[h3]PixieSlime Party[/h3]
"Wut heel?" Momma Slime started to ask, but Ardur was already experimenting with the mandible of the Flak Beetle. When he cast his Shield I spell on the object, the aura surrounded it just like it normally would any other target. But as he focused, the aura seemed to compress until it was only skin-thin, yet highly concentrated around the mandible...and as he envisioned the mandible's structure growing harder, its edge sharper, the energy of the shield seemed to just...sink into the black, chitinous matter. But other than that, he couldn't really tell if it had made any other difference in the mandible's cutting ability...

While he chewed on various pieces of meat he could strip from their kill, however, the System informed him that he was, somehow, at least learning something.

[quote=System:Ardur]
You are experiencing a Fast Rate of Skill Progression.
[/quote]

Asura reached out with a stretched tendril to relay new information to Momma Slime, who gurgled thoughtfully in response before she rolled over towards the beheaded body of the deer. Steve had succeeded in liquifying one of the front legs enough that she had now taken it off completely and wrapped it in a bundle of webbing. She was beginning the process on the other front leg, though she couldn't wrap it as far up because the body was turned on that side. As Momma Slime rolled up to the corpse, the spider stopped to watch warily.

With a "schlurp," Momma Slime tried to attach herself to the neck stump. Her blue body soon turned purple as she began draining the Bowhorn Deer of all its blood. Steve made a slight hissing noise, then ran over to Ardur. With her furry forelimbs she began to tap on his leg, pointing with the others at what Momma Slime was doing, then indicating the other leg she hadn't yet been able to separate from the body.

Meanwhile, Asura continued to try and improve his Slime Shell. He used his own body first, attaching to the jawbone underneath all of the flesh, and found he was able to work the hinge simply enough. It took a concentrated effort, enough so that he probably couldn't move or fight while doing this, but he was definitely able to move the jaw in a simplified up and down, open-close motion. However, when he began testing the muscle fibers he found them...difficult. For one thing, they seemed like they were hard to stick to for some reason. Maybe it was the blood, fats, and natural oils of the flesh. For another thing, there were too many of them. He couldn't pull on just one and make the whole thing work, the muscle had to work together as a single mass. And lastly, he just didn't have much room. Even with better shapeshifting it was hard to get between densely packed fibers in order to manipulate them--like not being able to reach a piece of machinery you were working on because your fingers were too fat. Compared to the solid jawbone, which he could adhere himself to almost like glue, trying to use the muscle fiber seemed inefficient...
[hr]
[h3]Ghost Party[/h3]
Normally, Danny wouldn't have stood a chance against this larger creature in physical combat. However, unlike the Wisps in the cave, he had Transformed into a Poltergeist--and compared to a "natural" Poltergeist, he had the Faster skill. His dash surprised the frog, and as he used Point Strike to drive his sharpened sliver of stone right into its eye the attack took on a crackling red glow! In a spray of dark blood he plunged the sharp stone, and his fist, deep into the frog's eye! Its mouth opened on reflex, but it hadn't finished preparing its attack in time and the liquid poison dribbled down its front to burn away the grass beneath their feet. An instant later, Jason shoved invisible appendages into its eyes as well. When he released his Transparency ability--which was accompanied by a LOW MP Warning--the recoil caused him a slight pain but obviously did much more to the huge frog. Being punched in the eye from inside one's own body had to be a whole new level of pain, especially if one of the eyes you're being punched in has already been carved out by a jagged, sharp rock.

Blood spattered the Poltergeist's tiny fist, and the frog went down on its back. It thrashed blindly, one eye completely gone and the other currently damaged. Its croaks became much higher in pitch, almost pitiable. Jason seized on its soul, and its thrashing grew more intense.

[i]Dark, warm, tight, too tight, had to break free. Eggshell. Danger, scatter! Sand, hide! Prey, bite! Wait. Prey poisoned. Prey paralyzed. Feed. Eat. Hunt. Find shelter. Find water. Find mate. More eat. More hunt. Defend territory. Stronger. Grow. Change. New form. Not enough food in cave. Into the forest. Find food. Find shelter. Find water. Find mate. More eating, more hunting. Day after day...I am Jason.[/i]

But Jason didn't find this target so easy to devour as his others, even if he resisted the pull of its personality. It was too strong, too healthy--he was taking bites out of it, but the creature now flopped back over onto its belly and got its legs under it. It started to turn towards Danny, once again spitting out a huge glob of purple acid at the tiny magical monster--!