Chapter 1655 Mush!

--- Kat --- (The following day)

Hunter had started putting on more layers as they moved deeper into the snowy area. It was kind of amusing to watch actually because Hunter didn’t stop to put everything on all at once. First she added a beany, then a scarf, then her shirt got swapped out. Finally Hunter added a bunch of these sticky pads along her tail that radiated some heat. Kat had actually been expecting a stocking or something but heating pads made sense too.

Kat and crew were making good time. They’d passed a few other groups in just the one day, though quite a few were heading out of the mountains. Kat almost wanted to stop and ask them why they were leaving the mountain in such numbers… but in truth she had no idea how busy the road normally was. It could be a perfectly reasonable amount of traffic. Meg also checked to ensure that none of them had the drake piece on them… and nobody did. Wasn’t a surprise but the check did need to be performed.

Right now, they were entering passing into snow covered area. The road was still mostly clear on account of only light snowfall around the edges and the passing of semi-regular travellers. They did have to be a bit more careful when running due to the occasional puddle brought about because of the damage on the road but they were easily spotted with a bit of awareness. It did bring to mind a few questions Kat had… but she wasn’t sure if they were appropriate to ask out loud. So she didn’t. Instead, Kat sent them to Lily.

*Do you think Meg is waterproof?*

[What?]

*Do you think Meg is waterproof? Like her skin is cloth like in appearance and I know from the time I had to carry her back to our cabin that it also feels like its made out of cloth… so is it actually cloth? And regardless of that is she waterproof? I mean Meg is wearing clothes on top of her ’skin’ and she’s got shoes on and stuff… but is she waterproof? I wasn’t paying attention back in the forest but the water puddles we’re avoiding made me think.*

[I… hmm… I was going to say ’surely she’s waterproof because how else would she function’ but now I’m not so sure… I mean… Meg’s skin might not be waterproof but her organs probably are? Or maybe only some of her organs? I’m not sure if it was ever covered what her organs are made of? Like are they metallic? A notable aspect of her race is the fact that her race ’jingles’ when they move…]

[And there’s Meg’s eyes, oh and that other greed demon as well. Both clearly have inorganic eyes… or… hmmn not sure if I can really call it ’inorganic’ when they clearly function as eyes but my point is that the other greed demon had gold coins for eyes and Meg has rubies for eyes. Neither would allow water inside them… though I wonder how ’deep’ down they are?]

*What do you mean by deep down? I can sort of get what you’re saying from your mind but I’d prefer and explanation.*

[I’m essentially wondering if she has a crystal casing around her eyes or if they’re crystal all the way down. If I’d only seen Meg then I think my first thought would be that greed demons have gem-looking eyes… but going over your memories of the first greed demon you met he definitely had gold coins for eyes and they were flat! So… yeah no idea.]

*Hmmm… do you think we should just ask? Wait no hang on. Meg can drink water… so she has to be waterproof then… right?*

[Not necessarily. If her mouth and throat are the only things that are waterproof then it still works…]

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*Yeah but surely at that point it would just be easier for her skin to be waterproof and just look like silk right?*

[Look Kat, I have no clue how Meg operates on a biological level. I have no idea what would be easier or harder. Sure it sounds like she should be completely waterproof but what if greed demons were original some kind of cloth golem or perhaps a possessed set of armour or something like that? I could see them evolving ’waterproof’ organs in order to keep working in low magic areas but if they hardened their organs their ’skin’ could remain permeable.]

*Hmm… I suppose but what about…*

Kat and Lily continued to ponder over the question of if water could get through Meg’s skin or not mostly to keep themselves entertained while Lily was awake for that particularly leg of the journey. Kat even made sure to pay extra attention to Meg to see if there was any evidence either way. The answer wasn’t really important it was just a way to pass the time.

Annoyingly, Meg’s boots made it hard to tell and the only snow around was on the ground. The sky was mostly clear, if a little grey and as such there was no additional snowfall to keep an eye out for.

With Kat’s focus on Meg for the most part things move swiftly… until Kat was struck with an intense feeling of wrongness. Nobody had slowed down so Kat didn’t either but she shifted her attention from Meg to the are around her… but nothing was standing out compared to normal.

There was a bunch of snow on the ground, a bunch more snow off to the sides of the road with a good deal of monster trucks visible but that wasn’t anything new at this point. There were some trees around and while they did look a little odd Kat was chalking it up to the change in terrain. To Kat’s eyes that looked almost like the sort of trees you’d see in a cartoon or an 3D animated movie for Christmas. They were layered and almost perfect circles with a lot of snow covering them.

Sitting underneath the trees were quite a few small white mushroom but considering the lack of snow directly under the trees and the regular drops of water down onto them it just made sense to Kat that the mushrooms would be there. Perhaps they were dangerous? Kat didn’t feel all that scared looking at them and yet the feeling of something being wrong didn’t quite go away.

Kat glanced up at the sky. No snow, sun clearly visible in the sky, a couple of clouds and a few birds that may or may not have been monsters… but said birds weren’t anywhere nearby so how dangerous they were wasn’t particularly relevant and even if they could be a problem Kat was confident in dealing with them.

Something was still odd though.

Kat kept glancing around, looking for a reaction from anyone else in the group but nobody else seemed to notice anything weird, or at least, they just seemed to be running at a consistent pace and dodging the few puddles and larger holes that still popped up on the road. Things continued like this until it was time for a short break. There was a particularly large rock near a frozen pond that worked well enough as a place to stop for some quick snacks.

Once everyone was nibbling "Does anyone else feel like there’s something wrong here on the mountain? Like I can’t put my finger on it… but something just doesn’t seem quite right?"

Kamiko shrugged around the jelly cup she was eating, not having noticed anything herself… though she hadn’t been paying much attention either. Most of her focus still back at forest village. Hunter and Meg on the other hand took another glance around… but seemed confused as to what Kat was talking about. "Seems fine to me," announced Meg.

"Agreed," stated Hunter. "The mushrooms all seem quite healthy and it’s not the correct weather for spores to be a major concern at the moment,"

Kat frowned and glanced around at the area. The mushrooms weren’t all that numerous or large… so why mention the spores even being a concern? That’s like saying watch out for the sharks while standing in the middle of the desert. It makes you more worried about sharks then less because why even bring it up. "Should… should I be worried about the mushrooms?"

"No. I just explained that it was not the correct weather for spores and the mushrooms seem healthy at the moment so they aren’t likely to do anything to force their survival which might put our own at risk," stated Hunter. Her words sounding reassuring but were completely unhelpful.

"Aren’t they just tiny mushrooms though? Why are the spores a big deal? Are they poisonous?" asked Kat.

"I wouldn’t consider them tiny at all… though just so that we’re all on the same page," Hunter paused for a breath as she pointed at a nearby tree. "Those are the mushrooms you should be concerned about,"

Kat turned and examined the ’cartoon tree’ once again… though with Hunter’s extra comments the truth was obvious. The white snow resting on the ’branch layers’ was in fact snow resting on top of a mushroom cap. The entire ’tree’ was one big mushroom with caps every half a metre or so, getting smaller as it approached the top and the ’bark’ was much too pale now that she glanced at it. Perhaps Kat had thought it snow as well… but looking at it properly revealed the truth.

Kat slowly walked over the tree and pressed her hand against the mushroom’s trunk. It sunk in instead of crunching against bark. "Ah, those mushrooms," agreed Kat still stunned at realisation. Seems she worked out what was bugging her after all.

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