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

--- Kat ---

*Lily, any advice?*

[Eh… I don't know. I already suggested that you wait until this whole thing is dealt with… though I also understand how we got here. Pushing Hunter like that could have backfired but she's pretty reasonable… if a bit secretive. As for what you should do now? I'd say just leave it. Hunter is… stubborn feels like the wrong word but I guess it's close enough.

She's firm with her decisions and I think you've pushed enough. Honestly I'm not sure we would've gotten even this much if you'd waited… but by that same token I'm not sure we can get any more information from her later. I imagine she'll say she talked about it with you already and doesn't need to repeat herself.]

*That's… not ideal but I suppose I don't have any other ideas. Does Kamiko know? And if so does she have ideas to share?*

[She does know but she hasn't been suggesting anything, just pouting and looking sad whenever I tell her what's going on. She has called Hunter a few… I hesitate to say bad names… stuff like 'Irresponsible poopy-head' or 'You have the spine of a limp noodle' neither of which feel all that mean. Especially when Hunter is a lamia. Though Kamiko might have been talking about Hunter's metaphorical spine?

It was a bit unclear at the time.]

*Well at least you two are having fun. I suppose the next question is how long should I just let Hunter sit here?*

[How should I know? How long does it take for her to regenerate all of her demonic energy? I don't imagine it'll take too long… and I'd bet that once she's at 100% she'll simply tell you it's time to dive back into the fighting.]

Urgh… I need a better idea of what I should be doing. I feel a bit useless standing next to her while she burns everything but I know enough about material science to know that using two opposing temperatures on something isn't a good idea if you want to keep it intact, and as much as I'm growing to dislike the worm caves I'd rather not cause a cave in.

[Probably the safest thing to do. Though I'm a little surprised they didn't try to collapse the cave on you, what with the moles and all. Also… depending on what the caves are made from it might not be too bad to mix your demonic energy? Then again, this isn't earth so I could be very wrong.]

*I'm going to assume that if anything mixing DEMONIC fire and ice is worse then normal ice and fire.* Kat turned her focus back to the real world for a moment and Hunter was wiggling in place and looking slightly uncomfortable… but she hadn't said anything. *Hmm… probably hasn't healed up yet though she does look impatient. Um… Lily distract me.*

[Huh?]

*Well normally I'd practice some fan forms, or maybe play with my demonic fire or just snuggle with you, but you're not here and the other things I use to pass the time feel like they'd be a bit… taunting. I want to let Hunter relax as much as possible, even if I doubt she'll take a proper break. So… yeah anything interesting to tell me?*

[Not really? Um… I came up with an idea for a spell that makes use of the association between paper planes and real planes? It's purely in the theory crafting phase at the moment and I suspect that I need to be Rank 3 to make it all work properly but it might be feasible. I actually came up with it looking over the darkness spells, not the shadow ones.

Which does make it harder to work out, but I'm pretty sure I can figure something out.]

*Hey, that sounds pretty cool. Though why do you need to make use of the association?*

[Something my Paper books cover is that at a high level origami, though I imagine it was called something else for the paper wizard, is one of the best ways to essentially shortcut your way into using other elements. Like… making an origami frog that spits water, or maybe a tap. Another example might be… summoning a paper boulder and then imparting real weight to it. Stuff like that.]

*And that's good?*

[Eh… it's an efficient mental trick and definitely costs more mana then doing things 'properly' but apparently it's a great way for paper mages to start branching out. I don't think I'm quite there yet, as I said probably more something to be looking into at Rank 3… but I'm hoping to get there before too long. Plus, my books have me more than covered for Rank 2 and below.]

Kat was going to prompt Lily for more information but Hunter had stopped pacing and had now turned her gaze towards the exit to their little cavern. Kat let out a long sigh knowing what was coming and found herself proved right a moment later when Hunter stated. "I have fully recovered we can take out the worms now,"

*Just great… and I still don't know what the best way to help you do that is but whatever. Sorry Lily but we'll have to finish this conversation later.  "Sure. Though I have to ask, is there anything I can do to help… and will you have the energy to finish things off yourself?" said Kat.

"This nest is already larger then any I have previously cleared. I admit to pushing myself quite a bit, but I suppose I had thought that I would be able to clear the entire thing, or at least a branch of it, without resting. Once the central nest is down I thought I could relax… I apologise for how that turned out," stated Hunter.

"Right…" said Kat slowly, not sure she totally believed Hunter. "Anything I can do to help?"

"No… I do not believe it would be safe, nor worthwhile. My fire is enough for the worms and I do not wish to waste your efforts. I do at least promise to inform you if I am reaching my limit again, so please do not worry for me," stated Hunter.

*Right… like that has reduced my worry in the slightest. Fine whatever let's just hope we can get this done.* "Will we be clearing out the other pathways?" asked Kat.

"That… I do not know. Despite the number of hidden pockets we haven't found any true offshoots. Corpse worm dens are usually more like ant-hills. I was not expecting a single long tunnel like we've been going over. Actually… now that I mention it aloud I find it most strange…" stated Hunter trailing off at the end.

"Does that mean anything for us?" asked Kat.

"It… might…" stated Hunter after a few seconds. "The corpse worms I know of tend to spread out, but now that I am… thinking clearly… I can see that it is most unusual. I do not know if it is a tendency unique to this variant of corpse worms… or if there is something more sinister at play,"

"Such as?" asked Kat.

"Either necromancers or some other death or rot aligned mage that has managed to figure out a spell for controlling them, or perhaps a beast master specialising in insects that transferred their experience to corpse worms. Assuming that this tunnel is the only entrance, or at least, the main entrance… it might be for defensive purposes," stated Hunter.

"Huh… that certainly does put a new spin on things," returned Kat. "What would you say the chances are?"

"I am unsure. My first inclination is to say that the worms must have someone behind, they don't tend to burrow like this naturally… but two things seem to contradict that. The first is that none of the worms have shown they have an intelligence behind them. They've simply been attacking in waves as to be expected.

Secondly, if there was someone behind this, I would've expected the worms to have started disappearing as we get deeper, perhaps simply fleeing from us.

"Instead, they are acting as I would expect them too… and I do know that while patterns tend to repeat amongst the monsters I find, there are plenty of unique variations of things. I suppose it is something to worry about… but perhaps not too much? If I had to make a guess at this moment…

"I would, and I suppose I AM saying that there was once a controller behind this army but there isn't anymore. Either they were killed in something unrelated or the worms grew too great in number and either shattered the mind of their controller, or simply overwhelmed and killed them. That is my guess," stated Hunter.

Kat nodded and said, "Well… I think I'll still try to keep my eyes pealed just in case. I'm not exactly doing anything else at the moment so I might as well keep an eye out rather then doing nothing,"