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

Chapter 1164 1164 Practice 3 Return Of The Dead Meme

Lily.

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”So are there any other Rank 2 spells?” asked Mint. 

Lily shrugged, ”None that I know of. I wouldnʼt be surprised if the book has extras in it, but I realised that while you can skim it… new pages open up once you cast a spell perfectly with the book nearby. So I might just be missing things. There was a lot of information about how to build your own spells at a given Rank… but honestly? Iʼm not as good at it as the original writer so I havenʼt spent too much time trying to make my own,” 

”I suppose that makes sense. Is that something youʼre going to try doing in the future though?” asked Mint. 

”Probably?” said Lily with an uncertain look. ”I… I want to certainly, and the fact Iʼm already basically immortal because of Kat means I have the time… itʼs just hard to explain how outclassed I currently feel. Wait, no itʼs not. Itʼs like looking at Thyme and then trying to comprehend being that successful in space magic, my final affinity,” 

”Oh? You have three affinities? Thatʼs amazing!” said Mint. 

Lily gave a weak smile, ”Amazing yes… but mostly cheating. Iʼm not sure how many I had originally, but when I was given this new body I was assigned three affinities along the way. Iʼm pretty sure it was ruinously expensive but we got it in exchange for a favour Kat did so… yeah,” 

Mint looked towards Kat who nodded at the unspoken question. ”Thatʼs nothing to be ashamed of, clearly that favour was important,” said Mint. 

Lily shrugged, ”Maybe it was, maybe it wasnʼt… but now I have questions about shadow magic, if you donʼt mind. Then Iʼll show off my shadow spells!” 

”Sure, Iʼll do my best,” responded Mint. 

”Right well… the big question is should my shadow be sucking in a bunch of extra mana from me and the world?” asked Lily. 

”Um… I think so?” said Mint somewhat unsure. ”I donʼt know if it should be taking in mana from the world… but I know one of the main techniques that shadow mages use is to empower their shadow to act on its own. Itʼs not even a spell, itʼs just a unique property of the magic. Though, a warning. Your affinity for shadow magic will crash massively if you separate your shadow from your body. Itʼs also worth mentioning that it is still your shadow even when separated,” 

”What does that mean exactly?” asked Lily confused. ”Of course itʼs still my shadow,” 

Mint shook her head, ”Um… not quite like that… so… hmm… ok once your shadow becomes… ʼreal enoughʼ I suppose… both yourself and it will take damage as reflections of each other. Some things work better against your body, and others against your shadow, but if the damage sticks to the target, it will effect both ʼbodiesʼ for lack of a better word. Like… if you… itʼs a bit gruesome to imagine but if you had your real arm chopped off your shadow would also loose its arm…

”Or if your shadow was blasted with concentrated light magic and had a whole punched in its shoulder, then suddenly youʼd gain a massive hole in your own shoulder, though it might be cauterised? Though in that same token, if someone tries to cut your shadow with a completely ordinary metal sword, itʼll go straight through and not cause any damage, while blasting light magic at you would probably still burn,” explained Mint. 

”Huh… so… is using my shadow for stuff like that actually a good idea?” asked Lily with a frown. 

”Yes!” said Mint with a heavy nod. ”Itʼs best if you just make your shadow… semi-real. Keep it attached to your body and only have certain parts of it able to interact with the world. Itʼs much, much sturdier that way. Oh, and as a shadow mage itʼs possible for you to separate people from their shadows and attack the shadow if the person escapes… but itʼs hard to ʼkeepʼ other shadows around. You have to constantly waste mana for it. 

”If youʼre a lot stronger or have like… a special enchanted cell for shadows it might be worth it, but generally itʼs more trouble then itʼs worth… though it does work on objects as well to a lesser extent. Still expensive mana wise, but if itʼs not enchanted properly it can get you around some things,” 

”That feels like somewhat niche knowledge… how do you know?” asked Lily.  I think you should take a look at

”Oh that part was actually covered in our beginner enchanting lessons, not on shadow magic. The lesson was ʼniche bypasses and how many you should plan aroundʼ and it was a bit annoying to have a class on because the answer is ʼas many as you can reallyʼ but itʼs a waste of both space on the object, and potentially your better materials to defend against all the little tricks. Itʼs part of why most people donʼt protect against them all,” explained Mint. 

”Ah… that seems annoying, but it makes sense,” said Lily. ”For now, all I can make my shadow do is this,” Lily made her shadow wave at Mint, and blow a kiss towards Kat. Kat was extra surprised when a little shadow love heart floated up from the ground and hit her on the cheek. 

”Wait what?” said Mint surprised. 

”Yeah I was practicing that last part for a while, but itʼs worth it,” said Lily with a grin. 

”No, no, no, you donʼt understand. Youʼve only had this ability for a couple of weeks right?” asked Mint. 

”Eh… sure,” agreed Lily. Mostly. *If you just mean shadow magic ʼa couple of weeksʼ is probably being overly generous.*

Mint frowned down at Lilyʼs shadow, ”Thatʼs really advanced stuff for such a short amount of time… people spend years pumping mana into their shadow before they can move it at all… I… I donʼt really know what this means?” 

”Wait really? It wasnʼt too hard to do, especially not once we entered a more mana-rich dimension then my home,” said Lily. 

”Iʼm all but certain. Now, granted, part of the delay could just be that most wizards start when theyʼre younger and with less mana… so perhaps that is offsetting things… but that still seems wrong to me. Itʼs just… very fast,” said Mint as she gave Lilyʼs shadow a sideways glare. ”Your shadow isnʼt possessed right?” 

”Um… Iʼm going to hope no?” said Lily as she looked back at her shadow and made it shrug. Mint glared at the action. *Could it be because this body was put together by a Living Shadow? Would that explain things?*

  [Iʼm not sure. It might be whatʼs causing your shadow to develop quickly, it has a template to work from… it could also be because youʼre already Rank 2. Maybe that makes a difference?]

*Weʼll have to tell Nira about this and see what she says. This counts as an odd medical issue right?*

[I think so?]

”Right well… thatʼs something Iʼll have to ask someone else about,” said Lily out loud for Mintʼs benefit. ”Then I guess… Iʼll just show off these spells. The first is shadow dart,” Lily set off the spell, three shadow darts in a triangle. ”Now, the problem with this… is itʼs just three darts. Always three darts. It costs too much for the basic amount of damage it does, and the bolts are soo slow.

”It really helped drive home just how good my paper spells are. Now the next, is shadow cloak,” Lily moved over towards a rock and cast the spell. The shadows under her feet seemed to rise up and wrap around Lily as she crouched down. It was still rather obvious that something was wrong, and Katʼs night vision was good enough to still see Lily. ”Problem with this spell is that itʼs not even that great for hiding. Iʼm not sinking into the shadows, Iʼm just forcing them to wrap around me a bit. Obfuscating me slightly. 

”Whatʼs even worse though… is itʼs just this patch of shadows. If I get too far away the shadows will snap back sort of like a rubber band which is very noticeable. Horrible for stealth. Then thereʼs shadow ball,” Lily cast the spell and a ball of shadow about the size of her head was summoned. Then it sat there for a bit, before firing off. 

”This one is bad because itʼs so slow. Not only does it take a few seconds to leave my hand, it doesnʼt travel quickly. Both problems are part of the spellʼs inherent makeup. Honestly, the only spell in that box thatʼs useful is the ʼshadow pocketʼ spell, but I canʼt use it yet because I need more mana in my shadow,” 

”Ah… so not the best gift?” said Kat with a wince. 

Lily shrugged, ”I donʼt know Kat. It was probably necessary so that I could start building my own spells, but Iʼm nowhere near that level. Probably best to ask Thyme for some shadow spells, if we can,”