D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Kat ---

While Appoline did get her potentially fancy rocks, they didn’t stick around anywhere long enough for her to test them. With the scorpions riled up and still quite close Kat and Lily were wary of sticking around too long when they didn’t have to. So they got moving after a bit of cajoling to get Appoline to agree. They took a slightly curved path to avoid getting any closer to the scorpions, and were thankful they did so as they saw more than one scorpion moving back towards the cage.

It was rather obvious due to the fact they were travelling instead of hiding in wait for an ambush. The scorpions weren’t small after all... but it really did hammer home that getting a relic piece was going to be a pain in the ass most times. If she’d stuck around to fight the scorpions it seemed like a second, and potentially third and fourth wave would have shown up to keep her pinned in place for a while. Perhaps to give one of the other contestants a chance to show up and cause even more problems.

Whatever the case, it was clear that they wanted nothing to do with that fight so avoiding it became top priority. During one of the breaks to allow for a scorpion to past, Appoline investigated one of the rocks a little bit. Kat waited for them to start moving again before asking, ”So is it anything particularly interesting?”

The elf shook her head. ”No not really. A valid ingredient sure but it’s nothing too strong. Suspected, but not what I hoped for. It’s... well it’s shit basically.”

”Wait what?” Kat asked.

Appoline glanced away while looking up at the roof of their umbrella. ”It’s literally shit. As in, someone thought it would be funny to compact shit and then dump it on peoples heads. That’s why it didn’t hurt. Oh, it might also have some diseases in it I suppose but I wouldn’t be too worried about that part.”

Kat shivered a bit, glad that her skin meant everything would just slide off her. She was doubly glad that effect applied to her clothes as well. It meant she didn’t have any hanging around on her... but still. Not fun to think about. ”It... it didn’t smell that bad though.”

Appoline nodded, ”Some just doesn’t.”

”Right,” intoned Kat. She asked no further follow up question. Kat was quite sure she didn’t want to know.

Luckily, Lily didn’t hear this. She’d fallen asleep. The constant need to be on guard, alongside the earlier stress and the fact that Kat had gone into the scorpions’ nest afterwards had worn her out rather thoroughly. Kat was still being careful of course, and Lily might be a tad annoyed she’d fallen asleep along the way... but too bad she clearly needed the rest.

It would be a few hours later when the area they were in transitioned once again. Lily had woken up by this time and as such, was fully aware when the transitioned happened. One moment they were hiding from lightning, and the next they were in a blackened... not-quite hellscape.

Sure that’s what it looked like at first. As if some great fire had come through and burnt everything away... but a second look made it clear that the ’burnt’ grass was actually still quite alive. It didn’t crunch under your feet and the dark colouring seemed to be its natural state. There was also various bulbs and flowers spread out around the area. Appoline was making a beeline for the closest one to collect it. Probably.

Having seen the elf take off, Kat immediately looked for threats with Lily doing the same... and while they didn’t see any monsters they did notice the strangest part of this area. A little ways off in the distance was a giant crack in space. It looked almost like a broken window, with a clearly different environment when you looked at the other side. Taking a few steps towards Appoline saw the view through the crack change just as if it was a real window. It wasn’t really ’changing’ so much as the change in angle meant they could see other stuff.

Which was not how spatial cracks had often worked before now... despite the fact it looked like someone had taken a hammer to the space where it sat, breaking open part of the world... it acted a hell of a lot like a window, or perhaps a portal. It was odd to see, especially so soon after they’d just been teleported here.

Kat glanced over at Appoline when she heard the sound of electricity discharging. Sparks covered Appoline’s arm for a bit before she put away the bulb and brushed herself down with a wince. ”Really?” asked Kat.

Appoline shrugged. ”It’s fine, I can heal this and it’s WELL worth the cost of a healing potion. I’m actually going to grab a few more before drinking one. Might need two at that point, but it’s fine.”

Kat rubbed her eyes. ”You know I can probably grab them right?”

”Yes but they need to be harvested carefully, and it would take a while to teach you the exact technique to do so,” explained Appoline.

”Didn’t you just reach out and grab it?” asked Kat.

Appoline shook her head rapidly. ”No, not at all. Though yes I do have to be fast with these. I don’t want them to discharge too much electricity into me, but I need to allow for at least a bit of discharge otherwise they explode. It’s a delicate balance. Then there’s how they need to be separated. You need to find the weaker side and pluck the entire thing in that direction and the correct angle to separate just the bulb from the rest of the plant. This both lets it regrow, as well as keeps more power in the bulb.

”If I uprooted the whole thing the roots would discharge all the energy out into the air and then it would be useless to me.” Kat raised an eyebrow at the lie ”Or well, not me because I AM that good, but basically useless to a normal alchemist and far LESS useful to me. Happy?”

”Sorry, it was just... to my truesight it was a fairly obvious lie. Which doesn’t normally happen when it’s hyperbole like that...” Kat carefully explained.

Appoline shrugged, ”I suppose it’s because I didn’t think it true, or hyperbole. Just easier to explain that way. If nine out of ten alchemists would find it useless... well it’s basically useless at that point isn’t it? Besides, even if you need the discharged version you can still do that later, or while forcing all the energy into a single petal, or into a different bulb. So much more useful to have a properly plucked bulb,”

”Alright,” sighed Kat as Appoline continued around from bulb to bulb, getting electrocuted each time. Surprised you’re not complaining more about her injuring herself?

[She’s not my girlfriend. If she wants to be an idiot when she can heal herself why is it my problem?]

Hey I can also heal myself.

[Yeah but you’re my girlfriend. I already said that. It makes things completely different.]

Isn’t Appoline meant to be your teacher though?

[Yes, but it’s still FAR easier to ignore her getting hurt than it is you. What do you think I’m doing at the moment? Pretty sure I’ve heard her get zapped at least three times, but it doesn’t have the same emotional weight. It’s like hearing someone burning themselves on the tap. Sure you know it’s not good, but it’s not something to worry about either... but if I knew it was YOU that burnt yourself it would be different. Especially if it’s because you wanted to test how hot it could get before it became a problem.]

Why do you make it sound like I’m an irresponsible child? I helped care for irresponsible children since I myself was a child. To vary degrees sure, but I still helped a bunch with all that sort of stuff.

[Indeed. That means you should know better.]

Kat sighed but let it go. She supposed it was nice to have Lily worrying about her, and that in truth, it was unlikely that Lily would ever not worry about her at all... well that and if it ever did happen Kat would have far bigger problems. Best to let the matter rest.

As Appoline continued to gather ingredients, Kat moved a bit closer to the crack and started to look around it a bit. ”So where does this go do you think... and is the angle a bit weird?”

[I think it’s the mountain. I also think it’s one of the upside-down chunks of it. Which... I’m not sure what that will mean when we step through to the other side. I’d say we should make sure Appoline is secured in some way... but at the same time the old question of ’how would everyone else deal with this’ comes up. Unless we’re just meant to grab one of the trees you can see on the other side?]

Not sure... you think we can jump through and then back? Might be worth sending one person ahead...