---

"Hmph."

The blonde girl folded her arms as she examined the travelers before her for a few moments.

"Regardless of if it was simple circumstance or not, you still gave your assistance. Only an idiot wouldn't recognize your efforts, even if they were just the product of coincidence."

She paused for a moment, glancing towards Linie and Sheila again. Indeed, from here, it was difficult to tell just how badly the petite white-haired maid was injured, but it certainly appeared that there was a significant amount of blood staining her side.

"Milady, you really shouldn't be out here," the voice from inside the carriage said, "They could still be-"

A third maid emerged, though this one lacked armor. Similar in height to her mistress, she cast her green eyes briefly over the travelers, then over Linie and the general state of the carriage defense.

"Who are they?" she asked, her left hand drifting towards the hem of her skirt slowly.

"They assisted us in defending milady," responded Sheila, briefly turning attention away from the injured Linie, "There's no need to be cautious."

Though the third maid didn't respond, her hand returned to her side.

"I-I'm fine, it's not safe for us to stay, s-so-"

When the sword-and-shield bearing maid attempted to rise, Sheila very swiftly held her back down.

"Do you want to die!?" she cried.

"I ordered you to rest," snapped the blonde duke's daughter, before returning her attention to the travelers, and Hikari in specific.

"You said you have some medical knowledge? I'm surprised to see a maid with a pair of travelers like this, but I won't question it if you can stabilize Linie."

On examination, it would become clear the wound was quite deep, and that Linie had lost a considerable amount of blood. However, it didn't appear that it had damaged any organs, her weakened state likely due to her bloodloss.

Meanwhile, the remaining guards were conducting their own examination of the deceased bandits. The mere fact that they were putting effort towards this perhaps implied they suspected something more than mere banditry was behind the assualt.

@Raineh Daze@PKMNB0Y@Sir Lurksalot

Rita
Forest Shrine

---

The forest had gotten pretty dark out. The thudding and scrapping noises got louder and louder as a smell akin... if not actually, rot began to fill her nostrils. Rita wrinkled her nose in didgust. "Eyuck. That's gross as hell. Who dumped the butcher's garbage nearby?" She asked aloud.

Green orbs appeared in the distance, followed by a figure. A tall one at that with a strange voice that seemed to be everywhere. "Wawawawhat is that thing?" She asked taking a step back, fighting the urge to violently react to the smell in the air.

It was then that the Medusa girl spoke up and grabbed the halfling girl and herself. The halfling carried underarm and her thrown over the shoulder like a sack of wheat. "Hey! Watch your hands! I ain't remotely drunk enough for any of the touchy feely shit! Especially where you got your grimy paws right now! And who's a midget!?" The goblin was very vocal for someone being carried from danger.

---

"Huh," Jase noted as the chest lock gave way and the lid sprung open at the slightest of pressure. "Must have rusted and dry-rotted. Must have been a long time since anyone's been here."

His youthful face scowled at the stone flute and fur. Why was the fur so well preserved in the chest? At least it wasn't moving when both were removed by the knight and Javal. Wasn't there like a children's story about a magic flute that bewitched mice and such? Best they don't play it until they were someplace safe, who knew what this one might do?

"Okay, false alarm. Let's go find ourselves a way out of here," Jase said, reasoning if someone brought the chest in, they must have a way out... unless it arrived the same way they did.

---

@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin

@VitaVitaAR @Aku the Samurai @SilverPaw

"...Eh?"

Bianca stared in shock as the zombie rose once more, seemingly unaffected by that stab to the head. Sure, it was undead, but weren't there rules to this sort of thing?! Did that mean there was no way to actually stop them?! Momentarily frozen, Bianca was quite fortunate that the lumbering corpse was more bothered by its' unseen assailant than she herself. It turned away from her to try and attack Sora, granting the young woman a moment's reprieve at least.

It would be awful if that thing stabbed the young elf, all because she had to take a peek behind the cellar doors. She gripped the hammer tightly, now bringing her other hand to the hilt. Even if the zombie was invincible, all she had to do was whack it hard enough to grab its' attention! Then Sora could escape, and she... could hopefully do the same? That bridge could be crossed by the Bianca five seconds into the future, for now...

With a desperate yell, Bianca hoisted the hammer above her head, and brought it crashing down with all her strength. In her mind, she pictured something more akin to a cartoonish smack on the head. Reality said otherwise, as the blunt weapon mercilessly crushed all in its' path towards the kitchen floor, complete with sickening mulching sounds that were hopefully masked by Bianca's voice. Bianca blinked, wondering why her immediate surroundings were slightly more fleshy than usual, slowly straightening and lifting the now-messy hammer from the floor. Huh, it was more fragile than expected, after al.

"...Er... I think I got it?" Bianca mused. The body was left in a rather terrible state, even if the zombie were still "alive", it couldn't possibly pose a threat now, right? Clean up was going to suck, though.

---

... Hold it.

I'm halfway there and I've only just realized.

That girl with the hammer was going to check out the scratching in the basement, wasn't she?

I suddenly find myself sprinting.

What am I even going to do?

If there's something down there, it's not like I've figured out how to do magic. And she has a warhammer, she's way better equipped to deal with whatever might be down.

And yet, here I am, sprinting down through the ruined inn towards the basement, gripping my staff in both hands as I turn the corner. I'm lighter than I was before, but my legs are probably a lot shorter given my new height, so I don't think I'm moving that fast.

Seriously, what are you going to do? Don't be stupid. You're not an idiot.

Admonishing myself isn't making me run any slower, though.

And then---

She's there. It's moving.

It's a little different seeing it now. I know I witnessed the shambling shapes on the street, but this is---

It's dried out. Desiccated. It looks like a mummified corpse, like those self-sacrificing monks or a ruler from ancient Egypt. It's dried out and hollow, a blade in one hand, eye sockets empty, and leathery skin clinging to its skeletal frame.

I find myself drawing a sharp intake of breath, my hands clutching at my staff.

I can't move.

I ran here and now I can't move.

Stupid. Why did I even bother? I've just frozen up and she's got a warhammer, what was I even planning on doing?

My heart is pounding. My fingers tightening.

I'm a mage, aren't I? That skill has to mean something, right?

But I can't even start thinking about it.

Suddenly the undead is falling forward.

It's the elf man. I have no idea how he got here first, but he managed to get here and stab it in the back of the neck.

That finally snaps me out of it.

"Are you stupid!? You had a chance to ambush it and you-"

It's back up. It's already moving and raising its blade.

But so is the girl with the warhammer. She's bringing it down as if it's a second nature to her.

There's a spray of dust rather than blood as the undead's skull comes apart. But it doesn't stop there. Its shoulders crack. I think its upper torso caves in on itself too.

It just crumples under the blow of the hammer.

I guess that makes sense given how dried out it is.

If it was fresher corpse, this would have been a lot worse. As it stands, I still feel ill, but at least I barely recognize whatever parts of it are still intact after the hammer blow.

I look away, sucking in quite a bit of air as I try and calm myself and stop feeling quite so nauseous.

But I can't let that stupidity stand, either.

Why would anyone think a knife alone would do the trick here? Against that?

Taking another deep breath, I manage to stand up straight again, my hands still gripping my staff tightly.

"What made you think stabbing it in the neck was going to work? Did you seriously think that thing's breathing? That it's relying on bloodflow? At least if you tried to cut off the head, it would have made more sense!"

I use the tip of my staff to point. The undead's remains aren't quite so bad to look at now, but I'm not going to linger on them any more then I have to.

"We're in a fantasy setting, anyway, so these are probably magical undead," I add, not about to let him get off lightly, "There's no way just stabbing it alone was going to do the trick! Think a little more carefully, unless you want to die a second time!"

Some would call be too harsh, but there's no way I'm going to tolerate someone gleefully throwing themselves into the maximum amount of danger without even the slightest bit of forethought.

We need to get out of here, and dying isn't exactly helpful.

... Besides, it's not like I'd be happy if anyone here died. We're all in the same boat, so losing someone---

I don't really want to think about it, honestly. It's bad enough that I'm tiny and the opposite sex, I don't need to go thinking about witnessing someone die for real.

@PKMNB0Y@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw@RolePlayerRoxas

---

---

Connor lay on his back on the shack floor, eyes closed, still trying to rest. There was no response to his request for water--and now that he thought about it, Cassius hadn't responded to anything he'd sent since the elf had left the shack. Of course. He mentally scrolled back through the logs, but found no indication of any "read" receipts or any other way of telling whether his message had gone through. But, granted how things had functioned this far, it didn't seem like service signal failure was a factor in this magical form of communication.

So is he just ignoring me? He clearly knows how to use the damn system. Still with his eyes closed, Connor frowned as his brows knit together. Probably busy flirting with the catgirl! It figures, even in my own Isekai story I don't get to be the harem lead!

Memories of many a rejection and long nights spent angrily venting on forums and social media brought back that special kind of cringe that only netizens of the modern era could understand. Connor felt his blood pressure rising and knew there was no way he was getting any more relaxed while he felt like this. He sighed and started to sit up.

Heavy feet thumped just outside the shack--a shadow passed swiftly over the window and was in the doorframe--!

"Took you long eno--" Connor turned, a snarl half-formed on his lips.

Then he and a hooded man, who somehow managed to look surprised despite the shadows of mystery emanating beneath said hood, locked gazes.

Connor screamed and threw his 2x4 at the man, before scuttling backwards just like those roaches he'd so bravely hunted.

---

---

Sora got the hit in. He thought he might have gotten the brain, but he wasn’t sure. It felt down, but was that really it? Peering closely at it, Sora crouched down, ready to inspect it. “Don’t worry, we would have had to clear the cellar out soon anyhow,” he told the hammer lady. “But–”

Before he could say anything else, the thing picked itself up, and turned to face him. Sora’s eyes widened, and he jumped away from it faster than he thought possible. The zombie was still slow, but it knew to aim at him. Did that mean it could feel pain??

Either way, his stab hadn’t been enough to do him in, and Sora was ready to protect himself, thinking about stabbing it once again, this time in the eye-socket. However, hammer-lady grasped the situation as quickly as he had, and dealt the death blow. She swung the massive hammer as if it was second nature, splattering rotten, dried out brain matter all around. “H-huh. I sure hope it’s dead dead now, yeah.” He watched Blonde’s confident posture, gory hammer in her hand.

Now, he wasn’t queasy about blood but…this was a human – even if it was a once human – crushed into bits and pieces. Even though it disgusted him, Sora was still way too curious to let it be. He crouched down next to it, examining the corpse.

Before he could really start, Tiny went onto a tirade. That’s right, she’d shouted something or other when he’d stabbed the thing, hadn’t she?

“I was– No, I– It’s not–” He didn’t get a word in as she went on and on, shooting question after question in that sharp, high-pitched, near hysterical critical tone. “Would you just–”

He ground his teeth at that final interruption. Anger flared, sudden and bright. “I don’t want to hear shit from someone who just stood there doing nothing!” he snapped back.

Sora realized he’d gone too far as soon as that last word left his mouth, but the upset feeling wasn’t easy to overcome. He looked down– Bad idea. He looked out– It wasn’t much better. Was it just his imagination, or were the zombies starting to be drawn to the sounds from their inn again? He exhaled harshly. They couldn’t argue, not here, not now. They had to work together, or else they’d end up dead, like Tiny had said.

He looked back at the small elf, still disgruntled, yet also contrite. “Look, I’m sorry. That wasn't fair to say to you. I get that you’re worried and scared, ok? I am too. But it’s easy to talk about how things should have gone down after the fact. Doing something in the heat of the moment?” He shook his head.

“Besides…It’s not as if I went in without a plan, you know?” he tried saying gently. He inched closer to the fallen zombie. Without compunction – now that he got used to the grisly sight – he grasped the head. “Do you know which are the weakest parts of the skull?” he asked rhetorically.

“There’re a few of them. The eye sockets,” he indicated the area with his fingers. “But I was behind it, so stabbing it here would have been difficult. Same for through the mouth.” He pried open its jaw and showed off the palate. “Then there’s the temple – that’s why people shoot themselves here,” his hands moved to the temples. “But a knife ain’t a gun. And then…” His fingers travelled to the back of the skull, specifically, towards the base where the neck was joined to the head – and more importantly, where the spinal cord attached to the brainstem. “Here.” He felt up the stab wound.

For all his theoretical (high school level) knowledge though, it’s not as if he was an actual expert. Even after thoroughly rooting around the stab wound, he wasn’t sure how deep he’d gotten, or if his dagger had even really reached the brain.

“Maybe I didn’t get it good enough,” he shrugged, “or it takes more damage to do them in, or smashing the brain case is the only way…We can’t know that without trying a bunch of things.” His hands grasped the zombie’s neck. “Oh, and severing the head with a knife wouldn’t be any easier. That’s why they used axes for executions back in the days, ya know? Even with those, some still failed…” he fell silent in contemplation, then met Tiny’s gaze again. “Either way, I did think. But yeah, I agree we’re gonna need to be careful if we wanna survive.”

---

---

@VitaVitaAR @RolePlayerRoxas @Aku the Samurai @PKMNB0Y

While the pressures of combat (and the adrenaline rush that came with it) had captured his attention in the moment, Steven seemed to snap back to his senses once Hikari brought up the issue of the smaller maid's injuries. Despite the matter of having killed someone mere moments ago—in self-defense, granted—the young man had still been studying with the intent of entering the medical field in the future. That didn't mean he was any bit more qualified to look at the wound, granted, but maybe there was something that his time interning at a private practice clinic coupled with what little medical training he had received outside of classes that could help.

"Ah... If you don't mind some assistance, I could probably help a bit," he remarked towards the other kitsune before approaching the maid. Obviously, if someone like him had tried to intervene and help dressed as he was, he might have been shooed away out of principle...

Maybe it was a good thing that the maid was here to begin with, then? There were a few questions that popped into his head at that thought, of course, but Steven quickly pushed those to the side before examining the wound alongside his companion.

"At the very least, she doesn't seem to have anything vital injured..." he spoke as he glanced around at the wound proper. "As we are now, though... Do we have any spare cloth we could use to staunch the bleeding?"

For the most part, though, Steven would leave the matter of dressing and cleaning the wound up to Hikari. Better that she handle touching the wound than he, lest the possibility of it getting infected rear it's ugly head.

"...Clean water would also be useful here, if you happen to have any on hand. If not, if there are any springs of water nearby, I could go and retrieve some provided you have something to carry it back in."

@Raineh Daze@Sir Lurksalot

---

After having it's head smashed in, the zombie that had stumbled out of the cellar was left as little more as a semi-headless mummified corpse on the ground. Examining the actual remains of the victim would reveal little of note beyond the fact that the undead being had been inside of the cellar for a long time, and that there was little moisture or humidity to speak of down there.

With the sole obstruction in their path dead, though, those inside would be free to explore the lower areas of the building without any immediate hear of being captured by more undead. The area seemed to be fairly compact, but rather filled to the brim with various dried foodstuffs and barrels of alcohol that had been left wholly untouched by the deceased sealed down there to begin with.

Whether or not someone wished to test their luck with anything down there was another question unto itself, though.

@VitaVitaAR@RolePlayerRoxas@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw

---

The second man who had arrived following Meira's pursuit of the first seemed more than willing to take advantage of the opening provided by Cassius and moved in to simply cut the elf down where he stood. With the adventurer that had been speaking with him until then off in rapid pursuit of the apparent decoy, it only made sense to retrieve the goods in his grasp, regardless of what price had to be paid.

At the shack, however, the decoy had been left very much on the defensive; their goal was to flee, and with the adventuring catgirl hot on his heels, there was no time to think about much more than trying to escape as best he could. Everything came to a rather abrupt halt, however, as a plank of wood came flying out of one of the shacks he had been forced towards and collided—rather painfully—against his body. That brief moment of surprise coupled with the unexpected burst of pain was enough for his pursuer to finally close the gap and, with a rather brutal swing, lop off one of his legs.

With the limb sent flying off to the side and the hooded man forced to fall onto the grime-painted streets, Meira quietly stepped onto the downed man's right hand and, in a single motion, slammed her elbow into his forehead.

Needless to say, the impact left the apparent assailant out cold on the ground, bleeding out from his new stump for a leg.

"...Oi, you. Inside the shack," she called out after making sure that the man was well and truly out cold. "You're one of Cassius'... Erm... Acquaintances, correct? Could you bring this bastard to the guards at the gate? Tell them Meira told you to bring him in for questioning if they ask."

Given the fact that the elf hadn't chased after her or was even visible in the distance, the adventurer's gut instinct spoke to something being amiss about the situation...

@ERode@Zeroth@TheMushroomLord

---

With no apparent desire to further explore their surroundings, the group of four would push ahead through the cavern with Nyana at the front. The clanking of armor would echo throughout the cavern, as would the footsteps of the group, but eventually the next corridor would give way to a new chamber.

Or, well, maybe it would be more apt to simply call this the "entrance" to the cave proper? The midday sun would be very visibly shining through from the opening visible in the distance, and past that would be an expansive deciduous forest that seemed to stretch into the horizon. The cave they had awoken in, it seemed, was situated at the top of a cliffside that overlooked this grand scenery. There did seem to be a natural pathway leading from the cavern towards ground level, but it seemed rather precarious all the same.

@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin@Expendable

---

Sylva stared at the flame for a moment, contemplating. The little elf wasn't wrong. Fighting undead with fire was only effective if it could drop them before they did any damage, and given the fact that the ones outside were wearing armour, he didn't fancy the odds of that happening. Now, if only he knew how to turn it off. He tried shaking it, but it only moved with his hand, barely even losing any size.

He paused to think about it for a moment. There was nothing in his status window that gave him any idea of how to stop using his skill, but it couldn’t be that difficult could it? He was level one, after all.

Well, it wasn’t like he could just walk around with a fire floating in his palm, then he’d just be a walking fire hazard. He had to try something. Sylva sighed, closing his hand and watching as the flame vanished. It was lucky that worked, otherwise he would’ve ended up just burning himself instead of accomplishing anything useful. Note to self; he had to test these runes somewhere that wouldn’t burn down super easily. Just another addition to his growing list of things to do.

Before Sylva could think more about it, the little elf did the same as him, calling out her status before going to tell the other two. With a light shrug, he followed her as she made her way to where the hammer-wilding girl had gone. When she suddenly started sprinting, Sylva only had to increase his speed a little to match her on the way to the kitchen and–

He heard it before he saw it.

A shambling, emaciated corpse with a knife in one hand, and nought but empty sockets where its eyes should have been.

For a moment, Sylva was still. Apprehension crept down his spine as he stared at the undead. It hit him in that moment. This was a real zombie, the living dead in the flesh, at least what little was left of it. It was disgusting, revolting....

.... fascinating.

Opening the cellar seemed like a less-than-great idea, even if there wasn't a zombie causing a ruckus down there. And judging by the scratching noises he'd been hearing for a while now, that wasn't the case. They had no way of knowing if there was anything worthwhile in there either so it was a risk that probably warranted more caution than was taken. Not that it really mattered now. What’s done was done.

And, there goes Sora, stabbing the zombie in the back of the neck.

That begged the question; was stabbing a corpse enough to–

No. No, it wasn’t.

But the blonde with the hammer crushing its head to dust seemed to do the trick though, causing it to crumble like a puppet with its strings cut.... after being hit by a war hammer. All’s well that ends well.

Not that the little elf didn’t seem to think so with the way she went off about Sora’s recklessness.

Technically speaking, all undead were magic in a way and even if they weren’t, they were still dead, so why would stabbing have any effect on it? But it wasn’t as if she had any better idea about the nature of this world than the rest of them. Still, she didn’t seem too bad, just a bit “passionate” in her style of talking.

More importantly, the cellar was now free to explore, and that was exactly what he did, leaving the others behind for Sora to do whatever he was doing with the corpse.

Inside the cellar was, well, exactly what he expected the inside of a cellar to look like. It wasn’t incredibly large or anything but it was packed nearly to the brim with shelves filled with food and barrels of alcohol. Whoever owned the place seemed to have been well prepared for emergencies.

Sylva tried not to think about who the zombie down there might have been.

“I guess it was a good idea to clear the place out,” he muttered to himself, then raised his voice to be heard by the others, “Hey, come take a look down here.”

Even as he said that he took stock of everything in the cellar. The foodstuffs were dried, which meant they had been preserved, but with no way of knowing exactly how long they had been down there, Sylva hesitated to try his luck—not that he had many other options. The alcohol, on the other hand, was likely fine as long as they hadn’t been opened before. It wasn’t a certain thing, but it was better than nothing.

After all, they weren’t going anywhere for a while.

@SilverPaw @RolePlayerRoxas @VitaVitaAR @PKMNB0Y

Javal

The good news is that they found the exit. The bad news was that said exit sat a cliff side, with only a hazardous-looking path down.

The mouth of the cave gave a decent view of the area, and it'd be a mistake not to make use of it. The former pilot looked out over the scenery, looking for any potential signs of civilization, such as smoke, buildings, or clearings. He also looked down, scanning the more immediate area outside for any evidence of beasts or other possible dangers. After all, they had been dropped into this world blind, and had no idea what they might run into out here.

Javal's falling ability could potentially come in handy in getting out of here, but it'd be very foolish to risk his newly regained life on an informed ability that he hadn't ever made use of before. For now, it'd be best to tackle this obstacle in a safer, more mundane way.

"We'd better be careful, one at a time," he advised as he very carefully exited the cave, making his way down the path, hoping that the boots he had been reincarnated in would have good enough traction.

@PKMNB0Y@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin@Expendable

---

My hands clench and I draw a sharp intake of breath.

I didn't expect him to snap back so quickly. Where did he get off? I was trying to tell him exactly why that was a dumb thing to do. It's not my fault he's an idiot, I was just calling him on it!

"Y-you...!"

All I did was just stand there.

But it's not my fault. It's not. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to cast magic. All I know is that I apparently can, but how was I supposed to help? My arms are thin and weak. My staff doesn't have any real sharp points or edges, I don't think the gem on the tip is sharp enough to be dangerous.

My voice is shaking. My heartbeat's still hammering. I still feel a little nauseous.

"I-I... I was trying to tell you---"

I have to avert my eyes when he goes over the skull like that. I know. I know what he was trying to do! That's why I know it was stupid, that's why---

I feel sick. My shoulders are shaking. Is it because I'm not used to the difference in hormonal balance of this body?

Maybe it's just because I've never seen a corpse before, even one that's dried out like a mummy.

"... I-Idiot, it'd just be stupid for you to die..." I half-murmur, sucking in another deep breath as I try to stabilize myself mentally if not physically, "I would have done something if I knew how..."

My fingers clutch at my staff, semi-consciously at the hem of my skirt.

"Th-they're-This is clearly a f-fantasy setting, s-so they're probably animated by magic," I manage to continue, keeping my eyes away from the crushed undead, "S-so... so just attacking the brain, i-it probably won't cut it. I think she broke its s-spine when she hit it."

At least I heard a pretty loud crack, though there's no way of knowing what part of the undead that was.

My fingers tense again.

"A-at least we got this stupidity out of the way with just one of them," I raise my head slightly. I think I feel a little better now, maybe, "It'd have been way worse to learn this out on the street where there's more."

I'd already expected it though. If this was a world with magic, then zombies didn't need to follow any kind of biological rules at all that you'd expect from a more science-based setting.

At least insofar as any universe where undead exist can be science-based.

"Their limbs, or damaging their body enough so they can't move, that's what's probably going to take them out."

It's not as if I know for sure, but he probably did enough damage that a living thing would have gone down. So the difference between the hammer blow and the stab was just how much overall damage it did to the body.

At the very least, you'd have to be a total moron to try stabbing like that again, so I can be sure he won't do that.

@PKMNB0Y@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw@RolePlayerRoxas

Vrelenor follows the others out and pauses to admire the view, the midday sun shining brilliantly as they reach the exit is pleasant on its own, they certainly had fortunate timing, but the seemingly endless forest below is like nothing he'd ever seen, so many trees!

"Well, that is quite the view, I've seen forests before, but not that reach the horizon. Uh, any of you know how to survive in a forest? Because I'm not seeing as much as a village."

He then follows Javal down the path, it's a little precarious, someone should really install a railing, but his new body seems to have come with a small upgrade to his balance, though whether it's an elf thing or one of the stats is unclear. Besides it's still a path, can't be that hard.

@Crusader Lord @Expendable @Crimson Paladin

All he could do was backpedal, sandals slip-sliding against the muck and grime of the slums as he ducked and bobbed, the thin blade of his assailant carving graceful lines through the air. In the corner of his vision, the High Elf could see others nearby simply shuffle away. Doors to shacks closing and being braced. People disappearing down other routes. He understood them. If someone was being attacked on the subway platform, he’d step inside a train and pop in his earbuds. If a kid was crying on the sidewalk with no adult in sight, he’d just walk around the tyke and trust that someone else would deal with it.

This was a threat towards him, after all. Not to anyone else.

He pivoted to the side, right as a thrust drove the point of the sword into the space he had been moments ago. Pain bloomed bright and hot over his arm; the blade had grazed the forearm that cradled the package against his chest, and just like that, Cassius felt his legs weaken. Death had been conceptual, then potential, and now very, very real.

Dread caused his knees to buckle. He fell backwards, his heartbeat turning into a continuous roar within his eardrums. No words could be exchanged. Didn’t even have time to surrender. One step in, lunge.

Blood coated the blade properly, the sword piercing through…

…the package he raised up, and the arm that held it.

Adrenaline suppressed agony, time dilating as a flood of chemicals drenched his brain. The world was so bright in that moment, as discordant intuition took over. A primitive intuition, from that savage era that humanity had yet to evolve away from, as he pushed himself upwards, package and hand slamming into the sword’s crossguard while the rest of his body followed suit, against the cloaked assailant’s body.

The distance closed, enough for him to bury the throwing knife into their gut. He heard the breath escape from them, an exhalation of pain and surprise, but Cassius didn’t stop, not when he didn’t have any thought of stopping. In and out, in and out, like the sewing machine his mother owned, like the keys of his laptop during the final weeks, repetition that drove a sharp point into the soft belly and the organs beneath, until he was forced to stop from loss of breath.

Viscera coated both hands, and the blood that splattered against his robes caused them to cling against his skin. The mask of his assailant had fallen ajar, revealing the face of a youth who couldn’t have been over twenty. The poison that coated the sword was making its way into his system, the veins in his injured arm darkening, his sensations numbing even as his nerves burned. That strange, unnatural feeling intensified from the package, now that a hole was punched into it, now that elven blood had fed it.

Distantly, Cassius could see Meira. He couldn’t tell if she was running or walking or standing or watching.

All that was in his head, up to the moment he passed out, was a simple realization: this was how victims of knife attacks end up with dozens of stabbing wounds, when just a few would have done the trick.

Petra felt a little frustrated as she lay as a puddle on the floor of the shack. Not that there was much else she could have been doing, but doing nothing when there was so much she needed to ‘see’ and discover, didn’t exactly feel great. In hindsight, she probably should have been a little more conservative with her mana – or whatever it was this world's magic ran off – as without it, she was more or less immobile.

Hmm… Perhaps she could set up a program to move herself more effectively, rather than modifying her preexisting one every time she wanted to move or stop moving? Except, so far as she’d been able to manage thus far, her programs were restricted to responding to her senses or else constantly doing their thing without outside input. What she needed were programs that could respond dynamically to her thoughts, except how was she supposed to set something like that up, when, at least as far as she could tell, her thought processes and physical brain were now entirely separate things?

On that note, Petra also knew she’d have to figure out what the limitations to her ‘mana’ were, which was a whole other challenge in its own right. Was there some threshold she would cripple herself or die if she went past? It wasn’t like there was an easy way to test it, and it wasn’t like she could just look up the answer. Maybe she could ask someone – or more likely get one of her companions to ask for her – but how common were spell casters? They were usually pretty rare in fantasy stories, right? Would a layman be able to answer her questions?

And that wasn’t even covering the physical side effects of using magic – though that topic at least would probably be a lot easier for Petra to test herself. Down had said they’d gotten a nosebleed after they’d used magic themselves, so unless they’d banged their head or something, there was almost certainly some kind of physical side effect, the question was what? Was the damage to specific parts of the body or more spread out? Did using magic cause the body to start heating up? Was it ionising? Did it cause cell lyse?

Petra hadn’t noticed any cellular damage to her own body while she was messing with the insect’s photoreceptors, but at the same time, she had been fully focused on the task at the time, and from what she’d observed of her biology, any cells that were damaged would likely have been consumed soon afterwards.

If the side effects of spell casting was something like generating heat, that would probably be manageable, but if it were more along the lines of random cellular damage, then that might be more of an issue. Maybe not for Petra herself – she was pretty sure her current body would fare pretty well against that kind of damage and, perhaps somewhat ironically, her magic could likely deal with any biological side effects it produced – but for any human spell casters it might be an issue.

Petra was just about to send Down a message warning them to avoid casting magic until they could figure out whether it caused cancer or something when everything went to chaos. Well, ‘chaos’ might’ve been putting it a bit strongly – whatever happened only lasted a couple of seconds – but still, it was enough for Petra to realise something was up, even with her limited senses. One moment, she’d felt Down stomping across the shack, and the next there had been a loud noise that wasn’t words and what Petra though might be some kind of scuffle, followed shortly by a new voice – at least Petra assumed it was someone new speaking.

“Oi, you… shack. One… <Name: Up> acquaintances? Could you bring… bastard… at gate? … <Name: Newcomer>… bring him in for questioning… ask.”

Wait, was Down being asked to bring Up to the gate or was it the ‘bastard’ someone else? Had Up done something to get themself in trouble? Petra thought about it for a second, then gave up on the matter; trying to piece together what was going one when she’d probably only heard half the words said at best, would be a waste of her time, especially when she couldn’t see what was going on.

More importantly, Petra had observed another interesting phenomena; the translation function struggled with names. Sure Petra could understand exactly who was being talked about when she heard the name, in fact, she was pretty sure as long as it was being translated she’d know exactly who was being talked about even if two people shared the same name, but the fact remained that despite having understood the names meanings, she still didn’t know the names. Was that a clue as to how the translation function worked?

Realising she was getting distracted, Petra mentally made a mental note to think about the phenomena further later, along with all the other crazy things she’d need to contemplate.

Contacts: "Down"

What happened? Is everything okay? Did Up do something?

… Well, it wasn’t really important, but, compared to all the other things she needed to test it would be pretty trivial, and more importantly, wouldn’t require any magic, so…

Contacts: "Down"

Also, assuming you can read the language, if you see any signs for shops or things like that could you read them to me aloud and then send me their names? Trying to figure out the translation function. I need both things with names that have other meanings and those that don’t.

Right, roll up her sleeves--no sense in getting those stained in blood, though it was unfortunate that she'd probably be unable to avoid getting any mess on her dress--and get to work. Hm, so far as injuries went, this one was at least fairly straightforward to treat... without surgical expertise, there may have been considerations around stitches and range of motion that Hikari was obviously unaware of.

That made it simpler--it obviously differed in some significant practical respects to an actual first aid course, and the resources available were simpler, yet she was still able to simply ask the others to retrieve what she needed. Or the closest thing; one could hardly ask for some sort of antiseptic in a medieval setting, the strongest alcohol they had would have to do (hopefully not something intending to be drunk, at that), and aside from that it was simply a matter of staunching and pressure. Oh, but you couldn't avoid thinking about it, anything too frayed was simply asking for infection and things to get stuck, that was the entire point of washing it first.

As for the patient's reaction... it was hardly that different to tuning out someone complaining about an unfavourable review or the like. It wasn't important to pay attention to, as long as the rest made sure that Linie couldn't push her out of the way because it hurt.

@VitaVitaAR@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw@PKMNB0Y

Bianca watched the crumpled remains of the zombie for a few more moments, satisfied enough that it really had stopped moving now. That was a relief, it'd be really embarrassing to have unleashed an unbeatable terror upon the group over some annoying scratching sounds! Of course, she was elated over her achievement in defeating the monster, and with only one good smack too, but her cheeriness was dampened somewhat by the short argument between the two elves. Sephily didn't seem too happy about Sora's attempt to dispose of the thing, with Sora rebutting the options he had. Awkwardly, Bianca didn't intervene, dumbly standing there with the hammer clutched in her grasp. She couldn't exactly blame Sora for thinking that stabbing the back of something's head would be fatal, zombie or otherwise.

"...I mean, hey, we know you just gotta bop their noggin a bit!" Bianca laughed, commenting on the younger elf's analysis, "even someone like me could manage, we've totally got this!"

Bianca, at the moment, was still totally unaware of her odd stat distribution, believing the hefty bludgeon in her hands was simply far lighter than it looked. She tilted her head at the sound of Sylva's voice, coming from the cellar. Judging by the lack of panic, there wasn't anything else lurking down there, so that was great! "Be right there!" Bianca called down the stairs, and made her way down. The stale air was noticeably worse down here, shifting Bianca's playful smile into a strained grimace. This whole building was going to need some renovating, it felt like.

---

The exited the cave up on a small cliffside above a forest, the sun shining brightly overhead. He took a few moments trying to spot some landmarks, especially water - they weren't going to survive long without that. Despite the green canopy beneath them, it didn't necessarily mean there was easily available surface water.

There also didn't look to be any signs of civliization - an army could be lying in wait under the cover of the forest, but he'd expect signs or at least the smell of smoke. Assuming he could spot water, they could follow it downstream and find themselves a town or village, even a city.

The others were already starting down the faint remains of a trail, although by the look of it, it hadn't been traveled or maintained in some time. How did whoever brought that chest made it all the way up here? There might have been other items stashed away there - but considering how remote this location was, it made little sense. Still, it suggested there had been some sort of civilization here at one time.

He envied Vrelenor his staff, that would be helpful with this trecherous path. Unfortunately, the nearest sapling was far below. What he wouldn't give right now for a bit of rope, or a decent map and compass?

"Sing out if you see water," he said gruffly, glancing behind him at the knight. "And mind your step."

As he made his way carefully down, he kept an eye out for some flint, quartz, or some other suitable stone. He had no idea how cold it might get later that night, but starting a small fire would help keep animals at bay as well as keeping them warm. And someone might see their smoke.

Not to mention all those primative tools his instructors showed him how to improvise in the field.

---

@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin

"I'm ready to go, but we might as well take this with us," he spoke, picking up the pelt in the chest. "I don't seem to have anything resembling currency, but we might be able to barter this for something."

"Okay, false alarm. Let's go find ourselves a way out of here," Jase said, reasoning if someone brought the chest in, they must have a way out... unless it arrived the same way they did.

Well, however it had worked out she had the flute safely on her person now and in her inventory. That much was simple, though she would let the other armored man take the pelt. Even so, it didn't take a genius to be told 'please be careful with that thing' even if she was a bit grateful for someone else showing a bit of caution on the matter at the very least. It would hopefully be useful to them as they moved along, and maybe she'd be able to play it later if she remembered anything about musical instruments? Either way she wasn't going to test it right now, lest some evil would destroy the world in a three-day-long time loop or something. Or, well, in case it drew anything bad to their location and such to boot...they didn't know fully where they were after all.

"I'll aim to be careful with this thing, yes. But having something to barter with like that pelt would cewrtianly help too."

Still, with the armored man in tow she hoped the others would come along too so they could just get out of the cave altogether and move things onward a bit for their survival situation here.

"Literally nothing in the alcoves, I have no idea why they're even here. We could try playing the flute, maybe it'll do something interesting and we could do that while moving. I've got to say a flute and a pelt is a very random combination though, random loot is certainly common in fiction, but doesn't make much sense, maybe when we get out of here we can ask a local."

...Well, at least he hadn't triggered some sort of trap or the like in the process. But while he seemed to mean well, something about the mage felt a bit grating to the slime girl knight.

Maybe it was the somewhat defeatist way of just shrugging his shoulders at things prior, and simply going 'just let the tank walk into it'. Maybe it was the seemingly lakidasical effort or manner she felt he fired off an ice ball at the chest without thinking twice about it as Jase's suggestion. Maybe it was even the way he had just suggested just tinkering with a random item they found in a seemingly real magical world they'd all be isekai'd into that rubbed her a bit of the wrong way. Something about him was mildly irritating to her in the end, but for all she knew she was irritating as hell too somehow thus far. Or perhaps it was just the situation in and of itself getting to her a bit as she tried to keep a cool head and keep moving onward right now. It was a fair bit jarring to wake up in a new body and in a new world and....all of this crap so far really.

Still, they were all former people, it seemed, and she wasn't going to try to assume too much up front here. She hoped. Indeed, Nyana would mentally take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Whew. Again, the party mage seemed to be genuine enough about being helpful at least and hadn't tried anything worse like immediate PvP shenanigans or the ilk. Etc. Plus they had all just met, and had just met and were stuck in jointly not-so-expected circumstances to boot. That was not to mention the whole planbe crash business they'd all just been in. So yeah, she just needed to breathe and they all needed to keep on moving before the day was over.

The clanking of armor would echo throughout the cavern, as would the footsteps of the group, but eventually the next corridor would give way to a new chamber.

Or, well, maybe it would be more apt to simply call this the "entrance" to the cave proper? The midday sun would be very visibly shining through from the opening visible in the distance, and past that would be an expansive deciduous forest that seemed to stretch into the horizon. The cave they had awoken in, it seemed, was situated at the top of a cliffside that overlooked this grand scenery. There did seem to be a natural pathway leading from the cavern towards ground level, but it seemed rather precarious all the same.

Fresh air! That much was a welcome sight to her for the moment being. Though there were more than a few people in her, she supposed now 'prior', life who'd have joked about her 'touching grass' as well in a situation like this. Haha. What was decidely less funny to muse about for more than a moment, however, was the fact that the cave they'd been in was at the top of a cliffside with a somewhat questionable and precarious but natural pathway leading down to proper ground below. Ah....joy. But with the sun in the middle of the sky, it seemed, they had some time left to actually get out of here and do something at least.

Or, well, maybe they'd manage to leave in one piece and find some non-hostile civilization of some sort at least. Maybe a place to trade the pelt in, she wasn't going to hand over that flute for now after all, and get a cheap room they could all crash in. Or maybe a meal instead? Er, that'd certainly be something to work out in such a case now, wouldn't it? But no. For now, get off of the cliffside and getting moving would be good.

"We'd better be careful, one at a time," he advised as he very carefully exited the cave, making his way down the path, hoping that the boots he had been reincarnated in would have good enough traction.

"Of course."

Nyana would look over as Javal had spoken to them all, deciding to be the first to try to navigate the path down, and she for one would let him be the first at the very least. Then, whenever he'd get down the path, she'd let the others move forward to be the next one to go down the path to the ground...alone. One at a time. Etc. But having a tank down at the bottom earlier on, just in case, would perhaps be a safer bet? Eh? Maybe a thought to express on her part in the future, should they all find themselves still together in a a group and in a simialr situation of course.

"Well, that is quite the view, I've seen forests before, but not that reach the horizon. Uh, any of you know how to survive in a forest? Because I'm not seeing as much as a village."

Good question. She'd seen enough shows to get some gist, she felt, about that sort of thing. Boil water in the wild. Shelter. Attempt to make a fire. Er....hang food up in a bad? Or was that just something for bears in Alaska? Ugh. But perhaps Jase or the other armored man would have some outdoorsing-type skills to put to use for them in the case they got stuck out here for the night. Either way she didn't want to overthink it more than she had to at the moment.

"Sing out if you see water," he said gruffly, glancing behind him at the knight. "And mind your step."

Nyana would silently nod back at Jase, gruffness aside, and once the 'Confused Man' (she'd yet to learn his name), Vrelenor, and then Jase made their ways down individually she'd follow behind them in turn. Her armor and shield and sword made it tougher, but as she moved cautiosly and carefully onward down the path Nyana would mind to keep herself pushed as close to the cliff-face as she reasonably could. Each step was at a normal-ish pacing, though each was also placed carefully she kept a close eye out on her surroundings for tricky spots or crumbling stone or dirt underneath her feet and such things.

@Expendable@Crimson Paladin@PKMNB0Y@Thunder999999

The verdant expanse that stretched out over the ground below seemed to blanket the area as a whole. Densely packed as the trees were, though, seeing anything beyond the breathtaking view of the forest would require a bit more hands-on exploration. The path down to ground level, at least, seemed to hold firm. To Nyana, doing so might have been a bit more precarious than not due to the weight and lack of visibility past her helmet's visor...

But in the end, the group of four would find themselves on stable footing at the base of the cliff face. The forest that stood in front of them seemed to be teeming with life, as even the air seemed to be brimming with energy. The only concern, however, would be that this was still a forest; attempting to split up with no way of orienting oneself would inevitably lead to someone being lost, and finding them afterwards would be... Difficult at best.

Even so, there seemed to be nothing attempting to attack the four as they approached the trees; if anything, the scant sight of some sort of four-legged shaddow bounding away from the group as they drew near spoke for quite the opposite.

There were multiple options here; follow along the cliff in one direction or another, delve straight into the forest, or even return back to that cavern to see if something had been overlooked...

@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin@Expendable

---

The moment the medusa began to run, grabbing her fellows, the heavy footfalls quickened. At first, the rhythmic sound simply sped up, but soon it became clear that whatever manner of creature was approaching was galloping after them, dragging snapped branches and scraping against bark as it moved.

The green orbs came closer and closer. The sickly light they produced was growing brighter.

It was clear that it simply wasn't possible to outrun it so easily, and now---

Finally, it was revealed.

It was at least four meters tall.

The fleshless face of the creature resembled a deer's skull, with an enormous pair of antlers. Its lower jaw, attached seemingly by mere sinew, hung open and let forth a stream of dark mist as it galloped closer. The rest of its body was composed of a skeletal frame, hair and skin clinging to its bones, in some places torn away to expose them.

In these sports, further black mist issued forth, and centipedes could be seen crawling from these ragged holes and dropping to the forest floor beneath them.

Wherever its hooves touched, it almost seemed as if the plants beneath it wilted, withering and decaying rapidly in a dark, twisted, oozing remnant of what had once been.

And it was gaining on them.

Each massive stride of its hooved feet brought it closer. The breathing sound that seemed to emanate from the creature, and yet came from all around them, grew louder.

It sounded disconcertingly like the breath of a human being.

It was almost upon them, jaws opening wider as an unearthly hiss escaped its gaping maw, and then---

A golden wall of light sprang up from the darkness, intercepting the lurching creature. Its neck seemingly snapped, bone jutting through the dried skin and patchy fur, its head bent at a sharp right angle.

After only a moment, it stepped back, a sickeningly fleshy sound coming from within its body as its neck slowly realigned itself.

Greenish fluid dripped from between its gaping jaws, now, a few small centipedes falling from its maw.

The source of the wall of golden light stood before it.

It was a girl, glad in black and gold clothing and wearing a wide-brimmed hat. In one slender hand, she gripped a smooth wooden staff, currently held in the air.

Her petite figure was dwarfed by the skeletal monster. The sickly scent of decay permeated the air.

"They are not the ones who wronged you," the girl said, her voice firm as her green eyes remained fixed on the creature, "You will come no further."

Leaning forward, the monster's gaping maw stretched wider, the green fluid now tinged with black as it dripped to the ground.

Give them... to me... suffer... they shall... suffer...

A whispering voice, raspy, seemingly emanating from the entire forest just as the breathing had.

Consume... I will devour...

The girl thrust her staff higher.

"They are not the ones who wronged you," she spoke again, her voice louder now, "You shall come no further."

An eternity seemed to pass. The sickly rot scent only grew stronger.

But the creature suddenly rose, its decayed body turning as it slowly shambled off into the blackness of the forest.

The sound of breathing faded. The sickly rot odor disappeared, too.

The forest seemed lighter again. Slowly, the songs of birds could be heard once more.

The girl lowered her staff, letting out a heavy sigh.

And then---

She turned on her heel, marching right up to the medusa and the two smaller girls and aiming a swing of her staff squarely at her head.

"What were you thinking?!" she exclaimed, "Intruding on that shrine of all places?! You're lucky Relki saw you...!"

@Rune_Alchemist@Rin@Pyromania99