>>717
Now that you have air immunity (passive skill), you can afford to really meddle with the air without fear of hurting yourself in the process. You spend 60 mana heating the air within two metres of you by 75K, then take a few steps towards the angry arthropod. Dr. Gay Hitler begins to charge towards you, but as soon as he enters your sphere of influence, hisses loudly and slips back into the water. A flawless success, it seems.
>>718
You find that the man has a fairly strong pulse and is breathing, but shows no response to being pinched or prodded. You drag him over to the nearest glowing fungus, pressing it against his face, and identify him as your foster father, Aaron Aaronovitch Aaronov. He is dressed only in his underwear. He has a nail file tucked behind his left ear, but you cannot find any other items on or near him. His skin and hair are not wet, so he doesn't seem to have actually been in the water recently. There is a swollen lump on the back of his head, suggesting he was knocked unconscious by a blunt impact.
Though you hate to admit it, you do actually somewhat care about this man, and you want the best for him, as far as possible. You certainly wouldn't wish upon him the embarrassment of being found by anyone outside the family in the state of having soiled himself. Just to be on the safe side, you have to check if any deposits have been made in his underwear.
You roll him over onto his stomach and, thankful for the fact that there's nobody nearby, thrust your nose into his rear and give a hearty sniff. You don't smell anything in particular.
"What are you doing?" asks a voice from over your shoulder. You jump upright, turn around and ready your trusty ceremonial stone knife out of reflex. Before you is a certain familiar obsidian cube, hovering in midair, atop which are Conundrum-chan and Ariadne. Conundrum-chan has a small flame between her fingers; just enough to illuminate their faces and the local surroundings.
>>719
Panicking, you try to explain yourself. "The be to of, and a, in that have I it for not on with! He as you do at this, but his by from they we say! Her she, or an will - my one all - would there their what! So up out if about, who get which go me!" you reply. That didn't quite come out right.
"...I see." says Ariadne, a smug half-smile playing on her lips, before gracefully changing the subject; "Now, as it happens, Conundrum-chan and I are looking for all those clones of yours. You wouldn't happen to know where they've gone, would you?" Conundrum-chan continues "Quickly please, Ariadne and I are in a hurry." The flame between her fingers suddenly flares up. If you didn't know any better, you'd think they were trying to intimidate the information out of you.
Speaking of clones, you still have four unspent skillpoints left over from those Jacks you ritually murdered earlier.