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

--- Kat ---

The rain hadn't let up but Kat had decided to head out anyway. Lily was staying back so she had a way to find the tent regardless of the rain. Kat was hoping to look at the condition of the bridge. See just how far she needed to jump, as well as check out the conditions she was in.

Stepping outside the tent Kat swiftly transformed to avoid the worst of the rain… and was surprised to find they were actually in a cave. The ceiling was leaking horribly, something the others might not have known when they set up here? Perhaps it was new or perhaps this was considered 'good enough' at the time. The tent did offer a good deal of protection when it wasn't getting holes poked into it. Besides, this was a great chance to try and move in the rain.

When Kat made it outside, she was stunned again. The trees mostly consisted of this same plant that was an odd mix of blue and green. It had normal leaves sure but it also had a number of clear branches that stuck out and sucked in the nearby rain. At that point, something happened to it to condense the water down into a glowing blue substance where the rest was then pushed out onto the ground.

It seemed that the trees here were filtering out water mana? Though Kat could see it… so was that due to the concentration? The fact that she was made out of water at the moment and resonated with it more? Or was the tree getting something else out of this? Not quite mana, but not quite water either.

Regardless of the truth, the tree would suck the glowing bead of water down into its main trunk, a mix of swirling patterns and colours for the droplet to vanish into. Perhaps some might be tempted by the bounty the tree held… but it wasn't without its guardians. Kat could see a few nooks in the trunk that housed what looked like hummingbirds. The difference was their beaks, bright blue and practically vibrating with power. It seemed to be a symbiotic relationship. The tree filtered and purified the rain, the birds partook in some of this bounty, and in return they defended the tree from others.

If Kat wanted more proof of her assumptions she would soon find it. A weird cross between a beaver and a turtle popped out of the ground nearby and looked ready to take a bite out of the tree… only for one of those hummingbirds to divebomb the thing. Kat wasn't sure what she expected, but it certainly wasn't for the bird to shoot right through the beaver-turtles skull, splattering its blood onto the ground where it was quickly sucked in by the roots. Explained the mixture of colours.

Kat couldn't help but shiver. Those little birds were FAST things. Still, Kat didn't have any need to disturb the trees. She was focused on the road. First she spread herself out into the droplets of water and tried to move herself forward. This proved to be a horrible idea. The droplets all moved forward, and her watery form with them. It was quite slow compared to even a light jog these days.

Swapping mentality, Kat tried to dismiss the rest of her water and concentrate on just the droplets, spreading herself out and trying to crawl forward. It was a weird sensation, droplets coming in and out of her perception of things and whenever a drop she was in hit the ground it was a bit of a doozy. She managed though and made some further progress… but it still wasn't fast.

Kat had sort of pictured her mind zooming from droplet to droplet and a lightning fast pace and then reform at the end of the chain. Sort of like a cartoon where the hero could turn into lightning and ride along the power lines. Instead… she was left with a sort of mental 'rock climb' where various mental 'limbs' reached out into the surrounding environment and pulled her along.

It wasn't slow technically speaking, but Kat knew that at this point she could do a lot better. Running flat out would be a lot faster even if she was taking extra care due to the rain. Yet… this technique should theoretically be possible. *I suppose the real question is if I should be practicing like this here in the rain or if I'd be better served getting it down using a big lake or something similar. The lake seems a lot easier but would that be better training? It might just be an instinctive thing. I don't think I've tried merging with anything too large yet. Plus it's not like there's a lake I can get to right now.*

Kat refocused on the task at hand and tried to speed up her mental 'arms' and found it wasn't working super well so she went the other way. Instead, focusing on changing the way she was interacting with the droplets and increasing the number of 'arms' at the same time. She changed her mental shape into more of a wheel, constantly grasping forward for a droplet further along in the chain. It was rather lopsided wheel… but Kat was testing things out.

And it was working surprisingly well. With her mental map spread out like this Kat could feel herself moving at a good pace. The issue was that it was mentally draining, and a slight drain on her demonic energy reserves. Something she couldn't let drop too low if she wanted to reform at any given time. There was also the fact that this still felt wasteful. It wasn't any faster then normal walking or flying speed.

Sure it let her avoid the various creatures she could see on the edges of the road, but she didn't think it overly likely they'd have attacked her anyway. From the looks of things, many of the creatures here had adapted to the rain, taking it in and using it in some way and right now it wasn't time to fight, but harvest that bounty. Well for the most part. Those turtle beavers did regularly make moves at the various trees, and Kat even saw a few manage it in passing.

Though honestly… their success rate was awful. Maybe one in five managed to get away with a chunk of the tree. A big chunk admittedly, but just the one chunk. Perhaps there was more value in the bark then she thought? Surely not enough though. That ones that survived only managed to do so when a not-hummingbird missed the killing blow after all. Two of those 'successful' ones still lost arms after all but they seemed completely unconcerned.

*What even is the point of the shell if it clearly doesn't help them against those birds? Is it protection from something else? Maybe an energy storage? It was the same sort of colour as the bark… but is that just because they eat it or is it for something else? Why turtles and beavers? Surely that can't be the best mix of things…*

Your journey continues at My Virtual Library Empire

Kat pondered the answers to her question until the bridge came into sight. It was completely wrecked as expected. The stone pillars that once held the rope bridge the only thing proving there was a bridge here at all at a first glance. When Kat got closer she did spot the rope and a few leftover planks that were clanking over the against the stone cliff face.

The problem, wasn't the fact that bridge was missing though. No instead it was the fact that this place seemed to be a lightning magnet! Kat was glad she'd been testing out new techniques because her poor ears and eyes would likely not have been handling this well. Every few seconds a bolt of lightning struck one of the various stalagmites that lined the gorges floor. There wasn't any along the path the bridge once took…

But there was a few that were dangerously close. Kat had no idea how conductive she was, nor did she know that information for her friends. She also wasn't looking forward to testing it. *What am I meant to do here? Why didn't they mention the lighting? I can't block something like that! It'll just arc right through me and get them as well… probably? What if I did something stupid like carrying a metal bar in my hand and toes? Wait why am I thinking of ways to make SURE I get struck.

Those stalagmites down there seem to be attracting the lightning pretty well already… I guess the worry is that this might not be enough to keep it all focused. I'm also not sure how everyone else's senses could handle this. Heck, do I even want to risk transforming back into my normal form to test it? I feel like I'm liable to blow out my eardrums… poor Lily would not be in good shape. I… yeah I might have to pass on this even if it's just for her. Unless she's got a way around it? Or the others do? Maybe they have some enchanted gear that will help?*