were in. Analysis skills are as useful as he thought, though not at low levels. Also, he was making progress toward what was likely to be a lightning elemental spell of some kind. It would take more work but he was definitely on the right track. Still, it was past time to check on Nira and that wild pixie. So, Femus grabbed two of the Blue Yills and determinedly exited the hollow, prepared to kill if necessary to protect his new acquaintance.

Then he was suddenly enveloped with a deluge of blossoms.

Femus was stunned and bemused enough that he simply stopped where he was. He had prepared himself for a fight, or at least for scaring off a pixie or three, and now he was being showered with flowers. And... several of them managed to land on top of him and stay there in an awkward and impromptu floral crown. He was so surprised that he forgot to grab the falling Blue Yills. Still, this was a better outcome than a fight... wasn't it. If so... then why did he suddenly feel... so very silly looking.

Looking up, he saw Nira and the wild pixie giggling gleefully at their prank. It was adorable to watch. But, cold recollection quickly crushed the light hearted moment for the wisp. Pixies can go from happily playing to trying to kill you in a single breath. If this continued being fun then the pixie would stay but if it became too unfun then it might attack out of frustration. He had to play up the joke just enough and then 'exit stage left' while the going was good. So, since he was being pranked...

Femus had never tried to communicate with flashes like the wild wisps do but that seemed to be the best bet here. So, he flashed and flickered to try and convey surprise while using lesser force to hold the fragile little flower crown on his head like it was stuck there. Then he shook himself and spun around and tried to dart one way and then another as though he was trying to get the flowers to fall, all the while flashing a confused sort of mild distress. Then, as a final move, he darted back into the tree hollow. Just after going out of sight, he dropped the flower crown gently on the bottom of the hollow. If the pixie thought it looked fun to wear and came after it, he wanted it to be easily found and in good condition.

If this didn't work... he might have to kill that pixie after all.

---

---

Two successive levels in the middle of traveling? How odd…usually this kind of a thing happened almost as soon as the fighting was over, right? Oh, well…For now…2 points to Smash, 1 point to First Aid, and…7 points to Minor Heal. Having only one healing herb left and with and unknown supply of the materials for the medicinal and/or antivenin salve – especially given they were traveling towards a forest – investing in a way of mending injuries swiftly was something Asteria couldn’t pass up on any longer. She sighed in discontent, frustrated that they were more-or-less on the run, without water or shelter, and food being sketchy as well.

Nonetheless, she trudged on with her companions without verbal complain, taking note of the surroundings. They were approaching hilly areas – actually, as Asteria realized at one point, they’d been gradually ascending for a while as well – and a high rocky slope near the forest had smoke rising from behind it. However, the humans who must have travelled the same path a few days ago, had apparently avoided that particular hill. Perhaps it was a group of goblins had gathered around that particular campfire? If so, they were better not approaching carelessly – or at all.

After passing the human travelers’ little camping spot, they began descending once again. The distinctive damp scent of a nearby water source grew stronger, which along with no enemy encounters since their departure were just one of the rare things making this whole situation barely tolerable, was encouraging. “Yes, there must be water nearby. Somewhere,” she stated with surprisingly emboldening determination.

Soon, they reached an obviously artificial structure, though it blended rather well into the natural surroundings what with its earthen, grassy covering. It had a structure up its top, constructed from several large stones. Was this thing some sort of primitive mausoleum? However, its open entryway faced the road, which was strange indeed…Worse off, the sun was beginning to set. Would this ominous structure have to serve as their temporary resting spot? Asteria did not like the idea, and Ed seemed to share her reluctance.

“With all that we’ve faced, there very well may be skeletons and zombies and who knows what else in there,” she growled, though a part of her questioned whether they were truly correct that this thing might represent such a danger. It was relatively close to a man-made road, after all, so perhaps it was safe for humans? But not necessarily safe for ‘monsters’, I suppose… Asteria unshouldered her items, carefully setting them to the ground. “I’m climbing up to check the surroundings. You two, stay on the lookout.”

With that said, Asteria approached the rectangular structure, appraising it. She’d managed to climb a tree, so something like this that looked to have more footholds shouldn’t be as difficult. So, she crouched down, bunched up her muscles, and sprung up, aiming to attach her clawed paws to either the top of the mound or as close to it as she could get. If she managed to scramble up the rectangular structure, she would survey the odd monolith construct arranged on top of it. After looking around and scenting the air for the hints of water, she’d attempt scaling the monoliths as well.

Ardur The Mighty Hipixie

Prep the food > What's a fourth wall? /// Adventuring day 5 // Afternoon / Location - Forest

Watching the meat dry was fun and all and he felt fine until the system popped up with a new skill and another skill point followed by what he could only assume was his character sheet. It did not seem like the sheet was put to gather that well and seemed to just be slapped together from his previous level ups… was someone keeping track of him? He could not finish the last thought as right after this all he could do was grip his head and collapse to his knees with a head splitting pain. “DON’T ASK THE SYSTEM ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER SHEET IT LOOKS LIKE A 12 YEAR OLD WROTE IT… GAHH WHY DOES THIS HURT SO MUCH!” groaning and holding his head.

He didn’t respond to Steve’s worried hisses and all he could really do was sit there for a little while longer before the pain went away. He could not really remember much of it after that only that it hurt a lot. Grimacing as he slowly got up and looked around, “System” he flinched for just the slightest second before continuing, “show current skills and skill progression for target Ardur. List perquisites for skills, and conditions for next evolutions.” He was certain it was going to hurt again so before it did he made it a point to take the cooked meat off the sticks and put the next ones on.

“Just throwing this out there before we get caught up in whatever we are doing or you know we get a good head ache again. We should think about our next move. Every time I’ve used guidance so far it’s always pointed south… I think that’s south.” As he gestured toward the direction the wind was blowing earlier.

He still wanted to get the faster skill as well as harder but he had no idea how to get the last one. Bring physical conditioning up would help them a lot and soon he should start practicing what he remembered from martial arts again. Every little bit helps and if that means taking some of the good, ideas of his past life into this new world then well the more the merrier right?

@Zeroth
@Kazemitsu

Skill Rank Up: Lesser Force I > Lesser Force II! (2.0)
MP Consumption decreased. Range slightly increased. Force strength slightly increased. Rather than more powerful, it would be more accurate to say this skill is now more efficient.

Skill Gain: Dual Cast I (1.0)!
Splitting one's focus is a difficult task, but like playing the drums it can be learned. Casting different spells with different effects or requirements increases the difficulty and the MP required, but the caster's mindset can also affect this Skill. A Caster at this Rank may Dual Cast by: (1) Cast the same spell simultaneously, usually within two hands. Example using Current Skills: Fireball. This expends twice the MP cost, and both versions of the spell must be the same Rank, but the Casting time is only that of a single cast.(2) Prepare two spells simultaneously, to be used one at a time. Example using Known Skills: Digbie's Rock Spire and your Fireball. Rock Spire is prepared but not cast; the Earth Mana shines under the targeted area. Fireball is cast at a target, knocking it into Rock Spire's prepared area. Rock Spire is released. Both spells can be no higher than Rank I. Delayed Spells can be held no longer than 10 seconds at this rank. Certain spells that might require rituals, components, or other complexities might not be Dual Cast in this manner even at Rank I. This use consumes twice the MP for a Delayed Spell plus the normal MP cost for the other spell. (3) Cast a single instance of two different spells, usually within two hands. Example using Known Skills: Your Fireball and Ash's Mana Slice. You cast Fireball at a target to your right and Mana Slice at a target to your left, at the same time. This usage expends the sum of both spells' MP cost, and requires a slightly longer casting time, but both spells can be used at the same time or one after the other. Both spells must be Rank I. Certain spells with more complexities may not be Dual Cast even at Rank I. Certain spells that synergize well may increase in power or cause new effects when Dual Cast in this way.

Skill Gain: Stronger I! (1.05)
You have grown stronger through tough training! Tear muscles down, and rebuild them anew! Your physical power stats have increased! By gaining at least one rank of Faster, Harder, and Better, Skill Synergy will occurr and you will gain one rank of Physical Conditioning.

Skill Gain: Mana Control I! (1.0)
Your precise control over the flow of your own Mana has increased. You cannot change the base nature of a Spell Skill unless you have another Magic Alteration type Skill such as Focus or Spell Chant. However, Spell Interference from enemies is lessened, and your ability to maintain a spell or use it in an unorthodox fashion is less likely to fail. Learning a new Spell based on an already known one is less difficult.

You used Monster Analysis II! You used Magic Analysis III!
---Giant Rat---
Giant Rats are rodents of such unusually large size, many people don't believe they exist. Their behaviors are virtually the same as the Dire Rat, but they often shed many of the usual "prey" animal behaviors of rats due to their much greater size and strength rendering them difficult for predators to bring down. As a result they can often be quite calm, and some humans even keep them as pets. When hunting, however, they are extremely vicious. They have lost their fear as a smaller creature, and are now far less likely to retreat. They lack magical power and usually don't develop any magical abilities unless their environment is very rich in ambient energies. This particular target has no active Spell Skills. It is developing Magic Resistance.

You used Monster Analysis II! You used Magic Analysis IV!
---Giant Rat---
Giant Rats are rodents of such unusually large size, many people don't believe they exist. Their behaviors are virtually the same as the Dire Rat, but they often shed many of the usual "prey" animal behaviors of rats due to their much greater size and strength rendering them difficult for predators to bring down. As a result they can often be quite calm, and some humans even keep them as pets. When hunting, however, they are extremely vicious. They have lost their fear as a smaller creature, and are now far less likely to retreat. They lack magical power and usually don't develop any magical abilities unless their environment is very rich in ambient energies. This particular target has no active Spell Skills. It is developing Magic Resistance. This creature is vulnerable to Fire, Lightning, and Ice magics. Metal, Earth, and Shadow magics would also be fairly effective. Water, Poison, and Curse magics are less effective. However, the Giant Rat currently has no native magical defenses, so all magics can deal better damage than physical attacks.

As Digbie raced into the camp, the giant vermin hot on his heels, Ash took to the sky. While she was analyzing the creature, back down on the ground Torrent made herself scarce and began to creep around the edge of the clearing to look for an opening. Oberon was the first to attack, while Digbie strengthened his defenses first. The Giant Rat was focused entirely on that enticing gobby rear in front of it, and didn't see the Mana Slice coming at all. The blade bit into its snout right down the middle--it squealed in pain and reared up on its hind legs, as a long red line flayed it open from the top of its nose almost to its forehead. It shook its head madly, but only managed to get blood in its eyes. Immediately it turned towards the attacker and lunged.

Oberon got away clean this time, compared to the Giant Slime from before, and his wings buzzed as he rose out of reach. The rat turned back towards Digbie, but the Demiblin was already rising up on his improved Earth Wall. The Giant Rat stood on its haunches again. The Earth Wall was much thicker now--but still only as tall as Digbie himself. And when standing up, the Giant Rat was big enough that it could juuuuust reach over the top of the stone platform.

Before its claws could sink into Digbie's ankles, though, Ash's Poison Splash came down right on top of its head. Fumes filled its nostrils, acid burned its eyes, and the open wound on its face was now exposed to her magical venom. Again the rat thrashed and creened in agony, a high pitched wailing cry. While it was blind Torrent attacked from another angle, spewing the intense purple flames from her mouth. The Giant Rat's fur, greasy and thick, caught easily. The flames turned red as they began to spread across its flank, but it snorted and coughed and began to buck as the poisonous fumes did their work. The creature's stomach convulsed and it suddenly began to vomit. Oberon observed the beast from above just like Ash had done before, looking for any sign of weakness--although at the moment it seemed the situation was greatly in their favor.

The Rat spun in a wide circle, whipping its thick tail. But Torrent had already disappeared back into the foilage, and re-activated her stealth skills. The Giant Rat brushed its face with its paws to clear its eyes--then its ear twitched. As Ash came down spearpoint first, like some kind of...jumping dragon knight, rather than a Pygmy Drake, the huge rodent pushed off the ground with all its strength. Spinning through the air, it slammed unintentionally into Digbie's Earth Wall just as the Demiblin finished chanting. His Sacred Ground spell felt stronger, and its glow was brighter...But, with none of his allies in the immediate area and Digbie himself not currently suffering from any major injury, its use was somewhat tempered.

In the next moment, however, the enemy made a decision. It bounded straight up, running up Digbie's wall, and came face to face with the Demiblin in mid-air. Snatching him by his Makeshift Robe, the creature's much greater weight dragged Digbie off of his platform--and the next moment, the Giant Rat was breaking into a run towards the tree-line--!

---

ERROR. You do not meet the requirements for Skill Point Reset.
You are still Poisoned! You are taking damage!
Your HP is decreasing.
You are Well Fed.
Your throat is Dry.
Your Stamina is steadily decreasing.
You are Poisoned.

Current Skills:
Shield II (2.2)
Lesser Flight III (2.3)
Minor Heal III (3.675)
Physical Conditioning I (1.0) <CANNOT INCREASE WITH SKILL POINTS>
Fire Resistance I (1.4)
Taming I (1.7)
Fireball I (1.7)
Stronger II (2.15)
Crafting II (2.0)
Muffle I (1.3)
Inspire I (1.1)
Guidance I (1.55)
Spell Chant I (1.2)
Use Light Equipment (--)
Meditate I (1.2)
Point Strike I (1.05)
Monster Analysis I (1.05)
Keen Sight I (1.05)
Material Analysis I (1.0)
<UNUSABLE>
Keen Ear (0.3)
Alchemy (0.5)
Faster (0.5)
Magic Analysis (0.7)
Mana Orb (0.15)
Focus (0.6)
Throw Voice (0.1)
Mana Strike (0.9)
Charisma (0.2)
Soothe Song (0.7)
Harder (0.1)
Alert (0.9)
Reinforce (0.6)
Throw Item (0.5)
Stone Shot (0.6)
Iron Gullet (0.5)
Soil Manipulation (0.3)
Material Analysis (0.8)
Rabid Fit (0.5)
Lesser Cleanse (0.7)
Fire Fist (0.2)
Magic Resistance (0.3)
Minor Regeneration (0.1)
Flame Aura (0.1)
Warcry (0.1)
Immolation (0.05)
Spiritual Awareness (0.4)
Overwork (0.1)
Lucid Dream (0.1)
Blood Drain (0.1)
Dextrous (0.1)
Mana Sense (0.2)
Mana Drain (0.1)
Mental Resistance (0.2)

ERROR. Command not recognized, "Prerequisites for Skills."

TRANSFORMATION STATUS:
Pixie > Immature Hipixie
Currently Known Possible Transformations: 6
1. Adult Hipixie***
2. Adolescent Imp*
3. Adolescent Sprite**
4. Adolescent Bauchan*
5. Adolescent Brownie***
6. Adolescent Lampad**

Currently Unknown Possible Transformations: 1

As Asura continued to feel the burn of the Poison, Momma Slime hit him once again with a regular strike. When he told her to use a Smash, she seemed hesitant. She turned her attention to Ardur and waited for several moments...but although the Hipixie was talking about something, she didn't understand. And he hadn't done any more of the glowing stuff to Asura. She turned back to the red slime, and waited a moment more before finally using her Smash skill. It knocked Asura "head" over "heels" and slammed him into a tree. He felt his HP drop significantly, though he didn't get a low warning from the system yet. Momma Slime began to shake as she hurried over to him.

"Ah, Awsoo, Auwa...Asuwa!" she said, after inflating her membrane as if she were taking a deep breath. "Me, my...I. I...I not wanna do dat no more!" Once she had said this, she seemed to settle down. Her resolve was set. "I not like when you gets hurt. Makes I...makes me, feel bad!"

But before anything else could happen, there was a sudden crash from the forest. This was much louder than either the deer or the three frogs--and it had a more distinctive rhythm. Footsteps. Heavy breathing. An actual voice, shouting angrily...

A Bugbear, four and a half feet of solid muscle, barrel chested and covered in matted gray fur, came hurtling out between the trees. He held a long stick, sharpened to a point, in one hand and wore the pelt of a few Dire Rats around his waist. His eyes looked bloodshot and wild, and in the greenish skin around his face he had dark spots as if he had not slept.

"OUTTA MY WAY, OUUUUT!" he roared, charging straight for Asura and Momma Slime--and if he got past them, he would be barreling over Ardur and Steve too...

---

Skill Rank Up: Rabid Fit I > Rabid Fit II (2.0)!
Your rage grows in strength! Your attack power increases slightly more. While you are still extra vulnerable to damage, you gain a temporary increase to resistances for certain status effects, like Sleep or Confusion.

Skill Gain: Mental Resistance I! (1.0)
Take less damage from Psychic-type spells or skills, and have a better chance of resisting mind-altering effects such as Confusion or Hypnosis. This counts as an Elemental resistance for the purposes of Magic Resistance.

Skill Gain: Magic Analysis I (1.0)
You may now analyze magical energies or objects to learn their most basic magical characteristics. Less effective on Materials and Monsters unless they are magical in nature.

Skill Gain: Focus I! (1.0)
By spending at least 30 seconds focusing before using an offensive Skill or Spell, you can increase its damage or range. At this rank it is comparable to increasing the power by one rank (eg Mana Orb I to Mana Orb II) while also increasing the MP cost by half again (spend 1.5x Mana Orb I's cost).

Skill Gain: Smash I! (1.0)
A Physical Skill that consumes Stamina instead of MP. One blunt type attack deals increased damage!

Skill Gain: First Aid I (1.0)!
Skill in using Healing items such as herbs or bandages. Increase the amount of HP recovered by yourself or allies when consuming these items, so long as you properly apply your knowledge and experience. Does not apply to healing spells.

Skill Gain: Minor Heal I (1.0)!
The most basic of healing spells. In most cases, only surface level wounds are affected. Cannot cure diseases. May even accelerate certain conditions not healed by the body's natural recovery. Cast upon a single target within eyesight.

Nothing but the echo of a pebble answered Ed as he peered into the entrance. Without entering, he could see that the mound seemed to have a double set of chambers at its entrance. The one he was looking into seemed to be small, with a low ceiling barely six feet up, with a little fire pit in the center of the room and four small tables. Two of these tables were set up just inside the entrance, on either side of the doorway. The other two were at the opposite side of the room, on either side of the second doorway leading into that second chamber, which Ed could not see. On these tables were what seemed to be platters, goblets, candlesticks, and a few wilted flowers or other plants of some kind.

Where he stood in front of the entry, a plaque could be seen at a human's eye-level set into the outer wall. It read:



Though just barely, Asteria was able to scramble up the wall of the mound and get up to the top. The dirt packed up here had long ago sprouted grass, and the roots had formed a network that held the soil in place against wind and rain. It felt firm underneath her paws as she progressed upward. She soon found a footpath of sorts, made of round stones set into the dirt, which led to the monolith structure.

Four large pillars sat in a rough square, and a wide, flat stone had been set atop them to serve as a roof. Underneath this roof, a small circle of stone sat with something else at its center. It seemed to be an alter of some kind, made of overlapping plates. The plates each had different symbols on them, and were differently shaped. Each plate was also successively bigger, and the difference in shape of the ones above created spaces for the symbols to show on the ones below. It seemed to be...some kind of star chart or sundial, perhaps? Circles and lines seemed to form a graph of some kind, one plate had images that might be phases of a moon or planet, and another had either some alphabet or a numeral system. Maybe Asteria hadn't noticed yet, since unlike Ed she hadn't read the plaque or seen this world's languages change before her eyes...but these symbols did not change, no matter how long she stared at them.

If Asteria looked around aside from the altar, however, she would find that from the top of the barrow she could now see the surrounding countryside in more detail. Back the way they came, the village was just a smudge on the horizon again, but the mountains were in full view. The setting sun turned the snow at their peaks blood red. Toward the east, in the direction they were going this whole time following that road...

Water.

Another gentle slope from the barrow went down over a distance of perhaps seventy-five, a hundred yards before the plains evened out. From here, the road stayed flat for some distance. It wasn't clear if the elevation began to dip again, or if it just went so far that it created an optical illusion. But the road went on and on, down to what had to be the bank of a great lake. Like, a GREAT lake, not just the kind you went fishing with grandpa at on the weekends. And it seemed there was a river running out of this lake as well, heading towards the south. But along the banks, lights glittered. Not just the last rays of the sun on the water's surface, but flickering lights that could only be candles, and cookfires, and street lanterns. Lights, sitting in big black boxes against the backdrop of that smooth, dark blue sheet...A town.

---

Skill Gain: Ghost Touch I (1.05)!
A spiritual attack. For Spirit-class Undead, the affected limb becomes physical for the duration of the Skill to allow Physical attacks. For non-Undead, the affected limb becomes capable of physically striking and damaging spiritual beings. MP is expended not only to activate the skill, but in proportion to the strength of the attack used.

Jason could feel his MP decreasing as he ferociously attacked the next goblin, however just as the System told him his Temporary Extra MP had been expended, he used Mana Drain. He was immediately notified that the temporary increase had returned, but the Cudgel goblin struggled spiritually against him. Again memories of a goblin tribe, fishing and mending nets made out of vine on the banks of a river, clashed with his own. But Danny was wrestling with the same Goblin, in an attempt to disarm it. Jason lost his hold as the Poltergeist managed to get the weapon, in the process jerking the goblin far enough off balance that it fell and rolled on the ground. The creature cried out as it swiped its arms in every direction to try and fend Jason off.

"I seen it, I seens it too! It's a, a ghost!" Light bruises were already forming around his eyes, like he had been smacked in the face by two doorknobs. He stumbled blindly in his attempt to get up and fell back to one knee.

Danny now had a weapon, and one of the opponents was on the ground. The other had seemingly run back into the bushes--there was rustling, but they couldn't see him currently. However, while Danny had been focused on grabbing the cudgel, that other goblin had grabbed up his spear again.

With a hefty grunt, the goblin planted his feet and thrust hard at Danny's back. The Poltergeist felt wood bite deep into his shoulder, and heard it crack and splinter.

WARNING! YOUR HP IS CRITICALLY LOW!

---

Orchid's process of tanning the leather wasn't quite so refined as she would like, but it seemed like it would work. The System recorded each step of her "Processing" as she removed the hair, blood, and excess fat and skin from the hides, then stretched them out to dry. However, when she went to get the other three hides, she found that these were not so much pelts and skin like the Badger Hide. These Badger Armor Plates were more like scaly, fleshy shells, like an armadillo or maybe a slightly more flexible turtle's shell. These didn't seem like they could be tanned, though some of the excess hair and such could be scraped off of them.

Hustling as she displayed her irritation, the rest of Orchid's goblins did as they were told. Crispy hurried over to her as quickly as he could without jostling his arm too much, and with quick nods that made his ears flap he followed her lead into the forest.

Though Orchid and Crispy would soon leave the camp and thus not see it, while the Hunters took up guarding the camp or sitting around the fire munching on what little food they had left, the Gatherers managed to find a few more things before they settled in to wait on Orchid's return. Added to the growing resource piles were a Hard Stone, a Sharp Stone, a Pointy Stick, a Green Switch, a Lump of Clay the size of a goblin's fists, and an odd piece of hide that bore scales rather than fur. Orchid would no doubt want to look over these things once she got back...

She and Crispy traveled through the woods and stayed close together. In the tribe's greater numbers, most of the forest critters had left them alone. Two goblins, fairly well armed, would probably be considered too risky a prey by most Monsters, but then again one of them was injured.

Orchid was looking for moss. Crispy had mentioned mushrooms, and she knew mushrooms would grow in moist, dark places. So would moss, and it would also give her an idea about where exactly they were, or at least what direction they were going in. Eventually, she spotted some moss growing under a pile of leaves that had built up along the slanted trunk of a leaning tree. Using the position of the sun, it seemed the best guess would be that the moss grew the thickest on the north side of the tree. So she and Crispy were heading north, away from their camp. Their intended destination, the farm, would be back to the east, though possibly a little south as well.

They next came upon a bush of Blue Argeps, several handfuls' worth. Searching under the bushes and leaves where the moss grew, Orchid soon found a place where deeper shadows fell due to the thickness of the canopy. A rotted tree limb had fallen here in some storm long past, and at the thickest end of it near the tree's roots she saw several flat brown, white spotted mushrooms growing on its underside.

"Boss, ovah heah!" called Crispy. He pointed to a skeleton he had found, what looked to be the remains of a Fanged Lizard long ago killed and stripped clean by scavengers. Growing between the white spokes of its ribcage were a few more mushrooms, these bearing red caps with what looked like green beads of sap on top of them.

As they continued to search, Crispy found another Pointy Stick. Though he already had a stone knife in his vine belt and that odd throwing star he had made, he picked it up and carried it with the intent to use it as a small javelin. He got the chance when a large, melon-shaped and colored frog bounded out of the bushes in front of them. With a warrior's screech, Crispy hurled his spear--and missed by a foot as the frog croaked loudly, then leaped away again.

The next useful thing they found was another berry bush...but something else lay in wait for any creature that tried to eat. Another large frog, different in coloration and bearing a tail, poked its head out of the bush just as they got close. It lobbed a large purple loogi at them, and Orchid could hear the poison hissing. Yet before it had even confirmed a hit on its prey, the frog turned and ran back into the bushes just like the last one had...

---

As Femus flashed and darted about, the other Pixie hovering with Nira let out loud whoops and began to clap as it turned circles in the air. When the Wisp darted back into the tree--leaving a hastily woven flower crown behind--the Pixie "oooohed" and darted down to grab the crown. Placing it over its head like a lei garland, it motioned to Nira and began flying and dancing around on the branch, showing off its new fashion accessory.

It then pointed to the higher branches of the tree, where more flowering vines grew. Flying up a few feet, the pixie motioned for Nira to come too and shook its flowers...It seemed like the creature wanted to make more. But now, this raised a question. This Pixie seemed to jump from violence to pranks to flower picking at the drop of a hat...how long would Nira, or Femus, have to play along with its games before it got tired? Or, how long would it take the creature to get bored with its new friends, and decide to go get some more of its bretheren who might not redirect it the way Nira had?

Meanwhile, Femus had escaped persecution for now...but how long could he stay inside this tree? The Pixie hadn't harmed him, but now another creature besides Nira knew where he was. And who knew what it might do when it came back? Would he choose to just stay here, continuing to meditate, and hope that when he needed to defend himself he would be capable? Would he try to get some kind of message to Nira?

---

Miiba listened intently to the small pixie. Though she didn't recognize the place's, it sounded a lot like where she was from. School, stories about these fantasy creatures though they weren't real, waking up in a new world, it had to be the same. "Miiba think... really is maybe same? Pixie and Miiba both...persons? Miiba from Florida, the tippy top! Miiba no know how got here. Neighbor get Miiba from school, like normals, but no make home. Remember funny smell on cloth, then was here. Miiba want find home, no know why here... Do Pixie, um, Scott... know?" She slightly stepped from behind Lear to see Scott better.

Glad to see he was able to disarm the cudgel wielding Goblin Danny was just about to bash its skull in with its own weapon when the spear wielding Goblin got him from behind. The instant he felt the pain he realized he had once again made the mistake of focusing on one thing too much. "Aaah! Da..damn bastard."

WARNING! YOUR HP IS CRITICALLY LOW!

The system's message was quite unnecessary in this case and the Poltergeist knew he would have to trust Jason to deal with the opponent behind him before the Goblin got the chance to pull the spear out which would mean he was likely to bleed to death. Gritting his teeth and leaning on his new weapon he decided that he needed to end at least one of the Goblins, and as fast as possible.

Doing his best to ignore the pain and hoping he had enough time before the cudgel wielder got up Danny tried to Focus. He quickly realized though that there probably wasn't enough time to waste thirty seconds. Unsure of how mana he had left he didn't dare to use any spell more powerful than a level I Mana orb.

That left him with only one idea which he didn't like. Abandoning the support it gave him he raised the cudgel as high as he could despite his injured shoulder. Not trusting his physical strength he used both Lesser Force to try and increase the damage and Point Strike I to find the best spot for the attack as he brought it down.

Oberon was glad that he had thought to get above rat’s reach before it lunged for him and was equally glad for his recent point investment in Lesser Flight and Faster; without both of those facts he didn’t think he would have been able to avoid the attack like he did. Unfortunately the Mana Slice had missed both of the rat’s eyes, instead splitting the difference and drawing a bloody line between them, but as the creature shook its head it ended up partially blinding itself anyway, granting openings to both Ash and Torrent to land hits.

The rat lashed out with its tail but found nothing within range and Ash responded by dropping from above with some kind of spear held by her tail; when had she made that? The rat jumped, spinning in the air, and struck Digbie’s Earth Wall hard. A moment later it was rapidly climbing that same wall, grabbing the Goblin by the front of his robe, another new piece of equipment, and dragging him to the ground.

As the rat made a beeline for the trees Oberon flew after it, aiming to intercept the creature before he could get away. Even with his increased speed and flight capabilities however he didn’t think he had much chance of overtaking it; the rat was large and had a lengthy stride to match, not to mention the fact that it was fleeing for its life right now. “It’s weak to fire and ice; don’t use water or poison! Magic only!” Quickly relaying the pertinent results from his analysis to the group Oberon created a Fireball in his hands and launched it ahead of the ROUS, aiming above the rat’s head to place a barrier of fire between it and the trees. Hopefully the creature possessed an animalistic fear of fire that would make it pause in its charge long enough for them to deal a more debilitating blow.

Creating another Mana Slice Oberon fired at the ROUS again, this time aiming low and at the rat’s flank, launching a horizontal blade in an attempt to damage the creature’s legs. In the back of his mind he made a note to investigate ways to immobilise opponents more efficiently in the future.



@Zeroth@Rune_Alchemist@Gardevoiran@Old Amsterdam

---

@Zeroth@Duthguy

As he was forced back from the now disarmed Cudgel Goblin, Jason whirled around as he heard Danny's cry of pain. Fury filled Jason as he surged around Danny, casting [Shield I] on his wounded friend as he charged at the spear goblin. Jason focused as he felt his mana surge, he remembered what it was like to shapeshift as a slime, how it felt to stretch and reshape the ever malleable form he came into this world with. He with this memory, Jason extended a long, thick, pseudopod; one that in life would've been tipped with one of his rocky growths. With a mighty swing, Jason went for a low blow with his newly acquired [Ghost Touch], intending to put this little green bastard's balls all the way into his throat! Even if it didn't succeed in killing the goblin, Jason would use a quick [Mana Drain] on his foe as he retreated to cover Danny's back, ready to defend his companion from any incoming attacks, from whatever was causing that nearby rustling, or from the spearblin, if he somehow managed to regain his bearings.

---

As Torrent scurried away, she pushed herself as fast as she could go to skirt around the rat in cover, keeping her stealth going, to get over to the opposite side of the beast.

By then, however, the battlefield had changed pretty drastically. The rat was now running her direction, Digbie in its clutches, as a fireball whirled over it. There wasn't time to think, she had to act before it got away with her friend!

Running forward as fast as she could go, and pushing herself to go faster, Torrent did her best to jump as high as she could into the fireball as it passed in front of the rat by the tree edge, already gathering her Mana for an explosion. As she did she yelled, "Digbie take cover!"

And then as before she came into contact with the fireball she tried to mingle her Mana with it, and then she pushed out in typical explosion fashion.

With any luck Digbie would be mostly shielded by the rat as the blast pushed out around her.

As her forward momentum continued, she prepared to release another Wurm Breath straight into the rat's face or start attacking with fangs and claws if it engaged with her directly.

---

Damn, she missed. The rat was far more agile than she gave it credit for. Hmph, damn animal thinking it could get the best of her-! She hissed, quickly switching her dive to avoid colliding with the ground, quickly flapping her wings and lightly touching the ground. Getting a running start, she took off after the rat once more.

"Digbie!" She growled as the rodent tried to make off with their goblin. Torrent and Oberon were quick to react, the pixie casting a fireball in front of the rat to slow it down. Torrent leaped through the fireball like some sort of possessed fire lizard, before literally once again, exploding. Ash mentally facepalmed, but now wasn't the time for that. Straining her wing muscles to catch up with the other Lizard, Ash quickly prepped two healing spells, using Dual Cast and Minor Heal, one on Torrent, the other on Digbie, just in case.

---

"WAAAUGH!" Digbie cried out as he began to be dragged through the dirt by the ROUS, the rodent making a beeline towards the forest so he could take the goblin away to snack on his giblets. He knew that all the others were trying various things to get that rat off of Digbie, though he knew he only had a moment to react. Was this it? Was this the karma for helping kill Rattleskull? Was this his demise?

"NO!" Digbie shouted, looking at himself and casting a Shield II, just for protection's sake in case any of his friends accidentally hurt him in the process of freedom. He had to be gaining magic back at an incredible rate with Earth Vein since he had nearly his full torso against the ground. Now, with some protection, he had to break free from this ROUS so he didn't take the full blast from Torrent's or Oberon's attacks.

... though, something came back to his memory. He remembered that he had Stone Shot II, and he remembered that he used it with Synergy back with Rattleskull... what if he could do that again? Bringing his leg up into the sky, Digbie used Stone Shot II using his foot as a vector for his deliverance, and... wherever he'd hit the ROUS, as ammo. With any luck, he could stop the ROUS in its tracks, hopefully with it releasing Digbie from it's clutches and then getting swamped by everyone else.

"I said you'd regret it!" Digbie repeated as he brought his foot down towards the ROUS.

---

"System, monitor Health and Stamina. Full display." Asura said aloud, a hud would be nice. Or just a viewing without constantly having to check with the damn System. While he waited for that he started trying to metabolize the Poison working through him. He didn't necessarily have veins, nor real organs, so it stood that he should be able to just digest the poison that was staining his gooey bile.

As he played with that, and still trying to forcibly draw points out of skills he never put points into, he felt Mother Slime finally wallop him good. Which sent him bouncing and into a tree, probably for extra damage. But even still he didn't get a message about low hit points. Did his 'health bar' increase? Or were his defenses just that damn high at this point for mobs like M.S, and his group?

Still, no reason to chance it. "A Heal would be good Ardur, and maybe we should look for a water source. It seems I'm getting thirsty." He stated just before a crashing and rhythmic hurried footsteps came closer. "Make that a sooner rather than later." He said as a bugbear burst from the foliage. It was yelling for everyone to get out of its way instead of just trying to kill them flat out? Strange.

Asura purposefully got in his way, actually advancing, and tried to make himself stickier than he already was. When the Bugbear stepped in him he wrapped around the foot, up to the ankle, and tried to Cling as hard as he could to the ground. Holding onto each individual blade of grass, the dirt underneath, whatever his body could engulf to make the bugbear either STICK or TRIP.

@Zeroth@Stabby

Femus listened carefully as the wild pixie came and took the flower crown and flew off to its next amusement. Distracting the creature had been fairly easy. Unfortunately, Nira had gotten herself… socially entangled. It could be dangerous to break the two pixies up but it would be far safer for the two to relocate.

The green wisp remembered that there was an even larger tree closer to the center of their little patch of forest. It might prove to be a worthwhile place to visit, now that his homey hollow was no longer secret. But, he would need to either linger nearby until Nira was free or help her outright.

First, however, he needed to get ready. He gathered three more Blue Yill flowers, being careful to keep their roots attached if possible, and a small piece of thin vine which he used to tie them together into a slightly stronger circlet of sorts. He hoped that this would be an easier way of carrying them. With this circlet on his… top… he did his best to dim his glow and avoid making sound as he prepared to slip outside.

Then he had an idea. Cultivators frequently made use of formations to gather ambient energy when the local concentration was too low for them to use. This Old Kao Tree had a little more magic than the surrounding trees. It might not be enough, but it could be worth trying…

Femus pulled at some of the tree from inside the hollow while trying to amplify his Lesser Force with more mana. He was hoping to gain a few pieces of living wood as well as some sap which he intended to use to coat the pieces of living wood before wrapping them in fresh leaves from the same tree that grew from a low branch just outside. Maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to use these components to establish a lesser weak mana gathering formation somewhere near that bigger tree. At least, he might get a start on the skills needed to make something like that work.

He tried to hurry as much as he could while preserving the quality of the components. If he fell below half mana then he would stop to meditate until he was over maximum again before continuing. Once he finished gathering, he would slip out and move up into higher branches without being seen or heard. If a chance to get Nira’s attention presented itself then he would take it before continuing up. Moving through the leafy branches would probably be safer than further down. However, pushing himself up higher would take more mana. He was certain of that. So, if he could, he would push up to the target elevation before meditating back to his accustomed, higher than maximum, mana level. Then, provided that he was hidden, he would wait for Nira.

---

"Nice." Ed muttered as he peered inside the structure and saw that it was more than he had expected. Admittedly he expected a creepy hallway leading to the inky abyss, but truthfully? Anything was better than that. Seeing the furniture inside, Ed quickly assumed that it was not actually a burial mound and was just a house or something of the like. He was about to step inside and investigate further when his gut feeling told him to look up. He would then see the plaque and saw the language on the plaque morph before his very eyes. This caused the ratman to squint as he read the text above. "Barrow...lords of viska...earned rest...swallow who disturb...spirit guardians..." Ed muttered to himself as he read the plaque. With a free hand, he scratched the bottom of his jaw and reached an obvious conclusion.

"This place is haunted." And after stating that fact, the ratman then suddenly chuckled to himself. "Nope."

He walked back to his grass matt burrito and picked it up after exerting significant effort in doing so, he called out to Asteria who scrambled atop the barrow. "Asteria, this place is a burial ground and is haunted as fuck. Also, don't stand on those pillar things. Apparently they're holy or something and I don't want to fight ghosts." He said before looking up and seeing the female dire rat atop one of the aforementioned holy pillars. "Ah shit...here we go again" He said with a rather despondent tone before dropping the burrito once again and getting ready to face whatever spook was going to come out to face them. All the while shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Ardur The Mighty Hipixie

What's a fourth wall? > Bring her down /// Adventuring day 5 // Afternoon / Location - Forest

The high pixie was pondering his skills while his friendly slime was walloped away by mother slime, “you think you would try to learn how to bounce like those frogs. That would be funny.” The skills that were listed for him at least cleared up a few questions on how far he was on a few of the skills that could be useful like alert and mana strike. The slime then requested a heal but before he could take even a few steps towards the slime he heard it. The pounding steps of something running their way through the forest. It was big and sounded like it was running on two legs, a goblin perhaps? The thoughts ran through his head briefly before the creature emerged.

Thinking fast as Asura charged forward towards the bugbear that seemed to be running from something. The dire rats around its waist, sharp stick, and dark rings around its eyes, this one almost seemed out of place or maybe he had been outed from his tribe recently. Questions that would surely be asked after he is subdued, if they are able too. “Steve use your web and try to tangle his legs together.” Ardur lunged at the bugbear using stronger II and Lesser Flight III to get to the brute quickly. After this, the High pixie cast Shield I on himself and focused it on his fist to use Point Strike I at the Bugbear's Knee, he was going for the side of it and at the same leg Asura was trying to attach too.

@Zeroth
@Kazemitsu

---

---

After clambering up onto the mound, Asteria observed the monolithic structure. It was obviously an altar. She found it odd that it was on top of the structure rather than inside, but that was an architectural choice probably chosen by the cultural difference of the humans inhabiting this world. Unfortunately, she couldn’t make sense of the symbols, lines, swirls, and circles etched onto the overlapping plates of the altar. Were they religious, functional or magical in nature? Curiously, she put a single careful claw onto the smallest plate, infused her touch with a minor outflow of Mana, and began tracing the various shapes, following each one to the next pattern and the next plate all the way to the largest plate and the last of its etchings. She was considering memorizing the shapes or perhaps taking the time to trace them onto her piece of leather later on as she did so. They were a curious clue, and may perhaps be useful if she managed to decipher them.

When she was done inspecting the altar, Asteria looked around. To the west, she could still see the village they’d come from, if only barely, though the mountains loomed in the distance in all their ominous glory. To the east, the road spread into another plane, until it finally reached a great lake. As expected, its banks were populated. However, that was something they could deal with in exchange for a steady source of water. Besides, there was also a river flowing south from the lake as well, so there was certainly no need to stick too close to an actual town if they didn’t want to.

Asteria then made her way down by the way of a simple jump, rolling as she landed, and just when she was recovering from the impact, Ed alerted her to danger. “Huh? What do you mean? I didn’t stand on the altar, though I did touch it…Did you see something?” She looked around, but saw no impeding doom nearby. Concerned, she edged her way cautiously towards the entrance of the building, sneaking a peak around and inside of it. She happened to glance at the plaque, and though the writing was a bit strange at first, something shifted, and she was able to read it. Barrow, Lords of Viska, war for Viska, Five Lords…

Having read the message, she quickly scurried back to Ed. “I don’t think we disturbed anything…but just in case, we could perhaps make an offering?” She didn’t suggest that out of a strong religious belief, however, seeing how magic existed in this world, being cursed and attacked by the undead because of a sacrilegious act was no longer within the realm of the fantastical. Though she’d attempted reassuring Ed, remembering his utter terror of the undead, she glanced around, trying to sense anything out of place. She briefly activated her Mana Sense, hoping it might warn her if danger was truly approaching.