Arden again sat around the fire as the second day of the expedition wound down. There were more Celestials today than yesterday, but still not enough to properly test everyone. Most of them were roaches similar to the one fought near the end of the previous day and offered similar challenges. Sya had called out the sad state of affairs that everyone was starting to get used to the presence of the giant roaches.
Every member of the party held two polaroids in their hands, each one with a different bug Celestial. On the back of each picture was the creature’s name as well as a few noteworthy aspects of them. Vera cast one of her pictures into the fire, as it showed a large mantis, something that she killed earlier that day.
Arden thumbed the edges of his pictures and popped a question that had been nagging at him since Lodi gave the pictures to everyone. He had a similar thought shortly after he first became a Starborn, but he questioned it again now.
“Why polaroid pictures? We live in a world with superpowers, but polaroids have somehow come around to being relevant again.”
“We also live in a world that considers you as unattractive," Vera said. “There’s a whole lot of things that don’t make sense.”
“What’s your other Celestial?”
She turned her picture around letting everyone see it. On it was a beetle as tall as a highback armchair and as long as a coffee table. Cresting its head were two large horns in the center of its forehead pointing forwards and upwards, like a rhinoceros beetle with an extra horn. The lower horn was shorter but much sharper than the larger horn that looked like it had a mace taped to it.
“It’s called a diabolical steel-shelled beetle.”
“That's rather dramatic of a name,” Sya said. “It's just a big, hard beetle right?”
“Pretty much,” Vera shrugged. “According to the notes, it uses the essence from its star core to make its shell as hard as celestinite. They can actually survive an all-out attack from low to mid rank orange-tiers.”
“Any way to beat it?” Arden asked, turning the repurposed streamer stag antler-turned spit with some more leftover venison on it. Doing it this way was far more efficient than slow roasting the meat with his hands. “They wouldn't give you a Celestial with orange-tier defensive capabilities if you couldn't find a way to kill it in the first place.”
“I have a few ideas,” she said, seemingly more focused on the sizzling meat than her test. “Whether or not they will work out is up to the Celestial itself.”
“I feel like it'd be more up to you,” Sya said, turning to Kepler who this far had been silent. “Do you have anything in mind that can help?”
“W-we can help each other?”
“Well, not directly in combat. But if you had an anti-steel potion you've made, that would help Vera a bit.”
Kepler looked down at the meat in thought. Her eyes from behind her glasses honed in on nothing as she ran simulations in her head. Arden took the meat out of the fire and cut a small sliver off to taste. It was ready. He passed the meat to everyone in the party, and when he passed some to Kepler, she spoke again.
“What do you know about alchemy?”
The question wasn't rude, nor was it full of indignation. Kepler meant it just as she asked. She wanted to know her party's perception of alchemy.
“Pretty much nothing,” Arden said, cutting into the meat.
“Right there with you,” Vera said, taking a bite of her own portion. “Wow, you grill a good deer.”
Arden blushed lightly at the unreserved praise, and Sya gave her answer to the question.
“I don't know much either. I have a suspicion it's more than potions and poisons.”
“You're right. Alchemy is all about the artificial.”
“I don't know,” Arden said. “That poison from yesterday felt pretty real.”
“But it wasn't natural,” Kepler countered. “It was synthesized from a collection of herbs and Celestial parts. It was something made with the express purpose of copying something that is natural.”
“Okay?” Sya said, already loading another flank of venison onto the spit. “Is that a bad thing?”
“And what does this have to do with helping me kill the beetle?” Vera added on.
“I don't know how to make a corrosion concoction like that. Maybe I can try an oxidation potion or something and hope the shell rusts, but regardless, the path of an alchemist is all about making things. If I don't have a potion that replicates the damage you cause, then I can try to make one.”
“A cutting potion?” Arden asked, intrigued. “Isn't that a bit too loose? Can you make potions that replicate the conceptual?”
“It's my duty to try,” Kepler said. “But first, I will try to make some more basic ones. We can all use those.”
“Help them first,” Vera said. “I’m not too worried about my beetle. I think Arden will have the roughest time.”
“Look,” he said. “Just because I take mortal damage every time I fight a Celestial doesn't mean that it will happen this time. I handled the streamer stags just fine. I can handle a big bug. At least, that's what I would say if these dicks weren't my targets.”
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Arden looked at his two marks, neither one of them filled him with confidence. He showed the pictures to his party. The first picture was of a large hornet with a perpetually bleeding array of singers on its thorax, and the second was a white rhinoceros beetle with blight-esque liquid metal-like fluid covering its shell.
“How the hell are these considered red-tier protostars?” Arden asked. “Hemorrhage Hornet: of all bug-type Celestials at red-tier, the hemorrhage hornet is responsible for the most Starborn deaths. Its three sub-stingers consist of three different poisons. A paralyzing poison, a blood thinner, and an actual poison. The main stinger acts as a probuscus, sulking the poisoned blood for sustenance.”
“That's a match made in hell,” Sya observed. “Weaknesses?”
“More like notes. Sensitive to high-pitched noises and fire. You know, like all bugs.”
“And that's just one of your targets?” Vera asked.
“Sadly, yes. Even more sadly, the other one is just as bad, if not worse for me. What the hell is a dark matter beetle, why does it exist, and why am I stuck with it?”
Sya raised an eyebrow and reached over to the picture and grabbed it, then turned it over to read over the dossier.
“Dark Matter Beetle. Made of an unknown material. Not much is known about it. What is known is its tier and rank, that being red-tier protostar.”
“Bull,” Arden said.
“Due to its biology being made of materials which do not not exist in our universe, it was given the term ‘dark matter.’ And of course, matter which does not exist operates on rules that do not exist.”
Sya wrinkled her nose.
“Well?” Vera said. “Keep going.”
“That's it,” Sya said. “No strengths or weaknesses. It just is.”
“Somehow, it's still considered weak enough to be in a red-tier stargate,” Arden said. “That means that beating it is possible.”
“Great,” Sya said, passing the polaroid back to Arden. “Now you just need to know what ‘it’ is and how to kill it.”
“Yay…”
“Think of it this way, Arden,” Vera said. “What will you get from it after feeding it to your looting Satellite?”
“That's…actually a really good point.”
‘If I kill the dark matter beetle, its parts and materials are bound to be just as crazy as it already is.’
“Man, you lucked out, Arden,” Sya said sarcastically. “Two humdingers of bugs ripe for the taking.”
“Are yours any better?”
“Definitely. Mine are both poison based. I just have to outpoison them and I'm in the clear.”
“Wow. So you really have no way to lose.”
“W-what do you mean?” Kepler asked.
Arden looked around, and once he was sure that Lodi was not nearby, he explained.
“Well, Sya’s blood is a bit more special than we let on. It's not really poisonous. It just affects living things like a poison. What was the word we came up with for it?”
“Scourge,” Sya answered. “We call it scourge. It affects every type of living thing negatively. Essentially, it's a universal poison. It's weak right now, but it is able to punch through whatever poison resistance a Celestial can have because it's not really poison.”
“But it still poisons them?” Kepler asked.
“Correct. My two targets were chosen because of their toxicity and poisons resistance respectively. I won't have any trouble.”
Kepler swallowed a piece of venison and spoke again.
“I wish I had your confidence…”
“Did you hear my complaints?” Arden asked. “Besides, you got this. We have a little less than a week to kill our targets, and each of those days we can spend training. That's more than enough time for you to get strong enough to bitch slap whatever Lodi has you up against. What does Lodi have you up against, by the way?”
“A malefic moth and an inferno ant.”
“Okay I can understand what an inferno ant is,” Arden said with a nod. “But what is a malefic moth, and why is it malefic and not maleficent?”
Kepler revealed her two pictures. The first was of a large ant colored different shades of red and brown with smoke billowing out from between its mandible. The other was much more visually striking. Unlike damn near everything else they had encountered in the Entomina Nest, the malefic moth was not a neutral color. Its large wings were splashed in different vibrant colors, like a deep purple and a bright yellow.
“That looks pretty,” Vera said, eyes as wide as her empty plate. “I’m going to assume it's a honey trap.”
“Like you?” Sya asked, earning a flat stare from Vera and a light snicker from Arden.
“According to its notes,” Kepler continued. “It mixes different herbs and powders as it flies and dusts the battlefield before stalking its victims from a distance until they succumb.”
“Thats not a honey trap,” Arden noted. “That's not even us being seduced by its beauty. That's just carpet bombing us with bioweapons. Do they have any notable weaknesses, or are you as screwed as I am?”
Vera gave him a light slap on the arm. She didn't like him acting all pessimistic. It was a reminder of a dark time.
“Sorry,” he said. “So are you screwed or not?”
“Not what I meant,” Vera said with a shake of her head.
“T-they have weaknesses, both of them,” Kepler said. “The inferno ant i-is a bit more direct, s-so it'll be more of a s-straight fight. S-so long as I avoid its fire breath, I-I should be alright, in theory.”
“It's got fire breath?” Arden asked, a hint of worry evident in his words.
Vera and Sya both chuckled, aware of Arden’s tendency to replace kindling at a moment's notice, usually against his will. Kepler noticed their smiles and asked about it.
“Y-yeah. Their mandibles act as flint and steel c-causing ignitions to occur while they breathe flammable gas. W-why is that funny?”
“I wasn't lying when I said I have a tendency to being set on fire,” Arden explained, pointing at the two women he was closest to. “They like making fun of me for it. Especially Sya ever since she got that ember Satellite. When we were training before this, she would occasionally whip it out to see how I react.”
“And how did you react?” Sya asked, grinning ear to ear.
“Not great. What about the moth?”
“T-the malefic moth is actually interesting in this regard,” Kepler said, her nervousness leaving her, giving the others the belief that she was about to start talking poison. “Whatever it makes, that is also its weakness as it makes it. So if it makes a paralyzing dust, then it will become susceptible to paralysis.”
“So what's the plan for it then?” Arden asked.
“Stock up on every type of basic potion and poisons I can make,” Kepler shrugged. “Beyond that, there isn't much I can do.”
“Actually, there is,” Vera said, leaning forward, forcing the others to do the same out of social obligation. “You're the expert on poisons, but I think the malefic moth will be the easier of the two hunts for you if you can make this work.”
