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> Please vote if you feel like it.

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/raw/kwjZTjXn

Character Profiles:
https://pastebin.com/raw/Jhu6ZZab

Thread theme:
https://youtu.be/kiOrmlPIcQ4

The more your mana begins to intervene with the devouring mana around you, the more every inch of your body recoils and falters in prior-unimaginable, torturous pain. Your flesh hurts immensely when the mana inside of you refuses to follow the balanced flow of your blood, your mind near-completely numbs from the pain that overwhelms every other thought you have, and your mana soul anguishes as the birds of prey continuously vulture on your escaping soul. You find yourself no longer able to see the birds of mana.

The “Mana Zone” callously rejects you.

Mana:[35/180]

The beautiful sight is replaced by an unbearable noise: you are no longer protected from the “Mana Zone” of the reflection-version-of-yourself. Your body now paralyzed, you collapse on the silvery-scarlet ground; your body is so benumbed you can’t even feel the sharpened edges.

With a few painful flinches of your head, from the edge of your eyes, you can spot the woman surrounded in your – still active – spell. The previously opaque-cloudy yarn-like tendrils holding onto her body begin to take a more tangible woven bluish-iridescent form. Together with the muti cricket juice and the empowerment of the “Mana Zone” the amount of mana you’ll be able to drain from her should be substantial. Your dreams, like all your hopes before, are crushed when a white magical cyclone powerfully fulminates from her body.

Your magic spell is instantly fragmented by her overwhelming aura. The light-blue threads explode into hundreds of linen pieces before they vanish into the natural mana.

You can only watch as she lowers her raised shoulders and begins walking towards you. Her zealous white figure – like a silver angel – burns brighter, hotter and subduing with every step she takes closer. At this point, you can only battle yourself from going unconscious... She stops to pick up the sword you have dropped. She raises and then swings it in a flimsy manner, the blue runes and rust begin to shimmer at her touch.

She looks at you with a calm yet soft expression. Her “Mana Zone” slowly retreats to allow the scarlet brightness to reclaim its spot. The flickering white flames of her “Mana Skin” lessen and then completely dwindle, revealing her pristine white dress and flowing red hair.

“You are quite brazen,” you hear the woman say before she lifts the sword to prepare to cut you, “But you have to know your limits...” She allows herself to smile, and even chuckle! She gently shakes her head, “Imagine what you would be like in the future – how I would be – if you were able to surmount the ‘Mana Zone’ today? I can’t even imagine what heights or skies or limits would be able to stop you then.” She clears her throat. You hear the hilt tremble as she tightens her grasp, “Before you learn how to run you need to learn how to walk. The ‘Mana Zone’ is an advanced version of the ‘Mana Skin’, and it is unreasonable to try one before you have the protection of the other. Not that it matters now...”

You gasp for breath; you can still move your lips!

“If you kill me now you will disappear as well.”

She nods, completely unfazed.

“Of course, I am aware. But I will also vanish if you are able to escape this cavern-hollow. I am your creation.”

Suddenly, you hear a loud piercing clatter as her body splits and cracks in several places: over her neck, her torso and across her legs. Her body and clothes harden as if she was a statue, and then crystal ripples and edges form between those lines. Her body has a deep red over-shine. She attempts to lower the sword but her hand freezes in place and then all her fingers explode into thousands of sparkling smithereens... Your sword falls upon the ground with a melodic ringing sound. The runes are no longer fed by her magic.

“Creatures and beasts ventured into this cavern for thousands of years, all of their lives and mana to be consumed, ” she whispers with a surprising exhale, “But you two are not that easy...”

You have removed an affliction: [Forgotten Confusion]

Her voice cracks as she is entirely turned into a crimson pillar and then – finally – into a cloud of debris. A magic artefact-piece is left in her wake. While you slowly begin to reclaim your ability to move, you notice Labrys not far away from you. He does not look much better than you he might even be in worse condition. He has two deep wounds across his body, as well as another profound, eldritch looking scar that is bleeding tar-like-ooze. There’s horrible magic lingering in the more ghastly of his wounds. By now you know what that means: it is a curse, and a strong one...

“Beautiful Cynthia!” he exclaims as he approaches you with an awkward scuffle. “I guess – I guess I hit him; that was quite the pain to deal with!”

You groan, forcing yourself to roll on your side to be able to see him.

“I am not sure what happened, but I am happy it’s over,” you sigh with relief.

Labrys has tightened his clothes in a messy multi-layered way to stop his bleeding. He squats before you:

“You don’t look like you suffered any injuries, cute Cynthia. But... it doesn’t look like you’re able to move?”

“Please don’t do anything weird to me,” you whisper in fake-worry. You know Labrys is not that kind of person, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

His sudden pause makes you just-slightly-uncomfortable. He grunts in pain as he stands up, “Don’t worry, I’ll wait until you are all healthy before I do ‘anything’,” he flirts with a wink. Again, despite the fact that he is obviously in pain, he can easily put on a brave act. You watch him approach the debris left from the defeated crimson pillar that previously manifested as yours and his future-reflection. He picks up the artefact.

“I hope you don’t mind, adorable Cynthia, but there’s only one of them and our Magic Knight Captain told us not to return empty-handed.”

> “I don’t think you can continue with your wounds, Labrys. Will you let me have the artefact if I will heal you?”
> “I do not mind you having the artefact, Labrys.”
> “I don’t think I can get rid of your curse – what even is that – but maybe I can heal some of your wounds?”
> “Please let me have the artefact, Labrys. I and Alice need to return from Y’ere as the best Squad to be able to get rid Tugela of her curse.”
> “Labrys, I really need that artefact. If I... promise to go with you on another date, can you let me have it?”
> [Write In]

>>4573335
> “I do not mind you having the artefact, Labrys.”
he was the one who defeated the enemy and there are more chances to get artifacts in the future

>>4573335
> “I do not mind you having the artefact, Labrys.”
> “I don’t think I can get rid of your curse – what even is that – but maybe I can heal some of your wounds?”

>>4573335
>> “I do not mind you having the artefact, Labrys.”
>> “I don’t think I can get rid of your curse – what even is that – but maybe I can heal some of your wounds?”

>>4573335
> “I do not mind you having the artefact, Labrys.”
> “I don’t think I can get rid of your curse – what even is that – but maybe I can heal some of your wounds?”

>>4573335
>> “Labrys, I really need that artefact. If I... promise to go with you on another date, can you let me have it?”

>>4573690
Lol, nice.

>>4573335
>> “I do not mind you having the artefact, Labrys.”
>> “I don’t think I can get rid of your curse – what even is that – but maybe I can heal some of your wounds?”

>>4573633
>>4573610
>>4573350
>>4573738
guys we have 35 mana left we gotta save it

You shake your head in a weak and hurting motion, “I haven’t managed to land a single blow. Your axes did most of the work, you deserve it.”

Labrys tilts his head with a smile, “You also avoided getting any injuries... Unlike your-future-self, that guy did not try to avoid my blows at all...”

Once strength and motion return to your arm, you slowly take out your grimoire to flick and switch through the pages until you find the spell you require. You raise and guide your open palm towards Labrys as your silvery mana begins to trickle up your fingers. “I don’t think I can get rid of your curse – what even is that – but maybe I can heal some of your wounds?” You offer as you begin to incantate the magical spell-words.

Labrys pushes himself up-close to you and tightly grips your raised left hand by your wrist and jolts it away from himself. He loudly closes your grimoire before you can complete the spellcasting. You feel his warm breathe on your face as he repentantly lets go of your arm and steps back.

“You do not have that much mana left, do you?” he questions. You can only quietly reply with ginger and regretful nod.

Labrys moves his fingers across his blood-soaked clothes, “Jeane has a healing spell; she should be able to take care of it, even if inadequately.”

“You’re right.” Still, you can’t help but be worried about the more horrid of his wounds. Labrys notices your prickly gaze.

This time, he frowns. “He did it with an axe he summoned with a spell I do not even have,” he says, “He called it the ‘Fleshripper Cleaver’ Apparently, it was able to rend me with an unhealable curse.”

You grimace, “That is a nasty name: no wonder the spell left such a horrible injury.” You pause, “My ‘reflection’ also used spells I don’t have.”

Labrys is patiently looking around the now-dim cavern. The overwhelming crimson-red shine is barely present now: vanquished together with the pillar.

“There is a possibility that it has also reflected on the magic within our grimoires and the spells that have yet to manifest,” he thinks out loud as he turns to face you, “But there’s also a possibility that it was just waving and making up spells based on our thoughts alone. It is very doubtful.”

“What did you think about the way I will – hopefully – look in a few dozen years, sweet Cynthia?” He asks you cheekily.

You awkwardly glance away. You can’t just outright say you though he middle-aged self was... handsome. “He looked very...” you chew on your words in a tongue-tied pause before you can settle on the least-embarrassing but still truthful words, “He looked very mighty and strong.”

He deafly slaps his hand against his chest, “That tattoo was amazing, wasn’t it? I think I’ll skip a few dozen years and make sure I get it earlier.” He watches your reaction, “Maybe-future-glamorous-Cynthia was a very beautiful woman, and I am more than certain you’ll end up like her.”

You feel your cheeks redden as he says that. It is a compliment, and a very blunt (honest?) one, however... you feel a tingling disappointment.

“But I think you already delightful and fetching the way you are now, lovely Cynthia.”

Your faint pinkish flush immediately reddens and turns hot. The blush spreads across your face and towards your ears. You immediately cover your face with your hands but it feels as if even they turn red too. “...Stop that...” you whisper with a shortened breathe. The bastard chuckles.

“I apologize, dear Cynthia. Let’s get out of her and go meet our adorable comrades,” he smiles and offers you his hand. You do not take it!

*** *** ***

You escape the crimson cavern to return to the green-red-blue crystal entrance chamber. Alice and Jeane are already there, present and waiting for you. You are surprised to find that it is Jeane holding the emerald artefact-piece; in any other situation, Alice would not let the girl have it...

Alice’s eyes are dull-red colour, meaning, her magic lenses are no longer able to feed on her mana. That can only mean one thing: she’s low on mana too.

“Alice, your eyes-”

She looks uninjured. She harrumphs in clear annoyance:

“Looks like the two of you picked the –fun– one, you damn peasants.”

“Please don’t call it ‘fun’, Alice,” you whine as you rub your aching shoulder, “That was anything but; we had to battle our future-selves.”

“Is that what happened?” Jeane leans towards Labrys with a bubbly smile, “Future-selves?” She ponders and then looks at the picture of her boyfriend with a thoughtful smile, “F-future M-Myles... He’ll look even more handsome and adorable and cute, but I can’t imagine it... gah!”

Labrys smirks mockingly “It was quite the –challenging– fight. Very –tough–, I’ll say, tempting Alice. It is a shame you went the other direction.”

“...Screw you, insect-head,” Alice doesn't offer any proper comeback.

“What kind of problem was in your part of the cave?” you approach and ask Jeane once Alice refuses to reveal it herself.

Jeane snaps out of her meditative romance and – without looking you in the eyes – she joyfully shrugs; “I did not have any problem inside, but I did see...” she stops as she notices Alice staring daggers – no – swords at the both of you. She hugs the artefact, “I promised to keep it a secret...”

Labrys asks audaciously as he motions his hand to Phetocruel, “That would mean I and sweet Jeane have two pieces comparing to your one, dear Alice. Perhaps, you can let us have it so we can complete the full ‘Magic Tool’?”

Alice snaps, “–Hell no–!” She screams as she stands up from the wall. A nerve across her forehead turns blue like her hair, “Why in the world would I let you complete the artefact? You are our enemies. If it ends up as something powerful that’ll put you way ahead of us! I’d rather bring back one piece than none; they’ll be able to ‘connect’ them in the Clover Kingdom anyway.” She grips her peace, “Or are you going to fight for it...?”

Labrys raises and then waves his palms in a negative motion, “Of course I am not going to fight you.”

Alice frowns and turns around, “Come on, Cynthia. Let’s get out of here."

Labrys sighs as he caresses his hair, “Kind Cynthia, maybe you’ll agree to this? To be fair, we can offer you some of our supplies in return. We should have a few mana potions, as well as a few useful Magic Tools. Of course, we’ll need some of them but I’m sure we can share a couple.”

> Apologize to Labrys. Wish him and Jeane a farewell and then leave after Alice.
> Convince Alice that you only have four “chests” and just one piece is not that impressive to bring back. You can do better. Ask Labrys for exchange.
> While the two parties are, indeed, competitors, perhaps it’ll be safer to travel through Y’ere together and just share the “Y’ere pillage” equally.
> Kiss Labrys in the cheek and thank him for his help. Wish him luck and leave after Alice.
> [Write In]

>>4573690
> [Highbrow literature!]

>>4574431
> Convince Alice that you only have four “chests” and just one piece is not that impressive to bring back. You can do better. Ask Labrys for exchange.
> Kiss Labrys in the cheek and thank him for his help. Wish him luck and leave after Alice.

future romance? maybe and as only one piece isn't worth it and we get supplies which helps us get more artifacts

>>4574431
> Convince Alice that you only have four “chests” and just one piece is not that impressive to bring back. You can do better. Ask Labrys for exchange.
I don't really like Labrys. I hate the constant pet names/compliments.

>>4574633
Im backing this in the hopes we make him blush and also supplies.

>>4574431
>Convince Alice that you only have four “chests” and just one piece is not that impressive to bring back. You can do better. Ask Labrys for exchange.

>>4574431
>> Kiss Labrys in the cheek and thank him for his help. Wish him luck and leave after Alice.

We have another kind of large chest too, oh wait, we don't

“Alice, please wait!” You pick yourself off the ground and rush to stop your companion before she can leave.

She looks back at you with an unmistakable annoyance, “What, do you want to stay with them? Remember what you bloody told me before?”

You sigh, “Of course I remember, and I will make sure we’ll take the ‘first place’, but... we only have four containers for all the magic artifacts we are suppose to bring back, correct?” You point at the puzzle-crystal she is holding. You lessen your voice so that Labrys and Jeane are unable to hear you; if they have big ears, at least you’ll make it look like you don’t want them to be part of it. “This one piece will not be that impressive to bring back, Alice, I think that we can do better.” You pause, “I also don’t think we should be burdening ourselves with this artefact. It's cumbersome.”

The blue-haired woman harrumphs, “I will carry it with us – just in case – UNTIL we find those AWESOME” – she shouts – “magic artefacts.”

“Alice, that thing is useless. You didn’t tell me what you have in the backpack, but Labrys is offering us supplies. I’d rather have some means of healing ourselves, means of – maybe – restoring our mana, or perhaps something that’ll assist us.” Your voice turns hopefully, “Alice, please...?”

She looks above and past you towards Labrys, who only returns a gracious smile. You can see a heavy scowl form immediately on her face:

“I don’t want to deal with those condescending peasants,” she admits, her voice spiking as if she was not trying at all to hide her contempt.

“I understand” – you don’t – “I’ll barter it with them instead.”

Alice crossly lands the heavy object against your palm and steps past, “I’ll be waiting outside: I don’t want to see them happily merging it.”

You nod as you watch her leave the hollow tunnel through the veil of darkness. You return to the Green Mantis duo and agree to the deal.

Labrys happily begins to rummage through the backpack. The girl – Jeane – either supports the agreement you made or she trusts the senior Magic Knight to know and do what’s best. It can also be that she does not care, and is currently completely fazed out thinking about her beloved boyfriend.

Finally, he takes out three items: a blue vial alike the one you had before (although not as a sparkling), a venom bulb of a shining-emerald magic scorpion-beast, and a very small clay pot sealed with candle wax. He attempts to explain what those objects are as succinctly as possible:

[Magic Tool: Mana Potion][Weak]
> A magic essence enclosed within a glass vial. Expensive, complex and weak, it is often considered not worth the effort; if drank to the very last drop within a single drink restores 15% of your current mana. If even a drop is left, restores 5% from the current mana you have.

[Rqet Sting]
> “Rqet Scorpions” are notorious small insect-beasts known for their vorarephilic hunger and tendencies to consume their prey alive. They catch their prey in the wild corners of the Kingdom and feast on them inside of their lairs, together with their brethren. The special poison paralyzes their prey but keeps them alive despite any deadly injuries. When used, the poison paralyzes you for 1 hour but restores 1HP at the start of it.

[Melit Honey]
> The white honey produced by the “Melit Bees” is a very sough-out delicacy. Aside from the honey’s ability to restore mana, its intense and unique taste, appearance and smell allures the beast feasting on mana. Hunters use the honey for their traps. The clay-pot is specifically made to hide the honey from the hungering eyes of such beast. If consumed, the clay pot restores 20 mana. If opened, the beasts will focus on the clay-pot.


Labrys takes the piece you offer him and places it near Jeane. He smiles, a bit apologetically:

“Dashing Cynthia, I’ll be honest and say that this is all I can give you and beautiful Alice. We’ll need the rest of supplies for the next few days.”

You take the items into your hand – making sure not to accidently drop them. “I understand; still, they will all be helpful. Thank you...”

You hesitate before you quietly yet hastily lean your head and place a terse kiss on his cheek, “Thank you for helping us, and for saving me in that red cavern. I hope you’ll stay safe. Good luck.”

You watch as his eyes widen. Then, he smirks, “I will need to keep in mind that you are more assertive than I thought, daring Cynthia.”

You pout your lips before turning around, “Idiot.” You were hoping he would blush. Your turn away and leave after Alice. You show her the items Labrys had gave you and she is not impressed. They are not some potent and grand Magic Tools but the Green Mantis Squad is unlikely to be able to afford any powerful ones for assistance; they consist mostly, if not entirely, of peasants and commoners. It also seems that their Magic Knight Captain is of a ‘brutal and savage’ mindset... you wonder if he gave them –anything– at all. Perhaps, it is what Labrys bought himself...?

Leaving the ‘Hall of Mirrors’ – as you decided to name it in your journal – you return to where you came from, as everything else is surrounded by darkness. The ‘Rivers’ are still present on the very same spot, and as if you never left, the blue hanging magic mist continues to rapidly flow.

If you sleep, you’ll be able to restore your mana but... that would mean today will end without any achievements. You will be left with a single day to catch up with the rest of the Squads you are competing with. It is unlikely you’ll be able to convince Alice; she doesn’t care if she spends all of her mana and falls unconscious. But here, it is far too dangerous to do. Even if you decide to replenish your health, you’ll need to find a safe space first. You sigh as you raise your eyes to the coursing magic stream above you. You notice something strange curving inside: a book.

> Attempt to reach for the book with your enriched scarf.
> Attempt to reach and take out the book with your sword.
> Tell Alice about the book, and ask if she can take it out.
> Ignore the book and look for a safe space to rest.
> Inform Alice and follow to where the “Hanging River” flows.
> Use a Magic Tool. [Which?] [How?]
> [Write In]

>>4575787
>Attempt to reach for the book with your enriched scarf.

>>4575787
isn't our enriched scarf broken? or did it get fixed offscreen

>>4575860
> [It's badly damaged and ripped but not completely destroyed and it can be used for smaller tasks like an attempt option here, although it is not guaranteed to work.]

>>4575787
>> Attempt to reach and take out the book with your sword.

>>4575787
>> Attempt to reach for the book with your enriched scarf.

>>4575787
>> Attempt to reach for the book with your enriched scarf.

You charge towards the glistering haze; you infuse your scarf with your mana as you do so. Leaping as high as you can, you bend and spin the scarf using your magic before you thrust it into the flowing upstream. Unlike the day it was finally finished – after months of hard work – what’s left of your scarf now are just rags and short pieces. Your scarf barely manages to enter the flow but the magic within immediately dissipates with a boiling bubbles under the burning strain of the powerful magic within the river waters. Limply, your scarf barely touches the cover of the book-like object and then hurtles out of the funereal stream to collapse on the ground not far from you. There’s a curse-magic within its wet self.

The book trails the dazzling – slow to the eyes but rapid in reality – current and will soon completely vanish from your view.

> Follow the book.
> Focus on finding another “Mana Shear” in close proximity.
> [Write In]

>>4576811
>> Follow the book.
WE GOTTA GET THAT FUCKING BOOK, I WANT IT

>>4576811
>Follow the book.

>>4576811
>> Follow the book.
Books are for nerds, and Cynthia is definitely a nerd

>>4576811
>> Follow the book.

>>4576811
> Follow the book.
Knowledge is power yo

> [I will be a bit busy those next seven days because of work so I might not be able to update as much as I can, like today. Have good holidays.]

>>4577982
I understand and wish you some good holidays as well

>>4577982
Have a merry Christmas, Melk!

>>4577982
Yeah, merry Christmas

>>4577982
feliz navidad

You tightly grip one end of your tattered scarf and drag it against the ground to keep drenched in cursed waters end away from your skin and body. You break into a sprint to follow the odd book-like object drifting inside the mystical and eldritch river current. Concentrating in the middle of your run, you attempt to infuse your scarf with your mana but the moment it touches the damp half of the enriched linen, it is warded off and faded. Exasperated, you have no other choice but to follow the rapidly absconding book.

“Yo’ peasant, where are you going?!” you hear Alice demand. She is not much older, but her legs are more muscular and taller, it won’t take long before she shortens the distance and overtakes you.

“I saw something in there!” you yell back without bothering to turn your head. You quickly realize your lungs are not that fit for high-speed running...

A few more objects – much less defined and distinct in their appearance, resembling half-melted, corroded and broken pieces of something failed to be finished – pass over your head but your entire attention is now focused on the book. You grasp the sword...

Your body is suddenly jerked back as the collar of your doublet grips into your neck. You soon realize that half of the ground beneath your feet is missing. You gasp for breathe as Alice pulls you back from the edge of a long yet shallow ravine...

“Watch where you are going,” Alice mutters – she can hold you with just one of her hands – before she tosses you back. You watch the book you have been chasing disappear in the spectral river; it currents away from your sight.

You fall on your rear with a painful thump. Before you can reply, or perhaps thank her, you hear a loud blub sound and then a blue-black fireball-like smudge of molten rock be flung into the sky from the chasm.

Swiftly, the hand-sized ball enters into the river and begins to loudly and irksomely sizzle and crackle as soon as it begins to “interact” with the magic of the cursed ethereal waters. Then, polished by the magical flux, an amalgamation of the two magic withdraws from the river and comes falling.

You approach the wide – you can’t see the end of it wherever you look left or right – ravine to peer down to where it has fallen: you find another river not too far below, but this one is made out of hellish and boiling pitch and smouldering tar with an ochre afterglow. There’s a horrible pungent-sulphur smell. The objects similar to the one that fell are buoyant and floating on the sweltering surface, varying in size. Aside from those objects, there are dozens of big skeleton remains half-drowned in the tar.

Alice harrumphs, “If you saw something interesting then let’s chase it.” Her back cracks as she bends it back, preparing to... jump? You wonder if your “Weighted Blanket” will be able to make a bridge across the entire chasm. It is rather unlikely... Alice might be able to cross the ravine with her “Mana Skin”, but unless you hold on to her that is dubious for yourself...

> Agree with Alice. Let her grab hold of you and prepare for the jump.
> Follow the edge-close of the ravine to try and find a way to cross over it.
> Consume your mana potion.
> Offer the mana potion to Alice.
> Summon “Weighted Blanket” to try and create a bridge across the chasm.
> Climb down the chasm (you’ll be able to climb back) to investigate the tar rivers.
> [Write In]

>>4580430
> Consume your mana potion.
> Summon “Weighted Blanket” to try and create a bridge across the chasm.

>>4580430
>> Agree with Alice. Let her grab hold of you and prepare for the jump.

>>4580430
>> Climb down the chasm (you’ll be able to climb back) to investigate the tar rivers.

>>4580430
>> Agree with Alice. Let her grab hold of you and prepare for the jump.

>>4580430
>Agree with Alice. Let her grab hold of you and prepare for the jump.
> Offer the mana potion to Alice.

> [Hey all, I apologize for silence. I hope to return with an update tomorrow.]

>>4583683
no worries

>>4583683
It's all good man, it's Christmas/New Years time, so it's understandable people have other things to do.

>>4583683
Yeah, it's a busy time of year right now

You offer Alice an uncertain bow of your head. You take a few careful steps to the edge of the boiling raving to look below and judge the distance that will be required of you to leap. You make a loud gulp as you shift the weight of your body from one leg to another.

It’ll be hard...

“Do you think we can make the jump?” you question your cube-haired companion.

Alice’s lips twist into a blue-bloody – arrogant – sneer as her eyes turn towards the other side, “Well, I will be able to.” She brags.

You sigh. With not much choice, you lead your fingers to your grimoire and wand, “I don’t think I’ll be able to make the jump.”

“I don’t think so either, commoner,” Alice long-sufferingly squeezes the bridge of her nose, forcing you to wait for her in callow silence. She clenches her hand and then raises it towards you, “But Captain Charlotte will be annoyed if I just abandon you here. Fine, Cynthia, grab my hand.”

You wince, “Are you sure?”

Alice rolls her eyes, “I’m strong. I should be able to carry you despite how fat you are.”

You decide against arguing... She doesn’t offer you a way to interlock your fingers with hers’, so you have no other choice but to grab under her elbow. She tightly clutches your joint and drags you several meters away from the ledge of the chasm. “Keep up with my pace now, peasant.”

She begins charging forth. Your feel your legs cramp as you try your best to follow in her rhythm... She dives through the air and pulls you along with her. The two of you sour across the semi-narrow range with the sweltering and steaming river of tar beneath you; something you want to avoid falling into at all costs. You cling to Alice closer; you sigh with relief when it begins to look like you’ll be able to reach the other side with not much issue...

There’s a loud bubbling sound that breaks up your happy notion. From beneath you, a massive and smouldering and melting orb of black creep explodes and flies upwards. With no time to form a proper sentence, you yell to warn Alice of this disaster. She notices. Phetocruel’s body tenses as she pulls you two along and around: away from the fireball of asphalt.

The ball flings upwards past your feet and head and then entangles itself into the hanging magic mist. There’s a sizzling splash as the magic within the tar begins to mingle and fuse with the cursing water. Indeed, Alice has managed to successfully avoid the likely-painful impact; however, such a motion disrupted the power of her jump. With your plunge now rapidly slowing down, the fact that you were going to fall short and fall into the perilous macadam seems like an inevitability. You reach for your grimoire but a powerful overflow of magic interrupts you...

“A! Fuck sake!” Alice curses as her body begin to shine with an immense and consuming blue aura. Her voice echoes, “Mana Skin!”

The azure surge of her mana surrounds you in a flaming hurricane. Alice puts down her foot and, as if the natural mana was now instantaneously solidifying beneath her feet, she jumps up higher. Noisily clenching her teeth, she continues her ascent until the ravine is no longer beneath you.

Gasping for air, you sense the deluge of her mana lift and vanish. With nothing to sustain your soar, the two of you descend and crash on the ground. Your shove your head into Alice’s chest and cover the top of it with your free hand. The impact is painful, but you avoid any injury...

It takes you a few seconds to battle through your excruciating concussion and to open your eyes. You hungrily gasp for breath, inhaling and exhaling stridently and messily. With your arms wobbling as if the bones were now a jelly, you raise yours from Alice’s soft body...

“Alice, are you okay?” you question your friend with not much care. When she doesn’t answer, you repeat with bigger worry, “Alice?”

She is lying right underneath you. She took the brunt of the fall – you are unsure if it was by accident or on purpose; you feel guilty regardless. Her breathing is hoarsened, and you can even hear her mumble. Weakly pinching her cheeks proves to be futile; she is knocked out cold...

Did she use all of her mana to summon her “Mana Skin”? Did she know that was going to happen or she is that damn reckless with her magic?

If you try hard enough you should be able to wake her up; she’s unconscious, not in a coma. A ‘potion of mana’ won’t restore if she has none left. The area around you is a dark and open rock plain. You place your hands over your face. What are you supposed to do now?

> Consume your mana potion.
> Climb down the chasm (you’ll be able to climb back) to investigate the tar rivers while Alice is unconscious.
> Pinch Alice with “Rqet Sting” to restore her health while she is lying unconscious.
> Feed Alice the “Melit Honey” to restore a portion of her mana.
> Use painful physical methods to wake Alice up.
> Use the “Magic Bell” near Alice’s ear to wake her up.
> Allow Alice to rest. Take the time to watch over her.
> Allow Alice to rest. You are tired... relax and sleep beside her.
> Allow Alice to rest. Use this time to try and “fish out” any interesting objects from the “Hanging Rivers”.
> [Write In]

>>4584774
>> Allow Alice to rest. Use this time to try and “fish out” any interesting objects from the “Hanging Rivers”.

>>4584774
> Allow Alice to rest. Use this time to try and “fish out” any interesting objects from the “Hanging Rivers”.
hey melk can you in the future give us roll prompts for non-combat stuff like us fishing up that book, this would make it so that it doesn't fel like there is only one correct option to take while solving a non-combat(or combat) problem

>>4584774
>Allow Alice to rest. Use this time to try and “fish out” any interesting objects from the “Hanging Rivers”.

What does Rqet Sting do again? I can't find on Alice's character sheet.

One more time, you squeeze Alice’s cheek to try and wake her up. She only deafly growls in response. With a heavy sigh, you turn away. Even if you do end up somehow forcefully waking her up, she’ll be without her mana; ineffectual.

You slide a hand beneath your clothes to scrub the aching and paining muscles. You come to a conclusion that’s its best to allow her to sleep and restore her innards mana; you would prefer for her to rest somewhere in a safer place, but it’s unlikely you’ll be able to carry her to... you don’t even really know where. You could use some rest and a way to restore your mana, but it would be too dangerous.

You will have to entertain yourself, and as such, you turn towards the river. Infusing the scraps of the enriched scarf with insignificant amounts of your mana, you begin to “fish out” the objects flowing through the luminous powdery mist, or at least you try to. With every attempt you make, you end up having to patiently wait until the hex waters drenching your linen dissipate; you are careful, the last thing you need right now is to get cursed.

Minutes turn into hours, and as you were never that good of a fisherman – you live far from the seashore to have done it more than a couple of times – what is supposed to be a relaxing and flowing task turns into a sluggish difficulty.

Annoyingly, you feel as if more time has passed than it did. In the beginning, you search through Alice’s backpack for some sort of a time-guide – a clock – but you find nothing of the sorts. Is Captain Charlotte for real?

To your great relief, nothing much happens during your angling and trawling endeavours. Like before, the stray unpremeditated balls of ancient tar continue to constantly splurge across the air, far above the split sides of the ravine, and into the river-flow of the mana. And just like beforehand, each and every one of them is “crushed” under the primal pressure of the funereal curse mist and, altered into strange shining objects, they come falling back into the boiling asphalt canyon. Those orbs do not submerge; instead, they linger on the surface of the pitch-blackness.

What you make a note of is one of the vast standing skeleton bodies. When one of such orbs collapses on top of a flowing skeleton, it vanishes under the foul macadam waters in the same way a disturbed yet patient crocodile would. This malformed carcass does no return to the surface...?

Eventually, your arms get too tired from constantly tossing the scarf-rope. It’s been at least an hour... maybe three... five? You have managed to haul about four small ore-like objects similar to the one Alice had grabbed.

There’s magic inside each one of them, but it is rather unrecognizable with no obvious response or effect you can notice. Anything is better than nothing, and if you take them back to the capital, you can hope to be rewarded.

It is then you hear a chirping sound. Immediately, you grab the hilt of your head and look across the chasm. On the other end, there stands a single strange creature, as big as a wolf, with its tawny body in form of a crescent moon. Across the front of its leathery body, there are dozens of empty white eyes; no, there’s a single black iris that somehow moves between them into the direction the creature wishes to look at. It has two sets of insect legs at the top and the bottom of its bend body; as if legs of cricket, its knees are knocked and inversed. It lingers at the edge, staring you across it.

It is then you notice an object much bigger than the ones you were trying to grab out of the mist. It has an orange tarnish across its form and resembles a clumped rug with small blunt needles holding it in its form. Your enriched linen is soaked-still with the cursed water from your last try.

> Ignore the creature (if it does nothing) and use Virginia’s blade to try and separate the object from the hanging river.
> Ignore the creature (if it does nothing) and, risking a curse, take and use your enriched linen to catch the object.
> Approach the edge of the canyon and prepare your sword and grimoire to attack the creature if it dares to jump.
> Open and toss the “Melit Honey” into the tar to – hopefully – force the creature to jump after the alluring smell.
> Use painful physical methods to wake Alice up. It’s too dangerous to stay if the creatures are now finding you.
> Use the “Magic Bell” to wake Alice up as well as to grab the attention of the creature and force it to jump.
> [Write In]

>>4584905
> [I'll be honest, I would prefer if the "Write In" option was used more often. The prompts are my biggest weakness (unless you guys have other complains) and sometimes I have to finish an update in a rush and they are the last thing I have to take care of. As a QM, I come to realize, that it's hard for me to offer prompts that are not-obvious and absolutely-correct. I will try my best in the future.]
>>4585477
> [It's here >>4575784, it is missing from Character Sheet because we only acquired it during this thread.]

>>4585748
>Ignore the creature (if it does nothing) and use Virginia’s blade to try and separate the object from the hanging river.
If it starts flying towards us, throw the honey into the pit.

>>4585751
how about you put a hidden dc that is higher or lower depending on how hard it would be to pull off and then ask us to roll, like a type of skill check

>>4586110
+1
but should we really use the sword, I assume that the line would be easier to use to catch something with considering we were able to catch several smaller balls although it is currently wet and it might not be powerful enough to catch something that big

>>4585751
it feels at least for me that you barely leave any hints in the text of what we should do to win an encounter, adding dice rolls would make it feel like we are in more control of our destiny and it would create the most fun part of any quest, the randomness, like us succeeding at something near impossible could be used as a fun future plot point since it actually feels like we earned it(even though it was just the dice gods smiling down upon us)

>>4585748
Keep an eye on the animal and try to get the object using weighted blanket

> [Currently, we have a vote for using the sword, a vote for using the enriched scarf (?), and a vote for a spell 'Weighted Blanket'. Do you guys wish to come to a decision or I should roll for it?]
> [I do leave hints, once that are obvious to Cynthia and another ones that need some attention to notice.]

>>4586612
changing vote to this

>>4586728
it would still be nice to have some dice rolls for stuff that is possible to succeed at, like when we tried to catch that book with our enriched linen, that could have been possible for us to do although difficult(you can change the dc we would be required to beat depending on the difficulty of our choice)

>>4586762
> [I'll think about it. I did not design or use skill-check system from the start so to implement one now will need some thought.]
> [Please roll 1d10+10 - best of three - for the cost of the spell.]

Rolled 4 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4585748

Rolled 3 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4586767

Rolled 5 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4586767

>>4586787
>>4586886
>>4587061

We all rolled pretty close

You keep your eyes staring the beast down for a couple of seconds; it dithers on the edge of the ravine with an unpleasant scrunch as if upset that there’s a pit of tarmacadam separating you and it. It wavers, bending and swaying its body up and down like a seesaw. You finally turn away from the fiend: it looks like you will not have to deal with yet another problem. You reach for your scarf; still quite damp and glistering. You keep your hand above it, trying with your best effort to trickle your mana through it. No use, you will have to wait a little bit longer until the magic within is gone and you can safely use it. However still, if you dither any longer the more-than-precious-artefact is going to be drifted away!

You might not be able to reach it with your “Blessed Sword”, and even if you do, you are unsure of how the curse waters will interact with Virginia’s relic. You are short on mana, but you find summoning a spell the safest of the options right now.

You raise your wand and point it towards the hanging mist. “Linen Magic: Weighted Blanket.” You whisper as the lingering remains of your mana withdraw from your body like a solemn silvery fog. The trickling waves of mana concentrate on your wand before your grimoire begins to raise it into a spell.

A barrage of magical, shining linen cloth bursts with a flutter across the sky towards the mist. Its glow is able to momentarily expose the darkness around you; although, there is not much to see here. There’s a cacophonic wail when your spell finally reaches its mark and enters inside the ghoulish streams: the two completely different magics begins to parasite on each other. For less than a minute, your cloth forms a wall and breaks the river into two streams, however, it immediately begins to untangle and dissolve under the pressure of the alien “Mana Shear”...

You spend 13 mana.
Mana: [22/180]

With nothing to transport it through the water, or hold it high above the ground, the strange object falls before your feet. Briefly, you make sure there are no other artefacts of high-value in the stream before you bend to take it. It is then you hear a low whistle and a disturbance of mana. You quickly turn your head to find the creature flying through the air. Its jump is powerful, you are not sure why it even hesitated: it’ll be able to cross it!

> Prepare to strike the beast with Virginia’s Sword while it is still in the air.
> Eat the “Melit Honey” to restore your own mana.
> Open the “Melit Honey” jar and toss it into the tar pit to get the beast’s attention and try to make it suicidally follow it. Hopefully, it is as dangerously tantalising as Labrys made it out to be.
> Wait until the beast gets close and then toss the “Rqet Sting” at its body. If you’ll manage to get it paralyzed, it’ll go nowhere else but down.
> Open your grimoire and summon a spell to deal with the beast this way. [Which?]
> Step away from the edge as far as you can and then throw away the “Magic Bell” inside of the floating river to get the beast to follow it.
> Step away from the edge as far as you can and then throw away the “Melit Honey” inside of the floating river to get the beast to follow it.
> [Write In]

>>4588063
> Cast Weighted Blanket again to hopefully make the beast fall. Eat the honey immediately after casting.

>>4588063
how heavy is the spell weighted blanket

>>4588219
> [It is quite heavy.]

>>4588174
+1

>>4588421
does sleeping restore mana?

>>4588063
>> Wait until the beast gets close and then toss the “Rqet Sting” at its body. If you’ll manage to get it paralyzed, it’ll go nowhere else but down.

>>4588487
> [A full rest restores all mana and half-sleep (4 hours?) restores half mana.]

>>4588174
so is it really worth it eating the honey when we could just go to sleep to restore mana

>>4588508
With Alice out cold sleeping means at least 4 hours without anyone watching for threats

test

You lift your wand towards the leathery monstrosity. The remains of your mana soul begin to slowly upraise from the narrow passageways of your body: the only places where there’s any mana left at all. Your grimoire of spells – a familiar of your soul – accommodatingly ascends towards your hand with the spell-page you ask of it.

You focus on your breath and the seconds that pass; it will only take a short moment for the beast to cross the precipice and become a problem your manaless self will be powerless to deal with. “Linen Magic: Weighted Blanket.” you deafly scream the spellwords the instance your feel like you have gathered just-enough mana to summon the spell.

An explosion of silver light bursts from the tip of your wand and towards the hovering beast with a scintillating pattern. Your magic reaches the grotesque locust before the glistering ravellings can conclude shaping and tightening. When it seems that the dozen-eyed monstrosity is about to hurtle on top of you – from this close you can notice the razor-like blades beneath each of its legs – your cloud of magic successfully surrounds and completes the manifestation of the bewitching linen.

The creature stridulates with a sonorous crying noise as the rigid cloth surrounds it into a chrysalis. The now-formed-ball crashed right into the edge of your side of the tar ravine. There’s a loud thump and crack as the cloth inadequately bounces back and begins to tumble towards the bottom. You sigh with relief before you awkwardly grip your wand and slash it downwards, forcing your lead-coloured genteel cloth and the beast within it to forcibly submerge beneath the dark tar waters of this “Mana Shear”.

That’s not enough – your pounding heart echoes the loud and worrying thoughts: you trickle the prickling mana beneath your fingers to make your spell disappear; you don’t want it protecting the beast from its demise. You watch the grey sparkles of your mana emerge from the boiling coal and then vanish into the natural mana. Such a wondrous display is followed by a gruesome emergence of the beast’s skeleton. Now dead and eviscerated, only the remains of the creature stay floating.

It makes you sick; not only the fact that you just did that to a – monstrous – living being but also that, if things went wrong, that would be you and Alice. Your jump was... reckless if anything else and you can’t blame it entirely on Alice. Your companion is of higher rank, is of noble blood, and is unashamedly brazen. But you are not. You knew this journey was going to be dangerous, but you are already tired and without mana. How are you supposed to not only merely survive for the next two days but also acquire artefacts of great power, something that – as you can see so far – will not be easy? You meditate on your thoughts...

You take the honey jar Labrys gave you and, with brief hesitation, and once you make sure there are no other beasts around you, you break the seal and open the covering. An immensely sweet tang fills the air and rapidly penetrates your nostrils. You –feel– your eyes widen and your irises shrink and roll towards the jar as if it was the most colourful and important thing in the world; you find yourself glued to the object.

The smell and the invisible taste force a line of droll to move down your lips; the line becomes a waterfall. You take the honey in your fingers. Your soul begins to pulsate as if there was a "sense" the existence of which you were not even aware of until just now. You put your fingers in your mouth and begin sucking the nectar of the bees. You quickly swallow all of the honey.

Item Used: [Melit Honey]

You have restored 20 mana.
Mana: [42/180]

The moment the “Melit Honey” is gone, all your feelings and senses experience a sudden fall. For a few minutes more you continue to suck on your lips and fingers to hold on to the lingering taste and smell. Even once you realize the ridiculousness of the situation you cannot help it...

Eventually, you find enough power to kick away the empty jar and fold your arms to push them away from your face. You squeeze yourself in a hug. You turn to Alice to find her sleep disturbed; while she is still unconscious, her nostrils flail awkwardly as if... she was trying to smell the honey. Your lips lift into an apologetic ginger smile. Oops...

You approach the strange artefact you have managed to fish out of the overhanging mist rivers. You grip it with your hands and rise to inspect it. Quickly, you realize that the object responds to the swallow drips of your mana but does not show any other signs. Does it require “charging”? Could it be useful? It might not be the best idea to charge it now, and you are not that experienced in the whole routine.

You hear a sudden wail and howl from the bottom of the canyon. You approach the edge once more to see a disturbing – and worrying – sight: the fervid tarmac has settled down and now resembles recently cooled magma, although it is still ebony and watery; somehow, it has now raised and is located only a few meters away from the edges. It begins to break as, one after another, disfigured and malformed – or they were they like that from the very beginning – skeleton remains of Y’ere’s creatures and monsters passed away in the tar begin to emerge. Alive! Strangely, the tar no longer clings to their bony structures. In uncanny and eldritch ways, they all begin to try to – slowly but successfully – climb the cliff walls.

You step away and shake your head; there’s no way you can fight all of that! You push the object into the backpack and begin shaking Alice vigorously. She does not wake up. You see one of the creatures – with a snake-like twisted carcass but with a set of five bony forelimbs (like a skirt) – slither from the chasm. You clench your wand and Virginia’s sword as you stand up to face it. Your knees begin to shake, it doesn’t look friendly. You do not hasten; you let it slither towards you. It is then you notice something strange, the creature glissades past you...

You watch several more skeleton monsters escape: a lion-like carcass, a monkey-like body with ivory tusks, and even a morbidly human-like skeleton crawling on its back. Every time they get close to approaching you, they continue walking towards the darkness...?

However, more and more of them begin to emerge beneath the cliffside and you fast-realize that, quite soon, it is going to become a stampede!

It’s unlike to be just one beast you will be forced to handle... Will attacking any of them drag their attention? Where... are they even going?

> Eat a ‘muti cricket’ to make your spellcasting stronger for the next hour.
> Consume the weak ‘Potion of Mana’ Labrys have given you. You feel like you’ll need it.
> Summon [Linen Magic: Weighted Blanket] to try and cover yourself and Alice to survive the imminent stampede.
> Take Alice and, with all your best effort, try to drag her and yourself away from the stamped. [DR roll.]
> Use Virginia’s Sword to cut any skeleton monster that will be walking directly towards you and Alice.
> Summon forth [Linen Magic: Weighted Blanket] to surround any creature that will try and rush through and over you and Alice.
> You are not sure... but there’s only one way to find out: stab any corpse walking towards you with [Rqet Sting] to have them be paralyzed.
> Take Alice’s [Magic Tool: Paralyze Knife] and wound any creature to try and approach you with it with the magic within.
> Take the powerful and loud “Magic Bell” and toss it into the hanging river to make the creatures follow it instead; hopefully.
> [Write In]

> Please roll 1d10+10 for the cost of your previous spell: “Weighted Blanket”.

>>4589374
> [Happy New Year and thank you for playing! I hope to be more consistent in the future. If you feel like it, leave a comment with your prompt selection, or perhaps a question; will keep me motivated!]

>>4590375
hmm well shit, I was hoping that we would have gotten a chance to take a rest to regenerate mana but I guess that whoever made this dungeon decided that they must make the undead rise from the burning asphalt to spook some kids

>>4590375
but still what should we do, the knife will obviously not work on skeletons
>>4590380
if we were to hit them with the sword would the dc still be 30? since I assume they wont try to dodge and I assume they are moving in a semi-straight line

>>4590375
> Take Alice and, with all your best effort, try to drag her and yourself away from the stamped.
Also happy New Year guys! May this year be better and may you all be well

>>4590375
>Take Alice and, with all your best effort, try to drag her and yourself away from the stamped. [DR roll.]

>>4590375
>> Take Alice and, with all your best effort, try to drag her and yourself away from the stamped. [DR roll.]

Rolled 9 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4590375
> Take Alice and, with all your best effort, try to drag her and yourself away from the stamped. [DR roll.]

>>4591014
>>4590928
>>4590887
boys we gotta roll the dice

>>4590505
> [There's a possibility that the knife will work. As long as it can penetrate the Paralyze Magic inside will be cast from the blade. The DC will be crippled for the walking corpses, you are correct.]
> [I will need 2 more 1d10+10 and then 1d100-10 rolls.]

>>4591257
> [Goddamit... 2 1d10+10 rolls and 3 1d100-10 rolls.]

Rolled 70 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>4591260

Rolled 9 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4591260

>>4591435
you can also do a d100 roll since it seems no one else is gonna roll

>>4590887
>>4590928
>>4591014
guys its dice time

>>4591260
can I roll again since it seems that no one else is gonna roll and have you tried annoucing it in the Qtg

File: 1575435541707.jpg (932 KB, 2048x2048)

932 KB JPG

>>4591645
> [It's okay, friend, I'll make an update tomorrow so if there are no other, or enough, rolls by the next day I'll do them myself. Don't worry!]

Rolled 3 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>4591260

Rolled 8 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4591260

Rolled 98 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>4591260

Coarse huff leaves your throat as you begin dragging your unconscious companion by her arms. The rattling of hundreds of distorted and malformed bones grows louder and louder with each new appearance of another undead creature. Despite their disorganized movement, the “beasts” can comfortably keep a sheltered distance from each other: not a single one of them flounders or collides. Although those deceased creatures are moving in predictable patterns, it does not make it any more fortunate for you. Alice is quite a heavy woman and is very hard to drag...

A skeleton with long and twisted – with several knees and arched hip bones – legs, as tall as an elephant or a giraffe, steps out of the tar. Your breathing harshness once it becomes obvious that you are now in its way, and it’s not going to be the one to change its course. It takes long and split steps towards you... You drag Alice’s body against the charred-black ground, but the whistling stroke of the creature cuts your time short. With no other option, you hastily and anxiously drop Alice’s arms and – instead – kneel to grab and clutch her from beneath her back. With every approaching step you try your best to predict where the creature is going to step next. When – just a few meters away from you – you hear the ground echo with a lilting thud, and then the dirt begins to slide and fall off the raising foreleg, you roll Alice and yourself away from that spot.

Luckily, you have just the right speed and strength and time to pull it off: the creature’s tall, big and scrawny leg trudges onto and then over the place you have been sitting on. Like a shoddily made wicker man standing beneath intense gale, the creature thrashes when it tries to straighten its entire body, only to bend immediately after with every new step.

You notice more and more of dissimilar-in-their-appearance creatures emerge from the cold tar and begin walking towards you. Wasting no time, but heavily straining your muscles and – ironically – bones, you begin pulling and pushing Alice as far away as possible from the disastrous stampede. After a few minutes, you find yourself far enough.

You watch the dozens of creature continue to climb-crawl out of the ravine and – like ants – as if they were possessed, join the monotonously rattling, vacuous swarm. You watch each one of them vanish in the pitch darkness of the “Hollow Mountain”, and after about half an hour, even the clamour ultimately quiets down. You raise your eyes to the hanging river slowly flowing, twisting and changing – like a semi-real river – far above your head. You reach for your scarf but you find no strength in your arms to continue your fishing attempts. With a sigh, you turn to the journal. You open the pages and press your hand against the magic parchment; the glowing cursives begin to slowly emerge of the thoughts on your mind.

*** *** ***

After a few hours, you find Alice finally open her eyes. Sleeping on rough stony terrain with a cold, funereal mist surrounding oneself... it is no wonder she woke up the second her body managed to get just enough rest. With a painful yawn, she forces herself off the ground to look at you:

Unsure on how to greet your companion, you offer her a short and caring nod, “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” she curses and folds her arms. With a loud grunt, she reaches for her backpack and takes out a sachet of dim-red ashes she immediately rubs over her neck, her wrists and on the hollow side of her knee. You watch the ash begin to burn bright as she exhales...

You shudder. Alice grimaces before she tosses the remains of the sachet in your arms. “You should’ve used it. The thi’ inside shall keep your warm.” Despite the several layers of clothes that you have, you –are– quite cold.

You are unsure if you should use it promptly, but Alice insists. Irately, she motions her arm to her neck and body as if to say ‘Just apply it already!’ You sigh and put some of the ash over your neck... you feel the ambers begin to flush and then spread from your neck into your skin, through your blood and then spread all across your body. It feels so good...

“You didn’t tell me we had it,” you mutter towards Alice but she ignores it.

She looks around, “I guess I was knocked out. If that’s the case, it’s a good thing we are fine.” She stands up and tilts her head towards the “Floating River”. “Damn it, what a waste of time... We haven’t done anything!” She swings her arm, “Come on, and let’s follow that book of yours.”

> Agree with Alice and follow the fluorescent mists – from a safe distance – to see as to where the book has ended up drifting towards.
> Ask Alice if it can be you who can rest now. Tell her it’ll be a problem if you run out of mana; you need to find a safe space to have a short nap.
> Tell Alice about the stampede of the skeleton creatures. Suggest that you follow their direction instead. It might be something interesting.
> Ask Alice if she can show you all the things she has in her rucksack; it is annoying that you do not know.
> Show Alice the strange artefact you have managed to fish out of the “Hanging Rivers”. Ask if she can try and charge it with her mana...?
> Tell Alice that she really should be watchful and careful of the amount of mana she has left. For a noble, she is very brazen about it...
> [Write In]

You spend 18 mana.
Mana: [24/180]

>>4592441
> Ask Alice if it can be you who can rest now. Tell her it’ll be a problem if you run out of mana; you need to find a safe space to have a short nap.
> Show Alice the strange artefact you have managed to fish out of the “Hanging Rivers”. Ask if she can try and charge it with her mana...?

>>4592441
>Show Alice the strange artefact you have managed to fish out of the “Hanging Rivers”. Ask if she can try and charge it with her mana...?
> Tell her you at least are almost out of mana and mention the undead creatures, including the fact they showed up after you dropped a beast in the tar and that they seemed to ignore you two

>>4592441
>> Ask Alice if it can be you who can rest now. Tell her it’ll be a problem if you run out of mana; you need to find a safe space to have a short nap.

Alice rapidly hastens her pace and – quite soon – charges to begin following the stellary “Mana Shear”.

“Wait!” you shout before she can leave you in the dust.

Phetocruel hears you; she snappily twists her body. Raising a dusty cloud from beneath her feet, she slides across the charcoal meadow.

“...What?!” the girl barks as she points her thumb towards the hanging mist, “Are yo’ saying we shouldn’t be following it anymore?!”

You hold your book forward, motioning the magic journal towards Alice, “No, we should... but before that, Alice, I think I need a rest too.”

She grimaces with her features furrowing and her short and sharp brows bending over her eyes, “Tch... You are already out of mana, peasant?”

You frown but nod, “It will be a problem if I overuse my magic and lose my conscious, right? You got your sleep; can I get some rest as well?”

She rolls her shining aquamarine eyes and flexes her hand to hover and lead it over her ear, across her cubicle hair and, in the end, off her head, swaying it into an open palm at the very end of her gesture. “Fine. Fine! That’s fine.” She drops her backpack on the cold ground and sits down.

Your eyes widen. You look around and across the dim area as you approach your companion, “Here?”

“What, is this place too un-peasantry for you; or is it that you think I won’t be able to protect you if anything happens? Sleep if you need to...”

While the magic ash has warmed you up considerably you are still unsure if you’ll be able to rest in the middle of cold ebony nowhere, “Don’t you think it’s better if we find a better – safer – space? You won’t have to worry about protecting me then, and you can do something else me-”

She is glaring you up, “Commoner, I did not come here to chill and relax. If you are tired and are feeble and weak, then get some necessary sleep and restore your damn mana. We do not have –time– to waste; there might not be a safe space anywhere around here, and if we get too far – or lost – we won’t be able to find and follow this river of yours. If I can forfeit silk beds for a few days, you, for who it’s a luxury-treat, should be able to as well!” You flinch as she pushes her hand into the backpack, fearing she was reaching for something to toss at you. Instead, she takes out a bizarre collection of small logs which fit into her hand. Magical, the tree bark is thin and surprisingly smooth. Reddish in colour, the brazen yellowish patterns swirl in an endless motion. The wood itself has a bedazzling quality, resembling cold ambers...

You watch as Alice removes the leather ribbon surrounding the wood and, after briefly infusing it with magic, tosses it. It lands between you.

As soon as the wood touches the ground, and Alice’s “Afterimage Magic” begins to shimmeringly intertwine with the magic of the wood, it bursts alight. A bright yet at the same time welcoming orange light summons an aura as big as the flames of a blazing fire pit. To your surprise, as if made out of the same material, your ash turns warm and brighter and begins to melodically and quietly pulsate. It makes you – and only you – hear an imperceptible whistle. “‘Orydyn Wood’,” Alice explains as she puts the bag beneath her pants as some sort of makeshift cushion. “From what I hear from Captain Charlotte, it should help you with your sleep. I forgot how but it’ll help us against the beasts as well...”

The bone beasts, you should probably tell her about the skeleton creatures and the tar pit. No, first you approach Alice to give her the artefact.

“What’s this?” she takes the object into her hand. She quickly realizes it’s a stupid question to ask. “Where did you find this?” She looks it over.

You raise your head to the hanging mist, “I managed to fish it out of the ‘Hanging Rivers’, Alice, but it feels like it needs to be charged up...?”

“I see,” she accepts the artefact that looks like a clumped orange rug into her hands. She also takes the journal; it’s easier if she just reads your thoughts. There’s a moment of silence as you wait for the usually-impatient Alice to summon the magic of the artefact, but that doesn’t happen.

She gently hits your forehead with the artefact and pushes you away from herself, “I’ll figure it out after I figure it out. Don’t make it difficult.”

You sigh and step away from her; you can’t lie, you are curious. You make yourself comfortable on the extremely uncomfortable rock-strewn desert-meadow before you close your eyes. The orange fire does, indeed, calm you down, and to your surprise, its light is relaxing instead of being distracting. The ash keeps you warm and, despite the dwarven bedsheets, you eventually fall asleep. Soon, all your worries drift away...

You have restored 90 mana.
Mana: [114/180]

You wake up with an aching back and a lazy yawn. You drift between a strange state of sleep deprivation and complete rejuvenation. You find Alice sitting with her legs crossed and her feet on top of each thigh. She is chewing on an apple with some other types of food standing nearby...

You are also very hungry.

> Watch Alice in silence.
> Wake up. Ask Alice what she wants to do next now that she’s aware of the skeleton stampede.
> Wake up. Ask Alice if she’s ready to pursue the hanging river that cast away the book.
> Wake up. Ask Alice if she has managed to figure out what the artefact you managed to fish out does.
> Wake up. Ask Alice if she feels comfortable sharing about what happened to her in her part of the “Hall of Mirrors”.
> Wake up. Tell Alice about your mother and her being a witch – if she’s interested. Perhaps she’ll open up to you then?
> [Write In]

>>4593925
>Wake up. Ask Alice what she wants to do next now that she’s aware of the skeleton stampede.
> Wake up. Ask Alice if she’s ready to pursue the hanging river that cast away the book.
> Wake up. Ask Alice if she has managed to figure out what the artefact you managed to fish out does.

>>4593928
> Wake up. Ask Alice if she’s ready to pursue the hanging river that cast away the book.
> Wake up. Ask Alice if she has managed to figure out what the artefact you managed to fish out does.

>>4593928
>> Wake up. Ask Alice what she wants to do next now that she’s aware of the skeleton stampede.
>> Wake up. Ask Alice if she’s ready to pursue the hanging river that cast away the book.

>>4593928
>>4594433
This but also ask if there is any food for us as well. Don't want to fall on our knees mid-fight.

> [1. No Update today.]

You stretch out your arms with a crack of your bones and, with a coarse push you lift your back off the ground to take a sit. Alice notices this.

“Are you fully rested now?” the woman asks you coolly and stonily. She holds Virginia’s sheathed sword onto her elbow and over her shoulder.

You place your idle fingers on top of each other to massage them back to vigour and verve. You answer, awkwardly, “I wouldn’t say fully...”

“That’s good enough,” she lifts the sword and, with a careful and surprisingly respectful throw, she tosses it to land just before your hands.

“You are not going to try and keep it?” you ask with a semi-joking tone of voice.

“It would be of a much better use in my hands,” Alice harrumphs, flexing her shoulder, “but I am not going to –steal– it from you, commoner. However, I won’t be nannying you; when it’s out of magic don’t be begging me to replenish it.” She pauses. “Also, I used up two charges.”

Like a scalded cat you glance from your left side to your right in panic; why?

She replies to your dumbfounded expression, “One of them creatures was trying to attack us. I thought that, instead of wasting my mana, I’d use the sword.”

[Magic Relic: Blessed Sword ‘Cauterizing Fire’] [4/10 CHARGES]

You frown, “Won’t it be fair for you to charge it back, then? Since you’re a noble, it shouldn’t even make a dent in your mana reserves.”

Alice waves her hand in a dismissal manner, “No thank you. I don’t want to overcharge it. Besides, I used it to protect you, you know?”

There’s a moment of silence as both of you stare each other down before you relent with a heavy sigh. “Have you read through the journal?”

“I did, your handwriting is awful,” she nods and mocks; the journal magically writes itself, there’s no handwriting! “A skeleton stampede?”

You bow your head down, “When you were unconscious, a cricket-like insect tried to jump over the tar chasm; it’s likely was planning on attacking us. Unfortunately for it, I was in its way. It fell into the tar and boiled alive, but when it also turned into another floating corpse, it caused some kind of trickle-down effect and skeleton bodies of all kind began to rise from the chasm. Then they walked away in that direction.”

Alice crosses her hands behind her neck, “Yeah-yeah, I figured that much.” She says, “So what, do you want to follow them instead?” She asks.

“I am curious as ‘what the hell’ is going on, and as to where they went,” you tell her. Your eyes widen, “Are you asking what –I– want to do?”

Alice sardonically exhales from her nostrils, “Sure, let’s do that. I don’t really care where we go as long as we return with an artefact.”

You hesitate before your opinion hardens. “Let’s follow the ‘Hanging River’ and the book.” You tell her. There was something strange about it.

Alice agrees with your decision. It takes a few minutes before the two of you collect all your “camping” belongings before you begin walking.

“Did you kill the thing that attacked us?” you ask her.

She frowns, “No, the damn thing run away. Even though I hit it twice, it felt like the magic fire barely bothered it. I’ll kill it if I’ll see it again.”

Hopefully you won’t have to fight anything else... such battles drain your mana, and the beasts here are very chaotic, strong and predatory.

“Have you managed to figure out what the artefact does?”

“I did,” Alice nods as she lazily takes out the object from her backpack. She ponders before throwing it into your hands, “I’ll be nice this time.”

[Magic Tool: Remand Cast] [1/1 CHARGES]
> A cursed object made out of an unsoft, rough red-yellow rug-like material. An aberrant bronze metallic tarnish covers the edges of the strands. Several long blunt needles hold the object from unravelling. When roused to effect, the needles soften and – for a brief moment – empower the cast with forbidden life. Akin to a leech, the curst material clings to an appendage before the needles seal it in an irremovable restraint.
> DR 50. If unsuccessful, the “Remand Cast” can be picked and used again. Grants a -10 penalty to dodge rolls until destroys with SDR 30.

You wince and raise the object away from your body.

*** *** ***

Until you reach the “end” of the overhanging rivulet of misty waters your journey is uneventful. However, as soon as you approach the very source, your vision is immediately tarnished by a suffocating and nauseating blur. The overwhelming aura throws your magic soul into disarray, but... after several minutes, you manage to compose yourself. Alice remains standing still; you can see that her body is stiff and rigid not unlike yours before the... massive, gurgling spheroid resembling a ghastly aquamarine gateway. Although still blurry and overpowering, you can see the river you have been following, as well as many others, bursts and seep from within the gigantic sea-orb like eldritch tendrils. You can sense, smell, see and feel the immense primordial magic flowing within; much more powerful than the one in the misty haze you have touched before.

You spot many objects of great power within the sealed dome, with every passing second they change their shape and evolve their ever-cursed properties. There are also strange fish-like beings that are “alive” within this “Aquarium”. A sharp like being as big as a whale passes on the very edge of it, half of its back blemished in thousands of tiny bleeding eyes. The next second, those eyes are all gone and the creature begins to resemble a horror-centipede made out of dozens of torsos. You find it impossible to follow the always-changing existence of this weird monster.

You finally spot the book you have been trying to follow. Uncaringly, it floats in the midst of the sea-dome. Uncannily, it remains unchanged...

Unsure of how to act, you turn away to find a presence... a person standing on the opposite side of the “Aquarium”. Carefully, he steps around it.

It is a very feminine looking man. He’s as tall as Captain Charlotte. He has a long grey-blue hair that falls over and floats in multiple tails across his chest. He has deep beige eyes and a calm respectful smile. He wears a silk vest with lavender-white tones and tight-fit skinny denim pants in similar, but slightly darker, colours. He has high leather booths and a robe of the “Purple Orca” Magic Knight Squad. On his exposed hairless arms as well as his clean-shaved face he has a multitude of purple freckles in whisker-like patterns. His lips are delicate and his eyelashes long.

“Fru?” you hear him ask in a childish yet at the same time calming voice as he finally makes himself completely visible. Alice clenches her fists.

He is the person Lucius was with during his arrival; must be his companion and, quite likely, the senior magus of the Purple Orca.

You look around but you find yourself unable to spot Lucius anywhere nearby.

His eyes widen for a brief second before he places his hand to his chest, “Cynthia and Alice, I presume? It is good to see that you’re doing well!”

Alice crosses over her hands as if preparing to summon a spell, “Damn, you’re the last thing we need right now peasant.”

He steps back with a patient smile, “Fru~ let’s not get hasty, Alice.” He holds his breathe and then adorably sneezes! “Excuse me... phew...”

“Tch, are you here for the artefacts? I’m not going to let you steal ‘em!”

“I won’t lie, that’s why we’re here in the first place?” He chuckles and strokes his hair, “But I’ve been stuck here for the last few hours.”

Stuck...? You glance over the “Aquarium”... it is certainly going to be troublesome to get anything out of the cursed waterflow.

> Greet the Purple Orca Magic Knight and ask his name.
> Ask the Purple Orca Magic Knight where Lucius is and why he isn’t with him.
> Ask the Purple Orca Magic Knight what he has tried to do so far.
> Ask the Purple Orca Magic Knight what artefact is he interested in.
> Pierce the floating “water” orb of cursed magic with Virginia’s sword.
> Summon a spell from your grimoire to try to get the book from the “Aquarium”.
> This is more trouble than it’s worth. Suggest to Alice you’ll go look for a different “Mana Shear.”
> [Write In]

>>4596197
> Greet the Purple Orca Magic Knight and ask his name.
> Summon a spell from your grimoire to try to get the book from the “Aquarium”. use weighted blanket to try to fish it out
I have been thinking but would the sword affect the cursed water due to the fact that it is apparently blessed or would it just get sucked in

>>4596197
>Ask the Purple Orca Magic Knight where Lucius is and why he isn’t with him.
> Ask the Purple Orca Magic Knight what he has tried to do so far.

>>4596295 has a good point about the sword, better not risk it

>>4596197
>> Greet the Purple Orca Magic Knight and ask his name.
>> Summon a spell from your grimoire to try to get the book from the “Aquarium”. use weighted blanket to try to fish it out

>>4596295
Do you think maybe using Flaying Chenille Threads would be a better spell to fish the book out?

>>4596801
yeah maybe but look at the cost its too much for a maybe demonic book

>>4596303
I can get behind this

>>4596829
A fair concern, though it would come down to the cost roll, so it might not be as bad as it looks

File: 8d564b14645c926ae3cfa8227(...).jpg (68 KB, 564x847)

68 KB JPG

> [So which of the two spells would you guys like to use?]

>>4597116
well considering how both of us voted for weighted blanket it is quite safe to say that it is weighted blanket we want to use, he was just suggesting another option

After some deliberation and consideration, I have decided to cancel this quest. I am unsure if this will come out as a surprise or an expected conclusion. The truth is that I did not have any kind of “final” plan when I made the first thread, and after a year, I now realize that it will take at least just as long to reach some sort of satisfying ending; one can forget about reaching the events of the still-ongoing manga. My original notion was to take another break after finishing the “Y’ere Arc”, but there are some reasons I would feel bad ending on that ‘sour’ note. Running a quest should be – and it began – as relaxing leisure but lately writing those updates turned into a chore...

I apologize greatly if you feel like the attention and time you have committed to this quest have been wasted. I hope you still had a little bit of fun. That’s one of the main reasons I was reluctant to end it weeks before. If I did not burn any bridges, I might attempt again with another quest but one-more that is sure to be a short one-shot. While I do have notes regarding the events after “Y’ere”, perhaps, it would be best if I’ll leave Cynthia’s future to your imagination.

>>4598598
well thats a shame, are you ever going to try to do a multi thread quest again in the future?

>>4598598
I was really enjoying this arc

>>4598739
One-shot doesn't mean one thread, just that I won't want it to last half-a-year or anything like that. So multiple threads is highly likely if I am to make a new Quest. Thank you!

>>4598598
It supposed to be fun for both parties so it's understandable that you are stopping, when it become a chore.

Its real shame man. It was fun while it lasted and I enjoyed it the whole way.

I was wondering why quest wasn't that much popular. Writing was good, action was good.

Biggest issue I could find were characters. Not that they were badly written just that they were combative. [annoying?] In the way that most of the time they were making our work harder and were challenging us the whole way. I liked that part but most people come here to read different sorts of power fantasies and that approach didn't appeal to wider audience. Thats only major issue I was able to thought about.

>>4598598
That's too bad, I'm sad to see this quest go. I've been following since the quest first started, so I'd just like to say that the journey so far has been a fun one, I enjoyed the story you told and the characters we were able to get to know along the way.

>>4598598
Thanks for having run the Quest for so long, Melk!

>>4599103
Thank you for the compliments on the writing and action; I was worried that the text has been purple-prosy and the action was slow because of the mechanic design and having to spend an update day on rolls. I did not think about it but you might be right, and the characters being combative can be a turn-off. I'm not sure if that's the problem; I assume it's just the fact that BC is a niche setting.
>>4599146
Thank you for participating all the way!
>>4599223
Thank you!

>>4599260
I'm devastated. Didn't get to participate much lately but I've been here since the first thread. I hope you'll find enough juice in your muse to continue someday.

>>4599714
I'm sorry to disappoint but I thank you for participating. It's unlikely that I'll continue this Quest because of how long it'll take me to reach conclusive ending.

>>4599260
I like to think that in the future, Cynthia will achieve absolute Chad status like Asta does: https://youtu.be/aaZq6SXXNt4

>>4599812
Will you be archiving this last thread?

>>4603144
I think I will!

One more time: sorry - and I hope to see you in my next attempt!

>>4607383
Looking forward to it, Melk.