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

Chapter 1803 A Pleasant Jog

--- Kat ---

Once Kat had finished snacking and drunk all of the tea, like… a lot of tea. Two pots of tea basically by herself in truth. She decided it was time to head off. ”So, how are we getting back into the city?” asked Kat.

”That is up to you mistress,” answered Eleanora.

Kat raised an eyebrow as if to say ʼreally weʼre doing this again?ʼ but Eleanora just smiled back at her, either missing or ignoring the message Kat was trying to convey. ”Alright… so how would you suggest entering the city? I want to know whatʼs going on with the guards, get reasonably close to where my girlfriend is, and then get them away from the assassins without scaring them into doing something stupid… and also perhaps see if any of the other teams have been having similar issues to us,”

”Of course mistress,” said Eleanora with a bow as the table disappeared into her storage space along with the remains of the food. ”In that case, we can teleport over to the main entrance and walk in to cause minimal issues. We could do the same but arrive on the edge of the town and call out to Malve. There are sufficient monitoring outposts that it will get back to her and she can teleport over…

”Or you could fly into the middle of the city and then just go about your day. Not going overly high into the air of course. The idea would be to establish you have completed your fight with me and emerged victorious. It would have more effect if youʼd done so yesterday but I suppose you werenʼt willing to risk it?”

”Actually, I spent the evening practicing because I definitely needed a ranged option in our fight. Malve also showed up and requested I hand you over… but I was worried someone would try to do something to you in your sleep and Malve quickly agreed and left. I threatened her a tiny bit but I wasnʼt serious and she still freaked out massively,” explained Kat.

”Huh… hmm… yeah that might be for the best. Iʼve got a few defences to keep my alive if Iʼm attacked in my sleep and wake me up soon after but unlike my cousin I never did master my regeneration abilities. Unlike her crazy ass I canʼt keep myself alive while having my brain scrambled,” admitted Eleanora with a nod.

*That… ok on the one hand thatʼs good to know that itʼs not a standard ability… but it might be one I possess. Still, thereʼs two bits of info I claim issue with. The first is that youʼre calling HER crazy. The only reason Iʼm not pointing that out vocally is that you admitted you were already. But the second thing is…* ”Why not learn that? I mean… based on the few little dates youʼve given me youʼre a LOT older than Marigold so like… why not? Especially when youʼre a higher Rank then her as well,” asked Kat.

”Alright weʼre doing this?” asked Eleanora to which Kat nodded. ”Alright letʼs start walking while I explain,” Eleanora took down the marquee and then started to jog. Kat took a few steps to catch up to her at which point Eleanora slowed until she was behind Kat. Kat looked back at Eleanora who just shrugged. ”Iʼll explain now, and it is a servants place to stand behind her mistress.”

Kat just rolled her eyes as Eleanora continued speaking. ”So, thereʼs a few things to point out. The first is that the training in question is a somewhat guarded secret. The royal family can access it without too much trouble but for a cousin like me? That would likely require some favour trading. Plus, I wasnʼt even a cousin to royalty back then so thatʼs another layer of difficulty.

”The next thing you need to understand is that Marigold is a prodigy. She is a once in several thousand years talent with regeneration affinity. Perhaps the fool doesnʼt realise it herself, but were it any other affinity she would likely be the single best user of it alive today. Alas, regeneration masters tend to stick around for obvious reasons. Even still… her talent is insane.

”Next is that the process is beyond painful. It is not just a matter of having a high pain tolerance or being able to work through the pain with sufficient determination. The pain is to the point that it shuts down your mind unless you can… hmm… alright. So… mortals can only really think with their brains. Once you get higher energy in your systems you can think a little bit in your soul.

”Not sure how different it is for demons… but over time you start to lean more and more on your soul. To learn to survive, essentially, without a brain you have to be running your entire mind on your soul. Your brain still works obviously but if youʼre using it for more than half of your thoughts? Itʼs impossible to complete the training.

”What Marigold failed to understand, or perhaps never had to, is that the process of learning to regenerate the brain is the process of learning to think with your soul and automatically reform your brain when necessary because while you can think with your soul, your brain is still responsible for keeping your body alive most of the time…

”But of course, regeneration affinity helps with that. Itʼs why itʼs even possible in the first place. Our affinity can keep our body from simply dying while regenerating our brains… but if we donʼt think with our souls then even should we have the muscle memory to bring ourselves back from the brink of death we wonʼt have any memories left… so… are we even the same person?

”Now, if we circle back to the pain thing… for most people the pain is simply too much. No matter the determination our brains and sometimes the part of our souls that think… just… stop. They canʼt handle the pain and decided shutting off temporarily is the right call. It IS NOT. It halts the healing process and then you probably die afterwards… but…” Eleanora paused and gestured for Kat to say something.

”Are you… trying to say I should know why it works for Marigold but not you?” asked Kat.

”I am. Surely she didnʼt hide who she is? Not if sheʼs still the cousin I remember…” offered Eleanora.

Kat frowned. ”Wait… you mean to tell me that sheʼs able to use on the greatest techniques of the regeneration affinity because sheʼs a masochistic pervert?”

”Yes,” stated Eleanora. ”Yes I am,”

”That… I hate that it makes some sense… I mean… her brain isnʼt going to freak out over the pain… or well… not in the same way,” stammered Kat.

”Itʼs not just that. Because she enjoys it, her brain WANTS to keep going. Unlike a… slightly less crazy, or perhaps just ʼdifferently crazyʼ individual that wants it all to stop, Marigold can just… keep it going without issues. See… normally the way you go about keeping yourself alive is healing the brain as its damage. Marigold? Not so much. She could have her head sliced off and still regrow herself,” explained Eleanora.

Kat rubbed her temples. ”So… two questions then I guess. Why havenʼt you tried since, even if youʼve mostly explained, and… what do you think would happen to me if I got MY head cut off?”

Eleanora didnʼt say anything for a few moments. ”Well, for myself I simply donʼt enjoy the pain enough. I did go through some preliminary testing for it, but I wasnʼt particularly compatible with the technique. I could push things but the truth is Iʼm likely to hit Rank 5 before I learn it… and at Rank 5 you tend to automatically start doing more with your soul anyway so Iʼm better spending my time doing other things.

”As for your regeneration… I canʼt really say. Iʼd wait till Rank 5 and probably get someone with healing affinity to check you out?” *I can do that.* ”Look… I really donʼt know. You donʼt really have affinities in the same way we do. You have fairly versatile abilities but no spells. In exchange youʼre exceptionally powerful, or at least thatʼs how I like to see the difference.

”Based on what youʼve said… Iʼd actually expect that youʼd regenerate from the neck down? Possibly? See, for us elves the soul is anchored in the heart and removing that is where problems start to occur… but for someone with regeneration affinity we can usually make another one before it starts to be an issue. Souls donʼt just come loose immediately after all,”

Kat nodded along, ”I mean… the only time Iʼve had issues was early on when my heart was destroyed twice in quick succession,”

”Hmm… could be a soul issue or could be that your brain was having issues because your blood wasnʼt moving properly around your body. You said this was early on correct? Iʼd suspect you were still Rank 1 or 2?” asked Eleanora. Kat nodded in response. ”Yeah at that point itʼs hard to tell. Probably best not to try it out. Iʼd be quite sad if I couldnʼt fight you again because you did something foolish,”