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

Chapter 1163 1163 Practice By The Ocean 2 Electric Eel Boogaloo

Lily chapter (Couldʼve just been a Kat one but I thought, why not?)

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Lily pretended to crack her neck as she stepped forward and said, ”Well, with that working I feel like itʼs my turn to show off. Iʼll just quickly run through the basics that Iʼve got down for paper magic, then I have a few questions for Mint about shadow magic,” 

”Oh… well… I donʼt exactly know much about shadow magic. Thyme did cover it a little in their lessons but I donʼt know anyone with that affinity,” said Mint with a pout on her face. 

Lily just waved it off and said, ”Hey, donʼt worry about it. Iʼm just wanting to check a few things that are probably super obvious for someone who lives in a world where magic is more common,” 

”Alright,” said Mint, not entirely convinced. *Naw, Mintʼs so earnest and adorable. Makes me want to give her a cookie. Sheʼs like… a little cousin perhaps? Sure weʼre trying to befriend her, but I feel more like I need to protect her. *

[I do understand the feeling Lily. Though, counterpoint. Thyme is protecting her, and her tree is likely somewhere very safe. I suspect she doesnʼt really NEED the protection. Though, I do agree that sheʼs adorably earnest. A bit like Kamiko was before she met Sue.]

*Kamiko is still a bit like that… but sheʼs a bit too embarrassed you know? Sheʼs earnest sure, but itʼs not her defining trait. Though, yeah theyʼre both adorable. Now, stop distracting me I want to show off properly to the adorable Mint and my lovely girlfriend.*

[Of course girlfriend.]

Lily let out a full body shiver that went all the way through her tail, and set it fluffing up slightly. Mint raised her eyebrow very slightly at Lily, but it went unnoticed. ”Right, so first off,” Lily summoned up a single circle and let out a swarm of paper, ”Is something the book calls ʼpapercut blastʼ but I sort of think of it as ʼpaper blizzardʼ. Regardless of the name, itʼs a really neat first circle spell.

”It will keep going as long as I give it mana. The paper is decently sharp and itʼs just a good spell to blast off in a panic. After seeing the basic shadow stuff, and how… rigid and unintuitive it is, I realise now that this is a masterwork of spell craft. It also has a second tier version,” Lily flexed her mana a bit and a second spell circle appeared around the paper, ”which is nice, but it doesnʼt add too much. Itʼs just a better version of the original spell, which just shows how good the original is,” 

”Next is my ʼPaper wallʼ spell,” said Lily as she dismissed the first circle and summoned another. In front of her was a wall of paper. ”Now, the nifty thing about this one, is that it doesnʼt require constant mana, it summons a sheet of paper, roughly where you want it, and then end. But there was a trick in the book…” Lily then quickly summoned three more sheets of paper, in a row, ”If you sort of ʼpulseʼ your mana through the sigil as itʼs fading you can cast the spell again, summoning more paper. 

”The great part though, is that your mana stays connected to them all, and while you canʼt pump energy into the spell, you can push it into the sheets of paper to give them extra durability. Itʼs not a perfect defence, but it is nice. Furthermore, it also has a rank version but itʼs kinda lame,” Lily explained as she cast the spell at a Rank above. She was right, it just summoned a wall of five sheets of paper.

”Honestly? Unless you need to spam out constant sheets of five, itʼs better to just quickly cast the tier one version of the spell. Technically the tier two sheets are sturdier, but after a bit of testing? The durability increase is miniscule. Not really worth it. The only upside I can really see, is that the way the mana cost works out, itʼs five sheets for like… three and a half sheets worth of mana…

”But itʼs not like they cost much mana anyway. I can summon dozens of them without too much issue. It just comes back to the whole ʼunless you NEED the fiveʼ might as well just stick to quickly casting the Rank 1 spell,” said Lily. 

”Now, for the dedicated Rank 2 spells. There were a few more Rank 1 spells, but theyʼre all utility spells, not combat ones, and I can see why. The two the Paper Mage focused on are all you really need in combat. The first one Rank 2 exclusive is called ʼpaper shellʼ.” Lily let the spell wash over her, and suddenly she was encased in a dome of paper. 

From inside the dome Lily continued, ”This is made up of a bunch of interlocking paper sheets and it can do a proper sphere if youʼre in the air. Additionally, if you keep supplying it mana, the dome keeps fixing itself. Itʼs a very good defensive spell for paper magic… but itʼs horrible mana efficiency wise. If you can keep this up, nobody your rank is getting through…”I think you should take a look at

”But they donʼt need to, they can just wait you out,” finished Mint. 

Lily dropped the dome, and let out a long breath. Her face was covered in sweat, and even though she hadnʼt sounded too put out from inside the dome, it looked like sheʼd just finished a hundred metre dash. ”Yup, even just those few seconds took half my damn mana pool. The book Thyme gave me labelled it a ʼPanic Buttonʼ spell. One you practice and practice over and over so that if youʼre under attack and panicking, you throw that it up to block the attack,” 

”Itʼs very impressive looking from my perspective,” said Mint. ”I can see how it would protect you from near anything, eating momentum from stone or ice, simply letting fire burn unimportant stuff, and water would just soak in without too many issues. I think only the more exotic things like space… but Iʼm not sure if you can even attack with that at Rank 2, so it does seem really good,” 

Lily nodded, ”Yup, now for the next spell, itʼs called ʼpaper minefieldʼ and well,” Lily cast the spell and suddenly the area in front of her was filled with floating paper balls. ”Itʼs somewhat cool… but it doesnʼt know friend from foe, or even foe from ME which is listed as a major downside of the spell. The other problem is itʼs always in the same configuration. Not a major issue, but something better combatants will notice,” 

Kat nodded, already seeing a few paths through the floating mines. If she watched her wings it wouldnʼt even be an unreasonable ask. Perhaps for people with lacking flexibility, or wide frames it would cause issues… but then Kat realised something. ”Itʼs an anti-monster spell,” 

”What?” asked Lily confused. 

”IT IS!” said Mint in shock. ”Oh that makes so much sense,” 

”Iʼm confused,” said Lily. 

Kat jumped in to explain, ”I was wondering what idiot would be stupid enough to just charge into a clearly trapped minefield… but most monsters donʼt know what paper is, and even if they do, thereʼs nothing to give away the fact they explode. Heck, if a monster is charging theyʼll go straight into the mines without being able to stop if you time it well. The lower mines can cut up a soft underbelly if they have them, and if not Iʼm sure it would still hurt exploding in their faces,” 

”Huh,” said Lily as she looked over the spell again. ”Itʼs odd the book didnʼt mention that use specifically… but now that you say it, I can see the use. The paper blizzard seems better against people, but for monsters? Those bombs pack a punch and might be enough to penetrate thick hide…” 

”I think I might know,” said Mint. 

”Oh?” intoned Lily as she gestured for Mint to go on. 

”If this book is written by a paper mage as wise as they seem, I suspect that they were attempting to either discourage fighting against monsters, or they were giving you everything about the spell they could… except how best to use it, just in case they stifled your creativity. If the mage in question missed an obvious use of their own magic, and then taught it poorly that would be really bad,” 

Lily nodded, ”I… I guess? Iʼm not totally satisfied with that answer but I can admit that even just with the two main spells and the ʼpanic buttonʼ spell you can get by so… maybe itʼs a good explanation? Depends on the rest of the book I suppose…” 

Mint shrugged, ”Well Iʼve never read it so I was just guessing. It just seems like the type of thing Thyme would do if they wrote the book, and well… Thyme is the most eccentric mage I know, so having an eccentric paper mage act similarly would make sense,” 

Lily nodded, ”Indeed, it does make sense,”