D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad - Chapter 2122 Fresh Breath

Chapter 2122: Chapter 2122 Fresh Breath

— Kat —

Furen used charades to indicate that they should come back later and from what Kat could glean from those motions the main reason is because it was too hard to explain what they were looking for without being able to talk. It was also probably better that she got some healing sooner rather then later, so with that all in mind the group got back to moving. Lily wrapped Tanisha back up who just grinned, apparently quite happy with it.

At least, that was before they realised that to backtrack properly, they’d need to fly up. Kat lifted Furen while Bruce, Chisel and Tanisha were pulled up after Lily had flown up into the ceiling as well. *Actually, that does bring up something interesting to ask while we leave. How does weight work with your shadows? Because you weigh a lot less then Tanisha but obviously you can carry her without falling backwards…*

[In a few ways actually. The first thing to note is that the shadows themselves don’t really weigh anything unless I want them to, and that’s somewhat rare. It also takes more mana to add weight to them. Next is that I’m… essentially sticking the weight to the ground. It’s not quite that, but I can treat my shadow as part of the ground and let it bear the weight most of the time.]

[That means I can basically lift infinite weight… except for the fact that my shadows aren’t that strong. Still, it works a bit weirdly and allows for me to lift things without really worrying about leverage if I don’t want to. Though at the same time, I don’t HAVE to do that. I can instead use mana to offset all of that and just… do things.]

[The main limit is that I can’t just fly around while carrying a bunch of people while using my own shadow as the main vector, because I’m always attached to it. I there’s nothing else around I can’t anchor the weight anywhere but myself no matter how much mana I use. Which is weird because I can do that if I’m on the ground and not anchoring to it… but maybe I’m just misunderstanding something and I am still anchoring things.]

*Huh… I guess that makes some sense.*

[Yeah, which runs counter to my paper magic where I really can just lift anything as long as the paper is strong enough. It takes more mana, and I can’t use it to lift myself all that well… but I think that’s more because paper magic isn’t really something you can easily fly with. Though maybe that’s because nobody invented a better paper airplane spell? Or perhaps it’s higher level.]

Kat nodded and continued to talk back and forth with Lily about her magic and the variation little inconsistencies that could pop up with it when she was using it. All the while, Kat was using her perfect memory to essentially just ’rewind’ things. It was a bit of a weird feeling to slowly play her memories backwards to match the path they were taking to them but it was working out for now.

They weren’t attacked even once on their way back and Kat hoped that meant that the monster was completely dealt with. They still couldn’t be completely certain but it was a major step in the right direction and helped Kat feel better about leaving things for tomorrow. It would mean that either, it would all still be fine, or they might catch the monster sneaking out when it thought it was safe.

Swinging by the greenhouse was easy. Everyone was still knocked out and Bruce seemed to be especially happy to see them, even like that. Kat picked up a pair so she had one over each shoulder with Lily grabbing the rest. From there, they made their way upstairs… only for Bruce to realise a problem. “Our suits! They’ve been wrecked!”

Kat nodded slowly, “Oh… yeah ok that’s not good…”

[I can probably keep a shield up around everyone for a bit? It might be awkward but if… hmm… okay this is going to be silly but I have an idea.]

*What is it?*

[Giant hamster ball. With shadows we don’t have to worry about things getting twisted so what I do is make a giant ball of shadows with a beam in the centre for everyone to sit or hang on. From there, you can roll it all the way to the edge of the poison. The main issue is that we’ll need to set it all up BEFORE the stairs and the shape probably isn’t going to fit up them well so that might be a bit cramped… but I don’t really see what else we could do.]

*I’m sure we could think of other ideas… but this is amusing and I’m keen to try it out.* “Lily has an idea,” Kat announced.

“Why does that fill me with dread?” asked Bruce. In response, Kat swiftly informed him of the full details. “Yeah that sounds… horrific.”

“I’m pretty sure it will be a comfortable ride for everyone,” Kat said. Bruce gave her a weird look but decided not to comment on it. Perhaps worried he’d stick his foot in his mouth again.

Furen didn’t argue and Chisel couldn’t say anything so regardless of what Bruce actually thought, it wasn’t long before the shadow ball was in use. It was a good thing they’d noticed the issue early though, as before they’d managed to get to the base of the stairs they could see the faintest wisps of poison. It was a tight squeeze moving everyone up the stairs, but Lily had managed to separate everyone into layers to make it so it wasn’t too bad. Especially when they knew it was saving them from the poison even at the start.

Pushing the fountain aside was a bit awkward with the shadows in front of her, but Kat managed it. Once outside, Lily focused on shaping the ball into a proper ball while Kat ensured the fountain was back in place. From there, it was a pretty straight shot back out of the poison.

When they reached the edge, Kat gave Lily the heads up. Right as they crossed the line, the inside of the ball went from a nice place to sit, to a trap. Even if it wasn’t likely they’d try to escape, there was no reason to get sloppy. As Lily unwound the shadows to clean air, she split up the group. Bruce, Furen, Tanisha, and Chisel were all bound separately, while the unconscious lot were dumped in a pile with a light wrapping of shadows to keep them in place.

Steel heard them arrive and walked out of the alchemist tent to see them. “Ah, good. I see you’ve got some trespassers for me…”

“Technically, it was declared state of emergency,” countered Bruce. “It could be argued we were searching for individuals inside a dangerous area of the city,”

“It was also considered to be a quarantine zone, so your argument doesn’t hold in this case,” countered Steel. Bruce just shrugged as if to say ’had to try’.

“Why is he missing his legs?” Steel asked after glancing at Chisel.

“Lily cut them off after he tried to kill me while we were working together on something,” Kat explained. “I still have the legs,”

Steel ran a hand down his face helmet, “Right that… well we can get to that later. Appoline and the other two alchemists have been working on potions and we’ve started to store them in spatially expanded crates to keep from overfilling the tent. Is there anything I need to know immediately?”

“These guys weren’t the ones adding more poison, or at least, there’s no evidence for that. They were hired to find something inside. Bruce is the only one who was meant to know, but Furen here seems to think she overheard them. The problem is that her throat was damaged so she can’t talk properly at the moment either. She’s volunteered to help out after some healing, though I don’t really know what that means in more practical terms,” explained Kat.

Steel nodded, “Hmmm… might be best to hand her off to Appoline. In fact, probably best to keep her with you lot if you don’t mind watching over her for the night. Appoline will probably be pleased to have someone with a similar injury to her own that needs healing and I doubt Furen will refuse free top quality healing from one of the better alchemists around.”

Furen nodded along. Kat wasn’t sure she’d jump at the chance to be healed with experimental potions by a poison specialist… but she supposed that when said specialist was also trying to heal her own scars and was known as one of the best alchemists in the city that changed things. Maybe. *Would you trust Appoline to make you a specialised healing potion?*

[Maybe? Not under duress, no way in hell. If I was paying for her… then I guess so? We know she’s good at it. Appoline has mentioned multiple times how easy it is and how little she needs to think about it… but I’d want it to be a very professional interaction you know? Surely she knows ways to poison you that only show up months or years later…]