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

Chapter 1922: Chapter 1922 An Obscure Reference

--- Green ---

Green had mixed feelings on her decision to come to this building. On the one hand, she’d managed to find SO MANY orbs. If it wasn’t for the expanded messenger bag she’d also found in this place she wouldn’t be able to carry them all. Truly she was flush with orbs. On the other hand SHE WAS FUCKING LOST.

See, after sneaking her way through a bunch of murderous bird monsters for a day she thought it would be a good chance to sleep. She’d nodded off in the lobby and then got ready for a big day. Exploring this building was original just planned for the morning but that idea had been thoroughly shattered at this point.

”Why is this town so obsessed with fucking mazes?” grumbled Green as she entered another glowing portal. They didn’t even feel fancy anymore. The damned building had nearly as many of them as it did windows. There were portals everywhere. Theoretically, they were there to help you get around easier. To avoid the need for stairs from the bottom to the top floor.

In practice they were for confusing people! At least, that’s what Green had decided. The portals weren’t labelled, the occasional map was more of a riddle than an informational service. Often directing her to portals in entirely different sections of the building she had no idea how to reach. Sure this was great anti-siege enchantments. Nobody could take the place if they couldn’t get around... but it was mighty annoying.

Additionally, portals weren’t so conveniently located as ’at the end of the corridor’ or ’behind this fancy looking door’. Oh sure, they were in such places as well, but they often just looped you around in the same corridor. The ones that moved you on were in stranger places. Under a flowerpot, in a desk drawer, behind a bookshelf. The strangest portal Green had encountered was in a room with a faulty light enchantment. She’d pulled the flickering orb down from its socket only for a portal to open up in the place she’d taken it from.

Hopping through it had stolen the light back and left her in a dark room, lit only by the OTHER glowing portals around the place. Especially annoying because the portal that had taken her there had disappeared and she’d left orbs back in that other room. Still, Green could do nothing but sigh. ”The real issue is going to be getting out. I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough orbs to keep me topped up for DAYS... more than enough to justify leaving and maybe coming back later before I leave the city if I really need more... if I could find the fucking exit!”

In truth Green didn’t even know what time it was anymore. The windows showed whatever they felt like on any given floor. Some did seem to show the outside world but Green wasn’t willing to take that as an absolute truth. Not when others showed the ocean floor or a dense jungle forest. Not even at the same time of day! Or the same segments of exotic location. Worse, it wasn’t even consistent by floor.

Green shook her head as she lifted up a rug on the floor of the room she’d been standing in, revealing a portal set into the ground. ”Welp, nowhere to go but forward...” she mumbled before jumping through ground.

--- Skye ---

Skye was thinking she should’ve just let herself get eaten by spiders at this point. Greaves Brightaxe had saved her... and Greaves was honestly a massive asshole. Sure ’I’ll save you if you agree to team up with me’ sounds like a decent deal. A teammate and a rescue? Skye wanted to roll her eyes at her naïve previous self. Greaves idea of teaming up was taking all of the orbs for herself and handing over just enough to Skye to prevent her from being eliminated.

It made nights awkward that’s for sure. Greaves was an asshole, but she wasn’t an idiot. The annoying dwarf knew quite well that if she could, Skye would strangle her in her sleep. The problem with that? Greaves had some detection items that would wake her up if anything got too close during the night. It meant that even if Skye was confident in sneaking up on the sleeping dwarf, which she wasn’t, Skye would then need to deal with the detection enchantment and that just wasn’t happening.

Greaves also had plenty of healing items. Either in potion form or as a rechargeable enchantment. Where the heck she managed to buy a RECHARGEALBE HEALING ITEM. Something so unbelievably precious that there had been wars fought over the stronger ones? Probably Thyme if Skye was to be honest. A request from winning a previous round. Sure it wasn’t crazy, it wouldn’t heal a broken bone or anything, but just having that consistent healing was a big step up.

It made Skye wonder why Greaves wanted her around at all... until she remembered that Greaves was an asshole and causing Skye problems was probably amusing to her. Besides, the dwarf DID make sure to get her ’money’s worth’ from Skye. Often dragging her into fights with monsters that could’ve been avoided and having Skye heal her after most injuries. Sure Greaves HAD those other options for healing, and the dwarf showed them off for some reason... but she didn’t use them, not really.

The item had been used once to remove a bunch of cuts after they’d been through a gauntlet ruins, thing. It had a bunch of plants that seemed normal but actually sliced right through skin. So thin and sharp you didn’t even notice you were bleeding until you felt your face getting wet. Greaves had used the enchanted item then and there with a smug grin on her face before telling Skye to ”Heal herself up.”

Which really was just a waste. Greaves should’ve used the item to heal HER and then Skye could heal Greaves afterwards. Everyone knew that healers had issues healing themselves... but nope. Not allowed. Skye sighed only for Greaves to glare over her shoulder. *Fine no sighing. Dick. It would’ve been better to be eaten by spiders and accept the ’timeout’. Probably would’ve cost me less orbs in the long run too...*

Skye wasn’t under and delusions that such a decision would’ve been painful, and probably a little traumatising depending on how long Thyme waited before pulling her out... but it likely would’ve been less grating on her nerves. *Look. I get that I fucked up in the first round, but it doesn’t SEEM like this has anything to do with my past decisions at all. I feel like Greaves here would’ve done exactly the same thing to literally anyone that she teamed up with. The fact that I don’t think I can beat her in a fight just makes that treatment worse.

Which I suppose begs the question of how I can get away from her? I don’t think I’m faster then her... and I’d be she has some way to track or communicate with the other members of her team. That would make things awkward potentially... running from her and having someone else intercept me. I could... grrr... well if we run into any other teams I could turn on her but I really, REALLY don’t want to be stuck with ’The Great Betrayer of the Tournament’ as a nickname or some shit like that.

I have no idea what something like that would do for me long term job prospects but I’m certain people would be less fond of me afterwards. Even despite the fact Greaves recruited me under duress and then has proceeded to burn every milligram of goodwill I had for her along the way.*

GAH! I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do.* Skye couldn’t even run into town to avoid Greaves. They had spotted the one amongst all of the mushroom trees. They’d been up in the mountain at the time... and Greaves had immediately turned around and headed in the other direction. Now, Skye couldn’t definitively say WHY Greaves had done that... but Skye did have at least one guess. *It’s probably because I could speak to the townsfolk and leave her behind somehow. Maybe she thinks they’d side with the healer? It’s not like I’ve got too many orbs to pay them.*

That was the other thing about the ’sharing’ of orbs. Skye was ’convinced’ to use them immediately instead of storing them away for later. Greaves got to keep a healthy stockpile and had her bracelet around eighty percent at just about all times. Skye was not so lucky. Sure she’d managed to swipe a few orbs. Four to be exact... but Skye had no idea what she could do with so few... and Greaves might have caught her. Some of those times anyway.

*Ultimately. I’m going to get ’betrayed’ myself if this keeps up. Though is it really a betrayal when you can see it coming a mile away? I really have no idea what I’m going to do about Greaves. I suppose I’ll just have to see how things play out in the near future.*