CHAPTER 535: GLUTTONY NO MORE

SWISH!

One precise move, and a swift step, Elaina cut the defenseless Maw of Stones to shreds. She was expecting it to be like slicing something hard, considering that it was inside Mythril rocks and had been eating and making its armor strong enough.

Sure enough, the body of the Maw of Stones has also been strengthened, right?

Well, wrong. The Maw of Stones seems to be unable to extend its upgrading capabilities to its body. It can only enhance its "armor" and make it more durable. Even if it eats a lot of minerals, once its "armor" is gone, it will remain vulnerable.

"I see now. No wonder it has a very high defense. Once that defense is gone, it dies too quickly due to its vulnerable body," the Village Chief commented as he approached the dead body of the Maw of Stones.

"Does this mean the Maw of Stones was essentially just a worm inside a stone?" Elaina frowned as she turned her gaze over the carcass once more.

"This is the first time I have seen the insides of the Maw of Stones. And here I thought its maw was attached from the stones but it turns out it is just hiding inside the rocks and is shielding its very vulnerable body as a way to keep itself alive and considering that they are so easy to kill, they continue to eat minerals to keep reinforcing their shell and keeping themselves alive in the process while also being able to continue living normally. I must say I wasn’t expecting that at all," the Village Chief crouched on the remnants of the rocks that became mythril and had been melted.

"Despite becoming mythril, these rocks remain as rocks in components, meaning, they look mythril on the outside and durability scale, but they are still rocks all in all, and still pale in comparison to the real mythril’s components, hardness, and toughness. The acid only works because it is still technically mimicking Mythril, which resulted in it melting. Perhaps it was because it got killed before the Mythril became too incorporated into the shell, or because that is how it works normally, and the monster just continuously eat those minerals and slowly replace the rocks with the minerals. That said, these rocks it has on its body is somewhat valuable. It might not be mythril but it has the basic characteristics of a Mythril, making this a good substitute material that needed small amounts of Mythril items."

"Is it even the same sturdiness and quality of a mythril?" Elaina frowned. After all, if she wanted something made from Mythril, isn’t it going to be cutting costs if the Mythril in questiob wasn’t even mythril to begin with?

"Not really. There are times where some small parts of a weapon or anything we forge that needed mythril that we have to compromise by making something small from mythril. With Mythril being hard to cut and shape through forging, not only does it takes time, but it also removes us from the groove of creating those things, a good substitute would be a good alternative to lessen the time needed and to also solve the problem."

"If that is the case, how would you do that with melted stuff?" Elaina asked as the melted fake mythril is currently scattered around the dead body of the monster.

"It can harden and be melted again. It won’t really matter to be honest."

Elaina inspects the dead body of the Maw of Stones. Although she did cut it its body, she didn’t cut it to pieces. She wanted to preserve the body of the monster and keep its structure up for a bit. She wanted to see if the monster has any useful items that can be salvaged on its body like most monsters do.

"Want to take the carcass of this big fella? Not that we needed it, but if you want, you are free to keep it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. We have no interest on its body, we are more interested in its "Armor" so take the body if you want it. We will have it butchered for you so you can wait back in the village. It would be really bad if you shove the bloody parts of the monster into your dimensional storage bag, that would really hard to clean and would even affect the other items stored there," the Village Chief offered.

"Ah, that would be helpful, thanks a lot," Elaina bowed in gratitude.

"Ha, it is even not enough service considering you allowed us to have so much acid from slime eggs. It’s pretty much just a bare minimum at best," the Village Chief sighed.

That’s when Elaina remembered her original plan on going to the mines. She was just sidetracked by the problem that the Maw of Stones brought by but now that the situation is over, she is now free to discuss this matter to the chief.

"I think you can still repay me if you think it is inappropriate to receive the slimes I gave you for minimal service. Can we discuss this matter to the village instead of here?"

"You have some work for me, eh? Good to know. Alright, let’s get back to the village and discuss this there. It’s much better to relax and talk there without ruckus."

Elaina nodded. She left first while the village chief left behind to deal with the situation and keep the command going for the other dwarves. He will come later on after he is done with the commands.

...

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...

30 minutes later, the Village Chief and a few of the dwarves returned, carrying a few crates of the materials that came from the Maw of Stones. A few of those crates are the monster carcass that has been butchered and cleaned up by the crew.

After putting down the crates, the Village Chief sighed and apologize to Elaina who is waiting for him.

"Sorry about that, girl. Had to do a few tasks here and there. Didn’t expect the work to pile up before we could realize."

"No worries. I understand the circumstsnces." Elaina smiled and readies the brooch on her hand.

"Now I see that your going to make me work on a brooch. Am I right about that?" The Village Chief asked.

"More or less. Though it is more specific and a bit more than you think. Can you check if you can replicate the spell engraved there and recast it on the other jewels?"

"First, we have to see what kind of brooch it is, alright?"

"Fine by me," Elaina said as she hands over the ancient brooch to the Village Chief.

He examined the brooch and frowned a few times. He even grab the nearest table and grab some paper and tried to replicate what he saw by writing it all. After a few scribbles, he put down his pen and sighed.

"Looks like I can’t do it."