"Ugh...do I really have to cross this thing?"
Ashton blanched slightly as he looked at the sight in front of him.
There's a black, gooey, and inky sludge flowing down a deep ravine. The wet smacks it makes causes shiver to run down one's spine. If you look at it for too long, you'd start seeing agonized and tortured faces being swept and submerged in that pitch-black goo.
How this thing's called a 'river' makes no sense to him. Where have you ever seen a river that has tentacles protruding out of the depths? Is there another Cthulu-shit slumbering down there? What's going on?
The worst part is that these tentacles are everywhere in the river. It's like someone methodically placed these things down there to make sure there would be no escaping them.
The tentacles writhe in a soul-shivering way. It's also covered in razor-sharp teeth and...are those eyes!?
"Ugh, god!" Ashton felt sick as he stared at it. His body shivered ever so slightly every time he saw those tentacles moving.
The tentacles are one thing, but what about those that live under the depths of this river?
"Fear of the unknown, huh? I really hate this Lovecraftian trope." Ashton murmured to himself as he thought of a way to proceed.
This place is disgusting and repulsive. It's something that no human should ever deal with to be completely honest. But in Ashton's situation, he has no other choice.
"Will the safehouse even be able to sail through this?" Ashton pursed his lips in wonder.
The River or Tar is viscous, that fact was made clear just by looking at it. It's turbulent too, something that doesn't show any signs of stopping.
Ashton frowned as he began planning his next move. As much as he would like to not deal with this thing, he has to. And to make sure he remains safe, he needed to test out a few things.
Removing his guns from the holster, he compressed an Anti-Abomination Bullet and shot it to the nearby tentacle.
The shot streaked through the air and pierced the tentacle, it even hit another one before it faded. Ashton watched as the tentacles flailed in silent pain. They were caught in a purifying flame and were burned good however, his desired outcome didn't happen.
He wanted to test out if he could set the whole river on fire. This is an absurd notion, truly, but it's worth the shot.
His senses won't lie to him, this river is liquefied demonic corruption itself. Why else would he feel a strong repulsion from it?
Ashton had done something like this before, back when he was still at the top of the demon nest. He was able to do it, although it happened as a side-effect. His initial goal was to replicate that somehow.
Sadly, he failed...
After a few tests with all kinds of ammunition formulas available to him, he discovered that the demonic corruption was too dense to deal with like this. He's either not strong enough to do so just yet or he doesn't have the right ammunition formula to do so.
Either way, this is a failure. So he moved on to the next experiment.
He took out a few items from his Inventory to throw them into the river. He has a theory that needed to be confirmed so this was necessary.
First, he threw an uncorrupted chunk of meat at it. It didn't go far at all, the tentacles snatched mid-flight and it was consumed in a blink of an eye. Ashton's lips twitched at this sight but he moved on.
Next, he threw a regular sheet of metal at the river. The result was the same as the previous one, eaten by the tentacles. He then threw rocks, gems, weapons, animal remains, and even a vial of his blood at the river.
The results were fairly uniform, most of the things he threw were taken by the tentacles. Some items they ignored while others were destroyed as if it was their mortal enemy.
He also saw a few demons jumping out of the tar to take part in his experiments. How nice of them, really. Sarcasm aside though, his experiments did confirm his theories.
"...I need to modify the safe house." Ashton sighed.
More specifically, he needs to make a coating for the whole thing and it has to be made out of Demon Trinkets.
Based on his experiments, everything that is not corrupted will be attacked by the creatures of the river while those with varying levels of corruption will at least be ignored.
Demon Trinkets are mostly made out of demonic remains, and demons are the crystallization of corruption itself. Even though they're safe to use as a material, it still counts as a corrupted object, just controlled one.
In the few tests he made, the Demon Trinkets were completely ignored by the river creatures. He can even still see them floating above the river. This gave him the idea that if he made a coating out of Demon Trinkets and used it in the safe house, then he should be able to cross the river relatively safe.
There's a small chance that this might fail but it's worth the shot.
As for the river creatures...Ashton doesn't care about them. He doesn't want to deal with them either. He just really wants to cross this river in peace and hopefully never come back, like, ever again.
With a mission in mind, Ashton stopped hesitating. He went inside the Grand Library and started working.
Luckily for him, Aria was immensely fascinated by the trinkets that she had performed many experiments with it already. In this world, there might now be anyone more knowledgeable about Demon Trinkets than Aria.
He told her what he needs to do and she's more than happy to help of course. She had taken a break from researching Demon Trinkets with the appearance of the 'ARC' blueprints but she doesn't mind getting back to it.
"...I guess we could make it like paint. That way, we can easily apply it to the safe house without sacrificing its structural integrity. Also, if we do it this way, we can make sure that the 'controlled corruption' level of the trinkets wouldn't be disturbed."
"Since the safehouse has an all-terrain function, it should be able to function as a boat. You probably won't need to make some absurd modifications that will take a long-ass time." Aria stated.
"So...we're going to make a paint coating out of Demon Trinkets?"
"Yep." Aria nodded, "Well, I would...you rest easy. I got this."
"No, no! I'll help you." Ashton protested.
"It's fine. I can handle this by myself." Aria waved her hand. Ashton wanted to protest some more but Aria placed a finger on his lips, saying: "Leave this to me, okay? Have some faith in me. I'll get it done in no time."
Ashton blinked in surprise due to her insistence. He looked at her and saw that she was really determined to do this by herself.
Well, who was he to deny her this chance?
So, although begrudgingly, he nodded and kissed her before letting her do her work.
Aria skipped towards the lab, leaving him in his thoughts. Ashton sighed and laid down on the bed.
He's aware of why she's acting this way. She probably felt useless and insecure.
Who was the one who have to watch as their lover cross the ever-so-dangerous lands of the outside world? Wasn't it Aria?
How many times had she seen him staking his life out there? How many times has she welcomed him in her arms when he's dead tired and mentally exhausted?
Even then...even if he was being driven to the brink of insanity, he still returns to her in one piece, tells her 'I'm home, and gives her that reassuring smile.
He did this all while she has to watch and wait...twiddling her thumbs and praying for his safety.
Ashton knows that she hated herself for being useless. It's why she threw herself into her research, to begin with. She wants to help. She wants him to rely on her as well.
She wants to make a point that he's not doing this alone. She doesn't want him to do this alone.
Ashton's well aware of all of this. Which is why he lets her do as she pleases.
Don't get him wrong, he's more than willing to carry this burden alone. At this point, Aria is being plenty useful and helpful just by existing since he knows she'll always be there to welcome him home.
And so, if she wants to be more helpful than she already is, why stop her?
Preventing her would just put a rift in their relationship. It'd just give her the wrong idea, something that Ashton doesn't want to happen. And seeing how determined she is, makes it hard for him to refuse anyway so it's all good.
Aria can do what she wants, so long as she's not risking herself for his sake, that's fine. That's his job anyways.
But if he were being honest here, it does feel nice to know that she cares deeply for him.
He truly doesn't mind this.
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