As cute as Sephily's attempt to lift the blacksmith's hammer was, even Bianca knew not to say anything with that glare aimed at them. Honestly, it was hard not to think of her as a kid, she's just so small and dainty! Anyone that didn't wish to protect this girl from the city's dangers was just heartless, plain and simple!

At any rate, the blacksmith offered them little in the way of further supplies. Sephily at least had a blade she could use, preferably never having to use it, and Sylva... well, with his muscles, he could make-do with a lot of things! Naturally, Bianca had her hammer in one hand, the bag of stale consumables in the other, and when the party were ready to go, made her way to the exit. Taking a cautious step outside, the street's cntinued emptiness was a bit of a relief, though something was different, right? Glancing up and down the road, it took Bianca a moment to realise the obvious - the bell's toll had ceased. That was... probalby kind of bad, right? Would the zombies lurch all the way back here?

Searching the other buildings probably wasn't worth it, at this point - the inn seemed relatively well-off, all things considered, and the situation in there was still dire, the blacksmith painted an even bleaker picture. Making a mad dash for the opposite direction of the zombie hoard was the more sensible choice.

...Still, if the bell's ringing had been done manually, it meant someone else was in this place. As dangerous as it was, Bianca wanted to at least make sure, but dragging Sylva and Sephily after her wasn't fair at all. She struggled with the best option to go with, biting her lip as she glanced towards the belltower, then at her allies.

"So, uh... are we making a break for it, or...?"

@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR@Aku the Samurai

---

"... How much do I have to explain to you? I know you're a goblin, but how come you don't know anything?" complained Ilsa, as Relki snickered behind her.

With a sigh, the witch turned towards a hallway leading deeper into the cottage.

"Come on, I'll explain as we go."

When the goblin followed, the witch continued.

"Mana is an intrinsic part of living things," she began, "Basically, if you have a soul, you have mana. But a lot of living things have very little mana, only what comes from being alive. And mana that's a part of the soul is very difficult to use, and even if you work out how to use it, it could kill you."

The hallway branched off into various rooms, most of which were shut. Small lanterns lined the walls every few paces, but what was most notable was its length. While not excessively long, surely this hallway couldn't possibly fit within the dimensions of the forest cottage as they appeared from outside.

"However, those who are born with mana that overflows from their soul are capable of using it," added Ilsa, "By conforming it to a specific pattern, it's possible to produce specific effects. Unless you're even more of an idiot then I expect, I'm guessing you've already figured out that this is magic."

She came to a half when they reached a finely-carved door, depicting what appeared to be a stylized owl. Its large wooden eyes peered out at the approaching figures, and they almost appeared to move to follow them.

At least, until the door opened to reveal a rather unexpected figure.

It was, indeed, a rather round, large owl, two feet tall, with tawny feathers and tiny spectacles perched ahead of its large, amber eyes. The fact it was wearing a green sleeveless was also rather perplexing.

"Ah, Young Lady Ilsa," the owl said, with a voice that could be likened to a friendly, middle-aged man, "I see you have-"

The owl hesitated for a moment.

"A... gob-I mean, a guest."

"Yes, yes, she's a guest," responded Ilsa, "And she's here to check out some books. Specifically the ones about beginner's alchemy. I'm sure you can help her, can't you?"

Whatever hesitation the owl had about a goblin seemed to have disappeared.

"Of course," he began, "This way, this way."

He gestured for Rita to come inside.

"I'm going to check on that medusa," explained Ilsa, as she turned to leave, "Hopefully she's not tearing up the garden. If you want anything, just tell Reginald. I'll be back."

The owl, quite obviously Reginald, bobbed his head in response.

Meanwhile, outside, the lead mushroom creature seemed somewhat doubtful. Its shiny, black eyes looked the medusa up and down warily, and then it wordlessly pointed towards the damage done to the nearby tree. Its fellows bobbed their capped heads, using their whole bodies to move to compensate for their lack of a neck.

"I think they're still worried," the fairy cheerfully supplied, insisting now on landing on Colleen's shoulder as if she belonged there.

"Just what is going on here?!"

It was Ilsa.

The petite witch was angrily marching towards the medusa, using her staff to gesture to the nearby tree.

"What were you doing?!"

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

"We leave."

Simple, straightforward, and to the point. We have supplies. We have some weapons, at least. The dagger I've got now is better than nothing.

Staying here is the worst idea we could possibly have. The supplies are already scattered and many of them are likely unuseable. It's just plain madness to hang around in an undead-infested city.

Aside from that, given the likely nature of the world, it's probable we'll find places that aren't ruins filled with monsters. I doubt this is a FromSoft Game world, after all.

"The longer we stay put, the more likely it is that those undead will come back this way," I continue, "And then leaving becomes a lot harder. Right now is out best chance to make it to the walls and get out, then put some distance between ourselves and the city."

This is a substantial settlement, and while it's definitely run down I doubt the roads have been destroyed too.

"There's probably roads leading away from here, and some kind of indication of where they go. So our best bet is to get out and try to get to the next settlement over."

Hopefully, it'll be in better condition than this one. There was definitely some sort of battle here that lead to this outcome, but if that was something that specifically targeted this city or also affected the other nearby settlements I can't be certain.

There's really only one way to find out, and that means leaving the city as soon as possible.

@RolePlayerRoxas@PKMNB0Y@Aku the Samurai

---

Sylva used a few pieces of cloth to wrap a few of the rusted weapons together, making sure to leave just enough slack that they wouldn’t fall if he needed to run with them. He would have preferred to set up a few more precautions, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. He’d just have to settle with being able to defend himself with the sub-par weapons he had. When he was satisfied with his preparations, he looked up to see what the other two were doing.

Aw.

Sephily’s inability to lift the hammer was endearing, if a bit amusing to witness. Sylva couldn’t help but think of her that way, despite her words to be treated otherwise. It was just too much. Still, she definitely wouldn’t be very thrilled if she knew his thoughts on the matter so he wisely said nothing.

The small dagger she had was something at least. It was better than nothing and it fit her stature quite well, even if it wouldn’t be very damaging. Anyway, between Bianca’s hammer, and his small—less than stellar—arsenal, they had enough weaponry to hold their own against a few undead, if only just.

Wouldn’t help if the entire horde found them, though.

His ears twitched and he looked towards the direction from which the bell had been tolling. It was quiet now, leaving behind the deafening silence of an empty town, and the faint steps of feet on pavement. Well, there went that advantage. Now, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the undead found their way here, and he didn’t fancy waiting around for that to happen.

Sephily had the right idea. Staying here any longer wouldn’t yield anything of value, considering the state of the place. Their best bet was to get going before the undead came back.

“Right,” Sylva acknowledged, hefting a satchel of supplies over one shoulder to begin what would no doubt be a considerable trek, “That's enough zombies for one day. Let’s be on our way then.”

@VitaVitaAR @RolePlayerRoxas @PKMNB0Y

Colleen
Witches House
@VitaVitaAR

---

Upon hearing Islas voice, Colleen tensed, standing straight up and her serpentine hair rather comically mimicked the expression, the serpents turning towards Isla with a low, almost sheepish sounding hiss as they briefly would uncoil themselves.

"Practicing!" She'd cheerily reply, mostly unconcerned as she'd gave a few quick jabs. "Gotta keep this body in top shape and I was going through some forms, and well, I've discovered that I can do, well, watch." Before the small witch could get too close and bring divine witchy punishment upon her, she'd stretch inhaling and then proceed to throw a right jab forwards. At the end of her fist a small little explosion formed, creating a little crackling boom noise.

"Definitely couldn't before, and I definitely can now." She didn't mind the fairy too much. She was cute and also seemed mostly harmless.