D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad Chapter 2271 Umbrella Wheel Travel

--- Kat ---

With the potion ready it was time to get started on carving out the ground. A single drop was let free from the potion flask before it hit the ground. When the droplet made contact the earth nearby rippled out like someone had dropped a stone into a pond. It was almost disturbing to watch the earth flex and bend unnaturally around the droplet. Still, they were ready to get to work. Kat used her hands, feet, and tail mostly to move the thick stones under the ground while Lily used her shadows to carve away at large masses of dirt.

It looked like she was digging into clay. Lily was able to scrape away at the dirt layer by layer and then dump it off the side where it slowly spread out without any supervision. As they dug, Appoline was there, waiting for the next spot to place another drop of potion to keep the operation smooth. It worked very well. Appoline could direct Lily and Kat while they were digging downwards and sort of around.

Kat’s stones were still somewhat soft and annoying to handle when she found them. Unlike the dirt that acted like clay, the stones acted almost like soap. They tried to flee from her hands and squished slightly. Sufficient force could cut through them, the same way you could deform soap just by clenching your hand, but obviously Kat didn’t need to do that here. It was just a pain because keeping a tough enough grip to prevent it slipping away, without crushing it was somewhat difficult.

Lily could probably deal with them, but it would cost more mana that way and Lily was already burning through a good deal to keep the earth moving at a good pace. Another thing to note, was that they’d considered using the dirt to build up the ’cage’ part of the umbrella, but the continued worry over if the pair of them could lift it was still present so ultimately nothing had been done so far.

After the halfway mark things stopped being interesting and instead settled into something an odd mixture of calming and dull. Kat managed to master the correct pressure, Lily got into a good rhythm, and Appoline was always ready making sure neither of them was interrupted. This even included fighting off a monster attack at one point. Kat didn’t see what it was, but Appoline insisted she dealt with it easily, so neither Kat nor Lily felt compelled to check.

Things got a little more difficult towards the end. They’d carved out the full circle around the pillar, and were now working their way inside. It was fine for the most part... but they’d now worked out that the central shaft was made of metal. Instead of simply iron sand and dirt mixed together it was pure metal... and not in a convenient shape either.

It was likely that the pillar above ground was mostly straight but underground it reached out like a spiderweb... perhaps growing with the lightning? It seemed silly to think but that’s what the outcroppings of metal looked like. Lightning scars or perhaps a root system that was bundled in close to the centre. The problem of course, was that while that was all true, they were rather thick roots and Kat couldn’t simply cut through them with her strength alone.

The problem with Lily trying to do the same, was that attempting to cut them with her shadows had them discharging lightning into those same shadows, breaking her hold. "Appoline, can your potion handle this stuff?" asked Kat.

"No I don’t think so," admitted the elf in question. "Still, might as well give it a try..." Appoline hopped down into the underground area they’d carved out and dropped a bit of potion towards the centre. The group waited for the ripple, but nothing seemed to happen. Appoline nodded and put another drop on the structure... and still nothing. "Hmm... yeah whatever is up with this stuff my potions not good for it."

Kat rubbed at her chin. It wasn’t ideal... but if they could just cut away some of the stuff at the bottom then carrying ’around’ the sharp bits of metal should be possible. It would also hopefully mean you were less likely to be shocked. There was also the idea of making it into something that you could push instead using that as a central support structure. "Hmmm... alright can we attach wheels to it?"

"Might have to dig out a bit more for that," commented Appoline. "Still, there are enough metal bits here you can probably work something out."

So the digging began again, adding more material to the final structure, at least in theory anyway. In practice there was the hope that it would be easier but they’d have to see for sure. While Lily kept digging, Kat instead focused on the rocks. She was moulding them into wheels that would hopefully work out. They weren’t perfect, especially as they’d need to be fitted around whatever spikes they received. Still, it was a start.

After some more digging it became clear that these pillars extended quite a ways below the surface and simply kept going. Instead of trying to find the end of the metal, Kat and Lily focused their attention on a fragile looking bit connected to the centre. Kat took out her fans and started to saw away at them. It... didn’t not work. Progress was slow, loud. Kat was frequently zapped, but it was working.

When Kat finally finished she was exhausted. More than once she’d gotten annoyed with the process and tried to push more power into her cutting but of cause, the bracelet restrained her so it was all wasted effort for the most part. Didn’t make Kat feel any better about it though. It did mean Lily was the one to volunteer to pull it all from the ground. Luckily that went cleanly. Lily was able to move the entire, rather hefty structure, with no issues. Once it was free from the ground they started on the wheels.

Kat shoved a bunch of them onto the spikes, then increased or decreased the size as needed. She would also be reminded, after ’finishing’ on about half of them that she’d just made a bunch of circular wheel-like things. None of them were currently able to spin.

So that necessitate changing things. What Kat ended up doing was making the wheel holes larger so they could spin freely, and then added a cap to the ends that was stuck to the metal to prevent the wheels from coming off. It was... well it worked.

Once enough wheels had been added the structure was raised onto them. There was some worry that the wheels would crack and break under the weight... but it seemed fine. None of them were making any worrying noises and a bit of effort saw them capable of pushing the great contraption. They’d barely made it a few steps when lightning slammed into the top.

The metal lit up for a second when the electricity coursed through it... but it also discharged quite a bit before getting to Kat and Lily. Lightning sparked from the various ends and shot off towards either the ground or other pillars instead of following what should have been the path of least resistance. Kat narrowed her eyes at the odd occurrence but continued pushing their shelter. When it happened again, in the exact same way, Kat decided that it really wasn’t her problem.