Rita listened intently to the explanation of things that the two magical beings in front of her gave. Alchemy sounded a lot like brewing stuff. "Alchemy sounds fun. How would I go about that?" The green, short goblin looked like her interest was thoroughly peaked. "If I'm stuck here, might as well learn something. Might be a way to make some magic beer while I'm at it. Hehehehe."

Her evil little laugh died off as she had a look across her cute little face as if she had just remembered something. "So, like, how do I figure out if I have the... Uhh, what'd you call it? Mana?" She was pretty sure that was the right word being used but everything was somewhat confusing. "Anyway, I want to make a familiar too. A big one like her." Rita said while pointing at the crow's.... features.

These were some...well, big babies to be sure. Big, metal-clad, baby chicks who seemed so very confused about her presence for the moment being. Well, perhaps being a metal thing dropped in a nest with metal birds was that strange to them from the other side of the situation. Maybe. As cute as it seemed to part of her mind, though, the knight had let herself rest a bit on her fly over and felt that this was perhaps a moment to try to not die or to become bird food. Maybe. Not that she should give her opinion on tall chicks at the moment either, that was a whole other matter than this in all seriousness, but Nyana felt she got the gist of things.

She was definitely here to be baby food. The babies she was to feed were confused looking to say the least. She was in some high nest at some sort of elevation in the first place because 'duh its a bird nest' and also the nest was made with whole trees for that matter. Indeed, the slime knightess would stand up as quickly as she could, sword in one hand and shield in the other, and quickly begin backing up and scooting carefully toward the edge of the nest while trying to adopt a defensive sort of battle stance. Shield was ready to pop up, sword was ready to pop up, and her senses were peeled on the baby chicks and such around her. She'd keep her back to the edge of the nest, hoping to make progress before the chicks got too much of a clue, with the intent of making it to the edge of the nest and [i]diving off the edge into any denser tree or ruin or other cover she could. Anything, in the case Nyana hoped she'd actually manage to not move too fast and could properly get to the edge of the nest and out of it, that would keep her from getting bird-napped and brought back up....again.

That was the way some famous hero at the start of an adventure in the stories she'd read back on Earth would do it, right? Or at least it felt intuitive enough to take up this particular plan of action without pausing to wait and dawdle about it. No more of that. Thinking clearly? Sure. But being made of sapient blue jello, perhaps she could take a tall and high-level fall well enough. Especially if she aimed for some decent cover by the time she actually dove out of the nest, though it wasn't as if she'd have much time to choose either. Hmm. But not hurting the babies on the offensive so far would maybe not anger their mother? Ah, if that could be helped that it. Worst case, maybe jam a sword into the baby's mouth and try to poke around in the soft bits while trying to swell her arm up in size or something to make it gasp and let go of her out of panic or something? Sure, that was something to try if that happened potentially. Could anger the mother, though, and that would not be a good thing. Hmm.

Were the others going to try to come find her though? Or was she going to be left alone to this? For now, it seemed the latter was her answer as she tried to navigate a way out of the situation she was in on her own two feet.

@PKMNB0Y

---

Jase stuffed some fallen sticks and twigs into his jerkin as he eyed the slope. The climb up looked worse than the climb down, but they needed elevation.

"Our best bet is to look for something metal reflecting the light," Jase said, starting to climb. "It's either going to be the knight's polished armor, or that bird."

That it carried the knight away was not a good sign, it wasn't likely the knight was Taarna and the bird her new flying mount come to collect her. If it was like any other bird, it was bringing food home to the nest.

He slid a few times, but managed to make it up to the top of the hill to the cave entrance before sunset.

"Look around! See if something bright is reflecting the sunlight!"

Maybe he could improvise a compass with what they had in the chest, but they needed a bearing. Or bait.

---

@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin

"Famous inventors?" Meira mused to herself as the pair walked along the evening streets, head tilting back and forth as she considered the question for a few seconds... Before promptly shaking her head no. "Sorry, none really come to mind. I'm probably not the best person to ask about stuff like that, though; fancy tools are nice and all, but if they're not cheap or useful enough to pick up, I'm not likely to even think about them. If they were... Then, well, I'd only really care about the item and not whoever made it, right?"

While the rest of the walk back was rather calm, the reaction of the young man upon reaching the ramshackle building she had first seen the duo (or was it a trio to begin with?) left Meira rather taken aback. She hadn't looked into the shack beyond catching a glimpse of "C" and his attempt at wielding a wooden board, but given the context that the adventurer-hopeful provided left the young woman more concerned than not.

"Couldn't move without help... Well, there doesn't seem to be any trace of a struggle, because there'd probably be more damage to the floor otherwise," the adventurer spoke calmly, placing one hand on "C"'s shoulder as she looked around the darkened room. "...What does your friend look like? I have a few hunches as to what might have happened, but I need more information before I try anything."

If whoever was here had been spirited away due to her getting them involved in that earlier mess, even if only incidentally, then she felt more than a passing obligation to make things right.

@Zeroth

---

With their heads cocked to one side almost completely in sync as Nyana adopted a defensive stance, the chicks continued to stare at the slimegirl-knight with rather curious expressions. Their heads continued to track her as she began to move, slowly but surely, towards the edge of their nest, but given how tall it was—no thanks in part due to the tree trunks lining the edge of it—they seemed to be in in real rush to do...

Well, much of anything, really.

Of course, in being introduced to a foreign object that didn't seem to be immediately out to harm them, one of the chicks eventually mustered up enough courage to actually interact with the weird bipedal metal object moving around.

Naturally, this meant poking at the shield that Nyana was placing between herself and them with it's beak. The clanking was rather audible as metal met metal—a testament to the hardness of both—but the force of impact, while noticeable, did not necessarily indicate any intent to simply pry the thing away from her.

@Crusader Lord

Vrelenor clambers up the slope, he has to resort to using the butt of his staff as a makeshift alpenstock (not that he knows that's the word for it) a few times, but he makes it up.

At Jase's comment he briefly gives a confused look before replying a little irritably, it's not these guys' fault, but recent events had rather soured his cheerful mood, "I thought we agreed to search the cave, rather than futilely searching for a beast we can neither catch nor fight, it was your idea in fact."
He heads for the entrance, "Come on, there must be something here, if nothing else that water was probably drinkable." He walks slowly, carefully looking over the walls as he does. He's not really sure what they're expecting, but it beats thinking about the giant metal bird, getting killed by one flying metal disaster is enough for him.

@Crusader Lord @Expendable @Crimson Paladin

Javal

The first thing Javal noticed when they returned was the path leading up to the cave. Was it just him, or was the path in worse shape than when they had exited?

Maybe he was just seeing things, and it looked different from the top than from the bottom, but it wasn't impossible that whatever power brought him here might be gently encouraging them to get moving and not hunker down here. Regardless, he'd keep an eye on the way down- if it got any worse, it might be wise to not use this location as a shelter.

"I can keep an eye on things out here, watch out for any sign of our friend, and make sure we don't get any uninvited guests, if you two wish to thoroughly explore the cave," he proposed to the two elves.

He'd hardly be able to face anything comparable to that metal bird by himself, but with the path's footing as precarious and unsafe as it was, any foe that couldn't fly up to the entrance would find themselves at a disadvantage trying to force their way up and past Javal's polearm.

@Thunder999999@Expendable

---

"... Magic beer?"

Ilsa gave a blank stare.

"If that's what you're going to make with alchemy then I'm not sure if you should learn," she commented with a sigh, "But fine. Mostly, Alchemy comes down to understanding the components of what you're trying to make. You can think of it sort of like a recipe, even if you're not trying to make a tonic or potion."

She paused for a few moments.

"It's not exactly my area of expertise, so I can't really demonstrate for you and I'm not really feeling like doing so anyway," she continued, "But you'd be best off starting with a simple tonic if you wanted to try it. Maybe something that can make your hair grow, or heal light wounds. Those are going to be simple and close to ordinary brewing. There's some books in the library that might help you."

Before Relki could butt in again, Ilsa was quick to step forward and continue, casting a glare towards the Raven familiar before she spoke.

"As for making a familiar, you need to have enough mana to sustain one and a lost spirit, plus an animal to use," she explained, "It's pointless to even bother setting up the ritual until you have these components."

The Substitute Witch of the Forest crossed her arms, inclining her head towards the goblin and narrowing her eyes. It was clear that she wasn't taking the information she was giving lightly, and at this point was starting to feel as if perhaps she had been too unreservedly helpful.

"You better repay me for helping you out this much, though. I wasn't planning on it until I learned just how clueless you are. And if you make a mess, I won't forgive you."

Before she could say or do anything else, Relki suddenly wrapped her arms around her from behind, hugging the witch and patting her head.

"H-hey?! What?! S-stop it!"

"Darling little Ilsa acts so standoffish, but she's a good girl," commented the black-haired familiar, which only seemed to make Ilsa struggle more.

"L-let go---!"

Meanwhile, in the garden, the little fairy looked quite upset at being spoken to in such a way.

"Muuuu, she said not to follow us! We can talk! Not that I understand why you're not supposed to follow..." folding her arms, the tiny girl pouted, looking away as she remained in the air behind the medusa, now.

The mushroom creatures, vaguely human-shaped and with shiny black eyes beneath their red caps, peered up at the medusa and silently tilted their heads. Given their apparent lack of necks, it seemed more like they were just tilting most of their bodies to achieve this outcome. There were six, the largest of which barely reached Colleen's knee, taking a spot at the head of the group.

Unlike the others, it was pointing in an almost accusatory fashion towards Colleen, with one of its stubby little fingers.

"I think they're worried you'll rip up the bush they live under," the fairy helpfully supplied, without bothering to explain just what the little mushroom creatures were.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

The small, green goblin scratched at her temple. There were a few things she wanted to really do here, finding alcohol to drink perhaps near the top of the list, and there seemed to be some easy way to do the majority of that list at the moment. "I don't plan on making a mess... Though, I don't know if I can read the writing here well. Or at all. Probably not." She COULD speak with this witch and her familiar so perhaps. Rita looked between Relki and Ilsa. "Could one of you... Show me something like "Alchemy for Dummies?" I wouldn't know where to start. I'll be out of your hair for a bit so you can do... Well, anything else you really need to do. Perhaps let me borrow... Let me have something to work with?"

The goblin stood up to look a bit closer at the two. "I think I can forget about a familiar for now. I don't even know what mana is, really. Or how to use it, so I'll pass on that for now. Not that I'm not jealous of the both of you." She mentioned, not expanding on what exactly she was jealous of or anything. "But, uhh, yea. Help me learn Alchemy. Uh, please. I'll probably make myself useful if I can learn it. Sounds fun at least." She was hoping what Relki said about Ilsa was right and that she would be kind enough to begrudgingly help her start out with Alchemy. Otherwise, she was going to make herself at home and look for that book on her own... As difficult as that might be with her new, stunted height.

---

---

"What do they look like?" he repeated dumbly, to give himself time to think of an actual answer. "Umm..."

Would she just brush it off as a prank, or call me crazy? Do people tame monsters or keep them as pets? Do slimes have rights? What if she doesn't care? What if she thinks I've been raising monsters for something nefarious and decides I'm a criminal? What if...?

Despite all the fantasy novels he'd read, or attempted to write for himself, and all the games he'd played, and all the memes...Ever since he'd found himself living out an isekai anime, two emotions had dominated his mind: Curiosity, and fear. Curiosity, because he could do freaking MAGIC, and send texts with his mind, and there were elves and catgirls here, and he had STATS so he could actually know if his efforts were being wasted or not...

And fear, because he could not trust anyone. The people he'd shown up in this world with? Not human. So how could he know they were from Earth, too? The first people he'd seen in this world? Vagabonds, addicts, the lowest wretches of society. He couldn't trust that kind of crowd back home, he sure as hell wasn't going to trust them here. He'd been attacked, and then saved, but he still couldn't trust those people either--He didn't know them, or their society, they wanted information about him he wasn't willing to give, because he couldn't know what they might do with it.

What they might do. What could happen. What if? What IF? That was why Connor was afraid.

And now, he was afraid because someone else was in danger. Someone he did know. Someone who...had put their trust in him, to help them because they were helpless. Connor clenched his fists and swallowed his fear.

"They're...they're a Slime. Kind of translucent purple in color. Maybe with a, uh...floating eye-spot, inside them? But! But they're not a NORMAL slime!" He looked Meira in the eye, desperation clear on his face. "They can use Biomancy, so they're able to talk, a little bit, and understand human--I mean, uh, people's speech!" Maybe that was revealing too much. What if it was a dead giveaway that they were--No. No, he needed to help! "But they can't move very well without exhausting themselves, and they can't really see or anything--they'd be helpless if someone wanted to hurt them!" His voice cracked as his lip quivered.

"P-please, h-help me f-find them!"

---

---

Once the remaining undead were dealt with in equally unceremonious fashion, the trio would be free to explore what remained of the smithy. The door to the back room—where the actual smithing took place—was left slightly ajar, allowing for free passage through to what had once likely been the owner's heart and soul—figuratively, of course. Given how there didn't seem to be anything attempting to approach the group from within despite the chaos of the brawl that had just transpired, it seemed that the area was safe enough to explore without any fear.

Or, well, fear of any undead striking from anything past the storefront.

Past the scattered remains of the undead soldiers, though, it would be apparent that a majority of the goods here had been taken already by people long since gone. What remained were simple arms—spears and maces that had been left to rust, for example—and some leather pouches large enough to hold at least a few things.

Whether they were on sale or were the former owner's belongings mattered little now, though, but bereft of any other goods as they were, it didn't seem like they would provide much in terms of coinage. At the very least, though, they were better than nothing when it came to carrying what goods the trio had gathered around.

The back room, lit by little more than the faint sunlight filtering in, would reveal a plethora of unfinished metalworks and unworked ingots, as well as a few well-worn tools mounted upon the wall. To explore further or take what goods they could and depart was a decision the three would be free to make at their own discretion.

@VitaVitaAR@RolePlayerRoxas@Aku the Samurai

---

Despite what might have been an idea situation otherwise, finding a glint of metal in the sea of trees below would have been a nigh-impossible task—doubly so when the bird had already disappeared past the greenery in the distance, as Javal would have been privy to when he had barely caught sight of the creature disappearing before. To extrapolate any approximate distance based on their current position would have been a difficult task on its own, but at the very least the group would have a general idea where the bird had gone based on that assumption alone.

Whether they could estimate where, exactly, that was now that they had returned to the cave where they had awoken was another question entirely.

Unfortunately enough, though, the cavern did not seem to provide the same level of safety as it had before they had left. While the sections closest to the exit were bereft of danger, any further forays inward—namely, towards where the chest was—would present the explorers with the presence of a large griffin curled up in the center of the room.

It seemed to be resting for the moment, head resting atop its forelimbs, but the presence of the creature was a concern on its own.

@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin@Expendable

---

"What fresh hell is this?" Jase demanded in a whisper, loathed to wake the griffon now curled up in the cavern where the chest was. This blade he carried was practically useless against the creatures of this place. So why did he have it? What this some sort of game, meant to entertain whatever brought them here? Why not give him guns? Better yet, why stick him out here in the wilderness, instead of some city?

"Status," he said quietly, backing away from the cavern towards the entrance. The way out seemed narrow, was there another exit?

There it was, the private messaging tool. If only this thing had a map.

'Nyana,' he typed in. 'what is your situation?'

Vrelenor swears quietly as he sees it, what fresh hell indeed.
He whispers "Why is everything here huge and predatory, how are we meant to fight that." He pauses, breathing in "I guess there's another exit because I don't think we'd have missed that, lets go tell Jesse the bad news."
With that he walks slowly back to the entrance.
Griffons are intelligent in some fantasy, occasionally even friendly, but after the bird Vrelenor doesn't even mention the thought, whatever brought them here was clearly playing some twisted joke.

@Expendable @Crimson Paladin

Petra felt no small amount of relief when the giant poking her didn’t immediately start screaming about monsters or the like upon her attempt at introducing herself, nor gave any indication that particularly sounded as though they saw her as a potential meal.

Even better, she managed to get some good information out of the giant’s response – well, maybe not quite good information, per se, but certainly useful. From the sounds of things, this world either didn’t have other talking slimes like her, or if it did, they were sufficiently rare as to make encountering one an interesting event. Extrapolating from that, Petra felt more confident in the idea that whatever she was – at least regarding her apparent intelligence – was something fundamentally different from a normal slime, which would seem to match up pretty well with her observations of her own neuroanatomy.

Unfortunately for Petra, it seemed her relief was destined to only be short-lived, and she didn’t get the opportunity to ask for any further information or clarifications, before the giant decided to perform what was quickly becoming one of her least favourite interactions, and promptly scooped her off the floor.

“Your name was <Name: Self> right? My name's <Name: Giant>! Nice to meet you!” the giant babbled as Petra scrambled to make her body pull itself into a more stable shape, lest part of her simply slough off under its own weight. Even if she wanted to answer the giant – and honestly she was more inclined to start screaming at them to please put her back down – Petra wasn’t sure she could actually do so safely; the idea of trying to form a communication pseudopod seeming like a really bad idea given how roughly the giant was handling her.

For several long seconds, Petra managed to do little more than blindly panicking, before finally pulling herself together – in both a literal and metaphorical sense. Presented with yet another challenge that her life as a human had done absolutely nothing to prepare her for, Petra once again turned to one of her few lifelines in this world, and tried to will her magic to somehow solve the issue.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, simply trying to magic away all her problems didn’t achieve a whole lot, but she did get the sense at least that her Biomancy could target the giant, which, in hindsight, she probably should have expected. Compared to observing her own biology, Petra felt as though trying to do the same for the giant’s probably felt something along the lines of trying to pass through a brick wall by pushing against it really hard – was that because she was a simpler organism or because she had a Resistance of 1… a question for when she wasn’t at immediate risk of falling apart.

Petra pushed until she finally felt something give and her awareness was flooded with the overwhelming information that described a living organism. Ignoring most of it, she quickly set about filtering out everything she didn’t need, honing in on the parts that were close to her body, then specifically the nerves, and then even more specifically the mechanosensory nerves. Could she just command them to all fire at once?

Petra hesitated. If she could manage it, it would almost certainly hurt like a motherfucker and make the giant drop her, but she didn’t exactly want to hurt the giant, who thus far didn’t seem intentionally hostile… actually for that matter, would she even be able to survive being dropped from however high up she was?

Abandoning her original plan, Petra instead zoomed out her organic sense, unfocusing it to try and get a better idea of the big picture and… oh. While Petra had realised that her improved hearing had somewhat skewed and exaggerated her sense of scale, she’d still subconsciously held onto the idea that whoever the giant was, they were big. The proportions outlined by her organic sense, however, were not that of a giant, hell, they weren’t even that of an adult.

Honestly, that explained a lot, actually. She couldn’t imagine many people being so willing to just pick up a slime, any more than most people were willing to pick up a random bug, but a child? That’d probably do it. Petra was suddenly very glad she decided not to go ahead with her initial, hurt them till they drop her plan. She’d have felt pretty awful if she had.

Still, having an explanation for what was happening didn’t do a lot to make Petra feel better about the situation – a child wasn’t anywhere near as non-threatening when they could easily crush her fragile body – and it certainly didn’t do anything to actually solve her current predicament.

For a moment, Petra considers simply hoping for the best and trying to wait out the child’s manhandling – surely they would have to put her down eventually – but then she imagined the countless alternative scenarios and quickly abandons that overly optimistic line of reason.

What were the chances that the child would stumble and drop her or squeeze her body just a little too hard before they ever got to putting her down? What were the odds the child would try to show her off to an adult, who, not knowing she was anything other than a normal slime, would freak out and kill her? Or that if and when they decided to put her down, they’d be a bit too rough and pop her like a ballon? Way too high all round.

Petra wracked her brain – or whatever magic it was that was currently doing its job – searching for a way to communicate to the child that she needed them to put her down, in a way that wouldn’t in itself risk her falling apart. If only she could use the messaging system on the child…

Had she not been freaking out, Petra probably would have felt rather stupid at that moment, and as it were, she still felt more than a little silly. Even if she couldn’t communicate with the child, that didn’t mean she couldn’t communicate at all. As if to punctuate her stupidity, Petra apparently had been the only one to forget about this function of her status screen, because apparently at some point while she’d been she’d missed a message from Down.

Contacts: "Down"

WHERE ARE YOU!? ARE YOU OKAY!?

Well at least it looked like they knew she was missing, that was something at least.

Contacts: "Down"

I’m okay for now, but have big problem.

Someone picked me up.

Not trying to hurt me but they’re being pretty rough. Worried I might fall apart.

Pretty sure he’s a child, but he might be a hobbit or something.

Don’t know where they’re going. Can’t ask because I’m worried something will fall off me if I try.

Please help.

@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR@Aku the Samurai

With the undead welcoming party finally mulched and/or beaten sufficiently, Bianca's raised hammer was slowly brought lower, surveying the now-still bones that littered the blacksmith's shop. While the combat had sparked some thrill in her chest, she had to keep in mind that the three were in very real danger. Especially the smallest of their group. Well, between herself and Sylva, it was clear they could easily handle even a group of undead! And as long as they were lugging old equipment around, nothing could stop the rampage of her trusty head-smacker!

Speaking of old equipment though, it figured there weren't going to be any pristine swords laying around. Not even dusty knives or anything, it seemed like, just piles of rust. Probably slightly better than nothing at all, Bianca felt no need to replace her weapon with anything here.

"...I'm gonna check in there. It should be fine, the door's already open, so... ahaha!"

Pointing to the ajar door, Bianca tried her luck once more with exploring the other side of one. Luckily, there seemed to be nothing else lying in wait - was this where the weapons got made? As far as she could tell, the stuff in here was an unfinished batch of arms, less useful than the aged scraps that passed for spears out front. After all the trouble of dealing with that ambush, it would suck super hard to have nothing to really show for it. Then again, maybe they should focus on ditching town before the zombies wandered back through ther streets?

"Don't think there's anything in here, guys!" Bianca called to the other two as she emerged from the forge once more, "I mean, maybe l'il Sephily can hold onto one of those tools in there? I dunno, see anything you like?" she asked Sylva with a shrug.

---

Sylva breathed a sigh as the last of the undead fell before him a a heap, the adrenaline fading from his system. It had been harder than he’d thought, fighting with wings and a tail, but he’d done well enough in the end even with those distractions—he really wanted to test those wings, though. He eyed the broken sword in his hand for a moment and then tossed it aside with a regretful sigh. There went his only weapon. Even though it hadn’t lasted all that long against the undead, it had been useful all things considered. Better than using his bare hands, in any case.

With the threat dealt with for the time being, Sylva hesitantly appraised the interior of the smithy. There wasn’t much of anything of worth inside other than a few pouches that had clearly seen better days but were thankfully still functional enough for use. That was a lucky break, at least. The weapons, on the other hand—mostly spears and maces, it seemed—were rusted nearly beyond any semblance of usefulness. Yet another indication of the passage of time, and the lack of maintenance. Sigh.

Speaking of useful things, Bianca was opening another door that led further inside of the smithy. Sylva tensed slightly but this time nothing scary popped out and tried to eat them. It was a relief, to be sure. That, at least, proved the other instances were just unfortunate coincidences.

Taking a peek into what was presumably the forge room, Sylva shook his head helplessly at Bianca’s question, “No, nothing. Looks like I’ll just have to settle for hoping I won’t catch tetanus swinging those rusted hunks of metal around.”

He glanced back at Sephily next, humming in thought, “Yeah, getting Sephy one of those would be a good idea. That staff is a bit unwieldy for her size. Should probably make it quick, though. Who knows how long that bell’ll keep ringing.”

@VitaVitaAR @RolePlayerRoxas @PKMNB0Y

It would be quite clear at a glance that the young man's claims of their friend being a slime—and one capable of communication and biomancy, at that—had caught Meira off guard. Something like a person would have been straightforward enough—there was no way someone forced to stay put would escape the eyes of the residents—but something as small as that?

Needless to say, the true nature of "C"'s friend complicated things.

"A slime... Well, if it's just a slime, it can't have gone far," she remarked before the fact that it was much easier moving a slime than it was a body pushed its way to the forefront of her mind. "...Well, on it's own, at least. There's no trace of the usual odd cleanliness from one moving in here, at least, so I suppose it had to have been someone abducting the thing."

The catgirl paused for a moment as she considered the information she had been provided before turning back towards "C", a slightly more concerned expression on her face now.

"You said that it knew biomancy, right? Is there any chance that someone else might know about that fact? Slimes knowing magic is rare enough, but one that could communicate on top of that..."

Regardless of the young man's answer, though, Meira would at least continue her attempts to help seek out his missing companion, up until the point where doing so became untenable due to both the lack of lighting and lack of definitive leads. Given what had happened earlier that day, spending any more time outside would likely put them both at more risk than not—which, ultimately, was not worth continuing the hunt until morning.

Maybe they could find some more leads after the night passed. At the very least, though, the guard house would work as "basic" lodging for the night; between making sure that Cassius' body was in working condition again and that package still needing to be collected, it certainly felt like the most logical course of action to take.

For what it was worth, though, the promise of a healer to help with Cassius' current condition was not for naught. Though the person in question—a young woman who appeared to be donning clothes typical of Western clergy—seemed to be somewhat surprised at the presence of an elf here, her ability to help mend his wounds—and, as far as any of those less accustomed to the magic of this world were concerned, whatever was ailing him from within—seemed to have visible effects at the onset of everything. Unfortunately, the poison that had wormed it's way into his body was not so easily cleansed...

But it was most certainly better than nothing.

Seeing as how she was being paid extra to make sure that there would be extra security until that ever-so-ominous package was handed off to the "proper" groups, Meira had no reason to abandon the pair as they rested in the guardhouse overnight—or, well, rested as best they could. At the very least, she would be awake by the time the other two were ready to do... Well, whatever it was they planned to do.

More likely than not, this would mean hunting down that magic slime. If it had any of the capabilities that "C" had mentioned it to have, then there was all the more reason to try and figure out some way—any way—to make sure that it both survived to the end and to make sure that the "usual suspects" didn't try to take it for themselves.

---

After some indeterminate amount of time—the child's running had been irregular in both stride and pace—Petra would eventually feel the child slowing to a stop near... Well, whatever location it was that they were so intent on bringing their new friend to. The rough sounds of wood being pushed aside indicated at least some sort of moment, but after the young child crawled into a structure of some sort they seemed to almost present the slime to the space around them under the assumption that it could see the space around them.

Whether or not it could in the first place did not, however, seemed to cross their mind.

"This is my home!" they declared before placing the slime on the floor. "Or maybe it'd be more like a hideout?"

Whatever it was, though, it would become quite obvious that the place was far more cramped than the shack that the otherworlders had first awoken in. Maybe that was to be expected, though.

Regardless, the child seemed to enjoy having new company present up until the point where whatever energy was keeping them going finally petered out. The grumbling of their stomach was not exactly a good sign in the grander scheme of things, but at the very least Petra would be free to move around (or even attempt to leave) once the child had fallen asleep.

Or not. That was a decision that was hers to make, though whether or not wandering around a completely foreign area of the town away from any aid was a good idea or not was probably worth considering.

@ERode@Zeroth@TheMushroomLord

---

And then it's over.

The undead, while more then simply mindless, are still old and frail corpses. A hammer, or a hard enough hit with anything sturdy, is enough to do them in. And it looks like my guess was correct, enough damage to the body more or less turns off the magic that's controlling them.

If they can't move, what's the point?

My grip on the staff loosens and my body grows a little less tense.

I let out a sigh of relief, even if I can't help but feel useless.

Why, out of everyone, did I get such a small and weak body? Why do I even need to be a girl? Just because one of my favorite characters is like this doesn't mean I wanted to be!

I'm a mage of some sort, but that's pretty worthless when I can't even do any magic!

...

I can't waste time worrying about that right now.

The smithy itself is pretty dusty. There's no way there's been anyone in here other than the undead for a long time. They were probably only in here because they were shut inside to begin with.

The state of all the weapons is pretty disappointing. But I suppose that's also a good indication of how long it's been since this city fell.

It'd take a while for them to end up in that bad a condition when they were still partially sheltered. Still, I guess it's better than having nothing.

That girl just called me 'lil' Sephily'.

Eyes narrowing, a frown on my face, I step forward immediately. I can't just ignore this.

"I already told you I'm not a child," I firmly insist. Part of me feels tempted to see just how firmly I can swing my staff, but that's probably a bad idea.

Right now, at least.

I run my eyes over the tools and half-completed metalworks, which seem to be in a bit of a better condition than anything else, at least. The sunlight filtering in through the rooftop is enough for me.

I can't say I have much confidence in my ability to use any of these as a weapon. Not like this.

I reach out experimentally to grip the handle of the blacksmith's hammer and lift it, I immediately feel the strain running up through my thin arm.

I'm sure it's heavy given the job it was doing, but even clenching my teeth and putting as much strength into my arm as I can, I'm barely able to lift it at all.

"... Nngh..."

I let go of the hammer, a scowl crossing my features. I wouldn't have had any problem before now, why did I need to end up this week if I wasn't going to be able to do any kind of magic to start with?!

I quickly flash the others a glare in hopes of cutting off any joking comments.

My arm is still shaking a little. I can feel a little bit of tingling up through the muscles. It was really that hard for me just to pick up a blacksmith's hammer?

... Maybe this blacksmith was superhuman, or something. Some sort of half-giant. Maybe he had some kind of divine blessing, this is a fantasy setting after all. The thought makes me feel a little bit better.

Among the unfinished works, one of them is a small knife, relatively sheltered from damage. It seems like it was almost done, with a hilt already wrapped in what looks like leather. While it's not in great condition, I guess it's better than nothing.

I can't see it being that useful against the undead though, but maybe it can keep them away if they get close.

"I think I'll take this."

I pick it up, and am thankful that it's light enough for me to hold one-handed.

@RolePlayerRoxas@Aku the Samurai@PKMNB0Y

Colleen
Witches House
@Pyromania99@VitaVitaAR

---

"I dunno either, but I'd rather not wake up somewhere unfamiliar again." Colleen responded to the fairy with a shrug as the mushroom creature approached, the six of them gathering around her. One, the apparent leader? Came only up to about her knee. It pointed at her accusatorily. Colleen frowned. Well, yeah, she could understand that it was rather concerned about her blowing up its house...but she wouldn't do that! Probably! "Ahah, is that all?" She'd say, kneeling down and patting the mushroom thing on the head. "Dont you worry your weird shaped head about it, I'm not gonna intentionally blow anything up."

That was definitely reassuring.

"What are these weird little guys anyways?" She'd ask.

After retrieving anything even remotely usable from the smithy, the group would be met with silence as they left. A brief glance towards the church in the distance would show that the bell had stopped ringing at this point in time, and with no indication that whoever (or whatever) had sent it swinging before was apt to do so again meant that their brief freedom to explore with no threat of the undead bearing down upon them was gone.

For what little it was worth, it seemed that the zombies that had gathered had not yet begun to move back to where they had been before. There were only so many other places to head towards, though. Checking out the other shops and homes in the area was an option, as was simply heading away from the horde of zombies that would eventually bear down upon them once more. There was a stone wall visible in the far distance, which would at least mark the edge of the city; whether or not it was worth seeking safer shelter was up to the trio present, though.

If the trio was confident in their abilities, though, maybe heading towards the town's center was also an option. Doing so would be quite the feat, but it wasn't wholly impossible...

@VitaVitaAR@RolePlayerRoxas@Aku the Samurai

---

---

"You said that it knew biomancy, right? Is there any chance that someone else might know about that fact? Slimes knowing magic is rare enough, but one that could communicate on top of that..."

"Unless Cassius spilled the beans before me, no!" Connor jittered up and down. "I mean, unless, maybe...I dunno, would people want to listen to us with something like, some kind of scrying magic? Do you guys have...uh...surveillance systems, of any kind?" He suddenly looked up and around as if expecting to see a camera or drone trained on him. "But, they h-haven't really used their magic in any kind of, of flashy way! And you're basically the only other person any of us have willingly talked to since we got here!"

He looked around the cabin one more time, before deciding to take the tarp that had once hidden the slime--they might need something to carry his friend in when they found them. He found the balled up, shitty cloak he had left behind as well, and carefully nudged it into the center of the tarp with his foot before wrapping it all up in a bundle that, thankfully, blocked the worst of the smell. Putting the brown-bagged sandwich into his pocket, he followed after the adventurer.

Meira continued her attempts to seek out the missing slime, and the two searched high and low, making multiple loops around the slums. Connor had no indication thus far that whoever had taken the slime would stay within the area--but, why would anyone else be passing through the slums if they didn't have to be there? To his mind, it only make sense that another member of the bottom-feeder neighborhood would have been in the right place at the right time to find the slime. Maybe they wanted to use it for garbage disposal or something? Meira had said that areas inhabited by slimes were apparently kept clean, which made sense considering what he'd seen of his friend's digestive abilities.

But nothing turned up, and no one else proved of any use to them. Connor grew more and more concerned--and then, because he could not stand being helpless, and because he wasn't familiar with this level of emotion, and had no idea how to deal with it, he felt himself starting to dissassociate. Everything was hopeless. Everything was pointless. He'd failed to protect a friend--he wasn't any kind of hero in an isekai world.

He was just a loser, like he'd always been.

It was getting too dark to continue the search. Dejectedly, he plodded behind the cat girl when she suggested lodging at the guardhouse for the night. Shoulders slumped, head down, the twenty-two year old grown man made quiet little pathetic sounds as tears slowly managed to find their way down the crease of his nose.

Then the inside of his head dinged.

Several messages at once--could these things lag? Could they have "connectivity issues?" No, more than likely the slime was in a hurry--sending one thought at a time because they didn't know if they'd have time to finish the next one. As he read each snippet, his breath started to catch faster.

I've already told Meira the slime's got abnormal magic--she's been dealing with me and Cassius all day, maybe she's already figured out that we're otherworlders? Would it really be that much more of a risk to tell her about the message system? For all I know, maybe it's a generic QOL-type magic anyone here can do! Whenever he'd questioned her at the restaurant, however, the catgirl hadn't come across as...especially knowledgable. Maybe...maybe she would just assume it was a magic spell she hadn't heard of before? Maybe he could pass it off as like, a class skill for a Monster Tamer?

Just hold on, we're trying to find you! It looks like Meira, the adventurer, is going to hold off because we can't see in the dark--so much for her being half freaking cat.

Even if you could move well, there's probably not much point in struggling unless they try to hurt you! What if you...tried to be more like a plant cell, than an amoeba? Use matrix layers to make a harder cell wall?

Then, there was the content of the messages themselves. The slime had indeed been captured, by either a child or some smaller race! Instantly Connor's depression turned into anger. Whoever had kidnapped his friend deserved to have the shit beaten out of them! If it was some stupid kid, why the hell were they playing with a monster they didn't know?! Where were their parents--oh, right, slums, so it was probably some crack baby street urchin who didn't know any better! Or, if it was some kind of halfling, goblin, or gnome--!

Focus, Connor! He actually had a lead now!

Look, it might sound bad to say this, but, if they're small enough, and it's only them and you in that location...Do you think maybe it'd be safest to just kill them?

If you can't engulf their whole head while they sleep, maybe try choking them, suffocating them, or...you know?

He wasn't a bad person, he kept telling himself. His friend was in danger! It only made sense to eliminate a threat!

But, if the slime had been taken by someone smaller than the average human...Crawlspaces. Sewer pipes. Attics. Maybe a wooden crate of some kind, or a garbage dumpster. Those would probably be the spaces a small, homeless person or an orphan would be able to hide, where bigger people or enemies wouldn't be able to get to them easily. Such small spaces, however, likely meant they would have to be careful with something like a cooking fire, or too much waste and refuse, because the smoke or fumes and filth would be too much for them. Some of those kinds of spaces would also mean that he and Meira would need to look higher or lower than they had been so far--

Ah! That's it! I can just suggest places we haven't looked yet--she doesn't have to know that I'm going off a description of the perp!

By the time he had thought all of this out, and started trying to make plans within his plans--over thinking and over analyzing to the point of self-paralysis, as he always did--they were back in the guard station's infirmary, watching a cleric-classed person heal Cassius.

"H-hey, M-meira, um," he began, leaning towards the cat girl in a conspiring manner, "It just occurred to me--does this place have a sewer under the streets? Or, um, could there be crawlspaces under the shanties? Maybe attics on top? Small, hard to get to but easy to hide in spaces? Um...M-Maybe "S" managed to get somewhere like that, or maybe whoever grabbed them was, I dunno, smaller or more nimble than we are? Like...a kid, or a gnome?"

---

---