Chapter 45: 41 – Making Living Clothes 101

Jamminrabbit

The area around my great hollow is beginning to look like a fortress. The demihumans have built a long palisade surrounding their settlement, consequently trapping my home within it. Manticores and wyverns have been less of an issue due to Clem leading the defenses, and Kati's forays into the forest brings back a steady supply of food and reagents.

I've been trying to keep a low profile in my own research, sending Rio outside while I experiment. The last thing I need is Headmaster Anora peeking into every little thing I do. My charade is over the moment she suspects I'm onto her.

So far, there has been little progress in uncovering how I made use of the prideful soul. It just suddenly came out when I used a mortis spell on the dragon.

Setting that aside...

"I'm the best alchemist in the world!" I exclaim to no one but myself.

I can barely contain my excitement. From the whole body's worth of blood, I managed to distill and collect four vials of dragon's essence. If I combine these with the high quality mandrakes, I can create four Elixirs of Longevity which can extend my life a whole ten years each.

"There are so many other alchemical concoctions I want to use them for— aaahhh, this is so exciting!"

That excitement quickly dies down as I realize it won't matter soon enough. There's no point in prolonging my life if I end up dying prematurely. Headmaster Anora or Eudora Faust will make sure of that.

I head outside to get some fresh air. 

Ana and Liz wave to me from the sephalothane plot. Thanks to the women's help, we've expanded it into a larger field for greater yields. The kobolds are also hard at work on the mandrakes on the other side of the settlement. 

Instead of planting mandragoras into the earth, they suggested submerging them in water to make for an easier harvest. That way, the water dampens the mandrake's dying shriek, and I'm not required to cast a silencing spell every time.

Now we have a steady supply of high quality base ingredients for my alchemy needs.

Food isn't a problem either— for now. The demihumans swarmed the dragon's corpse like maggots, tearing pieces of its flesh down to the bones. Not even the organs were spared the carnage. 

I made sure Rio got his fair share to eat, but I have yet to see him develop draconic traits.

The orcs wanted to use the skeletal remains and scales as armor and weapons. But the material was too resilient and complex for them to make use of. Instead, we used them to reinforce the palisade walls. Perfect against potential magical threats. 

We're starting to look like a real settlement, if not a fortress in the middle of the forest. It has even been named Ellowyn in honor of me. Despite my protests to have it changed to something else, I acquiesced in the end.

I notice a couple of the orcs heading into the underground garden, maybe to do their daily offering to Miuna. Strange though, we didn't merge Miuna yet; her other half has been left at the orcs' side of the town for that very purpose.

I go down to watch, but what I see isn't a circle jerk on the red slime. They're tossing random things into her.

"What are you guys feeding Miuna?" I spook them, coming downstairs.

"Oh, Queen Ellori!" A younger orc spins around to hide something behind his back. "We were just uh…"

"Fork it over and explain yourselves"

The orcs hang their heads in shame and unveil what they were hiding: fruits, a broken piece of dragon scale, charcoal, and more junk.

"We got curious what would happen if we gave it other stuff. Parents yelled at us when we did it to the other slime, so..."

"You snuck in here thinking I wouldn't see you." I say, crossing my arms. "Go on, get out of here. I won't tell your parents, but don't do this again."

They shuffle outside with their eyes cast to the floor. As soon as they're gone, I walk up to Miuna to inspect her gelatinous form digesting a bird.

"Miuna, if you don't like what they're doing, you should say so."

"I don't mind at all!" It bounces with excitement as the remains of the bird disintegrates.

I'm reminded of the time Mira tried to touch the red slime. She could have lost a finger, but she seemed confident that wouldn't happen. I wonder…

"Are you able to control the acidity of your slime? For example, make yourself less acidic?"

I can almost visualize Miuna's confusion.

Slimes are creatures without a brain or consciousness. But if one did, like Miuna, would they be able to control the composition of their bodies? If so, collecting non-acidic slime would open up numerous applications I otherwise would have brushed over.

"I've never tried it before… lemme see." The slime takes on a darker hue than before. "Okay!"

I don't really want to stick my finger in it to find out. I still have the pile of junk the orcs left me. I pick out the charcoal and toss it into Miuna's body. It lands with a plunk and sinks. Minutes go by and the piece of charcoal isn't disintegrating.

"It worked?! My intuition was correct! Okay, Miuna. I want to collect samples of your body. Stay still."

"Uwaahh! Don't collect too much. It's my body!"

***

As I'm relishing in the spoils of my ingenuity, I see Clem hauling a wagon full of lumber towards the western side of the settlement. 

"Good morning, Ellori. We're just fixing up a broken wall that collapsed last night."

That must have been what the sound was in the evening. When I tried to go out to investigate, a couple of orcs told me they would handle it. 

"Make sure you dig deep and weigh down lumber inside the trench. This side of the forest floor is a lot wetter than you're used to building on." I call out.

Part of the reason why I didn't build a wall to begin with is the unsuitably moist ground. Not only would it have been tedious, there's a good chance my lack of knowledge in construction would mean more trouble than it's worth.

I accompany Clem and his band of orcs to the western side of Ellowyn. There, we find two human men on horseback on the other side of the fallen palisade. They're being stared down by orcs.

"It's okay." I tell them. "Let them pass!"

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The knights tremble in their armor. The same confidence they displayed last time is gone now that they're outnumbered.

"Lady Ellori, a royal invitation by His Majesty. He wishes to further speak on private matters regarding the defenses of Parthun." One of them hands me a scroll sealed in wax.

King Marcus is understandably in a tough spot. It makes sense he wants to speak with the witch designated to protect his kingdom.

"Thank you. I'll make preparations to leave before week's end. The journey here must have been long. Shall I make accommodations for your stay?"

I offer them hospitality, but they seem eager to leave.

"Quite alright, my lady. Bid you safe travels."

"You're going to the human kingdom?" Clem asks, unloading the lumber from the wagon.

"Their safety is our safety, too. It would also be nice to establish some trade relations while I'm there."

Speaking of trade. I wonder what happened to that strange merchant. 

Morten Sinau… was his name. I thought for sure I would run into him at Shallowglade. A creeping dread makes me think he met an ill fate when the towers emerged.

Well, that's a thought for another time. Morten did say he had experience traversing the expanse, so there's a possibility that he's fine.

In the meantime…

Time to experiment.

With living red slime extract, I may be able to imbue my robes with a defensive layer of armor. Since the acidity has been significantly reduced, that leaves the regenerative trait for me to use. The question will then be how to bind the slime to my robes without losing said trait.

"Hrmmm. Come on, Ellori. You graduated with the highest marks in alchemy..."

I undress and submerge my robes into the alchemy cauldron. The alchemical waters will enable the binding of elements that are normally unable to come together. Then I can add one vial of dragon's essence and a handful of manticore claws to boost its durability.

But am I supposed to add the mandrake in first or after all the ingredients are in?

Adding the mandrake allows the concoction to stabilize. At least, that is the case for elixirs and potions. If I treat an article of clothing the same as any other ingredients, adding the mandrake before the ingredients should be the right call.

"Okay, so… by order of rarity from the lowest is… mandrake, then claws… but which is rarer? Slime or dragon's essence?"

I hear the door open behind me, and an excited Gurk skips into the room.

"Mistress already naked for sex!"

"Wait— ah!"

He tackles me from behind, knocking the ingredients from my hand. The slime and essence drop into the cauldron with a plop. I hold my breath bracing for an explosion that never comes. All the while my goblin is hugging me from behind, unaware that he made me drop two priceless reagents.

Another second goes by and nothing happens.

"Uhh…"

I fish out my academy robes. It's still soft to the touch and strangely not soaked at all. Did I succeed or has it been ruined?

"Gurk, try and rip this." I hand him the robes and he tears into it with his claws and teeth. 

However, the cloth material doesn't isn't being ripped— meaning the durability is there.

Next, I test it with an igni spell. My robes remain unscorched.

"This… should be fine to put on, right? Here goes nothing." 

I put the robes I've been wearing for years back on, and it still feels like the same piece of clothing. No change, nothing.

Except…

I feel it draining my mana pool. Slowly.

Imbuing it with the living slime means there is still a semblance of a living organism on it. The draining is likely its way of sustaining itself.

I go to grab a magic crystal to test. But as soon as I do, my sleeves come to life and snatches the crystal, embedding it into the fabric.

"Whaaat?!" I feel a surge of mana flow through my body.

I'm empowered by a magic I've never felt before. It feels similar to wild magic— untapped nature magic used by creatures like nymphs and demihuman shamans.

"I did it! We did it!" I give Gurk a kiss. Even he is surprised by my sudden action. "Now I just— eek!"

Tendrils emerge from the fabric. They slither over my skin like jelly. When I try to pull off my clothes, the threads slip through my fingers like water and snap back onto my skin. There's no pain. If anything, it's sort of pleasurable. 

I start to panic.

Is this stuck to me now?

The tendrils begin to look like blood vessels, expanding like a network of roots and stems. And for some reason, a lot are forming around my breasts and crotch.

"Gurk… I think we have a problem."

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