<~> Chapter 129
Near sundown, Celeste called a meeting outside of her tent for all the delvers and the crafting support staff. I heard rumors of an earlier meeting for the leaders on the soldier side, but it seems that Celeste was intentionally keeping our two groups separated from each other. The larger issue for us was that there was now some division within the delving groups, and that was mostly my fault. Jol'ket's team was sitting as far away from our group as possible, with Valkin's team positioned between the two groups as a buffer. The craftsmen who were working with us were obviously out of the loop and were awkwardly caught in the middle of the tense atmosphere.
Celeste was the last to arrive and she looked a bit haggard. Similar to the first time we saw her, she looked stressed out and tired. She sat down at the end of the table, and her familiar drakken assistant stepped forward to pour her a glass of wine as she got situated.
"We're here to talk about what we've learned about the dungeon so far. There's been one casualty already, but that isn't unexpected considering the danger of exploring a new dungeon for the first time," Celeste said before taking a sip from her wine glass.
While she was drinking, Jol'ket spoke up, "We should also discuss Helena, the one who poses as a 'beastkin' in Maxwell's delving team."
Celeste narrowed her eyes. "What is there to further discuss? I already spoke to you about it."
Jol'ket's eyes scanned the people present, especially the crafters. "Everyone here deserves to know the truth about her. She could be a danger to everyone."
Celeste stared at the draco with an unamused look on her face. "There should be nothing to discuss. I hand-picked her and her group to be part of the delving team. From everything I've heard, she likely saved many lives when the floor boss attacked. I trust her just as much or more than all of you gathered here. I will personally vouch for her."
"She's a shapeshifter. Maybe not a changeling as Tor'jek suggests, but she is not who she appears to be. Not even her ears and tail are real. I saw her while she was unconscious, after she had grappled with that snake monster, and they had completely disappeared. She has the eyes of a predator. How are you so sure we can trust her?" As Jol'ket spoke, whispers and looks of shock turned toward me, but I didn't shrink away or hide from their confused gazes. The best thing I could do was sit here and show that I was in control of myself. I needed to project a sense of confidence and normalcy despite my abnormal situation.
Celeste stared at me for a moment and then shrugged before gesturing to me. Implicitly giving me the go-ahead to proceed however I wanted. We hadn't really talked about how I would spin this, just that she would vouch for me, as she already had. It would have to be me who convinces everyone that I'm not a threat to them. The most Celeste could do at this stage was back up any of the claims I made.
"I haven't been completely honest about myself so far, but for good reason, I think." I slowly began to undo my magic blindfold before setting it aside and opening my eyes. All of the uneasy tension ratcheted up, and nearly everyone in Jol'ket's team went rigid. Rell'kor, the curious black and white drakken, still seemed to like me. He was the only one who didn't seem afraid. I glanced over at the crafters, who looked apprehensive but not nearly as shaken as the delvers. It made me wonder if the draco's group had faced umber hounds before as well.
I rubbed my face. It feels a bit uncomfortable and sweaty from wearing the blindfold all the time. "I am some form of shapeshifter, I won't deny that. However, I think I can safely say that I'm in full control of myself while shifted, even in life-or-death situations, as we were in yesterday. I can't tell you what I am since I don't know myself, but I can tell you that I was originally a human and came to be this way after a run-in with an umber hound deep in the Fallow dungeon."
"Why pose as a beastkin?" One of the beastkin crafters asked. It was becoming a familiar question whenever my beastkin form was found to be unnatural.
I gently wrapped a hand around the braid hanging from the ring on my collar. "I am engaged to Luna here right next to me. I've found that beastkin underestimate me as her dominant if I don't." I glanced knowingly at Valkin, who looked like he was suppressing a grin. I turned to Luna and laced my fingers with hers. "And to be closer to my fiancé. It's not terribly important between us, but I still feel like it brings us closer." Luna smiled and squeezed my hand in return but, obviously, remained silent.
"Were you aware of all of this before you brought this human here?" Jol'ket tensely asked Celeste.
The fox-dragon hybrid nodded. "She had shown me and Prince Callisto her transformation before embarking on this trip as a sign of good faith between us. However, the two of us had known that she could do that beforehand. It may have been ill-advised to withhold this information from her fellow delvers, but you can see how this ability's side effects put people on edge." She gestured to the group of crafters, who still looked wary for the most part. "She had also been warned by the manager at a branch of the Hunter's Association not to become a source of rumors, so she has tread carefully thus far. She can be a bit more free now that she's under my influence, but this isn't a simple habit to break, you understand."
Jol'ket paused for a long moment before bowing. "Then our party will trust your judgment on this matter and rescind our complaints."
Tor'jek, the blue draco's eyes just about popped out of their sockets. "We WHAT? Jol'ket, you cannot be serious!"
Jol'ket glared at his teammate. "Quiet. We can discuss this further privately, but you will not disrespect our employer. If she has such faith in this suspicious shapeshifter, then we have no right to argue. I am merely relieved that this matter is not a surprise to our employer, as that makes the safety of our group no longer in question." The red draco turned back to Celeste and bowed again. "I apologize for his outburst. We do not need to continue this matter if everything is settled."
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"Are there any other objections to continuing to work with Helena?" Celeste asked sharply. Her tone made it clear how she would feel about anyone else challenging her on the matter.
When no one else objected, Celeste gave a faint smile. "Good. On to more important things, we have many topics to discuss." Her words drew everyone's attention. "I want everyone to share some of our findings thus far. Despite the unfortunate ending of yesterday's delve, we've already found some valuable resources from the dungeon." The crafters' mood brightened with pride. "Mister Alto, will you please present your findings first, please? Your contributions involve one of the most plentiful resources in the dungeon."
I saw Alto, who was off to the side, stiffen up at everyone's attention. He cleared his throat and pulled his chair closer to the table. "Yes, your... I mean, my lady." When Celeste didn't react, he glanced away and continued. "As many of the other crafters here, as well as the delvers, already know, the first floor is plentiful with strange looking monsters that have been dubbed 'giant crabs' by one of the delvers that have some experience with a similar animal. Miss Helena, there," he said, pointing to me. "After some testing and experimentation, we've determined that the food that can be harvested from the monsters is both edible and delicious."
Most people in the room perked up at that news, including Valkin's group. I couldn't help but chuckle since I knew that their group rarely splurged on anything more than basic rations while delving. The support staff had been feeding everyone stews and things since we've come here, but hearing about exotic, delicious, and plentiful food was still good news. There were also happy whisperings going through the crafter's section as well.
Alto's shyness faded as he began to talk with enthusiasm about his findings. "The process of breaking open their shells takes a bit of strength due to their size, but I don't think it will be difficult to find a working system and create some specially made tools for the job. While the method of breaking down the crabs is likely to remain somewhat destructive, it will still leave plenty of the monster's hard chitinous outer shell for other crafting uses once the monster's meat is extracted. I've already confirmed the shell itself is not edible, though it's not toxic enough to avoid for things such as potion making. Some of the fluids inside of the crab, the so-called 'crab butter,' should also have some uses in alchemy since the magic concentration is fairly high for a level one dungeon monster, but I haven't had time to investigate this fluid on my own. Investigation on the matter would be better handled by dedicated potion makers, and I've already set aside several samples to share. The meat itself can be treated to retain some of its magic through the cooking process, and concentrations are low enough that it shouldn't harm those that haven't become empowered, yet high enough to rejuvenate those that have."
"Does the food itself have magical properties?" one of the other crafters asked.
Alto smiled at the question. "I haven't yet had the time to investigate if the dishes I can make with the meat can produce any additional effects, but it's on the top of my list of things to explore. Each crab produces a good amount of meat, which should be enough to fill one or two people fairly easily before adding any other ingredients. I've been told of techniques to spread out the crab meat further into something jokingly called 'crab cakes' as well. Though the dish itself would actually be savory, something like 'crab steaks' would be a more appropriate name. If they do have properties that could produce buffs for delvers, this may be a better way of packaging them, though I'm also told crab meat spoils quickly. I'll have to run some more alchemical tests, as well as attempt some practical cooking methods to see what I can do with this meat. Regardless, I'm told that the quantity of these monsters is quite numerous on the first floor, so if they can be regularly harvested without any issues, this could become an amazing source of nutritious food that could supplement Ironcastle's raised meat and river fish."
Celeste nodded and smiled happily. "Already, this dungeon looks promising. Bellor, what have you been able to glean from your alchemical tests?"
A drakken crafter nodded with a huge grin on his face. He had dull green scales and a bit of a mad look in his eye. "There have been lots of things to test so far! Lots of options. I'm still working my way through the plants, but so far, the most promising find has been the magically infused water and the magically infused salt that have been retrieved from the dungeon!"
"Magically infused salt?" I asked curiously.
Bouncing right off of my interest, he began to gesticulate wildly. "Yes! Salt! Salt on its own is quite valuable as a spice and source of nutrition. Nearly all of the salt we have access to comes from the salt mines near the eastern edge of Ironcastle. Some is also imported from a sea in the south, but neither of them are mana-infused! We would have to be careful with dosage since high mana concentration could be hazardous in people who haven't been empowered, but it has uses in potions, monster meat preservation, and delver buff cooking! I don't believe I've even scratched the surface of what this may open up for us. Salt is also a very common ingredient or catalyst in many potions."
Celeste hummed in contemplation. "Which salt has these properties? The salt found and taken directly from the dungeon, or the salt that we've been siphoning out of the salt water during the desalination the water mages have been doing all day?"
Bellor grinned wildly. "All of it! I've individually tested samples from multiple sources now. The mana concentration is higher in the condensed salt structures I'm told was being used to form a barrier on the stairs, but the salt that has been freshly sifted from the water has plenty of magic to be reactive as well! Even better, I've been able to purge the mana from the salt if we would prefer to have non-infused salt as an option. The process has been destructive so far, but if we could capture the mana into a different concoction during the filtering process, we could benefit from cleansing the salt of magic too! There is so much potential in this magic-infused salt that I wish I had a larger team of alchemists with me. I have been forcing myself to pull away from the salt experiments while working through the plant samples, but I should be finished with the basic categorization of all the samples soon. So far, about a third of what we've found can be identified in other places, and it will require some research to see if any of it is worth harvesting here. There have been a few unidentified plants, both mana-infused and not, but I still need time to work my way through them. So far, the results have been promising!"
"What of the mana-infused water you mentioned?" Celeste asked.
"Oh! Yes! I nearly forgot. The mana-infused water, even completely unrefined, makes a good base for potion-making. I'm sure it could be further developed to benefit specific types of potions, such as those that contain water or wind magic. I received many samples from different locations, and it's taking time to work through those as well, but I don't have enough information to give you a good guess as to what we should be looking for yet," Bellor replied.
Celeste nodded. "That is good to hear. Continue to work through the samples, and I will see what it will take to bring more alchemists along since there seems to be a greater need than expected. Unfortunately, this talk of salt and 'crab' monsters leads us to our next topic, the control of the first floor. The situation on the first floor nearly ended in disaster despite the entire expedition remaining within sight of the stairs. Let's talk about what we plan to do against this four-armed snake monster and the horde of monsters that nearly swept my contingent of soldiers away."
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