A small, green creature materialized from nowhere, about the size of a child but utterly alien in its features. Its skin was a verdant shade that seed to shift in the light, its pointed ears twitching as it noticed them, its large luminous eyes filled with an intelligence that made Elio pause.
"What is that?" Elio found himself moving forward, fascination overriding caution. Poison Stinger tugged at his spiritual form, trying to hold him back, but the pull of this new discovery was too strong.
The goblin (though Elio had no na for such a creature) raised its head to look at them. For a mont, it seed as curious about them as they were about it. Its head tilted, ears twitching, eyes widening slightly...
Then everything happened in an instant.
The creature moved with impossible speed, its seemingly innocent form transforming into sothing deadly. Before Elio could even register the movent, before he could even think to defend himself, he felt a sharp pain and then...
Darkness.
His eyes snapped open back in the familiar chamber, his physical body intact. Emberg and Poison Stinger materialized instantly at his side, their forms solidifying with an urgency that spoke volus.
Emberg was not happy.
The salamander's flas sparked and crackled with indignation as it launched into a silent but extrely expressive tirade. It pointed repeatedly at Elio's body, then acted out an exaggerated death scene, complete with dramatic fla effects.
Rising from its theatrical demise, it waved its arms in what could only be described as the universal gesture for "What were you thinking?!"
Poison Stinger, on the other hand, seed to be trying desperately not to laugh. Its pincers made soft clicking sounds that sohow perfectly conveyed suppressed amusent as it recreated the scene in miniature, exaggerating Elio's curious approach and the sudden attack with codic timing.
Elio checked his book: only 2 points of mana lost.
"I'm fine, really," he tried to reassure Emberg.
Poison Stinger scuttled over to the floating book and pointed at the single lost mana point for each of them with its pincer, then made a gesture that clearly said "All this drama over this?" Its crystalline form shimred with what could only be described as scorpion laughter.
"Well, at least we know we can try again," Elio smiled, earning another round of exasperated gestures from Emberg. The salamander flopped onto its back, one tiny fla arm draped across its forehead in the universal gesture of "Why do I even bother?"
Poison Stinger poked Emberg with a pincer, earning a small fla burst in retaliation. The scorpion quickly hid behind Elio, its form vibrating with silent laughter as Emberg chased it around, creating tiny fla explosions that the scorpion dramatically dodged.
"Alright, alright," Elio laughed, watching his companions' antics. "Let's think about this. That world... it was incredible. And now we know what to expect. Well, at least we know not to underestimate strange green creatures, right?"
Emberg stopped chasing Poison Stinger long enough to give Elio a look that clearly said "That should have been obvious from the start," before returning to its pursuit of the mischievous scorpion.
Looking at his book again, Elio's mind was already racing with possibilities. A whole new world to explore, and death was just a minor inconvenience.
♢♢♢♢
With an abundance of mana at his disposal, Elio approached the statue with new determination. The shopping spree that followed would have made any rchant's day: spiritual armor for both invocations, resistance potion, magical damage enhancent potion, temporary mana increase potion, and the transformation potion all made their way into his inventory.
Elio Von Elian's Emberg Form lvl 20
Mana: 2000/2000
Resistance: 2000(4000)
Attack: 0
Magic Damage: 200 (400)
Strength: 0
Defense: 200
Magic Defense: 200
Speed: 200
Perception / Agility: 2 AA
Spiritual Armor 100 / ((Defense 100) (Magic Defense 100)(Resistance(2,000/2,000))
Emberg, still sulking about their previous death but unable to resist the allure of new equipnt, preened as the spiritual armor materialized around its form. The flas danced through the ethereal protection, creating srizing patterns.
Poison Stinger clicked its pincers appreciatively as its own armor ford, the crystalline protection complenting its natural form.
Before preparing for their next attempt, Elio turned to Emberg. "Could you check the statue for anything else useful while we're gone?" The salamander saluted with exaggerated seriousness, then imdiately began scrolling through options with theatrical concentration.
This ti, when they erged into the alien world, they had a plan. Instead of standing around like a tourist, Elio imdiately took to the air, Poison Stinger following close behind. The familiar goblin materialized in the distance, but this ti they were ready.
Or so they thought.
The seemingly harmless creature proved to have a few tricks of its own. Rocks began flying through the air with frightening accuracy, forcing Elio and Poison Stinger into a series of increasingly desperate aerial maneuvers. They retaliated with their own attacks, balls of fire raining down from above while boron spikes sought their target.
The goblin dodged most of their initial assault with irritating ease, but they were learning. Elio decided to up the ante, activating the transformation potion. His spiritual form grew, flas intensifying as power coursed through him. The next fireball he launched was significantly larger, and this ti it found its mark.
Magic Damage: 800
The goblin staggered, actually showing damage for the first ti. Encouraged, they pressed their advantage. Two more hits followed in quick succession, each one landing with satisfying impact.
Victory seed within reach.
Then ca the mont of carelessness. Perhaps it was overconfidence from their successful hits, or maybe just a split second of distraction. Either way, neither of them saw the flying dagger until it was too late.
The last thing Elio registered was Poison Stinger's frantic clicking before darkness claid them once again.
They materialized back in the chamber, Emberg looking up with an expression that sohow managed to convey both "I told you so" and "at least you lasted longer this ti". Experience more on empire
Poison Stinger shook itself, armor still intact but pride sowhat dented. The scorpion recreated their death scene with its pincers, sohow making the flying dagger look simultaneously tragic and ridiculous.
Elio checked his book, another single point of mana gone for each but earlier used mana already recovered, but this ti they'd actually managed to deal so damage. Progress was progress, even if it ended with a dagger to the face.
Emberg showed them its findings from the statue's inventory.
"Nothing of use yet… Well," Elio said, already planning their next approach, "at least we know the attacks work, the armor is not enough..."
They'd learned more about their opponent's capabilities. Each attempt brought them closer to victory, even if the path there was paved with sowhat embarrassing deaths.
"One more ti?" Elio asked, though he was already moving toward the portal.
Poison Stinger clicked its pincers in agreent while Emberg made a show of writing its last will and testant. But they were getting better, and sooner or later, that goblin was going down.
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