>>1119547
>“Eh, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Rhapsodic will probably just get someone to replace me.”

Yeah, treating magical girls as disposable is about the best you can hope for in QB behavior. You're never to go anywhere near one if you can help it and never, EVER make any sort of pact or deal with one of them. You hear me, Silv?

Also, identify the marble.

>>1119550
>A little over one, why?
don't fight it, she means well.

Though now that are party has grown again and so soon, I think we need to bump up expanding the island and shelter again on our priority list. Guess we could ask the rest of the people here what they would like to see added and work from there. And I guess a supple check to see what we have to work with and what we would still need to grab.

Identify the marble!!

Also, look out, Mel!!!!!

>>1119550
Galena, Mel is an adult, she doesn't need help bathing. Probably.

Also yes sorry about the island, it takes runes to expand it and proper building materials are hard to transport.

>>1119547
We... don't have a good rapport with magical patrons.

The corporate ones are somehow less exploitative. Which says something.

>>1119550
Mel something NC-17 is about to happen.

now that we have more people maybe we can build a boat.

relaxing in the hot spring is a good time to discuss plans. Island expansion or further exploration

>>1119561
Probably making plans to deal with that laser guardian in the desert land, while Gal fixes Mel being stinky. By which I mean experimenting with spellcrafting to figure out something to counter it!

Is there a comprehensive inventory of our runes and which runes we've discovered?

>>1119550
Magical girls are used to enchanted forces shedding their clothing for them due to their transformations.
Nevertheless, mel should brace herself.
>>1119554
Oh yes.
Identify time.

If we can figure out how to use that monster marble, maybe we can combine it with the broken AI core we got from W34V3R and create something that can guard the island while we're away. Or not.

This is probably also a good time to try to work out a spell for telepathic communication. Frozlynn targeted Silv back there because she was relaying our suggestions to Mel out loud; we need a way to communicate amongst ourselves that doesn't draw attention.

>>1119561

Seems to me that 1) the main threat in the frozen city has been eliminated, and 2) since it was frozen, there might be perishable food there that's still good; so we might want to use some of our time to pick over it more thoroughly for usable resources.

Well, first thing's first we should check out that fulgurite. It's a crystal, so if polished it should be able to reflect the tech Runeling's laser.

>>1119562
https://questden.org/wiki/From_Nothing_Runes

>>1119987
Gracias.

Looking at these, I want to try combining Beast and Static, hopefully to create Mind (neurons use electricity).

I also want to experiment with this spell:

Core of Climate to influence the weather.
Cycle to alter Climate by shifting the seasons.
Life to associate the spell with life and plenty.

Normally, a spell to alter the weather would either be too large to feasibly cast or affect a small, temporary area, but if you cast with the help of the Nexus, perhaps you can personalize our island's climate to make it more temperate and suitable for living in.

1/5 Silv 2026/01/18(Sun)15:48 No. 1120135 ID: 091137
File 176878010413.png - (149.92KB , 900x750 , 011726_FromNothing2_119_Five_Seconds.png )

Suddenly everything is a blur.

“WHAT THE FU-”
SPLASH

“Master Silv, it’s time for your bath as well.”
“Wha…?”
SPLASH

2/5 Silv 2026/01/18(Sun)15:48 No. 1120136 ID: 091137
File 176878013214.png - (291.26KB , 900x750 , 011726_FromNothing2_120_Steamy.png )

“You have lovely hair Mel. It’s a shame you’ve been unable to properly maintain it for so long.”

“It’s nothing that great… Could have done this myself…” she pouts as Galena combs her hair.

“Galena surprised me too… She’s very fast!”

“Yeah, no kidding… Maids are scary.”

>Yeah, treating magical girls as disposable is about the best you can hope for in QB behavior. You're never to go anywhere near one if you can help it and never, EVER make any sort of pact or deal with one of them. You hear me, Silv?
>We... don't have a good rapport with magical patrons.The corporate ones are somehow less exploitative. Which says something.
“Tetsi says that magical girls being disposable is the best thing you can hope for in a QB. They also tell me not to ever make a deal with one.”

“Not sure what they mean by ‘QB’, but Rhapsodic was a pretty good mascot, just a bit naggy; But I definitely agree with the ‘don’t make a deal’ part. I got stuck with a girly transformation…”

>Magical girls are used to enchanted forces shedding their clothing for them due to their transformations.
Silv relays this to Mel, who blushes. Galena tilts her head.
“THAT IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, AND UNRELATED!”

3/5 Silv 2026/01/18(Sun)15:49 No. 1120138 ID: 091137
File 176878016220.png - (260.90KB , 900x750 , 011726_FromNothing2_121_.png )

>Identify the marble!
“Mel, Tetsi wants to use Identify on the monster marble. Can they?”

“Yeah, go ahead. It's in my hoodie.”

Galena rummages through Mels clothes, and pulls out the marble for you.

Monster Marble

Condensed enmity, potential, and magic. The essence of a Skeptic is faint.
Primary Runic Affinify: Unknown. Secondary Affinities: Beast, Ice.

“Tetsi doesn’t know what its primary rune affinity is. They know its secondary ones are Beast and Ice though. That would be Frozlynn, right?”

Mel scratches her head for a moment.
“Maaaaybe? I don’t really know how they work, only that the witch would use them, and sometimes revive old Skeptiks I beat.”
“And I swear if that stick tries to do something to it without my permission…!”

4/5 Silv 2026/01/18(Sun)15:50 No. 1120139 ID: 091137
File 176878020431.png - (393.00KB , 900x750 , 011826_FromNothing2_122_Youre_In_Danger.png )

>Though now that are party has grown again and so soon, I think we need to bump up expanding the island and shelter again on our priority list. Guess we could ask the rest of the people here what they would like to see added and work from there. And I guess a supple check to see what we have to work with and what we would still need to grab.
>Also yes sorry about the island, it takes runes to expand it and proper building materials are hard to transport.
>Probably making plans to deal with that laser guardian in the desert land, while Gal fixes Mel being stinky. By which I mean experimenting with spellcrafting to figure out something to counter it!
>Seems to me that 1) the main threat in the frozen city has been eliminated, and 2) since it was frozen, there might be perishable food there that's still good; so we might want to use some of our time to pick over it more thoroughly for usable resources.
“Tetsi says we need to make the island bigger and get some better shelter, and decide what to do next.”

“Yeah, it’s… uhhh… not very impressive here. Small and kinda empty.”

“It indeed isn’t proper accommodations for you Master Silv.”

“We can take a bunch of stuff where I was. Food and other stuff, no one's gonna miss it. I don't know anything about actually building a house though.”

“Having the materials to start with should be good enough. Starting ‘tomorrow’, the surrounding islands will drift away in roughly 2-3 days by my estimates. Plenty of time to collect resources and potentially confront the Runeling.”

“Runeling?”

“Theres a monster that fires lasers where we found Galena!”

“Oh.”

>now that we have more people maybe we can build a boat.
“Tetsi also wants to make a boat…?”

“I have no idea how to build a boat.”

“While I do not know how to construct a functional vessel, I can assure you we do not currently have the means of constructing one.”

Mel sighs and lays back. She suddenly looks very annoyed.
“Just something else to take care of…!”

5/5 Silv 2026/01/18(Sun)15:50 No. 1120141 ID: 091137
File 176878025679.png - (389.83KB , 900x750 , 011826_FromNothing2_123_Peeper.png )

“Stop peeping, you damn stick!”

BONK!
You have learned Mel’s phone number.

Ow ow ow owwwwwww!!!

>Stop peeping, you damn stick!

What are you talking about? I'm a stick what is there even for me to look? You know what never mind just put me on speaker phone so we can still plan
-call Mel's phone-
hope that works.

But I do have a question since it seems no one here has any idea how to build things. Mel, Galena, do either of you know where we could find a library or some other build housing information for us to look at when we go on a supply run? Might find a few books which could help us out in the future... as well as just something to read to kill time on slower days.

>>1120141
I mean, fair enough.

I suppose we can just slowly topple over and put our "eye" behind that rock there.

Call Mel's phone so we can complain.
"What kind of magical girl are you? You're supposed to sit such that the water and steam tastefully hide all your delicate bits from the audience's point of view!"

Anyways yes we should raid the city for media, both for knowledge and entertainment. might want to pick up some board games too. The nights are long here

>>1120162
Would that even work? Our sight doesn't seem to be eye-based. Hell, we even see our own eye from a third person POV.

>>1120141

We are an eye. We cannot avoid "peeping" even if we want to. We also cannot do anything to act on what we see, so calm yourself.

>>1120143

Agree on looking for books. We've encountered multiple different islands from multiple different civilizations and we'll be doing ourselves a disservice if we don't start amalgamating their knowledge; especially if we're planning to rebuild anything.

>>1120138

The monster marble will be most useful as a specimen for study. With what we're seeing in it I don't think reviving Frozlynn as is would be a good idea, but we might be able to find some way to reprogram it or extract the energy from it to power something else.

Or maybe we could just feed it to a voidling, if all else fails.

>Stop Peeping
No.

Silv, ask Mel if she wants a bigger chest; magic lets you do wonderful stuff.

>You have learned Mel's phone number
Hey don't break your phone! It's got all those information gathering apps we're going to need if we want to preserve technology for the future! Oh, and your magical girl transformation app, that's also pretty useful.

>>1120141
Neat.
We can text her.
Or sign her up for marketting lists.
Ow!

Lady, we are an eye on a stick.
peeping is our default state.

Besides, your jiggly, chonky, wobbly bits arent as pretty as your wand.
She's hawt.

>>1120141
Fine, fine. Humor her and drape her hoodie over our eye, or something. I don't think we can close it.

Anyways, I'm guessing the unknown rune attached to the monster marble has something to do with the core function of these Skeptiks, while the secondaries determined her type and elemental affinities. Three runes in combination is a bit like a spell, so perhaps Skeptiks are like spells given a living form? Spell-based Homunculi?

>>1120225
>Besides, your jiggly, chonky, wobbly bits arent as pretty as your wand.
>She's hawt.
Or her pipe. Say, what happened to her pipe? Last time we saw Mel dropped it after hitting Frozlynn's ice wall. They better not have abandoned Pipe-chan back there, so help me we're making them go back if we have to

>>1120204
>steam censorship
Heh, yeah Silv does a better job of that than Mel for some reason.

>>1120233
Her pipe is also a magical girl.
I think.
Id swear she changed into the wand.

1/3 Silv 2026/02/10(Tue)14:14 No. 1120946 ID: 091137
File 177076165506.png - (148.80KB , 900x750 , 021026_FromNothing2_124_SpamCall.png )

>Call Mel’s phone.
As the phone falls to the ground, it starts chiming.
Click!
>”Ow!”
A chorus of overlapping voices emerge from the phone.

“Tetsi??”
“What the hell?! How’re you talking through my phone?!”
>”Hey don't break your phone! It's got all those information gathering apps we're going to need if we want to preserve technology for the future! Oh, and your magical girl transformation app, that's also pretty useful.”
The chorus speaks again, but with one voice more noticeable than the others.

“I wouldn’t have to if you stop peeping!”
>”What are you talking about? I'm a stick what is there even for me to look?”
>”I mean, fair enough. I suppose we can just slowly topple over and put our "eye" behind that rock there.”
>”Would that even work? Our sight doesn't seem to be eye-based. Hell, we even see our own eye from a third person POV.”
>”We are an eye. We cannot avoid "peeping" even if we want to.”
>”Lady, we are an eye on a stick. Peeping is our default state. Besides, your jiggly, chonky, wobbly bits arent as pretty as your wand.”
>”Fine, fine. Humor her and drape her hoodie over our eye, or something. I don't think we can close it.”
The chorus of interchanging voices continues, and Mel is visibly embarrassed.

2/3 Silv 2026/02/10(Tue)14:14 No. 1120947 ID: 091137
File 177076169036.png - (403.20KB , 900x750 , 021026_FromNothing2_125_Blinded.png )

“GALENA BLIND THAT DUMB STICK!!”
In less than a second, Galena appears beside you, and covers your eye with Mel's jacket.
Turns out, you CAN be blindfolded.

“They’re not allowed to be uncovered as long as I’m bathing, got it?!”

“Understood. Master Tetsi isn’t allowed to view you bathing.”

“Is it that big of a deal…?”

“Silv, you’ll understand when you’re older that it IS A BIG DEAL!”

>”Say, what happened to her pipe?”
>”Her pipe is also a magical girl. I think. Id swear she changed into the wand.”
“My phone is the wand…! Whatever, as long as you’re blinded, let's get back to the main topic?”

>”I do have a question since it seems no one here has any idea how to build things. Mel, Galena, do either of you know where we could find a library or some other build housing information for us to look at when we go on a supply run? Might find a few books which could help us out in the future... as well as just something to read to kill time on slower days.”
>”Anyways yes we should raid the city for media, both for knowledge and entertainment. might want to pick up some board games too. The nights are long here.”
“I have previously collected some technical documents and records, but I doubt they will be very useful to us at present.”

“Well with someone as strong as Galena, we can move over a bunch of stuff rather easily. A few places I wanna loot. You can stay here and rest when we do that, Silv, you’ve been through a lot.”

“But I wanna help!”

“Mel has a point. You have been very active Master Silv, a rest for yourself wouldn’t be terrible.”

>”The monster marble will be most useful as a specimen for study. With what we're seeing in it I don't think reviving Frozlynn as is would be a good idea, but we might be able to find some way to reprogram it or extract the energy from it to power something else. Or maybe we could just feed it to a voidling, if all else fails.”
>”Anyways, I'm guessing the unknown rune attached to the monster marble has something to do with the core function of these Skeptiks, while the secondaries determined her type and elemental affinities. Three runes in combination is a bit like a spell, so perhaps Skeptiks are like spells given a living form? Spell-based Homunculi?”
“The marble is mine, so I’ll figure out what to do with it later, but we are NOT feeding it to a voidling, that is a bad idea!”

3/3 Silv 2026/02/10(Tue)14:15 No. 1120948 ID: 091137
File 177076170945.png - (150.53KB , 900x750 , 021026_FromNothing2_126_.png )

After bathing and chatting for a bit, Mel starts getting out of the hot spring.
“Anything else we need to talk about before heading to bed?”

Silv speaks up.
“Tetsi wanted to use the runes we have to expand the island, buuut I kinda want to save them until we get a lot more, so we can do one large expansion. Then we can figure out where stuff goes I guess? Also Tetsi wants to combine more runes.”

“I will have to concur. The small additions make planning unfavorable in the long term, as more runes will be required anyway.”

“Yeah, what she said.”

After the girls get changed, you are unblinded as she takes her jacket from you.
Galena proceeds with organizing things, while Mel, Silv, and Fern are sleeping together in the hut, and you are left to your own devices.

Tomorrow you will have 2-3 days to explore the islands before they drift away. Where will you go tomorrow?
-Scavenge the Frozen City.
-Confront the Runeling.

Let's kill the runeling before it evolves into something worse - or destroys something massive.

The runeling is such an unknown quantity. Like we don't know what all we would get if we defeat it.

whereas the city is full of loot. Silv could have a proper bed, and other fine home furnishing. and Fern could get some toys or games to keep them busy and not feeding the runelings.

>>1120947
>when you're older
Wait, how old is Silv exactly.

>>1120948
>runes
That reminds me. We probably have enough runes to unlock Darkness now. Do we want to? Better ask everyone present what they think. It is probably a rune that symbolizes... this void we're in. Considering runes strengthen their aspect in the area they're in, it might be dangerous to hold a Darkness rune, or at least have more than one at a time. I wonder what would happen if we inverted it though?

If not, then... I think it's about time to ask for advice on what direction to steer our rune research in. There are a *lot* of different combinations to try. Initially I was trying to unlock runes related to intelligent life to try to climb the tech tree and get runes for things like farming, but we have the tech rune now. We can shortcut that process. ...or maybe that's pointless. We use runes to expand the island and craft spells. We can't use them to make tools. We should be researching runes that would be good for terrain and spell effects. We already have the Ore rune, so that covers rarer materials. I guess if we had a Tree or Wood rune we could make terrain for organic materials; Nature isn't producing any trees. Well, maybe those runes are too specific. I get the feeling rune types are meant to be wide-reaching concepts rather than specific things.
Oh... maybe we could craft a spell to accelerate plant growth though? We might have the runes for it right now. Nature+Cycle... hmm, we don't have anything time-related yet do we?

Combining runes... Maybe Life+Nature? Or Nature+Nature? Primal+Nature? Try Tech+Primal, that should be interesting. Charge+Charge might give us a better electric rune, but maybe a "stronger electricity" concept is too specific again... but wait, what's the difference between Static and Charge? Or Breeze and Gale? Maybe "stronger" rune types really are a thing. Oh, maybe Charge+Cycle to get magnetism? Or would that be Charge+Primal? We need a time rune, so maybe Cycle+Cycle? Hopefully inverting it would give us Space, as right now we have nothing related to it.
(also, the rune interactions chart is out of date, Tech isn't even on it. maybe we haven't tried combining it with anything? Or inverting it?)

well since we do want more ruins it would probably be a good idea to scavenge from the frozen city first to supply ourselves for the runeling fight with both more runes and whatever else we might find.

Maybe find a second tent or two as well since I'm not sure how much the group feels about "cuddle pile" being our only sleeping arrangement or at bare minimum a sealed place to store items and gear. We have found out that weather from islands can effect us and I rather have a dry place to keep out stuff without crowding the only shelter we have.

>>1120959
We would probably get a large number of runes to experiment and expand, for one.

So I support runeling battle!

We should craft a new spell designed to help against the runeling.

Core: Charge, to allow the spell to interact with and condense energy.
Attachment: Stagnate, to allow the spell to stop/slow energy.
Modification: Eldritch, to allow the energy to behave in ways that defy physics.

The intent of the spell: To project a field which captures energy blasts and traps it, forming it into different shapes. The idea is we can 'catch' one of the runeling's laser blasts and make a hardlight shield or even weapons out of it.

Does Galena have some lasers we can test it with?

As for what to do... well, it'll be easier to scavenge once the runeling is out of the way... but we don't have a great plan of attack. We'd have to either figure out a three-rune spell that could be used for both attack and defense, or solve either attack or defense in some other way. Toppling a building onto it would be a good plan I think; at the very least it'll be immobile. Then we can use Tremor to move rubble into strategic spots to create cover which will allow us to get close enough to hit it with something to kill it? Probably a strong electric-based spell. Like a Flare Mortar but replace the Flare with Charge?

Maybe we can combine the two tasks? Scavenge near the runeling, looking for buildings unstable enough for the plan?

Didnt we have an anti tech spell idea earlier?

We should get more supplies first, it's better to be more prepared to fight the runeling if needed. Though, make sure we're fight-ready when we go back to the frozen island.

Also, good work, Galena.

>>1120965
>(also, the rune interactions chart is out of date, Tech isn't even on it. maybe we haven't tried combining it with anything? Or inverting it?)
(pretty much, I didn't wanna bother changing the chart with nothing to show in it)

>>1120947
Dont wanna see your wobblers anyway lady.
Wow. Sure is roomy in this here hoody.
Someone lumpy musta stretched it out with their gross curvy bits.

Ah, alright.
Serious time.
The two choices are fairy intertwined.

If we go at the runeling, and win, some scavanging will be viable afterwards but some things may be damaged and injuries may limit our recovery teams numbers and work output.

If we scavange first, we may get to pick out undamaged loot, but our choice would be limited by the presence of the runeling as we'd have to avoid loot spots it was present in, plus we'd risk the chance of losing initiative on the attack. It may come for us.

There is some validity to the idea of just letting it be to see what the runeling life cycle is like, but with the island leaving we may never find out.

So fighting the runeling is probably the only thing we're going to need our whole party together for, so let's do that first. If we have any time left in the day we can scavenge there too; Galena will probably know the best places to search. Then on the next day Mel and Galena can scavenge in the frozen city, while Silv takes some time off.

1/2 Silv 2026/02/17(Tue)14:02 No. 1121175 ID: 091137
File 177136574214.png - (234.47KB , 900x750 , 021726_FromNothing2_127_.png )

Votes:
-Runeling Fight: 4
-Scavenge: 3
>So fighting the runeling is probably the only thing we're going to need our whole party together for, so let's do that first. If we have any time left in the day we can scavenge there too; Galena will probably know the best places to search. Then on the next day Mel and Galena can scavenge in the frozen city, while Silv takes some time off.

You will challenge the Tech Runeling!
You were given some spell ideas, so choose which you’ll go with, or make a new one:
>Breakpoint
>>1106434
>>1120968

BREAKPOINT… SIMPLE CONCEPT, WELL DEFINED INSTRUCTION. NEEDS NO FURTHER MODIFICATION.
UNNAMED SPELL… CERTAIN INSTRUCTIONS AND INTERACTIONS MAY RESULT IN UNINTENDED RESULT.

2/2 Silv 2026/02/17(Tue)14:03 No. 1121176 ID: 091137
File 177136578381.gif - (175.56KB , 960x800 , 021726_FromNothing2_128_Dark&Light.gif )

>Wait, how old is Silv exactly?
You drift over to Galena, who picks you up.
“I do not know how her race ages, but mentally, she appears to be around 10 or 12 years.”

>Does Galena have some lasers we can test it with?
“I am not equipped with any weaponry, only the rusted swords from the museum, and those will break rather quickly.”

>That reminds me. We probably have enough runes to unlock Darkness now. Do we want to? Better ask everyone present what they think. It is probably a rune that symbolizes... this void we're in. Considering runes strengthen their aspect in the area they're in, it might be dangerous to hold a Darkness rune, or at least have more than one at a time. I wonder what would happen if we inverted it though?
Mel pulls some granola bars from her bag after everyone wakes up, and everyone eats.
You nudge Silv until she agrees to combine runes at least once.
“Ok Tetsi, I’ll combine runes once, then we’ll get ready to go.”

The air grows still as Silv attempts the combination once more. Suddenly, blackness crackles between her hands. It quickly amplifies, radiating around her. Everyone around her quickly stands back as what looks like a hole in reality manifests between her hands.

The combination of Eldritch and Primal created a new Fundamental rune!
Darkness Rune obtained! Inversion creates another Fundamental rune. Light Rune obtained!
“Fundamental runes…? Light and Darkness?”

“Are you ok Silv?!”

“Yeah… I didn’t expect that to happen. Tetsi’s been trying to get me to do that combination for a bit. I got a Darkness and Light rune from it.”

“I’m thankful you are unharmed master Silv, but please warn us the next time you attempt something like that. Now, let us prepare to head towards Mainefalis, and gather our equipment.”

“Ok!”
Silv grabs 6 runes, while Galena brings the rusted swords, and Mel brings her phone and pipe. Fern stands guard with the shovel at home.

Craft your spell. Remember that directions are important! Most popular spell will be crafted.

>>1121175
breakpoint sounds good

>>1121176
>Mel brings her phone and pipe
pipe-chan! she's back!
also, what about inverting the tech rune? surely we have time to do that before leaving?

Breakpoint sounds more sure than the energy capture spell.

>>1121176
>10 or 12
No wonder she's better at Convenient Censorship then.

>Fundamental runes
Neato! I wonder what Fundamental means. Maybe they're "purer" than other rune types? Even the basic ones we got at the start are somewhat impure in concept-- they can mean several things. Darkness and Light might be just that, and nothing more. Alternatively maybe they signify fundamental forces of reality, and mean far *more* than simple dark and light. Maybe it's a yin/yang thing... in that case perhaps we should try making more rune combinations with the Ore rune to try to make Metal, which is one of the five Chinese elements. I'm not sure how we'd make Fire since Flare seems to already be that concept. Wood might be attainable by combining Nature with something... Life+Nature perhaps. Water is again a problem since Stream should be it. Oh, maybe all we have to do is combine Stream or Flare with Primal to get the more Fundamental concept. During the process I was worried that Eldritch was the root cause of the unusual combination, but now that we know the result was Fundamental, I think Primal will be used to reach other Fundamentals.
I wonder if they give stronger effects than expected when put into a 3-rune spell?

>make a 3-rune spell
Breakpoint seems good, but I am concerned about the range. We need something long range, or something we can place as a trap, or something we can attach to an object and then launch at the enemy.
...eh, it's probably good enough. We just need to sneak up on it, or use Tremor to create cover we can dodge between to avoid the blasts while we approach.

>>1121175
Breakpoint is an elegant design. Very useful given our target

I am going to vote for the unnamed spell. I am also going to vote for naming it "Aiki".