[h3]Asura, Momma Slime[/h3] "But hungree!" Momma Slime protested. She didn't spit the lizard out, but it didn't look like it was being digested yet either. As Asura tried to mentally pass images to her, demonstrating his advice on her skills, she wobbled with confusion. "Wut three? Fastah? Fow? Mageek...Weesistese?" She grumbled and used a pseudopod to "kick" at a loose pebble on the ground. "Not kno dat. Not like dese skeelz." As Asura tried to focus on resting, contemplating how much he had been eating lately, he could feel the weight of the food sitting in his "stomach." Lying here and resting, however, was no different than sleep. It would recover his stamina, but he wanted it to come back faster...it was the only "resource" he couldn't immediately recover, like Healing Herbs did for HP and Mana Crystals did for magic. Although, thinking about magic... As Asura continued to make an "effort" to "rest" in a paradoxical fashion...slowly, he began to feel a burning sensation in his deepest gut. Not a literal feeling, or a painful one...simply the feeling of something inside him "sizzling..." [hr] [h3]Ardur[/h3] Ardur ignored the call coming from that red beacon, and even his own body. Instead he pushed towards the ray of sunlight. But his astral form somehow felt heavy, and slow. It was like swimming through pudding... But the light pulled at him. It wanted to see him as much as he wanted to touch it. He reached the singular shaft of gold shining in this odd dark realm--and was jerked into it. In an instant he was drawn up, up, up. A vast forest, mountains, a distant body of water, a far away city, an island cloaked in clouds and lightning--it all moved past him in a blur too indistinct to matter. In mere seconds he was miles above the world, above a planet that spun at thousands of miles per hour. But what was below him did not matter. What drew his attention was above. The sun. In the Old World, hydrogen fused into helium billions of times within this star in an instant, producing seemingly infinite energy. Light, heat, flame, wave upon wave of unfathomable energy. If not for this, this nuclear engine placed hanging in an empty void, the Old World would have no life. But in this world... Ardur felt as if he were being watched. As if he were being prodded. As if he were being...considered. [color=yellow]"What is the Sun? Why praise the Sun? Why seek its glorious incandescence?"[/color] Ardur felt as if a stone were sinking in his belly, drawing him back down, down, down to the dark cave... [hr] [h3]Asteria, Ed, Mother Rat[/h3] Mother Rat pressed her belly to the ground as the other two gestured for her to follow, wriggling her hindquarters as she sneaked with the expertise only a natural rodent could sneak. As they left the cave, they could still see Crispy arguing with the fatter goblin. By the time they reached the treeline, however, it seemed they were finished with whatever discussion they had. Crispy slapped the fatter one, who bumbled towards the woods--but by the time he crashed through the bushes, the rats were further along, and he was too focused on doing whatever Crispy had ordered him to do to be looking for any rats. Using several abilities together Asteria was able to scale the tree slowly but steadily, and its thick foilage gave her plenty of hiding places as she scurried along the branches. Mother Rat followed her up, leaving Ed to watch their rear below, but the older rat stopped after only a few branches and seemed nervous about Asteria going up higher. They were Dire Rats, after all, not squirrels. As Asteria reached the top of the trees, poking her head out with a tuft of leaves, she could now see further than ever before, especially thanks to her enhanced senses. The two rats had headed southward, so they were now among a small grouping of trees that seemed more like an offshoot of the forest rather than being part of it. This line grew thinner and thinner the further south one went, and soon turned from proper woods to a copse or two scattered among thick brush along the ground. Back behind them of course, the forest grew thicker and thicker to the north. To the east the trees expanded as well, but there also looked to be something out there--a large clearing that had smoke coming up from it. It had to be coming from a chimney of some kind, as it was too large to come from a regular campfire. To the west, the enormous mountains loomed in the distance. But further beyond that southern treeline, Asteria could see gently rolling hills give way to flat country, and then long grass as far as her eyes could see. The sky met the edge of her sight, and the horizon drew the curvature of the earth along the grassland. The closer to the mountains one stayed the more hilly the area became, but out there in the plains it seemed...completely empty. Though, one bit of the distant vanishing line was a little darker than the rest... Down below, Ed caught a whiff of something fruity from deeper within the forest...and also the smell of something smoky. It wasn't a fire, but perhaps something that had been [i]in[/i] a fire, or near it, often enough to take on some of the smell. There was also the slightest scent of dirt, earthen soils and vegetation--but was that coming from some creature that was dirty, or simply from the environment all around them? Something rustled in the brush further into the forest... [hr] [h3]Danny[/h3] As Danny used three of his skills in concert, focusing his Mana Orb into a sharper, sturdier, denser shape, he felt a tingle of magic flowing through him. Upon firing the projectile, the arrow-head shape held strong. Moving significantly faster than before, it struck the yellow slime with a squelching sound--the projectile pierced easily through the gelatinous membrane, prompting a high pitched, phlegmy screech from the creature as it tumbled to the ground. The hole the magic attack left behind began to close up, but the creature still moved as if it were hurt--it hadn't truly "regenerated," but its fluid body simply filled in the gaps. However, it wasn't dead, and its partner hadn't been damaged at all. Danny hadn't moved either, and now the green slime landed on him heavily as it dropped from the ceiling. The Wisp felt an intense pain as the breath was driven from him and he was crushed against the ground. The green slime was still on top of him--and he could feel its membrane against him, oozing over his body! If he didn't do something soon, it would envelop him! [quote=System:Danny] You used Monster Analysis II! ---Slime--- A monster made of living bioplasm, able to adjust its shape and membranous forms at will to a limited extent. Slimes are amorphous creatures more similar to undeveloped egg yolks, yet they are able to move on their own and digest prey. Their bodies are highly resistant to physical damage and malleable. ---Analysis Complete!--- Skill Gain: Mana Dart I! A focused magic projectile that deals non-elemental Magic damage and Piercing Damage. Higher cost than Mana Orb but increased range, speed, and damage. However, its smaller size makes it less accurate. [color=red]WARNING! YOUR HP IS LOW![/color] [/quote] [hr] [h3]??? Jason ???[/h3] Jason reached out to tap the box filled with undulating static. He noticed as he did so that he touched it with a green pseudopod. [i]"Your only goal was to kick ass and take names. To be stronger than before."[/i] The voice was...monotonous? Female? Distorted. Robotic? Masculine. Powerful? Faint. A whisper. A recording? [i]"You assumed to be like the apex predator. To find water, to find prey. But your rashness showed you your limits."[/i] Jason would remember in a flash of insight how he paddled helplessly in the water after assuming he could swim like a crocodile. Had it not been for some quick and creative thinking, would he have ended up food for...whatever was in the pool? [i]"You witnessed the nature of this world, survival of the strong. You saw an opportunity to make an ally. You withdrew from a threat you knew you could not handle...and immediately began plotting their future demise. You trained to become stronger. Joined forces with a brother. Your first thought upon finding other "heroes" such as yourself was to secure alliances for survival. You wanted power. To survive? To rule?"[/i] The memories of his previous life played out somewhat distantly. It had been only days, yet somehow felt like months had passed. [i]"Eliminate the threats. Your first and only plans for those who oppose you. Betrayal, your greatest fear and unavoidable fate. You had to be the first one to set the terms for an alliance. They owed you the Mana Crystals, and the other resources. You had to be the one in control. You had magic. You had power. Why did Asteria have to skew everything to her twisted point of view? They should have had faith in you. You didn't know them, so you had to be in charge to make sure they could be trusted. They just had to have faith in you, because you can be trusted. You're in control."[/i] Jason couldn't figure out, from the distorted, digitized tone of voice, whether it was just stating his thoughts or mocking him. After all, it felt like...a really long time...since some of those things had happened. This new world had changed him, hadn't it? [i]"You knew you had to go. Something was happening. You had to be part of it. It can't happen without you. It won't be right. You have to be there to guide it. They found the cache, they drove the Goblins from the Bonfire. Now it was your time. Your time to swoop in and turn this rabble into a real army. The goblins were going to come back. You could protect them all. You were the seasoned commander. They needed to be good soldiers." "Mourningstar. She didn't want to listen from the start, did she? No wonder she betrayed you later. How furious did that make you? Why? Why didn't she listen? But you protected them. You kept the filth away from your comrades. You proved that you were strong. You transformed, became greater. This was only the beginning. You could grow stronger, be better...better than before. Stronger than the Old Life. You defeated Rattleskull--you were the one to end his wretched life. And you were chosen. You became the boss because no one else could. It had to be you, of course. The core picked you. All you wanted was to learn, to understand, and to become stronger. To do that you had to use the core. To do that you had to protect the cave. You had to protect your soldiers. But the core was trying to influence you. You didn't want it to, you knew it was trying to subvert your will. You had to be in control. You had to be the strong one. But you wanted some of the same things the core wanted. That was okay, wasn't it? Gathering the undead, that was okay. You were putting them to a purpose. You were going to free their souls. Using them as labor and as soldiers was just part of the process. A means to an end. They were yours to do with as you pleased anyway, weren't they? It was only right. You were the Boss. You had the power. You had control. But the others didn't understand. They were fools! They were traitors! They were sickening! Destroying what you created! Destroying what you built! The Core wanted them gone--but you weren't being controlled by the core! You wanted them gone! Because you were in control. Not the core. Right?"[/i] All these images playing through his head, Jason could see them from a completely different perspective. Right now he was outside looking in. Right now he was completely tranquil and clear. Right now he was uninfluenced, he was pure, he was truly in control of himself. Did everything still look right to him? [i]"You did not and would not negotiate. You did not and would not retreat. You fought to the end and sought to deny the foe the victory. You died. What should you have done? It does not matter. Were you right or wrong? It does not matter. Actions were taken, consequences happened. Your life, up til now, led to your death."[/i] The white void around Jason was becoming darker. Those images, his "choices," were beginning to flicker. A new picture appeared--a Skeleblin. [i]"How much of the Core was in you, Jason? How much of Jason was in the Core? Do you submit to death? Is this the end of your story? Are there no more chapters?"[/i] The voice asked one last question. [i]"Who and What are You?[/i]"