Chapter 167: The Final Prize
The Thy reached down into their dress. Their hand continued to sink into the top of the dress. Kat watched in confusion as Thy's hand bent and the whole arm sunk into the opening in the front.
*Ok, how does that even make any sense.* There was a snap, and suddenly the sparkly Thy pulled out a small red gem. To Kat's untrained eyes it looked like a ruby, or sothing of the sort.
The gem itself was strange though, despite its red hue it was dark and slightly cloudy. Even as the light tried to catch the edges it only seed to make the gemstone darken slightly. Their insides seed to be shifting slightly, as if it contained a black fog.
"This" bood Coat Thy "Is called a tarnished ruby. They are both exceptionally rare, and exceptionally useless"
*Um? What?* Kat stared at the gemstone with a raised eyebrow in confusion.
"However," Coat Thys voice shook the ground. "I suspect this might not be the case for you Kat. If my test fails, then please feel free to return it to and I will give you a more suitable reward for your efforts.
"The reason, many believe this ruby to be useless, or 'tarnished' in this case, is because unlike other similar gemstones and even other rubies, it doesn't conduct mana at all. Trying to force the issue will only cause the gem to crack or explode if sufficient mana is applied.
"On top of this, despite its rather unimpressive looks, a number of individuals took to wearing this as jewellery in various ways. This turned out to be a horrible mistake"
Dress Thy took over "What these people found is that if it was anywhere near other pieces of jewellery charged with mana, that mana would be forced out over ti. Quite thoroughly defeating the purpose of having such mana stored for extended periods of ti like gems are normally used for.
"On top of this, if left touching, or in contact with tal that was in contact with skin, and there was no other jewellery present, it seed to corrupt the skin, for lack of a better word.
"Oh the horror that it was. It would slowly blacken the skin around the area, until it was as dark as pitch and then the area in question would start to flake off. One poor fool who wanted to push the limits of the effect had all of his finger wilt away until it hit bone, which was starting to show similar effects before, they stopped the experint"
*Um…? Why the hell would I want a demon gem? Oh wait… is that actually the answer? Is it that simple?*
"Ah I see, you may have picked up on our train of thought" said Coat Thy "If it is as we believe, this gemstone can store demonic energy. Likely an extrely large amount, though obviously we can't test as such. If you are comfortable with it, please, take this gift"
Kat went to reach out but stopped instantly. *I should ask the system first. Just in case sothing absolutely horrible would happen.*
User Kat made the correct call to contact D.E.M.O.N.S. Entity Thy is correct in most assumptions. The gem in question seems to contain old Demonic Energy. However User Kat should not touch the item in question until User Kat has regenerated at least half of User Kat energy reserves.
*Um, can I ask what happens if I do touch it?*
User Kat requires a higher Rank for that information. Gem in question is a class 4 Restricted item.
*What the hell does that even an?*
But Kat got no further response. Looking up at the Thy's she spoke "Yes, I sowhat know what this is. It's very valuable to a demon like but at the mont I can't touch it. I need to regenerate properly before I do so"
The sparkly Thy nodded in understanding and reached back into its cleavage. Sohow moving the arm around, after a few seconds they pulled out a plain wooden box with a lid. Carefully they placed the Tainted Ruby in the box and closed the lid.
"Is that sufficient protection dear? We aren't really sure what else you might need. It's just a normal wooden box" asked Dress Thy
Kat pretended to be thinking on it as she through the question to D.E.M.O.N.S
Entity Thy has provided sufficient protection. It is not just a wooden box. Entity Thy has provided a Cursed Elden Oak Tree box. It is sufficient to prevent contact with the gem.
*Do I want to know what a Cursed Elden Oak Tree is?*
User Kat required a higher Rank to obtain that information.
*Why would I expect anything less?*
"That box should be fine" said Kat
The sparkly Thy gently handed over the box and Kat received it with cautious hands before placing it on her lap. The sparkly Thy nodded and stepped back.
*I wonder what exactly this is going to do. The system declined to answer the first ti, but is that because it won't tell while I have no energy or because it won't tell at all.*
While Kat was pondering this, the sparkly Thy and the butler Thy both bowed to the audience and started to sink into the ground. Grace's team let out so small claps. Nixilei and Skye gave Kat a nod, and Green… well she was still asleep.
The God Crushers seed to still be in good cheer, as Dress Thy spoke up. "Now that you have your more interesting winnings it's ti to distribute the boring prizes. I know, I know, it's what you were competing for, but I quite frankly find it inordinately boring"
With a clap of the giants hands a sealed envelope appeared in the hands of Kat and the rest of the Unfortunate Four. "Contained within those envelopes is your prize money as well as the location of the next leg of the journey. I do wish I could give you sothing more worthwhile then just a promissory note for the bank, but rules are rules, even if I do stretch them as much as possible" said Coat Thy.
Kat examined the plain envelope in her hand. It was a basic soft green and lacking in embellishnts. Looking around she saw that everyone had one in their hands, even Green, who'd hers slipped into her hands while she slept.
Coat Thy clapped his hands together twice. Both of the giant Thys stood up at this queue. This was followed by all of the Thy's in the stands. Once they were standing, they all bowed forward at a perfect 90-degree angle as they started to sink into the ground.
Kat watched with so sadness as the nurous Thys vanished into the dirt signalling the end of the competition. Once the Thys had vanished the strange and crazy seating that everyone had started to change into basic wooden chairs, and Green was lowered down to the ground safely.
Kat took a long look around at everyone who was now standing up and stretching, as she watched her own strange chair start to change into a basic wooden construction. Even Kress' disrepaired chair on an unstable platform was fixed, and the platform lowered.
*Huh, I guess this is really it.* Kat looked down at the envelope in her hands and the box on her knees. Despite only being a few days of effort, it also felt like a rather large ti had passed, like she'd spent three months hanging out with Thy and the other contestants.
"A bittersweet sight isn't it" whispered Thy beside her. Flinching a little but turning she saw Thy in its more basic form leaning against a fake tree they'd sprouted for the purpose. "I've had my fun, and I enjoyed setting this up for you all. Congratulations on winning, and I hope to see more of you all"
And with one final bow, that Thy too disappeared. At the sa ti all of the contestants were covered in the tell-tale green light and transported. Kat was even able to ignore the standard feeling of disgust as she let everything sink in.
After a short hop they were released back to the original clearing they'd t Thy in. Looking around, the other teams were still there, and Kat was now standing next to the rest of The Unfortunate Four.
"Well, I guess that's about it then" said Kat
The other groups all started to bunch together and started talking. Kat deliberately tuned them out as she turned to face the others. Green stood up groggily and fell onto Gareth who nodded to Kat. "It does seem so. We still have so things to discuss, if you'd like to co back to the manor with us, we can work them out there"
Kat was about to nod in acceptance with Gareth's suggestions when behind her Kress spoke up. "Oh yeah? Well, I've got a few things, to discuss and I'd like to do them here"
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