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

Chapter 2299 Glass Houses

--- Kat ---

Kat assumed the village would be destroyed when she stepped through... but everything seemed in pristine condition. Well, as pristine as a functioning village ever could be. The change in gravity to upside down was honestly the least strange part. They group had experience with it after all. The houses though... they were eerily silent even if they stood in good condition.

The portal seemed to have dropped them off in the city square. Stone fragments of whatever central monument it had once housed were splayed out around them along with the shards of space that normally occupied the space near the portals. The houses nearby were of solid make, a mix of wood and stone with clay tile roofs. You could see some cracks, some ivy, plenty of little things to show the place was lived in... but the destruction seemed exceptionally limited.

The real issue was the lack of people. The sun was ’up’ so you’d have expect that if they were frozen along with everything else there would be at least one person around. Especially here in the central square. Even just a person or two passing through wouldn’t be strange... but there was nothing. Appoline was already moving over to the moss on the buildings, while Kat took a slow circuit around the portal to see if it was hiding any people, or remnants of them. Kat could see nothing.

[I don’t smell anything either, in case you’re wondering. But I also didn’t smell the snakes, not even after they’d attacked us a bunch so I’m not sure how much that matters.]

”Hmm...” mumbled Kat as she made her way over to Appoline. ”How are the ingredients here?”

”Oddly solid,” said Appoline as she brought her knife up to the ivy on the house and tapped it. A sharp, clear ringing sounded out when she did so. ”I don’t know what makes this different to the other plants we’ve seen but these vines are all but solid. I’m not sure I even could harvest them if I wanted to. They act as if they’re part of the structure.

”My current thought is that they were counted as part of the building when it was frozen in time. I don’t know WHY that’s the case. If it didn’t effect the other plants why these ones? My best guess on that is would be that they were already magically part of the building when everything was frozen... but I can’t be sure about that.”

”Alright...” Kat said slowly as she thought to Weaver’s node. ”What do you think we should do?” And do YOU think we should summon Weaver? This seems... noteworthy.

[You know what? Yes I do think so. This is the most significant thing we’ve seen if you exclude the scorpion... temple? And I don’t think any of us wanted to set up a node in that place.]

Appoline shrugged. ”Even if these plants are frozen I’m sure there are some gardens around. I’m happy to explore the area if you are. The houses do also make it hard to see if there are portals in this section. So it’s unclear if this is a dead end.”

”I can solve that with a bit of climbing or flight if need be... but before that...” Lily hopped down from Kat’s arms to transform. ”We thought we might try to contact Weaver. This seems a notable enough spot.” Appoline gave a nod so Lily got started. Fluctuating her mana as requested into the node... and nothing happened.

Lily frowned down at it. ”Should I put in more mana?”

”Maybe?” offered Kat with a shrug. Appoline matched it a few seconds later.

Lily shrugged as well before going ahead with it. She pumped as much mana as she could into the node, something that caused the bundled silk to visibly pulse with light in response. Lily managed a second pulse before stopping because the second attempt did not feel as smooth as the first and she didn’t want to break anything.

The node wobbled a bit in her hands before unwinding... just a bit. Instead of the tiny Weaver figure, the node itself split open a bit like a mouth. ”Hello. This is rather odd. You appear to be adjacent to the normal flow of time and I’m having to compensate. I can’t really see the area around you, and I can’t keep this connection up long. It is less secured then I thought it would be and I do not know if this is a good time, or if this is how things are when closed off... but I suspect we’re technically on the better end of things.”

”Oh... uh...” Kat shook her head and sped her mind up a bit. She didn’t want to dither too long on thinking about how to address... that. It was nice to have confirmed she supposed? ”We’re in a town but it seems like nobody lives here, or at least we haven’t found anyone yet. It’s very frozen in time and upside down? But gravity acts like that isn’t the case. We were wondering if you wanted to set up a tunnel here basically.”

”Yes... I think so. At the very least it will be a good base for anyone else that wants to explore the area. However, I can’t do anything so fancy as to set it up instantly. If you place the node down somewhere I’ll start opening a path... but it won’t be quick. A few hours from your perspective at least. So find a good place, and then leave it there. You’ll need to come back if you want me to deliver you the next node.”

”That’s fine. We’ll contact you again when we have a spot I suppose,” Kat said.

The mouth started to close even as Weaver’s voice finished saying, ”I won’t talk next time. The stuff I have to do even just to talk properly is a bit mind-bending and I’d rather not. Just activate the orb and wait until it starts unwinding before heading on your way for a bit.”

With that the orb node slid shut and Lily put it back into her backpack. ”Well... that’s a thing I guess? Where do we go from here? Do we explore a few houses, or look for one that makes a good node spot?”

”I’m not sure... I mean, what makes for a good node spot? I’d think one with a basement or something to hide it in but it’s not like we can tell that just from looking,” Kat mused.

”The chief’s house up on the small hill is most likely to have one if any do. Though it is also likely to be food storage,” Appoline pointed out. Gesturing off into the distance. As Kat looked, she found that the elf was pointing out. There was a... mansion adjacent structure raised above the rest of the town in the distance. It wasn’t really a mansion, the house wasn’t so large as that, but it was still bigger than your average suburban home. Just not by all that much.

”So... should we head that way then? And do we check the houses along the way?” asked Kat.

Appoline shrugged and walked over to the door, visibly standing away from it where she gave the wooden handle a good yank. The door didn’t budge. Appoline then visibly braced herself and PULLED but still, the door remained shut. ”I’m not sure we really can. As you can see, the doors here are just as stuck as the rest of the house.”

”Oh... that’s... hmmm...” Kat chewed on that info as she walked slowly over to the window. Kat wanted to see if she could open them somehow... but then she realised that they weren’t really windows, or at least, not as she thought of them. There was no glass after all. They were just holes cut into the house. This one had for bars across it as if there was something there... perhaps to deter burglars?

”I see the problem... though Lily can certainly fit through these gaps. I’m now kind of hesitant to do so... I mean, is there any reason to add the node to the basement if nobody would be able to leave the house?” mumbled Kat.

”You might be able to remove the windows... maybe. These poles are easy to remove if you know what you’re doing. Or well, I guess depending on the design as well. I’m just not sure if we can move them regardless. They might be stuck like the door,” explained Appoline.

Kat shrugged. Well Lily. This would be up to you.

[I’m not against it. My only question is, do we want to head to... actually hang on.] Lily transformed back again to continue the thought with Appoline able to hear her. Lily restarted her answer ”... do we want to head to the mansion first? Weaver said it would take a while to establish a tunnel and if we want that extra node we’ll be stuck in the town and the surrounding area for a good while afterwards. I think we should get that done first... though that’s assuming we even CAN get inside. If any house has glass windows it would be the chief’s.”