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

Chapter 1357 Chapter 1357 A Chance for Others to Thrive

?--- March --- (Around the same time as Lily is negotiating with the crab)

”HAHAHAA I FUCKING LOVE THIS!” shouted March as she took down her most recent opponent.

March had wondered towards an odd structure with a bunch of lights shining out of it. At the front, sheʼd met a grungy looking Thyme with a dirty beard, rags for clothes and missing an arm. The Thyme had informed her that if she wanted, she could fight for treasure in the arena, but that sheʼd have to be everything each time she made a challenge.

March had shrugged at that, considering she only had the one item to begin with. The ʼwater gunʼ sheʼd found in the middle of the sticky syrup. Sheʼd spent a decent chunk of time wandering the beach looking for more chests, missing several clues along the way. After her lack of success sheʼd moved on, and found the structure she was currently inside.

Betting one treasure for the chance at one more was a great deal. March had needed to fight off a bunch of fish with really sharp teeth. Sadly for them, their teeth were sharp yes, but also incredibly fragile, and if March so much as flexed in their direction the fish ended up seriously injured or dead.

At the end of that round, March had been offered the chance to open the one chest sheʼd received and leave the arena, or keep it shut put it up, alongside her original bet, to win a third chest. March of course, went for the third chest. That fight had been even easier. She was supposed to fight this boxing sea horse. It seemed really cool, throwing out a few jabs into the water as it bobbed towards her with its weird boxing glove hand things…

But one punch straight to the jaw and it was out. It didnʼt even TRY to block the attack March had sent at it. March was thoroughly disappointed in that match. It hadnʼt even been one of her stronger punches. Sheʼd just wanted to test the waters a bit and had been expecting the sea horse to block the punch easily and come in for a follow up. Not get one hit K.Oed from what March considered a love tap.

With that disappointed out of the way March didnʼt hesitate to bet everything AGAIN. The next match was against a swordfish, wielded by another more muscular swordfish that had human-like arms and legs. It was very weird, and obviously a golem Thyme had made… but that only became obvious once it was defeated.

March found sheʼd actually needed to try a bit for that fight. Sheʼd ducked and dodged a few times after noticing how sharp the swordfish actually was… but she quickly worked out the ʼtrickʼ to the fight. See the swordfish with humans arms and legs still looked like a swordfish so it had a massive ʼswordʼ sticking out of the front of its face. All you needed to do was come in close on its right side, the side without a sword, and then start attacking the pair.

A few good jabs, that admittedly the fish tried to block with some punches and kicks, had March exposing the internals. The internals that were very much NOT fish guts. March wasnʼt skilled enough to say what they were exactly, but it wasnʼt natural, not at all. It did take a weight off of Marchʼs mind though. Killing rabid animals for sport was one things, but killing questionable sentient fish that could wield swords was another. Luckily, it was just a golem that looked sentient, or was remote controlled so destroying them was no problem.

After that realisation March had ploughed through the next three matches completely bodying her opponents by simply being faster and stronger then they could deal with. It took a bit of mana and more than a bit of steam, but it wasnʼt any great amount. March was barely feeling the strain on her reserves.

Though, as she stood there panting she looked over at the six treasure chests and the single treasure sheʼd found earlier. The reward was now the thing weighing on her. *This has been a lot of fun. The last fight was even a bit interesting with the sea slug that could sprout spikes… but I donʼt know how long I want to stay here. Itʼs a great source of chests and I can seemingly keep going forever…

But Iʼm pretty sure those spikes were poisoned. I can feel it trying to affect me now as I rest. Actually let me just.* March quickly charged up a bit of mana and sent a round of steam careening through her body, hopefully destroying the poison. Considering how much easier it felt breathing, March was going to guess she succeeded.

*Ok glad it worked. That technique can be a bit hit and miss. Now, what was I saying? Oh yeah the fights… Iʼm good to keep going for a while but theyʼre getting harder. Iʼm not sure when Iʼll reach my limit, but the problem isnʼt actually MY limit, itʼs what am I going to do if I use up too much energy here and run into a real fight. Iʼm already unsure if I can beat Blue under the water, but if I keep going then I doubt my chances against everyone else as well.

I can probably just body Romilda if I really have to… but Marigold and Lily those two might be a bit tricky. Iʼd have to rush Lily down I think. I donʼt know exactly what she can do but sheʼs a mage and theyʼre always a pain if you give them time. Combine that with the fact that her animal form, while small, is obviously an ambush predator and I can see her giving me a hard time.

Romilda… she might be able to do something but if I just give her a good punch sheʼll probably get removed by time. I can do some decent palm strikes to get through the metal if thatʼs necessary. Iʼm not sure that it IS but I can try it if she doesnʼt leave anything exposed. Enough strikes and sheʼll get overwhelmed anyway…

But Marigold and Blue. Theyʼre going to be an issue. Unless Iʼm near the net and I can just push Marigold out that elf bitch will just keep going. If sheʼd picked up a good weapon Iʼll be in trouble. Sheʼs also crazy enough that if I stuck her down with the gun sheʼd just use what leverage she had to rip out her own skin to escape. Complete basket case that one. Ma always said that elves could be a bit soft in the head… but she always seemed to imply it took them a few decades to get there. Marigold seems to be starting early.

Then thereʼs Blue. I do NOT want to fight a water mage on the ocean let alone IN the ocean. Iʼm honestly not sure what I can do about her. I think Iʼd just have to grit my teeth and charge straight at her, tanking whatever she throws at me until either I go down, or I punch her lights out… and I just donʼt think I can quite manage to be the last one standing in that confrontation.*

March let out a long sigh as she eyed the treasure chests all along the wall. Thyme was waiting for her answer, but there didnʼt seem to be a time limit, apart from the one imposed on the entire round. ”You know what? THYME! Give me another round!” shouted March. All this thinking was getting annoying. She needed to do a bit more punching before considering the serious stuff.

--- Blue --- (Around the same time as Lily is negotiating with the crab)

Blue let out a long breath as she started to ʼsit downʼ in the cave sheʼd found. She needed a bit of a break, and she needed to sort out her shit properly. Sheʼd managed to find thirty treasure chests. Which sounded fantastic… but eight of those were a complete wash because either she hadnʼt found the challenge for them, or they were time based and werenʼt ready to open yet.

Then there was the next five. They all had challenges that had seemed a bit hard at the time so Blue had chosen to ignore them for now and focus on other things. In the end, that meant sheʼd ended up with eighteen treasures and NOT A ONE was a storage artifact of some kind. Well that wasnʼt entirely true one of them was a water bottle called ʼThe infinite water bottleʼ which was great for storing water, and really useful for a water mage in a fight…

EXCEPT WHEN YOU WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN. Yeah Blue had been a touch annoyed when sheʼd found that one thinking she might be able to squeeze some of the treasures into it. Really it was more of a jug then a bottle, the opening was large enough to fit her hand in, and a lot of the junk sheʼd acquired… but nope. Only water.

Because of this, Blue had taken to dragging a not-bubble of stuff around behind her and it was becoming an annoying drain on her reserves to carry around. Plus she was pretty sure that one of the two paintings sheʼd found had a tear in it now because of the rough handling.

*Well, I suppose I canʼt complain too much. Really, Iʼm suffering from my own success here. I just wish that Thyme had some more storage artifacts around. That wouldʼve made this so much easier. Hopefully sorting things out a bit will help… though knowing my luck the next chest will have a storage ring in it. Aw well, Iʼve had that same thought about six times already so best not to hold out hope.*