~Cobb POV~

We approached the leafy structure in silence and completely invisible. Though there wasn't a another step higher but there were still some branches above, the gorillas swung about and seemed to be in a state of confusion after JST knocked out that big one. I couldn't help but wonder what cultural significance the duel had. What loomed in front of me was a giant leafy double door. I stood at the edge of the Jones' magic's influence peering at the doors and couldn't ignore their green hue. Stepping slightly closer and lifting my arm up I confirmed it. I was indeed greener.

"Should we just pop them open?" JST asked from behind.

"No, giant door doesn't seem slightly strange?" This idiot.

"Maybe we should just knock." Jones said.

"Are you both stupid? Look up, what if they decide to just jump down and land on us the second they see us?" I pointed to the nearest Canopy Gorilla above.

"Ok then what?" Jones said. The gorillas weren't near enough to hear anything.

"Look at the door and see if you can see anything, any weakness or structural flaw." I told them.

It looked to be primarily made of leaves, it was pointlessly tall too, taller than the tallest Geckan. The only indication that it was a door was the shape and compact leaves that made it up. The walls in which it was attached to were made of twisting branches, layered thick enough that we were unable to make out the inside. The structure was roughly the shape of a cube, indicating a planned construct.

I had an urge to use Animate on something ever since I got my Squad Points back but there was never anything to animate. I had tried to use animate on parts of the tree but apparently if I couldn't animate the whole thing I couldn't animate targeted parts. I tried to animate a pile of leaves also and to my surprise it actually worked, except when my man leaf creation got up it caught the wind a flew off the branch. In the end I concluded that it would probably be possible to create animations like those when my skill advanced in the magic.

"I don't think this is a leaf." Jones said.

"Yeah it's a door stupid." JST was lounging on his back now. He was balancing his sword on his nose.

"I mean this door isn't made of leaves, I can barely make out something. It's some type of creature or at least some of it is." He explained. "These leaves are all connected, it's some type of insect."

I strained my eyes trying to see anything but there was nothing but leaves, no movement at all. I attempted to use inform but nothing relating to Jones' observation came up.

Inform

Leaves

High quality canopy leaves useful for brewing various potions. You have concluded you are greener than them and you are correct. You suspect this is actually an insect.

Yes!

It's good to have your personal conclusions verified, when they're the right ones.

"I see nothing are you sure?" I asked.

"Come here and keep quiet, i'm gonna lead you to its head which is just within reach. We can cut the head off and move through but i'm not sure if it can hear." Jones said, his eyes were seeing something I couldn't, they were focused on an unassuming pack of leaves.

He gestured to a thin line of leaves, which from context clues I had to assume was the neck. It was aggrivating that even though I realized it was a neck I still couldn't make out the body or the head.

JST raised his sword, still under the cloak of Illusion Magic. He practiced the arc and glanced to Jones to make sure he had the right spot, to which he nodded. His sword came down swiftly and cleanly. A high pitched, but surprisingly small screech erupted from the spot in front of us. The patch of leaves came off and rolled into our box of Illusion Magic, some of the leaves twitched and my eyes followed the movements. Slowly my brain pieced it together and I saw the head of an insect. The leaves in front were actually an elongated skull, or carapace. It was shaped like a shield, something which was difficult to make out since the rest of the leaves broke up its figure. It had a row of small leaves surrounding a barely noticable opening and upon closer inspection they were razor sharp, teeth. Eerily I couldn't find the eyes no matter how hard I tried.

"Can you see the face?" JST asked. "Cuz I can't. Just the head kinda."

"I can see it." Jones' perception was working for him it seems.

"Where are the eyes I can't find them." He pointed to a leaf.

"Damn my eyes just aren't making sense of it. Perception really helps, huh." I shrugged my shoulders. I'd have to find a way to shore up that weakness.

Looking up it seemed the Canopy Gorillas didn't notice anything. We pulled on the leaves a bit and the rest of the things body came down. It just seemed like a gigantic pile of leaves peeled off from the door.

"Good thing we killed it" He said noticing the still standing double doors. "because my mana just ran out."

And with that we were revealed to the world in all our naked glory.

"Examine Enemy the corpse real quick Jones." I said with naked calm.

"Hmm, strengths, camoflauge, ok, pack hunter, ok, wait." He paused.

"Well shit." JST chimed in. He was in stance and watching the doors.

The door came alive and two blobs of leaves seperated from each other. The only distinguishable feature to my eyes were the shields on their head but other than that I couldn't find the rest of their body.

"The reason you thought that some of the leaves weren't the insect, was because it was the other ones." I used inform.

Inform

Leaf Stalker - Lvl 68

HP: 1346/1346

Leaf Stalkers are ambush predators, their exact method of eating their prey has never been witnessed as their camoflauge seemingly engulfs the body leaving everything to the oberservers imagination. They are found in Gigantic Class trees particularly when monster concentration is high and fast breeding species are nested close by. These species are widely unknown.

"Level 68, Leaf Stalker, ambush predator, capablities unknown. No information on combat outside of normal hunting." I informed my brothers.

"Strengths, camoflauge, pack hunter, weakness, joints." Jones added.

"Hit the joints? I can't even see the fucking joints." JST whined. The Leaf Stalkers were either moving very slow because that was just their speed or they were sticking to their name and stalking us.

"I guess that ties into their strengths." Jones said.

"Any other weaknessess?" I asked curious.

"No that's all it says. Why?" He responded.

"Because they're made of fucking leaves." Then my hand lit up in green flames.

"Ohhhh shit!" JST chuckled with raised eyebrows.

He darted forward ready to engage the Leaf Stalkers and I threw my fire over him. As expected the fire caught and the Leaf Stalker burst into flames. Unexpectedly the thing didn't stop moving, instead it was getting faster. Unfortunately for JST he had to trade blows with a faster opponent stepping between limbs and hacking at joints. That's when I realized I had burned off all of the leaves leaving only the bug, a dramatically faster bug.

I could clearly see its figure now, there were stubs all over it which I assumed was where it grew its camoflauge. It's shield on its head seemed very prominent now. In fact, it's whole body seemed streamlined and defensive. It had six legs and its feet were circular but covered in the same carapace the rest of its body was. I assumed this was for silent movement, when the feet were covered in leaves stepping on a soft pad of leaves would leave virtually no sound. The joints did indeed seem weak but I wouldn't go as far as calling it a weakness, not when its camoflauge doesn't let you see it. Especially not when it becomes this fast when shedding its leaves. As it was the thing seemed built for blunt damage, its circular feet were more like wrecking balls, two could be used as weapons maybe even three without losing balance.

Swinging feet were ducked under, barely. Anytime he dodged them a cut would appear on the leg and some bug juice would squirt out. The midle two legs were used the mostJST was still my brother though, he took the first one with effort but he still killed it.

"That was intense." He said walking backwards at the pace the other was approaching.

"Can you handle the next one?" The pile of leaves was still coming for us.

"Don't bother setting it on fire I think I can do without." He walked forward, and from behind I could swear the guy was smiling.

He met the Leaf Stalker head on, which wasn't as explosive as I thought it was gonna be. He sidestepped and a line of leaves came over him, only now looking like a leg. When he bent forward, he pivoted as well, turning his body to me, and in that last second before he dissappeared into the leaves and under the insect, he was still smiling and his eyes were closed.

"This crazy bastard." I whispered.

I turned upwards to see what the gorillas were up to. They were just watching us in silence.

"He should be fine, I think he's using his Arena." He smiled.

It sounded like chopping wood but it rang louder and sounded wet. The sound continued and with each ringing thud the pile of leaves vibrated, eventually the monster fell. A rustling came from the stalker and JST emerged. There were stray leaves sticking to what looked like bug juice on his face.

It was eerie walking past the dead lanky behemoths, one completely bare, the other one looking like a simple bush. To add to the atmosphere we had an audience up above.

A steady beat and thumping of chests verberated through the air, it was felt in our chests as well. What were they up to?

"You guys getting this?" My older brother was zoning out.

Seconds later Jones was too. It was then I noticed a new icon in my vision towards the top right, near where I had placed my status bars. I focused on it.

Rhthym of the Canopy Gorilla

Your actions are supported by a tribe of Canopy Gorilla. The powers behind the rhythm of the Gorilla Tribes are known to empower them, they are characterstically large scale buffs, both in range and effect.

Effects:

+3 All Stats

Time Remaining: 29:59_

"What are they up to?" JST seemed skeptical.

The buff granted aligned perfectly with the description, it affected all our stats slightly and they were buffing us from up above, probably since we could hear the music. I wasn't really sure what a large range meant relative to Twoen since we hadn't encountered any other buffers. When we reach civilization it'll be easier to tell how significant this buff was. Essentially we got a few levels from buffs alone depending on how many differents stats you had.

"I think you beat their leader a while back." I shared my suspicion. "I think their culture is centered on power, you beat their leader you gain their respect. It's not clear what it means when their leader dies though."

"So that's why they're confused. But why do they fight with the Geckans?" Jones asked.

"Hard to say." We moved on.

Entering the now open doorway, we were greeted with a golden geckan sitting on a raised leafy throne, she was situated in a manner that conveyed complete comfort and lax, nothing to indicate we were a threat. It was infuriating, but I was too experienced to take the bait, something was up. Jones gave a low whistle, as if admiring the room, enemies. Despite the signal I couldn't help but follow the original connotation of the action and look at the room myself. On the inside the twisted branches as seen from the outside had melded together to form smooth wooden walls.

Nothing about the room screamed royalty but thats to be expected each culture has their own definition of status. Though it wasn't particularly extravagant I took note location and the fact this was one of the few structures i've seen that could qualify as a building. Perhaps some effort into construction denotes royalty? Vines hung from the wall, something I had only seen previously adorning the tunnels of the trunk and the cave I originally spawned in.

By now I had accessed my sense of heat and the room was full of it. There were two heat sources positioned next to the Geckan that I presumed to be the Queen judging from the throne. In front of the throne it seemed they were ready to take us head on. Too many heat signatures to count were in front of me, so much so they blended together making it impossible to define individuals. There were some seperating from the main group and as they got closer and further from the blob of heat I could make out their signatures, only two each to our flanks. The two on my left were approaching the range of JST's Arena.

"Shall we?" He gestured forward, mock bowing, exposing his back.

The Geckan lashed out, it had maintained camoflauge even during its attack. But just as quick it was caught on JST's shield and slammed down viciously, the stealth retreated from its scales as JST recieved the next one's neck on his sword. To my right Jones had dispatched his set as well.

I conjured up two swords of green flame and localized their heat so they wouldn't blind me during this fight.

Thinking back to my spars with JST I was always one to react rather than make the first move, sticking to my method I waited. The heat signature in front of me split into threes and if I didn't know any better they were taking formation. They marched forward but now I could make out individuals but not the shape of their body. I had no way to know how to dodge what. I had to think of a solution quick, I opted for making the swords longer, after all flames didn't weigh anything. They did drain my mana but at this point I could last for quite a while.

I sliced bodies in half as they came, instantly cauterizing wounds but taking limbs in the process. They were smarter though and I found myself surrounded. I took wounds to the legs, they aimed for my mobility, then I took wounds to my shoulders. I knew how claws felt like and these weren't claws. Weapons? There weren't weapons on the other Geckans. I twirled my blades and gave myself a respite. With a thought, still holding my fiery weapons, I created small orbs of fire on all my bleeding cuts, they were instantly sealed. My movement was slightly restricted especially in my swings, but magic is magic I didn't need to swing right to hit left. I conjured four more floating swords before I felt I would lose effectiveness. They surrounded me and I focused their heat as well. With a glance I checked my mana and noted the 7% loss every second. I was at 67% so I got to work.

I guided my blades solely on heat, my eyes were useless so i closed them. I memorized my brothers heat signatures and their spots relative to me before closing my eyes though. I didn't know how I looked but I know I felt immense heat, the sound of cutting flesh was muffled by sizzling meat, now and then a pulsating pillar of warmth would shoot out at me, something I realized was tongue after a while. They were systematically cut in half by the sword that happened to be free at that time. Bodies littered the floor after their camoflauge left them, most were colored black, not because their scales were that color naturally, but because almost everything was on fire, even the previously dead bodies. I opened my eyes to green hell for a brief moment and noticed various weapons and armor on the floor. That would explain some resistance I felt, unfortunately however my fire passed weaponry and heated armor, unable to be parried and unlikely to be blocked.

At some point I had stopped localizing the heat on my swords, I was already way past blind so it didn't matter. That allowed me another ten seconds as I was basically supressing my fire magic with raw mana. Ten minutes had passed. I had eventually wiped out a quarter of the enemies by myself alone in twenty seconds after that I sat back and watched the room evading enemies and letting my mana recover. There were weapons on the floor of crude design yet strong material, no clue as to where they came from. Geckan footprints could be seen on the floor appearing on the ash. When I recovered my mana and joined my brothers the Queen finally showed signs of distress. Our Rhythm of the Canopy Gorilla buff was still on for nine minutes or so.

There was still a quarter of the Geckans still alive judging from the heat they were giving off relative to what I sensed earlier. They formed a defensive half circle and we didn't approach it, these Geckans seemed skilled at teamwork, when they fought together they had amazingly sophisticated synergy. It was enough to give us pause as we considered our next move the formation wasn't clear to me, I had no idea how my brothers were seeing things however.

I felt magic.

It was strange feeling it not coming from me, or not being the usual feel of Illusion Magic. The feel was not the same as controlling my Fire Magic or Earth Magic, instead it felt like an echo of what it should be, barely perceptible but I felt it. It was a deep grasping, not for us but for something else, and it was coming from above. Then the vines started to move. I reached out trying to understand the magic. They moved sluggishly for half a second before snapping out at blinding speed, they whipped all three of us and not even Jones could react in time, in actuality he was the only one who did react.

"Fuck!" JST got lashed across the face.

"Are you blind?" Jones took a vine across the chest, it was smeared red and bleeding, I would've considered burning the wound but I feared burning his hairs as well.

"Not for ten meters or so." It looked like he was wearing a red blindfold

"That's bad." I said. "I took it on the arm, I had sensed it earlier." In reality I got whipped trying to feel the magic.

"Quick I feel it again!" I yelled.

We were too late, there was no way for JST to react, Jones fared better but still took it to his calf, I took a lashing across my back.

"Fuck! God fucking dammit!" JST yelled his chest to his shoulder was colored red now too.

With a sweeping motion I wrapped us in a dome of fire.

"That hurts got a plan?" He was examining his leg.

"Jones can you swap us for this illusion?" I asked. "Hurry, i'd rather not waste mana."

He then layered the illusion over the real thing, Jones' face was intensely focused until he finally breathed and gave me a thumbs up . I waited a second since I felt the next burst of magic come through the vines, they whipped down and burned to ash as they touched my dome. Then I let the dome fall. What was left was the fake picture of a burning green dome. I felt like I was gonna get burned as I walked through the fake, looking back there were copies left in our place, Fake JST even waved at me.

We left covered in Jones' Illusion Magic and we advanced on the half circle. The next few moments were very eventful.

Our fakes burst out of the dome. Fake Cobb was throwing fire up towards the vines, setting them all on fake fire. Fake JST was charging the formation with a feral grin on his face, immediately I felt the half circle shift to block him. Fake Jones followed behind Fake JST.

The real Jones meanwhile was smiling. "Don't let it go to waste. I don't know how long they'll last." He warned.

JST, the real one, broke through the weakened left flank killing four before they noticed an attack. I had conjured a wall of fire and slowly moved it to stem the tide of Geckans flowing back to the left. At this point I was blind and the Rhythm of the Canopy Gorilla had given out. The heat emanating from my wall blinded me but kept them at bay. Jones and JST worked in sync to reach the Geckan Queen.

I felt the magic again and realized it had come from the two heat signatures on the left and right of the Queen. I let loose with jets of fire, not caring to control my mana only directing the force. Two pillars of green fire shot from my sides and collided with the two figures, their stealth gave way and steam rose off their armor as they were revealed, they only seemed angry. They wore dark blue robes, still unassuming in the dark color scheme. They were still Geckan but there was an intelligence in their eyes not seen in the previous alterations. Another Geckan stepped through my wall of fire and his color scheme was the same yet he wore full plated armor, apparently they had decided to stop stealthing. They were all shades of a dark yet rich blue.

"Choose one!" I yelled to my brothers.

"I got that one!" JST yelled back.

There was no way for him to see the robed geckos as they weren't in his range so he had only felt the presence of the warrior geckan. He was efficient in that he didn't question orders in the heat of the moment. He clashed with the warrior and they met swords, apparently he had found an actual sword because the one in his hand was distinctly not made of sand. The

"I'll get the left." Jones said. "How long can you distract them?" Jones asked.

"Depends on what magic they have. For now i'll take a page from my fake's book." With that I set the vines hanging on the ceiling on fire. All the illusions had worn off just a second ago.

"You would've though of it eventually." He smiled and dashed for the wall.

Before the eyes of the robed Geckans could follow them I assaulted them with fire. I used as many distractions as I could, I alternated between colors, sending multiple green fireballs, swathes of red flame, sneaking in red fireballs with the strips of flame to keep them on their toes. I threw fire straight at them and with incredible precision and control, created zig zags and moving pathways, hiding fireballs between movements, before striking them when they least expected it. In the process I manipulated the fire to meet straggling Geckans reaching the left side and passing my earlier wall.

Despite my efforts they seemed tired but not injured. Primarily because of the steam rising in the room. It had occured to me a while ago that the blue might've had something to do with water and the steam confirmed it for me. Water Magic, they were controlling the water in the vines to manipulate them to slash us. As of now they were creating water to absorb the heat of my attacks and defend themselves with it hence the steam.

Unfortunately being higher leveled than I, they had more magical stamina. It didn't take long for me to run out of mana and contract a migraine. Luckily it didn't seem that they could utilize the mist as a weapon, instead it served as camoflauge for me. Strangely the clanging of metal swords didn't slow at all, instead it seemed to ramp up.

The room was extremely warm now and there was no way for me to sense anything. I was a sitting duck. I was left wth nothing but the instinct of an 18 year old trained by the virtual world way passed his years. I focused my eyes and assumed my usual stance. A boxing stance, two hands up, head tucked in, feet light and shoulders hunched.

The swirling mist was dead silent except for the constant ringing of metal swords which seemed to be travelling around me. I wasn't sure what Water Magic entailed in Twoen but I had various other worlds for reference so I mentally prepared myself for those methods of attack.

What I didn't prepare for was a blue fist. I didn't need to though, instincts kicked in and I ducked under it and countered. My fist hit the mist and sent it swirling once more. A leg came wide from the fog aiming to knock my legs from under me, it also served to remind me I wasn't limited to boxing, it was dodged as I took a measured step backwards. In the same motion my stance changed, it became more relaxed and facilitated counters easier. Another fist came but I was ready, my elbow shot down and struck the forearm with a crack. It retracted into the mist.

I only had to hold out until the room cooled down, unfortunately the leafy structure we were in was closed off from the stronger winds, there was barely any circulation in here. The mist swirled gently and intuition took hold and I threw an elbow to my right. When I twirled around I was surprised to see the whole Geckan there. I didn't let up as its robes didn't allow it a swift retreat. I got within his guard and gave short jabs to the chest, elbows, palm strikes to the abdomen, hammer fists to the collar bone. Eventually it broke free and dissappeared into the mist leaving with bruises and more blue than before.

There was a screech behind me and because I hadn't heard the clanging of metal for a while I glanced backwards. It was Jones.

"News?" I asked focusing forward.

He stepped up to me and placed his back to mine covering all angles.

"One is dead." He said. "Or he should be?" He darted off into the mist with a puzzled expression.

"Wait!" I called to him. I was met with nothing but the swirling motion of his passage.

I resumed my stance and waited for the next thing to break through the mist.

Again a fist came and I resorted to grappling this time. I pulled the Geckan over my shoulder, but as I threw him over and behind me a ball of water encased my head, the water was exerting pressure on my already aching head. I was frantic for a second thinking of methods of escape when it hit me. The best way to disrupt the spell is to break the concentration of the caster, powering through this was an effort of will but my mind has had years of practice. I descended upon the dark blue gecko, surprisingly it seemed less injured than it should be. I made sure to add those bruises back, eventually the arm bar had knocked it out. The water surrounding my head succumbed to gravity and splashed onto the floor.

The sound of swords rang again. The same screech from earlier came but it sounded more pained. Another one followed that and it was abruptly cut off.

I watched the water that had splashed on the floor gather in a groove in the floor. The groove happened to have the Geckan's broken foot in it and I watched as it absorbed the water and partially fixed itself.

It's self healing? The mist! This thing was fighting me while practically healing the whole time?

I used Inform.

Inform

Royal Water Geckan - Lvl 69

HP: 892/1257 (Unconscious)

The variation of Geckan is part royalty and considered nobility. They accompany the Queen and are of the more advanced form of Geckan. They have high affinity with Water Magic and are highly intelligent even for its species. These Geckans regenerate and self heal in water or high moisture.

Jones popped out of the mist and I nearly knocked his head off.

"Careful they-"

"Regenerate, yeah I got it." I severed the head off the unconscious Royal Water Geckan with a green flame.

A few meters from us, still completely shrouded in mist a voice rang out.

"There you guys are!" A relieved voice said. "Why the fuck is this fucker not dying?" JST yelled.

"Just cut his head off!" Jones yelled. "He's regenerating through the mist." More metal clashing.

"Cut his head off?" He yelled back, his voice was coming from a completely different direction. "This guy knows how to swing his shit and i'm blind remember?" He sounded annoyed now.

Jones eyes followed something through the mist and sure enough the voice came from there next.

"Ok this is really annoying, if I try anything like that im-" The ring of metal interrupted him. " i'm gonna get run through!" He finished.

"What you can't handle it? You need help from your little brothers?" I teased him.

"You know what? Fuck you." He was definitely angry now.

"That ought to do it." I whispered mostly to myself.

"Yup." Jones said.

The sounds of swords ramped up, I was hearing clanging metal every half second until silence.

"Where are you?" A voice called.

"Over here!" I yelled back.

"You might wanna-" Jones lifted a finger. "Never mind." He put it down.

Me still being essentially blind for two meters didn't see the flying blue head until it hit me in the stomach.

I grunted and kicked the thing away. I checked my health bar, 72% the flying head shaved off a good 10%.

"What the fuck man!' I growled at JST who had appeared through the mist.

"Served you right bitch." He said.

"You guys are acting like little kids." Jones said off the side. This fucker.

"The fuck did you say?" I looked over at him.

"You heard me." Jones said as he got up in my face.

Right then I had the urge to blast them both with green fire and send them both to an emerald hell. That's when it hit me. Something wasn't right. Some type of mental effect has us angry at each other. I'm still angry at the fuckers. Luckily we have plans in place.

"What are you gonna about it?" He unsheathed his daggers, backed up and looked at us.

"What are you trying to do with those little things?" JST wielded a blue curved blade now.

It was clear to me this was getting out of hand. I knew how they looked when they were serious, basically it was how they looked now.

Abruptly I interrupted with our prearranged signal. "Big juicy sausage." I said deadpan.

They blinked.

Jones took a deep breath and sheathed his daggers.

JST rubbed his temples. "Shit. Fuck both of you." Of course knowing we were under the influence didn't stop it.

The reasoning with our code word was something that would instantly break up the tension and give pause to whatever was happening. Hence big juicy sausage. Surprisingly it was extremely effective at derailing whatever emotions were stirring and replacing it with confusion, especially so with strangers.

"Where's the Queen you idiots?" I asked.

"She's over there." Jones pointed into the mist.

Jones was the one who hated getting manipulated the most. Even though he was almost certainly feeling the fake emotions he would never indulge them that would be succumbing to someone elses will. In that way he was stronger than me and JST who don't give a fuck.

"I don't give a fuck where she is. Just let me kill the bitch." JST said. "I've got some anger to vent." His grip visibly tightened. Well JST didn't like getting manipulated either.

The closer we got the harder it was to control our emotions. We got within thirty meters before problems started to arise again.

"Don't walk so close to me fucker." JST said.

"Shut up." Jones responded quietly.

"Big juicy sausage." I tried, it loses the impact after the first time unfortunately.

"Enough with the fucking sausages or i'm gonna fucking kill you!" JST screamed. He brandished his sword at me.

"Shut up! Cobb go ahead it's getting stronger and I don't know how long I can go without killing you both." Jones said surprisingly calmly.

"You think you can fucking kill me bastard?" That was the last thing I heard before I realized the room was cool enough now.

"In your dreams maybe." I said it just low enough for Jones to catch with his increased hearing, the magic was getting to me.

Instantly I found the heat signature of the Geckan Queen. As I apporoached I got angrier and angrier and I was about to turn around to go kill my brothers before I realized I might as well kill the stupid gecko in front of me first.

She squirmed in her seat in terror, she was an average size for a Geckan and it became obvious that it was her messing with our minds. It was probably my MND stat or magical endurnace that helped me withstand the effects to an extent. In reality the ten points I had in it only got me a handful of meters further than my brothers. I pondered investing some points into that stat. Looking at the terrified and helpless Geckan Queen I couldn't help but struggle with my emotions. My emotions of absolute rage, her magic was messing with my emotions and I had so many ideas for torture, in the end I burned her to a crisp. I had done it slowly, succumbing to her will. Ironically her magic that had just earlier almost turned me and my brothers againt each other instead made me torture her. In a sense I guess she delayed her death.

There was no quest completion. But the effects of her magic were fading.

I checked everything, my status, my skill and any other notifications, maybe the system is taking a while to process.

Class: Animator Name: Cobb

Titles: Prey Turned Predator, The Green One

HP: 200/268 Lvl: 29

Effects:

Race Jjerg: +10 INT, +5 END, +5 STR, +5 WIS, +10 MND

Prey Turned Predator: +25 INT, +25 WIS, +20 AGI

The Green One: +7 CHR, + Can color things under your magical control an emerald green

Animator: +20 WIS each level

Spider Blessed: +Relations with Spiders increased, +Can communicate with spiders

MP: 291/353

SQP: 140/140 SP: 70/210 STR: 15 CHR: 17 END: 15 MND: 10 INT: 208 AGI:20 WIS: 317 ENL:140 LUK: 10 Stat Points:

Rock Camoflauge (Race Skill) - Beginner 9 (87%)

Hunted Sense - Intermediate 9 (50%)

Inform - Intermediate 9 (22%)

Hyperfocus - Advanced 2 (62%)

Earth Magic - Advanced 6 (60%)

Storytelling - Beginner 6 (25%)

Animate (Class Skill) - Beginner 10 (1%)

Fire Magic - Advanced 5 (37%)

First I placed my 15 stat points into ENL even though I had nothing to animate. My magic power was enough and the 20 WIS each level really increased my mana regeneration so I didn't feel any particular need to place it anywhere else.

Rock Camoflauge (Race Skill) - Beginner 9 (87%)

When immobile and unmoving your body adapts to the surrounding rock. Your body will inherit the hardness and defensive capabilities of the rock it becomes. Sudden movement cancels the skill.

+18% chance of going unnoticed

+1.9s of lingering effects after skill cancel

Ever since entering the forest there hadn't been any rocks so my Race Skill had been stuck unable to advance. The lingering effects practically meant I was armored for that duration after I left the rock, a skill like this would become very useful to me depending on the terrain.

Hunted Sense - Intermediate 9 (50%)

Knowing the feeling of being hunted by superior predators. Their presence and intent were ingrained into your memory. Your paranoia has developed into being able to tell when you are being watched.

Effects:

+Know when being watched with hostile intent

+Know the general direction

Since this skill seemed to tie into either how I feel or how strong the enemy is I can't be sure how to advance it. Either it only advances when I feel threatened which would make sense and align with the description or it would progress while I was in actual danger despite my actual feelings toward the situation. In the end there was nothing I could change that would help it progress so I left it at that.

Inform - Intermediate 9 (22%)

Your inquisitive nature and problem solving attitude awards you with the inherent ability to know things. By focusing on an object or entity information is granted based upon the level of this skill. Learning new things and drawing conclusions will also develop this skill. The skill may even make connections you have not.

Effects:

+Intermediate knowledge and personal conclusions provided

+HP, more in depth knowledge, personal conclusions occasionally verified

I find the most useful aspect of this skill to be the ability for my own personal conclusions to be verified. Of course an HP bar always helps in games like these but in reality the monsters we fight seem so real it's easy to judge how close they are to death.

Hyperfocus - Advanced 2 (62%)

Your battle hardened instincts did not go unnoticed. Shifting from a state of joy and complete catharsis to complete control and focus is found in only those who experience battle daily.

Effects:

+Perception of time slowed by 32%

+24% increase in muscle reaction

+10% speed when Hyperfocused

I nodded at this notification, my brothers got the same effect so I was expecting it.

Earth Magic - Advanced 6 (60%)

Your innate sense for the Earth has awarded you with ability to manipulate it. Earth magic is the most practical of elemental magics. Earth Mages are sought out often for the pure utility they bring to the table. Unlike the other elemental magics Earth is solid and with the ability to manipulate something solid comes the ability to create.

+78% effectiveness of offensive magic

+48% effectiveness of contructs of Earth

+Earth attributed creatures are friendlier by 30%

No room for advancement here there was no earth around.

Storytelling - Beginner 6 (25%)

Storytelling is used to captivate an audience, it is an art that though may seem mundane, not many people perfect. You have taken steps into the world of entertainment and have succeeded in eliciting from your audience what many people fail to, emotion.

Effect:

+6% more emotion from the audience

Wasn't telling any stories.

Animate (Class Skill) - Beginner 10 (1%)

Through various insights on the workings of life the Animator can breathe it into his constructs.

Effects:

+Can follow basic commands or preset orders

I did notice a huge boost in levels considering this is my Class Skill, in the end I attributed it to the Rock Tree Boa rather than the random animations I worked on the way up here.

Fire Magic - Advanced 5 (37%)

The element of Fire is the most unpredictable and destructive of the Elements. Many practitioners are scarred or maimed in their early years but when a Fire Mage reaches their apex, they are near unstoppable. The number of Fire Mages has been at a steady constant for years, unfortunately practitioners of Fire are prone to early deaths but that doesn't stop young mages seeking power.

Effects:

+75% effectiveness of offensive fire magic

+45% effectiveness of utility based fire magic

+Fire attributed creatures are friendlies by 25%

I found a slight increase in the advanced levels of my Fire Magic and noted the effects paralelled Earth Magic. By this time I wondered where the quest completion was. The mist around me still swirled around in a visible white but there were no new notifications for me.

"What's going on? Did you kill it?" Jones emerged from the mist.

"I could've still killed you dude." JST was saying before he noticed me. "Oh hey." He waved.

"The quest should be done I don't see the problem." I rubbed my temples. "Unless."

Geckan Princess (Awta) - Lvl 52

HP: 0/572 (Dead)

The Princesses of the Geckans are highly guarded and very inaccessible, they are capable of strong magic if allowed to reach maturity. Honor guards are usually set to protect the Princess and many layers of Geckans normally bar the way. Awta is the third in line in the royal succession.

"Are you serious. It's the princess." I groaned.

"You're kidding." JST said. "You're just busting my chops right?"

"I don't think he's busting your chops." Jones responded. "This sucks major balls."