a continuation of the chapter "Their Arrival To This World"
"Alright, let's start this off with the basics" Pomni said as she and the others were all sitting on the ground in a circle, after the cast woke up when the sun began to hit their face and they really disliked it, as they still felt some grogginess from sleep as they wondered if they had under slept or over slept. They turned to see that Kinger was in the same position they last saw him in but he was sleeping while sitting, there were also the bodies of some dead creatures around him, some weird mushrooms and scraps of... Plastic? Seems Kinger did well in keeping guard for the night, after doing a few morning stretches and Jax waking Kinger up by giving him a slap at the back of the head, everyone was joined to share information on the whole status magic thing as to better get a grasp on this new reality they were in as there could be some clues there, so after reading up everything they could on it, now was time to start sharing
"These weapons are magically glued to us, we can simply move them around our bodies but not get rid of them, throwing them away just causes them to reappear moments later" Pomni said as she lifted a clawed hand before plucking it off her hand and throwing it away as after a few seconds it reappeared in a white glow. All their weapons worked like this except Gangle's as she could actually seemingly summon additional copies of her weapon to throw but these copies didn't reappear and instead just vanished
"We can access this status Magic thing shows our physical capabilities and statistics, like health and attack" Zooble was the next one to explain the basics of the status system, whenever they opened it always was in this "overview" window that clarified their current stats
"We have levels, which when we get enough experience from monster slaying or performing certain tasks, we level up which improves some of our basic statistics" the amalgam added as the level mechanic was something they had a general notion on from some pass games they had played, so far they only gained experience from defeating monster with a alternative method being completing "Feats" which had no indication on what they were or how they were to achieving it but they would get a pop up notification when it happened, so far the only feat any of them had achieved had been the slay ten enemies by Kinger
"Let's see... We are all paired together in a single group/party, which means that we all share experience from kills and stuff but the person who performs the act is the one to receive a little more than the others" Gangle added as the group looked at the party members icons that were below their own health and level icon, having little caricatures of their heads, though one odd detail was that Ragatha's icon had a gold border around it and a crown above it
"Okay, stop, why is the dollface labelled as the Party leader? I didn't agree with that" Jax commented as that was Ragatha was labeled when he pressed her icon, never in a million years would he have agreed to someone make the ragdoll a leader to boss him around
"It is a bit weird, but I don't find it a reason to complain yet so let's move on" Zooble said and the others nodded as although it was a strange particularity it most likely came from how this system worked, perhaps it needed someone to be classified as leader for the sake of having one of them being the numerical first of the party list. Plus, it wasn't like any of them would necessarily step up to want to be the so-called leader, as long as it wasn't Jax, they all could be happy
"All of our weapons can absorb stuff to gain new forms from it, gaining new passive abilities and active skills. And if mastered they grant those bonuses permanently" Pomni added as it was seemingly the main function of their weapons as most systems involved around it, from the little testing they did, not everything granted a ability or skill but every new unlock did have stats attached to them so they had a reason to master the new unlocks
"Yes, but in the case of my shield, some powers are still exclusive to those weapon forms because they are related to specific counters, like the Pebbles shield counter" Ragatha said as her shield had counter skills that activated when something struck it, so far the only one she had was the pebbles shield that shot out small rocks when hit, causing one damage per pebble, mastering that shield didn't allow her to use that counter in any other shield she had like the grass shield so certain effects and abilities were tied to specific weapon forms
"We have an inventory to store stuff in, it seems they are separate so we can put stuff in there without worrying about a certain someone..." Pomni said as she glanced at Jax, the inventory feature was really useful as that meant they didn't have to carry around a lot of stuff in their person and didn't have to worry about it getting stolen, and they were thankful that they had their own pocket dimension that wasn't shared with all of them, because then Jax couldn't steal any stuff they put there
"We have a crafting menu that allows us to make items if we have the necessary materials. By the way, when is my new mask ready, Kinger?" Gangle asked, the crafting system allowed them to make anything they wanted as long as they had a recipe and materials for it, probably the second most important tool for their survival here, and in particular for Gangle, a way to replenish her comedy masks in case they break
"Here you go Gangle" Kinger said as he pulled out a mask from a light blue portal and passed it to Gangle who excitedly reached out to grab it but while she was so focused on finally getting to be happy again, she forgot who was sitting close to her
"Yonk!" Jax exclaimed as he picked the mask out of Kinger's hand and quickly absorbed it into his hammer as Gangle just let out a surprise gasp as she looked at him before looking down sadly sobbing
"Anyways... The tab for equipment just says what we are currently wearing, the party tab just showcases your teammates stats more clearly, inventory tab is just to see your full inventory" Pomni quickly explained some of the remaining functions
"Now the strengthening tab, says here there's a way to improve our bodies through "Muscle enhancement". The basic jist is that we perform physical actions to get muscle points to use to improve our physique, stamina and overall strength" Zooble said as they read the description of the method, they wondered if using this would make them get muscular since the method was named muscle enhancement. The images of a Kinger with bulging muscles striking a pose flashed in their mind for a second
"Wait, that's what says in yours?" Pomni asked for clarification as Zooble nodded as a yes, the jester quickly checked her own strengthening method only to find that it was different "Mine is different, it's called "Skill Mastery". The more a skill I use, its levels and abilities are improved, with the improvements including reducing the required SP, changing the effects of the skill, increasing its damage, or reducing cooldown time"
"We might have different strengthening methods because mine is different as well, is called "Enhanced Customization via Money." It consumes money to either enhance the user or cancel out a failure from another power-up method." Gangle explained as the other thought of the prospect, it made some sense considering their weapons were different but it was also strange that they utilized the same system but had different mechanics at place for strengthening themselves
"So micro transactions? Gosh I hope money will not be essential..." Pomni said as she doubted they could get money legitimately by working a job so they would have to steal to get any sort of pennies
"Uhm... Let me read it again, it's "Skill Power-up Points." It provides points for me to use as I level up. These points can be assigned to skills, in doing so the points are exchanged for increasing the Rank of the skill. Increasing the Rank of a skill makes the skill stronger, but can also add additional effects. The Rank system works on a scale of ten Ranks that range from 1 to 10, shown with Roman Numerals, but skills don't start at Rank 1 and need to be given points to reach said first Rank. When Skill points are distributed or reassigned, they can only be redistributed or reassigned again after a 24 hour waiting period" Kinger said as he read his status magic, it seemed similar to Pomni's method but it relied on leveling up while the jester's was all about usage of the skill, combining these two methods would ensure that their weapon skills would be absolutely powerful
"What about you Jax?" Ragatha asked as the attention turned to the rabbit, who just chuckled a bit while having his eyes half closed
"Nah, don't feel like telling, but it is different from yours" Jax said taunting, it was just like when they discussed what happens when they held their breath, he was holding information to make a mystery in a manner that didn't have a reason to be kept secret
"What about you Ragatha? Is yours different?" Gangle asked as Ragatha quickly went to check her on tab, only to find a surprise
"I'm... I don't know, all of the methods you four mentioned are here available to me, there's no unique strengthening method to the shield" Ragatha said as in her strengthening methods tab was the four methods the others had said while having nothing else exclusive to it, no inherited method to strengthen herself and the shield
"Wait hold up, you have four methods?" Zooble asked confusedly as Ragatha gave a affirmative nod, now they were really confused, their weapons had one method to themselves that was different from the others but Ragatha had them available for whatever reason, this system made no sense
"That's bullshit! I only have one! Why do you get to have more?!" Jax shouted at the ragdoll, why did the goodie two shoes had four ways of making herself stronger while he only had one? He couldn't accept that, because that would mean Ragatha of all people could become stronger than he
"I don't know! I have no idea how this legendary shield works!" Ragatha replied back, she didn't want everyone to hate her for a factor she didn't have control over, she didn't know why her weapon had the methods of the others and she didn't want jealous to be brewed because of it
"Legendary?" Everyone else asked confusedly
"Yes, it's classified as a legendary shield" Ragatha clarified as that was what the status magic described it as, labeling it as a weapon of legendary status and power
"My claws are classified as Vassal claws" Pomni said as she read the name of her weapon, it had the term vassal which meant something similar to servant, that had been a odd detail she had brushed over, assuming it meant that the weapon served her
"Same here" Gangle said as this brought intrigue to the group, until a notification appeared in their status screens, showing them a window with text
[There are two types of hero weapons, legendary and vassal. Legendary weapons are powerful and ancient manifestations of the world's spirit and a tier above the vassal weapons that were made of stardust, who have the purpose of assisting the legendary one, legendary weapons and their heroes are privy to some unique set of benefits but also restrictions that don't apply to vassal wielders]
"Again, bullshit" Jax said as he still found it unfair that he wasn't the one with the super duper weapon that apparently bosses the others around
"If it makes you feel any better, my attack is at one, my weapon places importance on defense so I miss out on attack, I hit as hard as a wet spaghetti noodle" Ragatha clarified as that seemed to be the "gimmick" of her weapon, no attack only defense, she was sort of fine with that but she would be lying if she said that it would be nice to pack a punch, but since she wasn't a battle thirsty lunatic or a fan of unnecessary aggression then she didn't feel as bothered as others would be. Plus she had a unique role to play as a defender for the others, she would be needed by them and that was good enough for her
"... Still, I'm not serving you" Jax said in huff as he crossed his arms and looked to the side, Ragatha rolled her eyes as she already expected that from him
"Uh Hum... Well I guess that's it for now, we can talk later after getting lunch, now that we need to eat" Ragatha suggested as it was a new annoyance they would have to deal with going forward, the thought of having to hunt their next meal was not a joyous one but unfortunately they couldn't go to the market get stuff from a butcher or stand, not just because of the lack of money but also these bodies they were unfortunately stuck with
"I'm going to stay here and wait with Kinger..." Gangle said as she wanted to wait for the chess piece to make her a new comedy mask but also so she could chill for a bit and read up on this status menu thing without the worry of looking out for prey
"And I will make sure Gangle doesn't get overwhelmed, we also need firewood" Zooble said as they pointed to the campfire with their eyes, Ragatha nodded as Gangle and Kinger weren't the best duo to leave alone without supervision, especially now that there was real danger lurking and no Caine to fall back to
"I guess me, Pomni and Jax are hunting then" the ragdoll said as she motioned the other two to follow her, Pomni did so a bit reluctantly and Jax just rolled his eyes as he let out a annoyed grunt, he looked at the other group, if it wasn't for Zooble being there he would stay to torment the crybaby and the nut job but unfortunately the amalgam of colored parts had a bad habit of not taking any of his crap and fighting back. And now that they had a axe he wasn't going to risk it, so he reluctantly followed behind the doll
The trio of animal, doll and jester walked the woods looking for prey, they hoped to find more of those rabbits of yesterday as they knew those were edible, those mushrooms monsters they found in the morning around Kinger were a option but none of them were betting on eating strange, possibly poisonous mushrooms so hunting food it would be. But while Ragatha was on the look out and the Jax was staring in the sky unamused, Pomni was going through her status window to check everything it had
'No log out or exit option' she noted mentally as she had gone through all of it and did not find an option to "leave this game" as she had hoped that it would be a different case from like in the circus and she could escape the digital realm. But oh well, she already found solace in being trapped before what would be a second time? Right now she had to understand the logistics of this magical system to take advantage and not get caught off guard when-
"Hello? Earth to pipsqueak? You in the clouds or something?" Jax asked as he gave Pomni three hits in the noggin one after the other as if he was knocking on a door, the jester stopped for a moment as she passed her hands on her head, before looking up at the purple menace with an angry pout
"I'm just checking my status magic, it's so strange to have Monster as my race" Pomni said as she observed the scene, she was never really the type to play RPGs where this type of screens were common, only once in a friend's house and that was a memory she barely remembered, but from what she recalled class and race played a role in it and that seemed to be the case her
"Right, I guess clowns and jesters are monstrous freaks of nature" Jax commented as a joke though honestly speaking he didn't doubt the possibility of a race composed of people with the sole purpose of being made fun of to exist here, he saw weirder stuff
"My race is not clown, it is rubber homunculus" Pomni said as part of her was glad that she wasn't actually classified as some sort of clown creature, though she didn't particularly like being any race but human, and being basically a fake human didn't help
"The fuck is that?" Jax asked as he never heard such a stupid sounding word before as Ragatha looked back at them, just as curious on the matter
"From the description, an artificial human created through magic, made of stretchy and plastic material, which explains my skin feeling so weird" Pomni said as she passed a finger to her cheek, even though she couldn't feel its texture because of her gloves, she could tell from the way it moved that it wasn't normal skin, specially by the sound it made being so squeaky and inorganic "I'm immune to electric damage and can squash and stretch, though it doesn't say how much"
"Let's test it!" Jax said as he stepped on Pomni's foot as hard as he could to get her to scream, once her mouth was open though he quickly went and grabbed her tongue and pulled as far as he could to see the thing stretch a good bit, he left go as the thing returned back to the jester girl in a quick snap that hurt the inside of her mouth
"Ouch..." Pomni mustered as she felt her tongue hurt, smacking it inside her mouth after the initial pain went away. Jax chuckled for a moment before getting a slap in the back of the head by Ragatha who looked at him disapprovingly, he didn't care one bit for that
"Haha, seems like you still have some circus shenanigans in you pom's" Jax said as he turned to walk around the doll as the jester sent him a dangerous glare, tempted to use her claws at him
"What about you? What the heck are you fuck face?" Pomni asked the rabbit, she still anticipated hearing the censor sound effects when she swears, but it never came and that was throwing her off, wondering if she would have to get used to swearing again
"I'm some type of Jack-hare rabbitoid whatever that means. All the advantages of a rabbit with all the advantages of a human" Jax said, to be honest he read the status system just as intensely as the jester but he was less obvious about it, his race bonuses were not that extraordinary but they would do him just fine, extra agility and sharper senses were always welcomed
"So you jump good and hear good?" Pomni asked both mockingly and genuinely curious if it was just that, it would be weird for Jax of all people to have the most tame and normal body out of them
"Pretty much, what about your dollface? What secrets does your weird body hold" Jax said as his hands loomed over Ragatha, who just pushed him aside as she looked at her feet and scratched her arm
"... It says I'm pretty much immortal" Ragatha said in a pretty neutral tone of voice all things considered as she looked back at the two to see the wide eye stare they were giving her as the pupils of the jester and rabbit shrank as they took in the information in astonishment
"Not literally! I can die but I can heal myself by simply sewing myself back together and eating cloth and cotton because I'm made of magic thread! As long as I still have a good chunk of myself left and my internal organs I can come back" Ragatha clarified anxiously, she had organs and stuff still but from what the description of the status system said, she could technically survive as just a heart, but to consider the fact she could still die by drowning or from burning alive made her have a good grasp that she was more of a healing differently type of immortality and not true immortality "I am particularly weak to cuts too"
"I guess you don't have a conventional living body made of flesh and stuff so that makes sense, still is kind of freaky" Pomni said as she poked at Ragatha's body curiously, not realizing how intrusive she was being by poking without permission
"We all are kind of freaky, that's our charm" Jax said and unfortunately they had to agree, they were all the same, freaky colorful boat for better and worse
"Can we get back to hunting?" Ragatha said as she walked ahead, trying to get back to their objective as the other two shrugged, they continued their search as they began to spread out a little bit to look for something
Jax was unenthusiastic about the whole search thing until a loud snorting that sounded like a whine caught his attention, he pushed to side a bush to see in the distance a wild boar, though it was much bigger than he expected as it was almost the size of a whole person, it's hide was also a bit of a red color and their eyes were yellow which wasn't normal for animals like swines to have, not to mention the fact it had two tails instead of simply one
However it wasn't just that, as there were three people around the animal, male humans dressed in some leather garments and with some weapons like knives and axes, if Jax had to guess he would say they looked like stereotypical bandits or hunters from fantasy films and games. Though for Jax at the moment, the three were just losers that got him free dinner and the subjects of a little experiment he had in mind, he gripped his hammer as he changed its form into one made of stone for the plus one damage bonus when equipped as he was about to find out if killing people also gave exp and if it wasn't just limited to monsters
"So, you think this is a good haul? You know Rubrett can eat this all on his own and still ask for more" one the men said as they tied some rope to the boar's leg to help them drag it. The lilac rabbit grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it at a tree as it made a sound that attracted the attention of the three men
"What was that?" One of them asked as they looked at the direction the sound came from, only to hear quick footsteps from behind, as one of the guys was struck in the back by a swing of Jax's hammer, sending him falling into one of his companions
"Huh?! What are you--" the bandit stopped as he narrowly avoided a swing from Jax as the rabbit began trying to bash his skull, the guy tried to fight back by picking out the knife he carried and tried to look for an opening, Jax mixed things up with a swing low to the ground as he used his hammer to trip the guy up, using the brief moment he was stunned on the ground to slam his chest with the vassal hammer
"Thanks for the meal ticket" Jax said as he heard shuffling from behind him as the two other guys got back up, he turned to face them but felt a sting of pain in his arm, seeing that cut he got from that arrow was the reason, he dismissed it as that couldn't bother him now in a fight. The two guys came at him together at once as Jax's eyes widened as he took a few steps back to avoid them, swing his hammer to try and counter them but fighting two opponents at once was a bit of struggle for him at the moment
He really wished any of the stuff he had absorbed into the hammer by now had given him an actual combat skill instead of minor stat increases or abilities useful out of combat. He was able to strike a lucky blow at one of the guy's ribs as that momentarily distracted him as he tried to deal with the other guy and his axe, he dodged an overhead strike that briefly got the guy's weapon stuck to the ground as he used the opportunity to give him a kick to the face
"Can you guys give up already and die--" Jax began saying before feeling something cold poking him through his flesh as he was grabbed by the neck from behind, he felt three quick stabs to the waist as he turned his head around to see the guy he had knocked down holding him at a choke hold and stabbing his knife into him, before releasing him by kicking him in the back as he fell to the ground, slowly placing a hand on the wound he just got before bringing a gloved hand covered in blood to his face to see, as the cold feeling of pain hit him
"AAAAAAAHHHH!!" Jax let out a scream in instinct, fuck did this hurt, in a way Caine's adventures never made him feel, pain was quick and softened in the circus compared to this, it hurt for real. The scream alerted Pomni and Ragatha of his location as the two came running to see what was going on
"Jax? What are you--" Pomni quickly stopped as she saw the lilac purple in the distance, on the floor as three men loomed over him, she was about to go running towards him before she was grabbed and had her mouth covered by a familiar lyon material, looking up to see Ragatha with a worried expression as she made a shush with her finger as she and the jester stared at the scene and tried to hear what was going on
"Fucking Demi... Attacking out of the blue like that!" One of the guys said as he kicked Jax in the open wound in his waist, causing a pained groan to come from him as he rolled in the floor
"What is he exactly? Looks like a rabbit but a really messed up one" one of them said as they observed Jax, he had an appearance unlike any he had seen before, beastman rabbits didn't look so... Sickly and misshapen, neither did they have teeth and eyes this big along with such thin limbs
"Should we gut his insides out?" Another suggested as he had a hand to his stomach, still feeling some of that strike Jax dealt them, the mention of such violent suggestions made Pomni and Ragatha gasp softly in shock as they watched.
"Mhmm... Nah, let's bring him back to the hideout, Bourus can decide what to do with this freak" one of the thugs said as it would be best to let their leader make the choice of what to do with such a weird looking demi-human, maybe he would be worth something in the slave market.
"Right, then let me just grab his hammer and... Huh? The hell? Thing is glued on him!" One of the men said as he tried pulling it as hard as he could but the thing didn't budge, and it only served to hurt Jax even more as he felt like the guy was going to rip his arm off
"Do you think it's some enchantment... or curse?" One of the guys asked as he looked at the weapon, it didn't seem like anything extraordinary, in fact it seemed like a rock on a stick, so it definitely wasn't enchanted, but why would someone bother cursing a shitty looking hammer either?
"Man this guy is just so weird, tie him and bring him in" one of them said as using some spar rope, they tied Jax's arms and legs so he couldn't move, being met with pathetic attempts of resistance as Jax tried to fight it but the blood he was losing and the growing anxiety he was feeling made his mind blurry and his limbs go soft, they dragged him by his hammer as they also brought along the dead hog. All the while Pomni and Ragatha watched until finally Pomni broke out of Ragatha's grasp
"Ragatha, we have to do something! They are taking Jax!" Pomni said as although she really disliked the guy, she couldn't just let them take him while having the chance of him being killed. Plus, she worried if he would try to sell them out for those men in exchange for his own life
Ragatha tried to say something but the words were stuck in her mouth, she wondered what had stopped her from jumping in the scene together with Pomni to help him sooner, was it a logical decision but one that felt disgusting to her, why didn't she move? Was it because it was Jax? Or would she have done anything if it was Gangle? Kinger? Pomni? She is supposed to be these people's protector and yet here she was being a coward...
"I-- I -- we... I don't think the two of us can beat them, let's follow them to their hideout then get the others" Ragatha said as she looked at her sides ashamed, Pomni would speak up but closed her mouth before a word came out, it was the most logical decision to make, it made the most sense, to trail them to find their base and then regroup before any rescue operation could be done
And yet it felt so wrong
Gangle sat on a log as they held a hand up, looking at it intently as they made a grunt while squinting their pitch black eyes, concentrating hard on the image in their head as they focused on her arm, she could see it shifting slightly as it began to curl on itself in a spiral cone. She wanted to keep going, at least make a palm but she let go of her concentration as she gasped for air from the effort, her ribbon hand returning to normal as she sighed
"What are you doing?" A voice called out as Gangle looked back to see Zooble approaching with more wooden sticks in their arms, having returned from gathering fuel for the campfire
"It said in the status magic that since I'm a ribbon creature, I can control the shape of my ribbons so I was just..." Gangle responded a bit sheepishly before stopping as she looked away to the ground. The colorful mix and match creature laid the sticks down close to the pile for the fire as they looked at Gangle
"Trying to make a more normal, human hand?" Zooble said as the bundle of ribbons looked at them and gave a weak affirmative nod as the amalgam sat down close to her
"What about you? If you don't mind me asking, that is?" Gangle asked as Zooble had their own unique body that was sure to have its traits, she already knew one that was shared with Kinger as both could just place food where their mouth would be and the thing would start to dissolve or perhaps be absorbed into them, but she wanted to know if Zooble got anything new from this new world and its system
"I'm an amalgam, due to being connected to this axe, I can apparently replace body parts with whatever I put inside of it on command" Zooble said as they lifted a foot and concentrated for a bit as the appendage glowed for a second to reveal that instead of plastic duck like feet, they now had a rabbit foot with actual fur "See?"
"Wow, that's great Zooble much better than me..." Gangle said, weak smile on her face and water droplets in her eyes as she thought how amazing that was, Zooble made it look so easy while she was struggling for minutes to even make it move and turn
"Not that good, I'm limited to only one part from a creature or material, so I can't have two rabbit feet at once" Zooble expressed their one major grimace with this power, as just like Caine's stupid box of parts, they didn't have matching pieces so they had to always compromise with having to mix and match pieces together for a luke warm result that didn't satisfied them, so if they had some really powerful part like a gorilla arm, they could only use one arm instead of the two, wings? Better hope a bug's wing and a bird's one matched enough to achieve flight. They were doomed to just be a bundle of strange parts
"... You aren't thinking of killing a person aren't you?" Gangle asked out of the blue as the question shocked Zooble, but it did get them thinking of what would happen if they did kill and absorb a person into the axe, would they just assume that person's body or would it create an equivalent for them? And if so... How would they look? Would they be boy or girl? Dark skinned or light? Muscular, average or Fat? So many questions about their possible look
"Yes, no, I mean... I don't know. What would be the point if I can only have one human body part?" Zooble said as there was no point in if they can only have one semblance of humanity instead of the whole deal
"We could see your face, I'm sure it would be pretty" Gangle said as she placed a hand to Zooble's lap, the amalgam looked at the ribbon girl who immediately noticed how that sounded and wanted to kill herself with her own weapon from the embarrassment, in fact she might as well do it as she prepared to transform her weapon into a throwing knife she was going to pierce her face with
"Thanks Gangle, though tone down on the corniness will ya" Zooble replied with a giggle as Gangle decided to spare her suicide for another occasion, at least Zooble wouldn't tell anyone about this embarrassment, and certainly wouldn't blackmail her like Jax would
"Ah! Invaders!" Kinger screamed as his eyes shot up in a panic, he looked around until his gaze landed on the pair of oddities "Oh hey guys, you won't believe the dream I had!"
"What was it?" Gangle asked mildly curious on what wacky situation the chess piece dream up this time
"... I forgot, it must have been a bad one" Kinger said as he scratched the side of his head as they heard approaching footsteps. Looking at the source they saw Pomni and Ragatha were back and looked absolutely terrified, and Jax's was nowhere to be found
"We have a problem!"
-Non Canon Short -
Meanwhile
"... Hey guys?" Pomni said as she and the rest sat close to a campfire, wanting to get something out of her mind
"Yes Pomni?" Ragatha said as she looked at the jester
"If we are here do you guys think that the others are here as well?" Pomni asked the question that had been on her mind for the past few days as the other took some time to think
"The others? Like Caine and the NPCs?" Zooble said wanting clarification, although they would more than be okay, happy even, if that wasn't the case. They honestly didn't want to see Caine ever again
"No, I mean the other players, the ones that are abstracted" Pomni explained as the rest went eyes wide, they hadn't thought of that, if whatever happened to the circus had sent them here, then it would stand to reason that the other players would have been sent here as well. Kinger in particular seemed to have gotten extremely laser focused as he stared into the distance horizon thinking about the possibility of seeing his wife again
"Ah... I don't know, maybe? Probably not, considering they would have been by our side when we woke up" Kinger said with a slight sigh, the rest felt bad for him but knew he was probably right
Meanwhile in Faubley, a group of pitch black monsters with a plentitude of multicolored eyes that glowed were wrecking havock among one of the districts, tearing down walls and buildings alike as they smacked people hard enough to kill them, and the ones that didn't die from the initial hit were then subject to horrible torture as their bodies started to glitch and fold upon itself in an unholy manner as the local knights and adventurers tried to fight them off from a distance as a group of mages prepared a judgement level spell in the hopes of wiping them off the face of the earth
[Author's notes]
The start of Jax's "incident"
Some more in depth look in their bodies abilities, it doesn't look much now but that's because they are still in their starter forms
Jax lost due to being level 1 with no skills to assist in the fight, being a 3 on 1 also didn't help