[NR] Poison Lollipop - Chapter 471 (Patreon)

Rosha casts a cantrip and conjures up a piece of ice. "What about sucking on a piece of ice to stay cool and hydrated?"

Courtney laughs, "A good idea, except that is conjured ice and not created ice. It does melt, so much as it vanishes. Good for cooling off though, more for me and you.

"Since we are kin, we do get to sweat like humans, that doesn't mean we've lost the animal side's ability to cool off either. Though if you could stand it, you'll have much more luck with holding ice to your ears. Jason on the other hand is out of luck."

Jason smiles, "Don't worry about me. I have ways to regulate myself. Though overall, if we're going to cool down between fights, there are better ways. Even just a pile of ice with a breeze going over it and at us would be more gentle than direct application of ice."

Rosha shrugs, "I'm sort of limited on the whole ice making thing. Breeze? No problem! But the second you want me to make more than a few cubes of ice we're going to be in trouble. Nevermind the fact I need my Mana for the fights."

Courtney, "I feel we should put all this aside for now. We don't know how the fights will go or if we'll need more than just a quick sit down afterwards to cool down."

Rosha laughs, "We did sort of just go into planning mode there. Anyway, I noticed these plants aren't going to be the easiest to move through. Will that be a problem?"

Courtney shrugs, "If this was the only plant, maybe. It won't be, so once again, something we can't really plan for. Just assume any new plant we see is solid like a steel plate until proven otherwise.

"About the only thing I can say for certain, is that there aren't any plants that are dangerous to touch in the way poison ivy is. There will likely be cactus analogs looking to poke us, but none will waste liquid resources on hurting us. Not to say the plant itself might not be poisonous. Just that it won't be on the outside."

Jason nods, "Fair enough. Now, is there anything about these plants we should harvest? I understand they aren't going to be magically expensive, but they're here right now and we can drop them later if needed."

Courtney shakes her head, "We don't have the right equipment to harvest them and this type isn't the right shape. Ideal specimens will have large sections of flat unblemished skin. From there we would need to get a specially enchanted and super thin razor in-between two very specific layers of said skin.

"Without the enchantment, the one-way water permeability is ruined. Same for if you cut the wrong layers apart. Nevermind the sponge-like main body which has micro holes all over it."

Jason rolls his eyes, "So, it is a wee bit unobtainable."

Courtney laughs, "To say the least. Nevermind the fact that we aren't near any deep desert areas and so the market for it doesn't really exist here."

The two go back and forth a bit more while Rosha and Lily poke at the plants. These in particular aren't poisonous as far as they can tell so Jason isn't too worried. Though he does keep an eye on Lily as she nibbles one.

Not that he needed to worry. Lily very much did not like the taste at all and so stops after the smallest of tastes. After all, while it does look plant-like, they aren't actually plants as science would define such a thing. They aren't an animal either, or a fungus, or just about anything else irl science has figured out yet.

Maybe at some point in the future they would explore enough of space to find something similar and finally give the things their own category, but even in space, stellar flora is rare. Well, not rare, so much as concentrated in special areas.

Anyway, the group is soon enough advancing once again, with the next three fights being just about the same. A small group of tardigroids, gathered around a small patch of flora.

Two patches are the same as the first, though the middle one was a new type. It looked shockingly like a patch of lollipops. Though unlike the other, this one wasn't using gas to stand up.

In fact, the giant bulbs at the top are filled with nearly pure water, though sectioned into a number of sacs so a single puncture won't cause it all to gush out. Oh, and the nearly pure part is because there happens to be a mild, but compounding, poison mixed in with it.

One of the tardigroids was even dead already, having over imbibed in the stuff. Though the explanation for this revealed itself once the fight was over and the group got a chance to observe it closer.

At the base of the stem was a number of small bulbs filled with water and once punctured there would be a pressurized gush of the stuff that spewed out. In other words, the things acted like water towers with the intent to poison anything trying to get a drink.

Not only that, but the rest of the plant besides the small bulbs at the bottom seemed to be made of a woody material with the toughness of metal. Overall a strange predatory plant with a hidden danger that the group would have missed if not for the tardigroid that had fallen victim to it.

They almost missed it even with that though. It was only when Rosha decided to check on the dead monsters to find out why it hadn't despawned that the sinister nature was revealed. Unlike the other plant, the lollipops weren't built to suction moisture out of the air.

No, you don't get the water for free. Those lollipops were like the nastiest loan sharks, sucking its victims dry. Something Rosha found out when she tried to roll the dead tardigroid over.

Because she couldn't. As for why? The roots of the lollipops had grown up through the monster's body and we're draining it of water.