D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad-Chapter 1759 - Moral Quarry

--- Kat ---

Kat was refining her movement through the droplets when she passed by a maned frog. The main was a mix of greens that made it seem like leaves, and its skin was a shiny but dull blueish-green that blended in with the trees and the grass. It had big cheeks marked out in a solid green… and it was attacking her? The frog's tongue was definitely targeting the main raindrop Kat found herself in. Strange.

Kat dropped her control over that raindrop and the frog reacted soon after, yanking its tongue to try and collect other nearby droplets she was currently inhabiting. Kat was basically full on demonic energy so she let herself expand out of one and into her full form, catching the thing's tongue with one hand. It reacted with surprise and tried to yank its tongue back, and when that didn't work it bit down!

Kat watched as its tongue was sliced off. She was surprised it would go that far… but a moment later the remains she was holding collapsed into water. The frog stared at her for a few moments before eventually blinking slowly with one eye at a time. It never dropped its gaze though. It always had at least one eye completely focused on her.

Right… this is strange. What do I do here? It's not like it's dangerous to ME personally… but maybe it is to other people who travel along the road? Do I kill it just for that? Some theoretical person that might come later? It's not even attacking anymore which is kinda weird. A lot of monsters just keep going even if it doesn't think it can win. Hmmm…

Kat mentally glanced over at Lily's mind and found her girlfriend was fast asleep. That's a touch annoying. I was hoping she could ask the rest of the group how dangerous these frogs are and if it was right to kill it or not. That would clearly be too easy though. Unless… am I willing to wake Lily up for this?

Kat matched the frogs stare. Gazing back into its eyes without a care for the water dripping down her face. It wasn't cold enough for her to shiver, nor was the water that did get into her eyes fast enough to cause her to need to blink. She could keep this up all day… but was she really just going to stand here until Lily woke up or the frog fled?

And should I be trying to kill it if it does flee? Urgh. I don't want to always jump to violence as my first answer but this is a monster right? How much of an issue are these things? This is like the fekin bandit hypothetical. Is it better to make sure they can never hurt anyone again or give them a chance at redemption? Except this is a monster… and…

Before Kat could work out if she really wanted to kill something that was no longer attacking her a giant bird-thing swooped down from the side and took off with the frog. It looked like a vulture with an extended neck that had a much greater freedom of movement. Its talons were somewhat dull but its leg muscles were more than sufficient to crush the frog before it could properly react.

Kat glanced up as the bird flew away. Should I thank it for solving my moral quandary or curse it for killing something I might have let live? Kat shrugged and got back to her sprint. She could bring up the whole interaction later one. Dispersing into water Kat quickly picked up speed, though she did keep an eye out for any frogs until she got back to the tent.

Kat carefully made her way inside, shifting into water to keep most of it out in fact. Inside she found Green was sprawled out over Gareth who was sitting in a folding chair. Kress had a proper couch he was resting on and Nixilei was vaguely visible at the back of the tent with a whole desk setup. With storage rings Kat supposed it made sense… but it was still a bit of a surprise.

Though that made Kat blink and check her own storage ring. It was there on her finger. Completely fine by the looks of things. Woops. Didn't even think about that when I headed out. Why does it work with my transformation and not Lily's though? Something to test maybe?

"I went to check out the bridge… and what's with the stalagmites? The lightning is having a field day with them. Not sure it'd be safe for us to cross that way honestly…" said Kat.

Kress shrugged from the couch. "Not sure. It wasn't an issue when we got there and it's really not my wheelhouse. Nixilei might know but she's doing up a report at the moment, and the only other person who might know is Green,"

Kat glanced at the sleeping girl. Unsure of what to do until Gareth kissed her fulling on the mouth. "I'm awake!" cheered Green as she sat up and looked around. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you know why the stalagmites near the bridge were attracting lightning at such a high rate and Gareth woke you up, presumably to answer," said Kat.

"Eh, that's fine don't worry about it. Gareth can wake me up whenever I'm needed!" said Green.

"Yeah cause anyone else gets attacked," added Kress.

Green narrowed her eyes in Kress direction but didn't contradict him. "Anyway… not sure either. I'd have to get a better look myself. We didn't really investigate once it was clear the bridge was out. I mean, sure we looked around for alternatives and stuff but they didn't seem that weird before? My two best guesses is that somebody is using the lightning to power some enchantments, or perhaps some monster is using them to hatch its eggs,"

"Wait what?" asked Kat. "Why are either of those likely?"

"Well some enchantments need a bit more oomph then what they can gather steadily. Lightning is usually rich in mana, and it's a form of energy anyway. So you suck it up to power bigger things. There might be a secret lab, or maybe the dude has a permit. Heck it could be the city power the enchantments on the road. Though if it's that last one… I do wonder why the bridge wasn't similarly enhanced.

"As for the monster eggs? Plenty of more powerful monsters have obscure conditions needed to breed. Well, breed isn't always the right word for it but it's good enough for you to get the picture. They might've like… applied a special spit or something less savoury to the stalagmites and then put an egg in each one. Maybe a lightning condor will get born or something. I can't really say without seeing them," explained Green.

"Well… I didn't see any monsters down there. Does that matter?" asked Kat.

"Not always?" shrugged Green. "Sometimes they have monster guards, or golem ones. Eggs get left alone all the time. If whatever laid them wants to secure the area, or maybe lay as many eggs as possible they might just keep moving,"

Kat nodded, "Right… so with that in mind how safe would you all say the crossing is? I'm not against flying you but I can't block a lightning strike. It's not going to kill me… but it might lock up my muscles and cause us to drop for a while. Plus I'm not sure how safe it would be for you guys? Perhaps an artifact or something to help?"

Green shook her head, "Nope. We've got nothing like that… and it sounds pretty dangerous. Thanks for being willing to take us there if we needed to… but I think at this point we're just going to have to cut through the jungle. Even a short flight seems a bit too dangerous. Cause you can't just jump right?"

Kat shrugged, "It's pretty far. I can probably jump it… but that's just by myself and I have no idea what would happen if we jumped and got struck halfway? Would the lightning knock us down or would we keep going?"

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Green winced, "Let's just go around. Well assuming the rain is still around. We can set off tomorrow morning and hopefully still reach the city with a day to spare. That's going to be crucial for resting up before the final round. So… Kat we might ask you to carry us for a bit, if you're willing,"

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"Not sure how many of you I can stack on me at a time, but I'm happy to help you guys. You're all friends at this point and I'm happy to help out in whatever manner is practical. It just… might not be that practical here,"

"Yeah sorry about that. This really wasn't the plan. The bridge hasn't failed for years… which probably means it's needed replacing for a while now… but still. We, or at least I am sorry for this," murmured Green.

"Hey it's fine," said Kat. "I'm not going to torpedo the whole thing at the final stretch. If it takes a bit of extra effort on my part that's all fine,"