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

Chapter 1314 1314 Plane-ing session

--- Lily ---

”Wait!” shouted Lily. Despite her cries, Marigold had already ripped out the flower in question… and they teleported back to the course. ”Huh, never mind then I guess you were right,” 

”See, I know what Iʼm doing,” insisted Marigold. 

Lily shrugged before transforming and hopping onto Marigoldʼs shoulder in one swift movement. They jumped to the next platform… and were teleported away again. This sign said ʼSit around until youʼre teleported outʼ. The rest of the room was made up of two armchairs, a couch and a bed. Lily hissed before transforming BACK and sitting down in one of the chairs. ”This is dumb,” grumbled Lily. 

”Yup,” agreed Marigold as she slumped into the other chair. Sure you could sit elsewhere but just in case the sign was going to be pedantic might as well choose a chair. ”I mean, we lost so much time to that checkerboard one, and while the gardening challenge wasnʼt too bad itʼs still more time lost. This… this is just ridiculous, I mean, how long are we going to be stuck here?” 

”I canʼt see it being longer then five minutes… probably less,” said Lily. 

”Urgh, thatʼs so long though,” complained Marigold. Lily had to admit the elf had a point. In a contest like this, the fact that they were just being forced to sit around and do nothing, possibly for a few minutes at a time, was a bit grating. Especially after going through so many challenge rooms in relatively quick succession. Perhaps this path had been adjusted after Burnice made such good time with it, or perhaps this was how it always was and Lily never noticed, too focused on watching Green complete her run through it. 

Eventually, after thirty seconds of silence Marigold spoke up, ”So, no pressure if you donʼt want to tell me… but whatʼs the plan for flying over the course? I didnʼt want to push earlier in case you thought I was just trying to get your plan out of you to steal it or prevent you from trying it. If weʼre stuck here though… seems like a good time to go over things,” 

*Hmm… yeah, I suppose so. Even if I donʼt trust Marigold completely, at least, within the sense of this obstacle course, the fact that I can just stop supplying mana to my magic will make it a lot less likely she betrays me. Sure I doubt sheʼd betray me over something serious… but this ISNʼT serious. Itʼs not even an official run of the obstacle course.* 

”Yeah thatʼs fine,” said Lily trying not to betray any of her internal worry. ”I might not be able to use my wings, but I can use a trick I accidentally came up with to escape with another person. See, I can summon up a paper airplane and then help it stay in the air a little bit with my magic allowing me to glide over the course,” 

”Oh that sounds like a great spell,” said Marigold with a grin. ”Even if youʼve got wings, not everyone else does and no offence but your wings are really tiny. Not sure how much good theyʼd be if you had to carry passengers,” 

Lily shrugged as she sighed, ”Sadly itʼs not even a proper spell. Well that and I donʼt know how much my wingspan actually matters. Katʼs wings arenʼt large enough to support her weight, yet they still work and she can even carry people. In my case… well I havenʼt tested it. As for the spell… yeah itʼs not a proper spell, as I said before. I didnʼt think Iʼd need it again. Obviously that was wrong, and Iʼll need to look into turning it into a proper spell because itʼs quite draining in its current state… 

”Let me explain, my paper plane ʼspellʼ is actually just my paper shield spell… but the paper shield spell was never designed to be sturdy, thatʼs not the… the essence of paper I suppose. Instead, itʼs a comparatively cheap spell that forces the opponent to do something about it. I throw up a big sheet of paper and they have to waste time cutting it, or waiting for it to fall or rushing through and accepting the fact itʼs delaying them. 

”Sure itʼs still got some robustness to it, the paper isnʼt just going to fall apart on its own, but itʼs very temporary and relatively weak compared to other shield spells. What Iʼm using it for is very much not the intended use. Iʼm summoning it, then forcing it into a different shape, and finally Iʼm strengthening it, and trying to keep it in the air with someone riding on it. 

”My original plan was to use a smaller plane, or perhaps a ʼstandardʼ if a spell Iʼve used once can have a standard anyone, sized sheet and not reinforce it as much. With you along for the ride though… it might still be fine if you can give it a boost?” 

”Oh? How are you expecting me to boost it?” asked Marigold. ”I donʼt have wind or fire affinity,” 

”I was thinking you could just throw it, or perhaps kick off while holding onto the back? I can reinforce the plane enough that you can pull yourself up and onto it. Though youʼd need to head for the front quickly, if you stay at the back it will really mess with how far we can fly, possibly eliminating all the effort youʼd be putting in to getting us off the platform in the first place,” explained Lily. 

”Oh?” intoned Marigold. ”How do I know you wonʼt just leave me behind?” 

Lily glared back and said, ”Considering YOU are the one in charge of liftoff, if you agree, then youʼd be responsible for making sure you got on in time. Iʼm just keeping the paper in the air,” 

”Whatʼs to stop you from weakening just the bit Iʼm holding onto?” asked Marigold. 

”Thatʼs a thing?” returned Lily. 

”Wait you didnʼt know?” asked Marigold.

Lily shook her head and explained, ”Iʼve never really thought of reinforcing just certain parts of my paper. I mean… I guess now that youʼve said it, I can see how it would be silly to think otherwise… but I feel like there has to be a reason you canʼt just do that…” 

”Well, with something like paper it would be on the harder side. Granted I think you could manage it, you seem like a smart cookie… but for more solid constructs its hard. I know a lot of earth mages have problems reinforcing, or specifically weakening, sections of a spell. Itʼs a very all or nothing type thing for most of the less talented mages in that category. Fire mages though? They can stop the flow of mana to different parts of the fire whenever they want. Water… struggles a bit. You have to separate it out first or itʼs a massive pain. 

”Paper… well Iʼm not sure why I assumed youʼd be capable of it. Now that Iʼm thinking allowed it seems somewhat silly that youʼd betray me using that method because I might be able to keep the paper together with my regeneration affinity… maybe. Iʼve never tried but it seems possible, and probably not something youʼd want to try against me when you know how good my regeneration magic is. So… I apologise,” 

Lily waved the concern off, ”Itʼs no problem you taught me a neat trick. Iʼll need to practice it… but it seems interesting at least. Though… is that really something regeneration affinity can do?” 

Marigold shrugged ”Itʼs a matter of perspective really. In the same way fire mages can make things cold by sucking out the heat, or water mages can make things dry by removing the water, if you have the right mindset you can do almost anything with your chosen element… itʼs just less mana efficient. Usually still more mana efficient then trying to use an affinity you donʼt have, but not always. 

”In this case, I think of regeneration as something that fixes things to differentiate it from healing. I donʼt heal myself continually, I FIX myself continually. Itʼs a minor bit of difference, and sometimes I still say ʼhealʼ but itʼs just not the whole story. So… could I put the paper back together? Possibly, and in fact, because itʼs just made up of mana Iʼd say itʼs more probable… but nothing is certain. Should we test it perhaps?” 

Just as the suggestion was made though, they were teleported back to the platform. Lily transformed and hopped onto Marigoldʼs shoulder and they moved forward… only to be stuck in a puzzle box. Marigold swore and then smashed her fists into the box attempting to break out as quickly as possible. 

It didnʼt matter that it was an easy question. Didnʼt matter that both Lily and Marigold would know the answer. Marigold was mad, and immediately started swinging. Then, after a moment of thought, Lily decided she wanted in and while she didnʼt have the reach to swipe, she could summon a swarm of razor sharp paper. DEATH TO THE BOX!