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

Chapter 1668 The Edge of the World

--- Lily ---

Lily didnʼt head down immediately. Well, she tried but swiftly realised the problem and managed to pull herself up before it became a real issue. You see, Lily was planning to use her shadows to slow herself down. Either by making a parachute style of thing or by pressing her shadows against the walls and using the friction to slow herself.

What Lily didnʼt realise was that obviously shadows have no friction. Much like how her shadow only slices or defends because she wants it to, Lily had to WILL the friction into proper existence. Her first attempt had her sliding down at full speed despite the shadows, and she was glad her reflexes were good enough to send a shadow hand upwards so she could be reeled back in.

Turns out, giving shadows friction is a bit harder then it seems. Lily thought she had it figured out, just will it to be like the other properties… but that imparted way too much friction. Lily ended up with something closer to that sticky flytrap paper then… well honestly Lily didnʼt know what she wanted at first, which probably didnʼt help matters. In the end it took a bit of testing, but specifically imagining one of those sticky hand toys… but not a new one, more like an old one that had lost a good deal of its stick.

That was apparently the perfect image to let Lily slide down. It wasnʼt fast, it wasnʼt glamorous, but it was safe and she made progress at a steady rate. Lily kept that careful manipulation up for a few minutes until she could hear voices all of a sudden. Lily paused in place, changing her mental image for the shadows to that same flypaper from earlier and dipping her head downwards. It took a bit of sliding around but soon she was looking downwards at the exit… but it was hard to see much.

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A good deal below her there was a red square… and that was about it. The square was obviously painted and wasnʼt anywhere nearby but she wasnʼt sure what else was going on. She couldnʼt really make any words out, just the general sounds of people. Lily could at least see she was somewhat close to the end of the tunnel… but she was confused as to why the voices suddenly hit her. When Lily sent that thought backwards,

Kat answered with. [Hunter thinks there must be a ward for the sound to prevent it leaking out. Maybe to keep animals away? Oh, and if youʼre wondering yes there are air filter spells apparently but they also leave a smell or a not-smell? Hunter was a bit confusing with the explanation.]

Lily sent back a mental thank you as she continued downwards. Lily made sure to remain facing downwards so she could catch the edge of the vent. As she continued her descent she could almost hear the mission impossible theme. Wait… no hang on. KAT!

[What? Iʼve got nothing else to do and it seemed thematically appropriate.]

Then why did you only start up now?

[Too busy worrying about you honestly. It was only after you sent me that question that I could sort of accept youʼd be fine and I was worrying for nothing.]

Lily wasnʼt entirely sold on the explanation, but wasnʼt going to pressure her girlfriend on a small matter like this. Especially when sheʼd reached the edge of the vent… and found that it was a long way off the ground. Instead, the vent seemed to just end at the top of the cavern holding the town. Which Lily supposed made some sense…

Gazing out at the town Lily could see that it was… mostly normal houses that youʼd see up on the surface. Lily had imagined they wouldʼve been carved from the tunnel or what have you… but looking at the ceiling and edges… hmm… it was hard to say but Lily assumed it was a powerful earth mage, but perhaps not a patient one considering theyʼd just made the big cavern and left it at that.

The ceiling was obviously reinforced and what Lily could see from the vent showed that it was almost a perfect oval and unnaturally smooth. There were also large glowing domes that had been set into the ceiling that provided something akin to natural sunlight. They werenʼt a proper substitute, and didnʼt hurt to look at… but they provided something. Lily guessed theyʼd go out at night time… but saw no obvious way to change them out from where she was.

The streets had a few people on them but none looked particularly busy from what Lily could see. Just a few people, mostly ones that were standing around rather then going anywhere. Though Lily chalked that up in part to the fact that it was the middle of the day and most people should already be where they need to be.

Lily focused her gaze back on the area directly below her. It was a larger building, a few stories tall from what she could guess. On the roof there was a big red square and a couple of squat sheds that likely contained tools of some kind or perhaps electrical equipment? Wait no thereʼs no electricity here. So… what are they for? Do they control the enchantments on the building maybe? I can see the small garden up here so they have a least some gardening stuff in them… but then why have two or three sheds? Is that bit of roofing I can see even a third shed?

Lily didnʼt know and she also wasnʼt sure how important this all was. The red squares purpose was fairly obvious on second examination considering the dirt and twigs that laid across it. That was the zone for whatever little things made it through the grate on the vent. So all Lily needed to do to get into the city was leave the vent and glide to her destination… which she didnʼt know.

Right so whatʼs the plan here? I can easily get in, and I can fly just about anywhere… though people will see me because of the giant lightbulbs! I donʼt see any like… bats or birds or whatever flying around though I do think I saw a dog at one point. Hard to say for sure though.

[Um… what exactly do you need to know?]

Well… am I trying to find the doors myself and open them up? Or am I just going to walk around until I find someone and ask them to open the door? I mean I can see quite a few people I could ask from here but like… is that a good idea?

[Apparently so. Megʼs back and she said to go ahead and reveal yourself. If they ask what youʼre doing say youʼre a part of a demon group and you have a delivery for the Snowy Mountain Mining Company. Meg also added that you can say weʼre in a rush… but from the look on her face I can tell she doesnʼt really think we are, just that you can say it. Then again I might just be projecting.]

Right thatʼs not too hard. Any preference for who I poke at?

A few moments passed before Kat had an answer. [Apparently youʼre best off either asking someone thatʼs old but not like… too old because theyʼll have time or someone who looks official because theyʼre probably wanting to seem important? I donʼt really get it…]

Iʼm guessing all the actual officials will be doing something or look like more normal people because this is a mining town? Or maybe it isnʼt anymore? Not sure if that was made clear…

[I think it might have been at one point but it isnʼt really anymore? Look I donʼt know either. Just… go down and ask. Itʼll be fine Lily. I can feel your hesitation but youʼre strong. Much stronger then the average civilian and Iʼm sure itʼll be fine.]

Urgh… I know that intellectually but I guess knowing that the trip down the vent was so easy I feel like Iʼm waiting for the other shoe to drop or something. I mean, sure I had to rethink how I used my shadows a bit but that was barely anything.

[What, were you expecting lasers? Sharks? Sharks with lasers on top of their heads and metal teeth?]

I mean… I guess Iʼd expected to come out somewhere a bit more dangerous then randomly over the town.

[One could argue that being deposited over the town from a great height IS pretty dangerous.]

*Yeah but not for me… and Iʼm not even sure itʼs that dangerous to everyone else. Sure itʼs high up but itʼs directly over a large building. Iʼm still not the best at gauging distances in my Memphis form because of my small size and much better eyesight… but itʼs probably only like twenty or thirty metres?*

[Lily… thatʼs pretty lethal for a normal person.]

*Oh yeah…*