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

Chapter 2292 Where Did It Come From?

--- Kat ---

Once Appoline finished with a heft batch of anti-glass potions, she explained how to apply them, which really was just as simple as, ’pour over nose and let it run down past your mouth before wiping off’. Apparently the wiping off part was actually quite important and what truly set up the barrier. Kat had to be quick with hers so that it didn’t all drain off before she completed the motion. Wasted one dose that way, though Appoline said it was fine. One bottle covered all three of them with some leftover, and she’d got about eight bottles from the cauldron with more available should it become necessary.

Once they were all setup, it was time to move. They didn’t take too long to get used to the strange gravity... in theory. Their practice last time certainly helped but the main issue they were experiencing now was that the glass shifted quite a lot under their feet. Every step crunched loudly, and completely disturbed the surrounding areas. The glass might not necessarily be slippery, but it didn’t have much friction when rubbing against itself.

To complicate things further, they were on the side of a mountain. If they tried to climb it and the glass started to press into their skin, then that would just mean more surface area to slip. Even Kat wasn’t entirely immune to this, as while it would slide off... that was assuming she wasn’t holding tightly to the wall, keeping the glass in place so to speak. Though that was one upside. Nobody on the team had skin weak enough that they could be cut by this. Of course, Lily did find it annoying to have in her fur.

”I think we need to just accept that flying is the best way to go about this. I won’t fly too far from the ground just in case things get weird... but I don’t see how else we can do this reasonably,” Kat commented.

”I’m not against it... but where exactly are we going?” asked Appoline.

Kat opened her mouth to answer... only to glance around and realise that she didn’t know. Off in the distance the shattered glass effect of broken space that they’d been using up to this point just... wasn’t there. Turning around she checked the other direction and... nothing. Kat carefully moved to the edge of the plateau she was sitting on and... nope, nothing there either. Glancing upwards revealed similar info. That is to say. Nothing. ”Oh that’s a problem,”

Kat glanced at the portal they’d come through, and noticed that while the squirrels weren’t immediately visible... that didn’t mean they were gone. Kat notably couldn’t see any of the destruction that they’d caused. Had it been reset... or did these portals show a certain moment in time and were stuck to that moment? It wasn’t such an impossible thought, not with everything else going on.

”If we were just going to turn around was it even worth making those potions?” Kat queried.

”It’s always worth making interesting potions,” countered Appoline. Kat sighed. *Of course it is. I suppose it was a good excuse, and it’s not like I can even complain to her about it. She was hidden in that shadow dome for a good while and had no way to see the missing portals. Meanwhile, I was actively looking around and it didn’t click for me that the fact we couldn’t see them was a problem.*

[I mean, they might still be there, we just can’t see them. That or maybe they’re in like... caves and stuff?]

*What caves? I don’t see any.*

[I’m sure we can find some if we look... but yes I see the point. It’s hard to know if it’s worth looking around here if it’s actually a dead end. Though perhaps that would be good information in and of itself? We don’t even know if dead ends are possible and finding it out... safely might be for the best. We haven’t seen anything liable to attack us yet so it might be worth looking around.]

Kat nodded, ”Lily thinks it’s best to look around due to the lack of monsters, and learning for sure this is a dead end will be useful in the future. We won’t have to waste time with them in the future if we know that not seeing portals means there isn’t any.”

Appoline nodded, and Kat noticed that the elf was currently running her hands through a bunch of glass for some reason? ”That’s fine with me.”

”What are you doing?” asked Kat.

”I’m trying to see if there’s any plants under all of this glass... but alas it seems not. At least, not in this area. I was hoping for something interesting that incorporated the glass into its structure or feeds on it. Likely to produce interesting ingredients, but as I just said, it’s just rock under the glass from what I can feel,” explained Appoline.

Kat nodded and scooped the elf up into her arms as Lily moved to rest around Kat’s neck. ”Well, we can keep an eye out but let’s see what’s around. I think we should head upwards first, but I could be persuaded to go elsewhere.”

Appoline shrugged. ”We seem to be about in the middle of everything so that’s fine with me. Just a word of warning though, remember we couldn’t see the squirrels when we started out in that other area. Just because it’s quiet now, doesn’t mean it will remain so.”

Kat took the words to heart, and got moving. As they slowly rose, Kat kept close to the mountain wall while keeping an eye out. A few patches of glass looked like they might have flowers or something under them, but so far investigation yielded nothing. Monsters remained missing as well. It was a peaceful flight, if a slow one.

This was interrupted when they were something like eighty-percent of the way to the top. It started slowly. The wind picked up, and at first nobody really noticed. Then Appoline and Lily’s ears started twitching. Something odd was going on but nothing seemed out of place. They’d missed the transition from no wind, to some wind. It had been a subtle thing and once there was wind it didn’t seem odd to be there.

Then things started to pick up when the glass started to move. The wind carried small shards that it picked up from elsewhere, and the stuff sitting on the mountain started to lift. It was at that point that Kat was quite aware something was going on and so were the other two. The three of them glanced around as they tried to find the source but nothing was standing out. All they could hear... was the wind.

Kat soon found a spot to land. It wasn’t terribly large, just a small outcropping that barely had enough space for the three of them to stand. Luckily, Lily remained on Kat’s neck so that gave them more space to work with. The wind had really picked up now and Kat folded her wings back to prevent herself from being picked up. The problem was the lack of shelter for them. The glass wasn’t too bad. The shield kept it from going in their mouth or eyes, and their skin could withstand the rest.

”Where is this coming from? Is it just the weather? Or something else?” Kat asked.

”Surely this cannot be natural. Now I’m thinking on it, I’m not sure there was any wind when we landed before...” offered Appoline.

”Yeah but do we have a way to stop it? Lily could shield us sure, but even if her mana won’t run out from doing so, eventually she’ll need to sleep. We still haven’t found any caves or safe spots to rest up so that’s not an option... unless we make one? You’ve still got that ground softening potion right?” asked Kat.

Appoline nodded, ”Yes I still have some left. If we clear away the glass first... it should be possible to make a little nook. Though I don’t have enough ready made to go too much further than that. It would get us out of the wind, but perhaps not solve the issue even in the moderate-term.”

Kat glanced around the area, looking for some monster to fight to turn off the wind, yet there was nothing she could see. Even as the wind continued to pick up in such an unnatural way... hints of where it was coming from were hidden from her eyes. Likely because she had no idea what she was even looking for. ”If we make that little cave can you brew more of that softening potion? Especially if Lily shields the door?”

Appoline nodded, ”I can... though if we don’t need to use the earth I can probably do something better, at least for clearing it out. Turning it all into glass that we can then swiftly smash. Would that be acceptable?”

”Yes,” Kat announced swiftly. ”I don’t want to be out in this garbage if the wind picks up even further. It’s not cutting us now, but it MIGHT be soon,”

Appoline nodded, ”Good point, let’s get started then. Make sure to curve the entrance so that the glass and wind have a harder time getting in. In fact, add a few sharp curves, perhaps that angle towards the ceiling?”