Zoe

Zoe didn't mind the woods much, even with her big puffy dress on. She has always been a bit of a tomboy, something her mother tried to force out of her with pageants and modeling. Still though, even with her older siblings away at school, she could still find time to be herself. She was sad about losing her parents, and didn't know how she was going to find her brother or sisters yet, but for now she was content to wear the dress her mother liked most on her and help big sister Jenny rescue her other sister.

She might not have minded the woods much, but that didn't mean she felt totally safe. Zoe couldn't name any of these trees to save her life, but she felt somewhat certain none of them should be dark purple, kind of like that one over there. Head tilted to the side Zoe took one step too many towards the funny looking tree.

"-AHHHHHHHHHH-" The ear shattering scream of an eight year old can travel quite the distance. Throughout the forest, ears perked and legs ran. The vine wrapped around Zoe's leg lifted her up into the air, the bark of the purple tree splitting in a jagged horizontal manner before opening with a roar that would have done any parent proud. Assuming the parents are carnivorous evergreens.

Greater Arborbeast Level 18 Type Elite Plant [Armoured] Health 1204 Mana 242 Stamina 232

"Ah shit!" Gavin yelled. This monster wasn't new to him. The last time he saw them however they were much weaker than level 18. It takes 3 [Holy Strike] until one hits the vine bringing a struggling Zoe closer to that mouth in the bark. The monster screams and drops Zoe, meanwhile Jenny fires arrow after arrow into its tough bark armour.

"Aim for the mouth, Jenny!"

"Got it, yo!" Her next shot explodes before hitting the tree, fragments making their way inside to do some damage. She looks around for their smallest group member. "Zoe, you OK!?"

"I'm Fine." Zoe yells while using her axe to sever the end of another vine snaking its way across the ground towards her. She backs up slowly as more vines creep towards her, some from the mouth of the tree-beast.

"Listen up, I need to get closer, Jenny keep the vines off me!" Gavin yells has as he runs past Zoe. The vines that traget him are pinned to the ground with arrows or find themselves forced to target Zoe because of [Taunt]. When Gavin gets less than 10 feet from the tree, he drops his [Holy Ground] to increase the damage of his spells. Then he walks backwards like Zoe did earlier. This time the monster targets him exclusively as the [Holy Strike], [Regen], and [Heal] do massive damage even through its armour. [Repent] returns damage to any vine that makes it through Jenny's arrows or Zoe's axe.

Zoe is having a field day cutting the vines up when they ignore her [Taunt]. Any pause in the groups attack though and the tree regained health quickly. Rocks and dirt start to fly into the mouth of the beast when Zoe uses her [Embodiment [Earth]]. The tree pause in it's attack to clear the debris from its maw, but that just frees Gavin and Jenny to redouble their attack.

With the tree unable to attack while clearing it's mouth, it try's to uproot itself, whether to attack or run is immaterial since it dies before it can finish freeing itself.

"Phew," Gavin falls to the ground. " I hate those things."

"I hear you, yo. Arrows weren't the best weapon against a tree."

"Umm, then you might want to try something else." Zoe says laughing.

Jenny turns towards her, only to notice where she is looking. Coming closer is another Arborbeast, a little smaller than the last. The snap of a twig makes her look behind them, another is sneaking up on their back, this one a little bigger than the first.

"Timber!!" Zoe yells as she jumps at the smaller monster with a swing of her axe.

"Oh yeah, I forgot these things like to travel in packs." Gavin sighs, as he stands up. "I hope Leon is doing a better job making friends than we are."

--------------------------------------

Leon

"Achoo!"

Leon wiped the last of the goblin blood off his hands and checked to make sure none got on his clothes. The four foot tall [Earth Golem] by his side was so heavily damaged and wasn't worth repairing. Disrupting the mana in it caused it to collapse into a pile of rock and dirt. He was grateful one of the bandits knew a thing or two about constructs. Since he left their camp, he has more or less got the hang of [Golem] within his four elements.

That understanding opened the possibility of a permanent [Golem] with no upkeep. The problem was the massive expense of mana. It cost a whopping 2000 MP to make a permanent Golem. Leon has 1103 mp at peak. Combining 5 [Mana Shard] into a [Mana Crystal] and draining his own reserves solved that problem. The trick was to eat the Mana crystal right before he bottomed out while creating a Permanent Golem . But unlike the lower cost [Golem] this one could only be repaired by feeding it additional mana sources.

Item Mana Crystal Crafting Reagent 1/10 of a Mana Gem Consume to restore 1000MP

All in all it was a pain in the ass, but well worth it depending on the situation. In this case Leon attack several Goblin dungeon to replace the mana shards lost in learning to create his Golems. The [Golem] made an excellent tank since it may have been slow but it was also tough. It was a better choice than the additional attack power of [Fire Golem] or the Debuff's from Air. The [Water Golem] would be useful later though, it healed periodically but took forever to recharge it's mana.

The only reason he was able to run so many dungeons was because their exact locations have been mapped by the thieves. They had a lot of information regarding everything in this area. They also had a few men in the same wooded area his group was traveling through. He hoped they manage to avoid each other, since it could ruin his plans. Though the monsters in the woods might be a bigger problem.

The Goblins of this last house only manage to get their little green hands on one woman but she seemed somewhat traumatized. Leon was at a loss as to what to do about her. The women from the other houses were already directed towards the park. After collecting the loot from this house he simply left. He figured his group could pick her up on the way back. She hadn't spoken a word when he found her, and he was reluctant to touch her considering... Leon sighed and used on of the precious [message paper] to let Debrah know to send someone to pick the woman up.

He was running fairly behind schedule by the time he made it close to Jenny's plant, but the two levels picked up after his dealings with the thieves and the goblins were well worth it. He settled down to study the many [Spell Book] picked up along the way. [Elemental Construct [Ice Wing]], [Resistance [Disarm]],[Elemental Manipulation [Earth Tunnel]] and [Flameportation]

Skill Book Name Elemental Contruct [Ice Wing] Quality Rare Req: 70% Water Affinity +100 MP, +10 WIS Form wings made of Ice Skill Book Name Resistance [Disarm] Quality Crude Req: 30 DEX +50 STA Chances of being disarmed in combat decrease Skill Book Name Elemental Manipulation [Earth Tunnel] Quality Good Req: 60% Earth Affinity, 75 INT +100 MP Limited control of Earth while tunneling Skill Book Name Flameportation Quality Epic Req: 80% Fire Affinity +300 MP, +100 STA Teleport to a know source of fire from a source of fire

Except for the disarm resistance, pure greed made Leon want to keep all of these books for himself. The quality of these skill books was random but he knew the chance of getting this lucky again had to be rare. He was a little amused to have recieved one of each quality First he placed his hand on [Flameportation] but to his dismay he simply received a window saying his affinity was inadequate. That was a mighty blow, he could think of a number of ways a teleport spell could be useful.

The ice wing skill had it's own warning, saying the Wisdom attribute would become permanent if the book was used. Since Leon already had [Wisdom] it wasn't a problem. The book disintegrated after he accepted the learning prompt. The [Earth Tunnel] was tempting but for now, he held on to it. He did make sure he could actually use it, confirming he had at least 60% earth affinity, for future reference.

Soul Gem Name Dragon Soul Quality Legendary Req: 150 any Attribute (+400 MP, HP or STA) or (40 random Attribute points) Acquire strength and weakness of a [Dragon] and partial transformation ability

Then the best for last [Dragon soul]. Despite the 150 attribute requirement, Leon places his hand on the cover only to be greeted by several windows. 'Oh well, it was worth a try', he thinks. The first window is a simple requirements not met, and the Second is a notice that full and real transformation is only available by acquiring Embodiment [Dragon] or Race change. The third is a warning that he will not be able to later change from the Dragon soul to another. Good to know, but why would anyone want to change from a dragon, he wonders.

Well, a Phoenix is supposed to be as strong, he remembers, and of course if Deity souls are available... Titans, Sea monsters, Heroes. Come to think of it, there are lots of being theoretically as strong if not stronger than Dragons... Still though, what are the chances of getting his hands on another soul as strong as this?

The last window makes Leon curse out loud. It has nothing to do with the Dragon Soul, it's a notice from the the admin, or the 'Being that resides in this part of the universe'.

Attention Sentient Beings To combat [Ancient Beings of Power] successful spread of [corrupted converted extra-universal energies]

expect [small gift package] at the cost of [Greater Discomfort]

No additional information is available.

"Damn it."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Jenny

Jenny had just returned from scouting their forward path when the window notice appeared.

"Yo, you seeing this?"

"Yeah," Gavin replies, "Can't be anything good I'm betting." They proceed to check over their status and inventory. It seems that the regeneration rates have once again been cut severely. But there is also a package in their inventories. once opened it reveals a slew of potions. The usual health, mana and stamina potions are present, but it also contains poison, burn, disease and slow cures. Only time would tell if the trade was equivalent. Gavin shakes his head and get's back to the business at hand.

"Any news?" He asks Jenny.

"There's a pack in our way, I think they cornered something, but we can take 'em"

This isn't the groups first run in with the dog-like monsters of the forest. After the battle with the Arborbeasts, they had to contend with the attacks of several packs of [Woodland Wild-paws]. They weren't as tough as the tree monsters but obviously much quicker and numerous. The monsters were shades of green but hairless, given them a truly frightening appearance.

After the group sneaks close enough, Jenny laid several traps to protect Gavin, while Zoe prepared to assault the pack. Jenny then used her [Climb] ability to set up in a nearby tree with a good line of sight on her targets. She wasn't as silent as she would like, [Camouflage] prevented her from being easily spotted, however.

Once in position, she got the party started with a barrage of arrows into the midst of the pack. With loud desperate yelps, the monster canines turned with teeth barred, searching for their attacker. They didn't find Jenny, but they did find Zoe. Not hard to do when the little warrior was running at them yelling "Here puppies!"

Woodland Wild-paw

Level

14

Type

Animal [Agile]

Health

374

Mana

274

Stamina

724

The pack charged the lone little girl in anticipation of an easy kill, the massive axe in her hands proving to be of little deterant. That is until she swung it, long before she even reached them. A wave of energy flew off the weapon and into the lead Wild-paw. The wave split to the sides and into the dog monsters on both side, but not before causes a massive cut on the leader chest that dropped the beast. The pack members to both sides received less damage, but not by much. Zoe's new level 15 skill [Weapon Wave [2H]] gave her a reach that made her even more dangerous than ever.

One of Gavin's new spells put the outside members of the pack to sleep and Jenny's arrow never stopped coming. The fight wasn't particularly hard, but it was long. The Wild-paws had good agility and manage to be where Zoe's axe wasn't much of the time. Zoe's own armour, defenses and skills didn't keep them off of her either, causing Jenny's heart to leap to her throat more times than she could count. Gavin's heals were more than enough to keep her safe though and soon, the pack was decimated. The few left alive running off with their tails between their legs.

Gavin went to check on Zoe and collect the loot, but Jenny Stepped up to the tree the Wild-paws were so focused on. There was something up there. She couldn't see it, but she just knew there was something up there, she could feel it. Her [Climb] got her up there in record time where she found a next of sorts. It looked mostly abandoned but for the tiny cat-like monster left behind, it must have been the runt of the litter.

Silver Leptail

Level

1

Type

Animal/Demon [Acrobat]

Health

79

Mana

1

Stamina

97

It had a longer snout that any cat had a right to and tiny bright white bat-like wings. It's fur was a bright silver and when it opened it's eyes to investigate who was intruding on it's lonely death, they are two shades of green and inquisitive. Its tiny teeth look sharp as It opened its mouth and

"mew?"

Jenny was forever lost.

Tame was successful, do you accept? Accept Decline