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

Chapter 1248 1248 No Gloves, Mo Problems

--- Nabras ---

Nabras looked down at the rings below him, knowing, pretty well in his mind, what Gareth felt. Annoyance and confusion. The rings below him really were hard to separate nicely. Planning a route through it all would be a massive pain… if Nabras hadnʼt already decided not to bother with anything too complex. It was simple. Just, get as many rings as he could without using the gloves once. Simple? Hopefully. 

Gareth had already shown that the first four rings could be grabbed without using the gloves. From there, it was really a question of where to go next. The ones in the South-West were just a little too far away to get to even if you started going there straight after the fourth ring. At least, in Nabrasʼ opinion. So, Nabras would go from four, all the way to the top North-East corner where he could take the next two, then back to the middle, collecting two more sets… then… well then Nabras really wasnʼt sure what to do. 

It looked like there might be a set of rings under the rings in the South-West, but Gareth didnʼt go over there, and Thyme didnʼt say how many rings Gareth had missed, so going after them himself might be a questionable decision. There was always the North-West as well. Even if he didnʼt have the mana to grab the West rings as part of that set of three, perhaps he could get all the way to the North-West in time? It was hard to say. 

*Wish I had a better plan then ʼdo what Gareth did but worseʼ but honestly I donʼt think Iʼm going to find one. I certainly donʼt have the stones to nearly kill myself for a round of the tournament. Sorry team, but I just donʼt have it in me. Which well… I donʼt think theyʼd want that EITHER but I do feel like a bit of a coward now. I fucked things up for them yesterday with my boasting… and I… well really I did it again today. 

I couldʼve let my sister handle this. Not sure she couldʼve done better. We have pretty similar mana levels… but she might have been better at working out a path through the rings, doing it conservatively. Heck, the main reason the rest of the crew let me do this was probably so I canʼt fuck things up on the final day.* 

Nabras let out a sigh. *Guess thatʼs just how it is.* Nabras had seen how Gareth had ʼjumpedʼ off the platform, and Nabras was going to do the same. He was so inside of his own head, he didnʼt even realise that he wasnʼt scared of the jump anymore. Garethʼs overdraft, combined with Thymeʼs speech and even Nabrasʼ own moment of enlightenment… the fear just wasnʼt important, and so Nabras fell. 

*Perhaps I need to think about if Iʼm really cut out for this team. I joined Nell on adventures with my sister all the time when we were little. It was always fun to imagine us, out together, exploring the world, battling monsters. Taking down bad guys. Weʼve even done all of that a fair bit. It… it became a bit dull at times, but we did it! Even at a lower level, we still did it!* Nabras cleared the first ring. 

*So how did I end up like this? When did I get so arrogant? Why didnʼt I see it when we lost the previous round? Why didnʼt I see it when we were struggling up that fucking mountain? Why didnʼt I notice during one of our hold-over jobs.* Nabras cleared the second, third, and fourth ring. 

*Blue has been carrying us through this particular round of the tournament… but how much of EVERYTHNG has just been Blue taking everything out? Sure sheʼs not normally right next to the see, and arguably the sand castle win was more of Kressʼ thing… but Blue did really well with Kat that one time as well…* Nabras cleared the eleventh and twelfth ring, skipping the others before them. 

*Blue seems to do well in other teams. Really well. So how much of that is me? Nellʼs done brilliantly for herself. Sis is… normally trying to reign me in. Ellenell has kept us all together. Physically, if not emotionally. Am I… am I cut out for this kind of life?* Ring thirteen through to sixteen were grabbed. Nabras didnʼt even really think about it, he just headed off towards the North-West set of rings. It might have more, it might not. He might reach it, he might not, but he didnʼt know what else to do. 

*I… I donʼt know what else to do. This has been my whole life. Playing at adventures when I was little. Training when I gold older. Adventuring for real when I grew up. Ha. Did I ever really grow up? Then again, whatʼs with all this ʼgrowing upʼ shit. What am I? Forty? Iʼm still at the start of my life…* Nabras saw he wasnʼt going to make it to those rings in the corner, and turned around. Perhaps he could get that set in the middle Gareth had aimed for. 

*Perhaps… perhaps its time to start properly relaxing while Iʼm here. Relax and… figure out if this is what I really want to do, or if this is just what I happen to fall into. The others deserve a proper team member, not an annoying relative that they canʼt get rid of.* Nabras missed the final ring, and thatʼs all it was, one, single ring. He couldnʼt find it in himself to care all that much in the end. 

*Welp. Shouldʼve just gone for that final ring. At least it was only one point. Feels a bit disappointing. Maybe I shouldʼve tried to be faster in other ways? Iʼve sort of fucked this up for the team… but then again I ʼsort ofʼ fucked it up in the previous round when I wasted all my mana. So really, does it matter? Yes, no… maybe? I canʼt say I shouldʼve tried faster because I WAS trying. I… I still have a lot to think about I guess.*

He just angled himself downwards and cleared the wooden ring at the end, bringing himself back up to the platform, facing time. With a smile that he didnʼt feel, he said, ”Thyme, give it to me straight, whatʼs the result,” 

”Your time, penalties included, is… twelve minutes and forty-nine seconds,” said Thyme.

Nabras faked a stumble and put his hands over his heart as he said ”Oof, that was a little too straight there Thyme. Thatʼs not the type of score a guy wants to hear,” Thyme just smiled back not commenting at all. Just smiling. Nabras smiled back for a few seconds, waiting for a response. When none was forthcoming, He started to raise just the one eyebrow. Thyme copied him… but didnʼt say anything. Nabras let out a long sigh.

*Right… well thatʼs not the score I was looking for. Gee, I really did miss a whole bunch of rings then didnʼt I? Gotta be at least ten I think. Probably more. What was Garethʼs score again? Nine minutes something? Damn Iʼm like… a whole three or four minutes worse then Gareth! Surely I didnʼt do that badly? Then again… I guess I did miss a whole bunch of rings didnʼt I? Fourteen or fifteen? So what? Gareth missed… eight or nine? I wasnʼt really paying attention. I also donʼt really remember how many seconds Gareth ʼusedʼ for his time. Which, well I guess that is what it is.* 

Nabras let out a long breath of air before sitting down on the ground, ignoring the fact he dropped a bit and hurt his but. *Welp. Guess thatʼs done. Another horrific performance for Nabras. I sort of wish I could redeem myself a bit… but I know that I donʼt have the chance. I really do need to talk with everyone after this. Explain what Iʼve realised… but should I do that before or after I take the time to think about what I want to be doing in the near future?

I mean… what happens if we win this round? I donʼt think itʼs too likely, weʼve got tough competition and Garethʼs team has a good grip on the lead, for now at least, but I just… damn could I go through another round of this? Another, harsher round of this? This is supposed to be the relaxing round dammit! Do I even want to win?*

Nabras smacked that ridiculous thought down. *Ok, just because I donʼt want to go on to the next round doesnʼt mean I should just throw in the towel. Winning would be great! Though… I guess I wonʼt have any chances to affect that final outcome. So… guess what happens, happens. Maybe I should try and find a way to help my team out? Not sure how exactly, but it might be a nice side project while Iʼm having my existential crisis. Yeah. That sounds… acceptable, even if itʼs not exactly what I want to be doing. Itʼs something. For now.*