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

--- Kat ---

Kat poked the stone a few more times, and gathered up some water to give it a real shove. None of this produced any sort of movement from the stone. If it wasn’t hovering, Kat would’ve said it was locked in place. It technically moved a bit, but that was the natural bobbing it had due to whatever enchantment kept it in place. None of Kat’s efforts were good for anything.

Giving a mental frown, Kat catalogued everything within her sight bubble and it was... not much. The scorpions were still too scared to get close and Kat was thankful for that... but were they scared enough to give her a chance to transform? She was still somewhat lost as to how this thing was meant to be moved. Her current best guess was that you could carry around the alter it was ’attached’ to but it seemed rather fixed to the ground with no way to release it. But there had to be one right?

*Lily? Thoughts?*

[Not sure. I’m still shocked it didn’t try to crush you or summon a swarm of scorpions. Though if you want a real solution I can think of two reasons this didn’t work. The first is that whatever is meant to trigger didn’t because you have no mana. I don’t think it’s likely, I doubt Thyme would make that mistake for something this important...]

[Which leads me onto my second thought which is that making contact with the timer bracelet thing will activate something. The worry of course, is that whatever it activates will NOT be a good thing for us. Still... we are pretty far away and your water form didn’t seem to annoy the scorpions so it’s probably safe to quickly transform, touch it, and transform back. Probably.]

*So that’s the plan?*

[I don’t know that I want it to be my plan though...]

*Bah, if anything bad happens I’m not going to blame you for it. The plan is sound, and the reasoning is solid. If bad things happen despite that... well we’re prepared for it.* Lily sent back an image of her pouting, something Kat enjoyed immensely for a few seconds before forming herself into a more body-like shape and readying her hand.

Kat let her mind speed up, and executed her pre-planned actions. Transform, touch the stone, t- Kat’s plan to transform back was interrupted when the entire thing exploded into light. A giant pillar that Lily and Appoline could see... well until they too had to look away from the bright light.

Kat didn’t bother blinking the water from her eyes, she just transformed once again. This allowed her to see once again, and found that... she was no longer on the plinth. Instead she was in a small cavern with a door. All covered in runes. Her link to Lily felt a bit weird... so where was she. *Lily can you tell where I am?*

[I think you’re meant to be inside the stone... what are we calling it again? Let’s just say relic. I think you’re meant to be inside the stone relic.]

*What does that even mean. ’Meant to be’ am I inside it or not?*

[Well just based on what I can feel, it seems more like you’re inside a pocket dimension that’s roughly where the stone relic should be. But that’s just a guess, I’m too far away to accurately say what’s happening. Also that light show was visible from QUITE a ways away. I’m not sure it’s possible for anyone to have missed it.]

*Shit. Alright so what’s the plan?*

[I... guess transform back and try the door? I don’t want to rush you but we really don’t want to stick around too long. If anyone has a way to get here, and a want, then they’re not going to be confused about the direction. My best guess, is that you’re in some sort of pocket dimension full of trials you need to clear to claim the relic. That really is just a guess though.]

[It’s possible you’re in some sort of trap that Thyme set up for fake relics and is doing the whole ’well it was so big, why would you think that was the actual relic’ type deal... but I don’t think it’s that mostly because of the giant beacon of light telling everyone and their mother that you’ve done something important here.]

*Ok fair point. Let me just transform for a moment and see...*

So that’s what Kat did. She returned to normal... and immediately started coughing. Lily was worried, but Kat gave a mental wave off. It was just that the entire area was THICK with dust. The long breathe in she’d done upon transforming back had been enough to gather far too much of it. Kat spat out a bunch of spit mixed with dirt, and placed her kimono over her mouth as she started to breathe a bit more normally. Once she didn’t feel like coughing anymore, Kat breathed in deeply and then got to investigating.

The runes on the walls were what stood out the most of course. They were pulsing bright blue and might have intricate meanings... sadly neither Kat nor Lily had a single clue what any of them were meant to mean. Kat certainly didn’t recognise them and even with Lily’s slightly larger understanding of runes, it didn’t help her here.

Now, that raised the question of if these were all nonsense or real runes. The answer would dictate how careful Kat needed to be interacting with them. If they were real, disrupting them could cause all sorts of effects. If they were fake, they were just fancy lights. At least the door didn’t have any runes on it. Except for the circular glowing dot. Was that a rune? It really was just an orb that lit the area. Though not one Kat could take into her bracelet... unless?

Kat walked over to it and tapped her bracelet against it and the door flung itself open. Shrugging, Kat glanced around the other side which seemed to be just a long, if thin corridor lit by more blue runes. Tucking her wings in close Kat carefully slid her way along. Checking the floor with her foot for traps, and debating if it would be better to transform into water to get through whatever this was.

In the end, it didn’t really matter. Halfway along the trip, the ceiling cracked and broke, dropping some rocks on Kat’s head... but they just shattered on her horns. It left her wondering what the point of that even was. It wasn’t like they had far to fall, nor was there much force upon her neck when they did. Was it the dust that was meant to cause an actual issue? *I don’t think that would’ve hurt anyone at all. Not even someone actually at Rank 2...*

With the weird rock ’traps’ dealt with there was nothing stopping Kat from reaching the next door and using the same method to open it. The next room was more interesting looking, but not more interesting for Kat in practice. It was a series of moving platforms likely intended to try and get people to jump across them. There was water at the bottom at least so nobody was going to die if they fell... but Kat didn’t even need to worry about that.

There was a few moments of consideration for potential enchantments to stop her flying, or something else of that nature... but she decided to try anyway and was rewarded. Nothing stopped her at all. So it was just another easy room. The exit door to this one led into a slide. Though there were theoretically dangers in this one. Glowing blue lines that acted as obvious tripwires, gaps in the slide itself you could fall down, and potentially other traps...

All defeated by the fact Kat could just glide over them. The ceiling wasn’t particularly low, and the glowing blue lines meant it was easy to follow the track without getting lost at all. Kat was really starting to wonder who designed this challenge set because at least so far, they didn’t seem to have been made with her in mind. A good thing all in all, but a weird one.

[Hey Appoline wants to know if there are any useful ingredients.]

*Where would there be useful ingredients? It’s mostly rock and the traps all seem constructed rather than natural.*

[Apparently those rocks might’ve been worth something?]

*I mean... I haven’t gone far does she want me to go back?*

[No, just to keep an eye out for more. I’m currently narrating your adventures, and it occurred to her she could ask you to pick up stuff.]

*Well... good for her I guess? Does she really think the rocks are valuable? I feel like the glowing blue wire would be more likely to be useful.*

[Look, I’m just repeating what I was told. I’ve got no idea while fragile rocks would be useful, but my guess is they might have been poisonous to a normal person.]

*Alright I’ll keep my eye out...*