Chapter 88 – Things that go glomp in the night.

By the time her first day was done, more than a few hours after it should have been done, they had unpacked basically all of the tools and glassware, some of which she still didn’t understand the purpose of. Kori was both exhausted and elated, it was finally beginning to look like what she had imagined she was going to see when she walked in that morning.

They of course hadn’t even cracked the first crate of ingredients open, that was a job for tomorrow. There was also the matter of materials storage to be solved. For now, the plan was to simply stack a bunch of open crates on their sides and use them as extra shelving. Kori was still envisioning an array of drawers and cabinets reaching all the way to the ceiling with ladders on little rails like what Imelda had, but apparently constructing something like that took larger pieces of wood than could realistically be wound through the corridors of Emberscale Caverns. Plus, it would be next to impossible to convince the other Elders to approve, as the clan simply lacked the expertise in creating such a thing and bringing outsiders into their home was next to unheard of.

Despite her protestations, and only because Bolst agreed to stay too, Kori was convinced to stay the night in her new sleeping quarters. Also, because she was nearly falling asleep on her feet, that was probably just as big a factor. The excitement of the day had finally waned and her lack of sleep the night before set in, even as nervous about slimes as she was, Kori was asleep within moments. She didn’t even bother to undress.

Kori’s dreams were usually erratic, fantastical things. Anything from chasing down fleeing monstrosities, cackling gleefully while she lobbed balls of fire, sometimes magical in nature, sometimes in the form of a flask that would explode cacophonically on impact, or simply casting a line from the crisscrossing ropeways suspended over the deep lakes to catch a fish. Or sometimes a badger. She was pretty sure that wasn’t how you caught badger, and she wasn’t really certain what a badger actually looked like other than it having mottled fur and powerful claws, but none of that mattered in a dream.

That night her dreams were of a less pleasant variety, occupied with slimes that tried to look like watery kobolds as they glomped their way into her newest territory. She’d throw her flasks and watch in horror as they simply sunk into the gelatinous mass unbroken and undetonated, or if they did go off, the creature would simply be unaffected by the stinging cloud, their exterior membrane not even noticing the irritant.

When she finally awoke to feel moisture stuck to the side of her face, she panicked. Only after she had lurched away from her mat and stumbled out screaming did she realize that it was not the stuff of nightmares. She had slept awkwardly and her drool had puddled beneath her face on her mat.

A screaming youngling was most assuredly not the manner of waking that either Bolst or the warrior who had been standing guard outside, not the same one that had been there when they arrived the prior morning as they swapped out at some point, had expected.

One, following a grumbling string of what could only be profanities, peaked their head out, while the other rushed from their den, spear in one hand, shield in the other, and naught else upon their person. Kori wasn’t sure if her scales had ever been such a pink as she blushed furiously, turning sharply as soon as she saw the warrior burst from her sleeping place.

The scale-clad warrior quickly took in the area and when she saw no apparent threat demanded to know what was happening. “What’s wrong, did something get in?”

With her eyes still turned pointedly away, Kori sheepishly responded. “No… I uhh… I had a bad dream…” She left out the part about being terrified by a pool of her own drool.

I hope that doesn’t stain…

With what could only be incredulity, recognizable without even turning to see the warrior’s expression, she sighed. “You… had a bad dream…” Kori heard the sound of wood clattering against stone as the spear was set down and leaned against the wall. “Of course you did… Whose bright idea was it to have a youngling barely allowed to leave her brood chamber sleep all the way down here…” Her words sounded sympathetic, but also like she was pinching the bridge of her muzzle and shaking her head. “I’m going back to sleep. Should still be an hour or two until shift change.”

She was nearly back into her den when the main door slammed open and another, much younger, warrior walked in with his shield raised and spear leveled. He’d barely surveyed the room and was about to say something when the, still nude, warrior sighed again. “Well, you’re useless. She’d be half digested by now if a slime got in.”

This of course was the last thing that Kori wanted to hear, she was certain that it was an exaggeration. Or at least she hoped it was, she didn’t really know enough about her new neighbours to say for certain.

The newcomer, who Kori was actually able to look at, took on a confused expression and made to respond but was quickly silenced by a glare.

“If I find out you were asleep at your post, you’ll wish all I did was report it to Blonc.” She threatened. His expression became even more confused, as he both blanched at the threat and began to blush nearly as much as Kori was when he finally took in his senior’s state of, or rather lack of, dress.

“But… I… no, I wasn’t…” He stammered out, his eyes moving around wildly as he wasn’t sure where to look.

She sighed again, or perhaps yawned, it was hard to tell when you were looking in the opposite direction. “It was a false alarm, just get back to your post.” After she finished speaking, Kori finally heard the sound of fabric rustling as the woman returned to her den. Only when she saw the younger warrior’s shoulders slump and he had mouthed a quick ‘sorry’ before leaving did she accept that it was now safe to turn around.

When she did, she found Bolst leaning up against the wall next to where he’d slept. “Sorry…” She mumbled, vowing to say the same to the warrior when she emerged next. Hopefully while clothed.

The Elder simply shrugged. “It’s easy to forget just how young you really are…” His words were interrupted by a wide yawn. “As much as I’d like to, I don’t suppose either of us are getting back to sleep.” A wide grin spread before he continued. “Want to get a bit of crafting in before Har gets here to ruin the fun?”

The grin was contagious. Kori’s eyes widened as she stared at him processing what he’d just suggested. “But what would we make? All the ingredients are still packed away.”

Bolst briefly glanced at the opening through which the warrior had disappeared before lowering his voice like he didn’t want to get caught. “All of the ingredients from the surface are still packed away. I may just happen to know where there’s a sack of freshly harvested moss tucked away for just such an occasion.” He tilted his head towards one of the unoccupied dens higher up on the wall.

Kori didn’t have to be told twice. She nodded enthusiastically and scrambled up the handholds to the indicated den, finding a few tied bags of coarse cloth resting within. Upon inspection it was easy enough to tell that they contained many of the ingredients she had learned of from Ortik. Including the drift mushrooms that still scared her a little.

I wonder what would happen if I used driftshroom instead of the nettles in my stinging cloud flask…

It wasn’t hard to find the moss, it was both the largest and lightest of the bags, the frilly tufts barely weighing anything. She quickly tossed the bag to Bolst before climbing back down to floor level and sharing a conspiratorial grin as they made their way towards the new workspace, with just a brief stop to collect some water.

As they set the ingredients down on the work table, Bolst glanced down to her ever-present satchel. He was certain the notes that she had enthusiastically discussed the day before would be there waiting to make their appearance. “So, it’s your lab, so how are we going to do this?”

Kori had to think a moment before she responded, the notes coming to mind immediately before being dismissed with a nod as she made up her mind. “The same way I’ve always made it. No changes, yet.”

“Oh?” Bolst quirked a brow, a little surprised by her response.

“There are so many things that I want to try, but I don’t know the tools here yet…” She looked around at the many apparatuses that were neatly arranged on the shelves and tables.

Bolst’s smile widened as she admitted her nervousness about the new tools. “Excellent! You’d never know if a change in the result was from your tests or the new gear if you didn’t try the basics first!”

Her eyes widened as she took in what he said, she hadn’t thought about it that way at all. She’d mostly just been remembering when she’d ruined so much of the moss in Bolst’s lab by not asking questions or learning how to use his tools properly.

“I didn’t see any dried moss, so I guess that’s where we start?” Kori asked.

“Sounds good, how do you want to dry it? On a tray over the heaters? Or we could use one of the new flasks over a burner.” Bolst thought for another moment. “Or I think there’s an air rune around here somewhere that we could use to push hot air over it with.”

The last suggestion was one Kori had never considered and her hand itched to add it to her sheaf of notes. “I think we start with a tray over the heater. But while we do that, can you tell me more about that last suggestion?”

While the pair washed, sliced and prepared the moss, Bolst told her all he knew about the concept of warm air drying. Which wasn’t a whole lot as he had few applications for the process and only knew of it from a discussion with the glassblower up on the surface. He wasn’t sure if they had the right materials to set something up, but Kori was excited about the idea regardless.

That sounds a lot like the way Imelda used her oven, maybe even better since the moss isn’t directly under all the heat. I wonder if we could control the temperature better like that than with just the mana heaters.

They continued working in companionable silence as they prepared their ingredients. The moss took some time to dry, so while they waited Bolst peppered her with questions about the stinging cloud flask and her other creations she had made on the surface. She even brought up her curiosity about the drift mushrooms, which he thought had merit but was apprehensive to pursue. Likely having flashbacks to the last time she’d worked on something volatile around him.

Since they were doing a rather small batch of the moss, it didn’t take too long for it to be desiccated and crumbling. When she pointed out that they would need to wait for the dried moss to cool before they could use it, Bolst showed her the reason there was a gust rune on hand.

The relatively weak inscription would be next to useless for its typical purpose circulating air within the caverns, but when he placed it over a thin cloth bag containing the piping hot moss, it dispersed the heat much faster than simply waiting for it to cool on its own. This was similar to the drying method Bolst had described and really helped her get her mind around the concept. If she could arrange the rune so that it blew over a heat source and through the moss, it should make drying the moss much faster. As long as it didn’t end up spreading the moss all over her lab at least.

With the ingredients now ready to use, Kori was excited to finally get to the fun part. She picked out two different mortars, one coarse stone like she had been taught on and another porcelain like she’d used with Bolst the last time, and took out one of the large glass containers, which she filled with water, directly from the rune for this first attempt, and placed on one of the heaters to boil.

With everything around her still so new, it was still the little things that excited her the most. Just having matching glassware that she could fill with water to the exact same level might not have been a big deal for most, but it excited Kori to no end that she’d be able to track every quantity of ingredient that went into her concoctions.

I’m really going to need to get that measurement Skill soon…

The water was soon bubbling and ready, they took it off the heat and as soon as it stilled sprinkled in some of their dried moss and let the steeping process begin. It was only a few, excruciatingly long, minutes until they were ready to bring everything together.

With Bolst here there was something that she wanted to try. She’d been so busy experimenting with Imelda and their moss supply so limited that she’d never been able to justify the potential waste, but now seemed like the perfect moment. “Bolst, can you try to make a batch too? I want to see if you get it almost there, can I finish it off.”

Bolst of course thought that to be an excellent suggestion. “Wonderful idea!” He’d been worried that the clans demand for concoctions would overwhelm her, and had said as much while they argued about her schedule. If they could discover the extent to which she could be assisted, then it would stand to lighten the load, though the supply of mana would still lie solely on the youngling’s shoulders.

The pair began in sync, each grinding away at the moss while slowly dripping in tincture as needed. Bolst’s took more work in the porcelain, but would result in a much smoother paste, while Kori’s coarser stone pulverized the fresh moss rapidly, but with far less consistency. Kori knew exactly when that tugging sensation would begin its pull on her mana and let it flow as soon as she felt it. The familiar sensation of her mana coursing through her hands and even the pestle to settle into the paste one she’d felt many times. Though it still excited her a little each time.

She gave Bolst a smirk as she saw him watching her every action, almost as though he were trying to figure out what she was doing so that he could too. She took over with the other pestle and began working it into a smooth paste. It was nearly to the point that it would demand her mana when she began, but quickly passed it by without reaction. She kept going, dribbling in a bit more tincture and continuing to refine the paste until it had long since passed the necessary stage.

“Well, scale…” Bolst muttered when she confirmed that it hadn’t worked.

“That should have worked…” Kori complained. She was certain that she hadn’t been too late to take over.

They were in a heated debate over what went wrong, Bolst believing that her Skill required the final assembly to be by her own hand and Kori arguing that there had to be a point between beginning and mana infusion that could be prepared by someone else, when they heard the loud sound of a throat being cleared behind them. They both jumped, nearly toppling over some of the things they’d been working with, and turned to face whomever had snuck up on them.

“Now what exactly do we have here?” Har demanded, clearly displeased to find the pair working on crafting rather than working on unpacking, or preferably still sleeping since he was early. The mess they had made only adding to his irritation.