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

Chapter 1234 Chapter 1234 Explanations come in Three

Thyme smiled at the crowd, showing off their white teeth that seemed to squish slightly in the mouth. *Thyme is really going for this balloon theme.* ”Right, seems like thereʼs no other questions so far. Letʼs move onto the events. For this first event, Iʼll keep the description extremely brief because weʼll be coming back to it swiftly for a full explanation soon. The goal of the first event is to fall through a series of glowing rings as quickly as possible. There will be three courses, and you get one practice jump, exactly once, not once per course.”

*I think I could probably have participated in that one without an unfair advantage right? Falling is faster then flying surely?*

[Perhaps, but I imagine that itʼs not a straight shot down. Part of the challenge is probably working out how fast you can fall while still keeping horizontal movement in mind. Thyme isnʼt going to just have these rings all in straight line. Plus, Thyme said previously that there would be equipment provided. Your wings probably negate, or do the jobs of said equipment.]

*Hmm… maybe. Iʼm not exactly mad about this. And we did use it to our advantage to have me participate in day one and two with almost no downside. Admittedly, we didnʼt think Thyme would give Romildaʼs team a pass to use someone an extra time… but Iʼm not sure it matters.*

[Iʼm not sure anything they do at this point matters]

*Rude. Itʼs not even completely true either. Iʼm sure that they have a chance to catch up if they do well.*

[Iʼm betting the last day is underwater. Both Blue and you can sweep any of those you choose. Blue for being a water mage, and you because you can hold your breath a long time.]

*Time might provide something for that though. And hey, we donʼt know if Stan can hold his breath for any longer then a human or elf can.*

[Guess weʼll just have to see]

”The second event, will be based on both duration, and distance. Iʼll be providing everyone participating in this event a choice of contraptions. Once chosen, everyone will kick off into the air. You will win the round by staying in the air for the longest amount of time, but, learning from my previous mistakes, Iʼll be implementing a two hour time limit.

”If multiple people make it all the way to two-hours without landing then Iʼll instead take the distance travelled into account. This distance will be calculated not based on distance flown in total, but by your distance away from the starting platform. Doesnʼt matter what direction you go, just that itʼs further away from the platform.

”Unlike in the first event, you WILL be able to attack each other, but said attacks will be limited based on the equipment youʼve chosen. No using magic or your own weapons against each other. Though, do keep in mind, many of your options for attacking people will include enchanted objects that drain mana. More details will be available later.”

*Oh wow. Yeah Iʼd destroy that event. So would Romilda probably. Being able to fly, and fly quickly, is definitely something I can do. Even if I have the restrictor band on.*

[Yeah no way either of us could participate in this one. Even if I donʼt have the same ariel speed you do, I have stamina to glide around for two hours and make it a good distance away.]

”The final event will be a mid-air obstacle course. Itʼll be no-holds barred. Everything is allowed. If you fall off the obstacle course, youʼll be teleported back to the last ʼsafe-pointʼ a concept Iʼll explain later. The same will also happen if you go unconscious or take a serious wound I judge you unable to recover from in ten minutes. The various obstacles contain both boons and banes for people engaging with them.

”Perhaps youʼll wonder off-course and find a teleportation item? Maybe if you rush ahead you can find a way to drop a wall down and stop your opponents from advancing? If you see a safe-point perhaps youʼll use it to have a place to return… or you might try to destroy it so nobody can make use of it, including yourself.

”Now, the main theme of the course will be that itʼs all built of floating platforms of various sizes, mostly smaller ones. So falling is a very expected part of the course. Youʼll also be quite far from the ocean, which youʼll need to be a moment away from hitting to return to the course. This is part of the penalty for falling off the course.

”One final note, is that the course was designed to be just barely impossible for a Rank 0 mortal, and reasonably completable for a skilled Rank 1 individual. Obviously this is a time based challenge, and youʼre all at least Rank 2, so I expect you to get creative, push your limits and try to make it through as quickly as possible,”

I kinda wish I couldʼve participated in that one. Even if I know why I canʼt, that challenge seems really fun.

[It also seems surprisingly militant. Iʼm surprised Thyme would have an obstacle course considering this is meant to be a ʼfun and casual round of the tournamentʼ.]

*Thatʼs… an interesting point. I guess the fact that you can ʼrespawnʼ essentially is what makes it more casual? Are the traps all going to be silly? Is this going to be Thymeʼs version of Wipeout or something?*

[Huh… yeah I can see that actually. I can already imagine what it might look like, and I agree that it sounds fun. In fact, it sounds so fun that I think we should ask Thyme if theyʼll leave the obstacle course up for us after the event is over.]

*Good idea I like love thinking.* Kat purred the last two words in her mind, trying to make them as sensual as possible. Based on the wave of embarrassment she was getting back from Lily, Kat was pretty sure she succeeded.

While Kat and Lily were messing around, Thyme paused their speech, and pretended to get a drink. Pretended being the operative word because Thyme was only just barely disguising the fact the water was being thrown behind them instead of going in their mouth. The fact you could now see a puddle of water at Thymeʼs feet only reinforcing it. Kat… didnʼt get the joke. Neither did anyone else watching, including those in the basement.

”Right. Thatʼs the basic overview of it all, do you have any questions? Do keep in mind, Iʼm still holding back quite a few specifics for the day, and those will be explained to you before the relevant challenges. The first challenge especially. In fact, Iʼll just make it a rule. No questions about the first challenge. Iʼll answer those questions after I explain the specifics of that one later,” said Thyme.

[Kat we gotta ask]

*Why donʼt you ask?*

[Iʼm a cat at the moment.]

Kat rolled her eyes. It would take Lily less then a second to transform but Kat didnʼt really mind so she put her hand up to indicate she had a question, and Thyme waved in her direction. ”Will you be leaving the obstacle course up after using it later today so that it can be run again? It sounds quite fun. Lily and I would love to take a crack at it, even if we do understand why we canʼt during the tournament itself,”

Thyme pulled at their chin, letting their face stretch out like it was a beard before letting go and having it snap back into place. ”Sounds interesting. I hadnʼt planned on leaving it up and running but if youʼre interested in having a go Iʼm happy to reset it after the official round is over. Iʼll have to leave a way to access it somewhere… but Iʼll just use one of the spare rooms in the inn. You can ask Mint about it later,”

Kat nodded in acceptance as Thyme turned to the rest of the crowd. As Kat did her own look around, she met Marchʼs eyes who flexed a bit in her direction with a grin, and a thumbs up, followed by miming at running. Kat was pretty sure that meant March wanted to run the obstacle course as well, so Kat sent back a nod and her own thumbs up of acceptance. This made March grin wider, so Kat was probably correct in her guess.

Marigold, seeing this interaction just straight up said aloud, ”Sign me up for that run as well, it sounds super fun,” Kat nodded at Marigold, not wanting to speak aloud herself when Thyme was trying to field questions. Still, she was looking forward to the end of the day. *Should we skip out on watching the final round of the day so weʼre surprised when we do our run?*

[Nah. Marigold and March should be watching as well, so theyʼll know some of the tricks like we will. It might even make the round more interesting, if say, everyone knows where the safe points are.]