"Mwa-hahahaha!! This is the motherload! The motherload, I tell you!" - Garami
"That's the understatement of the year! I could be using the forge 24 hours a day and still not be done with this mountain until the next year!" - Flint
"Yeah! ...That's good, right?" - Garami
"Nope. We need more! More! MOOOORE!!" - Flint
"Okay, that's enough." - Garami
*Bonk*
The lizard was getting a tad too crazy, so I hit his pause button with the bamboo sword he had put up for sale in his store.
Oh, and for your record, we're currently in his workshop's backroom storage, where he keeps all his materials for his forge. I didn't steal this sword. I borrowed it when we walked through the store to the storage room. When you get as experienced with dealing with "colorful people" such as me, you start planning your next move before it's needed.
"Ouch! What's the big idea?!" asked the red-scaled lizard, Flint, while fussing over the non-existent bump on his head. Chill, dude. It's just a bamboo sword. Oh, maybe it's impossible for him. He's got a strong connection with the Heat-category attribute after all. Lizard scales don't lie.
"Payment?" - Garami
"Huh? Ah, right. Fixing your guy's shield's far from enough to repay you for all this ore..." - Flint
Oho? Am I sensing a bonus on the horizon? Sure, I did have my Gloom Skeletons contribute with mining ores after we got down to the dig site, having removed all the roots left after Revi's breath of death, so we ended up with way more metal than either of us could have expected. Then again, I'm an amateur in mining, so I had no clue how much we could get in the first place.
"In that case, mind if I take the plant yarn ball I made before?" - Garami
In the deepest part of the dig site, one of the Tuntuntang metal plants had managed to survive Revi's magic attack. Seeing as it was the last one, I put some effort into it and used [Natural Webbing] to form a ball of "metal root yarn" instead of cutting it apart with my [Aura of Darkness] and [Burning Warlust] combo.
Plus that move stings like hell, so I don't want to use it more than I have to. Back then in the cave seemed like a good way to train my skill levels safely, but I've had enough for one day.
"Just that? That's fine with me, it's your handiwork and all." - Flint
Sweet~. If I add this along with that strange material I obtained from the underground dome quest, I'm just one skill effect or two away from updating my main outfit to match my current growth stage. The question is just what to use as the other potential materials. The key skill for my desired new outfit is the [Cursed Nemesis Mantle] I ended up with as an unexpected bonus back on the Iron Isle. The question is just what combination to use to get the most out of that thing...
"If it's not a problem with you people, then I could take a look at your current equipment as well. Just your usual quality control. On the house, obviously." - Flint
"...Sure, why not? But you have to share the data you're collecting while 'checking' them." - Garami
"Guh-! ...R-right..." - Flint
Figured he'd want to take a better look at the Nightmare Demon Scythe. Such a weapon otaku wouldn't miss trying to get some one-on-one time with a rare weapon such as this thing. It's not called a "unique series" for nothing.
Whatever his deal is, it's a gain for me if I can get a professional to take a look at it. Just being good at alchemy won't help upgrading our weapons. Honestly, we could need a dedicated blacksmith in our Guild. And a good mechanic. It would be the end of the world if the Marauder got engine troubles here in the middle of the desert.
"While you're on it, mind looking into the tools of Iron and Mira as well? Ah, Iron is the owner of the shield while Mira is another warrior in our Guild. There's someone named Alf who's using a weird halberd, but he's not in town, so do you mind if you can take a look at that too if he ever visits?" - Garami
"A-alright, just testing them wouldn't be too costly-, I mean, that isn't any problem. Geez, give a finger and she'll take the whole arm..." - Flint
The last part must have been him talking to himself, but you can't fool the demoness ears, Flinty.
"Great~. While I'd like to say that no time's like the present, it's getting late today. We'll be back tomorrow for that quality-*BOOOOOM!!*-..., you know what? Forget I said anything." - Garami
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Exasperated, I walked out of the workshop to find out what was crashing my business meeting. A huge dust cloud was rising from the Palmtree Forest, while voices of panic and terror could be heard even from here. Greaaaat.
"Wh-what is going on!?" - Flint
"Nothing unusual. Just your everyday crisis." - Garami
---
After calming down the over-excited lizard, I walked down to town to get the latest word around. Nobody needed to tell me what was going on, as the town's bodyguards were busy trying to defend the townspeople from plant-like tendrils that emerged from the ground near the Palmtree Forest...
Hey, aren't those dangerously similar to the Tuntuntang roots we cleared out from the tunnels earlier? Now I'm glad I left Flint behind in his workshop. He looks like the type to say something stupid and cause all the blame to land on us.
While strategizing on how not to become the scapegoat of today's emergency, I noticed a familiar figure trying to help the civilians escape from the R-18 zone, er, the danger zone.
"Hey, mayor? What in the wide world is going on?" I asked the town's highest authority figure while doing my very, VERY best to act as if I had nothing to do with this.
"Miss Garami? Great timing! We need your help! Giant plant monsters are attacking the town!" - Mayor Tomtom
"I can see that. Why?" - Garami
"I am the one who wants to know that! Some of the people gathering materials from the Palmtree Forest mentioned something about the plants suddenly turning active and growing all of a sudden." - Mayor Tomtom
"Phew, the source is there then...? Hey, what about Mira and Iron?!" - Garami
"Young Iron is fine. The plants seem...to favor...well..." - Mayor Tomtom
"Favor what?" is what I was about to ask, but then I saw one of the warriors getting caught by one of the tendril-like vines. In a matter of seconds, the vines had stripped the poor sap down to his underwear...hmm? No, hold on... Nope, I wasn't wrong. We're dealing with stripping plants here. I did NOT foresee that one.
".........Aha. No wonder they don't want Iron." - Garami
It took a small moment for me to recover, mostly due to the sorry and UNPLEASANT(!!!) sight of the poor sap just now, but it seems the vines' goal isn't humiliating the warriors. They are transporting the stolen clothes into the forest. Iron's an animated armor, so if you want to be rude, you could say that guy's a natural streaker. Nothing to steal there, hence there's no big reason to target him.
"And as for your female companion..., well..., she is fine, even after she was attacked." - Mayor Tomtom
"Hold on, how's that 'fine'!?" - Garami
"Th-the vines do not seem keen on harming people too much. That is our sole blessing in this mess. Miss Mira returned to the fray after we gave her a new outfit. The men near her when the vines...struck are still incapacitated due to acute blood loss..." - Mayor Tomtom
Yeah, no wonder. I'm not ashamed to say it, but I'd be in the same boat if I were there too. Not that it will stop me from hunting down those jerks and beating the living ****ing shit out of them.
"Right, I get what's going on. So, how much for info about the root?" - Garami
"Eh...excuse me?" - Mayor Tomtom
"I said, how much can you pay for hiring me to go and look what the source of this floral invasion is? I'm a pro, you know. Working for free is just going to bring more trouble later." - Garami
"Ah! W-we should be able to award you according to the Adventurers' Union's emergency quest rules!" - Mayor Tomtom
Which means a few Gold Sols at the very least. Maybe around 30k if we're lucky. Not bad at all. Let's go and take a look for now.
---
One infiltration later:
And here we are! The Palmtree Forest!!
Just as I suspected, the stripper vines don't seem to be that bright. Just activating a few stealth skills was enough to let me just walk into the forest without being stopped, attacked, or losing the sorry excuse of a leather armor I've been using up till now. And even if the latter happened, I could just tailor up a new outfit at a moment's notice. Those recipe effects from the Crafter-line classes are just goddamn awesome sometimes.
That confirms my theory regarding the vines. They're proper plant monsters or the "arms" of a giant plant kaiju hidden inside the other flora here. Nah, my money's on that they're token-like entities under the command of the mastermind behind this clothing mass robbery incident.
As for why I've decided that tokens are because of their lack of abilities outside of combat. The vines for example are lacking in Perception skill-type effects, which explains why I can go right past them while in stealth mode. A different example would be the undead spiders I summon with the "Summon Phantom" skills.
Once I created a self-hiding box by a mistake when I was practicing my alchemy skills. Needless to say, I lost sight of it soon after. To save me some time, I used the spider tokens to look for it, but at the end of the day (literally), they had put the whole room on its head with no results. On the other hand, a single Gloom Skeleton I made found the box within a minute.
That's my point. Creation-type and contract-type summons are easy to enhance with multiple abilities, as long as you have the resources and time for it, but tokens are generally only geared toward one object. These vines seem to be favoring "stripping any hostiles", but "be aware of hidden foes" isn't on its CV.
Well, there's probably not that many summon-type experts out here in this little town hidden in the corner of the desert. I can't blame the mayor or his bodyguard warriors for not knowing this. And I wasn't kidding when I said I was a pro. I didn't earn this silver-ranked Adventuers' card for nothing.
Anyway, the vines seem to have taken the clothes back into the forest using a relay run. New vines keep on growing out of the ground to fight the people in the town while the old ones are put on logistic duties after their hour in the (combat) spotlight is over. That way, even the wounded vines can still play a role without having to summon new ones just to transport the stolen loot.
Hmm, I told the mayor I'd only take a look, but if the vines' master has this many troops under its control...wouldn't its skill build be a heavily LP-focused one? Those tend to be pretty weak in a direct fight. And I only say "tend to" because I'm also one of those, yet still able to hold myself in a fight. Plus the culprit is a plant user. That's probably one of the best possible opponents I could ask for.
While I know better than to get ahead of myself, I walked into the hidden "cave" with a positive, yet a little bloodthirsty, attitude. Hey, even I love to smash some monsters now and then. Hmm, maybe Mira and Filyn's been bad influences on me? What a dilemma...