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

Chapter 1840 Pillar Orb

--- Kat ---

*Itʼs the little things that really make you LOVE being able to fly. I might not be super happy to be here and I think your nose is dying… but it would be so much worse if someone else from the team ended up here.*

[Urgh. Youʼre not wrong but I just really wish we werenʼt] Kat was flying them both a short distance above the swamp. It helped stay out of the mud, give them a better perspective on what was going on under the water, and didnʼt trigger the swarms of birds Thyme had covered the island in. Kat wondered if it was something Thyme had cooked up for her specifically… or if it was more of a general ʼstay out of the airʼ type deal. Kat could imagine Green using her boots to jump up high to check the surrounding areas and getting swarmed in response.

Of course, despite the fact they were avoiding most of the swamp… Kat did have to duck into it occasionally. She was glad her skin just let the gunk slide right off… even if they werenʼt having much luck with the orbs. See, it turned out that there was a glowing fruit that grew underneath the swamp here. It looked very similar to the orbs they were meant to find and grew everywhere. Theoretically you could tell the difference but even for Kat the distortion of the water was too much to be certain. Perhaps if the water was clearer it wouldnʼt be such a drawback.

Soon though, the pair were drawn to something more interesting and certain to be a challenge set up by Thyme. In the middle of the water there was a pillar with a glowing orb on the top of it, clenched in fake metal fingers that held it in place. The issue was that the area around it was completely free of water… and everything else. The water just stopped. It didnʼt fall, it stopped and left a completely empty section of the river around it that seemed to go down into the earth for quite a ways.

*Alright. So… whatʼs the chance that this is a trap?*

[Depends on if just getting over to it was meant to be the challenge. Like… you canʼt just jump over there because thereʼs no solid ground to stand on. So you need to… what, jump and then hope you get far enough or build something?]

*Hmm… is it safe to fly over though? Thereʼs like… actually nothing and…* Kat moved right up to the waterʼs edge and then reached a hand out into the empty air. *Hmm… hard to tell. Like… is there enough air here to fly? Itʼs obviously not a vacuum… but are we just lucky? Or is there something else we need to do to get the orb out?*

[We can test this by just having you throw me over. If you lob me I can see if the empty area is fine to fly in… and if it isnʼt I should still be able to make it to the other side.]

*Alright, but keep a bit of shadow on my wrist or something. The distance isnʼt too far and I think your shadow can reel you back in if anything happens.*

[Of course. Sounds good.] Kat waited for a few wingbeats as Lily moved to her hands. A mental countdown between the two of them started and on three Kat gently threw her girlfriend up and into the air. Lilyʼs wings tried to catch the air but, their guess was correct. There was something to prevent simply flying over. Gliding was possible though, and Lily made it over to the pillar without trouble.

There wasnʼt any good place to land. The pillar did have earth underneath it but there wasnʼt exactly space around it to stand so Lily wrapped her shadow around it and pulled herself close. Once she was confidently in place, Lily attempted to lift Kat over and immediately felt her mana start to burn up. [Shit. Going to have to do this quickly. Get ready.]

Kat nodded as she was yanked over the gap and towards the pillar. Kat flared her wings once she was past the gap and managed to regain her equilibrium. *What was the issue anyway?*

[I donʼt know if itʼs because youʼre a demon… or if itʼs a weight issue but I lost like twenty percent of my mana just pulling you across the gap. Heck, itʼs possible the gap itself was the cause I donʼt really know. Just keep in mind that we might need to be careful if we see more stuff like this.]

*Understandable. Now… do I just fly up and grab the orb?*

[Iʼm not sure. It looks pretty well attached but that might just be to keep it from blowing away or having a monster steal it. The more important question is ʼwill we trigger a trap attempting to break itʼ because if not? We might as well just go for it. No sense in wasting time on puzzles if we donʼt need to.]

*Ah but we might need to. Knowing Thyme there will be punishments for not doing things properly…*

[Right but what clues do we have for that? The pillar looks fancy and itʼs glowing but none of these are runs I recognise. In fact, thereʼs barely any mana in the pillar so Iʼm all but certain that ʼlighting up and looking fancyʼ is the whole point of it. Doesnʼt mean thereʼs not a way to free the orb, but I donʼt… feel any defences? Oh… but Thyme said they had help… so maybe itʼs not space based or hidden elsewhere? With all the fish and stuff around itʼs hard to say what ʼlow manaʼ really is.]

[The pillar has notably less then the environment… but maybe thatʼs because itʼs sucking it in and storing it elsewhere? I really donʼt know. My senses arenʼt that well attuned to mana. If it was taking in a huge amount Iʼd probably notice but… if itʼs just skimming off the top? Probably not.]

*Alright… so what Iʼm hearing is that it could be dangerous but itʼs probably best just to crack it open anyway. I think… itʼs a three hour one? Yeah only three hours I think. That probably isnʼt guarded too heavily.*

Nodding, Kat flew up to the orb and looked for a good spot to grab onto. She wasnʼt so stupid as to just grab the orb and try to pry it out that way. Thyme had designed the things to be destroyed. Though… actually… *Would you say weʼve been walking around for two hours?*

[Um… probably not? Why?]

*Iʼm wondering if it would be safer just to tap my bracelet against this thing to drain it and then leave it here or destroy it after doing so. Sure weʼd be losing out on a bit of ʼtimeʼ but itʼs not like this was too hard to find. Not all of them will be easy but… well… I donʼt know that thereʼs anywhere to get my fingers to grab at the supports without breaking the orb. I could maybe try and wrench off the base but thatʼd be awkward too.*

[Huh… Iʼm not against it… do you think thatʼs how other people are meant to interact with this one? Itʼs not too hard to get to if you have the right equipment just a bit of a pain but you canʼt carry it around?]

*Maybe? So we claiming it or not?*

[Might as well see if you can claim this one. Their might be other similar ones around.]

Kat nodded and tapped her band against the orb. For a few moments she thought it wasnʼt going to work but the orb soon dimmed. Kat found her bracelet was back at full… though that didnʼt mean much. Regardless of if this was a two or three hour orb it was enough to fill the whole thing back up.

*Hmm… Iʼm a little surprised that worked but I suppose Thyme DID say that if you press against the orb youʼd drain them and have your own time fill back up again. Do you think we should destroy this one now or just let it stay here?*

[I say we break it. Just less risky that way]

*Iʼm fine with that. Though… letʼs test them a bit. Just see what the durability is like.*

Kat started with a light tap against the orb and nothing happened as expected. Kat then swapped to a bit of a flick and managed to make a slight crack. It wasnʼt broken sure but apparently that was already too much force. Kat frowned. *Hmmm… these things are fragile. I wonder if itʼs meant to make carrying around a big bag of them impractical?*

[Maybe] Agreed Lily as Kat continually tapped on the orb, and spreading the cracks across the entire thing. It didnʼt take much force at all once some damage was done and with practically no force the whole thing just crumbled into dust before vanishing.

*Weʼre going to have to be careful with these things. Carrying them around might be the real bait because I donʼt see how youʼre meant to keep them from breaking.*

[Bubble wrap?]

*Hmmm…* Kat glanced at the swamp. Specifically the glowing berries that looked quite similar to the orbs. *There might be options…*