[Noihara][Mentor] Continued Education

[Noctis Corvo]

Kain wasnt all too worried about the slimes until he noticed their movements towards each other. He remembered his expedition into the caves with the necromancer and those slimes strange movements towards the flowers. As the began to combine he grimaced. The gight was about to get a heck of a lot harder. 

He knew what he had to do. It would be dangerous, it would be stupid, heck he didnt even know what would happen himself, but he was running out of options. He threw his hands out summoning [Shackles of the Sentanced] to bing himself before casting [Lying Darkness] at his feet. The occultic Sigil of the Gate appeared at his feet, filling him with corruption, almost knocking the air out of his lungs. It was heavy, this much miasma in his body, but it was neccessary for these enemies. As the chains faded, he summoned up oblivion claw, and struck himself in the chest with it.

His corruption level had skyrocketed up to 31 points, putting him into Stage 2 Corruption. His breathing became shallow, the bags under his eyes darkening and his skin becoming paler. As this happened, his new skill [Morphogenisis] triggered. A faint purple aura covered his body as [Dark Influence] triggered, followed by his skin paling even further and his canines turning into fangs as [Vampire Form] activated as well. His breathing became deep and audible, his head hurting like a mother, but he needed the damage for this stronger enemy that now stood before them.

"Keep them off of me..." his voice came out airy and haunting, like a distant spirit. Immediately he charged a couple miasma bullets to full charge and let leash at the blobulous foe.

@dumah @bornfromvelvet  @kurosan

[Deleted]

The battle quickly shifted from a rapid skirmish of numerous enemies of moderate strength to a coordinated assault against one large monster that could easily be mistaken for a mini-boss. If this were only a typical enemy, then surely the actual mini-boss, let alone the Raid Boss, would be much more powerful. As the slimes began merging together into one creature, Kuro quickly shifted his priorities to taking out one of the remaining slimes before it could merge. Quickly Dumah jumped back away from the large gel, beginning to cast another spell. As the amalgamation of slimes started to rush towards the Spellsword, Dumah aimed his hand at it, his index and middle finger extended, forming the shape of a gun. Tendrils of solid liquid lunged forth to attack, and Dumah 'fired' his hand at each one, blasting them away with wind. A small ping was rung in Dumah's ears, alerting him that his Spark Shot spell had cooled down and was ready to be recast. He opened his free left palm, a ball of electrical energy forming once again, throwing it at the enemy and bringing its health down.

Before the Spellsword could announce a strategy revision to adapt for this new form of the slimes, he noticed something in the corner of his peripheral vision; something dark and haunting. It was a sight Dumah had yet to behold: Corvo cast spell after spell after spell, most of them being cast on himself. It took Dumah a moment to realize what he was doing, the sight of his friend becoming more vile and tainted with each spell. His breathing was much deeper, the skin around his eyes blackened, and his body became much more pale than usual. He became engulfed in a faint purple aura as his teeth sharpened into fangs. Corvo was now quite a ghastly figure to behold, and Dumah now understood what had spawned Bailin's deep seeded hatred of the Heretics. This was the effect of Miasma Corruption - allowing a Heretic's self to let go of their humanity in exchange for sheer, raw, unfiltered power. It was an eye opening experience, to say the least. Corvo told his party to keep the slime off of him as he began to charge a spell, unleashing fierce Miasma Bullets. The bullets struck the foe, and in almost a single shot, wiped it out and destroyed it. The slime seemingly melted into a puddle of black liquid, a stray Miasma Bullet flying over the puddle of the newly-dissolved enemy, coming into Dumah's vision just a moment too late for the Spellsword to dodge the spell. The bullet impacts the party leader, throwing him back tumbling against the ground. Thankfully he was not shot towards the edge of the hall, lest he fall to what would most likely be his death. Being tossed back several meters by the impact of the spell before stopping, the party leader stood up and found himself at sixty eight percent health and four points of Corruption. At least there were no enemies nearby to take advantage of this friendly fire.

Words: 516 | Total Words: 3636
Tags: @bornfromvelvet @kurosan Noctis Corvo
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Deleted]

'How many of these bloody slimes are there!?' Katarina thought as she glanced around the catacomb. Kuro was picking off the slimes at a steady pace, but ultimately it didn't seem to do much. For every slime he killed, another seemed to take its place. Kat momentarily wondered where the ungodly amount of black goo came from, and was about to go heal up the small scratch damage the three fighters in front of her had accumulated, before she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

Noctis, for whatever reason, seemed to be casting a few spells... at himself. Black chains burst from the ground and wrapped themselves around the Heretic, restricting his movements. He then went on to form a ritual circle at his feet: The Sigil of the Gate. Katarina's eyes widened as she saw the man strike himself in the chest with a claw made of pure Miasma. Was he seriously doing what Katarina thought he was doing?

Kat's theories were soon proven correct as she noticed Noctis' skin becoming noticeably paler and the bags under his eyes beginning to darken. A very faint purple aura covered his now corrupted body as his canines extended into fangs. Kat knew it. Noctis was corrupting his body in exchange for more power. The Heretic ordered the rest of the party to keep the composite slime off of him as he began to generate multiple orbs of pure Miasma, firing them off at the slime. The results were immediate, with the bullets pulverising the foe before him, the slime melting into a puddle of liquid. Kat stood there in awe at the raw power of the shots, them somehow being strong enough to OHKO the large monster. Her wonder quickly turned to worry as she noticed a stray Miasma bullet flying towards her leader. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to notice it in time, taking a direct hit to the chest and flying several meters before coming to a stop. Kat's eyes widened as she saw Dumah's health bar. 'Jaysus...' she thought as she saw the number. Dumah was on 68% health. Dumah was level 46. Corvo was level 20. Katarina knew that corrupted Heretics gained a fair bit of power, but this was just... wow. Considering the 26 level difference... Kat was just really, really glad that Corvo was on their side.

Making sure that everyone, Dumah especially was in range, Katarina dropped to her knees, muttering the words "Saint Channeling" as holy energy began coating herself and her party members, the white glow brightening the dark dungeon slightly. Kat smiled slightly as she saw her party member's individual HP gauges fill up slowly. Once they all had reached full health, she cancelled the spell, standing back up. She used a decent chunk of MP doing that, but she still had enough for any heals in case they got into another fight. 

[Word Count: 484
Tags: @dumah @kurosan  Noctis Corvo
Notes: Okay, I am so, SO sorry it took this long to post. I've been bogged down in both schoolwork and, well, work-work and simply haven't had enough time to go on this site. Also, I'm writing this post under the assumption that the large slime was the last enemy, because it really wasn't that clear if there were still enemies around or not.]

[Deleted]

No matter how hard the Assassin tried, he could not stop all the slimes, so after few minutes there was only the big blob. Once he had no enemies to fight, Kuro looked at his friends. He was quied confused and surprised to see corvo hitting himself with a lot of spells, but once Corvo's appearance started to change, Kuro realized what he was doing. (Hmmm... never actually seen this ... "power" in person.) With now peeked interest, the Assassin watched the heretic, while positioning himself further back from the mini-boss. After Corvo was (by Kuro's guess) "fully charged" he fired some miasmic "bullets" at the moster.
It was really effective, the slime basicaly vaporated and no other enemies were in sight. On the other hand, when Noctis fired those bullets, he didn't notice Dumah, who was kinda in a way. 
Kuro was really impressed by the knockback and damage done by a single "bullet". Dumah lost a good portion of his health and he's around 20 levels above Noctis.
Kuro looked at Noctis: "Note to myself: 'Never piss off Corvo!' " Afterwards winking at him. Before he could be scolded by Kat (currently healing the group), for making jokes right now, he followed that up with: "Ya alright mate? To be honest I'd probably be worried only if there were monsters nearby, but right now it seems we are in a clear." He smirked. "Plus, we have a skilled cleric, don't we? I'm sure that even if we were still surrounded by slimes, Kat would save u-... at least you two." *mutter* "Not so sure about me though..."

With a grin on his face he looked up ahead. He couldn't really see far, but from what he could see, there really weren't any enemies near them right now.
Once Kat finished healing everyone Kuro observed the group :the whole group was full on HP, but they were not doing so well on MP. Kat had probably the least MP right now, after healing everyone (mostly Dumah though). Kuro didn't like the thought of them being anbushed again, while they could not give it their all. "Look, I am not saying we could not survive another fight, but shouldn't we rest for a little while to get some MP, before venturing forth? Or at least Kat and Corvo? I am not doing so bad and I AM an assassin. I can go up ahead, while you rest a bit."
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[Word count: 407
Tags: @bornfromvelvet @dumah Noctis Corvo
Note: Sorry it's kinda shitty, I forgot about this, but I promised to write it today so I wrote this at 1-2AM]

[Noctis Corvo]

He didn't mean to hit Dumah. Part of him felt bad for it, but another part felt like it was unavoidable. He walked over to the rest of them as the last bits of the slime vanished into the immaterium, his body seeming to cross the stones at more of a ghastly glide than steps. "I apologize for the friendly fire Dumah, I was just trying to make sure the abomination stayed down." His gaze crossed over the rest of the party, possibly and unconciously looking as though he were looking down on them like an apex predator would an ant. He could tell, whether they showed it or not, there was at least some latent fear of him in the back of their eyes.

"I also apologize for taking this...form. I did not mean to cause you alarm, and to be quite honest i'm glad that this proved enough. This is barely the beginning stages of corruption. I could have and still can go further, but the results, while powerful, could prove to be quite...jarring." his words, while seemingly monotone and without emotion still heald behind them, deep within him, his usual caring demeanor. "If we're lucky, the rest of the enemies will go down with less of a fight and I could drain some of my corruption. If they get any tougher though, I may have to take more drastic measures." 

The assassin's care towards his mana was a slight shock to Kain, with his eyes giving a small questioning light as he gazed at his own mana bar. He had barely even scratched his bar being still more than 75% full on it. He guessed thats what min/maxing does in the end, and expressed little concern for his own well being.

"While it would be wise for us to rest, you shouldnt go wandering off in here alone. That first monster alone was too tough for most of you to solo, and it makes me fearful of what other traps and creatures lie within. The entry password seems to be only proving more ominous and foreboding by the second."

Tags:
@kurosan @bornfromvelvet @dumah

[Deleted]

The party took the moment following the battle to recover from it. Katarina knelt down and began to cast a spell, a divine glow covering the entire party as their health began to recover. Dumah nodded a bit, thankful for the heal. "Thank you, Katarina." As everyone's energy rose, Kuro began to jest at what a regrettable idea it would be to upset the Heretic. Not giving Dumah - or more likely Katarina - to reprimand him for making jokes in such a serious situation, the Assassin continued speaking, asking if the Heretic were alright. He smirked as he stated that it was a good thing the party had a good healer, remarking that he was not very confident in the fact that the Cleric would heal him. "Do not worry, Kuro. Katarina knows how serious her job as a healer and tactician is. Given that we are out in a dungeon, and not merely at home relaxing or anything, I doubt she would be spiteful." After the party's health had fully recovered, all that was left to regain was mana. Kuro proposed scouting ahead of the party, using his skills as an Assassin to check the halls ahead while the rest of the party rested. Dumah and the corrupted Corvo seemed to be on the same opinion regarding the Assassin's proposal. The Spellsword nodded in agreement, stating his own opinion on the matter. "I agree, while I do not doubt your skills as an Assassin, splitting the party could prove to be a bad idea. Even if it means our expedition goes slower, I would rather we all stick together and watch each others' backs than split off and send anyone alone. We do not have any reason to rush, so I believe we should take our time and go at a safe pace." The party's mana was rising, but as a pace that was dreadfully slow. Their mana recovery was further impeded given that they were in a dungeon.

Closing his party menu, he spoke to his guild mates and friends. "Our mana is regenerating far too slowly. Given the rate it is currently rising at, we very well could end up seeing another of those slime swarms spawning in this very room while we wait for our mana to regenerate. We should set up a camp for now, resting will help our recovery." With that, Dumah accessed his menu once again, accessing his inventory and retrieving a bundle of firewood and stone he had purchased from a Person of The Land carpenter he had met through Noihara's barkeep. "Keep an eye out for any enemies that may wander towards us as I set up camp." With that, the party leader began to make a circle with the stones, keeping the firewood from rolling around. He placed the wood down in the circle, opening his left palm and casting Fireball Pitch, holding the sudden orb of flame in his left hand, holding it over the wood, and dropping it, lighting the wood ablaze. "We should be good now." As the other members of the party joined Dumah by the fire, the Spellsword noticed a hole in his armor that he had suffered after taking a direct hit from Corvo. He sighed, nonchalantly reaching into his inventory and retrieving his sewing kit to repair the damage. He set a needle aside as he slid his shirt and jacket off, feeding some white thread through the eye of the needle as he began to suture the tear in the shirt's shoulder. After some time, he set the crudely repaired shirt aside and began to repeat the process for the jacket, using black thread to match the black jacket. As he worked on his repairs, the rest of the party's mana was recovering much quicker than before.

Words: 634 | Total Words: 4270
Tags: @bornfromvelvet @kurosan Noctis Corvo
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Deleted]

So. They just survived their first battle in the dungeon. Noctis was currently at Stage 2 Corruption, all pale skin and fangs. Katarina used up a great deal of her MP healing up the party. Dumah's shirt had a great big hole in it, courtesy of Noctis' miasma bullets.

And Kuro? Well, Kuro was cracking jokes.

Katarina Summers was a sarcastic arsehole who generally snarked at every living thing nearby. She was also definitely prone to making a few jokes here and there, however untasteful and unfitting they may be. However, even she knew that now was most definitely not the time to be making jokes, that now was the time to be seriously considering their next move since this dungeon's typical mobs were kicking their collective arses. And then there was Kuro, cracking jokes about their resident heretic and generally being the same cocky arse Kat knew him to be. Of course, Kuro being Kuro, he followed up his jape with a question on whether Noctis was okay, making sure Kat couldn't get a word in. Kat sighed. "The least you could've done is actually make the joke funny..." she muttered under her breath, before looking up at Noctis worriedly. "Ignoring Kuro's terrible sense of humour, are you okay? I've done my research, I know what Corruption can do to a man."

Noctis looked at the party, probably realising how bad he looked. When his gaze passed over Katarina, she was absolutely terrified. There was something about him, his gaze, something that terrified her to the core. Still though, she stood her ground. He apologised to Dumah for the friendly fire, and apologised to the party in general for having to take his current corrupted form, but his words weren't what Kat was focusing on. His voice... It was completely devoid of emotion. The change was extremely jarring when compared to him before corruption, where he seemed to be very caring and kind. And to think, this was only the second stage of Corruption. What would he be like if he was forced to take, as he put it, "more drastic measures"?

Kat shook her head. No. Bad thoughts. This was her party member, one that Dumah himself invited to join them. She could trust him. There was still a small part of Kat that was afraid of her fellow Scribe, but she tried to ignore that part of her as much as possible. Kat was shaken out of her little episode by Kuro complementing her skills as a healer, before remarking that he doubted that she'd heal him if he got in trouble. "Okay, ouch, that sorta stings, Kuro. I take my job as the group's healer seriously, you know." she said, Dumah backing her up on the fact. 

If they weren't having so much trouble with this dungeon, she probably would just let him die, but the rest of the group didn't need to know that little titbit. He could make a good meat shield, she supposed.

The elf glanced at the party's health and MP bars, before suggesting that they rest so that the group's resident magic users could regen their MP. Which was strange when you consider the fact that Noctis wasn't even under 75% MP yet, but hey, whatever, Katarina wasn't complaining about extra time to rest up and consider what their next move will be. Plus, whilst Noctis wasn't low on MP, Katarina wasn't exactly very efficient with her healing, using up a fair chunk with Saint Channelling. Kuro also suggested that he scout ahead, but that idea got shot down quick. Shame, because Kat actually thought that was a good idea. She'd never admit it to him, but Kuro was actually surprisingly good at stealth and the like. He'd probably be able to go out there and scout ahead without getting seen. Kat didn't speak up however, deciding that in the event something does go wrong, Kuro would most definitely die if he was by himself. Plus, as Noctis pointed out, there was always the possibility the path ahead had traps and the like.

Dumah pointed out that the rate the party's mana was recovering was abysmally slow, and that at this rate another slime would spawn before Kat and Noctis could fully regenerate their MP. Conveniently, Dumah just so happened to have both a bundle of firewood and some stones in order to make a campfire. He was just carrying wood and rocks in his inventory, just in case.

...He was better prepared for this dungeon than Kat thought.

[Word Count: 758
Tags: @dumah @kurosan  Noctis Corvo]

[Deleted]

When Noctis was apologizing for everything what was done, Kat seemed to be rather shocked by the way he said it, like he didn't have any emotions although his words suggested the complete opposite. In Kuro's opinion, it was more cool than anything else, but if he had to be completely honest... he did feel a little uneasy.

For the idea of him scouting ahead it was quickly dismissed by both Dumah and Corvo, although Kat didn't say a word. The Assassin felt a lil' "offended" or rather "disappointed" that they didn't trust him that much. (I would be careful and I'd look out for traps...) *sigh* (I can't blame 'em for playin' it safe, but I want to prove that I am not just a punching bag for the mobs and/or a meat-shield... I can clearly see that I am not much of a help in combat.) Dumah, seeing Kuro's disappointment then reassured him that it was not due to lack of trust in the Assassin's skill, but rather that separating the group could prove unwise... or at least he said so.

After that Dumah suggested setting up a camp so their Mana would go up faster, moments after the swashbuckler lit a fire and then started repairing his armor that has been penetrated by Corvo's spell.
Kuro was once again amazed by Dumah's readiness. (He really did prepare for anything, didn't he?) He then sat himself across from Dumah, watching him work. (I should really start working on my Pharmacist class, then I'll at least be able to make potions for stuff like this.) 

The Assassin's sight then transferred from Dumah to the heretic. "Hmm.." (I wonder...) "Hey, Noctis?" When he got heretic's attention he continued: "If you don't mind me asking: 'How does it feel?'.. You know.. when you.. corrupt yourself?"
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[Word count: 304
Tags: @bornfromvelvet @dumah Noctis Corvo
Note: __ ]

[Noctis Corvo]

Kain was glad that their leader proved to be as prepared as he had seemed. The campfire quickly restored the little gap he had been missing from his mana bar, and he sat down crosslegged, and began to meditate on his current situation.

"I don't know what I should do Noctis. Theyre terrified of me. I've never even seen such...distaste before."

"It's not your fault. The miasma is a difficult mistress. She takes and she gives, but she rarely pleases."

"I know what you mean. I just fear my state. I fear going deeper. I dont want to feel that way again."

"Only those who were never human to begin with don't Kain. Take solace in your fear. It means you are still whole."

He contemplated on these thoughts when he heard the assassin speak up, asking him about how the effects of the corruption. He perked up a bit, the monotone voice letting out a bit as he had activated Black Operon and was actively draining his levels of corruption, the vampire form fading and colour beginning to return to his skin.

"Thats an interesting question actually, and it would probably be best for me to explain for you the stages and effects of corruption before I tell you my own personal feelings.

"For starters, you can generally survive a slow miasma poisoning for a while. It doesnt take too well to people unless a caster is specifically assailing you with it or you bring it upon yourself. Stage one occurs once youve accumulated ten points of corruption, and is rather minor. the only real indication you will have will be headaches, maybe some nausea, maybe some shortness of breath or fatigue.

"Stage two occurs after accumulating thirty points of corruption, and is when the miasma begins to become more concentrated and focused throughout your body. Your skin will begin to turn pale, your fingernails will crack, you will begin to appear sickly. The mental fog increases as well. It becomes hard to think, to form coherent sentences or thoughts of your own. At this point, any further stages begin to have consequences.

"At Stage Three Corruption, which occurs after accumulating any higher than Fifty points of corruption, it becomes infectious. People around you begin to slowly become corrupted by your pressence, one point at a time. You begin to have dellusions and hallucinations, you begin to loose your grasp on reality. Your eyes become white and clouded, your skin scared and/or wrinkled.

"You reach stage four at seventy-six points of corruption. At this point, your body will choose one of two paths. You will either begin to appear extremely sickly and weak, or extremely powerful and litch-like. You become wary of the light. The pounding in your head becomes all you can thing about. You loose your grasp on the world.

"What I remember of the only time I hit stage Five was dreamlike, and I know of the traits only through stories. Your body becomes a twisted inhuman avatar for the full might of the miasma, your corruption exceeding one hundred. You cant even tell the wielder is human anymore wether from their attitude, appearance or actions. It is from this point I can tell you what it feels like to corrupt yourself for power."

He turned to the assassin, his eyes locking with him. He spoke in full seriousness, not just from one lifetime but two. Noctis and Kain both synched up in this one moment.

"It feels like you are slowly drowning, like your body is slowly being ripped from your control. You are being dragged away and chained down by a thousand black hands, stuck in the thickest oil. Your flesh feels foreign, and terror is the only thing you fight against to regain some sort of control. But it no longer lies in your hands."

After a couple seconds of silence he pulled out his map and walked a bit away from the group but still within eyesight.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a map and a journal to update."


Note: im on mobile atm so ill fix up the tags and the text color once I have access to a computer

[Deleted]

As the party sat around the fire, granting themselves the necessary respite to recover their spent mana, the topic at hand became what it was like to be under the effects of such heavy corruption as Corvo was. This was followed by a quick and rudimentary lesson surrounding the effects of Miasma, as well as the levels of corruption. The symptoms ranged from something as mild as a light feeling of nausea all the way to such unspeakable effects as almost a full metamorphosis into a hollow beast of what you once were. The Heretic described the deepest stage of corruption as a drowning feeling, in which all control is lost. This explanation left a morbid taste in the party's mouth, an awkward moment of silence following. Corvo broke from the party, stepping aside to update the map of the dungeon and his journal.

By this time, the Spellsword had finished mending the hole in his clothes, and slid the shirt back on, then the jacket. He pulled on the jacket a bit until it was fitted comfortably. "Corvo, once you are finished updating the map, I believe we should all prepare our plan of attack should we encounter more of those slimes." After the Heretic made the final marks on the map, Dumah grabbed a fistful of pebbles from around the stone floor of the dungeon. The Spellsword tapped at the air, accessing his user interface and going to his list of skills. He tapped once again, the tip of his finger glowing a light blue color. He drew two long, parallel lines on the ground with his Mythic Script skill. "From what we have seen of the dungeon thus far, it appears to be largely corridors." As he spoke, Dumah drew small arrows pointing in one direction between the two lines from before, placing four pebbles at the end from which the arrows were coming. "These pebbles represent our party." A group of six pebbles were then placed around the opposite end of the drawn corridor. "These six represent the enemy, all slimes. Now, I have one plan in mind. Slimes are all curious creatures, and are drawn to magic. Three of us are capable of casting spells." Three of the party's pebbles were moved forward, one in the middle, one against the left wall, and the third against the right wall. "Kuro, as the only one incapable of magic, I would like you to stand in the back and provide us with supporting fire from your crossbow. The three spell casters of the party - Corvo, Katarina, and myself - will all cast offensive spells on two slimes each, drawing our targets to us. As we will each have two slimes on us, we can focus our attacks on them and keep them separated from each other. If we are lucky, they will merge into three weak slimes instead of merging into one powerful enemy. We can adjust the number of enemies we pull as necessary. This would leave our healer focused on offensive spells, and as such I would propose switching with Kuro if necessary. What do you all think of this?" The Spellsword had used his finger to draw circles and arrows and other such symbols to help portray his envisioned tactic as he spoke.

Words: 548 | Total Words: 4818
Tags: @bornfromvelvet @kurosan Noctis Corvo
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Deleted]

The party sat in silence for a while, Katarina waiting for her mana bar to fill back up. Noctis' bar filled back up fairly quickly, which was good. Some of the colour seemed to have returned to his skin as well, a fact that Katarina was eternally grateful for. She knew that Noctis wasn't going to hurt her, that Noctis was on her side, but something about his general appearance whilst under the effects of Miasma Corruption made her feel uneasy. She felt pretty crappy about it, especially since both Dumah and Kuro seemed to be dealing with the Heretic fine, but she couldn't help it. Something about him just unsettled her.

The silence was broken by Kuro asking Noctis what it was like to be under the influence of Miasma. Katarina was somewhat curious as well, honestly. She knew a little bit about the effects of Miasma, she knew a little bit about the levels of Corruption, but there was fairly large gaps in her knowledge. She hadn't actually met a Heretic in Elder Tale before this, so her knowledge was mostly obtained through reading various reports on the topic. Surprisingly, any books and reports she found on the topic weren't written in great detail, and any Wardens that she may have met in the past seemed to want to avoid the topic of Miasma Corruption altogether. Eager to gather more knowledge, Katarina pushed aside any feelings of discomfort she had and listened attentively, taking down some notes here and there.

Noctis went through the stages, eventually reaching stage five, the final stage of Corruption. This is the point where people fully lose their minds, and the point where the effects on the human body reach their peak, mutating to the point where they aren't even recognisable as human beings. The part of that little explanation that Katarina couldn't get over was the part where he said that he lived through this. He had hit stage five in the past. Pulling out his unfinished map, he told the group that he was going to go update his map and journal. Katarina pulled out her unfinished map of the area, before pushing herself off of the ground. "Yeah, actually, I think I might do that too." she said, beginning to walk away from the party. "I'll be back before you know it."

Once Kat made some distance between her and the group, she sighed. She was going to update her map, that was what she was doing, but that wasn't the real reason she left. She needed to get away from Noctis. She didn't have anything against the man, but she just had to get away. She'd never admit it, but she was absolutely terrified of him. Thinking about it, it was kind of strange. Even when not corrupted, his appearance was generally unsettling, what, with the patchwork skin and all, but Katarina was fine with it. She was a little shocked at first, but she was fine around him. The changes to his appearance weren't even all that severe, it was just paler skin, sharper canines and cracked fingernails. So, why did Katarina feel so uncomfortable around him, more so than anyone else? She attributed it to the Miasma Corruption, but not the physical effects, nor even the effects it was having on the Heretic's mind (although she would admit that to being terrifying in it's own right).

Being a Cleric, Katarina was naturally more inclined towards the Anima magics, the type of magic that gives life to beings, and the type of magic that is harnessed in healing spells. As a magic user, she also found herself more sensitive to the forces of energy than, say, an Assassin or maybe even a Swashbuckler. Now, Miasma was the antithesis of both forces of energy, Anima and Psyche. She could feel it emanating from the corrupted Heretic. It would make sense that these facts combined are the reason behind her discomfort around the Heretic. Still though, this is all just conjecture. It could just be something infinitely more simpler, such as her just being afraid of Corruption, but...

Wait, what was she doing? She had finished updating her map a bit ago, she should really be getting back to her group. Still though. Food for thought.

Katarina managed to get back at around the same time as Noctis. Dumah grabbed a fistful of pebbles before opening up his menu, activating his Mythic Script skill. Alright. Planning time.

Dumah drew up a small corridor, placing four pebbles on the ground representing their party, and six pebbles representing a group of slimes. Dumah explained that as slimes were attracted to magic, he wanted to place the three people who were capable of using magic (Katarina, Noctis, and Dumah) in a row up front, whilst Kuro, as the only non-magic user in the party, stayed near the back, providing supporting fire. The magic users would cast offensive spells in order to draw the slimes to them, hopefully getting the group of slimes to split up and having them separate from each other, splitting into groups. Now, if the slimes merged, they would be facing three weaker enemies instead of one inanely powerful one. Dumah make sure to mention that Kat and Kuro were free to change places as necessary, so Kat could focus on healing other party members if necessary. 

Dumah asked the group what they thought of his plan. Kat placed her hand on her chin, thinking. This plan could work. Now, obviously if they decided to use this plan, it wasn't going to end up being as perfect as what Dumah envisioned. There was nothing that proved that the slimes always came in even numbered groups, and she doubted that in the heat of battle they would be able to perfectly control the aggro in such a way that they would get even numbers of slimes, so someone would end up getting more slimes to take down than the others. Aside from that small issue, seriously, it really was very minor in the grand scheme of things, Katarina could see no problems with this plan. She nodded in approval. "I can't see a problem with it. I doubt we'll be able to pull it off as perfectly as you envision, however I'm almost certain that it'll work."

[Word Count: 1056
Tags: @dumah @kurosan Noctis Corvo ]

[Deleted]

 Before Noctis answered his question he explained the stages of corruption and their effects, during this explanation he began regaining more "healthy" colour (If you can call his regular skin colour healthy.) and his voice started "regaining emotions".
When the heretic got to the 5th stage, the Assassin got goosebumps when he imagined facing against such.... monsters. He imagined how terrifying it would be... and how effective. (If there'd be an enormous number of enemies, and on our side we would have 5 of these people, we could send them charging into the enemy ranks and there they'd hit level 5 corruption... a massacre would start. If it were monsters, they wouldn't stand a chance against the corrupted Adventurers... and if it were players.. well,-) "Heh." (-from what he is saying, I think their morale and their will to fight would decrease rapidly. It would be very, verry efficient.) 
He got "interrupted" from his thoughts when Noctis looked directly into his eyes and said that being in that stage feels like drowning and the control of your body is being forcefully taken from you. 
Kuro suddenly felt unbelievably ashamed of himself for having such thoughts. (Although it'd be very efficient, I don't think I could ask someone to do such a thing. Also it could backfire rapidly)
There was a moment of silence, after which Noctis separated himself under the excuse that he'll update his map and journal. Kat did the same thing, althought when Kuro looked at her, he could tell she was really not "in her skin". (I can't blame her..him, Noctis is scary. I think the only reason why I am not so affraid is that I was always facinated by "dark forces or creatures" in any fantasy game, book or a movie.)

When both of them returned, Dumah already finished his repairs on his armour. After that he followed to instruct them with a tactic he came up with. After he finished explaining it, he asked them on their opinions on the plan. (I don't like the idea that they're attracting all the mobs to themselfs. If there were at least few more people I'd be perfectly fine with it, but there's only 3 of 'em) Then he looked at Dumah and Corvo. (Nah, I worry to much. The only one who'd be in any mild danger out of those 3 would be Kat and when she says, I'll change positions with her.)
Although he seldomly said it, he held quite high respect for Kat and her skill in battle, but she didn't need to know that.
Kat was the first to speak. She agreed with the plan, although she didn't think it'd work as Dumah wishes. "I agree, but tell me, when has any plan worked out for 100%? I think this is the best plan we will come up with." After that he got up and streched his muscles so he'd get the stiffness out of 'em. "I am ready to head out whenever you are ready."
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[Word count: 504
Tags: @bornfromvelvet @dumah Noctis Corvo
Note: "Not being in their skin" is a term in Czech, it means somone is not acting how they would because something's bothering them somehow.]

[Noctis Corvo]

Kain's head began to clear as the last bits of his corruption seeped out. The conversation about the effects of miasma was a heavy one, he wouldn't deny that. But his own experiences with it? Looking back, that was a rather personal question and he could have handled it with a bit more tact probably. He sure as hell didn't sugar coat anything though, which was probably for the better. As non-heretics and non-wardens, the rest of the party had little to no methods of dealing with corruption outside of waiting for its effects to wear off over time, which was a long and brutal process. He had scared the rest by not only showing them himself in his low corruption state, but he even revealed how he once fell into stage five corruption. That was no joking matter for him, and it was actually quite personal, as he didn't remember much of it, but he did remember destroying a massive boss level monster almost single-handedly.

He sat off, scribbling on the map and updating his journal, taking a moment to even flip back through some of the previous entries. He found his catalog of events from that day, mainly poking about ruins. He found the part where he remembered beginning to fight the giant crab bafore blacking out less than halfway through the battle. He saw his record of strange notes and almost ramblings before recording how he woke up the next day fine. It was the notes in that journal though that freaked him out. They were lyrical, almost songlike, and went on and on about freedom and destruction. Nothing made him more scared of his own power.

"Hey Noctis, why do we bother with the Miasma?"

"You already know my beliefs on it. It is a dark magic, one of evil. But the powers it grants us are immeasurable. The wrong power in the right hands can be a beautiful weapon against evil."

"Yeah, I know you see it as our cross to bear, but why did you get into it in the first place? You see the way people react to it? what made you stay with it?"

There was silence in Kain's head as the Sage of Shadow remained quiet. Kain's question had struck a nerve, and a rather personal one at that. Finally after a few minutes, he responded.

"I didn't have a choice. You created me, you should know that."

"I only dictated your end path. The details of the journey there are for the most part unknown to me."

"I was forced into it, taken in as an orphan by The Order. They are the ones who initially fused my being with the power of Miasma. I didn't have a choice in the matter."

They were quiet for a while after this, both reflecting on the way things have played out. Had Kain known this would be his world, he might have rethought his plans to make a heretic, and had he known he would have set up Noctis for such a terrible life, he definitely would have rethought writing the backstory in the first place. The miasma was no joking matter in this real world. It wasn't some convenient story piece that just allowed for a different kind of sorcerer character. This was a real thing with consequences, and Kain had to now live with them.

Finishing up the map and journal updates, he walked back over to join the group. Dumah brought up the plan. Dumah, Kat and Kain would take a front line and each try and aggro two slimes each, moving in something akin to a four-man wedge formation. Kain saw no problem with it, as he could easily handle two slimes at a time, and spellwalking would allow him at least a bit of movement as he charged his spells. Pulling out his own quill and using his own Mystic Script, Kain spoke up his own thoughts on the plan. "I should probably take point. While I may not have the most HP, I can destroy them pretty quickly, so I can help you both out that way if we accidentally get too many slimes at once." He wrote "Noc" over the frontmost pebble. "That, and this way I can minimize any accidental friendly fire as most of my shots will be going straight ahead." To accent his point he drew a small cone forward from his pebble. "If I stand anywhere else, I could accidentally hit someone again. Normally I'd vote to throw myself into stage one corruption and spend my morphogenesis on Pureness of Heart so i could run as an Off-Healer, but i already spent my stage one and two traits for it on Dark Influence and Vampire Form. I don't quite know how it works yet, but even if I drain m corruption and go again to Stage One and Two, those two talents will remain. The only way it would work now is if I hit Stage Three, which I plan to avoid at all costs as I really want to avoid giving you guys any corruption, and I don't quite have access to the Exocytosis skill yet."

Saying his peace he left the rest up to the party to decide and debate before putting back in his opinion.

Notes: Finally posted



Words: 887

Tags: @dumah @bornfromvelvet @kurosan

[Deleted]

After the party prepared themselves to continue on with the dungeon, confirming their battle strategy should they come face to face with more of those black slimes, Dumah nodded to himself. "All right. Everyone's mana seems to have made a full recovery, so we should continue to make our way through the dungeon." With that, Dumah picked up all of the pebbles he had used to visualize his battle strategy, putting them into his pockets. He stood up from the fire, stretching and readjusting his sheathed sword to rest more comfortably on his hip, walking towards the entrance to the next corridor in the dungeon. He stood by the arch leading away from the edge of the path, waiting to be joined by his companions. As they all joined the party leader, he smiled a bit and led them into the wide corridors.

They walked for quite some time, finding no significant enemies in the halls of the tomb. After what felt like a mere five minutes, the corridor split into a four-way intersection. Three paths were presented to the party. "Perhaps the dungeon is more labyrinthine than we expected." The intersection showed no real indication of which way was which. It was too dark to see down each path, and there were no signs to differentiate each hall. "In a labyrinth such as this, I doubt there would be a large swarm of monsters. The obvious answer would be to stick together as opposed to splitting the party. If we had a much larger group that might be a viable option, but with only the four of us, we cannot afford to split the party." With his opinion stated, the Spellsword walked to the center of the intersection, using his Mythic Script skill to draw an arrow on the tile in the center, pointing to the right. "If we stay on the right wall, we will come to the exit eventually." Dumah placed his right hand on the right wall and continued to walk, leading the party through the maze. It was dark and hard to see, but Magic Light easily fixed the issue. As they walked through the maze, the party could hear the sloshing of slimes just ahead. "Sounds like we have some slimes ahead." Dumah came to another intersection, this one with only three paths. "Close your eyes and cling to the wall, perhaps they will pass us by." Giving his party a few moments to do as he instructed, Dumah closed his eyes and pushed against the wall, disabling his Magic Light spell to make it almost impossible for the party to be noticed. "Open your eyes now." The party opened their eyes, adjusting quicker to the absence of light than if they had left their eyes open. It was nearly impossible to see anything, the group mostly relying on their hearing to perceive anything around. Focusing less on sight, many more things were noticed through listening: The dripping of water, the rattling of bones in the distance, and the moaning of ghastly beasts. The most prominent sound of course was the sloshing sound of the slimes as they drew closer and closer to the intersection. It was impossible to judge just how many slimes there were without being able to see them, and while it would serve as a great opportunity to test out their new plan of attack, this was a scouting expedition. If combat could be avoided, it should be.

Words: 578 | Total Words: 5396
Tags: @bornfromvelvet @kurosan Noctis Corvo
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Deleted]

Both Kuro and Noctis seemed to agree with the plan, although Noctis suggested that he take point so they could minimize the risk of Noctis hitting one of the party members. Kat nodded in agreement, remembering how much damage Noctis did to Dumah when he hit him. "I concur. We really don't want a repeat of what happened a bit ago."

With that last amendment to the plan, the group was ready to move on. Both Katarina and Noctis were back at full MP and Dumah had thankfully repaired his clothing. We can't have too much manservice, after all.

The party walked for quite a while, with surprisingly little opposition. Not that Kat was complaining, the less mobs the better in her eyes. Soon enough, the group found themselves at an intersection. There was four corridors; the one they just came from, and three others that the group had the option of going down. "Oh for God's sake, not this crap again..." Kat muttered to herself, memories of snow and tail molesting filling her mind. Here's hoping there isn't a jumping puzzle this time around (after all, they wouldn't be able to cheat here). Dumah suggested that the party stick together, a sentiment Kat agreed with. They only had four people here after all, splitting up into smaller groups would make no sense. The Swashbuckler walked to the centre of the room before using Mythic Script to draw an arrow pointing to the right, suggesting that they stick to the right wall. "Ah, the right hand rule. Truly, it can solve any maze." the Cleric mused to herself. Dumah placed his hand on the right wall and began to walk, Katarina and the others following close behind. So, they were taking the third corridor. Of course they were. After all, this dungeon didn't have enough similarities to the blasted Ice Labyrinth to begin with, they needed some more.

After a bit of following Dumah and his magical orb of light that had the oh-so-inventive name of "Magic Light", the party reached yet another intersection, this one with three paths. So, they had two corridors that they could go down now. Perfect. And, since they were following the right-hand wall, they would take the second corridor.

...Okay, this was just getting stupid now. Katarina was seriously wondering if Fenrir based his labyrinth on this place, because my God, the resemblance to the dream dungeon was uncanny.

Katarina paused as she heard a sloshing sound just ahead of her. Slimes. Fun. Dumah ordered the party to close their eyes and cling to the wall, the Spellsword hoping to avoid a confrontation. Kat closed her eyes as Dumah deactivated Magic Light. She just stood there, pressed up against the wall until Dumah told the group to open their eyes.

It probably wouldn't have mattered much if she had kept them shut, honestly; she couldn't see a thing. The party was completely silent, with no one daring to make any noise in case it attracted the slimes to them. As such, Katarina was able to hear things that she didn't even notice before. Dripping water, rattling bones, and- oh great, something was moaning in the background. Greeeat. That'll be fun. Kat was focusing her attention on the sloshing sound of the slimes above all else, listening to them as they approached the intersection. She really hoped that the slimes didn't notice the party. Sure, it'd be a great way to test out whether or not their plan works, but she really didn't want another fight.

[Word Count: 591
Tags: @dumah  @kurosan  Noctis Corvo
Notes: How-to-make-people-wait-and-then-disappoint-them-with-a-crappy-post-101? Yeah, sure, we'll go with that. That is now the official name of this post. Glory be to it.]

[Deleted]

Soon enough their MP-bars were filled and they went further into the dungeon. Only modification to their formation was: Noctis taking point, so there'd be less accidental friendly-fire.
So far, they did not have a chance to confirm how effective their new strategy and formation was, which was making Kuro a little nervous. (I'd rather test it out sooner on a smaller group of enemies than later on another "ambush" with the size of the last one. But... that isn't the purpose of this "trip". I guess that the waiting's making me a bit edgy)
The Assassin had his crossbow ready with {Anthropy Break} and {Death Stinger} already cast on the bolt, so he'd loose as little time as possible, when they do get in a fight. Kuro was keeping track of his friends, but also had been listening for any sign of enemy attack. He was kinda annoyed by the fact that their only way to see was Dumah's magic orb. He'd prefer something a lot more practical like night vision-spell or something, 'cause the orb was impractical as it did provided light in the immediate vicinity, but blinded one to objects further away (as any light source in dark), but since noone had that the Assassin had to satisfy with the orb.

After a while they got to intersection. Dumah decided to stick together and to use something called the "right-hand-rule". Although Kuro hadn't heard of that (since he wasn't that much into mazes) he immidietly understood how it worked. After a while they got to another intersection, but Kuro wasn't thinking much of that. He was focusing his attention towards the sounds: Water dripping, wierd moaning up ahead and something a lot closer. A sound of something squishy jumping around. (Enemies!) He wanted to warn his friends, but it seemed unnecessary as most of his companions already noticed it as well.
Dumah ordered them to cling to one of the walls and shut their eyes. Once they did he deactivated his Orb and then told them to open their eyes again. Although it didn't help a lot, it was still better then to just turn it off without warning in Kuro's opinion.

He thought of using some of his abbilities, but he realized that none of them were acctualy helpful here. (Oh my! Ain't this wonderful!? We sit here and wait untill they pass us while hoping that they'll not notice us. If they do notice us while they are passing us, they could easily sepparate us. Well I could use "Trinket Work" and they'd not attack me, while I would provide cover fire so we could regroup and try out our strategy.) After this thought he relaxed a little bit and waited for the slimes. (By what I can barely see and hear, I'd say there's at least 5 or more... we could beat that easily, but there is probably no need for that.) After few moments he could hear that at least one has now reached Dumah, but did not attack... yet.
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[Word count: 507
Tags: @bornfromvelvet @dumah Noctis Corvo
Note: --- ]

[Noctis Corvo]

Noctis was a little worried walking at point. He thought he would be fine, but still, he couldnt help but have a chill run down his spine as they ventured deeper and deeper into the ruins. It wasn't that he was afraid of the dark, he was actually fine with that, but the feeling of being exposed to whatever it was they would run into bothered him. What made it worse was how long it had been without another encounter, the blackened hallways stretching on without end. Coming to a crossway, the group decided to follow the right wall rule. Kane had no objections, and went along without a word. The glow of Dumah's magic orb gave him enough light to keep the map updated by, so he had little to say anyway as he focused on scribbling in his little notes and chicken-scratch drawings of the curving paths. 

It was the sound of the slimes echoing through the hallway that made him finally snap back to reality. He pressed himself along the wall as soon as dumah's light went out, waiting as the sloshing of the goo came, paused and passed on in their slow creeping fashion. As the wet slapping of goo faded back off into the distance, he scratched down another note to be weary of a group of patrolling slimes in this hallway.

Tags: @dumah @bornfromvelvet @kurosan

[Deleted]

The gelatinous patrol slowly sloshed its way through the corridor, eventually reaching the intersection at which the party was waiting. It was impossible to tell how many slimes there were, or even if they were separate gels or if they were already combined. It sounded as if the slimes had reached the party itself, nearly past them and onto the hallway opposite of the party's path. The moment was tense, the pitch black void having the same effect of suspense as silence in a dangerous area. Dumah felt against the wall with his left hand, rubbing the cracked and eroded stone slowly until he felt soft hairs at his finger tips. Given the height his hand was at, and the fact that the party was generally moving in its planned battle formation, the Spellsword figured this to be the young - and equally short - cleric of the group. He retracted his hand slightly, then lowered it and tapped at Katarina's shoulder twice, preparing her to expect something to come. Once he had gestured to the girl, he tapped in front of him with his right hand, hoping he would be able to see the user interface. Gratefully, he smiled contently as he saw it appear in the void, the only indication of where he was tapping being the silhouette of his right hand over the sub-menus and icons. He opened the Party menu, switching to Party Chat and holding his right hand to his ear, muting himself to all but the small scouting team.

It seemed that was what Dumah was trying to warn Katarina about: The sudden pinging noise of the party chat. When all else they could hear - aided with Hearing Aptitude - was the sounds of a disparity of undead creatures and environmental ambiance in the distance, a loud and sudden ping could be quite startling. Dumah opened his lips and began to speak. "Can you all hear me? I am speaking over party chat, so the monsters should not be able to hear me so long as my hand is held to my ear. I do hope the ping did not startle any of you." Dumah took his hand off of Katarina's shoulder, not even realizing it was still there. "I cannot see how many slimes are near us, but it does not matter. From the sound of it, they are nearly past us." As the party leader spoke, his words drowned out most of the distant sounds, leaving nothing in their ears but words and slimes. To anyone without Hearing Aptitude, there would barely be any difference from what was heard before the speech began. "I believe we should continue to use only party chat, at the very least until we are out of this labyrinth." The sloshing of slimes began to fade out, slowly coming to a silent, muted noise in the distance. "It sounds as if we are now alone." Dumah closed his eyes as he once again cast his Magic Light spell, opening them shortly after. "Let us continue on."

The party continued to walk along the right wall of the labyrinth, eventually finding a larger room that was lit by standing torches. It was nice to see some light that was not the party's for once, and Dumah relinquished his shining companion, able to see just fine now without it. They entered the room, coming into a large open space. Dumah looked around, turning his entire upper body a bit as he examined the room in its entirety. As he looked around, he found a note on a large stone block. The Spellsword took the folded piece of paper, unfolding it and patting any dust and dirt off of it.

The dungeon is quite the horrifying place. A veritable crypt of
Wights and other sorts of monsters of the undead. I found
One answer to the locked door leading deeper, and in hope of
Keeping my dream alive I must continue to brave the halls of this
Eery tomb. They say the dungeons are no place for People of The Land,
Yet those Adventurers prove to be quite the hypocrits. We do not
Seek any glory, nor fame, nor wealth. Only adventure. I too am one of them.

- Alex Heyerdahl -

"It is a note, seemingly a journal entry or a recording of sorts. Given that it is on top of this block, it was either left here on purpose for any adventurers who entered after this Alex fellow, or perhaps he left it by mistake after writing it on the stone." At that moment, Dumah realized what this room's puzzle was. He looked around, seeing many more similar cubes. It was a puzzle that any adventure gamer from the time of Dumah's childhood was very familiar with. "I cannot believe it..." He had not seen such a puzzle as this in many, many years. "We have to solve a block puzzle..."

Words: 818 | Total Words: 6214
Tags: @bornfromvelvet @kurosan Noctis Corvo
Coding by Sayha of LH

[Deleted]

It was an effort to keep her breathing calm and steady as Katarina heard the slimes sloshing through the corridor, the sounds getting closer and closer to the party. Alright, Kat would admit it. This was absolutely terrifying. She couldn't see a thing, she could only hear the slimes which really sounded like they had already reached the main group. They hadn't spotted them yet, but they were still way too close for comfort. 

Katarina tensed up as she felt something touch her, calming once she had realised it was human flesh touching her head and not some other monster. Considering the fact they were already more or less in their battle formation, she assumed the hand belonged to their guild master. Dumah retracted his hand from her head and quickly tapped her shoulder twice. Okaaaaaaay. She honestly had no idea what that meant. Katarina just sort of stared in Dumah's general direction, somewhat confused. His hand was still on the fox tail's shoulder throughout this; whether that was just him forgetting to move his hand or some other signal that Dumah did not inform her about beforehand, Kat had no bloody clue. 

After a while, Kat heard a sharp noise in her ear, startling her slightly. Dumah then began to speak, startling Katarina more. What was he...?

...Oh. Party Chat. Honestly, she had forgotten that option even existed, she never even used telepathy much really. All she really used was the standard messaging feature. Dumah removed his hand from Kat's shoulder, hoping that the sudden ping didn't startle anyone. Katarina opened her menu and made sure she was on party chat and thus muted to the rest of the world, before placing her hand on her ear. She paused, before sighing. "I was about to say you could've warned me, but that was probably what the shoulder taps were for, weren't they?" she asked. 'There were probably better ways to warn me. Y'know, ways that made sense.'

Thankfully, the slimes seemed to be leaving. That's always a good thing. Dumah suggested that the group keep using party chat until they made it out of the labyrinth; a suggestion that Katarina agreed with. Eventually, the sounds of sloshing began to fade, slowly going back to silence. The fox tail let out a small sigh of relief as Dumah recast Magic Light. The group decided to move on, continuing to follow the right wall.

They eventually came upon a large room, lit up by torches. 'Aw. Now I can't snark about the Ice Labyrinth.' she thought to herself, looking around the area. She noticed a few large stone blocks littered around the room, one of them with a note. Dumah read the contents out it the group, Katarina deciding to write up a copy just in case. And, since she could actually see now, she drew up a messy sketch of the room. Halfway through drawing it, Katarina paused, before sighing audibly. She knew what they were meant to do here. Dumah seemed to have come to the same conclusion Kat had; they had to solve a block puzzle. "Oh, joy."

[Word Count: 520
Tags: @dumah @kurosan Noctis Corvo ]

[Deleted]

 Kuro was nervous, he wouldn't lie about that. But he wasn't nervous that he might get found by the slimes, he trained his stealth every day and in his opinion, he was quite good at it. What he was nervous about were the others or more specifically: Kat. He didn't think that neither Corvo, nor Dumah would get nervous because of the slimes, they were far too pro for that in Kuro's eyes. Not that Kat would be a scaredy cat, but he would admit that the slimes took their sweet time to pass them and it was far too easy to make them know of the groups presence by a mistake.

When it seemed that most of the slimes were already past them, Kuro tensed up as he got startled by a loud pinging noise, after which he heard Dumah's voice. He realized quickly it was "party chat" and right after he reached that conclusion Dumah confirmed that thought. Katarina made a few remarks, that Dumah should give better warning next time. "You at least had SOME kind of warning, unlike me and Noctis." Dumah gave them a rundown of the situation and how they will proceed to use the party chat further on. "Understood"

After all the slimes passed them he saw Corvo writing something in his note. Kuro wandered if he ever put down his pen.
They continued to go through the maze and eventualy got to a large, lit up room. As far as Kuro saw, there weren't any enemies here, nor anything dangerous. There were several stone blocks around the room. He already saw the scibes furiously take notes and drawing maps. After examining the room they found a letter left presumably by some Person of the Land.
Suddenly he heard a loud sigh from Kat. He was about to ask what's wrong, when Dumah suddenly said that they have to solve a block puzzle, which seemed to bother Kat.
"A what?"
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[Word count: 327
Tags: @bornfromvelvet @dumah Noctis Corvo
Note: Sorry for the short post.]