[h3]Danny[/h3][@Duthguy] Upon expending his MP through his spells--though it seemed Levitation used so little that it was barely noticeable--and touching one of the Mana Crystals, Danny instantly felt his energy return and received a System message (see other players for details) informing him that he had used a Mana Crystal and completely refilled his MP. So his guess had been correct! But suddenly, a curved stick--not quite a boomerang, but certainly a good shape for throwing--whizzed past him to strike another crystal, causing it and the stick both to fall to the ground. A Goblin down below caught them, and drew the stick back with a cackling laugh as it took aim at the Wisp! “I’mma getcha, shiny thing!” said the green urchin, before letting its weapon fly once more, this time directly at Danny. [h3]Rain[/h3][@Old Amsterdam] “YEOWCH!” Rattleskull had been extremely disappointed in his two sons. The girl, however--who he was pretty sure was not one of his offspring--actually showed moxie with a little encouragment, and had taken off after the prey. When she got a little rounder in the hips, he’d have to make sure she bore him some [i]worthy[/i] sons for next time. But as he was distracted watching the younglings, he didn’t notice one of the lizards until its fangs were sinking into his achilles tendon. His foot jerked away, but by that point Rain was already running. He turned and saw the tail end of the lizard disappearing, and pondered picking up a rock to chuck at it...but no. He checked his foot--it was bleeding, but he didn’t see the telltale signs of lizard poison he’d learned to look for in his years growing up in the cave. His resistance must have fought off the paralysis, then. He nodded to himself, then turned back to see if Orchid would have any luck of her own. “Hmph. After I teach this youngling how to do things, I’mma kill two or three little scalies...” he growled to himself, using his other furry foot to rub the one that had been bitten. “Teach them to mess with me…” Meanwhile, Rain could taste the blood on her fangs. She had definitely pierced the skin, and though that fur and flesh tasted terrible and smelled worse, she had felt her teeth go fairly deep. So she could at least hurt the boss, it wouldn’t be like one of those games where you level up enough and the enemy goes “tink” against your armor (even if the animation shows them slamming a lance through your chest). [h3]Asura[/h3][@Kazemitsu] [quote=System:Asura] You have learned a new Skill! Skill Gain: Limited Shapeshift I By practicing the manipulation of your body, which Slimes are naturally predisposed for, you gained this skill. You cannot alter the total size, texture, or consistency of your body. You also cannot alter your body’s primary qualities--you cannot become “sharp” or “hard,” for example. At this level, complex structures are too difficult. But making yourself into a rolling sphere, a flat puddle, or shaping your pseudopods would all be possibilities, plus more. This skill consumes Stamina, not MP.[/quote] He wasn’t much faster than an average human’s jogging speed, but Asura suddenly found his tire-like shape becoming much more stable. He soon left the scuffle between Goblins and Lizards behind, but now where was he headed inside the cave…? [h3]Jason[/h3][@Guy0fV4lor] [quote=System:Jason] 1 Poison Tainted Mana Crystal added to Inventory ((From here on, feel free to use a system message yourself for adding inventory (or for other players, changing equipment) so long as the items you’re picking up/using have already been established as actually being available.))[/quote] After escaping the skirmish himself, our other resident slime began to practice with his newly acquired earthen magic. As Jason first practiced with simply picking up and moving rocks, he found that he could make virtually no use of any “tool” the way the goblins did--all his “chiseling” accomplished was making a repetitive clinking sound against the wall. He would probably need some way to manipulate his pseudopods for a better grip, if he wanted to see any results through this method. Practicing and analyzing the process of his Stone Shot skill, however, provided much more useful insight. Jason learned that his MP was not “created” with the golden glow he had come to recognize as Earth-elemental power, but rather the raw energy he focused on the rock seemed to enter it, suffuse it, and then “become” Earth aligned. The further mechanics of this phenomenon eluded him at the moment, as he hadn’t done near enough experimentation yet and of course, had no real idea how magic actually worked in this world since it clearly didn’t obey physics like the Old World he had come from. When Jason began sending his energy into the soil and stone directly underneath him, rather than a rock stored in his inventory, that too gave him a deeper insight. The energy seemed to work like a radar or sonar, traveling a certain distance and bouncing back to the slime, now filled with Earth affinity. It was a faint sensation, and he didn’t have any skill at reading it, but it seemed like these tremors were a little different depending on what they passed through--loose dirt, for instance, felt differently than solid rock. But would this help him with his magical goal? It was still too soon to tell. [quote=System:Jason] You are experiencing a fast rate of Skill Progression. [/quote] At one point, however, one of his pulses of energy went deeper into the earth--not the ground, but into the walls alongside him. And when it came back, it still had that Earthy feeling to it, but there was something else too. It was like a mana crystal, but [color=green]different…[/color] [h3]Digbie[/h3][@Gardevoiran] [quote=System:Digbie] 1 Stone Spike added to Inventory. Stone Spike Equipped.[/quote] The stalagmite--or at least about a foot of it, fairly heavy but not too much so that it couldn’t be used to stab or bludgeon something--broke off in Digbie’s hands with a crunch. As he used his Tremor Sense, once again the world seemed to go black and white as vibrations came to him from different directions… On the wall nearby, a random creature of some sort--from its size it might be a pixie, lizard, or rat, but Digbie couldn’t tell through the tremors yet--seemed to be resting on a ledge. It wasn’t producing many vibrations, so it wasn’t moving a whole lot. But further away from there, Digbie picked up another signal seemingly at random--and this one was much stronger than the pixie even though the distance to it was greater. That was probably because there were three creatures creating vibrations that overlapped with each other and resonated as a stronger tremor--but they still had a light, wispy feel to them, like they were just barely brushing the ground in some sort of dance over and over. As Mourningstar berated Jacob for his experiments and Digbie performed an experiment of his own, however, would any of the three see the lone Wisp slowly climbing to a higher altitude above them, almost near the ceiling of the cave? Like a hunter getting ready to take his shot (for that was exactly what the Wisp was doing) it took aim at the distracted pixie before letting out a crackling Mana Orb…! [h3]Oberon[/h3][@King Cosmos] “Urm, open menu…” [quote=System:Oberon] N̸̢̳͉͖͓̼̮̰͕̝̪͇̠̬̲͈͖̣̐͋̉ͅͅǪ̵̸̺͕͖͎̮̅ͦ̇ͯ̃̓̎͒̏̀̕ ̴̵̢̥̫̤̙̝̠̞̻͉̦̫̗́̅ͭͨ͟A̸̖̼̖̯͉͎̖̞̳̟̮͕̘͙͓͕ͤͦͫ̐͛̇̉̋̏̍́̀͘͜C̶͖̜̭̤̲̦͕͙͓̺͉̦͉̩̝͔̃͑͑̈́̓̚͞C̸̢̠̞̞̖͚̠͈͖͚͎̪͎̥̘̟̥̘͗ͦ̋͋͊̒̑͆ͭ͗͑̆́͑̆̕ͅẸ̵̢̛̹̻̯̺̮̼̬͍̻̙͙̩̟̠̩̝̑ͨͮ̌ͫ̉̂͒̾̊͛̚S̶͍̮̼̼̫͇͔͈̝̦̳̦̻̦͒ͩͨ̓͗ͭ̅̓̈̐̒̇ͪ͒͒̀̈͆͌͠͝S̴̴̛͈͉̬̜͓̬̫͇̟̳̜̔̀̂ͨ̓̄͛̒ͦ̓̋̔̃̚̕ [/quote] “Open start menu.” [quote=System:Oberon] N̸̢̳͉͖͓̼̮̰͕̝̪͇̠̬̲͈͖̣̐͋̉ͅͅǪ̵̸̺͕͖͎̮̅ͦ̇ͯ̃̓̎͒̏̀̕ ̴̵̢̥̫̤̙̝̠̞̻͉̦̫̗́̅ͭͨ͟A̸̖̼̖̯͉͎̖̞̳̟̮͕̘͙͓͕ͤͦͫ̐͛̇̉̋̏̍́̀͘͜C̶͖̜̭̤̲̦͕͙͓̺͉̦͉̩̝͔̃͑͑̈́̓̚͞C̸̢̠̞̞̖͚̠͈͖͚͎̪͎̥̘̟̥̘͗ͦ̋͋͊̒̑͆ͭ͗͑̆́͑̆̕ͅẸ̵̢̛̹̻̯̺̮̼̬͍̻̙͙̩̟̠̩̝̑ͨͮ̌ͫ̉̂͒̾̊͛̚S̶͍̮̼̼̫͇͔͈̝̦̳̦̻̦͒ͩͨ̓͗ͭ̅̓̈̐̒̇ͪ͒͒̀̈͆͌͠͝S̴̴̛͈͉̬̜͓̬̫͇̟̳̜̔̀̂ͨ̓̄͛̒ͦ̓̋̔̃̚̕ [/quote] These two attempts caused a sudden screeching, like static on a TV turned up too loud combined with feedback on a microphone combined with dial-up internet, and a rippling pain throughout Jacob’s skull. “Open...inventory?” This time, a sort of jingle. [quote=System:Oberon] You currently have no items in your Inventory. [/quote] “Open status menu?” [quote=System:Oberon] You are Fine. [/quote] “Open...character screen?” As soon as he said it, the screeching started up again. But at the same time Jacob experienced a sudden flashback: [i]You died. The crystal clear memory, the moment of your death, burns at the back of your vision in exquisite detail. In this image, time freezes and every minutia stands out for you to ponder at your leisure. Behind it, the rest of your memories stretch into infinity like an endless hall of mirrors. Somehow you know you will never forget any of it. Moments of bliss and despair, weakness and triumph alike, engraved into eternity. It would seem that you are alone, in this “eternity.” Endless white stretches out in every direction. Yet you feel claustrophobic, as if sealed in a box waiting to be opened. You stand upon a floor, but to look down reveals no shadow nor footprint. You are not sure if the pristine, featureless expanse is light, or void. You have a body, but your eyes, nose, and every nerve may as well be nonexistent for all the perception they provide. But your ears hear a voice. “This one’ll do, too.”[/i] Then the jingle. [quote=System:Oberon] [hider=Jacob "Oberon" Leach] [b]Name:[/b] Jacob “Oh, do I need a new name? How about Oberon?” Leach [b]Theme:[/b] N/A [b]Gender:[/b] Male [b]Species:[/b] Pixie [b]Appearance:[/b] [img]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/d/d4/Sprite-5e.png/revision/latest?cb=20171010182903[/img] [b]Goals:[/b] In the long term Jacob hopes to return home, even though his life wasn’t perfect back there. In the short term he will settle for simply surviving this nightmarish world he has found himself in. [b]Past Life:[/b] Jacob’s life was fairly average and therefore quite boring. A single child of an upper lower class family in an average American city, Jacob lived a simple life that most people would envy. He went to school, he had friends, he got good grades; his hobbies leaned more towards the nerdy side of things and he was kind of a geek, so there was some bullying but nothing too extreme. Upon graduating Jacob was accepted to a decent university, the first person in his family to go, where he decided to try and turn his minor programming hobby into a computer science degree. He devoted himself to his studies and mostly avoided the kind of wild social life most students strive for; he was more likely to spend his Saturdays playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends than go to parties. Four years later he left University, Bachelor’s degree in hand, and moved back home. He managed to get a job with relative ease, thanks to some connections his father had, though it was just a simple entry level gig at a large corporation. He spent the next couple of years in a cubical, an anonymous code monkey in a room full of many others, working away on various projects. It was not a glamorous job, but he enjoyed it and at the same time knew it was only temporary. In another year or two he would either get a promotion or look for another job somewhere else, then start the process all over again as he slowly made his way up the corporate ladder. Eventually he’d get to the point where he had some control over what he worked on, maybe get himself promoted to technical lead at some big company or maybe even create his own start-up venture if he could get the funds and had a project he was passionate about. It might not be the most exciting life, but Jacob was at least content with where he was, where he was going and felt he had a good grasp of what the future held for him. Then he got hit by a car. [b]Abilities:[/b] • Minor Heal I – Heals minor wounds, such as cuts, bruises and scrapes • Lesser Flight I – Allows for flight over short distances at a walking pace • Shield I – Creates a barrier around the target which offers minimal protection from damage. Breaks over time • Magic Analysis I - After seeing a spell used you can only gain generalized information about it [b]Transformations:[/b] N/A [b]Inventory:[/b] None [/hider] You are experiencing a fast rate of Skill Progression. You have an extreme migraine. [/quote] As Jacob was distracted with all of this, however, would he notice the lone Wisp slowly climbing to a higher altitude above them, almost near the ceiling of the cave? Like a hunter getting ready to take his shot (for that was exactly what the Wisp was doing) it took aim at the distracted pixie before letting out a crackling Mana Orb…! [h3]Mourningstar[/h3][@floodtalon] Even though she chewed them out a little for not going along with her plan, these so-called party members of hers seemed to stop paying attention to her entirely! What kind of insubordinate minions did the Demon King’s army keep these days? But, as she was the only one not focusing on some kind of skill or experiement, Mourningstar had the best chance of seeing what was about to occur. The lone Wisp slowly climbed to a higher altitude above them, almost near the ceiling of the cave. Like a hunter getting ready to take his shot (for that was exactly what the Wisp was doing) it took aim at the distracted pixie before letting out a crackling Mana Orb…! [h3]Peter[/h3][@UltraCraftGames] “Well!? Say somefin!” snarled one of the four goblins currently still staring Peter down near the mana crystal mining project. “Look at ‘im, he’s prolly pissin hisself! He runned like a sissy earlier, when Crispy was bout to fry him!” All the goblins pointed and laughed, but then began to tighten their grips on their pickaxes. Peter would need to shake himself out of it soon...