Chapter 872

“Hey Xiang,” called Kat, trying to get the cultivators attention now he was sitting down instead of trying to practice. Xiang turned to look over at Kat, and seeing she had his attention, “I was wondering if it’d be fine to grab a chunk of snake meat to store for Lily to eat? I’m not sure how long it’d keep but for her at least it’s much better then the supplies we’ve been using,”

Xiang nodded, “Sure that’s actually a great idea. Spirit beasts don’t rot all that fast, and at Rank 3 we’ll be able to store it even in non-ideal conditions for a few weeks before it becomes a problem... honestly the bigger issue is cooking it...”

Kat nodded and asked, “So... if you don’t mind my asking... how do those rings work? Like... how much can we fit in them? Like the snake head? Is that something I’m carrying or you’re storing? How fresh does food stay in them? Is it limited by weight or the size of things?”

Xiang took in Kat’s question and let out a long puff of air, “Ok... that’s a bit to work through but...” Xiang glanced over at Yang who was still cultivating by the looks of things, “we seem to have time. I’ll start with the first question because it’s the easiest. From a certain perspective. I don’t know. I never study storage ring creation, it’s a field that a lot of cultivators who want safety and money go into. Everyone wants a storage ring, and nobody wants to piss of the guild that makes them. Still, it’s a balance. The guild doesn’t interfere much...

“They mostly just keep themselves and their interests safe. They also sell to whoever asks as long as you have the money. I’ve heard it’s not a closely guarded secret... but the guild can make them quite cheaply, by the hundreds of thousands depending on the space inside, and it’s very safe for crafters. Anyway... what these rings do... is they open a small whole in the space between worlds and then designate a ‘safe’ area for your items.

“Now, this leads us onto how long food lasts. The space in between dimensions doesn’t really have temperature as a concept, but things still like to equalise. So... whatever your storing tends to either heat up or cool down to about... 15 degrees Celsius. Nobody really knows why that temperature.

“The problem with storing food, at least in the lower quality rings without any fancier features, is that when you store something you also get all the air around it. So while the pocket dimension itself might not have air or whatever causes food to rot, the food you put in their did. Still, it does slow things down a bit compared to just leaving it in the open. It’s a lot closer to a carefully wrapped wax package compared to a cupboard.

.....

“Um... next question was... ‘how much can you fit in them’ and really the answer is ‘how much do you want to spend?’ the ring I have if mostly for supplies and a bit of treasure without much room for anything else. Mine was passed down to me... and I don’t know that I was ever told exactly how much it can fit... it’s more of a feeling when I activate the ring. If it was new I’d know, but mine currently isn’t.

“Um... following on from that. It’s a bit of both, size and weight. It’s more size then weight so folding up camping supplies really saves on space. Weight does still play a bit of a role... however unless you’re specifically collecting the heaviest things you can find you’ll never have a problem. It’s something like... 100kg per 1cm2 I think. Which is way more than you’d use if you’re not going out of your way.

“Now... as for the snake head... I think it’s a bit too large to fit into my ring. Yang’s might be large enough... but she’d have to take everything out and even then it’d be close... I’m not sure I’d be able to fit everything she has in her ring anyway... can you try lifting it first? If it’s something you can lift it might be best just to carry it,”

*I really doubt that but sure I can try.* Kat bent over and tried to lift the snake, simply by bending down and grabbing it from the bottom. Kat heaved it up most of the way, arms outstretched and snake resting in front of her. Kat felt her feet leaving the ground and before she could correct herself she found the snake head crashing down into the water as she hung sideways from her arms. “Woops. Just um... give me one more attempt...” said Kat.

*I wonder if whatever magic I normally use to help lift heavy things doesn’t work on spirit beasts? Or if I’m heavy then I look and it’s just now got the best of me? Maybe I have a weight limit? I mean... I can definitely lift it... it’s just a question of how easily I can walk with it and if I can get it into a good spot. Because apparently leverage is still a problem. Best lift this properly then. I’ve been very lazy about it since my strength got better... maybe it’ll help.*

Kat shifted her stance and dug her feet into the mud properly to hopefully anchor herself a bit more. She bent her knees and reached out for the snake, pulling it in close and lifting it up. Kat could feel herself starting to pitch forward again so she leaned right back and slammed her tail into the mud to try and help get more leverage. With a heave she shifted it the snake from the awkward place it was stuck on top of her chest all the way above her head, before quickly shifting her hands until she was roughly in the centre of mass. She could feel herself sinking deeper into the mud as she held it, and her arms starting to shake.

Pumping more demonic energy into them Kat felt her arms stabilize and she tried to take a step forward, the head started to drag her forward before she got the rest of her body caught up and Kat frowned. *Hmm... I can lift it... and I can move it... but it’ll be hard to run with. Probably. Would it be easier at speed? Possibly... but I’m also not sure that it matters.* “Give me a sec,” said Kat as she started to try and jog around in a circle to get a feel for the thing.

It was nearly impossible. Her tail was nowhere near enough to provide the proper balance it normally would. The ground was unstable and muddy, meaning she had to constantly watch her centre of mass and account for the fact she was sinking pretty far into it now. Still, step by step, lap by lap, Kat was getting the hang of things. It was fairly finicky work and took a great deal of shifting her hands around to keep it all working... but it was possible. Sure things wobbled a good deal, but it was working. The only issue was that Kat knew she was even slower then the fully loaded ice block. With everyone added on as additional weight... well... Kat wasn’t sure what her top speed would be.

Kat let out a long breath and hefted the snake head back down to the ground and shook her head to clear it. She wandered back over to Xiang and gave a basic rundown, ‘possible but not the best’ and Xiang frowned at the news. Not anything unexpected mind, he’d watched Kat’s attempts at balancing the thing.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Hmmm... I don’t know that we want to be stuck here in the swamp any longer then needed... but at the same time,” Xiang glanced at Yang who was sitting up now, “I want to try and get Yang to empty her storage ring out even less... so... let’s not start another argument. Can you do it?”

Kat licked her lips, running her tongue along her teeth as she thought through the question. *Probably. I mean, I’m certainly capable of it and if this was the biggest predator we should be fine. I can’t pull of the ‘throw them away like a discus’ trick a second time if we’re using something as heavy as the snake... so things might get a bit more deadly... at the same time... It’s manageable. Then again... letting everyone stay on top of the snake probably isn’t safe. I’ll be waving it around too much to keep balanced... hmm...*

Kat’s eyes got a slightly evil glint in them as she nodded and said, “I can manage. It won’t be ideal, but it’s certainly possible. Only thing to be aware of is that I’ll need you to sit in the snake’s mouth so I don’t drop you if I step oddly and need to rebalance,”

Xiang winced but nodded, “I guess I’ll go let Yang know...”