BXBX NOVEL Chapter 391: Jumped up Pricing
Chapter 391: Jumped up Pricing
"You know you aren't supposed to do that right?" responded Kat, well used to little kids rubbing their eyes after getting something in them.
"I do… I just… I can't stop I guess? If mum was here she'd tell me off for it. Not as much because they've been washed out, but I know I still shouldn't" replied Kamiko
"Well, I'll do the writeup for the bubbles, you just take a quick break" said Kat, not wanting Kamiko to attempt writing while her eyes were still watering and clearly somewhat irritating her despite the necklace.
As Kat did that, Kamiko took a seat against one of the crate stacks and pressed her face into her knees hoping to relieve some of the irritation in her eyes. Even though the amulet was blocking the pain, she could still ALMOST feel it, and found the sensation much more annoying than just the pain.
The pair sat like this for a few minutes as Kat went over the details, including a quick check to confirm the bubble would cover the length of the warehouse if she was going slowly, and its constant rising properties, along with everything else she noticed including the pain of the mixture.
Once that was done Kat went over and rubbed circles on Kamiko's back to help her calm down, which only took another minute before she was handing the amulet back to Kat and standing on her own feet again. She did wince as the amulet left her neck, but didn't say a word of complaint and moved to the next box as Kat stacked the one, they'd finished with next to the other three.
This one was filled with slime, to keep the contents safe, which were easily recognisable to Kat. This apparently, was the not the case for Kamiko. She picked up the long metal stick and examined it. From what she could see, it had two cross guards for some reason, one right at the top, and the other much further down, perhaps a sixth of the length from the bottom.
The cross guards were slightly different, the 'top' one had some form of padding on it, that was slightly grippy, while the second cross guard was completely flat on top with grooves in it. The rest of the pole was completely smooth. Running her hand along it, Kamiko could feel the cool metal across its length.
"What the heck is this?" asked Kamiko, hoisting it onto her shoulder, using the top cross guard as something of a balancer and aimed it as if she had a shoulder mounted cannon. There was of course no button though so she dismissed that. Kat was trying desperately not to laugh in the background and was making sure to keep herself out of eye contact while she did this.
Kamiko then tried to hold it like she would her staff but found it to be terribly balanced, always trying to slip out of her hand, as the base of it was much heavier than the top, so holding it in the middle was unacceptable. Finally, she tried holding it like a sword, and was using the bottom cross guard as a way to brace the thing so it wouldn't slide out of her hands. Unfortunately, it didn't really work, because it was sliding down anyway, and she ended up holding the bottom cross guard.
Kamiko turned to see Kat, who was now leaning against the crates to try and stop herself from laughing or falling over. "What's so funny?" asked Kamiko.
"That-" Kat's explanation was quickly cut off by a burst of laughter which was no longer contained by her mouth. Once it started, she found it somewhat hard to stop. In between breaths, Kat reassured Kamiko she wasn't laughing AT her, just that the situation was actually rather funny.
See, what was contained in the box, was a number of pogo sticks. Once Kat recovered, she explained as much to Kamiko, who replied. "Yes, but what IS it? I don't need the name."
Kat then proceeded to explain what they are, children's toys mostly that allow you to bounce around. When Kat grabbed one from the box for herself and demonstrated Kamiko's jaw dropped. "But… what's the point? You can jump higher than it easily." Was asked.
Kat continued bouncing as she replied "It's just for fun really. I mean… not to pry but you guys do have fun here in the Hub right?"
Kamiko giggled. "Yeah, but I've never heard of anything like this…"
Kat shrugged. "That's fine, just have a bit of a go I suppose then we can write up a report. These are all clearly the same."
Kamiko did just that. Her superior sense of balance made it an easy task to get the hang off. However, she found it to be a thoroughly unenjoyable experience, as it was really rather jarring on her wings, and not too great on her chest either. She quickly determined, that while Kat might think it fun, she was half convinced it was a minor torture device disguised as something fun to punish children.
Still, Kat had written up the report while Kamiko was trying the contraption out, so she didn't get a choice about how it was written, and she found herself not caring enough to try and force Kat to include it, already imagining the polite smile Kat would have on her face if she said anything.
*I do wonder why something like that was in the warehouse here. At least the bubble stuff let you make them as long as you wanted. Those were just normal pogo-sticks. Or at least, I'm pretty sure they were normal. Maybe they are rated for high weight class things like Pit Fiends or something? Then again, they are clearly normal sized.*
The next box Kat and Kamiko opened was a bunch of completely normal swords, as far as they could tell. They both managed to bend them easily when they tried, and it cut well enough through the dummies but that was mostly due to their increased strength. It took them some time to actually get through all the swords, but decided they were 'likely plain steel swords' and nothing more.
This pattern continued for a while, as box after box of mundane items came about, occasionally with some on-Kat, testing to make sure that the weapons didn't have any extra effects when used on living targets. The most interesting thing they found for a while, was a bow and quiver set that generated arrows for a small bit of demonic energy.
Neither Kat or Kamiko were any good at archery though, so they couldn't determine if the bow was special in any other way like increased accuracy, or better power for the amount of draw the bow had. Still, the infinite quiver part of the set up was at least interesting. However, something they did find in testing, is that throwing the arrow wouldn't allow it to regenerate for some reason. You HAD to use it with the bow.
This led to a round of testing involving just what 'with the bow' actually meant, with Kat freezing an arrow to the bow and then flicking it to send it flying without the use of the string and finding that actually counted. A few more tests determined that, as long as the arrow touched the bow before it was thrown, it would actually count.
So, when Kamiko tapped the arrow to the bow, then threw it at a target, another one was placed in the quiver.? This led them to questioning what exactly the point of the whole thing was. "I just don't get it" said Kat "What's the point of the arrow NEEDING to touch the bow? Is it like some kind of safety mechanism I'm just not getting? A necessary part of the enchantment?"
Kamiko let out a long exhale. "Honestly Kat, I'm with you on this one. I have no idea why it's needed. I mean… the only thing I can think of is to prevent other people stealing it and having an infinite quiver? But if they can grab the quiver they can probably take the bow as well… or maybe…
"Maybe it's so that people don't notice? Like… if they all just fell out of the quiver that wouldn't regenerate them at all. Hmm, but I'm still not sure why you want that… actually if we take all the arrows out what happens?" said Kamiko
Kat did as suggested and upended the quiver. After waiting a few seconds no new arrows were forthcoming. "Surely this isn't it…" mumbled Kat.
Kamiko emptied her quiver by pulling the arrows out and dropping them on the floor as well before looking into the now empty quiver, and found a marking on the bottom. Reaching in she pressed it down and the quiver made a high 'ding' sound like the ringing of a bell.
Pulling her head away, Kamiko was only mildly surprised to find a quiver full of arrows. "So that's how you stop yourself from running out… I'm still really confused about why it's like this though" said the demon in question
"You and me both Kamiko. You and me both" responded Kat with a sigh.