Zeroth

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Ash’s Party and Orchid

Skill Gain: Alert I!
Though this skill is limited by the strength of your senses, and does not sharpen your senses on its own, it allows you to become more aware of your surroundings. Without conscious effort, you will pick up on signs in your environment more easily, especially if they present some form of danger to you. Essentially this is an anti-ambush skill.

System:Ash

As soon as her decision became concrete inside her mind, she suddenly felt a deep and powerful sleep come over her. It was too fast, and there was no fighting it--just like going under before a surgery.

And as she went under, she rose up and up and up. Ash's body gave several jerks as her consciousness faded, and each time she seemed just that little bit bigger. Then, after becoming somewhat bloated, her skin began to change. It rapidly began to dry out and lose its color. And somewhere deep inside, something began to pulse...

Ash suddenly saw EVERYTHING.

Not in crystal clarity, of course. But she drifted upwards, out of her body, rising high enough that she could look out across the cave. And sometimes it seemed as if she saw through it--into the small nest where she had been reborn. And into an odd cavern that didn't seem as if it had been naturally formed--there were even signs that someone had tried to start a garden of some kind here. And deeper in this odd cavern was an entrance into another chamber that held a large, deep green colored stone...and inside this stone was something red that pulsated, a sphere of light. As she watched for just an instant, two smaller pinpricks of red appeared and were absorbed by the first one, which grew to accommodate their sizes.

Then she could see nothing but the layers of rock, and then daylight, but before her eyes could adjust she was rising higher. Now she saw a deep forest, and gently rising cliffs growing ever steeper until they became mountains to the immediate west. She rose higher, drifting through clouds that stretched over the cave and further beyond, over curling smoke trails and unnaturally shaped structures of wood and stone that could only be civilization. Somewhere to the east, a large body of water sat glimmering with the last rays of the setting sun.

She rose higher. To the south, deserts and canyons, windstorms sweeping over the dunes. Further to the east, a bright light cutting a path to safety for those in need of guidance. Over the mountains, to the southwest, a grand city stretching for miles. Still in the west, but far further north, a tower like a mighty tree reaching up to the heavens with roots stretching 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, as if it would pop if she but brushed a fingertip against it. The city lured her, cried out for her. The island's red skies held her in sway.

E̡̢̱̠͍̤̰̪̣͂̏ͥ͒̓̓̒ͅͅŖ̆ͫͬͥ̍̑̎͑̚͏͈̖͈̜Ȓ̭͎̦͖̣̣ͨ̔ͮͭ̑̎ͮͦ̕Ò̷̡̜̭̘̯͈ͭŔ̺̬̬̦͕̞̅̀̓̽́̓͟͟͡.̰̫̭̝̬̠ͭ́͐ͮ͊̆͒̅ ̸ͫͫ̈́́ͨ͏̮̩̼͝Ĕ̷̗̣̼̙̙̈͐́͢N̡̪̣͉͈ͬ̓̑̃̍ͭͪ͞ͅͅC͕̹͂ͤ͡O̺̺̳̤̼ͬ͗͊̃̈̾U̪̜͌̽ͨN̝͚̹̪ͫ̄̓ͧ̍Ţ͔̭̞̳̤̗͇͈̀ͩ̓͌Ê͇̤̱̹̟̈̉͌̎̎͋R̶̨͍̳̤̬̬̃̃͆͠Ẹ̴̶̸͈̲̱̹̭̻̪ͨ̈̐ͣͤ̂̇ͅD̉̑̃ͦ̈̒͡҉̯͓͔̭̱͉̟͕͡ ̸͒ͮ̏̿̂͝҉̭̦F̢̫̦̝̖̲ͯͪͭ̈̽Ơ͇̪ͯͭ͂ͫ̔̃ͣ̌͜R͇̟̖̜̗̜̘ͫ̕E͓̫̦͓̒͐ͮ̋̎̓̂̚Ȋ̡̳̹̑ͦ͐̋̓ͭ̓ͣG̜̤̳̯̥̹͈̺̈́̒͡Ń̶̤͙͖̝̠̝̈̂͑͑̚͡͝ ̻͉̺͍̂̅͊̓̌͛̇O̧͈̼̤̦͕͇̥̮͉̔͂̋̊B̻̄ͭͯ̏͒̒̃̈́͜J͂ͯ҉̥̼̙̘̖͜E̸̺͔̪ͩ͒C̨͓̘̺̝͓̦̮ͤ̑̓ͤ̂͠T̡̮̯̭̚͟ͅ.̨̞̙̍̌̚͢
̣̯̣͎̹̒͑̓̆̈́̄ͩ̓ͫ
̦̹ͬ̇̓̎̿ͦ͟S̫̟̜ͦ͑ͫ͊̽͑C̷̖̼͎͈̖̘̫̝̅̔̑͘͞A̶͕̮̻̜͇̹̗̬̤ͦ̾̇͗Ń̲̞ ̙͉̖̞̤ͥ͑ͬͧ̍Ç͈̻̮͈͛̓̑̕O̧͛ͥ̐͐̀̏̄̕҉͇̬̰M̊̈͛̅̅͒͏̪͙̜̹̥͖P̡̬̗̥͈̋͌̀ͩͤ̀ͅL̜̠͎̫̹̟̭̱̂ͪͩ͑̔͂͑̀̈̀͘͝Ḙ͎̹̤̯͈̥̍̑̀ͤ̈̓ͬT̬̂ͣ̑́̑̀͞E̷͓̯̒̐ͫͩ͋̑̊͢.̠̘̼̹̙̔ͨ̔͋́͘͢ ̛̺̣̫͉̦͈ͬ̌̿͜͠T̨̢͚͈̮̞̔̄̐̃̍̐ͬͯH̯̘̋͋͛̓̿̏̀R̶̫̫̱̗̐͂́̃̿ͯͣ̌̂Ĕ̻̞̯͕̬͔͞A̴̯͓̎ͭͨ͝Tͥ͑ͫͮ̂̀̍͐҉̫̞̗͖͘ ̞̑ͭD̷̾̇ͤ͆ͧͯ͗͏̝̹E̸̘ͫ̀̄͆̍ͥ̑̚ͅT̫̦̭̦͍̤̣͊͋E̛͇̠̻͈̹͍̙͖ͯ́͐̿ͩͧ̈̓͌C̷̟̹̪̬̄̌T̻͙̝̰̻̟̞̗̈͛ͬ͒̚E͔͔̟̰̍͌͆͝D̲̫̖͖̬̝ͪ̃͛́̎̅̒̔.̛͖̤̫̅̽̈́̓̚ ͚̼ͬ̇͒̄M̛̝̲̿̅̑́Ǫ̸͈̲̻̩͕̼̜̓ͧ̈́̑͟V̮̭̪̖̪̖̠̼͛̓ͭ͘Į̛͚͓̘̺͕̹͊͘N͙͆̀̏Gͭ̒͏҉̶̺̱̮̥̞̻̞̫ ͔̬̱̱͈̄̆ͦ͐ͬT̨̧̼̞̔ͭ̋ͨ͗O̼͖̜ͭ͌̈̿̈̋̀̒ ̡̠̮̣̘͌̍͌̎̓Q̼̮͖̣̙̟͌ͦͮͫU̴̲̙͚͓̝̻̬̭͋͊̅̆̊Ḁ̗̫͉̭̼͎̗̥ͭ̒̄ͥͣR͉̟̦̥̮ͧ͛͌Â̜̆̌́̀͠N̵͕̺͖͈̰͍̯̤̠ͬͭ̒̍̾́͞-̧͚̐̾̾-̜̮̠͉̩̖̤́̈́ͫͧ̽̔͌́̚̚̕ͅ
̴̣̤̬͎͇ͧ́́
̴̛̜̫̦̩̜̜̳ͯ̐̍͌̋̓̀̕ͅŐͫ̎̒́͞͏̜̩̱̟V̘̗̙͖̟̙͌ͦͭͬ̓͋ͨ͘͜Ê͇͎̺͉̟ͫ̈́̾̃͡͠ͅŖ̣͔̬͙̙͚̤̹͂̓̒̑̕R̒̓̂̐҉͉͇̕Į͈͚͔̬͕̦̬̽ͩͨ͑̔̃͜D̜̩̲͂̂ͣ̔̂̈ͤĘ̸͔̱̩̼̥͌̓̓̈́̐͘ ̶̳̯̫̟́̑ͨͫ̒Ḯ̷͔́ͣ̃͠N̢̛̫͒̏̾̊͛ͣIͬ̚҉̸̵̞̱͙͈̩̞̹̥T̮͚̒͊ͮͪ̚͢͝I̷͓̥͙ͤ͂ͤA̡̧̩͈ͨ͌̿ͦͣ̇͆̃͝T̞̜̻̠̠̋̈E̴̦̭̅̓͌͜͡Ḑ͊͛̊͒̌ͪ͡҉̱̺̥ͅ.ͤ̀̒̽͂͆͛҉͚̳̠̙͢ͅ

SYSTEM

Y҉͞e̶ą̸͢h̡ t̶͟h̕í̛ś͢ ̕i͠s̀҉ ̕g͟ó͟͡n̨n͞͝a̸ ͡͞͠b̢͘͠e ̕an̨͞n̴҉o̢҉͞y͠͠i̵n͞g̨ į͞f i҉́͢t͜ ͟h̷͢͞à̡p͢p̢҉ęǹ̷s̷ ̷̛e͡v̵̛͜e͟͝r̴̡͝y̶ t̴̡ì̛͢m̷̸e̸.̡̕ ͠D̴ąm̸n,̸̨͜ ̧wh̴į̷ch͡ G̨u͏à͡ŗ͞dį̶a͜n̸ ̶do̸͘͜ ̧̧̀I͡͏ ͢͞n̶̛ȩ̡e͢҉͞d̛́͞ ̵̢t̢͟o̴͞ m̡u͝͠r̶d͜e͏̡͢r͏ ̸̕t̵̛͟ơ͘ ̵̶͜d̨͟i̸̢̕s҉e͞n̵͠g̶̕aģe̷͢ ̨t͞͏h̛͏͜e̡͟ ̧͝S͟͝o̵̡ư̸͟l͘͠w̛à̴͜ll͡͝.̴̛.̸͘.͡͏͞
͏̧
̶͟À̴͡h̷,̷ t̸h̢e̛ ͡re̸̶se̡͡a̴̢r͠҉c̵͟͜h́ę̶r̡̛ ́t͏̴h͡i͞ś͝͡ ̶̨̢t͢͜i̡̛m͝e̴?͞ ̵̶A͏̸n͏̸d̀͘ ̴t̴h̶e̴͝ ͏d̶̷̢ŕ̨ak͜͡e̷̛ p̵͡at̡͠h?͏ ̕͟L͢҉͏et̸͞ ḿ̷̧e͡ ͞ǵư̛e͠s̢̧s̶͠,̡͜ ̷̢ỳ̧͜o̡̡u͠ sa̵̛w ͟t̛͡h̛͢͢e̷ D͝͡r̕ą͜g̸ó̡n̨ ҉̀A̸f̶f̧i̢͝ņ͜it̶̨̨ý͟͢ ̶̀a̶̢͝n̨d̵̷ Ma҉͜҉g҉̡i̕͢c͞͏ ̷̕śp̸̨e͟l̶̡ls̷ ͞͠a̴̕nd̕ ̵͢i̡͘͠mm̨e̸͡͏d͘i̴at̶҉̧ęl͡y̶͘ ̧̨͟a̧sş̀u̶͢m͡e̸d ҉t̶h̸̸̴a̷t ̵w̷̛as̶͘͜ ̴t̸̛͠h̢͡e m̶͟͢ó͟s̷t҉́ ̵̨a̶̛̕d̵̡v̶͜͝a̴̛n͞t̵ą͏g͘͠e͘ou̶s̛͝ ̡̧c̛ǫ̶u͜r̛͏śe̸ ̨of͘ ͢͠a҉c̴̛t̸i҉́͟on͘?̶ ̸̛Y̷̷͜o̧͘u̸ ̡́k͡n̷o̸̷w͞ ̷͟w͜h̵͟at͏̡ ͝m̧̛à͢͝ḱi͟n̛͟͟g̨͞ ̕͘t̷̸h͘҉e̕͝ ̨͜҉"͠͠b̴́͡è̶st"̛͝ d̸̢e̴̷c̵i̡sio̵n͜͡ a͟͝l̸l ̢th̴͝͠e̶ ̛́͢t̢̕i̕me͜ ̷̸m̸̡a͘͘k̶̡e̸͟s ̡̛͝y̢̛o̶̕͠u̸͘?̢ ҉̢B̨͠e҉͢͠s̨įd̴e͏̕͞s ́s͟m̴a̵͡ŗt̡ a̸ń̨d̀ ̴҉"̶p̛͜e̡̨̛r̛͜f͘͘e͞c͏t̡͡?̧"̡͏
̴̧
̵̴P͏̵r̸̢͞e͟dic̛ţ͞a̕bl͟e.͏̵͞
SECOND OVERRIDE INITIATED. ERROR: TOO MANY ERRORS. RESETTING...

System:Ash

Ash plunged earthward...

---

Meanwhile, Orchid came upon her former camp and found it inhabited once more. Hidden at the back of the cave was the form of her friend...or perhaps the Lizard Lady's corpse. It looked bloated, and the skin was dull and lifeless. And there were signs that other creatures had been here, just recently. And standing near the body, peering at it intently, was another Fanged Lizard that Orchid was unfamiliar with. It seemed to be trying to decide something for itself--then as Orchid approached, Colchain turned and hissed defensively at her! He raised his tail and lifted himself up on his front legs as if raising from a pushup--it seemed he was trying to make himself look larger and more intimidating. The lizard bared his fangs, and seemed like he was about to make a rush at Orchid if she didn't back off soon...

---

Bonfire Battles

11 Mana Crystals Remain

LOOT

Ardur, Digbie, Mourningstar, Rain, Danny VS Rattleskull

As Rain spat her Poison Glob right into Rattleskull's face, the advanced goblin barely managed to raise his other hand to try and cover himself. He wasn't fast enough, however, and while some of the glob coated his hand--and the haft of his weapon--the rest of it splattered across one of his eyes and the side of his face, and even down his neck and shoulder. Unlike the Poison Spit, the Glob was too concentrated and heavy to simply splash off, and where it clung to his fur and skin steam began to hiss in the air.

"AAAAAAAAGH--HURF!?"

Before he could even finish his scream, Ardur threw dirt into the boss's face, not only blinding him but also setting off a bout of hacking and wheezing. At the same time the pixie cast Minor Heal II on Rain, and the System told her that she was back at Full HP--just as Rattleskull furiously threw her in order to stop her clawing his arm apart, as well as free himself to clean his face without dropping his weapon. As the blue lizard hit the dirt she saw stars flash in her vision as the taste of blood filled her mouth.

WARNING! Your HP is Low!

System:Rain

As she lay vulnerable for those few moments, Rattleskull's huge figure loomed overhead, stone club held high--

But as he coughed and spluttered, rubbing at his eyes with only one good hand that still bled from multiple wounds, the furry brute also began to look pale and haggard. Blind, wounded...and now Poisoned, finally?

Digbie came charging up, and Mourningstar was right behind him. Ardur had gone to grab another stone. But Rattleskull still had his turn to take. He turned, blinking through teary vision as Digbie jumped up and drew back his fist. The other goblin was too close for a full, arcing swing with Rattleskull's club. The Boss's only option was to throw his own punch--but his fist was much larger than Digbie's, and shone with a familiar red, crackling light. Rain would see, from down on the ground, as Rattleskull's feet dug into the dirt, his lower body tensing as every muscle--even his buttocks--clenched.

"SMAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"

Time seemed to slow down. That red, sparking fist was going to cross under Digbie's as the smaller goblin's leap apexed.

But then Digbie's fist began to glow with a bright, metallic gold light.

Skill Synergy has increased the power of your attack.
You are experiencing a Rapid Skill Progression.
You are experiencing a Fast Skill Progression in multiple skills.

System:Digbie

As each shining blow struck home, time rushed back to its proper flow. The cross counter ended in Rattleskull's favor thanks to his longer reach and greater muscle. Both of Digbie's nostrils spurted blood as the bridge of his nose snapped out of place, and two teeth flew free of his jaw. His neck turned so far it seemed to stretch unnaturally before the impact caught up with the rest of his body. The young goblin was sent flying, bouncing once before he came to rest in the dirt.

WARNING! Your HP is Low!

System:Digbie

But Rattleskull did not escape unscathed. He too reared back, his own nose spurting blood yet again as his upper lip also split and swelled. His eyes were unfocused for a moment as he lost his balance.

Then Mourningstar's Mana Slice spell struck one of his legs. The boss went down to the ground with a heavy thud, blood spurting from a deep wound on his shin just below the knee. He screamed--less fury this time, more pain, real pain. But as Mourningstar went to grab a Mana Crystal from Digbie, Rattleskull grabbed something of his own--one more Healing Herb! But before he could eat it, once more Ardur came flying in with a heavy stone. This time, however, the evolved goblin managed to bat the projectile away with his stone axe. When Mourningstar attacked with her second Mana Slice, he did the same as he sat up. But her magical cutting force struck the wooden haft of his weapon, near where Rain's Poison Glob had begun to eat away at it. With a crack the haft of the weapon began to split and splinter--it remained intact for the moment, but the stone head was beginning to wobble in its setting...

Just then, a Mana Orb--somewhat differently shaped than usual, and well-aimed--struck Rattleskull in the chest. Instead of detonating in a small, crackling explosion, it instead seemed to pierce into his wooden armor, driving deep enough to push him onto his back again even though it didn't draw blood. The Boss took notice of Danny floating up above, and roared his fury once more.

But it was certain Rain hadn't spent all this time down below idle. Would her next course of action, or that of her comrades, manage to stop Rattleskull from eating his second Herb?!

Jason, Oberon VS Brawny Goblin, Bitchy Goblin, Brawny Minion

Jason's next Stone Shot hurtled through the air with a golden flash, but this time the Brawny Goblin had eyes on his opponent this time. He hurled himself to one side to avoid the projectile, literally hitting the dirt. This same process virtually repeated itself as Oberon shot another Mana Dart at the female, and she too moved evasively. She managed to stay on her feet, however, as she wasn't wounded like her team's leader. The brawny goblin's minion, not being attacked at the moment, lunged forward as soon as Jason emerged from his foxhole. His Wooden Club and Torch both struck Jason from either side, and while he felt a sharp and sizzling pain from the flame the club only produced a dull throbbing sensation--as a Slime he already had the skills for damage reduction, and his evolution had slightly increased his defensive abilities. These two blows, even though one of them had a form of damage that wasn't entirely physical, barely had the same oomph as a single normal attack he would have taken in his previous form. Still, damage was damage--could he really afford to let himself be attacked?

Skill Gain: Limited Shapeshift I!
By practicing the manipulation of your body, which Slimes are naturally predisposed for, you gained this skill. You cannot alter the total size, texture, or consistency of your body. You also cannot alter your body’s primary qualities--you cannot become “sharp” or “hard,” for example. At this level, complex structures are too difficult. But making yourself into a rolling sphere, a flat puddle, or shaping your pseudopods would all be possibilities, plus more. This skill consumes Stamina, not MP.

System:Jason

As Oberon flew back to the Bonfire at top speed, the female goblin started to pursue him. The Brawny Goblin got back to his feet. Then Jason unleashed his War Cry, and all three goblins immediately turned towards him with their weapons raised defensively. Every instinct they had cried out that the source of that sound couldn't be ignored. They weren't exactly afraid to fight back against it, but for this single instant they had been distracted, and their relative lack of battle experience despite this "war" caused them to freeze up for just a moment longer.

Skill Gain: Muffle I!
This skill grants you the ability to be just a little bit better at being stealthy, with a focus on reducing the sound of your movements.

System:Asteria

As the fastest of the three Dire Rats, Asteria came in like a furry bolt from the blue. She leaped onto the dual-wielding minion and began to chomp away, tearing into him like a dog. He yelped in pain and went down, and with all the blood he had lost thus far thanks to Oberon's Mana Dart he wasn't in much condition to keep fighting. As Asteria tore at him he grew weaker and weaker and finally stopped moving.

With the rat's attack, now the goblins were shocked out of their temporary surprise. The female goblin turned towards Asteria and raised her weapon, only to suddenly be forced to her knees with a scream as Ed bit into the back of her leg. It wasn't clear whether he'd succeeded in permanently crippling her, but he had certainly managed to get her down for the moment as he savaged the back of her calf and ankle with his fangs...

Skill Activated: Rabid Fit I!
You have previously gained this skill. Conditions have been met to activate it. It is not currently active.
Fly into a mindless rage, and destroy the enemy! A sudden burst of fury grants you increased strength and damage, but you’ll become more vulnerable to damage yourself.

System:Ed

And in that moment the female was down, Mother Rat took her own opportunity. She leaped up at the female's face, and the goblin only barely managed to get the shaft of her spear between herself and the angry rodent. Mother Rat's fangs seized the wooden pole and she began to shake her head back and forth like a hound, snarling and growling all the while. Locked in this struggle it seemed neither had an advantage, but for the moment the female couldn't use her weapon...

However, this left the Brawny Goblin unattended, as Oberon simply moved to Jason's side with his newly acquired crystals rather than attacking again. Hefting that Wooden Spear in one burly arm, the goblin grinned maniacally as he took aim at Ed from behind...

The male Dire Rat was struck...by an odd sense of deja vu.

Skill Synergy has increased the power of your attack.
You are experiencing a Fast Skill Progression.

System:Asura

Asura's Limited Shapeshifting had improved, allowing him to turn himself into a tightly condensed, smooth rolling mass. His Faster skill allowed him to fairly hurtle along like a kickball being pitched down the lane by one of those kids too big for their grade because they're dumb and get held back. His Smash skill allowed him to, well, smash things. Like this slightly bigger than average Goblin in his way.

The Brawny Goblin let out a distinctive "HIDEBU!?" gurgle as the rolling red mass barreled into him. Something meaty crunched, then there was a loud snap as the goblin hit the ground under all that weight and momentum. Asura kept on a-goin', bouncing a few times as he began to slow down. Behind him, the Brawny goblin lay relatively flattened, especially across his ribcage and face. Slowly, painfully, the creature began to lift his one good arm, and then began to plant his feet back on the ground...

Then Momma Slime rolled over on top of him and came to a stop, her upper mass twisting slightly as if she were looking around her at what was going on.

"Weeeh hurr? Eet naoow?" she burbled. The Brawny Goblin didn't say anything.

---

Other Goblins

With Orchid's three shield bearers standing guard against the Wispmother's Mana Orbs, the two younglings bearing torches and the two remaining members of the hammer team began picking up rocks. Crispy's two team mates ran here and there, swinging their own torches wildly to try and draw the large wisp's fire. As she once more dodged Crispy's Fireball, she wasn't fast enough to dodge all of the rocks that soon flew her way. Of the four stones in the volley, two of them struck home. The Wispmother wobbled with a squeak...then turned and started to float off with as much speed as she could muster.

"Ha! Wisps is weaklings!" Crispy cackled. But then he frowned. This one had lived long enough to know that it was better to run from a fight it couldn't win--but if it healed up, it might just come back stronger later.

"Quick, afore it gets away! Chuck everyting ya got!" he ordered, pointing at the retreating Wispmother as he jumped up and down. The torchbearers grabbed more rocks, and the shield bearers readied their spears. Soon a volley of projectiles flew through the air, and by sheer numbers the Wispmother was overwhelmed! Bleeding and bruised she was knocked to the ground. As the goblins descended in a howling horde she managed to get off one last Mana Orb, blasting the Hammer goblin directly in the chest. He went down with a scream, the energy blackening his skin--but that was the last of her MP. And in mere moments, the Wispmother was simply a bloody smear on the ground. In the last fleeting moments of her life she flickered...then the light went out forever.

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

K E N I C H I

Hospital

@Feyblue@Lucius Cypher@pkken@Heartfillia@Aerandir@Silver Carrot@Melpaws

---

"Anybody get the license...on that wheelchair..." Kenichi mumbled as he shook his head. He grimaced as he felt something cold on his side, and looked up to see Fumika looking down at him with those colorful eyes of hers.

"...I think you're okay. Sorry. I didn't realize going to the hospital was so dangerous. I let my guard down."

"Y-yeah, tell me about it. Second time I've been to a hospital this week, and neither one's gone well."

Jett crouched down to look him over as well, but the other boy's slight smirk belied his concern.

"You ok there? Maybe we should check you in while we are here. Though… you got to admit… that was pretty funny, who honestly gets doors slammed into their sides now a days?"

"Ha. Ha, yeah." Kenichi said in monotone as he grit his teeth. "But hey, if we're gonna check me in, what about you? Maybe they could tell ya which blow to the head it was that made your Quirk glitch out."

"I think my Quirk's a bit better suited to this," Asuka said, causing Kenichi to watch with interest as she projected her own ice pack. However, where Fumika's looked like something you'd see on any store shelf--in fact Kenichi thought it might be a brand he'd used before after workout-related injuries--Asuka instead made an actual ice cube and plastic to wrap it in. How different were their Quirks?

"Well, unless you're set on staring at Wonderboy here for another twenty minutes or so."

"...Wonderboy?" Kenichi smirked. "Not my first choice of Hero name I guess." But as Fumika's ice pack pressing against his side began to fade away, he reflexively moved one hand as if he could have caught it. He looked up, slight confusion creeping into the edge of his face, as Fumika stood up.

"Go on," Asuka said dismissively, motioning to the figure who had just rolled out into the hall. "Better check on your friends. It's what you came here for, right?"

"...Thank you," Fumika said quietly, and quickly shuffled away. Kenichi started trying to push himself up.

"Wow. That's rare. She must be really worked up if she's actually thanking me for anything."

"Th-thanks from me, too, Asuka-chan. I think I'll be okay as soon as I get my breath back." Kenichi said, although his usual energy had dimmed quite a bit. Still, once he was back on his feet, he wasn't all that bad-off. It was just the sudden movements, and of course repeated impacts. He wasn't going to be bedridded by something like fractured ribs, right?

Right, he had come here to do something. He was supposed to be visiting the others. Although...right now that seemed to be taking a bit of a back seat to something else. He couldn't put his finger on it. He just had...a bad feeling.

He made it to the edge of the doorway.

"Takeshi... Your arm..."

“Fumika… thank you for visiting…”

BAD FEELING.

He only barely peeked around the edge of the door. It felt like he'd be intruding otherwise--and while one part of him screamed that he ought to just kick the door in and go in shouting like he always did, another part of him told him he needed to watch this because something about this was all wrong and he had to figure it out.

She opened her mouth, then shut it. She blinked very slowly. She nodded. Her lower lip quivered. She fidgeted with her hair. She raised her head. She frowned. Her lip twitched slightly again. Her ahoge dropped. She turned--

Kenichi jerked back around the door, plastering himself flat to the back of it. He gulped, feeling the sound in his eardrums. Then there was another sound from inside the room, but when he looked he could see just the edge of blonde fluff standing in the doorway. He had a feeling someone had bumped into something, but as long as she was standing right there then they wouldn't be stumbling into or being caught by her, would they? But then what was Haruka talking about, "nice catch?"

“Why don’t ya make sure that Yoshida kid’s alright? He took a pretty nasty hit to the gut back there.”

Kenichi put a hand to either side of his face and rubbed vigorously like a hamster washing its face. He managed to get his usual grin back up and running, shook his head, and stepped out into the open hallway just in front of the doorframe. He started to say, Who, me? A little thing like that's nothin'!

“Thank you Fumika,I really appreciate you being here.”

Don't say that while staring directly at her you goddamned bishonen!

"Eh?" Her voice rose an octave. She looked down. She fidgeted. She looked at Haruka. She smiled faintly. Kenichi was also smiling but on the inside something made the kind of sound that a priceless stained glass window makes when you swing a wrecking ball through it. One of his eyes twitched. Then Fumika turned and started out the door, and of course that put the two of them face to face. Kenichi reflexively took a step back.

"Ah, uh, sorry Motome-chan...I, uh, just got back up! I'm alright now, no worries!" He flexed his arms as if to demonstrate that fact. His ribs didn't protest the motion so badly this time. But something in his gut still hurt.

"I should, uh, probably say hi to Yashiro-kun too, huh?" he blurted out, awkwardly moving to one side so as to let Fumika clear the doorway...

Gaia Frontier (5e)

---

𝕬 𝖓 𝖙 𝖆 𝖊 𝖚 𝖘

North Forest Clearing

---

Somehow Antaeus managed to shift his weight and still hold on as this insane woman bludgeoned this massive, massive creature against the earth. Was she some kind of demi-god!? Antaeus knew himself to be pretty darn close to "strong as an ox," but there would be no way he could lift a creature of this size over his head, much less throw it! Either this woman was an experienced adventurer of some sort already, or something was very wrong with this picture.

But there was no time for any of that! The beast was down, pinned in place. If ever there was a time to try and finish the creature off, now was it! But while virtually sitting atop the beast, could he make effective use of his javelins and darts? No...but there was one more option!

From the loop on the side of his backpack, Antaeus reached back with a practiced motion and grasped his trusty old friend--a pickaxe, kept sharp and in good condition for daily use. Using his legs to grip the body of the creature below him, he quickly grasped its haft in both hands and raised it over his head. With all the strength of a veteran rock crusher he brought it down at the Stag's skull...

Rolls/Action Log

Antaeus equips Pickaxe (improv War Pick) in 2 Hands (1d8 damage per DM)
Antaeus Attacks White Stag w/Advantage!
1st Roll: 16
2nd Roll: 4
Damage Roll: 8

Inventory

1 Quest Book - 5 lb
1 Shovel - 5 lb
1 Miner's Pick - 5 lb
1 Block and Tackle Set - 5 lb
--Pulleys
--Cable
--Hook
1 Climber's Kit - 12 lb
--Pitons
--Boot tips
--Gloves
--Harness
1 Set of Clothes, Common - 3 lb
--Roughspun Tunic
--Roughspun Pants
--Ragged Boots
1 Belt Pouch - 0 GP
1 Hunting Trap - 12 lb
1 Backpack - 5 lb - Holds 30 lb
1 Waterskin - 5 lb (full) - holds 4 pints
1 Tinderbox - 1 lb
1 Hempen Rope - 10 lb - 50 ft
2 Javelins - 2 lb Each
6 Darts - .25 lb Each

Total Encumberance: 71.5/240 lb (Light)

Quest Log

+Bookie has agreed to write a letter to Captain Ork at the Garrison. I should kill an animal in the forest and take it to Captain Ork to prove I'm adventuring material.
--The animal can be anything from the Forest. Bookie suggested a deer or a boar.

+Barthen has requested me to hunt a White Stag in the Forest, and has given me a free hunting trap for this purpose. If I don't succeed I should probably bring the trap back.
--I should try to find the Redchaser, she might be able to help me.

+Barthen is paying 1 GP per pound of Medicinal Herbs from the forest.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Ash’s Party

Ash's methodical and scientific approach to her magic lessons were...surprisingly unscientific. There was nothing to it but to do it. Practice and effort couldn't be avoided, and neither could tedium and frustration. She didn't make these efforts blindly, however, as she seemed to think heavily about each skill and what it required before making new attempts. One might compare it to the oft-attributed Thomas Edison quote, "I have not failed. I have simply found 10,000 ways that will not work."

But that quote itself referred to something different, in a way. Edison's problem was that of finding a filament to use in a lightbulb. Hair, wire, fibers of all kinds. Every time Edison had to try something new, he was also trying something different. A new material that had not yet been tried--not simply a new configuration of the old, but an entire replacement.

Was Ash's method equally effective? Did she put quite that much thought into it? When does one reach the point at which continuing to practice an activity in the exact same way becomes the definition of insanity, in which one tries the same thing expecting a different result?

Then again, even diminishing returns pay off.

As time passed, with the sounds of battle in the distance, Ash continued to feel the flow of magic. Her scientific mind was no doubt constantly churning, as it had been for some time now over the various spells the Pixies had shown her and how she would be able to use them.

Skill Gain: Magic Analysis I
You may now analyze magical energies or objects to learn their most basic magical characteristics. Less effective on Materials and Monsters unless they are magical in nature.

System:Ash

Until she was interrupted again, or succeeded in using Lesser Force, she wasn't going anywhere else or sleeping. How many times had she done this very thing in her old life? How many hours without sleep or food or water had she gone in the pursuit of brilliance? She had done it for fifty seven years, after all. It had become quite the habit...before she died, anyway.

But right now, this world was simple enough. Right now, this system was easy enough to work with--even if one simply tried to barrel their way through. Feel the power. Move the rock. Move the rock again. Move the rock some more.

Skill Gain: Lesser Force I
Use a type of magical telekinesis to manipulate objects a short distance from your body. Objects cannot be finely manipulated, and the strength of this Spell is comparable to your physical ability. It works better if the object is also within your sight. This Spell has low MP consumption.

System:Ash

Success!

Skill Rank Up: Overwork I > II
Stamina consumption increased. Self-Buff increased. When Stamina is fully consumed, this Skill can be kept active by sacrificing HP. This skill will automatically deactivate when HP reaches dangerously low levels.

You have no MP remaining.

WARNING! You have run out of Stamina! You will be Exhausted until you recover through rest--abilities are significantly decreased. You are Thirsty.

System:Ash

Ash had eaten quite a bit earlier while hunting those goblins and rats, but how long had it been since she had anything to drink? And all of her efforts had left her mentally and physically drained in a way that felt disturbingly familiar. Perhaps the worst part was that, without this MP, she couldn't even continue to use the skill she had just earned after such painstaking work! And...hadn't there been something, way back when, about her venom gland production being related to her Stamina rather than to MP like a magic spell?

But the System wasn't done with her just yet.

LEVEL UP!

Your experiences have culminated in new power! You are now Level 5! You gain Skill Points to distribute as you please!

Unspent Skill Points: 7

Current Skills:
Stun Fang II (2.0)
Poison Spit I (1.9)
Alchemy II (2.0)
Overwork II (2.0)
Charisma I (1.3)
Venom Shot I (1.3)
Crafting I (1.0)
Lesser Force I (1.0)
Magic Analysis I (1.0)
<UNUSABLE SKILLS>
Muffle (0.9)
Alert (0.5)
Blunt Resistance (0.2)
Monster Analysis (0.3)
Material Analysis (0.1)
Scribe (0.6)
Minor Heal (0.7)
Faster (0.1)
Intimidate (0.1)
Acid Volley (0.1)
Venom Claw (0.1)
<UNUSABLE SKILLS>

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

OPTIONS (* Indicates Suitability):
*(Adult) Fanged Lizard - Fanged Lizards are a reptilian monster with potent venom. When injected via a bite, it acts as a neurotoxin to paralyze the prey. When exposed to the air, it becomes a highly acidic liquid. The lizard can spit at a distance. Lizards will sometimes roam in packs of family units, but only until the young can hunt on their own, compared to Dire Rats often found in the same ecosystem. They are normally various shades of gray, blue, and purple, darkening towards black with the lighter colors being speckled across their backs.

• Slight increase to all base stats
• Increase HP
• Increase Potential

**(Immature) Kobold - Small, reptilian creatures with odd primate characteristics like upright spines and grasping limbs. Quite similar to Goblins, often competing with them for the same territories and resources.

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

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

• Very Slight increase to all base stats
• Increase MP
• Increase Lesser Flight
• Increase Mana Orb and Dragon Affinity (reduced)

(Immature) Tailed Frog - Tougher than the average amphibian, these slimy creatures are not to be underestimated. In addition to poison, their hefty bodies pack quite a wallop. They often hide in water, then pop up at a distance to lob their poison at unwary adventurers.

• Slight increase to strength-related stats
• Increase Poison Spit (reduced)
• Gain Water Breathing

System:Ash

---

Bonfire Battles

17 Mana Crystals remain.
2 Flame Touched Crystals remain.

LOOT

Danny

As the lone Wisp floated up over the battlefield, he could see that the goblins were out in force. They had a lot more primitive weapons than he remembered from the few times he had seen them, and some of them weren't that bad at using them. And they moved in groups, with some modicum of tactical thought. But then there was this odd, motley crew of all different kinds of monsters fighting back against them. Their behavior, too, was out of the norm. Were they all working together? Did that mean they were like him and the others?

Ardur, Digbie, Mourningstar, Rain VS Rattleskull

Rattleskull snarled as he peered into the darkness. What creature had cast that spell? It had been a spell, right? He had seen the light from the ground just before that sharp rock had come up out of nowhere. But...he'd never seen any monsters in the cave cast that kind of spell before. Just the pixies and wisps with their sparkles, and Crispy's fire--

He heard something fluttering and turned just as Ardur hurled his rock. The hairy monster roared in pain once more as the projectile slammed into his face, bloodying his nose with a crunch! He stumbled back, away from the pillar he had been leaning against--just as another flash of golden light came out of it! Jason's second Rock Spire missed that oh-so-precise artery he had been aiming for, but it still nicked Rattleskull's hand, slicking the grip of his club with blood.

"RAAAAAAGH!! ME KILL ALL YOUSE!!" With his good hand the boss reached into the belt of vines around his waist, pulling out something that had been woven between the fibers and his body. A Healing Herb! He shoved it into his mouth, chewing and practically frothing with rage. Just then he caught sight of that same yellow glow he had seen twice before, but now it was somewhat further away. Far enough away that he had time to turn and hold up his stone headed axe to try and block it.

Digbie's Stone Shot hit the primitive weapon with a loud crack, knocking a few splinters off the haft before ricocheting into the darkness of the cave. Rattleskull drew his weapon back and prepared to charge, but at that moment Mourningstar cast her Mana Slice, and the big goblin had to duck so as not to lose more than the top few inches of his hair to the flying crescent-shaped light. Before he could regroup himself, Digbie's second Stone Shot hit him in the chest, forcing him to take a step back with a grunt. However, this had been the least painful hit thus far, and his earlier wounds had already stopped bleeding thanks to the herb he had eaten.

Without an open wound, Rain's Poison Breath merely stung the outer layer of Rattleskull's hide, and alerted him to the Fanged Lizard's presence. As she sank her teeth into his leg, drawing blood and another cry of fury from the Boss, he grabbed her around the middle in one meaty hand and pulled her off. Limping a half step to the cave wall, he slammed Rain against it and began to tighten his grip. She could feel her bones creaking, and couldn't draw any air into her lungs. The Boss slammed her again, sensing a kill...

WARNING! Your HP is Low!

System:Rain

"YOU CAN'T BEAT ME, RATTLESKULL DA STRONGEST!" he roared in her face...

Jason, Oberon VS Brawny Goblin, Bitchy Goblin, Brawny Minion

The three goblins could hear their Boss screaming at something, and they could see flashes of light. They had already seen that Wisp earlier, but this sounded like something more important. The broad shouldered goblin barked at the others to ready their weapons and charge. Oberon could see them coming, and Jason quickly hunkered himself down for an ambush.

As Oberon cast Shield on himself, the light of the spell attracted the goblins' attention. They turned just in time to see him preparing his spell, and the brawny leader ordered the others to get down--but just then, Jason's Stone Shot hit him. He had turned to the side, throwing off the slime's aim, so rather than hitting the throat Jason instead got him in one of those broad shoulders. But the attack had enough power behind it at this range to knock the goblin to the ground, the sharp stone sticking out of his shoulder and rendering that arm useless as blood poured down his green bicep. The first torchbearer was too shocked by the sudden attack to react in time to Oberon's first Mana Dart. It pierced through his torso, somewhere lower on the rib cage, with a meaty "thwip!" sound and burst out of his back in a spray of blood--a relatively clean shot, much like a well placed arrow. It hadn't torn through any of his organs, but this open hole bled profusely and the inexperienced goblin went down howling in pain.

The female, however, had better instincts than her companion. As soon as she'd seen the leader get hit she dropped to the ground in a crouch, spear held in one hand and torch tossed aside. Oberon's second Dart went over her head, hitting the stony ground harmlessly. With a snarl she leaped at the pixie, bringing her crudely made stone spear to bear.

And at this moment, Oberon and the others might realize something.

These goblins had prepared themselves for battle, made a plan, and then moved to carry it out. They were actively seeking a conflict, they were trying to exterminate all the other monsters in the cave. They were fighting any beast they could find--no running, no trickery, not much in the way of traps. It was almost like running around in circles in an RPG, just waiting for random encounters to grind. And by doing this, these Goblins had not simply been killing. They too, in their own way, had been growing. Learning.

"SKEWER!" roared the female, and her spear's tip lit up with a bright red spark much like the light seen when someone used the Smash skill.

Oberon's Shield was of the third rank, and he was level four. Not bad at all for something that seemed as fragile as the normal Pixie. But most attacks anyone with a shield had been hit by, thus far, were simple and unarmed blows. This goblin had an actual weapon, with a blade made of stone. She had been gaining experience through combat, and now used a skill that had been made stronger by that experience.

Oberon felt the shield shatter just as the momentum of the blow carried through--he never felt the sharp sting of the spearpoint, but it still tossed him like a ragdoll. He slammed into the ground, hard enough to nearly knock the wind from his lungs. Another blow like that for a Pixie like him, and he could be in serious trouble...

The Brawny goblin got to his feet, still managing to hold his own spear in one hand. He yelled at his minion to stand up, and the other goblin managed as well, hiding behind his torch and wooden club to try and put a defense between himself and whatever had shot him...

Asura, Momma Slime VS??? Orchid

As Orchid whipped her stone out of the sling, it made a distinctive whip-crack just before it struck Asura's body. He felt this blow just as strongly as he had felt Jason's Stone Shot that time they had been practicing by the pond--it hurt, but the damage wasn't fatal. He felt Momma Slime gurgle angrily next to him, and her large mass started to lurch forward...

Meanwhile, it seemed like Orchid intended to flee the battlefield entirely. She could hear the roars and screams and flashes of magic in the distance behind her. How would things go for the goblins without her?

---

Other Goblins

Seeing the fights breaking out up ahead, Crispy's team began hurrying in that direction. However, they came across the combined force of Orchid's Shield Bearers and the Hammer Team's remnants.

"Where dat youngling!?" Crispy demanded.

"She runned ahead!" shouted one of the shield bearers. "I can't see her torch no mores, though!"

"What!?" Crispy stomped his feet in rage. What was that dumb female doing!? If she went off by herself she'd just get ganged up on and killed! He had thought she was smarter than that, not like Rattleskull. Although in the Boss's case, he was strong enough and tough enough to take that risk.

"What we do now, Mini-boss?" asked the Hammer goblin.

"Hurgh...Everybody not gonna last much longer, moon's high in sky." Crispy rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand, absently smearing blood from an earlier kill over himself. "We clear big chunk for now, I wants to know how da other teams doin'! Youse all head back, hold yer grounds til da rest of us gets dere!"

The rest of the goblins, especially those who had been injured over the course of all these battles, sighed in relief. Keeping their more vulnerable torchbearers closer to the center, they formed a mass and started back towards the entrance of the cave--

"SHIELDS UP!"

One of Orchid's members had taken to her training a bit better than the others, and he managed to get the other two to raise their defenses just in time. A crackling bolt of energy struck the wicker shields, and one of them snapped several of its bindings.

"Fireball!"

Crispy's own spell struck the Wispmother in a burst of flame, drawing a pained and angry screech from the creature as she wheeled in the air. Another goblin threw a rock at her, but she easily dodged this.

"How we gonna reach it!?" yelled one of the greenskins as the Wisp fired another Mana Orb at Crispy, which he swiftly dodged.

"Let it shoot atcha! If ya dun get killed, it'll fall down tired!" The flame touched goblin had gone more than one round with most of the creature types in this cave. With Wisps you had to figure out a way to bring them down to the ground, or get in close. And once he had learned his own magic spell, he had figured out what spending all of one's MP did. He didn't have a complex understanding by any means--he just knew that when Wisps used a lot of spells, they couldn't levitate as well anymore.

---

[[The Map won't be used for a bit because the Parties that are in Battle are close enough to move around each other without needing the square grid. Still, keep in mind your general location for the time being.]]

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

K E N I C H I

Hospital

@Feyblue@Lucius Cypher@pkken@Heartfillia@Aerandir@Silver Carrot@Melpaws

---

As plans got underway for the group to make their trip to the hospital, Kenichi absently rubbed his side. He'd been moving and talking a lot, especially once he got excited about the shared interest in Kamen Rider with Fumika. And the whole game of chuunibyou with Haruka. Now his ribs were starting to throb again. And of course his hand stung where he had split the scabs.

As Fumika headed for the doors, the bluette watched her go with concern. Maybe it was just him, but it seemed as if the number of times he had seen her show any emotions at all were heavily tilted in the direction of distress. She had hugged him just moments ago, and he had seen her smile here and there. But the hair pulling, the blank face with downcast eyes, and of course the ever indicative ahoge lying flat or drooping low...Had she done more of that than anything else? Kenichi hoped it was just because this whole Hero School thing had turned into one fiasco after another. He hoped she was just responding to stress and a lot of unfortunate occurrences. Because if Motome Fumika was living with some deep sense of sadness all the time...

As the rest of them headed after her, his thoughts were broken by the re-appearances of Kasuke and Asuka, along with a girl he didn't recognize. Was she another new member of the 1-A class? Komei's roster was surprisingly unstable...or maybe, unlike what he'd heard about UA, the departments were highly mobile? Then, as his powerful nose caught a single small strand of something, he held up a hand in warning to the others before turning his head away from everyone.

"AH-CHOOOooh god my ribs."

So the cat ears and tail were real, then.

Once the blinding pain shooting through his side had once more dulled to an ever-constant reminder of misery, Kenichi managed to get back on his feet and speak again--though his usual loud voice was now ragged and low.

"So we're all--hack--decided that we're gonna go. Cough. But we still don't know what happened?"

With the group joined by new members, it was as good a time as any for reiteration. Jett did the honors, updating them on what little info he had received as they headed towards the main gate. Kenichi registered the memory that Jett said the text had come from his father. Did that mean Jett's dad worked at the hospital? How else would he be involved in something like this unless...maybe he was a Pro? After all, someone had rescued the students, right?

Rescuing them from what, or who, now that's my next question. Thought the bluette. So Jett's saying some group attacked them, and then Heroes resolved the matter. But Yukari had been involved in a completely seperate matter...at the same time? Is that really a coincidence?

As much as he tried not to think about it, he couldn't help comparing it to his own situation. Katchi, Chuck, and Shirou hadn't been real "Villains" per se--they were too small minded and too weak. But their decision to try and go big with a real kidnapping, from what Kenichi had pieced together during his time with them, had been heavily influenced by the League of Villains showing up at UA. Was that the reason? Were Villains all over the place going to start all poking their heads out at once? Were they just that bold, now that the bastion of Herodom, UA, had been proven not-so-invulnerable? Or...maybe this could have been coordinated?

As they boarded the bus Kenichi shook his head. All that thinking wasn't his strong suit. And everyone already seemed so worried...it wouldn't do any good to bring up something like this and make it even worse on them. Massaging his side, he tried to make a little bit of small talk...but it didn't seem like anyone was in the mood. The best he could do, he decided, was to try and snag the seat nearest to Fumika. To be emotionally supportive and stuff. Yeah. That was...that was right, right?

Jett kept them updated as much as possible, and Kenichi decided to use his own phone and check the local news stations. As he scrolled through stories, he happened to pause on one for just a moment.

Kidnapped Student Rescued by Local Hero Decaman! Three Criminals in Custody!

Kenichi's jaw clenched hard enough the people sitting closest to him could probably hear his teeth grind. He quickly flipped to another webpage.

As this motley collection of heroes-to-be flowed out of the bus, Jett told them where to find everyone. Kenichi remembered Reina, and he was starting to piece together that Kaida might have been that girl hanging out with Roy and Jett that first day in the cafeteria, but now he wondered who Michiko was and when she had joined the class.

”So..who do you guys wanna see first?” asked the taller boy. Kenichi thought to himself that he should probably go see Takeshi and Roy first, since A: he'd be more likely to be let into the boys' room with less trouble, and B: Jett's own info so far said the girls were resting.

"I say we visit them all one by one, starting from one side and working our way down," Mina suggested.

"Or we could split up." Kenichi pointed out. "There's more than a handful of us here, and I bet the nurses would get ticked if we just all crowded out their rooms or the hallways." He looked around to see if anyone else would take him up on that idea.

Nonetheless, all of the injured students seemed to be on the second floor anyway, so the group would have to stay together for that first leg of the trip. And just as they entered the hallway leading to their friends' rooms, they found the first of the wounded--one whom Kenichi noted hadn't even been mentioned thus far. Donny, who looked relatively uninjured actually save for the fact his behavior made it clear he's on some really good painkillers. Kasuke immediately confronted him only to be met with a barely coherent response.

"Easy, Kasuke-chan." Kenichi piped up without thinking about who he was actually talking to. "Don-kun ain't gonna heal any faster if ya glare at him like that. Why don't ya help him to a vending machine or--"

Just then, a mousy girl pushed her way through the group with a muttered "Sorry, excuse me..." Kenichi would, of course, not have minded at all to move out of her way. Unfortunately, by the time she had actually said anything, she had already brushed against him.

Zap. "YEOWWwwhyyy goddammit!" First he jumped, his hair standing on end either due to surprise or electricity--probably the electricity--and then of course due to reflexive tensing of his muscles he immediately doubled over again due to the pain in his ribs. "Who--cough, hack, fffffuuuck meeee--who brought the cattle prod?!"

He looked up as, moments later, a room's door slammed closed. A glance at the plaque on the wall told him that was Takeshi and Roy's room. Fighting through the pain, Kenichi started towards it. Who had that girl been? Why had she suddenly rushed into the room of two boys? As he thought about that mousy voice, he suddenly made the connection!

Even as he trembled on his feet, one hand clutching his ribs, he reached for the door handle--!

"DON'T DO IT TAKESHI AND ROY, SHE LOOKED LIKE A LOLI--!"

Just then Roy aggressively wheeled himself out of the door, opening it and in the process swinging its doorknob directly into Kenichi's ribs.

"GYAAAHAAAGH--"

As Roy wheeled himself to Kaida's room, still speaking to this cattle-prodding loli, the door slowly swung back to reveal a crumpled, white faced Kenichi slumped against the wall.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Ash’s Party

Ash felt another odd sensation as she tried to move the stone with the power of Lesser Force. Like stretching her arm out towards something that was outside her reach. But instead of physical discomfort in muscle or bone, the strain she felt came from somewhere else. Despite being metaphysical in nature, she still couldn't hold the effort for very long. Much like a muscle that seeks to lift more weight, it seemed more training would be required. Danny's advice did seem to help; it wasn't as hard to "feel out" the spell this time as it had been to understand the concepts of the other spells she had tried.

Having eaten his fill thanks to Scott and the others, Colchain soon grew bored of watching whatever it was Ash was doing. Moving deeper into the small camp's alcove so that he would be out of sight of most predators, the Fanged Lizard curled up for the night. He lifted his head for a moment when Reoth spoke up, watching the white lizard with those expressionless slit eyes, then lay back down.

Skill Gain: Charisma I
Your force of personality is almost magical unto itself. You have a better chance of convincing others during negotiations, unless their Will is sufficiently strong.

System:Reoth

As Danny attempted to dim his natural luminescence, he found that doing so was not impossible. It did take some fairly significant concentration, and thus slowed him down. Still, that might actually be helpful in this situation--if he didn't make too much noise, sneaking unnoticed over towards the fighting shouldn't be too hard. There were still lots of spikes on the ceiling for him to hide among, after all.

---

Bonfire Party

17 Mana Crystals remain.
2 Flame Touched Crystals remain.

LOOT

Unlike before with the Demon King, Ardur's prayer to a sun god didn't prompt a System message. Did that mean that there was no sun deity to pray to...or that they didn't respond for some other reason? Nonetheless, having something to believe in, or to at least vent his thoughts towards, was of slight comfort to the pixie. As he dropped into the open air, Shielding himself and taunting Rattleskull, the larger monster's gaze snapped in his direction.

"IF YOU NOT SCARED, WHY YOU RUN!?" the hairy pesudo-goblin roared, shaking the stalactites. He immediately began to charge in Ardur's direction...

At the same time, Jason was rolling to a new place from which to set up his sniping again and Mourningstar was just returning. Digbie had fired off his Stone Shot at the closest group of torches, but unlike Jason he didn't have the Focus skill. The goblin probably wouldn't realize it, since he didn't know what abilities Jason had, but without that power boost there just wasn't enough oomph to drive his projectiles over the distance. Oberon and Mourningstar made a point of telling the poor fellow so, while Rain slithered off to seemingly disappear among the rocks.

You used Magic Analysis III!
---Stone Shot---
This spell charges a piece of stone with magic energy before hurling it at the opponent. This attack does blunt, piercing, and Earth-elemental magic damage. It consumes less MP than most spells, but requires ammunition. It is roughly equal in power to the Mana Orb spell, and often serves as the first rank of an Earth-aligned creature's magic. The type and shape of stone used may affect some parameters of the spell.
---Analysis Complete---

System:Oberon

Ed and Asteria, having decided on their traps and plans, soon began their work with their hastily and rather poorly crafted Poisoned Bone Needles. However, they only needed them to work for a short while anyway...much like Ed had realized, this tactic wasn't meant to kill, but to slow and cripple an invading force. Only time would tell if it would work.

When Asura asked Momma Slime if she was nervous, she didn't seem to fully understand the sentiment but sent back a "negative" emotional signal nonetheless. When he demonstrated how to use the Bone Needles, Momma Slime took the remaining handful left from what the Rats had given him. She carefully moved them through her membrane, even having the foresight to leave the poison-covered bits exposed to the air rather than fully enveloping them into her body.

From the sounds of it, the Goblins were getting closer by the minute and ever more rambunctious...

[[These actions are taking place in the first "round" of the Goblin Party actions.]]

---

Orchid and Goblin Party

At the same time as Ardur began to tempt Rattleskull and the rest of the bonfire group began their next move, Orchid charged helter skelter across the field. She ran right past the "brawny team" of goblins, where her female rival and that broad shouldered gob were carrying their spears and jogging along like the tribals they were. As she passed them at a full sprint, they glanced over at her in surprise and then did a double take.

"Oi, where's you goin--!?"

But she paid them no mind and kept going. She actually passed a ways behind Rattleskull as he was screaming and charging after that same pixie that had tried to team up with her earlier. She even raced in front of an oddly shaped green colored slime as he was rolling along the ground, her path intersecting his at an angle. But he didn't have to stop at all, as she was so intent on simply getting out of all this that she didn't pay any attention to him. And without the new goblin tactics of "look under every rock until you find something willing to hurt you," she didn't have quite so much trouble moving on...

During this moment, while their leader sprinted away, the "shield team" was left to head to the aid of the "hammer team." However, in doing so they soon discovered a problem, or rather, three problems. The bonfire had always been a place where most other monsters would keep their distance, usually only making well hidden nests on the outskirts where they weren't likely to run into the goblins. That was still the case now, only the group of monsters inhabiting the bonfire area had simply changed form. But thanks to the goblin invasion disrupting the local ecosystem, some monsters were now stuck. They had to leave areas where they could hear and see danger, but they didn't want to go into an area they also knew was dangerous. So they ended up sitting in one place, trying to hide or find some other way out--and then, like now, they were stumbled upon by another goblin team. The Shield Team found themselves facing three Slimes that gurgled defensively at their approach. With no option for retreat, both groups steeled themselves for battle. Thanks to their shields, the Slimes' attacks were of little avail--all they had was their weight and their blunt bodies.

Simultaneously the Hammer Team could see what was going on, and began to make their way towards the shieldbearers. They stayed low to the ground, leaving the body of their fallen teammate behind, and failed to notice Jason as he left his sniper hole. They were more focused on getting to the other team for protection from whatever was out there.

In the distance, one of Crispy's fireballs flashed brighter than the torches for a moment. He was over near the wall of the cave, but his group seemed to be moving significantly faster than most of the others.

[[At this point, the "first round" is completed, as are all of the player's actions from before this point.]]

---

Bonfire Party (Cont.)

As Jason began using his Soil Manipulation skill to dig a ditch for himself, he would see Orchid run by at high speed. She had what looked like some kind of flail or maybe a primitive slingshot tightly clutched in one hand. A hand crafted shield was on her arm. Was she the one responsible for all the new equipment the goblins had? Unfortunately, it seemed like she was running full tilt. He wouldn't be able to catch her--and from the sound of something being smashed to bits not too far away from him, he might have literally bigger things to worry about. The huge form of Rattleskull began lumbering towards the bonfire, led by the flitting figure of Ardur.

This was the moment at which Mourningstar also began another journey, heading towards the groups of goblins. As bright as she was, and while making no real effort to hide herself beyond floating up near the top of the ceiling, the Hammer Team immediately noticed her. As she began to Focus on her spell, they called out to the Shield team and continued to make their way towards them, now taking cover whenever possible.

While Asura and Momma Slime continued to wait out their ambush, they now would surely notice as a female goblin hurtled towards them. She wore the hide of a Dire Rat, had a shield made of wicker, and a long piece of cord. Was it a flail? A sling? Was she coming to attack them, or was she running from something else?

By this point, the entire bonfire group could see and hear the closer groups of goblins, and Rattleskull. As Ardur led him ever closer, Mother Rat's eyes snapped open and she squeaked frantically at Ed and Asteria. They were still setting traps...

---

Orchid and Goblin Party (Cont.)

Rattleskull Smashed an unfortunate Dire Rat that tried to run from him as he chased Ardur, and the huge caveboss practically drooled with hatred. Across the other side of the cave, Crispy's group continued their scouting but encountered minimal resistance, and began to turn back towards where they had last seen Orchid's group. The aforementioned shieldbearers were actually starting to take a beating, thanks to the slimes' ability to outlast their attacks even with better equipment. However, they weren't truly injured yet--they lost ground, they were knocked down, the worse shields among their group began to crack and split, but they did not fall. Even the torch bearing younglings got in a few hits here and there. Ultimately, the slimes fell, and they joined up with the Hammer Team.

But just as the two groups started to come together, Mourningstar let loose a whirling crescent of light! She had chosen the hammer team's leader as her target--but he wasn't carrying a torch, and at this distance her accuracy suffered as she tried to pick him out of the dark. And the goblins had already become aware of her. As the light flashed, the one carrying the torch cried out, and both flung themselves earthward. The Mana Slice spell whipped over the target's head, just barely missing his scalp.

It seemed that the wisp who had attacked them didn't intend to stay around, though. Mourningstar turned and headed back towards Digbie, but the goblins watched her with eyes full of hate. The Shield team reached them just then, and with the three healing herbs Orchid had left with them--one for the torchbearer, and one for each remaining hammer goblin--the entire group was back at full strength.

[[This ends a second round of actions.]]

Now, however, a new foe presented itself--another Wisp, whether too stupid to know better, too aggressive, or somehow following in Mourningstar's lead, floated down from the ceiling! Its Mana Bolt struck a shield, further damaging it. It didn't seem like the less well made equipment of the goblins was going to last much longer, but for now it protected its owner once more. And unfortunately for the Wisp, as outnumbered as it was, it had no chance to get away before the goblins chucked enough rocks at it to bring it down.

But this had not been a "random" encounter in the true sense. This was one of the Wisps Mourningstar had dragged along--one member of the "colony" she had encountered. She had merely made them curious. They weren't following orders. They certainly weren't on her "side."

Yet the Wispmother witnessed their death. Flashing with a slight scent of ozone, the larger Wisp began to fly with more purpose towards the goblin group...

The Brawny Team of goblins could see Mourningstar as well as she headed back towards where Digbie and Oberon were. The female gave a shout and pointed with her spear, and the broad-shouldered male waved his hand for their other teammate to follow. They took off, giving chase and heading right for the distant figures--they couldn't tell that there was another goblin present, but they knew this had to be that odd group of monsters that had attacked Crispy!

Rattleskull's feet pounded the ground as he headed after Ardur, his vision tunneling out as he snarled at the pixie. But just then, under his feet, a golden light burst from the ground! A rocky spire sliced into Rattleskull's foot, and if it hadn't been at just the right moment in the transition of his stride he would have fallen! As it was he stumbled--he was off balance, he was confused. He caught himself against a rocky pillar, and began glaring around. That pixie had...led him into a trap? Then where had that attack come from!?

But there was one more surprise waiting for Rattleskull, once again right under his feet...

---

MAP

ORCHID - From D7, moving straight diagonally towards J17. Moved through E8, F9, G10, H11, and now in I12. Running into Asura and Momma Slime.
ORCHID'S TEAM - From D7, moved through D6 going around to E6. Joined with Hammer Team. (SPACE FULL)
HAMMER TEAM - From F7, moved into E7. Joined with Orchid's Team. (SPACE 1/2 FULL)
BRAWNY TEAM - From E8, moved into F8, then G8, heading for Digbie's group. (SPACE 3/4 FULL)
CRISPY TEAM - From E5, moving various locations, lucked out on encounters, now in G4. (SPACE 3/4 FULL)
RATTLESKULL - From E9, moved through F9 and into F10. Searching for Jason, sees Ardur, does not see Rain. (SPACE 2/4 FULL)
15/16 GOBLIN FORCES REMAIN
GOBLINS HAVE CAPTURED ENTRANCE AREA (From F1 across to F10, all up from there. G5-G7 not captured.)
---
JASON From H-7 move to H10, may soon be visible to Orchid, Rattleskull, and the Brawny Team.
ASH AT F-29 (SPACE-FULL)
OBERON AT J-9, partially visible to the Brawny Team and soon possibly the Hammer and Shield teams.
ASTERIA AT J-11
RAIN From H-13 to F10, may soon be visible to Rattleskull.
ARDUR AT J-11 Over rat holes
DANNY AT F-30 (?)
ASURA AT I-12, visible to Orchid
MOMMA SLIME AT I-11, Visible to Orchid
DIGBIE AT J-9, partially visible to the Brawny Team and soon possibly the Hammer and Shield teams.
ORCHID From D7 to I12, visible to Asura and Momma Slime
ED AT J-11
MOTHER RAT AT J-11
SCOTT AT F-29 (SPACE FULL)
NAJI AT F-29 (SPACE FULL)
COLCHAIN AT F-29 (SPACE FULL)
REOTH AT F-29 (SPACE FULL)

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Bonfire Party

17 Mana Crystals remain.
2 Flame Touched Crystals remain.

LOOT

With Asura's greater control over his shapeshifting, his odd little blobman form seemed to work fairly well. Actually controlling his newly formed limbs, however, was a little bit difficult--in effect, it took more effort and more conscious planning to move this way as opposed to the spherical shape he had become more used to. Somewhat like maintaining a proper martial arts stance with every movement, rather than simply acting naturally. So he was slower than usual and movement was more tiring. As Momma Slime watched, she rolled slightly from side to side. Without eyes in her "face" it was hard to tell exactly, but she seemed to be observing Asura closely, just as she had been when learning to speak and to roll like he did. Given her efforts to form language and mimic what others around her could say and do, it seemed like interacting with this group of unusual monsters was pushing the normal boundaries of a slime monster--In fact, after Asura had begun sharing his thoughts and more complex notions with her, Momma Slime had even started referring to herself as "I" and others as "You," whereas before there had simply been a primitive acknowledgement of her self and things that were not her self, whether they be walls or plants or other monsters.

As Ed and Asteria tried their best to calm themselves and sharpen their senses, Mother Rat wriggled up between them and pressed her body flatter to the ground, leaving just the wet tip of her nose over the edge of the foxhole. Every so often her ears would twitch as well, but for the moment she had closed her eyes and seemed to be partially resting while remaining aware for the enemy. Wild animals had to live with the danger of constant predation and always be on the lookout for competition. A human in such a situation, surrounded by enemies in an unknown environment, probably couldn't take such pressures if they hadn't been trained for it by something like the military. Even then, this kind of stress made sleeping impossible, made eating a hurried and unenjoyable affair, and even made going to the bathroom alone a nerve wracking event. But Mother Rat, sitting next to Ed as Asteria began to experiment with her tail, demonstrated something these primitive creatures knew well. If Death was ever present around you, why worry about it? There was no safe place to find, no way to block out the rest of the dangerous and hair raising world, at least not for these creatures. Being on edge all the time was just going to tire you out faster.

Oberon's shielding would no doubt be appreciated, though even with the mud caked over their bodies there was still just the slightest hint of a shimmer over the rats now. Being below the level of the ground still kept them hidden, so long as they didn't poke their heads up too high or too often.

Asteria would find that she had about the same level of control over her tail that a person might have over their index finger, albeit with a far greater degree of flexibility and no hard knuckle joints. In effect it was a finger that could bend or rotate in all directions, though the most complex shape she could make with it was a single loop or an S curve. Not exactly prehensile. She couldn't so much hold the needles yet, but she could--perhaps due to her Dextrous skill?--wrap them up and drag them or slightly lift them for a short period of time. She found that she could deal the earth around her a pretty decent thump, however--and didn't really feel much pain from it. A whipping motion had more effect than a thrusting one, but the heavy tail seemed less sensitive than other parts of her body and it was a mass of fairly dense muscle.

After shielding the rats and the unwilling Rain, Oberon's assistance to Digbie caused the goblin to receive another short System message--his migraine had subsided. These odd headaches sometimes induced among the reincarnators didn't seem like a true "status effect" in game terms--they didn't receive any messages about decreased HP or imposed limits on their abilities or anything like that--and yet Lesser Status Heal seemed to work on them. What exactly were these fits? Their causes seemed similar enough--trying to reach "knowledge beyond one's ken" often brought them on, but one would think if such things were detrimental in some way they would either have a more obviously painful effect, or that the System--whatever it was--wouldn't allow them at all. Why bring up the menus or character screens in the first place?

But the time to answer these questions was most certainly not the present. The torchlight of the goblin raiders was getting closer every moment, and now just about the entire bonfire group could see the shadows of oncoming figures...

Rain's displeasure with the Pixie that shielded her was an intense feeling--he had thrown a wrench into all of her plans! She depended on stealth as one of her primary weapons, and how was she supposed to do that with his stupid spell in the way? This bitterness welled in her almost like a sense of nausea--and then when she began to focus on breaking the shield, tossing rocks into the air and letting them come back down, the spell around her fizzled a little more with each impact.

But Oberon's spell wasn't exactly weak. He had worked his way up to the third rank with it, after all, so these pebbles tossed with little in the way of accuracy or power wouldn't leave a dent.

Yet it still crackled and then seemed to shatter into tiny sparkles, and Rain was once more free to move unseen in the shadows.

Free once more to focus on her experiments, Rain put forth one more effort. Deeper breaths. Collect the venom beforehand. Allow the air and acid to mix. Movement of the head, forceful exhalation. Put more oomph into it, more power!

Skill Gain: Poison Breath I
Whether by magic or biology, produce fumes projected from the mouth. This skill deals very low acidic damage and has a lower chance to poison an enemy than most other poison-type skills due to its lower density, but is ranged and covers a small area of effect. The fumes have a small chance to linger in the effected area for a short time.

System:Rain

The cone of swirling purple fog seemed to go about as far as her usual Poison Spit, but upon leaving Rain's jaws it immedately began to spread out. At its widest point it covered about five feet from end to end, or roughly an area of two square feet.

Meanwhile, Jason and Ardur did their best to take initiative against the oncoming goblins. Jason was expending quite a lot of his MP and he wasn't quite so close to the Loot pile as he had been, but with the spikes he was using as ammunition his spell might get just a little more bang for the buck. Ardur had only the one bomb, on the other hand, and so far he hadn't learned any other skills to attack with...he could, however, feel warmth gathering in his palm as he practiced the Fireball with Crispy's methods. But the pixie might soon find himself with a big, hairy problem...

---

Mourningstar

You used Monster Analysis II! This is a Monster, but it is Magical in nature. Your Magic Analysis III provides a boost to its effectiveness. You have Analyzed this type of Monster before, effectiveness boosted.
---Large Wisp---
This Wisp is larger than others of its kind, likely because it is older and stronger. More magical manifestation than biological creatures, Wisps nonetheless possess physical bodies. Their ability to cast spells from range makes them a foe that should not be underestimated by the novice. Wisps are magically oriented monsters, normally possessing two spells. This Wisp possesses the skills Mana Orb (Rank II), Lesser Force (Rank II), Levitation (No Rank), and Poison Resistance (Rank I). It is developing the skill Blunt Resistance (Rank I). This Wisp is a higher level than you are. Its HP and MP are higher than yours. Its Potential has increased after maturation.

You used Magic Analysis III! This is a Monster, but it is Magical in nature. Your Monster Analysis II provides a boost to its effectiveness. You have analyzed this specific monster already, effectiveness boosted. You possess some of the same spells as this monster, effectiveness boosted.
---Large Wisp---
This Wisp possesses the spells Mana Orb (Rank II), Lesser Force (Rank II), and Levitation (No Rank). Mana Orb collects magical energy into a sphere and fires it with offensive force, creating a ranged attack of non-elemental magic. This spell is an Energy type. Lesser Force uses magical energy to physically interact with the world around the caster in a small radius. It is fairly weak. This spell can be used with either Energy type mana or Psionic type mana. Levitation uses magical energy in a manner similar to Lesser Force to propel the caster a short distance over the ground at a slow speed. Faster movements are possible but drain both Stamina and MP more quickly. This spell is constantly active so long as the user has MP and can't be ranked up under normal circumstances. This spell can be used with either Energy type mana or Psionic type mana.

System:Mourningstar

With Mourningstar's indications, the Wispmother began to float along the ceiling towards the odd commotion going on down below. However, it seemed at this point the monster was content to simply observe without actually getting involved. How could Mourningstar get this creature to follow her, the same way that the mother slime and the mother rat had followed the others? The Wisps didn't seem to communicate through speech the way the slimes had their little telekinesis sharing, and it was unclear what kind of body language they used unlike the Rats...

---

Orchid and Goblin Party

The young goblin carrying the torch flailed wildly as the Dire Rat attacked it. Before the spear wielding goblin Orchid sent to help it could get there, the rat had already viciously bitten and clawed one of the torchbearer's legs. Before it could fully bring down its prey, however, the shield minion speared it through the side. The torchbearer joined it, walloping it with the flaming brand, and soon the Dire Rat had paid for its transgressions. The torchbearer would survive, but unless they had some method of bandaging or healing the wound the young goblin was going to be extra vulnerable in the fights to come. As Orchid used her remaining minions to form a shield wall and advance, they would find that the current area had already been cleared by the Hammer team, leaving them free to move at a faster pace while their other two team mates caught up.((You can move 2 spaces next post, just remember the further you move the higher the chance of encounters if an area hasn't already been cleared. If an area HAS been cleared, however, it doesn't count as one of your two spaces and you can keep going. Your team is currently at D7. I'll take Orchid's smash into account for the "first monster" that shows up whether that be Jason or another encounter.))

With Orchid's team advancing behind them, the Hammer team pushed forward more quickly. They were heading straight toward Jason's position...but the ground between the two wasn't empty. Once more they stumbled onto a nest of creatures, this time two Fanged Lizards. The scuffle was brief, however--by this point the goblins were in full fledged genocide mode, launching into battle without even a second glance. Two calls of "SMASH!" a flying blob of poison, and two pained hisses later the fight was over and the Hammer Team kept going, Orchid's shieldwall hot at their heels. Not too far away another shrill, child-like scream rang out. Orchid had seen and heard enough at this point to recognize it as the death throes of a pixie, and it was coming from the direction of the Brawny team.

The torches of Crispy's team moved further into the distance, towards the side of the cave Orchid had originally been ordered to explore. He must have decided that she wasn't going to follow through. Crispy, having more experience in fighting with a group, instead ordered his minions from the back while he stayed at a safer distance. They also split up, rather than staying clustered together, with the caster sticking with the less well-armed minion while the other braved the search alone. They quickly rejoined however, apparently getting lucky enough not to run into anything save a single Dire Rat that their sharp stone knives had made easy work of. In fact, they were pushing ahead even faster than Orchid's group.

But despite their successes the goblins were not moving into the cave unopposed.

Jason's next sniper shot hit the Hammer Team's leader slightly off center from his original target, to one side of the pectoral but between the chest and shoulder. The two inch spike punched deep even though the distance between them reduced the damage somewhat, and the goblin went down with a scream and a spurt of blood. He wasn't dead yet, but with this much damage he might as well have been, and he thrashed on the ground in agony. If no one could heal him or tend to his wound he would be easy pickings for something else--his minion began yelling for help from the other groups. Would any of them get there in time?

And above these cries a new sound boomed out--literally. Somewhere behind the goblin lines an explosion shattered the darkness of the cave, a short-lived flame blossoming brightly with a sickening purple tinge to it. As the smoke cleared, Rattleskull's large form blundered out, coughing and sputtering. He had definitely been hit, his fur was singed in several places, but it didn't look like the poison had done much to him thanks to his resistance. But he hadn't been hurt badly enough to shake him--instead, he simply got angrier. With a roar that echoed over the stones he began charging through areas his goblins had already cleared, towards the direction he was almost certain that bomb had been tossed from. The first thing he saw was a small figure floating in the air. He leaped with a snarl, and his club flashed a bright, angry red--brighter than any of the other goblins' Smash skill--and plastered the poor unsuspecting Wisp all over the walls. Ardur had made it to safety at this point, but Rattleskull finally stopped his charge and began peering through the darkness, growling low in his throat...

---

MAP

ORCHID'S TEAM - D7 (Advancing shieldwall) (SPACE FULL)
HAMMER TEAM - F7 (Taking losses) (SPACE 1/2 FULL)
BRAWNY TEAM - E8 (SPACE 3/4 FULL)
CRISPY TEAM - E5 (SPACE 3/4 FULL)
RATTLESKULL - E9 (Searching for Ardur) (SPACE 1/4 FULL)
15/16 GOBLIN FORCES REMAIN
GOBLINS HAVE CAPTURED ENTRANCE AREA (With exception of E6)
---
JASON AT H-7
ASH AT F-29 (SPACE-FULL)
OBERON AT J-9
ASTERIA AT J-11
RAIN AT H-13
ARDUR AT E-11 ABOVE
DANNY AT F-30
ASURA AT I-12 (?)
MOMMA SLIME AT I-12(?)
DIGBIE AT J-9
ORCHID AT C-7 (SPACE FULL)
ED AT J-11
MOTHER RAT AT J-11
SCOTT AT F-29 (SPACE FULL)
NAJI AT F-29 (SPACE FULL)
COLCHAIN AT F-29 (SPACE FULL)
REOTH AT F-29 (SPACE FULL)

Gaia Frontier (5e)

---

𝕬 𝖓 𝖙 𝖆 𝖊 𝖚 𝖘

North Forest Clearing

---

Gods almighty, please help me! What kind of deer was this!? What kind of quest was this!? Antaeus's heart beat a thousand miles a minute and he felt like everything was happening under water. This was no thrill of adventure or rush of battle, yet nonetheless his body had reached the peak of Fight or Flight and every hair on his body stood on end. All he could think to do was get away from those hooves, and right now he knew only one way to do that.

He kicked his legs and pulled at the sleeves of the jacket clutched in his fists, his knuckles growing as white as his terrified face. If Antaeus had been any other lad confronted with something so obviously out of his depth he likely would have just frozen up with fear. If he had been any other, more foolish, young man he might have whooped in excitement or yelled threats at the Stag or tried to do something heroic. But he was neither of those and yet still felt just as likely to die at any possible moment. He had experienced cave-ins, collapsing sinkholes, tunnel floods, gas leaks, any number of things. Confronting death face to face was not entirely brand-new. And yet. How did heroes do this, all the time!?

But these weren't thoughts, just the barest sparks of objective observation by his subconscious as he acted in what felt like the only way left available to him. He could barely respond to the girl as he tried to swing around the White Stag's broad neck and get onto its back--who cared about the damn jacket at a time like this!?

"Focus! Keep its hooves pinned!"

If it was standing on its rear legs and she could keep those front hooves from lashing out, and if the jacket was wrapped around its head so it couldn't get its jaws around her, maybe the girl would be safe from the White Stag's thrashing. Antaeus already knew from experience this animal would likely kill or maim them with a single blow, and if the latter it would just finish them off or leave them for something else. If he could tie off the sleeves he might keep the creature muzzled and blinded...but he had to climb it first!

Rolls/Action Log

Antaeus performs an Athletics Check (with advantage per DM) to mount the Stag
1d20 + 4 (STR+Proficiency)
1st Result: 19
2nd Result: 5
((JE SUIS MONTE!))

Inventory

1 Quest Book - 5 lb
1 Shovel - 5 lb
1 Miner's Pick - 5 lb
1 Block and Tackle Set - 5 lb
--Pulleys
--Cable
--Hook
1 Climber's Kit - 12 lb
--Pitons
--Boot tips
--Gloves
--Harness
1 Set of Clothes, Common - 3 lb
--Roughspun Tunic
--Roughspun Pants
--Ragged Boots
1 Belt Pouch - 0 GP
1 Hunting Trap - 12 lb
1 Backpack - 5 lb - Holds 30 lb
1 Waterskin - 5 lb (full) - holds 4 pints
1 Tinderbox - 1 lb
1 Hempen Rope - 10 lb - 50 ft
2 Javelins - 2 lb Each
6 Darts - .25 lb Each

Total Encumberance: 71.5/240 lb (Light)

Quest Log

+Bookie has agreed to write a letter to Captain Ork at the Garrison. I should kill an animal in the forest and take it to Captain Ork to prove I'm adventuring material.
--The animal can be anything from the Forest. Bookie suggested a deer or a boar.

+Barthen has requested me to hunt a White Stag in the Forest, and has given me a free hunting trap for this purpose. If I don't succeed I should probably bring the trap back.
--I should try to find the Redchaser, she might be able to help me.

+Barthen is paying 1 GP per pound of Medicinal Herbs from the forest.

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

Fumika, Haruka, Jett and Kenichi

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“Yoshida, you idiot.”

"Oh, uh...No, I mean..." Kenichi flubbed as Jett put him on the spot. He started to open his mouth again to give some other excuse, but before he could even think of it Jett bamf'd somewhat clumsily across the room. The bluette raised an eyebrow, but just then a crackle of static made him shift his attention to Fumika. Suddenly he felt very nervous, and a drop of sweat rolled down the back of his head.

When Haruka brusquely asked what was wrong with Jett's Quirk--was that what it was? His Quirk going out of control for some reason? What could've caused that?--Kenichi wasn't able to spare them another glance. As Fumika scolded him, he found himself experiencing something that didn't often happen to him, specifically--having his breath catch in his throat.

"Aw come on, Motome-chan..." he muttered, dropping his hands to his sides. He looked down for a moment, biting his lip...then he finally met her eyes. He hoped she couldn't see what he was feeling in them.

"Look, I'm not just keeping quiet to try and make people stop worrying--I mean, that's part of it. But I'm..." He sighed. "I'm legally required not to tell anyone. Cause I'm in as much trouble as they are, for some stupid reason." He looked mad, but he specifically made a point to do so in another direction, not at Fumika, lest she mistake him as directing his frustration at her. "But..."

He glanced over his shoulder. Haruka and Jett were probably going to have a little spat of their own, if Jett had some explaining to do about his glitchy Quirk. And...Fumika did things so literally. And she seemed to listen the same way. So maybe...

"Just...please don't tell anybody, okay?" he said to her, more of a whisper, crossing his own arms. But whereas Fumika did so to express a stern countenance, Kenichi almost looked like he was...hugging himself. She nodded seriously, that earnest yet unreadable expression remaining utterly focused on him.

"On the first day of school, after dinner, I got an email from my parents. Somebody carjacked them, and broke my dad's leg in the process." He kept his voice low, and although he stepped a little closer to her he also turned slightly--more to put his back towards the other two than anything. "I...I worry a lot about my dad. He's...he had an accident. Kind of like Haruka-chan. So I went to see him. I thought if I went early enough I'd get back in time for afternoon classes, only miss part of the day."

His fist clenched. The bandages got a little redder. In the corner of his eye, he could see Fumika tensing up, opening her mouth as if to say something, but the words didn’t come out. The look on her face had shifted at the mention of her friend, and there was something painful in it, but she nodded numbly as if she understood. He’d told her once before, right? Come to think of it, she’d frozen up back then, too. Now that he had met Haruka, he understood why - because for once, she knew exactly how someone felt, in the worst possible way.

"But...I don't know the whole story, yet, but it seems like the guys that attacked my parents weren't doing it randomly. Somehow they knew I was a Komei student and for some reason they were trying to lure me out, specifically. They...they snatched me, took me out to the mountains, and they..."

He hugged himself tighter, his other hand's fingers gripping his own arm like he was going to tear it off. But his eyes were not afraid. His eyes were like those of a wild animal. That goofy grin twisted until his teeth looked like fangs.

“Yoshida, don’t. You’re going to hurt yourself.” Fumika’s voice sounded… different, almost as if she was scared of something, but that hardly registered before he’d forced himself to continue.

"But, but I got away! And I left those fuckers some bruises. Then the Pros found me." He forced himself to take a breath. The wind caused Fumika's long blonde locks to move slightly. "I had to stay in the hospital--not Hosu General, some other place a few train stops from here--and they even sent a bunch of psychs in. Like I'm messed up in the head cause I defended myself or-” He got no further before suddenly, something… or rather, someone cut him off.

---

Sure enough she called him out asking what was wrong with his quirk. Mixed feelings rose up on him. He of course didn’t tell her when it happened, yet the fact she didn’t get that it was happening till now kinda miffed him he teleported on her three times now and since they were kids that never happened.

But on the other hand, him losing his quirk for a week or so seemed like nothing compared to Haruka losing her leg. He bit his tongue. He still didn’t want to seem weak infront of her. Telling her he got his head almost smashed in on the first day would make it seem like he was.

He shrugged. “It’s nothing… don’t worry about it.” He said quietly.

Haruka stared at him, eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth, then seemed to think better of what she was about to say, take a moment to reconsider it, and then try again. Her cheeks slowly puffed outward, then deflated like a balloon as she gave a hiss-like sigh of irritation. “Fine. If you don’t want to talk about it, then suit yourself. Guess I’m not one to talk, anyway. Tch.” She shook her head and kicked at the floor with her false leg, muttering to herself in a more quiet voice. “Geez, I can’t even stand my own idiocy, let alone seeing it come from you.”

But this momentary gloom was quite quick to fade, as when she raised her head again, it was with a sly grin. “Oh, but of course, since I just got done doing this whole routine myself, I already know the answer to my question anyway. You did something stupid, got yourself hurt, and now your Quirk’s all messed up, right?” She spoke so smugly that one might wonder if she really did in fact realize that everything she’d just said applied perfectly to herself, despite her earlier words. She nodded enthusiastically to herself, then gave a bemused expression. “Hmm… Yeah, that does seem about right, but… how the hell do you even screw up teleportation? Like, it’s not like it’s tied to a specific body part or anything… Guess it’s not really like my leg at all... Or at least, I don’t think it is. Maybe like, your spleen or something?”

Jett looked at Haruka and sighed. “Yep you solved it. I hurt my spleen and couldn’t teleport for a week, and still can’t control it.” He said sarcastically. Annoyed and yet happy to see her somewhat back to her old self. He felt a vibration in his pocket but ignored it for now.

Haruka couldn’t quite repress a rather obnoxious chuckle and shrugged. “Heh. I can’t even tell how much of that’s for real and how much is you giving me shit,” Another one of her trademark cheeky grins crossed her face. “So I guess I’ll just assume that all of it’s true and you’ve just got some kind of freaky quantum mutant spleen. ...Talk about lame hero names, though. Look out, evildoers, here comes ‘The Disappearing Spleen!’” She struck a deliberately lame pose and gave another raucous laugh.

Jett rolled his eyes as he stood in front of her. Quickly raising his hands and flicking her pig tails again so they landed on top of her head. She brushed them back with a frown. “Oi, quit it, will ya?”

He opened his mouth to say something when he looked over Haruka’s head and saw… Wait, what? He hadn’t been paying much attention to that side of the room, and come to think of it, they had gotten rather quiet, but still-

“Oi, what are you gawking at all of a su-” Haruka stopped mid-sentence, turning with an expression of bewilderment on her face. “ ...Huh?”

---

In his half-agitated, half-enraged state, it took Kenichi a moment to understand what had happened, or why suddenly, he found a pair of arms wrapped around him, his vision crowded out by pale skin and the fabric of a black blouse. Kenichi's eyes widened. Once again, his breath caught in his throat. For a few seconds all he could hear was the thudding of his heart in his chest.

“Please calm down. Please go back to normal,” pleaded a quiet voice coming from somewhere just over his head. It was gentle, soft as always - and yet there was a certain urgency to it. She pulled him closer slowly, tentatively, as if afraid she herself would cause the pain she was so desperate to avoid, and yet insistently, clinging to him as if equally afraid he’d try to shove her away. “You are acting strange after all. I don’t like it.” Her words were little more than a whisper, but she was now so close that he could hear them perfectly clearly. He could feel her breath rustling through his hair, a hot current that brushed up against his ear as she continued to ramble, clearly searching for something to say but never quite hitting upon it.

"No...no, it's...it's okay." Slowly, hesitantly, Kenichi returned her embrace. He held back, because he didn't want to get blood on her...and he didn't want to accidentally use too much strength...and she was so soft and...and he wasn't really sure what the hell was going on. He could feel his face heating up, and his heartbeat was still going a hundred miles an hour but somehow it was completely different.

“I’m sorry. I know I should be saying something, but... I don’t know the words, because I’m being stupid and it gets in the way and I don’t understand at all. I’m sorry. If you get angry at me, I won’t mind. You said something you didn’t want to. It wasn’t the right thing. So it’s my fault you’re acting strange. I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry.” As she spoke, he could feel something coiling slowly around his back, a faint jolt like a spark running up his spine. Was that... her hair? It was soft to the touch, and faintly warm, enveloping him like a blanket.

"Motome-chan, I'm not angry at you. You're not stupid. It's not your fault. I don't blame you at all!" His hands stopped hovering so much, and gently settled on her back. That static from her hair almost made him jump, a shiver that passed through him like the trembling of a taut muscle ready to tear. "If it wasn't for you...If I hadn't met you, I don't know if I could have made it out of there. I'm just...when I think about Villains like that...when I remember how weak I really am...I just..."

He couldn't go on. The words just wouldn't come. He bit his lip. He could feel it threatening to break loose, but he'd be damned if he fucking cried right now. So all he could do was stand there, letting himself relax in her arms as he felt her warmth and comfort. Her chin sat nestled on his hair, and her delicate arms were trembling too as she pulled him closer.

Wait.

No don't--

If she was tall enough that her head was resting on his--

Brain please no--

Then that meant she had to be holding his head against--

BAD BRAIN, STAHP!

And that's why she felt so soft and--

Kenichi's flushed face made a sound akin to a kettle reaching a rolling boil as his entire head turned the shade of a cherry tomato. As he gulped, his body ever so slightly began to shake again. The shiver even passed up his spine, causing all of his hair to stand on end--

And right in front of Fumika's big blue eyes, that one big blue spike of his hair suddenly stood straight up in a manner rather reminiscent of an exclamation mark. Had Kenichi just...achieved Ahoge?

Fumika blinked. She tilted her head sideways, as she was wont to do when bemused, then stopped, lowered her chin, then raised it again ever so slightly, her cheek rubbing against the inexplicably upright tuft of hair that had unexpectedly appeared in front of her. She gave a faint smile. His hair was really soft and fluffy, after all. She liked soft things a great deal. They helped her relax when she was upset. Yoshida sounded relaxed now, too. His voice didn’t sound scary anymore. Even if his words were sad, even if she didn’t understand quite what he meant, even though she hadn’t known the right words to say… had it really worked? She’d just been doing what she herself would have wanted if she was upset - a warm, fluffy hug. Granted, it had never really helped that much when she’d had to make her copies do it, but…

...But it really was quite odd. His hands had felt… strange. His palms were very gentle, as if hesitant to touch her at all, but his fingertips had been pressing just hard enough on her back to leave faint imprints on her shell even through the fabric of her blouse. Were his hands… shaking? It seemed soft and warm, even though she couldn’t feel it well. His forehead, too, had left a warm spot where it had been resting right below her collarbone, even when he’d drawn it back suddenly just now. And the soft imprint on the particles on her cheek still reminded her of his fluffy hair. Contact like this was always strange to her, lingering even after she pulled away. It made her uncomfortable, because she felt like people were poking and prodding her, sometimes for hours afterward. It was one thing when that feeling came from her own copy, or from her mother or father, but strangers were never so gentle. Even Haruka sometimes was too rough when she hugged her, and it would itch and feel strange.

...And yet, even though the way he’d embraced her was certainly odd, it wasn’t an unpleasant thing. It made her… happy? - but in a strange way. Her face - no, her whole body now - was beginning to feel strangely warm, and her hair was wiggling back and forth on its own again. There was something that told her that the way she felt now was bad, but another part of her seemed to enjoy it. She couldn’t make head nor tail of the way she felt, and for some reason, that confusion kept bringing her back to his earlier words…

What exactly did he mean when he said that he had been able to come back because of her? She hadn’t been there. She hadn’t been able to help, even though now that she knew what had happened, she greatly wished she had been able to. It was like… it was just like…

Just like that smile she couldn’t understand. When Haruka had saved her, even though she hadn’t been able to do anything, even though she had caused her so much pain, Haruka had been smiling. Yoshida had been hurt. She hadn’t done anything. So then why… why did he act like she’d had anything to do with it? And why was it that hearing him say that made her feel so unaccountably strange? This kind of wanting was… different. It was definitely different. She’d never felt anything like this before, and that scared her a little bit. She couldn’t understand any of what was happening right now, why she’d been so desperate to see this boy again when there was still so much about him that she didn’t understand, why he had wanted to be friends with someone like her, or why he seemed to think so much of her when they had really, rationally speaking, only just met a week or so ago, or why it seemed like she’d actually very much wanted to hug him and have him hug her back or why she was so happy or why… or why…

She couldn’t answer any of those questions, and just thinking about asking them made her face feel very hot and her heart feel very confused, so she decided not to think about all that just now. Simple was best. Then, what needed to be said was…

“I don’t really understand, but… did I help you feel better?” She asked nervously, drawing back slightly. She didn’t really know why, but she very much wanted to see his face right now.

Just standing here, without saying anything...just holding her, and she holding him, somehow felt...it felt...

Well really he wasn't sure what this whole "moment" or "atmosphere" felt like at the moment but he was VERY sure he could feel her and he was starting to worry that if he couldn't stop his blood pumping through his body that he was about to literally explode.

But then she did say something and he almost didn't catch it, but he felt her moving back slightly so he responded in kind on instinct, and they broke the hug and he looked up at her hoping that she would just assume that he had gotten some terrible African jungle fever and that was why his face looked like it had undergone about seven layers of sunburn--

And yet when Kenichi saw her face, he thought maybe he had caught something, because surely this was a hallucination. Motome Fumika had a soft, genuine, bashful, innocent smile on her face, and her cheeks had turned just the slightest pink, like someone had taken the most delicate, puffiest brush and just ever so lightly touched the cheeks of a porcelain doll...

Kenichi, this is your heart speaking to you...because I, of all cardiac muscles on this planet, have never gone without oxygen this long! BREATHE, MAN!

His jaw dropped and he sharply sucked air like a gasping fish. A Kirby-esque effect threatened to drag the lobby's furniture towards a point of singularity. Then he coughed because that was too sudden.

"Y-yeah, Motome-chan." He nodded, then looked at her again. His grin had returned, and he thumped his chest softly with his uninjured fist. "You really helped. That was exactly what I needed." He began to rub the back of his head with a nervous chuckle...but soon it started to grow into a real laugh. A happy laugh. A laugh that--

--was murdered in cold blood as he glanced to the side and saw Haruka and Jett both looking at them. His red face rapidly drained to pale white, and soon started to turn the same color as his hair.

“F-Fumi, what… uh… What was that... just now?” Haruka sounded, for the first time, almost completely lost for words. Fumika blinked innocently, comprehension slowly seeming to dawn on her that the situation she was in might have been more concerning than she had thought. While his reaction had been quite abrupt, Fumika’s expression underwent a more gradual metamorphosis, going from a timid smile to pursing her lips and furrowing her brow in an expression that could best be likened to that of a child caught stealing from the cookie jar.

“...Hug,” She answered in a monosyllabic murmur, lowering her head. Haruka hastily shuffled over toward her, scratching the back of her head. Geez, how could she even look at this situation without being embarrassed by proxy? She hadn’t heard what they’d been talking about, but she’d definitely seen enough to know that… That is, in that sort of position… Didn’t Fumi have any idea that she’d just… And wait a minute, why was she even… What? Just… what? In all their time together, she’d never once seen her friend acting this way. And this friend of hers... Was she seriously… Was he really... No, like, were they seriously… Damnit, she wanted to be upset at Fumi for not realizing exactly what was going on, but how could she possibly be mad when she was making that face?

“Uh, no. That is, I kinda saw that, but, uh… why, exactly?” She asked, trying her hardest to sound a little more gentle so as not to agitate her friend.

“I wanted to help,” Fumika answered after a moment’s quiet. “...Was it bad of me to do that?”

“No, no, no, that’s not… That is, I don’t really get what you’re talking about, but just giving people hugs isn’t really bad persay, and I’m glad to see you’re getting along with your classmates… I mean, uh…” Crap, crap, crap. She was trying to be calm, but she was really bad with emotional stuff like this even though she herself totally - okay, now was REALLY not the time to be thinking about that, especially since the height difference was all wrong and seriously she needed to just get a grip or else she was gonna turn into a tomato just like these two idiots!

"Hey, uh, Haruka-san, I can explain..." Kenichi started to say, but he trailed off as he looked over at Fumika. Seeing her mood fall like that when she had just been so radiantly happy and had actually shown what seemed to be some real emotional energy left the bluette feeling sad for her. He rubbed the back of his head as Haruka continued her lecture.

Fumika stared at her, her embarrassment giving way somewhat to simple confusion as she tried and failed to grasp why her ostensibly unflappable role model was behaving so strangely towards her. Haruka made a monumental effort to restrain her inner romantic. She cleared her throat, gave a slight nod, and tried to approach the situation tactfully.

“It’s not that giving hugs is bad, it’s just… There are… uh… better ways to do it. Like, the position was just… and like, your shirt’s a little bit… uh... a bit too… Y’know...” “A little bit” was putting it mildly. Somewhere in this chaos, the already low-cut blouse had begun hanging dangerously far down Fumika’s left shoulder, and sure enough, the skin showing beneath it was red from the pressure put on it by a certain unlucky - or lucky, depending on your perspective - someone’s forehead. Granted, she herself was to blame for that particular fashion statement, but in her defense, she’d had no idea that this would happen, and really, she was just trying to help Fumi take better advantage of her appearance and that really wasn’t the issue right now.

"...Wait a minute, whaddya mean by that? A hug's a hug, ain't it? And what's wrong with her shirt?" Kenichi managed to break in again, this time feeling a little bit defensive for Fumika's sake. Why was this good friend of hers suddenly lecturing like this? Was this some stupid fashion thing girls worried about? As far as he was concerned Fumika's shirt looked perfectly--

Then he actually looked at the shirt, and started blushing again.

“...Is this a code? Sorry. I don’t really understand what you’re saying at all.” Fumika bowed her head apologetically. Haruka tried again.

“No, it’s not a code, it’s just that when you hug someone - like, a boy, I mean - it’s kind of… You’re not supposed to…”

“So I’m not supposed to hug boys?” Aw, crap. She was giving that stupidly innocent, shamefaced look again. Not so harsh, Haruka. Just, you have to say it, for the sake of common decency…

As Fumika said that, Kenichi's head snapped up again. A look of disappointment crossed his face--followed by realization. Oooooh, that explained it. Haruka thought...she had made the assumption...Well, it wasn't like he wasn't thinking a little bit about that, but...In the background of the two girls' conversation, the blue haired young man suddenly clutched his temples as steam whistled out of his ears.

“I mean, really, it’s up to you…”

“So I should hug him then?” Fumika raised her arms demonstratively and Haruka rapidly shook her head. Wait, when did this specifically become about Yoshida specifically? Did she just add that part?

“No, what I mean is, you can if you want to, you just…”

“Mm. Okay.” Fumika nodded, then quite suddenly reached out, grabbed Kenichi, and gently dragged him right back into another hug. Like a swimmer who has just reached the surface, still gasping for air, only to be swept under by an inexorable wave - just like that, the blue-haired kid’s head disappeared under a tide of golden fluff… Or rather, it was dragged directly into the one place Haruka had been trying to keep it from going again.

"Um, can I get a say in th--mmphhmph!" Kenichi's arms were still posed in the 'I have something to say' position, one finger extended up in the air, but now his head had disappeared once more. And once again, next to Fumika's cheek, the blue spike stood straight up.

Jett hand slapped over his face convulsing as he started to laugh silently.

“Wait- Hold on just a sec- Stop, stop, stop!” She frantically waved her arms. Fumika gave what might have been a grunt of annoyance - no, surely, Haruka must have just been imagining it - and raised her head slightly.

“What?” She asked all-too-placidly for someone who had just been interrupted halfway through what should have been, by all rights, an entirely too intimate gesture. “It is a problem after all?”

"Nuh, mph murha hmph--!" came a muffled answer from the boy in her arms, but he only had so much oxygen available.

To her credit, Haruka tried very hard to be patient. She tried very hard to be tactful. And, most importantly she tried very hard to actually look her friend in the eye when she spoke even though her own face was rapidly turning red as a beet. However, all that effort could only get her so far. Tact wasn’t working, and her frustration and embarrassment-by-proxy were boiling over. She had to defuse this in the simplest, most direct way possible.

“The problem is that you’re shoving his face in your boobs, Fumi!” She exploded.

Fumika blinked. She looked down. She blinked again. She looked up.

“Oh. You’re right. I am.”

Haruka gaped. Fumika very pointedly didn’t quite let go of her victim. She tilted her head to the side after a moment’s contemplation. Kenichi's limbs had pretty much gone limp at this point, like a drowning man who had accepted death.

“...Should I not do that, then?”

“YES!” Haruka exclaimed, covering her by now extremely red face with her hands. Jett made a valiant effort, but couldn’t quite repress a slight chuckle. Haruka shot him a glare out of the corner of her eye, swept out her false leg, and thwacked it against his shin once again. Causing him to jump up and down on his uninsured leg a few times. “Why you kicking me!? He’s the one who didn’t resist it!”

“Shut up! Just stop laughing!” Whether this command was for her friend’s dignity or her own by proxy wasn’t clear, but regardless, Haruka went right back to facepalming.

Fumika stared quizzically at this exchange, but nodded. She let go of Yoshida and bowed to him meekly. “I’m sorry. I guess I don’t know very much about hugs. I had no idea there were rules like that,” she apologized earnestly.

Kenichi gasped again as he once more emerged from the fluffy depths, his eyes merely empty white voids at this point while something that might have been his soul drifted up out of his mouth. But when Fumika bowed, he shook his head and sobered up, before glancing over at Haruka and Jett. Then he sighed and turned back to the blonde girl with a softer smile.

"You still didn't do anything wrong, Motome-chan." he said. "I mean, if it would be anybody's fault for taking your hug the wrong way, it'd be me. That is..." He scratched the back of his neck. He had a feeling he was probably going to mess this up, but...it was never wrong to try, right?

"Girls and guys around our age act odd about things like this sometimes. It's mostly just a social thing, being polite, respecting boundaries...but there's no set "rules." I mean..." He thumbed his nose and looked down at the ground. "I kinda agree with Haruka about girls bein' a little modest, but in your case I don't think there was anything wrong. If it doesn't bother you to hug people, then hug 'em, so long as they're fine with it. And I'm fine with it...I mean...as long as it's just us--not to say that you can't hug other people either, but...um..." He made a frustrated sound and crossed his arms, looking off to one side as he muttered under his breath.

"I'm supposed to be a battle shonen Main Character, this is totally outside my genre...but wait, why am I thinking about rom-coms in the first place...?"

Finally he turned back to Fumika. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, gesturing for her to stop bowing. When she looked at him, he gave her another grin and a thumbs up.

"Anyway, don't sweat all that stuff, alright? You didn't do anything wrong and there's no need to feel bad. I like your hugs, and if you like giving hugs then that's A-Ok."

Fumika looked at Kenichi, her brows furrowing in the slightest sort of squint. She looked seriously back to Haruka, and then motioned to the boy next to her.

“...If he says it’s okay, it’s okay, right?” She asked again, just to be sure. Haruka gave a longsuffering sigh and nodded.

“If it seriously doesn’t bother you, then… But only if you’re less… squishy about it.” She fought the overwhelming urge to facepalm again. Had she seriously just said that? “L-look, just don’t smother his friggin’ face, alright?”

Fumika seemed satisfied with these terms, and nodded obediently, mumbling them back under her breath. “‘Don’t smother his friggin’ face,’” She recited with the utmost seriousness. Even Haruka had a hard time keeping a straight face hearing her say that, but nevertheless, she pulled through. That is, until... “So long as he’s fine with it.” Haruka frowned. Just there, she’d done it again. Why was it specifically about Yoshida all of a sudden? Normally, wasn’t she super literal about these sorts of things?

“As long as it’s just us.” Okay, she knew that her friend didn’t mean it to sound so suggestive - there was no way she’d even understand something like innuendo, would she? - but the way she spoke so slowly, emphasizing each word like that couldn’t help but make her think…

“...Then it’s fine. Just Yoshida is fine.”

That seemed like as good an answer as she was going to get, and she really wanted to forget about what she’d just seen happen as quickly as possible, so she decided not to continue on the point. At least this way Fumika wouldn’t be doing that to every hapless schmuck she thought needed… help, she’d said? Help with what? Come to think of it, why had she even decided to hug him in the first place? If they were close friends and she was just being clingy, then that seemed normal for her… But even Yoshida himself hadn’t been expecting her to do that, had he? On the one hand, that meant that he hadn’t deliberately tricked her into doing something lewd, but… What exactly had he told her to prompt that? And… And what if now that he realized how naive she was, he’d already started planning on manipulating her in other ways, too? Fumika was so dense that really, that might just actually work…!

Haruka folded her arms and turned her glare on Kenichi, staring him down with a menacing look in her eye. Sure, he had at least seemed like he was trying to help defuse the situation, but she couldn’t help but feel like he wasn’t exactly trying to prevent this from happening again. No, in fact, he’d specifically told her that he was fine with it, undercutting her authority! And just because Fumika didn’t seem to care didn’t mean it was right to let this kid take advantage of her like that…!

...Her expression morphed into a disturbingly forced smile.

Oh boy, here we go. Kenichi looked back and forth between the two. Every innocently unaware gesture Fumika made just seemed to be making things worse...although he couldn't help but think it made her cuter at the same time. Although...was he just misreading the mood, or did she seem like she had specifically designated him as hugworthy, as opposed to just...hugging people in general? Did...did that mean something? No, he had to be imagining it. Just wishful--or perverted--thinking on his part, right? Yeah, after all, he had been lucky thus far all this "friendship" hadn't made him pop a...

“Hey, Yoshida, could you come over here for a second?” Haruka asked all-too-cheerfully, motioning to the corner of the room.

"Uh, um...'scuse us one moment, Motome-chan..." He sheepishly waved at her before he followed Haruka towards the corner--then immediately held both palms up in a sort of defensive gesture and spoke motormouth style in a low whisper.

"W-wait, before ya start! Wh-when I said that stuff, it was just cause...cause Motome-chan tends to, ya know, be so...mechanical." He glanced back over his shoulder at the girl...and now that he was facing Haruka, that grin faded a little bit to a worried frown. "I was afraid if we just told her, "Don't do that, it's not appropriate," or somethin', not only would she get sad but she'd like...shut down. Maybe not do that ever again--to me or anybody else." Now he met Haruka's eyes--and for like half a second that felt weird for some reason, then he realized with something like glee that she was shorter than him--and continued with less nervousness in his voice. If she tried to tsun-tsun-punch him now he didn't feel like he deserved it.

"When she hugged you just a minute ago, that was...the first time since I've met her I've seen her get, ya know, close to somebody. I mean, I've only known her like a week, but if you watch her ahoge she's not actually too hard to figure out." Unconsciously he reached up and smoothed that one spike of his own hair. "She...doesn't think much of herself. And she holds back a lot. She tries not to show what she's thinking on her face, but she tugs her hair when she's sad or frustrated and her eyes will change color if she sees something interesting. I'm sure you already know all that, but what I mean is..." He sighed, then finally just crossed his arms and braced himself to say it.

"She doesn't think she's interesting, or cool, or good at things, or that she'll be a good Hero. So I'm trying to to make her realize that she is, and can be, all of that. I want..." He closed his eyes for just a moment, then opened them again. Don't think about how lame it sounds! Be a man! Say what you feel!

"I want her to see herself the way I see her."

Haruka had begun listening to him with an expression that could best be described as a “death glare,” but the more he spoke, the more surprised she seemed, until finally she was staring at him with a look somewhere between mild distrust and approval. At last, she nodded, and replied in a low voice.

“Seems you’ve got the gist of it, and I’m feeling generous, so I’ll clear up the rest for you. From what I’ve found, she’s actually pretty clingy - as you just noticed - just uncomfortable around people she doesn’t know well - which I guess means everyone who isn’t me. At least, until now anyhow.” She gave Kenichi a meaningful look. “Honestly, I was surprised by how much she’d warmed up to you even before… all this. She started following me around pretty quickly, but it took weeks for me to get more than a few words out of her.” Haruka sighed and shook her head with a shrug. “Then again, I ain’t exactly the most personable gal, either.” She narrowed her eyes, staring the boy down and trying to be as firm and authoritative as she possibly could when she was still the shortest person in the room. “Anyway, look - I don’t know if she’s just lonely now or if you said something she just really wanted to hear, but it’s pretty obvious at any rate that she thinks the world of you already. Now, since she trusts you, I’d be a pretty piss-poor friend if I didn’t have some degree of faith in her choice to do so, yeah? And given what you just said, it does seem like you’ve got her best interests at heart. That’s something I can get behind.” She took a deep breath, then abruptly raised her artificial foot and brought it down with a loud clattering of plastic against the rigid metal frame, sounding like a judge’s gavel pronouncing an irrevocable sentence. Crossing her arms, she stared him down and spoke with the sort of serious voice and expression that made her seem at least two feet taller all of a sudden - the kind of stance and tone you’d expect from a grizzled yakuza boss in a crime thriller.

“However,” She added pointedly. “There are some things Fumi’s just too innocent to understand, so somebody’s gotta look out for her, and it looks like it’s going to have to be me. So just on the off-chance you’re considering her friendship as an opportunity to get yourself some nice little ‘bonuses’ on the side, I’ll leave you with a warning. If you ever break the trust she’s given you - trick her, use her, lie to her, betray her, or hurt her… Then I’ll make you wish Harukaze Haruka had lost both her legs. Ya got that?”

"Heh heh! Roger that, Haru-taichou!" Kenichi saluted with his index and middle finger, once again grinning like an idiot." But then he looked a little bit confused, and tilted his head in a manner far, far too similarly to the fluffy subject of their conversation. "I get the stuff about lying and all, but what did you mean by 'bonuses'? Like...asking her for money or something?" Then he shook his head. "Never mind, it doesn't matter! I'll tell you like I told Asuka-chan: I'm one'a those loudmouth-types of main characters who rushes into stuff even if it's none of their business! Even if she ignores me or gets mad at me, I'll still come runnin' anytime she needs help!"

Haruka stared, an obvious “Huh” or “Are you seriously asking that question after what just happened” dying on her lips. She’d dealt with this specific type of denseness enough to realize with a decent degree of certainty that, no, this wasn’t his idea of a cheeky joke. He legitimately had completely missed her meaning. Then… he hadn’t been trying to misdirect her after all. And what he’d said just now was really true. And he… and he was just as unbelievably, astronomically dense as Fumika herself, just in a way that was less obvious at a glance. Once she realized this, the rest all fell into place. The reason why Fumika had grown so attached to him so quickly… the reason why he must have stayed by her even despite her odd behavior. The reason he could say such stupidly honest things with such a straight face - express his feelings directly and earnestly in ways Haruka herself never could. Maybe… maybe things were fine just the way they were. Even if she wasn’t around… no, specifically because she wouldn’t always be around. This boy could do what she should have done all along. She gave a wry smile, and nodded.

“If that’s all, then there’s nothin’ to worry about.”

But just as everything was settling down and they were making their way back over to the others, Jett made a rather worrying announcement.

When they went to the corner, Jett decided to check his phone, seeing a text from his father explaining that he wouldn’t be able to swing by today like he planned due to work. Though he decided to add right at the end that his fellow classmates were in the hospital surviving a villian attack. His eyes went wide at the news, seeing that it was four of his classmates, and Yashiro’s kid sister.

He didn’t know what to say at first but he looked to Fumika and Kenichi. “I’m sorry to break this up. But my dad just texted me. Roy, Reina, Takeshi, Michiko and Kaida are in the hospital….” he looked to Haruka and added, “Sorry, but I gotta go check on them.”

"What!? Holy shit, what happened?" Kenichi looked between Fumika, Jett, and Haruka. Maybe he had missed more in these past few days than he thought? Reina, Takeshi...he wasn't sure who Michiko and Kaida were, but Kaida's name sounded...somewhat familiar? Still, for four students to be in the hospital--not Nurse Kiwi's office, but an actual hospital...Was this Yoshida-sensei's doing? Another one of his damned exercises? Haruka appeared to be thinking something similar, as her brows furrowed immediately in a frown, and her momentary smile disappeared.

Just then, his own cell phone buzzed. Looking apologetically at the others he pulled it out of his pocket with a curious frown. He didn't get a lot of texts to be honest, so who besides his parents...

"Nani the fuck?" he said quietly to himself. He read the lines, then spoke to Fumika as he quickly thumbed a response. The effort of multitasking seemed rather serious, judging from the intense concentration on his face.

"Hey uh, sudden change of subject, but is that jerk you were telling me about before named Amane?" he asked Fumika, looking up at her just as he hit send.

She didn’t answer him for a moment. Her gaze still seemed vaguely focused on where Jett was standing, her lips pursed intently as her hair fizzled and squirmed. She looked… pale, all of a sudden. When he spoke to her, she almost didn’t seem to hear him for a moment, and then started slightly as if suddenly, unexpectedly awoken from a sort of sleep. She gave a slight, sheepish nod to his question, then began fussing with the ends of her hair in sudden preoccupation.

@Experiment 249Lysander? Sry bro had some issues, been out the loop. Wtf u doin in 1B? and who tf is Amane? y we tryin to play ko game on him? if its the asshole i think it might be maybe ill help but i aint gettin expelled 4 pranks -- ya boi kenichi

ps how tf u get my number

"Also, reverse swallow cut back to the first subject," he continued as he slipped his phone back into his pocket, "Which hospital are they at, Jett-kun?"

Fumika couldn’t help but wince at the word. The sound of an EKG rang in the back of her mind, and it was only by focusing on the dark-haired figure standing beside her that she could bring her thoughts back to the present. Even still, that nagging, insistent fear didn’t go away.

Roy. He’d treated her kindly during the exercise… even though they were enemies. He’d helped Takeshi when she couldn’t. Takeshi himself had praised her, protected her from that horrible fire. Michiko was his sister, and although they hadn’t spoken much at dinner or over the week, she’d always been very nice. Kaida… She didn’t know much about her, but from what she’d seen in the exercises, she seemed kind of scary. Didn’t that seem strange? How did somebody so strong get hurt…? And Reina… Reina tried so hard. She was an incredible person, but she always seemed sad. But when she’d hugged her, when they’d become friends, Reina had seemed so happy… She had hoped that she could stay happy like that, and yet now… She’d gotten hurt? All of them had gotten hurt so badly she’d been sent to the hospital? And Yoshida was hurt too. He’d been sent to the hospital too. Everyone was… Everyone was getting hurt, and what was she doing to prevent it?

She was scared. She didn’t want to see it again, but even when she refused to look, the memory surrounded her. A white room. Curtains fluttering in the wind. The beeping of the EKG, and that haggard expression on the face of the greatest hero the world would never know. That was when things had become different. That was when she stopped being able to understand the feelings welling up inside herself. And all the while, she could do… nothing.

She denied the memory. Thinking about things like that was pointless. It hurt. She didn’t want to think about it, so she shut it away. Right now, there was only one thing she could do. She had to make sure everyone was alright. They had to be alright. She had to be overthinking it. It had to be simpler than this, it had to make sense. But still, she had to know… Just to be sure…

“Are they… alright? Are they safe?” She asked tentatively, her voice quiet, soft, desperate.

Jett sighed as he glanced at his phone to somehow get more info out of the text. Shaking his head he looked to Fumika and Kenichi. “My dad didn’t say much, just that they were attacked by a group of villains. The fact they are at the hospital, I assume it’s serious, I can call him and get more info along the way.” He looked to Haruka. “Sorry..”

The dark haired girl stared back in shock. “Oi, oi, are you serious? Legit villains this close to the school? That’s-”

“We need to go,” Fumika interjected. Her voice was firm, but as her hands ran through her hair, they almost seemed to be shaking. “We’ve got to go see them. They might be hurt, or…” She either didn’t need or - more likely - didn’t want to finish that sentence. Haruka nodded grimly.

“If you’re goin’, we’re all goin’.” She stared Jett dead in the face as she spoke, making it clear that she wasn’t taking no for an answer. “If they didn’t catch the villains who did this, they might still be out and about looking for victims. Letting anybody go anywhere outside of this school alone is just askin’ for trouble, and since your Quirk’s completely shot to hell, I’m definitely not letting you take that risk.” She seemed to be rather pointedly ignoring the state of her own Quirk as she spoke, but nevertheless it was clear she meant well. Glancing back to her distraught friend, she gave a reassuring nod. “Fumi, it’s gonna be alright. The message didn’t say anything about anyone dyin’ or being in critical condition, so it’s probably not as bad as it sounds. Why don’t you go get your sister, and we’ll all go check on them together?”

“Count me in too!” Kenichi added, slamming his uninjured hand into his fist. “If anybody messes with any of us, I’ll blow ‘em away--cracked ribs be damned!” He gave Motome-chan a reassuring look, but he wasn’t really sure if he could comfort her this time. After all...hadn’t he failed to save himself from those three losers? No. Don’t think about it. After a moment’s hesitation, he settled his resolve.

Fumika nodded quietly, tugging one last time at her hair before letting it drop. Answering with words seemed like it would be too difficult in her current stressed state, so she quickly turned and headed out the door where she’d last seen Asuka. Haruka had said that it was fine. Haruka was smart. She knew more about these sorts of things than Fumika herself did. If she said it, then there was absolutely no reason to doubt her.

...And yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that once again, something important - a precious dream, and the strength and pride of a new generation of heroes - might have been lost forever, while she stood idly by.

Gaia Frontier (5e)

---

𝕬 𝖓 𝖙 𝖆 𝖊 𝖚 𝖘

North Forest Clearing

---

That. Is. AMAZING. This girl didn't seem to be wearing any armor or even have any weapons on her person--in fact now that he looked closer, without her jacket all she was wearing on her upper body was some kind of cloth wrapping around her chest. He gulped, but now wasn't the time to ogle. But despite her lack of equipment, she was wrestling this mighty, gigantic beast--and she was WINNING!

This was exactly what Antaeus wanted for himself! He had been born with this large, sturdy body that had caused his family nothing but strife...but if he could use his strength like this, to do great things worthy of fame and glory, he could prove himself! He could be a hero! And if he was a hero, he could right wrongs and protect people, and do good for everyone...including his father.

He crept out to the edge of the branch and tensed his legs. He took a deep breath.

As soon as you hit it, grab that jacket and wrap it around the beast's face! He pep-talked himself, slowly raising his arms and standing up on the sturdy wood. Maybe I can blind it, or choke it down...Or even help the girl topple it...But I've got to go--now!

With the same focus he used to put his all into smashing through rock and soil, he exhaled and leaped for the White Stag, arms outstretched towards that black mantle--!

Rolls/Action Log

Antaeus performs an Athletics Check
1d20 + 4 (STR+Proficiency)
Result: 20
((BAH GAWD AN RKO OUTTA NOWHERE))

Inventory

1 Quest Book - 5 lb
1 Shovel - 5 lb
1 Miner's Pick - 5 lb
1 Block and Tackle Set - 5 lb
--Pulleys
--Cable
--Hook
1 Climber's Kit - 12 lb
--Pitons
--Boot tips
--Gloves
--Harness
1 Set of Clothes, Common - 3 lb
--Roughspun Tunic
--Roughspun Pants
--Ragged Boots
1 Belt Pouch - 0 GP
1 Hunting Trap - 12 lb
1 Backpack - 5 lb - Holds 30 lb
1 Waterskin - 5 lb (full) - holds 4 pints
1 Tinderbox - 1 lb
1 Hempen Rope - 10 lb - 50 ft
2 Javelins - 2 lb Each
6 Darts - .25 lb Each

Total Encumberance: 71.5/240 lb (Light)

Quest Log

+Bookie has agreed to write a letter to Captain Ork at the Garrison. I should kill an animal in the forest and take it to Captain Ork to prove I'm adventuring material.
--The animal can be anything from the Forest. Bookie suggested a deer or a boar.

+Barthen has requested me to hunt a White Stag in the Forest, and has given me a free hunting trap for this purpose. If I don't succeed I should probably bring the trap back.
--I should try to find the Redchaser, she might be able to help me.

+Barthen is paying 1 GP per pound of Medicinal Herbs from the forest.