Ash’s Party
Skill Gain: Crafting I
You may craft very simple items from simple materials. Your knowledge and understanding of mechanics, workmanship, and other such things enable you to craft better items. The process of creating many items is still an unknown to you, but if you ever succeed in such a creation its Sub-Stat Enhancements will be higher than normal. NOTE: Your species is unsuited to this Skill.
Bonfire Party
28 Mana Crystals remain.
3 Flame Touched Crystals remain.
Digbie's Tremor Sense told him that the nearest weak point was a crack in the ceiling, which seemed to run back towards the entrance. It was probably related to that cave in from yesterday, the one that Rattleskull and his minions had cleared out earlier this day.
Asteria made a rather grisly scene of the three lizard corpses as she used her fangs to cut them open and her newly dextrous paws to pry out their skeletons from amongst the meat and gristle. Using her teeth to knap the bones just like before, this time she actually received a System message. But much like Digbie had experienced when he tried to make a sack out of that rat corpse he dragged around, the Dire Rat was told that she did not have a "Crafting" skill and that her current species was "Unsuitable" for this process. Without knowing what the "quality" of her creations were, she had nonetheless created a few items: 2 Sharp Bone Needles, 6 Broken Bone Needles (while pointy and splintery at these broken bits, they weren't long enough or strong enough to stand up to the strain of piercing through flesh or taking the weight of something stepping on them), and 7 just plain Bone Needles (which were sharp, but didn't come to an actual needle-pointed tip like the Sharp ones did). When she handed them to Digbie, the Goblin would find that about 5 of them could fit into a single slot in his Inventory thanks to his new ramshackle pouch. With 15 of the needles in total, that meant someone else was going to have to manage that last handful.
As this group hid Mana Crystals, made Bone Needles, tried to negotiated with one of their own party members who felt wronged and desired to leave, and suffered from cryptic dreams that they would barely remember upon waking, time passed. This new world seemed so much like a game, but there was no pause button here. Luckily for them, between their numbers and their preparations and the sheer oddity of their situation, they had warded off most of the other creatures around the cave--nothing else bothered them for some time.
Thus, Jason safely reached the finale of his first Transformation under the watchful blob of Momma Slime.
The egg began to re-inflate, but as the membrane rippled it began to separate from its normal shape. A thin layer began to peel off of Jason's body, until it had formed a thin flap of nothing but the slime's membrane that now waved freely anytime there was a breeze. Then, a section of his "skin" began to swell outwards, towards what would have been the top of his "head," until a sort of brim surrounded his top half. Then the very very top of his gelatinous body became more rigid and also began to swell, coming to a conical point. Jason now looked just a smidge bigger than he had been before...and had the appearance of wearing a wizard's hat and cape made out of his own jelly-skin.
Then, with a sudden rumbling from deep within the slime's gut, a "core" within him lit up the color of raw gold ore. This orb exploded in a bright flash of light, sending golden colored "veins" that almost looked like cracks in glazed pottery throughout Jason's body. From either side of his conical "hat," two actual clusters of something like gray stone erupted as if they had just spontaneously generated there.
Then he "blinked" and found himself once more awakened to the world.
TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE!
Slime > (Immature) Stone-Hardened Slime Mage
You have Transformed!
All Base Stats have Slightly Increased!
Your Max MP has Slightly Increased!
You have not reached your full Potential. The Skill Mana Orb is reduced to (0.5).
You have not reached your full Potential. The Skill Shield is reduced to (0.5).
You gained the Variance, Stone-Hardened!
Your Base defensive stats have Very Slightly Increased!
Your Earth Affinity is currently at (0.6). Increase it by deepening your understanding of the Earth element.
You have not reached your full Potential. The Skill Stone Shot only increases by (.25). Total is (2.3)
Orchid
As the Armor Badger worried at her shield, its teeth cracking the wood, Orchid's quick thinking and past experiences paid off. She managed to off balance the beast, which scrabbled with its foreclaws to do further damage to the shield but never reached Orchid's body. As she threw it to the ground and came down on top of it with all her weight, it gave a loud "whoof" as the air was driven from its lungs, and its snarls decreased in volume despite the fact that it still snapped and gnashed at her and soon thrashed its way out from underneath. Then, with a roar of fury, the goblinette brought her weapon down right on top of its armored head. With a sound like cracking ice, the armor plate of hide on the badger's skull split and broke off, leaving a pale, hairless patch that quickly welled up raw as blood vessels clotted beneath the skin. The badger gave a breatheless squeal as it backed away, shaking its head to clear the daze. Without even looking where it was going, the animal turned and began to flee back into the bushes--it didn't live in a cave with closed in walls and ceilings and tight spaces, so its instincts were to get away from threats rather than fight to the death. Would Orchid choose to pursue it?
"Ha! You dum, couldn't even kill it with ya big fancy stick! Shows how good all yer fancy makin' stuff is!" crowed the female from up in the tree. She began to shimmy down the trunk, clutching a freshly cut branch in one hand. "I bet when I start makin' stuff, MY fancy stick will kill it good!"
A chill breeze began to blow, as the last glints of a red setting sun filtered through the trees...
Mourningstar
As the Wisp dealt with what little vestige of camaraderie remained with her "party," the first two she had ever encountered here in this new world, she nonetheless would see what she had been looking for--to the southwest, towards the far walls of the cave (if Ed or Asteria had been there, they would have noticed this was the Dire Rats' and Fanged Lizards' tunneling and nesting areas) it seemed that there were a few flickering, glowing lights passing through the air here and there. Wisps, darting about near the ceiling--probably seeking out Mana Crystals.
The Goblins
"It's gettin' dark, Boss."
"Is we really gonna fight at night? What if'n we can't sees dem?" said one goblin through fearful tremors.
"Dat's why Crispy been makin' torches, ya dum!" Rattleskull roared, immediately cowering anyone who might have dared agreed. "We can't stays out here anyways! It ain't smart--right, Crispy!?"
"Uh, yeah." Crispy began sticking his torches in the fire. He seemed somewhat distracted. "If Ventures come along, or da bigga stuff in da woods, it bees bad fer us." He stood with two fiery brands and motioned for the other goblins to approach. "So dis is it, ya gobs! No sleeps, no new camp, until we makes one!"
"And to do dat, we gots ta kill EVERYTHING!" Rattleskull slammed his celt axe against the ground and the others howled and waved their own weapons. The big shouldered goblin with the new spear spoke up.
"Boss, what ifs we push just inside da cave n' leave Crispy's fire out here? We kills a buncha stuff and makes anudda fire--maybe then we gots enough room to sleep and da fire keeps stuff from da woods away?"
"Only if we ain't gots no choice!" Rattleskull seemed to begrudgingly admit that this all-night raid by a tribe that had spent most of its day hunting, gathering, and crafting would be exhaustive. "But da longer we waits, da more prepared dese other mobs might gets! Dat group attackin' Crispy was weird--dis whole cave is gettin' weird! The sooner we stops it, da betta!"
Again he slammed his weapon on the ground, kicking up clods of dirt and blades of grass with his almost ritualistic tantrum. Soon he had the goblins worked up into a frenzy...
"Almost time, boss!" Crispy called out as he passed out the last few torches. "But wait a minute, dat youngling should be back..."
Rattleskull looked out towards the trees with a raised eyebrow. That young female was still out in the woods? At night? He frowned. She and her weapons were a large contribution to their battle power now. She had better not get caught by something or end up bringing it back to the tribe...
