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

--- Kat ---

The map was great and it worked even while Lily was transformed. Their path was less so. Falling straight down into the lowest portal had them in another dead end wilderness. They explored a bit just in case but there wasn’t anything useful, or another portal to take them elsewhere. The map actually helped confirm this. It recorded in a good distance around them, but for some reason portals appeared a step beyond that. It meant they only needed to get a good vantage point, or cover perhaps sixty or seventy percent of the area to be sure that there was no portal.

The problem came from the fact that they continued to burn time with dead ends. They slipped back to the squirrel area and hopped into another portal without being attacked by them... but it still meant burning time, and there wasn’t even much interesting ingredient wise for Appoline to pick up.

The next portal was a dead end as well, and the portal after that only let them go two portal deep with nothing interesting to note. The third was the same, some sort of snowy forest but when they were there, something important did happen. Off in the distance a massive pillar of light exploded out from the ground. It was impossible to miss... and awfully familiar.

"Someone just found another of those tablets," Kat said as she glanced at the glowing light on her hand.

Lily transformed so Appoline could hear her say, "Yeah... I wonder how many of these we’ve missed. Sure that’s super far away but also, the big lightning bolt and all the mountain pieces in that other direction are pretty hard to see through. Especially a flash of light, or maybe it happened while we were indoors."

The beam faded away. It had been present for a good handful of seconds... and Lily raised a good point with that question. "Hmmm... well there should be a second light right? After they finish the challenge at the end?"

"Unless this IS the light from the second challenge? Not sure we could’ve seen it before we came through the most recent portal," Lily commented.

"Does it matter?" asked Appoline. "We’re nowhere near the area and have no way of stopping them."

Kat scratched at her cheek for a few seconds before sighing. "I guess not. It might be nice to know how many other people have those... but you’re right. There’s not really anything to do and I was planning to check anyone we meet for glowing marks. If I can’t even hide it with my other hand without it moving, I doubt they can hide it with armour either,"

Appoline shrugged and then went back to looking around. Kat sighed and took off after her. This place was probably another dead end... but they still needed to check it out just in case it wasn’t. They also, notably, did not see a second pillar of light before backtracking through the portal once again.

The next portal at least had an interesting shift in location. They were now underground and the portal itself took up the entire pathway. It meant there was only one exit... unless entering the portal from the other side also sent you out a different side of the portal? One quick test later confirmed as much, though it wasn’t like there was anything to see on the other side either, just more tunnel.

So off they went. A few monsters attacked but it was nothing the group couldn’t handle. It also wasn’t much of a surprise. They couldn’t travel silently through the earth after all, so it was a simple matter of preparing for the strike, and attacking back. Kat got a few, Lily got a few, Appoline saved her limited ammo because they just weren’t all that scary... but they were in the tunnels for a long time with no real sense of if they were even going to find a portal.

That is, until they did. Of course... the problem with tunnels is that you have to ask, "Is this the same portal?" Because looking through it seemed to give them a similar view to the squirrel island. Maybe not exactly the same, but similar...

Lily pulled out the map to check and said, "Nope, or at least, the map doesn’t think so..." Appoline just shrugged and the three hopped through the portal and into... a well maintained garden? Kat double checked her memories, and the portal had nothing like this on the other side.

Looking around them you could see well built marble paths that stretched forward until they split against a large hedge. The individual plots had a few different plants inside them but never too many, all with different colours and features. Notably, none seemed to cross over top the path, even a few that looked like they were attempting to do so. Their leaves were notably squished against an invisible barrier.

If you glanced upwards, you’d also find a far more visible wall. It seemed that wherever they are now, it had been turned into a giant greenhouse. The glass dome above them was quite a distance, but it was letting in sunlight... Kat supposed? *But it’s always sunny here? Or it has been. Is this going to be another case of magical ceiling that goes off sometimes? Was this here before the split? Normally the portals resemble the other side but this one pretty clearly didn’t...*

[I’m not sure what it means either if I’m being honest. At least there is a lot of plants for Appoline?]

Almost as if the elf could hear that thought, Appoline shot up and started to sniff around carefully. The bunches of plants made it hard to see into the distance, so whatever she was looking for, Kat couldn’t pick it out. "This is recent. This is someone’s greenhouse... or something..."

"What do you mean?" Kat asked.

Appoline lowered herself down a bit and then gestured for Kat to follow. Mentally shrugging, Kat did so as Appoline lead them through the garden past a few plots before pointing a plant out to her. Kat... was honestly unsure what she was meant to get from it. The plants in this section consisted of one small tree and a bunch of vines that hung off it. The tree apparently didn’t mind this, despite the fact the vines on it probably weighed more than the rest of the tree.

On the ground were a few flowers hidden behind the vines in the shade, a few of which glowed softly. It looked nice... but Appoline seemed to be focused on something neither Kat nor Lily could see. Smelling the air like Appoline had been earlier didn’t really tell them much. It was very... floral in scent. "What are we meant to be looking at?" asked Kat after a few more seconds of nothing.

Appoline pointed towards one of the flower bushes, specifically, as Kat followed her finger, a recent cut. "Someone is maintaining this garden. That plant right there just had a few bits removed. I can still smell it in the air. I’d say that cut is no more than an hour old, and these plants are moving slightly so they’re not frozen, and the scents likely aren’t either."

"Within the hour?" Kat asked as she glanced around.

Appoline nodded, "Likely less but that’s harder to tell. I don’t recognise all of the plants here, just a lot. I’d love to harvest some... but I can also recognise they clearly belong to someone actively maintain the place."

"And you’re not willing to steal? I’m not keen on the idea either... but I’m a touch surprised," Kat commented.

Appoline shook her head. "This is what my family does for a living remember? I understand just how much time and effort it takes to grow high quality ingredients, and these plants are all exceptionally well cared for. If I mess with these instead of getting permission? I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re hunting down across portals.

"Of course, on the other hand, because these plants are actively maintained, unless the owner is also an alchemist then they likely store the various offcuts and flowers they remove from the plant. It might not be too hard to barter for a good deal of ingredients... so I’d rather make the attempt on that first."

"Huh..." mumbled Kat. "Well, that’s fine... why are we being quiet though?"

"Because... the worry is what if this is mainly done by a monster?" asked Appoline.

Kat looked down at the very proper pathing, and the probably enchanted boxes. "Is... is that even possible? With the stone paths, and whatever magic is being used to keep the plants in place?"

Appoline sighed, "Yes... or at least, there are stories of rather intelligent monsters managing farms like this. The axolotl could probably do it, just as an example." Kat remembered the crab. "Still... you’re right that the neat stone pathing is probably a step too far, and the enchantments, if they’re proper enchantments, likely indicate a person. Well... that or a familiar still taking care of the place after their partner passed away."

*Is that how that works? I was pretty sure that’s not how it works.* Still, Appoline at least believed it. Guess they’d need to be careful until they saw what it was.

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