---

---

Asteria felt a profound sense of relief when Ed returned unharmed, and even without alerting the people outside. Since the gold coin did not seem dangerous, she picked it up with her mouth, leaving it under her tongue for the moment. She then set a paw on Ed and communicated with him telepathically. “Not mad. Glad you’re back. Hiding is fine. If bandits…attack…someone else…we could help?” Her Telepathy skill wasn’t high enough yet to get whole sentences through, but stringing words one by one and pausing longer between each sentence was possible. “I’m going into that second chamber,” she added. With the help of her newly upgraded Muffle skill, Asteria sneaked to where she’d laid the hatchet next to her sleeping spot, grabbed it between her teeth – and being careful not to accidentally swallow the coin still in her mouth – carried it to the second chamber, and laid the tool on a shelf closest to the open door which connected the first and second chamber. Next, she concentrated on the Muffle skill actively, figuring out how to actively invest a part of her ‘stamina’ into it. When it felt like it worked, she slowly, carefully, and almost-silently dragged all their remaining items to the second chamber as well, and put them in the vicinity of the shiver-inducing padlocked wood-and-iron door.

Since she had the time, Asteria investigated the second chamber more closely. A very eye-catching part of the table had a drain with a basin underneath it. It was fairly obvious from the metallic scent and the colouration of the stains that the set-up served for some sort of sacrifice rituals or the like. Whoever and whatever they were doing, they’d both seemed to mix herbs directly into what she was sure was blood – either human blood or monster blood – as well as hung plants from the ceiling. Asteria craned her head up and used her Plant analysis skill on each of the plant matter part she was able to discern in the bunch. Just to try and see if her assumption was correct, she used Monster analysis on the blood stains and the remains of the mixture in the basin. Asteria approached the basin underneath the table, observing it from up close. Hmm, just in case this is another custom one is supposed to do to appease the spirits or the dead or who knows what else… Asteria went and rifled through their belonging, dug out one Nullven cone, and brought it with her as she approached the basin. Crouching next to it, she pressed her left forearm to her teeth, pushing and pushing until a small but bleeding gash appeared. Then, she dangled her arm above the basin, and used her right paw to squeeze her left arm and get the fresh blood to drip in. As a small rivulet of blood formed, Asteria concentrated on that inner energy, calling forth the mana, and invested a small part of it into the blood offering. After that, she crushed the Nullven cone, scattering it in as well. She didn’t say anything, because she wasn’t aware of any chants, but kept her mind focused on a peaceful, non-aggressive feeling. Hey, if burning the bug meat last night truly had somehow caused the gold coin to appear, then maybe doing something like this wasn’t a half-bad idea either.

"E-eventually... maybe," Miiba echoed Scott in thought. Miiba looked to the kitchen and saw the white hawk from earlier that she followed here as it flew to Lear. She had a strong urge to want to pet it, and one could almost see the thought in her eyes, though she was interuppted by a poking from under the table. It was Reuben, trying to ask them to come closer to talk under the table. Miiba giggled and crawled under, plopping down exitedly at the chance to talk with another kid.His questions though, she knew nothing about, her head tilting a bit as she thought. "Miiba no know bout 'sum-mon-ing'. Miiba just end up here. Remember Miiba be girl, but then, remember Miiba be gob, things between...fuzzy. Make Miiba head hurt. No remember king," Miiba said, her feet out in front of her waving side to side. "Miiba not hero, too tiny, not strong, but Miiba want to be! Miiba be hero, and persons like heroes, so persons then like Miiba! No have to hide, and can have more friends! And friends help Miiba find home!" she said a tad excitedly.

There was a lot of information to consider. The data he had just received from the system and his final experimentations last night, along with the analyses he had made when he had awoken during the night, had given him a lot to think about. He was very close to levelling up again, which was good news, and hopefully he would be able to get that last 8% before the Goblin tribe from yesterday arrived. He was also, as he had already suspected, in a party with the other three people in his little group; so far this didn’t provide many benefits, other than letting him know they were generally healthy, but if they could raise their bond somehow they might unlock additional benefits. Not that he had any idea how to do that.

Oberon thought back to what he had seen last night and the information he had gained from analysing his fellow party members. He had seen the Poison magic Ash had been using and it seemed like something he might be able to replicate but with more difficulty than someone with natural poison production might be able to; if he had a sample of poison it would undoubtedly be easier and he was in good company for something like that it seemed, but the spell didn’t seem useful enough or different enough from his other spells to be worth it right this moment. His analysis of Ash herself was more interesting, as it seemed to suggest that her glinting eyes from the night before was related to a new skill she had learned to observe Mana and her control over it had grown as well. Most likely this had something to do with the Mana Sense and Mana Control skills that had shown up in his skills list since the last time he had checked; either he had observed her using them, though the system surely would have let him know if he had, or more likely he had touched on those skills with his spell creation yesterday. Both sounded like useful skills to have so he would need to talk to Ash later on about learning them, perhaps when he was helping her with whatever she wanted his help with last they spoke.

The analysis of his other two party members, Torrent and Digbie, were less enlightening either because he already had a good idea what they were capable of or because he had analysed them before. Worryingly, they were both surrounded by some strange force as they slept, which might go some way towards explaining why he had felt so uneasy last night; the system said they were unharmed and there was nothing he could do about it at the time, even waking them up might have been dangerous, but he needed to speak to them both at some point about it.

Ideally it would be best to get all four of them together and have a conversation; about this world, about their experiences, what they had discovered, what they wanted to do, what their goals were both short and long term. He still didn’t know anything about them, not really; he had clues about Torrent, and he could guess that Digbie was younger than himself and that Ash was older, but that was it. They could have so much to learn from each other, not just skills but other things as well; just a short conversation yesterday about how he thought he could use existing materials to help create different spells apparently helped Torrent create a bunch of her own. More collaboration like that could have huge advantages for all of them.

He could tell them what elements they were weak against, for one. All three of them apparently had elements that they were weak to or strong against, either because of their affinities or the nature of their species; flying creatures were weak to Ice and Wind, underground creatures were weak to Light and Metal and Digbie was apparently weak to something called Taint. Those weaknesses likely held true for other creatures with similar features to themselves as well, such as all scaled creatures having a resistance to Earth or all flying creatures being susceptible to Wind, which could help them a lot in future fights. As he thought about it the Sprite looked down at himself and used Magic and Monster Analysis to try and find out his own elemental weaknesses; as a Light aligned creature he assumed he had a few.

Unfortunately, any meeting of the minds would probably have to wait until after they were done with the Goblin’s from the Broken Tower tribe and given how they were already on the way he had limited time if he wanted to try and gain a little more experience before they arrived.

The easiest way would surely be to complete another skill, or maybe to level up an existing one, unless another giant creature decided to attack their camp in the next five minutes. Rather than pin his hopes on a random encounter, Oberon thought back to the skill list he had just called up; his list of incomplete skills had apparently grown considerably since he had last checked it, more than he would have thought. Stronger, Mana Sense and Mana Control were all unexpected, while Wind Resistance was easy enough to attribute to his Wind Break spell exploding in his face and Air Read was a natural consequence of working with the element. The most interesting new addition however was Gravity Well, which was not something the Sprite ever expected to see in his skill list.

How had he gotten that? It must have been related to his attempts at Shadow magic, but what had he done exactly? He knew the attempt hadn’t worked, in fact he was so far off the mark the system felt the need to let him know about it, but somehow he seemed to have stumbled across an entirely different kind of magic. The message he had received last night told him that he was trying to draw in everything in his surroundings, which certainly sounded like a gravity well, but it also warned him that the spellcraft was unstable. He’d tried to reach out to the darkness, searching for Shadow, only to find nothing of the sort and instead tried to draw in everything; or he’d tried to draw in the darkness and since he was surrounded by nothing but darkness it was the same as trying to draw in everything. Whatever the case he’d stumbled across something that interested him very much, but he would need to be exceedingly careful with how he approached it.

Flame Lance. That would be the easiest spell to complete. He had already used it a couple times against the Giant Slime and it had seemed to work quite well even when he was just creating it on the fly. Standing up, Oberon raised a hand and conjured a Fireball above his palm before reaching out and reshaping the spell into the elongated, spear-like shape he had used before. The Sprite then compressed the Fire magic down as much as he could, attempting to harden the oblong shape so that it would be able to penetrate whatever he threw it at, like he had done to create the Mana Dart spell. Rather than stop here however, he tried to go a step further and concentrate the condensed energy even further, to shrink the fire down and gather it together in an even more solid form, to turn the flaming lance into a glowing rod of heat and energy.

Once he was satisfied with his work he let the Flame Lance 2.0 fly, aiming it at a rock across the stream from him rather than at a tree or anything else. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally start a forest fire.



@Zeroth

@Stabby @Zeroth

The surprise attack worked. That pixie wouldn't be likely to come up here again. Hopefully, the other pixie would go away as well and Nira would get the answers she was seeking. That would probably be the best for their current situation. Femus was certain that they could make faster progress toward gaining the strength to take care of themselves if they got to that great tree...

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

Unspent Skill Points: 5

Current Skills:
Monster Analysis I (1.3)
Mana Orb II (2.325)
Lesser Force I (1.3)
Levitation (--)
Meditate I (1.6)
Magic Analysis I (1.55)
<UNUSABLE>
Shield (0.6)
Suppress Presence (0.7)
Alert (0.6)
Faster (0.3)
Harder (0.1)
Soil Manipulation(0.1)
Mana Shape (0.8)
Mana Control (0.6)
Muffle (0.3)
Stealth Kill (0.1)
Charisma (0.3)
Mana Drain (0.5)
Iron Gullet (0.1)
Mana Sense (0.4)
Keen Smell (0.1)
Mana Dart (0.1)
Mana Burst (0.1)
Shock Round (0.5)
Fireball (0.1)
Plant Analysis (0.2)
Crafting (0.2)
Keen Sight (0.1)
Wisp Flash (0.1)

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

OPTIONS (* Indicates Suitability):
***(Adult) Wisp - More magical manifestation than biological creatures, Wisps nonetheless possess physical bodies. Their ability to cast spells from range makes them a foe that should not be underestimated by the novice. Wisps are magically oriented monsters, normally possessing two spells.

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

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

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

***(Immature) Mana Spirit - A straightforward transformation for the Wisp, increasing their mastery over the fundamental spells that they use for their base interactions. At the same time, their physical body becomes more unstable. Rather than saying the body is weaker, it is more like...the fundamental self becomes more subject to change. Many mistake these creatures for true Spirit-type Undead, or Ghosts, due to their appearance.

• Increase base Magic stats.
• Increase Lesser Force (reduced)
• Increase Mana Orb (reduced)

(Immature) Slime Mage - An unusual transformation for a Wisp. Their spherical body swells almost grotesquely, and they develop a slimy membrane as their former body dissolves. Slimes are normally of limited intelligence, but every so often one somehow learns magic. With its poor magic stats its casts are limited in number, but few expect a Slime to have such abilities. Having transformed from a Wisp instead, however, a Slime Mage's magic might be much more effective.

• Increase all base Defense Stats
• Increase Mana Orb (reduced)
• Increase Shield (reduced)

... ... Oops. That didn't spell good things for that pixie. Femus's emotions were complicated in this moment as he read what appeared in his mind. A level was a good thing. The evolution seemed to be a good thing too. But, a moment of vulnerability could be fatal so long as he was alone. Also... he had tried to hold back and not kill the pixie. Apparently... he sucked at not killing. Seriously, the closest thing to a glass cannon sorcerer critter just one-shot killed an enemy with the closest thing to a physical attack he had. And... Nira probably saw it.

Complicated feelings.

At least he had new information to distract him from the irritating conundrum of what he was supposed to feel. There were a lot of things in the unusable skill list. Many seemed to be recent acquisitions based on his recent attempts to alter his attack spell. He had certain priorities for now, though. He didn't know how long Nira would be, but it would be foolish to just wait. He would hold off on using those points and hold of on the 'change' that the system mentioned for now. In this present moment, his priority was to finish developing the skills that were closest to completion.

He focused his mind and formed a mana orb. Then he proceeded to remember everything that he associated with lightning from the smell of ozone to the feel of static and the look, speed, and power of the lightning bolts that he saw in the distance as a youth. These aspects he sought to impose on the mana orb, allowing it to change to suit the new information if it needed to but holding it stable. He also did his best to keep his instincts alert to avoid being startled or attacked by surprise.

---

A Quest is yours to receive: Fashion 8 Beads of Prayer

• Beads can be made from a number of materials: stones, clay, gems, even wood.
• Beads should be strung along a sturdy string or rope.
• Wearing them around the wrist or neck is the most convenient method to keep them close

Do you wish to receive this Quest? Y/N

"Ohmigosh yes." Digbie accepted the quest as fast as he could've possibly done. He was ecstatic to receive some word back finally from his efforts to contact Jehanne, and he figured that if he was going to try and get this Taboo out of his system, he needed to do as much as he could. This quest would probably be the first of many, but no matter how many, he'd do them all on his path to redemption.

He looked down at the quartzy pebble down behind his book, staring at it intently. Was this a start to the beads that he had to fashion? Maybe the world was throwing him a bone and this was a way for him to figure things out. Regardless, Digbie closed his book, grabbed his effigy, and stored everything away before he picked up the stone, inspecting it closely with some analysis skills to see what it's properties were.

Then, he thought about something... and pondered if he could get it to work...? He looked up in the air, took a small breath, then exhaled as he spoke. "System, track progress on quest 'Fashion 8 Beads of Prayer.'" Hopefully he could keep track without having to always count it himself automatically.

Alright, so... he should probably get to business, then. He looked at the ground near him, specifically looking for the spot that was the most gravelly out of the bunch, before he held both his hands out and tried to use two instances {Soil Manipulation}, both to work on his Dual Casting, and also to sift through the dirt and gravel to find suitable stones for his necklace. Not just any stones would do, but hopefully with some effort he could find exactly what he needed.

---

Current Status:
You are Hungry.
Your thirst is Quenched.
You are Somewhat Tired.
Your HP is around half.
Your MP is Full.
Your Stamina is getting lower.
You are Fine.

You used Plant Analysis I! You used Magic Analysis I!
---Kilm Tea---
Made from mixing Kilm Blossoms with regular water, this tea inherits pain killing and anti-inflammatory properties from the plant. This particular dose wasn't made with any particular skill and hasn't been heated, so it's rather thick and has a very bitter flavor.

That system info was useful though Danny didn't really know what he could do about his stamina besides try and eat something and for that he needed a fire. Speaking of fires he really wished he had boiled the tea Jason give him first but what done is done. He repeated his process of creating a fireball, including the chanting. He wasn't expecting a different result but he had an idea and having a bigger fire would make things easier.

As he expected the red colored mana orb exploded again and hoping that the "campfire" was big enough Danny started the second stage of learning fireball. The poltergeist wanted to copy the method he used to gain Aqua Sphere a while back and formed another Mana Orb in his hand. Carefully aiming at the strongest embers he fired it toward the burning wood hoping to infuse it with fire.

If that didn't work he would first Meditate before recharging the Source Crystal with as much mana as he could get into it before. Afterwards he would make another incomplete fireball and ignite the wood a third time. Using the Crystal over one eye and Mana Vision I in the other he would study any fire mana in the embers and with the help of Lesser Force III try to drag a few of them over towards him as he formed yet another Mana Orb.

As Ash practiced her various moves with the spear and stone, making use of Lesser Force more than her physical body, she could feel the skill becoming more precise. It really was like having an invisible hand that could manipulate an object at a distance, but it lacked the nuance of physical sensation to give her the proper feedback. Nonetheless, practice was in the process of making perfect.

When she tried to use Mana Vision to see how her mindset affected her Meditation, however, it had the side effect of breaking the Meditation skill. It seemed she still couldn't use other skills while Meditating at the same time. Once she could see the ambient mana pixels hovering around, however, attempting to draw them in seemed to have some affect. But she could tell there was a noticeable difference. Meditation seemed like it caused the mana pixels to gather to her, almost on their own. Iron particles to a magnet. This method, however, was more like the Pygmy Drake herself using a pair of forceps to pick at each particle and bring it to her--there was a flow to it, of sorts, but it was because of the suction she was creating, not a natural or passive attraction. A drain, so to speak, on the Mana around her.

Torrent attempted to remove the elements, rather than draw them in. She used her own power to push away the vestiges of everything else within her. In that space within her mouth, there was the air she breathed. There was the moisture from her own throat. There was what little heat her cold blooded body retained. She willed it away--of course, matter and energy couldn't be destroyed, but in a miniscule place within her maw, she pushed everything else to the side to create an emptiness. And she wanted to push her own mana into that emptiness...but then, that would make it something instead of nothing, wouldn't it?

And...it turned out to be almost impossible. When she tried to push her will into the void, she found that doing so meant she couldn't keep the rest of the energy from flowing back in. She could feel the mana, those different elements she had already worked with. Keeping them away from the void took all of her concentration and energy. But, the longer she did that, and the further away she pushed everything...the bigger that ball of nothing became...

When she opened her mouth, she exposed the Void to the Outside, and the Outside was Not Void. Logically, like water flowing into an empty glass, the Outside should have filled the vacuum inside. But Torrent was pushing everything away. Yet those two forces--Nothing and Something--still wanted to be together, to reach equilibrium. So in order to do that, the Void went Outside.

A dark ripple, like the world's most rancid burp yet with no smell whatsoever, floated out of Torrent's mouth like moths out of an empty wallet. It lingered in the air in front of her for just a moment...then collapsed with a sharp pop, because it simply could not keep the Outside at bay.

But it was a start.

You used Magic Analysis II!
---???---
This spell is of the Shadow element, and seems to take the shape of a spherical void that, upon release, is attracted to the closest sources of other elements along the path of least resistance. Once it makes contact, however, the spell collapses in on itself. It is still incomplete.

Meanwhile, Oberon did a great deal of thinking, as usual. And his in-depth, personal studies of magic seemed to be paying off thus far. Repeating his attempts with shaping a Fireball, this time the method felt much smoother and more natural. When he compressed it, the fire still wanted to move, it didn't want to hold still. The end result was that the elongated shape also caused the flames to spiral in a circle around an invisible "rod" or spear making up the body. When the Sprite compressed this, the spiral grew tighter and spun faster. The spell might have been called a Lance, but it had almost a drill-like quality. And the flames grew brighter, and hotter, their edges turning yellow and their innards white, with sparks of orange and red only crackling here and there. He took aim and let fly, and the bolt moved much faster than a normal fireball. When it struck the stream, the water immediately spat and hissed, boiling and steaming in an almost explosive fashion simply because its evaporation couldn't match the speed of its expansion.

Skill Gain: Flame Lance I (0.7 > 1.0)!
Deal Piercing and Fire Damage. This spell costs significantly more MP than Fireball, but moves at a much faster speed. It doesn't have any area of effect, and also doesn't inflict burns due to the speed at which wounds are cauterized. It may, however, weaken a target's defenses.

LEVEL UP! Your combined experiences have culminated in new power! You are now Level 9! You gain Skill Points to distribute as you please!

Unspent Skill Points: 8

Current Skills:
Minor Heal III (3.0125)
Lesser Flight III (3.1)
Shield IV (4.03875)
Magic Analysis IV (4.4575)
Mana Orb II (2.775)
Mana Shape II (2.975)
Lesser Status Heal (1.2)
Mana Dart I (1.6)
Alert I (1.65)
Monster Analysis II (2.65)
Meditation III (3.08875)
Light Ring I (1.3)
Gather Light I (1.9)
Fireball I (1.85)
Plant Analysis I (1.0)
Material Analysis I (1.0)
Sacred Ground I (1.0)
Mana Slice I (1.25)
Overwork I (1.8)
Keen Sight (1.1)
Minor Heal All I (1.0)
Spiritual Awareness I (1.0)
Minor Regeneration I (1.0)
Spell Chant I (1.1)
Focus I (1.35)
Mental Resistance II (2.3)
Sensory Resistance I (1.0)
Faster I (1.0)
Aqua Sphere I (1.05)
Wind Break I (1.05)
Wall I (1.0)
Flame Lance I (1.0)
<UNUSABLE>
Charisma (0.9)
Light Affinity (0.8) <CANNOT INCREASE WITH SKILL POINTS>
Fire Resistance (0.2)
Spell Cancel (0.1)
Mana Puppet (0.5)
Earth Wall (0.1)
Mana Drain (0.3)
Stronger (0.1)
Mana Sense (0.2)
Air Read (0.3)
Mana Control (0.1)
Wind Resistance (0.1)
Ice Spike (0.4)
Gravity Well (0.1)

Error. System is already tracking progress for Quest: Fashion 8 Prayer Beads.

You used [Analysis]!
---Round Quartz---
A small pebble made from quartz. It was probably a larger crystal originally, but the wear and tear of time have worn down its edges and corners. It is now somewhat round. Compared to other stones of this type, one could say it is of Good Quality. It is surprisingly hard to crack, break, or scratch.

Digbie extended both hands, and sought to use Soil Manipulation...but in both hands, effectively trying to cast the same spell twice. He felt this normally less cost-intensive spell suddenly eat a decent chunk out of his mana, but whereas casting two completely different spells hadn't worked out well thus far it seemed like trying to layer the same spell was much easier even if that Dual Cast skill hadn't triggered yet. A 5 foot cone of ground in front of him rippled and rolled under his magic, turning up stone and soil that had been layered over time. Some of the stones he could tell were from the stream bank, perhaps moved by floods or left in place as the water shifted over time. Many of these, therefore, were much smoother than the rough and sharp gravel pieces he found.

Four stones in particular looked promising. There were two Hard Stones, not quite circular and much too big to be a bead, but maybe he could use them to wear down other stones. There were also two Shiny Stones--they seemed to be made of natural minerals of some kind, nothing super valuable like gemstones or metal, but shiny like marbles. One was white with an orange and brown streak through it, while the other was a pleasant shade of blue. They still weren't quite smooth or circular enough. The last stone, and the only one of the right shape and size to be a bead, was a Smooth Stone a little like the one Ash had found in the Giant Rat's maw, but smaller.

---

You used Source Crystal Shard!
---Zieglar Blackgate---
Elite Human Male, Knight Templar
All Stats are Far Superior to your own.
Possesses Combat Skills Including but Not Limited To: Slash, Skewer, Cleave, Defender, Blade Charge, Physical Conditioning, Sword Air, Smash, Counter, Skill Release...
Possesses Spell Skills Including but Not Limited To: Minor Heal, Shield, Mana Shape, Mana Orb, Spiritual Awareness, Guidance, Inspire, Holy Strike, Sword Wave, Lesser Status Heal...
Possesses Equipment Including but Not Limited To: Fluted Steel Plate Armor, Iron Maille, Gatekeeper's Kite Shield, Steel Half-Sword, Iron Flanged Mace, Steel Kidney Dagger, Arming Doublet, Wool Hosen, Cotton Shirt, Cotton Loincloth...
---Charge Empty---

You have no MP remaining! You cannot recharge the Source Crystal Charge at this time.

Skill Gain: Lesser Cleanse I (0.7>1.0)!
Refine and purify your own positively charged mana before releasing it to counteract negatively charged mana. Certain non-physical status effects like Curse may be dispelled by this spell, but things like Poison may only be reduced. This spell may also serve to neutralize negative mana build up in an area, such as cleansing a grave to prevent an Undead rising. However, at this rank only small areas can be cleansed, and only a small amount of negative mana can be neutralized. The greater the area, or the density, the less effective this spell will be.

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

Skill Gain: Mana Strike (0.9>1.0)!
Infuse a physical attack with non-elemental Magic to increase its damage. The attack's physical type of damage is unaffected, but Magic damage is simply added. Thus a creature with Slash Resistance would still take the Magic Damage if this Skill were used with a sword. Like Mana Orb, this technique is malleable and often a starting point for other forms of enchanting skills.

When Ardur related his vision of the figures and the Sun, Zieglar's expression grew more intense. The knight lifted one gauntlet to his face in what seemed to be a thinking pose, but the fact that it hid some of his features made his emotions hard to read.

"Gods, you say...I assume you mean Divine Spirits? The Mother would be Claidheamh, an ancient Sun Spirit from the Shiri people...though their island is far across the kingdom, to the east. The "king," if you really want to call him that, is Dhulfiqar, a barbaric blood-drinking Sun Spirit whose following is limited to the deserts of Ashyra to the south. The Guardian, the one who protects, the one who brings growth and life. That is Galatine. He is also the patron of my order, and widely revered all across Viskard."

After that, he and Trent both gave their full attention to the two speaking monsters. Every so often they would exchange glances. Quite a few times the boy started to say something, only for his mentor to hold up a hand for silence. When both the Amorphous Slime and the Hipixie had finished speaking, Zieglar looked at Trent and made a subtle motion with his head, as if gesturing for the boy to step back. It seemed a notable shift--up until this point, whether in fighting the bugbear or deciding on the next course of action, the adult and fully-fledged Knight had stayed in the background and barely even offered advice. Now, however, he stood at the fore as he spoke to the four monsters.

"Right then. It's clear to me that you two, and that Poltergeist we met before, as well as any other "smart monsters" who are, or used to be, in that cave, are far from normal. And, if this talk of "other worlds" and "reborn humans" has any weight to it...it means that something very grave is happening. Something that will have far reaching, dangerous consequences, for all of us--Monsters and Men alike." The man pointed to the east. "An old friend of mine has a homestead in these woods. It is fortified, and quite safe. There is food and drink there, and we will be able to send a message from there to others who may be able to help get to the bottom of this. What say you?" He extended a hand to Asura and Ardur, though due to the obvious size and shape difference it seemed less for a handshake and more just a gesture that he would have shaken hands were it possible. "Will you come with us, so that we can continue this discussion, and perhaps help you, somewhere away from these woods and this Dungeon?"

---

Ed chose discretion as the better part of valor, and picked the darkest hiding place he could find. He expected the bandits to actually come into the barrow, and use it like he and his pack had for shelter...but as time went on, it seemed that wouldn't be the case. They apparently intended to either hide along the side of the barrow or in the grass and ditches along the road, for whatever reason. But how long would they stay here? How much traffic could this road be expected to have?

You used Plant Analysis I!
---Hyrmr Thorns---
A deciduous, woody plant with sweet tasting sap. This sap, when harvested then dried and crumbled, is often used as a spice and has a strong scent. It also has properties that cure many types of infections and can even kill fungus. When burned as an incense it repels insects.
---Sacias Bark---
An evergreen tree that has a strong smell due to a chemical concentrated in its bark. Often shredded for use as a spice. The bark itself can also be eaten but is thick, tough, and has a rough texture. While its strong flavor is useful in cooking, it has limited medicinal uses.
---Esina Flowers---
A flowering plant that also produces small fruits, and is very attractive to insects. The seedbuds at the base of the flower stems can be ground up to produce a pleasant smelling but bitter tasting spice often added to deserts to balance out oversweetening. It can also be fermented, though it takes enormous amounts to make anything close to normal liquor amounts of drink.

You used Monster Analysis I!
---Human Blood---
The blood of a human. Necessary for many bodily functions, responsible for carrying both nutrients and oxygen through the anatomy. Very high Mana conductivity, rich in protein.
---Embalming Mixture---
A mixture of bodily fluids, various spices, and other chemicals. Seems to have drained from the last body placed on this table.

As Asteria dripped a single droplet of her blood, tingling with mana, into the basin and scattered the cone over it...nothing happened. Save the static-y feeling of magic in her bloodstream, that is. But that soon died away without leaving much visible effect.

However...even without using Mana Sense, or Alert, the Dire Rat suddenly had that hair raising, goosepimpling, blood chilling, cold sweating, shivering feeling...that something was watching her.

Asura looked over the information given to him mentally. Yeah he kind of figured Zieglar would be very powerful, especially with that equipment. Probably high quality given his Templar status. While he was doing this Ardur's Gods, Divine Spirits, whatevers, were explained. An ancient one worshiped by few, a barbaric one worshiped by few, and one who possibly protects worshiped by a lot. Who would have thought the one who potentially protects would be the more worshiped one! Never mind the fact some people didn't worship women based deities. Whatever, he didn't worship a damn thing anyway.

When the knight began talking again Asura paid some more attention than normal. "So far the only consequence has been the disruption of a caves ecosystem. Which made a Death Dungeon." He said before molding himself back up into the crash dummy form. Trying to get more definition instead of leaving it so blank. "But proper food would probably fit Ardur here better than what we've been eating. But...I would like to clear that dungeon sooner rather than later. I have all my energy, but no mana." He said while giving Zieglar a handshake. The hand was actually made larger, some mass taken from elsewhere. It was close to his own hand size but still roughly the same size as the Knightly humans.

Withdrawing he splashed down into his puddle body and contacted Mother Slime. We'll be following the humans for now...but be wary. I don't trust either of them. He thought while waiting to get moving depending on the other mans decision. Either the friends house, or to the dungeon and fuck shit up.

---

Lesser force becoming more precise was only a small success. She'd need to continuously use and develop it, so she would. What was more interesting, was drawing Mana to her. Meditation seemed to passively draw mana towards her, whilst this seemed to be making a conscious effort to draw everything to her. Curious...perhaps...? Focusing her attention on the particles, Ash began pulling more to her.

...actually, wait.

She was kind of a dragon, wasn't she? Maybe this was a bit of a stretch, but, instead of exhaling things, she could inhale them? Some sort of Magic-gathering breath? Standard things like fire seemed to be possible, so maybe something like it was possible? Was she being a bit silly with that thought? Perhaps, but instead of simply doing it one at a time, this would offer a large scale effect with both likely direction and power. Opening her mouth, Ash attempted to inhale, trying to suck in the mana particles and keeping her mana vision active to see the results. If doing it like she was before was like forceps, then this would be more similar to a vacuum drawing everything in front of it in.

---

---

As soon as her sacrifice-esque action was done, Asteria felt a sudden presence. The closest reference to it was that water spirit in the sword she’d met way back in the dungeon. Narrowing her eyes, she dropped the coin from her mouth to her left palm, clutching it closely while looking around warily. “Hello?” she murmured the question. She used Mana Sense to try and get a feel for the disturbance. “Are you a spirit? Were you that being who was pleased by me offering part of the bug meat? Any connection to the coin?” she wondered aloud, whispering. She was mostly attempting to communicate with whatever was there, just to see if what she felt was some sort of a sentient spiritual being or not. She cocked her head to the side, focusing intently on her sense of touch.

“You know…If you like blood so much…there are some bandits outside this place, up to no good for sure,” actually, from what Ed had told her, she wasn’t sure if they were about to ransack the barrow if they had some other purpose. The fact that they were a danger was indisputable, so the details probably didn’t matter that much. “They’re bothering us too, but they outnumber us, some have armour, and they may be more skilled too…But I think at least one of them is a human,” she confided in a hushed, somewhat sweetly beseeching tone. Ed had referred to them as ‘armoured dudes’ so that last bit was likely true. “And if we had your help dealing with them…well, in exchange we can bring the corpses inside and you could have all that tasty fresh blood, hmm?”

Asteria didn’t honestly think something like what she was doing could get any sort of reaction, but then again, back when she had been speaking with the water spirit, that being had spoken to her and had wanted her mana…Though, as she still clearly remembered, dealing with it hadn’t been possible. Maybe this would be different. Or maybe nothing would happen. She was fine with either outcome. If mother rat, Ed, and herself had to deal with the situation themselves, they would. If there was actually some mysterious protective force in the barrow that had interest in keeping potentially disturbing presences aside, then perhaps it would offer a helpful push for them to deal with the bandits.

Well, that was considerably more dramatic than he’d expected. The Flame Lance shot out of his hand with more speed than his previous attempts, the more concentrated spear of energy almost seeming to pull itself through the air with its drill-like rotation towards the stream. It also didn’t explode once it had bit into his target like it had previously, though that might just be because the spitting and steaming water hid what was happening. The skill message popped while the water was still boiling away quickly followed by the level-up message he was hoping to see.

He didn’t need to read the description to know that the spell cost more Mana than a regular Fireball as he felt his reserves drain considerably as the spell left his hands. That it was faster than a regular Fireball was also evident, but the note that it could potentially lower his opponent’s defence was interesting. Due to its cost it was a spell that would be best used sparingly, either to crack opponents with strong defences or to hit opponents which were too fast for his other spells to hit. Costly or not, it added yet another tool to his kit, another solution to a potential problem that may show up in the future, which is exactly what he wanted.

Speaking of his tool kit, with his recent level-up he had another five skill points to spend and given their imminent meeting with a potentially dangerous Goblin tribe he planned on using them to prepare for any eventualities that may happen. His skill list hardly looked any different than it had a few moments ago, so he was able to ignore the information displayed to him having already thought about what he wanted to spend his points on. They were about to enter into negotiations with a group of creatures native to this world, his first non-hostile encounter with something that wasn’t reincarnated like himself, and he had a Charisma skill that was close to completion that might come in handy in the upcoming meeting; normally he wouldn’t want to spend points on anything that close to ranking up by itself but considering he hadn’t seen any progress in the last day and a half he felt okay in this case. He could also spend some points in ranking up his Alert skill, just in case these Goblins tried anything sneaky.

“System: show current experience.”

Before that however, there was something he wanted to check. He knew that creating skills gave him experience, and ranking them up might do the same, but did purchasing skills with points also give him experience? He would assume not, but given that he now had a rare opportunity to find out for certain, he was going to make use of it.

“Put one point into Charisma. Show experience again.”

It would be interesting to see what the results of this would be. If buying skills gave experience, even if it was less than what you would gain when earning the skill through natural development, then they might be able to use that in an emergency somehow; not to mention that if spending one or two skills point could trigger a level-up and thereby gain them five more skill points, that would be a net gain no matter how you looked at it. And if it did give less experience than creating a skill normally then that would give them more reason to try and create skills naturally wherever possible.

“Put four points into Alert. Show experience again.”

At this point Oberon wasn’t sure if ranking up a skill gave any experience at all, but with this he would hopefully soon find out. He knew, or could assume at least, that learning new skills granted about 10% experience from what he had seen, though that would likely change over time as he grew in level and more experience was required. He had no evidence that the same was true for ranking up an existing skill and even after this he wouldn’t know if buying a new rank gave the same or less experience. Since his skill list showed him that he had a couple of skills that were very close to gaining a new rank however, it wouldn’t take him long to find out.

The Sprite raised a hand and created a Mana Orb before reaching out with his Mana Shape ability to start moulding the orb into a different shape. He had no goal in mind, no spell he was trying to create, Oberon just wanted to exercise Mana Shape until a system message appeared. He began by flattening the orb down, the circumference growing as the sphere was compressed and the sides bulged out; when viewed from the top it would look like a perfect circle still, but while viewed from the side it would appear to be an oval, one that was quickly growing longer and thinner as it was squeezed flat into a disc shape. Once it was mostly flat Oberon would work on the edges, pressing them flat so that the border of the disc was sharp rather than round and making the Frisbee of Mana look more like a large pizza cutter. In his mind the Sprite couldn’t help but picture a circular saw blade and even though he had started this with no aim in mind he began to think about how he could work the Mana into that shape.

The edges would need to be serrated, but doing so would require finer control and shaping of the Mana than Oberon had done previously; up until now he had really only worked with simple, geometric shapes after all. He focused on the flat disc hovering over his hand, imagining the shape he wanted it to take as he used Mana Shape to etch teeth into the rim of his creation. If at any point he received a notification about Mana Shape ranking up he would request to see his experience again, even as he became increasingly distracted with his newest idea.



@Zeroth

---

Torrent watched the result of her experiment with a rabid interest, and she would have smiled if she still had a proper face. She'd started it. She'd started to figure it out.

This was the first steps of a change, she could feel it in her very core.

Maybe if she used her mouth to start she could keep it going once she let it out? How big could she make it before it collapsed upon itself?

She repeated the process, though this time she didn't try to put her own will into the Void, instead just pulling everything away from it. And when she opened her mouth, she continued the efforts. She again used Magic Analysis on the effect while she continued to focus on keeping the Void growing in front of her. She'd seen spells that had a natural shape, so what if she just helped the Void grow into whatever shape it was wanting to do?

She continued to try to make sure that the Void survived as long as she could manage. If it collapsed too soon to do anything, she would instead change tactic to trying to keep it in her mouth and let in small amounts of Outside into it to see the result, again using Magic Analysis on the result.

The more she learned about how the Void interacted with the world and how to interact with it the easier it would be for her to manipulate it into something she could use.

In a last ditch idea, she took a small break from trying to make the spherical Void, and instead focused on trying to push everything away from herself just like she did to make the Void, and used Magic Analysis on the result and Monster Analysis on herself.

She would figure this out, no matter the cost.

---

Ed waited and waited and waited for the bandits to arrive and ransack the burial mound. But after the first five minutes or so, the bandits didn't seem to be actually interested in entering. The young ratman let out a sigh of relief as he finally let himself breath a little more easily. Perhaps they didn't need to encounter the bandits, after all, they were at a disadvantage in regards to numbers, equipment, and probably skill. Slinking out of the shadowy corner of the room, he approaches the entrance of the structure and focuses [Beast Sense II] on his sense of hearing first. He had to make sure that the bandits were not actively moving outside. Then he would focus on his sense of smell, as with the tall grass outside likely obscuring the bandits, enhancing his vision would do little. He would try to single out the smells of the kobolds and, if possible, the two armed humanoids he saw from earlier. Ed could probably single out the odors of the bandits after a small span of time. Whether or not they bathed, their smell would likely be distinctly different from the smell of the grassland and fresh air.

Once done with identifying if the bandits outside were still moving via hearing and if they were actually still there judging from the smell, Ed would try to go outside and scout. Looking for a way out of their current predicament, without alerting the bandits to their presence. If nothing else, confirm the positions of the bandits. So, at the very least, he could relay this information to Asteria and formulate a plan on how they were going to deal with them. Quickly shaking off the feeling of fear, Ed kept his body crouched down and near the ground to avoid being spotted easily. Then Ed walked slowly out of the barrow. [Muffle II] at the ready in the off chance of a bandit detecting him.

Ardur The Mighty Hipixie

Getting to know each other > just a short detour /// Adventuring day 5 // Afternoon / Location - Forest

He could not help but tilt his head slightly at the mention of the names and what they represented as the knight spoke. From what he could tell, his guess about what each god or Holy Spirit represented was surprisingly close. The high pixie did not say much more seemingly lost in his own thoughts about what he had said about the holy spirits and what he continued to say after as well as what Asura had to say.

“Thank you for thinking about my needs but I’m fine with whatever.” Smiling to the slime next to him that was showing off some surprising shape shifting abilities. “Returning to the dungeon and destroying the core is also something I would like to do. I feel that I am not solely responsible for its death affinity but still responsible for it. Correcting my wrongs there would set my mind at ease for the time being.” He spoke truthfully this time looking from the slime to the human and reaching out to shake his hand after Asura did.

“However, I have been using guidance all day and it has been pointing me this way.” He stops for a moment to look south towards were the signs have been pointing toward. “I feel like whatever its trying to guide me toward is close and it’s only the afternoon. I would like to venture that way for a little while just to see at least what’s over there before heading toward your friends homestead.” Looking from the human and back to his slimy friend, “if you’re up for that, could be something useful.” He shrugged and looked back to the knight, “besides these humans here don’t seem to intent on destroying us, so what do say? Would you like to go for a stroll for a little while longer before turning back to meet your friend?”

@Zeroth
@Kazemitsu

---

"These should be good stones. At least, I hope they are." Digbie said, pocketing the Hard Stones, Quartz Pebble, Shiny Stones, and Smooth Bead. He instinctively placed the Quartz Pebble and Smooth Bead into a separate pocket on his satchel while he placed the other four stones into his bag loosely. He could fetch them out if he needed. For right now, he remembered that the Rat from yesterday had indeed held a stone in it's mouth. Maybe it'd be a good idea to go ask Ash where that went.

He looked up at the sun, basking for a moment in it's glory before smiling softly. He believed he could do just what he was hoping. He was ready to get the sins out of his body so he could advance things without that on his conscience. That being said, he knew he had quite the journey, and of course he could work on it over time. Until he knew he had all the stones he wanted, he'd just pocket and hold the ones he wanted. Heck, maybe he could harden Mana and make it a permanent stone...?

That... wasn't actually too farfetched of an idea. Maybe he could actually do it?

Digbie returned to the scene of the group, walking over to Ash who was busy breathing in a ton of air. Digbie didn't immediately understand why, but he began to cook up a small Mana Orb in his hand as he began to think of his question. "Hey Ash? D'you remember that Stone that we found in the Rat? I'd like to check it to see if it's good for something I wanna do."

As Digbie waited for an answer, he looked at the Mana Orb he was cooking up. With all the experience in his little demiblin brain, Digbie tried to condense his Mana Orb into a much harder, stonelike state. Who knows? Maybe with his quasi-expertise of Earthen Magics, he could manage to create a Mana Stone that he could use as a bead. Hopefully he could do that, anyway. He couldn't help but add Magic Analysis onto his efforts, hoping that his analysis of trying to solidify Mana would prove him some good in seeing if his efforts were even reasonable.

---

@Stabby @Zeroth

The last thing that Femus expected was to have Nira call out to him for advice. He continued holding his spell stable and tried to keep a part of his mind on developing Shock Round while he figured out what to do. It was clear that Nira was feeling the pressure after starting to develop a relationship with this other pixie. But, Femus hesitated to respond. He felt like they weren't capable enough to bring in a pet/ally at that level. The pixie could be useful but it would have to settle down first, completely going against its nature. It just didn't seem possible. A wisp might be a better bet but those seemed... grumpier.

Maybe they should start smaller and develop skills to help them out with this kind of thing. Perhaps bugs or small mice or something like that. Still, he hadn't seen anything like that... unless it was in something else's stomach. For now, though... he needed to answer

"If it can't be controlled, and it can't be trusted, then we don't need it with us. If it follows us or we encounter it later, we'll deal with it then. If we have the right skills by then, we might even be able to pull off taming it." He said finally, speaking loudly enough to be heard but without exposing himself visually.

Oddly enough, the act of speaking while trying to maintain a spell brought something to mind. Magic often involved chants and such. Maybe that would help to finish this skill faster. He kept his volume down for this though. Small spell, small chant... something simple.

"Shocking force enhance, Shock Round."

When Ash focused on trying to make a stronger effort to draw in the energy, using her Mana Vision to pick out the particles around her, she felt that active draining effect become stronger. It still wasn't as fast a recovery as her Meditation, but if she could use it while being active...Then, she had an idea. Opening up wide, she did her best impression of a vacuum. And...the particles seemed drawn to her at a faster rate! However, she wasn't able to hold this for long. Soon her nostrils and throat felt cold and dry due to trying to draw in so much air so fast, and of course trying to constantly inhale was just as stressful as trying to hold one's breath in for too long. After only a couple of seconds she was forced to stop and breathe normally. She had an odd taste, almost a tingle, in her mouth.

EXP: 10%

Skill Gain: Charisma I (0.9 > 1.0)!
Your personality is almost a magical charm unto itself. You’ll have greater luck convincing others to go along with your suggestions, but only within their own natural reasoning. This skill may not work on those with stronger Wills.

EXP: 20%

Skill Rank Up: Alert I > Alert II (1.65 > 2.05)!
At this Rank, you may use the Passive form of Alert as normal. By Actively engaging the Alert skill, your senses become temporarily sharper and make it easier to find a target even if it is under the effect of Stealth skills. The Active form of this skill may also alert you to environmental hazards.

EXP: 30%

Skill Rank Up: Mana Shape II > Mana Shape III (2.975 > 3.0375)!
At this rank, manipulating more complex shapes becomes easier. You may also move the shaped Mana within a ten foot radius around yourself, though it cannot be used as a projectile. In addition to multiple colors, your Mana can now be shaped to imitate a texture. Making the mana dense enough to become opaque is possible, but increases MP consumption.

EXP: 52%

Oberon's experiments proved quite informative, but aside from the System he also found that the attempt at making a "saw blade" became much easier now that he had the experience of spells like Light Ring, Mana Shape, Mana Slice, and others under his belt. It still felt too fragile to use as an attack, but it had already used up more Mana than a normal Mana Orb did due to how enlarged he had made its surface.

You used Magic Analysis II!
---Void ???---
An incomplete spell. By using your own Mana to repel all elements and energies away from a point in space, you've created an area of "emptiness" somehow. Repelling all forces equally causes this Void to take a spherical shape. It seems to naturally be drawn towards the same things you are repelling away from it, just like water moving to areas of lower concentration or heat moving to areas of lower temperature.

---Void Blast (Incomplete)---
An incomplete spell. You've created a shadowy void that creates a vacuum force once it interacts with outside forces. Forming it in your mouth allows you to give it a path of least resistance to follow, but letting the atmosphere back into this sealed environment seems dangerous.

---You---

Torrent [+]

Name:
Torrent, formerly Rain

Gender:
Female

Species:
Lesserwurm

Appearance:
Green with blue mixed in.
She looked like a fantasy version of a skink lizard, her head being more bony with scaly outcrops along her snout and over the ridges on her eyes. Though she had no back legs, her front limbs had become somewhat longer and stronger. While she didn't have true thumbs, her claws had been reduced to three digits, two of which were longer and the third of which was shorter, thicker, and set at an angle to the others. It was a bit like a human's hand making a constant "Spock-hand" by holding the index-middle and pinky-ring fingers in pairs and curling the thumb. The joints of these "fingers" and the natural curl of her claws gave her a stronger grip that she could feel even as she began to pull herself along the ground--she would be able to pull, or to scoop and dig, quite fast if she felt so inclined. She was roughly twice as long as her previous form, though not so heavy-set throughout her body. As her tail instinctively lashed behind her, she would likely feel confident that she could easily contort herself in a variety of shapes.

Past Life:
There were few things more important to Rain in her short life than secrecy, alertness, and speed. She was not stronger than most, she was not at healthy as most, but with those three key factors helped to keep her alive and ahead in the dirty streets of an unnamed slum deep in the heart of Detroit.

Born to teen parents who didn't want her, it was a life of hardship from the start. She looked to her parents and was left wanting, before being abandoned at the age of six. She was a street urchin with a lack of trust and a thirst for better.

She scraped by, year after year, by honing these skills and not being afraid to be ruthless with the other filth left in the gutter, the gangs and the deranged.

Her life, however, was cut short by someone just a bit smarter and faster than she was, who happened to slip a knife between her ribs at the age of 16.

Given a second chance, she's going to do it right this time.

---ANALYSIS COMPLETE!---

A splitting headache hit Torrent suddenly, like an ice cream migraine. To make matters worse, when attempting that experiment before by containing the void within her maw and letting air between her lips a little bit at a time, the void's collapse felt like it had taken a little bit of her cheek or tongue with it--she could definitely feel a raw and painful spot whenever she ran her tongue around the inside of her jaws. But, still, she had garnered some useful information and had a name to go with the Skill she was developing...

You used Magic Analysis I!
---Mana Orb I (1.95)---
A simple blast of magic. At the moment it only does as much damage as a strong punch on average, unless the enemy is weak to magic. As it gets stronger it becomes a generic, non elemental energy blast. You have the first Rank in this skill but are very close to the second. Your attempts to condense it are making it more powerful, at the cost of more MP.

It seemed like the Mana Orb was getting denser, but it wasn't concentrated enough to turn "hard" like the Demiblin wanted. Maybe he needed to keep going, add more MP, or do something else besides just trying to shrink it down. He could see Oberon over there practicing with changing the shape of one of his own Mana Orbs, and the Sprite seemed to be on to something from that look of intense concentration on his face...

The horn they had heard before blew again, and it sounded like it was just on the other side of the hill! Rags Nar had believed, yesterday, that the other monsters were somehow Digbie's pets or demon familiars. Did they want him and the other goblins to see them performing their skills or witness them talking to one another, or would they try to hide their abilities for now...?

---

"And given the short amount of time it's happened in, that "only consequence" is rather notable." Zieglar responded when Asura downplayed what had happened thus far. "We only received the report of the Goblins moving two days ago. If they were preparing for this battle with the "smart monsters," and the many deaths caused by that conflict are what made this Dungeon, it means that in the course of less than fourty-eight hours," he shook Asura's only-slightly malformed hand and looked down intently at the articulate digits, then returned his gaze to the Amorphous Slime. "You, and the other monsters like you, created that Dungeon unintentionally. I shudder to think of the consequences if any of you had actually known what you were doing. Though..." He once again placed a hand on his chin. "You said another slime, like yourself, tried to take over? Do you know if he interacted with the Dungeon Core at all?"

While Asura pondered how to answer that, Ardur spoke up and seconded the suggestion to clear the Dungeon. When he spoke about clearing his conscience, both the Knight and Squire gave each other curious looks. Trent began to rub the back of his head, clearly thinking in a heavy fashion much like his mentor. When Ardur explained that he felt he was being pulled towards the south by the influence of the Divine Spirits, the boy was the one to speak.

"If you just want to know what's that way, it's the Alpin Plains. But the further you go, the more barren the land becomes. Ashyra, the deserts where Dhulfiqar reigns, is beyond the grasslands. If you've been doing something to try and appease the spirits, it's likely he's the one calling you..." Trent's voice cracked slightly as he raised its volume, suddenly more on edge. "What kind of sacrifice did you do!?"

Though he kept a sharp eye on his apprentice and the Hipixie, Zieglar still listened to Asura's answer regarding the other Slime--Jason, of course--and only then gave what seemed to be his final opinion.

"If you really want to risk going back into the Dungeon, then I suppose I could send Trent with you. It would be a good opportunity to have him work in a group that would really push him out of the box, and to nip this problem in the bud right away." He gave the boy a peculiar glare, causing the Squire to gulp nervously. Obviously something unsaid passed between them. What other motive could Zieglar possibly have, to let his apprentice join a party of creatures that were normally hostile to Humans? For the sake of going into an even more dangerous environment? Was he simply that trusting, despite knowing the party of reincarnators for less than an hour and knowing nothing of their abilities? Did he not think any of them were strong enough to take down Trent while the Knight wasn't looking? Or could this be part of some cunning plot...?

---

You used Mana Sense!
You feel an earthy Mana shifting about, just at the edge of your senses...

As Asteria spoke to seemingly empty air, the silence of the tomb lay still and cold. But then, a low rumble seemed to pass through a corner of the room...almost like someone laughing...

"A Dire Rat that can talk...I've seen some weird stuff in here, believe you me, but never talking rats..."

Skill Gain: Charisma I (0.95 > 1.0)!
Your personality is almost a magical charm unto itself. You’ll have greater luck convincing others to go along with your suggestions, but only within their own natural reasoning. This skill may not work on those with stronger Wills.

The packed earth floor suddenly shifted near one corner of the room. A small mound rose up, like a mole getting ready to open up a path to the surface...but as a layer of soil shifted aside, it seemed like the dirt itself was taking shape underneath...A humanoid face like a chubby baby, with eyebrows and hair replaced by scaly layers of stone, blinked with eyes that looked like faceted clear gemstones. The octagonal irises of emerald green and a black pupils of the same shape gazed at Asteria.

"But in any case, that's not part of my contract, sorry. And I don't drink blood, what do you take me for? Why would you do dark magic junk like that on people you were gonna bury right next door to your town?" The head rose higher, until chunky and infantile arms appeared as well, giving the creature a cushion upon which to lay its chin. "My only concern is the barrow. I don't care what happens outside, and far be it from me to get involved in human affairs."

As Ed focused his Beast Sense to enhance his hearing, oddly enough he couldn't pick up on the conversation taking place in the other room. He could, however, make out the sounds of the bandits' breathing. The Kobold had a hissing breath, but very slow and drawn out. The ratman didn't hear this sound often--it seemed the lizard breathed through its slitted nostrils most of the time, and only occasionally sighed through its snout. The two hunched, hooded creatures that he thought might be some form of goblinoid had rougher, faster breathing, but the rhythm was still calm and steady. One of them sounded like he might actually be on the verge of dozing off. He could hear wind rustling the tall grass on the other side of the road, where those other two bandits would be, but once the breeze died down he couldn't hear anything else that seemed to indicate movement. So they were probably still standing where they were before, waiting to ambush whoever passed along the road...

The rodent enhanced his sense of smell next. The scent of woodsmoke tickled his whiskers first, and it was still fairly fresh. That probably meant that, wherever these bandits had their camp, it was probably close by. He could also smell leather, and metal, and oil...freshly honed blades, then? Wood, and something slightly rotted...maybe the rabbit skull on top of that Kobold's staff? A slightly sour, familiar smell...something minty, and also familiar. And then...something that wrinkled his nose with a sharp, acrid scent. It reminded him of the color purple for some reason. He had definitely smelled it before, and he knew it was dangerous. It was coming from the Kobold.

He could still identify each slightly different scent and match it to a bandit, even if he didn't manage to figure out what some of the other smells were. And he knew that the three monsters were still on the side of the barrow, they didn't seem to intend to come within. The other two were still on the other side of the road...but how much could they see from their position? He decided to risk it, and slowly began to creep back outside...Mother Rat followed him as far as the threshold of the barrow, pressing her body flat to the ground just as her ears lay back along her head.

Upon stepping out into the light, Ed could see further down both ends of the road...and before he had a chance to further examine the bandits, a large and dark shape caught his eye.

Coming from the direction of the lakeside town, along the road, sure to pass by the barrow within the next few minutes...a large horse drawn cart, with a few human figures clustered around it.

How long did he have before the bandits spotted it? If he turned and went back into the barrow, would he be risking sight by the thieves? If he didn't go back, would the people on the cart see him first? If he tried to warn them, would they listen? Or meet the Ratman with drawn weapons? If he let them go by, would the bandits attack them? Kill them?

What choices did Ed really have here...?

---

"Life? Abandon? Wisdom? The Earth does not give Life. Life learned to use the Earth in order to live. The Earth does not abandon, yet neither is it loyal. Beings place their loyalties in one another. The Earth has no ancient wisdom--it simply Is as it was Meant to be. Beings garner wisdom, and display falsehoods."

In the darkness, Jason began to perceive...something. Was it coming from the mana he was absorbing, filling his spirit to the brim? Was it something from that strange spirit world, the world of gray mists?

The darkness lifted, as a hole opened up. A hand, lifting a stone from the earth. Primitives crowded around as the hands reached back into the hole, digging and churning the dirt with sticks and simple stones. As the earth was stirred, seeds were placed in the holes. As their roots reached through the earth and found nourishment, they opened up their buds and put forth fruit. As long as the earth was there, the plants would grow. As long as the humans had stone, they could build tools and shelter. From grass to animal to predators, through life and death, all made use of the earth and all returned to it.

The moon rose. The night fell. The darkness, the ocean, the sun, the wind, the mountains...they were constant, always there. The stars might fade, but they would always return--and the Earth would always be waiting for them. All of these things and many more existed long before the primitive came out of its cave. What were they? What dangers did they bring? What wonders?

“Beings have given the Earth many names and many meanings. For many Beings, understanding agency, creating reason, forever seeking, and always asking were the methods of their survival. Did the Wind rustle the brush, or the Lion? The Being who assumed Wind did not always survive. If No Man threw the stone, did the Unseen Unknown Being cause the stone to fall? Why is it Unseen and Unknown? The Man who did not seek to understand did not always survive.”

Jason saw the primitives through the hole in the earth again, now wearing clothes made from plants and sitting around a fire. They cooked a slain beast, and carved its flesh with knives made from stone they had taken from the Earth and shaped for that purpose. Their children sat around them as the elders told them what they needed for survival--the tales of sun, and moon, and night, and ocean, and Earth. How they were dangerous and wonderful. How to understand them. But the children did not understand. How could Earth give them food? Why was the Cave safer than the open plain? So the elders changed the tales, made Them “like” other things that the children understood--fathers, mothers, warriors, healers, chieftains. And Earth and Sun and all the Others were not praised--they Were. They always Were. And they were needed to survive. It was necessary that the children understand them.

As Jason watched, the children of the children’s children appeared. They were many and they were different. Some of these children were now Men, and their cities and walls were built of great stones. Their dead were taken to great tombs dug into the Earth, and were sealed up in it with prayers and dances and dedications. They gave thanks to the Earth, for its protection and preservation. They tilled the earth and planted seeds, and buried their refuse. The Earth was “like” a reliable friend, and friends were always there for you no matter what. In return you also had to be a friend to them. But they understood that the Earth gave materials, and food, and rich jewels, and history, so they had to give other things to show their gratitude to the Earth. The others, like Moon and Sun and Wind and Ocean, gave other things, and Men gave them different things in return.

As years passed the stone towers rose higher, and he saw that some of these children were Not Men. One of them, their great king, made fire and water appear from his hands and moved earth with his words. They wanted him to shape the earth at their will, to raise their crops and build their homes, but knowing the limits of his power he instead granted them the strength of the earth. He taught them to make bricks from mud, to make their own stone from loose soil and shape it in the way that they pleased, and to turn it into pots and bowls. Not Men and Men alike began to think and do and be different than they were before as the world turned. The Earth and the Sun and Others stayed as they Always Were.

"Jason. You wish for wisdom, to guide your path. You wish to do things that are good for this world. The Earth Is and Has Been only soil, and sand, and stone. The Earth is only a receiver of That which has spent its power, and become inert. The Earth has Potential, but is not Activated. The Earth cannot give you knowledge, purpose, or morality. But Beings have imposed their Wills upon the Earth for these and many others. What was given to the Earth, the Earth has held in concentration, until gathered Power took on Will. To give and receive Power from another Will--is that your Will, Jason?”

The images around Jason began to crumble like sand. The hole in the earth began to fill, as if he were being buried alive. He was left once more in darkness...but as unseen things moved around him, he felt more than heard the whispers of many voices, echoing through the depths…

“The earth brings forth fruit and vegetables, trees and grass…” “The earth gives and gives but is never used up...its generosity is like that of a man who works tirelessly…” “The earth is firm and hard, but sometimes also soft…” “If the earth brings forth these plants, and generously gives its strength yet never exhausts itself, and is firm and rough but also reliable...the Earth must be a Father!”

Jason saw the voices overlapping, each vibration and tremor taking on a new shape like a three dimensional representation of radar waves. The sound took on form, and he saw a strong, rugged man holding a mattock in one hand and a bundle of grain under an arm.

“The earth sometimes shakes and destroys everything, but is usually so calm…” “No one can destroy the earth, with its great stones we can build invincible walls…” “It is soothing to sit among the mountains or upon the grass, and think deep thoughts…” “If the earth can destroy but remains calm, and is invincible, but soothes the mind in meditation...the Earth must be a Wise Monk!”

This time the voices took the shape of a broad shouldered figure, sitting cross-legged with clasped fingers. A strange ringing sound, like a stroke upon a tuning fork, emanated from an iron bell around the figure’s neck, and the clay beads looped around his arms rattled.

“The earth is slow to move, but always steady…” “The earth hides great riches in its depths, and goes down and down…” “Sometimes, great rifts open up in the earth like a mouth that devours everything around it…” “If the earth is great and cumbersome, but has treasures hidden away like an animal that steals things, and can devour everything else...the Earth must be a Great Beast!”

This form towered over Jason, an enormous...Elephant? Tortoise? Its claws were like ploughs and its hide encrusted with gemstones. Its great head came down over him, and cold air like the draft of a cave blew against him from its nostrils.

There were many other voices, and other Figures, but Jason felt as if he were suffocating or being crushed. Just like a drowning man gasps for air when he breaks the surface of the water, he felt the urge to pull away from the earth. The figures watched him, patiently waiting...or perhaps listening? Waiting for him to call out…



While Danny repeated his attempts to learn Fireball, the few embers he had scattered onto the firewood quickly burned themselves out. However, the next time he took aim at the pile of kindling and sticks, his spell suddenly gave a roar. Like throwing a match into a cloud of gasoline fumes, the Fireball made the air rumble as it took shape in front of Danny's hands. When he tossed it to the wood this time, the fuel immediately took light. The original roaring flames soon died down, but the Poltergeist now had a proper fire that quickly ate through grass and straw and stabilized into a steady burn upon the dry sticks and branches.

After meditating and recharging his Source Crystal Shard, Danny attempted to examine his work. He activated his Mana Vision skill, causing his eyes to glow ever so slightly as he lifted the green crystal up...

Skill Gain: Fireball I (0.9 > 1.0)!
The fire-themed version of a basic magical attack. With roughly the same power, range, and MP consumption as a Mana Orb, it has the unique property of being able to inflict a burn on the target. However, as an elemental spell, these same properties render it harder to use in certain circumstances. Non-flammable or elementally opposed targets, for example, will be much less effected. -You used Spell Chant to increase the Parameter: Heat Output of this Fireball. Other Parameters of the Fireball spell include Speed, Direction, Expansion, Concentration, Number, and Efficiency.-

---Fire (Crafted)---
You crafted this campfire using your Fireball spell. It is composed of organic materials such as wooden sticks, twigs, straw, dead leaves, and grass. It rapidly consumes this fuel, but the heat output is high. There is a slight breeze in the forest, creating an airflow that helps feed the fire. Fire generally needs oxygen, combustible material to serve as fuel, and heat to ignite and burn. Carbon is the most common and effective fuel, found in most organic solids. The Quality of the various Items used as fuel for this flame is rapidly degenerating, they will be useless within minutes for other purposes.

Source Crystal Shard has no charge remaining!

Through the crystal, as if looking through a magnifying glass, Danny had also seen a number of...strange, floating squares? Cubes? Blocks with vibrating lines forming psychedelic geometric patterns? The ones immediately around the fire were bright red, though there were a few others that were green or gold or black. He thought he saw a few blue ones and light green ones as well, but they quickly vanished...He wasn't sure what the things were, but after the Crystal ran out of energy he had to really concentrated his Mana Vision in order to see them. Once he was aware of them, however, his attempt to use Lesser Force to draw the red ones in close as he created a Mana Orb caused them to slowly orbit his spell like fireflies....

The Mana Orb turned red yet again, just like it had in that heated, spark-producing, "pre-Fireball" state. Even though Danny wasn't casting that specific spell anymore.

---

Femus's Mana Orb began to glow brighter, and its crackling seemed to increase in frequency. As he recalled smell, sight, and sound and tried to channel every memory, each sensation, into his spell, the magic began to take on a neon yellow color. He felt his MP draining...and smelled ozone in the air.

"Shocking force enhance..." The sparks around the orb stopped popping and snapping like flame, and instead began to flicker and buzz, forming distinct arcs from the center of the orb as they latched on to dust motes. Femus felt his filament-like hairs stand on end as his skin tingled.

"Shock Round."

With a final snap, the electrical orb suddenly broke free of his grip. But unlike the Mana Orb, it did not shoot straight ahead on a linear path. Instead, it seemed to float freely, moving back and forth in a zig-zag pattern...until it made contact with a branch of the tree. With a sound like a great drumbeat, all of the energy within the spell was discharged in a nanosecond. The branch flashed red hot, white light lancing through it and splitting like a system of veins, then it burned and blackened and fell off the tree. It left a smoking trail down to the forest floor below.

Skill Gain: Shock Round I (0.8 > 1.0)!
The lightning-themed version of a basic magical attack. With roughly the same power, range, and MP consumption as a Mana Orb, it has the unique property of being able to home in on a target, though it moves slowly and may dissipate after a few moments. However, as an elemental spell, these same properties render it harder to use in certain circumstances. Elementally opposed targets, for example, will be much less effected.

Before the Wisp had unleashed his new spell, however, he had told Nira to find some way to lose their wild pixie follower. Nira made sure to file away the Pixie's appearance for later. The creature had a more feminine shape to its body and limbs, and her skin was almost powder-white with the softest green tinge. Her hair, however, was green as the grass and just as windswept. Big brown eyes peered out of a smirking face, and her gossamer wings had an amber sheen like fresh tree sap. When Nira spoke again, the Pixie turned a flip in the air and giggled.

"Awwwiiiiight! Aww! Alllu, riiiiite!"

Then Nira suddenly bolted, causing the wild fae to squeak and hustle after her. As the reborn fairy activated her stealth skill, the already subtle beat of her wings lessened and she weaved between the trees at top speed. It didn't take long for the wild pixie to start losing sight of her, following only by the barest flash of a foot or hair disappearing among the leaves. She let out a frustrated screech as she barely avoided running into a trunk, and in the process finally lost Nira.

But Nira was still not alone.

She burst out of the branches into a small clearing, and noticed for the first time that the sounds of goblins feasting and shouting were closer than ever. She could smell the smoke from their cooking fires. But she wasn't among the camp, at least not yet. In this small clearing, only one Goblin was present. He was a little taller than average, but perhaps a little more slender too. A small pile of bones with bits of meat and gristle still present had been tossed to the side, and now the goblin held a long stick in his hand. But it wasn't just a plain stick--it had been meticulously carved, probably over a long period of time, and even had an edge of sorts and a subtle curve. It looked fragile enough that if it actually made contact with something harder than flesh, that blade would immediately be dulled. Maybe that was why the Goblin kept swinging at empty air.

It couldn't be called "swordsmanship" at all, but there was a definite sense that this greenskin had more skill than his brethren. At the very least it seemed he was getting a workout, as his scrawny muscles were covered in sweat. He raised the sword up high above his head and brought it straight down, over and over again. Every so often he lost his balance, and looked down at his feet as he shuffled back into some imitation of a fighting stance.

So far, he hadn't noticed the Pixie floating above him...

---

"There ain't never been a Goblin hero before! At least not one that was good to humans!" Reuben said, crossing his arms and trying to look like a wiser mentor to Miiba and Scott. "But if Dad says you guys got brought here, I guess maybe that kinda makes you like a hero...Hmmm, it's really weird." The boy peered out from under the table, but it seemed that the rest of the household was still discussing the message to send to this Adventurer's Guild that had been mentioned a few times. Lear seemed to be in the process of dictating a letter to Mirabelle, mostly just outlining previous events. He hadn't gotten to the part where the mountain exploded yet, only detailing that Geir and Mirabelle had arrived for some kind of weekly guard duty.

"Summoning is like..." Reuben snatched a piece of cheese from the platter of food the farmer's wife had placed on the table, and held it out in his hand in front of Miiba. "Taking something from somewhere," he passed the morsel behind his back, and revealed it in his other hand, "and bringin' it somewhere else! There's different kinds of it--like, if you Summon yourself somewhere, it's called Teleportation! But, since you guys were brought here from another World, that's World Summoning! It's the hardest kind to do, I've heard sometimes ya gotta use a whole team of wizards!" He broke the cheese into three parts and offered two of them to the monsters while he scarfed down the third. Then he held up a finger as his lecture continued.

"There's different kinds of Heroes, too! I like Heroes, so I got Dad to read to me about 'em a lot! And when Adventurers like Geir and Mira come, they tell me lotsa stories!" He pointed at himself. "People from this world, like me and Dad, can be Heroes too! But sometimes, if there ain't enough, Kings and Queens and sometimes even the Divine Spirits have to find people from other worlds and call them over. They're called Summoned Heroes!" Now he held up a second finger. "But whether you're Summoned or not, you might also be Chosen! A person can only be a Chosen Hero if they're specifically blessed and guided by a Spirit, or if they're mentioned in properties...no, wait, pharmacies...no. Uh...Prophecies! Sometimes great sages or priests get these visions or whatever, and they write 'em down, and it's like telling what's gonna happen in the future. If you match all the stuff in there, then you're a Chosen Hero and you're destined to do whatever the Prophecy is about."

One of the chairs scooted closer in to the table, and the slender legs in front of it accidentally kicked Reuben. The boy bumped his head on the underside of the dining furniture as he moved, then pouted and pinched one of the legs. His older sister squealed and kicked out again, but he dodged it this time with a giggle before he turned back to Miiba and Scott.

"And some people, like me, they believe in Reborn Heroes. That's when a person used to be somebody else, but then they die and get re...re-ink...reinstate...aw heck, I forget the word. They die but they don't go to the Spirit World, they come back as a new baby and get to grow up all over again. A lot of people don't believe Reborn Heroes are real though, cause it sounds crazy." Reuben tapped his head and grinned. "But some of the Adventurers, they said Reborn Heroes, especially Summoned ones, just try to keep it secret all the time! They just try to pass it off as being really talented or whatever, and even if they do tell people nobody ever believes them! Although, there have been some crazy guys who try to say they used to be Heroes from a long long time ago just so other people will do what they say." He rubbed his chin, and looked even closer at the pixie and the goblin.

"But I ain't never heard of a Summoned Hero being Reborn as a Monster. That doesn't make any sense. Nobody likes Monsters cause they're bad. Heroes ain't supposed to be bad." He rocked back and forth on his rear, folding his legs underneath him Indian-style. "And if the King of Viskard, or some other important person, or a Divine Spirit, didn't Summon you guys..." He seemed to be trying his best to look intimidating, with his furrowed brow and focused gaze, but it was difficult given how small and scrawny he was. "Then who did?"

Asura pulled his 'hand' back before crossing his 'arms' across his chest. "Honestly I think the goblin raid was in response to getting attacked first. I heard a little yelling about striking early or something away from the goblin site...I guess when Rattleskull wasn't there so they felt they couldn't hold their spot?" He said, trying to think of everything that happened. It was hard to recall because he hadn't paid much attention mostly because he hadn't given a fuck.

At the mention of a core Asura lit up slightly. "Ardur you mentioned a core, did that dumbass actually interact with it? Or even find the damned thing? I didn't explore much of the cave." Asura questioned while 'looking' off towards Ardur. But he kept his real attention on Zieglar. "I do know he went a magical route versus my physical. Which is why I kicked his ass despite him somehow sending a couple more monsters after me. But the Dungeon started forming...pretty much right after Rattleskulls death. So maybe a core had been found and needed a 'strong death'?" The slime speculated before shrugging.

Zieglar revealed what was to the south, a savannah leading into a desert judging by the names. Oh boy, that heart sacrifice was going to be an ass biter here. But Zieglar decided to send his apprentice with the group. Making those fake red eyes blink, a truly human reaction of going 'huh?'. "That's some real trust in his capabilities...and in us I guess. But yeah I'd like to get rid of the Dungeon quickly, so I guess this is a lil group effort between worlds." Asura said, shrugging again. He was sure the knight had some way of monitoring the boy, or maybe the kid was a Hero and now they knew where a super sword is. Who knew, they'd simply have to trust the pair to not slaughter them.

Grinning in a rather strange fashion Asura turned towards Trent. "Got a request for ya, kid. Can you punch me? Not full strength, I know full well at this point that equipment boosts strengths." He said as his right hand took the shape of a Heater Shield. He concentrated on defending, even trying to compress his body which darkened the shield some. Maybe a punch from the kid would give his Harder a boost and grant him Defender?