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

— Kress —

Kress looked down at his Timmy in the dark of night. He’d manage to put his armour on before Thyme kicked them out and he was ready to mess with people. Kress pulled one of his spare daggers out of his storage bracelet and held it up above the Timmy. “Let’s go commit a crime!”

Timmy snatched the knife with a grin and started to giggle. Kress wasn’t sure how much Timmy was allowed to do… but he was determined to have a bit of fun with it. *I mean… is it really considered a fight if you stabbed someone through the eye and take them out instantly?* Kress wasn’t sure but he was looking forward to trying.

He was currently in the frozen wintery area but the cold hadn’t seeped into his bones just yet. So while Kress was putting on his warmer gear he started to take in the area. The first thing to note was that the whole place was one giant hole. It was a truly massive hole mostly in width, though with some significant depth to it as well. The whole place funnelled you down towards the centre… if you didn’t duck into one of the various caves Kress could see scattered about.

Of course there was plenty of cover all over the place. Mostly in the form of medium sized ice spikes, about twice as wide and tall as a man. Sometimes a bit larger or smaller but they were just about everywhere and distorted the view somewhat if you weren’t looking over the top of them.

At the bottom of the pit there was clearly a domed settlement. The ice blue dome might have been made of ice or just normal glass but it sat right at the bottom and kept the focus on it through the amount of lights the damned place put out. Kress was currently in the top quarter of the hole and had limited options. Crawling up and out, diving down, or exploring around the edges. There were a few pathways that took you from one side of the pit to the other but they were all completely exposed bridges without railings. One good snipe or gust and you’d be thrown off the side. A massive risk, especially this high up where you’d easily be seen considering the massive amount of distance you’d need to cover.

Kress looked down at the Timmy who was still grinning at the knife. “Alright new plan…” Timmy frowned. “Don’t worry we’re still going to commit crimes eventually. I was just wondering if you could find me the closest treasure chest? Or key? I’m not terribly picky. Oh… and come back in ten minutes if you don’t find anything,”

Timmy grinned and saluted with knife still in hand and Kress grinned at the empty air. *Now what the heck am I going to do? I’ve already inspired my helper to commit great violence and hopefully if they run into anything they’ll stab it… hmm… should I try and convince the little guy to dress up in a bloody outfit? I’d suggest a bloody knife but I feel like it’d be MY blood on the blade if I suggested dirtying it.

I wonder how many people will be using their Timmys like this. I mean… seems pretty obvious to me. Those guys are super fast and they can cover a heck of a lot more ground. I guess it’s a matter of waiting but hmm… yeah still seems like the best way to make use of them. Maybe I can get mine some equipment to make them more useful?* Little did Kress know that he was one of the few people using this strategy. Perhaps he should have mentioned it to the rest of his team.

Still, it was working as five minutes later Timmy had returned… and there was a suspicious bit of blood on Timmy’s left foot that Kress decided was better not commented on. “Alright… hmm… can you carry me there or is that not allowed?” Timmy shook their head at Kress’ question. “Alright that’s clearly a step too far. Lead the way!”

Timmy nodded and started to move a bit above a jog. Kress soon started to move after the little guy, occasionally slipping a bit on the icy ground as they weaved between the pillars. Kress noticed that there were orbs inside a few of them but chipping your way through them seemed like it’d take a bit of time and potentially blunt your tools. Then again… perfect job for a Timmy with an ice pick of some sort. *Not to self, see if I can pick one up from the town down there. Also see if there’s a quick way down to the town.*

“Hey Timmy, keep an eye out for any easy ways down to the town. I bet they’d have useful stuff and I’d like to head there after the we find the key,” said Kress. The Timmy didn’t seem to react to the not quite an order so Kress wasn’t sure if it worked or not. Still worth attempting though.

Ten minutes of walking later and Kress was wondering just how far the little guy had managed to run. They were still clearly headed along the edge of the pit, not downward at all. In fact, they’d skipped over a few ladders, treacherous rock climbs, and even a rather gentle path. All were ignored in favour of continuing along the current level. *Does that mean Timmy only checked the current elevation or is this just the closest place and it just so happens to be here?*

It took another ten minutes of running before Timmy veered off into a cave. Kress kept a careful eye on his surroundings. Things had been… suspiciously quiet. No monsters in sight so far and he was wondering if they’d all collected in the caves instead of braving the cold. That or they were sleeping because it was barely morning. Despite Kress’ weariness nothing jumped out at him the whole way to the chest.

Eventually Timmy would bring them to a fake wall that was really just a sheet of cloth draped over the entrance to look like a rock. Pushing through Kress was able to see a moderately sized room with a key sitting in the middle of it. There was nothing else. Just the key. “Can you grab that?” Timmy shook their head. “Right… thought so. Hmmm…”

*So I take this and it triggers a trap. Though… I think I have some spare rope in my bracelet or…* Kress mentally tried to pull the robe from his band but nothing came out. *Shit. I think I decided the rope took up too much space. Should’ve just cut it down smaller instead of forgetting about it entirely. There’s no way this isn’t a trap.*

Kress tapped his foot a few times as he considered things. “Alright nothing too it,” Kress moved to the other side of the room and started to stretch. He was already warmed up from the jog over but it was a nice way to pretend he wasn’t just buying time. “Alright Timmy. I’m betting the floor is going to drop out from underneath us or something. Be ready,” Timmy nodded and Kress kept up his stretching for a bit longer before sighing and getting into a sprinter’s stance.

Kress counted down from three and then kicked off the wall, sprinting forward and right for the key… only to not grab it as he sprinted past. “Ha, got ya didn’t I?” said Kress even though he himself wasn’t sure why he’d done that. Kress got back into position, kicked off the wall and sprinted over to the key… only to not grab it once again.

“Huh?” mumbled Kress. This time he just slowly walked up the key as it sat there on the pedestal. He carefully reached out to touch it and… nothing seemed to be happening. Kress moved his hand closer and closer… until his hand phased right through the key. “What?” Kress waved his hand through the key a few more times and nothing. “That’s… odd. An illusion? No but… hmm… would an illusion work on Timmy? I asked for a key after all…

“Then again doesn’t this count as a key? I can’t use it, and technically it’s just an illusion of a key… but people could argue it IS a key,” mumbled Kress as he tried to work out what the next stage of his plan would be. Kress reached out to the plinth the key was ‘sitting’ on. Kress tapped it a few times and it felt real. “Ok… so there has to be a trick here right?”

*Now… is there some secret to getting the key that I just haven’t worked out yet… or did Thyme make a fake key room to try and trick people into wasting time. I can see that tricky dryad doing either… both probably. So the question is… which is this? Is there a trick? Should I leave? Timmy shook their head when I told them to pick it up… was that too much help or was that because they can’t?*