Xiao Mei, Asteria
Exploring Near Crystals and Cave Walls (D2)@SilverPaw@Jobst
With Xiao Mei’s urging, Mother Rat seemed to realize her offspring wanted her to follow them. When she saw the smaller rats trying to drag off the lizard corpses, she assisted by picking one of them up all by herself. Their mother led the way, back to their original nest--this place was covered with her territorial scents, and given what they had seen of the cave so far it was likely that the mother had fought tooth and nail to secure this place before giving birth. It didn’t look or smell like any other creatures had been here recently. It also didn’t seem like any of their other siblings had returned yet...would they? Had they struck out on their own as matured Dire Rats? Or had something happened to them?
With the lizard corpses, the group had plenty to eat but not quite so much room to sleep. Still, Mother Rat didn’t seem to mind, and after eating her fill turned three circles before practically laying on top of Xiao Mei and Asteria, just like she had before they had grown.
They hadn’t seen any sign of Ed again yet. Or those Wisps they had so treacherously attacked. Would they ever meet again? What else awaited them in this cave?
Those were questions to be answered, perhaps, on another day…
[[Time-skip to D2. You awaken at the dawning.]]
Edward
Battle Royale (D1)@Searat
As Ed tried to wait out his opponent, the Slime continued to suffer from the poison inside it. It moved warily as if it, too, was waiting for Ed to attack first. But when he didn’t, and as it grew weaker and weaker, the other monster grew desperate. Finally it lunged--but before its bulbous mass made contact, it split down the middle! Molding its body awkwardly, it managed to basically shape itself like a horse shoe, with globby “fists” without fingers coming at Ed from both sides to try and crush him…!
Asura, Edith
On The Trail (D2)@Kazemitsu@ShwiggityShwah
Edith crawled up on the ledge and formed a pseudopod and tried to touch the slime. She tried to think really loudly, but ended up just talking.
"Ahem. Me Friend. Noise Happy. Small me happy big me. Small me become big me?" hoping that might get them somewhere.
Agree. came the blue slime’s sentiment, just as Asura was coming up on the other side. Its body wobbled, then suddenly loomed up and came down over Edith like a dome. And the edges where the pink slime and blue slime touched each other began to blend into a light shade of violet--
His thoughts were silent but it was a simple touch. Even as a human displays of affection came hard. This being had spawned him and didn't seem to mean any harm to the pair of slimes. He also didn't have a clue on how to transfer thoughts through his limbs.
Asura didn’t really think about it, because for more sapient creatures it just comes naturally, but the simple fact was that he WAS thinking.
So that was how slimes were supposed to talk, through touch and thought? I guess that she was saying I was familiar, something about being big then being small. Maybe slimes breed by getting big then shedding excess and undesired mass?
This is just a simple touch. Even in my old life, I wasn’t good at showing affection. This thing spawned me, and it doesn’t seem to mean any harm to us. But I have no idea how to transfer thoughts through my limbs.And of course, there was no doubt Edith was still thinking something of her own. Likely something involving extreme fear at the prospect of being absorbed and assimilated by the much larger, stronger slime…
TOO MUCH SMALL ME HURT ME WHY HOW FEEL TOO MUCH FEEL--MANY FEEL--SO MANY--YOU--I--DIFFERENTThe blue slime split itself away from Edith of its own accord, drawing back as if it had been hurt. For a moment it shook itself, then finally settled into a sort of heavy breathing, its mass rising and falling in rhythm, but it now seemed to regard the two smaller slimes with some heretofore unknown sentiment, even to itself...
Lorek, Danny
The Pool (D1)@Bishop@Duthguy
As Danny found his way back to a safe crevice, he had probably already realized that this was going to be a dangerous, unforgiving world. And unlike many of the other Damned Heroes, he had seen one former human try to kill another. As if it were no better than the other monsters. As if they too were simply beasts ruled by instincts. Or maybe that human had meant it. Maybe they were just a murderer. And maybe that was somehow worse than these creatures that killed just because they had to eat and fight for territory.
Would these thoughts haunt his dreams? He wouldn’t know until the next morning…
[[Time-skip to D2. Awaken in the dawn.]]Meanwhile, as Lorek sulked about, the same pixie that had attacked Danny earlier seemed to have decided to come back for something. Perhaps water, perhaps the herbs, but nonetheless it saw Lorek, floating all alone. Mistaking the Wisp for the same one that had crashed into it earlier, it decided it would show them a lesson this time! Taking aim and drawing its body back, complete with a slight butt wiggle, it then launched itself into a dive bomb at Lorek, its tiny fists clenched tight...
Jason
The Hole in the Wall (D2)@Guy0fV4lor
As Jason went about his various tasks, he would find that the herbs nearest to the green crystal seemed to respond almost immediately after being planted and watered--their leaves grew out just another few centimeters, and began to swell where they had looked a little dried out before. None of his crop was full grown yet, but it was clear that the proximity to the larger crystal was having some sort of effect. A similar, but noticeably lesser effect, took place on any herbs that happened to be closer to a regular Mana Crystal--though this also had the effect of dimming the crystal’s light.
Observing the green crystal had much the same result as last time. Even the mental pain seemed about the same--that is, excruciating--despite Jason’s attempt to brace himself. He wasn’t out of it quite as long this time, though.
As he went down to the pond, continuously switching off between using Tremor Sense and practicing what he assumed would be the Aqua Sphere spell, he soon received a message.
You have run out of MP.
You are running low on Stamina.
You are experiencing a fast rate of Skill Progression.
Trying to keep tremor sense on passively seemed to be a massive effort on his part, especially if he tried to do it at the same time as he was practicing with the water. Using the vibration sensing skill in shorter bursts seemed like it had been more efficient. But now he would either have to rest or use up another one of his crystals…
Before he could make that decision, however…
Over a sloping rock nearby, a group of monsters suddenly came running! They must have been out of Jason’s Tremor Sense range at first, and since he had run out of MP he hadn’t picked them up as they crossed the distance. But at first it didn’t seem like they were targeting him specifically--it was a Wisp, bloodied and weaving in panicked zig zags, flying away from a Slime in hot pursuit. The slime’s low speed, however, and the fact that several dark colored spots on its body implied injuries, meant that it too must have been prey for something. And indeed, seconds later a Fanged Lizard appeared over the rise, spitting poison at the Slime though it missed every shot. And moving at a similar speed several feet above the lizard, a second Wisp seemed concerned for the first one’s safety, as it seemed to be straining to catch up to the Slime before the Lizard did...
Rain, Orchid, Digbie, Mourningstar, Oberon, Orochi, Ardur
Flame of Chaos (D2)@Old Amsterdam@Lucius Cypher@King Cosmos@CriticalHit@Gardevoiran@floodtalon@ReusableSword
“Could eat dem, I guess. If you just crush in hand, though, they sinks into skin. Sometimes I sniff, cause it makes my head feels tingly.” Crispy answered Orchid. As she attempted to cast fire, with of course no results, the other Goblin shook his head. “Ya gots to think about fire harder den dat! Fire hot! Fire eat wood, eat air! Fire like living thing, needs to move!”
As he waved his hands in yet another demonstration, however, something nearby made a phlegmy sound. And as Crispy looked towards it, a large purple glob splattered all over him.
“GYARGH!” he screeched, rubbing at himself with both hands to try and get the poison off. Steam rose from his skin as it burned him--Rain had done it! But it looked like even though she had managed to damage him this time, he hadn’t been infected with her poison. He still looked fairly healthy save for the new, non-fiery burns on his chest--and quite angry as well.
“Youngling! All you gobs! Kill dat lizard!” Crispy pointed his torch at Rain, and the other three goblins--the only ones left since all the miners had been sent to help Rattleskull and the Boss had taken many others with him to hunt and gather wood--the other three goblins grabbed up their sticks and rocks and began to head in Rain’s direction menacingly. Crispy looked at Orchid in expectation.
Mourningstar, Oberon, Orochi, and Digbie would see all of this commotion as they approached--but as Digbie used his new, active form of Tremor Sense, he felt light, pitter patter vibrations coming their way. Then they stopped as his tremor sense rebounded back to him. Before he could send out another pulse, however, a large and aggressive looking Dire Rat came running out of a rocky outcrop, darting directly towards the goblin’s ankles with fangs bared! It had felt the tremor sense pulse traveling through the ground from this direction, and must have taken it as an attack by Digbie. Thinking such an attack to be unsuccessful, it had turned its fangs upon the goblin, not realizing yet that he had companions with him.
One of those companions, however, might be a little distracted at the moment.
Your extensive use of a skill has granted you Skill Rank Up!
Shield I > Shield II!
As an Active Spell Skill, you may choose to cast I or II. You have enough MP to cast the first rank 3 times before you run out, the second can only be cast twice with some MP left over.
You used Magic Analysis II!
--Shield II--
This defensive spell increases the target’s natural defenses through supernatural means. Skin and bone are not hardened, resistances are not increased, but they will take less damage. At Rank II, this spell will last for 1 minute if it is not broken by a stronger attack. You can cast this spell twice and have leftover MP, but not enough to cast your other spells yet.
--Analysis Complete--
LEVEL UP!
Your experiences have culminated into new power! You gain MP! You gain Skill Points to spend as you like!
Unspent Skill Points:
5
Current Skills:
Minor Heal I (1.5)
Lesser Flight I (1.3)
Shield II (2.1)
Magic Analysis II (2.05)
Mana Orb I (1.1)
<UNUSABLE> Meditation (0.2) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Mana Shape (0.2) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Focus (0.2) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Lesser Status Heal (0.3) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Monster Analysis (0.1) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Material Analysis (0.1) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Plant Analysis (0.1) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Mental Resistance (0.2) <UNUSABLE>
<UNUSABLE> Wall (0.1) <UNUSABLE>
With MP gain, you can now cast Minor Heal I (3) times max. You can now cast Shield I (3) times max. You can now cast Mana Orb (3) times max. You can now cast Shield II (2) times max. Your MP is currently not full.
And from high above, Ardur could see both of these groups as their battles began, and the area around the bonfire became a tumultuous, chaotic storm...
[[For Oberon, "1 Minute" is roughly 2 posts when in a "action reaction" kind of battle, as I usually consider players to take all their actions in about 30 seconds. So a cycle of "you post, I post, you post" would be the duration with a second post from me ending the spell at the beginning of that "turn."]]
Reoth
On the Hunt (D2)@Kangutso
As Reoth bit down on the Pixie, a crunch that was either satisfying or horrifying met his ears. He felt the creature’s skull give way beneath those saber like fangs of his, and a moment later its warm blood gushed over his lips. He had successfully hunted his first creature! But how did it feel to kill something? How had he known this creature wasn’t like himself, a reincarnated human being? Had he heard its human-like crying, seen the tears on its face just before his jaws came down?
Ash, Naji, Scott
Nearby the Pool @Rune_Alchemist@ghastlyInc@CollectorOfMyst
As Ash led her new companions in search of food, they soon found it. Or at least, what could possibly be it, if they had the courage to take on such a challenge: Two goblins walked through the cave, apparently either shirking work or having been sent by Crispy or Rattleskull on some mission of their own. But the oddest thing was that one of these goblins was holding a strip of rawhide or something similar--and at the other end of this makeshift lease was a Fanged Lizard. It didn’t exactly look happy--but then again, how many lizards besides Ash and her little bunch could probably show real emotion?
Only one of the goblins seemed to be carrying a weapon, a simple blunt rock. The other had his hands full with his “pet,” if you could really call it that...
