Verdant stretched, wincing when his new armor pressed against the burn on his back. Icy burns on the front, a lava burn on his back, and a head injury. He was in excellent shape, all things considered. The armor was a light blue, similar to Glacierspawn's color, but was in solid pieces rather than scales. It looked very nice indeed, he imagined, but it did not exactly camouflage well with his dark surroundings. Was the sun rising or setting, he wondered?
The sky was still the same color it had been before, and Verdant wondered how long he'd been listening to the Spell's serenade. Some of the songs seemed quite long, and others only snippets of what must be a larger musical score.
"I will wait, I will wait for youuu," It sang to him now.
"That's really nice of you," Verdant replied, and then blinked. "Or are you saying that's what I will have to do?"
[Thank you for holding! The Glacierspawn's hide is exceptionally temperature resistant.]
"Enough to withstand lava? Would it burn?" Verdant eyed the volcano. He was in a sort of shallow valley carved by the stream, with slopes up both forward and back. The slope he stared at seemed far more dangerous than the one behind. The valley twisted downward to his right, carrying the water towards lower elevations.
The volcano itself seemed to have a cavernous crater at its peak. Portions of the slopes were smooth and black, almost like matte ice, while other parts were jagged with rough, broken rocks paving the way upward.
[Direct exposure to lava would have to be limited to a time period of under nine minutes to avoid Glacierspawn's carcass melting or bursting into flames.]
"That's really helpful, thank you," Verdant leaned his elbow on one knee as he sat on the ground, tapping his fingers against his chin. "I'm going to try some things, I'll call you back, ok?"
[We're so glad we could help you today! Remember to give us five stars on the customer satisfaction survey!]
Verdant didn't exactly know what that was, but he needed silence to think more. The Spell's music was fairly disruptive to his thoughts, and he didn't want to run out of his source element again.
Approaching the carcass of the Glacierspawn, he poked at it for a while. It was a tough hide, for sure. Very tough. He wouldn't be able to cut it with any of the rocks around.
Picking up one of the Glacierspawn's large webbed feet, he examined the claws. They were long and razor-sharp.
"It's a miracle this thing didn't kill me, isn't it?" He muttered before hearing the dull sound of a bell ring in his mind.
[Thank you for contacting the Spell! Please hold for the Statistician.]
"The what? I wasn't talking to you!" Verdant cried. Was this taking up any of his source element? How did he end the call? He resisted the temptation to rub his sore chest. It hurt more now that he was paying attention to it.
"Tell me why, ain't nothing but a heartache," The Spell sang to him. Verdant sighed and set about continuing his investigation while ignoring the music as best he could. What he wouldn't give for complete quiet so he could think!
Glacierspawn's claws appeared to be retractable and designed to grow long and break off at the base. Curiously pressing at the base of one of the long talons, Verdant flinched when it extended, almost slicing him in the process.
"Wow," He pursed his lips, concentrating as he took the sturdiest rock he could reach and hit it from the side. Maybe if he could–but no, that was ridiculous. The rock crumbled.
"Hmmm," He took off one of the vambraces from his armor, which was awakened, and tried again. This time the claw broke off fairly readily and cleanly.
"Are these designed to break off in the prey and stay there?" He murmured.
[Please hold while you are transferred to our Nightmare Creature Specialist!]
Verdant almost facepalmed, but realized in time that he was still holding the Glacierspawn's claw.
What's a jelly-call cat? He wondered in response to the Spell's newest song choice. Surely it was a terrible nightmare creature indeed.
Trying his best to ignore the song, which was difficult since it was rather catchy, he set about removing the rest of Glacierspawn's claws and putting them in a pile.
Since it had five pairs of legs and four claws on each webbed foot, it was quite a collection. Thankfully it hadn't taken him long once he got the proper angle down.
[Thank you for holding! The Glacierspawn's claws contain a type of acid that can eat away at ice or other substances, so that the Monster can tunnel through glaciers and make its home underneath them. They grow back quickly when broken.]
"Can they eat away at rock?" Verdant wondered.
[Depending on the density and hardness of the rock, yes.]
A rumble underneath Verdant made him bite his lip.
"When will the volcano explode?" He switched to a more pressing question.
[Please hold while you are transferred to a Vulcanologist.]
"Fine," He huffed. The carcass of the Glacierspawn was too large and heavy for him to move anywhere, but he could use one of the claws to strip the hide off of it… or enough of the hide, anyway.
He worked, unconsciously matching his motions to the rhythm of the song in his head.
"Know when to walk away, know when to run…"
A weird song. Shouldn't you always run away from a Nightmare Creature? Maybe some of them have motion-sensitive vision.
[Spell Vulcanologist here, how can I help you today?]
"When is the volcano going to explode?" Verdant patiently repeated, pulling a sufficiently large section of weirdly hairy, scaly hide free of the corpse.
[The pressure is building at an asymptotic rate, and will culminate in catastrophic failure of the main vents and creation of a new crater in approximately three days, fifteen hours absent further disruptive geological activity.]
"Three whole days? I thought you said I couldn't escape by then!" Verdant's head snapped up in annoyance. "Just how big would the eruption be?"
[The eruption will end all life in a 200 mile radius and cause heavy devastation beyond that point.]
"Oh." Verdant sighed, guessing once again that miles and kilometers must be somewhat similar. That was too far to travel over the rocky, volcanic terrain. "Can you tell me where the pressure is currently closest to the surface?"
[Please hold while the data is analyzed.]
The hold music began once again, describing the worst Nightmare Creature yet. Verdant shuddered as he pulled the hide to the warm stream to wash off what gore he could.
"Your heart's an empty hole! Your brain is full of spiders, you've got garlic in your soul…"
Horrifying. Termites in its smile?? The thought made Verdant want to vomit almost more than scrubbing the skin of the Glacierspawn as clean as he could get it… which didn't matter that much.
[Thank you for holding! The pressure is closest to the surface in a partially collapsed vent two miles up the slope to your left, just below the ridge.]
"Miles," Verdant repeated the unfamiliar word. It had to be similar to kilometers. He was sure. "Will a claw be able to penetrate the rock deep enough?"
[I'm so sorry, you cut out there, can you repeat that?]
"I don't know what 'cut out' means," Verdant shook his head. "I think you just say that when you don't want to answer me."
[Call disconnected, please try again when your source element is replenished.]
At least I'll have quiet for a while.
Verdant avoided speaking out loud as he pulled up the four corners of the hide and carefully loaded the claws into it like a makeshift bag. Although with some effort they had cut through the hide, if he carried it carefully, he should be able to transport them without hurting himself or damaging the skin.
He hoped.
The hike upwards was one that put his teeth on edge. Every little pop, hiss, and rumble could be a nightmare creature or a natural disaster waiting to burn him to a crisp.
The makeshift bag was slung across one shoulder, while in his dominant hand he kept one of Glacierspawn's claws. It would likely do little good against another Gobsmack, but he had no other weapon to work with.
The thought made him quicken his pace, and with the help of the adrenaline in his veins, he counted out enough steps to be close to what he thought must be the proper distance. Walking further, he could see the ridge he presumed the Spell had referred to and began searching for the partially collapsed vent.
"I'm either a genius, or a total moron," He told himself.
The Spell did not answer him, nor did he expect it to.
But something else did, and it didn't seem friendly.