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

--- Kat ---

Kat let the statement hang for a few moments as she considered what she wanted to say in response. She had quite a few that came to mind, but in the end, what she decided to go with was, ”Maybe, maybe not. I certainly think the end is a touch more distant than any of us thought. Plus, I’ll even give you a big bit of info if you’re willing to reciprocate at least that much.”

”Sure,” said Souris, likely not caring one way or another, because Kat had basically volunteered to give her info over first. If it wasn’t worth much... easy to ignore.

”I’m guessing there was quite a few plans to destroy the tablet pieces that would let someone win easily right?” Kat voiced. Souris glared at her for a few seconds. ”Look, it’ll be clear why it’s an issue in a few seconds.”

”Fine, yes, we also thought of that. It seemed hard to gather them all and we were pretty sure we weren’t the best team to go finding them,” admitted Souris.

”Well, it turns out, they’re actually giant sized. Like, bigger than a house, probably palace size, though I don’t actually know any of the palaces around here so maybe that’s less accurate then I’d like, but you get the idea,” Kat began.

”That’s nice, but not exactly something that meant I should reveal my desire to destroy them...” began Souris.

Kat held up a hand, specifically, the one with the glowing tattoo on it, and she kept it facing Souris. ”This is what happens when you claim one of them. They shrink down and become a tattoo, one that you can’t hide no matter what. If I cover it with my other hand, it moves hands, and I’d bet it shows through gloves and whatnot.”

”Oooh, ok that... is inconvenient but valuable to know. I’m actually not sure I can tell you anything else that matches that in importance. I can confirm I haven’t encountered any of them at least, and from the sounds of things it would be easy to notice... hmmm... yeah I mean, I’m now sort of at a loss for what sort of info you want from me?” Souris admitted with a shrug.

Kat shrugged back, ”Eh, once again, it just felt wrong to take you out without talking so... here we are potentially making a deal. I guess I’ll just ask what you can give me?”

Souris hummed for a bit before shrugging ”Have you been to Spring?” Kat shook her head. ”Right well I can give you some info there. Spring has this sort of bounty board system where the barkeep will give you quests, usually monster killing ones, to go out and do.

”But it’s not the best value because there’s so much pollen everywhere. Spring is hell to move through because you need to spend orbs to buy environmental protection, to make orbs, which all just tick down. I was glad to be out of that place... though I haven’t found too many orbs on me way here either. So if you’re looking for more I can’t really help you there,” grumbled Souris.

”Yeah we’re in the same boat,” agreed Kat, deciding not to mention her stockpile. *Though the fact she’s not finding anything either might mean that she’s nearly out of the game anyway. Is the centre really meant to be this much of a trap? Most people probably don’t have as many orbs stocked up as me... and that might just knock them out in the end.* ”I haven’t found... much of any. It’s less then ten that’s for sure, but time is weird here... or maybe something recharges the bracelets a bit? Unclear.”

Souris nodded. ”Alright um... hmm... what else can I say... I obviously came up here from spring, and you mentioned you and Hedera came in from Winter?”

”We started in Autumn and moved to Winter,” explained Kat.

Souris groaned, ”Urgh, I was in Autumn for a while. I wonder if we were close to seeing each other. How is Hedera? If you don’t mind?”

Kat shrugged, ”I don’t know what to tell you. She seemed fine to me? Not that stressed, and was happy enough I guess? She was nervous about things occasionally, but she seems to just get that way.”

”Hmm... can you tell me where to meet up with her?” asked Souris.

”I can,” Kat answered with a grin.

Souris waited for a few seconds before rolling her eyes. ”Really loving the jokes aren’t you? Fine, may you tell me? Stupid wording traps...”

*That’s because I really don’t know if I should. I’m certain the city is large enough that as long as they stay away from each other it’s not going to drain them overly fast. So multiple people from the same team can hang out there... am I against that? Maybe? Actually wait how would she get inside? We were super lost when we found the Trapmaster’s thing and doesn’t everything in Winter move around? So she’d need to go in through the Weaver tunnel and she probably wouldn’t be allowed to do that... so should we share?*

[Good question. Are you intending to get her in trouble? Like not mentioning how isolationist they are? Even if they’re opening up, I agree that having her just pop in through the Weaver way isn’t going to make them happy. Even if Hedera vouches for them...]

*Yeah not sure. We could neglect to mention it and she might get lost in the snow instead... just... it’s hard to know how much info to give without sounding weird about it. Also not sure how mean I want to be about this.*

[Could she even make it down the mountain if we told her? Best bet might actually be to just jump... not sure what would happen if she did, but it might actually be the safest way for her to leave if she wanted.]

*Yeah that’s wild to think about. Still... how about we play it up a bit. We’ll tell her, warn her that it might not be too useful, but still try to bleed her for more information?*

[I’m not sure she has that much.]

*Surely she has at least something, like what sort of things she’s found in chests and stuff. We got stuck in the city so we never did too much exploring.*

[Ok yeah actually that’s quite fair.]

”We can tell you... but we’re not sure how much it will help. Still want more info though, maybe what sort of things you’ve found in chests? That place Hedera and I were parked in has a lot of orbs, but not so many of those,” explained Kat.

Souris clearly thought on this for a moment before nodding. ”Alright I can give that info away. Who is going first?”

”I’ll trust you to list half of the chests, then I’ll step in and explain where we went?” Kat offered. Then if you explain enough chests I might also mention all the issues with getting to the place. ”Though just a warning, not sure how much it will help.”

Souris shrugged and began to speak about the chests she had found over the journey. A couple of them just had orbs, some had one time use things like potions or bombs, but most had arms and armour... that notably hadn’t really been FOR Souris. Some had, and she’d apparently swapped out to a better shield and boots, but that was it. The rest hadn’t been worth swapping to for one reason or another.

At least, not in the first half of the explanation. Still, Kat was happy with the amount of info even if she wasn’t sure how useful it was to know. Kat did her part to explain the city, with Appoline confirming that it’s where she’d lived, before going back to making potions in the background, ignoring the rest of the conversation. Eventually though, Kat moved onto the issues. Souris had already listed a considerable number of things she’d found so Kat was willing to give her this upfront instead of waiting for the end like originally planned.

”So... an issue with getting inside is that there are two entrances, or at least two? There is this actor called the Trapmaster that set up a... gauntlet thing that’s a combination quiz show and deathtrap. If you get through it, you can choose to enter the city. Except I don’t know where the one we found was, and Winter stuff moves so even if I did it might not help...”

”I see why you said it likely wouldn’t... still, I am considering the idea that I should just turn around and spend the next few days trying to make it to Hedera. She likely has orbs for us both and if I can manage it we can both help out without being too close while earning those orbs. So... what’s the catch?” asked Souris.

”Well, there IS another way inside. In the autumn village there is a secret entrance... but I’m not sure they’d tell you where it is, nor would the people of the city be happy to have you if I’m honest. They’re quite isolationist and even leaving is difficult, if slowly getting better,” explained Kat.