[h3]Orchid, Ash, Reoth, Mourningstar, Ardur, Steve, Goblins[/h3] "A week ago I think. Around the same time I woke up in the cave. I think... No, I know I wasn't born here." Crispy raised an eyebrow. "Ain't nowhere else for yas to be borned! If you wasn't one of Rattle's younglings you might be one of mines, but all da gobs in dis cave was borned here!" The flame touched goblin didn't seem to be catching on just yet. "But...you ain't da first gob to have weird dreams..." "That's why I'm smarter than the others. I... Look young. But I've had these dreams... Maybe more like memories? I don't know. But they're useful." Orchid moved Crispy's finger away from her head so she could look him in the eye. "Also, I told my goblins that when I shouted, I wanted them to attack. And I did shout but no one came. I was [i]trying[/i] to distract the monsters so the other goblins could catch them from behind." "Hm. Well, dey was bein' attacked at da same time--my bunch saved 'em and summa da udders." Crispy shrugged, but seemed satisfied with her excuse for the moment. After all, he couldn't really be picky with who survived, considering just how much the tribe had been whittled down. "Whatever. That's done and over with. Now we move on. Ash! The rest of you can come out now." Crispy's eyes opened wide. "Like I said... I made some new friends too. I was hoping, that before the monsters attacked us and Rattleskull went on his little rampage, I could work something out with the others. These are the ones who I trust. They'll help us survive... And maybe even retake the cave." "Wait, befo' ya do dat we needs ta--" "Hello, Orchid." A creature Crispy had never seen in the cave before appeared from behind a rock--its long tail ended in a vicious looking stinger, its wings made its body look bigger and more threatening than it really was, its claws and limbs were stronger than a normal Lizard, and its maw glittered with fangs. "...Crispy, was it? Considering I've yet to be blasted with a fireball I assume negotiations are going well?" "DA FUG IS DAT!?" Crispy pointed, incredulously shouting at Orchid. "Dat's a Pygmy Drake, dey ain't from roun' heres!" Before the female goblin could answer, an eerie song wafted over the group as a disturbingly buff pixie appeared above them. He seemed to be doing some kind of one-handed chin-up on a stalactite or something. Again, Crispy's eyes bugged out as he clapped his hands over both sides of his head. “Born of graves and left below. Painted ashes, painted snow. When the dark awakens. Fires of our last hope are getting low. Souls of gods and souls of men. Meet in, cinders to ascend. Fate has chosen. And our fading light is at its end.” "DA FUG IS DIS!? WHY PIXIE GOT MUSKLES!?" He turned to Orchid, anger burning brightly in his beady little eyes. "Orchid!" That was probably the first time he had actually used her name. "Dese ain't Gobs! Dey ain't gonna help us! Is trick! Has ta be!" [hr] [h3]Asura, Momma Slime, Oberon, Digbie, Torrent, Ed[/h3] Before meeting with the other group, Asura touched Momma Slime and tried to relay to her his memories of the skill screen and the abilities he had gained over time. "Those are skills. I'll be working on more tomorrow. But right now I'm tired." He said while he relaxed more to regain some Stamina. Momma Slime wobbled thoughtfully, then extended her own pseudopod. "Dis Skeelz?" she said again, and then she shared her own memories with Asura. And at first, he saw them the same way she did... Slimes "saw" without eyes. Her interpretation of vision was different, thus the image was blurry and not at all distinct. But as Asura's perception processed the memory, it became detailed. Slimes did not normally speak, and had little concept of language, much less any form of writing or the act of reading. Now that the vision was distinct, however, Asura might remember the moment in the white void-space when the Demon King gave him his choices for a new life...and those odd runes that transformed themselves into his own language. The letters on Momma Slime's image seemed slightly different...but they too, wriggled and twisted in front of his eyes as if he had developed dyslexia in one moment, then suddenly put on brand new prescription glasses the next. The text became readable. Momma Slime's memories were always blurred together, as life experience for a normal slime didn't depend much on a perception of time. However, at the very least, this memory seemed to be associated with Rattleskull's death, as in the background of the images Asura could see his corpse... [quote=System:Asura] [quote=System:Adult_Slime_123] LEVEL UP! Your battle experiences have culminated in new power! You are now Level 7! You gain Skill Points to distribute as you please! Max HP has increased! Unspent Skill Points:[color=red]38[/color] Current Skills: Physical Damage Resistance I (1.0) Limited Shapeshift I (1.525) Blunt Resistance I (0.55) Pierce Resistance I (0.3) Slash Resistance I (0.15) Magic Resistance I (0.2) Poison Resistance I (0.225) Smash I (0.675) Bounce I (0.3) Cling I (0.125) Faster I (0.25) Iron Gullet I (0.825) DEVIATION (0.525) [/quote] [/quote] While Asura mulled that over, the other group of creatures approached. [quote=System:Oberon] You used Monster Analysis I! You used Magic Analysis III! This is a Monster, with almost no magical energies. This is a new monster to you! ---Asura--- Amorphous Slime - Slimes that have a preference for shape shifting sometimes develop a weakened membrane. Their defensive abilities stop increasing so quickly compared to normal slime types, but their shapeshifting and movement skills rise more quickly. These slimes avoid water, as it has a much stronger diluting effect on them. You know this Amorphous Slime as Asura, a fellow Reincarnator. Asura's only magically oriented skill is a Magic Resistance to attacks, and his MP is about half of yours at full value. However, there are a small number of magical skills he is developing. ---Analysis Complete!--- [/quote] [hr] [h3]Jason, Danny, Mother Rat, "Gawain"[/h3] After filling himself on MP, Jason once again sought to enforce his control on an aspect of the dungeon. As he cleared his throat and stood next to the Skeleblin--drawing a glance of acknowledgement from it but otherwise prompting no reaction--he first began to use his Focus skill. As he visualized his desired result and flexed his magical power, he could feel it condensing inside him like sunlight gathering in a magnifying glass. After 30 seconds of this passed, he began to chant... "Hail O' Guardian, cursed without name." The two rings formed again, glowing a much brighter shade of purple in the air this time. " I hereby christen thee, Skeleblin Gawain!" The runes appeared, and the wavy line passed through the center of the circle like a mathematical wave. "In time I'll release you, or return true life... " A straight line formed vertically in the center of the circle, passing through the wave. Jason began to feel the same mental strain as before--would he stop? "I swear upon spirit and nature alike, cometh hell or high water, I will make things right..." In the leftmost quadrant of the circle formed by the two lines, another strange symbol appeared. "TELEPATHY NAMING CEREMONY--Hope for the damned!!!" The circle flashed, then exploded with a sound like microphone feedback. Jason felt a splitting pain within his mind and a sudden sensation of something like electricity surging through his entire being--painfully. [quote=System:Jason] Spell casting has been interrupted by ERROR You have not specified an alteration of the spell Telepathy I. --Telepathy: MP Cost increased by 100%. Spell Range Touch. Spell Effect: One-Way Communication (Short). --Possible Alterations Attempted: Taming? Two-Way Communication? Range Increase? Sensory Intensity? Please Insert Alteration. You do not have enough MP for this spell in its altered form. You are experiencing Mana Burn. You have overdrawn your MP. Mana Burn has changed to Mana Disorder. You have no MP remaining. Natural MP Recovery has stopped. Item MP Recovery is reduced in effectiveness by 50%. You have a migraine. You are exhausted. You are still experiencing HP Drain. You require food, water, and rest to begin recovering. [/quote] When Jason recovered from this, even one as stubborn as he might realize he wasn't getting anywhere. So there was nothing left to do except try to cancel out his HP Drain so that he could begin recovering Stamina, and...maybe once he had Stamina back he could figure out something to do about the Mana Disorder. So, first of all, he once again tapped into the Dungeon Core. [quote=Dungeon:Jason] [color=purple] QUEST ACCEPTED. CURRENT OBJECTIVES: +PATCH HOLES IN THE CEILING +SECURE AND INCREASE RESOURCES --NATIVE RESOURCES: HEALING HERB, MANA CRYSTAL, WATER, POISON HERB, TAINTED MANA CRYSTAL --CURRENTLY AVAILABLE NON-NATIVE RESOURCES: FIRE, WOOD, FLAME-TOUCHED MANA CRYSTAL +FEED DUNGEON CORE --ORIGINAL FEEDING METHODS: AMBIENT MANA, NEGATIVELY CHARGED SOULS --NO CURRENTLY ACCEPTED ALTERNATIVES +HASTEN DUNGEON ASSIMILATION --DESTROY OR EXPEL NON-ASSIMILATED INHABITANTS --ORGANIZE ASSIMILATED INHABITANTS WARNING! RESOURCES ARE BEING DEPLETED BY AN EXTERNAL SOURCE! DUNGEON ASSIMILATION RATE AT 6%. DIRE_RAT_A HAS BEEN REGISTERED. RESOURCES ARE BEING INCREASED. 5 HEALING HERB SEEDS ADDED. SEED GROWTH: 1. 0%...0.1%... 2. 0%... 3. 0%...0.05%... 4. 0%...0.05%... 5. 0%... UPDATES COMPLETE. DUNGEON AWARENESS HAS INCREASED TO 0.7.[/color] [/quote] About the time Jason got the warning from the dungeon was the same time that Danny plucked a Healing Herb from the garden (reducing its total number to 7, not including the black herb), and when he received the resource increase message Danny had just finished replanting the seeds from the Herb he had picked. Steadily growing weaker from the lack of Stamina and HP Drain, as well as the pounding in his head from overuse of his magic, Jason now inspected the little rock pile Asteria had built to try and keep the water out of the new creek that had formed. Then Jason drank. The water was surprisingly cool and refreshing, despite the dirt all around it from Torrent's freshly excavated tunnel. Jason watered his crops, then used a Healing Herb to try and mitigate some of the effects of his HP Drain. Finally, he began to sleep... Danny examined the herbs, plucking one and relieving it of his seeds so as to replenish the field for the future. After Meditating to recover his MP--having just seen Jason botch yet another spell--he then began to experiment with his own abilities. "Gawain" watched him go with softly glowing eyes but made no move to impede his progress either in or out of the cave. Danny found that with his Lesser Force he was able to hold about a cup of water easily, and it floated as if it were on a space station. It formed a perfect sphere, smaller droplets orbiting around it, until Danny put pressure on it and began trying to spray it. He found that this worked, but at the moment it was little more than a toy squirt gun--and not one of those ones from TV that held a gallon and sprayed with enough pressure to powerwash someone's forehead, but one of those little crappy ones from the dollar store that broke the trigger off the first time you actually squeezed it. Maybe with practice he could get better, but as of now he could probably muster enough Lesser Force to just throw the orb at someone. Splashing them in the face probably wouldn't hurt much, but it might blind and distract. [hr] [h3]Asteria, ???[/h3] [color=lightblue]"I will not answer your questions until I know the truth of your spirit."[/color] said the odd entity. As the water rose, the blue eyes rose with it, only slightly below the water's level. It seemed as if something very small was distorting the water beneath those eyes as well... [color=lightblue]"So you are Asteria...and you are a former Human? But I do not feel a Curse upon you to change your shape...and you carry no item of glamour..."[/color] The eyes moved, very serpent-like, around Asteria as the water level continued to rise. [color=lightblue]"Show me the truth of your spirit. Why are you here, and what are you doing?"[/color] The water was higher now, but Asteria would notice that her "dream body" didn't feel cold despite how much water covered her. The distortion near the eyes was becoming more definite, as if something like clear plastic was in the water and diverted the liquid around it without being visible to the naked eye.