D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad Chapter 2268 Ingredientpede

--- Kat ---

They ended up going in the opposite direction.

It was a bit odd, and a little worrying. There was more than a bit of concern that they’d teleport somewhere else if they moved ’backwards’ but the rather obvious ravine behind them looked like a good place to find some secure caves to hole up for a while and get some rest. Sure Kat saw a giant centipede looking thing with lightning on its toes move in and out of the pockmarked walls of the ravine, but that just meant there was plenty of space!

To be more serious about it, Appoline just saw them as ingredients, especially with Kat perfectly willing to kill them. Lily thought they were gross and also didn’t mind fighting them... and everyone was in agreement that dealing with the monsters and the sealing the cave if there was multiple entrances was far better a place to rest then in the middle of the constant lightning strikes.

So back they went. As they got closer though, it became clear this wasn’t going to be quite as simple as they’d hoped. The ravine walls were covered in holes sure, but a lot of them connected immediately to two or three other holes leaving few places to really lay down, and most of them weren’t actually that big. Sure the centipedes were quite long, but they weren’t tall and required no headspace at all. They were about neck height on Kat, or at least most of them seemed to be.

There was some grumbling about that, but in the end the two problems sort of solved themselves. Kat simply broke apart a couple of the smaller tunnels clustered about so that it made one larger tunnel. When the centipedes came to investigate Lily sliced their heads off, and when they kept moving after that Appoline started to butcher them for parts. It was actually a little creepy to watch her carefully cutting away various bits of the arthropods’ bodies.

As Kat was cleaning away the rocks, she asked, "So... what makes you pick certain parts and not the whole body? Like, you took a couple of plates there, and a few legs over there, but not all of any of them."

Appoline nodded, "Yes it’s all about concentration. When the monster died it had more mana in certain parts of its body. Sometimes it’s consistent, like say, all treants have at least half of their mana concentrated into their heartwood, but only some of the fruit they have on them gets the same treatment.

"While you could say this is a... hmm... yes Rank 2 corpse, you cannot say the entire body is useable as Rank 2 ingredients. It’s why you can’t just grab any random stalk of grass and use that for a healing potion. There needs to be a bit MORE there. It’s also why you tend to use specific roots, flowers, bulbs, depending on the plant.

"Here, the centipede was using its legs for travel. All of the ones that were stuck to the rock when you killed it retain most of their mana. On top of that, the first and last set of legs are significant enough that they have some mana in them as well. I’d guess that the ’perfect’ ingredient from one of these monsters would be a set of first and last legs that were stuck to the wall. Likely very hard to get.

"The eyes aren’t worth anything, they’re mostly decoration but the antenna? Those are quite valuable. Likely how it navigates around the place and lightning attuned as well. Which is usually a bonus but it means you need to use it for more specific things. The chitin that I’m grabbing? That’s mostly by feel. I’d guess there are some more precious organs underneath it... but I can’t feel any of them that have a notable presence of mana so I’m not sure that they’re worth digging out. I don’t have infinite space after all."

Kat nodded as she continued to sort the flooring out. Moving away the rocks to make it smoother was easy, you just had to throw them out. Moving out the pebbles was much harder, but Lily was scooping those away with her shadows so it wasn’t too bad. Sand was bearable, especially when you had a picnic blanket.

"So you don’t even use the whole monster?" asked Kat.

Appoline shook her head, "No, if it’s small enough you can use the whole thing. It’s just that usually the different bits and bobs are used for different things. The antenna will be good for some sort of sensory potion, or maybe something that attracts lightning? Defends against it? Stuff like that. The legs however would be good for spider-foot potions, as they let you walk up and along walls. Similarly, you might be able to use the fact that there’s so many legs to make a speed potion but its less likely,"

"And the chitin?" asked Kat.

"That I could probably make into a basic defensive potion. Nothing worthwhile, likely not standing up to your or Lily’s toughness... but I can take damage much more easily. Unlike the rest of it, the chitin I’ll probably make something with overnight so I have some more defensive options," explained Appoline.

"Will that keep you up?" asked Kat with narrowed eyes.

Appoline shook her head, "No this sort of potion needs to boil for a long time. Think of it like melting the chitin down into a cover I’ll then pour over myself. Obviously I’ll need other ingredients to get it to work, but it’ll simply take a lot of time to properly transform into what I want. If I just needed it to shield me once that would take far less time."

Kat nodded along as she finished up the cleaning. The back of the cave they’d made was still open but that was fine, it seemed like the centipedes might not be the things that dug the holes, they just used them. What caused them WAS the important question but with no other monsters in sight it didn’t seem to matter. At least killing the few nearby seemed to have scared the others nearby off for the moment.

Kat took out some more food for everyone, though Lily insisted she was still full from early. So it was just for herself and Appoline then. Kat had decided on half a sandwich for herself and a pie for Appoline, at least of the elf was interested. Kat wasn’t all that hungry yet. Kat had eaten decently well while in the city, and she might have picked a bit at the fruits while preparing all those dishes recently.

It meant that the bit of bread and... Kat wanted to say egg but she knew it was a fruit. Very odd texture and meaty taste for something that looked so floral. Still, it was a fine taste and Kat was happy enough to eat what she had. Appoline set up her potions gear and got started on the chitin armour potion by the looks of things. Multiple pieces were gently lowered in between other secondary ingredients. It was stirred for a while... and then simply left.

"You don’t need to keep in contact with it?" asked Kat.

"Not for something like this," began Appoline. "The ’constant contact’ is more of a suggestion for beginners. Once you’re a master you learn what potions need it. Plenty need to be constantly watched and forced into shape, or poked at regularly if you’re trying to speed things up. For this one? Letting it sit is the best thing I can do and the... ’shape’ is stable enough that it won’t unravel any time soon.

"Now, I will need to look it over, fix and fraying that’s happening and just generally clean it up but it should be fine for at least a few hours. I’ll likely check it sooner and then perhaps nap, but I don’t know how well I’ll be able to sleep," Appoline gestured towards the open cave.

Despite them being nicely shaded, daylight was still streaming in just as it had for the entire time they’d been in here. Kat could see why it might cause someone issues with sleeping to have even more issues. "Did you want to go deeper? I assumed that the risks of going further in would outweigh the benefit of it being darker."

Appoline sighed, "I don’t know. I don’t really think it would help. I... honestly it’s just kind of annoying, and for some reason I feel oddly energised but also worn out? It’s like I haven’t slept at all but I HAVE and I didn’t need to take any stamina potions yet either... how are you feeling?"

"Normal... I think?" Kat examined herself, physically and mentally and she felt fine. A quick poke to Lily who was resting next to her but not quite asleep had a girlfriend reply with a similar assessment. Neither of them felt strange at all. "Yeah both of us are fine."

Appoline hissed, "Dammit is this just something catching up to me or is it the area? With the two of you it’s impossible to tell..."