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[h3]~Temporary Campsite~[/h3]
[hider=Inventory]
[i]Throat Pouch:[/i]
- x6 Nothing
[i]Rawhide Backpack[/i]
- x5 Nothing
[b]Equipped:[/b]
Mana Bone Spear (Average)
1 Smooth Stone
[/hider]
[hr]

[color=598527]"Hm?"[/color] Ash didn't turn her attention away from her material collecting. [color=598527]"Ah, yes. Poison magic is a thing. I recently managed to discover it."[/color] To demonstrate, she formed the silvery sphere of poison in her claw, holding it out briefly for Oberon to inspect should he desire it before tossing it to the side. [color=598527]"I'm hoping to develop it further. I also managed to pick up a few other skills in the process...oh, and I made a rather nice spear using some frog parts."[/color] She stopped for a moment, smiling and seemingly doing a bit of self praise before moving on. [color=598527]"If you want, I can show you later. It's getting a bit late and I'd like to finish seeing what useful parts this Rat has - huh?"[/color] As the experience progress was pulled up, Ash simply stared at it, narrowing her eyes at it in mild bewilderment.

[color=598527]"...Well that's weird."[/color] How on earth did she get to 80% already? Not that she was complaining, but the only thing she had done was beat up a rat! Well, and learn those skills. Did acquiring those skills also give her exp? That seemed like an entirely too easy system to game. If so, all she'd have to do is simply tick over the skills she was working on then get a massive exp boost.

Hm.

[color=598527]"Ah, sorry, something just surprised me. I have some training I want some help with, though we can likely do that tomorrow if we have time."[/color] She turned her attention back to the rat. The rat itself didn't seem like it had as many useful parts as the frog. Understandable, given how badly they had beaten it. Still, she could easily find a use for a good number of these things. Especially those large bone plates. It might have been primitive, but armor could be useful. If she could cure it with simple salt and alcohol, or some other agent, it could make at least for some decent armor.

Finally done with the dissection, Ash pulled it from the corpse and back into the shelter. Didn't want any predators finding it, though it would likely start to rot by tomorrow since it wasn't preserved. Still, it'd do for tonight. Eating some of the raw meat, she would also take a moment to quench her thirst and first meditate to refill her MP.

She was no stranger to all nighters, of course, and this shouldn't be any different. While she did want to try new things, she decided for now she'd focus on building her more direct offensive abilities. With some base abilities to work with, this should be easy enough. First, she'd Mana Slice and Mana Vision, seeing how it was built before forming the toxic Poison Splash. Ash began attempting to form the silvery orb of Poison into the same shape as a Mana Slice. Taking the mana particles, she would attempt dragging it so it would resemble the same structural makeup of the Mana Slice.

After either successfully making the skill or making enough progress to feel comfortable she turned her attention back to something she had tried when she was back in the gave. Summoning another ball of poison, Ash dipped her claws into the acidic substance, no doubt wincing as the acid ate away at her own claws. Without a proper target, she simply used the rock wall of the shelter to practice, cutting into the rock. Perhaps this would also serve to sharpen her claws?

After a few minutes, Ash would once more return to Meditation, refilling her MP and resting a bit as she took another drink form the stream and took another bite of the rat meat they had just gotten. Sleep would be good, but...annoying, really. She could feel her body getting sluggish already. It seemed this body wasn't suited for it, but perhaps there was something she could do to lessen the amount of sleep she needed. There were many fantastical tales associated with meditation. Out of body experiences. Astral projection. a lot of pseudoscience that perhaps, in this world, wasn't quite so fantastical.

Deciding this would be her final experiment for the night, Ash found herself back int the shelter, towards the back with the stash of things she had stored. Closing her eyes and breathing in, Ash began meditating. Instead of just trying to passively regenerate however, the Pygmy drake actively attempted to 'feel' the ambient mana in the area around her. She knew it was there, she had seen it. If she could absorb it instead of distributing it, perhaps it could aid the meditation process. After a few minutes of testing on whether or not it'd be feasible, she moved onto something else.

Just a small test. She tried to imagine the shelter. The pile of loot and bones, Oberon and Digbie, the walls and layout. She began trying to imagine herself moving, trying to forcefully project her consciousness outside of her main body. It was a silly thought, and she didn't even think it'd work - but there was no harm in trying something like this.

Either way, eventually the Pygmy drake would get tired like any other, and drift off into sleep.

[hr]

Ash was woken groggily by the horn. Rolling over, the Pygmy drake yawned, stretching her claws much like a cat would before sitting and scrunching her nose. That...was close. What on earth was blowing a horn - oh right. That goblin tribe that had stumbled onto them yesterday. They were supposed to be coming this morning, huh.

Mixed feelings aside, Ash dragged herself out of the shelter, towards the stream for an early morning drink before taking a small bite to eat for breakfast from any unspoiled meat, or meat that looked at least halfway decent to consume. Seemed like she was the first one up. Frowning a bit, she picked up her Spear with lesser force, doing a few small mental exercises with it to shake off the early morning grogginess. Twirling it in the air as fast as she could, stabbing it forwards, before quickly yanking it back. She even attempted picking up the small pebble she had found in the Rat, attempting to exercise her ability further and making it stronger and more fine tuned.