Thinking about it for a moment, Lucius pulled out the knife that was still impaled in the arachnid's eye and began cutting a line from its eye down to its torso. When he reached the part that was covered in rock skin, he took a look at its inner portion.
~Ah, it's as I thought. Its skin seems rocky on the outside, but on the inside, it's as fleshy as the rest of its body,~ he noticed.
The rock skin was merely a layer that covered its real skin, so after taking a careful look, he poked his knife in between the line where the two skin layers met, and began separating them.
His work was shoddy, cutting off chunks of flesh along with the rock layer. Though he had experience skinning animals, this was a completely different rodeo.
The flesh that stuck onto the rock skin was unbelievably soft, tearing away with just a touch of his blade. What's more is that he couldn't even get a good grip as the poisonous spikes were still sticking out of the tiny pores in the rock skin, and at times he had to cut at odd angles as the arachnid's body had a curvilinear surface.
"There," he sighed, finally done with the skinning. What was left was a pink layer of skin, making the arachnid look like a completely different creature. He put the rock skin aside, its characteristics had piqued his interest, hard but malleable, he would have to look into turning it into some sort of armor for himself later on.
"Can I have that tool?" the shroom asked as it stared at the arachnid's naked body, gesturing for Lucius to hand it over as he knelt down in front of the corpse.
Lucius hesitated for a moment, before reluctantly placing it in the shroom's hands. However, right after he removed his crux and took a few steps back.
He knew this wouldn't be ideal for forming a deeper relationship with the shroom, but if he had to lower the trust between them for his safety, it was a good trade in his book.
The shroom slit the corpse open with a practiced hand, carefully looking over its innards. Most of the arachnid's organs were an unrecognizable mush, different raptured textures mixed together to form a disgusting sludge.
"Hmm..." the shroom mumbled, using the knife to move the raptured organs to the side as it inspected further.
"Hmm? That's it? Did I mess things up, or can this still be used?" Lucius asked, feeling slightly annoyed that all his work might've been for naught.
"This is my first time looking at this creature's insides. I'm not even sure what anything is, so if you could just give me a moment," the shroom replied, a hint of annoyance in its voice as well.
It continued inspecting the body, going up and down moving different organs around.
"I'm certain this is the poison organ," it said after a moment, using the knife to point at a bottle-shaped organ near the arachnid's head.
"It's slightly raptured, but that's okay. So long as it's all intact, we can still use it," the shroom continued, before moving the knife a little further up.
"This is probably the brain, it's very similar to that of a 6-legged one. We can use it as well," it said, before shaking its head as it looked down.
"Everything else will have to be purified and consumed. If we try using the raptured organs in the concoction, it could kill us. I have no idea what is mixed inside this mush, so it's better we only use the two that seem to still be intact," it said, before standing to its feet.
"A shame. If its heart were still intact, it would've made the concoction even more potent," the shroom continued, handing the knife over to Lucius.
"So how long will it take to make?" Lucius asked, happy that he could at least get something out of it.
"It usually takes a week to ferment, but with poison this strong... maybe two, three if we want to be certain."
"Eh? Three weeks? Wait, you never said anything about all this when we spoke," Lucius complained. He had hoped to have some poison resistance before heading for the Shri'kilian.
"What? Did you think I would just chop a few things up and have it done in a second?" the shroom asked haughtily. "Or maybe if you teach me magic, it'll be possible," it continued, half playfully.
"Just get it done," Lucius sighed in defeat. Even if he couldn't use it now, it might help on future missions.
"Sure. I'll just need something to seal it in while it ferments, a dark place to store it, and a few herbs," it said, before sitting down as if expecting the ear full that Lucius was about to give it.
"You're doing this on purpose aren't you? Why didn't you tell me how complicated the whole process was going to be? I could've collected all this before I came here," Lucius said, more in disbelief than annoyed.
"You never asked. Oh, and I want half of this thing's meat as payment for my services. After you purify it course," it continued smugly.
"Don't you think you should practice a little more hubris? After all, you're still a prisoner," Lucius replied, his tail swaying above him in a threatening gesture.
"������?" the shroom repeated in confusion. "Is this how you pay your subordinates? All I asked for was a fair share for the work I am going to put in. I did nothing wrong," the shroom answered.
Up til now, Lucius had only worked with the leaflings. And since his relationship with them was more of a father-child one, they never really asked for payment and did everything without a second thought.
It just now occurred to him that if his plan actually worked out, all the different races under him would probably behave the same way the shroom was acting.
These were the first breaths of his little civilization's economy. However, half of the arachnid's corpse was simply too much.
"How about this? I'll purify it... but only if you give me a detailed explanation. Also, I can't give you half for work that isn't even done yet. I'll give you a quarter of the meat, and if your concoction lives up to what it promises, I'll add something extra as reparation," Lucius said, trying to bargain.
He would need as much of the arachnid's meat as possible to use as a catalyst, so he couldn't afford to give any extra.
"Giving you detailed explanations on the purification process will have to be a talk on its own. And let's not forget about the skin over there, I want a piece of it as well. It'll prove to make good coverings," the shroom replied, clearly versed in haggling.
"You have experience in trade?" Lucius couldn't help but ask. He would never have guessed the shroom would counter-trade.
"My clan used to trade with the neighboring clans all the time. However, what we are talking about is common sense that I am certain even a spore-ling could follow," the shroom taunted.
The two continued their haggling for a few more minutes before coming to an agreement.
Lucius would give the shroom 1/3rd of the arachnid's meat, a small piece of its skin, and 1/4 of the concoction that would be made.
In return, he could keep everything else and would gain detailed explanations on the purification process, as well as the location of other possible prey. Of course, the shroom wanted a small cut of the prey as well.
"I hope you realize that I will no longer feed you for free," Lucius said as he handed the shroom the knife to get to work.
"For now you mean. You promised me food if I joined your commune," the shroom replied as it carefully cut out the arachnid's poison gland.
"Kukk."
"Besides, you will soon be paying me of your own will once I begin bringing the others to your feet. And I have just the story... dear Chosen One," the shroom smiled.
~Why does he sort of remind me of Pagan?~ Lucius thought to himself.
