D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad Chapter 2264 Cute but EVIL… or Something

--- Kat ---

As the group made progress they took out a few jellies and some other monsters along the way. One thing they did notice, but regularly ignored, where these tiny axolotl adjacent things. They had the body shape and extra appendage-things around their head. It was the face that was distinctly off. They all had thick eyebrows slanted in such a way to make them look rather aggressive all the time, and they had big sharp teeth...

But they were really tiny. Like, Lily sized. For a fierce as they were trying to look it was really more cute than anything else. Like a small child insisting they were indeed a big and scary villain. You kind of wanted to play along just to support them. Even with the lightning that seemed to dance behind their head and along those eyebrows there wasn’t much of a reason to fear them, and none seemed to be going out of their way to get near the group. They tended to stick to the water, only occasionally poking their head out of the way to look around. Showing they were only superficially similar to the Earth animal, and full capable of breathing air.

So the group was content to leave them be... until one of them waddled past, shooting across muddy land as if it was one of those water running lizards. Stuck in the grasp of the headpiece, which had clearly curled around it protectively... was an ORB. It was booking it in a specific direction... and Kat supposed it explained why they hadn’t see any others so far. The monster might not have been common, but they were also good at hiding.

"Do we... follow it?" asked Kat after a moment of hovering in the air.

"Well, you two turned me down when I requested a few for sampling..." grumbled Appoline.

"Lily and I sort of thought they were too cute for that. It’s a bit different when a monster is attacking you. No matter how cute that is, if it’s trying to murder you then it’s fair game. Those guys haven’t bothered us... are they even Rank 1?"

"They can use mana to some extent so yes by default... but that doesn’t mean they’re all that strong," offered Appoline.

"So do we follow them? We don’t... NEED the orbs at the moment..." Kat chewed on the question.

Appoline shrugged, "I don’t really care about them so it’s up to you. I’m sure whatever lair they have will contain at least some interesting ingredients even if it’s just waste products. It’s usually not a strong ingredient, but if not for proper alchemy it might make good fertiliser."

With that settled Kat started to fly them after the axolotl. It was speedy, but not as fast as Kat herself and the glowing orb meant that it stuck out rather obviously even when it was under the water a bit. There was also the fact that it was just heading in a mostly straight direction. It didn’t bother to take any sort of bizarre route. Kat found that odd... sure it was just an animal but it didn’t seem concerned at all they were following it back to its lair.

It was about an hour later that they started to notice more axolotl’s ’gathering’. There were a few more orbs amongst them, but it seemed like the entire group was all meeting back up in the same place. There was still only perhaps eight visible to them, but considering how infrequently they’d been spotted before that was a lot. They were converging somewhere... and Kat wasn’t sure what to feel about that.

It was a further thirty minutes before they spotted where the axolotls were heading. A bit further ahead was a small collection of trees and dirt that kept the water at bay, raising the area up and defining it as small hill. What was more important, was what Kat could see on the other side. Surrounded by multiple of those hill was a giant pile of orbs, way more than Kat could ever use to keep herself going... likely most of the orbs in the area.

Except, on top of them was an axolotl. It was much like its smaller brethren but this one couldn’t be called tiny. No, instead it towered over its horde like a dragon, easily large enough to circle the entire pile, it was curled up sleeping. Yet even at rest, the sounds it was making. Kat and Lily had dismissed it as the sound of water, perhaps a waterfall of some kind and a cavern nearby... not the snoring of a giant.

The axolotl was large enough that it could swallow Kat like a frog would a fly. It wasn’t the largest monster they’d fought but considering its smaller minions they would never have assumed it would be so considerable in size. Though... there was one more detail that was a bit odd. It had the same electrified eyebrows and headpiece things... but it also just... had a hat. It was hard to make out without getting any closer, and they truly had no desire for that... but it had a hat. A mostly correctly sized beanie that seemed to remain clean despite the swamp around it.

"What?" whispered Kat. "Why does it have a hat?"

Appoline pushed herself up a bit higher in Kat’s arms so she could see the axolotl properly... and found Kat was correct. It DID have a hat. "A good question," Appoline whispered back. "Does this mean it’s owned by someone? Does it know how to make hats? Is it just a hat it found with a really good resizing enchantment?"

"Is that last one even possible?" asked Kat as she gently floated away from it. They... weren’t necessarily leaving but there was no reason to get any closer then they had to just yet.

"I... I mean yes in theory but they tend to have upper limits. I’m not sure why you’d ever make a hat that can resize to fit something that large without, you know, deliberately designing it to be for something that large. Maybe not the axolotl specifically... but at this point it’s more likely the hat would be for the creature instead of something else of similar size..." pondered Appoline.

Once they got sufficiently far away, and had a nice rock to stand on, Lily cleaned it off with some shadows and than transformed to sit next to them. "I can at the very least tell you that there’s no space cracks surrounding it. In fact... space is remarkably stable in that area. I think it might also have time or space powers... or perhaps it just instinctively reinforces itself as a counter to the cracks?"

"So... do we want to try anything here? We might be able to steal some orbs... but I wouldn’t want to take many. On the other hand, it might be intelligent and we can trade?" pondered Kat.

"Like the crab?" asked Lily.

"Like the crab," confirmed Kat. "The only issue with THAT is... well we don’t know if it can communicate at all. Just because it’s smart enough to understand speech, presumably, doesn’t mean it can talk back even with the translation magic. It could also be a pet. That seems... less likely, but possible. Especially if the owner has long since past away but it’s still got the hat. How long would something like that last anyway?"

Lily shrugged, but Appoline cut in to say, "It depends on how well constructed the hat is... and likely also how much the axolotl likes it. Monsters can incorporate stuff like that into themselves... kind of. It’s possible it can keep the hat clean and in good condition by mimicking the original enchantments."

"Wait monsters can do that?" asked Kat in surprise.

Appoline went to answer before realising something and shaking her head. "I mean, I wouldn’t really know. It’s not something you can really test much but in theory some of them surely could. Especially if it’s simply or already aligns with what they do. Lily said it could reinforce space so I could see it reinforcing the enchantments on the hat. Plus, if it was designed well to work with a monster it might be self-reinforcing no effort required... or something."

"So... do we try to talk to it? Try to steal from it? Or just leave?" pondered Kat. Appoline shrugged. Lily shrugged. Kat sighed, "Well you two are really helpful..."

"It’s not like we need the orbs," commented Lily. "There’s also the fact that, stealing a few and getting into a fight might destroy the rest because of the combat... and I don’t want to attack something that has a little hat..."

"It’s not really a ’little’ hat though is it?" pondered Appoline. Kat sighed in response. It felt wrong to leave such an obvious temptation be... but it was a cute hat.