[h3][b]The Pool[/b][/h3]
[hr]
[@Guy0fV4lor][@Kazemitsu]
[u][b]Jason[/b][/u] and [u][b]Asura[/b][/u] made a curious sight as they “trained” together near the pool, with the green slime testing out his rock shooting and the red merely tanking the hits, healing himself with the Healing Herbs he picked up after he had begun carrying as many as he could hold, constantly cycling them out as he used them.

[quote=System:Asura]
You have 10 Healing Herbs in your Inventory. You cannot carry any more.
[/quote]

And then, as Jason prepared to let fly with one more stone, he felt something. The suction, the way his body rippled as goo filled with air, the flexing of whatever membranous tissue counted as his “muscles,” the weight of the stone...He had tried doing it several different ways, and now one of them just seemed to click. He focused, he took aim, he fired!

For the first time, the rock actually [i]hurt[/i] Asura, at least compared to every other hit he’d taken today! What was more, it had glowed ever so slightly with a deep, metallic gold light as it left Jason’s body--and Jason himself felt a new and unusual feeling, similar to being tired, but as if his energy had simply been drained without doing much physical work.

[quote=System:Jason]
You have learned the Skill: Stone Shot I!
You have learned to charge a piece of stone with your energy before hurling it at your opponent. This attack does blunt, piercing, and Earth-elemental magic damage. It consumes less MP than most spells, but requires ammunition.
[/quote]
[hr]
[h3][b]The Bonfire[/b][/h3]
[hr]
[@Renny][@Lucius Cypher][@Knox]
“Hmm...still a bit til you breeds, then.” [u][b]Crispy[/b][/u] said thoughtfully as [u][b]Orchid[/b][/u] told him how old she was. He shook his head in what seemed like disappointment. Then as the she-gob threatened to stab [u][b]Yoda[/b][/u] he laughed with a grin of approval. Not long after that two more goblins arrived with [u][b]Eric[/b][/u] in tow.

“Where’s dat one who digs all the time?” Crispy demanded. The other goblins shrugged, but then one of them pointed. 

“Look! Here comes da [u][b]Boss[/b][/u]!”

Indeed, there he was, the father of Yoda and Eric and possibly some of the others too--not that he had ever acted fatherly towards any of them. Like the Goblins he had green skin and a bulbous nose, but that skin was only evident upon his face, chest, and extremities somewhat like a gorilla. Everywhere else on his body was covered with thick, coarse black fur that probably could have used a wash three months ago. He stood a full foot taller than the tallest goblin, and had about twice as much muscle mass, mostly concentrated in his upper body. He was wearing a bunch of what looked to be firewood, split multiple times until it became flat planks, which had then been bound with vines around his chest. He also had on a belt of vines and leaves, and straw sandals--all of it looked to be handmade with all the precision of a caveman. And in one hand he carried the most sophisticated weapon of any of the goblins seen thus far--a wooden handle with a fire-hardened slot, into which was bound a rock that had been sharpened smooth. A type of stone axe--or more properly, a celt, if they were up to date on their primitive technology.

“Crispy! Is dis all da younglings?!” the leader barked, snorting before hacking a ball of phlegm onto the cave floor, then wiping the remaining string from his chin with the back of his hand. “Hmph. Scrawny bunch dis time around! When da womens gonna be ready again?”

“Ah, sure it won’t be much longer!” Crispy said as he wrung his hands. “But dey all ready to hunt, boss!”

“Dey betta be!” responded the big creature. Then he looked down at the three goblins assembled before him. “Listen up, yous! We gonna hunt Dire Rats! Which one of ya knows where t’find ‘em!?”
[hr]
[h3][b]The Lizard Tribunal[/b][/h3]
[hr]
[@Tatsu][@Old Amsterdam][@Rune_Alchemist][@CriticalHit][@ReusableSword]
As the [u][b]lizards[/b][/u] held their meeting, one more adding his poison to the pool, [u][b]Ardur[/b][/u] dropped a mana crystal into their concoction. Upon contact with the sizzling puddle, it seemed all that would happen is that the crystal would be eaten away…

[quote=System:Ash]
Used Skill: Alchemy I
---Potent Fanged Lizard Venom + Fanged Lizard Venom---
[i]Compatibility: 100%
Reaction: Toxic Fanged Lizard Venom
Properties: Liquid. Exothermic. Highly Poisonous. Highly Acidic.
This amount of Fanged Lizard Venom in a single dose is highly effective and may even overcome lower levels of poison resistance.[/i]
---Toxic Fanged Lizard Venom + Mana Crystal---
[i]Compatibility: 25% - The Toxic Fanged Lizard Venom lost 75% of its potency.
Reaction: Poison Tainted Mana Crystal
Properties: Solid. Crystalline. Brittle. Low Hardness. Very Low Sharpness. Magical. Volatile.
This Mana Crystal has been tainted with a poisonous substance. If it is ground into powder, broken, or otherwise forcibly used on another creature, the tainted energies will deplete their Mana rather than restoring it. This crystal is unstable, if it is destroyed it may release poisonous fumes.[/i]
--Alchemy Complete--[/quote]

With a sound like wet suction, the poison seemed to be absorbed into the crystal like water into a sponge. The Mana Crystal gave off an eerie tone when it next pulsed, like an out of tune tuning fork, and its color changed from bright blue to deep purple. The light it gave off now seemed like a black-light one would use to investigate a crime scene, and it had an inherent sense of danger about it. 

Without the poison puddle, it was clear to see now that the hole Ash had been trying to melt into the stone floor was now deep enough that it could probably be used for storing small items, or a small amount of liquid.
[hr]
[h3][b]Elsewhere[/b][/h3]
[hr]
[@King Cosmos][@Gardevoiran][@Legion02][@UltraCraftGames][@floodtalon]
As [u][b]Peter[/b][/u] circled around the Dire Rat, he managed to hit it with both shots--once while it was in midair, which caused it to hit the ground on its side, and a second time before it could get back on its feet. The rodent whirled on him with a snarl as the wisp raced to the nearest crystal and absorbed it to refill his MP. By the time he turned back, however, the rat had closed in and its teeth were fractions of a second from latching onto him--!

[quote=System:Peter]
Skill Rank Up: Mana Orb II.[list]
[*]Magic damage increased.
[*]MP cost increased.[/list]
[/quote]

The Dire Rat got a mouthful of crackling magic energy, and was thrown backwards head over heels from Peter, who now felt as if he had just run a six-minute mile. And once again, the System notified him that he was completely out of MP--but he had only cast that one spell? It [i]had[/i] told him that the MP cost of the skill had increased, though. And if he could use the first rank Mana Orb twice, maybe it made sense that he could only use the second rank of it once.

The Dire Rat’s corpse lay on the ground, slightly smoking.
***
[u][b]Jacob’s[/b][/u] attempt to draw the slime’s attention worked--[u][b]Digbie[/b][/u] had been pushed further away by its attack, and the pixie had made himself the closest target. He shielded himself just in time as the slime gave an angry squelch and surged forward, its full weight slamming into him as it bounced like a pinball between the walls of the crevice. The Pixie was knocked head over heels backwards--but aside from a slight daze he seemed okay.

The slime’s distraction gave Digbie enough time to pelt it with another rock, drawing its attention to the goblin once more. Again, it left a darker spot, but the slime didn’t seem at all deterred--until a whizzing bolt of light zoomed past them, and [u][b]Mourningstar[/b][/u] announced her arrival! The slime suddenly squealed, in quite obvious pain, before it instinctively lunged at the Wisp. Its body split into two wriggling halves like the jaws of a bear trap as it sought to devour her…