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

Chapter 2343 Poison Planning for Profits

--- Lily ---

[I’m glad to see you’re taking a leaf from my book.]

Lily didn’t particularly want to dignify that observation with a response... but she could admit to being a bit silly with things at the moment. Due to Appoline’s suggestion. The elf didn’t really GET the references she was making with some of her comments nor her gestures, but it was still amusing dammit. It did give her a better understanding of why Kat might do these things on occasion.

"Alright Appoline, so what’s the plan? What do we need to know about this snake?" asked Lily.

"A few things. A more exact estimation of its size and weight would be nice, but frankly after a certain point ’really big’ is good enough. What’s more important is trying to work out if it has regeneration at all, if it has more than one brain, and also where it’s head is because I can’t currently see it," explained Appoline.

"Alright I can get most of those worked out... how are we meant to tell if it can regenerate or not? Pretty sure attacking it would be a pain idea," countered Lily.

"We need to check it for any wounds. You see, most snakes only replace damage scales in a shed, and while some monster buck that trend in small ways, most of the ones that do have regeneration. So we’re looking for some signs of damage, and surely there must be at least SOME if it has no regeneration. Still, without confirmation might have to just assume it has some..." admitted Appoline.

"Alright... and how are we meant to check for multiple brains?" asked Lily.

"That one is going to be harder..." began Appoline.

"Also why that too," Lily added after a second.

Appoline was happy to adjust to explain that as well. "If we just need to kill it, much as it might injure my professional pride, we can just make a potion to throw on its head, seep through, and destroy its brain. Not an elegant solution, and certainly not subtle... but if it kills the target and we don’t care about subtlety the job is technically done.

"The problem with that idea, is that not all monsters have their brains in their head, some of them don’t even have ANY, and plenty have secondary or backup brains that can cause enough issues to potentially kill us before it expires, or potentially even recovers. I don’t know anything about this snake in particular so it leaves me in an odd spot compared to normal."

"Oh... um... hmmm... I’m not really sure how we figure that out?" Lily offered.

"I’m not really sure either you know. I suppose it would depend on how much it protects its head, except once again, where even IS it’s head?" mumbled Appoline.

Lily glanced down at Wiggles hoping he might have an answer but no, rabbit was just chilling while they tried to work out their plans. Sighing, Lily decided to ask, "Well do you have anything on you that certainly will kill it?"

Appoline nodded, "Yes... BUT I only have one dose. If we use it now that’s it. No more fancy super poison. It also doesn’t work great on something with regeneration. It’s not what I designed it for. Oh sure it’ll kill most things that have it, and likely the snake in question... but not before it will have a good chance to try to kill us. I’d estimate... hmmm... at least twenty minutes of activity if it has regeneration. Might still have five if it doesn’t."

"Oh that... ok I see why that’s potentially an issue..." mumbled Lily.

Appoline nodded, "Yeah I was more focused on smaller targets. I’ve never even seen a monster this big so the poison in question wasn’t really designed to spread you know? The other issue is it’s meant to spread, and then kill. Makes it a heck of a lot more lethal but spreading through that whole massive body? Bit of an issue."

"What about your other stuff?" asked Lily.

Appoline shrugged, "Same issue with the size. I’ve got other poisons that might take it out... but might not. If it bit off the poisoned area fast enough, has good enough poison resistance due to it being, you know, a snake that lives in a swamp, or just having a bit of regeneration and that’s probably it. A lot of my poisons are meant to burn through someone fast, because if you can realise something is wrong or get to a healer that means a higher chance at survival...

"But for something that big? I’m not certain my weaker poisons even CAN spread through that much tissue and I’m not sure combining them would work unless I specifically combined just the one type of poison... but that’s not really what I kept stored you know? I kept some of my better work, but it’s basically all one bottle of each poison and mostly medical supplies in normal circumstances. Then there’s the stuff I packed from my new batch, but that’s all quite weak. Then finally the stuff I’ve made on the road with the stuff we’ve picked up which... I don’t think is good enough for this?"

Lily chewed on that for a moment. "Alright I see the problem, still not sure how we test it without pissing of the snake though."

"Hmmm... yes that’s not really something I have too much experience with either. I wonder if I could make a potion that would tell us without annoying the snake? Maybe if it could be lightly rained down on its body? How would I get an answer though? A glow perhaps? Would that set it off though? Unclear... hmmm..."

Lily glanced over at Wiggles, hoping that perhaps he had some magical solution to this problem that was less... Kat approved. Sadly for Lily, Wiggles may actually be asleep at the moment. It was hard to tell. His eyes were closed and covered by his ears at the moment. Lily notably didn’t sigh at that, in case he could still hear her and wasn’t actually asleep.

[Why are you looking for a less Kat approved solution? I’d approve of just about anything you did.]

*Remind me who was it that started to explode everything and caused herself to be stuck on the other side of the portal?*

[Hey, we don’t know those two things are connected.]

*If they aren’t I’ll eat my hat.*

[I doubt you’re currently wearing a hat.]

*I’m not but you know that isn’t the point.*

[Look, I’d apologise but I genuinely don’t think I did anything wrong. Thyme builds shit STURDY. I can hardly believe I broke something important in this case, and even if I had, I’d have expected Thyme to show up and apologise for the stuff breaking. The fact that we didn’t see them at all is weird, and I firmly hold by the fact this isn’t my fault. It’s also possible that all runes have a set point they return people to. The last one seemed like it put me in the same place, but considering it was at the top of a bunch of stairs and I tapped the front I may have just entered from the exit spot.]

*Fine fine. I’ll concede that I didn’t think something like that would happen either and you may be correct in the idea that it wasn’t the explosions at all. Still funny to blame you for it though.*

[Counterpoint. You’re trying to kill a giant snake without my assistance.]

*I mean... ok fair point. New topic, how far out are you?*

[At least a day I think. I’m near certain we are on the opposite side of the damned area. I also occasionally duck around areas filled with monsters. They aren’t common, but I’ve seen at least one more nest of those damned birds, and of course the bracelet isn’t letting me get up to full speed. In truth, part of me wants to go exploring or test ducking out of the clouds now that it’s just me but... I know you wouldn’t be pleased if I tried.]

*You’re damned right. I also have no idea where Thyme would drop you after treating you. Assuming he did treat you. There is also the issue of how far you’d fall. I doubt you’d be instantly put in a state that needed recovery... but if you were falling for a good while before that? Could be an issue.*

[Yeah it’s just all around not worth the risk. Especially not when we’ve got two runes and know a third, and maybe a fourth has already been claimed. Little uncertain if that second light was the same one or not.]

*Yeah hard to say... but it means a good chunk of the pieces are ’in play’ so to speak. It’s highly likely that a few more we didn’t spot are around as well. I’m not certain all of them are here in the centre, and even if they are we weren’t constantly watching the skies. If a light went off behind or, beneath us we’d have no idea.*

[Yeah something to keep in mind for sure. I feel like, just at a guess, there’s going to be something to force a conflict at some point later down the line. Not sure how, but I’m betting there will be. Though I’d also guess you need at least one piece to activate it.]

*Hmmm... I could see it.*