Virtisa POV

The lizardkin woman was currently in the privacy of her tent, working with her herbs and mushrooms for various medicines. While she certainly did have a place in the longhouse with the others, this tent, which was now made with the material of two tents, served as her workspace as she prepared various curatives. Today, however, her private workspace was not as private as usual as she glanced over at the blue prowler cub lying on her workbench, which had been carved from half a log.

The blue cub, for her part, was intently sniffing at a particularly large, curved leaf with herbal pills neatly stacked inside of it before turning her attention over to the poultice sitting inside of a wooden mortar, a stained stone pestle still resting in the mortar itself.

Virtisa looked over to the cub once more, tilting her head as she gently thumbed a mushroom cap in her right hand. "So, little cub, why are you prowling after me?" She asked, flashing a small, fanged smile at her simple little joke before setting the mushroom cap down and leaning forward on her elbow as she looked down over the feline and poked the top of the blue cub's head.

The blue cub mrowled with surprise, not having been interacted with in such a way, as she rolled onto her side and looked up to the lizardkin herbalist before sniffing at the woman's scaled hands and nuzzling it gently.

Virtisa smiled some more, an authentic and genuine smile as she doted on the cub and massaged one of her ears before catching herself as she pulled away and touched her own face thoughtfully. "You're supposed to be a particularly intelligent breed of mana beast, right?" She pondered thoughtfully as she looked over the young prowler as she plucked up the mushroom cap. "Want to know how to use a crushed Zarin's crown with roasted Slussa berries to treat most plant-based skin rashes?"

At that, the blue cub's ears perk and twitch attentively, sitting up on the workbench while scooting closer to the lizardkin woman as her tail flicked and swayed behind her. The next few hours went by, the duo working somewhat quietly as Virtisa one-sidedly instructed and taught the cub many things about the local flora before they were suddenly interrupted. The cub's ears perked first as she looked at the tent entrance and mewed politely.

Noticing the lack of her new pupil's attention, she turns to look over before jumping with surprise at being face-to-face with the massive adult prowler. Though she caught herself, reminding herself that she was in no danger. "B-Basti, right? What brings you here?" She asked, a hand to her chest as she steadied her breathing.

It was in the next moment that Jack swooped in, landing on Basti's head as he spoke up. "You, you're the herbalist? Vitmori needs you." He spoke with a certain edge, his wings fluttering with nerves.

The lizardkin woman balks at that, glancing around at all the mana beasts surrounding her before speaking up. "M-me? Y-yeah, that's me… B-but… Why me?"

Jack let out a low whistle. "We've got casualties, and Vitmori needs a second opinion from a local about treating their injuries."

At the mere mention of wounded, Virtisa suddenly collected herself as she scooped up her canvas satchel and began grabbing various leaf wraps and wooden jugs from around the tent. "Well, what are we waiting for? Come on." She said firmly while stepping past Basti and Jack.

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Dread POV Cont.

"E-everyone! Get away from the water!" Dread called out as he drew his blade, quickly stepping back as the ooze lashed out. Dread narrowly dodged as the ooze slammed its tendril into the ground, the moss and mushrooms vanishing as the tendril retracted into the mass within the ooze spring. Dread couldn't help but hiss, the impact of the ooze splashing some of the substance onto him as it burned into his leg.

The Sinners take their positions, Sloth and Envy taking the back line while Wrath, Pride, Gluttony, and the others form a half circle around the faux spring while Frisby comes up beside Sloth.

Dread comes up beside Pride, the two sporting similar swords and shield stances as Dread calls out to the others. "Don't let it touch you, and be light on your feet!" He instructed, tendrils raising and swiping the air while everyone moved about. Though as soon as Dread called out, the ooze lashed out once more as it slammed against his shield, sending Dread stumbling back. He did his best to resist, channeling his mana from his body and into the shield to reinforce it, managing to keep himself from falling over. However, in doing this, the reactive nature of his shield reinforcement caused a bubble to form in the tendril as it suddenly burst. The ooze splashed out as it drenched Dread's entire shield and shoulder.

In the next instant, Pride was at Dread's side, using a similar technique to what Dread used to charge her blade with mana to swipe at the tendril. The ooze recoils and draws back into its mass, even as Dread's shield clatters to the ground with the rest of his arm. "Get off of him, scum!" She cries out, standing defensively before Dread while Wrath comes over, scooping up the knight and sliding him along the ground with the least amount of grace. Dread crashed against the far wall with a heavy grunt as he seethed through gritted teeth to process the fact his skin was still burning from the residual ooze.

Two more tendrils lash out, striking first at Pride; the woman is quick to react, deciding to deflect instead of outright blocking as she angled her shield, letting the tendril slide along the surface of her stone shield as it crashes into the ground and wipes it clean. The second tendril slithers across the room, trailing after Dread as it goes for him. "Oh no, you don't, ya bastard!" Gluttony cries out as she slides in, bringing both her mana-charged stone axes down into the tendril, severing them before ripping the floor apart and swiping the tendril back towards the mass of ooze. She didn't get away unscathed, though, the crude bluntness of her attack causing ooze to splash up and splatter against her face, her skin audibly sizzling as she shrieks out while her axes clatter to the ground while she clutches her face with both hands.

The ooze recoils at her cries, drawing back and recalling the bulk of its mass before rushing forward in a viscous geyser that polishes the stone between it and Gluttony before crashing into her chest and pulling her down as it quickly began dragging her towards its mass, all the while Gluttony is frantically grabbing at the slick slime stone to crawl free, her fingers burning and melting with each desperate flail.

"Gluttony!" Wrath bellowed out as she rushed over, dropping her weapon as she closed the distance before grabbing Gluttony by her arms and pulling; Wrath's feet slid across the stone floor from the sheer force of the ooze before suddenly the pressure gave out, and she is now holding the limp top half of Gluttony. The massive, stoic woman now looked like a deer in headlights as she slowly took a few steps back while cradling Gluttony close.

Lust was by Dread's side, lifting him by his shoulder and remaining arm as Dread called out with all the force he could muster. "R-retreat!" He gets out through gritted teeth as Lust rushes him towards the way they came.

But the ooze wasn't done yet, another tendril lashing out, snaking across the floor towards Dread again as Envy gets in the way and holds out their hands. "Freeze!" They command with as much authority as they could muster, the tendril glazing over with frost, slowing to a stop as Wrath barrels over with Gluttony still in her arms. But the ooze was persistent, even as Envy back peddled towards the way they came. "Freeze!" He cries out in desperation, exerting more of his mana as more tendrils branch out from the mass and the unaffected parts of the original ooze tendril while he ices up more and more as they close in on the group. That's when he slips up, the mix of ooze, blood, and guts in a trail behind him while the others retreat, causing him to lose his footing as he screams out.

The glops of ooze and blood burning into his flesh as he frantically attempts to collect himself, the tendrils of the ooze shattering free from the ice as they rear back before lunging for Envy where he fell.

The next moment he heard another voice cry out, "Flame Barrier!" A flash of crimson light blinded Envy for a moment as waves of heat pummeled him; the ooze not finding him, it recoiled from the roaring wall that appeared between it and Envy as Sloth came back for him, grabbing the thin-framed man and dragging him up the stairs. "Come on, Envy, I thought you said you could outpace me in every way? You can't go out until you make that a reality." She huffed, her concentration elsewhere as they began their ascent once more.