---

Was this Void? This emptiness, this greatness that tugged at her ever so slightly? It was kinda similar to how she had developed Void Blast but in reverse, where the Things were condensed and protected, leaving the Nothing behind.

She reached out away from the planet, away from Things, towards that subtle tug before she stopped.

She didn't feel like she had a lot of time. But she had to have time for something else and the Void around her, right?

She looked at the planet, at the red, and she decided that no, none of that was important right now.

Instead she followed that pull and submerged herself deeper into the void around her...

---

Oho, that was useful. Another fast rate of sill progression. This should be simple, then. One of the orbs she was making was already giving off heat, making her assumption likely correct that it was fire. It affected the second orb, but that was a non-issue for the moment. It seemed like she could easily turn the orb into something else. What was an issue, was how the mana didn't seem to quite fit into place. Like one of those sliding puzzles where you had to move tiles in a certain way to make a certain picture, but the tiles themselves weren't sliding correctly.

"Tsk~" Clicking her tongue in thought Ash dispelled the orbs. Mana Vision leveling up was good, perhaps she could eventually be able to see more at some point, but for now she was content to do this. Taking a seat, she crossed her legs and meditated once again, filling her Mana to the point where it was full - also for a few minutes, trying to pull in more mana than she could hold from the surrounding air and keeping her breath steady.

Once that was done, she'd focus first on the Fire Orb. Simple enough at this point. Taking both claws, Ash formed a mana orb in each, this time using both for the same spell. Using the red to make the outer orbiting ones, whilst using the rest to stabilize the nucleus and using a few red to feed it. Once one had stabilized enough, she would use her right claw to launch it towards a target. She would repeat this process of forming the red orbs over and over once more until she had achieved what she had wanted or until something unexpected happened.

She was so caught up that at the moment, at least, she was not paying much attention to the others, even Digbie's transformation.

---

@Zeroth@Duthguy@Jollan

Skill Unlocked: Magic Analysis I (1.55)!
Skill Unlocked: Soil Manipulation I (1.15)!

One step closer to getting back what I've lost. Jason thought to himself as the system notified him of his restored skills. But he didn't have time to savor this small victory-- he had a decision to make, and it had to be made fast. Though creating a body from what was essentially scratch (soil, in this case) would likely be far more malleable in appearance and function creating something entirely new; be it a tool, weapon, or even a body-- was far more taxing than utilizing what the world around you provided freely.

Jason chose the stone.

With his newly regained [Soil Manipulation], Jason pulled the surrounding stones into himself as he pushed his being into them. Unlike the smooth crisscrossing lines that had strung throughout the last body he'd possessed like droplets of water-- this time felt much different. The lines this time felt blocky, and hot. Like molten metal boring thick channels into cold stone, forming interconnecting lines like that of a circuit. Piece by piece a body took shape as energy crackled throughout Jason's being; a torso, arms, legs, each rock snapping into place like magnets. Jason felt the the void once again creeping at the edges of his vision; he didn't have much time. He had to finish the transformation before he ran out of mana, and while his body felt stable, it felt... Incomplete. Almost as if it wanted to be **bigger**. However, he didn't have the time, nor mana to do so.

With all his might, Jason pushed himself away from the earth; driving back against the colossal weight bearing down upon him. Slowly, the reincarnator rose to his feet, no longer an Ectoslime-- but something entirely different.

Oberon sat up. Pain suffused his body, sinking through his skin and muscle before soaking into his bones and pooling in his joints, creating a discomfort that wasn’t dissimilar to the feeling you were left with the day after straining rarely used muscles. He felt tired, thirsty and hungry, but at the same time strangely energised and the world looked… brighter?

He stood up and found that his new body, if it could be called new when he hadn’t really transformed, felt alien to him. He thought he might be taller, but he couldn’t be sure, and as he looked at himself he definitely felt like his body had matured in a way he couldn’t really define in a very short span of time. The sudden growth probably explained why he was so sore, like he had undergone an unnatural growth spurt and was now paying the price for it. Digbie, beside him, had undergone a much more drastic change; Oberon desperately wanted to analyse his new form to see what information he could glean from it, especially with that Digbie had said about his transformation maybe being unique, however his MP was apparently empty and his analysis skills used Mana if he remembered correctly. Any analysis would have to wait.

The information he had been given, both that he could comprehend and that he couldn’t, demanded his attention, but he had more pressing matters to deal with first. The Sprite left the cave and walked immediately towards the stream before kneeling at its bank and cupping water into his parched mouth. He drank until his thirst was quenched, before standing and walking back to where they had stored the food they had gathered. Their stores had been depleted quite a bit by now, but there was still enough to sate the hunger of a creature as small as he was hopefully; they would need to gather more before long.

With his basic bodily necessities dealt with, Oberon finally turned his thoughts back to the system messages he had received and the new capabilities of his evolved form. It seemed he had failed to gain any variances, like he had hoped; he had rolled the dice and come up short it would seem, but he knew that was a possibility but, while disappointing, he had accepted that risk from the start. Besides, it was hard to feel despondent about what he hadn’t received when he was distracted by what he had gained; an increase in experience for his healing spells and his Light Affinity, which had finally ticked over into a proper skill, as well as an increase in Monster Analysis for some reason.

When had he last analysed a monster? And why did he gain the experience now? Could it be related to the garbled information he couldn’t decipher? The last time he had seen anything like that was when he had analysed the Black Knight, but even then it had only shown question marks rather than being distorted to this extent. Had something happened while he had been transforming? He would need to ask the others what they thought once everyone was free.

For now he needed to deal with the issue of his lost MP, which was itself a mystery, which he did by settling down somewhere where the sun was shining through the treeline above and activating his Gather Light skill. Now that he had an affinity for Light-based spells it made sense to make more use of them, including when he was recovering Mana. It would also make more sense to focus his efforts on developing Light-aligned spells before anything else, as now that he had a basic spell of almost every element he could easily access he could use the element he was best at to develop new forms of spells; combining Light with his Wall spell or trying to forge it into a shape other than a ring for example. Light Affinity meant he could make progress more quickly when using Light than using anything else, which would hopefully speed up the process significantly. That was the general idea behind his attempt to create elementals out of Light specifically a while ago… or was it just yesterday? It seemed like so much time had passed since the cave for some reason, when it had been two or three days at most.

Now that he had Lesser Force he should try and use that as much as possible as well, as developing what was essentially telekinesis could only come in handy. He still had yet to try out some ideas he had had regarding using Mana Shape on a spell that was already in place as well, something that had been held in the back of his mind since before the fight with Rattleskull. There were some things he wanted to try with multi-target spells using Minor Heal All as a basis as well, not to mention trying to create other kinds of buffs like the Shield spell or Regeneration, as well as exploring some of the more unusual spells and elements that he had seen in his skills list or in his analyses…

The problem, it seemed was having too many ideas and not enough time to act on them. Perhaps he could explain his ideas and theories to the others and ask them to help, or perhaps he just needed to prioritise and only focus on the ideas that would be the most useful to them and ignore the rest. For some ideas, at least, he had a stockpile of fourteen skill points that he could use to skip the experimentation phase.

“System: Put nine skills points into Gravity Well.”

Miiba hit the ground with a thud, the sheathed knife falling on top of her, bopping her on the head. She quickly picked it up and hugged it to her once more, cluing back in when Geir started yelling again. It of course scared Miiba, but she was tired of always being called a monster. Never at any point did Geir ever give her a chance. Never at any point did he try to talk with her other than to berate her/ Now, here he was again shouting at them and cursing their very existence.

"Stop! Stop calling me a monster!," She finally yelled back, crying where she stood but defiantly standing her ground. Unaware at the moment her duress overcame the strange impediment she inherited as a goblin, if only for a split second "Miiba NOT monster! Miiba not! Miiba no hurt anyone, only monster Miiba see is Geir!" she yelled still sobbing yet it was a strange as it it was a mix of anger and sadness. was this.... a tantrum? "Geir always bully, no matter how hard Miiba try! Always mean, always angry! Miiba want to be hero too, but if Geir is supposed to be hero, Miiba no want! Miiba will be better!" she yelled sniffling one more time. She then turned and ran out of the coop, "Big jerk!" she cried as she was about to turn and run back to the house sobbing. She might have gotten to, if it weren't for running into some strange rock thing that came out of nowhere, knocking her back and down to the ground. Wait, wasn't this where Miiba noticed something trying to pop up a second ago?

"Ah! See, Miiba tell you thing here!"

---

As Digbie finally hit his stride with his evolution, snapping awake in the forest nearby where the rest of the gang was, he immediately first took a deep breath in and released some form of air. Evolving took quite a fair bit out of Digbie in multiple senses, if his natural needs were any indication, but not only that it just seemed like this first breath would definitely hit different.

"Aaaahhh... oh man, how long did I take to evolve?" was his first words as a Palablin, though he had to double take to figure out if it was actually him speaking. "Uh... irish wristwatch- oh man, that's me speaking." His voice was nowhere near as scratchy as normal goblins were, instead hitting more akin to what his original vocal range and tone was. Not only that, but as Digbie scrambled over to the stream to get a drink of water, he took his drink then noticed that he... was very much different.

His features were still goblinoid, of course. Very goblinoid, but much less so than what was once a Demiblin's facial structure, especially as an Immature one. His jaw was much less pointy, his ears and nose were more appropriately sized (though they honestly might not have grown with him and just fit), and he actually looked almost like he could pass off as an awkward teenager in human society, if humans still looked similar in this world compared to the world he hailed from. Not only that, but he had hair, and it was an actual full head of it as opposed to just the piddly mohawk he had as a Demiblin and Goblin. It was still long in the front, almost drooping in front of Digbie's eyes, but it was clear that under his cap there were actual locks of blonde hair sticking out.

As for his actual physique, yeah it was much more muscular, but what was more notable was that while his Stone Hardened and Mystic variances were still clear, what with Digbie's mana sigils along his arms becoming more defined and his stony spikes becoming more aligned into some form of natural armor, it was clear that not all of his spikes had died down. Notably, there were quite a few smoky-clear crystals sprouting from around his biceps and his collarbone, not enough to break through his armor, but definitely noticeable and recognizable as quartz, and as Digbie's wet hands gently rested on the ground, with Earth Vein's latent magic, he could almost watch the quartz shimmer and glow. It was weak, definitely, but maybe that was a sort of tell on how much magic the Palablin had? Interesting. It was incredibly similar to the sigils on his arms, as well, just adding to it. Maybe they'd glow with the same kind of influence when Digbie used spells in the future, too?

"Wow... talk about a makeover." Digbie noted to nobody in particular. He had gotten his thirst quenched finally, so he only had to go eat something before he could, somehow, get back to work. Before he left to go eat, though, Digbie did try to Analyze himself in all ways, just to see if he could understand anything more about himself. Not only that, but he glanced over at Oberon and Ash to analyze them too.

"Hey, Oberon! I, uh, think I'm a unique monster now. It seemed like... uh, well, maybe an analysis would tell you more than I could muster up." Digbie chuckled, finally realizing something that he kind of needed to do. "Oh crap, uh, I need to get to work on something! Gotta make something to string beads onto... uh... maybe if I braid that long grass...?"

The newly evolved Palablin ran over to the side of the camp over to a patch of long grass, grabbing a few strands and beginning to braid them together to try and form some kind of twine string. If he was going to have his rosary, this would... this would have to do for now. Unless somehow he could strip the cloth down into a better form. As he thought, though, Digbie looked over at the unclaimed pile of loot and grabbed the Tarnished Copper Ring. Maybe... it'd serve as a bead? It wasn't a bead per-say but Digbie didn't exactly have the widest variety of loot.

"Hey, Jehanne. Think maybe I could use this ring as a bead on the necklace?" Digbie asked initially, thinking a second before adding to it. "Uh... blow on my left side for yes and blow on my right side for no."

---

Ardur The Mighty Hipixie

To Glory > Tactical Retreat /// Adventuring day 5 // Evening > Night / Location - The edge of the shimmering pool > Hopeful moving toward the exit

The water was cold and refreshing yet it all ebbed away when he saw the carnage the others had been dealing out. The sheer amount of undead crushed or beaten below their feet somewhat reminded him of some of the civil war battles where piles of the dead began to form their own small hills. Yet even through this carnage the monsters kept coming. Ardur could see the vast numbers of them, a slow moving mass with one pulsing red gleam behind them urging them forward. This core was very dangerous.

Trent was the first to notice his return while the high pixie healed his spider friend. The boy and the others all seemed to be taking quite the beating. Ardur only paused for a moment to use monster Analysis I on those monsters he could see to try and feel out the opposition. Before he could tell the boy to pay attention the sword shot out from the water behind him and sliced a lizard in half before clattering to the ground.

After healing mother slime, he could see that the next step was retreating out of here. A hard fought idea but there was little choice for anything else. They were ill equipped and prepared for the fight but they had to keep going or be over run. Asura seemed to have the same thought as he was healed, yet Trent had a good point. It would be giving them the advantage.

A zombie pixie caught him off guard with a curse spell while he was thinking about what to do next. The chill of the curse he was sure he had felt before. While he watched Trent start to maneuver towards the sword Ardur called out to Dhulfiqar feeling Galantine’s courage dissipate while heat and anger grew with in him. At the very least he learned only one of their boons could be active at the same time. Before he could react to anything more Trent reached the sword.

“AEGUS!”

Trent’s yell made him look over to him, the boy looked older for some reason, like he hadn’t slept or eaten in days. Perhaps this is what the sword was talking about when it spoke of needing more mana or maybe what the effects of mana drain look like on a human. Either way, the sword howled almost making his head hurt as the sword seemed to glow slightly and Trent yelled again. Whatever he was casting was taking a lot of mana to accomplish.

“DEPTH CHARGE!”

The water from the pool rose up from behind him and followed the blade down to the floor as a condensed sphere. The pressure from it reminded him of a fire truck hose, the enemy’s caught in it responded like they were hit with one. Flesh peeled, bones cracked, stone reshaped, and all were sent back, most to the floor. Ardur tried his best to analyze what he could of what he just saw but was unsure what he would gleam from it. Trent was on his knees now but at least their exit was clear enough.

Ardur looked to Trent and the others, “Get him up and out of here, now is our chance to go!” He ordered, the anger in his chest getting the better of him. “Steve web the broken ground to slow them down more and follow them out.” Ardur knew charging into battle would mean death, still he was in a stone cave with a cracked and broken floor in front of him.

Picking up 4 stones the Mighty High Pixie used his strength, Physical conditioning, point strike, and acquired anger to throw the stones at the closest enemy’s and the downed skeletons. Stopping for a moment to try and pull the mana of the earth to the stone. Somewhat like he did for meditate only instead of pulling the mana into him he pulled it into the stone. With this stone Ardur used the full ability of his strength, skills, and rage to target the distant red gleam of the dungeon core. Fully aware that it likely would not reach he tried anyway, "Point Strike!" he yelled as he threw it, much like a base ball pitcher. If the others had started to move on by then, Ardur would follow picking up more rocks and throwing them at the closest enemy’s as they made their retreat.

@Zeroth
@Kazemitsu

---

Ed was glad that they managed to do what they needed to do, but now there was an issue of one of the guards going to patrol to investigate the cage where Asteria went to try and communicate with the creature trapped within. He had to do something to buy Asteria more time and allow the smell to permeate more so the other myrminors would come and hopefully deal with the bandits. He first gestures to Mother Rat too keep low and quiet before he searches the ground for a sizable rock he could toss. He would then climb up a tree and look for a location parallel to the bugbear's position, far enough to lead the guard away but close enough for it to hear. Once he found a good enough location, he would throw the stone as hard and far as he could. Intending that the sound of the stone hitting the plants and ground would distract the bugbear guard long enough for Asteria to make her move.

@Zeroth@Stabby

Femus achieved success more rapidly than he thought, and gave him a result that was more than satisfactory for his first attempt at weaving. The pouch was even a bit bigger than what he actually needed. Maybe he could get an herb with healing properties to bear seeds next, perhaps while Nira was working on taming her intended pixie companion.

Wait, what's that?

It was at this moment that he realized what Nira had spotted. Pixie trio incoming. Possibly helpful, since the one was familiar, but there were at least two doses of trouble coming too. The hunting would indeed have to wait. Hiding could work if Nira could be distracting enough but Femus needed a contingency plan, a way to manage their attention if it did get drawn to him. Yet, there were no abundant flowers in the immediate area and the setup was wrong for a repeat of the flower shower.

No time for deep thought. Slipping away and hiding first. That was the priority. Pixies were far less likely to attack each other than they were to attack a wisp.

The color of Femus's natural glow was already pretty close to that of the herbs and grass nearby and he hadn't been moving much. So, there was a chance that he didn't hold much of their attention... or any of it. As Nira was advancing to distract them, Femus suppressed his presence and let himself sink down to the ground beside some taller grass before reducing his glow to try and match the light reflecting off the grass. If he suddenly stopped glowing, that would be more likely to draw the eye. If the pixies still noticed him then he might have to try something new with his weaving skills... maybe hair accessories... or a crown like with the flowers?

He kept a close eye on the situation while staying as effectively camouflaged as he could and plotting his own distraction ploy, just in case. Hopefully, Nira would be able to get the pixie's loyalty and get the others to disperse... or maybe she'd try to tame all three... Femus could only mentally shrug and concentrate on making sure his mana was full by quietly meditating while maintaining his concealment. It was hard, managing Suppress Presence and controlling his glow while meditating, but he gave priority to his stealth efforts and chalked up the difficulty to training.

---

---

Shit, shit, shit. Her attempt with the savage troll had been an utter failure and had attracted unwanted attention to boot. Thinking quickly and moving even more-so, Asteria squeezed back into the tunnel, but didn’t re-emerge on the other-side, staying in and covered (or half-covered) by the hole and earth. She used her newly gained Soil Manipulation to move the loose earth she’d previously dug out to cover up the hole one the inside of the goblin camp, so hopefully it wouldn’t be obvious to the approaching mob that their defenses had been breached. Then, with Telepathy II, she contacted the troll again, this time sending along an image of the approaching bugbear alongside with a strong feeling of rage and an urge to kill. As soon as the scout was sufficiently distracted, she’d escape her hideout and move back the way she and Ed had come from, and hide a bit farther away from the camp.

"Nice try, glowball!" Geir said, unwittingly using Miiba's term for Danny, "But any idiot could make up that much! Everyone knows that World-Walkers, Hero or not, come from different places! Lots of 'em talk about how they don't have magic, or monsters, or how they have moving metal vehicles that can even fly! And anyone can come up with a sobstory about incurable diseases! I still ain't buyin' it!"

Then Miiba, little as she was, went off on the red haired human. Both Mira and Geir turned to her with wide eyed surprise. The magic user actually seemed hurt, both by the goblin's words and by her own empathy for what Miiba said. Geir, on the other hand, began to shake as his grip on his axe tightened.

"You're right, I'm no Hero. I'm just a guy tryin' to get by in this fucked up world--that's why I can't trust any of you MONSTERS!" he yelled back, determined to get the last word in even as Miiba turned and ran. But before the goblinette could get around the corner of the house, she smacked into something rising out of the earth. And not too far away, around the other corner of the house, now came the big man himself.

"What's going on out here?" called Lear's powerful voice. He stopped, and at a glance with a veteran's intuition, took in the strange poltergeist sitting on top of his chicken coop, the clearly distressed goblin girl, the greatly confused Mirabelle, and the seething Geir.

You used Soil Manipulation!
You are attempting to use Possession on an Inanimate Object!
This method is unusual, something unpredicted may happen.
Your Earth Affinity is increasing! Soil Manipulation's effect is boosted!
Your Spiritual Awareness has boosted your understanding of what is happening!
Your Ghost Touch contributes to manipulating the physical environment around you.
Your former variance, Stone-Hardened, has caused a synergistic affect!
...
...

YOU HAVE TRANSFORMED!
(Immature) Ectoslime > (Pseudo, Immature) Rokklit!
A much smaller, weaker form of Earth aligned elemental creature. You have attained a Pseudo-form, imitating a proper creature but lacking key characteristics or certain natural abilities and status. Rokklits are quite rare outside of areas charged with powerful Earth Mana, as they are essentially stones imbued with some form of life through concentrated forces of magic. Their bodies toughen as they mature, becoming as tough as boulders by adulthood. As a child, however, their bodies are light enough to be lifted and fragile enough to break when thrown.
Your Base HP has increased!
Your Base MP has been decreased by [Possession]! If the [Locked] MP is used up, you will no longer be able to maintain this body! Your MP has been reduced by roughly 25%.
Your Base Stamina has slightly increased!
Your Base physical strength-related stats have all returned to previous values.
Your Base physical defense-related stats have increased!
Your Base physical movement-related stats have decreased.
Skill Gain: Earth Affinity I (1.0)!
You have developed a bond with the earth. At this rank, MP/SP cost for all Earth-related skills is reduced. Earth-related skills will develop more quickly. Increase the rank of your affinity by deepening your understanding of the Earth element.

Your MP is Low!

As Jason pulled himself out of the ground, he felt...very different. Being a Slime, with a gelatinous membrane instead of skin and hydraulic insides instead of muscle had been weird enough. Being dead had been very weird. But this was even more different. His body was made of stone, yet still he could perceive the world around him somehow. His magic now flowed through solid material instead of some metaphysical circulation system, and he could feel some of it, at his center, locked in place and unmoving. He could draw on it, though only with great difficulty...and at the risk of slipping back into that limbo. And, despite having no muscles with lactic acid, and no mouth to eat, he felt very tired and somehow hungry. He had, however, achieved his goal. Once more, he had a body--and unlike before, when he became a Necroslime, his hunger didn't seem so all-consuming...

"Where'd that come from!?" Mira gasped. Geir hefted his axe and turned it so that the hard, hammer like side would come down first.

"Hell if I know, but I swear to the Maker--"

"ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY SHADDAP AND NOBODY MOVE!"

Jason and Danny were both familiar, somewhat, with the [Warcry] skill. Either using it themselves, or having it used on them. In comparison to Lear's voice, all of that experience was like comparing dunking one's head in a tub...and being dragged down under the ocean. Their bodies froze, and they were so shocked by the sound and intensity that their hearts and minds seemed to simply skip a beat. For Miiba it was much the same, as if she were being stared down by a giant bear or some other terrible predator. Geir broke out in a sweat, and Mirabelle actually dropped to her knees.

Lear stood, arms crossed, staring all of them down like naughty children. He looked from Danny, to Jason, to Miiba, back to Jason, back to Danny.

"You first. Yes or No. Used to be Human?" He pointed at the Poltergeist. Then at the Rokklit.

"Yes or No. When you were summoned here, you remember a figure with black hair and red eyes?" Now the farmer looked at Miiba, and his expression softened as he crouched down to her eye level.

"Miiba, do you know these two people? And do you think they came here to hurt anyone?"

---

While Femus took to ground, Nira turned to face the oncoming trio of fairies with a bright and cheery greeting.

"Nuhy-seeng! Gahaha!" The "friendly" Pixie imitated some of Nira's words again, and the others echoed her giggles. They seemed to be intrigued by the sounds of language, but as to whether or not they had one or understood what Nira was saying, it was still up in the air. They flew around her, looking at her dress and the herbs gathered around her. One of them, a male with a fiery head of red hair, came forward a little more timidly than the others. He landed on the ground and, on shaky legs, approached Nira with constant sidelong glances. Tenderly, he reached out and touched her leafy clothes--then immediately shot back off, practically leaving a cloud of sparkles in his wake. The other member of the three, another female with long, wavy blue hair, began to pluck various bits of grass and a healing herb out of the ground, and threw it onto herself--though she seemed frustrated when it didn't stick to her figure like Nira's dress.

"Ah! Ah!" the blue haired fairy said, pointing at Nira's dress and then at her own grass clippings. The redhead zoomed back, hovering over Nira's shoulder and peering at her this way and that. The first pixie, on the other hand, seemed to be peering around as if she were looking for something. Then she looked back at Nira in confusion, and pantomimed a spherical shape before making a sound like crackling electricity or fire with her mouth.

Meanwhile, while Femus was successful in hiding his glow for a few moments, when he began to Meditate there was a slight "buzz" throughout his body. The Meditation only began to work as normal when he stopped trying to use his Suppress Presence skill...which caused his glow to brighten. The pixies were still focused on Nira, but if they happened to turn around as he regathered his magical energy, or look more closely under the layers of herbal foliage...

Unspent Skill Points: 20
Current Skill List:
Alert I (1.5)
Lesser Flight I (1.65)
Minor Heal I (1.0)
Muffle (1.55)
Shield I (1.1)
Mana Orb I (1.1)
Meditate I (1.05)
Aqua Sphere I (1.1)
Magic Analysis I (1.025)
<UNUSABLE>
Charisma (0.95)
Crafting (0.2)
Keen Ear (0.2)
Mana Strike (0.1)
Point Strike (0.3)
Stealth Kill (0.3)
Suppress Presence (0.5)
Monster Analysis (0.3)
Smash (0.1)
Faster (0.35)
Magic Analysis (0.95)
Iron Gullet (0.2)
Charm (0.4)
Deception (0.2)
Pacify Animal (0.2)
Taming (0.2)
Plant Analysis (0.3)
Mana Sense (0.2)
Spell Chant (0.3)
Stronger (0.3)
Use Light Equipment (0.05)
Mana Shape (0.2)
Focus (0.1)
Mana Control (0.15)

---

As the Bugbear headed towards the Troll's cage--and Asteria--Ed sought to distract the guard by hurling the nearest rock. From a vantage point in a nearby tree, the Rat Man was able to throw the rock across the small campsite. It hit one of the ramshackle fence posts, near the opposite corner of the hillside, and bounced off into the bushes. All of the guards, not just the one investigating the cage, turned to look.

"The hell was dat 'crack!' noise?"

"That didn't come from ova dere--might be more than one of 'em! Let's all search!"

In this moment of distraction, Asteria was able to get away from the Troll's cage. Using her new Soil Manipulation, she wriggled back into her tunnel under the fence and covered herself with dirt.

"If ya seen sumptin, tell me what it was! Quitcher yellin'!" The first Bugbear had turned back to his original task, and now berated the Troll from outside its cage. He slammed his wooden club against the bars, causing the blinded creature to recoil. It couldn't see its tormentor, but turned its head as it listened. It began to make whimpering sounds, not quite recognizable as language, but when the Bugbear dragged his club across the bars again it snarled defensively.

With her newly upgraded Telepathy, Asteria projected a strong, emotionally charged attempt to convince the Troll to do something about the Bugbear. And as she did so, she felt a powerful resonance through this link--anger flooded her own body for a moment before she cut the connection, causing her eyes to dilate and her snout to wrinkle as a low growl built in her throat. The Troll didn't need much convincing, just an opportunity. The Bugbear waited a moment too long to take his club away from the bars--the Troll snatched at it with a roar, grabbing the club in one hand and the Bugbear's wrist in the other.

"Oi! Ya bastard!" A short struggle ensued, but there was still a cage wall between the two. The Bugbear beat at the Troll's arms and hands with his free fist, and once he grabbed its fingers and twisted hard enough to pop them, the blinded creature shrieked and withdrew. The hairy guard spat at the prisoner, and rubbed his weapon-arm where it had clawed him. "Tried to tell 'em, can't have no Savage in a tribe! Takes too long t' beat 'em into werkin' right!"

Meanwhile, the Hobgoblin and the other Bugbear had started to move. The second Bugbear moved in the direction that Ed had thrown the stone, while the Hobgoblin moved perpendicular. They scouted all the way to the fence, looking back and forth as they did so. The Hobgoblin's gaze lingered for a bit on the tree that Ed sat in--but the Rat Man held still enough, or else the Hobgoblin's eyes hadn't adjusted enough, and soon the greenskin turned back and began inspecting his side of the fence more closely.

There was a slight huffing noise from down below the tree--Mother Rat was trying to get Ed's attention. She reared up on her hind legs, putting her forepaws on the trunk, before dropping back down and pointing her snout. The trail of myrminor blood Ed had brought all the way here stood out even in the dark, thanks to the Beast-type monsters' increased sense of smell. It indeed circled the camp--but it also, of course, had followed Ed and Mother Rat all the way from the site of the Myrminor Scout's murder. And now, as they looked, the grass was beginning to sway and the dirt was starting to poke up here and there, like the wake of a tunnelling mole...

With the guards all away from the central fire, the entrance of the Hill was exposed...although, there was still the matter of how many bandits might be waiting inside. And the longer the guards stayed on patrol, the greater chance they might find the rodents sneaking about...

---

Ash syncronized her breathing with her concentration, and attempted to draw in as much mana as possible. She had become quite familiar now with the amount of magical energy her body could hold, given how often she repeated this process nowadays, and while she recharged her goal would be to try and force herself to channel a larger amount. As her MP topped out, she drew in another deep breath...and a feeling, much like the exhilaration that follows in the wake of exercise, or the natural wide-eyed awareness of the rare morning where one wakes up with no alarms and no struggle to get out of the bed, spread through her.

Your MP is Full.
You have acquired Temporary Extra MP.
Skill Gain: Focus I (0.9 > 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).

Her second round of experiments, in her attempt to create a Fire spell, saw a more intense heat and a brighter color from the red Mana Orb when she put all of her attention on a single sphere. Upon launching it, it crackled and spat just like a regular Mana Orb, but when it struck the ground it made a snapping sound like a firecracker. A black singe mark was left upon the dirt. Every time she repeated this process, the orb grew hotter. From red to orange, from orange to yellow, and then a white center grew in the yellow sphere's belly. Waves of heat emanating from the sphere turned into small wisps of steam and smoke, then tiny red sparks began to spit out here and there like a sparkler at the end of a wand. And then, finally, the orb condensed in her scaly palm and, on the third try, it burst into flame! This time the spell had a noticeable arc when she threw it, and when it struck the earth it left behind a short lived blaze that spread to a few stray leaves. Reducing these dry bits of debris to ash, the flame died out immediately.

Skill Gain: Fireball I (0.8 > 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.

Meanwhile, on shaky legs Oberon stood in his newly transformed body. While one wouldn't think Oberon's small body could consume a particularly enormous amount of food, the group's supplies were indeed getting a bit low. The Kele and Argeps they had collected a few days before had been depleted not just by meals, but by the fact that without any refrigeration they had already started to go bad or to wilt and had to be carefully picked through to find the ones that were still edible. The Giant Rat meat, by the same token, was starting to spoil a bit and, aside from fire, the party really had no way to prepare or otherwise preserve it. The pieces of Rat Jerky Digbie had secured were pretty much the only less-perishables they had, and out of politeness since he had been the one to find them no one had stolen any from the transforming goblin's stash. The stream outside was a good source of fresh water, but it was still an outdoor stream. It wouldn't be completely sterile, though if the group was going to get sick from drinking it they likely would have already experienced such discomforts.

All this notwithstanding, Oberon found himself hungrier than he'd ever been since awakening in this world, and surprised himself with how much he was able to pack away. Once he was fully sated, he turned to refilling another aspect of his new body, his magic storage. Given the development of his affinity and its recent rank up, Gather Light seemed the best option...

However, in the time it had taken them to deal with all the goblins, the orc, their magical experiments, their evolution, and taking their meals, the day had continued to go on. It was now late sunset--to find some place where the last rays would hit him directly, Oberon had to move around in the upper trees around the campsite.

Yet even with such little daylight remaining, Oberon could feel the energy pouring into him just as strongly as he had earlier in the day. His MP rapidly began to recover, and for a few moments he focused only on recovering his magic while letting his mind drift to the possibilities of further magic. But, in a moment of practicality he elected to go ahead and spend some of his Skill Points.

Skill Gain: Gravity Well I (1.0)!
Within 30 feet of the caster, create a spherical area with a diameter of 5 feet. Magical force infuses the physical phenomenon of gravity, increasing its effect upon the target at the center of the sphere. The target experiences a crushing force roughly equivalent to a fourth of its own weight concentrated into a single instant.

While the Sprite did these things, the Palablin also awakened from his strange journey of growth.

You used [Analysis]!
---You (Adolescent Mystic Stone-Hardened Palablin)---
A never-before seen Goblin-subtype, created under circumstances that have not been replicated. It may be impossible for other Goblins to achieve...or is it? If the Demiblin is a Goblin that has garnered the favor of Demons, this Goblin has instead gained the favor of something else. However, even if it is not a Demon, there is always a price for power. Fair trade is the means by which two parties prosper. The Palablin's skin will lighten, from greens to whites or yellows and in between, or a lighter hue of any other pattern such as that of a Blue- or Redcap. They are of a similar size to hobgoblins and demiblins, but their eyes seem to gleam with a greater intelligence. --You have access to your own Skill List, allowing you to see all Magical and Physical Skills you possess. You have access to your own Inventory and Equipment, with the individual Analysis category skills to assess their properties, quality, and value. You are in the service of the Divine Spirit Jehanne.
---Ash (Adolescent Mystic Winged Kobold)---
Small, reptilian creatures with odd primate characteristics like upright spines and grasping limbs. Quite similar to Goblins, often competing with them for the same territories and resources. Some individuals have other characteristics--the Winged Kobolds are often said to have Draconic power in their veins, and are often revered in their tribes. You know Ash is a Reincarnator like yourself, and that she has a wide variety of magical skills. You can see that she has equipped herself with some crafted items, such as a magical spear and the satchels you made for her.
---Oberon (Adult Sprite)---
A highly territorial, but otherwise relatively friendly type of creature. Quite similar to Pixies at first glance, they are much more empathetic and even altruistic than other types of Fey. Unless an enemy presents a threat to their homes and families, they often prefer to flee rather than fight, but if something enters their nesting area they are known to swarm much like wasps. However, you have not felt compelled to follow all of this behavior due to your unique circumstances. Sprites are aligned with the light element and their wings have scales similar to some types of moths. When these scales fall they sometimes glitter, and the Sprite's body is often covered with them. You know Oberon is a Reincarnator like yourself, and that he has a wide variety of magical skills. You also know that his physical skills and base stats are lower than your own, as his species is more suited to magical abilities. He currently has no equipment, but his Transformation has improved many of his abilities.

You used Crafting II!
Long Grass + Refinement
Your method of refining the raw material is more sophisticated than expected of your species. Quality is boosted.
Something fell into place in your favor! Was it luck, or an unknown quality of your material? Quality is boosted.
You crafted an item!
Obtained: Grass Twine (Well-Made)!

After examining his new body, and those of his friends, Digbie set about trying to complete the quest his newfound patron had given him. However, when he asked if he could use the ring as a bead, as well as requesting a signal of Jehanne's answer, there was no wind at all. The ring would certainly fit on the twine. It had a little bit of sparkle, despite its tarnish. And with the ring on the loop, there would still be more than enough room for the other bead materials, and perhaps more. But there was no indication from the Divine Spirit as to whether or not this would be a fitting answer to the quest's requirements. Even with the Guidance skill, it seemed getting actual "guidance" wouldn't be so easy.

And, unbeknownst to the rest, Torrent continued her own spiritual journey...

"You return, to the Shadow. Have you set your Will, and defined What is Not for yourself? What Shadow have you cast?"

The Liar, the shadow with a feminine shape that deceived flesh, danced around the hollow, empty space into which Torrent cast herself. Two other Figures accompanied her, and Torrent could remember with vivid clarity her dream about the Shadows she sought. The one who held the tome of Hidden Potential locked his singular, bright eye upon her as he turned the pages in the great black book. The Accomplice of Injustice, keys silently jingling around his neck, tossed one contemplative knife up and down in a bandage-wrapped hand.

"Such fledgling deception, for the poor goblins. But a fledgling deciever, is a deceiver still. What do you seek here?"

"Such an ignorant pursuit of potential. But acknowledging ignorance is the first step to true introspection. Do you not fear what seeks you?"

"Silent steps, a presence unnoticed, skin that blends, and more. A shadow grows longer, unseen by eyes that face the light. Is it best for your eyes to look too long?"

Torrent could still feel the pull from her body, a million miles down below. She had gone further, and the disk of color floating in the void had grown smaller. The pull was strained, like a rubber band stretched to its limit...

---

Torrent considered for a moment, watching the figures curiously, knowing that she did not have the time to give this the thought it felt like it deserved. Responding to each of them in turn, Torrent answered them.

"I seek to deceive all, I seek to become something different from what I already have been. Change is the real deception."

"I fear nothing because fear does not change outcomes. I have faced death, I have died, I have been crushed and burning and constricted and absorbed. How else can I reach my true potential?"

"To be truly unnoticed, you have to look. There is no other option, even if you're looking through unusual means."

She could feel that pull becoming strained, aptly thinking of a rubber band, and she made a sudden decision to pull even further. It might snap, but here she had found what she'd been wanting, hadn't she? Here she could learn and grow, truly becoming the Nothing against the Everything.

"I have come not just because I felt the call, but because there's a sense of balance to all things, isn't there? Predators and Prey, Everything and Nothing. It all defines each other, but how often do you get the chance to reach into the Void itself? To, possibly, be the anti to everything else?" If she was being honest with herself she wasn't sure how much sense she was making, but it made sense in her head. Even her friends were defining themselves by other things, weren't they? What was this but to do it a different way?

Judging by Gier's reaction Danny hadn't been precise enough in describing his old world for the farmhand's liking. Luckily for his continued survival Miiba seemingly had enough of the guy and distracted him for a few seconds. As the little Goblin ran off she smacked into something and despite how he felt about Goblins in general and his odds of surviving a second fight against Danny prepared himself to defend her.

Before he could do anything though a third human showed up demanding to know what was going on. The immature poltergeist took the time to use Monster Analysis III on both the newcomer and the odd rock, hoping that it indeed was Jason somehow.

"ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY SHADDAP AND NOBODY MOVE!" The sensation caused by the yell was somewhat familiar, if far stronger than what Danny had experienced before and Danny was somewhat relieved to see it affected Geir as well.

"You first. Yes or No. Used to be Human? Yes or No. When you were summoned here, you remember a figure with black hair and red eyes?" The first question was easy, the second one was harder since he didn't remember what the summoner looked like. Not just being alive again but coming to a new world and in a different body was a huge shock.

After thinking it over Danny decided to just tell the truth in case the human had some ability to detect lies. "Yes I used to be human, but I can't remember if the man who summoned me looked like that."

“Hmm, well that’s… interesting.”

The Gravity Well skill wasn’t exactly what Oberon had expected. Rather than being something used to weigh down or hinder a target temporarily it sounded far more destructive, like suddenly crashing down on something with a heavy weight. What’s more, the description seemed to suggest the effect only lasted for a moment.

Not very useful as a utility spell then. Instead the Sprite had found himself with yet another way to harm, maim or kill anything he came across; it was a surprisingly long list. He was almost ready to think that he had wasted nine of his skill points were it not for the fact that, well, he was controlling gravity. If the brief description of the spell was to be believed then he wasn’t just applying pressure in a way that resembled gravity, he was somehow empowering one of the four fundamental forces of the universe to increase its effect in a single spot. He would have to try and use an analysis skill on his later and see if he could gain any more information on it; because it that was really what he was doing then he had to be able to get something amazing out of it. In fact, why wait? It was probably a good idea to find out just how much mana the spell used up as well, since he couldn’t imagine it was as cheap as a simple fireball.

He was already near to the top of the treeline, so Oberon flew even higher until he was clear of the tree entirely and had some room to manoeuvre. Picking a random bit of empty space he activated Mana Sense and raised his hand before casting Gravity Well on thin air; at the same time he activated Magic Analysis to see if he could glean anything useful from it.

With that done, the Sprite returned to the ground. He descended down through the layer of leaves at the upper tree line, between the branches and flew back towards the camp. Along the way he scooped another pebble from the ground, pulling it towards him with Lesser Force, and began to examine it with Mana Sense. As expected he saw the flecks of golden coloured Earth Mana within it, but not much else. If he tried to add more Mana to it, it would start of neutral and colourless before turning the same golden hue once the pebble was full. But, not all Mana that came into contact with something changed alignment like that. Did it? If he cast a Shield spell on an object, it would still be a Shield spell, right? It would linger on the stone as a Shield without changing alignment, or so he assumed.

Oberon cast a Shield I on the pebble in his hand, watching with Mana Sense as he did so in order to observe what happened. He was curious to see the result and, depending on what happened, figure out why. If it worked, then he might be able to start work on something interesting.



@Zeroth

Asura was keeping track of what was going on as he tried his damnedest to pull what he could from the undead reptile he was wrestling with. When nothing else would come he twisted and jerked, snapping its neck and twisting its head upside down. He left the mangled corpse and shifted away from some attacks, but still got pelted by a Mana Orb. It stung, but it wasn't that damaging.

Ardur finally came out of the pool judging by Trent's exclamation. At this point Asura had started to make his way to the front, obviously slower due to his exhaustion. Another Mana Orb pelted him, and then a splatter of Poison Spit. Ah, finally he got poisoned, joyous. He ignored his body to take on what was going on in front of him. More monsters were pushing up and it actually made him pause for a moment. There were not this many monsters in here from what he had seen. The amount of zombiefied creatures didn't match what they had seen.

The zombie goblins alone shouldn't have existed, all the living ones had all left the cave and any corpses had been eaten! The fact any zombie types were around at all was surprising since this was an enclosed ecosystem, slimes and rats wouldn't have left anything behind except maybe bones! So how were there so many non-skeletal undead? Was a core capable of summoning? Trent spoke up again, saying it wouldn't be that easy to flee.

"They'd trip over their own slow movers, we'd only have to worry about the goblins, rats, and wisps!" He said as he tried to direct his bodies acidic contents to try and digest the poison that was afflicting him. It'd be interesting if he could somehow gain a poison eating ability. Maybe it'd restore Stamina, but highly unlikely. [color=red]"Yes the sword moves, it's magical or something.

Once he got to the front he got to see what was coming towards them. That core had to be getting all this from someplace else. Did it pull them in from the surrounding area? Or was there sections of this cave that had long since collapsed but dug out in the single night that they had been out of the cave? While he was distracted Trent snatched up Undine and roared out a word. How did anyone even pronounce that? Another spell was launched but this time it was highly effective. Depth Charge huh? That would probably kill him even with a glancing blow.

A good bit of devastation occurred, bodies thrown about. Slimes popped, whisps flattened, flesh peeled away as if hit with a firehose. It cut a good swathe away, but it left Trent exhausted. Pseudopods sprung out and wrapped around the boys dangling arms and Asura began to drag him back. "Mother Slime, defend us. Ardur help me drag him, have Steve also work on defense after that webbing." He said. If he had been human he'd have easily dragged Trent along. But being this small monster with no true muscle or leverage made things difficult.

---

Ed smirked a little as he saw the underground movement. Their plan was slowly falling into place, despite the minor setback. Shit was about to hit the fan. Though what wiped the smirk off his rat face was that one of the things tunneling underneath the earth was heading towards him and Mother Rat. Time to make sure that he and Mother Rat weren't caught in the impending shitstorm. He glanced back to the hobgoblin to see that he was more interested in investigating the fence rather than discern his shadowy form in the distance. Quickly climbing down from his position, he gestures to Mother Rat to keep quiet and follow him.

He would keep himself low on the ground while he went to retrieve his great club from the ground. He quickly glanced back to the cage, hoping that his little distraction had managed to give Asteria the opportunity to escape. They could investigate the inside of the camp once the myrminors had softened the defenses. But for now, they had to withdraw or risk fighting the bandits and the bugs.

---

Aha, success!

And a new skill, too. Focus sounded incredibly useful, though not for direct combat. For stealth attacks, perhaps, as well as if she could have someone taking the heat off her. More importantly though, she succeeded in creating another elemental spell. Not a major breakthrough by any means, but progress was progress. If only she could not have to worry about mundane needs like sleep, food, and fatigue. Hm.

Something to keep in mind for later.

Next was that presumed earth aligned spell she was working on.

Summoning magical energy back in her claws, Ash repeated the process she had before. Drawing the deep gold colored sparks in until they reached the same point she had before. Predictably, they reacted as they had before. Something didn't seem to be quite fitting right. The machinery as it were didn't fit together quite right. Should she simply try to brute force it? Perhaps there was something that could make them fit or move better, like some sort of oil, cooling agent or lubricant? Well, nothing to be done except to attempt it.

As the spell rested in one hand, Ash caused mana to flow into her other claw, attempting to use her claw to directly interfere with the geometric shapes. If she the grooves weren't fitting right and weren't simply sliding into place, then she'd have to manually fit them

@Stabby@Zeroth

Femus realized quickly that his ability to multitask and meditate was insufficient to the task and abandoned his meditation efforts in favor of stealth. Constantly adjusting his own coloration and brightness to match the shifts in the grass took almost all of his concentration. No longer was he merely 'activating' his Suppress Presence skill. Now, he was expanding it, training it, trying to master it. Now, he was being one with his environment. He sought to match his breath to the air's movements, only being truly silent and still when his tiny fragment of the world was. He expanded his senses to give him as much awareness of his surroundings as he could so that he could match the characteristics of his environment ever more closely. He went so far as to try to match his own mana flow to the pace he had felt in the tree, in the grass. He sought concealment in oneness.

But, he did not close his senses or thoughts off to awareness of his changing surroundings. Even that which perfectly belongs can be stepped on and crushed. He had to stay alert and aware without compromising his concealment. Only then would he be able to gain an advantage over a possible threat that may approach, either now or in the future. Every breath was training, every adjustment of his color and brightness, every subtle movement and glance. The pixies would do what the pixies did. But, he was the grass and the soil, the moss and the breeze. All were things that he could feel on this tiny body of his as he hid.

Yet, as focused as he was, there were still three things that stood out in his mind about the pixies. The familiar one was looking for him. The other female was interested in Nira's dress. And, the male was interested in Nira. Well, that set of circumstances could be complicated, but Nira was in a uniquely well suited position to handling things. Femus would continue his training and concealment, watching and waiting.