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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Old Amsterdam
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Old Amsterdam Coven Witch

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"I can evolve as well, but I want to finish this spell first. It's really important." Torrent announced her intentions as Oberon joined Digbie in evolution, keeping her attention up to their surroundings while she thought about the skill. It seemed to work, but something just hadn't quite clicked yet. Was there a way to cause the implosion that happened, and that's what was holding it back? She had managed to contain the Void, to harness it with the information from her experimentation and from the beings in her dreams. Which by itself was progress.

Progress which had led to her leveling up. Thinking about it for a few moments, she put 10 points into Plasma Ray, 1 point into Suppress Presence, 4 points into Rock Spire, and her final point she put into Focus. With her points used and what she was about to do, perhaps it would change her evolution possibilities? She didn't know what these "variant" things were, but she felt like she had one for every element that she had? So maybe they were connected to those, but she couldn't be certain. And what would count as an element, anyways? Was Fog an element or a combination of them?

She wouldn't have considered Void to be one, but here she was harnessing it even if it was through abstract means. And the beings had said that it was the absence of things. So maybe it wasn't an element exactly.

She needed to go deeper tho.

Centering herself, she focused on the process of creating the void sphere again. But this time she took what she learned to make the Breath Beam, and how she had learned to control the air and earth and water around her. What was mana except another thing she could control? That had to be the missing piece of the spell, the reason why it was incomplete despite working seemingly perfectly.

It wasn't meant to collapse by itself. That had to be the answer.

So when she released it, she maintained the barrier around the Void until the orb passed by the tree she had taken aim at. And like flicking a switch she stopped, dispelling that energy that contained the Void. And she analyzed the result, as always.
Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Gardevoiran
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Gardevoiran The Forbidden One

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From up here... well, the world seemed very small.

Digbie watched the tiny little ball of blue underneath him in the cosmos. It was... well, almost an incredibly surreal experience. To think that Digbie simply started this main adventure in hopes he could dig to his heart's content, and now here he was, evolving. Not only evolving, but being in a state of heightened awareness as he evolved. He could do something from up here, but what would he do? Surely if this was the situation he was in, he could do so much to help him and the others he traveled with, but that wasn't what he was feeling.

He could do so much, but he found himself going back to the same idea of what he wanted to do. He wanted to ask about what he was doing, what he was turning into, and why he had managed to do this. He had a lot of questions to ask, but he could only muster one.

"Am I doing the right thing, Jehanne?"

After a small pause, Digbie asked again.

"Am I doing the right thing... anyone...?"

After a moment of waiting, Digbie looked back at the planet he rose from, and stretched his hand towards it. Maybe he could cover it with a Sacred Ground, all the way up here...?







Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Searat
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Searat The Aqueous Rodent

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Edward Marsh



Ed’s demeanor soured as he looked at the bandit camp and the denizens. It seemed that he overestimated the impact of killing five of the bandits on the group as a whole. From the look of things, there were multiple levels to the cave and with it numerous figures and lights. Definitely more than what Ed expected, but hopefully they can still manage to pull this off without issue. "There were more of them than expected, but our objective still stands. Scout the area for vulnerabilities and, if we can afford to do it, begin picking off bandits guerrilla style." Ed whispered to Asteria before he thought back to the myrminor they encountered wandering a little ways back from the encampment.

He remembered how those pesky, but tasty, little bastards had a knack for tracking down the pheromones from their dead and had a brilliant idea. He could kill the myrminor and smear it’s blood around the bandit camp and wait for other myrminors to pick up the scent. Maybe even use the creepy bastard they kept in a cage against them. If things played out well enough with this plan, they could cripple the defenses of the bandits even before they needed to bloody their hands. Though they would have to deal with the remaining bandits along with the myrminor stragglers at the end of it all, a victory is still a victory.

"Hey, Asteria. I got a plan. Its kinda stupid but it might work to our advantage as well." Ed said softly before using his claw to draw on the dirt to make a crude map of the camp. "I’m gonna kill the myrminor we saw earlier and smear its blood around the perimeter of the camp. The pheromones should attract more of them like how ants are attracted to their dead back on Earth.” Ed uses his claw to draw Xs on where he planned to smear most of the blood before looking back to Asteria. ” I’m gonna ask you to do some sneaking and identify weaknesses that we can use against them. Hell, maybe we can use the creep in the cage to make a mess of them while we wait for the myrminors to come. Nonetheless, make sure to stay safe and out of sight. And, if things go sideways, we meet up back in the barrow, alright?" Ed says with a nod before sneaking back to where the myrminor was to kill it. Likely with his stone dagger or claws to ensure the majority of the blue blood isn’t wasted.



Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Rune_Alchemist
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Rune_Alchemist Absolute Depravity

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~Temporary Campsite~






Fast rate of skill progression? Excellent. That meant she was doing something right.

Ash focused more on the spell in front of her. It was staying together, but it wasn't quite 'connecting' just right. The Kobold made a thoughtful hiss, trying to determine what the next step would be. Easiest would be to simply fire it off and see if it replicated in the exact same way. Assuming it'd work similar to Mana Slice, it'd be an excellent poison delivery method.

hmm, no one step at a time. Make the base then refine it into something better later. Cutting corners made something weak, and theories shoddy.

Still, perhaps there was one more thing she could do. Ash stopped the dual cast, focusing all of her attention on the one spell she was attempting to create. She began spinning the 'edge' of the liquid, attempting to rotate it faster and faster, trying to make the 'edge' itself sharper through the movement of the liquid poison itself...and then attempted to fire it at the nearest tree.

She'd watch the outcome of the spell, and regardless of the outcome she'd then turn her attention to her companions.

More could evolve, too? Hm, excellent. She gave a nod towards Oberon, noticing Digbie had likely already began. Torrent was...what was Torrent doing?

Ash curiously looked on, using her Mana Vision, Magic analysis, and Mana Sense on both Torrent and the Air around her. What exactly was she attempting to do there?
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
. . .

Tucking the three sizable pieces of cloth under her arm, Nira responded. "I managed to complete my water orb spell, so in a pinch we can use that, since I quenched my thirst with it before your whole fight happened. I can try to teach you how to use it too if you want. And those signals sound like they'll work." Looking over the dead hobgoblin, Nira had to agree with Femus's assessment, both on its ediblity and how they should probably leave. Though they were doing ok, this wasn't much of a safe area to begin with. Finishing up the last of their skills and then leaving would probably be for the best.

But then a thought hit her as she realized something. If they left, she wouldn't have a chance to tame the pixie she had interacted with the other day, at least not for a while. The necessary skill was on her list of unusable skills, but like with what she figured out while learning aqua orb, she was sure that she could get the skill up to usable if she just put the right thought and effort into thinking about how it worked. About to speak up, she heard Femus's request for water.

"Sure. I kinda want to stay for at least another day or so though, if that's ok with you?" Walking over while speaking, she cast aqua orb and tried to gently drop it onto the ground between both the yill and the disturbed patch of ground that she could only assume was where the other plant was. "I've got the taming skill at 0.1 on my unusable skill list, but I think I can figure it out and tame that green haired pixie from the other day soon enough."

Thinking back on her skill list while listening to Femus's response, Nira realised she had another question, "By the way, you mentioned that I should learn mana control to protect me from mana overload. But you never said anything about how you learned the skill."

Nira color=a062de
Echo-Voice color=a187ae




Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by SilverPaw
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SilverPaw

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Asteria



Asteria surveyed the bandit base, noting that it was not a mere shack as she had expected it to be. It was a whole cliff-side, dug out to who knew what extent? There were only three enemies outside, and one captive prisoner-beast, but there were sure to be many more within. Asteria used Monster Analysis on the poor tortured creature. Seeing it, she immediately wanted to free, get it in better working shape, and ultimately working for her. As she stared at it, she couldn’t help but wonder if there were other prisoners they could break out and use against the bandits. They’d need to go scout inside to find out…but a trio of them was a bit much for that task. Besides, if there were no other prisoners, they’d need something else to counter all their numbers.

Just as she was considering that, Ed related his plan. With a raise of her brows, Asteria noted, “Great minds…” with evident surprise in her tone. Not because she didn’t expect the ratman’s plan – she already knew how clever he was – but because they’d come to rather similar solutions. “Hm, no, it's not stupid. We do need more manpower, and since we can’t get allies or mercenaries on short notice (not that we have the money to hire anyone),” she said, muttering the last part, “luring more of those infernal insects here is the next best thing,” she concluded. “I’m all up for sneaking in and getting the layout. I would certainly like to try and use the Pale Beast for our own sake, though I believe it may be too scared of the goblins to act against them. But there may be some other prisoners inside,” she said with a mild shrug. “Agreed. Take Mother rat with you. If you don’t see me when and if you return here, go straight to the barrow. I’ll do the same if I won’t sense your presence upon my return,” she assented.

She then activated Muffle II and Suppress Presence I, and while Listening intently, made her way to the bandit base. Asteria went to the left, avoiding the caged beast on the right side for now. She trailed on the outside of the fence, peering at the trio of enemies to see their reactions. She didn’t wish them to hear her, but if they would, she’d stop and wait to see what they’d do. She gradually made her way to the stairway on the left. At one point, she had to cross the fence, and she chose to burrow and squeeze her way underneath it as quietly as she could. Sticking to the sides and as far away from the trio at the fire, Asteria sneaked her way in the direction of the balcony.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Jollan
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Jollan "let's devide by zero!" / (queue apocalypse)

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Miiba yelped as she was picked up, hugging tot he sheathed knife she was given, not drawing it still. She screwed her eyes shut, possibly from still being a bit afraid of the blue glow ball she was being dangled in front of and because Geir was scaring her. "Miiba left mean gobs, Mibba no know glow ball. There no two- eh? W-what that?" she said looking to the dirt that was starting to get kicked up where Jason was trying to merge with the dirt beneath him.

It was at this moment, Miiba noticed it was a bit breezy. "Aaahhh! Put Miiba down! Down! Miiba dress ride up! she protested as Geir continued to hold her by her dress.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Zeroth
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Zeroth

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Monster Party

As soon as Oberon 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 Sprite'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. The light turned to fog towards the tree's base, and tendrils of this eerie mist spread out in a web that covered a particular area of the forest in almost a precise circle. 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. Among them were red flames and metallic gold gems, the lights of elements he had grown familiar with. 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--or could he? It seemed like the fogs of magic were thick in places along the mountainside...

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. The magics here were barely even glimmers, like looking at stars through a bedroom's frosted windows--yet to be seen from hundreds of miles away, did that mean the powers in that place were so great? 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...who was that? He could see, almost within arm's length of him, a shining figure nearby...was that...Digbie?!

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...?

Gained Skill: Plasma Ray I (1.025)!
A powerful, advanced spell of Fire, Energy, Lightning, and Wind elements. A pulsating bolt of energy is projected to utterly incinerate the opponent. It may cause a Burn. It can be conducted through certain materials. It has a property to pierce defenses. It has a range of ten feet, and can be maintained for a higher MP cost per second. Its power is much greater than a Rank I spell of any of its component elements. Warning - This spell's MP cost is too high for your current level! Usage may cause Mana Burn!

Gained Skill: Suppress Presence I (1.0)!
Using your magical power, you subtly mask your presence from the senses of others around you. By comparison, it's a similar ability to those shy people who seem to disappear at the corner of the crowd's vision as they hover in the corner.

Gained Skill: Rock Spire I (1.0)!
A basic Earth-aligned spell that creates a sharp spike of stone by drawing loose or broken fragments of earth out of the ground. It deals more damage than most level one spells for the same MP cost, but requires that solid earth be within the user’s range of sight or perception. Solid earth can include soils and sands, but if the ground is too solid it increases the MP cost of the spikes as new fragments of stone must be broken off. The spike is created beneath the targeted area, object, or creature. One drawback of this is that the flash of Mana produced as a side effect of driving the energy into the earth might alert the opponent. Does Piercing and Earth Magic damage.

Gained Skill: Focus I (1.0)!
By spending at least 30 seconds focusing before using an offensive Skill or Spell, you can increase its damage or range. At this rank it is comparable to increasing the power by one rank (eg Mana Orb I to Mana Orb II) while also increasing the MP cost by half again (spend 1.5x Mana Orb I's cost).

Gained Skill: Void Blast I (1.0)! --You analyzed this spell--
A basic Shadow Spell. --Unlike elements that mimic the properties of states of matter, or manipulate natural forces, Shadow is considered one of the Abstract elements. Darkness is only the absence of light, as cold is only the absence of heat.-- Like lightning that causes superheated air to expand, a collapse into the vacuum left behind follows to create thunder. In the same fashion, Void Blast strikes a target with concentrated Shadow to create a disruption. --You've seen the spell Mana Orb, which is roughly equivalent in power and MP cost.--

YOUR SKILLS ARE CHANGING!
-Due to your unique methods, combination of skills, and individual growth, you have unlocked a new path for your skills!-

Do you wish to merge Muffle III, Scale Shift I, Stealth Kill I, and Suppress Presence I into the Hybrid Skill: Stealth Mode?
---Stealth Mode---
By silencing one's movement, reducing one's presence, decreasing the senses of one's enemies, using deception to hide one's intent, or removing oneself from sight, one can hide in many ways from many forms of detection. Those who have practiced doing several of these may eventually learn to do so simultaneously. In a manner similar to entering a "flow state" when hyperfocused on an activity, this Skill allows one to enter the Stealth Mode at will. Stealth Mode consumes both Stamina and MP at a higher rate than other stealth-related skills, but can be maintained passively even while using Active Skills. If one's MP and Stamina are high enough, the cost may be higher "numerically" but less draining on each individual resource than the source skills which only use one resource. An attack that strikes in Stealth Mode is much more effective. However, once a potential target becomes aware of the user, the skill's effectiveness decreases drastically. This skill may still not overcome certain other detection skills, such as heightened senses or magical wards. Such opposition to other Skills requires higher ranks.

This Hybrid Skill will CONSUME the four source skills, and they will no longer be available. The Hybrid Skill's Rank will be I at (1.75).
System:Torrent


As Torrent continued to try to master the Void Blast's first stage, she finally succeeded. The next time she released the spell, a solid black sphere of "nothing" erupted from her maw. It struck the tree like a fist, and the "implosion" acted much the way a concentrated "explosion" of that size would--it produced a powerful force, that impacted the tree like a blow from a mace. Visually, it looked like the air and the tree's bark warped for a split second, like heat waves coming from asphalt, then the wooden surface cracked and the trunk shook. And as her Skill Points were spent and her Magic Analysis relayed information to her mind, Torrent felt a headache coming on as the System regurgitated Skill after Skill into her mind.

In the...spiritual?...realm, Digbie reached out for the tiny blue sphere beneath him. He attempted to focus on the circle, the planet below him, and cast Sacred Ground--only to immediately feel pain shooting down from the center of his brainpan all throughout his body.

WARNING! YOU ARE OVERDRAWING YOUR MP!
WARNING! DANGER MAY INITIATE DISRUPTION!

WARNING--
SY573W:D1G8I3


The pain stopped. When Digbie opened his eyes again, bright light had overtaken everything around him. As if someone had turned the opacity on a digital image down to only a fraction, he could still see the planet and the vastness of space around him...but he had been enveloped, embraced, by this light...

The embrace shifted, and the light drew away. It caressed Digbie's shoulders, and turned him...and he saw her.

She stood taller than any Human, in either World, Digbie had seen. Her skin was pale, yet tinged with pink like the rarest of pearls. Her hair was silver and fell down her back in voluminous, shining waves, yet it gleamed and glittered with a shroud of gold dust. Her form was beautiful, pleasing in every way and yet possessed of a quality that moved it beyond an object of lust or even romance to the elevation of high art--the kind of beauty that made one's breath catch, a thousand times over. Upon her brow sat a crown of interlocking dove's wings, feathers fluttering in an unseen breeze along with the transparent veil that fell back over her shoulders. She wore purest white, an elegant gown belted with gold chains and laced with cream silks, and though her shoulders were bare her arms were covered up to the elbow with bridal gloves. Her eyes were a bright, warm yellow, a summer's sun at mid-morning.

"What do you think is the right thing, Digbie Yonder? Many times, even as we ask, our body trembles with the answer we already see...whether they be the tremors of relief, or fear." She spread her hands, beckoning Digbie forward. "A new path is now open to you. You must only trod it. Even so, we all walk with a single step at a time. What shall your first be?"

Digbie somehow knew what choices he had. He could kneel at her feet, and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for the dark powers he had tampered with...the powers that, suddenly, as he even thought of them, he could feel watching...and hating...

Or, he could ask Jehanne for her blessing. He could mark himself by her power, though it might not erase what he had done thus far...yet.

You have 1 Favor that is yet uncompleted, but Jehanne is benevolent and merciful. She forsees great things for you. To gain greater Blessings, you must seek Favor.

Jehanne's Shroud (Lesser) - Increase resistance to the powers of the Light (1 Favor)

Jehanne's Protection (Lesser) - Increase resistance to the powers of the Dark (1 Favor)

Jehanne's Boon (Lesser) - Increase your Strength (1 Favor)

Jehanne's Gift (Lesser) - Increase your powers of the Light (1 Favor)

Jehanne's Grace (Lesser) - Increase your Magic (1 Favor)

Jehanne's Rebuke (Lesser) - Smite those of true guilt with a single, mighty blow (1 Favor)

Jehanne's Virtue (Lesser) - Heal those of the faith to close lesser wounds (1 Favor)
7EH4ZN3:DI6B1W


Digbie could suddenly feel the world pulling at him so far, far below. He had a choice to make, and little time...

Meanwhile, in the waking world, Ash continued to refine her spellcraft. She allowed the Mana Slice to fade away, though her MP still drained, and turned her focus completely to the imitation poison blade. Refining it, changing the shape, changing the way the magic moved...Her mental "fingers" poked and prodded, until the structure of the spell seemed to suit her needs. As she settled back and prepared to fire, she noted that the current set up just 'felt' right for some reason. The purple, hanging crescent in the air suddenly seemed to solidify. Along its edge, violet fumes began to hiss. She let it loose at a nearby tree, coincidentally the same one she had just seen Torrent cast a ball of black magic at, and the poor plant's bark was suddenly cleaved as if by the blow of a woodsman's axe. The inside dripped and sizzled with poisonous acid much like her own spit.

Gained Skill: Poison Slash (0.7 > 1.0)! --You have analyzed this skill!--
A Poisonous equivalent to Mana Slice. Though it has a lower chance to poison the target compared to other poison attacks, in addition to the dual acid-poison damage types it also deal slashing damage to the target. --It is more effective on softer, fleshy targets, but unlike many other poison spells it can deal damage even to well defended enemies, rather than splashing against them with little effect.-- It has a higher speed than many other rank I spells but costs slightly more MP than Mana Slice.

You used Mana Vision I, Magic Analysis III, and Mana Sense II!
--Void Blast I--
A basic Shadow Spell. Unlike elements that mimic the properties of states of matter, or manipulate natural forces, Shadow is considered one of the Abstract elements. Darkness is only the absence of light, as cold is only the absence of heat. Like lightning that causes superheated air to expand, a collapse into the vacuum left behind follows to create thunder. In the same fashion, Void Blast strikes a target with concentrated Shadow to create a disruption. You've seen the spell Mana Orb, which is roughly equivalent in power and MP cost. This spell is of the First Rank. It is not directed towards you, but there is hostility in this spell, as it is obviously offensive magic. You can sense a split in the mana's concentration, a duality between separation of elements and containment of power.
STRUCTURE:
S1
System:Ash



PixieSlime Party

<Recent Unusable Skills>
Steal Stamina (0.2)
Use Light Equipment (0.1)
Mana Sense (0.1)
System:Asura


As Asura activated his Stamina Furnace, he felt that sizzling sensation from before in his gut. The corpses he had been devouring thus far weren't in the freshest or most nutritious states, but luckily it seemed like Slimes were much less prone than other creatures to things like food poisoning. Still, it was a slow process, even as the speedily digested energy spread through his membrane in light orange, pulsating particles. Like an electrical current traveling down a nerve, spreading out like spider's web.

The other monsters were still moving, closing in in ever-growing numbers. Another Zombie Lizard and a Wisp moved forward to replace the other creatures the party had killed. Behind them, just a few strides away, the three Zomblins and another trio of Wisps were incoming. As the spear-chucking Zomblin remained in the back, a Zombie Pixie, a Slime, and an assimilated Fanged Lizard remained around him. The other three Fanged Lizards who had been laying down volley after volley of poison spit were trying to reposition themselves, crawling up the wall that formed one side of the choke point. Whether due to a lack of strength or stamina they couldn't get very far up, but this change in angle still gave them an easier time lobbing their projectiles out over the party.

Asura was belted with a Mana Orb from behind, while Momma Slime screeched when the rear-attacking Zombie Lizard's poison spit splashed onto her after hitting a nearby rock. She hadn't taken full damage, but even a graze from those attacks carried with it the possibility of a status-inflicted death sentence. The armored Zomblin's javelin struck Asura's skull, further wearing it down. The creature immediately began to load its spear-thrower again, but its store of ammunition seemed to be at least half gone.

The two Ghost Wisps that were also attacking from the rear let loose another pair of Mana Orbs. One was targeting Asura, while the other tried to snipe Trent from behind. The human was taken by surprise between his shoulder blades, but thanks to his gambeson only seemed to pitch forward like he'd been shoved by a heavy hand. The Wisp in front of him that stopped to take aim was once again caught by Steve's Web Spit, and fell to the ground. As Trent slammed the tip of his sword through its body, there was a loud crack from Momma Slime nearby--the Zombie Lizard, now headless and with a much less functional spine, was slurped up into her membrane. Unlike Asura, however, she didn't seem to have a skill that could speed up her digestion or restore her energy. The blue slime hadn't complained yet, but her movements were getting a little more sluggish than usual.

Out in the water, Ardur cast his Minor Heal spell on himself. While the Hipixie had leveled up a lot since obtaining this Rank I spell, it seemed like his base HP was still rather low--the System informed him that his HP was full, although his MP was empty. Still, that meant he likely couldn't take many more hits or he'd be right back where he was before the healing. He dove under the water, seeking shelter from the half-dozen Wisps left in his pursuit...but they had their non-existant hands full.

With just a hiccup of Mana, a slight aura around her blade's edge, Undine managed to leap out of the water. She spun in a single circle with a sound like a lashing whip. She passed through one Wisp's body unhindered. The second slowed her down, but still she cleaved it in two. The third had started to move, but it wasn't fast enough. Despite her edge being off center, she still cut off a good chunk of its body, spilling whitish blood and what must have been tiny, slimy gray organs. The fourth Wisp had moved enough to take only a grazing wound--but given the size difference between them, even this gash would soon bleed out. The mob flashed in distress as it fell into the water, trailing its own dark life essence. Drinking deeply of their energy through her steel, Undine dropped back into the water as two Mana Orbs plunged down after her. The remaining Wisps that had fired them drifted down closer, and by their own light they could see the embyonic figure of Ardur, curled up, as he tried to recharge his mana...

Asura was calling to the System internally, shouting advice to Momma Slime physically, and at the same time trying to figure out how to adjust his Blood Drain skill to take Stamina instead. He started to move towards the creatures that were at their rear, but there was still that Necroslime to deal with--

A Poison Split caused him to pull up short, as it splattered right in front of him. If he had actually been at full stamina and moving at his fastest speed, he would have run right into it. It had come from one of the Zombie Lizards on the "front" row, though now his allies seemed to be moving to engage it. Another Wisp shot at Trent, but he took it on his shield--followed by three more blasts from the middle row before he could press forward. The exposed wood cracked in one place, and the targe's rawhide covering was being eaten away more and more by either magic or poisonous acid. Steve prepared to manipulate some of her threads--just as the Poison Javelin fell from the sky, cracking her exoskeleton. The spider hissed and writhed, but she would live. Wounded and bleeding, but still alive, and still fighting fiercely. She cast her thread like a lasso, roping the Zombie Lizard around its neck and snout multiple times and pulling, forcing its mouth shut before it could launch another attack.

The other zombie lizard at the rear fired another Poison Spit at Asura, and the Ghost Wisps also aimed at him with two more Mana Orbs. After this attack, however, they faded--leaving their ally to face a likely very pissed off Amorphous Slime alone.

As Steve yanked with all her might, surprisingly strong for a spider, she dragged the front Zombie Lizard toward her. Just in time for Momma Slime to roll by with an extended MASH, executing a perfect clothesline that almost literally broke the undead monster in half. Meanwhile one of the Wisps had flown a little too low, and with a mighty exhalation and a long jump, Trent managed to cut it in half with his blade. When he dropped to the ground, he bent his knees low to absorb the impact and also took the opportunity to grab another rock in his shield hand.

Ardur could feel Mana flowing back into him as he meditated...and, unless it was his imagination, he also thought he could feel the water's coolness changing around him. Something like bubbles prickled his skin, but if he opened up his eyes under the water the only bubbles he could see were the ones slowly drifting away from his mouth and nose as he held his breath. But then, a familiar and terrifying sound of crackling Mana reached his ears from above--just before Undine splashed next to him. Her edge rose in a glistening arc like a shark fin out of the water, ending the last two Wisps that had been in pursuit of the Hipixie.

"I've absorbed quite a bit of Mana--more than what that fire-bug Goblin had, but still not my full power. Still, at least at this point I might be able to help you more. Head back to your companions!" The sword's voice was somewhat muffled under the water, but the light from her blade pointed Ardur in the right direction. He went up for air, then he attempted to swim under the water and back to the group just in case any more enemies were waiting up above.

After dealing with the attacks coming at him somehow ((your post)), Asura managed to get to the Necroslime just as it finished reforming its body. As it "turned" to him, he slammed it with a heavy pseudopod. It rolled and bounced across the rocks, before splashing into the edge of the water. Slimes weren't very good at swimming without some kind of shapeshifting ability, and it looked like this undead ooze lacked that ability as it wriggled back and forth, drifting helplessly away from shore.

But it seemed like no matter how many of the horde they took out, more were ready to take their places. The three zombified goblins, a wisp, and an assimilated Fanged Lizard pressed up to the Party. The Zombie Pixie, Slime, and another Fanged Lizard weren't far behind them. The Pixie was now in range to use its spells, and placed a Shield on one of the Zomblins. The Fanged Lizard took a poison shot at Momma Slime, but she was learning at this point and lurched to one side to dodge it. One of the lizards on the wall attacked as well, and Trent's shield took yet another hit. The third lizard's shot at Steve missed, as did a few Mana Orbs from the Wisps. Steve proved to be quick footed, scuttling back and forth and once even jumping up and over an attack.

As Asura sought to close with the Zombie Lizard in the rear, the javelin thrower hurled one more spear at him from behind. Could he even see it to dodge this time?

A trio of Dire Rats, snarling and growling, were coming up around the pond to join the very back row of the monster crowd. How many enemies had the group carved through thus far? How many more were left?

Trent struck the Shielded Zomblin with a slash from his blade, roaring as he pushed the edge through. There was a sound like tinkling glass as the Shield's effects were dispelled, and still his attack had enough power to sever the Zomblin's head from its shoulders. But like Asura and Momma Slime, the human was starting to look tired. Steve bound a second Zomblin's feet with her Web Spit, and Momma Slime once more wrestled down a Zombified Lizard. Using what Asura had shown her thus far, she formed a series of short spikes on one of her pseudo pods and pressed it into the creature's body over and over like a meat-tenderizer, soon pulverizing it beyond recognition.

You have no MP remaining! Stamina Furnace has deactivated.
Warning! Your Stamina is Low! Overwork Skill will soon begin HP Conversion!
System:Asura


As the warning in his head blared, Asura managed to get close enough to the Zombie Lizard trying to flank the group that he could slam his own Poisoned javelin down through its back. How many times had he been struck by attacks now? Though it couldn't move, the zombie lizard still thrashed and lashed out at the red slime with its claws and fangs. They dripped with some odd black substance, corrupted blood of some kind? More poison?

Not too far away, Asura could see Ardur as the drenched Hipixie reached the shoreline and pulled himself up out of the water, gasping for air. And behind him, something in the water was gleaming as it shot straight toward them...

"Asura! Is the rear clear!? I'm not sure how much longer we can last here!" Trent yelled as he blocked one more javelin from the armored Zomblin. Despite having no jaw thanks to Asura, the creature somehow still seemed to be taunting them with a twisted grin...


Rat Party

The two rats split up, with Mother Rat seemingly able to sense that Ed was going on the hunt for something, and choosing to follow him. As Asteria creeped around the camp, she managed to get by unseen...for one thing, while the campfire lit up the area immediately around the Hobgoblin and the two Bugbears, it made the rest of the world outside their little area even darker by comparison. For another, thanks to her two stealth skills and natural size and limberness, the adult Dire Rat was quite sneaky like most rodents tended to be. And for a third, they seemed to be distracted by their own chatter.

"I dun like it, da humies dun even care!" one of the Bugbears complained. "Dey said we wuz all gon' be in dis togedda, since since we's all hates otha humies an' ventures! But dey dun give us da gud stuff, and more of us got killed den dey did!"

"We dunno if da uddas got killed or not. Dey mighta neva come back cause dere ain't nuthin' here." The Hobgoblin in the hood looked up from sharpening his knife, but his gaze wasn't directed towards Asteria. "Boss been sayin' he's gonna show us his powah, but we ain't seen no powah yet. If 'e needs sacrifices, shoulda just gone and caught some Mobs in da woods or sumthin'."

"Grrr. All dis talk makes me hungry." the third member of the group rubbed his furry belly. "When we gets done watchin'? Moon looks a lot higher den it was when we started!" The Hobgoblin looked up, then snorted.

"It ain't neither, ya dum! Look, ya can tells how long we gots if ya look at dat tree dere! When da moon passes dat branch, that's when we's done!" The Bugbear peered up at one of the trees, in the opposite direction of Asteria, for a while.

"...Dat's gonna take FOREVA!"

The fence line ended flush with the rocky, sheer surface of the cliff on the other two sides. After making a full circle, Asteria had learned there was only one entrance inside the hollowed-out chambers on the ground level, and only one exit on the side of the cliff. A rough balcony of sorts had been built up there, and she had seen two figures--one that looked to be human, and the other that might have been another Hobgoblin with another bow. The human had only been seen as he disappeared over a set of rough-hewn wooden stairs onto the plateau of the cliff, but the Hobgoblin was keeping watch on the balcony. The Dire Rat hadn't been able to see into the chambers yet, though, and had no idea how many there might be...but, if the size of the cliff was any indication, there couldn't be THAT many more bandits around here...If there were these five, plus the five she and Ed had already killed, there couldn't be much room left, could there? What other possibilities might she consider?

And what would her plan be from here?

Meanwhile, Ed made his way back to the Myrminor and once again managed to manuever around it unseen. Mother Rat followed his lead, quickly shifting back into the instincts of a predator no matter how strange her pack was. Once he was in position for an ambush, the Rat Man thought about how best to do this.

He needed to limit the bloodshed if possible, and against an armored foe a blunt weapon would probably be best anyway. He selected his Gnarled Stick from his inventory. But the Myrminors had proven pretty tough before--he wanted this to be over in one decisive strike. Maybe it was time to try out some of his new skills. He took a deep, controlled [Breath.] He tightened his muscles, and felt a new sensation, the buzz of Magic through his body, as he [Strengthened] himself. He wasn't sure if he could use two or more physical Skills at once, but maybe a magical and a physical skill would work okay together? He cast [Mana Strike], thinking the words silently to himself, and felt another hum traveling down his paws. Then he turned all his thoughts to [Smash]ing the bug's brains out.

In an instant, the Rat Man leaped out, weapon raised. The blue light of Mana swirled around his weapon, just as the red crackling light surged up to its head, producing a purple aura that seemed "thicker" than most displays of power he had seen thus far. The Myrminor's antennae twitched as he came down. Just as it was about to turn its head, Ed let out a roar and slammed his weapon down on the base of its skull.

There was a great, meaty crunch, and the bug only twitched. Staying well away from its pulsating stinger (wasps could still sting after they died, maybe these things could too), Ed grabbed it by a couple of its spiny legs and began to drag it. Even for a strength-enhanced rat man, the thing was pretty heavy. It might take him a bit to get back to the bandits...he just had to hope it would take the colony longer to find their comrade's scent trail.

Mother Rat followed, making a chuffed noise. She seemed irritated that she hadn't gotten to participate in the hunt.


Deep Forest

After planting a second Blue Yill, Femus began to use his Growth spell again while Nira provided the water for the plants with her Aqua Sphere. Like the first flower, Femus soon had the second growing and blooming even larger, and with meditation breaks whenever his mana grew low, he soon began to alternate Growing each plant. The water that Nira had drawn with her magic was slurped up into the ground almost like a straw, as the plants rapidly sent roots through the soil. The magical energy put into Growth might, itself, be fueling their cells, but it seemed like the plants did still require nutrients and water--just because a living creature had energy, didn't mean it had the materials. Like protein for building muscle or calcium for bones. Thanks to the teamwork of Pixie and Wisp they grew even faster--and though there was never any bursts of pollen from either plant, at some point both of them began to put off small pods on the underside of their petals...

Skill Rank Up: Monster Analysis I > II (1.95 > 2.0)!
Gain more information about Monsters. Other analysis skills will further boost the information this skill provides, such as a creature’s capability with magic or its equipment.

Skill Rank Up: Growth I > II (1.95 > 2.0)!
A target plant can now be selected within 5 feet of the caster. The extent of quality enhancement is increased, but only one trait of the plant can still be increased. MP Cost is slightly increased.

Obtained Item: Blue Yill Seeds x5!
System:Femus


But now, the warm sun overhead told the duo it was high noon. They had eaten and drank, but very sparsely. When the sun was high like this, some creatures in the forest might take a siesta or pause to sun themselves, perhaps sleeping off a meal. At the same time, there were fewer shadows to hide in. To move among thicker vegetation, they would have to go even further from the tree. Was now a good time to hunt? Or a better time to prepare themselves for their eventual journey?


Farmstead

The Poltergeist was talkative. Mira glanced here and there, but she couldn't be sure if he was trying to distract them or not. But when the creature recognized the Source Lens, and mentioned that there would be "something unusual" in his analysis like there was in Miiba's, the mage's eyes went wide. Her hand trembled a bit as she lifted the green monocle to her eye and focused magic into it--staring at Danny intensely.

"Miiba left mean gobs, Mibba no know glow ball. There no two- eh? W-what that?"

"Quit tryin' to distract us!" Geir shook Miiba roughly. "The Poltergeist knows your name, it knows your whole "reincarnate" story, and it brought an Undead with it! Raid or not, what's your game!?"

"Aaahhh! Put Miiba down! Down! Miiba dress ride up!"

"G-Geir! This, this Poltergeist, it has TWENTY Active Skills! And the Analysis Fusion skill! And, and--"

"What!?" The redhead unceremoniously dropped Miiba and turned back to Danny, once again readying both his knife and axe for battle. "What's it's level!?"

"It's still Immature! But it's already Level 8!" The magic user seemed on the verge of hyperventilating--but, oddly enough, there was a hint of excitement to her voice. "Geir, if Miiba, that pixie, and this Poltergeist are all like this, then their story--"

"Focus, Mira! I don't care what the possibilities are!" The young man looked like he was an instant from jumping the fence and tearing down the cluckel coop to get at Danny. "Poltergeist, if you're really a Human that was reincarnated into a Monster somehow, then you either lived a real shit life before you died, or someone really botched your World Summon!" He pointed the knife's tip at the softly glowing figure above him. "If you're from another world, then spill it! Tell me everything you know--and you better hope I've heard enough stories of Summoned Heroes to recognize somethin'!" The grip on the axe tightened.

"Otherwise, I'm about to kill all three of you, and to hell with the consequences! I won't take risks anymore with BLOODY FUCKING MONSTERS!"

Just then, Mira gasped. There was a slight, glowing light coming from the earth nearby, as well as a trembling shift in the soil...

As Jason sank into the soil, he could feel his MP surging. He called out to Onogoro, asking for a new form, a new body. He wanted to possess not a corpse, but a piece of the earth itself. The dirt and rocks around him, the very substance he now drained for every ounce of Mana he could pull...

Skill Unlocked: Magic Analysis I (1.55)!
Skill Unlocked: Soil Manipulation I (1.15)!
System:Jason


As he chanted his prayer, though his voice did not reach any mortal ear, the flow of Mana from his Meditation and the newly gained Earth Vein shut off. He had refilled his reserves, but now they rapidly depeleted again with every word he spoke. Still, he cried out his skill as he sank fully into the surface of the earth, and the mana around him began to sizzle and glow as the soil moved...

Jason suddenly felt that, with his Soil Manipulation skill, he might be able to gather and shape the loose dirt and gravel around him into something...sturdier. Something...smooth, and familiar. But as he sought to Possess the earth, he might also be able to use something...solid, already shaped, just like the bones or flesh of a creature whose corpse he might have taken. The stone, or the soil? His MP was rapidly decreasing, he had to choose fast...
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Rune_Alchemist
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Rune_Alchemist Absolute Depravity

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~Temporary Campsite~






Ha, excellent. Just what she needed. Something good against potentially more difficult opponents. This would be a good base to work with. Now that she had at least a decent understanding of how this whole magic and manipulating it worked, she could easily extrapolate that into other elements and other abilities. Should she get started on that? Or work on other things she had wanted too before. It seemed like she never had enough time with all these distractions and having to deal with the others.

Hm.

She turned her attention to the spell Torrent was using. Shadow was an element? Just how many elements were there? Poison, Acid, Ice, Light, Wind, Earth...there seemed to be quite a few that she would need to learn how to handle and deal with. Her wings flapped in thought. Well, she might not get another chance to actively try something once they get moving, so she might as well try it now while she had a moment. She could try that whole out of body experience again once they stopped and rested for the night.

Taking a moment, Ash closed her eyes and started meditating to regain her MP. Attempting to do many things at once was likely going to cause a fair bit of drain on the resource, but if it worked then hopefully she could get to the point of casting more than two spells at once - and have access to a base mana orb spell of each kind of element that she knew of. Only being able to do two at once would limit the speed, but hopefully that would solve itself soon.

Perhaps she should try shadow first? Work with something more difficult, then the subsequent elements would be easy by comparison. It should be something she was doing to start with, honestly. Figuring out which particle made which element - starting with the basic colors she could see.

In either hand she formed a base Mana Orb once her MP had capped out again. In her left, she started the basis of forming what she would hope to be simple fire orb. She'd look for the red particles, recalling what she had done with her attempts at Poison Splash. Poison Splash seemed to be a composite element, while Fire was likely something more of a base to work with and easier to work with. She shaved off any of the unneeded elements, pulling them out of the equation and leaving herself with a handful of others and mostly Red particles, shoving as many as she could into the nucleus. Hopefully she wouldn't need too many more steps.

Splitting her focus, in her right hand, she would be toying with something trying to make something with those deep gold colored particles she had observed earlier. Two experiments in one, if successful. Figure out what element it was, namely, and what she was currently attempting to achieve. Splitting her focus like this would be difficult, but it was the quickest way to expedite the process. She'd pull most particles out of this one, saving only a few of each for now as she pulled the Deep golds towards the nucleus.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Duthguy
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Duthguy Someone who can't spell Dutchguy

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Danny was glad he told the girl to use the source crystal and took the opportunity to use Monster Analysis III on her as she analyzed him. Geir on the other hand was his distrusting self and lifted Miiba in the air demanding she tel him how she knew Jason and Danny. "You told me Miiba's name, I just remembered it. And even if that wasn't the case she refers to herself by name."

More valuable than what the spell told him about her was her reaction to his number of skills. 20 was apparently insanely high. "Might have to look for a way to hide some skills in case I want to pass as a normal monster." It seemed that his number of skills combined with his level was enough to make the farmhand rethink attacking them if ever so slightly.

"Yeah I led a pretty shitty life, though maybe not the way you meant. I ended up killing myself because a disease that I was cured of, with medicine that made me almost as sick as the disease itself, came back, in a way that would kill me anyway." Even Danny was surprised at how bitter he sounded saying that.

"Anyway the world I came from didn't have magic or monsters, if it had Gods they have been extremely hand off long enough that no one is sure they exist. Science and technology is much more advanced than on this world as far as I can tell." He wondered if he should go into further detail but either way had no plans to tell the tow humans the one summoning them called himself the Demon King.

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by King Cosmos
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King Cosmos

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He had never been here before.

He hadn’t remembered it, the vision he had seen during his first evolution, but now that he was here he could remember getting stuck before passing through the cave’s ceiling, his ascent halted by something with piercing blue eyes that had interfered in some way. There was no interference this time however and he got to fully experience the sensation of floating upwards, the sensation of being weightless both because he was no longer bound by gravity and because he had no body at the same time. It was disorientating at first but he soon grew used to it. He was experiencing the vision as was intended now, albeit from a slightly different vantage point than before, his physical location further north than it had been last time.

Strangely his Mana Sense seemed to be active in this form; he could see the wispy fog that marked concentrations of Mana even from this high up, giving him a different view of the world than he would have had otherwise. A large tree at the centre of the forest glowed with the green hue of what he assumed to be Nature Mana, while the mountainside was speckled here and there with pockets of denser fog that marked the location of something important. Perhaps the locations of mineral deposits or some substance that contained high amounts of Mana?

To the west and a little north was a tower that glittered with tiny glints of Mana, like the pinpricks of stars in the night sky. And just like the stars, to be visible from this far away they must have each represented a ridiculous amount of power and energy.

He rose higher and higher until he could see nothing more than the world itself, rotating below him as he stared down on it from far above. The last time he had been in this state he hadn’t been able to do anything other than wait, but now he felt like he could move or do something. With the entirety of this strange new world laid before him, there was only one thing he could think to do.

He used his fusion Analysis skill on everything that he could see.



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

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Ardur The Mighty Hipixie
A short Rest > To Glory /// Adventuring day 5 // Evening / Location - The Shimmering Pool > The edge of the shimmering pool

It seemed to be working. Floating in the water and pulling the mana from it into himself. He could almost feel it on his skin, such a strange sensation. The sword was definitely doing more work now that he wasn’t just flying around the wisps seemed more interested in him then in her and their well being. But dam did this dungeon core have a lot of these dam creatures, “we really messed up the ecosystem in here.” A small thought to himself. Resurfacing for a moment before going down again, there were still a couple flyers left.

The sword didn’t waste too much more time on the rest of them and called out to him that they were clear for the moment. She even commented on her mana still not being completely full, “be sure to pick off a few more wisps and pixies then to regain what you can.” He spoke while slowly swimming towards the shore.

Pulling himself up onto his feet from the shore he looked back to her, “we need your help cutting a path to the core if you can. I’m afraid if we retreat and wait we might not be able to defeat the core the next time we are in here.” He spoke as he walked up to the small group of friends. They all looked a little worn out now. Perhaps he could help with that, he didn’t have a lot of mana but he felt he had enough.

Ardur cast Minor Healing I on Steve and mother slime first then Asura. “We need to make a push for the core, we won’t last here forever.” Gripping the bone weapon that he somehow still managed to carry the high pixie gave up the last of his mana even if it caused mana burn to Guidance I. “Dhulfiqar, The King. Aid me in destroying my foes for your glory.” Whatever would happen next Ardur would follow the group’s decision.

@Zeroth
@Kazemitsu

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Old Amsterdam
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Old Amsterdam Coven Witch

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Torrent was in a bit of shock as she finally finalized the skill and with all the unlocks happening at once. There was an ache behind her eyes that was starting to grow. But she had just made some insane progress!

This plasma skill was something above her abilities right now. How powerful was it if it was stronger than she was capable of utilizing? She could use it, but it sounded like it would be an all or nothing situation, like when she was caught by Rattleskull or against the Blood Plant thing or maybe even the Giant Slime or Rat that had attacked. Or even the Goblins...

This could be a game changer, but she wouldn't know until she had to use it for the time being.

And Void Blast! It was everything that she wanted it to be, and with everything going on she had more experiments that she needed to do. Lightning? Energy? Was Energy just the basic mana form? She needed those. She needed all the elements if she wanted to be useful and helpful and never weak again. She had friends to help now.

And that meant that she needed to evolve. Judging by the time it had taken Ash, Digbie should be coming back shortly. So, with a thought she combined her stealth skills into STEALTH MODE and she locked herself into the Forked Snake EVOLUTION.

"I'll be back soon Ash, I'm going to evolve as well now. We should talk after, I have a lot of info from my experiments that I think you might be interested in."
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Haeo
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@Stabby @Zeroth

At last, Femus could breathe a sigh of relief. He had the seeds. So much work for something so simple and small. And, even with all his efforts, it hadn't been enough until Nira had helped. Choosing grass-like plants that seemed to lack any strong effects, Femus used his crafting skill to try to make a pair of square patches from woven grass. He had seen a few woven baskets in the marketplace when he was still human. The method seemed to be a simple alternating pattern. Of course, with the small pouch he was trying to make, he would need to seal the seams and gaps well enough to keep the Blue Yill Seeds safely contained. The pouch would only be big enough for perhaps ten seeds. After all, Femus was planning on carrying this for a long time and had no belt or other easy method of carrying it.

"Having more support could be helpful. Hmm..." Femus murmured in response to Nira's words.

He worked on weaving the grass patches while thinking of how best to answer her. Finally, he decided on how to explain it. So, he began speaking while continuing his work.

"I gained the Mana Control skill during my meditation training, though I was focusing on capacity improvements I also made progress on it while trying to complete new spells. I focused on controlling how the mana moved through my body and the spell both, faster or slower, where it pooled and swirled, where it slipped and surged, gathered and dispersed. The skills we have can be used almost as easily as pushing a button in a video game. But, that method of use is the least efficient for training. You should be able to rapidly learn Mana Control by deliberately handling every step of the process of casting any spell or using any other skill that uses mana."

When the patches were done, he would weave the free ends of all the strands of grass together, joining the two patches on three sides while leaving one open. Then, he would use growth on the green grass to make the fibers and veins grow more, extending out of the grass blades themselves and then weaving them through the others to further tighten and strengthen the pouch with both the strength of the fiber and the mild adhesive of the leaking plant juices. The open end would still be left with loose ends of grass so that it could be woven shut after the seeds were placed inside. However, that would have to wait until the pouch had dried somewhat. It wouldn't do to have it encourage the seeds to sprout when it was only meant for carrying them.

But, in the end, this pouch was only a small side-project to make carrying the seeds more convenient. It was a more pressing concern to decide what the two were going to do for the rest of the day. They would need food and drink. Though, Nira had developed a very useful spell, it was probably not the greatest idea to be completely dependent on their mana supply for drinking water. Still...

"I'd like to take you up on that offer. A water spell of such utility would definitely be valuable. And... this is probably the best part of the day to keep a low profile. Though, we could hunt as well. It would be good to have other food than hobgoblin meat around. I imagine that this guy is going to attract scavengers soon enough... actually... I wonder if I could speed up the rot and bait in some scavengers to make hunting easier for a little bit before we leave. It could make things more dangerous, but opportunity comes hand-in-hand with danger. What do you think?"
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Kazemitsu
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Kazemitsu The Dragon

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Asura took note of the unavailable skills. Mana sense was useless to try and achieve right now, Use Light Equipment could be useful, Steal Stamina was pretty much a requirement to exist when one was going a full Stamina use build. While Stamina Furnace roared to life he took note the orange particles, okay orange was Stamina instead of classic RPG yellow. Good to know.

A Mana Orb hit him for low damage, but it was annoying enough while another fucking javelin hammered into the bowhorn deer skull he had 'equipped'. That fucker was getting on his last nerve, but it was another javelin that Asura now had. The nearby necroslime was stabbed by three of them at one, each pseudopod wielding one of the javelins he had picked up. It was fresh so it shouldn't be full life, and even if it was with a savage pull filled with Strength he tore the javelins out to the sides. Pretty much rupturing the membrane of the slime in three different points.

Moving again, and then stopping from a Poison Spit he growled. They severely lacked ranged allies. More Poison Spit, more Mana Orbs, for fucks sake how many long ranged enemies were there?! He weaved fluidly between the attacks. Although he couldn't avoid the splashed droplets from the splattering poison projectiles. Oh great, and now his Stamina was low! Growling angrily he lunged onto the skewered Zombie Lizard and clung to its body. He did his absolute damnedest to Drain its Stamina. Hell, he even made a second puncture in its side to see if that would help the flow. The only good thing about this situation was that the ghost wisps had no ammunition, a couple shots and they were gone on their own.

A javelin came flying, why was that goblin targeting him so much now? Whatever was his thought as he shifted so he was beneath the Zombie Lizard and let it take the hit while he continued to tug at what he felt was its Stamina. All the while being mindful of that black sludge from its mouth. Trent asked if the rear is clear, probably for a retreat they'd need to do very soon. "It's clear enough to get out, and if that damned sword did more than poke what was over the water the area would be a lot more clear! He hollered back as he tore both javelins from the struggling zombie reptile and jammed them into its spine at the neck. A jerk and he separated the vertebrae and cord from the rest.

While he was remurdering the damn lizard Ardur healed him a bit. More health never hurt, especially since he was about to start depleting his own just to keep attacking and defending.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Searat
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Searat The Aqueous Rodent

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Edward Marsh



Ed paused for a moment after smashing through the giant bug.

A sense of pride filling his heart that he'd gotten strong enough to kill a myrminor in one hit. He wasn't even using his great club too! Though he couldn't savor it for long, they were here on a mission and he was far from finished with his part of the plan. He'd carefully dragged the corpse, making sure to keep the noise down but also a steady pace. Ed would hear Mother Rat's discontent. "Ah, sorry about that." Ed whispered to her before pausing slightly to scoop some of the bloody blue insect flesh from the myrminor's cracked head and toss it to Mother Rat. "There. A little something-something for tagging along." He wouldn't wait for her to eat the chunk of flesh before he returned to his task.

Once he'd reached roughly 10m of the camp, he would give himself a moment or two to look for where Asteria was in the camp. Once he'd confirmed her presence, he would scoop out some more meat for Mother Rat and to her to stay there and keep hidden. Once he was confident he'd delivered his message, he goes and grabs a massive chunk of the bloodiest bits he could get from the dead myrminor.

While going to each side of the bandit camp, he'd activate his [Muffle II] skill to drastically lessen his chances of breaking stealth; and Upon reaching each side, he would not only smear the blood all over random trees but also partially bury a piece of the flesh in the ground. Hiding it mostly under fallen leaves, but keeping it uncovered to help saturate the area with the pheromones. Once all sides of the camp were practically laced with distress pheromones, he'd go back to where Mother Rat and the myrminor corpse was and gestured to her to follow him back. Particularly, to the place where they previously overlooked the camp; licking his hands clean of blood and scraps of meat.



Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Gardevoiran
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Gardevoiran The Forbidden One

Member Seen 17 days ago



Decisions, decisions, though the one that he wanted to choose was fairly obvious. Even in the midst of being within Jehanne's presence, Digbie somehow knew exactly what he wanted to do. He looked at what he assumed were his hands, oddly enough the light cast onto his form in such a way that made him question, and he clenched his fists in decisive action. He walked forward, step by step, and he stood at Jehanne's figure, merely what seemed like a meter or two away.

Then, he slowly bent over and got on his knees, his head facing down towards Jehanne's feet, seemingly asking for her to forgive his past actions.

"I'm... uh, not sure if I'm doing this correctly, Jehanne, but... please forgive me of my Taboo, so I may continue down a path of redemption, guided by your radiance."

Hopefully that was sufficient for Jehanne? It's not like they gave you a manual for this or anything...







Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Stabby
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Stabby Flicker/Fall (A Devourer)

Member Seen 2 yrs ago


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

Listening to Femus's response, Nira smiled when he said that some more support would be useful. Even if he was only coming at it from a strategic point of view, she was glad that he was at least open to the idea.

About to respond, she realised that Femus was now taking about how he had gained mana control. Listening carefully and intently, she found that his explanation made a lot of sense. The skill was called mana control after all, so the idea that she should learn how to control each aspect of how she could use her mana was pretty obvious now that it had been put out there.

Reaching for the feeling of her own mana while Femus continued on his project, Nira tried to draw only a little of it out between her hands. From there, she tried to form a little pathway of mana that would let her own internal flow pass from one hand to the other, seeking to not lose any of it through the process.

Regardless of how well she was doing, Femus's words soon interupted her. Focusing her attention outwards again, she realised that he was taking her up on her offer to teach him the aqua orb spell. He was also considering what to do for the rest of the day. Hunting would be a good way to save the leftover edible herbs for later, but Nira felt that nailing down two more skills was a bigger priority for herself. But when Femus stated his next idea, Nira soon found herself nodding in agreement, as the prospect of easy hunting would definitely be a good use of their time.

"I think the scavenger bait is a good idea. If we get lucky, we might be able to dry out some of the leftover meat with the water orb spell, since it pulls ambient water from the surrounding environment to form itself."


Nira color=a062de
Echo-Voice color=a187ae




Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by SilverPaw
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SilverPaw

Member Seen 3 hrs ago

Asteria



Asteria listened to the conversation between the three goblins, noting that interspecies cooperation was as difficult as she may have imagined for natives. The mention of a Boss and sacrifices worried her, because if the leader was a necromancer, then Ed was just about to deliver a corpse for his use straight to the doorstep. Ah, well, hopefully the force of living vengeful Myrminors would come soon enough to take care of the bandits…

Asteria carefully observed the layout. There was one entrance on the bottom and one exit near the clifftop. There were two more enemies on the balcony, but it didn’t look like many more bandits *could* fit into the dugout cliffside. She quickly used Monster Analysis II on the human and the archer Hobgoblin, intending to gather information about them.

She wasn’t about to act against two enemies alone, though, especially not when it would notify the others, and soon returned the way she came. When she arrived at their meeting point, Ed was already back. “Oh, hey. I take it you did your part already. It would be just our luck if our plan backfired…I’ve heard mention of the Boss being able to use some kind of power based on sacrifice. For your sake, I do hope it has nothing to do with the undead. Also, besides those three, I’ve seen two more enemies up top; one human and another hobgoblin,” Asteria made her report.

“Listen, I’m just going to try and make contact with the beast. If it seems like I’m about to be noticed, I’ll return. If you hear a commotion, you better hide.” That said, she went fire right along the fence, up until she reached the cage’s location. She dug a tunnel right to the side of it, so that the hole and her entry were less likely to be seen. She was much more careful this time, as the trio was a bit closer than when she’d been entering to the left. Once done, she wriggled her way through, and warily stretched a paw into the cage with the beast. As soon as it made contact with her, she was prepared to use Telepathy to send a full blast of positive soothing emotion its way, to try and establish that she was not an enemy nor a snack. If all went to plan, she wouldn’t even loose a paw to the endeavor.
Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Zeroth
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Zeroth

Member Seen 9 hrs ago

Deep Forest

You are using Crafting I!
Your method of using the skill Lesser Force is somewhat imprecise, crafting quality may decrease.
Your crafting method is sophisticated compared to your raw materials, crafting quality may increase.
Grass Stalks + Refinement (Weave) = ...
Obtained Item: Tiny Grass Pouch!
This item may only hold up to 5 Tiny items, or equivalent items of other sizes. Its quality is uncertain, as you lack the ability to analyze its materials.
System:Femus


While explaining Mana Control to Nira, Femus felt that his own understanding became a little more clear...what was it that computer programmers called it? Rubber Duck Therapy? Nonetheless, he succeeded in making a small pouch to hold the Yill seeds. Each seed was indeed tiny, perhaps even miniscule, so despite the limitation the system had placed on the pouch's capacity (which was obvious if one just looked at it, really) it seemed that the five seeds had not entirely filled it up. He might come across some more materials at some point he wanted to gather, so that would be helpful.

Thanks to Femus's advice, Nira had a better idea about how to manipulate her own magic. In so doing, she came to be a little more familiar with her own energy, and how to make her spells. But while she and Femus spoke of making bait for scavengers, a familiar squeal reached their ears...

Heading down towards the herb patch where the two were seated was a familiar Pixie. And now it seemed to have a couple of friends in tow. All of them put on a burst of excited speed, their gossamer wings buzzing with enthusiasm.

Skill Gain: Magic Analysis I (0.95 > 1.025)!
You may now analyze Magical energies or objects to learn their most basic magic characteristics. Less effective on Materials and Monsters unless they are magical in nature.
System:Nira



Rat Party

You used Monster Analysis II!
---Savage Male Adult Troll---
Trolls are a third-tier monster related to goblinoids, often transforming from especially nasty Gremlins or Bugbears. They lurk in caves, rarely approaching the surface and avoiding light at all costs. While their strength and speed makes them a highly dangerous combatant and they are sometimes dextrous enough to use tools and weapons, their foul temperment and lack of intelligence makes them vulnerable to the strategies of experienced adventurers. Some seem to exhibit an increased natural healing factor. --This Monster has the Savage Variance.--

---Adult Male Human Rogue---
Humans are not technically considered Monsters. They are of the Enlightened Races, highly evolved creatures considered truly sentient, though this may depend on definition. Nonetheless they are an advanced race with a fully functioning civilization, a varied history, and distinct cultures. This one is a mature adult and seems to be adept in some form of combat, and also moves fluidly without much noise. Their weaponry is plain but clearly effective.

---Hobgoblin Scout---
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. They often lead tribes of goblins, or if working together, display much better tactics and a slightly more developed culture. With the right materials they might even be able to build a functioning tribal society--though they share their lesser brethren's hate for anything non-goblin. --This hobgoblin has specialized skills for Scouting--.
System:Asteria


When Ed returned, Asteria outlined what she had seen so far. While the other rat creeped towards the Troll in the cage, the Ratman set about trying to spread the Myrminor's distress pheromones around the camp. The smell and feel of the Myrminor's viscera were intense, especially to Ed's enhanced senses, and none too pleasant. As he circled the camp, the conversation around the fire lulled for a few moments...

"D'youse smell dat?" One of the Bugbears looked up. He blinked as he peered out into the darkness--being close to the fire meant his eyes weren't well adjusted. "Thought I got a...whiff o' sumtin'..."

"Like what? Animal dung?" the Hobgoblin leaned back on his seat, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths through his nostrils. "...Hmm, yeah, I think..."

But just then, Asteria made contact with the Troll after tunneling under the fence line. Through her telepathy, she tried to project calm feelings and extend a mental paw of friendship.

The creature's response was to jerk back against its cage bars as if it had been struck, snarling and wailing. Its blindfolded, gore crusted face swung back and forth, and it smacked at the place where Asura had touched its arm as if trying to swat a mosquito.

"Oi! What's got into 'im!?" the other Bugbear stood up, now on full alert. Weird smells, and now something had bothered the troll? "You sharrap ova dere!"

"Youse already up, go look 'round!" said the hobgoblin, planting a foot on the bugbear's lower back. The bigger creature snarled at him, but scratched the back of his head with his club and began wandering over towards the cage. Up on that balcony, the hooded hobgoblin leaned over the railing to peer in the direction of the cage and the campfire...and slowly began to sweep his head back and forth.

Ed and Mother Rat had completed their circle, but what could they do to hide in plain sight out here on the perimeter? And how would Asteria make it back? And...how long would they have to wait for this plan with the Myrminors to work?

Skill Rank Up: Telepathy I > Telepathy II (1.95 > 2.0)!
MP consumption slightly increased. More complex thoughts and stronger emotions can be sent. One-way messages can be sent to a creature you have made contact with before as long as they are within 5 feet. When making physical contact with a creature, if they are willing they can send you a single return message.

Skill Gain: Soil Manipulation I (0.9 > 1.0)!
An Earth Elemental Magic Spell. At this Rank, you may move up to 5 pounds of loose soil (sand, dirt, and powdered minerals, but not gravel, pebbles, or anything made of larger fragments) freely within a 10 foot radius around your body. Using this soil to create a shape or exert a larger amount of force consumes more MP, and takes 30 seconds at minimum. At this rank, created shapes cannot consist of more than one part, or be more complex than quadrilateral structures. At this rank, created shapes cannot change the quality of the soil (sharper, harder, etc) nor its color or texture.
System:Asteria



Monster Party

As Ash meditated to restore her MP, the sigils all over her body softly thrummed. Perhaps due to the Mystic variance she had gained, she felt somewhat more in tune with the magic in general, and all of her studies were giving her a great deal of experience with using and controlling the various energies. When she formed the two Mana Orbs, they seemed relatively stable. She only intended to concentrate on one of them at a time, and draw what she assumed were the Fire Elements into the orb. However, when she did so, the second orb in her other hand also seemed to begin attracting more of the red pseudo-particles--like trying to rotate one's foot and hand in two different directions, only for the brain to be tricked into moving them both in the same direction. Despite this moment of disorientation, it seemed to have the desired effect. The Mana Orb she concentrated on the hardest began to change color, growing brighter and redder...and it began to put off heat. Soon the heat became strong enough that, at the core of most focused elemental squares, the glow changed to orange. Then at the very center of the nucleus, the light turned yellow.

You are experiencing a Fast Rate of Skill Progression
System:Ash


She turned her head slightly and now focused on the other Mana Orb, which had only become a slight crimson around its edges. She banished these to try and focus on the gold colored pieces instead, but at the same time the Mana Orb in her other claw went back to its first shade of red. As the metallic glint of various particles gathered in the nucleus of the second orb and changed its color throughout, Ash noted that it began to...resist her? No, that wasn't quite the right word for it. Most of the other types of spells she used had given her difficulty in forcing them to be what she wanted them to be, but this was slightly different. It felt like the "material," if one could even call it that, had shifted. She was not pushing on a fluid force, or an invisible energy, or a moldable susbstance. She was now pushing on something...hard, geometric. It was...a little like trying to put together one of those sliding block puzzles. Only...those tiny puzzles were often just a square with several sliding tiles. And the tiles had grooves they fit into, so you could only push them in straight lines up or down, left or right. It was like she was...trying to push the tiles, but their grooves weren't set right.

If she thought about it, had she seen any Earth spells use the "orb" form like Fireballs or Torrent's new sphere of shadows? Digbie, that mage slime...they had just moved rocks around, hadn't they?

While she thought about this, the red Mana Orb in her first claw now suddenly felt unbalanced. When her attention came back to it, she found that its color had lightened significantly back towards its original white, and the sphere wasn't quite evenly rounded anymore. She finally had to blink, temporarily disrupting both her Mana Vision and her focus, and both Mana Orbs returned to their original colors and shapes.

Skill Rank Up: Mana Vision I > Mana Vision II (1.95 > 2.025)!
MP Cost reduced. Stamina cost reduced.
System:Ash


You used [Analysis]!
...
...
-̶U̵Z̶1̶V̸3̷R̵S̵M̴-̷
-̵͎̿-̷̟̀M̵̭̊Ẹ̵̕T̶̥̐A̵̟̓S̸̘͋Ý̸̗S̴̟̋T̷̖͋E̴͚̿M̸̺͛:̷̡͛V̴̭̆A̵̤̕5̵̧̓4̶̗̈́<̴̛͕1̸̮̉-̵͔͐-̸̳̕
-̷̟̔͘-̷̳͆͝-̶͉̕͠Ś̴͇͔̅Ủ̴̪͑P̵͚̾E̸̞̿R̸̘̗͛̇S̴̻̄Ỹ̵͍͍͑S̷̩͋͗T̸̰̒E̷̜̬̾́M̵̜̩̾:̶͐͜M̷̨̋̕A̸̺͋͑Z̶̜̍Ă̸͙͘5̴̹̞̓4̷̬̚Ŗ̶̘̉͑À̶̦-̷̞̮͋̃-̸̛̛͙-̶̧̺͋̽
-̵̢̰̪̽͆ͅ-̷̧͕̪̱̒̍̾͝-̷̤̏̽̑-̸͇̫̝̳̏S̸̙̻̐̉Ỵ̴͇̗̮̎̒͠S̸͇͔̿́͘͠T̶̞̐̆͆E̷̙̭͈͇͊͘M̸̛̪͇̭̉:̸̼͐͌̕4̷͙̃̍3̵̗̟̣̯̒͋̌D̷̼̿͝V̸̰́̔Ě̵͚̱̊͒Z̶̨̺͚̭̆̒̊-̷̳́̂-̴̭̼̬͗̀-̷̧̜̘̽̇͠-̸̳̏̉͆
-̶̧̲͓͔̐͒͊-̸̧̝̬̙̻͊-̷̲͙̰̣̿̽͜-̸̞̏̀̂-̸̦̠̹̍̐S̴͕̔Ų̶̺̞̈́̉͊͒̽B̸͎̤̪̺̿̿̂̊̕S̵̢̟̣̜̏̉Y̶͓̰̮̬͋S̵̭̄̃T̶̙́̀̿͝͠Ę̸͔̘̬͙̂̀̑͝͝M̸͔͓̊͒̈́̀͠:̸͖̗̻̊̐̀M̶̯̤̰͈͓͊̌̀̃À̸̪̟̩̈̍̚͠N̶̪͚͙̟̑ͅẢ̶̛̳ͅ-̴͔͕̼̾̃-̷̫̺̞͒͘-̶͖͍̓ͅ-̶͇̰͕̣̄͂̈́͋̂-̸̢̰̬̽͗̏̄ͅ
-̸͍̮̞͈̞͕̎̓̓̋̋-̶̧͎͎̻̪̅̌-̶̛̩̞͙́̓͑͒̽-̴͓̯̯͗̄-̶̛͖̃́̇̋ͅ-̴̨̭̀̓͌̈́͝Ṣ̴̹̌̕ͅǗ̸̻͇͎̹̏͒̊̓͠B̴̨̥͈͙͔̝̆̋̇̏̒̊S̴̝͌̊̎̀͑Ę̸͉͙̺͖̄T̷̼̳̖̟̗̯͋̂͂̏͒Ş̸̻͇͓͈̖̊̑́Ŷ̶̡̭̮̘̳S̵̥̗̊Ţ̵͍̣̝̦̜̋̈́͗̚E̶̪̬̫̣̣͌̍̈́̚͝M̸͉͍̳̞͊̒:̵̲̌̆̔̓͠P̵̧̔̋̚H̷̥͗̏̉̎Ẏ̸͖̱͙̟̩͠͠S̴̹̠̔I̴̢̨̜̓͗̂̿̒̑C̷̲̉S̷̡͉̾̅̏̿̐͠-̸̢͓͓̠͉̲̔̓̌͘-̶̬̲͈̦̅-̴͙̝̮̲̪͋̐͘̕-̴̠̟͈̌̋͜-̴̡̡͖̲̳̬̿͋̓̀͛-̶̭̌
-̴̠̔-̶̧͚̦̺͇̞̣̀̀̀̑̿͆̓-̵̡̧̹̟̮̀̔̎-̸̤̤̯͇̿̾̂̄͛͋̈-̸͙̗͈͓̞̹̈́̌͛̂̾-̸͕̪̼̞͇͇̔-̷̬̙̠̰̰̬̀̊̀͆P̵̢̳̼̺̬̩̤̈̂͛̈̕Ḻ̴̫͙̞̣͑̾̆̐À̸͔̲̏̋͋͋̾N̶̨̮͎̉̓̐̃Ẻ̵̫̣͈͍̘͐T̷͉̲̑̋͗-̴͈͕͕̫͌-̸̭͇̑̌̄̐͆-̶̗̠̞͚̀̌̾̂̉̂͠-̷̢̫͈̦͇͗́̈́̋̀̕͝-̵̱̯̺̈̾̕̕-̴̈́̅͂͜-̴̨̨̢̛̬͇͚͖͋̌̃̀͊͋
-̵̖̤̪̩̤̒̆͜-̶͎͕͖̌̚-̴̼̀̄̇-̶̹͍͂͐͘-̵̧̝͖̼͇̖̯̺̓̽͋̎̚-̶̙̭̠̲̮̯̻̈́̈͛͆-̴̛̩͇̍̇͐̍-̶̗͒̐́͆͘͠C̵̞͕̹̱̯̗̟͓̉͆̽̇̎̕͘O̸̺͙͚͕̅Ṇ̶͓̬͕̝̫͗͛̕͜͝͝T̵̢͉̆̓̄̆Ï̵͇̱͙̉͝N̸̻͖͈͆̒̉́͆͜͝Ę̴̛͇̾̐̊Ň̴̡͈̺̟͍͎̥͕̓͆͝Ť̴̨̙̲͔̹͊̈́̌͆͝ͅ-̷̧̢̦̪͚̣̦̮̇͋̐̽̿̚͠-̴̮̞̣̭̫̖͖̒͊̋͐̑̑̑͝-̵̨̞͕̥̜̙̹͇͐̈̓̿̚-̴̡̧̣̹͔̰̗̹̈́̄̓̈́͂-̶͈̞̞̭̀͜͜-̶̺̲̓͐̀̉͜͝-̵̺̱̓-̸͇̭̻̠͎̆͑͒̓̀̋̒͝
-̴̛̪͎̭̰-̴̡̙̪̮̗̫̯́̒͋́͆͑͘̕͝-̶̦̘͉̳͉̗̝̺̆͑͘͘-̴̨̧̦̦͉̬͍͆͛̾͆̓-̴̲̰̯̻̘̠͓͈̌͊̃ͅ-̸̜̝̘͕͕͔̣̫͓̀̊̋͋̆-̵̙̳͚̥̪́-̶̢̥̪̲͉̭͙̞̭͋̌-̴͍͇͛̌̎̆͌͊͛͑Ġ̷̜̥͎̪͉͇̺̔́̇̒̒̔͘͝a̶̙͈̮̘̞̎̂̓͋̽͒e̷̫̥͙̻̼͌́̍̽̄̄ȑ̷̹̝̼̮̗̜̪̜̇͌͘ͅr̸̛͇͈͚̣̉̈̏̆̂͊͠͝ȧ̶̫̝͚͚͋̈̂͒̽͝-̵͎̯͇̖̟̭̟̫͌ͅ-̶̗̣̣̻̮̳̫̎-̶͕͓̘͐ͅ-̵̣̮̘̹̠̼̩̞́̓͝-̶̡̮̰̼̜̦͇̭̃̇ͅ-̷̤̻̤̬͈̦̖̀̆-̷̛̥̈́͗̀͐̋̍̽͗ͅ-̷̧̪̣̫̗̊͒̀̎͛-̶̤̱̥͈̘̖͚̃̚ͅ
̷̡̧̝͈͎͔͚́̒̔͘Ą̶̬̪̟̭̖͎̹̦͊͂͛̄̃̈́̔͘ ̸̬̞̩͕̜͉̠͎̓̒̂͑̉̽͌͝ͅs̸̖͇̄̀͊̈́̾̂̕ǘ̶̧̫̬̗͇͚̌̄̍͗̑̐̕̕p̸̼͍̊͂͂̓̍̆̇e̶̘̺̤̜̘͈̰͙̝͘r̸̩̍c̴̡̳̼̳̜͍̪̿̒͐̎ó̵͉̥͋̚n̸̡̛̯̬̮̈́̓͛̈́͆̇̓͠t̷̮͓͍̖̫͈̗͆ͅi̸̡̩̭̠͗n̸̖͙̏̐̔̀͊̕͜͜͠e̶̥̓̉͐n̶̺̬̆̈̿͒̆͐́̃t̵͍͉̮̩̻̮͑̌͜ ̶̨̱̓̓̔͛f̶͐̊̀̐̾ͅơ̸͎̿̀͗͐̎̅r̵̛͔͒͊͂̈́̚ͅm̷̨̧̛̳̙̖̠̰͙͓̎̈́̀̉̔̕̚̕ę̷̦̪̦̙̳̰̝͝ḑ̶̣͓̒͆͗̕͝ ̴̞͕͒̅͋̚b̶̡̜̳̅̈́y̶̧̨̱̬̐̚̚͝ ̵͖͖͔̤̹͗͂ͅt̴̛̠͓̖͈̏͆͂h̴̛̫̠̫͔̖̽͋̓̈́ͅě̵̡̧͖̗̮̝͍̭͆̊̎͐̍͆̉̎ ̵̡̩̼͎̜͚̣̞̓̈́̌͌ͅc̷̛͔͓͙̊̓̾̾͆̋̉̕ơ̵̘̟͇̍͊̓̍͊͆͐̎l̷̩͇͍̊͒͂͐͝l̶͓͉̥̖̱̫̠͘ì̴̧͇͙̲͐̈s̸̹̦̻̣͂̉͐̓̎͘i̴͕̖̱̹͑̆́̈́̕͜o̶͉̩̊n̵̻̝̯̖̤̠͍̠̈́̾́̈͠͝ ̴̢͓͔͚̤̰̈́̉̉̋͗ạ̵̹͍͙̄́͆n̸̨͚͙̖̼̮͐̍̾͘̚͜d̴͕͈̞̽͋̇̒͆ ̷̦̪̬̟̤͕̾͌̓͊͑͐̈́̚ͅp̶̧̣͕̩̗̻͎͎̪͐̒̍̇̌̈́̎́͝á̶̖̺̩̼̝̠̙̰̿́̓̃̾̂͝͝r̷̺͒͐̆͋͜t̵̛͇͕̯̤̘̋̃̽i̷̳̟̦͈̞͒a̷̲͖̘͙͇̫̪͎͊͐l̸͔̗̜̙̦̪̼̃̐ͅ ̶̤͙͓̤̩̝̈́̀́̄͜ͅͅf̵̧̠̪͉̲͚̐̌̽͆́͐u̷͖̱̫̰͌̆͊̒͜͝s̸̗̉̉͆̽͋̽̕i̷̬̱̜͉̙̲͎͙̽̽̒̂͗̌́ͅo̵̩̹̲̗͎̓̃̐̐ṇ̴̢͈͚͔̀͆͘͜ ̷̨͓̻̭͚̼͙̜̟̃́͂ȯ̷͕̱̜͓̘̹̖̌̎̎͗͘̚̚͝f̴̺̟͆̏̈͘ ̸̰̘̳͎͗ṯ̶̓͋̔̇̋̑̍̾̍w̵͇̲̼͑̋̂̀̈ǒ̶̭͖̰̰̜̈́͂̍ ̵̼̭̥̜̇̑͑̎̂̽͌̑t̴̢̳͍͗͛̚ȇ̴̲̯͉͚͖͓̬̝̄̐̚ĉ̷̘̝̗͐̀̾̾̑͗͝t̸̞̔̆͊͑́͆͠ơ̸̢̡͍͙͎͖̭̬̔̍͝n̶̨̧̝̣͓̓͊̿ȉ̶̝͕͍͉́́c̷̪͚͍͈̀̒͗͘ͅ ̵̢̨̛̤̫̦̼̱̰̍̏͐́̚͝p̷̛̙͎̼̖̱͑̓͋͑͑͠͝͝ļ̵̯͚͊͛̈͛̊̇̓͜͜a̴̡̦̗̐ť̶̮́̄̃̌́̐̀e̴̬̣̮̊̎̏̚s̶̘̝̻̞͐̆̾̓̆̊̓ͅ.̷̝͙̬̗̺̥̈̔̎̓͠ ̶̢͍̖̭̏̆͝S̵̨̹̪̐͑p̶̢̖̫̩̯̻̋̽͋̀͝ä̵̡͗̋̄͜n̴̲͕̆̍̚͝s̵̢͕̝͇̦͖̮̱̘̾̈́͝ ̵̡̭̦̠͙͇͆̑̌͋̅͜b̷̙͕̺̱͙͔̜̚͜ͅọ̴̈́͜t̶͒͝ͅh̶̡̝̒̑̍͆̄͝͝͠ ̴̡̝̜̻͖̼͈͎͒͊̄͜͝ň̴̢̗͙̥̹̺̀̊ͅo̴̮͔̓̿͋̅̋r̸̲̲̅̄ṯ̷͓̝͍͙̩͔̪̺̎̈́͊̓̏̇͋̚h̶̛̦̦͕̗̼̼̺̾̀̈́̓̈́ͅ ̷̻̈̊̓̒̿͆̍ą̶̭͓̤̈́͜ņ̸̢̠̫̼̾̍͌̀́͜͠d̸̗͓̟̤̀̎͌̕ ̵̡̨̤͔͇͊͘̚̚s̷̨̢̖͓̙̣͓̦̋͌̈͒̈́͗̚͝o̷̡̿̍͊̐́͝ŭ̵̩͓̼̖̫͚̪͊͋̉͆͠t̴̨̼̬͓͕̬͉̓̇̈͝ͅh̷̲̥̩̬̫̎̉̊̾́͆̀̌̚e̴͉͔̟͙̟̪̮͎̒̈́̉́͋ͅŗ̸̹̈́͛͒ņ̸̢̣̣̲̯̮͐͝ͅͅ ̵̜̺͓͖̠͙͒̈́̒̏̓h̵̻̼͓͇̟̋͋͋̋̐̄e̶̛̞͐́̔̉̂͛͋͋m̵̡̡̬͈̳̠͋̈́̀͊̍̅̊͊́i̷̧̖̦̮̺͎̟̍̾̇̾̆̆͑̕͜s̴̱̹̫͕̘̬̲̮̊̈͠͝p̸̨̳͔̥̀̏̀̄̈́̏ͅh̸̩͕̒̾e̶̡̙̘̯̙̮̐̀̈́͂̀ͅŗ̶̤̪̥̋è̵̡͈̫͔̣̯̹̦̪̇̃̈͋̌̂̃s̴̹͓̊̀͗͋͌̈́̾͒͝ ̷̳̟͓̘͋̌͜i̶̟̫̦̟̞̎n̸̯͖͓̻̞̼̙͙̎̉̈́̓̏ͅ ̴̭͎̘͖͐̕͠͝v̶͍̭͋̈́̏e̷̬̪͗̍͑̎̈̓̚r̶̛̹͙̺̦͉̎̈͆͊͝t̵̞̜̮̭͇̹̜̞̍̉͂̐ị̵̜̤̕c̸̡̲̦̙̲̣̿̐͆ả̶͓̣͕̜̖̳͈̺̌̉͝l̴̳̖̙̗̿͂̀͘ͅͅ ̷̳͒̆̀̒̓̀̑̈́͝ò̴̝̫̄̈̑͠͝r̸̻̐̐͐̎͛i̴̞̪̅͌̅̈́̑̓̚͘͝ę̸̱̯͇̱̝̾̈́͑͐͒̿̉ͅͅn̴̢̼̮̈͗̃ţ̴̢̨̡̦͙̠̗̿̅̈́́a̶̪̮̼̺̲͇͒̊͋̃̍͘ț̸͂̾̐̇̂̾̂͝ì̸̜̩̟̄́̀o̷̧̞̹̻̮̓͗͘n̵̢̤̼̅̽̿̉̄̔͝,̶̧̰͈͙̖̑̈́͗̕͘ͅ ̷̓̃́́͗̀͜b̴̰̹͚̙̹̾̃u̸̟͈͍̘̟̙͈̣̫͆̒̾̒͛̀͑̔͠ť̸̡͔͚̲̬̏̈́͂ ̷̖͛̄́͗͛͐͒͘ŗ̶̼͍̄̌͛̀̐̀̎̇e̴͍͍̦͌̄͌͊͛̉š̷̨̪͓̬̳̖̎̔͠͠ͅi̸͓̻̣̟̰̯̎̄͜͜ḑ̸̡̛̲̖͉͇̜̣͗̾̄͂e̴̠̟̙̠̍̂͝s̵̳͋̏̂̒̍̕͝ ̴͍͓͆̑̓́i̸̢̞̜͒̏͛͆͠n̵̢̡̟͉̘̫̺̦͕̐̾̽̓͘̕ ̶̙̟̺̪̫͕͉̞͐̉̃͂͝t̵̨̠̤̳̖͚̫̠͆͜h̴̡̛̺̹͉̎͊̔̉ͅę̴̼̘͐͒̉ͅ ̸͇̺̼̰̮̜͍̐w̴̭͚̙͖͚̿̆̐́͛̒̚͘e̴̛̩̰͒͠s̵͕̫̏̓̽t̷̡̢̤̙̤͚̺̼̳̄̑̒͊͆͘͘͝e̶̟̭͈̬̩̗̱̯͓͆r̸̢̛͎͙̯̦̐̀̾́̓́͌̍ņ̶̠͈̘̣̹͙̃͘͝ͅ ̵̨̥̪̲̩͐́̈̈̔͝ͅḩ̸̛͉͉͙̠͔̼̂̈͘͝e̶̫͇͔͇̘͖̜̕͘͠m̶̛̼͇͕̳͑̈́͊̎͘į̷̢̛͉̭̌͌̀ͅͅs̷̠͍̋͆̇̆̿́̂͌p̶̬̳͑̚͘ḩ̷̝̎͘̕e̵̩̼͍͉̮̣̮͌͂̈̏̍̈̌͠͝ŗ̶̧̟̻̰̯̜̫̈́̐͌̽͑̌̌̄ẹ̷̗͕̒̓ ̸̞̘̀̑̕a̵̡̢̛̗̪̮̓̋͋̓͛͝l̷̢̡̥̞̫̼̞̮̏̅̊̈́̿o̵̡̨̨̼̲̜̍̓̓̄̆͆̀̕̕n̴̗͓̰͗̓g̶̫̳̘͓̳̾̎̊̕ ̷̨̯̃̎t̸̛͓̝͚̤̰̹̲́̾̎̕͜h̵̺͉͚̱̜̫̒ͅe̶͚͉̗̳̠͂́̑̚̕ ̷̡̨͎̠̗͇̯̄̓̄̀̓̊̕͝ẖ̵̛͉͕̪̳̭̑͋ŏ̴̡̨̢̬͔̭͓͔̬̊r̸͇̟̦͇̱̭̾̕͝i̵̥͍͎̿̒z̴͓̀̊̕͝o̴̧̠̦̙͓̘͕̬̾ń̸̤̦͜ͅţ̶̞͇̪͎̩͉͖͐̇̃̌ͅä̷̭̳̥̩̹̿͊l̵͕͕̰͇̤̗̓̒̅͆̽̕ ̸̞̟͒̀́̐̓p̷̧͙͉͎̙͙̯̓͒̓͐͜͜͝͝l̸̢̼̤̰̱̯͕̓̀a̷͉̬̗̞̖̤̾ͅn̵̩̞̬̥̗̳̗͙͒̔͂͜͠ȅ̷̡͍̪̻̲̞̩͜.̴̡̬̹̻̱̭̬̦̃̽͛̎̚͝͝ ̶̳̙͚̈́̀͊́̉̿͜͠͝ͅM̴̡̧͈̞̳͎̳̰͑̀͛͐̊̚ͅa̴̧̹͎̩̖̣̚j̵͈̳͒͌̃̏̅ͅo̸͈͒̑̑̄̕͝r̸̨̥͉͚͍̤̙͓̃ͅį̸͓̳̱͊̕t̶̢͉̜͍͍̺̪͚͑̆͑̿͝ẙ̴͍͈̩̱̱̜̉́̈́͝͝ͅ ̶̛̝̭̠̤̝͎̐̎̈́͂͐̓ͅc̷̺̅̽͗̏̍̃͘l̴̛̛̬̟̃̀̽ͅi̶̢͚͎̜̞̯̝͗́́̍̉́͝͠͝m̷̪̥̼̩̖̤͕͙̌̑͊̎̄e̶̡̬̺̪̻̮̣̖̔͊̒̾͂̈̓͐͝s̶̪̩̑̾͋͝ ̴̣̩̅̃͌̎͆̇r̷̢̡̺͍̦̱̰̲̺͊̎á̸̤͌͋̈͑͊̀͗̐n̸̢̩̭͎̯̿̈̒ģ̶̭͖̩̃̾̋̔̿͜͝ę̵͕̳͉̓̽̀͌ ̴̩̝̹̬̲̠͍̈́̄̈́͐̈́̕ͅb̷̭̳̹̳̮͂͑͊̈́̍̏͗͊ͅͅe̷̳̯̞̝͉̍̃̽͑̀͝t̴̢̀̽͂w̸̢̗̠͌̈́̋͛͝ͅẻ̷͓̩͚̊̎̈́̂̐̎̀͘e̸̥̤͉͉̣̋n̵̡͈̹͉̳̟̲͕͕̂͒̈́̐ ̴̨̮̯͚͖̙̑́͌̉͠s̷̡̢͉͓̳̰͓͙̄̿̓͜ṵ̴̫̜͔̣̝͉̓̈́́̍̀͆͝b̸̢̨̨͈̝̬̯̗̈́̑͒͌̍̉͜͠͠͝t̵̡̤̹͎̞͎̲̦̖͠r̷̠̗͍̿o̴̢̨͚̭̱͈̠̅̈͌̿̅͝p̸̳͉̈́͋i̸̞̻̼͙̯̾̋͝ͅc̶̞͈̖͓͎͓̺͎̙̎̐ȧ̷͚͖̣̱̺͊͊̈̈̍̉͗̒l̴̞͖̤̺̤̮͝ ̷̢͇̗̘͒̈́̑ͅa̷̡͚͓̭̬̣̪̳̎͂n̴̢̲̺̟̺̋̾́̃̑̽̔̅͗d̵̢̨̙̖̲͖̭͓̏̓͠ ̶̡̨̮̖̟̃̇̓́͒ͅt̵͔̜̺̱̤̺̰̂̊̓͘͠ͅͅë̸̲͔̪̏̅́m̴̢̛͇̘̼̰̩͈͒̂̌p̶̡̣̰̲̭̲͎̽͂̔e̶͎̗͗̇̎̚̚͝ŕ̴̗̜͌̽͐ḁ̴̺͉̯̹̂̅̒̀̀̓̒ͅt̸̯͉̤̅̊̃́̆̎͠͝e̸͈̫̰̦̿̃̿̆͌͆̒͑.̸̢̪̞̭̟̜̲͓̩̇͆̿͂̿̓͑̚ ̶͓̟͓̗͔̾̌O̷͕̅n̵̹̳̭̤͋͛͗̓͂͊̕l̸̛̮͙̩̪̇̍̀͒y̸̪͖̎̑̆̋̐̌̎̕̚ͅ ̴̟̫͉͍͇̱̏͐̌̒̿̊ẗ̵͕̖̦̰͇̻̰̿͂̏̄̽͋̓̈́h̸̭̹͓̤͚̣͔͎̩̓e̶͔͍̼̔͗̇͊̀͛̐͝ ̷̧͎̲̳͔̪̼͖̇̓̂̌̎̌͂̚n̵̦̹͙̙͖̻̹̤̎͜o̶̗͔̮̻͇͎̔ͅr̷̨̲̦̖͒̎̈͜t̴̫̿͊̎̓̒͐͗̑͆ḩ̷̢̛̫̩̯͆͛̂́̅͝ę̸̡͎͕̯͈͚̬͇͂̅̑͝͝r̴̗̼͇̿͛́̀̈͑n̶̼̄̓͗̊̈̂̚ ̸̧̡̛̼̲̦̼͍̮̈́̈́̌̋̎̅͋͜͝ȟ̸̜̭̞̤̥͉̹̙́̓̓͂͌͠ä̶̞̙͓͈̲́̀͗͝l̷̡̺̫̠̦͇̰͗̊̓̑̓̃̉͆͜ͅv̴̱͆̄͒͂e̵̛̻̝͉͋͗̉̀̄ş̵̢̫͚̥̠̈́͂̊͜ ̶͙̤̬̪̅̾̀͑̒̀͝ő̵̡̡̰̤̠͓͓̋́ͅf̵̼̝̬͇̺̣̗̐̆ ̴̢̢͚̙͎͇͈̫̚t̷̞̙̮͉͙̉̓̀̕͝h̶̙̠͐͘e̶̡͎͕̫͒̈́̈̇̈́͊̋̀ ̶̞̙͐̈̈̀͑͛̕c̷̠͈̜̺̻̈́͑̒͆̀̓͊̓͘o̵̪̲͕̺̮̖̖̼̜̿̎͛͊n̸̙͕͔̰̈́̍̉̂̿͆̽͘̚t̷̘̣̽̓̆̏̕̚͘̕͜͝į̸̭̂̀̉̎̾̉ń̴̘̹̋̃̈́e̸̢͖͕͐͒͋̒͗̃̏n̴̗͔̥͓̗̣͕͒̐ͅt̵̗͈̱̙̋̎̕̚͝ ̴̛̮̼̪͙̈́̎͝ͅr̸̯͎̥̻͋͠ḛ̶͐ȁ̴̠̦̦̍̀̂͌͋̾͠c̴̡͖͙̝̊͊͌h̷͍̞͔̋̃̉͊͊̄̐̃ ̶̧̰̱̳͊̈́̈́̐̿͋p̵̱̘̤̦̞͆́̇̚̚͜ͅo̵̡̪͚̯̣͛̄̈́͂͑̈͘̕l̴̤̫̬̰̻̠̀ą̷̤̳͚͍̀̋̾̾̋͠r̵̙͍͙̖̅̂̓ ̸͉̉͛̐̃z̶̨͖̼͖̞̬̜̜̎̀o̷̢̹̬̻̐͗n̷̡̟͈͕͔͈̣̦̲̕e̶̻̲͈͔̣͂̾͆̚̕̚̚ş̶̺͕̯̣͂̉̈́̊͝ ̴̭͔͙͈͚̰̲͒̓̾͑͐͋̂̕ͅw̶͒̂̔͌̕̕ͅh̸̡͇̦̣̽́̈́͆̋͝i̶͔̹̘̎͗͛̄̀̈́̕͠l̴̡̥̬̩̄̑̆̎͝͠ȅ̵̬̫̞͇͈͉͝ ̸̡̨̪͚͍̪́̍̃̒̎t̵̛̳͆̓̊͂́̓͋͝h̸̡̨̤̟͚̞̰̾̈́͐͂͋̈ͅe̵̛̜͓͈̋̽̓̅̇͆͘ ̶̧̠͉̪̘̟̥̊s̵̡̯̟͓͍̹̣̞͚̄̆̌̈́̓̂͑͝͠ỏ̸̡̜͍̍͗͋̚ư̷̦̞͙͋̋͒̌͊t̴̰̘̪̙̗̺̱̓͝h̴̟͎̣͇͈̦͆͗̿̄̃̚̕e̵̖͐r̴̡̡̧̺̜͉̳̒̎̓͝n̴̢̧̞͉͈͕͈͗̈̿͆̍͂̒͘͝ ̶̳̤͂̃̀̀̈r̵̨̻͕̞̺̻̯͈̱͒ă̸̡͎̙̙̣̠̦̰̣͊̽̇́̇͠ń̶̲̫͕̜̙͚͎̤̪̃͋̾͊̽̋͂͝g̶̢̡͉̹͖͎͉̊̔e̷̬̱̪̳͛̇̌͒͌͠͝ ̸̗͚̣̀͜p̴͖̖͍͕̯̫͉͈̀̇͑̉a̶͈͔͖͓̮̣̫͔͛͆͆͆̕͝s̷̝͕̱̊s̷̪̈̇̔e̴̛̱͕̱̤̗͉͆͋̄͜͝š̸̱̪̄̈́ ̶̠̝́e̸̛͎͑̊̽̎̅͑͠q̸̧̟̰̺̗̱̮͖͊͗͐͝u̷̫͗̿͝a̵̞̹̫͖̤͍͛̎t̴̬̍̎̈̚ơ̴̢̩͕͈̼̼͗̀̒̈̈́̈̀ȑ̸̠̤̮̦̝̮̩͚̆̆î̷̙̦̜̯̓̋͊͆̚͠a̶̼̒͗̒̃l̸̹̭̻̠̰̻͇̣̞̑ ̴̣̎͆̑̕r̶͈̗̮̅͑̎ë̸̢͙̙́͑͋̇͒̇ģ̷̗̗̇̅̄̿ͅi̵͚̬͚̓͝o̶̢͙̹̫̰̖̅͊͗̀͊̑͝ͅn̸̩͓̫̥̓̉s̴̨̥̻̘͔͚̏̆̋̍͜ ̴̨̙̮̮͔̓͛̀̎̈́̑̋ằ̶͈͙̱̖͈̋̒̌n̴̛͂̀͑̏̀̿͜ď̴̢̛̩̼̻̰̣͍̫̀͛̄̏͠ ̸͖̝͔͓̦̳̞́ͅě̷̯̆̔̒n̶̳̣̍̃̚͘t̸̫̜̠̫̞̖̤͍͋͑̄̎̿͂̚è̷͇̝̼̭̉̾͐̈́͌̄͂r̷̡̘̄̔̈́̍͑ş̴̞̞̅͗̎̿͌̿̐͝ ̶̡̀͗̂̿̌̅̅̕͜t̸̢͚̖͔͖̝̏̂̽͌́͗̕͝h̴͙̘̦̉̈̽͛̏́͘͝͝e̸̯̯̞͇͓̦̻͍͛̈́͆͗̈́͆̚̚ ̴͇̒̐́͐̈́̃́̚ȇ̵̤̖͚͈̘̃̈́͘d̸̻̟͖̮̈̑ͅg̴̢͔̦̝̟̅̑͌͑e̷̪̗̎̇̆̒͆̅ ̸̨͚̟̳̜̣̪͕̕o̷̱̦̳̜͇̦̺̍͌͌͌̕f̴̝͚̙̜̅͊̓͆͠ ̵̡͔͍̠̮̦̑̀̂̕t̷̢͉̺̤̟͓̝̫́̀̀ȩ̵̄̍͂̾̑m̶̰̠͒͌̓̃͆͐͝͝͝p̶̖̂́͠é̶̯̂̅̿͛̚̚r̵̟̓a̴̬͍͈̽̋́̅̌͋̒̈̚ͅt̵̨̙̙̟̎̕e̸͙̞̯̾̅͒̿ ̴̝̩̓̐͊̑͊̆̋͘ȃ̶̮̠̲̈̀͒̉̀͗͛̍n̶̰̝̹̭̯̺̟̅̔͊͂̎͛̂d̴̹̝̝̲́͛̌͛̓ ̷̮̣͈͂͜c̵̢͖̰̰̜̬̪̪͑ͅö̸̗̳̼̫͕͓͍́́͂̏͌̂̃̕̕n̸̢͔̞̰̙͎͉̫͆̈t̴̨̧̳̰̽̓̅ͅĭ̷̛̛̭̣̳̻̜͖̭̆͛͜͠͝͝ṅ̴̛̜̺̲̪̮͕̇̇̏͆̍̚͠e̵̡̱̹̍̂́͒̆͝n̴͍̫̩͛͑̈́̆͋̃͠͠t̷̢̜̣̎̿̀̋̋a̵͓̩̙̫͍̥͎̮̭̅̔̈́̾̒̚͘͝ḽ̵̢̨̼͇̝̖̃̈́̽̋́́͠͝͠ͅ ̵̳͙̯͉͈̥̒̌̽͒̃͝͝͠z̸̯͚̫̗̣̹̜̣̓̊́͒͛̃̕̕̕o̷̬̮͚̜̠͛̓̀͝ṅ̵̺͍̌ë̶̡̯́̑ṣ̶̲̺͙̯̥̲͓͛̍͐́̂̏̚͠͝.̶̞̫̎ ̸̻̳̳͚̈́̕E̴̖̠͖̗͛ḽ̶̛̞͇͍̉͑̚̕ͅe̷͕̱̘͔̫͒̾͂̽̍v̵͉̻̰̪̜̫͕͙̣͌͐̚ḁ̴̢̖̥̱̼̘̓̋̄̄̾̌̐̍̒t̴̝̭̭̻̱͓͎̒̒ͅͅi̵̙̪̰͈̅̅͌o̷̺̩̜̗̟̰̠̎̈́͊̇̀̇̾̐ǹ̸̯̬ ̷̙͆̎͊̑̆͝r̶͔͘a̴̢̱͚̲͓̠̓̐̈́̀̽͑̕͠n̶̢̝͙̲͉̉̊̈́g̵͇̱̖̯͇̃̈́ͅé̷̬͎͇̰̤̂̏-̵̜̥̝͕̲̊-̶̣͖̙̝̰̥̺̒

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
System:Oberon


Oberon felt his mind expand as if someone were stretching apart the plates of his skull. The empty void of space, the distant light of stars, the crashing clouds of nebulae, the warping planes of gravity and space, the distorted flow of time...Something at the edge of his fleeting consciousness flitted, something watching him, but he had not yet witnessed it.

With an effort that took the instinct of survival, like jerking back in that moment when your chair tilts too far, his vision shrank. A bright sun seared his being, white-blue hot but further away than he could fathom. This held the spinning world below him in its grasp, on a swift orbit teetering on the edge of hellfire and frozen abyss. And there was something else--a ring, or a wheel, turning in pondulous clicks of a thousand years, ticking like a clock. To his mind it was a brighter, cloudier Milky Way, a fog that threatened once more to blind him. But finally through this the world below him seemed to come into...better focus. It had...a name, he wasn't quite sure he could read it. It had continents, oceans, weather, and...magic. Magic ran through it like blood vessels through the body, or nerves from the spine. But magic was nothing without...without what, exactly?

Looking closer only brought Oberon's frazzled, fragmented sense of identity back to something familiar. With the sense of physical awareness, he was able to pull himself back from the brink. This world had continents, made of rock, rock that turned molten towards its core, molten rock that shifted deep under the ocean. This world had mountains, rivers, lakes, clouds, deserts, forests, creatures. But now it was too far away for him to see. He was...still floating, here in the void.

But something flitted around him, in his peripheral. He might have been able to look at it, if he had more time. And it might have pursued its curiosity further, if he had provoked it, but he was already plummetting down.

That shining light that he thought might be Digbie had been up here longer than he had, yet somehow he descended first...but it wasn't far behind. Like a shooting star, Oberon dropped a thousand miles an hour back into his body. And as he jerked awake, every bone and muscle crackling as a strange mixture of pain and energy flooded his system, he forgot everything...except the sense of seeing vague, dreamlike images, and a distorted amount of information that he wasn't sure where it had come from, contained in the same mental "screen" he saw whenever he used an analysis skill...

TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE!
(Immature) Sprite > (Adult) Sprite
You have Transformed!
Your Potential has increased!
Your skill Minor Heal has increased (3.0125 > 3.5125)!
Your skill Minor Heal All has increased, but you have not reached your full Potential. Increase was reduced (1.1 > 1.6)!
Your skill Light Affinity has increased, but you have not reached your full Potential. Increase was reduced (0.9 > 1.4)!
Unfortunately, no Variances were triggered by your Transformation...

Skill Gain: Light Affinity I!
You have developed a bond with the light element. At this rank, MP/SP cost for all Light-related skills is reduced. Light-related skills will develop more quickly. Increase the rank of your affinity by deepening your understanding of the Light element.
You have only begun to reach your full Potential. The Skills Light Ring and Gather Light only increase by 5 increments. Light Ring (1.3 > 1.55), Gather Light (2.0 > 2.125).

Several skills have developed at once.
Skill Rank Up: Monster Analysis II > III (2.9 > 3.075)!
Gain more information about a creature or other items directly related to a creature. You may now gain comparison information about the creature's physical capabilities contrasted with your own.

You have 14 Unspent Skill Points!

You are Very Hungry.
You are Very Thirsty.
You are Tired.
You have no MP remaining.
System:Oberon


The Sprite's body had not changed a great deal, but he had definitely undergone a rapid growth spurt. He was about a foot and a half tall now, and his hair had grown a good deal. His wings had also begun to shed tiny, prismatic scales, and they stretched wider now as if a giant butterfly were trying to carry him off. While his muscles weren't necessarily more defined or all that much bigger, like that one buff fairy they had seen back at the cave, his proportions had changed somewhat. He definitely seemed physically "mature" now, with slightly broader shoulders as one might expect of a male humanoid. He felt sore all over, especially in his joints. But the slight glow from his body was a bit brighter now, and he was even more aware of any light on his skin--the world in general, suddenly seemed so much brighter for some reason, as if a photographic filter had been placed over his vision.

And nearby him, Digbie's body suddenly burst into blinding, off-white light...

Meanwhile, as soon as Torrent had decided on her evolutionary path, she felt her eyelids growing heavy. And as soon as she closed his eyes, her body slumped. The Lesserwurm's breaths deepened, but her muscles began to twitch every so often, like a dog that kicks its feet in its dreams...and her skin began to look gray, and dry...

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

They were farther North, so she could no longer see the cave where she had been reborn. She could still see all the trees of the forest, far below her. 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, she could almost feel the same clouds of cold and snow she could see, and the howling winds that spun them round and round an even darker and deeper forest.

To the West, she could see the small shape of Guze and his captives making their way up the mountain ledges. They were near the peaks now, among curling trails of smoke and what might have been a large camp of some sort--and then immediately her 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. She had risen even higher by this point, so she 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 she 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.

She 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 her before but now it was silent. The island's red skies still held her in sway. And...she felt as if some sort of emptiness was drawing her further from the world...

She was more aware now than he had been the first time she 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...?

Your Taboo has been Cleansed! You have been given forgiveness--don't squander it!
Your choice has pleased the Divine Spirit Jehanne.

"If thou wish to complete thine Favor for my sake, make use of thy cleverness, Crafting, and magics of the Earth to form the Stones, quartz, and other materials into the Beads of Prayer. Call upon me again, as thy prayerbook directs."
System:Digbie


And with this, Jehanne patted Digbie upon his head. Comfort washed over him like sinking into a warm bath, and he began to drift down towards the world again...but, rather than the feeling of falling and plummeting, he instead experienced a suddenly darkness as if he had somehow fallen asleep while already falling asleep. And within this darkness, a window to another place opened up as if he were watching from above.



Within a room filled with books and all manner of study materials, a man in white robes under a cream coat knelt before a Wooden Effigy much like the one Digbie possessed. His brown hair, somewhat disheveled, fell to just above his shoulders and his face was well defined, angular in some ways but with a strong jaw. He wore a belt of golden chains, and a pin in the shape of crossed dove's wings fastened the collar of his coat. His hands were pressed together in prayer, and one of them held a loop of 8 beads fashioned from some sort of black, crystalline substance. Noticeably, the back of his knuckles were subtly scarred--like someone who has been in many a fistfight. As Digbie watched, the man suddenly looked up--as if he were looking straight through the goblin.

"Your servant hears, my Maiden." he spoke, breathlessly. Still, he had the kind of deep, bassy voice that carries even when one whispers. "When your servant arrives in Westlake, I shall do everything in my power to help him. Though you have not yet revealed to me his face...I shall know him by your Favor upon him." The man stood up and walked to the window, flinging it open to look out over a large city upon the shores of a huge, glittering lake. He held his hands out as if opening himself up to the light, and an expression of bliss passed over his face...although, there was something...slightly off. As if the man's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Still, though...his tone of voice seemed to be genuinely happy. It was kind of like...he didn't know "how" to smile, rather than faking it or being insincere...

"Whoever you are, my new brother...Rejoice, young man!"

And then Digbie awoke.

When he had transformed into a Demiblin, his body had burst into dark flames. Now, the exact opposite happened. The light coming from his every pore was blinding in its intensity. His skin seemed to be peeling--or rather, as if every cell of his dermis was turning over like a reversed scale. The darker hues he had been dyed in now lightened significantly. The blue markings from his Mystic variance became more refined--where before they were like swirling marks or some kind of artistic burns, now they became like real, artistic tattoos. The stony protrusions from his body's Earth variance became smoother, closer to the skin--they were less like spikes of stone growing out of him now, and proper armor or scales grafted to his body. And once again, he had grown taller and a little more muscular--he now stood four and a half feet tall, and his facial features and proportions were more like those of a teenager than a child. And, if their experiences with the likes of Crispy, Rattleskull, Rags Nar, and Guze were any indication...Digbie was actually quite handsome for a goblinoid. [[If you'd like to add or tweak any details like skin color, the shape/style of his markings, hairstyle, etc etc as long as it's purely aesthetic feel free.]]

TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE!
(Immature) Demiblin > (Adolescent) Palablin!
You have Transformed!
Skills suitable for your Job:Skirmisher have been boosted. You have not reached your full Potential, the boost is reduced.
All Stats have slightly increased!
Your Taboo was removed!

You are Peckish.
You are Parched.
You are Tired.
You have overdrawn your MP! You are experiencing Minor Mana Burn! Natural MP Recovery reduced by 25%!
You have no MP remaining!

You have 1 Unspent Skill Point!
System:Digbie



PixieSlime Party

As Ardur returned to the field, he could see that his friends had been wreaking quite the carnage against the Dungeon Core's minions--yet, they were still vastly outnumbered. He cast Minor Heal I on Steve, restoring the Oculus Spider's HP to full as notified by the Taming Skill's System bond between them. Asura finished off the Necroslime floating helplessly in the water with the multiple javelins he had been stealing, and the creature was soon nothing but goop sinking below the dark depths. However, in the process the Amorphous Slime had taken a hit from a Mana Orb, and even after killing his target he had to swiftly dodge a Poison Spit and another barrage of ranged attacks. His Slime Shell was almost broken to the point of uselessness...

"Ardur, you're back!" Trent said with relief, taking a blow from a Zomblin holding a primitive mace of wood and stone on his shield. Now that so much of the rawhide had been eaten through thanks to poison, the stone chipped at the wood beneath. However, Trent's return stroke split the grotesque creature's skull down the middle, all the way to its sternum. He wrenched his blade and kicked the creature hard in the gut, cracking a rib or two as well as knocking it loose. "But, who are you talking to?"

The now-healed Steve caught another Wisp in her webbing, which Momma Slime promptly helped her crush to death. But on the front row, a Fanged Lizard and Wisp unleashed their ranged attacks, as did the two Fanged Lizards and the other Wisp on the middle row. Momma Slime quickly rolled back, and Steve practically leaped on top of her for a ride out of danger, and Asura was busy weaving through more attacks himself. The Zombie Pixie in the middle row fluttered forward, as did another Zombie, and behind them the shuffling forms of several fat Dire Rats could be seen. And of course, the javelin thrower Zomblin took another parting shot at Trent, but the boy moved away rather than risk more damage to his shield. The pointed stick clattered somewhere on the dark rocks behind the group.

Before Ardur could answer, Undine launched herself out of the water like someone had thrown her by hand, turning end over end. She came down point first in the Fanged Lizard on the front row, then with a whiplash sliced it in half from snout to tail-tip. Unfortunately, afterward she clattered to the ground.

The Hipixie had just cast Minor Heal on Mother Slime, restoring her to full HP as well though she hadn't taken much damage compared to some of the others. Asura wrestled with the Zombie Lizard attacking their rear, trying to drain its stamina through a new wound he made. His Blood Drain skill hadn't yet triggered a specific stamina stealing ability, but he could still fill his HP return to full--he hadn't taken that much damage--and while his Stamina Low warning still blared in his head it didn't seem to have triggered HP drain yet. He was balancing on the edge of a knife, it seemed. He yelled at Trent that the way to retreat was clear, but complained about Undine--who the boy seemed to have just noticed, in all the fighting.

The Squire side stepped a Zomblin's wildly lashing claws and took its hands off at the forearm with one swing, torquing his hips with that same momentum. His shield slammed into the side of the creature's skull, breaking its jaw and knocking it down. He jumped on it with a roar, slamming his sword down with both hands between the creature's neck and spine and violently twisting to destroy its brain stem. The black miasma left its body, and Trent sat on top of it for a moment, heaving his breath.

"We can't turn and run that easily though! They'll catch our backs!" he gasped, once more turning to face the oncoming horde--and looking over at Undine again. "Wait, so that sword can...move?"

Steve and Momma Slime worked together to catch yet another Wisp. But now the two Fanged Lizards in the middle row were moving up to the front, and the Zombie Pixie pointed at Ardur with a growl full of black bile.

"CURRRRRSSssse!" it slurred, and a black mist that felt like clammy hands all over him enveloped the Hipixie. The assimilated Slime reached the front row as well, and took a swing with a psuedopod at Steve, who nimbly ducked under it. Asura was hit by another Mana Orb from the remaining Wisp in the middle row, and now for the first time since the start of the battle the Zomblin javelin thrower was moving! Wielding that Bone Mace and Hide Shield, it charged towards Trent. If it hadn't lost its jaw, its roar would have been much louder--but the sound of bloody gurgles was almost as frightening. The human didn't even seem focused on the creature, though, and his mouth moved silently as if he were talking to himself...

As Ardur finished healing Asura, he received yet another notice that his MP was low. And when he used his Guidance to pray to Dhulfiqar, the last of it ebbed away...at the same time, the Hipixie felt a strange tingling sensation, almost like heat, spreading down his limbs. And...there was also a chill that passed up his back? For an instant, he felt some of the courage he had been filled with when calling on Galatine waver, and the horde of undead seemed all the more imposing...but then, a fierce anger seemed to bubble up in his chest.

Asura took a hit from the remaining Fanged Lizard's hastily lobbed poison spit, while he was disentangling from the now crushed to death Zombie Lizard. It didn't do much damage, especially since he had just been healed...but then...

You have been Poisoned! You are suffering damage over time!
System:Asura


Still more monsters were coming towards them out of the darkness...a Skeleblin cracking two whips made from some poor creatures' spinal cords. More Dire Rats, a cloud of Ghost Wisps. Behind them, another crowd of Skeleblins coming from further away, but rattling loudly...

The armored Zomblin was getting closer. It raised its weapon, eyes blazing as it targeted Trent. And the human...crouched down. He wasn't even looking at the monster, but instead reaching with one hand into the pouch on his hip--and with the other hand, his sword arm, he reached out. He dropped one weapon...and as his mouth continued to move silently, he took up another.

Undine's blade flashed. Trent's face started to turn blue as he coughed--as if he were drowning, on dry land. White tinged mana flowed down his arm into the sword--but he had told the group earlier he only had enough left for one spell. This pitiful amount was instantly devoured--and the boy slammed his blue vial against his lips.

As he chugged the Mana Restoration Potion, Trent's body lit up, only for it to be immediately drained as well. The Zomblin was almost on top of him, before it suddenly recoiled as the vial of glass shattered in its face. It was more a reaction to its sight being cut off than it was to pain, since it was undead, but it bought Trent the time he needed to take one step back, adjust his shield along his arm, and grasp Undine's hilt in both hands.

The boy's face looked haggard, as if he hadn't eaten in days. The light that had surged through his body had already been completely drained. But his eyes were still bright as he raised Undine up to the stony ceiling.

"AEGEUS!" he roared.

Undine had absorbed the mana of over half a dozen wisps, a fanged lizard, a smidgeon from Ardur and then from Trent, followed by taking all of a fully restored Trent's energy as well. And it was a sure thing that the Human had more MP than any of the monsters he was partied with, probably more than any creature they had encountered even after leaving the cave. But could he really qualify as a "Hero?"

Undine let out a howl.

"DEPTH CHARGE!" roared her wielder.

Trent brought the blade down. The water from the pool seemed to follow the motion of his arms.

A pressurized sphere of liquid slammed into the monsters in front of them. Like a singular giant raindrop from a really pissed off cloud, it hit the stone floor of the cavern and burst like a grenade.

The Zombie Pixie was practically torn to shreds, like peeling off one's skin by accident with a high pressure hose. The Slime was burst like an overfull waterballoon and reduced to a diluted stain. Two Fanged Lizards had their bones crushed and their scales flayed. The one living Wisp was flattened like a bug. All but one of the Dire Rats were mangled against the rocks. Only the Zomblin managed to get his defense up, raising the Hide Shield. Still he was blasted head over heels, losing a chunk of his armor in the process as the bones cracked, and landed in a sprawl that knocked over some of the approaching skeleblins.

The "rows" in front of the group had been almost entirely cleared, shaving away a few inches of rock and cracking the ground here and there. There was a little more than 30 feet between them and the nearest oncoming enemies. Their rear was clear, as was the air above the watery pool. In the distance, the Dungeon Core flashed angrily.

Trent dropped to his knees, breathing hard. He could barely hold on to Undine, but hold on he did. The light had drained from the magical weapon once more.

Now what?
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