SWNOVELS Chapter 1358 1358 Treasure Testing
--- Lily ---
Lily was confused. After the trade had been completed, the crab had pulled out a second chest from under the sand, and handed it over before shooing her away. Lily didn't know what to think about this. Why was she being told to leave? Why was she being given a second chest? Well both questions were answered when a short moment later another bonsai appeared floating in the centre of the clearing.
It was painful for her to look at. The tree itself seemed to be made out of fractal space, where looking at one section of the tree seemed to show you a completely different section of the tree from angles that usually weren't possible. Looking at multiple of these viewpoints at once seemed to be pressing on Lily's mind. The crab loved it though and glared at her for a bit longer until it looked like she was leaving. Once she was mostly out of the grove the crab focused on the bonsai for a few moments before tapping the ground and suddenly a dome appeared over the grove, possibly cutting the crab off from future interactions.
*I… what? I mean… no hang on. How… how smart IS this crab? I had originally thought they were smart for an animal but if they were making deals with Thyme to participate in this treasure hunt round then perhaps I was drastically underestimating its intelligence. I'm… also really not sure how to compare that crabs intelligence with the rest.
Not that they seem like particularly dumb animals… but I have to wonder if the reason the king crab doesn't have any competitors is that they're all so much dumber than it is. No reason to put everyone down if you're nearly a difference species. Then again… don't crabs get larger as they get older? Perhaps it's got a few decades or centuries on even the oldest of the other crabs?
I… I have so many questions that really shouldn't be bothering with for the moment. I'll have to remember to ask Thyme about whatever this madness means a bit later. For now I suppose I should check out my prizes. Let's just see what I've got…*
Lily put the chest down just on the edge of the dome and put some mana into the ring she'd received earlier. For a moment it didn't seem to do anything, and then suddenly her perspective had changed completely and Lily instantly knew what this was. It was a transformation treasure. Though Lily wasn't entirely sure what it had transformed her into. First thing first. No sudden movements.contemporary romance
Lily waited as awareness seemed to spread into her limbs. It became immediately obvious she was some sort of bird, just based on the fact she could now feel her wings. Lily tried to take a step forward to test out the two legs she could feel except instead of a step, it was more of a wild flailing. Had she not been underwater Lily was sure she'd have fallen flat on her face.
*Ok. So… cool, I'm a bird. Not cool, I have no idea how to move. I've got no instincts for this body. I can't really tell what the eyes are seeing even though I think they work fine. The wings are nothing like MY wings and are controlled by completely different muscles. I can hardly stand for some reason and I can feel my own instincts complaining at me that something is very wrong.*
Leaning a bit on that feeling Lily winced as she felt a sharp stab of pain all over her body before something cracked and she found herself back as a Memphis. Lily let out a long breath of air and relaxed into the sand. *Oh this is so much better. I hope I didn't break the ring with that transformation but it was just so… WRONG to me. Perhaps with a lot of practice I could use it, but even then… something about it just rubs me the wrong way. I wonder if other beastkin have this issue? More questions to ask when I finish the round I suppose.*
Lily swapped back to her human form for a moment and looked over the ring. Not noticing anything wrong with it she pulled it off her finger for a few moments to check it from all angles but still couldn't find anything wrong with it. Lily considered using it again to test if it was working… but Lily felt herself shiver at the thought and immediately discarded the idea. Instead of putting the ring back on she threw it in her bag. Sure perhaps it would be better to have it than not, but she didn't want to trigger it even by accident.
Next up was the chest. Pulling it open Lily found a necklace alongside a piece of paper. Ignoring her own surprise at just… having the paper there she read off the name 'Amulet of Supreme Defence'.Lily didn't know what that meant exactly but it SEEMED good at least. She clipped it around her neck and repositioned it a bit so that it wasn't clinking against the water breathing collar.
Once in place Lily sent a bit of magic towards the necklace to see if it summoned a shield or something… only for it to reject her mana. Frowning, Lily tried to push more in but it was as if the mana was just sliding off the necklace. However, after a few more testing pokes Lily reevaluated the feeling. The mana wasn't so much as 'rejected' as it was the amulet being 'full'. Perhaps it could accept some more mana if it was empty. Perhaps that was for the best, she didn't exactly have a lot of mana to charge it right now.
*I'm just not sure if this is a problem or not. Does it need to attune to me at all? Would it work better if it was charged with my own mana? Really not sure how to test this one. I mean, I suppose it could trigger when I get attacked but I'm not going to try that. It'll either work or it won't, both in and out of Memphis form. I can only hope that it will work, and I've got some hope that it will. Especially considering Thyme put transformation treasure here… but Thyme also said that not everything would work properly with them.*
Lily let out another sigh as she transformed back into her Memphis form and started to make her way through the kelp. With confirmation that the crabs weren't aggressive, or at least, didn't have to be aggressive, she felt a lot more comfortable swimming near them as she looked around the area they'd picked out for themselves.
After a bit of searching Lily noticed a treasure chest stuck in one the trees. Lily raised an eyebrow at it, honestly surprised that none of the crabs had moved it. Considering how attentive they were, it was decidedly odd. Apparently though, it wasn't quite odd enough for Lily to think better of just swimming up to it and trying to open it.
Lily transformed just as she reached it and went to throw it open when a massive lightning bolt struck her. Lily screamed even as she felt no pain. Opening a wary eye she noticed that there was a glowing film around her body that quickly dissipated. Lily put a hand to her chest as she let herself pant for a few moments and drain the panic from her mind. A quick check with her senses revealed that the protection necklace was now accepting mana.
Well… good news I know that the necklace is automatic. Bad news I don't know if I have enough mana to fill it back up. After handing over so much to the crab I thought I'd have a bit of time regenerating. At least it seems to still have some charge in it. Though… I don't know if the amulet will keep working with only a partial charge. It might not activate if it's missing any.
Lily let out another sigh before putting a bit of mana into her shadow and using it to open the chest. It was a bit draining for a currently meagre reserves, but it was better than risking a second lightning strike, especially when Lily couldn't be sure if the amulet would protect her from a second strike just yet.
Lily couldn't help but feel a bit insulted when the treasure inside was a long thin steel pole with some copper wiring running around it and a large purple gem attached to the top. What was worse was that after looking around for the paper and finding it behind one of the cushions, was that the item in question was called 'The Lightning Rod'
"Of course it is! Why wouldn't this be a joke at whoever opened its expense!" grumbled Lily. "Into the bag you go because I do NOT have the mana to test this,"
done.co