D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Kat tilted her head ”Well, yeah it only happens when I’m basically empty but it’s really the only thing stopping me from running forever, my energy. I don’t sweat anymore or really get hot or even tired outside of mental fatigue.”

”Hmm” murmured Uncle

”OOOh, I know!” said Kamiko, putting as much enthusiasm as she could into her words while still clearly trying to catch her breath. Taking a little longer to fully calm her breathing, she continued. ”I think that it’s actually Kat’s special regeneration. My bet is that for some reason it thinks that being tired is something to be healed which burns a bit of energy to keep Kat in perfect condition. Most regen only heals skin and muscle, and some can also do bone, but Kat’s seems to just do whatever it wants”

Kat nodded. ”That actually makes a lot of sense. It’s still a little weird but it makes sense”

Uncle nodded along as well and said. ”Yes, I can see how that happened. My regeneration doesn’t work anything like Kat’s so I hadn’t considered it from that angle. That does mean that if we see you freeze up from lack of energy, I’ll be ending the match instantly though ok? Even if your tail happens to be enough to defend against a Rank 1 or 2 I’m counting it as a loss”

Kat nodded, willing to accept the words. ”Excellent” said Uncle. ”Now just wait here a moment while I go off and grab your opponents”

And with that, Uncle carefully slid his beard from underneath the pair of succubi and dashed across the tent before pulling open the tent flap and sprinting away. Kat was a little ashamed of herself when her first thought was. *That was pretty slow.* While Kat felt bad for the thought, it wasn’t like she was wrong. It was pretty clear that Uncle was higher rank than the pair, likely a few ranks, and Kat could have left the tent faster.

*Maybe they have a speed limit? It sounds funny to put one on how fast you can run but when it’s commonplace to run faster than cars I wonder if that line of thought still applies. Or what about the sound barrier? I’m sure that the stronger demons can do that, or maybe just the ones specialised in speed. It would be really rude to be setting off sonic booms inside the compound.

Though, I already have a weird thing to let me pick up large objects without them folding around my fingers, and spreading the energy… maybe they have something that lets them stop that.* 

Kat turned her thoughts away from same hypotheticals, and instead to Kamiko, who seemed to have mostly recovered. Of course, she was now lying flat against the ground with a big grin on her face, but she’d stopped breathing so heavily and no longer leaked ice. ”How are you feeling Kamiko?”

”I’m fine. Still a little tired, but not that bad. It takes a lot out of me to use my energy at full charge like we did just before. It’s… I think it’s not great for my body, or that’s what I’ve been told anyway. It was short enough that I should be fine but I never use all my energy like that. I stand by my old decision that your regeneration is by far your best trait”

Kat smiled. *Yeah… she might be right honestly. I… I guess I never really thought that regeneration would be rare though? Or well, it seems like regeneration isn’t but mine is much better than what is normal. Kara thought so when it repaired my energy channels, and now Kamiko thinks it’s my best ability. She’s probably right. If flight doesn’t count as an ability, it probably is my best. True Sight is good, and might be the undisputed best in a few situations, but my regen, if it is actually responsible for my lack of fatigue, is always great.* 

Kat looked around the empty tent and saw no sign of Uncle. A quick check with her hearing revealed that the same trick from the hall was present and she couldn’t hear anything outside of the tent. This time, not even if she used her energy. Accepting this, Kat plopped herself down next to Kamiko and relaxed while waiting for Uncle to get back.

Kamiko eventually sat up and leaned on Kat’s shoulder. It… wasn’t the most comfortable for either of them actually. Kat’s larger wing was forced to encircle Kamiko, and Kamiko’s smaller wings lacked the dexterity to do anything other than dig slightly into Kat’s side. It wasn’t too bad, and neither were complaining, but it was certainly less than ideal. One thing Kat did notice, is that Kamiko kept her tail away from Kat.

*I still wonder about that. Do people not hug like me, tail included? Or is it for when you are really close. Like how some kids get embarrassed when their parents kiss them goodbye at school? It’s sort of embarrassing to do in public and not something you do with friends? That makes a certain degree of sense I think… but it’s so comfortable and Sylvie clearly loves it.* 

These were the thoughts that filled Kat’s head. She continued to go over thoughts on demonic etiquette, and ignoring the demon who loves to talk that was taking up her left shoulder. Still, it wasn’t even ten minutes before Uncle reappeared, now with six demons in tow. They filed in behind him without complaint.

Kat’s eyes were first drawn to the last in line. Kat wasn’t sure what she was, but Lily would recognise a Lamia when she saw one. She had a huge snake tail as her bottom half that was easily as long as Kat and Kamiko were tall when put together. She had blue scales that reminded Kat of the sky. They even had slights flecks of white in them occasionally which Kat was choosing to interpret as clouds.

On her human half, she had an elaborate dress. There was more lace on it than Kat had ever seen in her entire life. The collar was laced, the sleeves were laced, her bust was framed with… you guessed it lace. There were also patches of laced designs sewn into it where there was space, as well as lace lining the bottom of the dress. *I guess when you have unlimited copies of the outfit, it’s fine to have a bunch of easily damaged lace. I certainly appreciate that my Kimono always stays in top condition.* 

The dress itself was a soft pink, similar to Kamiko’s aura, or cherry blossom leaves, while the lace was all sorts of colours. The lace around the collar was completely white, while the lace around the sleeves was completely back. The lace around the edge of the dress was a dark blue that contrasted well with the soft sky blue of the Lamia’s scales, making it look like the start of a storm.

The lace that framed her… rather small breasts, was a soft pink that almost matched the colour of the dress. Kat had no idea what the point of it was. It just piled up a bunch of lace around the area in almost exactly the same colour as the dress beneath it. So, Kat quickly changed her focus to the designs. There were three separate snake designs. Each scale was meticulously outlined, in one of three colours.

The first, that sat just below the collar lace was the same blue as the Lamia’s scales, with a small bit of green lacing around the eyes that matched the Lamia’s own now that Kat took the chance to look. The other two were in the stomach area looking at each other as if glaring. The left one was green, and the right one was a dark blue similar but distinct from the bottom lacing.

Back to the Lamia’s green eyes and face. Her eyes looked like they were rough cut jade. Slightly milky, but with a clear snake slit to them and slightly flat edges. Her hair was a simple bob cut that was black in colour, and her face was set in a hard line. She wasn’t smiling, but it was close. She had a mostly neutral face that seemed to be just on the edge of happiness, but something was missing. She also had sharp pointed ears that stuck out well past her head, and were nearly as long as Kamiko’s horns.

The only other noteworthy feature was the Lamia’s arms. Unlike Kat and Kamiko who had thin arms with slight toning, the Lamia was ripped. Her casual stance as she slithered in already had her arms bursting with muscles. Each arm was at least twice as thick as Kat’s own, and around the width as the spade at the end of her tail at their largest.

Kat would find out later during introductions, that this Lamia was named Seralina, but preferred to be called Sera.. Why that was… well, Kat never cared enough to ask.