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

— Lily —

When Hunter was fully wrapped up, she transformed back, summoned a tarp and a giant pillow, and then moved over to that to rest. It was a bit strange because unlike what Lily had expected the bandages covering the area that could be transformed… they stuck around. Which meant that clothes dissapeared when Hunter transformed into a snake, but stuck around when she turned back? Or something?

Lily wasn’t sure how or why it worked that why and she was tempted to do some silly tests. Mostly involving what would happen if she gave Hunter a hat.

Kamiko was leaning against the side of the giant pillow and resting, her naginata resting across her knees with the blades hidden. Bower was on a chair and seemed to have fallen asleep at some point while Lily? She was hugging Kat from behind. It wasn’t the most comfortable experience, mostly due to Kat’s wings. It really did explain why Lily normally just received hugs instead of initiating them.

Even then, it wasn’t too bad, and Lily refused to let Kat escape for the moment. She’d wrapped her tail around Kat’s arm, and had Kat sitting on her lap. Lily was glad for her enhanced physique because she was sure that her legs would already be laced with pins and needles had she still been human. It might be rude to say Kat was heavy… but she sort of was.

The wings and tail added a good chunk and probably Kat’s bones too.

Whatever the case, Lily just enjoyed the moment. She couldn’t help but hold Kat tightly and rub her face into Kat’s neck. If some tears were escaping at the moment? Well there was nobody who could see them so it was fine.

Kat was silent throughout this, simply running a finger across Lily’s hand and allowing the hug to go on. The link was still closed for now, and Kat couldn’t help but feel bad for that… but she knew it was for the best. Especially if Lily was already this upset. Kat wanted to sigh to release some of the tension she felt but held it in.

Lily had been downplaying her worries for quite some time and they were finally spilling over.

When the tears finally stopped Kat passed over a tissue from the storage ring without a word. A few moments later Lily finally let go over Kat… and moved to take her rightful place on Kat’s lap, pulling her girlfriend’s arms around her. Kat had been hugged for a while… now Lily felt the need for some comfort of her own.

Kat let out a quiet laugh at the actions with a smile on her face, pulling Lily into her chest with as much strength as she dared. The silence was nice for now, allowing everyone some time to recover from… everything. The fight had been tense and Lily wasn’t the only one feeling a bit of the strain.

Eventually though, Lily had to ask, “So why were you guys calling it a dragon? Like, I really didn’t want to ask while we were fighting it, and then immediately after there were more important things… so why?”

“I just felt like it deserved it I guess?” said Kat after a moment. “I get that it wasn’t intelligent… but it was elegant and powerful. I felt like recognisingg that much.”

“I’m… I think I’m with Kat on this,” said Kamiko. “Calling it a drake when it was so powerful even the questionably sentient mist decided that it needed to be locked away? Then again, it wasn’t something I thought about too much. I… I just saw a big powerful draconic creature and I guess my mind swapped to ‘this is a dragon’.

Besides, it’s not like I’ve had much to do with real dragons so I guess I don’t find the distinction meaningful,”

Hunter transformed and decided to join the conversation. “I continued called it a drake because that is the correct term for it. Though I will admit to not speaking with you as much as the others so perhaps you missed that part,”

“Ah… yeah I guess so,” agreed Lily. “Are you alright Hunter?”

“I will recover in time. The pain is annoying, but I decided that not participating in the conversation would be more so… which I will admit is strange. Normally I do not feel so compelled to join in with idle conversation. I suppose you have all managed to grow on me a lot,” stated Hunter.

“That’s great,” said Lily with a smile. “Though I have to ask-”

Lily was cut off when Kamiko started to laugh for a few moments as her eyes started glowing. “Kamiko?” asked Lily and Kat together.

“Oh… I just ranked up to Rank 3. Like just then and I couldn’t help but think of how useful it would’ve been if I’d gotten the power-up before we fought the giant drake,” said Kamiko.

“Welcome to Rank 3,” stated Hunter. “I wonder if this adventure will be enough to push me into Rank 4. It was on the tougher end of things, but the fight wasn’t overly long despite that. I suspect I will find out if I am forced to engage in combat or get sufficient rest time,”

“Wait… is that how it works?” asked Lily confused.

Hunter nodded, “It can be. Ranking up isn’t always a major affair. Sometimes it happens in the quiet calm after you’ve been pushed to the limits,”

“Wait and you just know?” asked Lily confused. “So like, one two three, I can now use three magic rings?”

Hunter nodded again, “It can be like that, why not give it a shot,”

Lily shrugged and summoned up her magic and tried to force a spell to be three rings. Then it worked. Lily gaped at the three rotating circles of mana for a few moments before her innatention caused it to collapse. “Oh… I guess it is just like that? I… thought I’d feel more of like… a surge of power or something?” mumbled Lily.

“It can be that way,” said Hunter, “But I found my own transition to Rank 3 to be quite smooth. The bond you share with Kat also means that it was likely to happen swiftly. I am more surprised that you seemed to have retained all of your control over your mana,”

“Urgh…” grumbled Lily. “I don’t know how to deal with this. I feel like I should be using this down time to practice my new power… but I really don’t want to. Not before we’ve confirmed it’s really going to be downtime. What… what are the chances the drake is still alive?”

“I’d give it low odds,” said Hunter. “That last attack seemed very much like a final attack, one used because it was backed so thoroughly into a corner. If I was a betting woman, I would put a good deal of money down on that attack not just leveling the area, but also perhaps a way to transfer the drake’s energy to a nearby powerhouse.

“Demons aren’t considered valid targets, and Bower isn’t mutating into a horrible monstrosity of nature so I’m hoping that it wasn’t able to latch onto anything. The fact that I hit it with the space bullet probably helped. A good call at the time Lily so thank you for that one,”

“So we’re probably done?” asked Lily.

“I… I think so,” said Kamiko. “I don’t want to speak for Hunter… but I feel like we would’ve heard or seen something to indicate otherwise by now. I know we aren’t where we went into the bubble… but how far away would the dragon, drake, whatever, how far away would it really have ended up if it was still around?”

“Depends how sentient the mist is,” said Hunter. “If it was seperating us and the drake because it believed we were defeated and needed to recouperate instead of just dumping us out somewhere nearby. Well that would make all the difference,”

“We could ask D.E.M.O.N.S?” suggested Kat.

D.E.M.O.N.S is currently investigating the matter with assitance from other Users in the Hub. The large release of energy from defeating the Target has muddled things greatly. D.E.M.O.N.S will update Summoned Users when more accurate information is available.

“Well… it’s nice to know I guess?” said Kat with a shrug. The firey text was quite visible to the entire group, hovering between them all and ‘looking’ directly at them from each of their perspectives allowing it to be read by the entire group.

“I suspected as much,” said Hunter. “For missions as important as this D.E.M.O.N.S would’ve sent a confirmation if it had one. Though many demons would’ve tried to simply leave now the job is ‘done’ without proper consideration,”

“Would they be allowed to do that?” asked Lily.

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“Sometimes,” said Hunter. “It depends on the projected likelihood of survival but the demons in question do not get paid until confirmation of the target’s defeat is found and if it turns out to still be alive? Well that causes all sorts of issues…”