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

— Kat —

Eventually Bower did start to snicker, “Alright pink one, you can stop looking at me like that now. It doesn’t really work, but I am starting to feel sorry for ya, so I suppose I can talk a bit about what I’m here for… unless your snakey friend wants to explain?”

“It seems you would be best running the discussion. Not only did you make the promise to convince Kamiko yourself, but I may be missing or misunderstanding details because of my differing cultural heritage,” stated Hunter.

“Eh, fair enough. So… I guess we gotta start with the fact that I’m old. Real old. Like, I’ve lived through multiple wars and I’m arguably older then the kingdom old. Not sure how I’ve even stuck around this long. I’ve raised up my kids, my grandkids, and even my great-grandkids… and that was before I got a bit disconnected from things and moved out here.

“My wife has been dead for over a century, I’ve got so many younger relatives that I’ve lost track… but none of them come to visit so really that’s their fault not mine. My kids themselves? They’ve all long since passed away. Most of them because they went out and did something stupid, and a couple got done in by age basically.

“I’ve been living out here for a long time. Me and a bunch of the older folks that just seemed to be clinging to this mortal coil. We set up our own little houses around these woods back when there was nothing. We thought the kingdom would leave this monster infested place and we’d get some peace and quiet? Well we were wrong as you can see.

“Heck, something I didn’t think of proper till just now is my name. I am named Bower, not Bwr, or something else of the like. I was named to be a hunter, because that’s what my pa was. Granted he was called, Knife, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

“My point is young one, that I’ve seen things. A lot of things, and if I die so be it. This ‘Last Hunt’ business is valid enough. We’ve got them in my culture as well. Not so much anymore, but when I was still a lad? Yeah we had them.

A Last Hunt was traditionally what the older members of the tribes went on instead of just walking out into the snow and never coming back.

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“Now, it was never about dying, don’t get that part twisted in your naïve little head. It was about making sure the rest of the family survived. Someone who’s old and broken that can’t work no more? That’s a drain on resources. That’s someone who can’t contribute to the household. If they’re feeding me and I can’t move?

That might mean one of the little ones have to hungry, of their parents are skipping out meals when they need that energy to be working.

“I might be impressive, top of Rank 2 barely scraping Rank 3… but that’s just what I am right now. I was Rank 4, once, for just a short time. Or perhaps not? Lost my arm in the process and had most of my chest caved in. Nearly died, but I had an old friend and great healer to fix me up back then. I didn’t get back to Rank 4, maybe I was never there…

“But since then? Time has worn me down. I’m slower then I was. My mind drifts a fair bit more, and my eyesight is nothing special anymore. I have to keep a spell running when I’m on the hunt so that I don’t miss the important details that used to come to me with a glance.

“This for me? This isn’t me trying to find a way to go down in a blaze of glory. This is me putting myself forward because there’s maybe one other person who knows the forest as good as I do? And that young lass is a prodigy. She’ll be the best damned hunter in these woods come her thirtieth birthday or die trying. I’m trying to prevent that second part.

“Do I want to die? Eh, I don’t think I much care. I’ll stick around because there’s more to see but if something gets me? Well that’s just life at this point. Life has taken a bunch of my friends, family, and if it claims me? I’ve had a good run.

That’s why I’m coming along. I might be old, and my scales creek when I move… but I’m the best damned hunter they’ve still got and dying to kill whatever this beasty is? That’s something I can be happy with. Especially since the snakey lass shared what it is. Certainly enough to realise the stakes,”

“Yes, you are a canny bastard,” said Hunter with surprisingly good cheer.

“Eh, you think I haven’t heard the tales? You lot might be thinking this is the first demonic beast to be unleashed on this planet but I can assure you it isn’t. It’s simply one that’s survived a lot longer. We dealt with that shit for years and they didn’t send in a team for it before now. Granted I can’t say we NEEDED a team for it either. So the stakes?

Gotta be pretty high this time,” explained Bower.

“Yes, potentially apocalyptic,” added Kat.

Hunter glared at Kat. “I do not believe that was relevant information,”

Bower just chuckled, “Hehe, I think I already figured that part out Snakey. Your much too serious to come on an adventure with a couple of friends. Sure you like to hunt, you enjoy it. Probably helps you relax at some points as well, especially on a lesser hunt… but you ain’t relaxed and you definitely wouldn’t bring untrained friends on a hunt they didn’t belong on. Not one so serious,”

“Ah,” mumbled Hunter.

“Yup, that’s that. So, you got any questions for me?” asked Bower.

Kat jumped in straight away. “What can we expect from the forest? We were looking for exactly that information, and while we don’t need the specifics right this moment, some general warnings would be nice,”

“Ah… well the first thing is that here on the fringes? The forest looks normal. Acts normal. Sure there might be some odd monsters and there’s always quite a lot… but it looks ‘normal’ to the eyes, and is pretty normal. It does not stay that way. As you get further away from the edges things start to change quite drastically.

“First up? If you ran into one of my old friends, the one with all the traps and the wooden bridges?” The group nodded at Bower’s question. “Right then. Those plants of hers? All from deeper in. The forest starts to come alive.

It still looks normal, at least at this point, but it doesn’t act normal. If it thinks it can get away with attacking you it will certainly try.

“To avoid it? You need to have footwork that’s soft as a mouse, or stomping, great big warning signs that you are not to be fucked with. Either way works, but anything in the middle will see you be assaulted from all sides.

“Now that’s just the start. As you get deeper then the mist starts to pick up. That’s when things get weird. See, the mists? Pretty sure they carry some spatial magic. It gets you turned around, allows for pockets of things to exist in their own little dimensions, or so it seems.

I can’t rightly say just how much of it is the forest messing with you, and how much of it is the forest messing with everything else. I like to think the latter, but maybe that’s just because I’m old.

“Now, once you get into the mist? Expect anything. Double back can land you in a completely different area. You might be fighting in a dessert one moment, and then falling down a waterfall the next. The mist is always your transition point. How much of it is in your head?

Well that’s what you gotta work out. I think it’s not as much as people hope…

“But there are a few things in that mist that will. Don’t get near any glowing plants you see. They tend to have pollen that’ll knock you on your ass for a weak and blitz you so far out of your mind that you’ll be seeing the past, present, and future all at once. You’ll start to see and understand the secrets of the universe… or perhaps what the colour orange tastes like.

Lot of nobles pay good money for them actually, but for us? We gotta avoid them.

“Honestly that’s the big ticket things. I can’t give you too much else unless we actually dig into the weeds and without knowing where exactly where going and what little pockets we’re likely to see I can’t rightly give you much more. There are quite a few little places that seem similar but have drastically different beasties and plants that are deadly in completely unique ways.

You’ll be glad to have a guide on hand, trust me on this lassies,”