Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Zeroth
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Zeroth

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PixieSlime Party

"There are too many ranged enemies, magic's my only means of reaching them without breaking our line!" Trent shot back. The boy seemed stressed. He ignored the assimilated pixie flying back and forth above him, and went to help Steve with the green Slime by cutting it completely in half with a swipe of his sword. He glanced back towards the shoreline. "If we fall back towards the water, we'll be going back into the narrow part of the path! Our single file formation will put too much burden on those in front!"

The core-controlled pixie was in the midst of dive bombing the human, and almost reached him before Steve plastered it to the ground with another Web Spit. Asura yelled at Trent to go on the defensive, before transforming himself and Smashing right through the Skeleblin's ribcage. Its sternum and spine came apart in pieces, which also separated its arms and skull from its torso. The various bits of it clattered like a broken xylophone down the rocks, and the black miasma rising from it meant the body couldn't be used by the dungeon's captured souls anymore. As Asura felt his Stamina burning away, he went over to help Momma Slime. The Dire Rat had just popped back out, taking a bite out of her outer membrane, before the red slime filled its hidey hole and sprouted spikes like an angry porcupine. The creature was skewered from multiple directions, and its body jerked before it went still...then, the same black miasma from the Skeleblin seemed to collect around the Dire Rat's fresh corpse...

Momma Slime made to move forward, since the only enemies in view were in that direction. But she pulled up short as two blobs of poison splattered the ground in front of her. Then a Mana Orb struck her, driving her back another roll's worth as she gurgled in a mixture of anger and pain. Trent had stepped up now as well, and blocked another poisonous ball of phlegm with his shield. Its rawhide covering was in tatters now, revealing the sturdy wood and iron bands beneath. Just as Asura was coming out of the rat's hole, there were three more wads of Poison Spit heading his way in a wide spread--as well as another of the Zombie Goblin's accursed javelins.

The Zombie Fanged Lizards chose to advance after unleashing their volley, and they were rapidly closing in on the spaces that were left by the Skeleblin, Slime, and the earlier Wisps.

Further back, the 3 oncoming Zomblins passed their spear-hucking brother, and were continuing to charge up with roars as they dripped black bile. The 4 Wisps near the ceiling passed over the row of long-ranged attackers as well, as if they were racing the zombies to get closer.

Only a single Zombie Pixie and a Fanged Lizard were visible in the distance, but there were still various sounds of monsters getting ever closer. And although Ardur seemed to have led the flock of Wisps away, back towards the rear there were two familiar, eerie green flickering lights getting bigger by the moment.

Over the water, a dozen Wisps followed after Ardur. He barrel rolled this way and that, twisting and swerving wildly through the air. His wings felt sore all the way down to their roots over his shoulders, but he couldn't avoid to stop here. He managed to block one Mana Orb with his bone club, then dodge another, and several of the other shots missed due to the assimilated monster's inaccuracy. But one of them struck him, almost knocking him out of the air. He was so close...

"Incoming." he called to Undine as he recovered control of his flight just before hitting the water. As he zoomed past, the Wisps followed. Their lights crackled and pulsed angrily.

One of them ran right into Undine's blade, apparently unable to see it in the dark. The creature actually cut itself in half solely due to its own momentum. The Wisps that were directly behind and around it stumbled over its now-halved body as it fell out of the air, and with a quick lunge that seemed to take no more effort than riding the ripples of the pond Undine speared another Wisp on her tip.

But now the cloud of angry magic mobs had gotten all the closer to Ardur, and some of them had managed to angle away on his sides. From three directions, a barrage of Mana Orbs flew towards him--!


Deep Forest

Femus dove out of the way of the claw, and it came down like a heavy rake into the earth behind him. As it carved a furrow through the herbs, the Wisp twisted and took aim before firing Shock Round II. The yellow sphere launched at higher speed now, and its movement was more like a zigzag than a lazy loop-de-loop. The Hobgoblin had to pull its arm, or its weapon, out of the ground before it could turn to face Femus again--giving the spell the time it needed to strike. The creature let out a high pitched yelp as electricity surged through its body from the leg upward--and then, as it fell to one knee, all of its muscles seemed to tense at once as its movements locked! That "paralysis" the Skill Update had mentioned must have triggered!

Femus pushed himself out of the way even further with his Lesser Force skill. The Hobgoblin continued to struggle, making grumbling and gurgling noises behind its mask. As the Wisp started the 10 second charge up period for Static Bolt, the creature seemed to be trying to force itself to move...

One Mississippi. Two Mississippi.

The hobgoblin gasped, and managed to clench and unclench its other fist. It clawed at the soil of the ground to try and push itself back up...

Five Mississippi. Six Mississippi.

With a snarl, the monster stood up. It yanked its bony arm out of the ground.

Eight Mississippi. Nine Mississippi.

It turned to Femus and looked at his glowing body. Then it noticed the glowing, crackling static building up in a small circle underneath its own feet. It pushed with both legs to launch away from the groun--

CRACK!

If it hadn't been for the sheer luck of paralysis triggering, there would have been no way Femus could have cast the spell in time. Even with that boon, he barely made it. But the bolt of electricity jumped from the Wisp, straight into the strangely clad Hobgoblin's chest. Its body actually lit up from the inside for a split second, showing a completely normal skeleton holding the arm of another skeleton under all the robes. The monster was knocked away by the blast, but because of Femus's change in position this meant it was actually knocked closer to the Great Kao Tree.

Meanwhile, in the tree, Nira had drank from her own Aqua Sphere. She received a notice from the System that her thirst had been quenched, once she had finished the whole thing. Only then did she look around and notice Femus being attacked near the herb patch. She cast her Shield spell quickly, and the protective glow enveloped her friend's body. But then, as she prepared a Mana Orb between her hands, Femus unleashed that brand new lightning skill he had apparently figured out. She watched as the hobgoblin was blown backwards, its black cloak even more black now that it had fresh burn marks. She had to struggle to hold onto her Mana Orb as she waited for the right moment--it seemed like power was actually building within the spell the longer she tried to hold on.

The hobgoblin hit the ground. Groaning, it began to push itself up...it was dazed, but not defeated. It turned towards Femus, and behind its mask its eyes actually seemed to glow with rage. Once again it snarled and brandished its long, skeletal hand--just as Nira shot it in the back.

The Mana Orb let out a crackling sound not all that dissimilar to the actual electricity spells, and once again drove the hobgoblin into the dirt. This time it was face first, however, knocking off that eerie facemask and revealing a somewhat regular, though scarred and wrinkled, hobgoblin face. And this time the creature did not get back up.

With the monster dead, Femus didn't get to use the next phase of his plan. But at least the threat was gone now...or at least, this particular threat. One could never be too safe out here...
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by King Cosmos
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King Cosmos

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Mana Sense, as it turned out, was very useful for this sort of experimentation. He could clearly see the natural golden tint of the pebble in his hand as he held it, signifying its earth-aligned Mana. He could see the bluish-white vapour of his own, unaligned Mana flow out and gather around the stone as he suffused it with energy. He could see the stone be filled with this Mana, before the bluish-white began to turn gold as well as the unaligned Mana was converted to Earth Mana within the stone.

There was a flash as he threw the stone and the system helpfully informed him of his rapid skill progression, but it seemed that one or two attempts alone weren’t enough. He used Lesser Force to the pull the pebble back to his hand and began to send his Mana into the stone again, observing it with his Mana Sense until he saw the uncoloured energy turn gold. From his two previous attempts he could say with near certainty that physically throwing it was more effective than trying to propel it with Lesser Force; the flash of light as he released it seemed to be indication of that.

With a fully charged pebble in hand, Oberon reared back and once again hurled the stone at the ground. This time, however, at the moment of release he tried sending another burst of Mana into the stone to send it on its way, overcharging the pebble with Mana at the last second.

Regardless of whether it worked or not, Oberon would take a moment after this attempt to restore his Mana with Gather Light. As he let his reserve of magic power refill he watched Torrent’s own practise, watching in surprise as she began to fire bullets of light from her mouth like a machine gun. He activated Magic Analysis and Mana Sense and observed the spell in action; it looked like another breath-based skill and if he had to guess it was a Light-based ability like his Light Ring. While spells of that type weren’t much use for him, that didn’t mean he might not learn something interesting by analysing it.



@Zeroth
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Kazemitsu
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Kazemitsu The Dragon

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Trent gave some back talk which earned him a growl. "Ya never thrown a damn rock before?! We're in a cave with numerous rocks!" Asura exclaimed with annoyance. He took note of the black miasma and stuffed a pseudopod into the deceased rats skull before expanding it, breaking apart the head entirely and slurping up its brains in the process. "A narrower passage may just help more. Also make sure to make the bodies utterly useless." He continued speaking from the hole.

He oozed out of the hole in a burst of speed as he moved. He narrowed himself down, looking like a snake, and kept low to the ground. Slithering out of the way of the Poison Spits flying at where he was. Was the core seeing through all these eyes? How was it processing all this information at all times?

Without going into overdrive and expending his Stamina, the group really didn't have the best damage output. System, Health and Stamina levels? He thought as he changed to his humanoid shape. His arm arced back and he launched one of the javelins he stole with Throw Item at the pixie. He doubted it'd hit but it'd draw attention to himself while leaving the others more free to do what they needed to do.
Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Jollan
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Jollan "let's devide by zero!" / (queue apocalypse)

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Miiba was surprised when the glowing mass talked to her, "G-Glow-ball talks!? She took a timid step out of her corner towards Danny. "Big meanie attack cuz no want friends hurt! Is still mean though.... threw tree at Miiba when first say 'hi'. Wha! B-but you jump wall! Not even knock or call! Is rude too! .....and how do it? Miiba an Mr. Lear make sure wall good all day!" Miiba exclaimed, that wall should have been impenetrable! Well, to her anyway. "Wait, you and friend? Miiba no see other thing," she started, but her train of thought was cut off by hearing Mira call for her. Nearly at the same time as Danny, she called out to them, both of their voices coming from the cluckle coup. "Miiba find glow-ball in chicken home! she called out, however, Miiba had one more bit of info to add on. "No see glow-ball friend though!" she shouted after her last statement before looking back to Danny with her head tilted. "Is friend also glow-ball? OH! Is friend color same or no!? Is there a PINK glow-ball? she excitedly asked.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Rune_Alchemist
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Rune_Alchemist Absolute Depravity

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~Temporary Campsite~






Hmm, seems like her 'Stronger I' skill negated the negative penalties from the class she choose. Interesting, and good. Her focus turned back to the Mana Slice in her hands. A new...symbol? The 'Pound' sign? Was it a missing number or was it something else? Ash narrowed her eyes at it. Seemed like every time she felt like she figured something out, something new reared its ugly head. With a click of her tongue, she shoved the thought aside for now, focusing back on what she wanted to do earlier.

Putting her dual cast skill to use, she formed the 'Poison Splash' spell in her claw, observing it like she had with Mana Slice. Assuming this was sort of the 'Mana Orb' version of a poison spell, she should theoretically be able to make it into similar spells and shapes as the base Mana spells, yes? Or close enough to be functionally similar. Obviously something like liquid poison may not have much cutting power, but having other spells for reference and building on it was a basic scientific step. Plus, it'd be good to make this skill far higher. If she could reach a point to cast numerous spells at the same time, that would be a very good thing.

Focusing on the Poison Splash, Ash began trying to change its shape, hopefully that Mana Shape skill coming in handy. First, she tried to mimic and copy the shape of Mana Slice into the Poison Splash, first condensing it and cutting down on excess particles in order to give her the same amount in the Mana Slice. Next, she would move the three square particles into position. Actially...would a slice even be useful? For flesh wounds, but what about armor? No, focus one thing at a time.

Next, she would attempt to force those oscillating lines into position if they hadn't already automatically connect, and finally using Mana Shape in order to try and help it maintain its shape.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Duthguy
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Duthguy Someone who can't spell Dutchguy

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Danny took this time to think of what to say to the Goblin, she had some good points after all. "Yeah he isn't the nicest person around but it did sound like he only attacked to protect his ..friends." He would have guessed Geir was defending his family but he decided to go along with what she said. "As to how I got across the wall I can float like most "glowballs" or poltergeists but I used a rope so the wall is still in one piece. We didn't yell or knock because we weren't sure you'd hear before we were over the wall and once we were in ... the meanie attacked us when we showed ourselves." That wasn't 100 percent true, since Danny took the time to hide his gear first but he figured that it would be easier to explain that to someone a bit older. "Yeah you did find me here but you can see I didn't hurt the "chicken", can't you?"

Honestly Danny was really relieved the bird survived what he assumed was Jason draining it's mana which was why he pointed out it was alive. "Yeah its just the two of us though so I guess he is hiding somewhere else. And no he isn't a glowball but a Slime. I did see a pink glowball though, but that was a few days ago and it was the only pink one I saw."

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Haeo
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Haeo One Who Listens Deeply

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@Stabby@Zeroth

Femus breathed a sigh of relief, but a quiet one. The attacker was dead, a hobgoblin. He stopped and took stock of his condition. Then, confirming that he hadn't been hurt at all, he made his body flash a harsh green like that of a traffic light to indicate to Nira that the area was clear without raising his voice. The noise of the fight should have frightened other threats away for the time being.

Now wasn't the time to be slow.

Femus examined the hobgoblin, using his own knowledge of anatomy as well as his Monster Analysis skill. Then, he moved to the herb patch and examined the plants in the same manner, first with his own limited ability to assess them and then with his Plant Analysis skill. He also looked around for any dew that might linger on the leaves from the morning. He didn't want to have to drink hobgoblin blood to sort out his thirst. He would drink any dew he found and decide after completing his analysis of the plants. They were so close, so very close to being able to leave this place. With thirst solved and the seeds of the Blue Yill collected it would be time to go.

Waiting here would only invite trouble to find them.
Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Gardevoiran
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Gardevoiran The Forbidden One

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Level 10. Heck yes.

"Hey guys, uh, I just hit 10. I got a glitchy option for evolving too, almost like it doesn't... well, exist yet." Digbie offhandedly said, sheathing his new Steel Arming Sword and passing yet another bag to Ash. She could use that one too, in case she wanted to carry a lot more things almost like Digbie was. He stepped over to the stream and cupped his hands full of water, allowing himself a decent drink so his thirst would be quenched. He snacked on one more Rat Jerky to fill up his stomach, too, before he stood in the center of the camp.

He took a moment, placed his Prayer Book in front of him, Maiden Effigy on top very neat and central, and he sat in a criss-cross position. A little awkward for him, since his legs were definitely longer than most other humanoids his size, but it'd be fine. He gazed over his skills and realized that 11 points was... actually quite a fair bit of wiggle room for him. Not only that, but he had a few skills almost ready to level from there. Regardless, he knew what he was going to do. He allocated three points into Point Strike, first, just to polish that off. Moving along from there, he dipped 7 points into Spiritual Awareness so he could hopefully protect himself from any ethereal threats and such. Lastly, well, he didn't have a ton of anything to use, so he'd just pocket that last point. Who knows, maybe he'd find a good use for it later.

Once his points were allocated, he looked over at Oberon. "I'm gonna evolve. I think I might need you to check in on me after this is all over. Odds are... I might need a nap, heh." Digbie smiled to the group before he closed his eyes and began to meditate.

"I'm going to evolve into the Palablin. Jehanne... please protect us as I evolve, as I cannot do so for my friends in this short time."

Hopefully, with everything right, the Yill on his head would bloom into glory within a few minutes.







Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by SilverPaw
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SilverPaw

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Asteria



Asteria curiously peeked at the human priest from within her barrow. She used her Magic analysis skill when he produced a weird white mist to get rid of the smell, and once again when he obviously used magic to manipulate the earth. He buried only the human bodies, while he carelessly grabbed the monsters’ ones and tossed them onto his cart. Asteria cocked her head to the side, suddenly curious what kind of relationship the bandits had or how they’d even come to form such a mixed group. Perhaps such a thing was common with thugs and the so-called proper citizens didn’t get involved with monsters? It was certainly something to keep in mind for any potential future encounters with humans.

Finally, the rat trio journeyed out to the bandit shack. Eerie clicking stilled Asteria in her path. Turning her head to the source of the sound, she saw one of those Myrminor menaces. She sucked in a breath, keeping watch of it. However, the insect did not seem to be aware of them. She’d been only half-listening to Ed, but finally took a moment to respond in a quiet murmur. “Let’s skip it for now. We don’t want to make our presence known to the bandits, or invite more trouble. We can always deal with the bugs later,” she said.

Since Ed seemed to be fine with either option, they decided to pursue the bandits without detours. They approached the shack quietly, and as they closed in, Asteria activated both Muffle and Suppress presence, willing to sacrifice some stamina and mana to remain undetected. The only advantage they had was that they were unexpected attackers, and she wanted to use that fully. She still kept her ears perked, aware of the potential of the Myrminor Scout following them, but also because they should soon start to get hints of bandit presence.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Old Amsterdam
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Old Amsterdam Coven Witch

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Torrent laughed as she ended her beam, a gleeful yet childish sound, before she spun around excitedly. She had done it! It had been awkward, very much so, but she had done it!

"Thanks, Ash! That really was all it needed, with a little bit of push behind it too! I couldn't have done it without you."

As Digbie set himself down to evolve, she cocked her head thoughtfully. Ash had gone into cover and she had been able to stand guard outside, but this would be a little harder to just stand outside an entrance when he was sitting in the open.

Moving closer, she sat with her right side to the stream and worked on drawing in the sunlight for mana again. She would do less intensive experimentation this time so that she could help focus on Digbie.

When she got the notifications that she was full on mana, she'd make sure she had enough distance from Digbie before she focused back onto her experimentation with the Void. Pushing away the mana, the power, the air, everything from a point in the center of her mouth, she repeated her previous attempts that had ended in failure. This time, however, when it got to that point where she couldn't breath and it threatened to burst inside her own mouth, she quickly tried to form a small layer of mana around the Void, forming and shaping it and holding it, and she attempted to push the Void out towards the stream.

Using Magic Analysis on the result, if there was one she could analyze anyways, she returned to drawing in sunlight as she pondered how to utilize the void.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by ReusableSword
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ReusableSword The Mighty.

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Ardur The Mighty Hipixie
Dodge, Dive, Duck, Dip, and Dodge > Time for a swim /// Adventuring day 5 // Evening / Location - The Shimmering Pool

This engagement was taking far too long, this war of attrition where the core definitely had more resources. This sword wasn’t absorbing the energy as quickly as he had hoped and now he was surrounded. “This sucks, I hate this game of tag.” He thought, his wings where tired and his stamina was starting to get lower. “This new life is hard.”

Changing up the game was what he needed to do, power wasn’t going to get them out of this strategy might. Or just pure randomness. For now Ardur chose to be random. Seeing the crackling energy of the enemies around him with the sword behind him. He was still going forward and the dam undead where still keeping up.

Surrounded on almost all sides with little left to go. One way he hadn’t tried yet, down. With a deep breath he dropped, dropped until he was under water and kept going. He swam down for a few more seconds before swimming back towards the shore. Honestly he had no idea what new dangers where in here or if the Wisps would attempt to follow him down into the swords domain in the first place. Getting to shore now was likely his best bet, at least his wings could rest now.

@Zeroth
@Kazemitsu

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Guy0fV4lor
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Guy0fV4lor Retaker of The Holy Land

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@Zeroth@Duthguy@Jollan

Though it was painfully obvious that the Goblinette that found them was a fellow reincarnator, there was something... Off. She wasn't like the rest of them. Jason could tell as much from the get-go. But the way she talked wasn't right. She sounded young. Even younger than Digbie. That demon king bastard has an awfully fucked up sense of humor... Jason thought to himself as he looked her over. This must've been the goblin Geir had mentioned; Miiba. She was clearly too well fed, clothed, and armed to have been a prisoner. Had the farm's residents taken in a goblin? If they did, it made sense why Geir wanted to kill the "unusual" monsters himself instead of calling in backup. Since this reincarnatior was so young, Jason figured Danny wouldn't have much of a problem convincing her to act as if she hadn't seen them, so they could leave.

Mira called. Danny and Miiba answered simultaneously.

If Jason still had eyes, they'd have popped out of his head. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." he muttered audibly. "I hope you know what the FUCK you're doing Danny..." Jason growled at Danny, "If shit gets heated again I'm not sure how much I can help."

He frantically eyed Mira and Geir. Though their souls were clearly getting closer, they didn't seem to be in that flared 'combative' state that they had earlier. Breathing a sigh of relief, Jason focused on his meditation. He knew the earth had power. That it's power tended to gather and withstand. Danny had also mentioned something about mana particles at one point?

Jason focused as he pressed against the soil. His [Meditation], the natural replenishing circulation of his mana; his flow, as one might call it. He spurred it forth, into the earth to activate that stored golden energy and sweep it back into himself.
Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Stabby
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Stabby Flicker/Fall (A Devourer)

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~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
@Haeo@Zeroth
. . .

Glad to no longer be thirsty and a little less glad for the redundant notification, Nira's attention was able to fully focus on the situation at hand. But as she prepared to help, she saw Femus's attacker getting blown back. Her companion's new spell looked to be quite effective even if it hadn't taken the opponent out. With the mana orb becoming tougher to restrain though, she had little time to focus on her previous thought. She was surprised at how it seemed to be building up power the longer she held onto it.

As the thing got up from being blasted, Nira took aim at it's back to make sure she wouldn't miss and fired, the spell crackling like electricity as it shot into the attacker, driving them to the ground. In the process its mask was knocked off to reveal a scarred and wrinkled, but otherwise regular hobgoblin face. Just as she was starting to relax again, she saw Femus light a up a bright green for a moment, which made her tense up in confusion for a split second as she tried to figure out why he'd done that. Realizing quickly that he probably meant to communicate that things were fine, Nira sighed and Fluttered down to the fresh hobgoblin corpse, speaking up as she did so.

"Maybe you could give a short briefing on what your color signals mean before you go using them next time? Gave me a little jump, though probably not as big of a one as this thing gave you." She said as she lightly kicked the arm of the now dead hobgoblin. Looking it over, she realized that some parts of its cloak were likely still salvageable, which would mean they would have some cloth they could use if need be. Looking around for a sharp stone, Nira picked up the best one she could find and went to work on trying to distinguish the uncharred parts of the cloak from the charred ones before using the rock to rip them off in pieces. Speaking as she worked, she aimed a question at Femus. "Are you doing ok by the way?"

Nira color=a062de
Echo-Voice color=a187ae



Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Zeroth
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Zeroth

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Monster Party

Oberon was getting better over time at guessing the various aspects of different magics, as he became more familiar with various elements and the flow of Mana itself. He had seen by this point that his natural or Energy-type Mana was converted to the Earth element after suffusing the corresponding physical matter, and that in the case of the pebble there was only so much it could hold before ambient Mana simply leaked out. Trying to move it with Lesser Force had accomplished the simple task of getting the object from point A to point B, but hadn't actually unleashed the power accumulated inside it. The intention of throwing it somehow made a difference--would Lesser Force have worked, perhaps, if it could simply generate more force? It was, after all, only Rank I at this point. But regardless, the Sprite had been able to discern the difference and focused his efforts on the parts of his experiments that had shown the greatest results thus far. Concentrate energy, fill the stone, launch it, and release the energy. The next step this time was to overcharge the pebble, in an attempt to perhaps "condense" the power inside it--there was only so much it could contain, but did Mana have the quality of density like air, water, or other fluids that could be manipulated as well?

With a fully charged pebble in hand, Oberon reared back and once again hurled the stone at the ground. This time, however, at the moment of release he tried sending another burst of Mana into the stone to send it on its way.

A golden flash signified the stone's release from his hand, and the entire pebble glowed with the same colored as it rocketed off in a manner reminiscent of the Mana Orb. It shot across the clearing to impact a tree with a loud crack, shredding a section of the bark before the pebble's own surface gave way. Dust and fragments of rock fell back to earth, but so did several leaves shaken free by the impact.

As he spread his wings to restore his mana, Oberon felt the tingle in his hand where he had released the stone. He was starting to recognize some of the subtle differences in feeling between the other types of Mana he had used, and the Earth element.
Skill Gain: Stone Shot I (0.7 > 1.0)!
You have learned to charge a piece of stone with your energy before hurling it at your opponent. This attack does blunt, piercing, and Earth-elemental magic damage. It consumes less MP than most spells, but requires ammunition.

Skill Rank Up: Gather Light I > Gather Light II (1.95 > 2.0)!
Mana Recovery Speed increased, roughly equivalent to Rank I Meditation. Under a full moon, this skill can now activate at half its normal speed. At high noon, this skill's recovery is 25% faster.

New Transformation Option:
(Adolescent) Koropokkuru (Very Low Variant Chance) - A diminutive spirit of the wilderness, associated primarily with the elements of nature and earth but sometimes found near water as well. As they thrive in healthy environments with good soil and many plants, they are said to sometimes help other races capable of agriculture. Typically not that violent, they can nonetheless be dangerous due to their knowledge of the lands and survival crafts.

  • Lose Wings
  • Increase Earth Affinity (reduced)
  • Increase Skill: Growth (reduced)
  • Slightly increase all base stats
System:Oberon


Perhaps Ash should have become accustomed to her never ending quest for knowledge at this point. To answer one question, but open the door for myriad more...was that not simply the scientific process at work? When Robert Hooke first became the father of cellular biology, gazing through the early microscopic lens, coining the term for the "cell," the smallest component of biological life, did that not open the door to the infinite possibilities of evolutionary theory? The mapping of the human genome? The entire field of microscopics? As an accomplished woman of science herself, maybe Ash had begun to take for granted all the foundational knowledge she had in the old world. Here, in this new place, with a new form of knowledge that did not behave in accordance with all the laws of nature--but clearly had some structure of its own--she had to start from scratch. How many of these discoveries she made, were being made for the first time? If someone, or something, else had come across this knowledge, collected it and gathered it...how could she make contact with them?

Putting her dual cast skill to use, she formed the 'Poison Splash' spell in her claw, observing it like she had with Mana Slice. Ash began trying to change its shape, hopefully that Mana Shape skill coming in handy. First, she tried to mimic and copy the shape of Mana Slice into the Poison Splash, first condensing it and cutting down on excess particles in order to give her the same amount in the Mana Slice. Next, she would move the three square particles into position. She would attempt to force those oscillating lines into position if they hadn't already automatically connect, and finally using Mana Shape in order to try and help it maintain its shape.

The spell took the form a purple, crescent shaped blade much like Mana Slice...except that its "edge" was still wavy, not quite solidified. Though she had the bits and pieces of the magic in the same places, they weren't reacting quite the same way...still, by force of will, she managed to hold it. So her Poison Splash spell had taken on a new form...how would this change its function?

You are experiencing a Rapid Rate of Skill Progression.
System:Ash


You have consumed Rat Jerky. Your hunger is now Sated.
Your thirst has now been Quenched.

Skill Gain: Point Strike I (1.0)!
With a discerning eye, take aim at an oppenent's weak point and concentrate your own power into a single point of attack. Slightly increase the power of any attack, and gain an increased chance for a Critical Hit. Using this Skill in conjunction with other attack Skills, however, may cause it to lose effectiveness.

Skill Gain: Spiritual Awareness I (1.0)!
You have become more aware of the spiritual side of the world. This will affect your interactions with certain types of spiritual monsters such as non-corporeal Undead. At this rank, you can only detect a hint of the spiritual world. There may also be other affects of this ability... --This Skill syngergizes with your Guidance. The signs of Major Spirits may become clearer...

Skill Rank Up: Guidance I > Guidance II (1.9 > 2.0)!
You have prayed or otherwise sought the guidance of higher powers on a frequent basis, and some of those powers may recognize your piety. The signs of Major Spirits may become clearer--the more specific your prayers, the more help you may find. --You know of the Divine Spirit, [ Maiden Redeemer Jehanne ]. --You possess the Skill Spiritual Awareness, increasing your ability to percieve the signs.
System:Digbie


Digbie allocated all but one of the Skill Points he'd gained by leveling up, and refreshed himself before he sat down in ordered fashion. Like a proper acolyte preparing for a great ritual, he readied himself. He had made his decision. Like in his dream, where he had seen the potential of all the different beings that rose from a Goblin's path of transformation, he now chose the bright, beautiful...and unknown light. He was stepping into new territory. The Palablin, until this moment, seemed to have never existed before. What could this hold in store for him...and for others of his kind?

"I'm going to evolve into the Palablin. Jehanne... please protect us as I evolve, as I cannot do so for my friends in this short time."

And as soon as Digbie closed his eyes, his body slumped. His breaths deepened, but his muscles began to twitch every so often, like a dog that kicks its feet in its dreams...

He had never been able to recall it with true clarity the first time, but now that he was once more floating upward, the visions of his first transformation all came rushing back to the Demigoblin's mind. The things he had seen back then--the cavern's interior, the forest, the curling smoke trails, the deserts and mountains, all of it--even those terrifying things--were crystal clear for this moment in his mind. But now things had become so different...

They were farther North, so he could no longer see the cave where he had been reborn. He could still see all the trees of the forest, far below him. To the east, a particularly large tree glowed a light green color, bright enough that it seemed like a lighthouse beacon from here. Even further north, he could almost feel the same clouds of cold and snow he could see, and the howling winds that spun them round and round an even darker and deeper forest.

To the West, he could see the small shape of Guze and his captives making their way up the mountain ledges--and then immediately his vision swept up to the great scar across the mountains. It was as if some blade of impossible size had sheared off its tip. The rocks there were blackened yet smooth, with a glossy appearance. Within this smoking crater, many lights glittered. He had risen even higher by this point, so he couldn't pick out any details among the small figures moving in groups along the slopes and the ring of structures they had erected along the lip of the black crater...

Still higher he went, drifting through clouds. To the north, not as far as the ice and cold, a river meandered down out of the mountains. To the east, beyond the forest and the emerald glow, a sparkling lake. Even further in the west, and somewhat to the north, over the ridge of the mountains there was a tower like a mighty tree reaching up to the heavens. Its roots, too, stretched deep, deep into the earth. So far to the east that it became west again, a lonely, cold, desolate island where red lightning split the sky. Further beyond that, marshlands and mountains and untamed, wild lands.

He rose higher. A world, a planet, rotated thousands of miles an hour, yet from this distance appeared as no more than a soap bubble. A great city, too far from here to see, had called for him before but now it was silent. The island's red skies still held him in sway. And a bright, comforting light from the stars far above seemed to reach out for him...

He was more aware now than he had been the first time he had seen this vision. Aware enough to know things were different. Aware enough to try and put something together. Aware enough, perhaps, to do something...?

Skill Gain: Gather Light I (0.9 > 1.0)!
Under full sunlight, convert solar energy to Mana. You may move at a slow, relaxed pace while using this skill. Any blockage of sunlight will immediately cancel this skill, and it may not be used in conjunction with Active skills. Its Mana Recovery is slightly slower than Meditate.
System:Torrent


As Torrent sought to recoup her energy, something finally clicked. She felt the light warming her scales trickle inward, as if hot water was running down her body...from the inside. And now, like with Meditate, she could feel her Mana pooling somewhere in her spiritual center and recovering. This must be the same skill Oberon had gained, being able to use the sunlight as a power source. For a cold-blooded creature, it seemed quite suitable.

Her next experiment with the Void Blast spell would see that it took less effort to accomplish what she had worked so hard at before. "Creating" the void by separating all the elements within a space now happened much faster--and with some focus, she tried to use her Mana not to add or take away from the void, but simply to separate the Nothing from the Everything. Like drawing on plain white paper to create a definition of a shape, she formed a sphere of Mana around the Void, and released it into the world once more.

A black, spherical, yet ever shifting emptiness floated out of her mouth. It made a howling, sucking noise, and the barely-visible sheen of her Mana bubble cracked like glass. With a rushing noise and a pop, the Void imploded in a crackling black mist. But this didn't seem like a failure, really--a large amount of air and dust had been displaced over the stream. What might have happened if a target, or a creature of flesh and blood, had been in the vicinity of that implosion?

You used Magic Analysis II!
---Void Blast (Incomplete)---
An incomplete spell. You've created a shadowy void that creates a vacuum force once it interacts with outside forces. It does not seem to destroy matter or energy, but it nonetheless eats away at whatever it interacts with at a rapid pace to create a limited implosion.

LEVEL UP! Your combined experiences have culminated in new power! Your Max MP has increased! You are now Level 10! You gain Skill Points to distribute as you please!

Unused Skill Points: 16[[OOC: 5 left over from last level up, +5 normal level up, +5 for Christmas/NewYear/Hiatus bonuses, +1 for 1500 posts bonus]]

Current Skills:
Stun Fang II (2.325)
Muffle III (3.0875)
Poison Spit II (2.0)
Poison Glob II (2.1)
Fireball II (2.0375)
Stealth Kill I (1.2)
Minor Recovery I (1.0)
Fire Resistance I (1.25)
Rabid Fit I (1.05)
Meditate I (1.7)
Tremor Sense I (1.9)
Soil Manipulation I (1.55)
Underground Movement I (1.55)
Monster Analysis I (1.725)
Magic Analysis II (2.55)
Material Analysis II (2.1875)
Plant Analysis I (1.1875)
Scale Shift I (1.7)
Overwork I (1.0)
Analysis (--)
Mental Resistance I (1.25)
Spell Cancel I (1.05)
Sensory Resistance I (1.0)
Dual Cast I (1.1)
Guidance I (1.15)
Wurm Breath I (1.35)
Aqua Stream I (1.15)
Fog Breath I (1.05)
Wind Breath I (1.0)
Frost Breath I (1.1)
Blunt Resistance I (1.0)
Breath Beam I (1.0)
Gather Light I (1.0)
<UNUSABLE>
Crafting (0.2)
Alchemy (0.4)
Alert (0.5)
Warcry (0.3)
Poison Fang (0.3)
Smash (0.2)
Magic Break (0.1)
Suppress Presence (0.9)
Spiritual Awareness (0.6)
Prehensile Tail (0.1)
Fortify (0.5)
Spell Chant (0.4)
Focus (0.9)
Flame Burst (0.5)
Slash (0.2)
Curse Word (0.3)
Stronger (0.1)
Dragon Affinity (0.7)<CANNOT BE INCREASED BY SKILL POINTS>
Air Read (0.4)
Faster (0.2)
Rock Spire (0.6)
Lucid Dream (0.2)
Mana Drain (0.4)
Mana Sense (0.2)
Mana Vision (0.1)
Gravity Well (0.1)
Void Blast (0.9)
Silhouette (0.1)
Deception (0.1)
Throw Voice (0.2)
Quake (0.1)
Mana Shape (0.5)
Plasma Ray (0.025)

YOUR BODY IS BEGINNING TO CHANGE! You are undergoing Transformation! Based on your life experiences, your ability to survive, and the strength of your will, new paths have appeared! Choose carefully--there is no going back! WARNING. THIS PROCESS WILL LEAVE YOU TEMPORARILY VULNERABLE.

OPTIONS (* Indicates Suitability):
**(Adult) Lesserwurm (High Variant/Low Variant/Low Variant/Very Low Variant/Very Low Variant Chance) - Related to dragons, but still a cold-blooded reptile, this creature burrows through the earth and fills the enclosed spaces around its prey with poisonous fumes. Its lengthy body is quite fast and deceptively strong, and its ability to shed its skin somehow allows it to heal more quickly.

  • Increase Potential
  • Slight increase to base speed-stats
  • Increase Minor Recovery (reduced)
  • Increase Poison Breath (reduced)


***(Adolescent) Pygmy Drake (High Variant/Low Variant/Low Variant/Very Low Variant/Very Low Variant Chance) - Stunted, pesky cousins of greater drake species, this creature has a poisonous stinger on its tail rather than a breath weapon and glides more than it flies. Nonetheless it is somewhat clever, and mages sometimes keep it the way someone might keep a pet bird.

  • Slight increase to all base stats
  • Increase MP
  • Increase Lesser Flight
  • Increase Mana Orb and Dragon Affinity (reduced)
  • Gain hindlimbs, Gain wings


*(Adolescent) [Snaketail] Kobold (High Variant/Low Variant/Low Variant/Very Low Variant/Very Low Variant Chance) - Small, reptilian creatures with odd primate characteristics like upright spines and grasping limbs. Quite similar to Goblins, often competing with them for the same territories and resources. Some individuals have other characteristics--the Snaketail Kobolds are often said to have the power of Greater Serpents flowing through their veins. Their lower bodies are replaced with long, muscular tails that are still capable of upright locomotion. While this is different from the draconic origins most Kobolds claim, it still gives them greater potential to rise in stature within a tribe.

  • Slight increase to speed-related stats
  • Increase Light Equipment Skill (reduced)
  • Gain Access to Job System: 0th Tier


**(Adolescent) Forked Snake (High Variant/Low Variant/Low Variant/Very Low Variant/Very Low Variant Chance) - A deceptive creature, said by many to be a degenerated form of the various multi-headed serpents like Hydra, or even the great Balaur. At first glance, it appears to be a snake with three heads--but two of these heads are actually modified forelimbs. While they have some use as sensory organs, they do not contain an actual brain or their own wills. They lack fine motor skills, but can still be used for some forms of grasping and grappling prey. Like a mundane lizard's tail, in times of crisis they can be detached and will eventually grow back. They also have working mouth and digestive parts, and can even be used for Breath attacks.

  • Increase HP
  • Slight increase to base-power and base-defense stats
  • Increase Minor Recovery (reduced)
  • Lose fore claws


*(Adolescent) Drake (High Variant/Low Variant/Low Variant/Very Low Variant/Very Low Variant Chance) - A subspecies of dragons that many believe was once domesticated in the past, bred to be manageable by their tamers but still retain some of their ancestor's power. However, this comes with a drawback that its body is not as heavily muscled and its scale layers are lighter. It is quadroped and lithe in nature, comparable to foxes or wolves.

  • Increase base-defense stats
  • Slight increase to base-speed stats
  • Increase Chosen Breath (Options: Poison, Wurm, Fire, Water, Frost, Beam, Acid, Mana)(Reduced)
  • Increase Dragon Affinity (reduced)
  • Gain hindlimbs


**(Adolescent) Knuckerling (High Variant/Low Variant/Low Variant/Very Low Variant/Very Low Variant Chance) - A juvenile form of the Knucker, a type of lower-rank Dragon. Knuckerlings, like their larger cousins, tend to inhabit wet and underground environments. They are of an almost amphibious nature, akin to a mundane salamander (not the elemental Monster), and breathe through their skin. The biggest difference between them and a true knucker are their sizes and the lack of wings.

  • Slight increase to base-power stats
  • Increase HP
  • Increase Poison Breath (reduced)
  • Increase Dragon Affinity (reduced)
  • Gain hindlimbs


*(Adolescent) Hearthwurm (Variant Chance) - A fiery reptile that has basked in ambient Fire element Mana, and adapted to be more suitable to those environments. They will find the warmest spot possible to absorb energy before they engage in a period of activity. If the surroundings are warm enough, they can even go without sleep for extended periods of time. Dwarves and other races with established metallurgy find them especially annoying as they can clog the workings of various forges and machinery in their search for heat.

  • Increase Fire Affinity (reduced)(slightly boosted)
  • Increase Fire Resistance
  • Increase Fireball
  • Gain hindlimbs
System:Torrent



PixieSlime Party

"Ah..." Trent looked sheepish for a moment. "I, um, don't guess I've ever really practiced with throwing weapons..." In the moments after he cut the slime in two and Steve had trapped the pixie, while Asura dealt with the rat in the tunnel, Trent bent low and planted his torch in the dirt. This freed his shield hand to grab a rock, which he hurled at a Wisp just as it started to swoop down. The boy missed, true to his statement, but it caused the Dungeon's assimilated minion to loop-de-loop back out of range instead of launching its own attack.

The Amorphous Slime mutilated the Dire Rat's corpse and destroyed the center of its nervous system in both the base of the neck and its brain. The black miasma that had been gathering around its body caused it to twitch once, then faded away...only to condensate above the tunnel's opening just as Asura oozed out. A Ghost Wisp flickered into existence as the slime was dodging the three Poison Spits, then blasted him with its one and only Mana Orb from behind before it too faded. The pain from this magical attack distracted him, and the Zomblin's poisoned javelin struck his Bowhorn Shell head-on. A piece of the orbital socket broke away, taking a fragment of the cranium with it. With a grunt Asura hurled back the javelin he'd taken earlier, spearing the assimilated Pixie just before it could pull itself free of Steve's webbing. The creature screeched as it died--but immediately began to pull the pointed stick out of its own chest as its purple eyes turned black and its muscles twitched unnaturally.

Then Steve used her legs to pull two tiny, barely visible threads. Its Thread Control skill activated, and the Web Spit she had used to trap the now-Zombified Pixie before began to tighten. The Oculus Spider used her other six feet to slowly pull herself back, but even that was barely enough with the arachnid's strength. Still, the pixie's throat, shoulders, and knees began to collapse inward--and with a final jerk and pop, Steve managed to strangle and mangle the body before it collapsed. A pixie's limbs were no more sturdy than those of a human doll, perhaps, given its size, and the spider monster had succeeded in essentially popping all its extremities off.

HP is at 95%. Your Slime Shell's durability is at 40%.
SP is at 10% > You used Throw Item.
Your Stamina is Low! If Stamina is not restored, Overwork will soon begin HP conversion.
System:Asura


Two Zombie Lizards joined the front row of battle now, and one of them lunged at Steve while she was distracted with the Zombie Pixie. The Oculus Spider and the reptile rolled over and over in a tangle, and it was unclear who had the advantage amongst all their hissing and biting. The second tried to engage Momma Slime, only for her to roll faster than something her size should have been able to do. Wheeling around its lunging fangs, she latched onto the creature's tail.

"Dum lee-zard!" she burbled, before her pseudopod began to whip the creature back and forth, slamming it against the ground repeatedly like an angry green giant with a puny god in hand.

The green slime that Trent had cut in half earlier was beginning to flow back together, but the color of its membrane bubbled and darkened in a sickly way. From behind the group, two Ghost Wisps launched Mana Orbs at Asura, and these did not fade away after the first attack. Another Zombie Lizard, this one more decomposed than the others and bearing a pointy stick through its ribs, was scurrying up to engage the group from the rear.

Up front, from the middle and back rows, another spray of Poison Spit from lizards. Another single Mana Orb from a Wisp. And yet another Javelin from that accursed Zomblin, though he couldn't have many left at this point. And more and more monsters were coming...

Meanwhile, Ardur folded his wings and dropped straight down into the pool. The Mana Orbs flew every which way over his head, and he had precious few seconds before they realized he was in the water and began to fire in that direction. In that time he went deeper, hoping the water would hide his figure in the darkness. Undine cut down another Wisp from behind.

"I have enough Mana now for small spells, on the level of your own, but to be of any real help in this fight I must accrue more power!" The sword moved around Ardur like a fish, and the flat of her blade pressed against him to show him the way towards shore. Once he was on his way she turned back to the cloud of Wisps.

One of them dove into the water to try and find Ardur. Undine killed it. Another only skimmed the surface of the water to look for the Hipixie. Undine pointed herself straight up, and killed it. One of them launched a Mana Orb in the direction it thought Ardur had gone, and Undine breached the surface and killed it. Its fellows were already following suit, however, and as the Hipixie surfaced for breath the crackling bolts were peppering the water around him. One of them struck him in the back, knocking him under for the space of a breath as he continued to kick out and swim for his life.

Skill Gain: Faster I (0.9 > 1.0)!
Your base physical speed is increased! By gaining the skills Harder, Better, and Stronger, Skill Synergy will occur and you will gain one rank of Physical Conditioning.

WARNING! YOUR HP IS LOW!
System:Ardur



Rat Party

You used Magic Analysis I!
---????---
A strange magic is being used in the surrounding area. It feels calming, and within its area of effect seems to be cleansing both physically and spiritually. You think you might have seen something like this before, back in the cave in the aftermath of the goblin fights.

---Soil Manipulation---
You possess this Skill, but its current usage seems much higher in rank. Using magic, one manipulates loose earth. This individual seems to be moving much larger amounts, at greater distances, than you are currently capable of moving yourself. Their mastery seems advanced enough that even larger or denser clumps of soil can still be moved.
System:Asteria


The trio of rodents were much better prepared to both see their enemies coming and move to avoid them now. With stealth skills and higher senses, the party moved through the tall grasses of the plains without the Myrminor Scout becoming ever the wiser. Their journey continued until they were almost within the tree line of the forest again, and soon they could see what was on the other side of the hill. [[OOC: Do they go over the hill, around, etc? Describe in post.]]

What Ed had assumed to be a shack was actually an extension of the hill, into a rocky outcrop that could be more accurately called a cliff. It reached up almost above the tree tops, though the forest had cloaked it in greenery over long years. It sharply sloped downward on one side, but another face was relatively flat and cracked. And it looked like someone had been at work on these cracks and crevices, widening them out until a proper cave of sorts--though nowhere near as large as the cave the rats came from--had been created. In this dugout, which seemed to have more than one level on the inside of the cliff, were moving lights and figures...

On the ground, in front of the cliffside's entrance, a campfire burned. Sitting around this fire were three figures. One looked to be another Hobgoblin, wearing black dyed clothing over most of his form. A hood, with holes cut for his ears, covered his head and strips of cloth had been wrapped around his lower face, his arms and legs, and his upper body. Pants held in place with a rough drawstring clothed his legs, and a black cloak that had more holes and torn bits than it did whole ones draped his shoulders. He was sharpening a knife made of stone in the light of the fire. The other two figures were still goblinoid, but bigger, more muscular, and hairier. It was like looking at Rattleskull all over again--Bugbears. They were even armed very similarly to Rattleskull. Planks of wood had been lashed together to form awkward shields, and they were wearing boxy armor that looked to have been made from more planks over their torsos. Woven vines and straw made primitive belts, sandals, and headbands. Each of them had a thick stick of wood in hand, mounted with a sharp wedge of rock.

Further away from the fire, the entire campsite had been fenced in with simple logs and sticks planted in the ground or tied together with vines. It wouldn't keep any livestock in and could be easily climbed over or rooted under, but it seemed the point was just to slow down any attackers before they reached the base.

Within this fence, but to the right side of the trio at the fire, a much sturdier wooden cage had been built. And in this cage was a single occupant, a creature that neither Asteria or Ed had ever seen before.

Its mottled green-gray skin was pale, and while it was a little bit taller than the bugbears it was also lanky, almost emaciated. Its ribs were visible under the skin. Its long arms reached past its knees, and even if the cage hadn't been too small for it, the creature had a hunched, crouching posture. Its fingers were long and tipped with savage looking claws; its feet were broad with rough soles and thick heels. It had long black hair falling down its shoulders, but the mane had obviously never been washed and rarely even brushed. A crusted, blood stained blindfold covered its face. An iron collar was shackled around its neck and chained to the bars of the cage. A big stone had been chained to each of its legs as well, and while they currently dangled freely, there were chains on its wrists as well. The monster was chewing on an old bone, occasionally sniffing in the direction of the fire where the others sat. If it ever made too much noise, one of the other three monsters would spit a curse at it, or throw a coal from the fire. The pale beast would lurch from even a spark of the flame with a snarl and whimper.

Inside the entrance of the cliff, another thin plume of smoke wafted out. There was a smell of something cooking, probably meat. This smoke must have been winding its way inside the cliff's passages as well, as about 15 feet up on the left side of the rocky outcrop another trickle of gray ash wafted up. There was a balcony of some kind built of ramshackle wood here, and a rough-hewn stairway going up onto the cliff's flat top. The rats could just see the edge of something over the plateau, something that looked a bit like a pile of straw.

How many bandits were in this camp? How many were humans and how many were monsters? How well did they work together? What kind of threat did the represent?

And what were the rats going to do about it?


Deep Forest

As Nira cut 3 sizeable pieces of Black Dyed Cloth from the cloak, Femus looked over the corpse of their enemy. Just from what he had seen before with the other Hobgoblin that ruled the tribe--which raised the question of where this one had come from and what its status was in the tribe?--the Wisp could tell that this creature had probably been a bit smarter than the average gobbo. It would have ambushed him, if not for his Alert skill. Most Goblins weren't that sneaky about their hunts, or if they tried to be they often weren't very good at it. It was rather odd, in some way, that the creature was using another goblin's skull and arm as its own weapons or accessories. Now that Femus thought about it, he had never seen any of the skirmishes between the goblins become fatal. They killed other creatures without abandon, but any match between fellow greenskins never went past first blood in the majority of cases. So how had this one even gotten the bones in the first place? Maybe that was why he hadn't seen it in the tribe before now--was it some kind of goblin criminal? Did they even have the concept for such a thing?

You used Monster Analysis I!
---Hobgoblin---
These advanced goblins develop darker skin colors, their former green bodies turning a shade of the forest or changing tint slightly to blues or browns. They are a foot taller than goblins on average, and while their proportions are similar their extra mass shifts towards a more wiry, muscular form. With greater intelligence but about the same level of maturity, if Goblins can be compared to vicious children then Hobgoblins could be mean-spirited teenagers. Their faces become slightly less ugly, and they grow more hair much like various humanoids.

You used Plant Analysis I!
This green herb does not thrive on sunlight, but on ambient Mana. With good nutrients and clean water in its surroundings, it will synthesize pure healing energy. Low-grade item.
System:Femus


The herbs that smelled slightly of mint seemed to be the ones that had healing properties, and at first glance it was hard to tell them apart from just any old plain fern or leaf. But there was definitely a subtle difference to them apart from the scent. Drinking dew from the plants finally seemed to quench the Wisp's dry throat, but it still wasn't a prime source of fresh water. And with the day rapidly approaching noon, most of the dew was dried up at this point.

The Blue Yill had not produced any seeds yet, but just how fast could he have pushed its growth with his magic? After all, it often took real crops an entire season to go to seed. But the presence of magic in this world kind of threw a wrench into "regular" common sense. The blue flower had sunlight, good soil, he had boosted it with magic...what hadn't he done yet that might speed up its cultivation?


Farmstead

Skill Gain: Earth Vein I (0.9 > 1.0)!
By remaining still and in contact with the earth by at least two solid points of your body for a short amount of time, you can begin passively drawing Mana from the Earth to refill your MP. Moving other parts of your body can drastically decrease the effectiveness of this skill. This skill cannot be used in conjuction with other Active skills. --Your lack of a physical body drastically reduces the effect of this Skill.
System:Jason


"What's going on, Miiba!?" Mirabelle and Geir came into the back yard, both looking equally out of breath. In Geir's case it was likely because of the struggle he'd had with Jason, while in Mira's it might be chalked down to the fact that the magic user was just not so physically fit as her companion.

"You!" Geir suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Miiba by the scruff of her potato-sack dress, picking her up off the ground. "You said you didn't have any goblin buddies, huh!? Well these two say different!" He held her up until she was practically looking Danny in the eye on top of the chicken coop. "One of you is lying about the goblin raid, and I don't trust either one of ya!"

"Geir, wait!" Mira was fishing in her pouch for a green lense, much like a more refined version of Danny's Source Crystal Shard. "Where's the undead? And you!" She pointed at Danny, and Jason would be able to see her aura intensifying. She seemed a far more accomplished magic user than ol' Crispy had been. "Why did you attack this place? If you're like Miiba, then you should know some kind of human sensibility!"

As always, this situation could rapidly go very badly, very quickly. The magic user seemed to have some method of finding Jason, who was relied on his invisibility for a great deal of his battle advantage. And her spells would likely do much more damage than Geir could swinging an axe. At the same time, the big lug hadn't gone down nearly as easily as most targets Jason tried to soul-fight, and could probably kill Danny in one good shot if it came down to it. This Miiba goblin was like them, a reincarnator, but she seemed incredibly young and despite being allowed to shelter here, obviously wasn't fully trusted.

What would each Reviver do?
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Kazemitsu
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Kazemitsu The Dragon

Member Seen 1 day ago

The message the System had sent made Asura start to worry some. Nevermind that Trent had never practiced throwing things before. Whatever, it was time to learn. "I'm low on Stamina." He called out as he started using Stamina Furnace, he had been consistently eating high energy fatty things. So he used all the mana he could on the contents of his 'stomach' to replenish some of his Stamina.

System, list new Skills. He thought as he was belted with a Mana Orb from behind. So if something died it just turned into a ghost wisp? No choice on spiritual form? Or was this because these were no-name mook monsters? Another javalin struck, but it hit the bowhown skull instead of him, saving him some damage and poison. It was less than half durability, but it was serving its defensive purpose.

The living pixie got skewered and came back pretty much immediately as a zombie, but was promptly taken care of by Steve. Strings of squishing were effective considering spider silk had the tensile strength of steel. He doubted a single thing in this cave could contend with those threads.

Still his low Stamina was a little worrying. But he had gotten...something, when he tried to actively drain Stamina. It was orange, so maybe it was Stamina and Health? Doubtful, but still it was something to try while killing these mobs. By now Mother Slime was just going full bonk mode on a poor lizard. "Destroy head, Mother Slime." He called over as he moved back to engage the enemies coming from the rear.

As he moved he Smashed the body of the reforming Slime, probably a Necro Slime now, to send it flying into the water. He thanks whatever gods might be around for the luck of all these wisps and ghost wisps not being able to lead a target. Or having homing options. The rear wisps whiffed the fast moving slime as he rapidly approached the Decomposed Lizard. He had low Stamina, so he raised up his stolen javelin and attempted to pin the undead reptile to the ground with it.

From here he tried to...send his spirit he guessed? To try and grab the Lizards energy. Mana, Stamina, hell even its health, he tried to drain it of everything that made it function. But it was hard to describe how one would do that, was it his spirit? His own Stamina or energy? His actual life force being weaponized?
Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Duthguy
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Duthguy Someone who can't spell Dutchguy

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Of the two humans the girl seemed the more reasonable but it was clear that she didn't trust Danny at all and Miiba only slightly more. Her questions were reasonable but he wasn't sure if he should give away Jason's location. When the girl pulled out a sour crystal shard though Danny knew his friend was likely to be found anyway.

Still he did his best to stay calm and answer as much of her questions as he could without giving the wrong impression. "While my friend and I did sneak over the wall we didn't attack anyone. In fact your friend went on the attack the second we revealed ourselves and told him what we knew about an upcoming goblin attack He was getting angry just thinking about it but he took a deep breath.

"That said he clearly wants to protect everyone else living here and we did look suspicious. During the fight I mainly dodged his attacks, threw sand in his face and dealt with the ax he used thanks to point strike but I never actually hurt him, Jason might drained some of his mana but overall Geir should have a lot of health for someone attacked by two monsters. If you don't believe me try analyzing him with that source crystal, or analyze me it should say there is something unusual about me because like Miiba over there I'm reincarnated." Danny really hoped they knew the truth about the Goblin girl but he couldn't imagine any other reason they would allow her to stay around.

"As to where Jason is I don't know, he told me to run here and probably drained mana from that bird over there but I haven't seen him since."

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King Cosmos

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Well, that hadn’t been the evolution option he had expected to see, but the fact that a new option had appeared at all proved that his theory was correct. His transformation options were tied to the things that he had learned or done; each elemental variant of his original Pixie form was available due to his learning of various magical spells, while Hipixie was probably a generic transformation that all Pixie’s could get. The same was probably true of the others in his party, though he hadn’t seen what other options were available to them; Digbie evolved into a magically focused Demiblin because he was learning magic as well, whereas if he had focused on physical development he might have become a Hobgoblin or Orc, while Ash and Torrent had received or perhaps just chosen different evolutions of the Fanged Lizard because of how they had developed up until this point. Torrent would probably gain a transformation based on her breath attacks while Ash evolved into a Winged Kobold because of… whatever it was she was doing.

In the end it didn’t change his mind about what to evolve into, but it was interesting to know nonetheless; he would evolve into a Sprite and gamble on the fact that he would receive at least one variant for his troubles. Digbie was evolving as well, which gave him pause; he didn’t want everyone except Ash to be evolving at once lest she be forced to watch over all of them with no help; Torrent seemed to still be focusing on her experiments however, so it should be safe for him to do so now. “I’m going to evolve as well. See you soon.”

Oberon retreated to the cavern they had dug in order to give himself some form of shelter from danger while he was vulnerable; he trusted the others to look after him, but there was no reason to take chances or make things harder on them. He settled down in more or less the same spot he had slept in last night and lay down on the dirt floor. “System: Select ‘Adult Sprite’ transformation.”



@Zeroth
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by ReusableSword
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ReusableSword The Mighty.

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Ardur The Mighty Hipixie
Time for a swim > A short Rest /// Adventuring day 5 // Evening / Location - The Shimmering Pool

The water was cold, the sounds of the fight over head slowly drifted away. Ardur opened his eyes as he swam down. The water was a blur of blue with flashing lights floating overhead. He was getting tired, he had already received several hits, his mana was low, and he had an inkling in his mind that Steve was in trouble. This fight was definitely not going to be easy.

Continuing to swim towards the shore the sword twisted itself around him and spoke once more. All he could do in return was nod. Now his chest was starting to feel like it was about to explode, he hadn’t gotten that much air when he dove into the water. Bursting through the surface for air he was greeted by a bright flash, sizzle, and then pain. The system did not hesitate to notify him that his health was low now. At least he got a new skill, a new skill that didn’t mean a dam thing if he died.

Quickly the High pixie cast Minor Healing I on himself and with several deep breaths dove back under the water. This time however he did not swim to shore. Instead he closed his eyes and let the cold stillness of the water envelop him and his mind. Attempting to slow his heart rate to conserve his oxygen while also attempting to use the same techniques he had used in acquiring Meditation I to pull the ambient mana in the water into himself.

This he would try for a little while. Going up for air only two or three times and sinking back down each time. He was confident in the swords ability to protect him from any of the wisps that would be lured down. Ardur was well aware that he could not attempt this forever and after getting air the fourth time he would attempt to swim under the water towards the shore and back to the group.

@Zeroth
@Kazemitsu

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Femus studied the information he received. This was not likely to be a hobgoblin from the tribe that surrounded them. It was likely to be either a criminal or a member of a very different tribe. However, the first seemed far more likely. The further information about hobgoblins in general didn't seem terribly important for the moment. The herb, on the other hand, was quite significant. It had potential to be quite valuable. Pure healing energy condensed in a plant that doesn't need light had a great deal of potential.

He sighed before answering Nira's comment while she worked. "Doing alright. Visual signals need planning. But, these plants are good for healing." He said while picking one to take with him. "There's a lot of look-alikes but this is the real one. None good for water though."

He was going to keep talking and relay more of his guesses... but he found himself suddenly suppressing the urge to curse. It was a patch of herbs. Plant reproduction... most plants can't reproduce alone. Bringing one Blue Yill to that point was a waste of time unless there was another nearby to pollinate it. He still had one left but it would probably take more mana to restore and develop since he'd been carrying it that much longer.

"Forgot pollination, feeling stupid." He said quickly as he headed back to where the first Blue Yill was planted. "Let's go with green for safe, red for danger, and yellow for caution. We can develop more complex signals later. The faster I get this done, the faster we can leave... hopefully before we get attacked again... or have to eat him." He finished, clearly indicating the hobgoblin with some mild distaste. They really were filthy creatures.

Arriving at the Blue Yill, he took the other one that he had still been carrying and shifted the soil to make a shallow hole about six inches from where the yill stood. Into this he planted the broken end of the other Blue Yill's stem before raising his voice loud enough for Nira to hear. "Nira, if you can, could you please get some water to these two plants it might help speed this along. I didn't have any real luck finding any."

After he finished speaking, Femus concentrated on duplicating his previous performance. Using Growth and pouring mana into the weakened Blue Yill to help it take root and return to health. Again, he would meditate as deeply as he could to rapidly restore his mana when it ran low before resuming his work. After gaining the same level of ground, he would fill his mana and try something more complex.

His next experiment would be trying to use Growth in brief bursts on each plant to encourage them to reproduce with each other while also trying to use lesser force to carefully move pollen from each flower to the other and checking both with Plant Analysis every time he had to stop to meditate. If he succeeded in transferring pollen, he would resume his efforts to speed the internal processes of the flowers to produce viable seeds as soon as possible. Time was of the essence, as was efficiency. He had to get this done quickly so that he could simply bag up the resulting seeds along with a healing herb or two and be ready to go. Femus felt an impossible to define sense of urgency. They had to go. He would have time to do further herb cultivation once they had a better campsite.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Guy0fV4lor
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Guy0fV4lor Retaker of The Holy Land

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@Zeroth@Duthguy@Jollan

From what Jason could guess, the difference between Geir and Mira's souls provided far more insight than just the size of their mana pools; like he'd initially thought. The thickness of a creature's soul was likely tied to physical attributes, like endurance, and strength. Akin to pressurizing a canister, the more robust the containing vessel, the denser it's contents could be without risk of rupturing. Could spirit class undead have no mana cap simply due to their distinct lack of 'container'? It was an interesting thought, but not something he could really explore at the moment. Brightness was most definitely a representation of a creature's magic stats. Likely related to how conductive an individual's meridians were to ambient mana. Mira's soul was large and bright, but was noticeably translucent. This showed that while she had high MP and magic stats, her SP and physical stats were lacking in comparison. Geir however, had a soul that was thick, yet somewhat dim and noticeably smaller than that of Mira. Meaning he high SP and physical stats, but lackluster MP and magical stats.

While pondering such revelations might lead to some rather interesting discoveries-- the situation was quickly escalating once again, the fact that there were now TWO potential enemies standing before the group of reincarnators did not bode well. Especially when one of these enemies more than likely had the proper tools to combat ghosts.... Once Jason glimpsed that green source crystal Mira had produced, he knew she'd be able to see him. With how poorly undead were likely viewed in a world such as this, getting spotted would more than likely be kill-on-sight. Not only would she be able to see him-- but also receive insight on his skills and abilities. If just being undead wasn't already bad enough, the two ranks of [Taboo] he possessed would be the final nail in the coffin.

But then, an idea reverberated through his mind like the ring a bell.

But what if I wasn't necessarily undead?

He stared at the soil beneath him as he gauged his probability of success; his mana was around 90% 'full' (if he had to guess), he had the skills [Earth Vein], [Spiritual Awareness II], [Meditiation], [Transparency], [Guidance], and most importantly-- [Possession]. He aimed to replicate the events that had occurred when he'd had his strange dream, and learned of Onogoro. But this time, he would commit to the new body that had begun to take shape.

Jason thrust himself into the earth; just as he had in the forest, stirring up soil and dust in his wake. Enveloped in darkness, he entered a focused [Meditiation]; silencing his senses, sinking as deep into the depths of the earth as he could in the few precious moments he could afford. Jason's mana surged within him as he activated [Guidance], "Onogoro, I ask for your wisdom-- that it may guide me. That I may take on the unyielding form of stone!"

Jason activated [Earth Vein]; like a final gasp for air, that he could align himself with the mana of the earth as final preparation for the oncoming change.

"POSSESSION!"
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